If you would, please start with me and your Bibles to the book of Ephesians, chapter one. Our text this morning is going to be verses 11 through 12. This is on page 976. But for the sake of context, as we've done in previous passages, I want to start reading back in verse three. So that's a bit much to read, but we'll endeavor. In Ephesians chapter 1, beginning reading in verse 3, let us hear the word of God. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption to Himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us in all wisdom and insight, making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him. things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. May God bless this, the reading of his word. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you and praise you for all your grace and mercy and love. We thank you for gathering us here where we might sing your praises and rejoice in the gospel, that we might hear your word come to life as it is read to us. And Lord, as we come now to the preaching of the word, the preaching of the law and the gospel. Lord, we ask that you would enrich in us, that you would quicken us as the old Puritan said. Lord, that you would make these words effectual in our hearts, that your truths would draw us near to you, and that you would hide your servant behind the cross and make yourself known in such a way that those who are here would give praise and honor and glory to you and to you alone. For you alone, our God, are worthy of praise. These things we pray in the name of your Son, our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen. The phrase sovereign grace. has, especially for folks that have been in Reformed circles, Reformed Baptist circles, there's a lot of connotations that are attached to that. And at the same time, it's said so frequently that we can lose sight of what we're actually driving at. There's another phrase that we hear so often that we just kind of assume that it's true. It's funny how repetition will do that to us. especially when you hear it in film and television and news and everywhere and all places that old adage that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely and those two concepts are in absolute opposition to one another insofar as we can say that indeed with fallen humanity In our brokenness, in our bentness, in our sinfulness, yes, power corrupts. And we can say that in many instances, absolute power, or at least what we perceive to be absolute power, does corrupt absolutely. But sovereign grace is the most beautiful exceptions of that rule. When we examine our God, when we examine the God who created the heavens and the earth, in absolute sovereignty, and yet we examine him in terms of his grace, of his mercy, of his love. I'll admit that this sermon, as I've been preparing it through the week, took a massive turn about halfway through the week and became something I entirely didn't expect. But today we learn how and why we cast ourselves upon a sovereign and gracious God. And my prayer is that today we would each cast ourselves upon the sovereign grace of God, that that would be where our hearts are as we walk out from this place, standing in awe of what sovereign grace actually means to sinners saved by grace through faith in Christ. And we want to deal with our text in the course of three points. The first is theocentric history, or God-centered history. Second, we're going to examine what we call allotments. And then third is the application. That outline is included for you in your bulletin, as is the verse list that we're going to be progressing through this morning. So in verses three through 15, we have seen Paul laying out, so far, we've seen a great deal of Paul's examination of just this standing in awe of God. But through that set of verses, which have been described as being one sentence, which is sort of true, Greek's a little more complicated than that. But as we go through this section, Paul has been accused by many of chaotic rambling and redundancy. He says the same phrases over and over again. Some of the more gracious commentators will talk about how Paul's just kind of getting carried away with standing in awe of God. So there's a little bit of disorganized nature, but it's okay because he's just excited about what's going on. But there really is a distinct method to Paul's madness in verses three through 15. There's a pattern that is here that is very precise, and the redundancy is intentional. He wants us to see these aspects over and over again in different places. You see, Paul is showing us how our blessings drive us to praise God. That's what we saw back in verse 3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. Why do we praise God? Why do we worship and bless God? Because He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places. He is worthy of our praise, even if He has not blessed us. But those blessings drive us to appraise of our God. And God is revealing that through Paul. First, by surveying history from predestination or redemption plans. That's what we're seeing in verse 4, verses 4 through 6. And then he moves to redemption accomplished, Christ's work in his earthly ministry and especially on the cross in redemption. That's what we see in verses 7 and 8. And then we see redemption completed in verses nine through 10. So you see how there's been this arc of history. Paul's taken us from before the world was created until after the world has been folded up like a garment and changed out. He's taken us through that whole arc and he's shown us again and again the same concept. These five theocentric, God-centered qualifiers for human history. And we're going to see these again in verses 11 through 12. We see four out of those five in our passage. These qualifiers for human history, especially in terms of redemptive history. In Acts chapter four, verses 27 through 28, we see the most striking nature of God-centered view of the world. In Acts chapter 4, this is on page 912, this is a prayer that is being offered up to God. They lifted their voices together and said, And then in verse 27, For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. This is theocentric, God-centered history at its peak. The greatest injustice, the one holy, righteous, sinless man in human history is crucified, is accused, is spit upon and beaten and mocked. What we would see to be the greatest injustice in human history has been orchestrated by God in order to accomplish redemption and salvation for sinners by grace through faith. That's what we're seeing here, is God's hand in bringing about human history. And we see, again and again, in Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3-15, We see the same concepts repeated over and over. God's will is driving all things. God's purpose is driving all things. All things are working together for the praise of his glory. And all things are being worked together in Christ. Those are the four that we see in our passage. And just to kind of give you a survey of how this has run through, first we want to examine the counsel of God's will. In our passage, here in Ephesians, it says, "...in Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things together according to the counsel of His will." What an odd phrase. But this is important for us to understand. You see, God's will, we've already been told in verse five, is what predestined us unto adoption. We're told that it is what revealed the gospel to us in verse nine. And God wills to save sinners. That's what we're seeing. God wills to save sinners. That is the great revelation. of the will of God is that He wills, He desires, He chooses to save sinners. And that will is what counseled God. That's why this phrasing seems strange to us. But it says that indeed, this is the counsel of God's will. It's not the will of His counsel, meaning that He gathered together those who were in His counsel and together they determined that this was their will. It means that the will of God that is attached and woven together with perfect wisdom is what counseled God to bring about human history and to send His only begotten Son to die on the cross because His will was to save sinners. And this will is what counseled God to decree creation and history. Not angels, not men, not necessity. It was the will of God that counseled Him to all of these things. In Job, Chapter 23 and verse 13 on page 432 it says, but he is unchangeable and who can turn him back for what he desires that he does. for he will complete what he appoints for me. And many such things are in his mind." Job understood the absolute will of God. In Romans chapter 11 and verse 34, which this was read as part of a larger section earlier in the service. It says, for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? The answer is no one. Who could ever counsel God in His perfect wisdom? Only His will counsels Him to bring about human history in such a way that sinners such as we are saved. And his will is synonymous in many ways with his purpose. Going back to our passage, going back to our chapter in Ephesians chapter one, we see the way in which God's will is his purpose in verses five and nine. And in our text, it specifically speaks of the way in which our predestination unto salvation is according to his will. In Him, we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will. God's will is His purpose. And likewise, it cannot be thwarted. In Daniel chapter four, beginning in verse 34, on page 742, it says, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven. My reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High and praised and honored Him who lives forever. For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to His will. among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done? This is absolute power. This is absolute sovereignty. And indeed, all of this, in his will, and in his purpose are working together for the praise and revelation of his glory. Going back to Ephesians chapter one, in verse six, we saw it described specifically in terms of grace, to the praise of his glorious grace. This is what is being revealed. When we talk about praising God, when we talk about glorifying God, we're talking about revealing that which is already true of Him. It is turning on the lights to examine the beauty and the intricacy of our God. to display the glory that is intrinsic to Him. That is what it means to glorify God. We don't add to Him, but we reveal that which is already there. We display it. And His grace is on display in sinners saved by grace. So all of this is working together for the praise, for the revelation of His glory that has always been. And we see it especially in terms of grace. It is the grace of salvation by faith that we are seeing as the hope in Christ in verse 12, where it says, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. Indeed, in Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 1, we see that famous verse. Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. In 1 Peter chapter 1 and verse 3, this is page 1014. It says, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. So we're talking about the grace of salvation by faith. We're talking about that hope, the assurance of things hoped for that centers in Christ. because indeed, all of this is done in Christ. So we've seen three of these repeating phrases already, the counsel of God's will, we've seen God's will, we've seen God's purpose, we've seen to the praise of his glory and grace, and now we come to this repeating phrase, in Christ. Sometimes it's in Christ, sometimes it's in him, sometimes it's in the beloved, But we see this same concept repeated more than any of the others in verses 3-15. Thus far we have seen that in Christ we are blessed, in verse 3. In verse 4, in Christ we are chosen and made holy and blameless. In verse 5, in Christ we are adopted. In verse 6, in Christ we are blessed. In verse 7, in Christ we are redeemed. and we are forgiven. Verse nine, in Christ we are given the revelation of the gospel. Like we see in Hebrews 1, 2, that in these last days, he has revealed things to us in his son, Jesus Christ. And verse 10, it is in Christ we are united to angels and to the new heavens and the new earth. In verse 11, we are told that it is in Christ we are allotted. And in verse 12, we are told that it is in Christ we are given hope. Everything centers on Christ. Now in all these things, we see two things come to the forefront, do we not? We see sovereignty and we see grace. We seek sovereignty in God's will, in God's purpose, in the praise of His glory. But we're also seeing that it's to the praise of His grace. We're seeing that His will is to save sinners. We're seeing that all of this centers on and emphasizes and drives through Christ, the only begotten Son of God who came and took on flesh to accomplish salvation for sinners. We would not know the name Christ if it was not for the purposeful grace of God. So we see sovereignty and we see grace. If we were to see sovereignty without grace, it would be of no comfort to us. We would be like the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai, trembling and pleading for the voice of God to stop lest we die. That's sovereignty without grace. But if we were to see grace without sovereignty, it would be but an empty hope for us. What good is a God that can accomplish nothing but only desires to see good things for us? Yet the God who spoke heaven and earth into existence with his sheer will and purpose, wills and purposes to save sinners in Christ to the praise of his glorious grace. And now we come to the concept of allotments. Going back to Ephesians chapter one, verses 11 and 12. And this isn't really conveyed in any of the translations that I've seen. But the term that actually exists here is, in him, meaning in Christ, we have been allotted an inheritance. And there's a lot of disagreement on how this exactly functions. But we are told first, in him, in Christ, we. Now, Paul speaks first of the elect Jews. In verses 13 and 14, we're going to see him talk about an you, so that, here we are in verse 13, in him, you also, okay? So when he says in verse 11, in him, we, he's speaking of himself and the elect Jews, those who have been saved by grace out of the nation of Israel, through history, He speaks first of that because the gospel was given first to them. And this is a recurring theme in the book of Romans. In Romans chapter one and verse 16, this is on page 939, it says, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Then in chapter two, verses nine through 10, it says, there will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then in chapter 11 and verse seven, it says, what then? Israel failed to obtain what it was seeking. The elect obtained it, but the rest were hardened. So we see the gospel given first to the Jews. And that's why Paul is describing it in this way. In our text, verse 12, it says, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of His glory. And this is important for us to see because we want to understand that for those of us who are not of Jewish descent, we are grafted on. That is a humbling acknowledgement that we must make. We have been grafted onto God's people. We are the wild olive branches that have been grafted onto the vine. But Paul will include the elect Ephesians with all of these things that he is speaking of, and thereby us as well. So we'll treat the rest of what we're examining as our own, with that humble acknowledgement that we are grafted on. Now we come to this term allotment. In him, we have been allotted an inheritance. Now allotment, it's not a term that we use very much anymore. But it comes from the casting of lots, like dice. We don't really use the word lots or allotment anymore. Although when we talk about lots, a particular lot, we're talking about a piece of land that the reason we have that term is the signing of land by the casting of lots. We still have the term lottery. It comes from the same root. Paul is talking about allotment. which is a recurring concept in scripture. Now that may seem strange to you, especially given we spent the whole first section talking about God's sovereignty. God rules over everything, right? He controls human history. He has decreed human history. He is guiding all things together for the praise of his glorious grace, as well as for the good of those who love and serve him. So pastor, how can you start suddenly talking about lottery and casting dice? That's evil, right? God hates card playing and things like that. No, what we're looking at is the nature of chance in its relationship to the sovereignty of God. And I'm gonna read a handful of verses here fairly quickly. You're welcome to follow with me, but we begin in Numbers chapter 36 and verse two. Here it says, they said, the Lord commanded my Lord to give the land for an inheritance by lot to the people of Israel. And my Lord was commanded by the Lord to give an inheritance of Zelophehad, our brother to his daughters. And then it goes on from there. And it talks about the way in which the land of Canaan was assigned to tribes by the casting of lots. And first Samuel chapter 14, And verse 42. If you've heard of Urim and Thummim, it's kind of vague as to how that functions throughout the Torah, the first five books of the Bible. But in 1 Samuel, we get an idea of how the Urim and Thummim actually work, these stones of determining the will of God. In verse 40, it says, Then he said to all Israel, You shall be on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said to Saul, do what seems good to you. God is not answering Saul, according to the Urim and Thummim. And he knows that something is wrong, and so he's trying to figure out who it is that God's upset with. And so he says, all right, Jonathan and I are going to stand over here, the rest of the army is going to be over here, and we're going to cast the Urim and Thummim, and we are going to find out who it is that God is upset with. Therefore Saul said, O Lord God of Israel, why have you not answered your servant this day? If this guilt is in me or in my son, Jonathan, O Lord God of Israel, give Urim. But if this guilt is in your people, Israel, give Thummim. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, but the people escaped. Then Saul said, Cast the lot between me and my son, Jonathan. And Jonathan was taken. You see the phrase, cast the lot? It was a way of showing the will of God, because God is sovereign over chance. In Psalm 33 in verse 12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people whom he has chosen. Oh, sorry, I'm in the wrong passage. Proverbs chapter 16 in verse 33. We're going to come back to Psalms here in just a moment. But in Proverbs chapter 16 in verse 33, it says the lot is cast into the lap, but it's every decision is from the Lord. In the book of Ecclesiastes in chapter 9 in verse 11, this is page 558. Again, I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift. nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the intelligent, nor favor to those with knowledge, but time and chance happen to them all. What is he saying? He's saying that there's fate behind all of these things. That we are not masters of our own destiny. Boy, that's an offensive concept to those of us who have been raised by Hollywood, isn't it? Every movie you see in the modern world is all about, well, I don't believe in destiny. I make my own destiny. And then over the course of the movie, they prove that they make their own destiny. But throughout history, we have seen the understanding, even amongst the pagans, the understanding of faith. It's interesting. If you go through and examine Greek mythology, you see the way in which Zeus himself was unable to overturn the decision of the fates. But what do we see with God? He rules even over fate itself. He is the one who determines chance and lot and fate. This is a big theme in the book of Esther, where in the casting of the dice, the term Purim, the feast that celebrates the events of the book of Esther is named after the casting of dice, the casting of lots, which God was sovereign over. So keep that in the back of your mind. We're talking about the allotment that we have received, that we are a part of. In Him we have been allotted an inheritance. And some people have taken this as the true spiritual Israel being chosen as God's inheritance. This is true in Deuteronomy 7, verses 6 through 8, which is an important passage insofar as it points out, it really points out the nature of this concept of allotment, that it's not about merit. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number, than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all people. But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery from the hand of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. In Deuteronomy chapter 32, verses eight through nine, this is page 174, This is when the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance. When He divided mankind, He fixed the borders of the people according to the numbers of the sons of God, but the Lord's portion is his people. Jacob, his allotted heritage. We see that same concept again in Psalm 33 and verse 12, which we read by accident a few minutes ago. In Isaiah chapter 43 and verse 21 on page 604, it says, The people whom I formed for myself, that I might declare my praise. And then the same concept gets applied to the church in Titus chapter 2 verses 11 through 14. For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession, who are zealous for good works. The same concept is found again in 1 Peter chapter two, verses nine through 10. A holy nation set aside, But what Paul is focusing on is really a specific part of this. It's not really about how we have been, by the casting of lots, chosen as his people, but how we are, as that people, given an inheritance in Christ. And we saw that verse already. The way in which in Numbers chapter 36 in verse two, the inheritance was granted by the casting of lots. Now why in the world is God talking about casting lots for an inheritance, to drive home for us the same thing that He has been saying all along through His Apostle Paul? This is not by your merit. You did not earn this. You did not, God did not look forward in time and see that you would be great or glorious. but rather he chose you. As if it were by the casting of lots, God chose you according to his will, according to his purpose, to the praise of his glorious grace in Christ. That is how you were chosen. You are an allotted people and you have received an allotted inheritance. This allotted people are given their inheritance in Christ. True Israel, with us grafted on, is elected unto not only salvation, but made co-heirs of glory. And we receive this allotment, meaning that we earned it no more than the casting of dice. In the book of Acts, in chapter eight, Verses 18 through 21. This is in page 916. It says, now when Simon saw that the spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles' hands, he offered them money, saying, give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit. But Peter said to him, may your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money. You have neither part nor lot in this matter. For your heart is not right before God. Repent to the Lord that if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity. And Simon answered, pray for me to the Lord that nothing may of what you have said may come upon me. Paul says, you are showing that you are not one of God's people. If you think you can buy the Holy Spirit with money, then you are not part of the allotted people. And you do not have a lot in the inheritance. And in Romans 8, verses 14-17, we see how it works in a positive way. It says, For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption as sons by whom we cry, Abba, Father. The spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. I come back to this first time and time again in my head. Thalo heirs with Christ. We should read that and stand in awe of it. Because we see the sovereignty of God in all of his majesty and glory. Showing grace to such a degree that I, a sinner, am made a co-heir with the Son of God. I receive glory. I receive an eternity in heaven with my Savior, with God's people, rejoicing without any wants, where there is no more sorrow, where there is no more hunger, where there is no more sickness, where there is no more death. That is my inheritance. And I receive it alongside of Christ. So what is the application? of sovereign grace. The first is that we are to consider, my brothers and sisters in Christ, how grace is allotted. Consider how grace is given to you, gifted to you, how it is given freely. We are all wretched sinners. So often we get bogged down in that concept of which one of us is the best of sinners? Which one of us is more moral of a sinner than the others? Well, all of us are under the condemnation of God without Christ, so why are we concerned with that? We are all wretched sinners, and yet God has shown us love. He has chosen us from before the world began, not because of who we were, who we would be, what we would do, but because of His will, His purpose, His pleasure. He sends His Holy Spirit to apply Christ's redemption to your hearts, to testify, to love within you. We come with nothing to offer. I've joked before that if we ever redo t-shirts for the church, it really needs to have that logo on it. I bring nothing to the table. Because we don't. In terms of salvation, we bring nothing to the table. We have nothing to offer God. We have nothing to indebt God to us. We come with nothing and are made rich in eternal things. The Apostle John identifies himself in the Gospels as the one whom Christ loved. And I love that. It's not that John considered himself more beloved than the other disciples. It was because John stood in awe of the fact that Christ loved him. And that was the only thing that he wanted anybody to remember him for. The one whom Christ loved. That's who I am. My name, my title, my accomplishments, my heritage, my wealth, my whatever, none of that matters. I'm one whom Christ loves. So also can we say the same with all joy. So we consider how grace is allotted, and we must consider the cost of grace, the size of grace. For you to be shown love, God had to send His only begotten Son to suffer and die on the cross. Christ was made sin for us. He carried your every lie, your every lust, every prideful and angry thought, every idolatry. He carried to the cross. and claimed their punishment as His own. That's the cost of grace. We talk about grace in terms of unmerited favor. We talk about it in terms of it being free because it is free to us. But it was not free for Christ. It was not free for God. Survey that wondrous cross where sorrow and love flow mingled down. And third, consider grace as the opposite of what you deserve. We think of it in terms of unmerited favor. We think of it as things that we receive that we don't deserve. But in all reality, when we talk about the grace of God, we're talking about the opposite of what we deserve. That which is every way opposite. You were not left in sin as you deserve, but you were made holy and blameless. You were not cast out, but united to Christ. Instead of being cast down into hell for eternity, you will be raised up unto glory. You are not stripped of every joy and pleasure and peace. Rather, you are given peace and joy in this life as a foretaste of perfect bliss that is your inheritance in Christ. So when you have considered grace as free, yet costly, and in every way opposite to what you deserve, when you've considered all of that, and you understand it, and you comprehend it, and you lay hold of it, then go out and live Christ. in this broken and fallen world because that's what this world needs is Christ. And we must reflect Christ to this broken and fallen world. Go out and love sinners because Christ loved you. Go out and serve sinners as Christ served you. Pray for sinners as Christ prayed for you. and continues to intercede for you. Proclaim the gospel of peace to those who are embroiled in turmoil and unrest so that they too might know the grace that you have been shown. And finally, cast yourself upon the sovereignty and grace of God. especially if you do not know Him personally, if you have not known that grace, if you have not experienced it, if that is not what marks you in life, then cast yourself upon the sovereignty and grace of God. Come in repentance, acknowledging sin, confessing sin before God, and come in faith to that cross. Be humbled by grace. so that you can be exalted by it. When we think of sovereign grace, it is an intrinsically humbling thing. To know that God is sovereign, we are at his mercy, that we are unable to save ourselves, and yet God shows love to us. Thomas Watson uses a beautiful analogy wherein he says, just as when you take a bucket and lower it into a well, The further you lower down the bucket, the more water it takes on. So, too, the more we are lowered by humility, the more grace we take in. Cling to the promises of God in hope and know that the judge of heaven and earth will not only do right, but he will save sinners such as you. For that is his will, that is his purpose, that is his pleasure. Let's come before the Lord in prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you and praise you for all your grace, mercy, and love, for your sovereign grace. And Lord, we ask that if there are any here who do not know you, Lord, please show them their need for your sovereign grace. Show them the cross and grant them true repentance and faith. Lord, we pray this also for the children that are here, Lord, that you would show them their need for Christ, that you would draw them to you from a young age. Lord, we pray this for our loved ones, our family and our friends. coworkers and neighbors who do not know you, Lord, please show them grace and use us as instruments in your hand to glorify your name and to save sinners. We ask you to draw others in, to bring them here, to hear the gospel proclaimed. Give them a heart to hear the gospel. These things we pray in the name of your son, our beloved savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.