Rejoice in the Lord & the peace of God #1

All right, let's begin in the section that's going to be Philippians 4, 4-7. I'm going to cover the first two verses today and Roger is going to pick it up next week and finish this area. off for you. It's a rich section, so two verses per week is appropriate. So hopefully the conversation to follow today and next week will be evidence that this is really a rich section of Scripture.

Let's begin reading from Philippians 3.20 down through Philippians 4.7.

Do I have a volunteer? I have no volunteers. Let me get my glasses off. For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we already eagerly await for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to his glorious body, according to the working by which he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. Therefore, my beloved and longed-for brethren, my joy and crowns, stand fast on the Lord, beloved.

I implore you, Adia, and I implore, let's see, soon, soon, Tyche, to be of the same mind of the Lord. See how quickly I forget? Okay. And I urge you also, true companion, help these women who labored with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow workers whose names are in the Book of Life.

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice. Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Alright, so the two verses today are rejoice in the Lord always, again I will say rejoice, let your gentleness, moderation, humility, whatever, we're going to spend some time on that today, be known to all men, the Lord is at hand. Okay, so I thought this was going to be easy, two short verses, it was not as easy as I thought.

Okay, so rejoice, present active imperative, that means do it. You know, it's interesting as I prepared this yesterday and I was, we were out with my sister-in-law, went to Breckenridge and kind of did the shopping thing, which either Margaret or I are too big at. But anyway, we kind of did that and frequently thinking about rejoicing the Lord always. So not that things were bad, it was just the idea of constantly reminding ourselves to rejoice.

Again, this is not something that Paul has suggested we do. This is in fact something we need to be about. So as we walk in the newness of life, who we are in Christ Jesus, what other alternative is there but the real choice of the Lord? Right? I mean, it's who we are. Yeah, well, I like how Verne would approach it.

He would say this would be a logical imperative. It makes no other sense than to do that from where we stand. I mean, we'd be foolish to not do that. contrary to logic. Logical imperative. That's good. I like the modifier. Any other thoughts, Beth? Rejoicing, always.

Alright, this is kind of a reiteration of Philippians 3.1. We didn't read this this morning, but in conclusion, my brethren, be joyful in the Lord.

For me to give you the same warnings as before is not irksome to me. while so far as you are concerned it's a safe precaution. That's the Wayland translation. I like it because it's very, you know, translation friendly. And, you know, Paul's comment or challenge or imperative to the Philippian church here was in context the trials are going through.

So this idea of rejoicing when things are all well and good is really not the qualification. It's under all circumstances. We're going to look at this a little bit more in some verses in a second. Always. So, to rejoice. To be joyful. To be glad. To rejoice exceedingly. To be well. To thrive. In salutations. To hail. Other translations.

They all kind of end up in the same thing. And remember, the Epistle of the Philippians is often called the Epistle of Joy, is it not? So the concept of rejoice being used several times in this epistle makes sense for the way we identify the epistle and one of its strengths. End of the Lord always. We'll go back to this verse in a moment. We're going to look at some verses that have the same concept. But 1 Thessalonians 5, 6 says the same thing. What's this always stuff? Well, pretty straightforward. Always means at all times and ever. Not too tough here to interpret what this verse is challenging us to do.

The logical imperative as Roger just said. And then Paul states that he'll be saying this again. Again I will say rejoice. So he just doesn't do it once. We'll say future active indicative. It's factual. I'm going to be telling you this again by the way.

I've already told you this in Philippians 3.1. I'm telling you now and I'm going to tell you again. And so count on it to be reminded that we need to rejoice.

And I guess he wouldn't need to be reminding the church unless there was some sense that maybe they didn't need to be reminded. And I think it's really a reflection of who we are. Why do you think Paul is looking to the future here? Maybe he was anticipating trials that would come along down the road. Welcome to the earthly existence, right, Roger? Don't be surprised when all kinds of trials and temptations... From an earthly perspective, there'd be lots of reasons not to rejoice, wouldn't there?

And in a sense, in Philippians 3.1, he kind of again qualifies the imperative to rejoice based on the circumstances.

So this is all pretty self-evident. Nothing very, very profound here. But yet for the believer, it's something we often fail to respond to. And I just was inquisitive, in fact, insists to be repeated for the emphasis in spite of discouragements that would come. And yes, I'm sure it is. They've had some discouragements. They will have.

Welcome to being on this planet, right? Don't get your expectations too high. There'll be things come along our paths each and every day. If it's not items that reflect the world system around it, it's the flesh within, right? How you doing at this? How's everybody doing? Keeping a chart on this? Rejoice 15 times a day? Roger, you're keeping a chart? No. Trying not to. What occurred to me was that, and trying isn't the right word either, what occurred to me in this section is that this is an area where all believers are challenged be anxious for nothing.

So the area where we tend to go, the old nature, temptations sucks us in so to speak and we go there and we hang out with worry and we hang out with rejoicing. This area is so close to home. I've been studying things about being worried and I've been studying worrying while I'm studying about worrying, right? But, you know, I think that's part of the fellowship we share here.

And, you know, being married to my lovely wife, I mean, you know, she doesn't allow any other attitude but rejoicing. So, you know, she's upbeat and encouraging. And I think that's what Paul's all about. You know, we're living a life of encouragement and joy and be uplifted despite the circumstances.

This is not qualified. It's despite the circumstances. How are you doing at this? You start with grace and rest, don't you? We're going to end with that this morning. But that's the principle of rejoicing. It's who we are. When we're at the right hand, and we're perceiving the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, ultimately there's nothing we can do but rejoice. It's a logical imperative.

Other thoughts or any wisdom? Ryan, you've got your Paul Parkway up here. I was just thinking of the phrase, in the Lord. Just a reminder of what we just said in other terms. Consider your circumstances and then consider your position and your condition. The circumstances are always prevailing around us, but then we fall back in who we are and then our condition ultimately gets more. Go ahead, in the Lord. our position. Our Lord is our position. Our condition should match our position, but we have to be commanded to let it be so.

And we've said this, at least I've said this in this room many times over the years, is this isn't an intellectual ascent. This isn't something that man will say, gee, I've got to rejoice in the Lord. There's a mindfulness to doing this, But the Spirit-led ultimately response to rejoicing is one that is Spirit-led and actually natural without intellectualizing it. I don't know how many times you've been found to be challenged or threatened or in fact positioned to respond in the wrong way and you intellectually create your response. It's kind of part failure actually.

What I said next is this is a life. It's not works. It's a life. And it's not our life, it's his life. And that's why we can rejoice. If you're working, it's not a work, and if you're working towards it, then you're not resting in the grave. That's right. Okay, good, good, good comments. Alright, so this term rejoices you 77 times in 68 verses in the New Testament. Pretty powerful. And I've just selected a few that I think are uplifting. So let's take these and look at them. So, Alan, John 16, 22. Ruth, Acts 11, 23.

Doris 2 Corinthians 7.9, Margaret Colossians 1.24, Roger 1 Thessalonians 5, Jim 1 Peter 1.8, Donna 3 John 1.3, and who didn't get chosen here?

Roy, let's have you do Revelation 19.7. So these are all verses and I've selected just seven or eight of them out of the ones just because I thought they were particularly relevant. So proceed.

John 16.22. Therefore you too have grief now, but I will see you again and your heart will rejoice and no one will take your joy away from you. Roy, no one's going to take it away. I mean, despite your circumstances, I'm going to see you again, and by the way, you're going to be rejoicing despite your current circumstances. Next verse, Acts 11, 23. Ruth?

When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. All right. Then we have 2 Corinthians 7, 9. Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance, for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing." Isn't that something?

Paul says, despite all your problems, I'm rejoicing in the fact that the Lord has used this, in fact, to mold you into the image of God. I'm paraphrasing, but that, in context, is what it's about. Colossians 124. Do now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up which is the church. So Paul is rejoicing in his sufferings for the body. Again, is that the way the world deals with these circumstances?

First Thessalonians 5.6, a very brief verse, one of the shortest in the New Testament. The only problem is I don't have rejoice in this verse, in my version. But remember, it can be translated in a number of ways. So it says for 5.6, so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.

Who's got a different version of 1 Thessalonians 5.6? Is that Rejoice Evermore? What's it say? Rejoice Evermore, isn't that the one? Yeah, it should say 5.16. Oh, my bad. 5.16? Yeah, it says Rejoice always. Sorry. I feel like I need to go to the power plant right now and correct this.

Okay, 1 Peter 1.8.

And though you have not seen him, you love him, and though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy, inexpressible and full of joy. So there's the rejoice in hope, isn't it? In terms of, although you not see him, rejoice in the fact that they will. Third one, one, three, a nice one, Donna.

For I rejoiced greatly when the brethren came and testified of the truth that is in me, even as thou walkest in the truth. And if you think about it, I mean, I don't think this is just my opinion, I think we all agree on this, the truth is something we really rejoice in, isn't it?

The truth is what we seek. And that's because the Lord has revealed His truth. And the thing is, what we consider truth is in part the way we interpret the Word of God. We put it all into the same kind of basket, but we interpret it in context to seek out His perfect truth. And here John is rejoicing in the truth. John?

Would it be a stretch that rejoicing, rather than it being an emotion, is a state like our grace? comparing those two together, that we live in a state of undergrace, and one of the manifestations of doing that is rejoicing? Absolutely, and that's a point I maybe didn't emphasize enough, I'm having a little trouble with this, but this is a life, not a work, right here. It's right, it's a state, it's a life. This rejoicing is not something we intellectualize. It's something that reflects who we are.

And that's really a neat thing. By the way, how do we reach that state? We said it's not something we work on. How do we reach it? Just trust in the Lord. It's by faith, isn't it? God has declared who we are. Why should we doubt Him? Do we doubt Him about our salvation? Meaning, I was at one point in time saved? Do we doubt him about our future in terms of eternity in his presence? I say we fail because we doubt him so much in our daily walk.

Don, great point. It's a state. It's a life. Rejoicing is who we are. There's no other alternative. Again, Roger, logical imperative. And Revelation 19, I think that was Roy. has come and his wife has made herself ready. Wonderful, so it ties into what Jim said, I mean it's kind of rejoicing in what's ahead too. I mean we rejoice in trials, we rejoice in expectations, we rejoice in circumstances. It's a state. Good. All right, and the constant rejoicing is a testimony to our...

I mean last night we were having a conversation at the dinner table and when Shauna dismissed herself for a second. Margaret and I said, you know, this view that she has really reflects the lack of being grounded in spiritual concepts or actually, you know, that's maybe... But I think that same failure exists in each one of us at times and reflects the body as a whole. And Paul continues to emphasize it so importantly because this is such an important aspect of our Christian existence. It's who we are. Rejoicing. Okay. So, Roy, I didn't have it in the Lord, but I thought I did. But anyway, we've got the Lord's at hand. We'll deal with the Lord here. We haven't forgotten about it, I can assure you.

By the way, we're going to deal with this term gentleness, moderation, in a lot of detail here in the next 15 or 20 minutes. So this term is translated in multiple translations in a wide variety of ways. Gentleness is what many translations have. It can mean seeming, suitable, forbearance, fairness, mildness, reasonableness. In the ILG, that's the only place I saw reasonableness, is the interlinear Greek. Yieldingness, modesty, humility, moderation. Those are the translations of this term. Moderation in all things. I had a little fun with this.

Let's first look at 1 Corinthians 9.25 and we'll look at one translation that is often translated moderation and then we're going to come back to if moderation is what is used here, how we're going to interpret that. So whoever has this verse, please.

1 Corinthians 9.25, everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable reap, but we are imperishable. Okay, does anybody have moderation used there instead of, what is it? It's self-control. It's self-control. I have temperance. Okay, read the verse with temperance. And every man that striveth for the mastery is is temperate in all things.

Okay, have you heard either the world system or sometimes fellow believers say moderation in all things? How many times have you heard that concept? Anyway, I had a little fun with that yesterday, so bear with me. So there's a book out written by a believer, and I never found his name, it was under a certain online ministry, called Sayings Not Found in Scripture.

So I'm going to quote this passage directly. It says the phrase, quote, moderation in all things is common extrapolation of Aristotle's doctrine of the mean as presented in his Nicomachean ethics. His ethic works around finding the mean or middle ground between excess and deficiency. An example of this would be his presentation of courage being the happy medium between the extreme of rash action and the deficiency of cowardice in respect to a person's possible action in the face of danger. And then the passage goes on to say, sorry about this, but this, I think, is fun.

It should be noted that an Aristotle's ethic is often misunderstood by its summary, moderation in all things. It is frequently reasoned by those unfamiliar with context that the common phrase means that a person should approach all things, whether healthy or unhealthy, with moderation. Therefore, reasoning that a moderate amount of a bad thing can be indulged is not uncommon to be profound. This is an inaccurate representation of the perspective summarized in the popular phrase.

So, anyway, kind of fun. Isn't that what you hear when you hear moderation and all things in context? Oh, a little bit of this is okay. I've heard you say it yourself. What was that? I've heard you say it about good foods and bad foods. You know, if you just have Just enough. We'll talk privately. Let me defend myself in front of this class. I said it's the overall diet. I said there's no good foods. It's not moderation or all things. All foods are good. It's just the amount that one's eating. Back to reality. This is science show. This is not a scientific discussion here.

How would you best describe this term and its application to our walk? What do you think Paul's really meaning by it? Why do we have so many translations? Why do we have maybe some potential misinterpretations? What are your thoughts about this term? I'm going to let you think about that a little bit, and we're going to come back to it. However you interpret this, we should be a witness to the entire world around us. And I have a couple of verses that really, I think, reflect on this.

1 Corinthians 2.15, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God, without fault, in the midst of a crooked, perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world. And then the second verse, but the wisdom that is from above is first pure and peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy. Those verses fit, I think, really well in terms of what's being represented here.

Now, this is still in the blank. Okay, what does a believer who walks in gentleness, forbearance, Mildness, reasonableness. I didn't think that was a word. Yielding-ness. Have you ever heard of yielding-ness before? Humility and moderation. What's that look like? Did they all equally apply from your perspective? Can we describe it? There's a lot of negatives there, but there is the one positive, patient. And the other verse I found is Titus 3.

That's 1 Timothy 3.3? Uh-huh. Okay, so you might jot that down if you're taking notes. That might be another verse that reflects this walk.

So Titus 3.2, Speak evil of no man, be no brawler, be gentle, showing all meekness unto all men. In other words, use what you have in the right way. Okay, good. So a couple of good additional verses. This is basically the fruit of the Spirit. Alright. Love, joy, peace, grace, love, faith, continuous goodness. And the last one in the fruit of the Spirit, part of it is self-control, right? Self-control. Okay, I guess what I'm asking you to do here a little bit is describe this. What's self-control look like?

What's this walk look like? It's a walk by the Spirit. and walk by the Spirit. We're still being vague. Maybe we need to be. Maybe it's self-declaring. I don't know. He manifests the character of Christ. Okay, it's a Christ-like character. Don? I think we all have met someone that appeals to this. You see walking, and there's a rest in their life, where they walk the walk, and they trust Christ, and regardless of what comes their way, All those things seem to apply to them. Not that they're perfect by any means, but there's a rest. Alan, additional thoughts?

Self-control is the flip side of giving into the flesh. Because, in essence, it's who you're controlled by, the spirit of flesh. It's called Christ control, right? This whole concept of self-image, I think we all need to leave that behind, don't we? It's Christ image.

I think of all the things that we've talked about, that one translation said temperate. Temperate? Yeah, which, you know, it means not given to excesses because you have a goal in mind. Okay. You've limited your activities. I don't know if that's the right word to say, temperate. Not given to excesses. Okay, Don, back to your comment.

Now let's create a condition in which there are undue and unacceptable circumstances, wherein someone in the world system appears to portray many of these attributes better than your sister or brother in the Lord, who in fact is failing in some of this.

How do we assess that? And ultimately, in terms of both internal issues and also how it's portrayed by people around them, how does this measure up then? Well, at least speaking personally, in all honesty, I've never met a non-believer who has exhibited these traits in a time of difficulty. I've seen some people go through some pretty tough circumstances who don't know the Lord that seem to portray some of these attributes. And we would not give them to the Lord in His glory, but I think the way the human nature responds can be different in the unsaved community also.

I think over a period of time, that may be true initially, and they may appear on the surface to portray those things. But over time, as that circumstance continues, I think you start to see the crack in the armor in a non-believer. And because they don't, long term, they don't have anything to hold on to. And I mean, they may be able to persevere and put up a good front for a while. But I think over time, I don't think you'll see it. condition and state sort of blend together.

That's who we are. What do you think allows us as believers to respond in this way in moderation, let's use that term loosely, or in gentleness or humility? What allows this kind of behavior to be publicly perceived by either our fellow believers or the world system around us? It's only being in Christ. There's no other way we can do it. How would you explain that? to someone who is questioning how you're doing so well despite the circumstances? I think the only way it can be done is by looking down. If I don't do that, it all falls apart.

So it relates to citizenship, does it not? And Paul's already talked about that here. Alan? I was going to say the same thing. It's a focus on the position of who we are in Christ. And by the way, I would suggest that in the flesh, meaning in this earthly body, We might not all respond the same way to these circumstances that come our way. Jim may be carrying himself beautifully in terms of the new nature, whereas I may not be. But ultimately there's more growth in me perhaps. The point is that I don't think we should be disappointed among our fellow citizens in the body, ultimately, by the way they respond.

Although we are encouraged, imperatively, to rejoice always and reflect on the circumstances in a way that brings glory to the Lord. Again, it's not something we work at. It's something we believe. when he had the cancer. Yeah, well, look at Hal. I mean, Hal was, amongst us, one of the people who we look at and reflect this atmosphere. And in remembering him, he was rejoicing in this, that God had given him the opportunity to go through this.

And I think, when you're well grounded positionally, despite the fact that the flesh has a capability of giving into the circumstances, more so in some of us than the rest of us, when you're well grounded, those feet are still planted in concrete and gold.

You know, I always fall back. One of my favorite verses is, for me to live is Christ and die is gain. And the bottom line is, either way you win. So if the circumstances are unto death, when you're well founded in good New Testament theology, you've got to be victorious.

I mean, even though we don't want these circumstances, even though these trials ultimately can be both socially and intellectually and emotionally trying. It's who we are. And that's what Paul is really talking about here. Remember all the verses we read about rejoicing were under a wide variety of circumstances. They weren't conditional. It was current, past and future with expectation that this walk is by faith and on solid ground.

Okay, be known. Gnoska, passive aorist imperative. How do we think the verb tense here about this position is interpreted? Remember, let your gentleness or moderation or humility or mindfulness be known to all men. By the way, to all men. This is not just to each one of us, but in fact to the world around us.

Passive. What's passive? It's not us. People recognize it. OK. We don't make it. This isn't a show that we're putting on here, is it? This isn't active. This is who we are being reflected by a message that reaches all around us. All men. Not just the believer, not just the unbeliever, but all men. OK. Passive. What's aorist usually imply in terms of the tense? Jim? I'm sorry? Aorist tense? So, it's the current state of being, present, from a point in time forward. Okay, it's typically one point in time, but it has ongoing effects, correct? It actually carries a force of fact. Okay, and this is imperative, not indicative, but we know it's factual also. Alright, good. An imperative means that the world is in a position to need to see it. Remember, it's passive, it's not active.

We're not making them see it. It's ultimately that it is seen. And it's important that the world, all men, see this gentleness, if you will, if we use that term. or gentleness, all those words, temperance, and there's a fault. And what this verse is exhorting us, I think, is that they see the true righteousness of Christ. All right, this isn't phony. This is real.

Okay, the Lord's at hand. Let's look at this now, the terminus of this verse. At hand, of place and position or of time? The Lord is at hand. What do you think? We're talking about the fact that the Lord is near and with us and in us? Is that what we're talking about here? We're talking about the Lord is at hand, meaning His coming is nigh. Well, let's look at the possibilities. I'm picking a couple of verses. Psalms 45, 18, the Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth.

Acts 17.27, so that they should seek the Lord in the hope that they might grope for him and find him though he is not far from each one of us. So that's in place or position, right?

Or the alternative is, a couple of verses selected, James 5.8, you also be patient, establish your hearts for the coming of the Lord is at hand. then a verse from Revelation 22 7 and behold I'm coming soon blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book and there are many other verses by the way which you could select that would say place in and or position or time what are our thoughts here how do you think you best interpret the Lord is at hand well nobody has an opinion all right I think this is a imminency issue. It's dealing with the Lord's return. I don't think it has to do with the Holy Spirit's presence or this is specifically used in other contexts as a subsequent point in time that is near in time. Yeah, Jim's opinion as this relates to the Lord's ultimate coming, I think it does best get interpreted that way in context, in time, seems like the best interpretation, although can we ever doubt that the Lord's patience is both with us and in us?

Our presence is both in us and with us. I mean, no, we can't doubt that. I mean, Paul's already established the believer in the truth of who we are and what we're about. I don't think the idea, gee, don't let the Lord get too far astray. I mean, I think he's grounded the body at Philippi in the truths of who we are. Throughout the book. Go ahead.

Yeah, Bob, actually, on 311, Philippians 311, he talked about attaining to the resurrection from the dead. So I think that kind of followed along in his discourse. He's talking about the Lord is near, and he's looking forward to that event. So can we connect this perception of all men of this state of the Christ nature in us and relationship to the Lord is at hand. It's in the same verse. There's a comma here. Can we connect those? Just one thought.

The context of the Lord's return and the resurrection and also the context of the gospel that he's been talking about regularly and partnership in that and sharing in the role of that gentleness and graciousness and forbearance, in this case gentle spirit, being known to man, potentially for the purposes of having Christ's perspective of them knowing them, Christ, in mind. these gracious attitudes towards men have a perspective that an unbeliever can never have towards others. And that is, this person, though maybe being malicious to me, I may deserve to rain down logical debate back towards this person, but in forbearance, I have the context of the Lord's return and their need for salvation. I like the use of forbearance in that context. That's a nice use of that translation.

So isn't it really something we constantly reflect on as we are dealing with all the problems of the world system around us and we're dealing with the world system on a one-to-one basis of this solidarity and this expectation we have as the Lord is at hand. I mean, there's an eternal rest that we're already positioned in that ultimately we have hope for. And boy, it gives you a confidence that is not cockiness, but just this gentle capability of reflecting position. And when we reflect position, we reflect this truth.

It's not that we're asking the Lord to return to take us from our problems, but it's the confidence we'll be with Him eternally, in all of His righteousness. I think that's why he says, Rejoice in the Lord, because our purpose is there, not in, well, I'll be glad when this I mean the Reds are hot right now and I'm hoping they're going to win. That's a lot of rejoicing and Margaret's overwhelmed by my dedication to my hometown team. But all that aside, this is a different kind of rejoicing. What's that smirk all about? She's learned to be quiet. That's a very unusual thing for her. I'm going to unplug the direct TV.

I'll try very hard. What did he say up there? Okay, this is good. So I think the bottom line, I think we could drag this on at length. We're going to end maybe a little bit early. We can have more conversation, but you know, keep rejoicing no matter what. I mean, that's the message here, and that's who we are. And I think in the last note to have reflected on this, and although we exist down here, The view from above is perfect in terms of the vision and also the rest we have from that position. So 2 Corinthians 3, we all know the verse well, and we use it repeatedly, but it's one that I think does reflect nicely on this passage in Philippians.

So Roger, actually, I think you're going to have, it's not more meat, but additional. issues that relate to this concept of being anxious for nothing kind of thing. This all plays out in the verses that Roger's going to cover next week. Well, it's interesting. There's two more imperatives in there. There's an imperative not to worry. There's an imperative to pray, which is really interesting. There's some neat stuff in here. I'm excited about it. I haven't got to it quite yet. Are you going to talk about what prayer is next week?

I'll never forget this, it's a little bit personal, but after I kind of started coming to the idea, it wasn't my works to please God in terms of paying him back for my salvation, but there was a bit of rest there and maybe a little bit different faith than I'd learned, you know, and I think, you know, coming to the position of accepting who we are at Christ and having position be the source of our life is coming to the end of yourself. And I'd come to the end of myself. There wasn't anything I felt like I could do. I wasn't doing enough. I was really feeling guilty over everything the old man represented.

And finally I said, goodness, there's a lot of grace there that extends far past my pleasing God by my behavior and my thought process. Anyway, all that aside, I sent Miles Stanford a little letter. And I said, Miles, how do you pray? You know what Miles' response was? By two words or something like that. was a few more than two, but it wasn't much more than that.

Bob, your brother Bob, you've asked a very good question. Period. I hope you're going to be dealing with this next week. Donnie, you can picture that, right? Bob, this is a wonderful question. Period. That was his response. I think he was dealing with me a little more gently.

So we're counting on Roger next week of defying prayer for us. Speaking of prayer, why don't we close on prayer. Jen, could you close us please? Lord, I thank you for the fellowship we've had in the Word this morning and do just pray that we might rest in all that you are and all that we are in you and that that would result in your life of rejoicing in us. Lord, it's a state of mind, it's also who we are, and I just ask that we might keep in full view our positional truth in you, and that that might show itself in gentleness towards all men, forbearance for the purposes of your life being shown to them. I just pray for a good time of fellowship for the rest of the morning. In your name we pray.