First John 3:11-12 Love one another

All right, so let's begin today to read from verse 10, which Andrew finished with last week, down through, I think, up to verse 18, I think. So I'm reading from the A.V. version. In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother. For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that ye should love one another. That begins today's two verses. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death. And whosoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's goods, and sees his brother having need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue, but in deed. and in truth.

All right, so to summarize poorly, I'm sure, what Andrew taught last week, the handout, as usual, was great. So thank you very much, Andrew, to take an opportunity to look at that when I got home from Elizabeth's last weekend. So in kind of bullet form, to summarize what the verses 7 through 10 have said, it said, he who practices righteousness is righteous, and whosoever has been born of God does not sin. And this is summarized very simply.

And this is the exchange life. Remember, we talked about gradients of Sanji. If I had a bad thought or there's something I should have done that I didn't do. I mean, if you know, do we do that six times a week or do we? I mean, that's not where we're at here. We're talking about two types of lives.

And the life we have in Christ Jesus is a life that does righteousness. So how does that righteousness shows up? It shows up by faith. We need to have faith that the Spirit works through the Son of God in each and every one of us to do righteous as he has called us to be righteous and do righteous. Okay, he who sins is of the devil and Christ came to destroy the works of the devil. And ultimately, once and for all, and there are a couple of verses that look at already that way that the Lord Jesus Christ works through powers and principalities, the Colossian verse.

And in Hebrews 2, 14 and 15, some of my favorite verses. Somebody pull this up this morning and read those for us. Hebrews 2, 14 and 15. I think this is something we often forget as believers. So whoever gets that first, please read. Therefore, since Okay, read loud, do you have your mic on? Yeah, I do now. Okay, good.

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. So what does verse 14 say about Satan's power? And none who ever did. So do we experience that? We don't, do we?

But positionally, it's a done deal. And that's why we study prophecy and scripture. And in Mike's study on Tuesday, Wayne's part of that, in Revelation, we're seeing how this is all played out. I mean, Satan has already been done away with positionally for each and every one of us. So, again, this is a once-and-for-all thing. We just don't experience that here because we're still in these earthly bodies. And we see the power of the world system and the power of the sin nature operating in each and every one of us.

But yet, positionally, is really where we need to be. Roger, you had a thought? Actually, the word is that word from Romans 6. It's actually rendered inoperative, rendered powerless. Satan still has power, but in terms of the believer, he's been rendered inoperable.

That's the key point. Absolutely. And then finally, our position is secure. And in our condition, we're called to practice righteousness. All right, let's look at the two verses. I combined them here because there's a theme that continues through both verses.

So reading now from the New King James, my favorite text to look at. So this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. not as Cain who was the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his words were evil and his brothers were righteous.

All right, let's drill down and look at this in terms of the content that we have before us. All right, one of the most difficult things I found with one arm is turning pages. Anyway, I was successful and able to do that. All right, the message here is in kind of a form of an announcement, isn't it? I mean, for this is the message that you heard from the beginning. I'm announcing this. This is the platform we're standing on here.

And that makes me think of 1 John 1.5. This is the message which we've heard from him and declare to you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. So what beginning I've got a bunch of funny animations today, so you've got to put up with me.

What beginning? We've discussed this before, haven't we? And let's turn back to the first verse of 1 John 1. That which was from the beginning, which we've heard, and which we've seen with our eyes, and which we've looked upon, and our hands have handled concerning the word of life. Doesn't verse 12 clearly indicate what beginning? What beginning are we talking about? Are we talking about the creation of the heavens and the earth? No, we're talking about what we've seen and what we've heard and what we've touched.

This is the gospel message that John has personally experienced, and he's now relating this to each and every one of us. And it really is exemplified also in the epistle of John, in terms of what the Lord Jesus Christ said. But these things have I told you that when the time shall come, we may remember what I told you of them and these things that I said not unto you at the beginning because I was with you. So anyway, these are the things that Christ himself said. John was a witness of that and we heard him. John heard him and he's telling the people who are reading this epistle that he heard him, he saw him, he touched him. So this is the beginning, the beginning of the gospel and it's true for each and every one believer. And remember, what's John calling us to in this epistle?

One word, fellowship. Thank you. It's a constant reminder and this fellowship relates to our condition of doing righteous as we are called righteous. Now, that we should love one another. I always love this one. If you think about I remember my unsaved days as a college student in medical school and all that kind of thing. People would quote this and I'm going to say the same thing to myself then as I'm going to say to you right now. Let's look at this. The mood of the verb should have agapeo is subjunctive and it's not a command.

So then how should we interpret this? Does that mean that if and when it's possible we should love one another? Is that what we should do here? How are you doing at this? I mean, there's really, you know, if you go to Weiss, he says the process is habitually loving one another. So that's not the subjunctive mood to some extent, but if and when it's possible to do that. He thinks it's habitually doing this. Well, that's what we're called to, isn't it, in Christ Jesus. So there's only one way that this happens, isn't it? So what's this look like, by the way? How are we doing at this? And I would trust that we're not doing so well much of the time. So what's the answer to this? There's one section of scripture or a verse or two that I'm going to turn to. I don't know if it's the one you're turning to, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit in this, isn't it? All right, yes, and in what nature is that, Roy? Well, that's His production, that's what He produces.

We love one another of the same kind, because He is in us. All right, there's only one way that this happens, and I always turn to this in terms of, are we loving one another enough? said, a new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you. Right. That you also must love one another in that same manner.

How are you doing at that? We're not doing very well. The flesh can't come up with this kind of love. So, you know, we're not going to necessarily give examples of what this looks like, because that's the way we're judgmental in terms of does it look like this, does it look like that. It's kind of like doing righteous things, doing unrighteous things. We're not going to, you know, put a metric to this performance.

But the love for one another is unconditional, even for the most heinous sinner that crosses our path. I mean, there was a movie we told to watch last night and we turned it on. I just couldn't take it anymore. The language is incredible. That doesn't make it a good or bad movie. I just couldn't listen to this anymore.

So let's go to midsummer night's murders. Watching murders is fun. It's a whole different. By the way, you know, every time you watch Midsummer's Murders, is that where it is? Midsummer, every time you watch that, there's three or four, that's a small town. I think the corner must be very, very busy. Anyway, all that aside, I think, you know, the atmosphere that surrounds us.

And the idea of being righteous isn't being approved. It's really what's consistent with who we are in Christ Jesus and what we're comfortable with. But this love for one another is something we can't come up with in the flesh. Other thoughts about that? My opinion is the Holy Spirit using the new that we are in Christ, the new creation, which falls in line with what we've already talked about.

The new nature does not sin. And the new nature only loves one another of the same kind for who they are as a new creation in Christ. It's a life, isn't it, Roy? Yeah, but but the only the new nature can look at people and see Christ. That's right. And it gives you an ability to see what yourself look like at Calvary. Right. Yeah. I keep reflecting on Paul, who near the end of his earthly said, I'm the greatest among all sinners. To think of Paul, he's calling himself the greatest. How's that for humility? That's the humility we must carry in our earthly bodies.

The fact that Christ's love for us is so incredibly unconditional. If you read The Hungry Heart today, it's great, just in terms of disregard. Yes, somebody has something to share. Yeah, I just thought we had Rudy and Jenny Gates and daughter here this past week. And there are a lot of things that rough edges that have come out in the past so that we don't as a church support them. But man, can we love them because they're new creations in Christ. Yes. And we just had a wonderful time together. It's not a lie, is it? No. Yes.

And we can end with that verse simply indicating what I finish with the next page. And you are my disciples, parenthesis, if you love one another. So he's talking to the disciples here who did not know the new life yet they have in Christ Jesus. But yet this is what he's calling each and every one of us to, loving one another as he loved us.

It's tough, but don't do it for flesh. It's impossible to do it. Yes, Jeff. One of the things that is really neat here is he's not saying, like, you love yourself anymore. That's the old law. He's saying, like, I love you. Good point, Roy. Jim's got a comment here. Go ahead, Jim. You got your mic on? Yeah. OK, good.

When Jesus gave them that commandment, this was after Judas left. So he was speaking to all the 11 disciples who were believers. Okay, good point. Judas, I don't believe, was a believer. So he was talking to believers. This command was given only to believers and can be fulfilled or not fulfilled only by a born-again person. What do you do in a mainline church where they share these verses? You got to love one another as he loved you.

How do people deal with this? I mean I was under that type of teaching for decades. I don't think they share those. Yeah and you go to bed depressed each night. I didn't love enough today. I mean that's the platform of grace we live on. and live in. I mean, it's just so different. You can't do it in the flesh. You can't.

And you know, I said something at a Bible study maybe three decades ago that's really bothered somebody. I said, I don't have to like everybody. I just have to love them. And he said, oh, yeah, he really got bent out of shape. Remember that, honey. I will not mention names for sure.

But anyway, the scriptures continue here. First Thessalonians 4 and 9. But concerning brotherly love, You have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another. And how is that teaching happening? It's by the Holy Spirit. It really is, and Roy brought that up. It's the Holy Spirit that inactivates the new life and leads it to a life of righteousness.

Peter also dealt with this in 1 Peter 1.22, since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit. By the way, what's obeying the truth? What's the obedience to? Is it the law? No, it's through our faith. Okay. Obedience to the truth through the Spirit and sincere love of the brethren. Love one another fervently with a pure heart. Okay.

So I think this is not just something that the Lord Jesus Christ stated to the disciples other than Judas and ultimately has been furthered now through the epistle of John. It's really exemplified throughout scripture and I just gave you a couple of verses. Other thoughts?

We need to be uplifted in this love for one another. We see ourselves positionally in him, so that translates conditionally to our life day in and day out. Bob, it also occurs to me that it should drive us more and more to I don't like the word tight fellowship, but a focused fellowship on our Savior, because we realize we cannot do it in the flesh, so we realize that if we're going to do this, we have to be in fellowship with our Savior, walking in fellowship moment by moment. Well, that's Christianity. The name of our faith is Christ-anity, right? So it's all about Christ. It's all about Him. All right, now let's turn to a second part of this text.

It's kind of a fun one to kind of, not fun, that's not the right term, but it's an interesting one to drill down on. Not as Cain, who was of the Wicked One, we'll keep that in mind now, who was of the Wicked One, and murdered his brother. Hmm. So the term for Wicked One is Poniaros. which is evil and active opposition to good. Now, Weist had a nice thing to say here, this really helped me a little bit. A cacos, or evil man, is willing to perish in his own corruption. But a poneros, pernicious person, seeks to drag everyone else down with themselves into the corruption and destruction that awaits him. It's all about Satan and his goals.

But don't we see that as a characteristic of the world? You're reading the handout and you don't even have a copy of the handout. Roger and I, I'm not going to make any conclusions of this, but you can make your own conclusions. The world system today is, I mean, just think of the political nature of this country. Anyway, we don't need to go there, but all this aside, This, in fact, is not only evil in its own right, but this is evil attempting to bring people with it.

It is really, I think, representing in part the world system. Now keep in mind the world system is also filled of self-righteousness too. We need to ultimately be able to sometimes judge that, you know, self-righteousness versus world system trying to drag us down. But we're going to come back to self-righteousness in a second because I think it relates very much to the text we're looking at.

So, does this imply that Cain had no choice? Not as Cain, who was of the wicked one, and murdered his brother. What are your thoughts here? Well, in verse 10, which I think Andrew stopped a little short on verse 10 last week, but anyway, I thought it really pertained really nicely here. In this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. Whosoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. So I think was ultimately capable of living by faith that the sacrifice of Abel was more sufficient than his. Perhaps.

I mean, we're told, you know, about Pharaoh and how many opportunities he had. What about Judas Iscariot? Was he... Go ahead, Roger. You've got it. I was saying, you know, Cain, we are told because the Lord pleads with Cain. He says, Cain, sin is crouching at the door. But you have a chance. Basically, you can master. I think that's the right word. But you can, you know, you can do this. You can... You don't have to follow that path.

So Cain had the opportunity. Yes, but he was the wicked one because he was unrighteous in what he'd done. Now we have one example of that. Cain probably lived hundreds of years, right? I don't know how long, you know, everybody in early Genesis lived a long time. We don't have exactly how long he lived, but he murdered his brother at probably an adult age of some sort. We can only speculate about that.

You know, we're all born with an ability to have our own free will operate. And for the believer, that operates in the sphere of righteousness of who we are. Okay. Now, murdered here is better translated as slewed. Now, how is that different in terms of translation? Being slewed Is that the right thing? Slowing?

It's a vicious act of cutting the throat, which is, you know, there's pretty major blood vessels in the neck. The jugular vein carries blood back from the brain, but the carotid artery is what your heart's pumping. That's in a high pressure system. The carotid will spurt all over the place. So this, you know, this slewing really related to what was carried out. by the Levitical sacrifices and if we turn to our verse just to support that and there are many others.

Leviticus 1.15, he shall kill the bull before the Lord and the priest Aaron's son shall bring the blood and sprinkle the blood all around on the altar that is by the door of the tabernacle of the meeting. Now, I can't speak to this. Maybe Roy can help us out here.

Whereas, in fact, the sacrifice done at the altar was the blood. It says here the blood was brought to the altar. But anyway, this slewing of the neck, blood spurted all over the place. That's different than simply being, you know, a sword in the belly. All right. Now, and why did Cain murder Abel? Well, it says because his works were evil and his brothers righteous. Hmm. What are your thoughts about that? The darkness hates the light. What was that again? The darkness hates the light.

Okay. Well, let's think about this a little bit more. So one of the obvious examples of good versus evil. Works that are righteous versus works that are unrighteous. And by the way, just FYI, this is the only Old Testament reference given in the epistle of 1 John. We think of how often Old Testament scripture is shared in the New Testament. Peter did it repeatedly and Paul did it almost repeatedly. I mean, these guys really constantly reflected Old Testament scripture in terms of really bearing truth to what the Old Testament had said. But for John, This is the only reference.

I found that really kind of interesting. And by the way, that's a rabbit trail. So we'll leave it there. OK, so this is enmity. which is a deep-rooted hatred. This kind of reflects Paulinus in terms of the Greek term that's used to describe this activity. And from the first existed between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent.

In Genesis 3.15, a verse we're all familiar with. And I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Now, to some extent, this is kind of, if you will, a representative scenario of what this really means. Somebody interpret that for us.

What's Genesis 3.15? One of the characteristics of evil is that it hates good, and that's our nature, our fallen natures that we have through Adam. That is the characteristic we have now. is indeed good. And in a society today, tearing down the principles of Scripture is not their focus. Their focus is the hatred of anybody who believes the standards of Scripture. That enmity of the sin nature is still there today, isn't it?

It is. Very much so, Roy. Thank you. Other thoughts? That hate is what the Jews had for their brother Christ. That's true, that related and ultimately caused his crucifixion, did it in terms of the reality of the times, yes. Okay, thanks Mike. Other thoughts? Okay, what does the scripture mean? Roger, interpret 315 for us. Thank you. I'm looking for somebody else, but this is looking forward to the Lord Jesus, right?

You know, the seed of the woman, you know, is Christ, and the seed, you know, so there's two issues with seed. I'm not actually explaining it all very well here, but there's enmity between Christ and Satan, basically. Okay, and what's it mean to bruise your head versus your heel? Well, speaking of the cross, you know, he was bruised, you know, so there's a picture of what happened to Christ on the cross. It's often used as the earliest Old Testament prophecy for ultimate crucifixion itself and what would subsequently occur after Christ was crucified and resurrected from the dead.

Okay, fine. Yeah, go ahead, Roy. It's just a question. We often look at the seed of the woman as being Christ. Here in this verse, Genesis 315, there's a seed of Satan as well. There's an offspring of him in focus there. Right, so this enmity between you and the woman relates to the enmity between good and evil or Satan and Christ, right? Well, we talk that way, but we can easily focus on Christ as the seed of the woman. What is the seed of the evil one here, the seed of Satan? Well, I think the seed of everything that Satan represents, which is evil and sin. I've always looked at it as all of our sin natures, you know. Right.

So he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. So bruising the heel, to my simplistic interpretation, is bruising our heel is our sin nature and everything that relates to Adam, whereas bruising his head is really Christ is the head, the seed of the woman. So ultimately, I think these are the two natures that follow ultimately in the application of the scripture. But anyway, I didn't mean to dwell on this. I just was saying that this is the first example of this kind of different outcome for Satan versus the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now keep in mind Genesis 4 follows Genesis 3.15. So Cain had yet to kill Abel as this verse was ultimately provided to us. Don't you find it kind of interesting in the Old Testament, I have a few examples of this, how the firstborn child was or ended up evil and the second one good. Now, there's a couple of really clear examples. We got one here, all right? Cain and Abel. How about Ishmael and Isaac? And how about Esau and Jacob? I mean, they were twins, but Esau came out of the womb first.

So there's this kind of principle. Maybe there's kind of, you can overly theologically emphasize this, but kind of like Where we are at first and I think I'm thinking about we're created in Adam in a sin nature I covered this a couple weeks ago, but ultimately the new nature of in Christ Jesus is ours if you were our new birth Our second birth that you will so Roger the first first Adam and the second Adam. It's exactly Back to Romans 5 I think right all right.

Let's think of how the flesh deals with more righteousness others than they or we see in ourselves. What do you think about that? Those of you who got saved as an adult maybe experienced this more than people who grew up as a believer, but I think the flesh is still the flesh. When you're competing with somebody else and they've done better than you have, maybe it's an exam, maybe it's a race, maybe it's some other competition you're having, how does the flesh deal with that? Well, Bob, honestly, personally, I can remember thinking about, before I was a believer, thinking about, and I became a believer as an adult, thinking, being jealous and saying, well, what right do they have to be any better than I have? But after you're a believer, you think, well, wait a minute, it's only by God's grace that I'm going to go to be with Him.

Why am I worried about that? That's true. Isn't it always, I mean, I kind of reflect many aspects of my life growing up and as a young adult. You know, you're always thinking that, well, in a sense, I've done better than he or she has at this. I mean, but yet they're getting rewarded. What's that all about? John's talk about that, hasn't he?

It's our pride. What are the three great sins according to John in the first epistle? Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. It's all our pride and it's all of a matter of degree, isn't it? There are circumstances where we kind of look at somebody else and say, well, congratulations. Yeah, right. There are other times we're downright angry about it. We get distressed about it. We overperform. That's all a pattern.

But yet here, I'm thinking about how Cain dealt with Abel's perceived, remember, perceived by God his righteousness. And I think that's driving a lot of his behavior about murderers carrying it out to a pretty extensive degree here, isn't it? Genesis 4, 8, now Cain talked with Abel, his brother, and it came to pass when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him. So what are they talking about in the field before he killed him? I mean, is Abel flaunting his success? I doubt it. But Cain's certainly jealous of this, isn't he?

Because you're desired by God now because of your sacrifice, whereas mine was less capable. Roy, were you going to say something here? Oh, I was going to say something that... Okay, please. We kind of forget, I think, that the world is just not going to reward us, you know, when we get jealous of some people's success. So you're saying the world is what? Not going to reward us. Yes, that's true.

Again, almost all of the activities of the flesh ultimately die a true death, which is really I don't know, Bob, if you want to go here, but I was thinking of this in the application of opening up God's Word and reading it and listening to God. Then we're looking at Jesus Christ because that's who the Holy Spirit focuses us on. But if we're listening to the flesh, I think pretty much every time we're going to look at ourselves or someone else. and start comparing in that area versus looking at Christ and allowing the Holy Spirit to reveal Him to us and just enjoying Him, resting in Him. Well, again, all this does when we're jealous of our brother or sister in the Lord is put us under law again.

Right. When we're under law, we're always guilty, aren't we? Always guilty. We have a new life that does not relate to the legal principles applied to us as believers. Hodges has something very poignant. Hodges comes up every week. This is good. I'm sorry about that. No, it's good. I'm just teasing.

He says, whenever Christians feel guilt because their behavior is contrary to God's will, they will find it easy to experience hatred towards those who they know God approves. Indeed, as Paul recognized, divisions within churches are all too often a clash between those who have God's approval and those who do not. So he said, for there must also be factions among you that those who are approved may be recognized among you. So there's a reason for all this. You know, it may not be good for the person who is angry, but it is good for those whom God has approved. Well said, Jim. That's really nice. Thank you. You know, the New Testament doesn't fail to recognize this sin. In Hebrews 11, verse 4, it says, By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous. So how did Abel's sacrifice compare to Cain's?

It was by faith that he offered it. Or doesn't that relate to our life in Christ Jesus, enacted by the Holy Spirit? God testifying of his gifts, and through it, he being dead, still speaks. So anyway, so Hebrews relates to the great steps in faith that ultimately the Old Testament to a large extent represent. This is brought up as faith that Abel showed in his gift. So it's not the gift, it's the mechanism by which the gift was given. It was by faith and giving to God what he perceived.

And it's been speaking down through all these ages and it still speaks. Yes, Roy, please. Just the verse there, by faith, it's understood when we read that by faith in the promise that the Redeemer is coming and the shedding of blood would be given by him for our sins. And that's the whole point there. The object of his faith was right, whereas the object of Cain's faith was in his own production. through the soil and the effort and the growing. So design God's approval for his human effort, right? Right.

And that's what I alluded to earlier, the world's self-righteousness. There's a lot of that out there. And we can think of other faiths or their own self-righteousness of what Garrett gains merit in that system, right? We don't need to name these systems, but there are clearly those out there. If you think of even more estranged faiths like Hinduism, Hinduism is based entirely on good deeds because you come back as a variety of different species with the cow being most sacred.

In fact, your life has proven itself to be very quote, self-righteous, right? So anyway, all that aside, it's about by faith in one and only person, and of course, the Lord Jesus Christ, even he was before Abel, ultimately was not to whom Abel cognitively was giving his sacrifice. All right, so, and now our righteousness. It's all about him, isn't it? We don't bring anything to the table when we're saved, and as we're being saved day in and day out, we don't bring anything there. It's all about the Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Corinthians 5, 21, a verse we've really commented on repeatedly, but I love it. For he made him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. We're righteous because of the Lord Jesus Christ, who knew no sin. If there's one verse from the Bible that says it all, I mean there's so many wonderful verses in the Bible, but this has got to be one of the best. Well, what's cool is here, it took that act by Christ to accomplish that, our righteousness, which is another...

I think that's captured there, Roger, it says, for He, the Lord God, made Him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us. And that's Gethsemane, isn't it? I mean, he was Christ, I'm sure, as a human God-man, was concerned about the pain he would experience at the cross. But nevertheless, it was the separation from his Heavenly Father, who he hung out with constantly when on the earth, that was the big trial that he had to face.

All right, good. We're all on the same page. And we now, by faith, we need to live it. And I think the biggest reminder to me, day in and day out, which maybe is not yours, but it's very important. That's good. Remember your citizenship. Right. I think when we recall who we are in Christ Jesus position, totally in him and full righteousness, then ultimately our condition can cooperate. For our citizenship is in heaven, for which we ultimately wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's the hope we have before us. But when we're reminded of our citizenship, that ultimately, by faith, connects us to our position, which increasingly impacts our condition.

So I'm going to close with that today. Any final and parting thoughts? All right, Jim, close us in prayer, would you please? Father, we are so thankful that you've done everything for our salvation. We don't have to do anything. We really appreciate your word. Without it, we'd be destitute. We couldn't go anywhere. Thank you for this study, for this book. We thank you for all the things you've done for us and will do for us. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.