You'll open your Bibles to Romans chapter 8. Romans chapter 8. As I said to you in Bible study, I would be taking a little more time to deal with this and our message this morning. This is a topic that I will be covering on Saturday in Cuba for the opening of the one-day seminar for the pastors there. The overarching theme is unity in the church and sovereignty. Unity in the church and sovereignty. We have to think about the idea that the church is unified by the sovereignty of God. That's an overarching theme of unity in the whole of the church, whether that's the universal church or the local church. What is true in the local church is God's sovereignty is overarching and that he will not lose one of his people. They will not be snatched out of the father's hand. They will not be snatched out of the son's hand. And therefore, God is sovereign, saving his people of all time, space, and history, and never losing one of them. But this unity ought to be in the local church as well. The local church ought to be unified by the sovereignty of God. The sovereignty of God is an overarching theme in the whole of scripture, and yet is a theme that ought to be dear to the very heart of the local church. When we think about Romans 8, 28 through 39, really, this whole section of Romans 8, Chapter 8 and going into Chapter 9, there's really the identification of the sovereignty of God and the unity of the church. There is an application to it that's very deep and yet somewhat broad that's made in this text. We will see one word broadness justified, glorified. Those are big, what does all that mean? We'll not be able to unpack all of that right here in this time in this one message. But we want to see this overarching theme of God's sovereignty for his people, over his people, and how he alone is the unity of the church in his sovereignty. Verse 28 of Romans 8, and we know that God calls us all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew, he also predestined to become conformed to the image of his son. Number one this morning, God elected his people. This is an overarching theme here in these passages, God elected his people. It's also an overarching theme of Ephesians 1, 1 through 12. This is not the only place that the doctrine of predestination or election is mentioned in the scripture. And matter of fact, here's two places it's mentioned, not only mentioned, but it's worked out in a way for us to understand how sovereign God really is in salvation, and worked out in a way that both of these letters are letters to local churches. It's the local church that was to read these letters, the church in Rome and the church in Ephesus, and see these truths, that if we're going to talk about salvation, and we need to talk about it a lot, But at some point we have to reckon ourselves with the fact, the truth, the matter that God is sovereign over salvation. We don't need to be afraid of it and we don't need to try to somehow take that authority away from God. We need to place it right where the scripture places it. This authority of salvation is placed right on God's back. God elected his people. But it's also interesting in the text as you look at it, we need to note three different particular things here, or actually four different particular things here. Number one, those who love God are elect. Notice how verse 28 says, God calls us all things to work together for good to those who love God. Well, who are the ones who love God? Well, the text says the ones who love God have been called according to his purpose. Then it goes on to give very definite information to that calling. The ones who are called according to his purpose, it's for those whom he foreknew, those he also predestined. Well, those whom God foreknew are those that he loves. That's kind of tough for us, isn't it? To say that God foreknew them, that's the basis of His love for them? See, when we think about love, we want love to have some type of earning potential. We want love to have something in it to where I can say I've worked this out in such a way I've given this person a reason to love me. I've proven to them that I'm worthy of their love. We often do that in relationships. We want to let people know we love them by doing certain things to show that particular love. But here, dealing with God's love of His people, that love is first wrapped up in God's foreknowing them. One writer notes that this foreknowledge can't be some idea in the text of God foreseeing down through time who would choose Him. That's not read correctly in the text when it's read that way. Because the text doesn't even open itself to that. Even the very word itself that's used here is a word that is dealing with something that was pre-known in the basis of before time. That knowing is something very specific and special. One writer notes that this word foreknowledge is not passive in its form. It's not just a state of consciousness that lay upon God. This word is active. It reveals the fact that in His purpose, one writer says, according to election, the persons are not the objects of God's bare foreknowledge, but His active delight. That's why the word love and God's foreknowledge, love and God's predestination are put into these phrases. This is ultimately about the very love of God. If you want to talk about the love of God to people, you have to talk about how sovereign He is. Not only are the ones that God loves those whom He foreknew, the text says it's those whom He predestined. He predestined. These two words for knowledge and predestined here are linked together and they can't be torn apart in any way. They're here for a purpose for us to see the necessity of God doing an act and a work to deal with our rebelliousness and sin to change people in a way that we could not and cannot change ourselves and we would not change ourselves. The idea of this being predestined is where we get the doctrine of election in its proper sense. One writer says, granted, within the church there exists also an election to some office or ministry, for example, that of the apostles, but election proper, speaking of these texts in the scripture, election proper has its purpose in holiness. Adoption as children, Ephesians 1.5. Salvation, 2 Thessalonians 2.13. Eternal life, Acts 13.48. Conformity to Christ, Romans 8.29 and John 17.24. And ultimately the glorification of God, Ephesians 1.6 and 12. Predestination. is linked to the idea and the purpose of all that God works out in a believer's life. What person who's a sinner could make him or herself holy? What person could make themselves be adopted into God's holy family? Isn't that the whole issue with adoption, even in our own understanding, in our common world? That a child who's adopted is taken out of one setting and adopted and brought into a completely different family, and it's done by people other than himself or herself. The child may have the prettiest look of the face or the saddest eyes or this or that the other, but at the end of the day, it's the parent choosing. to adopt them and bring them into their family. The text is very particular here to say of God's sovereignty that he predestined a people. Pre, eternity past, before time began. The scripture teaches that we were in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. Pre-destined. Choice made. It's not the idea of a destiny that one can work out for themselves. It is pre-destined. It's not the idea of destiny being an entity in and of itself. That something just kind of happens in our destiny and it befalls us by some thing of chance. As R.C. Sproul says, there is no such thing as chance doing anything. Chance has never done anything. We are in need of God's predestining work. for anyone to be saved. It is a foreknowledge that is based on the active delight of God. It is a predestination based on the very foreworking of God. He did it by His grace and for His glory. So God elected His people. Those who love God are the elect. Those who love God are effectually called. In verse 30, after we've talked about predestination, and it's specific to being conformed to the image of his son, that's the pointing of predestination. He goes on in verse 30 to mention that same word again, and he says, and these whom he predestined, he also called. This calling is an effectual calling. It actually does something. It actually does a work that it accomplishes. Now, why is this calling here specifically an effectual calling? He just uses the word called. Well, if we look at it in context, we understand why. Because the calling is linked to the predestinarian work. Those whom he foreknew, he predestined. These whom he predestined, he also called. The calling is linked to that work of predestination in the text. And also notice a very important word there as well, the word he. How many times do you see the word he there? The word he is referring to God himself. That pronoun becomes important to us. He foreknew. He predestined. He called. He justified. He glorified. He, he, he. Does it say anything there about we, we, we? Man, man, man. You, you, you. Me, me, me. Fa, so, la, ti, da. No, it doesn't say that. It says He. He did it. This He not only points to the very being of God, but it points to the work of God. God predestines, or elected, and God calls. And when God calls, it is a call that will not be revoked. If God actually does a real genuine call, it's not going to be revoked. God won't revoke his own call, and man can't do anything to revoke the call. If a person goes away completely from the faith, they did so because they were never a believer to begin with. Paul even emphasized this calling in his letter to the Corinthians, 1 Corinthians 1-9. He said, God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son. It's a specific calling. In Romans 8, predestination is being conformed to the image of God's Son. Here, the calling is linked in this way that you were called into fellowship with His Son. When you're called into fellowship with the son, the idea of the fellowship here is not something where one just is a part of a social group and they can move along and act and do whatever they want to and then when they want to say the name of Jesus or call the name of Jesus or speak the name of Jesus in some way that helps them in the moment, that they can do that and it matters. No, it doesn't matter. The fellowship here is speaking of a fellowship that has been brought about by something that God did before time and then in time He effectually called them. That calling worked and now those who were dead in their sins have been made alive in Christ Jesus and they are in fellowship with Christ because they've repented and believed and they love Him and they desire to follow Him. Since God does this work, it must be effectual because no man or thing can stop God. It makes no sense if we're talking about a calling linked to predestination and linked to election or foreknowledge. It makes no sense to have that calling just be something general. There have been many occasions where you have been here or somewhere else maybe, but you've been here and there's been a general call given out. You need to repent and believe in Christ Jesus alone to save you from your sin. I'm making a general call. But when I give that, or when Scott gives that, or when another elder or someone else who may be in this pulpit or another pulpit, when they give that call, Does it have effect in a way that the person is actually changed because I gave the call? No, the only way it's effectual is if upon those words coming out of my mouth, the spirit of God would accompany the very word of God and deal with that person's soul and bring them from death to life. So we see the idea of this effectual call, but we also see how this calling is effectual. That God did give his word through the ages, through the fathers in the Old Testament, the prophets in the Old Testament. He gave his word finally through his son. Everything that we see from Genesis to Revelation in this Bible is God's word given down through the ages. specifically and ultimately to His people, those whom He would call. Yes, it can be preached all over the world, and it needs to be. It needs to be preached everywhere, far and wide. It needs to be spoken everywhere, far and wide, and yet the very Word of God will have its greatest effectiveness according to God's predestinarian work. Because He said He won't lose one of them. It doesn't matter what continent they're on, what country they're in, what nation they're in, it doesn't matter where they are, He will not lose one of them. And if He's not going to lose one of them, it must be because of His work. He can guarantee His work, but my sinful work, I can't guarantee anything. So He gave His word. to be taken to the whole of the world, and yet it has its greatest effect and its most emphasis among God's people. Because ultimately, it's God's people who want to hear God's word. When the word is read aloud in public spaces, for some, it may be a salve. But for others, it will be that which they hate. It will be the stench of death. And when they hear it read, or when they hear it quoted, or when they hear it spoken of, it becomes a stench of death in their nose, and they respond to it as though they hate it. So the word of God is both a salve, and it's also a judgment. This is how God uses these means to bring about effectual calling. It's through His Word and it's His Holy Spirit that accompanies that Word to regenerate these dead souls. Sinners are dead in their sins, they are unable to believe in Christ, and sinners need the Word accompanied by the effectual work of the Holy Spirit. John 3, 8, the wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit. Ezekiel 36 26 This being born of the Spirit is something very specific. That's explained in this short Old Testament text Moreover I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you and I'll remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh and The work of the Spirit in this effectual calling and to bring about regeneration, that regeneration is a new heart, a new spirit. It's no longer a soul that hates God. It's now made alive and it's a soul that desires to follow and love His ways. You and I could not effect this in ourselves and therefore no matter of calling that man could do, would be effectual. It's only God who brings about an effectual call. And here, the calling is linked to his predestinarian work, so therefore it must be the effectual call. John Murray put it this way. It is when we take into account God's recreative power and grace that the contradiction between the call of God and the sinful condition of the called is resolved. There needs to be a resolution. A heart that's in rebellion needs to be a heart that's no longer in rebellion. How is that resolution made? Well, it can only be done through this effectual calling. And God is the one who does it according to his word by the work of the spirit. Well, also under this heading, Those who love God are the elect. Those who love God are necessarily declared right. They are elected, they are effectually called, and they are declared right. If you were to spend time reading Romans 1 through 3, and I encourage you to do so, you would see how awful sin really is. If you spent time reading the whole of the scripture, you will see how awful sin really is. Even so much so that the psalmist proclaims we are conceived in sin. Even so much so that the Old Testament proclaims clearly that any of our works are as filthy rags. Paul takes all of the ideas of the Old Testament and he begins to pull them together on the doctrine of sin in this letter to the Romans. And he tells us point blank, we are sinners by nature. The whole essence of his using the Old Testament in its context is to say, not one is good, not one is right. There's not one who loves God in and of themselves. So that means we are sinners by nature. And if we can't love God, loving God is in the realm of our own thought. So that nature affects all of us. And not only does it affect all of us, but it affects all of us everywhere in all the context of our being. We are sinners by nature, therefore we are sinners in thought and we are sinners in action. But Paul doesn't leave us there in Romans one through three. In Romans four and five, he helps us to understand the importance of faith and being declared right by faith alone. because we are in need of righteousness to be right with God. That's really the problem. We have no righteousness in and of ourselves to present to God. I can't go to God and say, hey, look, I know I've done this stuff over here, but I got a little bit over here that I could kind of bring before you, and I want you to put the microscope on that, but don't look at this other stuff. The problem is that God doesn't need a microscope. God doesn't need some way to look at our sin very up close. God is everywhere at once, all-knowing, all-encompassing, immense, holy and righteous. He sees and knows all things. Therefore, he cannot skip over one or two things to get to another. But God's knowledge of us is so piercing that he sees our sin to its very smallest parts. what one of us could stand before God and say to him, I am holy and righteous in and of myself. I'm pure. I've never broken your law. I've always lived your law perfectly. I've never lied. I've never even thought a lie. Could you say that? I couldn't. If I tried to say that to you now that I could say that, I would be lying. This is how sinful we are. And in Paul's letter to the Romans, he makes it more than just being sinful. He tells us that we are not only rebellious, but we are God's enemies. We are so sinful, we really truly in our very own hearts, we hate God. And unless God changes us, we will continue to hate him. And we'll hate him so much that we'll deceive ourselves into thinking that we love him, but we will only love him as we want to love him and know him, and not love him for who he actually is in his word. How are enemies of God, rebellious enemies, ever to be in His presence when they have no righteousness in and of themselves? Paul says, verse 30, these whom he predestined, he also called, and these whom he called, he also justified. He justified them. This is a declaration of righteousness. Justification is making a declaration upon someone. God justifies the sinner through the righteousness of Christ alone. This is why back up in verse 29, the whole idea of the foreknowledge and the predestination is very particular. To become conformed to the image of His Son so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. The idea of being conformed in the image of the Son has to do with the righteousness of the Son of God. We are in need of His righteousness put onto our account. The only way this is done is by God predetermining His people, electing them before time began, calling them in time and then in time He's justifying them according to the work of His Son. His Son went and paid the debt of their sin. His Son went and paid the guilt of the sin. The Son went and shed His blood. The Son lived the perfect life. The Son did these things, all of those things He did, and He was righteous through all of it. and His righteousness has to be applied to us. If it's not applied to us, then there's no hope of us being righteous before God. We need to be clear that this justification is not something where now we become righteous. We are not changed into immediate righteous people, no. The justification is that one is declared righteous through the work of Christ. That Christ person and work would be the eyes or the way in which the believer is now seen. He is seen as that fellow heir with Christ, and Christ has stood in his stead. And so the Father sees the very work of Christ, His righteousness, His perfect life lived, and that is applied to our account. So we can say from Romans 4 and 5, to fill in the blank here in Romans 8.30, We need a righteousness that is not our own so that God can change our status before him. We have gone from unrighteous to being declared righteous. And that means we need the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. Imputed is that which is put onto our account. a teacher and a pastor friend of mine from years that would give this illustration. I thought it was helpful. He said, if you had a debt, say at a lending agency, and you owed them a million dollars, it would be amazing to us if a friend would go in and pay the million dollars and we would be at zero. That'd be wonderful, wouldn't it? The problem with God, though, is that We don't just need this one debt paid to bring us to zero, we need something infinite applied to our account that we would never be in debt again. So the righteousness of Christ applied to our account and justification is not only bringing us to zero with God, we're no longer owing, but we can never accrue more debt. The whole of it is paid. What has been done, what is being done, and what may or will be done, all of it is applied. And we will never be in debt again to God. We are declared righteous. Well, fourthly, those who love God are finally removed from sin. This is the idea of glorified. These whom He predestined, He also called, and these whom He called, He also justified, and these whom He justified, He also glorified. Once we begin to understand these things, we'll understand that sin has been the issue for so long in the believer's life. It has just weighed us so heavily down. that even after we've repented and believed, it still is a heavy weight to us. Paul even reminds us of how heavy that weight is in Romans 6 and 7, where he talks about not to use the members of our bodies as instruments of war against God, where he talks about in Romans 7, this continual struggle that we deal with remaining flesh. So when is there relief from the awfulness of sin for these believers who've been elected, they've been called, they've been justified? Well, this relief is when Christ returns finally and completely to bring his people into glory. What will happen? Well, they're removed from sin. How? They're removed from a place of sin. It's gonna be an amazing thing to think about the glorified state. The glorified state is removing us from this place of sin, a new heaven and a new earth. All of the cosmos being reconciled. This new heaven and new earth, the old earth burned and done away with. And yet this new earth is created or recreated. And in this new heaven and new earth, there's a new body. They are removed from the body of sin. Even for those in the grave, think of Those being raised out of the grave first and the soul and the body being brought back together for that short time. They're being brought back together in that short time. I mean, very short. But it's right there, this body of sin. For those who are alive in Christ, when Christ finally returns, they are in that still, that body of remaining sin. It's still there. That flesh is still there. And yet, After the judgment, those who are found to be declared right in Christ alone, they are brought into glory and they are given a new body. They are glorified and they no longer live with a body of sin in a place of sin. There's a whole lot more that can be said about that. Great details. But for time's sake, you get the picture. Well, not only does God elect his people, but we see that this whole doctrine of election and God's love is linked to God sustaining his people. Number two, God sustains his people. How does he sustain his people? Two major thoughts. Number one, God alone stands supreme. Verse 31, what then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? Well, God elected the people. Who's going to sustain the people? God's going to sustain them. And you know what? If God's for you, who can be against you? Some of you may have had situations like this. I remember in high school playing football, and I wasn't the biggest guy on the team by any stretch of the imagination. I mean, we had some guys on that team that were 280, 300, 310 pounds. I mean, they were big boys. And honestly, if there was something that was going to break out, I was going to go get around those guys, right? I mean, that seemed like a real wise thing to do is find the three or four biggest guys on the team, kind of mingle in and get with them if something was about to happen and be like, yeah, come on. You boys get them. Made sense, right? We're talking about the God of the universe. We're talking about the God who created all things. We're talking about the very God himself, that there's no end to him. He is eternal in time. He is immense in being. He just is. You tell them, I am sent you. Well, if this God The God of the Bible, if He saves, well, He's gonna sustain. No matter who or what comes against His people, He will sustain them. We have to recognize that the text here is saying to us that no enemy will turn God. Verse 33, who will bring a charge against God's elect? Who's gonna do that? What enemy of God, and it would only be an enemy of God, who would try to bring a charge against the elect? What enemy of God is going to do that? It doesn't really matter who that enemy might be. They won't turn him. I, the Lord your God, do not change. So the sons of Jacob will not be consumed. God is the only righteous judge, and he called his elect and justified them, so he alone judges his people to be declared right before him. And no one can change or turn that declaration. Somebody wants to bring a charge against the elect? God says, fine, bring your charge, but I justified them. I elected them, I called them, I justified them. Doesn't matter what charge you bring. Paul says that in verse 33. God is the one who justifies. That's his answer. God is the one who justifies. Who is the one who condemns? And then how does he solve the whole issue of how this is going to be brought about? How is it solved? Does he point to what the men or the women or the children did in and of themselves? How is this charge going to be battled against when God brings it down and He lays out all of the things that will negate that charge? He says Christ Jesus is He who died. Yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. It tells us not only that God sustains His people by His supremacy, sustains his people by his son. He alone is supreme and he alone sent his son. It's Jesus who lived this perfect life and died a sinner's death. It's Jesus that lives. Notice the emphasis on not only did he die, but Paul says, rather, who was raised? Who is at the right hand of God? This is all present, indicative statements. Right now, he is at the right hand of God. He lives. And he intercedes. He intercedes now while we are being sanctified. We fight against sin by word and spirit. We are now, we are not being sustained by our works of sanctification. Think about this for a minute. Our sanctification is not saving us or keeping us. Our sanctification and the works of that sanctification are just the simple outworkings of what God did in saving us to begin with through His Son Jesus Christ. So we are not being sustained by our works, we are being sustained by the work of the Spirit in us. and the intercession of Christ in glory. He intercedes now, continuing to speak of his shed blood on our behalf. It gives the picture of Christ continuing to speak before the Father on our behalf, interceding for us. when we sin, and the Spirit of God convicts us in time, and we go before God in prayer, and we pray and ask forgiveness of that sin, and the Spirit, upon working in us, that is known to the very Son Himself of the Spirit's working, and the Son realizes and knows and understands these things, and the Son now is interceding on our half before the Father, pleading as shed blood. Forgive them, Father. When the sun makes that intercession on our behalf, it's the sustaining grace of God to us as sinners. He intercedes now, reminding us that nothing separates us from him. The intercession of Christ ought to remind us that nothing separates us. Christ didn't ascend to be with the Father and now He's with the Father at the right hand of the Father and He's doing His stuff and He's kind of forgotten about the rest of us because He's got some other stuff to do and some other things to deal with. So He's up there doing that stuff and we're down here trying to figure it out while He's up there. No. The whole of His intercessory work is remaining around the elect. God is still dealing with all of those things through His Son, and He's interceding for us right now, this hour, this minute today, and every day. And that should be a reminder to us that nothing separates us from the love of God, because the Son is interceding on our behalf right now. When you leave this place and you get in your car and that person pulls over in front of you or slams on their brakes or whatever that person does and those thoughts run through your mind about how you want to ram into the back of that person and be done with them. Are those words running your mind? Right? And after you take a breath, the Spirit of God begins to convict you about what you were thinking and how you were thinking and what you were saying in your own mind. And you begin to ask the Lord's forgiveness. You are being forgiven. You are forgiven from the work of Christ in time, predetermined by all of God's plan in eternity. And you are being interceded for. and his shed blood is being pleaded before the throne. Nothing separates us. That's why you, the old adage, you can't think some, if you're a real, true, repentant believer, you can't think some awful thought right before you have a car accident and you die in the car accident and you're cast out of heaven forever. Because you had this one sinful thought right before you died and you weren't able to go deal with that. No. It's being interceded for. If you are in Christ, you are in Christ. Even at that last moment in this earthly place. If we think we can lose our salvation in the intercession of Christ, it means nothing. It means nothing. Well, I want to leave you with a few thoughts. Thirdly, God keeps his people. If you want to see this worked out, you can look at the wording and the detail of it. But from 35 to 39, this is about the very keeping of the people through no matter what happens to them on this earth. And this keeping of the people is a Trinitarian work. God electing the people, the Son redeeming the people, the Spirit applies the work of redemption to the people through the effectual calling. But we have to note that the keeping of this people is an eternal work. It's done in time, but it is eternal. But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities. Remember last week's sermon? The angels, the principalities, all those things that are going on and we don't really have any idea. For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. This is an eternal work. The people of God, number one, are conquerors over all sin by the grace of God. Christ conquered their sin for eternity and Christ conquered the effects of sin for eternity. You and I are struggling not only with our own sin, we're struggling with the sins of everybody else too. We're struggling with the effects of sin all over the whole creation. All these climate activists think somehow they're going to change something. Oh, let's all stop using cars. That'll solve the problem. No, this earth is in a state of downgrade because of sin. You're not going to solve that problem. I'm not saying we shouldn't be thoughtful. I'm not saying we shouldn't have some conservationist mindsets on certain things. We should. but to act as if somehow we're God and we're going to solve the problem is the wrong idea. Christ conquered their sin for eternity, the believers, and Christ conquered the effects of sin for eternity. Number two, the people of God will never be condemned by the enemies of God. The people of God will never be condemned by the enemies of God. The text just plainly tells us God alone is righteous, and God alone can judge righteousness. And if God declares someone righteous, nobody can bring a charge against God's elect. It doesn't matter what the enemy is or who the enemy is. They cannot change God, nor can they change his declaration. They can't change his decree of election, and they can't change his declaration in time of justification. No one can change it. No one. And thirdly, the people of God will never be separated by anything from God. The people of God will never be separated by anything from God. Nothing will come between us. Nothing will come between God and His people. God loves His people, and nothing will come between them and God. His love does not fluctuate. He will not lose love or gain love. When he loves, he loves. It just is. And we need to be thankful that God does not fluctuate emotionally like we do, and a value of love that goes up or down. He loves his people, and he will never lose one of them, nor forsake them. And it doesn't even matter what happens. It doesn't even matter about the most awful things on this earth that we could think of. It doesn't even matter about things that we can't even fully understand that are happening all around this universe in the context of what is taking place in spirit. It doesn't even matter. about whatever Satan is doing and his demons, even in their own bondage, it doesn't matter. Nothing can separate us from the love of God, because it's his choosing, his work, and he accomplished it. May we give glory to God for salvation by his grace alone. Amen. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, you've been merciful to us to give us time in your word this morning to think about the truths of your word. Lord, I admit that there was no way for my own human mind to give proper credence to this whole section of scripture, even in this time. So I ask that your spirit will bring people's minds back to the truth of your word, that they will read it and study it and think through it even further. The things that I've said that may be useful, Lord, for your glory, please use them. That your people will be encouraged and strengthened. We glory alone in you according to the person and work of your son, the Lord Jesus. for all of your work is being accomplished in and through him by the very power of your spirit. Glory be unto you, the one true living God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Pray these things in the name of Christ, amen.