Worship Service: God’s Approval (Hebrews 11:2) | Sunday School: 3 Stages of Growth

♪ God has given counsel to the

Lord ♪ ♪ Question any of his words ♪ ♪

Who can teach the one who knows all things ♪ ♪

All his wondrous deeds seated on his throne ♪ ♪

Come let us adore him ♪

All right, good morning, everybody. Grab your seats, we'll get rolling. Happy Reformation Day.

Yes, justification by faith alone. Love it. Beautiful sunny day out there, a little cold.

Glad to be here, though, in the house of the Lord. Thankful for the word of God, being able to look into it.

Thankful for this church. Thankful for a strong leadership, biblical teaching.

I mean, it's what my soul needs every Sunday. So before we get started, we'll just go to the

Lord for a word of prayer and we'll get going. Father, we love you and praise you. Just thank you for all you do in our lives and the fact that you've given us the scriptures and just the way to live our lives is amazing.

And thank you for the cross. Just what an amazing, just to be able to look back on it and see how you came and sacrificed yourself to save us.

Lord, thank you for that. Just ask that you go before us in this teaching. Father, give us your wisdom that these words would be true and right before you, that everything that we say and do would glorify you, that you would open our hearts,

Lord, to the truth of your word, that it would impact our lives and that we would begin or continue to conform into your image,

Lord. We just give you all the glory and all the praise now in Jesus' name, amen. All right.

So we're definitely in the book of 1 John still. It's been, it's a very practical book.

There's a lot of things that we deal with, you know, today in our own lives.

I mean, you can think of, you know, that John is addressing the false teachers right from the beginning, dealing with the

Gnostic teaching and addressing that in the person of Jesus Christ. You know, it's good to see that we start with Christ as we're addressing any false teaching.

Who is Christ is who we're going to be focusing on, but he's also addressing and helping us to understand who the false believers are.

Remember, we talked about that quite a bit, who the false believers are. If you say that you walk in the light, but yet you're walking in the darkness, he says that you're a liar and the truth is not in you.

So it's helping us as a church and a body to see and identify false believers in the congregation and as a whole in the body of Christ, but also the true believers, right?

We know that if we come to know him, we keep his commandments, we keep his word, you know, we can see that someone's in the faith.

It's proven out by, you know, our walk in Christ. So that's nice. And then in chapter one, verse nine, it's brothers keep a short list of their sins.

We confess our sins and he is faithful and true to forgive us our sins and we can see that.

So John is focusing on some very practical things for us and we're into chapter two now.

We're gonna be looking at verses 12 through 14 today and our scripture reading is gonna be,

I'm gonna read 12 to 17 just to give us a perspective there but we're starting a new section now.

So if you turn in your copy of God's word to 1 John chapter two, verse 12, we'll just read the passage here.

1 John chapter two, verse 12. I'm writing to you little children because your sins have been forgiven you for his namesake.

I am writing to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning. I'm writing to you young men because you have overcome the evil one.

I've written to you children because you know the father. I've written to you young fathers, excuse me,

I've written to you fathers because you know him who has been from the beginning. I've written to you young men because you are strong and the word of God abides in you and you have overcome the evil one.

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the father but it is from the world.

The world is passing away and also it's lust but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

So we are starting a new section here today and it doesn't necessarily really go with the beginning or the prior passages and it doesn't necessarily go with the ones after.

It's kind of a, I don't know, it's like something in the middle there that is a different kind of a content, if you will.

And we're gonna be looking at that today. We're gonna be looking at some observations first before we dive into the passage.

So one of the observations that I had is how do we interpret this passage? How do we interpret it?

Because we're looking at three groups of people here. We're looking at children, we're looking at young men and we're looking at fathers is what the text says.

And if you remember in chapter two, verse one, John addresses and he uses the language, my little children,

I am writing these things to you. And he's using that in the context of the entire body that he's writing to.

So he's using the little children in that context. But here in this section, it's a little bit different.

And so I wanted to take a look at that right off the top. But he says in verse 12, right there,

I am writing to you little children because your sins have been forgiven. That word technia is used really for an infant.

It's used for an infant. And the second usage of the word children there in verse 13, 13C,

I call it, I've written to you children. That's a different word. It's palladia, it's a young child.

So we have two types of children here. So is he really writing to the literal groups, age groups of children?

I don't think it can be given this context because infants obviously can't come to know the

Lord. Right, their sins can't be forgiven at that very young age. You have to obviously be born again into the body of Christ to have that happen.

So I don't think we're talking about specific age groups here. I think we're talking about levels of spiritual growth.

I think everything that I've read and understood about this passage, it's talking about levels of spiritual growth.

So the children are the new believers. They're the new believers in Christ. So we see them.

And the young men are, you know, the middle ground there. Their faith is not young anymore.

They've matured on a little ways. And then the fathers would be the ones that are the mature examples in the faith.

So that's kind of the way I see that. We're talking about these groups and not literal age groups, if that makes sense for us today.

Okay, the other thing I want to observe is just in the language in verse 12, it says,

I am writing to you. Verse 13, it says, I am writing to you.

And then in 14, it says, I have written to you. I have written to you.

Is there any significance in that? You know, it's scholars I've read have gone back and forth on this.

And I think what it seems to me is that it doesn't really make a difference. It's kind of a stylistic writing.

You know, it's just a way to communicate the truth. And it doesn't necessarily change this passage at all.

It's just, I wanted to call it to your attention because I just don't think it changes the dynamic here.

I am writing, I have written. It's just a way to communicate this truth to you. But the groups, these groups that I'm gonna talk about today, we're gonna go over.

I'm in the business world pretty much every day. And these groups remind me of the cycle of a business.

That's what it reminds me of. It's a cycle of a business. You know, you get a startup company, what are they doing?

They're building a foundation. A startup company is doing that. They're trying to understand, you know, their marketing message.

They're trying to understand their products and kind of how they go about the market.

You know, they're trying to figure it all out. They have a lot of enthusiasm. You know,

I've been in some of these companies over the years and it's an exciting time because you're trying to, you know, grow this thing and figure it all out.

You know, so that's a startup company. But then eventually, you know, that startup, you know, gains some traction.

You go into the growth stage and really the foundation is already built. You know, you've got some traction now.

And we're moving along. The processes that you have are already in place. You know, your finances are dialed in a little bit better.

Your messaging is better. You know, you have a lot of things going for you now that are just stronger than when you first started up.

But then it moves on to the momentum phase, I call it. The momentum phase where, you know, you're able to kind of get the growth easier now.

You've built the foundation, you've grown. You know, you've probably gotten partners and referrals are coming in because,

I mean, who doesn't want to do business with a great company, right? That way you get people referring your business, you get partners that want to do business with you, and you're maturing to the point where you're at, you're able to look out into the horizon there and be able to strategize much better because you're not worried about all these little foundational things that you did at the beginning.

Now you're reading industry magazines and you're strategizing. You see the market much more clearly now and you're able to divide it and see where you fit within that market, okay?

That's how I look at these groups. They're wiser now. They're spending their time more strategically than they would at the beginning because they have a handle on it now.

So this first group that we're gonna be looking at is the little children. These are the new believers in Christ.

So if you look at verse 12, he says, I'm writing to you little children because your sins have been forgiven, you for his name's sake.

And then if you pop down to the next verse, right at the end of verse 13, there is the second part of it.

I have written to you children because you know the Father. So these verses are almost identical.

He says, because you have been forgiven for his name's sake. And then the only difference in the second one is because you know the

Father. So I think about this, children, the word technia is born ones, born ones.

And it's not just, you know, in the spiritual sense, it's not just, hey, it's the little infants, it's born ones, it's applicable for the entire church, the entire church, the entire body of believers.

We can learn from this. We can learn from this stage. And I'm looking at the characteristics and qualities of a new believer.

You might think of these when you were saved, right? What are some of the characteristics when you got saved?

They have a great deal of enthusiasm, don't they? They should. I mean, I just came out of the world,

I'm excited. I remember going to tell my mom, I said, it doesn't matter what happens to me, I could get hit by a bus right now and I'm going to heaven.

You know, she's like, calm down, son. Are you in some kind of a cult?

That's the first thing she said. Yes. Yeah, right.

Could he be using children in the sense of knowing the Lord and you're getting to know him? You know,

I'm certainly think that some of it because he's talking about beloved, you know, he's talking about being in the faith.

And I think that's certainly a possibility. You know, you think about new believers have a hunger for the

Lord, don't they? I mean, they should be desiring to grow. I mean, it's all new to them, isn't it?

They don't really know all the details of their faith, but there's a hunger there.

They don't have it all figured out, do they? Like searching around. And I think one of the things

I know I struggled with was just the language. I mean, the church I was in was, you know, they weren't a

King James only, but there was a lot of King James, you know, language about that.

You know, whithersoever thou goest. I mean, to a new believer, I mean, I don't know what that means. I was struggling with that.

So a new believer is struggling to get the lingo down and just understand what it's all about.

You know, they're definitely not doctrinally savvy. That's for sure. Because they're just trying to figure it out.

You know, I mean, I think about that. And you probably have too when you're new like that. You just, what are these terms?

What do these things mean? How do I progress? And they face a lot of decisions, don't they, in their young lives?

I mean, I don't know about you, but I lost every friend I had.

I had to make decisions of who I was going to hang out with because the old style and the old life really didn't work for me anymore.

So I lost a lot of friends. You know, I changed jobs.

You know, there's just a lot of decisions for a new believer to consider and to understand.

Now, I remember, you know, I was telling you about the business side of it. And one of the things that I wanted to just kind of do today is attack it from a different perspective maybe, but I'm familiar with business.

And so one of the things in business that we do is, you know, a business plan. You know, there's marketing, there's a financial plan, there's understanding, you know, your competition and all that.

But one of the things a business plan has, a key core component of it is a thing called a SWOT analysis.

Anybody know what that is? A few people in here know what a SWOT analysis is? Yeah, it's a way that you evaluate your own company, your own individual company to be able to be real with yourself.

So the S is strengths. What are your strengths as a company? You know, and the

W, what are your weaknesses? What areas are we weak in and do we need to shore up?

The O is opportunities. What opportunities do we have before us here? And the

T is for threats. And I wanna do that with each of these groups, okay? So the new believer, you know, we're looking at evaluating their strengths, their weaknesses, their opportunities, and their threats.

That's what I wanted to just focus on a little bit today and just see where we go with it. So a new believer, what are their strengths?

From the text, it says, because your sins have been forgiven.

Because your sins have been forgiven. I love that. And he says, because you know the

Father. I'd say that's a strength, right? Your sins have been forgiven.

It's a strength in the faith. 1 Corinthians 9 says this, but I discipline my body and make it my slave so that after I preach to others,

I myself will not be disqualified. They have a balance in their lives, right?

They know the Father. They have a balance between body and spirit. And let's see.

You know what? I just was on the wrong section.

Yeah, I was on the wrong section. My apologies. Their sins have been forgiven.

That's really a strength. That's really a big strength, I think. No need to even write unless you're part of the family of God.

I think that's true in 1 John. I mean, if you're not part of the family of God, that's not a strength.

You have to be forgiven to have that happen. Their sins have been forgiven. They know Christ. They know the

Father. What other strengths do they have? I love that.

They haven't been corrupted by false teachers already. They don't have a preconceived idea, necessarily, of what the faith means.

I think about that for new salespeople I've hired in the past. It's like sometimes you have to unlearn everything that they learned and focus on what you want them to know.

So that is very true. What else? What other strengths does a new believer come with?

Any thoughts? Enthusiasm, absolutely. They're definitely excited about their faith and they wanna learn.

I think that's a key component of it. But the forgiveness side of it, it starts there, doesn't it?

Coming to know the Lord puts you in the family of God and that is such a strength.

I mean, you consider everything that our world is about, everything that is opposed to our faith, just the fact that we can be forgiven.

What a privilege. What a strength that is for us to have this and an ability to leave this, the sin that we know, and pursue godly characteristics that one day, we're gonna be with Christ.

We're gonna be with Him. And just to have the opportunity because of the cross to be able to be forgiven.

I mean, that's such a huge strength. It starts the process of maturity. I mean, sure, they have enthusiasm, they have all these things, but without that,

I mean, it's such an excitement. Think back to when you were saved.

I mean, weren't you just excited at the prospect of knowing Christ? I mean,

I know I was. Romans says this, blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven and whose sins have been covered.

Romans 4 .7. I mean, happy, blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven.

That starts that process. First John 1 .9 says, if we confess our sins, He's faithful and He's just to forgive us of our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

I read this verse when I got saved, John 5 .24. Truly, truly, I say to you,

He who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but is passed out of death into life.

I just imagine that, is passed out of death into life. Yeah, that was enough for me, you know, just to know that.

Those are some of the strengths. Is there any other strengths that you can think of? Evangelistic zeal, yes, that is very true.

That is a good point that I hadn't thought of, but you think about that. Yeah, you wanna do that, don't you?

You wanna tell everybody because you're excited about it, excited about the fact that God saved you. So yeah,

I think that's very true, I love that. Anything else? All right, let's move on to weaknesses.

What are the weaknesses of a newborn child in Christ? What are the weaknesses?

I can tell one, limited knowledge. Their limited knowledge, they just don't have that.

They don't know the fundamentals of the faith pretty much. They definitely don't understand systematic theology or anything like that, do they?

Yeah, yeah, definitely, especially new in the faith like that, you do need encouragement and you do need brothers around you and sisters around you to be able to help you along the way.

And if you don't have that, it can definitely be a detriment because you can wander away. I mean, sometimes

I think you can have a foot in the faith and in the world, you know, think about it.

Conversion definitely starts the process, but it's hard sometimes to give up those old things and you have a foot in each camp, you know?

So I think that can be a weakness, that you're not sold out 100 % for the Lord and you're not focusing on the things that you need to.

And it could be a weakness. 1 Corinthians 3, one through three says this, and I brethren could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as the men of flesh, as to infants in Christ.

I gave you milk to drink and not solid food for you were not able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not able for you are still fleshly.

See, I think there's that immaturity still in the faith, but there's some opportunities, isn't there?

There's definitely some opportunities for new believers. I mean, you can weed out sin. You begin to weed out sin.

I mean, think about that. It's a process. I mean, I don't know about you, but I didn't just quit doing all the bad things day one.

I mean, quit drinking, quit smoking, quit doing drugs, you know, all these things.

It took me time to fade out of these things. I remember when I was baptized,

I said, that's it. I'm quitting smoking that day. When I came up out of that water, it was newness of life.

And I'm not gonna do those things anymore. You know, so it's a weeding of sin. And I think new believers have that process.

And it comes, I think, from John 16, 13. But when he, the spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth.

He will guide you into all truth. We're to focus on building our knowledge in the Bible. We're to find a good church.

You know, there's a lot of opportunities for a new believer to get grounded, but there's also some threats.

They're unable to discern as well as they need to. Isn't that true? If you don't, like Nathanael said, if you don't have somebody around you to guide you, you know, you can be led into false teaching.

You have to have that ability to get around people that know what the truth is.

Otherwise, you could get led into different churches that could lead you astray, different belief systems that would not be good, you know?

So there's definitely some threats there. And there's always a temptation to go back into the world, isn't there?

Temptation to just go, yeah, I mean, I got this God thing, but I'm still here, I'm still there.

Maybe there's that temptation to stay in it. What's that? Oh, yeah, way more accepted in the world.

Yeah. Yeah, until you become a believer and you follow after Christ and then they hate you.

So 1 John 4, one says this, "'Beloved, do not believe every spirit, "'but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, "'because many false prophets have gone out into the world.'"

This is where a new believer's at. But now we move on to the young men, the young men.

It says in verse 12, or verse 13b, if you look there, "'I am writing to you, young men, "'because you have overcome the evil one.'"

You've overcome the evil one. And then down to 14b, if you look at that passage, "'I have written to you, young men, "'because you are strong and the word of God abides in you "'and you have overcome the evil one.'"

So he's writing to the young men now. They've, the characteristics and qualities of someone that's young in the faith is they're not trying to struggle to build that foundation.

They're moved along now. They have moved beyond the basics of the faith.

They're grounded now. They're not new converts anymore. And they have some strength there.

Their doctrine's a little more defined. Usually when you have that move on a little bit, you've learned some things now.

When I was new, a friend of mine said, "'Yeah,' I said, "'What's the Old Testament about?'

He's like, "'You don't really need to know that right now.'" And I'm like, "'What?'

At that point, I mean, I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. And he said, "'Focus on the

New Testament first.'" And yeah, there may be some truth to that, but I think we need to know comprehensively the whole

Bible, Old and New Testament. So these young men have gotten a grasp on that, right?

They're stronger in their faith and they're connected probably to a local church now.

They've got some strength. They've got some brothers and sisters around them and they're focusing on that.

They have some Christian friends now. I mean, can you imagine coming out of the world and losing all your friends and then having zero friends?

Where do you find them now? You find them in the church. You find them amongst other brothers and sisters here that we can fellowship with.

I mean, I love to go to church. I mean, I've spent so much time there when I was new. I mean,

I drove like an hour or so and just, it didn't matter. But there's some strengths that these young people have, isn't it?

I mean, I think about, I said this before, but it's body and spirit. I mean, young men, you think about youth, you think about strength, you think about power, but mostly people think about external, like, oh,

I mean, I'm lifting weights, I'm strong, I'm active, I hike, I do all these things.

But, you know, that's not a bad thing to be fit, right? It's not bad to wanna take care of your body and do the things that are right, as long as it doesn't get out of whack.

You know, we gotta have a balance there because there's spiritual and there's the physical body.

We have to have a balance. And that's what I read earlier, 1 Corinthians 9, 27, but I discipline my body and I make it my slave so that I have preached to others that I myself will not be disqualified.

That's Paul saying, you know, I'm disciplining my own body, you know, physically, you know, but spiritually, we need to have that balance, don't we?

These are, he said, strong. He said, I am writing to you, young men, because you're strong.

That's the key. These are valiant, mighty warriors for the Lord. They're focusing on the things of the

Lord. You know, it's like Psalm 21, 13. He says, be exalted,

O Lord, in your strength. We sing and praise your name, not our strength.

It's about his strength. That's how we can be strong in the

Lord. And I think that comes from the language he uses in here. If, you know, they abide in him, they remain in Christ, isn't really that's where our strength comes from?

Because on my own in the world, we don't have the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

We can't possibly live out our faith when we don't even have Christ living inside of us, but we're strong in him now.

These young men have figured that out. They're stronger in him. Ephesians 4, 14 says, as a result, we are no longer to be children.

Tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness and deceitful scheming.

They're no longer children. They're not prone to being swayed all over the place by every wind of doctrine.

That's the strength of the young men that are founded. Their strength in the Lord. What else?

What other strengths do the young have? That middle ground.

They're not fully on the mature side. They're not on the lower end.

What other strengths do they have? You can work and serve.

Yeah, you can be involved in the body of Christ. You can lead a Bible study. You can do all kinds of things.

Anything else? What else? From the text, it says that they have overcome the evil one.

That's a strength. They've overcome the evil one. How do you overcome the evil one?

How do you do that? By leaning on Christ.

What else? Is that, we lean on Christ for sure. That helps us in the day to day.

But isn't it from the very beginning, he's already, Christ has overcome Satan and the domain of darkness at the cross, didn't he?

I mean, that's the forgiveness part. They've overcome the evil one because they are now in Christ.

He has won that victory for them. That's the beauty of that. And our example there is

Christ himself. If you think about Ephesians 6 and the armor of God, what's the only offensive weapon he uses?

What is it? Yeah, the sword of the spirit. He said, which is the word of God.

Isn't that what Christ did when he confronted Satan? He didn't battle with them. He just quoted scripture and he crushed them.

Our job isn't to fight Satan. It's not to go out there and battle them day to day.

It's one of these where we still have influence from him. Satan and the demonic realm can still influence and be involved in things, but the young believer is involved in the word of God and is able to overcome that because of Christ in him.

So what are the weaknesses of a young believer? Weaknesses, I mean, I still think you could have entanglements with the world because as you're building up, you know, you're doing work, you're doing family, you're doing all kinds of things.

And there still could be entanglements in the world. Second Timothy 2, four says this, no soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.

That's our goal is to not be entangled with it. But I think as you're young and new, you're still trying to find that balance.

They still don't have it all figured out yet at the young age. I mean, I've gone through cycles of growth.

Maybe you have too in your faith where you don't have it all figured out. My biblical knowledge is, you know, still developing, still trying to figure things out myself, but in the doctrinal side is evolving for young people.

You know, they don't have that total strength yet. You know, it takes time. I think

David entangled himself with the world, didn't he? He said, the scriptures say, when kings are supposed to be going out to war, where was

David? He was back in the palace, you know, walking on the rooftop and we all know what happened.

He was entangled with the world. And that can happen if we don't keep our focus on Christ.

That's why we have to stay close to him and abide in him. There's opportunities though for these young believers, isn't it?

They can be an example to others. You know, I love to see young pastors preaching the word of God.

I love to see their passion and strength and, you know, that next generation coming up through the ranks.

I love to see that. And there's a few of them out there that are really good. You know, and you can learn so much from them.

They have so much strength and ability to divide the word of God. It's just amazing.

And I think of King Josiah in 2 Kings 22. You know, he was eight years old when he began to reign.

And here's what it says about him. And he did right in the sight of the Lord and walked in all the ways of his father,

David. He didn't turn aside to the right or to the left. You know, he had his sole focus on the

Lord at a young age. And I think that's a testimony to young people in the

Lord is that it doesn't matter how young you are. You focus on the Lord and let

God work through you. Let him work through you. When he was 18 years old, he had a fundraiser to make money for repairs for the temple.

You know, that's something an 18 -year -old doesn't typically do, you know, raise money for repairs in the temple.

You know, but Josiah did. And he mourned when Hilkiah found the book of the law. He mourned and it was read before the people and he called for national repentance because of it.

Now, that's strength. That's that value, body, spirit.

Did both things. So a lot of good things there. A lot of opportunities for young people. What are the threats though for a young person?

What are they? I think distractions could be one of them.

Distractions, I mean, you got families. If you have families, you have work. There's just a lot of things.

Everybody's busy now. Everyone's busy. You look around. But that could be family, work life, could be out of balance.

You know, there's that and a focus. Social media can play into it.

And there's a lot of that around. I mean, you think about, if I was to ask anybody, you know, how much time do you spend on social media?

How much time do you spend in the Word? Where is that? Where was the balance there?

You know, and I think that could be a weakness. Self -reliance, a lot of times when

I, you know, I'm strong, I can do it myself, I don't need it. You know, there's that self -reliance, just what

I can do. That's a danger. It's what Christ can do through me.

It's not, I'm just a conduit. That's all, just a conduit. And I think compromise could be a threat.

Compromise, sometimes people come into the faith, they learn, and then they move back into the world.

They've learned more. And now they're questioning their own faith. All right, so let's move on to the fathers.

The fathers are, in my view, the mature. They're more mature. That's the example that this is giving us.

They've lived their time in the faith. They've seen a lot of different things.

Their faith is definitely on the more strengthened side.

You know, they evaluate change by the word of God now.

They evaluate change by the word. They make tough decisions between the faith and the flesh. They've been battle -tested, if you will.

You know, that's the nice part about having the maturity. You know, they avoid sin and its destructiveness.

But the strengths of the fathers, it says that they have come to know him.

We've talked about come to know him before. And I don't know if you remember that word or not, but it's gnosko, it's come to know by experience.

You think about someone that's mature in the faith, they've lived the early years, they've lived the middle years, and now they've moved on to maturity.

They are battle -hardened. They've gone through the tests that have caused their faith to just be strengthened.

They've seen God work in the midst of their lives. There is no doubt that he is on their side and they're focused on him.

That's the kind of people we need. They confess their sin. Their life's balanced.

They have a good perspective. It's like that company that is mature and balanced and can look out into the sea of different theology and go, okay,

I understand where this fits in the whole scheme of things. So it says they knew

God from the beginning. You know, they knew God from the beginning. John 1 .1,

in the beginning was the word and the word is with God. And then in verse 14, and the word became manifest.

Right? Christ became manifest. That's beautiful. So they've known him.

They've known Christ from salvation. Their sins were forgiven. They've gone through those times where they've matured.

They have some weaknesses though. What are they? What are some weaknesses of the mature?

Can you think of any? It's harder to. It's harder to.

Some of these could just be physical limitations. You know, they're nothing dramatic. Maybe you can't get to church.

Maybe you can't do the things that you wanted to do. You know, health, different things. It's not really health isn't a weakness, obviously, but it's a result.

So there's not as many weaknesses that I can think of. Maybe some worldly distractions, business work, you know, things like that.

But there's a lot of opportunities. And I think about this for the mature people. We need mature people in the faith.

We need the role models. I mean, where are the godly men and women in our communities, in our churches, to be able to raise up, you know, godly men and women for the faith.

We need those kinds of examples. And so there's opportunities for them to be role models and to, you know, teach the younger the ways of the faith, to help them to understand what it means to be a godly woman, a godly man, and be that example.

You know, in our church, we have a lot of godly men here. You know, and it's, what are you doing with your faith?

God didn't save us to just sit there. He saved us to be active, to be involved, to be involved in people's lives, because the most important thing they need is

Christ, the teachings of Christ, how to live, how to make decisions in their lives so they can glorify

Him. That's what the mature believers do, is they come alongside of all those people that are younger than them.

The older women training the younger women how to, you know, live their faith, honor their husbands, you know, how to dress modestly, how to be involved in the right ways.

You know, that's the idea. But I think some complacency can happen, and it is a threat for a mature believer.

I see this in the faith a lot with older believers. They've lost their desire to stay strong in the faith.

They've compromised their faith. They've allowed things into their teaching that they wouldn't do as a young man or a young woman.

I think about this in terms of the homosexuality, women pastors, you're seeing older men that have been pastors for a long time cave to the pressure of these things, and it should not be.

So that's a danger. That's a good point.

Yeah, sometimes if you have all that knowledge, you can, you know, direct people to yourself instead of the scriptures.

And, you know, there's that humility that has to come into play. There's certainly a pride, you know, that has to be dealt with.

So in closing, I'll just say this. So ask yourself some relevant questions.

The first one, which group are you in? Which group are you in?

Think about that. Ask yourself these questions. What should I be doing to grow my faith?

What are some things that I should be doing? Think about that.

What areas of weakness do I need to shore up? I mean, are there some things that I'm weak in that I'm like, oh,

I gotta do something with that? Because, you know,

God's able. God's able. And then what am I strong in and how do

I develop that further? How do I develop that further? So what group are you in?

And what can you do to strengthen your position and to grow into maturity into Christ?

Make sense? All right, let's pray. Father, we love you and praise you. Thank you for our day. Thank you for your love for us and all you do for us,

Lord. What a blessing it is. Help us to glorify you, Lord, with the rest of this service and our lives,

Lord. Help all of us to grow into maturity, to not be complacent,

Lord, to desire to be in your word, to learn to teach others and to be an example to the world.

We love you, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. ♪ When we can't, we forget we're free ♪ ♪

Through the fear we don't give a size to see each other ♪ ♪

Oh, great God of highest heaven ♪ ♪ Occupy my lowly heart ♪ ♪

Own it all and reign supreme ♪ ♪ Conquer every rebel power ♪ ♪

Let no vice or sin remain ♪ ♪ That resists your holy war ♪ ♪

You have loved and purchased me ♪ ♪ Make me yours forevermore ♪ ♪

I was blinded by my sin ♪ ♪ Had no ears to hear your voice ♪ ♪

Did not know your love, no taste for heaven's joys ♪ ♪

Then your spirit gave me life ♪ ♪ Opened up your words to me ♪ ♪

Through the gospel of your son ♪ ♪

You've moved me in this role and role ♪ ♪

Help me now to live a life ♪ ♪ That's dependent on your grace ♪ ♪

Keep my heart and guard my soul ♪ ♪ From the evils that I face ♪ ♪

You are worthy to be praised ♪ ♪

You are my every thought now you stand ♪ ♪

Glorify your name, worthy to be praised, yeah ♪ ♪

Glorify your name ♪ ♪

This life is an altar where I wanna offer my soul and my mind and strength ♪ ♪

To live a life worthy of the one who called my name ♪ ♪

Jesus be glorified, Jesus be magnified ♪ ♪

Let me be a pleasing sacrifice ♪ ♪

Jesus be glorified, Jesus be magnified ♪ ♪

Here at the altar, life is an altar ♪ ♪

How could I not love you, you offered my rescue ♪ ♪

Raised me up from death to life ♪ ♪

Your spirit is in me, revealing your glory ♪ ♪

What joy does that give my life ♪ ♪

Jesus be glorified, Jesus be magnified ♪ ♪

Jesus be glorified, Jesus be magnified ♪ ♪

Here at the altar, life is an altar ♪ ♪

I choose to lose my life, Lord, and find it in you ♪ ♪

I choose to lose my life, Lord, and find it in you ♪ ♪

I choose to lose my life, Lord, and find it in you ♪ ♪

I choose to lose my life, Lord, and find it in you ♪ ♪

Jesus be a pleasing sacrifice ♪ ♪

Jesus be glorified, Jesus be magnified ♪ ♪

Here at the altar, Jesus ♪ ♪

My Redeemer's love is deeper than the depths of sin and hell ♪ ♪

He who was enthroned in glory came to bring us to himself ♪ ♪

Redeemer's love is wider than the bridge my sins have made ♪ ♪

He reached down into my darkness ♪ ♪

He alone has vowed to save ♪ ♪

Deeper than the rolling seas, mountains, people, everything ♪ ♪

My Redeemer's love is stronger than my fiercest enemies ♪ ♪

He will hold me in the tempest, but he carries me ♪ ♪

My Redeemer's love will lead me to the deepest valley ♪ ♪

He will shepherd me and guide me ♪ ♪

He will never keep me near ♪ ♪

Stronger than the rushing wind ♪ ♪

Shattering Redeemer's love grows sweeter ♪ ♪

As eternity draws near ♪ ♪

I'll enjoy his love forever at his throne for endless years ♪ ♪

My Redeemer's love will fill me the day

I see his face ♪ ♪ I will forever sing his praise and forever sing his praise ♪ ♪

And forever sing his praise and forever sing

Jesus ♪ ♪

Our mouths were open graves full of broken vows we made ♪ ♪

Our hearts ran wild, our tongues could not be tamed ♪ ♪

The darkness had concealed, your law has now revealed ♪ ♪

Our guilt was great, our billows sealed ♪ ♪

Our hope is you, wits and fools, you draw us to the truth ♪ ♪

New is you, gave us hope when there was none before ♪ ♪

So when our days are through, our hope will rest in you ♪ ♪

For we can trust your promises are true, it's you, it's you, it's you, it's you ♪ ♪

Too wonderful for comprehension, description, majesty, enthronement ♪ ♪

I stand, I stand, I stand, holy gifts do

I stand in awe of you ♪ ♪

In description, you for my sin, in agony and deep affliction ♪ ♪

Enter in passion, mercy so free, scripture ♪ ♪

I stand, I stand, I stand, holy gifts do

I stand in awe of you ♪ ♪

Grace and peace, oh how can this be?

Lawbreakers and thieves, for the worthless the least ♪ ♪

All eternity without hope, without amazing mystery, amazing mystery that your grace has come to me ♪ ♪

Grace and peace, oh how can this be?

The matchless king of all, be thrice for me ♪ ♪

Slaughtered lamb, what atonement you break, the vilest sinner's heart can be cleansed, can be free ♪ ♪

Amazing mystery, what an amazing mystery, that your grace has come to me ♪ ♪

How can this be?

Let songs of gratefulness ever rise, never cease, as a saint my heart is satisfied in the riches of Christ ♪ ♪

Amazing mystery, amazing mystery, that your grace has come to me, grace has come to me, peace has come to me, oh how can this be?

♪ And good morning and happy Reformation Day.

Welcome to Kootenai Church. We're so glad you're here this morning. Would you please stand as we sing, And Can It Be.

And can it be that I should gain an interest in the

Savior's blood? Died he for me who caused his pain, for me who him to death pursued?

Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my

God, should die for me? Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my

God, should die for me? He left his

Father's throne above, so free, so infinite his grace

Emptied himself to show his love, and bled for Adam's helpless race

Tis mercy all immense and free, for oh my

God, how canst thou doubt me? Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my

God, should die for me? Though my imprisoned spirit lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night

I, I diffused the quickening ray,

I woke the dungeon flamed with light

My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed thee Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my

God, should die for me? No condemnation now

I dread, Jesus and all in him is mine

Alive in him my living head, and clothed in righteousness divine

Bold I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown through Christ my own

Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my

God, should die for me? The mystery of the cross

I cannot comprehend, the agonies of Calvary You, the perfect Holy One, who crushed your son, drank the bitter cup preserved for me

Your blood has washed away my sin, Jesus, thank you

The Father's wrath completely satisfied, Jesus, thank you

Once your enemy, now seated at your table,

Jesus, thank you By your perfect sacrifice

I've been brought near, your enemy, you've made your friend

Pouring out the riches of your glorious grace, your mercy and your kindness know no end

Your blood has washed away my sin, Jesus, thank you

The Father's wrath completely satisfied, Jesus, thank you

Once your enemy, now seated at your table,

Jesus, thank you Lover of my soul,

I want to live for you

Lover of my soul, I want to live for you

Lover of my soul, I want to live for you

Lover of my soul,

I want to live for you

Your blood has washed away my sin, Jesus, thank you

The Father's wrath completely satisfied, Jesus, thank you

Your blood has washed away my sin, Jesus, thank you

The Father's wrath completely satisfied, Jesus, thank you

Once your enemy, now seated at your table,

Jesus, thank you When those who crucified the

Son would rise around your throne And oh, the glory of the cross that you would send to serve for us

I gladly count my life as lost that I might come to know

The glory of, the glory of the cross

What righteousness was there revealed that sets the guilty free

That justifies ungodly men and calls the filthy clean

A righteousness that proved to all your justice has been met

And holy wrath is satisfied through one atoning death

And oh, the glory of the cross that you would send your

Son for us I gladly count my life as lost that I might come to know

The glory of, the glory of the cross

What mercy now has been proclaimed for those who would believe

A love incomprehensible our minds could not conceive

A mercy that forgives my sin and makes me like your

Son And now I'm loved forevermore because of what you've done

And oh, the glory of the cross that you would send your

Son for us I gladly count my life as lost that I might come to know

The glory of, the glory of the cross

And oh, the glory of the cross that you would send your

Son for us I gladly count my life as lost that I might come to know

The glory of, the glory of the cross

How many of you are planning to stick around for the potluck? That is almost everybody. Okay.

So in this room back here, there's some tables set up for teenagers or kids. If you want to eat in there, we're going to set up in here as many tables as we can handle.

And when we're done with the service today, if most of you could leave and go out in the foyer or the other classrooms so that we can set up tables and chairs here and get this ready for lunch, then we'll call everybody back in when that is ready.

And I think that's all I have to say. Ephesians 2, we're going to read together the first 10 verses.

And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience.

Among them, we too all formerly lived in the lust of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest.

But God, being rich in mercy because of his great love with which he loved us even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.

You stand with me as we pray. Let's bow our heads.

Father, it is only because of your enduring and sovereign grace that we are able to stand before you this morning.

What we have just read here has described each one of us as we were before you without Jesus Christ and apart from your grace.

We were separated from you in our sin, dead in our trespasses, hopeless and helpless and without God in this world.

We were alienated from the covenants and the promises. We had no hope and we had no help or no rescue and certainly no ability as dead sinners to reform our hearts, to change our affections, to change our heart of stone into a heart of flesh.

We were utterly unable and ruined in our sin. And we acknowledge that and we thank you that you opened our eyes to our lost condition and that by your grace you have drawn us to your

Son. You have granted us repentance. You have given us the faith to believe. You have regenerated our hearts that you have changed our heart of stone into a heart of flesh and that you have raised us up and seated us with Jesus Christ in heavenly places.

Positionally that is where we are at. Justified and righteous and all of that is a work of your grace and we thank you for it.

We are unworthy recipients of so many blessings and so many graces from your good hand and we thank you our gracious God for the great gift of salvation.

And as we turn our hearts and our minds to meditate upon these truths and these elements of your character we pray today that you would strengthen us in our faith and that you would cause blind and unbelieving hearts among us to believe and to trust and to see the

Savior that they may too be saved. May you be honored and glorified through the praises of your people and in the church which you have purchased with your own blood both now and forever we pray in Christ's name.

I want to thank Jim for reading my scripture verse this morning. Apparently Dave has rubbed off on him and you did his dirty work for him.

We are going to sing this morning the Reformation medley. Oh We are saved by grace alone

Yet freely show no accomplishment on The second

We will stand on Christ alone Nations rage and devil's war still he reigns forever

We Through the church that he redeemed and made his own

He has freed us he will keep us till we're safe We He is my life my strength my song

This Firm through the fiercest drought and storm what

I Depth of peace when fears are still when striving sees my comforter

Here in the love of Christ I stand

In Christ's alone

Fullness of God in helpless babe Righteousness Scorned by the ones he came to say still on that Jesus died the wrath of God Satisfied Him was laid here in the death of Christ I live

There in the ground his body lay light of the world by darkness slain then bursting for Yes And as he stands

Victory It's grip on me

But with the precious blood of Christ No guilt in life

No fear in death This is the power of Christ in me from life's first cry

Final breath Jesus commands my No power

No scheme of man and ever From his head

Returns Here in the power of Christ Glory be glory be to God Through the church and he redeemed and made his own

He has freed us he will keep us Oh Oh You may be seated

It's very seldom that I picked the scripture reading before Sunday morning So I was completely inadvertent to pick the very one that Josh was going to read

But it fits with our theme about the Reformation this morning and the passage that we're going to be looking at in Hebrews chapter 11

So will you please turn there to Hebrews chapter 11? We're gonna be looking specifically at verse 2, but before we begin and before we pray we'll read verses 1 through 7

Hebrews chapter 11 Actually, we will begin in Hebrews chapter 10 verse 39 But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for the conviction of things not seen for by it the men of old gained approval

By faith, we understand that the worlds were prepared by the Word of God So that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible

By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous

God testifying about his gifts and through faith though. He is dead. He still speaks

By faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death And he was not found because God took him up for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up He was pleasing to God and without faith

It is impossible to please him For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him

By faith Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in Reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household by which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness

Which is according to faith? Let's pray together Lord, we ask your assistance this morning that your guidance the presence of your

Holy Spirit and your illuminating work Would shine the light of truth upon our hearts help us this morning to understand and appreciate the great

Gift of faith that you have bestowed upon those who are yours We pray that you would help us to understand your word and to see how it is that we may live

God honoring and obedient lives in light of the truth of Scripture We ask your assistance to that end and the work of your

Holy Spirit in that work today. We pray in Christ's name. Amen There are only two systems to religious systems on the face of the planet only two of them

There is the system of human merit and works and there is the system of divine accomplishment or grace.

Those two systems are mutually Mutually exclusive they cannot be combined.

They cannot be mixed there are two and only two religions on the face of the planet the religion of human merit and the religion of divine accomplishment and We are familiar with the religion of human merit

It has all kinds of variations and is expressed all kinds of different ways it is the belief that man through something that he does makes himself acceptable to God and is by his works by his merit or by the works and merit of other sinners is able to Atone for his sin to make himself acceptable to take care of his sin debt before a holy and righteous

God That is the religion of human merit and it comes out oftentimes like this God will weigh your good deeds against your bad deeds on the day of judgment and depending on what side of the scale is heaviest in that divine accounting will determine whether you go to heaven or whether you go to hell or if you keep the law and do your best and you are more good than you are evil then

God will take that into account on the day of judgment and the scales of justice will tilt in your favor or People will say if you work on improving yourself overcoming your weaknesses amending for your past wrongs overcoming your addictions and your failures and if you really if you just Apply yourself to self -improvement in the course of your life

God will look at that and that will atone for your sins and your wrongdoing if you do good to others if you if you do

Good things then the grace of God will shine upon you and he will be favorable to you on the day of judgment Or some people put it this way if you go to the right church and you're part of the right denomination and you read the right

Bible translation and you listen to the right teachers and if you adhere to the right dress code and if you are rigorous enough in all of your

Attendance and adherence to the religious ceremonies and the religious forms and functions if you do all of that Faultlessly enough now

We don't know what faultlessly enough looks like but faultlessly enough for God and we'll find that out on on the final day

Then that will atone for your sins or if you do enough religious activities like penance and crawling on your knees and rubbing beads and praying certain prayers and Giving money and doing a work or attending an event that God is favorably disposed to then he will be pleased with you if you

Repent enough if you believe enough if you show enough sorrow and remorse for your sin if your outward

Expressions of penitence and repentance and sorrow are convincing enough in the sight of God and he will look down favorably upon you from heaven

It's expressed in all those ways now You can take all those statements that I just made and you can mix and match those and put them together into any kind of religious system you want all of them have one thing in common that is a religion of human works human merit and human achievement and All of the religious systems and false religions on the face of the planet have these things in common

They all mix and match them in various components and capacities One system is going to vary from another system not in terms of its substance human merit

But only maybe in terms of its formula for that human merit so they might at one religion might say that your works of human goodness to Human sin has to be at such -and -such a percentage for you to make it in but all of them have this thing in common that They are trusting in human merit and human works and righteousness for acceptance before God and this is the issue

This is the heart of the issue When Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg, Germany on October 31st this day in 1517 when

Luther did that he did not intend to leave the Roman Catholic Church He was a monk and he intended to stay a monk

What he was hoping was that his nailing of those theses on the door of the church would spark a debate amongst

Roman Catholic scholars amongst the monks amongst the monks amongst the monks and the priests and all of the

Hierarchy of the church and that if they could debate this Luther would have the opportunity to lay out his case

That salvation should never be dispensed or doled out on the basis of human merit

That the church should not be involved in selling salvation or selling forgiveness or in any way condoning charlatans and hucksters like Johann Tetzel certainly

Luther thought that the church can all we can all agree that charlatans like Tetzel should not be canvassing the countryside with the church's

Imprimatur selling and shilling salvation like it's a sketchy hair care product on a late -night infomercial

But the church didn't see it that way Luther eventually found himself on the outs with the entire church because rather than condemning

Tetzel for selling salvation The church actually condemned Luther for his belief that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone

And that is what put him on the outs with the Roman Catholic Church and Luther found that you cannot reform such a system

You can only leave such a system You can't reform it You can't change it from the inside out because it is fundamentally different from what

Scripture teaches at its very core essence And that is that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone

The teaching of the Roman Catholic Church was a man -centered man -pleasing human merit based system

It was 500 years ago 504 now and It has not changed

In five centuries it has not changed the issues are still the same What marks the division between Roman Catholics and Protestants is the same as it has been for over five centuries?

That is that Rome system is a human merit based system and the scripture revealed the salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone

Rome believed as Tetzel was selling that if you were to give money and an indulgence if you were to purchase

Buy an indulgence from Tetzel and give money towards the contribution towards the construction of st

Peter's Basilica in Rome that such a contribution would be seen by God as meritorious enough to bring one of your loved ones out of Purgatory even eternal damnation and certainly take time off of your own service in purgatory for your sins in Rome's view

The death of Christ was not sufficient to atone for all of the sins of all who will believe and something else was necessary And so they added human merit to that and if you want more information on that I preached a message back in Hebrews 10

It was quite a while ago now called Roman Catholics and the mass or Hebrews 10 and the mass

I think it was called Hebrews 10 and the mass Where we contrasted the teaching of Hebrews 10 that the death of Christ that one -time death

Was sufficient for the salvation of any and all who would believe and that nothing could be or should be ever added to it

It can't you cannot add anything to it without destroying it And so I would just commend you to that if you want more information on that The second option, of course is divine accomplishment

There is the system of human merit and then there is a religious system if you want to call it that of divine accomplishment

It is of grace The salvation is on the basis of faith and that faith and human works are mutually exclusive and is if it is by human works

Then it cannot and is not by grace Ephesians 2 8 and 9 for by grace you have been saved through faith and that faith is not of yourselves

It is the gift of God. It is not according to works so that no man can boast Titus 3 verse 5

He saved us not on the basis of deeds, which we have done in righteousness But according to his mercy by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the

Holy Spirit So that biblical salvation is not according to human merit. It is according to faith.

It is by grace through faith We are saved by a work But it is not our work.

It's the work of another There is a sense in which we are saved by works and by a work

But it is not our works and it is not the work or the works of any other sinner on the face of the planet

Certainly not of any of the Saints who have gone before We are saved by the work of one person who did one work in atoning through one death

For any and all who would believe upon him that is the work that saves us his perfect life merited an eternal and Unblemished righteousness that is credited to any and all who will place their faith in Jesus Christ And that is so because his perfect death provided atonement

Infinite and eternal for all of the sins of all who will ever believe upon him infinite in its capacity to save infinite in its value

Infinite in its glory and its righteousness that one death atoned for the sins of any and all who will believe upon him

The work of Christ is available on the basis of faith and faith alone Now people who believe in a human merit based salvation system will at this point raise an objection and they would say but We believe that faith is necessary for salvation and that is true

Human merit based systems do believe that faith is necessary for salvation But here's the key they do not believe that faith faith is sufficient for salvation

Understand the difference between those two things because it is the difference between heaven and hell between salvation and damnation

Human merit based systems do believe that South that faith is necessary for salvation

They just do not believe that faith is sufficient for salvation that it is faith and faith alone that merits salvation human merits believe in its necessity, but they deny its sufficiency, which is where the

One of the one of the five soul a soul a feed a of the Reformation cry comes from that it is by faith alone

That faith is all that is necessary to save the believing sinner faith and works are mutually exclusive in terms of our justification

When we when we are talking about what makes us righteous what makes us acceptable in sight of a holy

God faith and Human merit and works. They are mutually exclusive. They do not and cannot go together

They cannot mix and they cannot mingle they have no relationship one to another now in terms of our sanctification

In terms of our service in terms of our rewards faith and works go together

Perfectly when we understand the role of each that the role of faith is salvation The role of works is service that is motivated prompted by and spurred on by a saving faith

But we do not mingle them in terms of our justification and believe that our works in any way

Contribute to God's grace or merit us in any way his grace the degree to which you believe that human works including listen carefully including a willingness to believe a

Propensity to believe or even a capacity to believe have any part in eliciting

God's saving grace That is the degree to which you deny faith alone and grace alone and salvation in Christ alone

The degree to which you believe that that human ability to believe That human willingness to believe a capacity to believe elicits

God's work of grace in our hearts That is the degree to which you deny Grace alone and it is the degree to which you think you can boast in your own salvation

Salvation is by grace alone And if it is by grace, then it cannot be by works Romans 11 verse 6 if it is by grace

It's no longer on the basis of works. Otherwise grace is no longer grace. And so here is the age -old question

How is the sinner made acceptable in the sight of God? How is the sinner made acceptable in the sight of God?

How is it possible that? The fallen person like you and like me can stand in the presence of an infinitely and perfectly righteous and just being and that as fallen rebellious hateful lustful

Blasphemers who have joined in that rebellion against God How is it possible that we can stand before him and be accepted and approved and declared righteous on what basis?

That is really the not only the age -old question It is the only question that should concern us in terms of our salvation and our justification

How can a sinner unrighteous as we are in the sight of God ever be approved up by God? accepted by God and Even spoken well of by God That is the question that is answered in Hebrews chapter 11 verse 2 by it by faith the men of old gained approval

God commended the men of old for their faith that is the consistent testimony of Scripture and you're gonna see it goes all the way back into the book of Genesis that from the earliest of times from The Garden of Eden itself salvation was by grace alone through faith alone

Ultimately, we know now because of the merits of Jesus Christ alone They would not have understood that but we understand that now who the payment for that sin was and what he did in order to Atone for the sin of even the men of old.

So this is our passage here 11 to last week We looked at 11 verse 1 Which is the definition of faith that?

We saw it comports and fits perfectly with the context and the point of the author and encouraging us to stand firm in our faith

And to not waver in unbelief in any way Verse 2 for by it the men of old gained approval that word men of old is the the word presbyter oil

It's a word that is translated in the New Testament as elder In fact, it's used in terms of of the elder of a church the pastor of a church.

It's the same word use He doesn't have in mind here elders of a church It's sometimes also translated as elders just referring not to an office within a church

But to older men and he's not here describing older men either It's not the officers of the church and it's not the older men

The context tells us who it is that he has in mind He has in mind the men of old not older men But the men of old the men from of old

Those are the presbytery and he begins to list them later on in the context You see it reference to Abel and Enoch and Noah and Abraham Moses Joshua Gideon, etc all those heroes of the faith that he's going to give to us here in Hebrews chapter 11 those are the men of old that he has in mind and by going all the way back as he does in verse 4 to Abel in the time of Cain and Abel right after the fall of Man in near the

Garden of Eden Adam and Eve and their progeny by going all the way back to there He is showing us that this faith that affects salvation this faith that was present

That that he requires to be present in us for salvation was also the very same kind of faith That was operative all the way back after the

Garden of Eden the fall in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and Cain and Abel this is nothing new this goes all the way back to the beginning

So it's not as if we come to the New Testament. We say, okay, the Old Testament was on the basis of works It was human merit a human system of merit.

Keep the law be good do your best Do better than 50 % and God will look favorably upon you.

That's the Old Testament now we come to the New Testament We have to switch gears radically switch gears now It's something different now

It's all on the basis of faith and the author would say no it has never been on the basis of human works The law was never intended to show us that the way of salvation was through human merit and accomplishment the law was intended to show us the holy standard of God and that nobody in this room and nobody in humanity can match up to that standard and since we cannot match up to that standard then we cannot in any way earn our salvation and if we cannot in any way earn

Our salvation then it must be entirely of grace and by faith alone So that's why he goes back to Abel to show us that all the way back in the very beginning

God still called upon men to believe him in the same way that verse 1 describes an assurance of things

Hope for a conviction of things not seen Abel was to have that kind of faith Now there is a works that lies behind all of the examples that he gives us in Hebrews chapter 11 and this is the tendency that everybody who

Finds an affinity for human merit based salvation Leans toward we're all inclined to this naturally to think that our works the deeds that we do even our righteous deeds are somehow meritorious in the sight of God and you read

Through the Old Testament you look at all the Old Testament heroes of faith even the ones that are mentioned here in Hebrews chapter 11 and the inclination is to look at what they did and think that it

Is what they did that pleased God? Abel offered an appropriate sacrifice

Right. The inclination is to look at Abel sacrifice and say well, that's what merit salvation he did this thing he offered to God a certain kind of sacrifice and because he offered to God that certain kind of sacrifice his

Doing of that made him acceptable in the sight of God or to look at Enoch and say here was a man who?

Devoted himself to walking with God. He drew near to God It was his devotional life and and being pleasing to God and all that he did

That's what made him acceptable in the sight of God or that it was Noah's building of the ark It was the construction of the ark that made him acceptable in the sight of God because he did this thing

God approved of him And the point of all of the examples in Hebrews chapter 11 is to say the exact opposite It wasn't the works that they did that made them acceptable to by God It was the faith they had that made them acceptable to God and the faith is the very thing that motivates the works

And here's the connection between faith and works Faith is related to works not in the sense that faith that works bolster our faith or the or that the works make our faith acceptable to God But faith is related to works in the sense that works is the evidence of genuine saving faith

So that it is Abel's faith in God which made him Give the sacrifice that he did it was

Noah's faith in God his belief in those things that caused him to build that ark It was Moses's faith that made him leave

Egypt. It was Enoch's faith that made him walk next and close to God These men are notable

Abraham's faith made him leave or the Chaldees These men's works are notable only because they were prompted by faith

So there is a relationship between these two But we ought not to think that going back into the Old Testament that all of a sudden it was what these men did that made

Them acceptable to God it was by faith verse 2 by faith they gained approval faith was present before they ever did the work

The work was evidence that they had the faith that pleased God and by their faith they gained approval

It's an interesting phrase it almost suggests that faith itself is a meritorious work Right that faith is a capacity inside of us

And that if we believe if we switch on that capacity if we do that thing of having faith That that thing of having faith is what makes us acceptable in the sight of God faith

Then becomes a meritorious work something we do that merits God's grace Is that what faith is is faith a meritorious work?

We're gonna deal with that here in just a moment the word gained approval here is interesting. It's the the Greek word

Martire It comes it was the basis of the word martyr

And it had the idea of testifying or witnessing in fact the word means to witness to bear witness to speak well of or to testify of someone a

Martyr then later on in later centuries was one who bore witness by giving of his own life by not only the living of his life

But the giving of his life that was what a martyr was one who testified even giving his own life as a testimony to the truth and The word when used in an active sense or first -person sense of one who bears witness or testifies

Describes what the person bearing witness and testifies does in that sense it means that he bears witness of something else

But the word is not used in the first person active here It's third person passive which means that the men of old are ones of whom were testified by someone else

Someone else was testifying of the men of old that their faith pleased God. That's the idea here

And so it means in this way when used in this way It means that they were spoken well of or commended these men of old were

Commended and it's used this word is used that way throughout the New Testament in numerous places I'll give you a few examples acts 6 verse 3 therefore brethren

And this is in selecting deacons select from among you seven men of good reputation That's the word seven men spoken

Well of full of the Spirit and wisdom who may put in charge of this task acts 10 30 22 Says Cornelius was a righteous and God -fearing man well spoken of by the entire nation of the

Jews Acts 16 to Timothy was well spoken of by the brethren who were in Lystra acts 22 12 says

Ananias was a man who was devout By the standard of the law and well spoken of by all the Jews first Timothy 5 10 widows were only to be put on the list

If they had a good reputation, that's the same word a good reputation Third John verse 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony.

It's the same word. It means to be spoken well of by others So if it's not the men of old who are speaking well of something by their faith who is speaking well of the men of old

Somebody testified of the men of old that they were pleasing in the sight of God. Who was that? It was

God himself these men of old by faith We might say had a good reputation in the sight of God These men of old by faith were spoken well of commended by God It was faith in these men that God commended that he approved of that.

He spoke well of God gives his approbation his praise to this faith that he finds in these people and God speaks well of them.

That's the idea He speaks well of them by their inclusion in Scripture because it is the witness of the

Holy Spirit in the pages of Scripture that These men were righteous and that they were godly their inclusion Certainly in Hebrews chapter 11 is

God speaking well of these men because these men are held out as heroes of the faith This is the

Faith Hall of Fame God also speaks well of all of these men in Hebrews chapter 11 by blessing them and showing his favor toward them in in and because of all of their obedience to him

God gave Abraham a land and Blessings and the promise of a seed and a descendant God gave

Noah and his family salvation through the worldwide flood Because of Noah's faith God accepted

Abel's worship and sacrifice The fact that God used them that he blessed them that he commended them that he approved of them is in fact

God's own Testimony his own speaking well of and commendation of these men of faith

You see it just in the examples look at the language that is used beginning in verse 4 of chapter 11 By faith

Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain through which he obtained the testimony notice that it is Abel who obtains a testimony

Somebody is testifying of Abel something he obtained a testimony that he was righteous God testifying about his gifts and through faith

No, he's dead. He still speaks Verse 5 by faith Enoch was taken up so that he would not see death and he was found

Not found because God took him up for he obtained the witness that before his being taken up He was pleasing to God God testified of Enoch that Enoch was acceptable to him verse 6 and without faith

It's impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who Seek him by faith

Noah being warned by God about things not yet seen in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household By which he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness

Which is according to faith Noah the fact that Noah was saved through the flood and the fact that Noah became an heir of Righteousness that was

God's commendation of Noah that his faith saved him All of these men Abel Enoch Noah later on Abraham Gideon Joshua the rest of them

All of these people were commended by God because of their faith not because of their works But because of their faith that is what made them acceptable to God and that is what the passage means when it says they were

They gained approval by their faith not the faith is a meritorious work But that God himself was testifying of them so when we read the

English phrase the men of old gained approval We think the men of old believed and therefore God approved of them That's not the idea the idea is that God commended them and God spoke well of them and God testified of them that their faith

Was a saving faith Not that their faith was meritorious But that God testified of them that their faith was a saving faith that he was pleased with that Now how difference how different this is that God speaks well of those who have faith

How different is that from the way that the world approaches these issues? It's radically different.

Is it not? What does the world value? the world values fame reputation influence power wealth notoriety intellect ability

Achievements awards skills beauty strength accomplishment. Those are the things that the world values and The world speaks well of all of those things

They have all of the awards that they give the commendations that they give to one another The Nobel Prize the

Pulitzer Prize Emmys Grammys Awards all of the other stuff that clutters up your television channel 15 times a year as all of these self -loving

Narcissists gather together in their opulent displays of wealth and pat themselves on their own backs for hours on end

Talking about how great they are to one with another Convincing each other that they are so fantastic and the world that our

God looks upon all of that And he says that that is foolishness. It is useless and it is all going to burn up the entire world loves that stuff and God hates it

To him it is folly to him. It is not only folly. It is the height Foolishness, it is the height of blasphemy when the world does that but those are the things that the world loves

You've never seen the world build a monument to Abraham. Have you? You've never seen pagans give out the

Enoch Award. They're gonna have three hours on national television We're all going to get together We'll have our red carpets and we're gonna give out our

Enoch Award for the man or woman who walked so closely with God that Year, you've never seen him give out the

Noah Award for whatever Christian in faith had some accomplishment That saved somebody else's life or did something like that They never have any kind of awards like that Because the world doesn't view that those things in that way at all

God God sees the faith and it is faith that he approves of and God honors faith and that is foolishness to the world

So here's the odd thing about the times in which we live That everything that God values the world hates and everything that the world values

God hates So Christian choose which side of that divide you're going to stand on Because you can have the world's approval or you can have

God's approval, but you cannot have both you can have the world's applause and their acceptance and their

Approbation and their praise or you can have God's applause and his approbation and his praise, but you cannot have both

For if you love the world You will be an enemy of God and if you are an enemy of the world then

God will approve of that as long as That is by faith So the very thing which God loves in which

God approves of the world hates and those whom God approves of by the way They're never going to lack the world's hatred

Never never worry in your own heart and mind man If I if God speaks well of me is the world gonna hate me enough and it'll take care of itself

If you are a man or a woman of faith and obedience to God trust me the world will heap upon you its hatred

It's scorn. It's ridicule. It's rejection and just let it come Because the very thing that God loves his faith and The world hates that and you know why?

Because the faith that saves the faith we're talking about here is a faith that treats as as real unseen things as present realities yet future events and That kind of faith the world cannot understand that that kind of faith the world cannot applaud that type of faith

The world cannot see those things Because the world is blind and the world is dead and the world has no spiritual capacity to applaud or approve of those things

So as a Christian when you speak of the faith that you have and its implications in your day -to -day life the world sees that as Foolishness because they cannot even begin to walk down that road of understanding what that faith is or the significance of it

It is other worldly So the world cannot understand it and the world will hate it for that's very that very reason

Now let's answer this question is this faith that we're talking about a meritorious work So if we say to somebody that you are saved by grace through faith alone

Is that faith that you that belief that you have in God and in the gospel that has saved you?

Is that a work is faith a work that merits or elicits God's favor? Is that faith a work which itself contributes to salvation so that you can in some way say well

Yes, Christ died for my sins He paid the penalty for all of the wrath of God against me for all of my iniquity

And he has opened my eyes and he has caused me to see this. He has brought the gospel He has done all of this, but it is

I who have believed The belief comes from me. That's my contribution to my salvation

Okay. Well, that's your contribution to the boasting then however big or small that you think that is That's what you get to boast about let me let me applaud you for your faith not great your faith

This is what makes you to differ from another man Walk out of here this afternoon and go to Walmart and walk past your art average garden variety pagan

And I ask you what is it causes you to differ from the average garden variety pagan on the street? You think it's your capacity to believe?

You think it's because you're smarter than other people that you reasoned more. Well through the gospel than somebody else Or do you think it's possible that God has worked through faith in such a way that it cannot be a meritorious work that you cannot

Boast in it. You cannot take credit for it Because it does not come from you Is it possible for an unbeliever a fallen man to please

God? It's possible for a fallen person an unbeliever to please

God. No, it's not Romans 8 verse 7 and 8 the mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God It does not subject itself to the law of God and it's not even able to do so and those who are in the flesh

Cannot please God not that they could please God if they believe not that they have the ability to please God sometimes Those who are in the flesh cannot please

God So if you think that faith then is a human capacity that all people are born with and all you have to do is tap

Into that capacity and you'll have salvation and I ask you do you think that an unbeliever in an unbelieving state?

Can suddenly look deep down inside of himself conjure up a lot of faith to believe and then in believing present that to God say

Okay, I believe here's what I have contributed to my salvation That it becomes a work of the flesh and those who are in the flesh cannot please

God So if an unbeliever if you're suggesting that faith is something that an unbeliever can do and an unbeliever has the capacity to do that then you have to be suggesting that faith then can be a work of the flesh and That the unbeliever as an act of his own flesh as an act of his own

Unregenerate nature without any assistance from divine grace without any supernatural

Infusion into that or work in that or on that will that that will has the ability to turn itself

That heart has the ability to turn itself and that heart has the ability to believe in and of itself That would all be a work of the flesh

Regeneration must take place Before before that act of obedience can be can be done

Regeneration has to happen and if regeneration has to happen before the sinner is able to do that very thing

Then it cannot be a work of the flesh. It must be then a work of grace and grace alone Ephesians 2 verse 1 we read it at the beginning

You were dead in your trespasses and sins not sick not terminally ill not diseased not slightly incapacitated not crippled you were dead

Spiritually dead with no recuperative powers of your own to do anything. This was your condition as you were without Jesus Christ Romans 3 says there's none righteous not even one none who understands there is none who seeks for God they have all turned aside

Together they have become useless. There is none who does good. There's not even one Their throat is an open grave with their tongues

They keep deceiving the poison of snakes is under their lips Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness their feet are swift to shed blood

Destruction and misery are in their ways and the path of peace they have not known there is no fear of God before their eyes

Man cannot turn from his sin man cannot change his nature. He cannot do good. He cannot please

God he cannot give himself a sight to believe or a heart to believe or a heart of flesh we lack the capacity without the grace of God to do any of those things and Therefore the one thing that marks us as sinners without Jesus Christ is our complete inability to save ourselves

Our complete inability even to believe because we are threefold slaves of our sin

We are slaves to our own iniquity our own sin. We are slaves to ourself and we are slaves to Satan We're in bondage in three separate ways dead in our trespasses and sins and entirely enslaved

This was your condition before you knew Jesus Christ. This was your condition before God regenerated you

Gave you faith gave you life changed your heart Since man is a sinful enslaved fallen hopeless rebellious darkless loving

God -hating lawbreaker That's putting it graciously He cannot please

God and since faith is that which pleases God apart from God's grace man cannot believe

Did you catch that? Man cannot please God Faith is that which pleases

God therefore man apart from divine grace cannot believe it's a very simple

Syllogism and it's all backed up by the scriptures that I've just read to you Man cannot please

God Faith pleases God therefore fallen man cannot believe because fallen man cannot please

God So it must be then faith must be a divine gift Ephesians 2 8 and 9 for by grace you have been saved through faith and that The faith is not of yourselves

That doesn't come from you Now you say but Joe I believed I know you did

You did You believed But that faith to believe was a gift from God it was not of yourselves

Didn't come from within your corrupt wicked sinful darkened heart For any of us that faith to believe does not come from within fallen corrupt rebellious human nature

That faith to believe is a gift from God to you It has been granted both to believe upon Christ and to suffer for his namesake

Philippians 1 29 Acts chapter 5 acts chapter 11 speaks of repentance as something granted by God I think it's in Acts chapter 4 the

Apostles speak of God turning us from our wicked ways My turning from sin to righteousness was a gift of divine grace and something that God did upon me

So that I would I would not continue in my sinful steps Even the faith to believe has not come from inside the wicked and dark heart of Jim Osman It doesn't come from inside the wicked and dark heart of any sinner who's been saved in this room

It doesn't come from within you It is a gift of God and listen if the faith to believe the faith that we're talking about in Hebrews chapter 11 is itself a divine gift if that saving faith which motivates this kind of obedience is itself a work of divine grace and if divine grace is necessary for it if it is the result of the

Regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, then it cannot be a human work And if it is not a human work, then it cannot merit

God's grace It cannot be meritorious if you believe that all people have the capacity to believe and to exercise faith in God in this sense

Then you there's no way you can escape the conclusion that faith then is a meritorious work because if it comes out of the sinful heart of a human person and is offered to God is something which

God should approve of and that's what the sinner gives to God to contribute to his salvation then faith must be a meritorious work and the only way you can say that faith that great that salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone and that faith is not meritorious in any sense whatsoever is if you affirm that that faith that causes us to believe is

Itself not a meritorious work, but entirely a gift of God's divine grace his sovereign grace

That's the only way you can escape that conundrum The only way you can give God all the credit and all the glory for all of your salvation from the first to the last

Is if you believe that faith is a divine gift and therefore it is not meritorious It is a work of his grace

It's a work that God does in the hearts of his people his chosen ones all of whom will believe

So I asked you this morning. Who are you trusting in? What are you trusting in for your salvation? your merit a

Gift that you think you're going to offer to God something good that you have done Your own capacity to believe do you have faith in your own faith?

Or do you have faith in Jesus Christ? All of us without Jesus Christ are in this hopeless helpless state that I have described here from Romans chapter 3 and Ephesians chapter 2 dead in our trespasses and sins

Your own works your own merits your own accomplishments your own abilities your own capacities All that is useless in the sight of God because you are a hell -bound

Rotten sinner deserving of his wrath and not deserving in any way of his grace you have broken his law

You stand before him condemned if you're outside of Jesus Christ you stand before him condemned guilty of blasphemy of adultery of Idolatry of lust of hatred of murder of the heart a fornication gossip slander misuse of your tongue violating the

Sabbath Taking God's name in vain You're guilty of all of that So what are you going to offer to God on the day of judgment?

You're gonna stand before him and offer up to him the the own righteousness your own self -righteousness. Here's what

I did to atone for that How far do you think that that will get you? It will get you nowhere

Instead you must turn to Jesus Christ who kept all of that law on behalf of all who will believe in him

He kept that law perfectly. He never sinned and thought word or deed He lived a perfectly righteous life

And then he died a perfectly Submissive and perfectly righteous death on the cross to pay the sin price for any and all who will believe and sinner

You who are outside of Jesus Christ if you come to him in repentance and faith, I promise you he will not cast you out

He will embrace you and he will receive you This is the gospel command to you You are unable of yourself to believe to repent or to turn to Christ But you must because the command of scripture is that you do so and in hearing that command if you will come to him

He promises he will forgive your sin and he will grant you everlasting life Come to him

Christian being in Jesus Christ. This is God's testimony concerning you and I That the one who has faith in Jesus God speaks well of We have his approval his commendation not because our faith is in any way meritorious

But because we have been we have been approved of by God because we have been made acceptable to him in the beloved

It is because we are in Jesus Christ and because we have repented of our sin and trusted in Jesus Christ We have received regeneration.

We've received the gift of repentance We've received the gift of salvation and faith in him and by virtue of the fact that we are in his son

God speaks well of us. He commends us He approves of us not on the basis of any deeds which we have done in righteousness

But only by grace alone because of our faith alone in our Lord Jesus Christ alone

And that is the only way that God can have all of the glory and have it alone. Let's pray

Our father we do love you and we thank you for the great gift of salvation and this passage is a Reminder to us again of the great work that you have done in saving a people for yourself

It reminds us again that all that we have to boast of is only in Jesus Christ and him alone

For apart from your grace and what you have done in your son on our behalf. We could never have eternal life

We would never have turned from our sins we would never have believed savingly upon Jesus Christ, but you have so worked upon our minds our hearts our wills and In regeneration you have given us all that is necessary for salvation.

We thank you that Jesus Christ has done this We thank you father for sending your Holy Spirit to draw us to your son

That we may behold him and believe in him and have eternal life and we thank you for the work of the

Son in Saving and securing everlastingly all who come to him Thank you father for this great work and this great plan of salvation of which we are only unworthy recipients

We praise you our great triune God father son and Holy Spirit. Would you please stand?

This morning. We're gonna end our Worship service with the new song to our congregation.

It's to the same tune of old Lang syne. So it should be familiar to everyone Called all glory be to Christ Should nothing

Ever said no legacy survived

Unless the Lord does raise the house it made its builders try to you

Oh His rule and reign we'll ever sing,

All glory be to Christ!

His will be done, His kingdom come,

On earth as it's above. Who is

Himself our daily bread? Praise Him, the

Lord of love! Let living water satisfy the thirsty without price.

We'll take a cup of kindness yet,

All glory be to Christ! All glory be to Christ, the

King! All glory be to Christ!

His rule and reign we'll ever sing,

All glory be to Christ!

When on the day the great I Am, The faithful and the true,

The Lamb who was for sinners slain,

Is making all things new. Behold, our

God shall live with us, And be our steadfast light,

And we shall e 'er His people be,

All glory be to Christ! All glory be to Christ, our

King! All glory be to Christ! His rule and reign we'll ever sing,

All glory be to Christ! All glory be to Christ, our

King! All glory be to Christ!

His rule and reign we'll ever sing,

All glory be to Christ!

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. Would you please be seated?

We have a super secret presentation. Yeah, this is a big surprise that we do every single year.

Jim is intelligent enough, I assume, to have figured this out by now. So this is

Pastor Appreciation Day at Kootenai Community Church. Most of you should have received a letter about this in the mail.

So while Kootenai Church has four pastors, we have one who does the lion's share of the work around here.

I would say roughly 27%. Was that about right?

Close? Okay. I didn't want to overdo it. But we have obviously one main teaching elder that performs in what we would traditionally think of as the pastor's role.

Although, again, there are four pastors. I'll have to make that clear. Jim has been faithful to preach the Word here for 22 years now.

How long have you been preaching? He's been here 25. I've been here 22. So I can't speak to the three years prior.

He could have been doing purpose -driven prayer, J -Biz, prayer circled,

I don't know. There's a few people that were here before me. Most of them are in heaven.

But there's a few that are still here. You could ask them about those other three years. So I can't speak to those. But I will say, when someone has such a high view of the

Word that Jim does, it's a fearful thing to step up here and preach to you.

You who have been bought with such a high price. That's a great accountability. And he's been faithful to do that for, again, at least 22 years.

Maybe more. So those of us who are the recipients of that effort, who've been blessed by that effort, we put together a little basket for him.

There's also some things back there that we couldn't quite fit in the basket because Cornell has a weight limit. And this just passed it.

So thank you to everybody who did this. Thank you, Jim, for faithfully handling the

Word of God. Jim, Jess has a few words to say. I was told to keep this down to 17 minutes.

So I have known Jim for 21 years.

And I have to say this. It's been a privilege and a pleasure to sit under his teaching, to know

Jim as a brother and a friend and his family who all honor

God. It's really, truly been a blessing. I just thank the Lord for him.

It seems very awkward to do this after seeing all glory be to Christ. It's entirely wrong in every way.

And the thing about this church that makes you guys want to be here is the very thing that blesses our family by being here.

So it is a mutual love and affection. I always hate doing this. It's always an encouragement to us.

My son told me that he looks forward every year to seeing how embarrassed and uncomfortable I am for this whole thing.

He gets it again today. So that's why he sits right up front so he can see that. So I thank you guys, and I thank you for your love, your affection, your encouragement, and for making this church body all that it is.

And for these men who serve alongside of me. I could not do all 27 % of that myself.

I mean, I couldn't do all 100 % if you weren't each doing 50%. Thank you.

We are done. If you can, please make your way out there. Kids especially out to the foyer.