Faith - Lesson 4 week 3

Alright, we were just finishing up Faithful. Well, we're Lesson 4, the faith class, Lesson 4, and we were going over the attributes. We just went over that God is faithful, and again, God is faithful, essence. Actually, before we get started, I say in my reading, I read a chapter every morning and go through it, and a couple of them, just going through this week, One of them was Romans 14.23. I was thinking about how faith is reality, faith is God. Again, the definition of that is faith never changes. Well, who is the only one who doesn't ever change? We said that last week. Immutable. God is immutable.

The other one in Romans 14.23, we talked about this before, but I just kept thinking about it. Whatever is not of God is sin. The flip side, faith is God. And so whatever is not of faith is sin. So again, it kind of bolsters what we've kind of been going through here.

And then the other one, when I kept on reading through this week, 1 Corinthians 2.5, and I'll read for context 2-5. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."

Again, the faith is the power of God. Again, it goes into what we've been defining here, the essence of faith is reality, substance, God. And again, faith is based on what? The power of God. And again, just as we go through it, I think I said last week, you know, as I went through, I just did no great definitions, no nothing, just I did a quick word search from, I think, Acts through Jude, and looked up grace, and I looked up faith. And grace is used about 115 times, I think, somewhere in there. Faith is brought out over 200 times. So again, I'm excited about the class because faith is what we're called. And we're going to get into personal faith.

We're going into what the essence is right now. But again, just the importance of faith and how many times it's called out. Like I said, I just did a quick search. And again, it wasn't by all the definitions, all the different things. It was just a simple word search. And it was over 200 times in that section, in Acts to Jude. There's over 200 times faith is brought out. So, again, when I start looking at that, how important is faith? Pretty much a key to the believer. So, let's go on to the last. We have a couple of them left here.

Spirit. So, the definition of spirit. And I think we have John 4, 24. So, what is spirit? God is a spirit. What does that mean? Don't all talk at once. It's hard to pick somebody out of this crowd. What is God is spirit? What does it mean? Well, it's probably the opposite of flesh. Antonym or whatever. Not flesh. God is spirit. So what does spirit mean? In some ways it works to go the opposite. Spirit is not material substance. Spirit is not sensibly connected to. You can't touch, smell, see, feel, hear spirit.

And in that section you're talking about, I think the context was that Samaritan woman, wasn't it? He said, you worship you know not who, but we worship who we know. God is spirit and those who worship him, he's seeking those who worship him in spirit and truth. That's the John 424, God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. So, yes Holly?

I was going to go back to the Holy Spirit. how the Holy Spirit is a person, so I guess that needs to be included in spirit, is that he can be a person, right? Okay, I was going to say, you're using the definitive spirit, in spirit. The spirit is the spirit. Well, no, I just wanted to make sure in person somehow is included in spirit. Well, it's more, you know, I guess the essence of the spirit. What is spirit?

It transcends our material existence. It's sort of like something that, in terms of the way we see life, it kind of holds things together. You had the four essences and Greek teaching, but then they needed the quintessence. They needed something that was sort of, you know, It gives us grace. It gives us something beyond our human, dying, crazy world.

I'll go back to one. When I gave up math, I've used this example several times. I love becoming an engineer. Science and math, that was my thing. And I love math, so I love all the different stuff. When I got into graduate school, I remember distinctly the day when I stopped caring about math.

It was when I got to the point where, in an upper-level graduate math class, basically the professor says, well, if you can't solve it in the real world, take it to an imaginary coordinate system, figure it out, and then bring it back to the real. I was done at that point. And so I'm thinking is the spirit kind of in the imaginary world or is it? Yeah.

In a sense, it goes deeper than the physical world because we use the terminology about, well, the spirit of something. which doesn't have to do with the outward action, it has to do with the inner attitude, motivation, that which is deep-seated within us. So when we talk about the soul of man, that's closer to the spirit. But different. Soul and spirit.

So here in verse 24, John 4, 24, again it's an essence verb. God is spirit. It's part of his essence. Yeah, it's part of his essence. If you look at the Greek word, it's pneuma, or the definition was breath. And I think of pneumonia. It's breathing. It's a breath. So, Zodiac defines it for this verse, of God in reference to his incorporality. That's just a bigger word for saying it's not. For the engineer in me, I went, what does that mean? So, you know what incorporality means?

Not all about it. Physical. Right. They cheated too. In the dictionary, it says not corporal. You can't do that! So having no material body or form. Again, it's like a breath. You can't see it. Can you feel it? Does it act upon you? Many times we define the Holy Spirit as like a wind. You can see the effects of it, but you can't see it.

Ham. Yes, a person. Jesus used that same illustration about the wind. Right. He talks about that. And so, again, spirit. It's something that is not physical. It's like a breath. You can see the effects of it, but you can't see it. Isn't the spirit infallible? Yes.

And that's again from flesh and spirit. Lots of the verses say about the flesh and spirit and the differences between it. And again, those are almost the antonym of spirit is flesh or material. It's for our oneness. Not after the flesh, but walking. Yeah. I mean, there's so many verses that show the two differences, flesh versus spirit.

And it would kind of be like defining life. You know, it's tough to kind of define, but it's like the spirit is life and the opposite would be death, you know? I don't know where I'm going with that. Well, no, I think any of these essence verbs or attributes, and that's why I was in prayer, it's hard to define them in human terms. You know, how do you do omniscient? All-knowing. Even just eternal to me is, in my finite, rigid engineering, how do you do eternal? All the different attributes we've gone through. I was kidding last week. How do we get through defining God in 30 minutes or less?

We've kind of been going through this. It's very tough, I think. Yeah. It seems to me like you think about the spirit and you think, well, I can touch this in a big Mack truck. It's so powerful. But even though we can't really see that spirit, it's like infinitely more powerful than all the stuff we think is so powerful. Any of these attributes. You know, we'll get into the next one, which is sovereign.

Yeah. Based on the diagram on the board, all of the difficulty we're having understanding the attributes of God are understandable by faith. Yeah. See, that's why I say I went through 200 times, faith is called out. That's our only thing. That's how you know. That's how you know. and how important it is for us to understand faith. That's why, like I said, I've been excited about this class. Every time I keep reading through it, I keep finding faith more. Faith, faith, faith, faith, faith, faith. Wow, this is important. That's really what we're called out to do. As we were in the Colossians class, I was saying, do you really believe this stuff?

That he's in control of all things? As we get into sovereignty right now. Do you understand that? Do you, by faith, it's real, that he's sovereign. When you're going through something in life, if you truly understand he's sovereign, is there ever a time he says, oops? One, he's all-knowing. Two, he's sovereign. So whatever you're going through, he's allowing it.

And as we said, it's to draw you back to him, to the Lord, for that intimacy that he wants to have. but it's based on faith, the reality of what he's told us, what's true about ourselves, what's true about him, all the promises, immutable, remember? Those things aren't going to change. It's key that we know this faith, what faith is. We always jerk immediately into the personal faith, but these are the essence, God is spirit, faith is this.

So, what does sovereign mean? We use this term, I've used it several times already. What does sovereign mean? Above everything. Above everything? Good. It means he not only is in control, but that the plan that he's working out, he has the authority to do it. because he is the creator so all the things that he is are connected to that sovereignty and not to be morbid about it but when you get closer to the end time for this physical body that sovereignty of God I don't know how it is with other people but I know how it is with me it looms larger and larger that as this body is giving out and not able to do the things I want it to do His sovereignty is something I claimed at midnight last night that God I don't know what's going on but you do and I don't know how it's going to work out but you do and that's where the peace and rest and believe and continue in faith sovereign, that your plan will not be thwarted by Satan nor by man. You know, that's where, like I said, the peace, joy, rest, comfort, all the things he's promised us, if we understand these things, by faith. That's where you can, in any situation, I always say, no matter whether you're near life, every day, he gives you, and many times in my prayers, every heartbeat, every breath, he gives to you. So it's not only at LUT, it's anytime you understand that He is sovereignly in control. And that gives me peace. Because I can't extend my life one more second than what He's given, will give to me.

So I don't worry about it. Because He's the one in control. He didn't say, oh shoot, I missed it. No, He never does that. So every heartbeat, every breath that He gives you is a blessing from Him. But you have to understand He's sovereign. So, both of you actually came up to about what the definition is. He's overall, and no one needs to counsel God. All-knowing, all that. Interestingly enough, I only found one place in the Bible under the New American Standard. New King James uses potentate, where the word sovereign is used. It kind of surprised me because I thought sovereign was used a lot more than that.

But it's in 1 Timothy 6.15.

Just for context, I'll read you a little bit more here from 11-16. 1 Timothy 6.11-16.

But flee from these things, you man of God. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of Faith. We always think that we're supposed to fight everybody else, and we're supposed to go take the battle, and we're supposed to fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and you made the good confession in the presence of many witness. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. which he will bring about at the proper time.

He who is blessed and only sovereign, the King of kings, the Lord of lords." So the Greek word for it is Dunastis and it means possessor of power or authority and referring to the Lord as the absolute ruler. So again, the sovereign, and like I said, it was kind of interesting, that was the only place in just a quick search of sovereign, at least in the NASB, of him being called the sovereign, is only in that verse in the New Testament. There are a couple other ones, I think, given out Genesis 1, 1, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, again.

And then the Romans 9, 14 through 24, a lot in there. You can look at just his power, all sorts of things about how he's in control. I also looked back to the ones that I think are demonstrations of sovereignty. His total above all was again from the Colossians, Colossians 1, 16 and 17.

For by him all things were created, again like the Genesis 1, 1, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, rulers or authorities. All things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Every molecule of your body, every atom, is held together. Look at the stars. Last night I was outside. It was just a gorgeous night. And looking at the stars, it was just immense. He holds it all together. From the macro to the micro, He holds it all together.

And then in Romans I went back to Romans 1.20, this is just a demonstration of His power. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes, His eternal power, divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so they are without excuse. Again, all of nature demonstrates His power.

And the last one, which I always go back to, and I've told you several times, I love in Job. If you look up Job 38, I'll just read a small portion of it, 3 through 5. Now gird up your loins like a man, and I'll ask you, God speaking, I'll ask you, and you instruct me. Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you have an understanding. Who sets its measurements?" And it goes on for a few chapters of him, of God explaining just kind of how wise man is versus him. So if you look at the end of all that, I love Job's response in Job 42, 1 and 2. Then Job answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You know? You think you're so smart? So, again, sovereign. Alright, any questions on any of the attributes we've gone over? Otherwise we'll quickly, I think, get through these last couple of questions. Okay, question four.

What would you say that God's thoughts and ways are beyond our grasp? Or would you say that God's thoughts and ways are beyond our grasp? Yes. Isaiah 55 says so. 55, 8 through 9, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So, you know, actually I think Hal in one of his descriptions of this said higher, in this one, higher than the heavens, far as the heavens are higher than the earth. In Hal's description of it, He basically said, well you know the universe that we can see through all this is billions of light years long. And a light year is light going 186,000 miles per second for one year. So a billion, it's a big thing.

So his little description here, as far as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my thoughts, again kind of puts that kind of eternal or infinite or his thoughts are that much greater. And that's why I say when I think we're going to spend an eternity with him, we are going to be spending an eternity learning about him.

We'll never get to the end of the rope and say, got it all. You know, I love to look at the moon at night and it shines in my bedroom and I stand there and wonder, how could that light up there and hit in my bedroom? I mean, it's all so fantastic. I can't comprehend it. Well, as you look up, like I said last night, it was just a gorgeous night.

I was outside just for a little bit, and I was thinking about this, as high as the heavens are, my thoughts, God's thoughts, are higher than yours. So, just in a perspective, it's kind of a little phrase, but when you really put it in perspective, it's kind of like, is it that song, I think it's this song, you know, took away your sins as far as the east is from the west. Yeah.

You know, one of the fundamentals back When Paul wrote in the first chapter of Romans, we all can see the work of God, the general revelation, as it's usually called. And it says man's without excuse because he can see all this complexity, all this beauty, all this awe-inspiring stuff, all the way from the caterpillars to the Milky Way or whatever. But the Creator of it all, including us, He created us.

We reach out with our mind. We're kind of like the people building the Tower of Babel. We start from the earth and we reason our way upward toward God. I've been listening to a series of tapes by the teaching company of great authors of the literary tradition of the Western world. And last night I had a rastless and Thomas Moore, so that's running around in my brain. But back then, they were reasoning the same sort of thing.

Can you reason your way to God? And the conclusion was, no, we can't reason that far. We need a special revelation, because God is higher above it. Without that special revelation from God, we wouldn't know anything about God. Strangely enough, the old science ones were all driven by, they started with the premise that God created everything, and they were figuring out things because God created it.

Now I think the scientists just do the flip-flop of that, how to try and disprove it. Isn't there something, I forgot who said it, that the watch can't know the watchmaker? So, you know, again, this also goes into what we're just, in Romans 1 and then Job, you know, the thoughts are way above us, you know, when we try and think we're smarter than God. You know, when you think about that, when he's in control of things, and you think, God, how can you let this happen to me? Well, you know, in Corinthians 2, 9, No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him.

So if you just trust, you don't have to worry about... That's the whole purpose of this class. That's it. In a nutshell. Read the rest of it. Read the next part. Read the next part. But God has revealed it to us by His Spirit. But I mean, that's the gist of this whole class. Faith in what he's revealed to us. The truths that he has revealed to us of himself. So, yeah, I mean, I guess, is this fact to our benefit? That his ways are higher than anything? Yeah. Yeah? Do you want Mike in charge of everything? Do you want me in charge of everything? Do you want you in charge of everything?

Wanda really jumped on that one. Jumped right on that one. Mike's a little shaky, but boy, when I said maybe not. Mike had the other part of that red book where he has revealed this to us. And I guess the question I have is that when we're born spiritually again, there are some there's some things that are opened up to us. And one of the things that is clear to me is that as much as I don't know, the one thing that becomes more apparent to me is how much I need God. And no matter where I am, that desire is there. And so, I guess, how does that kind of fit in with you know, God's ways are higher than our ways, but how does that fit into what He's revealed to us? You know, the mysteries are revealed, and maybe that's a big question, but...

You know, again, I go to the fact that we're going to be learning throughout all eternity about Him. I think that the thing, and that was that sheet that I generated in the Colossians class, you know, by faith we understand all these truths about us, then that, for our benefit, is joy, peace, rest, comfort, all the things he's promised us. Because if you understand just the two concepts of just sovereignty and his eternal love, that we can't be separated, the Romans and all that, we can't be separated from his love.

You understand at least just get a grasp of those two things. Can you go through anything? And then if you understand his ways are way above ours, that he's in control and he's doing it To what? Draw us to Him. Even though we don't understand the trial we're going through, it's for our benefit. He's not doing it out of, I'm going to whack you.

It's because He says, I love you. With a love that can't be separated. So that's why I say as you start understanding this thing, you can get to those points of considerate all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials. Because you understand it. You understand you can't be separated from his love and he's sovereignly in control.

Because we know those things and receive them by faith. And it's learning that. Yeah, it's the Holy Spirit convicting and convincing us of these truths. That's the eternal learning and the eternal knowing him and the eternal gasping in His grace. Yeah, it'll be an eternity. But I just say, now we can derive, it says, what benefits do we have? We have tremendous benefits by knowing these things. At one point I looked at the Bible and I said, there's no possible way I can learn all of this. I can't. It's going to take an eternity. What came to my mind was just that, the amount of time, the living, breathing.

How many times do you go through it and you see something completely different? I tell you, I go through a chapter a day and I'm finding I'm highlighting. Every time I go through it again, I'm highlighting something else. I've been through it several times, but, oh, wow.

You know? It's a living document. A living word. A living word. A great thought. We're talking about wanting to know. In 1 Corinthians 13 it says, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face, now I know in part, then I shall know fully. even as I have been fully known. So the knowing is coming this way, but it's going to change, and that's our heart's desire. We're being transformed. Yeah, to kind of make sense of this whole picture. Conforming to his image. Right. The restoration, all the change. Oh, yeah. I mean, glorification, all that good stuff.

Well, I had a hard time with with what Mike was saying that faith is, now I'm going to forget what I was talking about or wanted to talk about, faith is not a feeling. And I, then I got out the green book and the first chapter in there was on faith. And I think, you know, just like when you think you're beginning to understand something but you're not quite there. Oh yeah. But I think that faith isn't a feeling.

It just, like you said, is. Yeah, it's this. It's reality. See, and that's the beauty of this. It's like when we started teaching the grace class, it's like I opened up the window just a little bit and I'm looking through and it's like, wow, there is so much more. And that's what you'll come to understand as you see faith and all this. you'll just start revealing more and more in what it means.

I'm just going to quote a musician. John Hyatt. He has a song, Have a Little Faith in Me, and one of the lines is that time is our friend because for us there is no end. Yeah, we'll have an eternity with it. You know, right now, if we just have faith in what He's told us, we have great peace, joy, rest, all those things. That's been one of the wonderful things for me in this church since I had the good fortune of God doing His thing to lead me to this place.

But the emphasis here is so much on the growth aspect. You start with little. And you think of Christ saying, if we had faith like a mustard seed, we could say to that mountain, be removed. It gives you an idea of how little faith, in one sense, God accepts. He takes us on that green of faith, and then he starts opening up the spiritual world and the spiritual life. As you say, every time you go through the chapter of the Bible, you see things that are different than... You're at a different place in your life and your spiritual experience, and so it speaks to you. See, he knows exactly what's the best for me. He knows exactly what's the best for you. And we're all growing. We're all different. But it's the same spirit, same... I just can't tell you. this faith. It's real. Great joy, peace, rest.

You've emphasized that the purpose is to conformist to his son, to have the fellowship close, mentioned one of the verses in 1 Corinthians 13, the one in 1 John 3.2. We don't know what we shall be, but we know that when we see him, we shall be like him. We shall see him as he is.

I would like to see us stick with this definition, we're going too much into what it means to me. This has nothing to do with me and my warm fuzzies, or how I'm doing, or anything like that. It has to do with the focus on God and His things, and we need to stay there. The basis, though, as I look through more of these, that it proves what this is. My being warm and fuzzy about this doesn't prove anything. No, no, it corresponds to this, I guess is what it says, that there are other verses that confirm this, is what I'm saying. And that to me is, you know, I guess, and what I said, it's hard for us, we immediately go back to personal faith.

Look, what my point is, is that the whole idea is to be conformed to the image of Christ. You don't know Christ because you feel him or because he made you feel warm and fuzzy. You know him because the essence of faith reveals to me the exact things of God and who he is. Regardless, just because I know something doesn't make it real. No, I know. It doesn't make it truth.

I guess the thing is, though, the promises that he is based on faith, he has promised us the thing. The essence. Yes, this essence allows us promises that he has promised us rest. He's promised us peace. He's promised us all those things based on this.

So there are real things that come out of this, and that's what I really want to try and get. It's not a feeling. It's the promises based on the reality of God. And that's really what I try and go to, is that it's based on reality of who he is. This is, it's real. And that based on that, we have promises.

Facts, not promises. Well, yeah, ours is the promises, but it's true, it's real. It's not a, I think I can, I think it will, it's a fact. And it's not a feeling, but those are the promises based on faith. And that's really what I'm excited about the class, is that it's based on this. It's real, it's God. And from that, it's not the feelings, it's the promises that are true about us. So, five. How does God let us know his ways and thoughts? Holy Spirit. Boom. Next question. Would you say other believers? Through teaching?

You know, really by His Word. If it's a reflection of His Word, yes. But it really comes down to His Word and the Spirit. Well, the Holy Spirit reveals His Word to us. So even without the Holy Spirit, the Word means nothing. You could have somebody teach you something for years and not get it. Well, I think it goes back to it. But it's His Word, really.

I mean, that's where we... are revealed, and it's the Holy Spirit convicting and convincing us of that truth, of this truth, but it's His Word. So as we read or listen to His Word, He via the Holy Spirit communicates to us who He is, what He has done, and what He's going to do. So, what is the result of God letting us know His ways and thoughts? Like you said, the joy and peace. All those things. All those things we've talked about.

Then the other is, can a non-believer have this? No. 1 Corinthians 2, 14 and 16, But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. He cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one, for who is not in the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct him?

But we have the mind of Christ." Again, from the non-believer to the believer. Six, what event represents the wisdom of God? And we had from 1 Corinthians 18-21, And I'll read that real quick. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever I will set aside. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since the wisdom of God For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God is well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. So what is the event?

The cross begins right off, for the word of the cross is foolishness. I also go to 1 Corinthians 2, the ones that we looked at before. This is Paul speaking, for I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in pervasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." Again, it's through the cross. The cross is the event. Okay? Okay. This has been in my mind lately, and I don't know where it is in the Bible. I offer you death. If I were to say, I offer you life and I offer you death. Choose life.

Now where is that? Or did I dream that? Anybody know that one? I could probably look it up online. And so I'm wondering, that means that you die and then You are in, I mean you die with Christ and then you are eternally a living being. Yeah, I don't know what verse you're looking up. You die with him, you be raised with Christ. Anybody got that? Well, let's see if Mike's got it.

There's a Deuteronomy 30.15. What does that say? Today I offer you life and prosperity or death and destruction.

No, that's not real. Yeah, I don't know which one. You know, as far as us, you know, from the death and our co-crucifixion, Romans 6, you know, and then, you know, Galatians, there's all sorts that, you know, we've been crucified with Christ, you know, it's no longer I that live but Christ. It's like if you know someone that isn't a believer. And, you know, I would want to say to them, you know, God, you have a choice, death or life. Isn't that right? Yeah. You know, to me, the only question now is who is Christ to anybody? Who is Christ to them? Yeah. I mean, that's the only question remaining. This hasn't been paid for. for everybody. Mike's friend across the street here who we never met. People that don't believe I'm talking about me.

We believe so. If nothing else, we'd like to live forever. Well, they'll live it forever, but... I don't want them to be... Well, I think then it's presenting Christ, you know, and that's... We're to be ambassadors of Christ. It's not up to you. Remember that. It's not your responsibility. You're to be used as a vessel. We have to think of it in those terms. Even though you think you're the only one or whatever, it's still going to be up to God's Word and the Holy Spirit to convince them.

1 Corinthians 10 always caring about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our body for we who live are always delivered unto death for Jesus sake that the life of Jesus also may be manifest in our mortal body so then death is working in us but life in you 2 Corinthians 4.10 There's also Jeremiah 3, and death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of them that remain of this equal family. Yeah, I don't know which one. Wanda, I'll take a look at it.

There's some things in the Old Testament where under law, you're offered death or life only God's commandments are not following. The phraseology is under law. Or Joshua chooses you this day, and then he goes on and says you cannot serve. The law never quite...

So I'll try and take a look on and see if I can find that phrase somewhere. We can always trust the internet. I think it's one of those things too. Sometimes I wonder if it's a phrase that's been out there or a song or something like that that suddenly becomes scripture. I'll take a look at it and see if there's something. Like God helps those who help themselves. Is that one that you think is in the Bible?

Second opinion. all right well we sorry yeah well we if there's anything else otherwise we can close and we'll be actually ahead of the game for 30 seconds any other thoughts before that means you got them You're moving up to the front row now. This is the hearing impaired and the visually impaired. It's the front row. We have that specially. We'll have the little blue symbol up here. You can hang your thing.

Faith is reality or it's a substance of things not seen or of God. And then faith is evidence or proof of things not being seen. Would you mind repeating that? If I can? Faith is reality of things of God. And this is after we've broken down the definition and sentence diagram. Faith is reality of things of God. Faith is evidence or proof of things not being seen.

I know where it is in the Bible, but I haven't read it. Yeah, we've kind of modified it to, you know, based on from the Hebrews 11 one. So, yeah, sentence diagramming. How is really good at that. All right. Anything else? Otherwise, we'll close. All right. Let's close.

Heavenly Father, we just thank you again for as we in our human mind try to define and describe your attributes, your essence, and we are thankful that it will take an eternity to even get close to understanding all of who you are. But you have revealed yourself in a way through your word and through the Holy Spirit that we get an incredible picture of who you are. And again, just of these attributes of being immutable, not changing, sovereign, just what that means and just all these attributes that we get a glimpse of now and we derive those benefits, those facts of what you've promised us. And we just, we say thank you.

And just again, we thank you that we have the ability to come before you with an intimacy so much that we can call you daddy. And you desire that. You desire that intimate relationship, in fact, in John 17 where you want to share the glory that you have with your son with us. And that just alone will take an eternity to understand and to appreciate and just to realize.

And we just thank you again for this time where again you have left us with your word and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for that. And we just pray again for the upcoming meetings with Vern and just to accurately present the word and again just to prepare our hearts to receive it. And Father we thank you again for all that you are and we thank you above all for the Lord Jesus Christ in whom name we pray. Amen.