Reformed Baptist Church in O'Fallon, Missouri
HomeSermonsThe Real Deal Part 4…

The Real Deal Part 4 (Philippians 3:1-11)

Sermon Transcript

The following is a lightly edited transcript generated from the audio; it may contain small errors.

Philippians 3:1–9

Rejoice in the Lord. “To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs. Look out for the evildoers. Look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh—though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith, that I may[audio unclear].”

Opening Prayer

[audio unclear] would save that baby, God. You’d be gracious to her and her baby, Lord. We pray that you would connect with Reach, and would hear reasons why they can keep their baby, reasons why we can support them as they do that, and then also hear the real reason for hope and truth, which is your Son. We pray for those seven that got saved, Lord—that those would be legitimate, that they would walk with you, that they would get plugged into a church, that they would be discipled, that they would grow, Father. We pray for your hand of blessing on Reach and the workers and volunteers there. Continue your work there. We pray for Amendment 3 coming up in November. We pray that that would pass, and that you would undo the previous amendment that opened the doors of abortion wide open. We pray that it would be pulled back, greatly restricted, Lord—even more restricted after that, God. So we pray for your grace and mercy on Amendment 3, that it would pass, Lord, that abortion would be greatly restricted in this land of ours that we call Missouri. We pray it would happen in other states as well, that they would stand firm, that they would be bold, God. And Lord, we thank you that you are a good God, that you are sovereign over the affairs of men. We thank you, Lord, that you are here with us. We thank you, Lord, for us being able to celebrate 30 years next week. You have been gracious every single day, every single week, every single month, every single year, for all 30 years, Lord. And we look for 30 and even more years to come. Lord, continue on in your goodness to us today. We thank you for your goodness in allowing us to hear your Word preached. Let it be your words, God. Let it be your truth, and let it plant in our hearts and bear much fruit. We pray all this for your glory. Amen.

The Real Confidence

All right. I’ve been looking at what I’ve really titled this series as the Real Deal. We’ve looked at the real glory, and now we’re going to look at the real confidence. I want us to note a few things here. Look at Paul’s words.

Beware of False Teachers

And this is probably my first point, I guess you could call it: beware of false teachers. Beware of false teachers. Paul has sharp words here. There’s sarcasm, and there’s bite in his words, and he’s not mincing his words. Look what he calls these false teachers. He calls them, in verse 2, dogs. He calls them evildoers. And he calls them those who mutilate the flesh. And here’s the thing. I mean, you’re like, wow, that’s not very nice, Paul. That’s not very gracious. Well, we’ll look back in chapter 2. He’s more than willing to use kind words at times. At the very end, look how he talks about Epaphroditus. He says, verse 27, chapter 2:

Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

(Philippians 2:27–30)

So Paul knows how to use kind words. He’s very gracious in his description of Epaphroditus. But kind words aren’t always the right words. Think about it: when you want to spread butter on your toast, what kind of knife do you use? A butter knife—we actually have a term for it. Is it really even a knife? I mean, come on, right? But it’s like the dullest blade possible. Like you probably couldn’t cut yourself if you tried. But we call it a butter knife, right? And when you want to cut your steak, what do we use? Oh, now we call it a steak knife, right? That is a knife. Have you ever tried to spread butter with a steak knife? It doesn’t really go so—you have to be very careful, right? Also, you mess up your little piece of bread. And have you ever tried to cut steak with a butter knife? Now, let’s just like some nice, super great cut of filet mignon that Justus prepared. It’s going to be hard to cut it with a butter knife. All right? So we have the same object—knife, right? Different uses and different types for the same object. Well, same thing here. We have words, and we have different uses and different types. And sometimes we need certain words; other times we need other words.

And so part of what Paul’s doing here is he’s exposing the deeds of darkness—exposing the deeds of darkness. We have dark deeds even here in Missouri, including abortion, right? And we have dark deeds that occur even here in St. Charles. I remember years ago I was talking to someone and he’s like, I really want to get back to the way the early church was. I really want to get back to the way that— I was like, we had a conversation. I said some different things then, but here’s what I would say to him today if that conversation came up again: Which church? Like, which early church? There’s a whole bunch listed in the New Testament, right? I mean, you want to get back to the Corinthian church, the sexual immorality that’s going on? You want to get to the churches of Galatia, where they’re dealing with circumcision, false gospels trying to creep in? Like, all churches have problems. All churches have problems. All churches have challenges. All churches have challenges. You want a list of the challenges? Listen, I know better than most the challenges that just this church has. I know our strengths. I know our weaknesses. It’s long-term sanctification, just like we’re being sanctified individually. Like collectively, God is sanctifying us, right? So this church has strengths. This church has weaknesses, just like we individually do. By God’s grace, we’re going to continue corporately to be sanctified more and more, and to strengthen even more of those strengths, and take some of those weaknesses and give them a little workout and get them strong as well. But all churches have [audio unclear].

There is sin in your life. There’s sin in my life. What are we called to do? Slay it, right? Slay that dragon. So when we see it, we address it, we deal with it. Well, the same needs to be true for us when we’re talking about dark deeds. How do you expose dark deeds? Well, by calling them out, right? You have to call them out. You have to address them. These deeds have to be addressed, I mean, even individually, right, by you all, but also by the pastor up here. It’s not possible to warn the flock about dark deeds if you never speak about dark deeds. You hear me? So that’s why I verbally attack the enemies of our day. These can be institutions, these can be ideologies, these can be worldviews, these can be false religions, these can be false teachings, these can be false teachers. You warn them of the wolves. How do you protect the sheep? You point out the wolves.

Do Not Pet the Wolves

And one thing that’s important—I’ve said this before, I’m going to keep saying it—wolves aren’t to be petted. You don’t pet the wolves. How many believers out there think they’re nice, and the nice thing to do is pet wolves? You know, treat them kindly. Some people treat wolves like they’re a cute little puppy golden retriever. Well, a golden retriever, a little puppy, is a lot different than a wolf. What are we supposed to do? Well, if you mistake a wolf—if you think it’s a golden retriever and it’s not, and it’s a wolf—what’s going to happen? You’re going to get bit. Maybe even worse. That’s why Paul in Acts 20, this is what he says, verse 29: “I know that after my departure, nice, kind little wolves will come in among you.” Is that what he says? No. What does he say?

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

(Acts 20:29)

All right, so the wolves, right—sometimes they’re ideologies, sometimes they’re worldviews, sometimes they’re [audio unclear] individuals. And you must defend the sheep against them. Another thing in protecting the sheep is to attack the enemies of tomorrow.

Enemies of Tomorrow, Yesterday, and Today

Well, why do you want to attack the enemies of tomorrow? So they never rise, or at least are challenged as they try and rise, so that tomorrow doesn’t become today and the sheep get caught off guard. It’s a lot easier to deal with tiny little weeds in your garden than if you just let them grow for weeks and weeks and sometimes months, right? I mean, have you ever had one of those, like, you know, huge—I mean, I’m just like, how can that thing get so tall? I work and work and work on my tomato plant, and after months and months of caring for it, it’s like this big. But the weed, I can leave alone, and it’s like this big. Yeah, they don’t need much attention, but they’re more than happy to grow. True? Kind of like false teaching. So we attack the enemies of tomorrow. We attack them when they’re small so they never arise and don’t become today and the sheep get caught off guard. But also attack the enemies of yesterday. Why is that? So that the enemies of yesterday, they stay yesterday and they don’t become today. Even things that aren’t as popular today that troubled the church maybe a year ago, or even a generation, it’s good to keep them in check and keep them in their place and knock them down repeatedly. And then of course the enemies of today. All of this is to say Paul is concerned about believers and how they’re approaching God, how they’re approaching worship, how they’re approaching Christ. So that’s what he says in verse 3. You look back in Philippians:

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.

(Philippians 3:3)

Count Every Credential as Rubbish

So here’s my second point. When we’re talking here about the real confidence, we need to count every credential as rubbish compared to gaining Christ. Every credential. That’s what he says in verse 3, leading into verse 4. He says, put no confidence in the flesh, though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh. So here he’s taking—there’s kind of a double meaning here. He’s taking a clear swipe at circumcision with the word flesh, but even taking a step back, it’s aimed at external religious observance. We’re not doing things in the flesh; we’re doing them in the Spirit. So flesh versus Spirit. We don’t put confidence in the flesh. Where do we put our confidence, brothers and sisters? In Christ, right?

Now the Judaizers, they took pride that they were of Jewish descent. Most Jews at the time did. Now is it wrong to be proud of your heritage? No. Being proud, though, if you’re not careful, is a few small steps away from being prideful. If your heritage is your confidence or hope, that’s a problem. Again, nothing wrong with any heritage—any heritage, especially the ones that are good and have biblical values, to be proud of those. But think about what John the Baptist says in Luke 3. Listen to this, 3:8:

Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, “We have Abraham as our father.” For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.

(Luke 3:8)

I mean, they’re crossing the line. They’re prideful in their heritage. Well, what are they told? God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. I mean, that should have put all of them in their place. Like, you think you’re all that? No, if God wants, he could take these stones here and raise up children for himself. But at the time, they were like, well, I’m okay. I’m okay because I’m Jewish. I’m okay because we’re the chosen race. And sometimes we can get like that. Like, I’m okay because I’m in church. I’m okay because I go to church every week. I’m okay because I prayed a prayer. Do you see what they’re doing there? They’re glorying in the earthly. Listen, God doesn’t care about ethnicity. Black, white, Asian, Arabian, Jew. Here’s what it says in Colossians 3:

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

(Colossians 3:11)

Even if you just read the second half of the second chapter of Ephesians, he’s all about the dividing wall is broken down, that this hostility has been removed between Jew and Gentile. How is it removed? In Christ. He removes that. He cares about those who truly seek and follow after God, and each one of us will have to account for our sins committed.

Paul Meets Them Point for Point

The Judaizers, they’re all about the externals. So Paul decides to meet them point for point on their own ground. He does this actually a couple different times in the Scriptures. Here he meets them and he describes in detail what confidence in the flesh looks like for him. Right? If anyone could be proud of his accomplishments, it was Paul. He says, circumcised on the eighth day. Basically he followed the law from his earliest days. The law required circumcision on the eighth day. Of the people of Israel, God’s [audio unclear]. Of the tribe of Benjamin—the only faithful tribe that adhered to Judah when all the other tribes broke off and formed the Northern Kingdom. Jews in general highly esteemed this tribe, in part because Jerusalem was located in it and thus the temple. He says he’s a Hebrew of Hebrews. Likely indicates that he could speak Hebrew, which was not true of all Jews at the time. As to the law, he says, a Pharisee. So he’s strict, he’s disciplined, he’s well-educated, he’s highly respected by the people. He goes on: as to zeal, a persecutor of the church. He traveled from city to city, finding Christians and having them imprisoned and even killed. So if the Judaizers thought they were zealous, Paul’s like, if I want to point to the flesh, I can point to the flesh. As to righteousness, he says, blameless.

Not Pedigree, Not Degrees

And then PhDs. [audio unclear] It’s not about pedigree. It’s not about dissertations and academic journals. [audio unclear] First Corinthians tells us knowledge puffs up. Some of the godliest men I know are men who had little to no educational background. Some of them didn’t graduate from college and get their bachelor’s degree. At least one didn’t even graduate from high school. One of the godliest men I know. And Paul is saying that all these things, whether inherited by birth or personally achieved—none of them do anything for your standing before the Lord. None of these things you should take confidence in. Here’s what one theologian said: “We must be aware of false circumcision in whatever form it may come to us: in newly packaged legalisms, in glittering give-and-get promises of the prosperity gospel, the self-help formulas that flood the media. But beyond vigilance, there is the safety of joy in the Lord. To be so full of joy that no other offers appeal to us. To have tasted what is good so deeply that we have no taste for the allurements of the tempter. For the joy of the Lord is our strength.”

So Paul lays out all his fleshly accomplishments, right? And he, from earthly standards, from worldly standards, he’s looking pretty good. But what does he call himself in 1 Timothy? You remember? The chief of sinners. He says:

The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost.

(1 Timothy 1:15)

Why? Because he rightly understood his standing in comparison with Christ.

Compare Yourself to Christ

When we compare ourselves to one another, which we shouldn’t do, right? Well, usually we’ll be guilty of one of two things. We’ll usually take the worst flaws in people and then compare it with our best strengths, or depending on how we’re feeling that day or our proclivities, we’ll take our worst things and compare them against other people’s best things, and then we feel horrible about ourselves. But we either feel really good about ourselves or we feel really horrible. Depending on which way we lean, we usually lean one way or the other. We’re not supposed to do either, right? Not supposed to do either. What are we supposed to do? Well, really, we’re supposed to compare. If we’re going to make a comparison, it should be with Christ. Then we’re really going to feel bad. We’re going to realize how far short we fall and how desperately we need a Savior. So he rightly—Paul rightly understands who he is in comparison to Christ. That’s why he calls his accomplishments rubbish, in what regard? In regards to who Christ is and what he has done. Think of it. [audio unclear] False teachers are going to talk about how confident they are in their achievements. I have more reasons to be confident, but I realize the vanity of such confidence. It accomplishes nothing for me. My confidence is in Christ and him alone.

Where We Put Confidence Today

What about us? What do we put confidence in today? Not usually our [audio unclear]. That is the danger if the Lord materially blesses you. Think about it. If God made you to be a poor widow today, would that shake your confidence in him? Because listen, there are many poor, godly widows out there with a strong confidence in Christ. There have been people who’ve lost financially everything, and some of them, it’s wrecked and destroyed their faith, but others have remained steadfast in their faith. If it would shake your confidence, you’re saying that your confidence in Christ is linked to his physical good provision towards you. That’s not the way it should be.

What about your degrees? God’s blessed some of you with degrees, and some of you with multiple degrees. But if your degrees were stripped away from you right now, what would your reaction be? It’s just a piece of paper, right? I mean, I understand what the paper represents. I got a few of them myself, but it’s just a piece of paper. And have you ever thought about it? There’s no sign of what a person with a master’s looks like. There’s no look for a person who has a doctorate or bachelor’s. Some people have doctorates and they’re tall. Some people are short. Some people are black. You don’t know, right? Do they make a difference? Well, not when compared to Christ. What about other things? Houses, cars? Listen, titles. Let me just go back to that. Titles are important to some people. They’re important. Position, role, popularity. We can easily take confidence in any other things. Good looks, intelligence—all these things can change so quickly. Good looks, they fade. Right, there’s not too many 80-year-old models walking down whatever they call that thing, the runway or whatever, right? Is it true? I know we’ve got some mature ones; I’m not knocking on you, but I’m just saying good looks can fade. Intelligence can grow dim. You can lose your job tomorrow. But guess what’s not going to change? Jesus and your right standing with him. If you have Jesus, then you have everything you need. All those things—yeah, the grass withers, right? It’s not partial, not sort of—full confidence in Christ. If you have him, you have all you need. He is enough.

Now sadly, we can put our confidence in all sorts of areas. We can even do it theologically. Some people put confidence in their denominational affiliation. That’s why we’re non-denominational. No, I’m just kidding. [audio unclear] All right? It’s not about what we have obtained, but what Christ has obtained for us. And listen, he obtained for us that which we couldn’t obtain. Yeah, those degrees, that money—on your own you can earn, it’s still actually coming from the Lord, whether you acknowledge it or not. Even for the unbeliever, all those blessings are God’s blessings, and you can say all you want you earned it, but even those that are blessed—you’re just talking a little bit of mixing some DNA, right? You just had the right mom and dad get together, right? Our intelligence even is from the Lord. Our athleticism—some people could work out the rest of their lives and they’re not going to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The guy’s like 60 or 70 or something. The Lord blessed some people with like an extra dose of that. There’s only so many LeBron Jameses, Michael Jordans, Steph Currys out there, and God blesses them, whether they acknowledge it or not. God has blessed them with that. But that’s not where our confidence should lie. So where is our confidence? In Psalm 20 it says this, verse 7:

Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.

(Psalm 20:7)

Job and the Word “We”

And then I want you to see this in Job. So turn to Job—hold your place in Philippians, but turn to Job chapter 4. Here’s one of Job’s friends, supposed friends, responding, Eliphaz. He starts in verse 2:

If one ventures a word with you, will you be impatient? Yet who can keep from speaking? Behold, you have instructed many, and you have strengthened the weak hands. Your words have upheld him who was stumbling, and you have made firm the feeble knees. But now it has come to you, and you are impatient; it touches you, and you are dismayed. Is not your fear of God your confidence, and the integrity of your ways your hope?

(Job 4:2–6)

I mean, Job’s friends, I mean, they tried to have some good intention. I mean, they’re trying to point him back to the Lord. They didn’t realize what the true problem and issue was, but they’re trying to point him back. But then fast-forward quite a few chapters to Job 31, when Job is in a sense giving kind of his final defense, Job 31. Look what he says, starting in verse 24:

If I have made gold my trust or called fine gold my confidence, if I have rejoiced because my wealth was abundant or because my hand had found much, if I have looked at the sun when it shone, or the moon moving in splendor, and my heart has been secretly enticed, and my mouth has kissed my hand, this also would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges, for I would have been false to God above.

(Job 31:24–28)

He says it, right? Everything I said, he just said it. He said it a lot shorter too, and a lot more pretty, right? But if I made gold my trust, or fine gold my confidence, right, I deserve the judgment. No—where does he even realize? Right, I mean, he says it: “I know that my Redeemer lives.” That’s where his hope is.

For I know that my Redeemer lives.

(Job 19:25)

Go back to Philippians then. Why can we have such confidence? Well, we’re given the answer. It’s one little word that we’re given the answer in. It’s in verse 3. It’s that word we. “For we are the circumcision.” Paul’s writing, and he’s not saying—he’s being inclusive. He’s talking about himself, but he’s also talking about the Philippians. In the Greek, the word is emphatic. You could even translate it, “we are the circumcision,” or “we ourselves are the circumcision.” Who’s he including here? Well, obviously himself—who’s he? A circumcised Jew. But as well, he’s including Jews in the Philippian church, as well as Gentiles in the Philippian church. We can go to Acts. We did it earlier when we were going through the book in the early chapters. Acts talks about the Philippian church. You got Lydia there, right? People are getting saved. We’re part of that. That’s why we can have the confidence. Why? Because we are in Christ. We are the ones who worship by the Spirit of God. We are the ones who glory in Christ Jesus. And we realize we put no confidence in the flesh.

Put Your Full Confidence in Christ Alone

So to conclude, first we need to beware of the wolves, and they are out there. Some versions do a little bit better job of bringing this out than others in verse 2. Some versions repeat the word “look out” or “beware” every single time. It’s three times there in the original. Some versions just say it once, but there’s a triple alert going on here. It’s three times, but the point is to draw attention. Look out, look out, look out. So we need to be aware of the wolves. They are out there. If they’re in the early church, they’re definitely here today too. And then you need to expose the darkness of their deeds. It’s good to expose darkness and attack the wolves. Wolves are not to be petted. What does silence do? It leaves the sheep [audio unclear].

Third, we need to count every fleshly credential compared to Christ as rubbish. There’s a lot of gifted and great men and women of God [audio unclear] who have done a [audio unclear]. But those that are walking rightly with the Lord, they glory in Christ, not in their accomplishments. Even their accomplishments they realize come from the Lord and him alone. So count every fleshly credential as rubbish compared to knowing Christ. Finally, stop placing confidence in temporary things. Whatever those things are, we should call them what they are: they’re idols. Looks, athleticism, popularity, even our denominational badges. But they’re easily made into idols. If your security would collapse without one of those, then your confidence is misplaced and you need to repent. Put your full confidence in Christ alone. That’s my last point as a reminder. Nothing else will satisfy. If you try to get fulfilled by any of those things, maybe for a season—it’s usually a very short season, by the way. You put your hope or confidence in them, they’ll let you down, they’ll disappoint. In fact, if you’re one of God’s children, if you’re truly one of his, he will make sure for those things to let you down. Might take a long time. You might not learn the lesson right away, but he disciplines those he loves. And he will make sure your idols fail you every single time. So put your full confidence in Christ, in Christ alone. That’s where we place it. And he is a good and righteous and glorious Savior. He has accomplished what we cannot accomplish. Forgiveness of sins is available, and the righteousness of Christ offered to all.

You know, when you, if you just have your sins wiped away, like you’re kind of morally neutral. No. In order to be granted entrance into heaven, you have to have a righteousness. You can’t produce that on your own. You can’t do that. Because in your efforts to do it, you’d either put hope or confidence in those, and you’re also going to be sinning as you do it, wiping those works away. All those works, you can try to do it, but you will never have a righteousness on your own. Therefore Christ gives us his righteousness. His righteousness—that’s what he’s saying. Verse 9:

In order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.

(Philippians 3:8–9)

So God gives us the righteousness. We can’t produce it on our own. We can try and try and try and try. That’s works-based salvation. You’re going to end up in hell if you’re practicing that. The righteousness from Christ. What does he do? He imputes his righteousness to us. Man, what a glorious thing. Man, what a glorious thing. It’s good. Praise the Lord, we don’t have to try to produce some type of false righteousness, which wouldn’t even do us any good anyways. It’s Christ’s. And I don’t know about you, but if I have to choose between your false righteousness or my false righteousness, or Christ’s true righteousness, it’s kind of an easy choice, right? So we’ll take his righteousness. And then you got the righteousness. Well then, yeah, that’s what we put our confidence in. What? It’s because of what he’s done for us. Yes, he’s wiped away the sin, but he’s also given us the righteousness. So yeah, I can trust in that Savior because he’s accomplished it fully. What does he say? Repent and trust. Repent and trust. Repent and trust. That’s what he says to us. And then he says, and I’ll do everything else. He accomplishes it all. What are we supposed to do? Exercise faith. What does he do? All of it. So it’s all of Christ for all of life. Don’t we have a good Savior? A good Father who loves us so much. He’s gracious to save us—the worst of the worst of the worst of sins that we’ve committed. And we’ve all committed them. And in one sense, they’re all grievous. But some are very grievous. You know, the Bible distinguishes between certain sins in the Old Testament. Some of them are abominations. Some of them aren’t. But even the darkest and the worst of sins—I mean, he forgives Moses, a murderer, Paul, a murderer. Right? Well, he can do the same. Whatever you’ve done, Christ can wipe away just like that. And he does time and time again, every single day. He’s changing lives. He’s saving lives. He’s giving the gift of faith over and over to many, many people. Lives are being changed. And guess what? By God’s grace, we’re some of them. So let’s walk in that grace. Amen? Let’s pray.

Closing Prayer

Father, thank you that we are some of your children here, and it’s not by anything that we’ve done, but by what Christ has done for us. A righteousness not that we’ve earned, but that was granted to us in your goodness and mercy. You’ve granted us righteousness—Christ’s righteousness. Yes, when we stand before you, we are righteous, not because of our own deeds, but because of what Christ did for us. Thank you, Father, for sending your Son. Thank you for making it clear from the beginning of time that you had a plan, and you were working that plan for thousands of years, and here we are today, Lord, and you’re still working that plan, and we know that you will continue to work it. So work it. Work it amongst us. Work it amongst our children. Save our children, the ones that don’t know you, Lord. Save those that have strayed away. Bring them back, and bless those that are walking with you, Lord, whether they’re here or serving in other churches. Lord, bless them as well, God. And continue your work through us, through our families, through this church, all for your glory. Amen.