Chastisement to Bring About the Restoration of God's Eternal Purpose — Phil Beach Jr.

Lord, for a moment, I know everyone is anticipating the picnic and everything, which is which is going to be a good time. But let's bow our hearts for a moment and ask the Lord to help us here in his word for a few moments.

Father, thank you for your presence this morning. Thank you for the Holy Spirit's faithful ministry to bring our hearts to the father, to bring our hearts to the son, to help us to see that everything happening in our lives is governed by a purpose.

And that purpose, Lord, is a wonderful, wonderful reflection of your great love and your great mercy and your great kindness that you have so freely bestowed upon us, Lord. And we just look to you now in your word.

And we pray, God, that you'll impart into our hearts something from your heart, Lord, that will continue to strengthen us and lead us toward the continual seeing of what you're after and your full thought and your full intention, Lord, and in creating us.

And we just commit this into your hands, Father, for Jesus' sake. Amen and amen. We'll read through several scriptures and just trust the Lord. We'll take these scriptures and speak to our hearts and enlarge our heart's capacity to see what he is after.

Discipline as an Expression of the Father's Love

One of the things that I often do when as a father, I have to discipline my children is particularly after the discipline, I always like to affirm. That my love is the same, that it hasn't been altered, it hasn't changed and that the discipline was not the result of a lack of love or a lack of care or a lack of sensitivity, but it was because of my love.

And it's always a sweet thing. Oftentimes my children will either come to me or write me a short note and say, I'm sorry, I love you. And I'll respond and say, well, I love you, too. This hasn't affected my love for you.

And this this is God's heart for us to in Hebrews chapter 12. The scripture says you can read to it, you could turn to it. Hebrews chapter 12 is a wonderful. Window into the father heart of God, into the father heart of God, and in it.

We capture God's desire to want to affirm, want to remind us that everything that he brings us through has an has a purpose in view. There's an end in view. And this purpose in this end is something so glorious and so wonderful.

And he doesn't want us to lose sight of either that and that he has or lose sight of his love for us, which we can at times during times of child training in Hebrews chapter 12, beginning in verse one, it says, wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about by so great a cloud of witnesses.

Let us lay aside. Every weight. And the sin which doth so easily beset us and that is run with patience, the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. The author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest you be weary and faint in your minds. You have not yet resisted unto blood striving against sin, but you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as unto.

You. King James says children, but it's actually the word for sons. You have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons. In other words, the Holy Spirit is saying you have forgotten. That. God will eventually deal with you as sons.

Chastisement and Maturity as Sons and Daughters

And daughters. And with God dealing with us as sons and daughters comes discipline. And this is what the writer is saying here. My son despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor be weary when you are rebuked by him.

And so now we're looking at. We're looking at a reflection of the father heart of God now, the father heart of God as he deals with us as sons and daughters. Now, remember, sons and daughters. When God deals with us as sons and daughters, he has something in view.

A son and a daughter. Is is is that which represents maturity or it represents that which corresponds to the likeness and image of the father? This is what God's intention was from the beginning. As we talked about last week, that God from the very beginning.

Had an eternal plan, the purpose that he had. And of course, his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, was vitally part of the plan. He would provide the means for this plan to come about. But God, as our father, has a plan.

He had a plan from the beginning. And that plan was that he would have a family. That would be in the same image and likeness of his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus has brought eternal delight to the father, eternal delight.

In many places in the Bible, the scripture speaks of Christ as being the delight of the father. He was with the father from the beginning. He was the delight of the father. He enjoyed the father's presence in.

Proverbs, chapter eight, the scripture speaks of the scripture speaks of wisdom, but the word wisdom, there is a metaphor. It's an example. It's a picture of the of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord, the eternal son of God was with the father and brought delight to him.

He was before the father. There was a there was a fellowship, a delight, a communion that father and son had eternally. And it is it is a communion that we've barely understood, but that's the fellowship that we're being called into.

Humanity's Calling to Fellowship with God

That's the fellowship. God created man with one intention to have fellowship with himself, to find his ultimate joy and pleasure and satisfaction, the deepest needs of his heart met in knowing his creator, God.

That is why you're here. That's why I'm here. And the introduction of sin into our lives is the most horrible thing that could ever happen, because sin annuls, destroys and cancels the purpose of God.

It's the purpose of God. Sin mars, the call of God to know him, to commune with him, to love him. I pray that God will put a hatred in our heart for sin and everything that has to do with selfishness, because if we see it in this light, we can hate it.

We can hate it. You can hate sin when you see sin as being that which keeps you from the creator, that which turns you from the ultimate highest form of intimate fellowship with the creator that you can know.

Some of you young guys here, if you had a car that you really liked. And what what would in your mind represent that which could really ruin that car? Rust, the last thing you want is rust developing in that car.

Or what about gas with water in it? Or what about someone pouring sugar into your gas tank? I mean, if that car is like the ultimate joy of your life, anything, anything that would ruin that, that connection that you have with that vehicle, that that pleasure, that pride that you have in that vehicle would be an enemy to you, right?

You wouldn't want it. I'm sure if you had that car out here and it was all shined up and everything and a bunch of kids started playing baseball a couple feet away, what would you do? Well, now let's either move the baseball game far away or I'm going to take this car and move it.

Why? Why? Why? Why are you doing that? Because you want to preserve. You don't want anything to ruin that that that that camaraderie in your heart with that vehicle. I know it's a natural illustration, but come on.

Let's open our hearts and see what God is saying here. Why? Why does God hate sin so much and why should we hate it so much? What is it doing, what is it doing, what is sin doing? When it came into the human race, what did it do?

It destroyed. It ruined. It took us away from the true source of our joy and our satisfaction, our father in God. Oh, that we might view sin like this, that we might view everything that comes to us, that has the potential to turn us away from God, that we might view it as an enemy.

It's it's a sad it's sad when we view sin as something that is pleasurable and something that is hard to give up. Why is it hard to give up? Why is sin hard to give up when we view sin as being something keeping us from the greatest thing in the world?

God begins to change our heart and we begin to we begin to view sin the way God does. It's not something hard, something you want to give up. You don't you don't want it in your life because you realize that it has the potential to keep you from knowing God community.

Remember, the vastness of God's heart is is is a million billion times greater than the vastness of the universe. And so this is this is God's heart. This is God's thought. He wants us to see the calling.

Hebrews 12 and the Purpose of Chastening

Let's continue to read on here in Hebrews chapter 12 now. And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks as to as unto sons. My son despised not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked by him for whom the Lord loves.

He chastens, he child trains and scourges every son whom he receives. So when God receives us and accepts us and and determines that the purpose of our call, the purpose of being called out of the world, the purpose of being called out of sin, the purpose of being called out of darkness.

The scripture says that before we come to Christ, we're in darkness, we're in spiritual death. Ephesians chapter two, we're in darkness, we're in the world, we're under the power of the world. Ephesians chapter two.

And the reason why God sent his son to call us out of the world, to call us out of darkness, to call us out from fulfilling the desires of the fleshly sinful desires. The reason why is because God has something in view.

He had something in view before sin entered. What what did he have in view? I want you as one of my children so that you can come to know the fellowship that I have with my eternal son and that you can be brought into that same fellowship, that same fellowship.

Unbelievable. God is calling us into fellowship with himself. Paul speaks of this in 1 Corinthians chapter one, chapter two, that we are called unto the fellowship of his son. And, you know, if we fellowship with the son, who will we be fellowshipping with?

The father, because the father and the son are in perfect fellowship. Don't believe the lie that God intended us to get our satisfaction from inanimate objects. We are in a crisis today, a crisis in the world today, people have forgotten the reason why they were created.

People don't even know how to communicate one with another anymore. They don't. It's because inanimate objects have taken the place. A family should be a family, should be a group of people related biologically or in some instances, not biologically, but a group of people that that are able to look at each other eye to eye and communicate and talk, talk about what's going on.

Affirm, I love you. Acknowledge, I have a struggle, I need help. OK, what's your help? Communicate fellowship. That's what a family is all about. But today, even in Christian families, and I hear it over and over again by emails, people, they don't know how to communicate one with another.

And there's a horrible breakdown. There's a horrible breakdown. Listen, if you don't communicate, you'll be miserable. We're created to communicate. We've got to communicate. OK, this is a God thing. This is what God this is what God created us to do.

This is this is God, God, God, God had eternal fellowship with his son, and his thought was, I'm going to create man and bring him into the fellowship that I have with my son so that he is included in Christ in that fellowship.

And there's an intimacy and a knowing and an inner, inner acting one with another. This calling that you and I have received before the world began. This is not an afterthought of God. This is something God that was in God's heart from the before the world began.

This is what God had in view for you, for all men. And this fellowship that God has in view is is is is his heart, it's it's what his heart is after, it's what he longs for. And the substitution of heart to heart, spirit to spirit fellowship with God and with one another for inanimate objects is a is a horrible travesty today.

It's a crime. Every single Christian family must guard their hearts and the hearts of their children so that they don't fall from the capacity, the growing capacity to learn how to interact and talk and fellowship with one another and communicate.

Because this is the essential meaning of our calling. This is the essential meaning of our calling fellowship. And isn't it true? There is nothing like true fellowship. There's no amount of money in this world that can come that can even touch what real fellowship is.

You can have all the money in the world and you can have all that money can buy and you can indulge in all of the pleasures that the world offers. And then you can have a few moments of true heart, intimate fellowship with someone that you love.

And what you get from that and what God gets from that can't compare to what all the money could get you and all the joy and all the pleasure that you can get from it. Can we see it? Can we see it? Is God opening our heart to see this?

Don't give up this call to fellowship, and that's what it that's what God's thought is. That's what God's thought is for sonship, for maturity. It's he wants to share his heart with you and he wants you to share his heart with him.

In Proverbs, God says, give me your heart, son, give me your heart, my son. He says that in Proverbs. And once we give God our heart, then something starts happening in our heart. We cry out to God, God, you give me your heart.

And it's an exchange of hearts. Hearts, that's what God is after, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary when you're corrected for everyone. For whom the Lord loves, he chastens verse six and scourges every son whom he receives.

If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons for what son is he whom the father chastened, if not. But if you are without chastisement, are you not? Wherefore, all our partakers, then are you not illegitimate?

And not sons, furthermore, when we have had fathers of our flesh, which corrected us and we gave them reverence, shall not we much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live for truly for a few days?

For a few days, chase for they truly. For a few days, chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit that he might that we might be partakers of his holiness now, no chastening for the present seems to be joyous but grievous.

Nevertheless, afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them, which are exercised thereby. And so this is an exhortation here to remember that God's chastening is it can be grievous.

God's chastening and child training can be at times very saddening in our hearts. It hurts, but it but God has something in view. He's doing it because he has something in view in our lives. He's wanting us to come to maturity so that our hearts are satisfied in him and he's satisfied in seeing in us the moral image and likeness of his beautiful son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Becoming Like the Son of God

And so. That's what he's after, and it's his it's his desire that sin would be destroyed. First John, chapter three, first John, chapter three. It says, beginning in verse one, behold, what manner of love the father has bestowed upon us that we should be called.

The children of God, therefore, the world knows us not because it knew him not beloved, now are we sons of God and it does not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

That's God's purpose right there. You see, everywhere in the word of God, we see God's purpose being revealed. We see God's thought being revealed. God wants a family of sons. Ultimately, God wants a family of sons who will be just like his only begotten son.

Oh, my, what joy, what a calling that we've been called into, what a joy to know that God has called us to be like his son. And when you realize that God's son brings ultimate satisfaction to his father and that through the blood of Jesus, we have been cleansed, we have been forgiven, we have been purchased, we've been redeemed, we've been bought back.

God has bought us back. Now he claims us as his own and he's given us the uncreated life of his son in us. That's the source. That's the source of our hope. Christ in you, the hope of glory. It's his son in you.

It's his righteousness. It's his spirit. It's his nature. It's his developing character in our life as we submit to him that brings pleasure to him. And we have been brought into fellowship with his son.

Watch what it says here. Everyone that has this hope in himself purifies himself, even as he is impure, even as he is pure, whosoever is committing sin or continuously commits sin, transgresses the law for sin is the transgression of the law.

And we know that he was manifested to take away our sins and in him is no sin. Whoever abides in him does not practice sin. And whoever is sinning that is practicing sin has not seen him, neither known him.

Listen, little children, let no one deceive you. He that practices what is right is righteous, even as he is righteous, and he that practices sin is of the devil, for the devil sins from the beginning.

Listen to this. For this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Why was the son of God manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil? But why did Christ want to destroy the works of the devil?

What's he working toward? Is it just just arbitrarily to destroy the works of the devil? No, it's governed by purpose. Christ came to destroy, undo, demolish the works of the devil so that. The purpose for which we were created.

Can be realized. Fellowship, communion. Sharing in the very heart of God can be realized in our lives for this purpose, Christ came to destroy the works of the devil in John, chapter 19, a very familiar portion of Scripture.

Christ's Finished Work on the Cross

Jesus is right about ready to give up the Holy Spirit in John, chapter 19, verse number 28. Jesus was hanging on the cross. He had just got done giving his mother over to John, the apostle, so that he could care for her.

And then in verse 28, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. He said, I'm thirsty. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it in his mouth.

When Jesus, therefore, had finished the vinegar, he said it is finished. What's finished? It is finished. I want to read for you what the term it is finished literally means, because the whole reason why Jesus came was to satisfy his father's heart, to satisfy his father's justice, to satisfy his father's good pleasure.

And in order to provide his father with the means to fulfill his father's eternal purpose, it is finished. Just imagine how heaven must have rejoiced. Just imagine how father hearts, his heart must have rejoiced.

Oh, in sorrow, though, it was joy and sorrow. He had to allow his son to suffer, to be crucified, to be mutilated, to be to be attacked by every devil and demon in hell. For why? Why? Why? What did he do?

Nothing. It's because of you and me. But why did he do it? Why did he bring his son and why did his son willingly offer his soul as a sacrifice for sin? Because his son from eternity past knew that it was his father's good pleasure to find his delight in him.

His son knew his son knew that he brought absolute perfect delight to his father because everything the father saw in the son reflected the glory of the father. Everything the father saw in the son reflected his infinite and eternal perfections.

Any father would love a son that grows up and demonstrates to the world the good qualities of his of himself, not the bad qualities. That's where the that's where the analogy breaks down. But hallelujah, it doesn't break down with father.

He never saw a bad quality in his son because he never had a qual. Can you see the calling? Can you catch it? God, I pray that you will enable us to catch this calling. It'll revolutionize your life. It'll change you.

You will not be a normal Christian that just lives from day to day and exist. You will be a Christian with a purpose. You know, some preacher wrote purpose driven life. Well, I'm not too sure what the purpose he had in mind was.

But I know there is a purpose that God has. And when we see that purpose, it lifts us out of the religion of dead Christianity. It lifts us out of of just the the drudgery of of of going through our daily struggles.

It's not that we don't go through struggles, but something happens. We get perspective. We get perspective. We begin to say, like Paul, that I am persuaded that the that that the the sufferings that I'm going through cannot be compared to the what the glory, the glory that shall be revealed where, where in us.

Thank you, Audrey. Where's the glory going to be revealed in us through who? Jesus Christ, the glory, the glory of God represents his infinite and eternal moral perfections. Where's that glory going to be revealed in you if Christ is in you?

So what's God's thought? God's thought is to reveal to the whole universe. All the world, his infinite and moral perfections that his son demonstrated for all eternity, secured as a man and now has imparted through a gift to his sons and daughters.

It is finished. The word is tell a deal. It means. To come to come to the desired end, it is finished. Christ died on the cross and he said it is finished, he said, I have completed the goal of my father to make an end or to accomplish, to complete something, not merely to end it, but to bring it to perfection or its destined goal.

May I say it? Holy mackerel, this is what's this is what's in the cross. It's not just an arbitrary act of God sending his son so the sin problem can be resolved and we can just go around as Christians and say, hallelujah, I'm forgiven.

Hallelujah, I've got power over sin. It's far more than that. It's far more than that. It's Christ dying so that. The goal, the intention, the end that God had in view from the beginning can now be realized, it is finished, implies the whole work of salvation, the purpose for which Christ came into the world when Jesus had finished.

The the work, the goal was complete to accomplish, to fulfill, to execute fully a rule or law. And by implication to pay off. To pay off a debt. A tax or a tribute, which is also the meaning of Talios, a tax, a toll, a custom.

So here, Jesus, when he died, he said it is finished. He had so much in that statement. The very cross of Calvary was was God's eternal purpose in time being realized so that he can bring it about. The sin debt completely canceled at Calvary.

You and I sinned, we fell short of the glory of God, what does that mean? We marred the moral image of God. The glory of God is not in our life without Christ, nothing but the image and likeness of who the devil you are of your father, the devil, Jesus said to unbelievers.

And he said, you act like your father, the devil. You behave like your father, the devil, but it ought not to be with Christians because Christ is in us now. The true image and likeness of God, and as we yield to him, his moral perfections grow in our life.

But when Christ died on Calvary, the devil's a liar, the devil's a liar. When Christ died on Calvary, he said it is finished. He brought to completion the need that God had to. Justly punished sin, and he justly punished it by putting it all on his son, you and I owed a debt we couldn't pay.

Restoration of God's Original Purpose

Sin was God's enemy that separated man from his purpose introduced by Satan. But Christ was God's remedy, God's justice demanded that sin be punished and that the sinner be punished for all eternity. So what did he do?

Did he punish us? Did he send us to hell? No, but he sent his son. To suffer for your sins and my sins to cancel your sin problem, but that's not an end, it's a means. What's the end? The sin problem canceled, so what?

We can be about moving toward God's original plan, which is what? Fellowship, communion, bearing the image, the moral image of our God and creator in heaven, it is finished. So Christ has a twofold purpose, and we're going to bring this to a close very shortly.

Christ has a twofold purpose. It's all connected. The twofold purpose, Christ came to destroy and he came to restore. Recover, destroy the enemy, the devil and sin and death, but he did that so that he can restore what original intent, ultimate intention, original purpose, and that is father eternal delight in his son.

Desiring many sons, just like his only begotten son. And we'll show that right now by turning to Colossians chapter one. Oh, may God impart this into our hearts. And not only may God impart it into our hearts, but may we impart it then to our family and to our friends and to all Christians everywhere.

This is the hope. This is the hope of the Christian message. It's it's it's the ultimate it's it's not about. This life doesn't mean we're to be irresponsible, but it's not about this life. It's not about the earthly treasures.

It's not about earthly pleasures. It's not about finding your niche here, although God will help you know what he wants you to do here, but ultimately it's not about now. It's about eternity. It's about the calling into the age to come.

Colossians, chapter one, beginning in verse number nine, for this cause, we also, since the day we heard, do not cease to pray for you and desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding.

What's he talking about? The knowledge of his will. No, it's not. It's not just it can be applied, but in context, it's not talking about just his will on a daily basis. Does the Lord want me to go shopping today or does he want me to go tomorrow?

Not that that's not important. We God will help us to know what to do, but that's that's the practical will of walking out our everyday life and God will help us. But but there's a bigger will, a bigger thing that God's after the knowledge of his will, the knowledge of his eternal purpose that he purposed in his son from the very beginning.

The fact that we are called into sonship, we're called to be sons and daughters of God. That's Paul's heart now. That's Paul's heart that you might walk worthy of the Lord. Now, in Ephesians, the book that goes together with this, Paul says that you might walk worthy.

What of the calling? What calling? The same calling. It's all connected, you see. All right, now bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness.

Now see what he's describing. He's describing here a growing up into the moral likeness of Christ. This is divine character. Now, patience, longsuffering, pleasing God, giving thanks, a thankful heart.

Unto the father, which has made us meet or what made us acceptable to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in life, what's the inheritance that we're called to partake of? It all starts with Christ, the very inheritance that God gave his son.

Hebrews chapter one. He now gives us in Christ, Romans chapter eight, heirs of God and joint heirs together with Christ, Revelation chapter twenty one. Jesus said he that overcomes shall inherit what all things.

That's the inheritance. Inherit all things. What is all things mean? All things, everything, all that God created, this is what God's this is why we won't go into it for another time. We're going to go very deeply into this whole issue of why did Satan rebel against God?

Because he saw the inheritance. God gave him a lot, Norman, but he didn't give him that inheritance. But, you know, he saw the inheritance, but failed to see the integrity of the son who was worthy to inherit all things.

And the pride of his heart was revealed. He saw the power of the throne, but didn't see the person of the throne. He lusted for the power, but didn't long. For the person, God doesn't want his power to be longed after, God wants his person to be longed after.

Redemption, Reconciliation, and Inheritance in Christ

All right, let's move on here. I got one more word and then we're going to bring it to an end. Verse 13. Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us, that means to transplant, transplanted us into the kingdom of his dear son in whom we have redemption through his blood.

There's the recovery. There's Calvary. There's God's remedy for the fall. Redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, who is the image of the invisible. God, the firstborn of every creature for by him were all things recreated that are in heaven, that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers.

All things were created by him and for him. He is before all things. All right, let's move on down to verse 20 and having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself.

Now we're now see now we're going back before man back before time. This was God's original intent. And let me just read this real quickly, reconcile, what does it mean for Christ to reconcile? And that's the thought of what God is after right now.

To reconcile, listen to this now, the word means indicating the state to be left behind and to reconcile, it's made up of two words to be left behind and to reconcile. It is stronger than the normal word reconcile.

It means to set up a relationship of peace not existing before. The word is literally a restoration of a relationship of peace which has been disturbed and destroyed to gather together in one or under one head, which refers to bringing everything under the headship of Jesus Christ and also into the moral likeness of Jesus Christ.

And so this is God's thought through Calvary. Christ provided what God needed to cancel sin, punish sin. Destroy the devil and death and at the same time provide a way in himself. He is the way through which mankind has now been restored back to original purpose and intention so that by partaking of Christ, the tree of life, he can grow into full salvation and one day be given adoption, sonship and bear the moral image and likeness of Jesus Christ.

And not only that, but then inherit all things and share with Christ in the rulership of the entire universe for all the ages to come without end glory to God forever and ever. That's a big picture. And the reason why we're getting the big picture now is because if you don't have the big picture, your day by day living is going to get under your skin and you're going to lose perspective.

But if you keep in view what God is working toward, what God is moving you toward, beloved, you'll find a song in the midst of your trials, in the midst of your struggles, in the midst of what you go through, because the song will be born from seeing what God is doing through it.

Closing Prayer: Offering Ourselves to God's Purpose

And you'll be more than an overcomer through Christ Jesus, our Lord. OK, beloved, let's bow our hearts in a word of prayer and we will continue as God leads in order to impart this wonderful heart of God.

And it will continue to empower us to lay hold of all that God has done through his son, Jesus Christ. Father, thank you for your presence. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your unbelievable heart, how vast and big it is.

Thank you for this, your son, the one who you have delighted in for all eternity. And thank you, Lord, for dying for our sins. We acknowledge, Lord, that we're not deserving of this, but it's your love that has healed us through Christ.

Thank you for including us in Christ and this great call. And now, Lord, in your presence, we ask that you will give us the strength to offer our lives to you, our spirit, our soul and our body. We were created for a purpose.

That purpose is not for the devil. It's not to offer ourselves to the desires of sin. It's not that we might fall prey to the desires of this sinful world. That's not why we were created. We renounce that in the name of Jesus.

And instead, we recognize Christ. Came to restore purpose, to bring us forgiveness. The new birth, the Holy Spirit and the wonderful prospect of having fellowship with you, Father, help us to offer ourselves to you now through the mighty power of Jesus Christ and impart this vision to every heart that's here.