You're listening to audio from Ascend Church. For more information about Ascend or to access more gospel-centered tools to grow as a disciple of Christ, visit AscendKC.org. Well, at this point I'm going to invite the ushers forward. They're going to hand out Bibles. If you don't have one, just let them know you'd like one. We're going to be going all throughout Scripture today, and I know if you are new here at Ascend, you might be wondering, well, is this what we do every week? And the answer to that question is no. Typically what we do during this time of the service is we have a book or a passage that we will march verse by verse through. First of all, unpacking what the original author meant to the original audience. And then once we understand that, bridge it to our 21st century context. But for the last several weeks, we've been taking some pretty big topics. And as we've bitten them off, we've had to jump around through scripture to be able to set up what the scriptures as a whole say about these topics. And so this Sunday, we're going to have one more like that. But over the next several weeks, as we continue our series of who we are as a church, we're going to be anchoring more in passages of scripture and marching through verse by verse like we typically do. So this morning we're going to be jumping around, but what we're doing is we're covering part two of a sermon that I started last week of the essentials into which a local church needs to be anchored. Now let me just remind you that these essentials are not something that we believe are required for salvation. You don't have to have a full understanding of these essentials in order to be saved. But listen, this is important, is that once you are saved and you are introduced to these essentials, you should not reject them. You should not deny them. Because if you do, number one, your profession of faith is on thin ice. But second of all, if you reject these and you deny these, we believe as elders, these are essential for orthodoxy. Or in other words, these are essential for correct belief. So these very important three subjects, these very important three doctrines are what we consider the bedrock or the essentials into which we as a church are anchored. Last week we talked about how the first essential is the Holy Scriptures. And in order to be orthodox or correct in your belief, you need to understand and believe that these are the inspired, inerrant communication of God to man that completed in Revelation with the 66 books that are contained in what we call Scriptures. That is orthodox. That is correct belief. Now this week what we are going to do is we are going to unpack the two other essentials, the Trinity and the Gospel. And I hope you have your notes out because this will provide for you, this week and last, a really good reference manual for these essentials. We will cover lots of different scripture references, and I would encourage you, if you don't have time to turn there right now, to write them down. They will serve as a reference for you when you consider these topics. And so remind yourselves, by looking at your notes, the big idea of these two sermons. It is that the essentials of the Christian faith serve as the bedrock into which we anchor for faith and practice. As a local church, we would say that these essentials serve as bedrock into which we anchor ourselves for faith and practice. And so we are an anchored church. We are anchored in, let's look at number two, the Trinity. The concept of God goes all the way back to the beginning of time and we see evidence of this from early literature. In fact, one of the earliest manuscripts or literature resources that we have from ancient history is what is known as the Epic of Gilgamesh. The Epic of Gilgamesh, some of the earliest manuscripts we have are from the 18th century BC. And in that story, we have clear references to what they referred to as the gods. Archaeologists throughout generations over the thousand years of archaeology have uncovered the temples and the inscriptions and other tablets and manuscripts of ancient civilizations that reference God or gods. Now despite the best attempts of philosophers like Frederick Nietzsche who declared that God is dead, despite that, we have actually seen that God has actually continued to be on the minds and the hearts of humanity. In fact, let me read you some quotes of some people that we might be familiar with. The 18th century philosopher from France who was a critic of Christianity said this, I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker. Isn't that interesting? Voltaire got it, although he would not identify the clockmaker as what we would identify him to be. But he understood that the complexities of creation required that there is a creator. Another famous representative from history commented on God, Napoleon Bonaparte, said that all things proclaim the existence of God. Here's another quote, the existence of God is not subjective. That's a good point. He either exists or he does not. It's not a matter of opinion. You can have your opinions, but you can't have your own facts. And this is the famous philosopher and actor, Ricky Gervais. You see, from all different parts of society, from all different measurements and instances of history, we see that people have acknowledged that there must be a God. But the challenge that we find is in answering the question, who is God? You see, every human being has within them a longing to understand who God is. In fact, would you turn in your Bibles to Ecclesiastes chapter 3? If you don't have the time to turn there or don't know where it is, it's in the Old Testament. It is after Psalms, Proverbs, and then Ecclesiastes. It's referred to as wisdom literature. This would be a great book to actually unpack. Hint, hint. Ecclesiastes 3, verse 11, it says, He, God, has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity into man's hearts. What we see in this verse is that the creator, the clockmaker, as Voltaire referred to him as, has placed within every human being an understanding that there's something bigger than what we can see. That there's something that exists beyond our time and space. There's another passage that references why humanity is interested in studying and pursuing the truths of God. Listen to this in Romans chapter one. Beginning in verse 18, it says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of man, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. How? Verse 20, For his invisible attributes, namely his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived ever since the creation of the world. in the things that have been made, so they are without excuse." Clearly, God has placed opportunities for every human being, no matter where they find themselves. Whether in the jungles of Africa or in the loft apartments in New York City, God has placed clear evidence of the fact that he exists. Here's another passage, Psalm 19. Psalm 19, verse 1, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. You see, the fact is, is that every human being, even those without sight, even those without the ability to hear, have the opportunity because of creation and because of the way that God has designed them as human beings, as creatures, to understand there is a God and create in them a longing to understand who he is. But the answer to the question, who actually is God, is actually answered in the rest of the verses of Psalm 19. The psalmist says in verse 7, the law of the Lord is perfect. And over the next several verses, we see descriptions of the psalmist, of God's word. And in fact, in verse 10, it says, more to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold. You see, beloved, the answer to the question of who is God is not provided for through creation. We have seen plenty of civilizations who have acknowledged that there is a God simply from creation itself who have come up with the wrong answers. So the right answers to the question of who is God are found in the first essential that we studied last week, and that is the Word of God. And so the answers to these questions are what I'm going to provide for you this morning. I want us to first of all see that the God, the God of creation, the God that every human heart longs to know is, number one, three in one. He is three in one. God explains that he himself is unlike any other being. Listen to what Isaiah 46, nine says. It says, for I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like me. Now, why did God have to make that statement? Because even back in the time of Isaiah, human beings understood that there were beings that were more powerful than humans. We see that clearly in Scripture, and I know I'm wading out into territory that we would not consider essential, but it is found in Scripture, so let me address it. We know that Scripture refers to angels, does it not? We know that Scripture refers to demons. We know that Scripture refers to Satan, and we would all admit that all of those beings to which Scripture refers are more powerful than humans, right? And so we acknowledge that there are these beings that exist. And so God says in Isaiah 46, 9, there is no other creature that compares with me. I am above all other beings. There is no one like me. And I would say that his most unique attribute that makes him different than all other beings is that he is one God, yet three persons. Let's unpack this very briefly. First of all, God is one God. Write down Deuteronomy 6, verse 4. Deuteronomy 6, verse 4, is the Hebrew Shema. This is something that if you are a Jew living in Israel, in fact, this was interesting. When we visited Israel several years ago, there were these little what looked like cigarettes outside of the hotel rooms. I remember asking my tour guide, what are those cigarette-looking things? And he's like, no, no, no, don't call them that. Because what they are is they're little scrolls that if you unroll them, you will see the Hebrew Shema. Deuteronomy 6, 4, hear, O Israel. The Lord our God is one God. That is the Hebrew Shema. That is the scriptural foundation for the fact that God, the God of scripture, the God of creation, is one God. But He is also, number two, three persons. He was three persons. Now, much of the Old Testament focuses on God the Father, although we do see the Son referenced and we do see glimpses of Him as well as prophecies that point us toward Him. We also see evidence of the Holy Spirit, which I would acknowledge is in places that are unexpected. In fact, I've been reading through the Bible in a year. That's my personal devotional track that I do year after year. And I'm in Ezekiel right now. And what's fascinating is that in this book of apocalyptic literature and symbols and wheels with human heads in them, that we see the Holy Spirit evidence and central to those passages. But when we get to the New Testament, we see, I believe, the most vivid illustration of the Trinity. Turn to Mark 1, or just write it down. Mark 1, verses 10 through 11. I'll begin reading in verse 9. It says, in those days, Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open. I would have loved to have seen that. Love Mark's imagery that he gives there, but it says that Jesus was in the Jordan. He came up out of the Jordan after John had baptized him. And then it says that the spirit was descending on him like a dove. It doesn't mean that he took the form of the dove. It just means that Mark, as best as he could describe, said that it looked like a dove. And so the spirit descends on Jesus. And then verse 11 says, a voice came from heaven. You are my beloved son with whom I'm well pleased. three different persons, three different expressions, the Son humanly standing in the Jordan, the Spirit like a dove descending on Jesus and a voice from heaven, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Now, what's interesting about this is that this has been denied. It's even denied today. T.D. Jakes, a famous Word of Faith teacher, believes in a position on the Trinity that God expresses Himself in different modes. He's one God, but sometimes He shows up as Father, other times He shows up as Son, other times He shows up as Holy Spirit, but not three distinct persons. That is heresy. Orthodoxy is that we have one God, yes, but he is also three persons. Now, how do I explain that perfectly? I can't. And there's plenty of drawings and pictures. In fact, I found one in a book called Biblical Doctrine that if you want it, just email me this week, I'll send it to you. It's probably the closest thing I've ever seen to an image that captures the essence of the Trinity, but none of us can fully understand that. And how do I know that? Because listen to the second half of Ecclesiastes chapter three and verse 11. After he says he has put eternity into man's heart, it says, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from beginning to end. That is the limitations of us as humans, is that the finite cannot understand the infinite completely, but God has given us enough information to understand what he wants us to know. And that is that He is one God, three persons. In fact, would you write this down? This is a sentence that I came up with that I believe captures the essence of the Trinity, is that God, the God of Scriptures, is one God, three persons, each containing fullness of divinity. Let me say that again. One God, three persons, each containing fullness of divinity. So let's unpack and briefly discuss these three persons. First of all, God the Father. God the Father, the name by which he is most known in the Old Testament is a tectorgrammicon. I think that's the right way to say it. It's the Greek for four letters. It is the letter Y, then H, then W, then H, which we know as Yahweh. It is the Hebrew term that communicates I am. It covers God's eternal attributes. He was, He is, He will be forever. There is no time and space that limits God. He is all-knowing, all-powerful, omnipresent. Yahweh. And while He is referred to as Father a couple times in the Old Testament, it isn't until we reach the New Testament that this concept of Father really advances. In fact, right down Matthew 11 in verse 27. Listen to what Jesus says. Jesus says, all things have been handed over to me by the Father. Jesus himself refers to the first person of the Trinity, God, as God the Father. So we've come to know him as God the Father. What are his attributes? Here are some of them. Again, not all of them. Write these down. He is Creator, Genesis 1.1. He is Spirit, John 4.24. He knows all, Matthew 6, 8. He predestined the elect, Ephesians 1, 4 through 5. And obviously, we could go on and on and on. But that last one is one that I really want us to understand because it captures the role that the Father plays with the gospel. And I would encourage you to write this down. When it comes to the gospel, the Father planned it. He planned it. This is God the Father. He is the first person of the Trinity. Not first in terms of power, not first in terms of hierarchy, but first in terms of role and introduction in the Scriptures. The second person of the Trinity is the Son. There's been much controversy, especially in the early days of the church, over the Son. In fact, the Arian controversy taught that Jesus was actually created by the Father. Now, what's fascinating about this is that it was pronounced an anathema or heresy in the Council of Nicaea, but the vestiges are still around today. Mormonism teaches an aspect of Arianism. Jehovah's Witness teach an aspect of Arianism. And I'll say this, if you want to know more about it, we can have a conversation. But Catholicism teaches an aspect of Arianism in that it elevates other realities and other people to the same level of Christ. That is anathema. The fact is, is that the Son himself has all of the attributes of God the Father. Write down Colossians 1 and verse 19. Also, Colossians 2 and verse 9, in Christ are contained all of the fullness of the Godhead. Jesus Christ is 100% God. And beloved, this member of the Trinity is the epicenter of Christianity. That's pretty logical since we're called Christians. But this member of the Trinity differentiates our religion with all other religions, how you stand and how you fall on the belief of Christ. Now, Jesus himself has all of the attributes of the Father, but there are some unique attributes that are on display in his role in the gospel. Write down John 1 verse 14. Jesus became fully man. That's very important. Jesus was not 50-50. He didn't show up as man sometimes and then God as other times. When he was conceived in Mary, he was fully man and fully God. Write down Colossians 1 15. Colossians 1.15 and 1 John 1.1-2, he is the image of God. He is the physical expression of God. I love the 1 John 1 passage. John says that we saw the word, we touched the word, we heard from the word. This is God himself physically embodied in a human being. He also humbled himself according to the predetermined plan of the Father. I love that. He humbled himself according to the predetermined plan of the Father. I didn't make that up. Write down Philippians 2, 7 through 8. And then, oh, write down these Acts passages. These are so good. Acts 2, 23 and Acts 4, 28. Both of those passages talk about how all of the events that led up to Jesus' crucifixion were predetermined by the Father. Man, there's so much awesome theology with that. But we are talking about the central. So I'll keep focused. Okay, next attribute that's on display with Jesus with the gospel is he was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all who would believe. Write down 1 Corinthians 5 and verse 7. Oh, this is rich. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been crucified. Oh, there's so much theology, so much biblical theology, so much with the story of Scripture that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden that are fulfilled and accomplished in that statement alone. But we will move on. John 10, verse 11. Jesus says, the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. Ephesians 5, 25, Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. He is the perfect sacrifice. 1 Corinthians 15, 12 through 20, write that down. 1 Corinthians 15, 12 through 20, he raised bodily from the grave. Beloved, do you realize this is the attribute of Jesus Christ that gives the believer hope? If this attribute played out and the gospel did not take place, we would be human beings without hope. Write down Acts 7, verse 56, Jesus is seated at the right hand of God. And then write down Revelation 21, verse 22, and chapter 22, verse 3, he will reign over the new Jerusalem. Yes, Jesus is all of the attributes of the Father. But when it comes to the gospel, when it comes to the Father's predetermined plan, he also displays these attributes. And so while the Father, God the Father, planned the gospel, God the Son purchased the gospel. Would you write that down? God the Son purchased the gospel. But then there's a third member of the Trinity. This is the Holy Spirit. And I had a message that was entirely devoted to the Holy Spirit. And so you can listen to that to get more detail. But I'll cover some highlights. First of all, let's establish the fact that the Holy Spirit is completely God in all attributes. To defend this, let me give you a couple passages of Scripture. Matthew 28, verses 19 and 20. that disciples are to baptize other disciples in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, each one of the persons given equality in that list. Write down Acts 5, verses 3 and 4. Peter says to Ananias and Sapphira, why did you lie to the Holy Spirit? And then in verse 4, it says, you have lied to God, giving clear evidence that the Holy Spirit is equal to God. The Holy Spirit was active at creation, write down Genesis 1-2. He was active throughout the Old Testament, 1 Samuel 16, verses 13-14. This is one that we hopefully can all relate to. Write down John 3, verse 5. The Holy Spirit is unique in the gospel in that he is the one who regenerates people. whether the Old Testament, whether the New Testament, whether in our era or the days to come, the Holy Spirit is required for the salvation of souls. You know, that's something to just park and explain that, beloved, listen, when we get to the gospel, we'll explain this further. But nothing can happen in a sinner's life that advances toward the gospel unless the Holy Spirit is involved. Write down John chapter 7 and verse 39. After the glorification of Christ, the Holy Spirit indwells every Christian. John 14, 17. He enables Christians to be the temple of the living God. 1 Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 16. And then he empowers every believer to live the Christian life. 1 Corinthians 12 and verse 11. We love that one, don't we? Because I don't know about you, there is not a day I wake up when I say, I got this. We need him. So if God the Father planned the gospel, Jesus Christ purchased the gospel, then the Holy Spirit preserves the gospel. And guys, let's just camp out there for a minute. If you have watched the news recently, which, by the way, I would highly recommend don't watch the news, listen to Al Mueller's The Briefing. End of advertisement. But no matter what your source is, if you are just remotely paying attention to what is going on, not just in the culture around us, not just in our country, but across the globe, we live in horrific times, spiritually speaking. And yet, what a confidence it is that the Holy Spirit is preserving the gospel. Nothing can thwart it. This is the God of Scripture. This is the Trinity. This is an essential. But what's interesting is I talked about the plan, the purchase, and the preserved in reference to the gospel, which brings us to the third essential, the gospel. We are anchored in the gospel. And listen, beloved, the gospel is really this. It is good news that points us to bad news so that we can participate in the best news. That might be something to write down. I think it frames the gospel well. Some people say, I don't share the gospel with people because I struggle knowing where to start. Well, you start like this, good news, bad news, best news. So let's start off with the good news. What is the good news? The good news is that God is holy. Would you write that down? And beloved, this is where the gospel starts. It begins with God, not with you and me. The gospel begins with God and it begins by arguing and proving that God himself is holy. We need to go no further than Leviticus 19 too. God says to Israel, be holy as I am holy. Jesus repeats that in Matthew chapter five and verse eight saying that if you are going to be my follower, you need to be perfect as the father in heaven is perfect. God himself is holy and that is good news. But it also sets up bad news. Because guess what? He expects every human being to be perfect. Raise your hand if you've succeeded with that. None of us have. Which leads us to the bad news. Because God has said, listen, if you as a human being do not live perfectly, then you deserve judgment in hell. And guys, let me just say, hell is not some fanciful legend. It is a real place of great torment. In fact, the vocabulary that scripture uses is the wailing and the gnashing of teeth, where things are burned, but they're never consumed. This is a place you do not want to be, where God's full wrath is poured out, and he is right and just in that being his judgment. This is truly bad news for us. Why? Because write down Romans 3.23. All of us have fallen short. Now, here's a question. When do we fall short? Do we fall short the first time we take the toy from our brother? Do we fall short the first time as a teenager that we rebel? Now, listen to this. The first time we fall short is when we are conceived. Write down Psalm 51 and verse 5. David says, in sin I was conceived. That doesn't mean that the union between his mom and dad was sinful. It means that when he was conceived, which, by the way, that's when humanity starts. You realize that's when a human being starts. It doesn't matter what science tells us. It doesn't matter what legislation tells us. It doesn't matter what people with megaphones with veins popping out of their neck tell us. Humanity and human being and life begins at conception. And at that moment, we are sinners. Write down Romans chapter 3, verses 10 through 12. There is none righteous, no not one. There is no one who understands. There is no one, listen to this, who seeks after God. We in and of ourselves can do nothing. We can take no steps toward the gospel, no steps toward salvation without the intervention of God himself. What I love about our gracious God is that he gives us an illustration. You know, some of this theology is difficult for us to wrap our minds around, but he gives us an illustration we all can comprehend. That illustration is in Matthew chapter 18. In Matthew chapter 18, Jesus is talking to his original audience and he's using details that they would have been able to relate to. The amount of money that the servant owned, what the relationship was between the master and the servant. And what Jesus says is that there was a servant who owed an insurmountable debt to the master. So for us today, imagine whatever the debt is of the United States government and multiply it by infinity. That is the debt that Jesus is saying we owe to God. And what the servant did is something that really was absurd. And you would have probably heard snickers and laughter of the original audience when Jesus said that the servant came to the master and said, give me time and I'll pay back everything. And the people would have said, no way. I mean, if I spend the rest of my life working 24 hours a day, I get an inheritance from Bill Gates, I am able to collect all the treasures of this entire universe, not just the earth, I will not be able to pay one day or moment of debt that I owe to God. Now we can start to wrap our minds around it. And so the master looked at that pitiful servant and said, you cannot pay what you owe. The only hope that you have is my forgiveness. And beloved, that leads us to the best news. You and I are offered forgiveness. This God who is holy, who is just, who is right in his condemning sinners to hell gives us hope. And the hope is three words that I would ask you to write down, and these are gonna sound weird, but they are important because they're coming under attack even by pastors in our area. The hope that we have are these three words, penal substitutionary atonement. Penal, P-E-N-A-L, substitutionary, in place of atonement. What is penal substitutionary atonement? I'm going to give you a definition here. I would encourage you to write it down. Christ's death paid the ransom required by the Father. I'll pause there, so hopefully you're writing this down. Penal substitutionary atonement means that Christ's death paid the ransom demanded by the Father. for the salvation of all who by faith will believe. That is penal substitutionary atonement. Christ's death paid the ransom required by the Father for the salvation of all who by faith will believe. Beloved, listen, when we are conceived in sin, there is a debt, a ransom that is required. and there's no amount of tithing, there's no amount of church attendance, there's no amount of goodness that we can do or religion that we can observe that even begins the process of repayment, nothing. And there's one sacrifice that is required that Jesus said, I will fulfill this. And he died on the cross in place of me, fulfilling the ransom required by God the Father. He paid the pay, the debt I could not pay. He put the seal on the purchase through his resurrection. Write down 1 Corinthians 15 20. I love that passage because it says that if Jesus did not raise from the dead, then we are people that are hopeless. Verse 20 is one of the most important verses in all of scripture, but indeed Christ rose. He purchased and sealed it. And beloved, listen, it is not our works that achieves the salvation. It is His completed work. So we each are given an opportunity. That opportunity throughout scripture has been offered to human beings. And there will be two destinations for people when they close their eyes in death. Some will be resurrected to damnation, others will be resurrected to eternity in heaven. The difference is, write this down, Ephesians 2, 8 and 9. Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, this is a passage that is familiar to some, but essential to all, by grace. Beloved, listen, grace is undeserved favor. It is a gift that we cannot earn. We are dependent on the gift giver by grace, and this is offered to everyone. By grace through faith, but we've gotta camp out here for a minute. Faith is not some religious activity. Faith is not something that you inherently have access to as Americans. Faith, listen to this, costs you everything. It requires belief. It requires repentance. It requires, listen to this, surrender. You're turning over the reins of your life. You're turning over the throne of your life to King Jesus. You are saying, I am a sinner. I acknowledge that. I own that. There's no excuses. It's on me. and you are believing that Christ's finished work is enough, and you can't save yourselves, and you're all in. That's the gospel. By grace through faith, you have been saved. But it begs the question, beloved, how do you know whether or not you have been saved? You can know. I remember being on a plane sitting next to a man who was a Catholic. He declared himself as a Catholic, and we were talking about the gospel. And I just said, well, do you know that you're saved? Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that if this plane crashed, you would open your eyes in eternity and know that you would enter heaven? And he said, how can anybody know? I said, you can. There's two ways you can know, and I would encourage you to write this down. Number one is that God promises it. God promises it. Philippians 1.6 is one verse. Philippians 1.6, being confident. I love that word, confidence. In our day and age, we can't have a whole lot of things in which we place confidence, can we? I mean, we are confident that the Chiefs will win the Super Bowl, right? That'll be interesting. I hope it happens. We can be confident that gluten-free is good for us. We can be confident that chocolate is bad for us. You see where I'm going with this is that things change in life. We put confidence in spouses. We put confidence in jobs. We put confidence in health. And all of that can change in a moment, can't it? Being confident of this very thing, what? That he who began the work in you, again, it's God's work, not our own. We'll complete it in the day of Jesus Christ. That's awesome. He promises. But also write this down, John chapter 6 and verse 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me. And those who come to me, I will not cast out. Those are the promises, beloved, that we hold on to. But there's a second way we can tell whether or not we're saved. And I would encourage you to write this down. Our very own lives. Our very own lives. You see, the gift of God is that our lives verify or deny our professions. Remember Ephesians 2, 8, 9, again, a verse that maybe some of you have memorized. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And that's not of yourselves. It is a gift of God. It's not of works so that nobody can boast. But sometimes we forget verse 10. We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works. Now what is the value of good works? It is not to gain favor, it is to authenticate our faith. So when you look at your life, you're looking for patterns of change. Romans 10, 9 is a verse that many have memorized. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And we love that. But then verse 10 says, for with the mouth confession is made, and with the heart man believes unto salvation. Listen, those are two very important terms. Mouth and heart. Because what does Jesus say in Matthew 12, verse 34, out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. See, both of those are put together in verse 10 for a purpose. And that is that the patterns of our lives, write this down, reflect the condition of our heart. The patterns of our lives reflect the condition of our heart. Listen, we can look good on Sunday mornings, can't we? We can even look good for a month, or two, or three, or four, or even for a year, or two, or three, or four. But listen, God looks at the patterns of our lives for verification. So when we look at our lives and we say, yes, yeah, I fail, and I'm like the stock market, and I have good days and bad days. But the pattern of my life is that there are fruits of the Spirit. When I have brothers and sisters in Christ in small group that are affirming, yeah, that's a brother in Christ. That's what the local church is for. We'll get to that in a few weeks. The local church is designed to help us affirm and verify in our lives that there are patterns. And when we go off course, we're supposed to speak into one another's lives to say, hey, it's not measuring up. And so then we recalibrate and we get back to a place where our lives authenticate our faith. That's how you can tell whether or not you are a follower of Jesus Christ. So I ask you to bow your heads and close your eyes. The most important question you can ever be asked is the question I'm going to ask you right now. Have you been transformed by the gospel? That is the question. You can look at your lives. Don't just look for a day that you prayed. Look at your life. How has it changed? And maybe some of you would say, Pastor, I can tell you, I have never surrendered. I've maybe been relying on religion. Maybe you've been relying on a basic faith that is not a biblical faith. Whatever the reason is, today is your day. The gospel has been put on display. So will you pray to God right now at your seats and say, God, I know you are holy, and you are right and just to demand holiness and perfection. I have fallen short. I believe that Jesus is the sacrifice that was required to pay the ransom. And because Jesus died, rose again, is now at the right hand of God, I can be saved. So I receive your gift. I turn from my sin and I surrender my life to you, King Jesus. You can do that right now. Friends, we have much to celebrate. God has given us bedrock. He has given us bedrock into which we, as a local church, can anchor his scriptures, the Trinity, and the gospel. May we be a faithful church, not just over these nine years, but in generations to come, to be anchored in this bedrock.