Jesus is God

John chapter 10 is where we're gonna start. I'm gonna read from verses 22 to 33 in our Bible study this morning So John 10 starting at verse 22 It says now it was the feast of dedication in Jerusalem and it was winter By the way Dedication in Hebrew is Hanukkah. So this is Hanukkah. It's winter. Jesus is here in Jerusalem to celebrate Hanukkah I don't know if he's gonna spin the dreidel, but he's there at least this is part of a Jewish feast It's been going on for years for centuries verse 23 and Jesus walked to the temple in Solomon's Porch And then the Jews surrounded him and said to him how long do you keep us in doubt if you are the Christ? Tell us plainly and Jesus answered them I told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name They bear witness of me, but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep as I said to you My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me and I give them eternal life And they shall never perish neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand my father who has given them to me is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out of my father's hand and I and my father are One and then the Jews took up stones again to stone him Jesus answered them many good works I've shown you from my father for which of those works. Do you stone me the Jews answered him saying for a good work We do not stone you but for blasphemy and because you being a man make yourself God let's pause there and pray Lord, we commit our Bible study to you. Now. We just pray that you'd give us eyes to see Ears to hear and a heart that would receive what you would say to us today through this story We thank you for your word Lord, we thank you for truth in a relative world we thank you that we can come into your house and just settle ourselves before you and just be reminded of truth and To just draw near to you today. So we pray God that you would speak to our hearts and that's still small voice And we love you Lord, and we thank you together in Jesus name and everyone said amen About two years ago. I was having dinner with a college student who was here in America on an international visa he was from Lebanon and

He was and is a Muslim. I'm still friends with him and he Asked me a pointed question at this dinner that we had together Now before I tell you what the question was little background to what Muslims believe concerning Jesus Muslims believe that Jesus was a prophet They believed that he was an enlightened teacher They even believe that he performed miracles, by the way, Muhammad didn't perform any miracles But Muslims do not believe that Jesus is God Nor that he died on the cross for our sins And so here was the question that my friend asked me. He looked at me and he said If Jesus is God because the conversation of Jesus came up at dinner and I made that assertion he said if Jesus is God Why doesn't he say so plainly in the Bible? And that's exactly what is happening here in our story. Now. It's a fair question Verse 24 look again in your in your Bibles verse 24 the Jews say to Jesus How long do you keep us in doubt if you are the Christ if you're the Messiah? Tell us plainly and Basically Jesus says I have been telling you plainly. I've been telling you over and over again in different ways but the reason you do not hear is Because you do not belong and the reason you do not belong is because you do not believe That's what he basically is telling them and he exposes Their lack of hearing because they don't belong and believe using metaphorical language about Sheep and he as a shepherd and so if you look again in verses 26 and 27 This is where he talks about. Hey, the real sheep who belong to the shepherd hear his voice The reason you haven't heard me is because you you don't belong to my flock The reason you don't though you could is because you just don't believe in me So look at verses 26 and 27 again He says but you do not believe because you are not of my sheep as I said to you my sheep hear my voice And I know them and they follow me

Now I never saw that more pointedly illustrated Then on one of my trips to Israel, I'm in Bethlehem. I'm in the fields of Bethlehem And there's a large flock of sheep and there are two Bedouin shepherds standing nearby now, I didn't know that I didn't know that I was in the fields of Bethlehem that it was actually two different flocks, but they were all grazing together. And there were two flocks, and one flock belonged to one of the shepherds, and the other flock belonged to the other. So, they're standing there conversing, and these are Bedouins, so they're Palestinians, so they're conversing in Arabic. They were not Jews speaking in Hebrew. And they're conversing in Arabic, and then there comes a moment where I'm just standing there watching and observing, and there comes a moment where the two men stop conversation. The one shepherd whistles to his sheep and says something in Arabic. And at that moment, even though the herds, the flocks were mixed, only his sheep, who heard him whistle and say something in Arabic, raised their heads, stopped grazing, raised their heads, turned to where he was. He just starts walking, and they all leave, and they start following him. The other sheep who belonged to the other shepherd were unfazed. They kept grazing. They didn't even lift up their heads. And I'm standing there, and I'm watching this, and I'm like, wow, this is exactly like John 10, where Jesus says, you know, my sheep know my voice, and they follow me. Like there was this affinity there and relationship there. And so, I thought to myself, you know, I'm seeing John 10, like right now, illustrated. Then my second thought was, how in the world did those sheep know Arabic? That really did cross my mind, I have to be honest with you. That's an ignorant thing. I was in Honduras once and this lady was calling her dog in Spanish. I thought the same thing. How does that dog know Spanish? But anyway. This is what's happening here. And Jesus is saying, the reason you don't hear is because you don't belong. You're not a part of my flock. You could be, but you don't belong because you don't believe. That's why you don't hear. It's very cyclical. You don't hear because you don't belong. You don't belong because you don't believe. If you would believe, you'd belong, and then you'd hear. You'd understand. He says, I've been saying to you over and over again who I am. But see, they had dismissed

Him. They had dismissed Jesus. They had already decided, you're not God in flesh. You're not Messiah. We don't believe in you. And yet, they're coming to Him demanding that He prove who He is. Now this is like if you were to have an illness and you go to the doctor and the doctor has a prescription that can resolve your illness. But on the way to the doctor's office you make up your mind, I don't care what my doctor says. I'm not going to believe it. I'm not going to take this medication. I don't really care. I'm not going to do it because I don't believe in the efficacy of the medication. If you've already decided that, then when you get there stop demanding that the doctor persuade you that the medicine is good for you if you've already decided in your mind that you don't believe it's good for you. So, this is what's happening here with the Jews. They're like, we don't really think you're Messiah, but why don't you tell us plainly? And Jesus is like, I've been telling you plainly. But see, you have already convinced yourselves I'm not who I am, who I say I am, so how can I persuade you? And this is the whole dilemma here in this situation. We have to come to God with some measure of faith, you know. I mean, Hebrews 11, 6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that God exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him. In other words, faith begins with the basic premise that you believe God exists. And if you don't believe that God exists, then you're not going to believe anything else about God. The same is true about one's understanding of Jesus. If you don't approach who Jesus is with an open heart and mind to at least be able to accept that perhaps Jesus is who He says He is, if you don't believe that basic premise, then you're not going to accept anything else about Jesus at all. In other words, knowing who Jesus is begins with an open heart. And as much as Jesus was expressing Himself plainly to the people of His day, they didn't hear because they didn't belong, they didn't belong because they didn't believe. And I think a fair question to ask anyone who is curious about Jesus, this is the question I asked my Muslim friend, or anyone, whether Muslim, Hindu, Baha'i, any other religion, or no faith at all, somebody has no knowledge of Jesus, anyone who's curious about who Jesus is, it's a fair question to ask them, well are you at least open to believe that Jesus is who He says He is? If the answer is no, well then you've already dismissed Jesus and it's a waste of my time and your time to try to persuade you of something that you're already convinced isn't true. If on the other

hand you say yes, I'm open to at least hearing and perhaps accepting that Jesus is who He says He is, then the next question is, well who exactly did Jesus say that He is? If you look here in verses 25 to 27 in our text, notice Jesus's answer that will help us understand his identity. In verse 25, Jesus answered them, and he said, I told you, I told you who I am, and you do not believe. The works, circle that or highlight that in your Bible, the works that I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of me. But you do not believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I said to you. Verse 27, my sheep hear my voice, underline those words. And I know them, and they follow me. So what is Jesus saying here concerning his identity? What he's saying is, the works that I do, verse 25, and the words that I speak, verse 27, prove who I am. So I'm making it easy for you note takers today. There's one simple slide. We're going to answer one simple question. The question is, what do the works and words of Jesus prove about him? And the answer is that Jesus is God. I'm giving you the answer up front because I want you to unpack all of this with me. And again, we're going to go to chapter 8 and chapter 14, too, to see this. And we're going to start with looking at his words first, and then we'll kind of wrap it up looking at his works. But in regards to his words, sometimes you can't understand something if you don't understand language and context. Okay? You might hear something explained, but unless you understand the language and the context, it's very difficult to understand or grasp. Example, so years ago, because what we do here at Cornerstone is we go straight through the Bible.

So years ago, I'm in Numbers chapter 22, and we're talking about the story of Balaam. And those of you who are familiar with the story of Balaam, you know that God opens the mouth of a donkey to speak to Balaam. So there's a talking donkey in Numbers chapter 22. And as I was teaching it, what it brought to mind was, and I just said this as an illustration, what it brought to mind was a TV show I used to watch when I was a kid about a talking horse. And it was called Mr. Ed. How many of you are familiar with Mr. Ed? Okay, well, for those of you who are too young to know what in the world am I talking about, that's why they have YouTube, so just go look it up. So a horse is a horse, of course, of course. And no one can talk to a horse, of course, unless the horse, of course, is the famous Mr. Ed. So there was this talking horse, and I'm in the sermon just giving this illustration about Mr. Ed, this talking horse that reminds... Why? Well, we translate our services live, simultaneously in Spanish. And I had the Spanish translator come to me after the first service and say, Pastor Gary, you just lost all of the Hispanic population. I said, what? How? She goes, all of that stuff about Sr. Ed. I said, Sr. Ed, what are you talking about? Like, the language was...

Like, I didn't understand it in the reverse. And she's like, Sr. Ed, Sr. Ed, you know, the whole story, the whole story. El caballo, el caballo, the horse, the horse. I go, okay, the horse, of course, okay. But she said to me, you know, because language, it was hard for her to translate. They're listening to this story about some talking horse named Mr. Ed, and it made no sense. I said, I get it, I get it. Like, you have to understand language and cultural context. That's what we need to understand, too, sometimes when we read our Bibles, especially when it comes to the identity of Jesus, because Jesus says who He is very clearly, but unless we understand language and context, we're going to miss it. Now, hear me on this. When I say it's important to understand cultural context, I'm saying that as a means of understanding the passage, not dismissing it. There are some liberal theologians today who would have you to believe that based on the culture at that particular time, it's all antiquated stuff, and it doesn't really apply to us today. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is sometimes it's important to know the cultural context. It helps us to understand the text itself. That's the case here.

When Jesus says what He says, He says it plainly. We can miss it, though, because of the language, and we don't have the Jewish context. So let me unpack some of this with you. How do we know that Jesus says plainly to them that He is God? One of the reasons we know that He's plainly saying it, although in our Western minds, it's sometimes hard to see it as plainly, is because of their reaction. When He asserts His deity that He is God, there are many times in the Bible that the Jews who don't believe that He's God consider that blasphemy when He says such a thing. That's why they pick up stones to stone Him. They hear what he's saying. It doesn't escape their understanding because they know the language and they know the context of the culture. But it might escape us. Here's one example right here in John 10 of when they pick up stones to stone Jesus because they clearly hear him declare that he's God. So where is it? Verse 30. When you look at verse 30 in our story, this is what really ticks them off more than anything. He says in verse 30, I and my father are one. We are one. Now, in the original language of the New Testament, it's Greek. That word one in Greek is hen, H-E-N. And it means one in essence and nature. Another words, one in the same. Jesus is saying, I and God the father are one and the same. We are completely the same in essence and nature. So he's declaring himself to be God. Now you might look at that and go, how in the world, Pastor G? I don't get that. How's he saying he's God out of one word that sounds like a chicken? Here's how. We know he's saying this because they pick up stones to kill him. It's not unclear to them. They understand what he's saying clearly. Look at verses 31 to 33. Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him. And Jesus answered them, many good works I've shown you from my father. For which of these works do you stone me? And they answered him saying, for a good work we do not stone you, but for blasphemy. See, they hear it, they understand the language

and the context, blasphemy and because you being a man, make yourself God. The NIV and the NLT translates that last part because you, a mere man, claim to be God. They heard it. They understood it in its context. Let me tell you another reason why this ticked them off because they didn't believe Jesus. In Jewish synagogues all over the world today, they quote what is known as the great Shema. It's Deuteronomy 6.4. And in Jewish synagogues in Hebrew they will recite Deuteronomy 6.4, Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad, Hero Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. So when Jesus says, I and the Father are one, they're hearing the parallel of the great Shema. You're saying what? Yeah, I'm saying that I and God are one and the same. In addition they would have understood their Jewish scriptures. Zechariah 14.9 says that when Messiah comes He will be Messiah King. He will rule the earth. And this is what Zechariah 14.9 says, and the Lord shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be. The Lord is one and His name is one, Echad. So see the language might escape us but it didn't escape them. Jesus says, I and the Father are one. That's a mirror of the great Shema of Deuteronomy 6.4. That is a mirror of the prophecy of Messiah King of Zechariah 14.9. Jesus is asserting His deity. That's why they pick up stones to kill Him because they didn't believe it. A similar story happens in John 8. Go backwards now to John chapter 8. Let's see a brief story there where the same reaction. They're going to pick up stones. They want to stone Him. Why? Because He's clearly asserting His deity. In John chapter 8, let's look at verses 54 to 59. In John 8 verse 54, Jesus answered, If I honor myself, my honor is nothing. It is my Father who honors me, of whom you say that He is your God, yet you have not known Him. But I know Him. And if I say I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you. But I do know Him and keep His word. Verse 56, Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day and he saw it and was glad. And then the Jews said to him, You are not yet 50 years old. And have you seen Abraham? And Jesus said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, Before Abraham was, I am. Underline that in your Bibles. I am. And then, this is what ticked them off. Verse 59, Then they took up stones to throw at Him. But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple going through the midst of them and so passed by. Again, language and Jewish context. So, they have this conversation with Jesus. He says, Hey, by the way, I just want you to know, Abraham longed to see my day and he saw it. Now, wait a minute. Abraham was 2,000 years before Jesus. And Jesus says,

Abraham saw my day. So, that perks their curiosity, but it doesn't quite tick them off yet because they're like, Well, you're not even 50 years old. Why do you lay claim to knowing Abraham? And Jesus says, Oh, by the way, before Abraham was, before Abraham even existed, I... Am. Now, this is why they pick up stones to stone him. He's using the same construct of language that God used in Exodus chapter 3 when he spoke to Moses from the burning bush. When God spoke to Moses from the burning bush in Exodus chapter 3 and God called Moses to go back to Egypt to be the deliverer, to lead the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt to the promised land, Moses asked God a question. Moses says to God, well, they're going to ask me who sent me? Like who gave you authority to come in here? Who shall I say sent me? What is your name? And God replies from the burning bush, Exodus 3, verse 14, I am who I am. And he said, thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I am has sent you. The very name of God in Hebrew, Yahweh, is derived from a verb that means I am. I was having lunch with a Jewish rabbi once, we were reading scripture together. We came to a place where the name of God was used. He said, you can say it, but I can't. The name Yahweh is so precious in the hearts and minds of the Jewish people that every time it comes up in scripture instead of saying Yahweh, they will say Adonai. But the name Yahweh is derived from the verb to be, it is loosely translated I am. That's why God says, tell them I am that I am. So, when Jesus is saying to them, guys, listen before Abraham was, I am. He's using the same construct of the language to help them understand. I'm the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I'm the same God who spoke my name to Moses from a burning bush in Exodus chapter 3. That's why they become enraged. But see again, it escapes us because we don't necessarily understand

the language and the context. But the reason why Jesus said, I've known Abraham before Abraham was is because I'm God. We go way back. We go way back. He's been my friend for a long time. This is why they want to kill him. One more passage, John chapter 14. Go over a few more chapters now to John chapter 14. This is a much more gentle conversation. There's no hostility here because Jesus is having a conversation with his own disciples. And in John chapter 14, he says something very, very telling to Philip. I'm going to start at verse 1, read down to verse 11. Jesus says, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also. And where I go, you know, and the way you know. And Thomas said to him, Lord, we do not know where you are going and how can we know the way? And Jesus said to him, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. And from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Now listen, he's saying you've seen God. He's just been wrapped in flesh. I'm standing in front of you. Look at the next verses. Philip says to Him, Lord, show us the Father and it is sufficient for us. And Jesus said to him, have I been with you so long and yet you have not known me, Philip? Notice, He who has seen me has seen the Father. So, how can you say, show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me, the words that I speak to you? I do not speak on my own authority. Notice that the words, the

words testify. They don't speak of my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does the work. Verse 11, believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. And that's the last part for the last few minutes we have left that I want to talk about. But notice what he says there to Philip. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. I'm in the Father, the Father's in me. I don't know how else to say this because God came among you and wrapped Himself in flesh. I am God standing before you. If you've seen me, you've seen the Father. And he says, and if you can't grasp it for the sake of my words, at least grasp it for the sake of my works. This is how Jesus testifies that He is God. You see Jesus didn't go around healing people, and raising people from the dead, and casting out demons to wow the crowd. He did it primarily to show that He's God. That's why He did these things. He's saying in effect, look at my works. Look at the things that I do because God is at work here among you. This is why he defies nature and he walks on water because he's showing them that he's God. This is why in the middle of the Sea of Galilee when there's a raging storm, he calms the storm because their own scripture said in Psalm 107 verse 29 that God calms the storm so that its waves are still. He did that to fulfill Psalm 107 so that his disciples would look and go, oh, you're God. He even shows himself as God from the cross when he quotes from Psalm 22, which every Jew knew was a messianic Psalm. In Psalm 22, he's on the cross, verse one,

my God, my God, why have you forsaken me so that they would know he's God? You see, his works testified to the fact that he's God. There's a story with John the Baptist where once John the Baptist became delusional, not delusional, he became disillusioned, is the word I'm searching for, became disillusioned with the identity of Jesus because of his own circumstances and this can happen to people. John the Baptist was thrown in prison because he was outspoken against King Herod. Herod was living in adultery. Herod had stolen his brother's wife. It's a whole convoluted mess. It's another Bible study. As a result, Herod throws John the Baptist in prison. When John the Baptist is in prison, he becomes disillusioned, thinking, maybe Jesus isn't who I thought he was because if Jesus was really who I thought he was, I wouldn't be in this condition. Most of us have thought that a time or two. And so John the Baptist sends a couple of his own followers to Jesus to ask this question. It's in Matthew chapter 11. John the Baptist's disciples ask Jesus, are you the one who was to come or should we expect someone else? Now John the Baptist has been this great prophet

to precede and to announce the arrival of Messiah and even he, in prison, becomes so disillusioned with his circumstances that he wonders. Okay, we don't judge him. A lot of us have been there. Like, God, are you really at work? Because I'm in this condition and Jesus says to John the Baptist's disciples, you go back and you tell John this and it's Matthew 11, verses four and five. Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The blind see, the lame walk, the leopards are cleansed, the leopards are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. In other words, you go back and tell John, look at what I'm doing because my works testify the fact that I'm God. I'm still on the throne. Everything's gonna be okay. Now John the Baptist's situation, he would be beheaded but still, ultimately, everything's okay, right? We understand. Even the worst things in this life are not to detract from the ultimate joy of our salvation when we are with the Lord forever and ever. This life, yes, praise God. This life, this life at times will get hard but Paul even said, I consider my present sufferings not worth comparing to the glory

that awaits me in Christ Jesus. It's all perspective and perseverance. Jesus said, you go back and you tell John the Baptist, I'm God in flesh because of what I do. My works demonstrate who I am. I'm still on the throne. Everything's gonna be okay. You know what's interesting? The Bible says the son, Jesus, is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being. So I wanna answer one final quick question before we're dismissed that many of you might have which is, so if Jesus is God, then why sometimes often through the Bible is he referred to as the son of God? And here's what we need to understand. God is one God who reveals himself in three persons or personalities. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. And it's for the purpose of helping us to see the distinct roles that the different personalities of God accomplish in the universe. It would be like this, and this is probably the easiest comparison that someone once shared with me to help us understand one singular God who reveals himself in a plurality of three persons or personalities.

If you were to take a single ray of white light and put it through a prism, it refracts into three colors, three primary colors, red and green and blue. Now some of you artists are gonna say, those aren't the three primary colors. But, scientifically, light has different primary colors. When you pass light through a prism, it refracts, it bends into three colors, red, blue, and green. One single light revealed in three different colors. You know what the Bible says about God? It says, God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all, 1 John 1, 5. And thus, in a sense, God is revealing Himself. He's refracted in a way so that we can see the different personalities of the same singular God, revealed as God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. So for our purposes to understand this aspect of God, Jesus takes on flesh to die for the sins of the world when God enters our world. It is a profound and amazing mystery and miracle, but God did it for us. The idea that God condescended to our level, stepped out of heaven, came to earth, was born of a virgin so that God could take on flesh, divinity, wrapped Himself in humanity to die for the sins of the world, a perfect God, sacrificed Himself on the cross for our sins, rose again three days later, because you can't kill God, to show that He is triumphant over sin and death. And then, the Bible says, as many as received Him to them that believed on His name, He gave the right to become children of God, to belong to God's family. Jesus is not just some enlightened prophet. He's not just some wise teacher. He's not just some great miracle worker. Jesus is God who came to save the earth, for all who believed in Him and received Him shall be saved. This is Jesus. And so, as we close our Bible study, if you don't know Him, I want to give you the opportunity today to accept Him and receive Him. To believe in Him, that He died on a cross for your sins, that He rose again, Jesus ascended into heaven, He's coming again. God in flesh, who came to earth to seek and to save that which was lost. Let's pray. Lord, we thank You for Your Word. And we thank You, Lord, that You did say plainly who You are. People in Your day didn't hear because they didn't belong, they didn't belong because they didn't believe. There are still some today, no doubt, Lord, who don't belong simply because they don't believe. But all can belong who would believe. So I pray, God, that if

we don't already know You, that there are men and women and young people here today and online watching who would open their hearts and their lives to who You say You are, Jesus. You are the great I Am. You are the Alpha and the Omega. You are Creator, You are Savior, You are Healer, You are Lord. You are magnificent in all Your ways. You are God in flesh. You came to seek and to save that which was lost. And Lord, in our sin, we're all lost, we're all separated from You. But we thank You that through faith in Jesus and what You did on the cross, we can have our sins forgiven and we can have relationship with You. I pray right now, Lord, for those who don't know You in that way, that today they would make a decision to believe that You are who You say You are, that they would accept You and receive You as Lord and Savior. I'm going to pause in my prayer with your head still bowed, and I just want to give you the opportunity right now to just accept Jesus by faith. That's where the journey begins. You don't have to understand everything. This side of heaven, we won't understand everything. But Jesus has made Himself plain to us, and I've tried to do the best I can to help everybody understand who Jesus is. He's not the spirit brother of Lucifer, as some religions teach. He's not the Archangel Michael, as some religions teach. He's not a prophet inferior to Muhammad, as Islam teaches. He's not just an enlightened, wise miracle worker. Jesus is God, and He died on a cross to save you from your sins. And He opened heaven wide to all who would believe, so that when you die, you go to be with Him forever. The question is, do you believe? And if you do, then I want to lead you in a word of prayer. Right where you're seated, you can pray this prayer with me. You can acknowledge Jesus as your Savior. Just open your heart to Him right now. Those of you watching online, you can do the same. Just pray this simple prayer. Just say, Lord, I confess I'm a sinner like everybody else, and I need a Savior. and I trust you as my personal Lord and Savior. The only Savior, you are the way, the truth, and the life, and no one gets to God except through you. So I come right now humbly and I pray, Jesus, would you please forgive me of my sins and come into my life and change me? I want to be a new person and I want to trust you. I want to surrender to you as Lord. I believe that you are God in flesh

who died for me and rose again. I want to go to heaven when I die, so I surrender to you right now. Thank you, Lord. Thank you for loving me, dying for me. Thank you for forgiving me. Of all my sins, wash my heart clean, Lord. I come to you by faith and I receive you by faith as my Lord and Savior, in Jesus' name. Now I just want to say to those of you who prayed that prayer, immediately after the service, there's gonna be a pastor down front here, and they'll have Bibles for you, and you're free to just take a Bible home, even if you have one. We want to give it to you, no strings attached. It's a way to say, remember today's decision. And those of you who prayed that prayer online, same thing, we'll mail you a Bible. You can text the church, 703-844-9969. The number should be there, because we just want to celebrate with you your decision to follow Christ. Amen? Go in the grace and the goodness of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is God in flesh. God bless you all.