Mention something again for those who were downstairs, but for those who weren't You'll hear and you probably have heard but I want to share this simply because I think as I've been working on this passage in Matthew yesterday's events really contextualized This passage, many of you probably already know, but if not, there was an assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania. Regardless of your political stance, that is something that is terrible, obviously, but also a depiction of how much we have fallen as a country, a people, and the division. And I feel obligated. a pastor as a shepherd to, I think for this group, it's more of a reminder than a charge, but remind you of where our hope is and where our eternal abode is. And it's not in this life. It's not in any candidate that we could, we could model the perfect candidate. Well, if we modeled, it would be Jesus, right? If we selected any of the available candidates, not one of them is going to make the world what God only God can make it. And so again, this isn't so much a rebuke or a charge, but a reminder as we get closer to election season, our hope isn't in anybody on earth. It's not in earth itself. It's not in ourselves, but it's in Christ alone. Now with that, as we get closer, you know, we can. Perhaps do a study that one of my mentors did. It's not partisan. Don't, I'm not trying to scare anybody here. We're not, we don't endorse anybody here, but it's a biblical guide to voting. And it talks about the types of things we as Christians should be mindful of and how we can let that be our main factor into how we vote. Or there's many of you or many I know that I love and care about that say I'm not voting. That's fine. I will not argue with that. But despite all of that, just remembering first and foremost, seeking first the kingdom. Now, I know that is a context for the Israelites, the Jewish people that Jesus was speaking to. And we're not in the kingdom. We're not building the kingdom. But we are citizens of the kingdom. We're sons and heirs of the kingdom. And so we should live like that here and now. So if that's weighing heavy on anyone's heart like it was mine yesterday, how scary, just inches away from who knows what sort of disaster and fallout had he died. Most of us have been children on the playground, right? All it takes is a shove, and what happens? Either a shove or a punch, right? But it escalates. And stuff like this only escalates. I fear if the cap on that bottle comes off, you can't put it back on without tragic circumstances. And so I praise the Lord that nothing happened, except we did lose someone in the crowd, right? And any loss of life. And we'll just leave that there. We pray for those that were injured. We pray for the life that was lost there. And we pray for peace and unity. knowing ultimately that that will happen when Christ returns. And so with our passage today, we're going to look at how to live as children of God. And of course, I had that title selected. This passage was already our next passage before any of the events yesterday took place. And so it's been weighing heavy on my heart with the events of yesterday. And I think it'll have even more special application for us today. But with that, we didn't quite finish last week, and I think there's still some relevance to the last point that we didn't cover last week. But as we look at dealing with judging, specifically how to judge people, before we deal with such a weighty topic, let me pray before I go any further. Father, I do pray. For this message, I pray that it would encourage our hearts. Your word would strengthen us and equip us and remind us of your great love for us, your care for us, and the charge for us to pursue you, our heavenly father. I pray we would be always remembering our position and how we ought to practice and live in this dark world and that we would not be consumed by the things around us, but be consumed by the things of you. So I pray that you identify us this morning in Jesus' name. Amen. So we looked at how to judge people, chapter 7, verses 1 through 6. We looked at the first two main divisions, understanding justice and avoiding hypocrisy. Now, we often hear the statement, verse 1, chapter 7, judge not that you be not judged. And we take that or many people take that as you better not judge. Or if you are caught judging, they'll say, who are you to judge? Only God can judge me. And we discussed that question of whether or not Christians should judge. And what we concluded, or what I concluded, and encourage you to conclude also, is that the text is not forbidding judging, period. It's forbidding a certain type of judging, a self-righteous, prideful, arrogant judging that is not reflective of self where you look in the mirror first before taking out your microscope to examine your neighbor or your enemy. Number one, if you want to follow righteous judgment, you need to understand justice, particularly God's justice. If you want to follow righteous judgment, you need to avoid being a hypocrite. Now, we looked at that word before. It's essentially kind of like in the ancient world of playwright. They would wear a mask. They would depict themselves a certain way that is entirely different from the other side of that mask. Hypocrisy is a word that has come to mean to say one thing and do another. We as Christians should avoid hypocrisy. That's why I think a lot of the world is turned off by Christianity. They say, well, it's just a bunch of hypocrites. You know what the best response that I've found and I often say? You're right. I'm probably the biggest one. And it shouldn't be that way, right? And that's because sometimes we, we feel like people are judging and sometimes we judge unrighteously. And so we feel like we have to put forward a mask, right? I'm really not as bad or sinful or dirty as people think. But in reality, we are, right? That's why I love a saying, and I've said it before, be yourself, but be your sanctified self. We as Christians, we're all growing, right? We're a work in progress. Be yourself. Now, obviously, certain things that may slip out in the workplace should really try to not let slip out at church, right? But if they do, is the church going to crumble? Is lightning going to strike all around us? Or is there grace? And so be yourself, but be your sanctified self, always growing closer to the Lord and pursuing Him. Well, we didn't get to the third one, and that is practicing discernment. The key to righteous judgment is to be discerning. Now, the topic of discerning is important for us to understand, because I think modern Christianity, and probably historical Christianity, has viewed discernment in a mystical way. People talk about, I have the gift of discernment. I have that gut feeling that something's off, right? Maybe it's something you ate last night. Now I'm not saying, and I find especially women have, quote, discernment in that sense, where they just have a feeling something is off. As the youth say, the vibe is off, right? Now there is a component of that, but what is biblical discernment? How do you discern something? How do you know something is good or know something is evil? Well, you have to know what good is. You have to know what evil is. You have to know what God says about all those things. And then, I believe, we are equipped to be discerning. So what does he say in chapter 7, verse 6, He says, "...do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces." Now, obviously figurative language here, but also very foreign, almost out of nowhere. Jesus, what does this have to do with anything that you've been talking about? Well, the answer is, it has everything to do with everything He's been talking about. And we'll explain. So, some observations, first of all, the proverb, the principle or proverb, the wisdom is stated in verse 6, do not give what is holy to the dogs or pigs, essentially. Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine. So the picture here, it's a figure, but it's do not give something of value, something important to something that is not valuable or not important or that will not see that value or importance. Both word pictures communicate at least two things. First of all, discernment. Well, how do you discern whether something or someone is a dog or a swine? Number two, it's communicating worthwhile ministry. Worthwhile ministry, or non-time-wasting ministry, you could say. But shouldn't we minister in any situation? Shouldn't we minister to all people? Well, apparently not. And I'll explain. First of all, jump ahead to chapter 10, verse 14. Jesus sends out his disciples to minister, and notice what he says in verse 14. He says, "...whoever will not receive you, nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet." What is he talking about here? What is the principle? He's saying if those people reject your word, in other words, what is holy or your pearls, they reject that, don't give it to them anymore. Shake the dust, move on to someone who will receive. So there's a principle in scripture of how we can be spending our time in ministry more widely. Now this was something that was incredibly difficult for me to learn, especially as a fresh graduate of Bible school, you know, you're you're glossy eyed, you're a martyr spirit, and you're ready to go and serve the Lord wherever possible. And sometimes you think that the harder the ministry, the more worthwhile it is, right. And as I've ministered not terribly long, but long enough to learn this important lesson, not every church deserves to exist. And that sounds harsh, right? I thought God loves the church. Well, what if a church isn't standing for biblical values? What if a church is corrupt? What if a church is greedy? What if a church is misguided? Whatever the issue, what if a church has fallen into something, well Jesus has a word for seven churches saying that if you don't correct things, I will remove your lampstand. In other words, I'll remove your witness. And so not every church deserves, simply by being a church, to exist. In fact, I think sometimes a church should, to put it bluntly, die. So that those souls in that church can go to a healthier situation, a healthier church. And that is a difficult decision that takes a lot of discernment and a lot of godly counsel and a lot of wisdom and a lot of prayer before something like that is determined. But also on a personal front, there are some people that we shouldn't waste time. And I learned that especially on Facebook. Any Facebook debaters here? I am, or I was, and I thought, I'm going to correct this guy's thinking or this girl's thinking. I'm going to change their life because of my way of speaking, my logic, the verses I use, the points I make. I'm going to change their mind, and the world's going to be a better place. You know what I found? I didn't change anything except how much time I wasted, right? And I realized, That person is not interested in their mind being changed. They want to change my mind. Wait a minute. I'm not interested in changing my mind. I want to change their mind. So what are we doing? Wasting time. So there are ministries that are more worthwhile, and Jesus seems to be speaking to this principle of don't give what is holy to dogs. Those who reject you, don't waste your time. Now, again, this is, I think, somewhat hyperbolic. He's not saying, never talk to them again. Because haven't we, at one point in our lives, rejected God? Or maybe rejected the gospel? What if someone followed this principle literally with us? Thank God they didn't, right? And we came to believe. Also, 2 Timothy 2, 14-18 is where I learned that principle of online Time-wasting. Turn there briefly. Second Timothy. Chapter 2 and verse 14. Paul is speaking to his disciple Timothy, remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the ears. Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightfully dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness. And their message will spread like cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are of this sort, who have strayed concerning the truth, saying that the resurrection is already past, and they overthrow the faith of some." So in other words, Timothy is saying, don't waste your time with these fools. They've given themselves over to some errant teaching and focus on the faithful. Teach and educate them. Jump down to verse 23. He says, but avoid, this is what I learned concerning Facebook arguments, avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife. And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient. I love that. able to teach, we have an answer. And sometimes the discernment I've had to learn is when someone asks me a question, I need to discern, do they really want the answer to that question or is it a gotcha question? Because if it's a gotcha question, I have better things to do, right? Avoid foolish and ignorant disputes knowing they generate strife. be able to teach patient, verse 25, in humility, correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, or a change of mind, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses, and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will." To summarize or paraphrase what Paul is saying, be discerning in your ministry. Know when and who and where to teach someone. And know when not to. Know when it's a dead end. And I think this is the principle Jesus is saying. Do not give what is holy to the dogs, nor cast your pearls before swine. The consequence, lest they trample them under their feet, so they devalue them, and turn and tear you in pieces. The imagery here is someone rejecting what you offer, and turning against you personally. summary application, Jesus' audience was to practice discernment in who they offer help to. Believers today should follow this principle and focus their ministry efforts on those who are seeking. So getting back to the ministry point when I said some churches deserve to close or they don't deserve to remain open simply because they're a church. Sometimes we as Christians, and I have a lot of friends that we've all had the same struggle, we think we need to hold out and try to weather the storm. And sometimes that is the case. I'm not saying it's not. But the reality is, there's need everywhere. Right? We can, especially as pastors, but as Christians, we can wring our hands over, what ministry is God calling me to? What if I choose the wrong one? What if there's not enough to go around? Trust me, there's enough to go around. In fact, if you want seconds or thirds, that's available too. It's needed, right? Jesus said the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. And he was talking about his situation, his circumstance with the nation of Israel, but nothing has changed in the church. You could throw a dart at the map back there and go there and spend the rest of your life and minister faithfully and just scratch the surface of what needs to be done. And so we need to be discerning in our ministry. Finding this line of who to avoid and who to focus on takes discernment. It may look different for people. So we need to be gracious if someone disagrees, right? And there's an example of Paul and Barnabas, right, with John Luke. I love this narrative, John Luke. We're not told explicitly what the nature of the conflict was, but essentially Paul didn't want him around and Barnabas said, no, we got to have him around. We need to tutor him, mentor him and bring him along. Paul says, I have things to do. People to see, say. And it makes me think of Michael Parmenter, one of our missionaries, and myself. We were involved in a detention center ministry at Frontier. We weren't inmates, mind you. We would go in and visit, and typically how it would go is we would play a game, try to tire them out, get the wiggles out, right? and then have a lesson, a short 10-minute lesson, and then we'd break up into smaller groups, and the goal was to share the gospel, but it was to converse with these kids. And so I was in a group, and Michael and I, the way it worked out is we basically ended up being two leaders with one larger group. Typically it was one leader and a couple guys, maybe one guy ideally. But we had like four guys, and it was me and Michael, And Michael just let me do the talking. Well there was this guy, and oddly enough his name was Guy, and he was problematic. He was interrupting me, he was saying crude things, rude things, being foul, trying to get a rise out of me, but he didn't. But, well I suppose he did, because finally I said, you know what, go sit over there in that corner, which is weird for me to say because You know, I'm now terrified of kids, and I can't imagine doing that now, unless they're my own kids. But I told him to go sit over there, and I was done talking with him, because I could discern that these three other guys were interested in what I was saying. I was sharing my testimony, how I was an idiot, and I stopped being an idiot by God's grace, and I was following Him, and things were getting better in my life, and that they should trust Christ and do the same. And so I was sharing the gospel with these kids. Now, the way it ended up is I shared the gospel and these kids professed to believe. And I was excited about that. And then we left and we were out in the lobby getting ready to get in the car and head back to school. And Michael pulled me aside and he said, I think what you did was wrong. I said, what, share the gospel with three kids and see them saved? I was being proud and gross. But he was saying, well, what about him? He needs minister, too. And I've always thought of that situation as kind of a Paul and Barnabas, where Michael was coming from a no-man-left-behind standpoint, and I was coming from a we move forward. Any hindrance, move aside. Now, who was right and who was wrong? I was right, of course, right? Everyone? But as I've grown wiser, I've realized it's not about who was right and wrong. I mean, we were both right and both wrong in that situation, but we were both right. Because he had a burden for this kid, and he needed ministered to. I wish I had a positive story with that kid, but a few weeks later, he ended up taking the life of one of the correctional officers. And we had talked to him, and it's one of those eerie situations, when you're close to a situation, you feel like, you know, what if I argued better, used better logic? What if he became saved? That would have never happened. And that mom would have been there for her kids. But such is life in a fallen world, right? But we need to use discernment when we are judging whether or not to serve in a certain way, making a determination about someone or something of the like. So now our text in 7 through 12, living as a child of God, just to read the text in its entirety to get the flow, starting in verse 7. He says, Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him? Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the law and the prophets." So living as a child of God, Jesus somewhat gets back into the topic of prayer, but it's specifically dealing with petitions, but I also think a little bit more. So breaking this passage into four parts, the first is dealing with pursuing the Father. I think verses 7 and 8 can be summarized as pursuing the Father. Ask, seek, knock. Number 2, giving as a father. Those who are parents, you know that a child asking you for something, you want to bless them. You want to provide for them, to give those things. And Jesus uses that relationship to make a bigger argument that how much more God. How much better will God provide for you or give what you ask of Him? And then understanding the Father, number three, and then number four, living like the Father. We'll explain. So some observations, first of all, the commands. Now these three words, ask, seek, and knock, they're all imperatives. In other words, they're commands. They're not gentle suggestions. They're saying, hey, if you get to it, maybe consider possibly thinking about, praying about, meditating upon, making a request to God. He says, ask, seek, and knock. So what does that mean? Ask, and then it says, and it will be given to you. Now this is a present active imperative. Some highlight the present tense here as continually ask. Now that could be the case. I think in this the context would certainly fit that argument. But the idea is keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking and it will be given to you. You shall find it will be open. It's the Greek word I take a to make a request to God. So after you're simply petitioning God for something or making a request. Number two seek and then he says you will find also present active imperative again imperative it's a command. They can pay to pursue with intention seek. what we get the word for this subdivision, pursuing the father. Do we seek God? To pursue with intention. Knock, and it will be open to you, present active imperative. Cruete, to deliver a blow against something. In case you are unfamiliar with what knock means. That's a knock, right? But why does Jesus use that word? What does it mean? Let's look at it. Back to the promise, verse 8, He repeats everything. The asking one essentially receives. It's as good as a promise. If you ask, you will receive. The seeking one, now these are all participles, so the one asking or the one seeking, the one asking receives, the one seeking finds, and the one knocking, it will, future tense, be opened. And so when he's talking about knocking, I've often thought of, it's been used by many Christians, but When looking at the will of God question, you know, what do I do? What's my next move in the Christian life or life in general? We seek the Lord and my encouragement is, it's always kind of the imagery of we're in the hallway of life, right? And there's all these doors and behind those doors are opportunities and chances that we can take and who knows what's behind door number one, right? Well, I've used this in my own personal life and I've encouraged others who don't know just knock on some doors. In other words, look around, put out feelers as they say, what are the opportunities out there? And knock. Sometimes I say don't need to knock, just walk through the door. And if it's locked, you know, maybe go find a different door, or maybe try a little harder to get in. And if it's really locked, then maybe take that as okay, doors locked, God is closing this door on my life, right? No breaking and entering though, of course, right? We don't want to do that. But the knocking one, it will be open. So asking God for things, seeking Him, seeking opportunities, looking, knocking, trying out opportunities, find what works, and it will be opened. Now that sounds great, right? Anything we ask God, Everyone's going to run home and, God, I pray I win the lottery tonight, right? After all, you said, the asking one receives. Well, if we all pray that, we're going to have to split the lottery between each of us, right? But there's modifiers to all of these things, and we already looked at some of those back in chapter 6, verses 5 through 15, when he talked about prayer, right? The right way to pray and the wrong way. But also look at verse 33 of chapter 6, where he says, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. So in other words, there's a stipulation, there's a modifier, there's a prerequisite to certain prayers being answered. It's not a free-for-all, anything you ask will be given. There's modifiers. The review of the prerequisites to prayer. And so this list we looked at, there's seven, I would say at least seven, there's probably more we could come up with. But are we willing to obey the scriptures? In other words, if we're asking something that contradicts scripture, I can tell you the answer. No. Right. Number two, examine motives. What are our motives in asking God for something? Number three, examine relationships. Is there conflict between you and a brother or sister in Christ? God cares deeply about those things. And he wants those things dealt with before our vertical relationship with him continues. In fact, I would say our horizontal relationships can impact our vertical relationship as our vertical relationship with God impacts our relationships with others. Number four, deal with sin. Is there sin in our life? And I use the hypothetical scenario of sitting in God's throne room and asking him, you know, bringing him our list of requests. And it's almost like God sits there and says, don't you think we need to talk about something first? We need to deal with sin, because sin can hinder our prayers. Number five, guarding against pharisaism. In other words, the showy stuff. Oh, look at me. Look at my fancy prayer, right? Number six, examine the marriage. Peter talks about living with your wife in an understanding way. So your prayers are not hindered. Husbands, are we good husbands? Wives, are we respecting our husbands? our marriage relationship can impact our prayer life. Number seven, examine your faith. James says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask God, but not doubting, because he who doubts is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. And so we should bring our requests in faith, that God is able, oftentimes desiring, to answer those things and we come to him humbly and in faith and we make our requests and then we trust him with the answer. So summary application, Jesus urged his audience to pursue the Father. This is done through prayer and lifestyle. The two are intimately linked. Now, we've been looking at prayer on Wednesday nights, and we're reaching a point of kind of the grand finale, if you will, that while prayer is a spiritual discipline in the life of Christians, prayer really is and should be our lifestyle. It's our ongoing communication with the Father. They're intimately linked. And we'll talk about a principle, a very wise man shared a book with me talking about living with God, that intimacy with Him. Do we understand that? Or is He kind of the dad that maybe some of us grew up with that we can never quite satisfy? Nothing we do is good enough. Do we think of God that way? That's not God. I think you'd be astounded at how much God loves you. And prayer helps us enjoy that. What are the obstacles to pursuing the Father? Well, self. Maybe I just don't want to. I've got stuff going on in my own life. You know what? Life's pretty good. I don't think I need God. Maybe it's legalism. We view prayer in some form of legalism. We have to formulate the words just right. The moon has to be a certain spot in the sky. The patterns, the solar system needs to be just in play. Prayers said during solar eclipses are a little bit more loud in God's ear. Legalism can take a lot of forms. But maybe it's legalism. Legalism is a killer of intimacy with God. Maybe it's worldliness. We understand God. We love God. We like the idea of being close with God. But you know what? I also like this thing, too. Oh, and I like that thing, too. That thing is comfortable. I'm content. Or maybe I'm discontent and I need to pursue those things so that I can be content. Worldliness can be an obstacle to pursuing the Father. Worry can be an obstacle. This is pertinent, right? The events of yesterday, if it happened slightly differently, all of a sudden, let's say our nation is thrown into a chaotic war. God, what's going to happen? There's two major conflicts going on in the world right now. What's going to happen? Oh, God dropped the remote control on the universe and we have to help him find it so everything can get back to normal. We shouldn't worry about our lives. God will. God knows we need those things, right? The daily provisions. We just trust him. Maybe it's the flesh. Again, the enemies of sanctification are the world, the flesh, and the devil. The world is the world system that's constantly trying to squeeze you into its mold, to make you a cookie-cutter world citizen of the Greek word kosmos. In other words, the world wants you to look just like what Satan wants it to look like. The flesh is that sinful part of us that separated us from God. The reason Christ had to die, and the reason we need to be born again to have a relationship with God. Now the flesh, positionally, has been dealt with, right? We looked at that in Romans. But same thing that happened in this country when they freed the slaves, you know what happened? Those slaves went and worked for their former masters. A lot of things for them didn't change. But they were legally free. But what were they practically? Slaves. We as Christians often live that way. We are legally free, but we find that chain on the ground and we drag sin over and tie a little bow around our ankle and do whatever sin wants us to do, right? The flesh. Now be careful with this thinking because I don't want you to think, well, when I sinned, the flesh made me do it. Or worse, the devil made me do it. It wasn't really me. The devil made me do it, right? Or the world made me do it. No, you did it. You made the choice, and there's no neutrality. At any given moment, you're either in fellowship with God, serving and pursuing Him, or you're not. And lastly, the enemy, Satan. Demonic activity, spiritual warfare, can be obstacles in our pursuit of God. Giving as a father. Fairly straightforward, so we'll get through this fairly quickly. But the rhetorical questions in verses 9 and 10. What man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Straightforward, right? Father, could I have some bread? Here's a stone. That'd be cruel, right? No father, good father, or really I can't imagine any father, unless they are evil, as Jesus says, would give him anything but bread? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? These questions highlight the obvious desire that fathers have in responding and providing for their children. So Jesus is doing something here. And I want to pay attention. This is a leading question, of course, but it's also a question that has implied stipulations. Example, a parent will not give what is not beneficial, right? As parents, if your child asks for anything, Dad, could I get a sword? Could I get a bow and arrow? Could I get a gun? Well, depending on their age, we may say absolutely not. Dad, could I get a flamethrower? Maybe. We'll think about it, right? There's certain things we're not going to just outright give them because it's not beneficial to them. And so likewise, God's not just going to give us anything we ask for, but those things that are beneficial to us, particularly for our growth and our growing closer to Him. But there's some more to this in Jesus bringing out this relationship. And so I want to work through this, and we'll probably close with this point. First of all, man is made in God's image. I don't know if you knew that. We are made in God's image. Now, what does that mean? Well, there exists comparative-like attributes in the people he created. So mankind being made in God's image, certain attributes that we have can tell us something about God. And we have to be careful with that. I forgot what famous theologian, I think it was Oswald Chambers, he said, God made man in His image, and then man returned the favor. And I love that quote, because God made us, and then we kind of craft God into who we want, someone who we can understand and fathom, without recognizing that while we're made in God's image, and we share comparative-like attributes, similarity does not mean sameness. God is infinite. Are we infinite? No, we're finite. Our earthly relationships can highlight certain attributes. I've always thought this. When I got married, I felt like I understood certain aspects about God better. When I had a child, I learned certain aspects about God more. Now does that mean you're lacking if you're not married, or you're lacking if you don't have children? Not at all. But they are things that are natural to God's creation that communicate something about our Creator. Again, after all, God's fingerprints are all over. Trevor mentioned laminin, right? Everything! Wednesday night we were talking about math and my hatred for math growing up, until my mentor rebuked that thinking and said, math is really just observations of God's universe. And I thought, I still don't like it, but it's pretty cool, right? Especially if you understand a mathematical formula or a scientific formula. And you could say, huh, God did that. That's pretty neat. I'm going to go play football, right? Our earthly relationships can highlight certain attributes. Example, parental. Now these are just examples, but loyal love, right? In marriage, or as parents, we're called to agape love. And don't you love your children? Now, I understand sin in the world changes this. Not every parent is this way. But naturally, there's something about holding your precious baby. And no matter what happens, they'll always be here. You know, there's loyalty there. And that's God's love for His creation. For you. There's guidance, right? That precious baby you're holding, even though no matter what they do, they'll be your child, you don't want them to just do anything. You want them to do the right thing. So there's guidance. There's correction as they get older. You spank them. Get them back in alignment with the way they should behave as your child. There's also provision, right? When they're born, you don't just sit in their room and say, all right, foods in the fridge, you know, make yourself at home. How's that gonna work out? Well, they'll let you know, right? Abby lets us know. What about spousal? Well, again, loyal love, we're called to agape love. And I know I harp on this, but I feel like I need to because our society just gets it wrong. The foolish phrase of, I fell out of love with them. So what you're saying is you chose to no longer commit to that person. It's a commitment. It's a choice. It's a sacrifice. It's service. It's a loyal love. But there's also kindness, right, in marriage. And you can appreciate that quality. There's also closeness, intimacy with your spouse. Individuals. So made in God's image, we have intellect, emotion, and will. So that's just a broad summary. But we can think. Or at least most of us can think, right? Some of us can't. All the time. Emotion. This is something we need to understand biblically. Sometimes we, especially in our movement, can be anti-emotion. Now, emotion can be dangerous, but it's still a quality that being made in God's image, means we have emotion. And emotion can be good. But as my mentor says, it's the caboose of the train, not the engine, right? We're not driven by our emotion. But it's a part of the train. And we need to recognize that. And then will we make choices, decisions. Corporately, we think about church unity, we're called to be united. And that's difficult because You know, as they say, church is the easiest thing you'll ever do until you add people to it. Then it's the most difficult thing you'll ever do. I praise the Lord that that's not the case here. But have you ever thought about church unity and how that mirrors the Trinity? In fact, without the Trinity, you know, the true monotheism, only one God, it breaks down. Because how could God be loved if He's just one God? If the Son is not God and the Spirit is not God. But within the Trinity, the Triune God, there is love, there is kindness, there is sovereignty, all those attributes. There is perfect fellowship. And that's why we as the Church, the Body of Christ, are to model and experience that same fellowship. To summarize, God is infinite and perfect in all of His attributes, all of the time. If you want to know more about God's attributes, I encourage you to come in a few weeks. We're going to be starting a small series through the attributes of God in our 915 service downstairs. And we'll explain this principle because it's not like when God is being merciful and gracious, he shuts off the switch of sovereignty and justice, those sort of things. Or if he's being just and full of wrath, he flips off the switch of grace and mercy and long suffering. He is all of His attributes all of the time. Because all those attributes don't exist outside of God. They're defined by God. And we'll explain more, because I know that can be somewhat of a tricky concept. God is infinite and perfect in all of His attributes all the time. Mankind is not. But we can relate to the good within these examples. So again, what Jesus is doing is, hey, think of the Father. If you as a father, if your child asks you, what are you going to do? You're going to provide, you're going to give. How much more? God, the father of heaven. That's his point. Past time, let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you that you're our father. We thank you for your loyal love, your kindness, your goodness, and your desire for us. And Lord, there's so many distractions, so many obstacles. Oftentimes we feel like we want to pursue you. We want to follow you. We need to do so. We're commanded to do so. But the doing is a challenge. I pray that you'd soften our heart. I pray that we'd be persuaded by your word of your great love and the tremendous blessings of abundant life of being close to you. I pray that we would walk in the light as you are in the light. And when we step into darkness, we quickly run back to the light. We thank you so much. And we love you so much. And we pray all these things in Jesus name. Amen.