Set Apart (1 Thessalonians 4:6-12)

Alright, we are in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and we're starting in verse 6, and we're reading through verse 12.

1 Thessalonians 4 · chapter mention

But last week we kind of stopped mid-paragraph, mid-thought, because of the way things worked out.

So actually, for our reading today, I actually want us to start reading in verse 3, but we'll study verses 6 through 12.

So if you're able, would you please stand for the reading of God's word?

1 Thessalonians 4, starting in verse 3.

For this is God's will, your sanctification, that you keep away from sexual immorality, that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles who don't know God.

And then for today's verses.

This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner.

Because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses, as we also previously told and warned you.

For God has not called us to impurity, but to live in holiness.

Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who gives you his Holy Spirit.

About brotherly love, you don't need me to write to you because you yourselves are taught by God to love one another.

In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia.

But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more.

To seek to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

Will you please pray with me?

Lord, we thank you so much for these verses that we have before us today.

We thank you for the entirety of your word, Lord, and that we have the privilege of be able being able to sit here and hold it and read it whenever we want, to be able to come together publicly like this and to talk about it and to explore what it is that you have for us in this passage here this morning.

So, Lord, I pray that you would do the speaking here this morning and I'd be able to step out of the way.

Lord, we pray by the power of your spirit that you would speak to each one of our hearts, that you would do it, whatever it is that you desire to do, which I know is different in some way in each in each one of our hearts, but we pray that you would do that work here this morning and that we would be listening to you collectively as a church as well.

Lord, do your work, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

You may be seated.

So I want to start off this morning with a question.

You don't have to answer out loud, but I want you to think about this.

Why does God tell us to not get drunk?

So just think on that for a second.

Weird way to start a sermon, I know.

But why does God tell us to not get drunk?

You know, is there a purpose behind it?

Or does he just want to squash our fun and to not let us let loose?

You know, I think there's three reasons that God tells us this, and there is a point to this.

I think the first one is he doesn't want us to make bad choices that are gonna harm us and harm others.

I think the second reason is he doesn't want us to have to suffer the consequences of a hangover the next day.

He loves us that much.

I think the third reason is he doesn't want us to try to escape from our problems in a way that is only gonna create more problems for us.

He would rather that we face our problems knowing that he has our back and he wants to walk us through whatever we're facing in that time.

Now, do any of these reasons sound like he's trying to prevent us from having fun?

No.

No, right?

They're all because he wants to protect us from ourselves.

He wants to protect us from the consequences of sin.

He's protecting us from danger and from us creating more and more problems for ourselves.

This is why his will for us, as we just read in verse 3, is for us to be sanctified in every area of our life.

It's because it's actually for our own good.

It's because he loves us and he wants to protect us as a loving father wants to love and protect his own children.

You know, we talked a lot last week about his will being our sanctification, for us being set apart for his purposes.

Real quick, if you aren't here, there's a few things I want to cover to kind of catch you up to speed because these two sermons last week and this week are really dependent upon each other.

One of the things that we covered is positional sanctification versus progressive sanctification.

I want to throw those definitions up there real quick, but how we are positionally sanctified, the moment that we give our life to Christ is very, very important for us to know.

It's that that very moment that we are positionally sanctified in Christ, where he sees us and he sees the finished work of Jesus Christ.

He sees us as sanctified and holy.

But God also desires this progressive sanctification for us as we walk on this earth to become more and more like Jesus.

You know, in the way that we live, in the way that we act, in the way that we say things to one another, in the way that we think, you know, we're to have the mind of Christ, scripture tells us.

And we talk specifically about how progressive sanctification does not earn our salvation.

It doesn't make us more saved, as if that's even possible.

It is simply God's will for us because it's what's best for us.

And that includes our sexuality.

There should be a stark difference in our sexuality compared to everybody else in the world and how they're living their life.

You know, I was talking with somebody last week after service, and they were talking about the ripple effect of our sin.

And how we're never just sinning and it's only affecting us.

We're never just sinning against God and ourselves, to put it that way.

When we sin, it's like a pebble being thrown into the middle of a very still pond.

There's this ripple effect that affects everything around us.

And God's guidelines are to make sure that that pebble is never thrown in the first place.

So, regarding all of this and God's desire for our sanctification and living with self-control sexuality, uh, sexually, as we talked about last week, that brings us here to verse 6 where it says, This means one must not transgress against and take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner.

In a sexual manner, as we were talking about last week.

You know, he already said, Don't partake of any sex outside of marriage.

It's all sin.

But now it gets a bit more personal here, doesn't it?

You must not transgress against or take advantage of a brother or sister in this manner.

You know, all of a sudden, within the context of family, within the family of God, it just seems a lot more serious to me.

You know, for a Christian to transgress against their spouse, now it's not just against their wife, if you're a husband.

You transgressed against God's daughter.

You transgressed against your own sister in Christ.

For wives, it's against God's son and it's against your brother in Christ.

You know, I have an older sister, and I was so protective of her when I was, well, still I am actually, but I was gonna say when I was a little kid, but if she ever brought a guy over that she was dating or something like that, you know, if he ever did anything to wrong my sister, I wanted his head on a platter.

Like I was just like that protective.

Even still, if she's uh dating a guy or something like that, it's like a little side eyes.

This guy, okay, who is this guy?

Yeah, what are his intentions with you?

Like, do I need to have a talk with him?

You know, stuff like that.

But you see, when we start thinking about sexual sin in the context of somebody sinning against their own family members, you know, it places things in a different light, doesn't it?

Husbands, do you treat your wives like their dad is standing behind them like this?

And their dad is God?

And their dad knows your thoughts.

How would you like your father-in-law to know your thoughts, you know?

Jesus said in Matthew 5, verses 27 through 28, he said, You have heard that it was said, do not commit adultery.

Matthew 5:27–28

But I tell you, everyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

You know, every time that you're tempted to look at somebody lustfully, just remember a few things.

I don't care if you're a guy or a girl, remember these few things.

One, they are somebody else's child.

And how would you like somebody looking at your child or treating your child the way that you are in that moment to that person?

I don't care if it's somebody you know or it's an image you're looking at.

And then the second thing, how would you like somebody treating your sister or looking at your sister that way, that you're looking at that other person?

And then three, it's the same as carrying out the act in your heart, as Jesus just said as we read those verses.

And then the fourth thing, think about the ripple effect of how your sin, even though you may think it's private, though you may think it's only affecting you, think of the ripple effect that's going out as a consequence of that sin.

Your consequences will eventually negatively affect the people that are around you.

They will.

At some point, they will.

There's always a ripple effect to sin in our life.

And you may say, you know, well, we're two consenting adults.

How are we wronging or how are we defrauding ourselves when it's two consensual adults?

The enduring word commentary speaks of this idea that whether we realize it or not, you're robbing each other, it says, of the things that were only meant for you for your marriage.

If you are married, or even if you are not, or even if you are forever not married, you are robbing each other of that.

And just like last week, this is not condemnation for past sins, so that we all walk out of here feeling guilty.

If you are in Christ, Scripture says you are a new creation.

And when God looks at you, he sees the finished work of Jesus Christ.

But we still have consequences, even though we're a new creation, we still have consequences, this side of eternity at least, that we have to live with, that we still have to pay for.

That's what will make, I think, heaven so much more glorious.

Is we're not gonna have to deal with the temptation of sin, but we're also not gonna have to deal with the consequences of sin anymore, which I'm really, really looking forward to.

Doesn't that sound glorious?

But we have to remember God is a God of justice.

And that's where the second part of verse 6 comes in.

Look at it with me.

Because the Lord is an avenger of all these offenses that we've been talking about, as we also previously told and warned you.

Please listen to this.

God is perfectly just.

That means he cannot let one single offense go unpunished perfectly.

Letting something go unpunished is not justice.

For a Christian, there's not one sin that does not go unpunished.

But Jesus took on each of those punishments for us on the cross.

Because somebody had to be punished if God was going to be perfectly just.

If he didn't, we would still all be on the hook for the punishment of sin.

Because God is an avenger of these offenses, as we just read.

As a believer in Christ, you no longer have any punishment coming.

Discipline?

Yes.

Punishment?

Absolutely zero.

Proverbs chapter 3, verses 11 through 12 says this do not despise the Lord's instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline.

Proverbs 3:11–12

For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.

If you're a parent, I want to encourage you in something.

To help your kids understand this concept at a very young age.

That God disciplines the ones that he loves.

Be a real life demonstration of this in your home.

You know, to show them God the Father in the way that you, mother and father.

And I'm gonna say something, but hear me out.

Do not punish your children, but please, please, please discipline them.

Please set up clear boundaries with clear consequences and discipline them with those clear consequences when they break those clear boundaries.

Be an example of God in this way in your home.

Do it as he does, filled with love and grace and mercy and patience and loving boundaries and loving discipline as well.

You know, I want to I want you to ask yourself this question.

When my child rebels against my clear instruction, my clear boundaries, what are my actions teaching them in that moment about God?

What are my actions, how are they gonna directly translate in their mind to their relationship with God?

You know, if your child rebels against your instruction and say, you choose to give them the cold shoulder for a few hours so that they know you're mad at them, and that's the only consequence that they get, you just taught them something untrue about God.

Because God is quick to forgive and he's quick to put things behind him, but he's also good about allowing us to go through the consequences of our sin because he loves us too much to not discipline us, to not allow us to go through the consequences of that sin.

It's how we learn as Christians, as his children, it's how we grow.

It's how we realize, oh, if I do this, there's negative consequences.

I better not do that anymore.

You know, how we raise our kids needs to be in a way that our actions are teaching them about God constantly.

And we're gonna fail.

I've failed plenty as a parent.

But he forgives us too as parents, doesn't he?

And little kids are so forgiving towards a repentant parent when they ask for forgiveness when they actually do fail.

But this needs to be what we're trying to be an example of within our homes.

But God is an avenger of sin, it says right here.

But thank you, Lord, for Jesus.

Because he took on that punishment.

Every punishment that we deserved, he took it on for us.

Now look at verse 7 with me.

For God has not called us to impurity, but to live in holiness.

Why?

Because he loves us.

You know, this call to holiness, just like we were talking about when we started in the beginning when we're talking about drunkenness, it's not because he likes to deprive us of pleasure in any way or deprive us of having fun.

He desires to keep us away from, in our sexual purity and holiness, away from STDs and STIs, and away from unwanted pregnancies, away from the loneliness that that can bring upon us, and becoming one with somebody and then ripping that union apart, giving up something that we're never going to get back.

These all have ripple effects.

These are all consequences of stepping over God's boundaries for sex.

And look at what this actually comes down to.

Look at verse 8 with me.

Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

You know, Paul already told us in verse 2 that these teachings that he is giving were given to him by the Lord to communicate to this church.

But what's this all about, the Holy Spirit here?

Well, God gives us the Holy Spirit to help combat all the temptation and sin that we've been talking about so far in the last two weeks.

So we can actually live in holiness.

You know, the scripture tells us that he is our helper, the Holy Spirit, that he leads us, that he teaches us and he instructs us, he reminds us of and guides us into truth, Scripture says.

He helps transform us into the image of Christ, which is really just another word for progressive sanctification.

He guides us into the fruit of the Spirit.

He intercedes for us.

And we have all of this inside of us, all that God has given us in and through the Holy Spirit to help us combat all of these sins.

So when we choose to sin and cross those loving boundaries that God has given us, that God has set for our protection, we are rejecting Him and we're rejecting the Holy Spirit inside of us that he's given us for this purpose.

You know, the the Holy Spirit inside of us sometimes is say, no, no, no.

This is gonna feel good for a moment, but the consequences are really gonna hurt.

This fling may feel good for a moment, but it's gonna destroy your family.

And when we reject the Holy Spirit, we're rejecting all of those things that God has given us, that he's placed inside of us, in and through the Holy Spirit.

When we say no to him and we give in to that temptation, this is how we reject God, as we just read in this passage.

Look at verse 8 again.

It says, Consequently, anyone who rejects this does not reject man, but God who gives you his Holy Spirit.

You see, the Holy Spirit is how we defeat sexual sin.

God has given us the tools that we need to do this.

The Holy Spirit will give us strength, he'll give us power to resist these temptations, but it's up to us to allow him to do those things.

You know, something about the Holy Spirit is he never overpowers us against our will.

Either to do good or to resist evil.

We have free will to allow him to help us do good and to avoid evil.

But we have to allow him to do those things.

He's not gonna overpower us in any of those ways and just kind of take over like we're a robot zombie or something like that.

We have to allow him to do those things.

You know, we just need to listen.

When he sounds the alarm inside of us, he gives us truth.

And when we hear him say, no, no, no, while our flesh is saying, Gimme, gimme, gimme, we need to listen to that voice and not reject God in that way.

Now, Paul's gonna contrast sexual sin against brothers and sisters with what we see in verse 9.

So look at verse 9 with me.

About brotherly love.

This is the word Philadelphia, Philadelphius, right here.

About brotherly love.

You don't need me to write you because you yourselves are taught by God to love.

Agapan, agapeo, agape, that's that form of love.

Taught by God to love one another.

In fact, you are doing this toward all the brothers and sisters in the entire region of Macedonia.

So, this church, we've talked about this a lot.

They're doing a great job as far as brotherly love goes.

But the thing is, even people who don't know God can do this, can have brotherly love for one another.

But they are being taught by God, it says here in the Greek, to agape, to agape one another.

And this is that type of agape love that it's used to describe God's sacrificial love throughout scripture, his unconditional love towards us.

For God so loved, it's that kind of love, the world that he gave his one and only son.

It's that kind of love that we're talking about here.

And that kind of love can only be learned from God through his spirit, because it's not natural.

Somebody's reading.

That's okay.

Somebody else wants to read scripture, that's me too.

As long as it's scripture, though.

No.

But it's for God to love the world in this way, in this agape way that He gave His one and only Son.

It's that kind of love.

That's okay.

That happens.

It's that kind of love that it has to be learned from God.

It has to be learned through his spirit because it's not natural for us, it's not a part of our human nature to have this kind of love inside of us.

The kind of love that loves each other sacrificially, the kind of love that we're called to love our enemies with.

That's not built in.

It has to be taught by God through his Holy Spirit, it says here in verse 9.

You know, and this church is being taught by God, and their reputation is preceding them.

Their love is affecting this whole region of Macedonia.

But it's not a coincidence that this comes right after the sexual purity section, is it?

Sexual purity is a way of showing love to each other and to the world.

Because we won't be taking advantage of one another.

We won't be taking advantage of each other for our own sexual gratification.

You know, Jesus said the world will know you're my disciples by your love for one another, didn't he?

Sexual purity is one of those ways for us to show that love.

You know, and what comes next is further instruction on how to love with agape, how to love with that unconditional love that we're talking about.

So look at the next part of verse 10.

But we encourage you, brothers and sisters, to do this even more.

You know, Paul said this already last week in verse 1, and that was to do this even more regarding all of the sexual purity.

But he says it again here regarding what's to come.

Do this even more.

Look at verse 11.

To seek to lead a quiet life.

So to seek, to aspire, to make it our goal or our ambition to lead a quiet life.

And when we see quiet here, this word, we can think like, am I supposed to stop talking loud?

Am I supposed to speak less?

Is that what this means to be quiet?

No, that's not it at all, because I'm from an Italian family, and if that's the case, then we're all in a bunch of trouble.

But if that's the case, um, or in this case, actually, lead a quiet life is one word in the Greek that we're gonna look at.

And I want to put the definition up on the board here.

And it's to keep quiet, to rest, to cease from labor, to lead a quiet life.

Instead of those who are not running hither and tither.

We don't say that enough, do we?

But stay at home and mind their business, to be silent, to say nothing, to hold one's peace.

Do you see how much of this definition has to do with rest?

Has to do with not causing strife, not running around hither and tither, as it says?

I'm gonna try and throw that in as many times as I can by the end of the sermon.

See if you guys are paying attention.

There are moments that the Lord wants us to rest, that he wants us to simply be, to simply just enjoy him and to enjoy life.

This is why he commanded the Sabbath for the Israelites, a day of rest for them.

And I think this is probably one of the biggest sins in our American culture, one of the biggest sins.

Busyness.

And we don't often consider it sin because it's so ingrained in our culture, but busyness.

When's the last time you asked somebody how they were doing and they're like, I'm so rested?

I'm just I can't think of once, you know, it's always like, oh my gosh.

I know for our family, it's May, you know, it's just end of the school year, it's just craziness right now.

But we've been trained that if our calendar isn't maxed out, you know, if we're not being productive, then we're missing out in some way.

If we're, you know, not doing enough for God or whatever it might be, we have these this guilt that comes if we're not running around hither and tither, right?

But he's a loving father that is saying, take a rest, take a break from your labor.

And when we look at the other side of this definition that we're looking at here, it also means don't cause strife.

It means to be live peaceably, to hold one's peace here.

Don't be the one that's stirring things up when nothing needs to be stirred up.

You know, this goes right along with what Paul wrote in Romans 12, 18.

You know, if possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

It's not always possible, but if it's possible to choose peace in this way, you know, that's part of this leading a quiet and restful life that we're talking about here.

Along with the next thing he says to seek.

He says, seek to mind your own business.

So worry about your own affairs before you worry about everybody else's.

You know, when you're worrying about other people's affairs that you have no business worrying about in the first place.

If you're doing that, stop it.

That's what this is saying right here.

You know, we all have our own things to concern ourselves with, right?

We all have plenty of things to concern ourselves with.

But we like to look at the sliver in a brother or sister's eye when we're walking around with a two by four sticking out of ours, don't we?

Minding your own business is taking care of your two by four.

Jesus said a plank.

I always think of a two by four sticking out of your own eye.

Before we start looking and judging the sliver that we see in somebody else's, or talking about the sliver with that person over there, about the sliver that we can see in their eye.

You know, scripture does say there are a few times where we're to confront another believer, a brother or sister in Christ that's living in sin.

But in my experience, those times are really few and far between where we actually need to do that.

And in this context, that's not what he's talking about at all.

He's talking about the the two by four, minding your own business.

And then next, Paul clarifies what the uh what this is not, you know, being restful and peaceable.

This is not.

Look at the next part of verse 11.

And he says, and to work with your own hands as we commanded you.

So he's not saying be lazy.

He's saying be peaceable, be restful, but do not be lazy.

You know, God's word is filled with commands to work hard.

We're made in his image.

God's a worker, God's a creator, and God rests.

He gave us that example in creation.

You know, one way to be an example to the world and to our brothers and our sisters is to be a good worker.

Paul is really encouraging them to continue to live their life and to work with their own hands so they don't become a burden to the church or to anybody else.

And obviously, I hope it's understood.

That is, if you're able to, of course, because not everybody is able to do this, but if you are able to, you better be doing this.

That is what this is saying here.

You see, God created us to be productive six days a week and then to rest on the seventh.

He gave us that example himself in creation, and then he gave it to his chosen people in Israel to do that same thing.

You know, a handful of years ago I read this book on depression, and I've mentioned it here before.

I highly recommend this book.

It's written by a renowned Christian counselor.

And even if you don't struggle with depression, it is a great book to read through.

And it's called Depression, Looking Up from the Stubborn Darkness.

And the author, a renowned counselor, as I was saying, he makes the point that he doesn't even expect somebody to have good mental health if they're not doing something productive six days a week.

And that doesn't even have to be a job that you're going to eight to five, nine to five, whatever it is.

It's simply being productive with the time that God's given you.

Even if you're unable to do anything physically, you can still be productive in a lot of different ways.

You can be productive in prayer, in discipleship, in having conversations with people, meeting them for coffee, whatever it might be, there are ways to be productive, even if we're physically unable to do that.

God's wired us to be workers, to be productive, to be creators just like Him, and then to rest, and then to be peaceable and to keep our nose in our own business.

And do you know what productivity does for us?

What this helps with?

Not falling into sin.

Not falling into sexual sin.

You know, there's that saying, well, first think of David and Bathsheba.

He had idle hands and it led to that whole thing.

But it reminds me of that saying, idle hands are the devil's workshop.

You've probably mostly heard that.

It's not scripture, but it's very true, I think.

You know what else staying productive does?

It helps to not be a busybody.

Paul talked about this when he wrote his letter to Timothy.

He said, Don't permanently support widows that are less than 60 years old, or they will, and this is where it picks up, learn to be idle, going from house to house.

They are not only idle, but are also gossips and busybodies, saying things they shouldn't say.

So the Holy Spirit, through Paul in multiple places, is very much against being idle, but staying productive with our time.

So, with that, last verse here.

Why should we be doing all of these things that we're talking about here today?

It says in verse 12, so that you may behave properly in the presence of outsiders and not be dependent on anyone.

These things are not only good for our sanctification, they're not only good for the church, they're not only God's will, but they provide a great example to the world around us.

If you seek to lead a quiet life, if somebody asks you, How are you doing, and you're able to say rested, they'll be like, wait, hold on, I've never heard that in my life before.

Why are you rested?

And you can say, well, that's God's command for us, and we've been taking a Sabbath day of rest or whatever it might be.

But if you seek to lead a quiet life, you will stand out.

If you mind your own business, you will stand out.

If you work really hard with your own hands, you will stand out.

You know, if the world is running around like they're like chickens with their head cut off hither and tither, but we're leading a quiet life and we're finding times of rest, we are gonna stand out, aren't we?

You know, if the world is caught up in gossip tabloids and gossip at work and everything that's wrong with everybody else, and we refuse to participate in those conversations, people are gonna notice.

If everybody at work is complaining about their spouses, but you're speaking highly about your spouse, you're gonna stand out.

You know, if we're willing to work really hard with our hands and not be dependent upon others, if we work just as hard when the boss isn't looking as when he is looking, people are gonna notice that.

If we're not trying to work the system or cheat the employer, the world is gonna notice.

If you're in school and you're not using AI to write your papers, but you're actually sitting there writing your papers, you are gonna stand out to the world.

You're gonna stand out to your professor.

People will notice.

This is how we can be set apart for God, consecrated for his use.

It's in the way we love, it's in our marriages, it's in our sexual purity, it's in how we live our life, how we rest, how we stay out of gossip and we stay out of other people's business.

It's in the way that we work.

And we should stand out in all of these things.

We should be very different from the world in all of these different ways.

And nothing about the sanctification, just being honest with you, is easy.

But we have a helper, don't we?

To help us with each and every one of these things, and that's the Holy Spirit.

Part of the sanctification is learning how to listen and obey his voice.

Maybe I should say his promptings.

And if you're wondering, well, how do I listen to his voice?

How do I know when it's his prompting in my heart to do something or to not do something?

Well, he is the voice that tells you to choose sanctification.

We know it's God's will already.

He is the voice that says, hey, you need to stop.

Don't get drunk.

Hey, you need to stop watching this show.

You need to stop sleeping with this person.

You need to stop looking at porn.

You need to stop participating in gossip at work, at school, at church, whatever it might be.

You need to keep your nose out of other people's business.

Hey, you need to work just as hard when your boss is not looking as when he is looking.

That's the voice.

Those are the promptings of the Holy Spirit that you can be assured are the Holy Spirit, because our flesh and the enemy is not going to prompt us to do those things.

And the thing is, is once you learn his voice in that way, you'll start hearing him in every other part of your life as well.

Because he wants to guide us, and he wants to guide us into truth, he wants to guide us in so many ways.

But God's will is sanctification, and the Holy Spirit is the voice of sanctification.

This all comes down to depending upon Him to be our strength, to be our guide, and to lead us into that sanctification that we've been talking about for the last two weeks.

So that is my encouragement to you this morning.

Listen to those promptings.

Desire that sanctification.

Desire to say yes to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in your life.

Will you please pray with me?

Lord, we thank you.

We often thank you so much for Jesus, but we thank you for the Holy Spirit.

That if we are in Christ that is living inside of us, that's guiding us and helping us and leading us into truth, that's prompting us, that's saying yes and saying no, that's leading us into this progressive sanctification that you so uh desire for each one of us.

Not because you're a taskmaster, but because you know that's what's best for us.

And we are so thankful that you want to lead us into what's best.

Just as a loving earthly mother or loving earthly father wants what's best and sets up rules and guidelines for their children, not because they want to squash their fun, but because they want to protect them.

Lord, we know that that's what you're doing for us.

With every guideline, with every directive, with every law that you've given, Lord, it's because you love us so much.

So help us to say yes to that love, to say yes to what's best for us.

Forgive us, Lord, when we rebel, when we say, no, I've got this figured out.

I know what's best, or simply I don't care.

Lord, forgive us of those times and help us daily to become more like Jesus, daily to say yes to the Holy Spirit's guidance, daily not rejecting you, but but saying yes, I want to be more like Jesus.

And Lord, we are going to fail daily in this as well.

But we thank you for the cleansing blood of Jesus that washes us and cleanses us and makes us holy and new again in your sight.

Lord, to think of the punishment that we deserve because you are perfectly just, but to think that you made a way through Jesus Christ to forgive our sins, to make us pure and holy, and to put that punishment on Christ for us.

Jesus, we thank you that you willfully did this.

You willfully went to the cross so that you could take on that punishment for us.

Thank you, thank you, thank you that we can stand here today, God, with you looking at us and seeing the finished work of Jesus.

We look forward to that day where we get to spend eternity with you, where the temptation of sin is gone and the consequence of sin is gone.

And we could just live with you in perfection, enjoying you and you enjoying us.

Lord, we we really look forward to that day.

We place our hope in that day that is to come.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.