I wanted to say a few things about Father's Day before we get into First John. Last year, I had the privilege to assist someone who was needing medical help in a hard situation. It was late at night, and all ended well, thank the Lord. Afterwards, they shared with me, and they said this, in that moment, you were the father that I never had. Those were humbling words, but also sad words. The father that I never had, that stuck with me all year. So like Mother's Day and Father's Day, this day can be too filled with emotions. Some will have thankful hearts this day for their fathers. Others may not. But you know, before the beginning of time, God had a plan. And what was that plan? It was a good plan. He created man and woman and marriage and family. And that is good. And the gospel is designed to go forth where? In the family, through the family. So the gospel either does or it does not go through the family. So I thank you all here at CE, you dads on this day who purposeful, to bring the gospel through the family. It's not easy, but it's what I call a joyful, hard privilege. It's a joyful, hard privilege. You know, it's interesting that marriage, all four of those are under attack, right? Marriage, husband, wife, and family, they're all being attacked. So I ask you to persevere. You know, believing parents, your reward will be in heaven. You will not be praised on this earth for what you're trying to do to try and raise your family. I shared this before, but it's very applicable. Steve Lawson, the speaker you've probably heard, when he goes to hospital visits and he's visiting sick patients who are believers, This is what is most heavy on their heart. Do you know what believing sick patients are heavy burdened with? Their children not walking with the Lord. That dominates the conversations when he's visiting in the hospitals. So if you have a good relationship with your dad today, thank the Lord. I ask you, call him. Tell him one thing, one aspect that he taught you, one aspect that he taught you, and thank him. And while you're doing that, talk to your mother. Throw her off guard. Tell her one thing that she taught you about how to be a young man or a young woman. And if you're in a strange spot today, I just give you a few words, and I say, for this, there is Jesus. For this, there is Jesus. And the reverse can be true. You might be a dad and have struggled with your kids. And for that, there is Jesus. So let me pray as we get started. Lord, you know that we bow and we want to extol you this hour. And we are about the kingdom of God this morning. And we long for the kingdom of God and the glory of God to be spread, and it's spread through families. And so we come humbly, I do, as a dad who has made mistakes, and we ask, Lord, that you will work grace through that. And I ask that for my brothers and sisters here, that you would work grace through the family this day. You are the good shepherd, you lead moms and dads, and that leading is to the cross of Jesus. And there is life, and so for your namesake, we ask that you will do that. And as we look at this passage, Lord, we pray that we would see the love of the Father, the work of the Son, and the wonder of being a child of God. So may you take these broken words from a broken man and glorify Jesus. In your name we pray, amen. J.I. Packer wrote a famous book called Knowing God. I hope you all have read that. And he says this, he says, if you want to judge, how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much she makes of being a child of God, and how much she makes about being, excuse me, about having God as his father. He says this, if this does not prompt and control your worship, your prayer, and your whole outlook of life, it means that you may not understand Christianity very well at all. Is he right? That's a penetrating question. Is he right? Later on in his book, he outlines six truths. And he says this, he says, say these truths over and over to yourself. Think of them every morning, late at night, and anytime your mind is free. You know, we've talked about that before. When your mind is free, what do you think about? And number one truth that he says, In this book, he says, I am a child of God. That's his number one truth. So to reword today's goal for me, I'll reword Packer's statement. My goal today is simply, does being a child of God control your worship, your prayer, and your whole outlook of life? So we're going to look at this in three ways. We'll look at, first, the fatherhood of God. Second, we'll look at the child of God And then third, we will look at living as a child of God, living as a child of God. So right here from the start, here's your takeaway. So particularly dads and men, here's your takeaway. If you want to know what life's purpose is all about, if you want to know what it is to be a man, what it is to be a father, what it is to have manhood, study God the Father and look at his son Jesus. You will see it. That is it. Doctrines are helpful, but look at their lives, look at their words, look at their motives. You will see what it is to be a man there. Sinclair Ferguson said this, If someone asked you, how would you describe your relationship with God? So someone said, how would you describe your relationship with God? What would you say? So someone asked him that question at a job interview early on in his career, and he went away for days thinking about that. And this is what he came back with. He said, it dawned on me in this little book here, let me, Children of the Living God. I read this when my mother was in the hospital. It's in its fifth edition. Good book. Children of the Living God. He said, it dawned on me with a new sense of wonder that I am a child of God. Being a child of God is at the heart of living the Christian life. Being a child of God is at the heart of living the Christian life. And he said this verse, Verse one of chapter three, 1 John, he calls was life transformational to Sinclair Ferguson. It was life transformational. So when I asked that question, how would you describe your relationship with God? Where did your mind go? Did it go to doctrines? Did it go to rules? Or did it go to a relationship? relationship. That's what we're talking about today. So we're going to look at those first three verses, but let me preface that by saying the context here. So chapter 1, chapter 2 of 1 John, he has established this idea that because of the work of God, okay, and because of his righteousness, I can then be rightly related to God. That's a big word. That's a big idea, rightly related to God. When you're doing evangelism, that's a great question. How do I, are you rightly related to God? That's a vital question. So 1 John, those first two chapters, Overview that. But now he goes to verse 29. So look back and look in verse 29, chapter 2. And he says, not only are you rightly related to God, but he's now going to extend that further. And he uses this term, a new term in this book for him, and he calls it born of him. Born of him. seven more times in the rest of this book, he's gonna use that phrase, or born of God. All right, so this is a new idea for John here that he's building upon. So why is this so important? Why is it so important that we understand what this is, being born of God? Well, see if this follows it. If we're born of God, then we are a child of God, okay? If we are a child of God, then we have a new father, and a new purpose, and a new way to live, and a new outflowing, new fruits come if we are born of God. Very, very important. See, the child of God must be different than the world, and we'll see that in a few minutes. We cannot be the same in this world if we are born of God. There must be a difference. So if you look down to verse four, John's gonna then take this idea and he's just gonna run with it. This whole idea, you must be different, you will be different. But these three verses, he pauses. He pauses in these three verses here. and he lifts up, he opens up this idea of what it is to be a child of God. Martin Lloyd-Jones says, in this book, which I did not read while my mother was in the hospital, he said, these three verses are the most moving verses to him in the entire book of 1 John. These three verses that we just read. So verse one, it starts with where? Who is the driving force there? Who is the one granting anything? The father. Thank you, Rob. The father. So dads, have you ever considered granting the right for someone to call you father that is not a biological offspring? That's probably pretty rare. How about granting the right of your enemy to call you father. That's inconceivable. That's what Jesus did. Did he not? He grants us through his blood to call God father. Amazing, amazing. So we know the life and the work of Jesus was a turning point in history. So I found this out in ancient Judaism. I read that there were appropriate names and titles and ways and words that the Jewish people addressed God. And one name and title was not in that, and that is Father, in ancient Judaism. The German theologian, Urmanus, discovered that the name Father was not part of the Jewish liturgy. In fact, he wrote, the first Jewish rabbi to directly call God Father was whom? Jesus of Nazareth. Isn't that interesting? Doesn't that just kind of open up some things in our minds? And so then how did Jesus pray? If you look up Jesus' recorded prayers, almost every prayer he addresses God as Father. So to the Son, the Father was fundamental. There was this intimacy. There was this connection, if you will. He knew the purposes of his father. He walked in the purposes of his father. Any guess, if you had to guess, how many times the New Testament records God as father in that word? How many? 50, 80? over 200 references to God as Father just in the New Testament. Just that alone is significant. And what's even more, how did then Jesus teach you to pray? Teach me to pray. Did he say, oh, pray this way. Great, unapproachable, potentate, we hurl big words and meaningless ideas to the cosmos from a distance. Is that what he says to pray? He says, father. That's what he says to pray. So God has given us, his children, the right and the privilege, right, to come into his holy presence and address him as father. We see this in the Old Testament, right? You have a father that will never fail you. Psalm 3 says God is a shield about you. Psalm 32, God is a hiding place for you. And in Zephaniah three, sometimes it's been called the Psalm of joy. It says, he sings over you. I don't know how that, I don't know what that means, but he sings over you and me. But I want to be clear on something here, very clear to everyone. God is the father of whom? God is the father of whom? Is it universal? Because there are schools of thought that he is universally the father of everyone. Well, only in the sense that God is the origin of man, if you will. He's the maker of man. So in that sense, but the rest of scripture, you look at the context of where father is used, it is not in the context of a universal, it is the father of his people. So to whom did the Father give this right? To whom did the Father give this right? Well, John wrote back in John 1, you know this verse, but I will read it. But to all who received him, who believed on his name, he gave the right to what? Become children of God, who were born, not born of blood, but of God. So it very clearly states that we must become children of God. That's a great reference for us, for people, that you must become a child of God. So if you struggle about God being your Heavenly Father, study these passages. Make a notebook. What if all the men in here, all the dads in here, started a notebook about all these passages about God the Father? What a great picture of what we should ascribe to be that kind of a father. So that's outline point number one. Number two is the child of God, the child of God. So how do we become this child of God? How do we become this child of God? In one sense, that's That's a hard question. I mean, seminaries are full of answering, how did we become a child of God? PhDs are written, how did you become a child of God? Well, Paul gives us a great help here. And where do you need to go when you're asking this question? You have to go back to the beginning, right? You have to go back to the beginning, Ephesians 1. Listen to some key words here that I emphasize. Even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him, in what? In love. He predestined us and adopted us as sons, as sons. So right there from the beginning, right there at the foundation for eternity, if you will, we are called sons. That is wonderful. That's amazing. And see, certainly a different word would have been used here if this God-man relationship was just transactional, right? If it's a transaction like a rubber stamp, like getting your passport checked, a different word would be used. How many people have traveled overseas? Probably lots. When you hand your passport to that person who is allowing you into their country, has a relationship ever been established with that person? Never. So this, we're not talking about just a transactional relationship that God is letting you into his country, if you will. There's a relationship here, a father, a son relationship, and that's what, sorry, that's what John wants us to look at. So let's look at some key words in verse one here that John wants us to see. The first word is behold. Your translation may say something else. So church, please, John wants us to behold something here. What is he wanting us to behold? We behold lots of things every day, all the day. When was the last time we beheld the manner of love? That's what he's wanting us to see. Stop and behold the manner of love. Once again, this love is not transactional to where You know, we all know that we have a debt to pay, and so we're standing in this debtor's line, and the transaction is stamped, and we're done. That's not what we're beholding here. Something unimaginable, someone unimaginable is entering here. And frankly, I was pretty convicted this week And here's what I wrote. If I am too busy to pray, if I am too busy to be at prayer meeting, to read my Bible, or to serve someone and not behold God, something is way off. Something is way off because I'm not beholding this God and it's not moving me. So the next phrase here is what manner of. So the Greek word here is patapos. And this can be translated what size, or it also can be translated from what country. And I love that. So what John is saying, he's saying, behold, what country, what universe does this love come from? And that's the idea, this love is external. There is no love that you will ever see in this world like this love. It's from another country. I love that Greek translation. Oh, may we see this love from eternity. That's where it's from. And then the next word here to look at is bestowed. Your translation might say poured out or give. So notice what John did not say here. He did not say, look over there, squint if you must to see this love. That's not what he said here. What did he say? See, God did show his love. And absolutely, his love was shown. But John's saying it's more than just showing love. What happened here? His love was bestowed. You see the difference? His love is given, is poured out to us. I was talking to a friend recently. They were the recipients of some acts of love. And that love bestowed upon them moved them. And it was kind of emotional for them. Why? Why was this act of love emotional? They could see it, but it was poured where? Into them, and it moved them. So this love is not just at a distance, and God's love is infinitely more. Romans 5 says this, Mike referred to it this morning, that the love of God was poured into our hearts through how? Romans 5, 5, through the Holy Spirit. So Jesus's death is not just a transactional payment that the Father required for us, that's our point here. It's not something external to us that was done over there. It's very experiential, it's very internal to us. Jesus died that the third person, that God himself could be poured into us. What an act of grace, what an act of mercy. It's hard to kind of get a grip on that, really, if you stop and think that the almighty sovereign God of the universe poured himself into us. So John wants us to be astonished at this love, but he also wants us to be astonished at something else. So the second idea in this point is that it was given to us, us, me, and you. So if I said, let's line up two lines. On this side, sorry, on this side, we're gonna have those deserving God's love. This side, we have those undeserving God's love. Which line? And what is your posture in that line? What is your attitudes in that line? It's like, God, I'm busy. You know, I gotta go. Can I get through the line and get my ticket stamped? What is your posture in that line? I would call that cheap grace. That's cheap grace. When we posture up to the Holy God, I'm trying to get through your line. When the prodigal son I'm going to tear up here. When the prodigal son sees his father at a distance come charging at him, running, and the arms go wrap around him, do you think he had a taste of 1 John 3, 1? Behold what manner of love. He said, Dad, I am so undeserving of this love. I'm unworthy of this love. That's, I think, what he felt, what I'm trying to explain in broken words to you. Because prior to that, what did the prodigal son calculate? He weighed out life. He weighed out measures. And he said, my undeserving line pile is too full. I'm not worthy. But the gospel is, what did he forget? What did he not calculate? What did he not take into account? The love of the Father, forgiveness, grace, mercy, repentance even. He lost sight of that. So do I. I humbly ask you, have you lost sight of loving God? Is the pile of your troubles very legitimate? Hardships, I know you all well. The pile of your troubles. Have you lost sight of God's deep, deep love, as we just sang? Or could it be sin? Maybe there's repeated sin in your life. That will sure block you from understanding God's love. So I ask you, Behold the manner of love, if that is you. So we've been talking about this father and his great love and becoming a child of God. So you may be thinking, or maybe a friend has said to you, I've just assumed I'm a child of God, right? That's happened to me. Well, I thought of this. So line up a bunch of five-year-olds and you line up a bunch of parents. assumptions are immediately made. If I drop the child off at your house, does that make you their parent? No. If someone drops himself off in a church, does that make them a child of God? No. The child of God will have markers. 1 John is all about that. Read 1 John, you'll see markers everywhere. But here is what Martin Lowy Jones says to the question, how do I know if I'm a child of God? It's a big question. He gives three, and I think they're really good. He says first. So to the question, how do I know if I'm a child of God, here's the first thing to ask. Do I grieve over my sin? Not just the consequence of sin. Do I grieve over, oh, wretched man, am I? Number two, he says, do you desire to know and grow in the Lord? We all stumble, but do you have a trajectory that you're desiring to know and grow in the Lord? And if you struggle with this, first, I'd say pray. Pray that God would give you that desire. Then second, I would say associate with people who have that desire, and guess what'll happen? It gets flamed, it gets fanned, it grows. Hang around Debbie. Debbie, I just love you. You have this desire. You really, really do. And it just comes out. Third, do you love and serve the people of God? That's very clear indications. Do you love and you serve the people of God? See, so being a child of God is just not about becoming a better person or about rules or about trying to get your life together, quote unquote. You are born from above. So I say, if someone in here is not a child of God, Confess, repent, call on the name of Jesus, and you will be saved. He says that. The scripture says that. You will be saved. All right, last point, number three, is called living as a child of God. So this is kind of the so what. Living as a child of God. I've got four little sub points. I'll go fast. So 3A, if you're keeping score, is living as a child of God, you will be an image bearer, image bearer. We see that in verse one, the phrase, and so we are. So I've asked the question, well, what am I? It says, so we are. Well, I am to be a child that bears an image, right? In the ancient world, to be a son, you were bearing the image of whom? Your father. That is how those cultures grew up. Jesus, God incarnate, is described as being the perfect image bearer of whom? The father. So if you're a child of God this morning, you are a new creation. and there will be very practical things, very image-bearing things that should be in your life. To what extent? To what extent should Eric's life be an image-bearer? Well, verse one tells us that the world will what? Not know you. That's a pretty high bar. But he didn't know Jesus, right? So my life, did this thing flip down again? My life is to be to the extent that the world doesn't know me. So maybe it's the Beatitudes, maybe it's the fruit of the spirit, maybe it's acts of service. Whatever it happens to be, let's be about that. But you're going to say, someone is going to say, but yes, I'm still a sinner and I still struggle with certain things. Well, yes, that is true. Ferguson compares the redeemed sinners to this. I've never heard of this comparison. He says, the redeemed sinner is like the ruins of a great castle. the ruins of a great castle. That's an interesting visual image, isn't it? We've all seen these ruins, right? They're still there. Some of them, hopefully, they're being restored, maybe repaired. That's what we are. We are being restored. That's what the gospel does. The gospel comes into our lives and restores us back to be a full image bearer. But right now, they're ruins. They're ruins in my life. Romans 8.29 clearly says this, for those he foreknew, he predestined to be what? Conformed to the image of the likeness of his son. Our image will fully be restored. But what about now? What about right now? What about yesterday and today and tomorrow? Are we bearing this image? So I ask you a hard question. Do you want your life now to be restored worthy of the king coming into your ruined castle? Do you want your life now to be restored worthy of this king that we claim to be king? So those who are tender towards God, those who are abiding with God, those who are repentant, who are walking with the Lord over time, those hearts will want what I'm talking about. Those hearts will want to be more conformed day over day to the image of God. And so I boldly say, and forgive me, but I try to gently say, If you and I are perfectly happy with the ruined castle that I'm in right now, if we don't desire to be more conformed over time, it's a struggle, I get that, but if we're perfectly happy with the castle ruins that we are right now, out of love, I would say this, you don't hate your sin enough. You don't hate your sin enough. But thank God I know many of you here are wanting to see more of Christ in you. You're wanting to grow. I praise God for you. Great is his faithfulness. So that's number one, image bearer. Number two, adopted into his family. Number two, adopted into his family. You know, grandparents and parents love to tell stories about their family, the background of the family, how they became a family. Well, look at the family that God has put you in. Look in verse 1 and verse 2, all the plural words, us, children, plural, we, plural, children, we, we, we, we, the whole first three verses till the very end is we, us. This is a family. This is a family of God. You know, John and the New Testament, frequently we see the word brothers and brethren, okay? Well, the Greek for that, another interesting Greek word, is adelphos. Adelphos. A means from. Adelphos. Any Greek scholars here? That means of the clan or of the womb. What a great idea that we are of the womb the Father. We, what a great uniting idea, we are bonded under this union with Christ that's inexplicable, this family of God. You travel to a new city or you move, who do you want to go find? The Adelphists. You want to be connected to the brothers and sisters in Christ that's in us. We're a new creature. See, so this spans cultures and languages and the rich and the poor. It spans all of that, this family of God that we're talking about, to be a child. Romans 12, be devoted one to another in what? Brotherly, get it, brotherly love, same word. But I know, as in my family, sometimes We let each other down and we hurt each other. So what do we do in those situations? Well, Martin Lloyd-Jones has some words on that as well. He says, because of this great family of God, he says this, there should be no place for quarrels and divisions among you. There shouldn't be. We are a family of God. So let's work together. Let's prefer one another, as scripture says. All right, number three, destined for glory. Number three, destined for glory. And we see this in verse two. We're destined for glory. Let me read the verse here. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. So first let's realize, notice the word now. Beloved, you are God's children when? Now. You will never be more of God's children. Does that make sense? We are gonna be glorified and we will be sanctified, but we're never more of a child of God than the moment of belief, all right? The prodigal son was still what? A child to the father in the mud pit. He was, he was still a child. So even in our struggles, Remember that you are a child of God now. Because John did not vaguely say here, he did not vaguely say, well, you're a child now, but I really don't know the next piece. I'm not sure what's going to happen. We'll meet up at the crossroads and we'll all figure it out together. He was very clear what is going to happen coming. He was very clear. Our destiny is heaven and this is not our home. Amen. Amen. This is not our home. We long for that day that this will not be our home. I need to pause here on verse 2b and I kind of need to step aside with a few comments. So this says, we shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. A lot has been written about this verse. A lot, even songs have been sung about this verse. I have struggled, I have cried over this verse for three days in a row. Forgive me. We who have and will stand behind this pulpit take the word of God seriously. This is not a casual thing that we do here. I want to rightly divide this phrase. And this is a struggle. So here's where I am. When we stand and we think of the glory of God, and we think of his holiness, and we think that somehow we will be like him, Somehow we're gonna see him face to face as he is. And then we think of ourself and our Christian journey, our walk of faith, our struggles, the joys. And then I think of my sin and the pile of my sin. And then somehow if I can think that I'm gonna get a exposure to the cross that I've never seen before, and somehow I'm gonna see the depth of this verse, verse one. I'm that prodigal son. I am, and I'm on my knees in that undeserving line. I want, to look at Jesus and the radiance of his face and just worship. I don't wanna see the golden streets. I don't wanna see the surroundings. My friend, Chris Mercer, who I walked with for seven years through cancer, he has laid an impression on me on this verse. He imagined before he died, he said, people are gonna come up to me And they're gonna say, oh, Chris, Chris, good to see you. And he's gonna push him aside, he says, Eric. And I'm gonna say, but look at Jesus. That's what he told me before he passed away. Martin Lloyd Jones wrote this about this verse. Excuse me. He says, I have chosen never to preach this text. He's preached 1600 texts, 230 sermons on the book of Ephesians, and he's chosen not to preach this text. He says, I've wanted to, but there's certain great words in scripture that of which, frankly, in a sense, I'm frightened of as a preacher. He says, any man who preaches upon such a text must have an unusual, an unusual conscious of his own smallness and inadequacy. And with humility I say I felt very small this week. One day we're gonna see him face to face and it's gonna be glory. So my words, I say, are inadequate for that. So last point, and then we'll be done. Last point, number four, is from verse three, to purify himself. You see that we purify himself. Most translations have the word and starting in verse three. You see that? And. John, why is the word and, is this just a mechanism to get two ideas put together to transition here? You know, we love to hear sermons about verse two, right? About seeing Jesus face to face and being glorified. We don't love as many sermons about verse three, about purify yourself, do we? So John is saying that these ideas are connected. He almost states it's so matter-of-fact, right? So John, you've just given me this unexplainable picture of glory, of God in heaven, that one day we're gonna see him as he is. And now I'm supposed to connect this with purify myself? It's like take me to a mountain Right? And now do what? Give me the... yuck. Is that what John wants? Oh, yeah. Right. Absolutely. John says these two ideas are in harmony. They're not opposing. They're not contradictory. Again, Martin Lung Jones says, if you disconnect these two, he says, quote, you are abusing Scripture. when you do not have these two ideas together. This is what Mike preached in 2 Peter last week, remember? At the second coming, then I forget the verse, Mike, forgive me, verse 11, what sort of people ought you to be in holiness and godliness? Same idea, the second coming, it has to affect who you are. So as we sum up here, if I am really a child of God, And if I believe He is coming again and that I will be glorified and I will somehow be blameless before Him and I will see His glory, verse 3 follows easily. It's not a push. Because we have this vision of eternity, and this is an obvious outworking of that, right? It's an outworking of this that John has just laid before us. But there's one hurdle, and it's a big hurdle. Maybe you're thinking about the same hurdle that I did. What about my own sin? What about my own selfishness, really, Eric? What do we do with that? When you read that verse, does the word purity bring a positive or a negative idea to your life, to your thinking? When it says purify yourself, positive or negative? Smiles and grins? Well, how about for comparison, let me read you another verse. 1 John 1, 9, John wrote this. If we confess our sins, he is faithful, what? To forgive us and cleanse us from unrighteousness. Do we like that word? We absolutely love that word. I mean, we quote that verse all the time, do we not? When's the last time we quoted this verse? Purify yourself. We don't quote this verse. But they go together. They fit perfectly together. So how does one purify yourself? Well, it's the work of the Holy Spirit, right? And that's another sermon. But my warning to myself is, as I push aside the Holy Spirit, when he is wanting to work in me to purify me, I'm not going to get purified, because that is what the Holy Spirit does. He brings the gospel to the forefront. But if I say, gone with you, which if we're honest, we have, we will not get purified. James 4.8 says this, and it brings in both of these aspects. It says, draw near to God, he will draw near to you. What's the next word? Cleanse your hearts, you sinners. purify your heart. So you have these two ideas, again, perfect harmony. We're drawing near to God. We're seeing who He is. We're beholding Him. Because the tarnish of sin, James says, has left us what? Double-minded. We walk in two minds. We walk in the worthy line and we It better be in the unworthy line, because we are. So application, real quick, and then we're done. Number one, run to the Father. Run to the Father when you're overwhelmed, when you're attacked by Satan, that you're unworthy. Run to Him in praise. Run to Him to pray for others. I love to hear texts, praying for you. I'm praying right now for you. Wow, what a joy. Someone is running to the father on my behalf. Number two, be the family of God. Be the family of God, especially for singles and widows. Abraham brought this out at small group. Thank you, Abraham. Be the family of God. I talked to a Christian international student and their nearest relative is 8,000 miles away and they have no Christians in their family. Can we be the family of God to that? Absolutely, be the family of God. And last, from verse three, identify one worldly struggle that you need to purify. One struggle that you need to purify. So as we behold the love of God, we are moved. Let me pray. Lord, thank you for Christ. Thank you for the Holy Scripture. Thank you that you call us children of God. Lord, I ask your forgiveness because my heart drifts from seeing this great salvation, as Hebrew says. And I behold other things that are unworthy. They're nowhere even close to being worthy. And may the ruined castle in my heart become more Christ-honoring. In Jesus we say, amen.