In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of counting ourselves in Christ and identifying with Him in our new life. He highlights the fact that God provides for us in amazing ways, even when we feel the need to be in control. The speaker references Philippians 4:4, where we are encouraged to rejoice in the Lord always, even in difficult situations. The sermon also touches on the concept of servanthood and the responsibility we have to share our experiences with others and tell them about what the Lord has done for us.

We're continuing this morning with our thoughts of servanthood. The fact that Paul set this forth, particularly in Romans 6, in a very strong way, showing us our position, showing us what we're to be doing in these days in which we live. We have a few days, we realize, between salvation and glorification. We often wonder what's going on in our lives. Lord, what do you want me to do? Lord, what are you doing with me? And Lord, why are things the way they are? Why not hasten the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ? We're encompassed about with anxieties. At least I am. I don't know about you. Maybe you're not. I am an anxious person. I am concerned with lots of things. I wonder what the Lord has for me and why he's working in my life the way he is. Above all else, I'm thankful, and I'm sure you are too, that he is working in your life. Because he is. Above all else, the Lord is working in our lives. As our brother pointed out last night, the one thing, the grand purpose of God in our lives and Jesus Christ in us, is that we might be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. And we're looking forward to that. But while we're here, while we're still here, we have a work to do for the Lord. He wants to use us. If he didn't want to use us, he would have taken us home to be with himself the moment that we were saved. And when we get into a tight spot in our lives, we say, Lord, why don't you just take me home? Isn't that the easy way out? Lord, I don't like this situation at all. I'm very uncomfortable with what's going on. Why don't you just take me home and relieve me of this situation? And we hear silence from the Lord. Because he's teaching us something. He has a situation that he's taking us through and something he wants to show us. We have a work to do, and the Lord has something that he wants to show us and to teach us. We definitely are to be servants for the Lord. Like it or not, we will be servants for the Lord. We may be good servants, we may be poor servants. Let's turn to Romans chapter 6 again and read these verses from Romans 6, reading from verse 11. I admire Jay's ability to be able to memorize. This is a portion that I would certainly memorize if I were able to memorize large portions of Scripture. I thank the Lord that I have the written word. If it weren't for the written word, I'd really be in trouble, because I have difficulty in committing these things to memory. And I think it is so important when we have a mind that is able to assimilate these things, that we can commit the word of God to our memory. I always was amazed at my own children that they could. My expectation was the same, yeah, by noon you'll have it memorized. A lot of times they did, it surprised me, but I was never able to do that. I'm glad for the written word. Romans chapter 6, verse 11. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law, but under grace? Certainly not, God forbid. Do you not know that to whom you present or yield yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness? That God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. Slaves of righteousness. We reckon ourselves as servants of God, as slaves of righteousness. We reckon, we consider it as being so, we are. Because the word of God tells us that we are. We want to be, and we ought to be servants. And even more so, to be slaves to him. And we're not talking about being a bond slave to sin, we're talking about being slaves to the Master, to Jesus Christ who is our Lord, to God our Heavenly Father. And at this point in time, he is speaking to us as being just that. In the Old Testament, we run across a group of people who are known simply as anathemons. Very intriguing. You're reading in the Old Testament and suddenly this group of people, where did they come from? Ever hear of them before? What's their origin? Who are they? And quite frankly, no one really knows for sure where they originated. Some believe the anathemon that are revealed to us in Ezra and Nehemiah, that these slaves or these servants, we had best call them servants at this point in time, they are referred to as servants. They suddenly came upon this name, we come upon this name in Ezra chapter 8, and particularly in verse 20. And this group of people could have had origin from two or three different places. They may have been from the Midianites that the children of Israel conquered. Every time they conquered a nation, they would take for themselves slaves or take for themselves servants and use them for their own good. We remember the story of the Gibeonites. The Gibeonites, after Joshua had conquered Jericho and Ai, the Gibeonites who lived nearby were a little excited about what they were seeing the Israelis do. And they said, let's go over there and make a deal with these people so that they won't conquer us, they won't kill us, they won't take everything we have. And so in the story of the Gibeonites in Joshua chapter 9, we find these men traveling over and speaking to Joshua and pretending that they had come from a long way. And they dressed in what we could liken costumes and made themselves appear that they had traveled a long way. Moldy bread and ragged water skins and wine skins. And so they entreated them, we've come from a long far country, won't you deal with us in a friendly way. And because Joshua and the children of Israel did not seek God in this matter, they made a compact with the Gibeonites. Only to find out that the Gibeonites were neighbors, close neighbors. They'd been deceived. And rather than going in and conquering them, the Gibeonites had made a pact with them, a covenant with them. And because of this covenant, Israel could not attack them and did not attack them. But what they did do is they made them servants. The Nephilim could have been the Gibeonites. We don't know for sure. The Nephilim could have been Solomon's slaves. Solomon's slaves are mentioned in 1 Kings chapter 9 and again in Nehemiah. It's possible, we simply don't know. Who were these people? In Ezra chapter 8, we find that these people were a rather amazing group of people because they as servants were serving in the temple. But the position they had was the most lowly of all the servants. They did the menial things. They were pressed into service in the temple doing the lowest and most menial tasks. In Ezra chapter 8, verse 15, Now I gathered them by the rivers that flow to Ahabba, and we camped there three days. And I looked among the people and the priests, and found none of the sons of Levi there. Then I sent for Eleazar and several other people, the leaders and men of understanding, and I gave them a command for Edo, the chief man at the place of Cassaphia. And I told them what they should say to Edo and his brethren, the Nephilim, at the place of Cassaphia. That they should bring us servants for the house of our God. Then by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, and the sons of Mali, and the son of Levi, and the sons of Israel, and namely Shurbiah, and his sons and brothers, eighteen men, and Hashabiah, and with him Jessahiah, and the sons of Merari, his brothers, and their sons, twenty men, verse 20, also the Nephilim, whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites, 220 Nephilim. All of them were designated by name. They were all known by name. They had been designated by David, and the leaders appointed them for the service of the Levites. The Levites were appointed for the service of the priests. The priests were for the service of the Lord, the high priest service for the Lord and for the children of Israel. And so we see the chain of command in the temple, the high priest, the priests, the Levites who were serving them, and then to serve the Levites were the Nephilim, the lowest of the servants. And who were they? We don't even know who they were. They may have been the Gibeonites. They may have been a mixture of Gibeonites and Midianites. They may have been a mixture of Gibeonites and Midianites and Solomon's slaves. We don't know. They were obscure. I see in this a little picture of the likes of us. We have to admit that we're a little obscure. Where do we come from? Who are we? Where are we going? But great or small, great or small, whoever we are, if we serve the Lord, if we serve Christ, we will benefit. And the Nephilim benefited, even though they had the lowliest position in this service, carrying in wood and doing the menial things. They were blessed, because in due time they were assimilated into the nation of Israel. They still held their position, a lowly position, but they were considered part of Israel. In Nehemiah chapter 10, we find that as a result of the covenant that the people made with God because of their regathering, rededicating themselves to the Lord, in verse 28, Now the rest of the people, the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nephilim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding, they joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord, and his ordinances and his statutes, that we would not give our daughters as wives to the peoples of the land, nor take their daughters for sons, etc. The Nephilim were joined with all of Israel at this point in time. Servants, and I think they are a tremendous example to us as servants. Boy, if I'm going to be a servant of the Lord, I want to be in a high place. I mean, I want to be the chief assistant to the high priest. If I'm going to serve God, I want to be in that fellow's position over there. I want to command the great crowds. I want to make the decisions. I want to be the leader. I don't want to sit back and do the menial things. Isn't that the way our minds run? We don't want to take the lowliest position, but remember the example that Jesus Christ gave to us in that he humbled himself and became a servant. And we also are to humble ourselves and become a servant. Jesus became the lowest of the low, the humblest of all servants. He is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. He humbled himself. He is our example. Who am I that I should think that I should have some exalted position in the church of Jesus Christ? Oh, I'm so glad that I made it. Speaking of making it, we had a dear sister in our assembly that went to be with the Lord recently. She had the most marvelous visions in her last hours. She saw angels. She saw loved ones that were already there. She heard the music. And Wayne naturally came to minister to her for the last time. She took his hand and said, Wayne, she said, it's true, it's true. Everything you've said and taught, it's true. And all these visions that she had were in the presence of her children and her relatives, some who are unsaved and some who are. It was a marvelous homecoming. That which the word of God says, that which the word of God promises to us, though we will take the lowest position, God will exalt us. And this exaltation will come when we are in his presence, whether we go by the grave or whether we go by the rapture. And all the methonyms had a part in the whole. Paul speaks of our relationship in Romans 6 as that of not only servanthood, but as actually slaves, because he's comparing what we were in sin, what we were in Adam with what we are now in Christ. And just as you were slaves to sin, now, because you're free from that, you can become virtually slaves to God in Christ Jesus. You know, this slavery brings us to the place where we're very equal. The Scriptures tell us that we are to submit one to another as brothers and sisters in the Lord. The elders of the assemblies are to submit one to another, as we submit to our Lord Jesus Christ. We are all equal in the church. There's no pride in slavery. If we really have humbled ourselves and become slaves to God, slaves to righteousness, where is pride? Where is ego? Where is ambition, other than our ambitions to please and serve him? I mean, personal ambition. Personal pride, our ego, is not there. What is there is a great expectation, a great expectation in the one we serve. Our expectation is not in ourselves. Our expectation is not in others. Our expectation is in the Lord himself. God has placed us in Christ. Our expectation is from him. We are members one of another in the body of Christ. But we are still individuals, and our expectation is from Jesus Christ and from God our heavenly Father. We read that word in Romans chapter 6, verse 11, that word reckoned. Consider it as being so. Count on it. Don't doubt it. Don't doubt it. We reckon on certain things in our Christian life, don't we? First of all, we reckon on our salvation. It doesn't say here, reckon on your salvation. It doesn't say reckon on your justification. But we do. We count it as being so. I think we have a common experience when we're first saved. We have a zeal for the Lord, and yet we have great doubts. And Satan comes to us immediately when we're saved, and he says, Look what you did. Look what you fought. Look at what you're seeing. Look at where you're spending your time. You can't possibly, there is no way that you can be saved. There's no way you can be a son of God and do the things and think the things that you think and do. You can't be saved. And we reason and say, Well, yeah, that's right. I can't be doing these things. I must not be saved. And so we vacillate from day to day. I'm talking about immediately after we're saved. Satan tempts us and tests us and the trials come. And we say, Oh, I'm not saved. And then we go back to the word of God. And the word of God tells us that we are saved. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. We confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. We'll be saved. We have the Spirit of God dwelling within us. We are saved. The Spirit of God bears witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And as we go back to the word of God over and over again, he reassures us. Yes, you are my child. You are saved. You are born again. You've been born into the family of God. You are mine. You are in Christ. Until we get to a place where we start believing what God has said. Has God said? Is this what the word of God says? Am I really saved? Yes, I am, because I believe God. I believe the word of God. And when Satan comes in and he says, You're not saved. You say, Yes, I am. How do you know? The word of God says so. I may not feel it all the time. Others may not see it all the time. But I am, because the word of God says so. And so we get to the place where we reckon on our salvation. We count it as being so, and we know that we are saved. And we get to a place where we have the assurance of our salvation, and if nothing else, we know that we are God's child, and we know that we are going to go to heaven. We know that. We know that the death angel will pass over us. We know that the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse us, and has cleansed us, from all unrighteousness. We know that we have been declared righteous in Jesus Christ. And so we're reckoning on that. We're counting it as so. Now, just as we have counted so, just as we have counted so and reckoned so our salvation, here's something else he wants us to count as being so. He's talking about our identification, our position in Jesus Christ. He tells us this in Romans chapter 6, and he says, What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Well, certainly not, or God forbid. How shall we who have died the sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we were buried with him through baptism into death, and that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now, if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him. Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more, death no longer has dominion over him. For the death that he died, he died to sin once for all. But the life that he lives, he lives to God. Likewise, you also. Because of this, because you have been baptized into Christ Jesus, because you identify with the Lord Jesus Christ, when he died, you died. When he was buried, you were buried with him. When he was raised from the dead, you were raised with him. And you now walk in newness of life. Not in the old life, but in this new life, this new life in Christ Jesus. If any man be in Christ, in Christ, he or she is a new creation. All the old things have passed away. That old life has passed away. All things have become new in Christ, and this is the newness of life that we are to be walking in. What does he say about that? Count that as being so. You did die with him. Now, this is hard to understand and hard to grasp, this identification with Christ. The fact that we have started a new life in him. We understand that when we are justified in him, that we have our sin forgiven. That we stand right before God. We understand that. But he also has made for us this possibility to walk before him as new creatures in Christ Jesus. Oh, what a wonder, this thing that he's done for us. And you know what? Satan doesn't want you to know that either. He does not want you to believe that has happened. But he says you know that, and he says reckon it that you are dead indeed to sin, but reckon that you are alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. And this is the key to our whole Christian walk. In Christ. In Christ. It is Christ in you. We're told in Colossians, it is Christ in you that's the hope of glory. You in Christ, and Christ in you. We have no other hope of making it through this world and walking in a pleasing manner and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Except we be in him. Counted as being so. We're identified with him. And because we're identified with him, then this is our sanctification. The Lord is working in us. God is working in us and through us to bring us to this image and conform us to this image of his Son. And he's doing it. Sometimes we don't recognize these things as happening. We struggle with ourselves. And we have lots of struggles and lots of problems. Because we have a mind that needs to be renewed and we have our own free will that keeps exerting itself. And making decisions that are not quite what they ought to be. Not reckoning on our position in Christ. But God is sanctifying us. He is working, making us holy. In a sense we are holy because we are in Christ. But there's the ongoing work of holiness. The ongoing work of sanctification. And that he is working in us hour by hour, day by day. Moment by moment, as it were. Moment by moment. I love that song. That's one of my favorites. Because that's all we have, you know, really. We have just this moment in time. That moment's gone. It's in the past. And that moment is not here yet. It's in the future. What we have is this moment. Count yourself in Christ. Holy and completely in him. And we count on this position in Christ and identify with him in this new life. And because we have this new life in Christ and we can walk with him in this newness of life, then we can count on him providing for us. We reckon on his provision for us as well. One of the most amazing things to discover is that God provides for us. Philippians chapter 4. God provides for us in amazing ways. We feel that we have to have the reins. We have to have the keys to the ignition. We have to be at the steering wheel. We have to be at the console. We have to be at the keyboard. We have to be in control. And so, we let him control. And he provides for us. Now, he's talking to us in verse 4 of chapter 4 of Philippians. He says, rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I say rejoice. And this joy that we have is the joy of the Lord that is in our hearts. This joy is not always coming as a smile on our face. I don't smile all the time. I probably smile less than most people. My personality is not such that I smile a lot. But I still have a joy in my heart. And this joy is the joy the Lord puts there. This is the joy of the Lord. Because I'm his. And he is mine. So we can rejoice always. He says, let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Don't be anxious about anything. That speaks to me again. I'm an anxious person. I said that. And for anxiety, we need peace. He says in verse 7, the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds through Christ Jesus. So God will provide for us. We are not to be anxious for anything. He will provide for us this peace of mind and peace of heart. How? Through Jesus Christ. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, if there is anything praiseworthy, meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do. And to God, a peace will be with you. And I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me is first again. Paul is talking of himself. Though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am to be content. God can give us contentment with this peace. Paul says, I know how to be abased, I know how to abound everywhere and in all things I have learned. This is the important part of this whole situation. He learned how to be content. He learned how to live trusting in God through affluency and through poverty. He says, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Here is the strength that we need, this provision that he has for us. Nevertheless, you have done well, you shared my distress. They had brought fellowship to him and provided for his needs. Down in verse 19 he is saying that in verse 18 he says, I have all and abound, I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, a sweet smelling aroma. It is an acceptable sacrifice while pleasing to God. This is how God sees our gifts of support. And he says, because you have shown support, you have supported the work of Christ and the workers in Christ, my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now some teach a weird doctrine that talks about prosperity, and boy, if you give to God, you give him a spoonful and he'll give you back a shovelful. Well, you know, sometimes that's true. We don't build a doctrine on that. And we don't serve God and we don't give to God in order to get back. That's not it at all. We give to him because we love him and we serve him. But he will provide, he will supply every provision, every need, every need according to his riches. I have lots of wants, a lot of things I really want badly. Some would say that I even lust after some things. I suppose in a sense that's what it is, you know. Sam Dalton was down to our conference the first of July and he came driving in a brand new pure white Cadillac. Sam, where did you get this new car? Well, no problem, he said. I stopped at the car rental, told them I wanted an Escort. Didn't have one. They said, well, would this Cadillac do? He said, yeah, I think so. And so for the price of the Escort, he got the Cadillac. And God showed his provision that way for him that day. But, boy, you know, everybody walking around that parking lot looking at our old, dirty, dusty farm cars and trucks and here's this shiny, white, brand new not a scratch on a Cadillac. Who does that belong to anyway? It didn't even have a tag on it. Sam Dalton drove that out there. Wow, that brother serves the Lord. By faith, he serves the Lord. And he's driving this new Cadillac. Boy, I sure would wish I had one like that. What do I have to do to get one? And so we tend to want these things. I have an old car that's sitting out there and it's got cancer really bad. It's one of General Motors problems that all of a sudden one year, the paint all goes. It just suddenly crazes and it's not a rust problem from internally, it's a rust problem because the paint's gone bad on it. And they want astronomical amounts of money to repaint the car because you have to sand the whole thing clear down to the bare metal. I mean, everything in the whole car and it's hardly worth it. Boy, would I love to have that new white Cadillac. Well, I want that. You see, that's what I want. But God says be satisfied with your old rusty Skylark. That's what I've given to you. Learn to be content with that. So we're trying to be content with what we have. I say trying. And sometimes it is trying. But nevertheless, the point here is that God will supply our needs. If we're praying for something, if I needed a brand new white Cadillac, if I needed it, God would give me one. I wouldn't have to argue about that. He'd see to it that I got one. But I don't need it. You know how I know I don't need it? God isn't supplying it. That's how I know. Because God will supply to me everything that I need. As we serve Him, He promises us that He'll provide all these needs. Be it physical, be it emotional, be it spiritual, whatever our need as believers are, He will supply it. He will do it. Count on that. Reckon on that. He will do it. Why? Who is He? This is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the King of Glory, who humbled Himself and is now exalted on high, seated at the right hand of God. And all things have been given unto His hands. He's the one who's doing this providing. He provides for us. Talk about wisdom? I need to know more about your word, Lord. I don't understand what it says. I have difficulty with this passage or that passage. The Lord remains silent. Do I really need to know that? Not right at the moment, perhaps. The things I need to know, the things I need to know, the wisdom that I need, He also gives. James speaks to us about this. He said if you lack wisdom, just ask God and He'll give it to you. He's not going to hold back. He'll give it to you abundantly. As much wisdom as you possibly need, He will give to you. Think of things that you need or could possibly need. There's not one thing that God will not provide for you if you need it. We reckon on those things. We count on that that He's going to provide. And we also count on God's grace. Because we count on this walk of ours, we're walking by faith in Christ Jesus. And so we reckon on God's grace. We count it as being so. The most amazing thing we find is our stand in Christ is in God's grace. Because God has no reason other than His grace to give us the slightest thought. This kindly disposition toward us that God has. We stand and we're in awe. Do you understand God's grace? I don't. I understand enough to praise the Lord for it. But to really comprehend God's grace. Why God, the creator of the universe, the one who is in control of everything throughout eternity. If we can use the term eternity past and eternity future. Why He would choose me I do not know. Why by His grace I have been saved through faith I do not know. Why He has shown me His grace. Why He has given me the faith to believe. Why He has made me His child. I don't know why He is so kindly affection. But He is. Oh, that's God's love. That's God's mercy. Thinking of God's grace. I was looking at the fruits of the spirit. The fruit of the spirit. In Galatians chapter 5. And as we think of God's disposition toward us. The way He loves us and cares for us. And we look at the fruit of the spirit and we see grace manifest in the fruit of the spirit. In love. In joy. In peace. In long suffering. In kindness. And in goodness and in faithfulness. God is all these things toward us. And in gentleness. And in self-control. We've been talking about why doesn't God strike us down? Why didn't He strike me down when I was dead in trespasses and sin? I do not know why He did not. I was certainly worthy of death. Fearful of death at that. He showed me that His blood cleanses from all. When we think of the grace of God. Look at this in Galatians. At the fruit of the spirit. God manifests these attributes toward us. And then these are the attributes of the Holy Spirit is working in us. A relationship to God in Jesus Christ. A relationship. The fruit of that relationship. He the bride, groom, and we the bride of Christ. And this relationship as one in Him. We in Him and He in us, brings forth within us the fruit of the Spirit. Manifestation. And it's all God's attribute. All of these are God's attribute. I stand in awe this morning. Once again, I can't help but see the word of God and see all that we have in Christ. And He says, count on it. Everything you read here. Everything you find here. You who were dead in sin, have been made alive in Christ. Now count on it that all these things are yours. And my thoughts to you are only yea and amen. If God be for us, Paul said, who can be against us? Count on it as being so. Reckon on it. Oh, we are the most favored, favored persons in the whole world. As believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. We don't flaunt this. We don't go out and say, hey you sinners, we're better than you. You need to be saved, so you can be like me. No, that's not what we're doing. We're servants. Manifesting the fruit of the Spirit. The Lord is using us to minister to others. To be witnesses to the things that He has done to us. To be a witness is very simple. All we do is tell others. Has the Lord saved us? Yes. Tell others. Have you been identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection? Tell others. Has Christ provided for you? Tell others. Do you have a great hope within you that one day Christ is coming for you? Tell others. Do you see the signs of the times and know when the last days? Tell others. Those things that you have experienced. Tell others. Lots to do as servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we stand before Thee again this morning humbled not in ourselves but humbled by the presence of Yourself in the Lord Jesus Christ. Grateful of Your great love when You loved us that while we were yet sinners that Christ died for us. So thankful that You have revealed Him to us and made it possible for us to come to You by Him and in Him and through Him. We're so glad of our position in Christ. And so glad of the things that You give us to do and make plain to us that we should do and where we should do them and how we should do them. To provide our every need according to Your riches in the glory of Christ Jesus. Father, You humble us. Your word humbles us. These things that we have in Christ are just more than we can comprehend and yet we revel in the things that we do know and do have and do see. Lord, help us to be the men and women of God that You'd have us to be. Continue to help us to grow in the grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. Until the Lord comes for us or perhaps we might even go by the way of the grave. Even that is a testimony to Thyself, Lord. Now bless us this day. Bless our recreation. Bless our fellowship. Bless Your word, we ask.