Please turn in your copies of God's Word to the Gospel of Luke. Gospel of Luke chapter 10. And we'll be reading verses 17 down to 24. Luke chapter 10, verses 17 to 24. The 72 returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. And he said to them, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy and nothing shall hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. In that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Then turning to the disciples, he said privately, blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desire to see what you see and did not see and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. So ends the hearing of God's word. Let's pray once again and ask the Lord to bless the preaching of his word. Lord, we thank you that we have the privilege, a privilege that is greater even than prophets and kings of old for we have the more full revelation of Jesus Christ and all that he has done for us and continues to do as our risen and ascended Savior and High Priest before the throne of God. Lord, help us to recognize our blessedness, as Jesus tells us, and help us even now to receive these words, your word, with joy. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. Well, where is true joy found? Where is true joy found? Well, we know as Christians that true and lasting joy, real joy, isn't found in the passing things of this age. It's rooted in our communion with God based on the mediation of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit applied to us in our hearts. And knowing that, knowing that we have peace with God, knowing that our worst sins are forgiven, knowing that we have a secure place in heaven because of Christ, well, all of those things should make us the most joyful people on the planet. But even though those things are true of us, and we know them to be true, we don't always experience the joy that ought to result from that, do we? Sometimes we fail to live joyfully because we're discouraged, whether we're discouraged by things others say or do, or some other factor that causes us to despair. Or so often we fail to live joyfully because we become distracted by the things of this age. Augustine, church father, gave a very helpful, really a brilliant illustration of how we become distracted from our true joy. He likened our earthly life to that of a wanderer. Imagine for a moment, if you will, that you are a wanderer in a strange and foreign country, and you're trying to get home, back to your family perhaps. And you're determined to get home. And so you know that it's a long road ahead, but you set your face to go there. You put one foot after another. You're heading a good stride. Nothing will deter you. But as you march along, the country that once was very strange and foreign and unfamiliar begins to get a little bit more familiar, and you begin to get a little bit more comfortable. Your once steady stride begins to slacken. You slow down to take in some more of the sights. Stop and smell the flowers as it were. Little by little you become more and more charmed and thus distracted by the fleeting pleasures around you. And then eventually you might give up altogether your journey home and forget all about your family awaiting you in some other land. Augustine's point is that we're so easily distracted by the temporal things and the fleeting things of this earthly, worldly age that we live in. And these kinds of things take our minds off of those things that should be our focus, things that are eternal, but no less relevant, of course, to our life here on Earth. Because when our minds are so this worldly focused, It's impossible for us to have any true and lasting joy. The good thing is that the Lord knows us. And because the Lord knows how prone we are to wander as the hymn goes, and how easily we are distracted or discouraged by the things of this age, he gives us a weekly feeding of his word through preaching morning and evening. in order to recalibrate our hearts, in order to reposition our steps, as it were, so that we keep walking where we're to walk. And this morning, God sets before us three glorious truths that are designed to fill our hearts with joy. Whereas we may feel discouraged in our warfare against Satan, Jesus reminds us that we have the joy of victory over Satan through Christ. Whereas we may feel plagued by fear and doubt, Jesus gives us reason to rejoice in our salvation. And finally, he shows us a glimpse of the joy of the triune God and how we, through faith, have been made partakers of that same joy. So let's consider now the teaching of Christ as he sets before us these three wonderfully joyful truths. First, there's the great joy of victory over Satan. Second, the greater joy of our salvation. And third, the greatest joy of our Savior. First, we consider the great joy of victory over Satan. Well, in the last passage, Jesus had sent out his 72 disciples. That number from the 12 had been expanded to 72. They had the task of running ahead of him from town to town to prepare the way for him. They had the task of heralding the good news of the gospel, which was to be accompanied by the signs of healing and the casting out of demons. Well, now in our passage, the 72 have returned having completed their mission. And how did they fare? Recall how they were sent out barefoot and penniless. Jesus described their mission as lambs being sent out among wolves. He even warns them that they would be rejected by many. But he also promised that he would provide the strength that they needed. Well, as they're returning now, maybe they're coming in one big group, or maybe they're coming back in drips and drabs, and we might expect to hear how hard it was for them, or how many calluses and blisters they had on their poor, aching feet. But that's not what they report at all. They return overjoyed. They could not be happier. Notice what is bringing them joy, verse 17. The 72 returned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name. So they're rejoicing that demons are subject to them. And now they're not boasting in their own success because they rightly ascribe their success to Jesus' name. In the ancient world, the view of demons was that they were frightening and terrifying and these powerful creatures that were behind a lot of the calamities of life. Even today, horror movies depict demons as these fearsome, frightening, unbeatable kind of enemies. But here, simply at the name of Jesus, these oh-so-terrifying demons are wilting over like daisies in the noonday sun. The disciples are right to be joyful. Back in chapter nine, they had been unable to cast a demon from the young boy who was demon-possessed. The demon was throwing him into fires and all sorts of things and causing him great pain and agony. They'd been unable to cast the demon out because of their lack of faith. And Jesus had even lamented this fact. But here, we see that the disciples' faith is firmly fixed on Christ, and thus they are able to act and work and exercise the authority that Jesus has given them. Well, in response to their joy over the defeat of these demons, Jesus makes a very interesting statement, doesn't he? He says in verse 18, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Well, what does this mean? Well, Jesus is describing how through the ministry and work of the disciples, as they're exercising Jesus' authority, how Satan's kingdom is being dismantled and it's being defeated. When Jesus says he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven, he's not speaking literally, as if he literally saw Satan fall from above to below. Heaven and hell are often described in kind of earthly terms. Heaven is described as above us, hell is described as below us. It's not that there's actually a place in the sky where heaven is, it's not that the core of the earth is where hell is. No, these are simply earthly ways of speaking of something that is spiritual and something beyond our full comprehension and present experience. And yet, These places are not figments of one's imagination, they are real places. And Jesus is speaking, although figuratively, he is speaking of something that has actually and really happened. Satan is being defeated. John tells us of Jesus. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. Heard a little bit of that in Sunday school, didn't we? How Jesus came to declare war, to attack Satan's kingdom, to dismantle and destroy it, to do battle. And here, Jesus is saying that through his disciples and through the authority he's given them, he is defeating Satan. Now ultimate victory will come as a result of what Jesus does on the cross, his death, his atonement, his resurrection. And Satan will finally be judged on the last day when we're told in Revelation he will be taken and he will be thrown into the lake of fire of torment. But this great warfare and judgment is already happening even by and through his disciples. However, while Satan is not present in heaven, he's been cast from heaven, Jesus says, his presence is known on earth. So what does that mean for us, that Satan has been cast from heaven to earth and he is on earth? This is what Jesus addresses next in verse 18. He says, Jesus continues to speak figuratively. Snakes and scorpions represent the power of the enemy. Jesus says that very thing. They are the power of the enemy. They represent Satan and his minions of evil. And remarkably, Jesus says, you will tread on snakes and scorpions and they will not hurt you. This imagery of trampling over Satan and trampling over the demonic is something that we find in several places in scripture. Genesis 3, God promises that the seed of the woman will trample the serpent's head. Psalm 91 promises that the one who takes refuge in Yahweh will trample the lion and trample the serpent. Paul assures Roman Christians in Romans 16, 20 that the God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. So Satan is on earth and he is attempting to work his woe. It is a world with devils filled, as Luther sang. He is a real enemy. And the scorpions and snakes here are pictures of real attacks, poisonous attacks against God's people. But Jesus gives his people the power to walk on these things. Jesus' disciples may be sent out shoeless, but he has given us feet so tough that we can trample snakes and scorpions and not be harmed. As we think about the demonic and as we think about Satan, it's probably not a topic that's a favorite topic to think about for many of us, but as we think about this, there are two perennial pitfalls that we need to avoid. The first is to have an overactive imagination thinking that somehow Satan is behind everything that happens. Any unfavorable thing from burning your toast to a flat tire, it's the devil, or the devil made me do something. We don't want to live that way. On the other hand, we also don't want to live like the modern naturalist who says that there is no spiritual, and well, actually, I can figure out a reason why this happened, and that's why it happened, and there is no spiritual. No, that is not a position that the Christian can take either. No, we must recognize that on the one hand, spiritual snakes and scorpions are real, as Jesus tells us. And as Peter tells us, Satan is a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. So when it comes to our spiritual enemy, we must take it seriously and soberly. But on the other hand, we need to equally recognize that Satan has no claim over us. Satan cannot possess you, dear Christian. He cannot control you. In fact, he can do nothing to you that is not within the realm of God's sovereignty. Satan, after all, is not the yin to God's yang. He's not the good side or the bad side of the force versus the good side of the force. He isn't the equal but opposite evil side of God's goodness. No, Satan, scripture is clear, it tells us, is a created being, no different to any other angel who we read of, like Michael or anyone else. He is a created being. He's a fallen being. and one whose power is limited and bound, and therefore he cannot ultimately harm you. That's the truth Jesus is teaching us here. How do we begin to apply it even more concretely in our lives? One thing, to give a negative, a prohibition, I would say, don't take this truth and then suddenly become passive in spiritual warfare. I think it's very easy for us to hear this. Okay, the devil can't hurt me. And then to think, well, since he won't hurt me, I won't hurt him. We'll kind of draw a line in the sand. He'll stay on his side, I'll stay on my side. We'll leave each other alone. No, that's not an option for the Christian. Because as Christians, we are called and we are equipped to fight a spiritual battle against the devil. There is no passivity or sitting on the warming bench. How do we fight against the kingdom of darkness? Well, one of the key ways we fight the devil and crush him underfoot is through prayer. through prayer, and especially when we pray, thy kingdom come. Question 109 of our catechism tells us what we're praying for when we pray the second petition of the Lord's Prayer. We pray that Satan's kingdom may be destroyed. and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened. Dear Christian, I hope that you pray for the destruction of Satan's kingdom. I hope that you pray for Christ's kingdom in the church now and for the kingdom that is coming in the fullness of glory. Beloved, rejoice that you have victory over Satan and express that joy to God in prayer as you pray, thy kingdom come, as you pray in the same powerful name of Jesus Christ. So we can have great joy in knowing that we have victory over Satan. But secondly, there's a greater joy, isn't there? There's the greater joy of our salvation. So as the disciples have come back, they are ecstatic. They're sharing stories of the time that they had. They're telling Jesus about all these demons that they've cast out, and they're exuberant. And Jesus responds initially by saying, yes, you are witnessing the defeat of Satan. I've given you this authority to trample the devil and not be harmed. my beloved disciples, let me give you something even better. Let me direct your joy to something even more precious and wonderful. Look at verse 20, where Jesus says, nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven. However joyful the disciples are over this being able to cast out demons, and their joy is appropriate, Jesus isn't saying their joy is wrong, but however joyful they are over that, something that should lift their spirits even more is the knowledge and the assurance that their names are written in heaven. Jesus here is using a metaphor familiar to the day. In the ancient world, cities kept registers, books of the names of all the people who were citizens in that town or that city. And so if your name was in the register of a particular city, it meant that you had access to all of the legal benefits and financial benefits, protection, property within that city. And here, Jesus is calling us to rejoice that our names are written in the city of heaven, the city of God. And God has a register of our names. This, of course, isn't the only occurrence of this metaphor in scripture. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians of his coworkers, whose names are in the book of life. Similarly, the author of Hebrews describes those who trust in Christ as being enrolled in heaven. So our names are written in heaven, in God's book, his register of those who belong to him. But notice how the emphasis is on the location of this book. Children, where does God keep this book? Is it kept in an ark? or a temple, or perhaps a high mountain somewhere? No, Jesus says, your names are written in heaven. And if your name is written in heaven, that means that you have all of the privileges of heaven. You have all the benefits of heaven. It means that your title and right of heaven is eternally secure. As Jesus promises us in Revelation chapter three, verse five, I will never blot out his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my father and before his angels. But why bring this up now? What has this to do with angels and demons and Satan and all that sort of stuff? Well, again, where has Satan been cast from? From heaven. Where is the book? It's in heaven. In other words, Jesus is assuring us that our names are secure in God's book in heaven, precisely because Satan is not in heaven. It's interesting, up until now in Luke's gospel, the evil one has been referred to as the devil. for the first time Jesus refers to him as Satan, or Satan, which is a word that means the accuser. Satan is the accuser of God's people. Think of passages like Job chapter one, or Zechariah chapter three, where Satan is, I know it's unusual imagery, but it's the imagery we're given, Satan is pictured as kind of striding through the courts of heaven. And he's there making accusations against God's people. He's there kind of lurking and he's whispering into God's ear, kind of like Grima Wormtongue. nitpicking our every thought, bringing accusations against God's people, presenting them to God in the most articulate way he can. And of course, he's not wrong. Under the law, we ought to stand condemned. We ought to receive a charge, and we ought to receive a guilty verdict. But now, Jesus announces that Satan has been kicked out of God's heavenly court. which means that he is no longer there to bring an accusation against us. Ultimately, it will be through Christ's work on the cross that Satan will be disbarred and kicked out of heaven's courts. But here we see that Satan is no longer able to bring accusations against us. No, instead of his vicious prosecutions, we have an attorney, a lawyer, a mediator, one who is able to clear us of all guilt before the Father. Not because we're innocent and we're misunderstood or something like that. No, we are guilty. That's the problem. But our mediator clears us of guilt through taking the punishment we deserve upon himself through bearing our guilt. This is really what Romans 8 is all about. It's a courtroom scene. And Paul rhetorically declares In light of Christ's work, who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And then Paul concludes, for I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Beloved believer in Christ, this should bring you such a joyful assurance of your salvation. After all, Jesus says, rejoice in this. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven, which means that Satan's power cannot remove your secure position before God. Rejoice that Satan is cast from heaven, which means that he has no access to the book of life. He cannot smudge your name. He cannot delete your name. He cannot rub it out with an eraser. He cannot backspace it. Your name is there, secure. If you are by faith justified by Christ, There's nothing that can be dredged up from the past, brought up into focus from the future, in the present, or pulled forward from the future. No, you are secure in Christ. There is no charge, Paul says, that can be brought against you. Men cannot bring a charge against you. Through their legalism, angels nor demons can raise a single charge in the courts of heaven. No charge can stand against the one whom Christ has justified. And this is ultimately why you can tread on serpents and scorpions, and why they cannot harm you. Satan has been cast from heaven. He has no access to your name. The world can throw their worst at you, but they cannot take your soul, and they cannot change in the slightest way your standing before God. Why? Because Christ has inscribed your name into his heavenly register with the permanent ink of his own righteous blood. And so, beloved, Let us no longer live as slaves to passions, fears, and doubts, all characteristic of this dying age, but let us live joyfully as citizens whose names are inscribed and preserved in the courts of heaven. Well, there's the great joy of victory over Satan, and there's the greater joy of our salvation, and finally, there's the greatest joy, that of our Savior, Have you ever considered the fact that Jesus was the most joyful man who ever lived? Certainly, Jesus was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. The reason he knew that grief wasn't because of sin he had in himself. He knew grief because sinners sinned against him. And throughout his earthly ministry, right up until the cross, sin never had any impact on his relationship with the Lord. He always enjoyed a joyful communion with God, which was never interrupted. Jesus was joyful. You know, some people have this view that Jesus was a kind of a stoic, sort of sad, aloof kind of personality. And I've even heard it said, and I won't say from where, but I have heard it said that, well, because Jesus was kind of sad, aloof, and distant, that's kind of how pastors need to be. Sad, aloof, distant, don't get too close, don't rub shoulders with the, you know, the hoi polloi, the masses. And even to the point where, you know, you walk into a room and people should feel slightly uncomfortable because you're that holy or something to that effect. And I wish I was exaggerating, I'm sadly not. But friends, if that's who you think Jesus is, you need to change your idolatrous views of who you think Jesus is. Jesus was nothing like that. Jesus was compassionate to the suffering. He touched people's wounds and diseases. He washed people's feet. When he saw a widow about to bury her only son, his passions were moved within him by what he saw, and he went and he helped. He cried at funerals. And through all of this, he was obedient to the father like no one else, truly loving God first and loving his neighbor as himself. And here, we see that Jesus was joyful like no one else. He was perfectly joyful with joy interrupted. Well, in verse 21, Jesus launches into this joyful prayer to the Lord. Luke tells us, in that same hour, he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. Notice the Trinitarian nature of his joy. We see God the Son rejoicing in God the Holy Spirit, giving thanks to God the Father, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit enjoy one another. There is an internal joy within the Trinity that is perfect and complete. And this isn't the first time we've seen this expression of the triune joy. When Jesus was baptized, Luke chapter three, and in his transfiguration in Luke chapter nine, we saw the spirit present in the form of a dove and in the glory cloud. We heard the words of the father as he expressed his delight in his beloved son. And of course we saw the son there being glorified and affirmed. And now Jesus once again rejoices in the Spirit and in the Father. And as he does, we catch another glimpse of the perfect joy of our triune God that he enjoys within himself. And this is an important point that ought to be recognized. God is all joy within himself. He is assay, which is a technical word that simply describes that God is self-existent. He is self-contained, as it were. He needs nothing from outside of himself. We're not like that. We're dependent. Children are dependent on parents. Even as adults, we're dependent on society and other people. We're constantly looking to be fulfilled. Certainly, we need God to fulfill us. But God is perfect in his joy. He is perfect in all that he is. He needs nothing from outside of himself. He didn't create you or me or the world because he was lonely, as if he needed something else to complete him. No, he is perfection. And here we see and we're reminded of the fact that he is the full perfection of joy in and of himself. Well, what would cause Jesus to rejoice and to break into a prayer of praise like this? Well, let's read on. Jesus prays joyfully. I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. So he praises the Father for handing over all things to him. This refers to the authority that the father has given to the son in his mission and his role as the mediator and the Messiah. Now it's important to distinguish Jesus in his role as the mediator. It isn't that in the Trinity that the son has some lesser position or some lesser nature than the father or the spirit for that matter. No, in their eternal relations, the son is not subordinate to the father. You may have heard it put it this way, and this way is wrong that I'm about to describe. But you may have heard it this way. Well, it's kind of like a marriage where God is the father, and he's the head of the household. Then you've got Jesus as sort of the mom, and kind of a lesser position. Still important, but a lesser authority. And then the Holy Spirit, I don't know, is like the kids or something like that. No, that's heresy. That is not the truth. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God. They share one authority and one glory. And to denigrate one is to denigrate all, and it's the height of idolatry and heresy. All three people are equal, as we confess in our catechism. This is why the catechism is so important. It helps us. You hear someone say, well, the son isn't quite where the father is. Well, you remember back to these statements, and you're able to combat error, whether from others or even in your own mind. Our catechism says there are three persons in the Godhead, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one God, the same in essence, equal in power and glory. So the authority given here to the son is not some kind of eternal authority that the son was lacking. No, it's the authority given to the son as he has in the words of Paul in Philippians chapter two, though being equal with God, taken the status of a servant. Now the father is giving his servant authority to do certain things. And the way Jesus executes this authority given to him by the father is by being the revealer of God, the revealer of God. as he continues in his prayer. And no one knows who the son is except the father, or who the father is except the son, and to anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. So the only way to know God is through knowing the son, Jesus Christ, because the son reveals the father. Despite what people claim, that every religion ultimately is working its way to the same God where we're all just worshiping the same God just under different names or titles or pathways and we'll all get there in the end. No, God is only known through the gospel of Jesus Christ. God cannot be known through pure nature or reason or philosophy. The only way to God is through the Son. And the way to know the Son is through listening to his revealed word. This is why we must listen to the son. Recall the father's words to Peter when Peter is blabbing during the transfiguration, let's build all these little tents. And the father says, this is my son, my chosen one, listen to him. Well, this is intended to add an even greater weightiness to the many calls that we've had through Luke's gospel to hear the word. Don't have your ears clogged, but listen to the word. Let it sink into your ears. Listen to the Son, because to listen to the Son is to hear the voice of God. So Jesus rejoices that it is his task and authority to reveal the Father. Next, Jesus rejoices that this revelation has been hidden from the wise but revealed to children. He prays, you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. It's interesting, literally he says, you have revealed these things to babies, to infants. What's he talking about here? Well, Jesus isn't trying to create some kind of class warfare between different ages or different people groups. No, he's speaking figuratively here. The wise and understanding are those who are wise in their own eyes. They are those who are men like the Pharisees. They've already got it figured out. They don't need Jesus. And so Jesus is not revealed to them. The message of the gospel has been kept from them, but it has been revealed to infants. Well, who are the infants then? Well, it's not literal infants. Rather, it's describing the way that the mighty and the proud and the wise in their own eyes have been torn down, but the humble and the poor and the afflicted have been raised up. The poor and the infants are those who recognize their own weakness and humbly approach God through faith in Jesus Christ. It goes back to the song of Mary, the mother of our Lord, where she sang, and his mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm. He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts. He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate. He has filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. Again, these contrasts between rich and poor, hungry and full, young and old, they're not literal physical descriptions, they're spiritual descriptions. Those who come to know the joys of salvation, who come to know God, come by faith alone, in Christ alone. according to the gracious will of the Father. But the proud and the righteous and those who harden their hearts and who are wise in their own eyes, Jesus says, are too blind to see and therefore will not know the revelation of the Son of the Father. But here it is the son's joy that this plan of redemption from before the foundation of the world is being fulfilled and worked out and accomplished before his very eyes. The lost are being saved, the elect are being gathered in, all according to God's gracious will. And in this, Jesus rejoices. Well, after praying to God about this revelation, Jesus finally turns to the disciples and addresses them. In verse 23 and 24, he says, blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings desire to see what you see and did not see it and to hear what you hear and did not hear it. So Jesus ends with a blessing or a benediction. A blessing is not something we've done. It's not something we're called to do. So when we read the Beatitudes for that matter, it's not things that we're called to. It's an affirmation that we are blessed. A blessing is something God has done for us. And here, the blessing is that God has given his disciples revelation that past generations would have loved to have seen. They have seen and heard what Moses and Elijah and David only wish they could see. They would have given their right arm to experience what these brothers and sisters in Jesus' day came to know. And so Jesus says, God has blessed you. And brothers and sisters, This is your blessing too. You have not seen Jesus in the flesh like these disciples. You have not witnessed his miracles or the greatest miracle, his resurrection. But you have heard what kings and prophets long to hear. You have heard the news that the one whom Israel was pining for, Emmanuel, has come. We sing that hymn post his coming. You get to hear of the fulfillment of the scriptures as we heard in Sunday School of Paul as he goes to these various cities announcing that what you've been taught your whole lives has come to fruition in Jesus Christ. You've heard how Christ has lived, how he died, how he was raised for your salvation. And this morning you have heard the good news that through faith you have victory over Satan, that your name is written in heaven, and that you learn of the great joyous plan of the triune God to save a people. Well, if even baby John in the womb leapt at the presence of Mary with Jesus in her womb, with that little bit of revelation, if he leapt with joy, how much more should we be a joyful people, leaping for joy with the depths of the knowledge of God that we have, that God has revealed himself, not to the mighty and the strong, but those humble of faith and so beloved. Like Mary, receive this word. Like baby John, leap for joy. Store this word in your heart and rejoice that your names are written in heaven. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for the assurances that are ours. We thank you for our brother Luke, your servant, who wrote that we might have certainty concerning the things that we have heard. And Lord, we ask that you would even now apply the preaching of your word by your Holy Spirit so that we might have greater certainty of our victory over Satan through you. of our assurance of salvation, having our names written in heaven, and our assurance that the great God who joyously planned our redemption will also see us to completion. We pray these things in the same powerful name of Jesus, amen. Well, at this time, we will respond to the revelation of God by confessing our most ancient and holy faith in the words, these ancient words of the Apostles' Creed. And so please do take your bulletins and please stand, and we will say these words together. You can follow my leading. I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. I believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified dead and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From there he shall come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, amen.