Father, we come before you and just want to thank you so much for these songs that we've sung during our worship time, praising you and our Lord Jesus for the blood that we shed to pay for our sins on the cross. Thank you for the salvation that we have that's available only through him. We praise you, Father, for your grace that provided it, drawing us to yourself and salvation, giving us that free gift through faith. We're so grateful, Father. God, interact our time together now as we look into your word. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Take your Bibles and turn to Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. When we first merged the two churches very early on, Jacob and I began a tandem preaching through the book of Romans. I called it Romans Tag Team. and I would preach on Romans for two or three weeks and he would preach for two or three weeks and sometimes there would be overlap in the passages that we covered and that was a good thing because I believe we covered them from slightly different perspective. It was the same truth, it was the same doctrine and yet just emphasized with a different perspective. So that's what we're going to do this morning a little bit. We're going to go back over some things that Jacob has taught on and look at it from a maybe a little bit different perspective. We are dispensationalists. Some of you are opening your eyes and saying, well, what? Dispensationalist is somebody who recognizes that in the course of biblical history, God has at different times, different strategic times, changed the regulations for what he requires of mankind to do. There have been changes in diet, changes in rules concerning capital punishment, changes in God's people. First it was all mankind, then Israel, now the church. Dispensationalism emphasizes the differences as you go through scripture. And we've been criticized because in emphasizing the differences sometimes we lose sight of the unity. Sometimes in emphasizing the differences we lose sight of the continuity that there is in certain things. For instance, salvation is always and has always been by grace alone through faith. And sometimes there's been a lack of clarity about that. So what I want to do this morning is, Jacob has emphasized the Sermon on the Mount and its purpose, and I agree with him. But I'd like to look at it from a little bit different perspective. So, this is the outline that Jacob's been using, that he admits that he took from Dr. Stanley to Saint. And we're not going to get that far in that. I mentioned before, the last time I spoke to you, that I like to see the book of Matthew from its prophetic perspective. And that means looking at the book of Daniel, chapter 9. We're not going to go there. I'm just going to give you a summary of it, Many of you, if you've been in the church for a while, have been through it either with me, or with Dan, or with Jacob. This is a key prophecy in the Old Testament concerning the coming of the Messiah. Key strategic prophecy. The prophecy in Daniel chapter 9 encompasses a period of 70 blocks of 7 year periods. 77's of years. That's a total of 490 years if you do the math. And it's divided into three sections. There's 7, then there's 62, and those appear to be continuous. For a total of 69 continuous 7-year periods, 483 years. And then there's a separate one 7-year period left. Daniel chapter 9, verse 25-26 talks about From the issuing of a decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem until Messiah the Prince, there will be the 7 weeks and 62 weeks, or 69-7. So we have a timeline for when Messiah is going to be on the scene. And so that's evidenced by the end of the 69th week. Messiah the Prince has to be present. So the Jews should have been on their tiptoes, standing on their front porches, shielding their eyes from the sun, looking for the Messiah to come. Because He had to be there by the end of that 483 year period. He had to be there. Jesus' entire ministry, we understand Jesus' ministry was somewhere between 3 1⁄2 to maybe 4 or 4 1⁄2 years, somewhere in that. His entire ministry was during that 69th week, that 69th period of 7 years. His entire ministry. The Jews should have been on their tiptoes, expecting the Messiah to appear, and all of a sudden, here comes Jesus. They should have said, let's see, the Messiah is supposed to be here now, nobody else is doing what this guy is doing, He must be the Messiah. They should have concluded that. Well, you know the story about that. Jesus' entire ministry was during that entire 69th seven-year period, most of it during the second half, during the last half. The Sermon on the Mount was early on in Jesus' ministry, and so I'm saying the Sermon on the Mount was probably in the middle-ish of that seven-year period. in the middle of that period. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jacob has brought out the fact that Jesus wants to prepare a people who will be prepared to receive the Messiah. He wants to prepare a people who will be fit to receive the Messiah, and then he wants to prepare them, prepare that people for the Kingdom. But remember there was one more seven year period. period of Jacob's trouble, the day of the Lord, the tribulation as we call it. So Jesus wants to prepare them not only to be a people who are fit and prepared to enter the kingdom, but he wants to prepare them to be a people who are going to be able to stand the persecution and trouble that they're going to be facing. That's Jesus' purpose, I believe, in giving the Sermon on the Mount. So he starts out in Matthew chapter 5 beginning in verse 3 and he gives this passage verses 3 and we are going to look through verse 16. He gives what are called the Beatitudes. It's a series and we are going to look at 10 different character traits. 10 different character traits that Jesus is extolling, that Jesus is encouraging, that Jesus is pronouncing a blessing for. People who have these certain character traits. So he starts out, verse 3. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Verse 4. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Verse 5. Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Verse 6. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be satisfied. Verse 7, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. These promises that Jesus is pronouncing after each of these blessings, most of these promises specifically have to do with the fulfillment in the kingdom. They're going to see God because they're going to have access to God during the kingdom. Jesus is going to be ruling and reigning. Blessed are the pure in heart, Verse 8, blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. Verse 11, verse 12, rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great. Verse 13, you are the salt of the earth. Verse 14-16, you are the light of the world. So Jesus gives his list, and I've broken them down into ten. You could divide them as differently if you wanted to. But looking at these ten character traits, these are character traits that Jesus is pronouncing a blessing on. And most of the blessings have to do with being honored in the kingdom. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is the kingdom of God. They shall be called sons of God. They shall see God. What I want to emphasize is that God wants believers in the church to manifest these same qualities. Yes, Jesus was trying to encourage the people he was listening to who were anticipating the coming of the Messiah, who were anticipating the establishment of the kingdom, who were maybe dreading the day of the Lord and the tribulation that had to come before the establishment of the kingdom. Jesus is encouraging these character traits in those people But I'd like to suggest to you that when we go to the New Testament passages, the New Testament epistles, where we find God's teaching for us, we don't have those promises related to the kingdom, but God still wants these same character traits to be manifested in our lives. So what I want to do is look at that. I want to take each of these ten traits, and I want to look at passages in the New Testament epistles. that there is a direct application for us. We're going to make a remote application from the Sermon on the Mount, but we're going to look at passages where we can make a direct application to our own personal lives as members of the church, the body of Christ. Direct application to our lives for these kind of character traits. Because these kind of character traits are very important. So Jesus says, first of all, Matthew 5.3, blessed are the poor in spirit. I suggest that that to me relates to the idea of humility. Poor in spirit. You're not arrogant, you're not proud, you're not high and lifted up. You're humble. Philippians chapter 2, maybe you're familiar with the passage. Paul wrote, let nothing be done by, do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind, regard one another as more important than yourself. Do not merely seek your own personal interests, but look out for the personal interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, and humble themselves to the point of death, even death on the cross. Poor in spirit. Humble. Humility. That's not a character trait that a lot of people tend to seek for. Looking out for number one, climbing up the corporate ladder, trying to become all you can be, Keep your finger here, Matthew. Go with me to 1 Peter 5. Some of these verses I won't necessarily have you turn to. Some of them I really ask you to turn to them because they are passages that are greatly powerful. 1 Peter 5. After the instructions to elders, verses 1-4, Verse 5, you younger men likewise, be subject to your elders. Be subject to your elders. And all of you, elders, younger, everybody, clothe yourself with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Is humility a trait that you usually think of concerning a pastor? Well, maybe if it's one of the pastors of one of these big megachurches you read about or you see on TV, maybe you don't associate with humility with them. Maybe instead you associate some of them, lavish lifestyle, selfishness, building themselves up in the name of Jesus Christ, but really building themselves up. You see them with their fancy rings. You see them hearing about their great mansions and expensive cars, private jets. It doesn't sound like humility to me. Peter goes on, verse 6, Therefore humble yourselves unto the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you at the proper time. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Blessed are the humble. Jesus was our example. Philippians chapter 2, the passage that I quoted. Jesus is our prime example of what humility looks like. He was God! And He became man and allowed His creatures that He had created to nail Him to a cross. That's our model of humility. That's our example. Blessed is the poor in spirit. Secondly, Jesus said, blessed are those who mourn. I suggest to you Romans chapter 12 verse 15. It talks about weeping with those who weep. Rejoicing with those who rejoice. Weeping with those who weep. Do you do that? Do you rejoice with those who are rejoicing? or their tinge of jealousy. Maybe things aren't going so well for you. Do you find it hard to rejoice when things are going well for somebody else if they're not going so well for you? Rejoicing. Mourning. 1 Corinthians 5, verse 2. We won't take time to turn there. Remember, Paul has written to the church at Corinth. They had a case of immorality. And Paul said, it's immorality of such a kind as doesn't even exist among the Gentiles. And you have not mourned over the sin in your assembly. Instead, you boasted about how broad-minded you are. Do we grieve over sin, folks? Do we mourn over sin in our own lives? In the lives of those around us? Our brothers and sisters? Or do we just write them off? Yeah, look what he's doing. Forget him. Mourning. Do we weep over brothers and sisters who used to walk with the Lord, with us, who aren't walking with the Lord or with us anymore? Do we weep over that? Do we mourn? Blessed are the humble. Blessed are those who mourn. Blessed are the gentle. Go with me to Galatians 5. You may recognize Galatians 5, 22 and 23 as a passage that gives us the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5, 22, but the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness. gentleness, self-control. Again, do you think of gentleness when you think of pastors? Or do you think of arrogance? Do you think of harshness? Do you think of selfishness? Always having to be right? I confess, sometimes I get short-tempered with people. I get frustrated and I get short-tempered. If I've done that to you, please come and tell me. I want to apologize and ask your forgiveness. I want to be gentle. People have dealt gently with me and I appreciated that. And somebody's caught in a trespass when they're living in unrepented sin. Again, there's a tendency to just write them off. There's a tendency to blast them. Paul says, no, no, no. Go to them and restore them in gentleness. You've heard the saying there, but for the grace of God, go I have. We have that attitude. We have that attitude, we find it much easier to go to somebody with gentleness. Ephesians chapter 4 verses 1 and 2, we'll start in verse 1, get the whole context. Paul says, therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility, oh there is that, poor in spirit, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love. The word translated showing tolerance is the idea of putting up with each other. Do you do that well? You put up with each other well. You've heard the penis cartoon. I love humanity, it's people I can't stand. Gentleness. Putting up with one another with all humility and gentleness. The two go hand in hand. If we're humble, we have a tendency to be gentle. Jesus goes on. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. I would like you to turn to these passages. 1 Timothy 6.11 1 Timothy 6.11 Now let me explain a little bit of background for you that I've had. I've had people say, you know, you have to make a distinction between righteousness and sanctification. You have to make a distinction between justification and sanctification. Justification is once for all. Sanctification is progress, is progressive and ongoing. Well, that makes a nice way to remember things, but it's not exactly true. Righteousness is once for all. Justification is once for all. But sanctification is progressive and ongoing. Oh, but wait a minute. There is a portion of sanctification that's positional right now. But most of it's ongoing. What I want you to understand is that Yes, justification is, in a sense, once for all. When you believed in Jesus Christ as your Savior, you were justified. What does Romans 5.1 say? Somebody? Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. There is an aspect of justification that is once for all, positional, legal, judicial, done deal. Just like there is a part of sanctification that is positional, once for all, done deal. That's why we're called saints. Because we've been set apart. But in Paul's closing chapter to 1 Timothy, Notice what he says in verse 11, 1 Timothy 6. Now, before you look at it, do you suppose that Timothy has been positionally justified before God by faith? I don't think there is any question of that. Timothy was Paul's disciple. Timothy had traveled around with the Apostle Paul. Timothy was sent by Paul in different places. There is no question that Timothy is a believer that he has been positionally justified. Notice now what 1 Timothy 6.11 says. To flee from these things ye men of God, and pursue righteousness. Wait a minute. If he was talking about positional righteousness, telling Timothy to pursue it would be ridiculous. He would already have it. But just as there is a positional sanctification and there is a progressive sanctification aspect, there is a positional judicial justification and there is a progressive ongoing justification. That we as believers in Christ, having been positionally justified, are responsible to pursue practical justification, righteousness. practically acting right, because we've been justified and declared righteous, now we're supposed to start living righteously. Hello? Just because you've been positionally justified doesn't let you off the hook for growing in that justification. Pursue righteousness. And in case you missed it in 1 Timothy 6.11, go to 2 Timothy 2. Verse 22. Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart." Notice, they've already got a pure heart. They already have a pure heart. They're already declared righteous, justified before God, and yet Paul tells Timothy, pursue righteousness. You're declared righteous by God, but are you practically more righteous than you used to be? Are you growing in righteousness, beloved? Are you becoming more and more like, oh, that's sanctification. Well, it's not just sanctification, it's righteousness also. There is a positional part of both justification and sanctification, but there is a progressive aspect of both sanctification and justification too. They're both. Hunger and thirst for righteousness. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Is that practical? Living out the declaration of God that you're holy? Are you pursuing it? Or is it somewhere on the back burner that you'll get to it when you think of it? I think it needs to be on the front burner. Pursuing righteousness. Hungering and thirsting for it. Back in Matthew 5. Merciful. Merciful. Go to James with me. James, we'll start in chapter 2. The passage I want you to really look at is in chapter 3. James 2, start with me in verse 12. So speak and so act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Do you show people mercy? Do you cut people some slack? Or are you hardline, legalistic, they've got to tow the line or I'm going to write them off. Where's the mercy in that? Now look at James 3. I'm going to start in verse 13 because the rest of this chapter is so precious. James 3.13, Who among you is wise in understanding? Let him show by his good behavior, his deeds in the... Here comes gentleness. The gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. Out of humility. Verse 15, This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. Jealousy and disorder. Every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure. Make a note of that. We're going to come back to that. Then peaceable. We're going to come back to that. Gentle. Reasonable. Full of mercy and good fruits. Unwavering without hypocrisy. That wisdom from above. If you want to memorize a verse from the Bible, memorize James 3.17. The wisdom from above is first pure, and peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. God's wisdom, when God grants you His wisdom, you extend mercy to people, because you understand how merciful God has been to us. Titus chapter 3, we're saved by the mercy of God. Shouldn't we be able to extend mercy to other people when God has blessed us with so much mercy? Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are gentle, hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Stop on your way back to Matthew 5. Stop at 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4. Purity is not talked about a lot these days because it's difficult to maintain purity in the world we live in. The world we live in is saturated with impure thoughts. Saturated with impurity. Somehow Jesus managed to be in the world, but not of the world. And He wants us to do the same. To be in the world, and yet not be corrupted by the impurity around us. 1 Timothy chapter 4, look at verse 12. Let no one look down on your youthfulness, Timothy, but rather in five things. Speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. Show yourself an example of those who believe. As a young man, Timothy was Paul's apostolic delegate to a church, but I believe these five character traits ought to be true of every pastor, every elder, every person. Speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity. Skip on. Chapter 5, verse 1. Do not sharply rebuke an older man, but rather appeal to him as a father, to the younger men as brothers, the older women as mothers, and the younger women as sisters, in all purity. Timothy, in your relationship with the younger women in the church, you better make sure that purity is the guiding motive. purity. It's almost weekly that I hear about some pastor who has fallen in sexual sin. And it breaks my heart, and I grieve over that, and I struggle with anger about it, because that's such an abuse of that office. Timothy, have a relationship with everybody in your church. Older men, older women, younger men, younger women. But Timothy, make sure that your relationship with the younger women in the church is pure. Skip on down to chapter 5, verse 22. Do not lay hands upon anyone too hastily, and thereby share responsibility for the sins of others. Keep yourself, the American standard says, free from sin. It's one word in the Greek, pure. Keep yourself pure, Timothy. It's a struggle. But don't stop struggling. Keep yourself pure. Pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Romans chapter 12 verse 18. Jacob has mentioned in his verse, insofar as it depends upon you, be at peace with all men. That is so practical because it recognizes the fact that you can't control the other person's response to you. Paul says, insofar as it depends upon you, you're the only one whose attitude you can control. You be at peace with all men. During chapter 3, peace was one of those characteristics of the wisdom that comes from above. Galatians 5.22, peace is one of the fruit of the Spirit. All of these things keep coming back together, the fruit of the Spirit, the wisdom from above, qualifications for a man of God. We're getting all of these, all of the Sermon on the Mount that Jesus was delivering to Jews, anticipating the coming of the Messiah, getting ready for the Day of the Lord and the Millennium, But beloved, these same character traits are expected and admonished for us to follow as well. Persecuted for righteousness sakes, go to 1 Peter chapter 4. 1 Peter 4, starting in verse 12, Peter writes, Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you. But to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation. If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. In other words, if people are persecuting you for being a Christian, praise the Lord, because at least you look enough like Jesus that they hate you. They hated Him, and the more you look like Him in your character and your behavior, the more they're going to hate you too. Rejoice in that. That's a good thing. Because that means you're close enough to Christ that people see Him in you, and they reject that. Verse 15, Make sure that none of you suffers as a murderer, or a thief, or an evildoer, or a troublesome meddler. But if anyone suffers as a Christian, he is not to be ashamed, but is to glorify God in His name. Verse 19, Therefore those also who suffer according to the will of God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator, in doing what is right. Salt, I had to stretch this one a little bit. Galatians chapter 4, Paul says, let your word be seasoned with salt. When you're talking to unsaved people, be gracious to them. Salt does several things. It preserves from decay, it enhances the flavor, and it creates thirst. Does the way we live our lives create a thirst for people to want to know the Lord that we're serving? If we are salt in the earth, I believe it will be doing that. The way we live our lives, when people watch us, they'll want to know, what is it about you that makes you different? We have the joy of telling them that we aren't worried about what's really going to happen in American politics this year, because we're trusting the Lord, not the President, whoever it's going to be. I hope you have that confidence in the Lord. One more. Go to Ephesians 5 with me. When we talk to people about free grace salvation versus Lordship salvation, people say, well, don't you think if a person gets truly saved, I'm not sure how you get untruly saved. I've never figured that out. Don't you think if a person gets truly saved that there will be a change in their life? I absolutely believe there will be. Look at Ephesians 5. Verse 7. Therefore do not be partakers with them, for you were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. See the change that took place? You were darkness. Not just you were in the darkness. Beloved, you were darkness through and through. That was your character. That was your nature. Darkness. Oh, but when Jesus came in, he turned on the light. You were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. That transition takes place from darkness to light, from dead to alive, from child of Satan to child of God, from being in the kingdom of Satan to being translated into the kingdom of His dear Son. All things have become new. If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature. Marvelous transformations take place the minute a person trusts Christ as their Savior. But it may not show on the surface for a while. You see, that person who accepts Christ as their Savior still has habits from their old life. It may take a while of the Holy Spirit working on that person to break. But they're radically transformed at the core of their being. Radically. You were darkness, now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light. The difference doesn't get much greater than that. Darkness and light. You were darkness, now you are light. Walk like it. Live like who you are, beloved. You are light in the Lord. Walk like children of light. Live like who you are. Go back to Philippians 2. Start with me in Philippians 2. Do all things without grumbling or disputing so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Notice that. The way we live our lives is to demonstrate to the world around us that we are children of God. Does the world have a right to expect to see something different in our lives? Absolutely they do. They have a right to expect that. And they should. Because we were darkness, now we're light in the Lord. Children of God, above reproach and amidst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory, because I did not run in vain, nor toil in vain. To the people on your job, see something different in you? Do your neighbors see something different in you? Do your unsaved relatives, family members see something different in you? They should. I believe they have a right to expect that. So blessed are those who are poor in spirit, humble, mourn, gentle, hunger and thirst for righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, persecuted for righteousness' sake, salt of the earth, light of the world. God wants believers in the church to have those same qualities. We're going to finish in five more minutes. Go back to Matthew 5. Going on in Matthew 5, starting in verse 21, Jesus corrects six false teachings. Five times you read in Matthew 5, you have heard it said, and once it was said. Six times Jesus responds, but I say, I want you to go through and underline those, take a pen, verse 22 Matthew 5 22 but I say have your translations a little different you know you'll find the correct passage underline it underline these six times verse 22 but I say verse 28 but I say verse 32 but I say verse 34 but I say verse 39 but I say verse 44 but I say Six times Jesus said, you have heard that it was said, or it was told to you. But I say, the Greek word that Jesus uses here, or that Matthew uses in recording this, is the Greek word lego. Okay, here's your English sort of lesson for the day. Greek verbs have person inherent in them. They are inflected verbs. So, Lego, all by itself, means I say. You can't use Lego if you're talking about somebody else they say. You'd have to use a different form of the word. Lego, all by itself, means I say. So, you could say, well, Jesus said, Lego, I say. But that's not all He said. Jesus added the personal pronoun, ego. That's the personal pronoun, I. And this is Jesus' way of emphasizing, you've heard it said, but I say. He's calling upon himself as an authority to be able to correct the teachings that they've heard. You've heard it said, but I say. Jesus is emphatic. making it emphatic that He is correcting and He has the authority to correct it. He has the authority to instruct them, to teach them, to correct them. You've heard it said, but I say to you. Every time you read those six verses in Matthew chapter 5, I want you to remember that. Jesus is affirming and declaring and asserting His authority to correct the false teachings they've heard. And it's true. And it's only right because He was the original Lawgiver to begin with. I believe it was God the Son who appeared and gave the Law to Moses. Pre-incarnate Son. And so Jesus has the authority to correct their false understanding, their misunderstandings of what God intended. Ten character traits. Were you giving yourself a grade as we went through? How are you doing on humble? Gentle? Pure? Pursuing righteousness? If you didn't make a list, you've got that list in your own Bible. Pray over it. If there's any area in your life that you believe, you know, I don't do so well on that one, that whole gentle thing, I find myself treating people harshly. Pray and ask God to help you with that. Because He absolutely will. Let's pray. Father, thank You so much for Your Word. We thank You, Father, for the differences as we go through Your Word and we see when God has changed the instructions for His people. But I thank You, too, Father, for the unity, for the continuity, for the character style that God wants to see in His people. Jesus wanted to see it in the Jews of his day. Paul and Peter wanted to see it in the believers in their day. Beloved, we want to see it in our day. Father, help us. May the fruit of the Spirit and the wisdom from above guide our lives. May we be encouraged by your word. Thank you, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen. May God's grace be with you.