So let us just look to the Lord now. Father in heaven, we do thank Thee for the Word of God. And we pray now as we turn to it that we would see the Lord Jesus Christ, for we thank Thee the whole scripture is about Him. And Lord, that Thou would bless us and guide this congregation, even in their communicant members meeting. And we pray, Lord, that glory and honor may be brought to Thee, for it's in Christ's name we'd ask it. Amen. Amen. Philippians chapter 2, if you have your Bible there open, and there's these great words. Let this mind has the idea of your attitude, your thoughts, your intentions. So this is the idea that it means here. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. It's so encouraging to drive here this morning in Portland Owned and to see so many deacons gathered out here in this room and some of the other rooms. It's good to see all you deacons here this morning. I trust you are a deacon. Every saved person is a deacon. Now, of course, there's an office in the church to which you're going to vote men into that particular office by the name of deacon. They're mentioned there in chapter 1, verse 1. But there is another sense in which everyone who is saved is saved to be a deacon. Now, I better explain. We know that there were 12 disciples. The 12, they're called. That group. There's none other. It's just those 12. But there were other disciples mentioned in the New Testament. So there's the term that uses for the office, but there's also a wider meaning. We talk about those 12 disciples, means a follower, were called to be with the Lord, Matthew 10, 1. And then the next verses say the names of the 12 apostles, same men, now they're called apostles. Why is that? Because it's different meaning. Apostle means to send out. Now there are 12 apostles. That's all. They're limited to that number. They're a unit. But when you read the epistles, you will find there were other men named apostles. Barnabas, Andronicus, Junius. It's not a contradiction. The 12, the particular office. But others had that name. In fact, the Lord Jesus Christ is called an apostle, Hebrews 2 and 1. We're told to consider Christ the apostle because he, of course, was sent on a mission by the God the Father into this world. The meaning of apostle is to send. Think of the word post. You get any post, mail? It's sent. Apostle is sent one. So there's the narrow, specific meaning of the term, but then there's a wider use of the term, apostle. Are there apostles today? Definitely not in the sense of the 12. Definitely not in the New Testament sense of man and the offices of an apostle. I know in some weird groups they talk about apostles so-and-so. No, it's nonsense. They can't take up any deadly thing and not harm them. There were signs of an apostle. Apostles in the New Testament could perform certain miracles that authenticated their claims. They had to be witnesses of Christ's resurrection, used to speak authoritatively from God, inspired to write scripture. Today, we have Bible teachers, and it's the Word. We can only teach the Word. But are there apostles today? Not in that sense. Are there apostles today? Yes. Yes. When you take the exact meaning of the word. Because apostle means descend on a mission. You know the Latin term, that's the Greek. Everyone here knows the Latin, missionary. That's where mission comes from, Latin. It's exactly the same meaning. Descend on a mission. So we could say any word, or missionaries are other parts of the word, they're like apostles, not in the sense of the specific office, of course not. So you can see what I mean then. Deacon, you're going to elect deacons, we call them in Presbyterianism committee men, it's New Testament deacons. But while the term is used specifically for the office in the church, it can be applied to every Christian. Every Christian. The moment you were saved, God called you to be a deacon. For deacon is more often translated in the New Testament as minister, the verb to minister, or servant, or to serve. And in certain places, deacon, servant. That is the meaning of the term. But then, what does it mean to be a servant? What will it mean to these men who will be elected? What will it mean to you as a Christian and to I as a Christian? How can I serve as a deacon? What does it mean? What's the pattern? Well, the best example, the perfect example, the ideal example of a deacon is the Lord Jesus Christ. You see, we sang Isaiah 53, well, a paraphrase of it, Man of Sorrows, not the exact words, but it's written and based on that passage. Do you know, in the Old Testament, there weren't chapter divisions. It really starts in chapter 52. You know how that passage about Christ's suffering really begins? God declares, behold my servant. I said, deacon means service. We're to behold him. That's every Christian. We're to behold him. And then if you wish to check it out later, in Romans 15 and 8, it actually says Christ was a minister. Circumcision to the Jews. He was a minister. And if you look it up, it's exactly the same word translated deacon, 1 Timothy 3, Philippians. I assure you, it's exactly the same term. Christ was a deacon, a minister, a servant. So the pattern is, for our service, is to look at Christ. How well are you serving? And the man elected to the office, how well is he fulfilling his office? Well, how Christlike. How Christ-like are you? And that's why we turn to our text here in Philippians chapter two and five, is that's exactly what Paul is saying to this church, speaking about the church fellowship. And he's saying, look, as a church, look to Christ. He's your example. You need the same attitude as he had. And he displayed at the cross. You see, The theme of the book is joy. And here's a wonderful truth that the unsaved or world can't understand. The more you are Christ-like in your service, and of course, we're going to see service means serving others, giving of yourself, sacrificially serving, selfless service to others in his name, the more joy you will have. And Paul is really saying in this chapter, you can see it in the first few verses of this chapter, believers, the more all the believers in the local church serve one another to serve the Lord and work together in unity, putting others before their own comfort, the more joy you'll have. The more joy you will have. And so how are we serving in the church? Some people think of church, it's there to serve me. Church is there to serve me. It's to meet my needs. Well, to slightly alter the words of a famous politician who I don't like at all, Kennedy, president. Of course I wouldn't. But yet he did say one good thing. I'll change the wording. Ask not what your church can do for you, but what you can do for your church. He used the word country. That's how we ought to be. We're here to serve in the church. Look at these early verses. He tells them to work in unity with one another. See, fulfill my joy, verse two. Have love, being of one accord and one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory. The church doesn't exist for our ego. But in lowliness of mind, and then there's a verse maybe some don't understand, let each esteem other better than themselves. Does that mean I have to look at the worst debauched criminal serving in a prison and say, oh, that person's better than me? Of course it doesn't mean that. Here's what it means. You esteem other people's interests, welfare, and needs above your own comfort. That's the idea. That's what service is. Oh, I could sit and relax and be in comfort, but that person needs. Yes, even if they've done wrong, we need to tell them of Christ. It's putting that person's needs before your own. Verse four, look not every man in his own things, but every man also in the things of others. I can't help telling you this, but years ago, when I was in America, it was a college I was at, and so on, took Bible College Linguistics, and one teacher one day said, have any of you any good verses just before we take our exam? And one person says, you know, if any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God. And one smart aleck, one of the other men, said, look not every man on his own things, but also on the things of others. Well, no, that's cheating. Don't do it. That's not what the verse means. It says, don't be taken up with your own things. Look to the things of others. Now, a picture's better than a thousand words. And what does Paul then do? He chose us Christ. Christ the servant, Christ the perfect deacon. And here we have it. Look at it. He's the eternal son. In verse 6, he's essentially God being in the form of God. He's equally God. He thought it not robbery to be equal with God. Ah, but look at the key in this passage. Look down at verse 8, the middle. He humbled himself. That's the key to this passage. He humbled himself. He brought himself low. How did he do that? Verse seven, he made himself of no reputation. We sang about that. Burying shame and scoffing rude. In my place, condemned he stood. He took upon him form of a servant, the eternal creator of the world. He became a servant. Became likeness of man. And he made himself low, that's what humbled means. He made himself low. He put our interests before his own comfort and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. My, can you see how he was brought low? Not just to become man. I remember reading one person wrote this years ago. For any human being to choose voluntarily to become a worm, doesn't describe at all the great stoop that God the Son made in becoming a man. And then you think of how low he went to the depths of the suffering of shame, and the depths of the suffering, even of the wrath of God against our sins on Calvary. Think of this, that he humbled himself, and he, what does that mean? He said, I'll take, and you put your name in there, God the Son, and he created the world. Without him was not anything made that was made. He holds this universe and its being. He willingly chose to go to Calvary and take Ron Johnson's hell and your hell. That's humility. I know sometimes people pray, Lord, make me humble. You know, yeah, when God humbles people in the Bible, it's in judgment. We are commanded in James, Peter 2, humble. Humility is a choice. I'm not talking about a false humility that the world thinks about. Humility is when you make a conscious choice that I will put that other person's interest before my own comfort. It could be, like what comes into my mind just suddenly, Chris Killen going and spending hours sitting with a drug addict. Maybe driving him to a rehab place, seeking to help him. Practical needs of others. That's what you, you choose. When was the last time, when was the last time you consciously, willingly, deliberately chose to humble yourself? You should know, because the Bible commands you to do it. So if you're not doing it, then you're disobeying. We get funny ideas about being humble, doesn't it? Humble yourselves. It means putting the other person. It means being a servant. It means being a deacon. That's what a deacon does. And why is this recorded? Well, it goes on, he went to Calvary, and then if you know the passage, I'm sure he was, after verse nine, God highly exalted him. Now, why did Paul tell about Calvary? Why did Paul give this wonderful description of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? Here's why. to give we preachers a gospel text, an evangelistic, well, thank God it is, but no, for a congregation meeting to say, that's how I ought to behave. Not that we can bear some of these sins, but we ought to have the same attitude, to be willing to suffer anything to meet the needs of others, as our example. In other words, the more you grasp what Christ did for you on the cross, and the depths of suffering to which he went, the more you'll be motivated to serve Christ as you ought. Now, in John 13, if you wish to turn to it while I mention it, you don't have to, but in John 13, you have a wonderful example of Christ's humility. You know it, I'm sure, where he washed the disciples' feet. And in that chapter, you know what the disciples had been talking about? Which one of us is the greatest? Peter would say, you know, I'm more important than the rest of you fellows. The other one, no, no, I'm more important than you. Remember James and John, they got their mother to go and ask the Savior, can my son sit on either side of you in the kingdom? You know, they're arguing which of us should have the most prominent place in the gathering. They arrived in the upper room. The custom in those days, of course, they wore sandals. The feet got dusty. When it says they ate at a table, it doesn't mean they sat in chairs. Because in those days, people would kind of lie on a couch, and they would lie around, recline. No, it says they reclined. You didn't want anybody's smelly feet near your face. So it was the duty of the lowest, the least, to wash the other's feet. But none of them would do it. Can you imagine Peter, now these are, I'm not trying to belittle these men, because we're all the same, and these were greatly used men of God. But yet Peter said, I'm not washing their feet. James, John, the rest, I'm not doing that job. And all of a sudden the master got up, and he wrapped a towel around him, and he took a basin of water, and he knelt down at each of their feet, and he took their dirty feet in his hands and washed their feet. Remember, Peter said, no, don't wash my feet, and you've got the incident there. Now, there's a wonderful illustration of what Christ did in our salvation, leaving aside, as it were, the praise of his great Now, he still was God, but he left aside the outer glory, as it were, to come to earth in the form of a servant. But then, you know what happened? He washed their feet. He washed their feet. And then what did he say to them? Well, in the chapter 13, he said in verse 15, I've given you an example that you should do as I have done to you. Now, he didn't mean literally we have to go around washing people's feet. It's a picture. There's a church in America, a whole denomination of them, and at communion they do have a foot washing ceremony. I've never had any of their services, but they're evangelical actually, but they have a ceremony at communion where a few people's feet are washed. The thing is, they wash them before they come as well. So they're missing the point. It is to be willing to do lowly service. That's what it means. And it's amazing, in verse 17, if you know these things, happy are ye, ah, continue it, if you do them. Not happy if you talk about them and preach about them, pray about them, happy are you if you do them. You're happy when you serve God. Now, could you imagine, now it can't happen, of course, but could you imagine if the Savior appeared in the physical form and picked you out and asked you to wash his feet? Would you do it? You'd be honored. Me? Wash our Savior's feet? Well, you can. You can. And I can. Remember what the Savior said? Inasmuch as you've done it unto the least of these my brethren, you've done it unto me. Remember in Matthew 25, those in his right hand will be honored. You visited me in prison, you visited me when... Lord, when did we do that? When you visited his people. You see, serving the Lord. Some people have this idea, I want to be a servant of the Lord. You serve the Lord by serving other people in his name. And even a cup of cold water given as his name will be rewarded. Another time, it's amazing when you read the gospels how often the disciples argued which of them was the greatest. Another time, they were arguing which of us is the greatest. And the Lord rebuked them. He put a child in the midst. And he said to them, he said, I'm not among you as one. I came not to be ministered unto, served, deacon, deacon. I didn't come to be ministered unto, but to minister, to serve. I am among you as one that serves. Remember I'm saying the word deacon is often translated served. He said, he that is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, you men all want to be who's the greatest. And the Lord says, I'll tell you who's the greatest. He that is servant of all. You see greatness in God's kingdom is not measured by how many people serve you. But how many people do you willingly sacrifice and serve? That's greatness in God's kingdom. And remember, motive is important. Motive is important. Why you do it? It's not for recognition. It's not to be praised. It's not to get a good name. It's for the Lord. It's for the Lord. See, some people can do things for motive, the wrong motive. I heard a story, I don't know if it was one of the Balamina shopping malls or where, but a lady dropped her purse in the car park, and she said, oh no, it's gone forever, that's it, they've lost it, my credit cards, my money. And that night, there was a rap at her door, and he went and says, are you Mrs. So-and-so? Yes. Well, is this your purse? The lady says, I thought I would never see it again. And she opened it up, and there were the credit cards. He says, oh great. And then she looked, and the money was in, and she said, that's very, very strange. For I'm positive when I lost my purse, there were two 50-pound notes in it. And now they're not. There's a 50, two 20s, and a 10. And the man said, that's right. I changed it, because the last lady's purse I found, she said she had no change to give me a reward. So I went ahead and changed it. You know, there's some people and human nature will do something if we know we're going to be recognized. But you see, that's not real service. That's not real service. And then Paul gives, and I have to be brief, of course, but you read the rest of this chapter, too, and you'll find Paul uses three other examples, himself, Timothy, and a man called Epaphroditus. And he's saying, look, this is how we serve. And I'll just mention three little thoughts about them as you read the rest of the chapter. I trust you will, even as you think of the election. They had consecration. You see, in chapter 2 and 19, Paul writes, note how often the Lord, but I hope in the Lord to send Timothy to you. Verse 24, I trust in the Lord. In other words, Paul made his decisions based on what the Lord wanted. He's saying, now, if this is the Lord's will, I want to do it. Is this the first quality of a good servant of the Lord? Is this the Lord's will? Does the Lord want me to humble myself and go and help that person that others don't want to bother about? They don't deserve my help, but I'll do it for the Lord's sake. Go and reach them. It's putting the Lord. And then in verse 17, this is tremendous. Yea, and if I be offered upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I joy and rejoice. Sacrifice and service, that's consecration. They go together. Real service is a sacrifice. It costs. It costs to serve the Lord. It could cost your time. It may cost you money. It may cost effort. It could inconvenience you. He's saying, I'm offered. The idea is, you know, a drink offering on the altar. He says, I just want to be a complete offering. Here's my life, Lord. Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee. That's what Paul's saying here. writing to the church, he said, look, I'm ready to die in this prison. So what if Nero orders me killed? I'm ready to sacrifice anything, my very life. I give my all to reach the people with the gospel. He's saying, I'm willing to sacrifice. And that's the motive. That has to be the motive of a deacon. You do it for the Lord. Because if there's any other motive, And I'm speaking now of all believers, when we go to serve the Lord, if there's any other motive but the glory of the Lord. When we're hurt, and we will get hurt trying to serve others, of course you do. Some will reject, turn away. When we get hurt and we get bitter, we just give up. But when you realize you're doing it for Him, what does it matter what happens to us? What does it matter? See what Paul's saying here. Consecration, consecration. In verse 21, Timothy, it says, others, he was not seeking after his own interests. You see that, but they need to hurry on. Compassion, compassion. Look at verse 19. I'm just picking these out, read them later. Timotheus, that's another name for Timothy. For I have no man like minded who will naturally, that means genuinely, sincerely care, care. That's the idea of compassion, to feel with, to feel for. Remember he talked earlier about love. In other words, Timothy was the type of, he said, I'm sending Timothy. You know that Timothy's the type of believer, he has compassion on others. He has a genuine love and care for people. He's interested in them. That's so important. That's what Paul and Timothy, they had that compassion and love for other people. I enjoyed a tremendous function last night. I was invited along, there's quite a group there. It's a group called Gospel Goal, they put up gospel signs and so on at football grounds, but they were honoring one of our elders in Lurgan, and they've made a video, because it's almost, it's 48 years that he has stood outside Lenavon football ground, giving out tracks, 48 years. And they sent tracks, Moranview tracks, one of John Dummigan, one of our elders. It was tremendous to see the little video of him. And as he talked as well, and others talked about his work and giving out tracks with him. And even the board often shake his hand. He's well received all those years. Yes, he said there's some still refused, but he's Very, very well received. Apparently, I've never been there, but the supporters all love him as a person. He's so agreeable. But something came across in that meeting. Some of those who spoke, who stood with him and helped, and he himself, he said, you know, I soon realized those years, you have to hand the tract with love. You have to give it in love. Not there for an argument. Not there to embarrass people or to argue anything like that. You have to give it in love. And that came out from other men speaking too. It was amazing to hear the stories. I can't tell you them all. It was tremendous. There's two men who all those years never took from him for almost 40 years. 138, 140, and then one day they took a track from him. He always was pleasant with them, said hello to them, but they'd say, no, no, I don't want the track. And then they took them. And shortly after they took it, both those men died. We don't know whether they responded. But a tract, you see, can be taken home. It was so encouraging last night. And he told us, I love this one. He said, one day, there's a group of a lot of policemen. So he wears a scripture text vest. He wears that. And he goes into the story why he started that those 48 years ago. So he gave them out to the policemen. The policeman said, look, one of our colleagues is over there. Why don't you go over and give him one? He'll not take one from you. So we went across the street, and the policeman smiled and said, I suppose those colleagues told you I won't take a tract off you. I never take a tract. I just won't take one. But I'll take it today just to spite them. Do you know, John told us last night, some time ago, he was there again at Glenavon giving out the tracts. And a policeman comes over and says, do you remember me? No. All you do. Remember that day you crossed over the street to give me a tract, but you were told, I'm the man, never take a tract. I'm saved now. And I do some preaching. Now John said, he's not claiming it's only because of the tract he gave, but you never know. But it kept coming across. This is what reminded me of this compassion. You know, I never thought about that. He says, even as you're handing the tract to somebody, you got to do it in love. But see, people know, people can sense. That's what we mean about compassion. Have you a real compassion for people? A real compassion. Look at verse 26. I'll just have to, this is amazing about Epaphroditus. It says that, he longed after you all and was full of heaviness. This man was really sorrowful. Why? Because that he had heard that he had been sick. For indeed he was sick nigh unto death, but God had mercy. Now do you see why he was so sad and heavy? It wasn't that he was sick. It's because they had heard he was sick. And he was so heavy because they were worried about him. Isn't that amazing? I'm explaining it. What was weighing heavy on him was that those people were worried about him and his sickness. He didn't want them to worry about it. Don't worry about me. Yes, and I own the death. But listen, don't worry about me. Is not a man whose compassion on others? He was concerned for them because they'd heard he was sick. That's amazing compassion. Another one, cooperation. See in verse 20, serving the Lord means we serve with other people. Verse 22, Timothy worked with other men. Timothy, it says, as a son with his father, he has served with me in the gospel. You know, in a local church we serve together. We're not to be loners in God's work. Some people always want to be loners. No, no, we serve together. And of course, the Presbyterian system is the biblical system of church government. There's a plurality of elders. You're minister, and I have the privilege, of course, being a teaching elder and minister. I'm now retired, still preach. But you're the chairman of the elders. There's a plurality of men that rule. That's what we believe that the Bible teaches, plurality. It's a group that pray together and serve together. So no matter what your gift is, and every believer is a gift. Yes, every believer. Every Christian has a gift. You say, well, I don't know. Just you serve as the opportunity comes. But everyone's important. Read 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Every believer has a gift. And we're to serve in the local congregation to see it built up to God's glory. You see, together. There's some, and they can't work with other people. And Paul is saying, Timothy, I am much older than him. But yet, he served along with me. Sometimes it's harder for young people to serve with older people. It can be. And no, no, not Timothy. He'll serve with anybody. Isn't that tremendous? You see, you have to be a servant to be a leader. Timothy, of course, became the pastor of the church in Ephesus. We know that. But you have to learn to be a servant, to be a leader. Leaders have to be servants, by their example. The motto of Sandhurst, how the son went to Sandhurst. And their motto, Sandhurst with the trained British soldiers, you know what it is? Serve to lead. You can't lead anything in God's work unless you're a servant and continue to be a servant. Serve to lead. That's the mark of a mature Christian. Oh, we could say so much. I encourage you to read this chapter. Read these three men, and you'll see that they had consecration. They had compassion. They had cooperation. And that's in the committee men that you elect together as a committee, and the elders, and the whole congregation. We serve together. We're together in this. We serve one another, and we serve the Lord as together. And to do that, you have to die to self. We're team players. And as you read through this chapter, and I'll just give you this outline quickly, you'll find these three men were willing to serve anyone. That's the whole article. As you read it, Paul sent Timothy. He was willing to go. And then he sent Epaphroditus. He was willing to go. In verse 25, it says that Timothy ministered to Paul once. There's the idea again. Deacon, ministered, served. How did he do it? Or Epaphroditus, sorry, when he was in prison. That's talking about practical needs. He visited Paul in prison, willing to serve anybody. Maybe it is to spend an hour with some elderly person who can't get out. Maybe it is to bring a dinner round to someone who has a sudden tragedy in their house. Maybe some other practical way, but it's all done for the Lord's work. I was reading just yesterday morning, it was, actually, of a pastor. I'd sometimes read his blogs and so on. He told us a boy, the family growing up, his mother was continually going down to care homes where those with great needs, not necessarily aged, and she'd often bring some of the residents home on a Sunday to a meal. And some of them had quite, how would you put it delicately, difficult even to be with their company because of the disabilities they had. But she used to bring them home. And we as children would share a Sunday meal with them. And she would spend time in that home. Spent time with a man in the neighborhood who'd lived in the streets. He'd own the house, but nobody seemed to bother with him and how my parents used to bring him to the house and feed him. Practical, serving anyone in the Lord's name, in the Lord's name. They were willing to be sent anywhere, willing to be sent anywhere. He sent them to different places, serve anyone, sent anywhere, sacrifice anything, give up their own interests. I'll not go through the verses, they're there, but you think about it. Are you willing to do that? Willing to serve anyone, willing to be sent anywhere, Willing to sacrifice anything. Think of what Christ sacrificed for us. Think of God the Son being willing in the covenant of our redemption to be sent to this earth. To be sent to that middle tree and the suffering and shame and to bear our eternal punishment. Do we ever pray, Lord, I'm willing to serve anybody. Even that unlikable person, I'm willing to serve them. Lord, I'm willing to be sent anywhere. Lord, I'm willing to sacrifice anything, as long as your name is glorified. I finish with verse 21. You know, this is all about joy. Here's the paradox. When you sacrifice for the Lord, that's when you know joy. Wasn't it sad in verse 21 of the chapter? Paul speaks about Timothy, how he has compassion, cares for others, but verse 21, and he's speaking about Christians. For all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ. He's saying, sadly, Timothy had these qualities, but a lot of God's people, they're not. They're just interested in their own comfort. Selfish. Don't want to be bothered. Don't want to be put out. It's not my business. It's not my job. Somebody else will do it. See, pride is the letter I in the middle I. And Paul's so disappointed. Disappointed at their attitude, but I think he's disappointed too, because those believers are missing out in joy. But someone who's selfish and doesn't care or serve the Lord, serving other people, they're never joyful. Oh, may God help us to be captivated by Christ and to serve him. Could we turn in our hymn books? Time's going on, but just if we do sing this hymn, it's a short hymn, 411. Let's sing it prayerfully and mean it. I want, dear Lord, a heart that's true and clean. A sunlit heart with not a cloud between, A heart like thine, a heart divine, A heart as white as snow on me, dear Lord, A heart like this bestow." It's 411. We'll sing verse 2 and verse 3, please. Just verse 2 and verse 3 for time, please. Have hope, have peace for all, Have each strong love, Have sex every morn. Have love like that of love, Divine of love, or divine of love. O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord! Let's pray. Maybe you're here this morning, you've never personally realized God's love for you. Oh, I trust you'll think of him coming from heaven, going to that cross so that sinners like you and I could have our sins forgiven. How can you refuse him today? How can you refuse to come to him? Father in heaven, We do thank Thee for the great example of our Saviour. We pray that more and more we would be captivated by what the Saviour did for us, how He, the Creator, humbled Himself, even to the depths of shame at Calvary. Thank You, Lord, for dying for us. But, O Lord, bring before us our position. We are servants. When we're saved, we are. But Lord, may we each examine ourselves. Are we being good servants? Is there a Christ-likeness about me? We pray now that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit may rest, remain, and abide upon each one of you and upon all whom you love, both now and forever. Amen.