Well, good morning to everyone. Beautiful morning for February 2nd. I went out and did chores in a hoodie this morning, so that was kind of different for this time of year. We appreciate the good weather. 

We're continuing our study in the book of Hebrews. We're almost finished with the book of Hebrews in chapter 13. As we've been studying through the course of the book, the tremendous good news of the coming of the new covenant of Christ is the central message. The theme of the book is that Jesus is better; that he's brought a better covenant built on better promises. 

In chapter 8, the author said the main point of the things he was saying is this: he said in verse 6, "But now he, Jesus, has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second." Because finding fault with them, "Behold, the days are coming," says the Lord, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." 

The exhortation of this epistle has consistently been to leave the Old Covenant behind—the law, the sacrifices, the priesthood, the temple—and to go on to perfection through faith in Jesus Christ, to enter into this new covenant through faith, and for the believers to hold fast to their faith in Christ. 

One of the paramount truths that we see in the epistle, especially in chapters 7 to 10, is that this new and better high priest with a better sacrifice accomplishes a greater work in the one who believes and not an external work, like the sprinkling of the ashes of the heifer, the washing of the flesh. Not concerned with foods and drinks and external things, but the cleansing of the inner man—the recreation, the new birth, as Jesus called it—resulting in a clear conscience toward God because of Christ's death, burial, and resurrection. 

I like you to turn over to Hebrews 9 with me and look at the passage there that explains this concerning the Old Covenant in contrast to the new. Hebrews 9:9 says, "It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience." This is referring to the Old Covenant priesthood and sacrifices concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation. 

But Christ came as high priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation—not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood. He entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 

For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, notice what he says in verse 14: "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the Living God." 

Notice the end of verse 14: the purpose, the intention, God's intention in all of this amazing transforming work of Christ through his death, burial, and resurrection, and our union with him in this—our resurrection to newness of life with Christ, our death to sin and law—are being made alive together with him and cleansed in our conscience, alive in our spirit and his life in us. God's purpose, His intention, is that we might now serve him, live for him—how? Serve the Living God and have him living in and through our lives. 

What I want you to see here is that God saved you for the express purpose of giving you a new life—a holy life that brings glory to him. He recreated you. He gave you a new heart and a new spirit. He put his Holy Spirit in you permanently for the express purpose that you might be a witness, a testimony to the power of the gospel in this world, and might live to bring him glory. 

And that's really the good news of this new covenant: that we have eternal life through faith in Christ, but also that we have life in abundance today. This is God's plan for you for justification, for sanctification, and ultimately for glorification and eternity in heaven with him. 

He has done the work in salvation in this new covenant through faith in Jesus to empower you, to equip you, to give you the foundation for a holy life. He has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, Peter said. He has cleansed our conscience from dead works to serve the Living God, and now He has designed a plan for the church, for the structure and purpose of the local body, to facilitate and encourage this continued growth and sanctification. 

This is such a crucial truth to understand, and it's clear in the New Testament. Yet so many churches have missed this. They've gone their own way or the way of the world and are not following God's plan for the growth of the individual believer and the body as a whole, so that we might serve the Living God and accomplish His will, bearing fruit for His glory. 

There are several key truths in our text today related to God's design for the local body of believers and His intention for how we are to grow and continually be conformed outwardly to the truth of who we are inwardly. We're going to kind of skip some verses today because verse 7 goes well with down in verses 17 through 19, so we're just going to look at those verses. 

Then next week, we'll come back and fill in. If you'd look at our text with me this morning in verse 7, it says, "Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the Word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct." 

Now if you'll skip down to verse 17: "Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you. Pray for us, for we are confident that we have a good conscience in all things desiring to live honorably, but I especially urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you the sooner." 

So we're going to look a little bit this morning at God's design for the local church and how he intends for the believer to grow and to be fruitful. I've given you five points on the outline this morning: first, be mindful; second, follow; third, consider; fourth, submit; and fifth, profit. 

Well, we are in the application section of this great epistle to the Hebrews. It's condensed, packed into this one chapter at the end of the book after all this great doctrine, and it's a crucial part of the book. It contains some very important commands for us to understand and to live out the Christian life. 

And the first command we see in our text this morning in verse 7 is to be mindful, to remember. He says to remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the Word of God to you. The great danger facing these Hebrews and the fellowship there was that they were considering going back to Judaism under pressure from their family, their friends, their community. 

The temple was still standing in Jerusalem. The priests were still offering sacrifices, and they were under pressure, and they were considering, they were leaning back towards the religion of Judaism, to the temple and sacrifices, and leaving their profession of faith in Christ. In this context, the author writes, "Remember those." 

Be mindful of those who lead you, those pastors and teachers who have spoken the Word of God to you. And here we find a key to God's plan for the growth and health of the body of believers in the local church. 

In Titus 1:5, Paul wrote to Titus, "For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you." God's plan for organization of the local church to set things in order for the facilitation of growth was to appoint elders in every local church. 

Who are these elders? Who are the leaders, the ones who rule over you? He says, well, the word means to lead or to oversee. These men are characterized in other places in the scriptures as shepherds, bishops, presbyters. The whole idea is that of one who leads, who oversees the church, who teaches and watches out for the believers. 

And Paul says that God's plan for church organization is for elders to be appointed to oversee the local body. We're going to be studying the pastoral epistles next after we finish the book of Hebrews, Lord willing, and we find in-depth instruction in these letters concerning the leaders of the church. 

If you turn over to 1 Timothy 3, one particular passage gives specific instruction concerning what kind of men these shepherds of the church must be. 1 Timothy 3:1, Paul writes, "This is a faithful saying: if a man desires the position of a bishop, he desires a good work." And that word bishop carries a lot of connotation in our culture, but it really just means an overseer, a pastor, a teacher. 

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach, not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous." One who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence. For if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the Church of God? 

Not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil. Moreover, he must have a good testimony among those who are outside, lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 

Well, this is quite a high standard that Paul lays out, but it speaks of a mature man in the faith, one who has a good testimony inside and outside of the church. And a key qualification that we see for elders that we do not find in the following qualifications for deacons is that the elder must be able to teach. 

The author of Hebrews highlights this requirement, this central role of the leader, the elder, the overseer in our text when he says to remember, to be mindful of those who rule over you, those who have spoken the Word of God to you. 

When we consider God's plan for the growth of the local body of believers, this is the central element that we need to understand concerning the purpose, the role, the obligation of the pastor. Ephesians 4 gives us perhaps the clearest instruction concerning how it is that God intends to grow His church and what the central role and focus of the pastor should be. 

We've looked at this passage many times, but I want you to turn over to Ephesians 4:11 because it's so clear what God's plan is. Ephesians 4:11 says, "And He Himself, speaking of Jesus, gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor-teachers." 

This text says that Jesus gave gifts to the church, and one of the gifts that he gave was men, pastor-teachers. And the reason he gave them to the church is specifically laid out in verse 12: "For the equipping of the Saints for the work of ministry." 

I just want to stop there a second. It's important to understand that the purpose of our meetings on a Sunday morning is for the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, for the equipping of the Saints, to equip you to then go out into the world and do the work of ministry, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

We love for people to come into our church and to hear the gospel and to hear the Bible teaching, but the purpose of this meeting, the purpose of the local church, is for the equipping of the believers who are then to do the work of ministry—for the edifying of the body of Christ, he says, to build us up, to strengthen us, to grow us, till we all come to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect or mature man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. 

Look at verse 14: "That we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ." 

From whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. 

I like to think of it in this way: we're all in this together. We're all growing together. Each part doing its share, building up the body, encouraging the believers, pointing each other to Christ, so that we might grow and be established and become discerning so that we'd be equipped to then go out and do the work of ministry. 

God's plan for the church is to appoint elders to oversee the church, to lead, to shepherd, and these men are to equip the Saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body, so that there might be continual growth and a coming to maturity in Christ. 

So how is the man of God to do this? What is the means that God has prescribed to accomplish this important and weighty obligation given to the pastor-teacher of the church? I'd like for you to turn over to 2 Timothy 3, and we'll see Paul tell Timothy exactly how God plans for this to happen. 

2 Timothy 3:13, Timothy was a young pastor who was struggling. He had a lot of opposition. He was fearful; a lot of things were going on. Paul had been arrested. Paul writes to Timothy in chapter 3, verse 13, "Evil men and imposters will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 

"I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom, preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching." 

"For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires. Because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables." 

What are we supposed to do in light of this? We look around the evangelical church today, and we see all kinds of teachers piled up to tickle their ears, to give them what they want. What should we do? Verse 5: "But you," he says, Timothy, "be watchful in all things. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry." 

Fulfill your ministry how? You have to be watchful. Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. But most importantly, central to the ministry, the main and clear focus must be this: preach the word. 

God's clear plan for the growth of the church is for the pastor-teacher to preach the word of God, verse by verse, book by book, to say what God says, to make it clear and plain, and to exhort the believers to submit themselves to this word, to reckon it to be true, and to obey it in every aspect of their lives. 

Jesus said to Satan when he was tempted, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." This is our meat, my brothers and sisters—our means of growth and edification, of maturing and becoming discerning so that we are not tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine and rendered useless. 

"Sanctify them by Your truth," Jesus prayed in John 17. "Your word is truth." I read an article this week that said that the number one reason that Christian families pick a church in America is because of their children's programs. 

The evangelical church today has adopted every means of the world for reaching the world. We have the craziest of things going on in the church, meant to draw a crowd and entertain and tickle ears. The pastors have become masters of ceremony, facilitating a show of concerts and motivational speaking. They are ringmasters, in some cases, with a regular circus in the sanctuary. 

And they rationalize by telling themselves that the ends justify the means. But here's the problem: the ends that God wants can only come by His means and His power. And He has clearly laid out His means in His word. And we see it over and over and over throughout the New Testament. Preach the word. Teach the word of God to the depth of your ability. Study, work, labor in the word, that you might immerse yourself in it, know it, and be able to make it plain to the people, to give the sense of it. 

And then rely on the power of the Holy Spirit to make it work in the hearts and minds of His people to change them, to conform them to the likeness of Jesus Christ. It's not that the programs or preferences or any of these things are wrong in and of themselves, but as much as they distract from or replace the centrality of the preaching and teaching of the word of God, then they demonstrate a lack of faith in and dependence on the God of the Bible who has made His plan for the church abundantly clear. 

So the author exhorts these believers to remember those who rule over them, who have spoken the word of God to them, to be mindful of them. Remember what they have taught you about Jesus. Don't forsake these truths and go back to Judaism. Don't be deceived, but remember the truth. 

The next word we see in our text is "follow," verse 7. "Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the word of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct." 

In 1 Corinthians 11, Paul said, "Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ." I've often thought about this statement. I hesitate to ever tell anyone to imitate me, to follow my faith, because I know how much I fail, how insufficient I am. But I love the qualification: "Imitate me just as I also imitate Christ." 

Follow me as I follow Christ. Don't follow me when I fail, in my shortcomings, in my lack of faith, but follow me as an example of one who follows Christ. Imitate me as I imitate Christ. In the elder, the leaders of the church should be mature men, should be those who follow Christ, who lead by example in their faith, their focus, and their fervent desire to obey the word of God. 

In this faith, we should follow. The word literally means to mimic or to pattern your life after. And Jesus is the pattern. He's the best example of one who trusted God. But Paul says, "As much as I imitate Him, you imitate me." I think it's nice to have a physical example, a man who can encourage and be an example, and we do that for each other all the time. 

I think the main privilege, the blessing of the pastor-teacher is that he is forced to spend a great amount of time in the word, laboring in the word, preparing, studying, striving, agonizing to understand and to make clear what God is saying through teaching and preaching. And this keeps a man growing and grounded as much as he focuses on this command of God. 

And to the degree that this is true in his life, as believers, we should be eager to follow him in his faith and manner of living. The author says, "Whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct." 

Now this is interesting to me. Considering the outcome of their conduct. What is the outcome of the life of a pastor-teacher who has faithfully preached the Word of God, has lived a life of focused faith, abiding in Jesus, walking in the Spirit, and fulfilling His ministry? 

It may well be that the author has in mind here some leaders who had served and lived and died—some who may have even been martyred. This is how Wiest understands the context here. What is the result? The outcome of faithful service to God by the man of God. 

The author says, "Consider it; look intently at it; give attention to it, to the outcome of godly ministry, of the call fulfilled to preach the Word and to serve and minister to the body." 

The outcome, my friends, is fruit. Fruit for the purposes and glory of God. The outcome may not be numbers. The outcome may not be fame and fortune or easy living. The outcome may not be success by worldly standards. Think of Paul—his life, his ministry, his death. 

I want you to listen to the words of A.T. Robertson as he describes the death of Paul. Think of Paul's ministry—all those years. He says, "The details are all wanting; tradition supplies only a few, which may be true or not. The story is that Paul was beheaded on the Ostian Road, and it was customary for criminals of prominence to be executed several miles out of the city to avoid the crowds. 

We may picture the event in a possible manner. One day in late spring or early June, the executioners came to Paul's dungeon and led him out of the city. One is reminded of Jesus as he bore his cross along his Via Dolorosa. Paul, as a condemned criminal, would be the victim of the rabble's sport. He would have no defender. We do not know if Luke was with Paul to the very last. 

We may at least hope so. If he could, he would surely walk along as near Paul as would be allowed. But no band of Christians followed with him now. He was going out of Rome on his way to the true eternal city. He knew Rome well, but his eyes were fixed on other things. Outside the city, the busy, merry life of the time went on. The crowds flowed into town. Some were going out. Paul was only a criminal going to be beheaded. For if any of the crowds would know or care anything about him, at a good place on the road some miles out, the executioners stopped. 

The block was laid down. Paul laid his head upon it. The sword or axe was raised. The head of the greatest preacher of the ages rolled upon the ground." 

No Christian can come to Rome, especially on the Ostian Road, without tender thoughts of Paul, the matchless servant of Jesus Christ. The matchless servant of Jesus had no crowds, had no numbers, even at the end of his ministry. He had no band or fanfare, no entertaining system or scheme to draw a crowd. 

Listen to his words to Timothy shortly before his death: "Preach the word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers. And they will turn their ears away from the truth and be turned aside to fables. 

But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist. Fulfill your ministry, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. 

Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will give to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who love his appearing." 

My brothers and sisters, Paul did not have anything that the church today would define as the marks of a successful pastor. He walked most likely alone to his death, but what he had was fruit. What he had was faithful service, and he had done the very thing that God had called him to do. He had fulfilled his ministry, and now he would hear those words, "Well done, good and faithful servant." 

And he looked so forward to that crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, gave to him on that day. The world, even the true Christian church, the evangelical church in America today, may not value these things much. But the exhortation to you and to me today is to look intently at, consider the outcome of the lives of faithful men who have preached the Word, who have placed their faith in Jesus alone, and who have exercised obedience to their Lord in fulfillment of their ministries. 

What is the outcome? What is the result? Consider our own gift from Jesus Christ: the gift to Living Hope Church, Pastor Richard Friends. Consider him. What is the outcome of his life of faithful preaching and teaching the Word of God for almost 67 years now? What has this meant to your life, to your growth, to the fruit of Living Hope Church? 

He hasn't employed the methods of this world in his ministry here. He hasn't gone the ways of the contemporary church. Where are all the programs? Where are all the counseling groups? Where is the entertainment? Consider. 

Look intently at the outcome of the faithful man of God who preaches the Word, who puts his faith in Christ and fulfills his ministry as God has called him. Fruit, my brothers and sisters. That's what Jesus produces through the lives of faithful believers who abide in him, and that fruit is manifest in people—people for whom Christ died, coming to faith, growing in the Lord, being equipped to go out and do the work of ministry that God has for us. 

So we see the exhortations to be mindful, to follow, to consider. And now if you look down to verse 17, we will see the word "submission," submit. "Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." 

He says, "Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give an account." You know, I'm not sure I like those last words there—those who must give an account. James says, "Don't let many of you be teachers, because they will receive the stricter judgment." 

The words that Paul prefaced his exhortation to Timothy to preach the word were these: "I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom." 

Paul said it's a small thing if men judge me because Jesus will judge me. "Before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing in His kingdom." This is why I am so committed to the singular focus of saying what God says, of preaching the Word of God, verse by verse, because I believe my faith is in the power and plan of God to accomplish His purposes through the preaching of His Word. 

And also because I know that I will be judged by this very thing concerning my ministry. The main exhortation here in verse 17 is to be submissive. "Obey," he writes, "those who rule over you, being submissive." 

Now I think this really captures a heart attitude. For those faithful ministers of the Word, this verse says that we should rely on, we should be assured of, we should have confidence in them and their teaching and their shepherding. This is what the word obey means. We should obey them and be submissive in our spirit, for they watch out for our souls. 

This word speaks of a shepherd monitoring a critical case among the sheep. I can't tell you how many times—I was thinking about this this morning because it's so warm for February—how many times in March and April I've been in the barn with lambs when it's 10, 20 below, monitoring a critical case, a sheep that's sick, giving your full attention, trying everything you can to help them and heal them and minister to them. That's what this word means. 

They watch out for your souls. Therefore he writes this most interesting thing: "Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." The point here is that these shepherds who imitate Christ, who preach the Word, whose faith is in God's plan for the church and not the ways of the world—those who can conduct in a manner of life as an example and results in fruit—let them carry out their role in the church with joy and not with grief. 

How do we do this? How does a faithful pastor carry out the preaching and teaching of God's Word, the shepherding of the sheep, the watchful, careful ministry entrusted to him with joy? And how do we let them do this? The answer is this: be mindful, take heed, pay attention, follow earnestly the doctrine, the teaching, and be thankful and obedient to the Word. 

The word translated "with grief" literally refers to a thankless job, a job done with opposition. I've told some of you this before, but a church my brother went to in Indiana, he had a pastor, and after he'd get done preaching in the church, he'd go into his office, and there was a big window in his office, and the men would come and beat on his window and yell at him. 

They had some problems in that church. But what I'm saying is, it's no joy to do the job with opposition or with thanklessness. The heart desire of the pastor-teacher is for the growth of the body, and he knows that this can only happen if the believers have a fervent desire to know the Word, to receive the Word with gladness, and to apply the Word in their lives. 

The believer in Jesus Christ should not only want to know what God says; he should not only be eager to hear the Word taught and preached and to study the Word individually daily to know Jesus Christ, but the believer should also be equally eager to apply the Word, the truth, to his everyday living—to trust, believe, and abide in Jesus so that he might see fruit produced by God for His glory through our lives. 

I've often thought that if we applied half the energy to knowing the Word of God and the God of His Word, to seeking to live for Him by His power in us through the Word applied in our lives if we spent half the time that we spend and the energy that we spend in our work and our hobbies, in politics and distractions of daily life, then we would turn this world upside down. 

This is how to allow the pastor-teacher to do his job with joy and not grief—by eagerly pursuing the truth, the Word, Jesus Christ, and committing ourselves to the growth of the church, the local body, our fellow believers, and by being thankful for the work and ministry of faithful teachers. 

This is what our text says. I just say what it says. And the author adds an important detail at the end of his thought: "Obey those who rule over you and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you." 

Our last word is profit—your profit. Why should we be mindful of those who lead us, remember, who teach the Word, who watch out for our souls? Why should we rely on them, have confidence in the doctrine? Why should we have a submissive spirit toward them in their ministry of the Word and the truths that they teach and preach along with the exhortations they give? 

Because to rebel against these things, to have a spirit of contention and divisiveness would be unprofitable for you. You see, God's plan for the church is growth through the preaching and teaching and application of His truth in an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ. 

And He has given pastors and teachers to fulfill this ministry of serving up the Word of God to the people, of making it plain, of giving the sense of it, and exhorting the church to obey Christ. This is God's way, and it's the only way to grow up into Christ—to stop being tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, to stop being taken captive by hollow and deceptive philosophies according to the wisdom of this world and not according to Christ. 

So to fight against this, to fail to be eager to come to church and to Bible study, to hear the Word, to study it, to listen to sermons, to ponder these things in our heart as we go through our days, to seek to understand and apply them, and to share good news with those lost people around us—this kind of heart attitude, a lack of submission, will only hurt you and your spiritual growth and fruit. It’s unprofitable for you, he says. 

So we see in our text today: be mindful, follow, consider, submit, and profit. And in these terms, we have seen the plan of God for His church, His plan for spiritual growth and life as we serve the chief shepherd and bear the fruit of holiness in our lives and we are a witness to lost men. 

What a joy it is, my brothers and sisters, think about this, what a joy it is to be involved in—to be part of such a church that He describes here, where we can preach the Word of God freely, and there's a great eagerness on every one of our parts to hear, to receive, and to apply these things in our lives. 

I think it's what Paul describes in Corinthians as the simplicity that is in Christ. Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful for Your Word, so thankful that You continue to teach us, to guide us into all truth, to illuminate the Word, Lord, and to help us to understand. And we just pray that You would give us a fervent desire to know You and to commit these things to our hearts and minds and to live them out in our lives by Your power in us through faith in Jesus. It's in His name we pray.