I was just thinking it is so awesome just to be together, to worship together. Singing those songs and being all together like this, it's awesome because I feel the spirit of God in this place. I wanna welcome everybody this morning, and I trust that the words that I have to say will be a blessing to you from the Lord. Today is a little bit of a unique day for me, and I just wanna say that I'm completely honored to serve this church as a deacon, and I am committed to serving in this role as long as the Lord sees fit.
Northbrook is my home church, and I am fully committed to being here as long as God wills, and I'm pleased and honored to be a deacon here. Thank you. I wanna speak to you today about the Upper Room Ministry, and I'm gonna invite you to turn in your Bibles to the Gospel of John, chapter 13. Before we read, I'd like to just spend a moment in prayer.
Father, we come to you this morning in the name of your son, the Lord Jesus, and we acknowledge that you are an awesome God. We thank you for your grace and your mercy. Many of us that are here today, we have been justified by faith, and we have that assurance that our sins have been forgiven. We are washed, and we are cleansed, and we are the children of God, and Lord, there is no greater blessing than to know you.
We love you, and we thank you that we have this assurance, and we have this confirmation and this eternal hope that we will be with God forever. I just pray that you would bless us as we consider the Scriptures today, draw us near to you, work by the power of your spirit, and cleanse us from all sin, and make us pure, and enable us, Lord, to enjoy your divine presence, and give us peace, peace in our hearts, as we live in a troubled world, and so we ask your rich blessing, as we open the Scriptures together, and pray that you would guide us by your Holy Spirit in the name of the Lord Jesus, amen. I'd like to read in John, chapter 13, and we're gonna read the first 17 verses. I'm reading from the good old King James Version, it's my favorite Bible, and what you'll see on the screen is the ESV.
John, chapter 13, in verse one, now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own, that's a statement of significance, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end, and the construction of that word for end literally means he loved them unto perfection. That's how committed God is in his love for his own. It says that supper being ended, and the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son to betray him, Jesus knowing, he had full knowledge, Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, incarnation, and that he went to God, ascension, and in between there is the cross. It says in verse four, he rises from supper, he laid aside his garments, that is his outer garments, and he took a towel and girded himself.
What an image. Here we have the very God of the universe who stoops down and bends his knee, and with a basin begins to wash the disciples' feet. It says after that he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which he was girded. Then come at the E2, Simon Peter, and Peter said unto him, Lord, dust that wash my feet, Jesus answered and said unto him, what I do, thou knowest not now, but you will know hereafter.
Peter said unto him, thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, if I wash thee not, you have no part with me. That's a very, very strong statement. If I wash you not, you have no share with me.
There's no fellowship. There's no communion, there's no connection. Simon Peter said unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. Jesus said unto him, he that is washed needeth not, which literally means he is washed completely.
He needs not accept or save to wash his feet. He is entirely clean, and you are clean, but not all of you, for he knew, who should betray him therefore he said, you are not all clean. So after that he washed their feet and had taken up his garments and was seated again, he said unto them, know ye what I have done unto you? You call me master and Lord, and you say, well, for so I am, if I then your Lord and your master have washed your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet, for I have given you an example that you should do as I have done to you.
Verily, I say unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord, neither he that sent, greater than he that sent him. If you know these things, happy are you, or blessed are you if you do them. I want to speak to you today about the upper room ministry. This is the beginning of a new section in the Gospel of John, and it's really a section that speaks a lot about intimacy with God, fellowship with believers.
We'll move into fruit bearing and the comfort of the Holy Spirit, and then he ends that little section with knowing peace in a troubled world. What a beautiful, beautiful passage to consider the upper room ministry. You know, as we turn to John chapter 13, it marks the change in an audience. From John chapter one to John chapter 12, the subject is really taken up with the public ministry of the Lord Jesus, and he is presenting himself, particularly to the nation of Israel, but ultimately to the world as the Son of God.
What is sad but absolutely true, and still is true in the world today, is he is largely rejected. John chapter one and 12 says he came unto his own, his own people, his own nation, his own things, and they received him not, but to as many as received him, to those ones, he gave the power to become the children of God, even to everyone who believes on his name. And so John chapter one to 12 is largely taken up with a nation that rejected him. His public ministry is now finished, it's over, and within hours, Jesus is about to be crucified, and he dedicates these last few hours, this one evening to be alone with his own disciples.
You know, the very first thing that I learned as I read this passage was how important it is to have time alone with God. I don't know about you, but I feel I live in a very busy world, and I feel like there are non-stop demands on our time. Time is really a tyrant. We have all of our schedules, we have our day timers, we have all these pressing meetings and appointments that come upon us, and all the responsibilities of life, it is very difficult to dedicate time alone with God.
You know, we live in a world that almost glorifies busyness. God looks for simplicity, solitude, and oneness for a child of God to spend time alone with him. He wants us to come apart, to shut the world out, and to spend time alone with him to hear his voice, what for, to be washed, to be washed. We're gonna look at that subject in John chapter 13.
I think it's fascinating. The upper room is symbolic of being apart from the distractions of the world. It's interesting that it is an upper room. And so the imagery is Jesus is gathering his disciples, and he's taking them apart from the world, and they are going up into the upper room alone with intimacy with God.
You spent time alone with God? I'm speaking to believers. You know, I think it's essential to have time every day to shut the world out, take your calendar and lay it aside, open the Word of God, pour out your heart to him, spend time in his presence. It is critical, absolutely critical for our spiritual development.
I believe that this evening that we're gonna look at in John chapter 13 was likely one of the most moving experiences in the lives of the disciples. This was a memory that would never forget the last night with the Lord in the upper room. I wanna speak to you a little bit about the setting. And so as you look at this picture, isn't very clear, unfortunately, but if you look at this picture, on my left hand side, on your left hand side, is a picture of what the upper room looks like today.
And you can visit this place today in Jerusalem. It's actually a replica. It is not, thank you, it is not the original building, but this is what tradition says that upper room looked like. In April of 2019, when I was there, it was beautiful.
I went into this upper room and I sat there for about two and a half hours, I just read through the upper room ministry alone. And I was thinking about how amazing this must have been for the disciples to hear this rich, full ministry of the Lord Jesus. If you look at the other picture on the other side of the screen, you'll see a U-shaped table. Now, this is the way they would have gathered.
And so when you read through the scriptures about reclining at table, this is what it looked like. It's a lower table and they would be all around it. And Jesus is there in the middle in the U-shape and you can see what this is depicted of what it would look like in the upper room. I believe it was a Thursday night.
Some scholars say that the Lord Jesus celebrated the Passover a day before tradition. Jesus is gonna be crucified on the Friday, which is the day of the Passover. And it was his last night, his hour was come. Within 24 hours, he would be with the Father.
And the adversary is on the move, help poignant, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Escariot to betray the Lord. The powers of darkness are gathering and the cross is looming. And the Lord Jesus spends this little capsule of time focusing on his own disciples and sharing with them some rich truth. There was a lot of culture and tradition that would have been associated with the Passover meal.
They were to eat the Passover inside the city walls of Jerusalem. If you go there today, the upper room is just a short distance from the house of Caiaphas. And it's literally a 30 minute walk from the upper room down through the city of David and the Kidron Valley over to the Mount of Olives. And so when Jesus left the upper room that night with his disciples, he would have walked for about 30 minutes to the Garden of Gethsemane.
And all along that path, he's teaching rich truth. Tradition says that they are to be shut in with their household and they are to eat that Passover inside the house with their own family. There was a cultural presentation about the Passover. One thing that was very cultural was the servant, the slave, the lowest servant in the house was to wash their feet.
Normally they would change their clothes, refresh themselves, and they would have the servant of the house wash their feet. In their culture, peers did not wash peers' feet. That would have been unacceptable in their mind. And it would have been the lowest menial task for the lowest servant to wash the feet of the guests that were there.
And so as the Lord Jesus gathers with his own at this U-shaped table reclining reflecting there was the roast lamb, bitter herbs, and there was four cups of wine. And each one of those cups that were passed around had symbolic significance. It was a time of joy and it was a time of reflection and remembrance of their deliverance from Egypt. It was that setting that the Lord Jesus spoke rich ministry to his own disciples.
He was equipping them for what life would be like after his departure. And he was leaving for them his legacy. There were many lessons that were learned that night. As you read in John chapter 13, his humility is on display.
As he stoops the Lord of all to serve, imagine the God of the universe who has become man. Steps into time, walks the dusty roads of Jerusalem and sits down in the upper room and literally removes his outer garments and bends his knee as the lowest servant and grabs a basin and a towel and begins to wash his disciples feet. I think the disciples would have been horrified. He begins to wash and cleanse the filth from his disciples feet.
The disciples are likely embarrassed. And almost every one of them are silent, except Peter. And I'm sure that you know the story. The Lord Jesus, his whole life was an example.
It's very interesting that in verse 15, he said, I have given you an example. You know that the imagery and the teaching of John chapter 13 is spiritual and it is very practical. And I think it speaks volumes to each one of us today. In the disciples' shallowness, they're very surface in their thinking, you know, they're naive.
It's almost like they didn't get it. There is a sense of spiritual immaturity. And yet in the midst of all of that, he carried them. He bore with their weakness in their flesh.
These disciples were defiled by the world. Some of them were about to be tempted by Satan. They were proud and they did not see their own brokenness. You know, I think of myself when I see that.
I think that every single one of us can look deep in our own hearts. We can see pride. We can see lack of brokenness. We can see mistakes and errors that we make in our life.
And yet we see the rich grace of God. It's so amazing. You know, when I think about how they didn't get it, just a short time after this, you can read in Luke 22, they're on their way to Gethsemane and they're arguing about who's the greatest in the kingdom. Jesus has just shown them this amazing example of humility.
And they're saying, well, who's gonna be the greatest? And the Lord says, the servant of all, he is the greatest. Peter was gonna learn a lot of lessons that night. First lesson that Peter was gonna learn was the lesson of the basin, the need for cleansing, the need for humility.
Peter was gonna learn the lesson of the sword. Peter is impetuous. He's passionate. They're in the garden.
Peter whips out a sword and he strikes Malchus's ear, slices it right off. Do you know any brethren like that? You know, I think that we can all look at times in our life and say, why was I so dumb? Why did I say that?
Why did I do that? I think that this was one experience in Peter's life where God is teaching lessons, lessons of humility, lesson of the sword. Jesus said to him that night, all they that take the sword will perish with the sword. The cup which my father had given me, shall I not drink it?
Peter, put your sword away. Such great lessons. Peter was gonna learn the lesson of his own heart that night. Peter says, Lord, I will never forsake you.
Though all these men, everyone else, if even if they forsake you, I will never forsake you. What a strong statement. And I think in compassion and tenderness, the Lord Jesus looked at Peter and he said, Peter, before the cock crows, you're gonna deny me three times. He said to him that night, he said, Peter, Satan has desired to have you that he may shake you, shift you as wheat, but I've prayed for you, Peter.
I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. I take encouragement from that. Could I say this today? Every single one of us who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is a sense in which Satan wants to tempt us, wants to destroy our lives, wants to bring us down and we are targets.
And I would say this, those of us who go out on the street and publicly preach the gospel, there is even a greater sense that we are targets of Satan. I see in my own life, I feel temptation, I feel weakness. And I see it in my younger and older brethren. Every one of us are in an ability to be attacked by Satan.
But what a great lesson Peter learned that night. I have prayed for you that your faith will not fail. And then he says this, when you are converted, strengthen your brethren. You know these lessons that we all learn in life?
When I see my own brokenness and I see my own failures and I even see my own sin, when God restores me and turns me around, I need to use that experience to strengthen my brethren. You know, we all are vulnerable. And I think that as believers, we need to unite together to build each other up. We need to be willing to confess our own faults, our own failures and our own brokenness and use them as opportunities to strengthen others.
What a lesson that God taught Peter that night, the lesson of his own heart. Peter's gonna learn this ultimate lesson, the lesson of the cross. You know what it says that Peter that night followed a far off at a distance. And John is there by the cross and his mother and Mary Magdalene and those other women.
And Peter's is back in the crowd, but he's watching and he's looking. His heart is broken, he's wept bitterly. He's denied the Lord. He probably feels like a failure.
Do you ever feel that brother, sister? You ever feel like you've denied the Lord and you've sinned and you just, you almost feel a little bit useless. Could I invite you today to come back to the cross? Come back to the cross.
You know what we sing sometimes? Jesus keep me near the cross. They're a precious fountain. What an amazing renewal that he has for every one of us who sin, we can come back to the cross.
We can afresh, appreciate that cleansing, that forgiveness, the blood of Jesus Christ has shed for us. Peter learns all these lessons. And he writes 30 years later, 1 Peter 2 and 21, he says, Christ also suffered for us. Peter was there, he saw it.
And he says, Christ has left us an example, an example. Who did no sin? Neither was Gile found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he reviled not again.
When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judges righteously who his own self. Bear my sins in his own body on the tree. Could I ask everyone here today? Have you personally been to the cross?
Have you personally, by faith, been washed in that precious blood of Christ? That is the cleansing power of sin. We're all broken. We're all sinners.
We all fail. And God has an endless renewing source of cleansing and forgiveness. And he invites us all today to come back. Come back to the cross.
What does John write so many years later, possibly more than 50 years later, John reflects on the wonderful life of the Lord Jesus. And this is what he says. He says, he's an example. First John two and four, he says, everyone that says they know him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
He's left us an example. And the one who abides in Christ looks at that example of the Lord Jesus and follows him. Are you following Christ today? And if not, don't beat yourself up.
Don't get down thinking that you've ruined your life and it's over and you're out of failure. No, come back to the cross today. Come back to the Lord Jesus. His arms are open wide.
He says, come, come unto me, all you that are burdened with heavy burdens, I will give you rest. Rest and renewal in the Lord Jesus at the cross. What a rich ministry. What about Paul?
Paul saw the Lord we read it this morning. First Corinthians 15, David read, last of all, seen of me out of due time. What did Paul see? He saw the risen Lord Jesus Christ.
And what does he say? Philippians two, Paul articulates seven downward steps of the perfect servant. His humility before his exaltation, he says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God?
Can you see the imagery? John 13, knowing that he came from God. I wanna declare today publicly, the Lord Jesus Christ is God. He came from God.
He laid aside that outward manifestation of the shikai'na glory that no one could look on and live. And being clothed in humility, he stepped into time, born of a virgin, sinless, spotless, pure, holy, Lamb of God. And it says that being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, wherefore God also has highly exalted him, given him a name that's above every name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, every tongue confess that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. What rich teaching that these men understood after years of maturity.
There's something else that I learned in this passage that I think is rich. You know, in the street ministry, we see a lot of people whose lives are broken, ruined by sin. And I've met a lot of people who feel completely empty and worthless. I would say that there are three things that every human being wants in the depths of their soul.
One, every human being wants to be significant. Every human being, number two, wants to be loved. And every human being wants a sense of security. That is what is innate in the human soul.
We want to be significant. We want our life to be significant. We want to be loved and we want security. And in this passage, the Lord Jesus gave those three exact things to every believer.
He called them his own, having loved his own. What a profound significance, belonging to Christ. Are you a child of God? Do you belong to Christ?
Have you placed your faith in the Lord Jesus? Do you believe on him? Then you have eternal significance. Eternal significance.
To them gave he the power to become the children of God, even to everyone who believes on his name. He loved them. This is what human beings want. This is what you're longing for in the depths of your soul.
You want to be loved. He loved them onto the end, onto perfection. It's an enduring love. It's a gape love.
It's not because of anything in me. It is because God is love that he so loved. God loves the world. The Bible says that, John 3 16.
God loves sinners. Please don't tell me that God doesn't love sinners. I know some Christians that say God doesn't love sinners. The scripture says that God loves sinners.
But he loves his own with eternal significance onto the end, onto perfection. And if you're not perfect yet, you just hang on because you're going to be perfect. It does not yet appear in what we shall be. But we know that when we shall see him, we shall be like him.
As he is. That is amazing. That is absolutely amazing. In John 13, Jesus taught three things that every believer needs to experience.
You know what? We should probably go to the next slide. Three things that every believer needs to experience. They need to experience his purity.
They need to experience his presence. And they need to experience his peace. And because sin stains the soul, it does. Have you ever sinned and just felt completely yucky inside?
Just felt like, oh, why did I do that? How could I have done that? Because sin stains the soul. It affects the conscience.
And when you come to Christ, he gives you purity. He renews that purity. Every believer needs to feel that purity being washed in his presence. Every believer needs to know his presence, his comfort, his companionship.
You know, it's interesting that the Lord said to Peter, Peter, what I do, you don't know now, but you will know hereafter. Or they're not things in our lives that we look at and we say, why did God let that happen? How could that have happened? And there's things that we don't understand, but we trust our heavenly Father, that what he is doing in our lives, we don't know now, we don't know hereafter.
There is the need for cleansing, and there is the need for comfort for the Lord's people. But we also need his peace, his peace in our soul, his peace in this troubled world. And so I just wanna share with you what I've noticed about this passage. If you go to the next slide, I've laid out here three washings in John chapter 13.
And I could be wrong, but this is the way I've enjoyed it. And I'd like to share this with you. And you tell me after if you think it's right or not. I see that there are three washings in this passage.
This is a rich, symbolic passage that's teaching spiritual truth. The first washing is what Jesus said in chapter 13 and verse 10. He said, he that is washed is entirely clean. And I'm gonna suggest that that is the washing of regeneration.
It is a once for all, entirely clean. You know that Hebrews 10 and 14 says an amazing verse. You catch this, Hebrews 10 and 14. By one offering, he has perfected forever, those who are being sanctified.
What a great summary statement of my life. Because of the once for all offering of the Lord Jesus on the cross, he has perfected forever. Those who are being sanctified, being made holy. And so regeneration is the truth of justification.
It is the new birth. It has been born of water and of the spirit that Jesus said to Nicodemus in John chapter three. To have this regeneration is what happens in the soul of every believer that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ. See something happens the moment that you repent of your sin and believe in Jesus as your personal savior.
You are changed. You are born of God. You have spiritual life that you never had before. This is a miracle that happens.
And the truth of it is taught in Titus chapter three, where it says that we were all once foolish, serving various lusts, disobedient, angry, envy, all of that. And then it says that the kindness and love of God, our savior toward all men, love of God toward all men, love of God toward sinners was displayed in the Lord Jesus Christ, not by works of righteousness that we have done. Salvation is not of works. There's nothing that you can do to earn it, favor or merit before God.
It is by simply pouring yourself out and believing what God has said. It says that we were washed with the regeneration, the renewing of the Holy Spirit, that He gave to us. This is a salvation of the soul. It is divine cleansing from sin.
It is imparting new life. And when a person believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, they're given life. Ephesians two says we were dead, but God made us alive in Christ Jesus. He washed us from our sins.
And it is a once for all, I believe the Bible teaches. Absolutely eternal security. If you have believed on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, you are secure, you are the property of God, you are destined for heaven and nothing can change that. Nothing.
I believe that there is also the washing of restoration. And then Jesus says this thing that may sound a little strange. He that is washed is entirely clean, except he needs to wash his feet. What does that mean?
Well, those two words in the original are different words. So the washing is once for all regeneration, which means the truth of justification, you're declared righteous, you're child of God, you're sealed, you're sanctified, but you will never lose your salvation. However, there is the still the fact that we walk in the flesh. We have the flesh with us and we can get defiled.
And so don't think it's strange as a believer if there are times in your life that you sin, if there are mistakes that you make, if there are ways that you fall, the difference is when a believer falls, he hates his sin and he feels bad about it and he wants to get back to God. An unbeliever loves his sin and doesn't even care about what he's doing. And so there is the washing of restoration. There is the need for washing from filth and defilement.
He that has washed his clean, but he needs to wash his feet daily. Walking in this world, you're gonna get defiled. That little machine that you have in your hand is gonna defile you. The world that we live in is gonna defile you.
The internet is gonna defile you. And there are times when we need to get back to God and we need to have true confession, true cleansing. And it comes through the pouring out of my heart in repentance to God and the reading of this book. This book cleanses us.
It does. When Jesus prayed in John chapter 17, he said, sanctify them through thy word, thy word is truth. And so as we read the word of God, it has a cleansing effect. Do you confess your sin?
I mean, that's seriously, as believers, do you confess your sin? And if you do confess your sin, how do you confess your sin? It's not something that we need to go through penance for months, we name our sin. Like it says in 1 John 1 and 7, if we confess our sin, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Confession of sin is getting before God and saying, God, I am absolutely wrong. I am sorry. I said that thing. I looked at that.
I had that lustful thought and that is sin. And I am wrong and I am sorry. And I ask you to forgive me. That's it.
And you're forgiven. If you are honest and sincere and you name sin and you call it like God calls it, as a believer, he is faithful and just to forgive you and to cleanse you. This is the cleansing of restoration. The pouring out over the word of God into the soul, it cleanses us.
Psalm 119 and 9 is a beautiful verse. It says, wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way by taking heed thereto according to the word of God? You need to spend time believer everyday alone with God. Confess your sin, pour out your heart to God, read his word, let it cleanse you.
This is the truth of ongoing sanctification. Regeneration is justification. You're declared righteous. You are a child of God.
But there's this ongoing need for daily sanctification. You know, I just want to say this as I pass by. Bible says this about those that are born of God. Four things I want to tell you.
Number one, whoever is born of God overcomes the world. That's what the scripture says. Number two, whoever is born of God lives righteously. That doesn't mean you're perfect and it doesn't mean you never sin.
But the practice and bend of your life is to live a righteous life. Okay. Number three, whoever is born of God loves the brethren. All the brethren, not just some of the brethren, but all the family of God.
If you are born of God, you love the brethren. And if you are born of God, you have eternal life and you will never perish. That is rich truth, rich truth. I'm going to wrap this up today with my last point, the washing of refreshment.
Jesus looks at the disciples and he says, if I then your Lord, the highest of all and your master have actually stooped down and washed your feet, which in their culture would have profound impact. I have washed your feet, Lord and master, taking the lowest place. You want also to wash one another's feet. What is this?
I've called this the washing of refreshment. It is the fellowship that we have one with another sharing the word of God. Can I ask you brother, sister? It's the last time that you sat down with a dear brother or sister in Christ and actually refreshed them with the word of God.
Sat down with them, nurtured them. Maybe there's some shut in today and they can't get out. Go visit them, read them the scripture, share with them what you've been enjoying about the Lord Jesus Christ. That is refreshment.
You know what? It's fellowship enjoying Christ together. Showing that love and Christ-like humility that we need to show to each other. Paul received joy and refreshment from the house of Staphanis and Fortuneis.
In 1 Corinthians 16 and verse 15, it says that they devoted themselves to the ministry of the saints. You know, part of Deacon work is serving the saints, serving one another. There's a sense in which we all serve one another. And those of us that are leaders have a responsibility to be Christ-like in servant leadership, serving the church, serving our brothers, serving our sisters, refreshing them in the Lord.
Paul said in 2 Timothy 1 and 16 that the house of Anephyrus often refreshed me and he was not ashamed of my chain. Here's Paul in prison with chains and a dear brother comes to him, sits down with him and refreshes him in the Lord. And he says, the Lord grant mercy unto him. Wouldn't you just love at the end of your life to look back on a life that was given to God, a life that was given to serve the believers, a life that was given to ministry and say, I know that I've done everything that I can to refresh the saints.
I've walked with the Lord. I've enjoyed daily communion with God. And I know that my sins are forgiven. And when my last day is taken, it's absent with the body, present with the Lord.
And it is all glory on before. Jesus said, I've left you an example that you should do as I have done unto you. May God bless his word. Father, we thank you for the word of God.
We thank you Lord for this incredible example that the Lord Jesus gave us. Lord, may we be like Christ. May we love him. May we love the brethren.
May we serve one another. May we be followers of the Lord Jesus. And may we all finish strong. Until our last day is taken, and our last step is taken, and we end up in the glory.
I just pray that each one of us will be kept preserved and living our lives for the glory and honor of Christ. And I thank you for this time together and the time that we've had to share the word. And we ask your blessing upon it as we part in the name of the Lord Jesus. Amen.