Please turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter 14. Nearly 2,000 years later, dear friends, we are able amazingly to listen to the great incarnate God, Jesus Christ, speaking to his disciples. So if you wanted to hear, what did Jesus Christ say? Well, here it is. You're hearing it. You're seeing it. Now the Lord Jesus Christ in this portion that we've been thinking about this past few weeks, the Lord Jesus Christ has now stopped speaking to the world, to the unbelievers. He has now dismissed Judas. He said, go and do whatever you want to do quickly. Judas Iscariot who was to betray him and now he spends his time comforting his disciples. They are in the upper room together. for a few more minutes before they will go down into the streets of Jerusalem and before they will, the Lord Jesus Christ would go to Gethsemane. And there before he goes into Gethsemane, he will pray this wonderful prayer to which we, I don't know when, but we will come to in chapter 17 of this great high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ before his arrest and before his trial and crucifixion. So we come to chapter 14 verses 1 through to 11. Many writers have called this Jesus' farewell discourse. Well, it's not strictly a discourse. A discourse is where one person stands up and everybody else is listening. But the Lord Jesus Christ is at the table. Now the table is not long and people sitting in a row. That's an idolatrous view of Michelangelo who drew those pictures and he got it out of his own brain, not out of a scripture. So don't get too worked up about, you know, desecration of Michelangelo's picture of the Last Supper. That was unbiblical for him to draw that picture anyway. We must move on. They were sitting, looking to each other. The Lord Jesus Christ is speaking to them. And it is not a discourse. That's why they're able to interact with him, talk to him. They're making comments or asking questions, those kinds of things. And that's what we have seen in the previous chapter. So Thomas comes in with a comment, with a question. Philip asks a question and so on. And the Lord Jesus Christ speaks to them. And then at the end, there is also Judas, not Judas who betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ, another Judas who will also speak. So it's what is called a table talk. The Lord Jesus is at the table. He gives great freedom to His disciples to speak to Him as He speaks to them. So, look at these 11 verses and there are 4 things that I want to say to you this evening from this passage. And it is about the All-Sufficient Savior. So if you want the title for this message, it is Jesus Christ, the All-Sufficient Savior. Now, the first thing that you ought to note is the Lord is speaking here about a great danger. What we see here is a great danger, a real danger. And the Lord speaks about this. Look at the verse one. He says, let not your heart be troubled. Now, Lord Jesus Christ can see it's happening to them. They have been looking at each other to find out who is going to betray him. And I often wonder if we were there, what would we see in their faces? Would we see their faces change? Would we be able to detect by looking at their faces that they have troubled hearts? You know, when someone is troubled, oftentimes their faces show us that they are troubled. We don't know what their faces were like. The Bible doesn't comment on it. But we all do know, don't we, that often a face which does not look troubled hides a very troubled heart. We are good at masking things. Facial expressions do not always tell others what's going on inside us. But this is the Lord of glory who is talking here. And the scripture tells us that he looks right down into our hearts. And even tonight, God is looking down. He sees what's going on in your heart. He sees what's been going on in your heart in the past week, past month, past year, what you've been going through. He sees it. He knows what we consciously think, but he sees deeper than that. Our Lord Jesus Christ looks right down deep into our character, right down into the very hidden springs and motives. There is nothing hidden from him, the Bible says. It's all naked and open to him. These people have sorrows. And you perhaps have come now this evening with sorrows. He sees them. He sees you. Some people are bleeding inside. It's not hidden from him. He sees that here as well. Let not your heart be troubled. He sees not only our troubles, but also how we react to our troubles. These disciples were very troubled, weren't they? If you think about it, they were troubled because the Lord Jesus Christ was going to be betrayed. But they were almost all terribly troubled because one of them is going to betray him. It's not somebody from outside, it's someone from inside who is doing this, and that's more troubling, isn't it? That's a terrible trouble. They're troubled because he's told them he's going to leave them as well. Not just be betrayed, but he's going to leave them. You think about this. And he's going to leave them by way of sufferings. He's going to leave them. They've been with him for three and a half years. Can you think of the disappointment? The disappointment of Christ leaving them. They've never seen anything except perfection. They've never seen anything except holiness in his life. And now he's going to leave them. Why would you leave them? Can you imagine how abandoned they're beginning to feel already? And the Lord sees it. Their hearts are troubled. The Lord of glory has been with us. Now he's telling us that he will leave us. And then our Lord Jesus Christ just told Peter that he's going to deny him this very night, not once, not twice, but three times, thrice, he says. Now, if I was to ask you to put your hand up, don't do it. But if I was to ask you, who is the strongest Christian here? not with your physical strength, but spiritual strength. Who is it going to be? And so you calculate, well, not this one, not this one, but this one is a strong Christian, mature Christian. Think about it. Who is the strongest Christian in this church? If you then knew that the strongest Christian in this congregation was going to deny Jesus Christ three times before the day is out, your heart would be troubled too. Because if he is going to do it, what hope would there be for me, for you? So they're all troubled. And the Lord Jesus Christ says to them, don't be indifferent to these events, but don't let them put your heart into waves. You see, in the old Greek world, there were people who were called Stoics, Stoics. Some British people, they are quite good at being Stoics too. That's where we get the term, the stiff upper lip. So, you see that philosophy used to say that you shouldn't really not have much emotions. So you see a picture from old times, especially, no one's smiling. They're just not showing any emotions at all. You shouldn't have any sadness, you shouldn't have any joy. You see, these emotions are weaknesses. Don't be weak, be stoic. You shouldn't be moved by anything. And it's the only way to keep sane, they would say. And it's amazing if you actually listen to some gurus of today, they are promoting these things too. But we are not taught that anywhere in the Bible. The Lord Jesus Christ, the manliest of men, he wept over the sorrows of others. He wept over his own sorrows. But we are not to have hearts which are all knotted up. Hearts which are totally divided and in turmoil, as it were. We are not to have troubled hearts. We don't know where to put ourselves. We are not to lose our peace despite the reality and depth of our emotion. There are not to be storms inside. However great the storms are, your heart is not to be affected, says the Lord Jesus Christ. And so there is this real danger that it will be troubled. It will be troubled. Are you troubled to a point that you are losing your heart, you're losing your mind? You say to yourself, I can't continue. That's it, finished, I'm done. And you have reached a point, it's a dead end and you don't know what to do. You're all filled with trouble. It's a real thing, it's a real danger. Let not your heart be troubled. So that's how he starts this passage. By speaking to them of that real danger. God deliver us from indifference. Either to our own troubles or to other troubles. Other people's troubles. God may deliver us also from that loss of peace, which is the characteristic of this world. My friends, this world is not a peaceful world. You can throw money at it, it's not peaceful. You can throw relationships at it, it's not peaceful. You can do whatever you want with it, it's not peaceful if it doesn't have Christ. There is no peace for this wicked world. And so you can try to fix it somehow. You are not able to put peace in this world. So there is a danger. Second thing is this. The second thing is avoiding the danger. So look at verses one through to four. The second thing happens. The Lord Jesus Christ speaks to them and to us about avoiding that danger. And this is surely one of the most precious passages of the Word of God. I preached on this many times. And I thought to myself, well, what fresh things can be brought out of this passage? This is so precious. Again and again, Christians go to this passage at times of bereavement. Again and again, you hear this passage read at funerals and with good reason because there is that danger of losing your peace and having a storm inside and become so discouraged. So it is good to hear the promises of God and the words of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord Jesus Christ is telling us now how to avoid that danger. So look up, he says, look up. Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God. Believe also in me, he says. Look up. And that, by the way, is the right translation. Some of the modern translations put it in a question form. It's not in a question form. It's a statement that is being made here. The Lord Jesus Christ is saying, you believe in God. You believe that there's a God, don't you? You believe that there is a creator. There is a God who rules everything. You know that. You know you're not in control. You believe that there is a God in whose hands you are? You believe that there is a God who is good? You believe that there is a God who is powerful, is pure, holy, is wise, is just? You know that things are not happening by accident? In your heart of hearts, you know that. You believe that there is a God who loves, don't you? Yes, someone says, yes, I believe that. I believe there is a God who rules, but how can I know? How can I know that He rules with me in mind? I believe that there is a God who loves, but how can I know that He's working all things out, out of love for me? I believe that there is a God who is wise, but how do I know He's dealing with me wisely? because things are not working out the way I want it to work out. If I was to do it my way, I would do it a different way. Yes, I believe that there is a God who is all powerful, but how do I know that his power is going to work for me in my situation, in my circumstances, in my troubles? You believe in God, the Lord Jesus says. Believe also in me. When our faith is in Jesus Christ, we are in covenant with God. We have this bond, this relationship. We have now been cemented, if we could say this, to God. It's unbreakable. You cannot chisel it out. You cannot break it up, this covenant with God, if you are in Jesus Christ. This is why it is so important for you and I to know Jesus Christ really, genuinely. God is over all things, but he's over all things for his people, his church. God rules the world, but he rules it for the benefit of those who are in Christ. Yes, God loves. The proof of that, that he loves me is that I am in Christ. And everything that happens is an expression of the love of God to me if I am in Christ or else it will be empty. It will be passing pleasure, passing peace. So if I believe in God, I am to believe in Christ. It's not a vague idea. It's not just saying, well, I have faith. I believe in God. Well, the devil believes in God as well. Are you a devil? Are you any better than that? No, but he is not in Christ. That's why you need to be in Christ, dear friends. And when my faith is in the Lord Jesus Christ, I may then know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose, his purpose, of course, in Christ. So he's saying, he believe in God, believe also in me. Put your faith in me, says the Lord Jesus. And then you may have this heart, which is without a storm inside it. Now we must remember, dear friends, Christian friends here, that when the storm came, the boat in which Jesus Christ was found, if you remember that account, When there is the storm in the Sea of Galilee, the Lord Jesus Christ is on the boat, the disciples are in the boat. The Lord Jesus didn't escape the storm. The disciples didn't escape the storm. The waves were real. The storm was real. The waves came into the boat. They thought they were going to be drowned. We must never expect that we must escape storms. And the Lord Jesus Christ himself will say in these farewell words, in the world, you shall have tribulation. You are going to have it. You don't have to wait for a time of tribulation. You will have tribulation in this world. He will talk to them about persecution and trouble. The fact that you are a Christian does not mean you will escape difficulties and awful pains. My friends, let me tell you this. In this country, unless the Lord visits us, persecutions are coming. It's coming. You cannot escape it. You cannot hide yourself away from it. We must stand with Christ. But if you're in Christ, know that all is part of a loving purpose. And you may be delivered from the inward storm. The inward storm waves which would threaten to sink you, engulf you, and wreck you. So you've got to look to the Lord. We have got to look up. We've got to believe in God and believe in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And we've got to look forward. Look at verse 2. Verses 2 to 4, I should say, in my Father's house are many mansions. This is what you are looking forward to. If it were not so, I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that where I am there, you may be also. And whether I go, you know, and the way you know." The old Puritan said, this is the remedy for all trouble. This is the remedy for all trouble. And it is, you know, You're only passing through this world. The world is trying to set its roots, do all the things to build itself up. But the Christian is in a tent, lives in a tent. They're just moving through this world. Thank God for that. Our home is somewhere else. And I come to this point often in my life where I think that Christians don't believe in heaven anymore. Do you really believe in heaven? Is your life moving forward towards heaven? Your thoughts, are they in heaven? But it seems that Christians don't believe in heaven anymore. They like the idea. It's very rare to hear Christians talk about heaven these days. But that home, our home is elsewhere, dear friends. It's our father's home. And we are the children of the family of God by grace. That's our home. That's where we are going. Now that home is very large. And it's that home that there are many mansions. Vast, vast places, vast rooms are many mansions. These are the places that we will be dwelling. You can look at the Greek word, it is very interesting. It's durable. The mansion is durable. Our father's home is not a tent, which is less than permanent. It's a house, it's a mansion. And when we go there, we don't come out again. We don't want to come out again. It's a place where we stay forever. So that word mansion is a word for large, separate apartments, as it were. For each member of the family, there's a separate room in heaven. There are countless numbers of rooms. Rooms, of course, have names on them. And the Lord Jesus Christ is preparing all the mansions, these dwelling places for his people. Do you think that he would prepare a room if they weren't going to be lived in? Do you think that he would put the names on the doors if the person whose name was on the door wasn't going to get there and live there forever? Do you think heaven is less than a reality? Are you going there? And if you are going there, are you looking forward to it? So the Lord Jesus Christ is speaking here about these things. If there wasn't a heaven, He's saying, I wouldn't have told you. If there were no mansions, I would have told you. I wouldn't have let you live under this illusion. And if there wasn't these mansions, these great vast spaces for you to live in, I would have told you about this. And if there wasn't a particular place with your name on it, many mansions, a particular place for you. I would have told you. I don't deceive you. But because it is true, I haven't been saying anything to the contrary. Dear friends, we can put up with the troubles of life because we are of heaven. You can walk into a dark, dark tunnel and be very frightened there. If you can see the daylight at the other end of the tunnel, that's what the Lord Jesus Christ is saying. There's light at the end. There's light. This world is a dark tunnel, but there's light at the end of it for the Christian. Oh, but there is outer darkness for the non-Christian. Now he says, are you grieved about my going away? Look at verses two to four. Don't be grieved about my going away. Look what I'm doing, look what I'm going. If I am going away, I'm going to prepare a place for you. And he's looking at his disciples and says, I'm going to prepare a place for you and you and you and you. And then if I'm preparing a place for you, I will come again. I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may be also, he says. So where I'm going, you're going to follow me. Not immediately, as he just said in the last chapter, but you're going to follow and you're certainly going to arrive in heaven. And you know more about this than you think. It says in verse 4, And whither I go, the place to which I am going, ye know, he says, and the way ye know. You know more than what you think. So the mansion is there, the house is there, and you know which one it is. The description is given to you. The address is given to you. You know which road it is on. I use these expressions. Sometimes it is that you go to a certain place. I remember going on holiday one time and this elder said, come to our house after supper. You come down this way and you'll know which house it is. He didn't explain which house it was. He said, you know which one it is. And we're supposed to know. So we weren't wondering. And then we found it. We knew when we saw it. Yes, that's the house. He was talking about it, that's the house. But we are puzzled about it. The Lord is speaking like that. And this is how we avoid the danger. Now some of you are tremendously buffeted in your lives. Are you in Christ? Your life seems to be, you're a punch bag. This one thing after another. You come out of one situation, one illness, one trouble, one job situation, one family difficulty, and then you fall into another one. Are you in Christ? The question isn't, what will God do to take away the buffeting, the suffering? He never promises that. Are you in Christ? Do you belong to Christ? Do you have a personal interest in God because you are in Christ? Do you understand that the buffetings are inevitable in this fallen world? People think, I shouldn't experience these things. I'm a Christian. I've done nobody harm, but they don't realize they're living in a house full of mousetraps. Have you ever lived in a house like that? And there's mouse traps everywhere. And you can be the most, I don't know, whatever person you might be, the most flexible person. You are going to put your toe in one of those traps, if there are all these traps everywhere. And then people say, well, but I'm so flexible. I can jump, I can walk, I can see. But then you're hit. People treat God like that. People treat this world like that. This is not our home. This is the enemy's world, enemy's home. It's under the curse of God. There are troubles on every hand. And these things are inevitable because it's also part of the Christian's training. It is causing us to become more and more longing for heaven. If you didn't suffer anything, you wouldn't long for it. Long for something better. And one day this training will be over. And then you will be home. One day. In God's way, God's plan, God's timing. When God's work is done with you, Christian, that's it, finished. You fly away. You go. By whatever means that God uses in your life. And then you'll arrive home. One day this pilgrimage will be over. And then you'll arrive safe. And what will take you home is ultimately the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. When your body and soul joins together. When he comes to take you to himself, that where he is, there you may be also. You can go through life, you can go through the next few days, and he says to his disciples, and you can go through the years ahead, and some of you go through martyrdom with these great assurances in your life. Then the third thing is a contradiction, a contradiction. Here is now Thomas comes with a question. So the Lord Jesus Christ has spoken about the real danger. He's spoken about the avoiding of that danger. But now comes verses 5, 6, and 7. Because Thomas interrupts the conversation respectfully, but it's a contradiction. Look at verse 5. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest, and how can we know the way? He says, poor Thomas. You see the disciples were still very earthbound in their thinking. It was good that he asked these questions. If he didn't ask these questions, we wouldn't have the verses that comes after it. So it's good to ask questions. Some things, certain nuggets come out. Great gold comes out of these things. Because people ask questions. And you might say your question is a stupid question. But you don't know the answers from the word of God and what the Lord will say. You see, the disciples were still earthbound in their thinking. They knew that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Messiah. They already knew that. That was revealed to them. But they still had these very earthbound ideas about his kingdom and Israel and all of these kinds of things. To which city was the Lord Jesus Christ going to come and set up his kingdom over Israel? And to which would be his capital city when he chased away the Romans Where was Jesus going to go? And what is Jerusalem? What is Nazareth? Was it going to be Capernaum? Where was it going to be? His headquarters. And if we didn't know where he was going, how could we know the way? Poor Thomas. The Lord Jesus never came to establish that sort of a kingdom, dear friends. heaven and the things that happened to him and his cross wasn't plan B. Some Christians would say, well, God's plan was one thing, but then it didn't work out and then he went into plan B. That's wrong. He's already made it perfectly plain and he was going to say it again. My kingdom is not of this world, else my servants would fight for me, he said. He said it soon after this, to Pilate. The Lord Jesus Christ gives him, gives Thomas a full answer in verse six and seven. But nonetheless, Jesus makes good, verse four. What does it say? And where I go, ye know, and the way ye know. Where I go, you know. and the way you know. Now what was the Lord Jesus' answer to Thomas' question? It's verse 6. Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. So Thomas, you know me, don't you? I am the way. And he is, dear friends. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way. Who else is there who is fully God and fully man in one person? So there is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. And by definition, there can be no other way to God because there is nobody, nobody else who is God and man in one person. The Lord Jesus Christ is the way to God. Who else has made a perfect and sufficient final oblation and sacrifice for our sins. Only the Lord Jesus Christ has done that. My friends, you are not going to find a savior in anybody else except in the Lord Jesus. His infinite person could bear an infinite punishment in a moment. And he did. So it's by his person and by his work. And who else has risen from the dead to be an ever living savior? Are you convinced of the historical accuracy and truth of the resurrection? Who else has risen from the dead in the power of an endless life? Who else went into, as it were, the river and came out of the other side alive? He did that on that Lord's Day morning. He came out the other side, never to die again. Now who else is there but the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the only way to God and he is the truth. These Jews, these poor disciples have been living in the world of shadow and sacrifice and priesthood and ceremony and rituals and rites and all of these things. But now he is the substance. It's Jesus Christ, the real thing. They were surrounded with errors, errors of the Pharisees and Sadducees, but Jesus Christ is the truth. They were surrounded with liars. They were false Christs, but he is the truth. Who else can give them a spiritual life? The Lord Jesus Christ gives spiritual life, eternal life, because he is life and he gives himself. He's making it so clear, dear friends, and yet, I'm sorry to say, Even some professing Christians even haven't understood these things yet. Let's think about the word way. What is the beginning of the Christian life? This is why I'm talking about some Christians haven't understood what Jesus Christ is talking about here. What's the beginning of the Christian life? It's Christ. What is the middle of the Christian life? John Calvin. reformers and the Puritans and getting your theology right. Is that what it is? No. The middle of the Christian life is Jesus Christ. What about when you're dying at the end of your Christian life? What is that? At the end, you're dying. You're so weak. Your life is coming out of you. It's Christ. It's always the way. He is always the way. Let's think about the word truth. Who is the one who will stop me going off the path because he himself is the guide? It's Jesus Christ. And where can I get my energy, my life from the walk that in terms of following the guide? The Lord Jesus Christ is the life. The Christian life is Jesus Christ. Yes, we talk about the Bible reading, we talk about church attendance, and we talk about all of these kinds of things, they're all good things, but those things are not Christ. They're not the Christian life, in one sense we could say. They're the means of grace by which we meet Christ. You can't do without it, but you can't substitute it and say, well, I've done these things, tick the boxes, and that's it. No, no, it's through these things. It's like your spoon. You don't eat the spoon, do you? So the spoon feeds you. The food brings the food to your mouth. That's what it is. All of these things are means of grace. It's just, if I could use these illustrations, I'm not trying to be disrespectful, but they are bringing the bread of life to your mouth. Jesus Christ to your mouth. It is through these things that you come to know Christ. How can I be a strong Christian? Someone says, well, read the Bible. What was the point of reading the Bible if in the pages you don't see the Lord? Then you need to pray. But what's the point of praying? What's the use of saying prayers if you don't have dealings with God through the Lord Jesus Christ? The whole Christian life difference is Christ. There is no other way. So there's the way. But what's the destination? Well, it's verse 6. I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. The Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to bring us to the Father, in the presence of the Father, to heaven itself. He came into this world to bring us to the knowledge of God, to know God. This is eternal life that they might know thee. the only true God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. That's what he said. He brings the knowledge of God to us. We are saved to know God. Eternal life is the life of God. It's not something separate from God. It's something which, so, it's only God that we must know. It's knowing God in your life. The destination is the Father. Heaven is nothing in and of itself. It's because it's the dwelling place of God that is heaven. That's what makes heaven heaven. Because the Lord is there. The Lord is there. And it's because we will be with God that makes it heaven. If it says in verse seven, if he had known me, if he had known me is the only way we can make this clear in our understanding. If you had really known me, you would have really known my father also. And from now on, you, you know him and I've seen him. What is the Lord Jesus Christ talking about? And from henceforth ye know him and have seen him. What does that mean? Have you ever met someone and you think to yourself, well, I know this person quite well, I've known him for quite some time and then suddenly, You discover something. This person has studied this and that and the other thing. You find out certain things about this person. But you've known this person for years and then suddenly you find out these new things about this person. And that changes your view of them. You've known him and yet you haven't known him. I know that's a very poor example. But they had known Christ and yet they hadn't known him. But now they did. And through him they see the Father. So the Lord Jesus Christ has spoken about the real danger, avoiding that danger. And he has answered this Thomas's question. And then there is this comment on sufficiency. Friends, I think I'm going to stop here because we've spent much time on this right now. And by the grace of God, we will have another time. But I don't want to belabor the points here. But my friends, I've said enough to show you what our Lord is speaking of here, what the issues are. Your heart is troubled. What should I do? What can I do right now? Without my troubled heart, I need the Lord Jesus Christ. You have looked too much to your troubles. You've looked too much to people. You've looked too much to your circumstances. You've looked too much by the things that are going on, the storms around you. And you haven't realized actually the Lord is there in your boat. And you have worried so much about all of these things, but you've forgotten that the Lord is there. The Lord is there and you're chasing after this and chasing after that. And some of the younger Christian, full of zeal, you want to grow in the things of God and you want to be full and you want to tell everybody about the things of God. What should you be concentrating on in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing Him? Do you know him? Can you actually explain to someone who is Jesus Christ? And not only who is Jesus Christ, what is your relationship to him? What has he done in your life? How has he transformed your soul, your work? Why do you love him? Do you love him? These are the things you ought to be thinking about, dear friends. And as you think about Jesus Christ, as he says, he believe in God, believe also in me. Then what will happen to your troubles? He has it. He has all your troubles. It doesn't mean that you won't be affected by the troubles. It doesn't mean that you won't face the consequences of your troubles. It won't mean that you will not have the pains and the illnesses and the sicknesses and maybe dying from those troubles. But it means you won't be troubled within you. The troubles will be around you, but not within you. So you should be more concerned, if I use another illustration, of not what's the little puddle of water in your boat. You ought to be concerned about the ocean coming into your boat. You ought to be concerned what's coming in. Make sure the Lord Jesus Christ is there. Make sure you are concerned about knowing Him more than anything else. And you're studying of the word of God, you're praying, whatever you might do, whatever book you might study, your relationships with one another would be something that would honor our Lord Jesus Christ. So let us bow in prayer. Oh Lord our God, we thank you for thy word and the truths of it. We pray that thou will write what we have heard on our hearts, and that we might know the Lord Jesus Christ more and more, especially those here who these things are very new to them. They do not even understand half of it. Lord, speak to their hearts. For those who are ignorant of the Lord Jesus Christ, O Lord, have mercy upon their soul. And we pray that as Christians, we might realize that our life is bound up in Christ, that our heaven is bound up in Christ. Even Christ is our heaven. So Lord, bless all that has been said and the truth applied to our hearts for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.