Once again, we return to our ongoing study of Benjamin Keech's catechism this morning. The past couple weeks, we have seen the catechism finally take us into what is called the benefits of redemption in Jesus Christ. This, as I've mentioned, remains a part of our study of God's decrees. God has foreordained that his elect would be redeemed by grace, and through the work of his Son, and ultimately they would be blessed with the benefits of this redemption. It's God's decrees that order the world, and it's God's decrees that bring reconciliation between the fallen human race and their creator, and this is done as God simply speaks His will. God will gather a people to His name, and so He decrees every circumstance to bring about that gathering. Through creation, God has made for himself a people and has given them a place to dwell. And through providence, he has carefully governed every moment and every situation to accomplish that gathering. This is our God. He is a sovereign God, higher than the heavens. And yet he is a God who is intimately and lovingly involved in the salvation of every one of his people. God is big enough to rule over principalities and powers and loving enough to care for and even weep with those he calls his children. And it is this God who has decreed all things. God is a God of power and yet tenderness. He is also just and the justifier as we saw last week. He makes his own enemies, those who are unrighteous and unholy, and people who hate him and are completely unworthy of his presence. Those people he makes righteous and holy and declares them innocent and worthy to spend eternity with him. That's incredible, right? That's a loving God and Father. The creator and ruler of the world is a tender and merciful and loving God and Father. Last week we saw that one of the benefits of redemption for God's elect is justification. Unholy and unrighteous people are declared holy and righteous as a benefit of Christ's work in redemption. And we saw that this is something that happens apart from us. This holiness and righteousness, as we talked about last time, isn't something that suddenly makes us perfect people or even allows us to be perfect people. That's what the language almost implies, right? To be holy and righteous by definition would mean to be without sin. I think all of us here can attest to the fact that that is not our experience. John says in 1st John 1 in verse 8 that if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. So clearly our holiness and righteousness is not the perfect absence of sin here. So how can we be justified? How can imperfect, unholy, and unrighteous people be declared perfect and holy and righteous before God. After all, those are the standards for communion with God. Well, that's why we're told that this righteousness is not something infused in us. It doesn't mingle with our sinfulness. It's imputed to us. This is an important point that I want to review for just a minute before we begin today's study. Let's begin with the error of infused righteousness. The idea comes from Roman Catholicism, and it's really leaked into all of Christianity, so I think it's an important topic to just review. Even many evangelical Christians. What does it mean to have a righteousness infused into us? Well, it basically means to permeate or to soak. Think about washing a dirty shirt. in warm water and soap. That warm water is infused with the soap. And so now the soapy water is able to clean the shirt. But the soapy water also gets dirtied by the shirt. The water is infused with the soap. The soap becomes part of it. But the soap becomes diluted by the water and becomes dirty by the dirty shirt. It becomes watery and dirty. We aren't soaked in righteousness. Christ's righteousness doesn't become part of us in justification. His perfection doesn't mingle with our imperfection and overcome it just by soaking into us. We are too imperfect for that and our imperfection would taint the righteousness infused in us and dilute it and dirty it constantly like that watery soap. That's the problem with the view of infused righteousness. As long as we remain in the flesh, we would be constantly eroding any righteousness that is infused to us. Every sin would stain us again and remove us from God's presence over and over and over again. That's why Roman Catholics have no assurance, and they even admit that. They acknowledge that they are constantly needing the righteousness of Christ reapplied to them. But that's not the view of an imputed righteousness. In imputation, righteousness is not simply applied to our, is, excuse me, simply applied to our account. And that's done once. Not applied to our body and soul, applied to our account. Think of it more as a bank account that receives a deposit that was put there by someone else. It's not put in our pockets for us to lose. It's just put in an account somewhere safe where you can't touch it or spend it or lose it. And think about this, you have become richer but you haven't become a better person or a better business person, right? Just by having that money put in your account. You have been given wealth but it's not because of anything you've done. That's imputed righteousness. It's a gift of righteousness put in an account far away from us and held on to for us. We need more than just a soaking in righteousness. We need a righteousness that can't be lost or spent or ruined or diluted by us. Because in this life we remain in our sinful flesh. In this life we are counted as clean and sinless and righteous only in Christ. And so it's not something we're soaked in, it's something put in our bank account, so to speak. Do you see the difference? That's why there's no sudden perfection that we're able to see in people who become believers. That's sanctification. They aren't infused with righteousness, they're imputed a righteousness. We're not soaked in Christ's righteousness, it's put on our account. That's why we can't lose it, by the way. That's also why we insist that Christians should examine their hearts constantly to be sure that there is fruit. Because imputed righteousness should produce fruit. David says in Psalm 26 in verse 2, Examine me, O Lord, and prove me. Try my mind and my heart. He's looking for a renewed mind and a heart of flesh, right? A heart that's been replaced from that heart of stone. Jeremiah says in Lamentations 3 in verse 40, Let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord." He's looking for repentance. Paul writes to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 11 and verse 28, but let a man examine himself. And again, Paul writes to the Galatians in Galatians 6 and verse 4, but let each one examine his own work and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. Paul is looking for the fruits of salvation. None of these are looking for a perfect righteousness infused within themselves. No, they're looking for faith and repentance and good works, which are the fruits of the Spirit. And so why the emphasis on self-examination? Why does God want us looking inside of ourselves? Is it to find perfection found in our justification? Perfect, infused holiness and righteousness? No. It's to find the fruit of the Spirit. If we look inside of ourselves and think we see the righteousness of Christ, we have terribly underestimated the righteousness of Christ. If we think we have been infused with His righteousness, we know nothing of His righteousness. No, instead, we examine ourselves for a different reason. We examine ourselves so that we can see our need and turn to the Lord of righteousness who offers it to us. Jeremiah once again says, let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to the Lord. Jeremiah wouldn't talk of turning back to the Lord if there were no sin. And so examination is a part of faith and repentance, not a way to discover and infuse righteousness inside of us. I think this is one of the most important things to understand as followers of Christ. Christ's righteousness, the righteousness that will be the reason we are declared just before a holy God, isn't going to be found in our self-examination. What we find in self-examination is sin. And hopefully the fruits of faith, the desire, the holiness and righteousness offered in Christ. We should never be satisfied in our self-examination and yet at the exact same time we should never be discouraged by it because our righteousness is secure and placed on our account and He is Christ the Savior. Our righteousness, the righteousness of Christ is Christ Himself. That's why Romans 10 and verse 3 says, for they being ignorant of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. This is incredibly important. This is often what stands between a person and salvation. And this is why scenes like Matthew 7 are so devastating, where Jesus says, not all who say to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Why is this? Didn't they believe? Didn't those people serve God, and cast out demons, and feed the poor, and teach Sunday school, and sing in the choir? Yes, they did. So why doesn't the Lord accept them? Well, the reason is because they didn't know Him. I would argue that part of knowing Him is knowing His righteousness. When you learn that you have no righteousness of your own, and you learn that the righteousness you need is in Christ Himself, It should prompt you to familiarize yourself with Him. Jesus says to these people, I never knew you. I never knew you. So what does this teach us? But to get to know Him. Verify that He is righteous. Prove it to ourselves. And then lay hold of Him by faith. And leave your own righteousness behind you. Those people who were cast out in Matthew 7, Jesus actually says to them, I never knew you. Depart from me who practice lawlessness into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. That should terrify us. But it should also teach us that the reason these people were cast away wasn't because of their works. It was because they never knew their righteousness. They never knew Christ. They never examined themselves to find themselves needy and they never examined Christ to find him perfect and righteous and holy and worthy on their behalf. So we see that God's decrees have brought us to the place where we can finally see the benefits of Christ applied to the saints in redemption. First we saw his righteousness imputed to us. in the benefit of justification, and today I'd like to consider the benefit of adoption. What is adoption? That's our catechism question this morning. Adoption is the second benefit of redemption that we receive from Christ. But before we read our answer, let's bow our heads in prayer once again. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the opportunity to gather as a local body as we do each Lord's Day. That is a gift. It is a means of grace whereby we come together and we commune with you and with your people. We thank you for that special gathering that we have each week. We thank you for it. We ask your blessing upon it. We ask your blessing upon the study of your Word today, that your Holy Spirit himself would be our teacher. and that you would guide us, and that you would teach us, and that you would show us what it is you'd have us learn. I pray, dear Lord, that you would be exalted in all that is said. I pray, Lord, that you would be blessed by us and that we would be blessed by you. And so we pray these things in Christ's holy name. Amen. Okay, so what is adoption? The answer says adoption is an act of God's free grace whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God." So first we see that adoption is an act of God's free grace. This is once again a very Calvinistic document, right? The emphasis is placed squarely where it belongs and that is that God alone saves And God alone grants the privilege of adoption. It's literally an act of God, it says. He is the one moving and working and doing. We saw the exact same wording in our study of justification. Justification is an act of God's free grace. And now we see adoption is an act of God's free grace. Same wording. We as enemies of God don't start the process of adoption Just like as unrighteous people, we don't start the process of justification. We are completely incompatible with adoption apart from God first acting to make us justified and then acting to adopt us. So that's first, adoption is an act of God's free grace. I think we understand that statement pretty well from our study last time. So now let's move to what it means for us to be adopted. In our outlines, I'm calling this first point, in adoption we are recipients. God acts and we receive. So what exactly do we receive? Well, the Catechism tells us we are received into the number and we have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God. So we receive and we are received into the number. That seems to be where all this begins. We are received into the number. And what is this number? Well, it's the number of God's elect, right? The number of his children. We are called the sons of God. 1 John 3 and verse 1 says, Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. We are received into this special number of God's children. The Bible refers to those people as the elect, and the remnant, and the special people of God, and this is the invisible church, this is the called-out assembly, and this is true Israel. But it's something we are received into. We're invited in. It's not something we do. It's something we're brought into by God. To be adopted is to be received by a family who is not your own, And so to be adopted by God is to be received into his family, a family that we have no claim to. Listen with me to our 1689 confession. I'd like to use the 1689 as kind of the basis for our outline this morning. Paragraph one says, all those that are justified, God vouchsafed in and for the sake of his only son, Jesus Christ, to make partakers of the grace of adoption by which they are taken into the number and enjoy the liberties and privileges of the children of God, have his name put on them, receive the spirit of adoption, have access to the throne of grace with boldness, are enabled to cry Abba Father, are pitied, protected, provided for, and chastened by him as by a father, yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. That's quite a list, right? These are the benefits of redemption in adoption. So we receive the spirit of adoption. We receive his name put on us. We gain access to the throne. We are enabled to cry Abba Father. He pities us. He protects us. He provides for us. He chastens us. He seals us. He gives us an inheritance of everlasting salvation. That is adoption. It's being received into a family that has been established long before we arrived. A family that is known by its glory and its wealth and its righteousness. Imagine that from an earthly perspective. We are sinful beggars. We are homeless and parentless. We are poor. We are troublemakers. We bring trouble wherever we go. We're in trouble with the banks. We're in trouble with the law. And we're in trouble with friends and we have no family who is willing or able to claim us. That's a spiritual picture of you and me. Now imagine that we're that person and we're being received into the house of a king. Into a mansion with servants and wealth and a good reputation and resources. Imagine that change that you would experience. It would change your whole worldview, right? It would change the way you think and talk and act. It would be a new start for you. You were rejected by peasants one day because you were so low and now you are accepted by the king and received into his home and you actually receive that adoption. You receive it as much as you are received. You embrace that adoption. Now also imagine how it would change your view of the king. This is the spirit of adoption. To receive the spirit of adoption means that you have not only been received into the family, but you have actually accepted and received the family as well. You've taken on this new identity. You've embraced it. You've become this family. Tell me, is that the case with you? Have you not only been received, but have you also received your adoptive father? Do you cry out, Abba Father? Do you have a new outlook on the king after experiencing his grace and mercy in adoption? Because this is what it means to receive adoption. And this is what it means to receive the spirit of adoption. Those who are not saved don't cry out to God as a father. They can't. That's something the spirit does within us. It's a benefit of redemption. In true adoption, you have been received and you have embraced your adoptive family. Adoption is a mutually happy arrangement. God is elated to welcome you into his family. The family of God is elated to welcome you into their family and you are elated to be welcomed into their number. That's the spirit of adoption. It is a mutually happy arrangement. That's where the actual name of God is received and it is put on us. His name is put on us, the confession says. meaning the reputation of God's family and the benefits of membership both inwardly and outwardly are put on us. We are called Christians and God calls us sons and daughters. When a child is adopted into his or her new family, usually they take on the name of the family adopting them. This is something symbolic. of the new status of the child. Everything that would have been true of a biological child is now true for the adopted child, even the name. The inheritance is now the child's. The reputation in the world is now the child's. The relationship to the parents is now the child's. And so all the benefits of membership in the family now belong to the child. Meaning the unconditional love, and the parent's willingness to help that child succeed and grow and flourish spiritually and physically in all the ways that a parent wants success for a child. This child receives all of that love and support from the adoptive parents and all the resources and reputations of that family now belong to the child. That's how it is with God our Father. We receive and enjoy all the liberties and privileges of God's children. Whatever love he has for his son, he has for those whom he has adopted. That's quite a thought, right? This means we can be sure that he's never looking to kick us out of the number. We are secure in adoption. He's actually trying with all of his will and with all of his might to keep us in the fold because he loves us like he loves his own son. So many people struggle to understand the loving nature of God as a father. Sometimes it's because of bad experiences with an earthly father where they had no father at all. Earthly fathers are often worn down by work and stress and life. They're sometimes short-tempered. They're sometimes even sinful in their discipline of their children. Unfortunately, it's true. No matter how godly our father is, our earthly father is, he's still weak and sinful. And so fathers use careless words sometimes, which hurt our children. Not on purpose, hopefully, but they're careless words. And they can hurt and leave scars. Even the best fathers can leave us with a picture of a father that needs to be reconstructed if we're going to understand our Heavenly Father. Because they make it really hard to imagine the perfect, unwavering goodness of God as a Father. This is our challenge. These experiences leave lots of us seeing God as a harsh Father, and an impatient Father, and a hard Father to please. But I want to say that none of this is true of our Heavenly Father. He is not like earthly fathers. He's never tired and never weak. He is never impatient. He never takes out his frustration from work on his children. Most importantly is he is not hard to please. He's simply not. All he wants from us, he has given us. And in exchange, he desires that we get to know him and adore him and love him. And so once we are received into his number, we need to know God no longer as our judge, but as our cheerleader. Think in your own mind about a time when you felt that your mom or your dad were truly proud of you. Or another person who was like a parent to you, maybe even a mentor. But think about the feeling you felt when that person saw your faults and your successes and was just plain proud of you. Not because you were perfect, but because they loved you and were delighted by you and wanted the best for you. I hope everyone has at least one memory they can conjure up that makes them feel that kind of warm, accepted feeling. That feeling of love and support and inclusion. That feeling that made you feel like you were being cheered on as if you were that person's own body and blood. That's how God sees his children. His affection doesn't waver when we do. His affection isn't determined by our sin or our lack of sin. His affection is grounded in adoption. He has put his name on us. And so his love is unwavering toward us. That's adoption. That's true adoption. We need to take away all of those memories of times when fathers have hurt us and stop applying those feelings toward God. And we need to take those wonderful memories of times when people have loved us unconditionally and made us feel like we were part of them and we need to apply those kinds of memories and emotions and those kinds of feelings toward our relationship with God. Unfortunately for us, our earthly pictures of fathers make it hard sometimes to understand God as a father. But let's not allow that to stop us from getting to know Him as such. Because when we do, we're going to find love and support and patience and a total lack of judgment. Remember, we are innocent in Jesus Christ. Our Father isn't sitting back with arms crossed, waiting for us to fall. Instead, he's walking beside us, waiting to pick us up. Not if, but when we fall. God is on our side. He's our cheerleader and our friend. And he is the parent that lifts you up and covers you in love and blessing. And his affection for us, just like our righteousness, isn't found in ourselves. His affection for us is as stable as His affection for Jesus Christ, His Son. And that's why we should be able to cry, Abba, Father. Because when you understand Him and know Him, you learn that He is not harsh or judgmental. He's warm and kind and loving. And that's what makes us want to please Him. Part of faith in Christ means a belief that the Father is looking upon us just like He looks upon Christ. with gentleness and affection, unlike anything we've ever experienced in this life. That's part of faith. That's how we need to see God. That's why John says we love because He first loved us. This is partly because His love is what gives us the ability to love, and partly because His love for us makes us love Him back. That's our Heavenly Father. That's the adoption of the saints of God. Another thing that This reception into the number of God's household offers us is an opening to the throne of God. This is another amazing picture we're given. Ancient kings didn't open the door to the throne to just anyone. He didn't waste his time with just anyone. A person was vetted and approved before he or she could come to the throne. Think of the story of Esther with me. She was the queen and even she wasn't permitted to the throne without permission ahead of time. And if the king didn't like what you had to say, you were put to death in many cases. That was Esther's possible fate. You might remember that. But not with God. Not once you've been received into his number. When you are received in adoption, you are always welcome in his presence at the throne. Every time we pray, we are coming to God at the throne, and we are laying our burdens at his feet, and we are making our requests known to him. And there's no situation where we find him rejecting us. No, he wants us to come to him. He commands us to come to him. This is not a normal father, and this is not a normal king. So we are received into the number. We enjoy the liberties and privileges of children. We receive the spirit of adoption. We receive his name put on us. We gain access to the throne and we are enabled to cry, Abba, Father. But adoption is even more than that. We have even more privileges as sons of God. God isn't just giving us a standing in a courtroom. He's actually promising to take care of us intimately like a good father would. This is really important in knowing him. God is going to give us his fatherly care as his children. Before we move on to our next point, I want to make note that God does none of these things for unsaved people. God does none of these things for unbelievers. Unbelievers don't come to the throne of grace. They just don't. They can't. Unbelievers who pray are not being heard by God. Not because he can't hear them, but because he won't. A person must have a mediator to stand between him and God at the throne. And so without Christ, a person is barred from the throne, never mind dinner at the king's home. That's why adoption is so wonderful and amazing. This is truly a benefit of redemption that the human race does not deserve. And it comes from justification. It comes from the finished righteous work of Christ applied to the believer's account, right? And so adoption reveals the providence of God. And again, we see the decrees of God, right? He creates and He provides. That's how He accomplishes His will. And in that, according to our confession, He pities us, He protects us, He provides for us, He chastens us, He seals us, and he gives us an inheritance of everlasting salvation. These are the benefits of redemption. These are the benefits of adoption. A loving, caring father to provide for our every need. Once again, listen to the 1689's treatment of adoption. It says, all those that are justified are pitied, protected, provided for and chastened by him as by a father, yet never cast off, but sealed to the day of redemption and inherit the promises as heirs of everlasting salvation. I want to finish this morning by just reading some of the 1689's proof texts without even commenting much. Just listen with me to the word of God as he tells us of the benefits of adoption. Take these words in and hopefully be encouraged and comforted by these wonderful words. Ephesians 1 in verse 5 says, God has predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will. The good pleasure of his will. He is pleased to adopt us. God takes pleasure in his children. We bring him pleasure. I hope we all feel that way. And as we get to know him more and more, I believe we will. Galatians 4, in verses 4 and 5, says, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, and why? To redeem them. that we're under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. Think about this love next time you think God is a harsh taskmaster. God sent forth his son to suffer so that we might receive adoption. The word of God is revealing the heart of God. This is tenderness, not harshness. John 1 in verse 12, But as many as received him, to them he gave power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." Receive God and become his sons and daughters. What kind of God is this? Receive him and his gifts and he will give you an inheritance as his own children. He's not asking anything. Receive him. Romans 8 and verse 17. The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. We don't deserve this. Heirs of God, heirs of heaven and earth. Again, notice the loving heart of God is to share himself with us, to be known by us, and to love us and be loved by us. All he wants. is to gather those he has adopted and spend eternity with them. That's the heart of God. 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 18, hear the word of the Lord again, I will be a father unto you and you shall be my sons and daughters says the Lord Almighty. Listen to that voice. Hear his heart. This is the one Jesus says to get to know. This is his desire to be the father of many sons and daughters. This is not a judgy father who can't be pleased and is looking for every place you fall short. This is a father who simply says, I will be a father to you, period. And you shall be my sons and daughters. He's saying that with the warmth of love and kindness and gentleness, right? Revelation 3 in verse 12, he who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on him my new name. I will, I will, I will. God will have children. and he will take care of his children and he will put his name upon them. Romans 8 and verse 15, for you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba Father. I'm sure you've all heard this, but another translation of this might be to just simply say, Daddy. It's the way a small child refers to a father, a child who adores his father and loves his father and enjoys his father. That's the spirit of adoption. Galatians 4 and verse 6 says, and because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts. Again, crying, Abba, Father. See, he wants us to adore him. He wants this relationship with us so much that He will literally put His Spirit within us to cry out for us. When you examine yourself, when you look inside, is this what you see? Do you see yourself crying out to God as, Daddy? That's a fruit of the Spirit. To know Him is to love Him. And He has promised to put that love within us. Ephesians 2 in verse 18, for through him we have access by one spirit unto the Father. We have access to the Father. Psalm 103 in verse 13, like as a father pities his children, so the Lord pities them that fear him. Proverbs 14 in verse 26, in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence. and his children shall have a place of refuge, safety. 1 Peter 5 and verse 7, Peter says, cast all your care upon him for he cares for you. Hebrews 12 and verse 6, my son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by him for whom the Lord loves. he chastens and he scourges every son whom he receives. This is a loving father. He gives access to himself, he pities, he protects, he provides, he chastens. These aren't the traits of a hard to please earthly father, are they? No, they are the traits of a perfect heavenly father who gives of himself completely to his children and all for their good. Isaiah 54, verses 8 and 9. With a little wrath, I hid my face from you for a moment. But with everlasting kindness, I will have mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. For this is like the waters of Noah to me. For as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, listen to this, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. He's not a harsh master. He's a gentle father. Now listen to these last couple verses, and then we'll close. And notice the promise of eternal life. Ephesians 4 and verse 30, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby you are sealed unto the day of redemption. Hebrews 1 and verse 14, God will send ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation. God isn't sitting back to see how it will do. That's how it goes in a covenant of works. But in a covenant of grace, the kind of covenant we are under, God is promising to provide everything we need. And the ultimate salvation we receive is a gift not based on our works at all. And in this covenant, He has made us his children and placed us under his perfect care and protection and given us all the resources of the kingdom of heaven. He has even given us ministering spirits sent forth to minister for us who are called the heirs of salvation. He's leaving nothing to chance here. The catechism says adoption is an act of God's free grace. whereby we are received into the number and have a right to all the privileges of the sons of God. Psalm 145 in verse 18 says, the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. I pray that all of us might hear these words and these proof texts of adoption and hear the voice of the Father. He calls us to be his children and he tells us he is near. Be received into the household of God. Amen. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, there aren't too many more emotional topics that we could delve into in terms of our relationship to you. You have brought us so close to yourself through Christ. You have brought us into your household. You have given us all that You are, and for that there are no words, Lord. We cannot be thankful enough. We cannot serve You with enough willpower and desire. All we can do is hear these words and read these words, be comforted, be full of joy in our hearts for the Lord that we worship, and beg you, Lord, to save us. That is our only response. We hold out an empty hand and just lay hold of all that you offer. So we thank you for who you are. We thank you for the work of Christ that's brought us into your presence and to your throne. And we ask you, dear Lord, to give us a life of service to you and to help us in all that we do that we might be a joy to you and that you might be a joy to us. So we thank you, Father, that you call us your children. It's in Christ's name we pray. Amen.