Spurs to Holiness, Part 2

Think of a more appropriate song
to open our time today than the one we just sang, particularly. And I’m certainly glad that we
didn’t cut out any verses, much less the last two, because it
is essentially an echo of what Paul is saying here in Philippians.
And I’m sure that was in John’s mind when he picked it. that
we are in the midst of our pursuit of sanctification. We are in
the midst of our pursuit of Christ and heaven. And so that haste
thee on from grace to glory is, in a sense, the theme of even
the passage before us. The passage is there in your
bulletin with places for notes. And as a quiz, I left both blanks
blank. No, I’m kidding. It wasn’t intentional.
But I did want to review, if we could, as we glide into this
closing passage of this section here in verse 20 and 21. Essentially,
what Paul is articulating here is that he and that we, not just
his precious Philippian church, but that we believers should
be longing for home, longing for heaven. and longing for the
joy of being in heaven for eternity. I don’t have the, I suppose,
privilege or history of military service, of serving abroad and
sleeping in trenches and wearing the same clothes for weeks on
end. I don’t have that history. I never really have even traveled
abroad. I think I’ve dipped into Canada
for a couple of days on a couple of occasions. I’ve visited Mexico,
just almost touching my toe across the border legally. I don’t have those stories of
lost luggage. I don’t have the stories of passport
woes where you’re stuck in some office with people who don’t
speak English. I don’t have the stories of thieves
that took everything that I brought with me. I’ve never been on a
cruise. I don’t want to go on a cruise.
I’ve never spent the entire 10 days seasick and locked up in
my cabin. I’ve never experienced the waves
and the bad weather that comes with cruises. As you know, for
me, it all is encapsulated in the little word camping. Right? That’s what makes me long for
home. Sleeping in the dirt for one night. That’s what makes
me long for home. Clothing, the food, the comforts
of home. All of those things. And it was
not unlike what Paul is addressing here. The clothing, the laws
of the land, the language that they spoke. Perhaps those Philippians
who were Roman citizens were scattered abroad and perhaps
they too longed to be in the mother country. Perhaps they
long to be in the city of Rome itself. But even more so, Paul
says, there ought to be a longing in every Christian’s heart to
be home indeed and home at last. That’s what this section is about.
That’s what Paul ends up settling on. The home of the Christian. If you would, I want to go back
to verse 17. where Paul began this brief section, even itself
is a wrap-up, if you will, of the entirety of chapter 3, where
Paul basically says that he has not arrived at some legalistic
perfection. He has not achieved sanctification
in this life. He is not yet glorified. He is
not yet perfect. But he presses on. He presses
on in this process of sanctification that God has begun and that God
will complete. Pick up, if you would, in verse
17. Brethren, join in following my example and observe those
who walk according to the pattern you have in us. For many walk,
of whom I often told you and now tell you even weeping, that
they are enemies of the cross of Christ. whose end is destruction,
whose God is their appetite, and whose glory is their shame,
who set their minds on earthly things. For our citizenship is
in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for a Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state
into conformity with the body of His glory. by the exertion
of the power that he has given, that he has, even to subject
all things to himself.” Paul was longing for home. And it
wasn’t an earthly home. It wasn’t his homeland, his fatherland. It wasn’t where his people resided. It wasn’t where he was comfortable
here on earth. It wasn’t where the customs fit
what he was accustomed to. What Paul is longing for is what
every Christian ought to long for, and that is our heavenly
home. It is indeed an echo of what Paul said to the Colossians
in chapter three. Listen and hear Paul’s heart
once again when he said, therefore, if you have been raised up with
Christ and that isn’t issued as a doubt. It essentially could
be since you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking
the things above heaven. Keep seeking the things above
where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds
on the things above and not on the things that are on earth,
for you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”
It is an echo of that passage. But what Paul is pointing us
to is not a longing for heaven as a place. White robes, Right? The mansions in the sky. A lot
of the hymns of the 1800’s written about this kind of stuff. Mansions
in the sky. Streets of gold. The divine banquet
table. And all of those things. Rather, it isn’t a longing for
those things. Rather, it is a longing to be
in the company of the King of Heaven. As one said it, the underlying
motivation for pursuing Christ likeness is the hope of the return
of Jesus Christ. It is sanctification we’re after.
It is Christ likeness that we are after because we will spend
eternity with Christ. Since Christ is in heaven, he
goes on to say those who love him must be preoccupied with
heaven. The healthy preoccupation. Longing
for Christ to return and to take us with him to heaven. Nevertheless,
it does say we do long to see our Savior.
But the passage does say, quite simply, that our citizenship
is in heaven. And so in a sense, it’s talking
about a place. We’ll get to the rest in a moment,
but depending on the Bible translation you’re using, from what you’re
reading, there may be an issue that creates a bit of a mental
logjam that I hope to clear up here. You see, with regard to
this word citizenship translated in the NAS citizenship, a great
deal can get lost or even misconstrued depending on the translation.
For instance, in the King James, the translators rendered it conversation
and In sixteen hundreds, Elizabethan English, that was pretty much
a good translation. It isn’t a terrible translation
given the context where Paul is talking about our lives and
godly living and the pursuit of sanctification. It seems to
fit that our conversation, the entirety of our lives should
be heavenward. It’s interesting anyway. The
meaning of conversation in Elizabethan England, when the King James
was translated, referred to the conduct of life. That’s what
they meant by conversation, not just a single verbal conversation
with another saint, but the ongoing conversation or conduct of the
entirety of your life. And again, as I said, the context
seems to accept that translation. And the problem is we don’t get
a whole lot of help from the rest of Scripture, because this
is the only place in Scripture where the word is used. Outside
of Scripture, however, there is plenty of meaning associated
with this word, and it changes a great deal of it. The word,
by the way, is polytouma. You might hear it even when I
say it, polytouma, politics, policy, those words came from
this Greek word. And that helps us to begin to
get a grasp, at least, on the greater meaning of the word.
It meant originally an act or a measurement of government.
It could even refer to the governing body of the state. In other words,
the government. This is a very important clarification,
given the context. Scripture here isn’t providing
yet another admonition, I don’t believe, to watch how we conduct
ourselves here on this earth. Paul has already done that. Rather,
we are being urged here to remember that we as Christians already
members of another nation, namely the kingdom of heaven. And as
such, we have rights, we have privileges and we have responsibilities
that come with any citizenship. As one said it, the Christian’s
true country is not on earth. Here they are strangers in a
strange land living in temporary exile. On earth, they are not
of it. Among earthly things, they are
not attracted by them. They do not renounce their earthly
citizenship, but their heart is already longing for home. He who has his home in the future
will be only a pilgrim for the present. And so we live a life
feeling like we largely don’t belong here, feeling like we
don’t fit in and we should feel that way. We are aliens and strangers. We don’t fit in to the entirety
of the system. We are very truly passing through. In particular, then, Paul says
we are said to be citizens of heaven. Paul uses such imagery
elsewhere In his writings, Galatians 4.26 specifically talks about
the Jerusalem above, essentially pointing to some heavenly realm. The writer of Hebrews did the
same thing. You have come to Mount Zion to the city of the
living God. Speaking metaphorically of this
place, goes on to call it the heavenly Jerusalem. Romans three
speaks of it as well. He who Romans 3, 12, he who overcomes,
I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. He will not
go out from it anymore. I will write him on the name
of my God in the city. Pardon me, the name of the city
of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven
from my God, my new name. All this to say there is this
imagery of heaven and this city. This country, this land, over
which God rules, Augustine seized upon this imagery in his work,
The City of God. In that book, one historian detailed
that to Augustine, at the crisis of the fall of humanity, at the
fall of the imperial city, rather, the Christian appears as a citizen
of a state which is the very antithesis, not of civil order,
which is of God, but of the world, which is constantly showing itself
against God. The holy state or city exists
now and works for good through its citizens. But it is to be
completed and revealed only when eternal glory begins. So in essence,
what Augustine said, the city already exists. God is already
in charge there and God’s order is there and ruling over all.
And we are already citizens of that heavenly realm. What is in focus here is the
kingdom in which individuals have an official status or position,
we have a place. Where our names are officially
entered into a record. Christians live currently here
in this world, but we are also already considered citizens of
heaven. As one articulated, our names are written, recorded in
heaven. Our Savior is there. Our fellow
saints are there. Our inheritance is there. Our
reward is there. Our treasure is there. Our lives
are being governed from heaven in accordance with heavenly standards. Our rights are secured in heaven.
Our interests are promoted there. To heaven, our thoughts and prayers
ascend and our hopes are there. We are citizens of heaven. Indeed,
many of the most inspiring passages of Scripture are those heavenly
thoughts that almost pull us heavenward, don’t they? John 3.3, I say to you, unless
one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God and merely
mentioning it makes the heart long to see the heavenly kingdom. When Jesus said in John 14, do
not let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also
in Me. In My Father’s house are many
dwelling places. And immediately the Christian
is transported to a life of yearning. Longing to see this place. Romans 8.17, if we are children,
we are heirs also. Heirs of God. I cannot wait to
inherit God. and errs also with Christ, if
indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may be glorified with
Him.” It gives the Christian’s heart impetus to long for heaven
and to long for Christlikeness. Hebrews 12, we just mentioned. 1 Peter 1. speaks of us obtaining
an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade
away, reserved in heaven for you. We didn’t know exactly what
that was when we went through 1 Peter, but I’ll tell you what
it includes. It includes the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. We inherit Christ. We should be longing for heaven. We should be longing for our
heavenly Lord. It’s only right and fitting and
natural that this word, this word citizenship
refers to the place where we have status, where we have a
position. It is the country to which we
belong. We belong there. We are legal citizens of heaven
if we are in Christ. Now, the interesting thing to
note here is that the believer is already said to be part of
that kingdom. He has, he possesses already
citizenship. Paul doesn’t say that we will
one day be citizens of heaven, but that we have such now. Another
characterized it in these terms, those who are in Christ are now
members of a heavenly commonwealth. They live and act under its laws.
Their allegiance is rendered to it. They receive their impulses
to action and conduct from it. Their connection with it is the
basis of their life of righteousness and peace and joy. And these
thoughts, too, are imparted to us many places in Scripture.
Second Corinthians. There are other books in Scripture
other than Second Corinthians, but it’s good. He says, be that
as it may, I did not burden myself. And I’ve lost my place in this
grand book of Second Corinthians. I’ll come back. One pastor characterized
this longing for this heavenly commonwealth in these terms.
He said, it is true that the earth is the Lord’s. And this
is an argument against this heavenly longing or heavenly citizenship.
He would say that we’re already part of God’s kingdom right here
on earth. And we are. It is true that the earth is
the Lord’s, but meantime, a usurper has much power here. And so,
so long as the world lies in wickedness, no loyal subject
of the divine king can count this world his home. As the citizen
of Rome, while proud of the dignity and glad of the safety of his
position, gave him anywhere in the civilized world, yet thought
of Rome itself as the place where he alone could have the full
benefit and all the powers and privileges of citizenship. In
other words, he says that just like Romans scattered abroad
would long to be in the city of Rome with similar feelings,
the Christian regards heaven. We long to be home, don’t we? We are considering from last
week what I said were two spurs to holiness. The first, We considered
last week the first grand motivator in our pursuit of sanctification
was that we are motivated by those who have veered off course.
And it was a sad tale as we looked at what I called the fearful
description of the enemies of the cross. We saw their spiritual
end. That their end is destruction,
we saw their deity, their God is their appetite. We saw their
glory. Their glory is their shame. They
revel in their shame and sinful deeds. We looked at their fixation. Lastly, their fixation is that
they set their mind on earthly things. This is where they live.
This is where they are. And this is where they will remain.
This is all they know. But the second spur to holiness
The second motivator in our grand pursuit of sanctification is
that we are motivated by a yearning for our heavenly home. We are
motivated by a yearning for our heavenly home. But instead of
describing heaven, you know how it goes. Streets of gold, you
know, the big mansion, rooms for each one of us, heat and
light and you know, all that. He doesn’t even go into a description
of heaven at all. He really doesn’t say another
word about heaven. What he wants us to know about is a glorious
description of the king of heaven. He wants us to focus on Christ,
on the Lord Jesus Christ, that’s where our focus and our attention
and our longing should be. Secondly, our second spur to
holiness is that we are motivated by a yearning for our heavenly
home. And as we begin to look at this description, the glorious
description of the king of heaven, the first thing that he wants
us to know is that he is a savior. He is our savior. Look at verse
20 again, when Paul says our citizenship is in heaven from
which we eagerly wait for a savior. Now, this is rather interesting
language because it’s a graphic word. It means to wait full of both
persistence and desire. It is an eager longing, an earnest
expectation. One went on to paint it in these
terms that said it implies a disregard of other things and a total concentration
on one object from which we eagerly wait for
a Savior. And I say that’s interesting
language because most of us would already say that we have found
the Savior or rather that he has found us. We know the Savior. Why should we wait for a Savior?
Because that is what He is to us. He is the Savior. He is the
only Savior. But this eager anticipation also
contains a strong measure of patience. And though we wait,
and though we wait, and though we keep waiting a thousand years,
we will be just as eager, just as hopeful, exhibiting the same
earnest expectation. As when we first learned of Christ’s
promised return, this is a not giving up eager anticipation
of seeing the Savior. As one said, the second coming
of Christ, his advent to raise the dead and judge the world
is always exhibited in Scripture as the supremely influential
act of the future and as the object of the most ardent longing
of the Christian heart. It should be. And again, according
to the greater context, the citizens of heaven desire to go home. They desire the heavenly dress
of righteousness, don’t they? They are eager to shed the sin
and sinful tendencies of the foreign land in which they currently
dwell, don’t we? They long to be sanctified, purified,
glorified. And so they wait. And they wait
in faith, ever pressing on, ever looking to Christ, the author
and finisher of our faith. They press on. Paul said to the Galatians, we,
through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness. They could see it. They could
feel it. They could almost reach out and touch it. But it wasn’t
there yet. They hadn’t seen their Savior
face to face yet. Romans 8.25, if we hope for what
we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it. We will not give up. We cannot
give up. It’s too near and it’s too dear. Hebrews 9.28, Christ
also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will
appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin to those
who eagerly wait for Him. Which gives me a mind that there
will be those in that day who have given it up. They long since
gave up waiting. They long since gave up looking. They tasted of Christ and of
heavenly things. They seemed to be in the mix
for a while. They pursued Christ. They pursued
Christ likeness. They came to church. They went
to the conference and then they gave up. 1 Corinthians 1-7, Paul speaks
of those awaiting eagerly the revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Colossians 3-4, when Christ who
is our life is revealed, then you will also be revealed with
Him in glory. What a glorious promise and how
could the Christian ever give up? How could a Christian fail
to exercise great patience in our heavenly longing? in our
longing to be with Christ. And it’s interesting that this
word for eager waiting is typically in Scripture used and almost
exclusively with reference to the return of the Lord Jesus.
Listen to the references. Romans 8.19, For the anxious
longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of
the sons of God. A23, not only this, but we ourselves
having the first fruits of the Spirit. We ourselves grown within
ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption
of our body. This little word describes the
Christian here on Earth. Waiting eagerly, patiently for
God. To fulfill what he has begun. and to draw us home to heaven.
As one said, and as I’ve already pointed out, believers are not
waiting for an event, but a person. And the person is the Lord Jesus
Christ, our Savior. Why are we waiting for a Savior
if we are already saved, if we have already placed our faith
in the Savior? Because at Christ’s coming, that
is when He is going to complete what he has already begun. That’s
when he’s going to complete our salvation by the redemption of
our bodies. We’re truly saved now. But there
is in a very real sense in which that is understood as a process.
We are being saved. And that will be completed at
the return of Christ. And that process is considered
complete then and then only. The second coming of the Lord
will finish and finalize the salvation of the redeemed. It
will apply redemption to all the sins that remain, the weaknesses,
the frailties, the fabric of our life that has had to be repaired
countless times. God will finish it. God will
call us home. As one said, as their Savior,
He will deliver them from the final results of sin. He will
completely vindicate them and their cause and He will bestow
upon them the glorious inheritance of the saints. It’s ours already. So it’s in the capacity, if you
will, the status of a Savior. that we await Him. We don’t await
Him as a judge. We await Him as the Savior. That’s
how we’ve come to know Him. That’s the greatest title that
we could put on Him. And so we look for Him to complete
our salvation and to deliver us from the sufferings that we
currently endure. Romans 8, 19, Paul echoed this
same thought. Turn, if you would, for a moment.
Quoted this verse a moment ago. I want to look at the greater
portion of this section. In Romans chapter 8, we’ll pick
up in verse 19 of Romans 8, where Paul said, For the anxious
longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons
of God For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but
because of him who subjected it in hope that the creation
itself will also be set free from its slavery to corruption
into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we
know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains
of childbirth together until now. And not only this. that
also we ourselves, having the firstfruits of the Spirit, even
we ourselves, grown within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption
as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been
saved, but hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for
what he has already seen?” Jesus hasn’t resigned from the
function of being a savior, he continues that work even now
and will complete it as he calls us home. Salvation is in process
and it will be completed because it’s God who has initiated it. Secondly, we are looking at the
glorious description of the king of heaven. And I actually paused
as I looked at the structure of this and thought that this
may be something that we could just gloss through being so basic. But I think that’s why Paul put
it in there. Paul wanted us to pause. Paul wanted us to meditate
on this glorious thought. The glorious description of the
King of Heaven. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
We have a curious habit, and I don’t notice it from times
past, from earlier points of history as I read through various
books. We have a curious thing in our
day and age of referring to the Lord Jesus Christ as Jesus, and
I don’t think it’s necessarily wrong. Paul does it in scripture
in a number of places, but I think that the spirit of the day does
it with a much different attitude. For Paul to refer to Jesus on
a one-name basis, Paul was elevating Jesus as the Savior that He was. The common treatment of that
word is to call Him Jesus as if we’re on a first-name basis
with our buddy. We do the same thing with Christ. We use it like a last name. When
they used the word Christ in Biblical language, it was stated
as referring to the Messiah, the coming one. We simply refer
to him like athletes tend to do and call each other by their
last names, Jones, Christ. He is much more than Christ.
The sad thing is. I defy you to listen to the Christian
radio stations that will even mention any one of these names.
From time to time, they will refer to God. And that usually
is the extent of it. Sometimes they might slip up
and refer to the Lord. But listen and see if you ever
hear them say, the Lord Jesus Christ. We’re too casual. We’re too flippant. Paul wants
us to pause. Paul wants us to stop in our
tracks and come to a full realization that we eagerly wait for a Savior. And that Saviour is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is Lord. He is sovereign over
all. And when Paul pauses and uses
the full title here, he points to the Lord Jesus as one who
is exalted. He is in heaven. He is functioning
now as God. God Almighty. And He will come
in royal grandeur. But when he comes, that glory
doesn’t defile or take away his humanity. It just seems to gobble
it up. Jesus is still Jesus. It is the
same Jesus that was taken up into heaven. Jesus, that Greek
word for Joshua, God is help or Savior. Paul wanted us to
stop in our tracks and remember that that is our Savior. Why was it so important? Because
the name Jesus proclaimed Christ’s mission from the very start. When his parents were told, you
should call his name Jesus, for it is he who will save. In other words, call him Jesus,
because that will be a clear and a constant declaration that
Jesus Christ’s purpose is to save. Paul goes on to say that not
only is he the Lord, that he is sovereign in heaven, and that
he is Jesus, the same Jesus that was named as such, but that he
is Christ. That he came for a mission, and
the mission was to be the Messiah, first and foremost to the Jews. And that that commissioning has
not ceased. Christ is still the Messiah. Christ is still the
Promised One. Christ is still the Lord over
all and the Saviour. Paul wanted us to pause and acknowledge
the Lord Jesus Christ and to be arrested in our steps as we
march through this passage. Jesus Christ’s commission hasn’t
changed. And we do Him a disservice just
to casually refer to Him a Savior or to Jesus. He is the Lord Jesus
Christ. Thirdly, in our view of the glorious
description of the King of Heaven, He is not only our Savior, He
is not only the Lord Jesus Christ, He is the agent in our glorification. This is fascinating language.
And it’s a fascinating choice of words. The verb signifies
to merely change the outward appearance, almost to put on
makeup or a costume. Metaschematizo, if you want to
get technical, it’s a compound, including the word schema. Which
translated comes across as in the English as form or shape
or image to just change the image. So is that all the Lord’s going
to do is change the way that we look when he comes? It’s interesting
the way that the word is used in 2nd Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians
11. He speaks of such men as false apostles, deceitful workers,
disguising themselves.” Is that all Jesus is going to do is disguise
us? Dress us up like Christians? It goes on to say, Satan disguises
himself as an angel of light. No wonder his servants do likewise.
So it’s obviously pointing to some kind of somewhat superficial
change. And so it is here in a real sense. What he points to is that the
Lord is going to change our bodies, not our natures. He’s already
working on our hearts. He’s already begun that work
and he will fulfill that. But he is also going to change
in a glorious way our physical bodies. What Paul refers to here
is the body of our humble state. What is that? Whereas now our
bodies are subject to the effects of sin and suffering and weakness
and the illness, even death, one day the Lord will literally
refashion it. We’ve spent no little time in
First Corinthians 15 on this same subject. Now, mind you,
there is yet another word here that depending on your translation
can produce a mischaracterization of the meaning here. And again,
not to pick on the King James, but the translation there with
reference to the body called it vile. And that fed into that
whole system of Gnosticism that said that all matter is evil.
In the 1600s, vile meant common. Not so anymore, and that misunderstanding
has contributed to the understanding or the belief that flesh is inherently
sinful, cannot be made holy. And so let’s just cash it in
and forget about it. But there’s no trace of that
here, there’s no intent for Paul to say that here, no contempt
for the body, for the physical body, because Jesus is going
to take those, refashion them and mold them for eternity. Get
used to it. As one said, the body in which
our mortal state of humiliation is clothed to emphasize the contrast
between it and the glorified body of the Lord with reference
to its weaknesses, its subject subjection to vanity, corruption,
death, sufferings, the hindrances which it brings to Christian
striving and spiritual attainment. It is the body of humiliation. As one said, This terminology
connects us with the soil out of which this body was formed
and by the products out of which it is supported, carrots and
whatnot, on which it walks, on which it falls into upon death. It keeps us in constant physical
connection with earth wherever this progress towards its high
destiny, heaven. It limits intellectual power
and development. does this physical frame. Regardless
of how hot our pursuit is of heaven, our bodies keep us down,
don’t they? It limits intellectual power,
it impedes spiritual growth and enjoyment. It is soon fatigued
with the soul’s activity. Let one will as he pleases. His
body presents a check on all sides. Now, this is amazing. We know that our souls are eternal,
our hearts and our lives are currently being retooled by God
himself. But the body, too, is promised
an overhaul. As one said, observe this special
mystery and glory of the gospel, a promise of heavenly perfectness
for the body of the Christian. It is no mere prison of the spirit,
its counterpart destined to share with it the coming bliss. It
is its stricken condition because of the fall makes it often the
load of the spirit now, but hereafter it will have wings. And I don’t
mean that literally, and neither did he. Scripture doesn’t say
that our bodies will be merely changed, but that they will be
conformed to a standard and the standard is the Lord’s own glorified
body. For the sake of time, I’m going
to pause there. We’ll come back next Lord’s Day
to wrap this up and by way of a quick review. We’re in the
midst of a glorious description of the King of Heaven. That’s
who’s in view. That’s the one that we’re longing
to see. The one that has already saved
us. And well, we should call him the Savior. He indeed is
our Lord. He is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And when he comes, he will be the active agent. He will be
the one that changes us. Not just our hearts and our souls,
not just our intellect, our minds, but he will physically change
us. And we will be like him. Let’s pray. Our merciful God,
we humble ourselves and we pause before you, our Lord Jesus Christ. And we thank you and praise you
that as we think of heaven, there is no heaven without thoughts
of you. There is no focus on eternal
things without thinking of you. There is no thought of happiness
or peacefulness. without a constant
thought of who you are and what you have already accomplished
in our lives. Father, we pray. Give us hearts that long for
heaven and look particularly to the Lord of heaven. We thank
you and praise you in Jesus name. Amen. Morning, sir. Morning.