All right, this morning we're once again in our study of Benjamin Keech's catechism. After a brief study of the theology of who and what God is, we find ourselves now in question 10, which brings us to God's decrees. God's decrees, meaning the understanding in Christian theology. that God has made a plan and has a purpose for his plan, and everything he desires comes to be because of his plan and his purpose. This is, as we see so much in the Puritan's doctrine, a very God-centered view of God. And I think it's very easy to prove from scripture that this is also the biblical position as well. We'll see that today. God has a plan. God has a purpose. And everything that happens in this world, good and bad, needs to be understood as part of God's ultimate plan and purpose. Everything that happens in this world happens because of God's plans and purposes according to his own holy will. The kids and Kendra are memorizing Romans 8.28 right now, which says, all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. All things are according to God's purpose. That's an important lesson for us in this life. Just to learn that God has a plan and is not surprised by the hiccups in our lives is really important in terms of our contentment and our praise to God. So many well-meaning and sincere Christians struggle to praise God when they're in their valleys. It takes the renewing of the mind to be able to truly find contentment and joy in the midst of trials and sufferings, never mind to be able to praise the Lord in the midst of those trials and sufferings. But to understand God's decrees is absolutely helpful and incredibly important in understanding how good and even bad things can work out for good for those who love God. And that's because it's all according to His purpose. Everything that happens is according to God's purposes. God truly is in charge even when the bad guys think they are. The bad guys even in our world today, the ones who have evil schemes to rule the world, are still ultimately going to accomplish God's will. It's easier to find contentment in a crazy world to know that, right? God truly is in control. and he has a plan. And so it's important that we store these truths in our hearts because the trials of this life can make us feel at times as if God has forgotten us or forsaken us unless we are already aware that he uses these trials to shape us and make us into the image of his son. We need to have a well-rounded understanding of God's use of good things and bad things to bring about his will. God is absolutely sovereign and powerful and he is absolutely set upon doing good. That should help us to be comforted when the world appears so completely chaotic and out of control. That's certainly the way it looks if you watch the news in our day today. We have farms being shut down food processing plants burning down and politicians telling us we will all own nothing and be happy once they're finally in control. That sounds pretty dismal, doesn't it? Those aren't the decrees of a holy God. They're the dreams of evil tyrants. And yet God will undoubtedly use these evildoers to accomplish his holy will, which of course is his glory and our good. There's comfort in that. You might remember the story of Joseph, one of Jacob's sons who was sold by his brothers into slavery. He was made a slave and then rose to a position of prominence till eventually he was falsely accused of a horrible crime and put into prison. Later he was released from prison when God helped him to interpret the dreams of Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And he again rose quickly to eventually become the second in command in all of Egypt, second only to Pharaoh himself. This is a familiar story, and it really illustrates the concept of God's decrees. Later in the story, the Lord caused a terrible famine over the whole land, and he gave Joseph the wisdom and even the authority to build storehouses and save enough food to save the entire nation of Egypt, as well as his father Jacob and all his brothers. God used that series of terrible situations in Joseph's life to bring him to a place where he would be responsible to preserve the spiritual seed of Abraham. Imagine that. God used him in spite of all these terrible things to help preserve the seed that would one day bring about Jesus Christ. At the end of that situation, Joseph says those famous words to his brother saying, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good. I think that will be the case in the last days when tyrants rule the world in those horrible last days. They will mean evil for everything they conspire. And yet God will use their evil to bring about eternal blessings and glory for his own kingdom. God and his goodwill can't be stopped. Whatever he plans will be, and that's what we mean by God's decrees. As we consider the decrees of God, I'd like to try to remember that this is more than just theology and doctrine, even though it is. But it's also a wonderful part of experiential and heart religion. The doctrine of God's decrees is more than just something to understand about God. It's part of understanding who God is. John Owen wrote a book called Searching Our Hearts in Difficult Times and listen to what he says about our study of doctrine because it's important for us as people who emphasize doctrine to remember the purpose of our studies. Owen is comparing the things we study and why we study them and he's encouraging us to set our minds on the right things here. He says, It's not a great argument against the sincerity of a man's faith and grace if he spends more time considering the offices and graces of Christ and the benefits that we obtain from him, but it is an argument against his growth in grace. A thriving faith, on the other hand, and an increase in grace will show themselves in an increasing consideration of the person of Christ. This involves the soul studying his person, the glory of God in him, his natures, the union of those natures in one person, his love, condescension, and grace. It involves the heart being drawn out to love him and cry, indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord. Theology is more than a study of the offices of Christ. or the benefits of the gospel that we receive from him. Theology, in the most important sense, is a study of the person of Jesus Christ in order to know him better and love him more. That should be our purpose for all of our studies. Our study as Christians isn't just for knowledge about God or even his offices and works, as John Owen says. Our study should come from a love for the Savior and a desire to actually know him better. We need to know about him, sure, but our end or our purpose in knowing about him should be to know him. That would be my challenge to all of us as we think through all of theology. Do we study to know about God for the sake of knowledge? Or do we study to know more about God for the sake of knowing his glory and his love intimately? Do we love the idea of God and agree with his law because it's just right? Or do we love God himself because we have experienced his love and his forgiveness and his mercy. Have we seen a glimpse of a God who is truly righteous and holy and we love him for that? Have we felt forgiveness and seen the heart of God? Have we come to understand unconditional love through him? And have we learned to love him through that new understanding? It's not enough to know about God. We need to know God. We need to see God as he is in all of our theology. Our study of doctrine needs to be for the purpose of finding him and understanding him and loving him for that. The Christian will even love the law because in it they find a perfect savior. They'll love the law because in it they find holiness and they long for holiness. They see the holiness of God and want an eternity with him. Christians study the law day and night. Psalm 1 and verse 2 says, his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night. There's a delight in the law, not because the law itself is wonderful, but because it's the law of the Lord, the Lord whom he loves. The righteous man studies the law in order to look upon the Savior. He delights in his Savior. We don't just obey the law because the law is good, even unbelievers do that. We obey the law because it's right and because we see God in his law. and we long to please Him and be like Him. We see a beauty in God that shines through His blessed law. We see the person of God in His law. We see a righteous God and a just God and even a merciful God when we look into His law. There's mercy in the law when we study it deeply enough, isn't there? Because the law is a teacher who brings us to the Savior. God's decree is like His law because it reveals God and His character. It reveals strength and wisdom and love and compassion and mercy and justice all at once. It reveals a God who has a perfect plan for good and He accomplishes that plan no matter the opposition. It reveals a God whose purpose in creation is to bring a people into the presence of His glory forever and for all eternity. and the Christian sees beyond the dry theology. He or she sees behind the veil and into the holy of holies and sees a loving husband and a father and a friend. Someone so perfect and pure, so holy and righteous, and yet so accessible and loving. One whose eternal plan is to spend eternity in the presence of his redeemed and beloved people. Understanding theology is one thing, Finding the true glory of God in it is a blessed gift, a gift we can only receive from God. And that's what I hope to do for us this morning as we study the decrees of God. I want us to see beyond some dry theology about a God who knows all things and plans all things according to his purpose. And I want us to peer into the Holy of Holies and find a God who loves his people enough to die in their place One who wants more than sacrifices and offerings, but a broken and contrite heart and a genuine love for his person. God wants us to know him intimately and personally and thoroughly in this life. This is the God who walked with Adam in the garden and the one who called Abraham a friend of God. and the one who called David a man after his own heart. This is the God who resides in heavenly places and this is the God who is now accessible by all of us through Jesus Christ. I pray that's what we find as we carefully consider his decrees this morning. Let's pray now as we begin our study of the 10th question. Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for this time of gathering. We thank you, Lord, for one another. We thank you for the church universal, but we also thank you for this local church. We thank you, Lord, that you've called us all from our sin and from our worldliness, and you've called us into your kingdom as sons and daughters to be brothers and sisters with one another. We thank you for the blessing of this fellowship and communion. We thank you, O Lord, for a time of worship. We thank you for this time in your word. We ask you, oh Lord, as we always do, that your spirit would be our teacher and that you would make complicated things clear to us and that you would help us to love you more and find your person beautiful and worshipful as we always do as we engage your word. So we thank you again. We ask your blessing again. In Jesus' name, amen. Okay, so question 10 asks, what are the decrees of God? And the answer is, the decrees of God are his eternal purpose according to the counsel of his will, whereby for his own glory he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. Okay, let's start by defining God's decrees. What is a decree? A decree is basically an official order or a proclamation, usually by a king or someone with great authority. So it's like a law. For a king to rule by decree just means that he's not ruling by a constitution or a law. He's ruling according to his own will. He is the law. That's a scary thing when it's a tyrant, but not so scary when it's a good and just and merciful king. God, of course, is the latter. And he rules by decree. Our God is sovereign over everything. He's the king of the world. And from the beginning of time, he's made his plans and he's determined what will be. Our God has a plan and a purpose in everything he does. But he doesn't have to talk to anyone else about his plans. He is God. And he rules over the world by decree. He does what he wants. So this good and righteous and wonderful God has had a purpose from the very beginning and even before the beginning. And that purpose is according to his own will and his own desires. And we see it's also for his own glory. But the difference between God and every other king or ruler who might rule by decree in this world is that God is also sovereign over everything and he can actually make it happen. He can bring about his will every time, and no one can stand between him and his holy will. If he makes a decree, his decree will be what happens. So to rule by decree is more than just making commands as far as God is concerned. God actually accomplishes his will through these decrees, and no one can stop him from accomplishing his will. No matter how many evil people or evil spirits try to stand in the way of God's will, His decrees will be accomplished, and nothing can stop God from doing His will. God is determined to accomplish His will. We see the person of God in His decrees because we see strength and goodness and long-suffering and patience, and we see a warrior who will ultimately win his battles against evil. His glory will be known. Satan, for instance, thought he had thwarted God's plans. He believed he had destroyed the Savior, and he thought he had actually destroyed any hope for redeeming mankind when Christ hung on that cross, right? Satan wanted to destroy Jesus Christ from the beginning. And that's what he did, right? We know that's not true at all. What really happened was that Satan was actually accomplishing the will of God by facilitating the death of Christ at the cross. Evil and sin hung Jesus on the cross, and that was God's purpose all along. Christ died for the ungodly, and Satan used the ungodly to put him there, just as God had planned. Christ's death actually was God's purpose, we know that. And listen to Ephesians 2. Starting in verse 11, Paul says, therefore remember that you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. God had a purpose in the cross. Satan was just used to accomplish it. See the wisdom of God. Even when someone thinks they are thwarting the will of God, God's will and his decrees will not be thwarted. Now when Satan convinced Eve that she should eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he probably thought he had single-handedly destroyed the kingdom of God, right? But in reality, he had brought about the need for redemption. just the opportunity God wanted and needed and planned to display his glory in saving sinners. Joseph's brothers thought they had destroyed him, and yet God used that horrible circumstance to put him into a position to save the line that would bring about the Savior. All throughout the Bible, we see instances where the line of David would be extinguished, and yet God preserved the seed and ultimately the Savior was born to live and die just as God had decreed. The guards speared him on the cross to kill him, and yet hundreds of years before that, Isaiah told us he would be pierced for our transgressions. Judas betrayed him with a kiss for 30 pieces of silver. And yet Psalm 41 and verse 9 predicted that too. It says, even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me. And Zechariah 11 verses 12 and 13 even predicted the 30 pieces of silver, saying, if it is agreeable to you, give me my wages, and if not, refrain. So they weighed out for my wages 30 pieces of silver, just like Judas, and the Lord said to me, throw it to the potter, that princely price they set on me. So I took the 30 pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter." That's a low price for the king of the world, right? God would use the world's hate for him to accomplish his own will. Judah's betrayal didn't surprise God. No, because he was the one who decreed it. You can see that evil is always working to thwart the will of God, and yet his will will be done. Why? Because he has decreed it. God has a plan and a purpose for everything. What that means is that God has authority to not only proclaim his will but also to make it happen. This is the God we worship. A loving God, a powerful God, an amazing God who is able to use man's evil intent even for his own good purpose. God has a plan and a purpose to glorify himself and save sinners through Jesus Christ, and nothing will stop him. Please turn with me, if you would, to our first proof text, which is Ephesians chapter one. We're gonna read verses four through 11. And listen to God's purpose and planning in redemption again. This is speaking of someone who knows what he wants and is absolutely able to bring it to fruition no matter what. And he's not sitting there wondering what he's going to do if things don't go the way he planned either. God's not like you and me with a contingency plan. He has a will and a purpose and it will be done. Ephesians 1 and starting in verse 4, just as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to himself, now listen to this, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, by which he made us accepted in the beloved. And let's just stop there for a second. Those verses right there, verses five and six, make almost a complete summary of the concept of God's decrees. He has predestined his children to adoption. Think about that. Even a powerful king who rules by decree can't predestinate, right? They can make a decree that icebergs stop receding, but they can't hold back the sun, can they? But God can. He can decree for himself a kingdom of children, and he can overcome the devil and even our own free will. to bring us into that kingdom. Only God can predestinate. And he does it just like the catechism says, according to the good pleasure of his will. So we can ask the question, why does God do what he does? And the answer is right there. He does what he does for the good pleasure of his will, meaning his desires. Whatever he desires to happen, he decrees. Pretty simple. And then we see that what happens when he decrees something, don't we? We see that his creation praises him for the glory of his grace as part of his purpose. God's glory is seen in his grace and his people and angels praise him for it. That's what happens when he predestinates people to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ. There's a decree of God and nothing can stand in his way and no board of directors are going to outvote him. And when he's done, he'll be praised for it. He'll be glorified for it. Only a sovereign God can do that. Ephesians 1 continues with verse 7. It says, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, which he made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. In him also we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. This is pretty rich, right? Remember what John Owen said about an evidence of salvation. We shouldn't just study the offices and graces and the benefits of Christ that we obtain from him, but he says a thriving faith and an increase in grace will show themselves in an increasing consideration of the person of Jesus Christ. Consider the person of Christ here. Before there was sin, he had predestined us to redemption so that we might enjoy and understand and praise him in all his glory. Through his blood and according to his grace, we have forgiveness. By His wisdom and prudence, we see that His will was to gather together in one all things in Himself, which are in heaven and which are on earth. And look at the mercy, and look at the love, and look at the wisdom and power to make that happen. Christ is more than a warrior. He's poetic. He's a loving God whose whole desire is to be with us and have us with Him. He fights for us and he sweetly calls us to himself using all of his infinite wisdom and power. Notice the person of Christ here. He plans for our salvation and he brings our salvation to fruition. He predestined us and then he kindly and gently brings us into his fold where he forever nurtures our souls back to life and protects us forever. The decrees of God are a testimony of the love of God and the goodness of God and the glory of God and the blessed person of God. No other king, no other emperor at any time in history could decree something and assure that it would happen. Think about kings in the Bible even. It was decreed by Darius that Daniel would not worship God. Daniel worshiped God anyway. Notice the lack of power. It was decreed that Daniel would be eaten alive by lions, but the lions became tame for him. Kings can make decrees, but earthly kings can't make those decrees come to pass. The decrees of kings and emperors and rulers are worthless and temporary compared to God's decrees. The decrees of God are eternal and lasting and sure. Turn with me to our next proof text, which is Romans 9, verses 22 through 23. This is part of the famous proof text that people use to demonstrate predestination in the Bible. Romans 9 and starting in verse 22. What if God, wanting to show his wrath and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? and that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had prepared beforehand for glory, even us whom he called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. As he says also in Hosea, I will call them my people, who were not my people, and her beloved, who was not beloved. And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they shall be called sons of the living God. Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel, though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved. For he will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness because the Lord will make a short work upon the earth. And as Isaiah said before, unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom and we would have been made like Gomorrah. Here we see God having a purpose in everything he does, don't we? Why is he patient with sinners who are predestined for destruction? To show his wrath and make his power known. Only a sovereign God could do this, right? But that's not all, is it? It also makes known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy. Think on the person of Christ here. not just what he has done for us, but who he is. He's a person of integrity and truth and justice. He's a person of the law, knowing good and hating evil. He is patient with sinners, and yet sinners will be brought to justice. And all of this because he wants the world to see the tenderness of his heart toward his elect. That's the person of Jesus Christ. Again, we see a lion and a lamb in one precious person. Strength and gentleness. Justice and wrath alongside mercy. And his love is so unconditional and true that he loved us before he even formed us in the womb. And he loves us despite our most egregious sins. All so that we might truly understand his mercy. When we're born again, one of the first things we notice is our sin, don't we? That's part of new life. seeing sin as it is for the first time, and seeing our great need for a savior. That's what prepares us for mercy. Could we ever experience mercy if we didn't know wrath? If we didn't understand what we deserved? What a wonderful God to decree the circumstances surrounding every one of our lives in such a way that we can truly lay hold of his mercy. That's the blessed person of Jesus. John says we love him because he first loved us. And we see his love for us in full color when we see his wrath for those who don't know him. The wrath that we deserve. God doesn't just want us to trust him. He wants us to love him for all that he's done and for all that he is. He wants us to study his person and see who he is. He wants us spending our time in the consideration of his blessedness and his glory and his person. And his glory, as we've studied before, is more than just being eternal and infinite, isn't it? He's also infinitely good. He is infinitely loving and merciful. He is tender. He is beauty. Think about a beautiful figure, any figure, whether a sculpture, or a piece of architecture, and think of the beauty of something with almost perfect lines and proportions. Something that's so well done, so well planned, and so well executed, it seems perfect. It's beautiful to the eyes, right? Christ is so much more than that. He is more beautiful than the most beautiful thing we've ever seen. Look upon his person and see the wisdom of God. See the patience of God. See the willingness to die for worthless sinners and see a God whose brightness is unimaginable and place that beside the glory of some beautiful structure or sculpture. Think of a piece of beautiful music that flows and moves the heart and the soul. Why is good music comforting and easy to listen to? Because it is orderly and thoughtful and well-planned and well-practiced and well-executed, right? Christ is far more beautiful than that. And just to be in his presence will be the topic of every song in heaven. He is more thoughtful and more gracious and more elegant and more wonderful even to the senses. His plans and purposes, his decrees illustrate that for us. The awe you have when you look upon a sunrise over a vast landscape of mountains and deserts will hardly hold a candle to the magnificence of the presence of his wonderful glory. And his decrees point us to everything he did to accomplish that end. Christ is more beautiful than we can imagine. And seeing that glory and beauty in his person is our purpose in this life. What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy him forever. We glorify God and enjoy him when we see him as the most beautiful and precious thing in all the world. And when we order our lives according to that wonderful truth, when we place him above everything else, when we choose him over every other joy and every other love of ours. And we see this beauty in his decrees. We see a splendid display of glory and a holy God who has a perfect plan to save sinners and bring them into his presence forever. He's a God who is infinite, and yet he's a father who wants to sit on the edge of his children's bed every night and hear about their day and pray with them as they fall asleep. He's the transcendent one and yet he condescends to us making himself known to us. He carefully watches over the sparrow and the sea and the mountains. He knows every fish and every star and yet he has time to talk to us as he guides us through this life. He took on the Prince of Darkness on our behalf in the most important battle for good in all of human history, and yet this gentle Savior weeps when we weep, and prays for us at his Father's side. His decrees reveal this to us. They reveal this blessed person, the person of Jesus Christ. Hosea says, I will call them my people who were not my people, and her beloved who was not beloved. and it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them, you are not my people, there they shall be called sons of the living God. That's God's decree. He will have a people for his son. He will love his people and his people will love him. No earthly king can or even would decree such a thing. The God who has everything wants you and me. Why? because he is overflowing with love, and he wants us to enjoy the presence of his glory forever. God wants to pour out his love, and he will because he's decreed it. Again, Isaiah said, though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved. Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have become like Sodom, and we would have been made like Gomorrah. Notice the tenderness there. Notice the loving Savior. It's easy to see the darkness of sin and the unworthiness of fickle people. But notice Christ here. He set the plan in motion, and step by step he determined the outcome would be for the good of those whom he loved. If he hadn't loved us, we would have become like Sodom and Gomorrah. The beauty of the person of Christ is seen in his decrees. Paul tells us in Romans 8, 28 again, all things work together for good to those who love God. To those who are called according to his purpose. Those are God's decrees. All things work together for good according to his purpose. And what is his purpose again? That he might gather together in one all things in Christ. And no evil can stop that. No efforts of men and no efforts of Satans can stop that, no matter how hard they try. That's an amazing thing. We are safe and secure because God has a plan and we are a part of it. Think of the worst thing that's ever happened to you, and then think of the worst thing that could ever happen to you, and you can still say that in God's decree, those things will be used for good, as long as we are children of God. and then realize that his purpose in that is that we might see him all the more clearly. We might see his beauty and his compassion and his tenderness and his love. That's why God can be both sovereign and still allow bad things to happen, as people like to say. He uses everything we see in this world so that we might see the mercy of his grace. From all of eternity, God has had this as the very purpose for his creation, to reveal the tenderness of his mercy through Christ. That's his eternal purpose according to the counsel of his will. That's the purpose of his decrees. And so it's just as the catechism answer says, from eternity, he has foreordained whatsoever comes to pass. Isaiah 46 in verse 10 says, declaring the end from the beginning And from ancient times, things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do my pleasure. That's our God. His pleasure is that we would have a kingdom, he would have a kingdom of priests, spend all eternity with him. And he has decreed it, so it will happen just as he planned. Lamentations 3 in verse 37 is our final proof text, and it says, who is he who speaks and it comes to pass when the Lord has not commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High God that woe and well-being proceed? God alone can decree. And what has God chosen to decree with the infinite power He possesses? He has decreed to have a people He would bless and that He would reveal Himself to them in all His fullness for all of eternity. What a blessed Savior. What a kind and gentle Spirit who would choose lowly sinners like us and shower us with the glory of His grace. There's much to be seen in the person of Christ as we consider His decrees. There's a beautiful Savior behind these decrees because those decrees find their pinnacle at the cross. It's at the cross where all of God's decrees come together and where his glory and our good rest in the finished work of the sacrificial lamb who is Jesus. He takes our sins upon himself and he makes it possible for sinners to spend eternity in the beauty of God's magnificent glory. May we worship him all the more for what we see in his decrees. May we find the beauty of his person in his planning and in his purposes. and may each day find us loving him more as we grow in his grace. Let's pray. Dear Heavenly Father, once again, we thank you. We thank you for this time in your word. We thank you that your word is so clear on your power and your planning and your purposes and your sovereign will. Lord, we thank you that your will is so perfect, that it is so good and righteous and holy. And for that reason, we have no reason to fear you, because you are the gentle savior of mankind. Lord, we put our trust and our faith in Christ, as you have told us to. And for that reason alone, we know that we are safe in your arms. There is no work of Satan. There is no work of tyrants. There is no work of men or spirits who could ever take us from you. because you are truly sovereign and you are truly God. We thank you for that comfort. We thank you for knowing that there is no, there's nothing out of place in this world that you are unaware of or that can affect any change upon your will. And so for that, we thank you and we praise you for your glory and for your majesty. And we ask your blessing now upon the rest of our day. And we thank you for this time of worship again, in Christ's name, amen.