Who Am I and Who Is God? | 1 Timothy 6:11–16

Who are you? And whose are you?

In 1 Timothy 6:11–16, Paul reminds Timothy of his identity as a man of God and calls him to flee sin, pursue godliness, fight the good fight of faith, and take hold of eternal life. In this sermon, Pastor Zach Ginn shows how our identity in Christ changes the way we live, the way we fight temptation, the way we endure hardship, and the way we see God.

At River Oak Church, we are a welcoming family of imperfect people who share a passion for God, a passion for others, and a passion for graciously sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.  We enjoy an informal environment and Christ-exalting modern worship, and we are committed to following the truth of God’s Word.  We welcome you to come as you are, from wherever you’ve been, and join us!

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Thank you. You may be seated. Every eye will see him. Every eye will see him. Your neighbor's eyes will see him. If you have a prodigal child, their eye will see him. Do you listen as one whose eyes will see him in the flesh? Do you read God's word? Do you sing? Do you live for him as a person who will see him? How will we be able to stand before him? Because he was pierced for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, and the punishment that we deserved was placed upon him, but through his wounds we are healed. We find healing. We can dwell in his unapproachable light only because of his grace. Amen. If we've never met, my name is Zach. I'm one of the pastors here, and one of my favorite things to do on Sundays is to slip in and out of your groups and just be a part of them. And one of my favorites to go to is Johnny Streeter, 1115. In fact, he goes to this service. Johnny, I'm so encouraged by your group. And one of Johnny's catchphrases, if you've ever been in there, is there's two things you need to know: who you are and whose you are. You'll hear him repeat that. You need to know who you are and whose you are. And today's text is gonna help us answer two questions. Who am I? And who is God? Did you pray with me? Father, your word is a light, it's a mirror, it shows us who we really are. And that's intimidating until we realize who you are. You are merciful and gracious, abounding in steadfast love. But you will by no means clear the guilty. So we ask for your mercy today as we open your word in 1 Timothy chapter 6. Guide us by the Holy Spirit in Jesus' name. Amen. When you think about it, who are you is a really hard question. Because if you think, I'm a soldier, I'm a captain, that's true, but what about your retirement day? When that title changes and you're no longer wearing that title every day. You may think to yourself, if you're a teenager, I'm an athlete. I'm on the varsity starting team. And that's great. But what happens when the final whistle blows? It's hard to really answer who are you? What's your identity made up of? If Timothy, who this letter was written to, were to answer this question, I think he might have said things like, I am a pastor, I am young. Those things were true of him. Maybe some personalities go more toward the negative side. Maybe he would have thought, I have frequent ailments, or I'm naturally scared, I'm a naturally timid person. Where did I get that list from? I get it from Paul's writing. As he's writing this personal letter, he said to Timothy, let no one despise you for your youth, but set an example to the believers in faith, speech, conduct. He said about his frequent sicknesses, maybe his frail body. No longer drink only water, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments. And he said about maybe his timid nature, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control. So Timothy might have viewed himself through the lens of I'm young, I'm timid, I'm frequently sick, but the apostle Paul, his mentor, his discipler, says, You are healthy. You're an example by the Spirit in you, you are powerful, you are courageous. And Paul keeps going in verse 11 of chapter 6. Look with me. He says to Timothy, but as for you, O man of God, this title was typically reserved for prophets in the Old Testament. So Paul is saying to Timothy, Timothy, I know that you look up to Elijah and the miracles that he performed. I know you look up to Daniel and the example that he had of faithfulness in Babylon. Timothy, you're in the same family tree of faith. I view you, Timothy, as a man of God. And Jesus himself modeled this kind of life-giving language that we should be doing with each other. I mean, think about Peter. Peter was a mess, y'all. Peter was a mess. And maybe you have a really up and down personality. He said to Peter, he gave him a nickname, Rock. Not because that's who Peter was by nature, but that's who the Spirit made him to be. Jesus doesn't just view you as you are, he knows who you can become. I love his first interaction with Nathaniel. I was thinking about this this past week. Do you know what he said to him? First encounter, first impressions. Nathanael's approaching him, and what's funny is Nathanael actually kind of dissed his hometown. When he was hearing about this, Jesus, he said, Can anything good from come from Nazareth? He was hating on your hometown. And look at how Jesus responds. Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom there is no deceit. That's amazing to me. That is amazing. Jesus knows everything about Nathaniel. He knows his idiosyncrasies, he knows the awkward parts of his personality, he knows Nathaniel's sins, he knows Nathaniel's bad thoughts. And yet the first thing he wants Nathaniel to hear of his opinion about him is you're an honest man. And we need to be doing that for one another. And we need to view ourselves through the lens of grace. And this is not just wishful thinking. This is based in biblical reality. Romans 6, 11 says this. So you must consider yourselves. Consider yourselves. How are you considering yourself this week? You must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Okay, so objectively, believer, when you by faith trusted in Christ, you were spiritually crucified with him. The old you is dead and gone. There is a new you that has been born again by the Spirit. That's objectively true. But subjectively, in your spirit, how you view yourself, how you consider yourself, you must consider yourself, this passage tells us, dead to sin. And look what comes next. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body to make you obey its passions. Present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life. So what we believe about ourselves, Christians, influences our behavior. What we believe about ourselves influences our behavior. When I was a youth pastor, I kind of ran into a pickle very frequently. When students would profess faith in Christ, their language was like on a delay of catching up to their new walk with Jesus. Because I'd play ping pong with them and they'd lose and then they'd cuss. And I'd play Super Smash Bros with them and their character would fall off the cliff and they'd cuss. And it was always really weird because I'm the youth pastor. So they kind of blush in front of me. Sorry, Pastor Zach. How was I supposed to respond? Because I didn't want them to think that they were saved and approved by God because they cleaned up their language. On the other hand, I wanted them to honor God with their language and stop cussing. So what am I, what should I do? I thought of a catchphrase. I put it in my back pocket. Every time that they cussed, I would slow everything down, look at them in the eyes, and say, That's not who you are anymore. That's not who you are anymore. Christian, yes, you should stop drinking because it's bad. But way more than that, you should stop drinking because that's not who you are anymore. You are not a drunkard anymore. You're not an alcoholic anymore. You're a woman of God. You should stop gossiping, but not just because it's bad. That's not the family language. It doesn't match the family accent. First Corinthians 6 says, Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. Bad news for all of us. And such were some of you. But you were washed. You were sanctified. You were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. You have a new identity. You have a new label. And it should influence your practice. We all walk around with an invisible label. We may not be able to see what you're wearing, but we see its effects. You may still walk around as a Christian, even, with the label of, I'm a coward, I'm a gossip, I'm a drunkard. And because of the gospel, we can remove that label once and for all and put on the new label. I am a child of God. I am a woman of God. I am a man of God because of his grace in me. It's all because of him. One of the most important theological documents, the Heidelberg Catechism, begins with this foundation. Begins with a foundation of identity. It starts with a simple question and answer. Question. What is your only comfort in life and in death? Answer. That I am not my own, but belong, body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ. Christian, you belong. You are his, you are a child, you are a woman of God. But I have to be honest, not all belong. No one is born a Christian. In fact, there's a very popular Christian song that says, in the end, we're all his children. No, we're not. Biblically, that's untrue. We are all made in the image of God, but you become a child, you are adopted into the family when you repent and believe. Not all belong. When I was in my undergrad, the university where I went to, I had a family member who was on the board of trustees. And though I didn't deserve it, one graduation ceremony, I got to sit with the VIPs. And it was nice, y'all. I'm not gonna lie on the pulpit. It was nice sitting with the VIPs. And before the ceremony ended, they asked all the VIPs, including myself, though I was undeserving, to rise and actually exit early. So we're leaving to go behind stage. I'm walking a little bit with better posture. My chest is out. And I turned to someone as we're walking, what are we going toward? And they said, the president's lunch. I'm like, man, that sounds good. What's on the menu? I approach the buses where they're gonna be taking us away, and there's a line forming, and at the front of the line, a woman with the clipboard. And she starts asking for names. I get to my turn. I hope this relative's really close with the president. What's your name? Zach again.

unknown 13:14

Okay, cool.

SPEAKER_00 13:16

Looks through the list. And I hear the fateful words. Your name's not on the list. She checks again, second scan through. I'm not invited on the bus. And I I will never forget how embarrassed I felt. I went from a very high high VIP to a peasant watching all these truly important people whist away on those buses. It was a terrible feeling. Very embarrassing. God has a list. The Lamb's Book of Life. I don't want a single soul in this room to be an outsider to that day. And we are all brought into abundant life, eternal life. A new heaven, a new earth. And the bad news is without Christ in your sin, you're still an outsider to grace. But here's the good news. Here's the good news. God made you. He loves you. You are made in his image. And no one's on that list because of their family relationships, their accomplishments, their prestige, their good record. The only reason you find yourself on that list is because Jesus lived a perfect life you could never live, died in your place, rose from the dead, paid your debt, and now offers all the world. Everyone's invited. He offers the whole world the free gift of salvation that he purchased. But you must say yes. Before we even continue with the rest of today's text, right now, in your seat, not doing any action, Christ did everything necessary. Humbly, like a child, receive his grace. And when you do, it will begin to change your habits. Heart change follows habit change. Or sorry, habit change follows heart change. Y'all are listening well. I heard you laugh. Not the other way around. That's dead religion. We don't do new habits in order to change our hearts. Because our hearts have been changed by the gospel, we have new pursuits, new practices, new habits of light. And that's what we see in this text. He calls Timothy a man of God, and then he calls him to new habits. Look with me, he says, flee these things. What are these things? It's everything that came in the book before it. Flee false teaching. Flee controversy. Flee worldly cravings for riches. Free ungodly desires. Here's another way to say it: Run. Run. There's gonna be some temptations that you cannot escape. But there's gonna be some moments where you have the opportunity to flee, and for the sake of your soul, you must. Like if you struggle with alcohol, you cannot control the summer how the group near you at the pool is just indulging in drunkenness. That wasn't your decision. But what you can control is whether or not you decide to go to the bar afterwards and indulge yourself. Martin Luther once said, you can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop it from making a nest in your hair. Chuck Swindall is one of my favorite pastors right now. He's in his 90s, y'all. He's still going after it. That's the goal. He's an amazing example. I genuinely commend you to hear his preaching. He once shared an illustration of when he was a young Marine, and they shipped him off to Okinawa. He was already a believer at this point, and he went to a home Bible study. But here's the problem. This home was just beyond a street where there was prostitution. And young Swindoll saw many of the other Marines would just go to this street to indulge in this sin, and he kind of felt the pull of that temptation. So he asked his mentor, What should I do? How could I avoid this on my way to Bible study? And this wise mentor discipler said, run. So with all humility that a young man can muster, he literally began to run to Bible study. And he he said in conclusion, you cannot lust and run at the same time. And I agree. The only thing running makes you want to do is throw up. Not lust. That's some good spiritual advice. Joseph in the Old Testament, to his eternal credit, lives at this principle. He was a leader in Egypt, and he was entrusted to oversee Potiphar's affairs and his household. And there's only one thing off limits, fittingly, Potiphar's wife. But the text actually says that Joseph was a handsome man. And Potiphar's wife was drawn to him. So the text says, day after day, not just a one-time temptation, day after day. Do you have some inclinations in your life? It's just day after day. It just wears down your soul. Day after day. She asks him straight up. She's not covering up much. Lie with me. Lie with me. Could you handle that? Joseph, in an amazing response, says, My leader has entrusted this house to me. You're the only thing off limits. How could I do that to him? And then he goes on to say, How could I do that against my God? Do you know what he's saying there? That's not who I am. You're tempting me with this? You don't understand who I am. I am a child of God. I am a man of God. But amazingly, she continued. Did he have control over her? No. That was her choice. That was her sin problem. But he has to respond to it. And then the text says, one day. One day. Okay, so the voice of temptation could be whispering in your ear day after day, day after day, wearing you down, waiting for one day to seize you. Like you feel like you have it in control, you feel like this relationship with the coworker is just friendly. But if one day comes, hear me, if one day comes, will you be ready? Will you be prepared? Will you have a plan? Joseph did. The passage tells us she grabs his outer garment and seizes him and says, Lie with me. And his spiritual plan was to run. And he fled the room. He got out of there. He lost his jacket. He lost his job, but he maintained his integrity. What does it gain to keep your job and keep your jacket but lose your soul? For the sake of your family, for the sake of your future, for the sake of your church, for the sake of your reputation in the community as a Christian, sometimes the most spiritual thing that we can do is run. Flee. Flee temptation. And as we do, we're not only running from, we are also running toward. This is so important to understand. Christianity is not just a big no. It is also a big yes. Some people, maybe you grew up thinking that Christianity is like that pool sign that says no eating, no horseplay, practically no fun. That's not what Christianity is. It tells us to avoid things that are gonna kill us so that we can pursue things that lead to the abundant life. So he tells Timothy, flee these things and then pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. This list is a simple summary of loving God and loving people. It really is simple. The first three are about our relationship with God. We trust him, we put our faith in him. We live a righteous life in gratitude because of the gospel. We are godly in our relationship with him and his holiness. And that influences our relationships. We love people. This word in the Greek, it's agape. Many of y'all have heard about that. It's not just a feeling of love, it's selfless sacrificial action for the good of another. And that love leads to steadfastness, and that steadfastness leads to gentleness, gentleness despite opposition. And we will face opposition. Look what comes next, verse 12. Fight the good fight of the faith. We fight like soldiers in a battle because we are in a battle. It's an unseen battle. It's a battle of faith. And it's a good battle. I'm reminded of Ephesians 6 for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. I wonder, as young timid Timothy was trying to start this church plant, trying to protect it from false teachers, trying to hold them together, if he felt like a warrior for the king. He had stomach aches, he was frail, he was timid. But his leader saw in him, you're a warrior, you're in a battle. Timothy, you must win. And let me say to you, mom, when you wake up at 6 a.m. because those little ones were crying, and in agape love and gentleness most of the time and steadfastness, you change their poopy diapers, you pray before breakfast, you teach them a little Bible study, you're angry with them, you ask for forgiveness because the Spirit prompted you to do so. You lay them to sleep at night, you sing God's word over them, you pray over them. You may not feel in those moments like a warrior in a battle for the cosmic world. But spiritually, that's exactly what's happening. You are declaring war against all of hell, and you are pushing back darkness with each very little moment of love. And I want to remind you of the words of our King. He said, I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. How are we gonna stand firm? How are we gonna win this war? How are we gonna win this battle? I have a simple answer. Church. And I'm not just talking about an event. I'm talking about people. You're gonna endure, you are going to make it if you have others holding you up. Recently I've been, all right, what I'm about to say is a little nerdy. Is that okay? Recently, I've been thinking about the Lord of the Rings. There's these two characters in the story that are surprisingly similar. Frodo has been entrusted to destroy this ring of power that was tempting everyone and messing everything up like sin. Gollum, a very sad, double-minded creature, also carried this ring. They both were tempted by the power of the ring, they both carried the ring. In the end of the story, I'm gonna give away the plot, y'all had like 20 years to watch this. In the end of the story, both of them loved the ring so much, neither had the desire to destroy it, to throw it into the fire. But in the end, only one of them survived. Frodo. Gollum was so consumed with his lust and his passion for this ring that he fell into the flames with it. So I've been asking my friends, what do y'all think the difference is between Frodo and Gollum? And they've all given the same response. Frodo had Sam. Raise your hand if you got that. I see some of y'all smiling. Fellow nerds. Frodo had Sam. Sam was a friend that stuck closer to a brother. When Frodo felt the burden of the ring, Sam carried that burden with him. When Frodo was wrestling with lies, Sam told him the truth. When Frodo was hungry, Sam would sacrifice some of his bread to feed Frodo. And in the end of the story, when Frodo didn't even have enough strength to physically carry on, Sam picked him up and carried him. Who are your Sam's? I thank God for mine. I have a few. My dad will watch this. My dad, I thank him so much. He carries me. He carries me when I cannot carry myself. My wife, Jordan, she is a Sam to me. She's been so gracious to me for the rings that I bear, for the burdens that I bear, for the trials that I've endured, even when I was weak. By God's Spirit, she's been strong and she has carried me. And listen to me, if you have even just one Sam in your life, you are going to make it. This life is brutal. Have you felt that this week? This life is hard. This week, it has been a fight of faith. I haven't been skipping around with faith. It's been a fight of faith. Trials, temptations, doubts, sin. We're human. There's darkness in the cosmic realm that we all experience every week. And when you're when you are spiritually struggling and weak, do you even just have one other soul? Let me say, as a as a practical application, if you do, thank them. I mean, unless it's inappropriate, walk up and give them a kiss. Because God has given them as a vital gift to you. I want you to see, I want you to see Timothy's community. Look with me. He says, take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession, in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time. Did you catch the word presence there? Timothy's not alone. Yes, he's a leader in the church, but he's also one of the sheep. And he made a good confession of faith in the presence of the witnesses. This could either be a reference to his ordination and his commissioning to gospel ministry, or even his baptism. And Christian, I want you to think about your baptism day. When you're struggling, look back to that day where in front of your church family that loves you so much, you made a good confession. You said visually, publicly, in front of the whole watching world, especially at River Oak. It's intimidating to be in front of this many people. You said, I have been crucified with Christ, I've been buried with him, and just as I'm being raised out of this water, Christ rose from the dead. I am proud to belong with him, and we should be, because we live our lives before his presence. Before Pontius Pilate, at the risk of death, Jesus made the good confession that he was the king of kings, not Caesar, and he was killed for it. But he rose from the dead, and he is returning. He is returning. And when he does, all these battles that we've been enduring, he's gonna crush them. He's gonna win the war. I was thinking as we were singing, a day is coming. You will never feel that temptation again. You won't even remember it. A day is coming. That chronic sickness, Timothy had frequent ailments in his stomach, that thing that haunts your body, keeps you up at night, you can't put your finger on it. There's no medicine that's helping. The medicine's coming. No more pain. No more fear. No more death. All because of his grace. We need to know who we are. We also need to know whose we are. Who is God? A.W. Tozer once wrote, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. I agree. When you sing, like you close your eyes, you sing, what you imagine God to be, that is the most important thing about you. When you pray and you imagine God, what you picture when you close your eyes, that is the most important thing about you. So let's go to the Bible for the answer. It says of him, he who is the blessed and only sovereign, the king of kings and lord of lords, who alone has immortality. Though God is described as the Alpha and the Omega, He Himself had no beginning. No one created him. He has always existed, and He Himself has no end. Death will never touch him again. He will exist forever. He is, was, and will always be the great I am. There is no other God who dwells in unapproachable light. He dwells in unapproachable light because he is light. James tells us that there's not even a shadow in his character. Like, think about the sun, the S-U-N. Think about the sun that's in the sky orbiting perfectly. It's always on routine. It can't be three feet away from us or three feet closer to us, otherwise, we'd be in trouble. That sun that's so consistent, so bright, gives life to earth. Even that sun has dark spots, but not with God. There is no dark spots, thank God, whom no one has ever seen or can see. Okay, so this phrase I had to do some research on. It was kind of confusing because if you've read the Old Testament, God's just kind of showing up. He's making little appearances. So what does it mean that no one's seen him and no one can see him? You have never seen wind. Air is invisible, but you see the effects of wind all the time. You see its power. You get frustrated when it blows your hair in your face. You've never seen God the Father, but you see the effects of him all around you. In his power, in his control, in his grace, in a sunrise, in a sunset. You have seen him. And in a similar way, Christian, you've never seen the Lord Jesus Christ in the flesh. You've never seen him, but you love him. You love him. And one day you will see him face to face. Man, how can we dwow unapproachable light? How can we dwell in the presence of this amazing God? Because of the nail scars in his hands. Because we're covered in grace. So the only thing left to say is to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. That word amen simply means I agree. Do you agree in your heart? The most important thing about you is the answer to the question, who is God? And I'm not going to be passing out test papers today, alright? I think, I think that if you were to have to do like a little paragraph on who is God to become a member at River Oak, odds are, and don't use AI, okay? Odds are, uh, it'll probably be kind of a similar paragraph to this. He's eternal, he's perfect, he's holy, yada yada yada. But really what matters is how you view him in your heart. Do you love him? Churches that preach the Bible, like we do, that you'll sometimes you'll hear them emphasize we need a big view of God. We preach sermons about a big God, and that is vital, and he is big. He's the only sovereign, he's the only king. But I also know that roller coasters are big and they're kind of scary sometimes. We need a big view of God, but we also need a good view of God. I think some of our honest answers about God would be He's kind of grumpy and he dwells in darkness. But that's not what the passage said. This is God's word. It says he is blessed. That is a synonym for happy. God's happiness does not take away from his holiness, nor does his holiness take away from his blessedness. He is full of joy, he is rich in mercy, he is abundant and kessed in steadfast love. That is who he is. He is full of light. A very good test on how you view God is how you treat people. If you're harsh with people, like if you claim to be a Christian or theologian or you've been to seminary or whatever, and you're harsh with people and you're quick with people, and you're totally unpleasant to be around, could it be that the source of that is a very lacking view of God? A view of God that is not whole. I saw a very sad kind of cartoon drawing recently. It was of a boss yelling at a dad, and then a dad yelling at a mom, and then the mom yelling at her child, and then the little child yelling at the dog. Your belief has a trickle-down effect. If you believe that God is love and you believe that he is holy, and you want to be with him, and you delight abiding in his love, you're gonna be full of love. You're gonna be full of steadfastness, you're gonna be full of gentleness. But if there's something in your heart, this is a matter of the heart, not just the mind. Not talking about the mind right now. This is a matter of the heart. If in your heart you have an incomplete view of God, yes, he will by no means clear the guilty, but he made a way, y'all. Yes, he has wrath of sin, but he was so full of love, God so loved the world that he sent his only son to step underneath that judgment, and he said, It's finished. For all who repent and believe, it's finished. I love the verse in James that says, mercy triumphs over judgment. There is and there will be judgment against sin. But to all who repent and believe, mercy has triumphed. Hey, you may feel like a sinner, but through the lens of grace, you are a child of God. You are a woman of God. We need a big view of God, and we need a good view of God. He's the only God. In Timothy's day, there was one false God that was super prominent. It was the God Artemis, the great Artemis is so what they called her. People in Ephesus would go to Artemis for help with fertility and nature, so this was super important. And all around Timothy, as he walked around town as a young pastor, what he would have seen on coins, in buildings, little statues in homes, is that little great Artemis. It was so influential, there was a whole month dedicated to Artemis. There were like kind of Olympic type games, there was music to worship Artemis. Artemis influenced the local economy. In fact, Timothy's little church would have hurt the economy by not giving to the temple of Artemis. And I wonder, as a young pastor, if he ever kind of felt insecure. Here's this false God that has so much influence, it seems like it's so effective, my whole community is swept up into it, and our little gathering seems to be losing. It seems as though darkness is winning and light is losing. It seems as though Artemis is winning and Yahweh is losing. That's maybe how he felt. Today, 2026, the great Artemis is sold in Ephesus as a tourist souvenir. Meanwhile, Jesus Christ sits on the eternal throne of glory. He is untouchable. The great Artemis, her fabulous temple that would have been center of the town, maybe one of the largest buildings, rubble. The church of God, the church of Yahweh, the church of Jesus, alive. Alive. And the gates of hell will not prevail against her. O man of God, O woman of God, fight this fight of faith. Our King will return. And when we do do, when He does, the war will be won forever. Let's pray. Father, renew our minds. We're not born into this world with right thinking about who we are or who you are. So very humbly by your word, we receive your grace. We receive even titles of mercy over us that we don't deserve. That we're forgiven, that we're washed, that we're cleansed, that we're justified, that we're sanctified. I thank you, God, that I know people by name in this room who are women of God. They are men of God. They use their whole lives to serve you. And you alone are worthy. You dwell in unapproachable light. And yet, in an amazing turn of events, you tell us to approach the throne of grace with boldness because of who Jesus was, is, and forevermore will be. In his name we pray. Amen. Hey, we are glad you could join us this morning. We pray that this message speaks life into your walk with Jesus. If you don't have a home church, we'd love to see you in person. And don't forget to subscribe for all of our content.