In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes that serving the Lord is not just a simple task, but a miraculous act of God. He highlights the principle that God is the giver and we, as His followers, must receive from Him. The speaker uses various biblical references, such as God being our Son and shield, the head of the body, and the vine with us as the branches, to illustrate this principle. The sermon concludes by discussing the importance of relying on the resurrection power of the Lord to fully understand and fulfill our role in serving Him.

Good evening, brothers and sisters in the Lord. As we come to the study of God's word, there is a principle of Bible study that is absolutely indispensable, a principle we can't take for granted, a principle that we cannot live without, and that principle is total reliance upon God's Holy Spirit. We do praise the Lord for every help, every assistant, every book, every commentator, every word study book and atlas and concordance and every help. But at the end of the day, we must come to the Lord Himself. Only God can reveal God. Only the Lord can show Himself. He delights to do it. He will pour water on him that's thirsty. He will reveal these things unto babes. And He's promised if we would come as little children, that He would not hide these things from us, but He would reveal them unto us. We've come to see the Lord. We've come to hear from the Lord. And so I'm going to ask you to bow with me and we're going to commit our time to Him. Before we actually do that, I want to just call attention to a verse that some weeks ago had made a great impact on my life, more like a month ago, I think. I was reading Acts chapter 20. Remember when Eutychus fell out the window? And at first I thought the principle was against long preaching. And then I thought it was against falling asleep while there's long preaching. But I have an idea that probably one of the main truths of that passage is this, that if I'm going to hear the full message, I need the resurrection power of the Lord. In order to hear the complete message, He needed the resurrection power of the Lord. And so let's just trust Him to give us that power tonight that we might hear fully what He says. He's great enough to use this message. He chooses the foolish things, the weak things. And so let's trust Him together. Let's bow. Our Father, we thank You so much that in this whole matter of hearing Your voice and seeing You in the scriptures and knowing You, seeking Your face, You have not left us on our own, but You have put into our hearts the Holy Spirit. We thank Thee, we praise Thee for that one who is God, who lives in us to unveil to us the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray in a special way tonight that You might find us and meet us where we are and take us where You'd have us, especially in this whole matter of what it means to serve the Lord. Give us ears to hear, we pray. Unveil the Lord Jesus to us. And by that revelation, we pray that we might be changed. We come calling in the name of the Lord Jesus and not because in any way we deserve to hear from heaven, but because our Lord Jesus deserves it and we claim it in His all prevailing name. Amen. As you know, our theme, 2 Timothy chapter 2, 21, that we might be vessels of honor, sanctified, and as Darby translates it, serviceable to the master or meet for the use of the master, usable. We've already heard this week that we were created to be His servants, so that's not the issue. The first time servant is mentioned in the Bible, in fact, seven times in Exodus, Let my people go that they might serve me. Created to serve, redeemed to serve, and we heard we're called to serve, and so that's not the issue. Are we His servants? Are we called to serve? Should we serve? That's not the issue. You were made for that. You were redeemed for that. You're called to that. I'm called to that. Are we serviceable? It's not the same thing. May God give us light on this. I'm not suggesting in any way that it's asking, are we worthy? We're never worthy. We'll not be worthy to serve, but are we serviceable? One danger that we face in a week like this is the danger that is expressed in Luke 1040. I like Darby's translation of this as well. It says, Now Martha was distracted with much serving. I say that's a danger that we can face because we don't want to get distracted. Say, we've come to study service. No, we haven't. We've come to see the Lord. That's why we're here. And wouldn't it be a terrible thing to come to see the Lord and get distracted by something called service? I hope when the Lord allows us to leave the conference, we know a lot more about service. We're taught of God in our hearts. Service is a wonderful thing, but it's not Him. It's not the Lord. And so we've come to behold the Lord. And yes, we'll hear about what it means to serve the Lord and serve the house and serve one another. But we want to hear those things in a Christ centered way. So you pray as we present the truth and pray as God burns that truth indelibly into your own heart. Kenny Pittman suggested last evening that maybe we'll need to refocus in terms of our views of Christian service or rethink some of these matters. I don't know what your background is and what you've come with. I know this, that if you've come to pick up some new formula, you probably won't find it here this week. That's not what this is about. Maybe you think, well, maybe God will challenge me this week and I'll be a more zealous servant, more on fire for the Lord, more dedicated, more zealous, get more involved. If you've come looking for that, you may be disappointed. That's not why we're here. Not to discover some new plow that maybe you can put your hands on. And what does it mean to serve the Lord? We want to behold Him. I want to read some service passages to get your heart into what I think is God's heart on this whole matter of serving the Lord. There are some passages that when you hear them, they're not like the regular ones. There are some regular passages and then there are some service passages and your heart responds. It's like a strumming of a chord and your heart says, I don't know a lot about service, but yes, that, I like that. Let me read a couple of verses. Acts 13, 36 says that David served the purpose of God in his generation. How'd you like that on your gravestone? Served the purpose of God in his generation. Romans 7, 6, the Apostle Paul says to serve the Lord in the newness of the spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. You say, I may not know a lot about service, but that sounds good. What does it mean to serve in the newness of the spirit? Hebrews 9, 14, that the blood of Christ might cleanse our conscience from dead works, that we might serve the living God. Romans 12, 1 talks about a spiritual service of worship. And when we hear verses like that, we say, I really want to hear about service if I can serve the purpose of God in my generation. I want to hear about it if there's such a thing as serving in the newness of the spirit, not the deadness of the letter. With a clean conscience, free from dead works, to serve the living God. Spiritual service. Worship. What's that all about? Brothers and sisters in the Lord, has God given a word, something that will illumine us, teach us what it means to be serviceable to the Master? I believe he has. Several times already this week, it's been suggested that we follow 1 Samuel 3, 9 as a prayer. 1 Samuel 3, 9 says, speak Lord, for your servant is listening. Speak Lord, for your servant is listening. Let's make that our prayer this week. Now, as you know by now, the privilege that I have is to share on this wonderful reality. What does it mean to serve the Lord? So easy to say, Joshua 24, 15, as for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. That's easy to say. What does it mean? Deuteronomy 10 says, do it with all your heart and with all your soul. Serve him and cling to him. Deuteronomy 28 says, serve the Lord with joy and with a glad heart. 1 Samuel 12 says, serve him in truth with all your heart. 1 Chronicles chapter 28 says, serve him with a willing mind. As for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. What does it mean? It's been the prevailing emphasis in my short contact with the Richmond Family Conference. And as I understand it through the years, it's been their prevailing emphasis. To focus on God's viewpoint, to focus on what does the Lord say? His purpose, His design, His plan, His pattern. Over and over again through the years, God's messengers have taken God's people back to the original. What is God's heart on this? And what is God's heart on this? And what does He say? Let me ask this, has God, has He given a blueprint? Is there a master plan for this thing called serving the Lord? Is there a design, a scheme that we can look at and take the reality and come here and say, now, this is how God intended it. If there were some resolve of God, some divine intention, if He had written out some blueprint of Christian service, some master design from the heart of the master himself. If God had handed down for this week, for example, what He handed down to Moses when He gave the tabernacle. And you remember in Exodus 25, 9, He said, according to all that I am going to show you, just so construct it. Wouldn't it be wonderful if there were a blueprint that God would hand down and say, not the tabernacle, but Christian service. How to minister, how to serve the Lord. God, according to all I'm going to show you this week, just so construct it. There is a master plan. There is a blueprint. This morning, Brother Dana showed us these wonderful servants of the Lord in the Old Testament. Beautiful servants of the Lord. But you know, Jacob is an incomplete model and Moses is an incomplete model. And so is Samuel, so is Daniel, so is David. Put them all together, you get this picture, but they're just such incomplete models. And then Dana points us to the Lord Jesus, the servant. Can't say He's an incomplete model, but in the minds of some, they might think He's an unattainable model. He's different. He's the God-man, I'm not the God-man. Is there another blueprint? Well, we could look back before sin entered the picture, before sin entered the race, before the fall. When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, was there anything at that time called service? Before the fall, before sin. I remember hearing Dana make some very suggestive comments about life before the fall. Interesting, based on Genesis 121, be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, subdue it. And God took the man, put him in the garden to cultivate and keep it. See, we could go back there, but that's so vague. That's so hazy. If you go back before man sinned, you've got some suggestive words. Fruitful, multiply, subdue, rule, cultivate, keep. I have an idea, it's all there, but it's all in seed form, so dim, so vague. And my heart cries out, Lord, I want to be serious about this thing called service. I look in the Bible, I see he's a servant, a servant, a servant, but they're all incomplete models. I read the Gospel of Mark and I see our Lord Jesus, and somehow it just seems unattainable. I go back before the fall, before sin, and I see these wonderful words, but what was involved in cultivating and keeping and all of that? Ask Dana, he knows all about that. And so I make this suggestion. How about if we can't look back before the fall and only get a little idea? I wonder if we could look ahead after the sin problem has been dealt with, after it's all over. If we could look ahead where there is no sin and where they're free from all kinds of distortion. You've already heard several times this week these passages, and I'm going to ask you to turn there now. Pray for me as I set before your hearts God's blueprint, heavenly service. Turn, please, to Revelation chapter 7. Revelation chapter 7, begin at verse 13. Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, these who are clothed in the white robes, who are they? Where have they come from? And I said to him, my Lord, you know. And he said to me, these are the ones who come out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason, they're before the throne of God. They serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them. They will hunger no longer, nor thirst any more, nor will the sun beat down on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to the springs of the water of life. And God will wipe all tears from their eyes. Can we get past the controversy of verse 13? Can we lay aside our distinctive views? Who are these robed in white? We'll leave that to the hermeneuts. We'll leave that to the prophetic gladiators that are out there. All of you eschatological exegetes who like to argue over those things. Home in on verse 15. They serve him day and night in his temple. Can we agree on this, that whoever these saints are and whatever dispensation they represent at this time. God has gone to the eternal state. They're in their final condition in that place we commonly call heaven. And for this week, humor me, that's what we'll call it. Whatever your theology approach is, in this perfect condition, in this everlasting state with the sin problem settled. They serve him day and night. Go to the close of your Bible, Revelation 22, begin at verse 1. And he showed me a river of the water of life as clear as crystal coming from the throne of God and the Lamb in the middle of its street. On either side of the river was the tree of life bearing 12 kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Now, verse 3 and 4, there will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it. His bondservants will serve him and they will see his face and his name shall be on their foreheads. Verse 3, his bondservants will serve him. This is in eternity. This is in heaven. Up there, when it's all over, he has servants, bondservants, who serve him day and night forever. This, I think, can be the key to the master plan. Here's the reality laid upon the blueprint. Here's service as God intended it to be. Service in its purest form. Service in its highest expression. You want to know what it means to serve the Lord? What would happen if God enabled us to look up there, where his bondservants serve him day and night? As Kenny Pittman said the other night, after the doing is done, they're serving him as ages roll on ages. In heaven, his bondservants are going to serve him day and night. That's God's will. That's God's heart. That's God's plan. How do they do it? If we can see, are you with me? If we can see how they do it, maybe, maybe God will dawn on us. How we can do it. We want to look at heavenly service. Maybe that's what our Lord Jesus had in mind when he taught us to pray, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. His will's being done up there. How? That's what we want to look at this week. How do they do it? In order that God might dawn on us how we're to do it, I'm suggesting the same principles by which his bondservants will serve him forever. Are the principles by which we on the earth can offer him a heavenly service. May God dawn himself on us as we look at these things. Now, that's a big topic, as you'd expect. So let me, before we get into it, give you a couple of limits. I want to limit myself because otherwise we'll be everywhere. The first limit is this. I want to focus on his bondservants up there. You see, there are other people in heaven. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The Trinity, the Godhead is in heaven and God's doing God's will. But I don't think that's what he had in mind when he said, Thy will be done. He's not saying, Thy will be done on earth among your Christians, your servants, as the Godhead is doing it in heaven. That's true, but I don't think that's what he had in mind. And I know up there, there are some other beings, the cherubim are up there, and the seraphim and the archangel and all creation levels of angels. I don't think he had that in mind either. They, too, are incomplete servants. They're strangers to sorrow and suffering and our salvation. And so I'd like to limit it. I'm sure they're darting around doing God's will at lightning speed and they're immediate and so on. But they're incomplete pictures. But these bondservants, not just, if you look at the record, it's not just the spirits of just men made perfect. It's beyond that. We're not talking about saints in the intermediate state. But this pictures them when they receive their new bodies, they're glorified by how they'll serve the Lord forever in their resurrection bodies. That's what we want to see. There's one other limitation. We're going to have to limit it to the how of doing His will. And not the what. You understand what I mean by that? I think the what changes. The service that they're doing, whatever it is, is not exactly what the service that we're doing would be on the earth. There's no evangelism up there. There's no soul winning up there. There's no bringing the lost to Jesus up there. That day has passed. Whatever their will, God's will is up there. They won't be visiting the sick and the prisoner and the orphan the day of handing out a cup of water in the name of the Lord Jesus. That's passed. No counseling up there. No ministry to backsliders up there. No encouraging the depressed up there. No washing the saints feet. That's all over. Hospitality, intercession, preaching, teaching. I don't know what they do up there. Don't get me wrong, I like singing as much as the next fellow. But after a million years of amazing grace, I think even in heaven's perfect harmony after a while, they're doing something else. I know it must include the marveling and worship and praising the Lord and all of that. The what changes. Here's what I'm suggesting to you. The how doesn't change. And whatever they're doing, how do they do it? Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We're going to discover the how and bring the how down to earth that we might have a heavenly service on the earth. Want to serve the Lord? He's given us a master plan. He's given us a blueprint. And somehow if God can take us up there to look at that plan and then come down here and by the spirit of God to apply that, I think we'll be a little closer to what it means to be serviceable to the master. May God help us. Let me suggest for those that like logical connection, at least my part of this. As I have come before the Lord. To look at that marvelous blueprint, I have found at least three principles, which is perfect because I speak three times. I found at least three principles. I don't doubt at all that there are many more. But as I looked up at the blueprint and watched the servants, the bond servants of the Lord serve him forever, and I asked the Lord, how are they doing that as God began to unfold this? He showed me this. How does heaven begin? And how does it continue forever? And when I asked that question, how does heaven begin and how does it continue forever? I found one of the hows. God began to write it in my soul. And I laid it aside and I come back to the scripture and the blueprint. And all of a sudden there it was again. How does heaven begin? Different answer. And how does it continue forever? And I saw another principle of what it means to serve the Lord. And I came back again. And I saw it again. How does heaven begin? And how does it continue forever? Brothers and sisters in the Lord, that's what we want to look at this week. Will my outline will be simple. How does heaven begin and how does it continue forever? We'll take the facts of that and see the principle. We'll come from heaven and bring it down to earth and ask, can it apply here? And I suggest nothing else applies. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. So that's what I'm about and that's where I'm heading. And I don't know if God's going to bless you. He's already blessed me out of my socks. And so it's OK. Be patient with me. I tell you, you talk about we were singing Holy Ground before. This is Holy Ground. Some of this new, not novel, new, fresh to my soul. Some of this is new, fresh to my soul. Well, let's at least get the first one before us tonight. How does heaven begin? How does it continue forever? I'm going to ask you to turn to John, chapter five. We'll get the facts and then look at the principle. John, chapter five, our Lord Jesus points to a wonder. A marvel, he calls it. There are many marvels in this chapter, but this is sort of a marvel of marvels. This is even more marvelous than the healing of the man at Bethesda there. This is even, according to our Lord Jesus, more astounding, more marvelous than what our brother Stephen was sharing this afternoon. When the Holy Spirit makes our spirit alive again, that's a marvel. This is a marvel of marvels, altogether new. Verse 25, please. John 5, 25, Truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. I think in the context, he's talking about spiritual life. But then verse 28. Do not marvel at this. Wonderful as it was, what a marvel that was, bringing people to life from the dead spirits of life, he said, don't marvel at this. For an hour is coming, now listen to this marvel, in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice, will come forth. Those who did good to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment, this had never been thought of. The immortality of the soul, spiritual immortality, that had been thought of because that makes sense logically on the level of earth and the lower arena. Because there, at least the spirit is like God, who is a spirit. But never, never in the boldest imaginations of the wisest men of earth, never has anyone entertained the thought that the body would survive the dishonors of the grave. That was a marvel. That was an amazing thing. We're not talking about creation. We're not talking about God making a new body. It's not a recreation, it's a resurrection. The same body that had gone to dust and to ashes, that had been dissembled and scattered and assimilated, an amazing thing. He said that body, the day is coming, you want to marvel? The voice of the Son of God, that body's coming back, the same DNA, marvelous thing. There's not a man, there's not a woman, there's not a child since Adam who's ever died that will not rise in the identical body that their spirit has abandoned, amazing thing. How does heaven begin? And the answer is it begins with a resurrection, begins with a marvel, one of the grandest displays of grace in the universe. We're always asked, I don't know if you are, but in the circles that I came up in, one of the questions that is always asked, what's man's part? What's my part? What's God's part? I just can't sit back. What do I do? What's my responsibility? What's my duty? All right, let's go to the last chapter, folks. Let me ask you this, in the resurrection, what's your part? Are you going to help? Are you going to assist? Isaiah saw the Lord, he said he was undone. This is undone. When you go into the grave and you begin to decay and that thing is dissembled and all those atoms, I don't understand the science part of it. But I'll tell you, at that time, if God doesn't do it, it ain't done. I like Kenny's remark, when all the doing's done, how does heaven begin? It begins with one of the grandest displays of grace in the universe, where man has no part, God has every part, a mighty miracle of God, resurrection. That's how heaven begins. How does heaven continue forever? In order to answer that question, I want to ask this question. Why in God's description of that place, that eternal state, does He call attention over and over again to the fact that there'll be no sun there, there'll be no moon there? Follow these verses, if you would. Revelation 21 again, verse 22 and 23. I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it and its lamp is the Lamb. Revelation 22, verse 5, there will no longer be any night. They will not have need of the light of the lamp nor the light of the sun because the Lord God will illumine them and they'll reign forever and ever. This was prophesied by Isaiah, chapter 60, verse 19, no longer will you have the sun for light by day, nor for brightness will the moon give you light. You'll have the Lord as an everlasting light and God will be your glory. Your sun will no longer set. Your moon will no longer wane. You'll have the Lord as an everlasting light. The days of mourning are over. When God created the sun, what did He intend that that would picture? What did He intend by that? The sun of our solar system. See, when God created the sun, He created the sun to be our solar system, our experience, the greatest giver. The sun is a giver. The earth is a receiver. The sun gives and gives. Without the sun, there's no light. There's no heat. There's no color. There's no life. There's no weather. There's no food. There's no fruit. There's nothing. Everything depends on relationship that the earth has to the sun. If you're too close, you're burned up. If you're too far away, you're a glacier. Has to be a proper relationship. And God made it that way. Psalm 116.12, the psalmist asks this question, touches on service. What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me? He's asking, how can I serve the Lord? What can I give Him for all of His benefits toward me? Let me ask this question. I'll use the words of the psalmist. Let's say the earth could talk. The sun is His great benefactor. The sun has been giving to the earth. Now the earth talks and the earth says, what can I render to the sun for all His benefits toward me? What can the earth give the sun? What contribution can the earth make to the sun? Can the earth enrich the sun in any way? Can it give anything? The answer is yes. If you thought no, you're wrong. The answer is yes. What can the earth give to the sun? And the answer is, it can give a testimony by receiving. We know what the sun can do. The earth became a receiver and all of a sudden we know what the sun can do. If the earth didn't receive, we would think the sun is just a ball of fire and all it can do is glow. What can the sun do? Just burn, just shine, just radiate, just glow. It's all glory. No, it's not, because the earth received its rays and the earth was transformed and the earth was changed and life came and fruit came. In every place you look on the earth, you have a testimony to what a great sun there is up there, right? The earth learned how to serve. The earth saw that it could serve the sun by letting the sun serve the earth. Are you with me? The earth learned the principle of receiving and as it receives all that the sun gives, there's a testimony in this transformation. When we go to heaven, are we going to have a Lord's table, a bread breaking service? Say, not up there. Why? Why won't we have a bread breaking service up there? We have the reality. We don't need a picture. Why will there be no sun up there? Because they have the reality. He created the sun to be the great giver and the earth to be the great receiver. And in heaven, it begins with a miracle of grace, a miracle of resurrection. And how does it continue forever? God serves them. There's no need of the sun. He's the source. God pictured, created the sun to picture our Lord Jesus, the light of the world. Our God is the sun and shield. All through the Bible, make thy face shine upon me. It's all designed to picture the giver. What shall I render to the Lord? Let's answer it in the next verse. What shall I render unto the Lord? Verse 12, for all of his benefits. And his answer is, I will take the cup of salvation and call upon the Lord. Say, what can I give him? You can give him a heart that receives. You want to serve the Lord? Then let him serve you. That's a heavenly principle of service. One of my favorite verses on the second coming comes from Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12, verse 37, blessed is the man, blessed is the slave whom the master will find on the alert when he comes. And listen to this, truly, I say to you, he will gird himself to serve. Have them recline at the table and he will come and wait on them. See, I knew that was true in the first coming. That he didn't come to be ministered unto, but he came to minister. He came to serve. He came to wash our feet. But according to Luke 12, 37, when he comes again, he's going to put on the slave apron again and he's going to wait on them forever. That's how it is up there. Brothers and sisters, let's come back to earth. It's the first principle. We're going to look again. How does heaven begin? How does it continue? Let's start here. May God burn it into our hearts. How does heaven begin? It begins with a mighty miracle. If you thought you could come to a conference like this, write down a few principles in your notebook and take them home and say, now I've learned to serve the Lord, you're mistaken. It's a mighty miracle of God to serve the Lord. It's a miracle of resurrection. It's a miracle of life. That's how heaven begins. How does heaven continue? By God serving us. I have an idea of the things I'm sharing with you. This is not the first time you've heard them. I have an idea for many of you, probably most of you. You've understood by God's spirit, by God's light, this great principle that God is the giver. You could illustrate it anywhere. He is our son and shield. He's the giver. He is the head of the body and the members draw from the head. He is the vine. We are the branches we must receive from him. But as I wrap it up, I want to illustrate it one more time. Turn, if you would, to Colossians, Colossians chapter three, rather chapter two, Colossians chapter two, begin at verse six. I'm going to jump right in the middle of his argument in order to illustrate this point. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him. Having been firmly rooted and now being built up in him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude, God takes us in this passage back to the beginning. Has it been that long? Do you remember when it started for you? When God dawned Christ on you, do you remember that day? It began by receiving. As you have received, and what did you receive that day? Not a doctor, not a church membership, even though your Bibles become alive since then, you didn't even receive a Bible then, you received a person. As you have received Christ Jesus, the Lord, so walk in him. It never gets harder than receiving. It's always receiving. As you have received, so walk in him. And then look at the illustration he gives. Verse seven, having been firmly rooted and now built up in him. It's an illustration from botany, from agriculture, from plant life, firmly rooted in him. If you're a plant and you're firmly rooted, what's the picture? And the answer is, he's the soil. You're rooted in the soil, which is Christ. This is such an amazing book. He's the soil. He is the adequate soil. If you took Colossians and you just divided it up in terms of two, six rooted in him, what comes before rooted in him? If you were here last year and heard Lance Lambert, as he shared from early Colossians and as only he can do it, describing Christ, the image of God, the image of the invisible God. He's the essence. He is God, the firstborn of all creation, the Lord of everything. He made it. He owns it. It's from him. It's unto him. He holds it all together that all the fullness might dwell in him. What is God doing before he gets to rooted in him? I'll tell you what he's doing, brothers and sisters in the Lord. He's analyzing the soil. He's showing you how adequate the soil is. How sufficient, how perfect, how enough. Then he says, you're rooted in him. This one who is God, this one who holds it all together, this one who is Lord, this one in whom all fullness dwells. He's your soil. Is that enough? Rooted in him, receiving from him. You want to serve the Lord, then let him be your soil. And that's all before Colossians 2, 6. What's after it? I'll tell you what's after it. There are voices. There are influences. There are enemies. There are people who are trying to uproot you, to spoil you, to ruin you, to cut off that lifeline. And that's the whole message of Colossians. Look at your soil. You're rooted in him. Don't let anyone, don't let anything, don't let any power. Don't let anything cut off your lifeline from him or you won't be able to serve the Lord. That's how you serve him. You receive from him. You serve the Lord by letting the Lord serve you. Oh, may God teach us from heaven. We've only begun to look at the blueprint. We need to come again and look again. How does heaven begin? How does it end or continue? But that won't end. How does it continue forever? We look at that, but for tonight, may God burn this in our heart. Christian service is a miracle of God. A supernatural resurrection, that's how it begins. And it continues by God pouring out and you taking in and God pouring. You want to serve the Lord, then ask him to give you an open heart. Ask him to give you a responsive heart. The more you let God pour into you, the more you're giving a testimony. That's how earth gives a testimony to the sun. Otherwise, you think he's just glory out there. But as you receive, you're serving him by receiving. That's how to serve the Lord. That's one principle that I get from heaven. They don't need the sun up there because they have the S.O.N. up there. And the lamb is the lamb. Those things are everlasting principles. They're true now. You also have been promised resurrection. I'm not talking about the future. You know, when we see him, we'll be like him. That's true now. When you see him, you're like him. Resurrection now. God serving you now. You are rooted and grounded in him. Don't let anybody or anything uproot you, spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit or any kind of legalistic teaching. It's only him. It's only him. Again, you serve the Lord by letting the Lord serve you. Ask the Lord to make you a receiver that God might be able to pour into you how you serve him when you take, when you take, when you take. Oh, may God help us. This is heavenly service. Let's bow. Father, thank you. We ask you not for what we think this might mean, but for everything you've inspired it to mean. We ask you to work that in our lives. Teach us what it means to allow you to serve us so that by receiving, we might serve you, make the truth of being receivers a mighty factor in our lives. We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.