The text for our consideration tonight is 1 Thessalonians 2, verses 17 through 20. I ask that you first turn to Acts chapter 17, we read the first 15 verses of Acts 17, and then turning over to 1 Thessalonians, reading chapter 2 and the first few verses of chapter 3. Acts 17, beginning at verse 1, as we give our attention to the Word of God. When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica where there was a Jewish synagogue. As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ, he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks, and not a few prominent women. But the Jews were jealous, so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob, and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting, These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus. When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go. As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible. And turning over to 1 Thessalonians 2, beginning at verse 1 of chapter 2, reading through verse 5 of chapter 3. Again, the text being verses 17 to 20 of chapter 2. You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite of strong opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the contrary, we speak as men approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please men, but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed. God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from men, not from you or anyone else. As apostles of Christ, we could have been a burden to you, but we were gentle among you, like a mother caring for her little children. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship. We worked night and day in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the gospel of God to you. You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous, and blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God who calls you into his kingdom and glory. And we also thank God continually because when you receive the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. For you, brothers, became imitators of God's churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displeased God and are hostile to all men in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way, they always heap up their sins to the limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last. The next few verses are the words of our text. But brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time, in person, not in thought, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you. For we wanted to come to you. Certainly I, Paul, did again and again. But Satan stopped us. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens. We sent Timothy, who is our dear brother and God's fellow worker, in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. You know quite well that we were destined for them. In fact, when we were with you, we kept telling you that we would be persecuted. And it turned out that way, as you well know. For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless. Shall we bow in prayer asking our God to add His blessing to His Word tonight. Father, we do thank You and praise You for Your Word. Your Word which only You can make effective in the hearts and lives of Your people. We pray for Your blessing upon Your Word which has been read and now, too, upon your word to be preached. Bless him who brings it. Give him strength, conviction of heart, that his love for you and for your people might shine forth through the word, through your word. And bless this, your people, Father, that our hearts might be opened by your Holy Spirit and that, indeed, you would be praised in all these things. In Jesus' name alone we pray. Amen. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, the writer of Hebrews, as we know, speaks of the church's leaders, including pastors, and says they keep watch over your souls, over your lives, as those who must give or who will give an account. As we said this morning, God gives office bearers, especially elders and pastors, a great responsibility to shepherd His flock. Tonight we focus a little bit on pastors. Pastors are stewards of God's property, along with the elders again. And the pastor's desire is to be the salvation of the congregation, and his goal is to be used by God to nourish the congregation to that end. Well, how is that possible? Only when the Lord is with him, and when the Lord is working through him. But when a pastor, by God's grace, is faithful and the congregation is faithful, a beautiful thing happens. There is a bond that is formed between the two. And the Lord strengthens that bond of love, especially of the pastor toward the congregation. And be assured, be encouraged, beloved, that that bond exists here between your pastors and you as a congregation. This text is a picture of the bond of love that especially Paul, but also his companions had for the members of Christ's church. And through Paul, we can see that nothing can break that bond that God has created, not even the attacks from the devil. Even in times of difficulty within the church, or when there are attacks from outside, the pastor's heart is to continue to have an urgent desire for the salvation of God's people. Very clearly, this describes Paul's heart. And he preached the Gospel with conviction. He preached the Gospel without apology through the power of the Spirit for the welfare of God's people so that even in times of suffering he could say, yet I am not ashamed because I know whom I have believed then I'm convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day. Paul entrusted his work and God's people placed under his care, he entrusted them to Christ. And in that connection, we have this Word of God before us. A pastor opens his heart for the congregation's encouragement. A heart longing for fellowship in person. A heart grieved by frustrated plans. And a heart longing for the congregation's perfection in Christ. First, Paul reveals that his heart was longing for personal fellowship with the Thessalonian congregation. Now we need to make it clear that we understand that when we speak of Paul here, this includes Silas and Timothy, his missionary partners. We single out Paul in a sense as the head missionary and as the one who wrote this letter to the Thessalonians. Verse 17 of the text, Paul says, But brothers, when we were torn away from you for a short time, in person, not in thought, out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you. As you might have gotten the flavor from some of the context that we read, Paul has been, he's responding here to false things that were being said to this young church in Thessalonica about himself and about his companions. Now, when we say young church, we really do mean a young church. Paul, Silas, and Timothy came to Thessalonica and they preached there for a very short time. In fact, we read in verses 2 and 3 of Acts 17, As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue and on three Sabbath days, he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead, this Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ. So for about three weeks, we might say, these missionaries worked the city of Thessalonica and God blessed their work. Verse 4, Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks, and not a few, it means a large number, not a few prominent women. In a short amount of time, God established a church in this city. These people believed the gospel which was preached to them. But as Acts 17 tells us, and we can well imagine, there were those who did not take kindly to this church or to Paul. In this case, they were the Jews who didn't believe. They tried to haunt Paul and Silas down, even chasing him to Berea. And they referred to them in Acts 17 as men who have caused trouble all over the world. Because of this danger, Paul and his companions were forced to leave Thessalonica. And Paul makes it clear that the problems that were occurring were the work of none other than Satan. And it's believed that Paul is responding here to accusations that said that he didn't care about the church. His running away, if you will, proved that. The Jews were trying to make this young church believe that when the going got tough, this so-called tough guy, well, he got going right out of town. Paul was, you see, just another fly-by-night preacher. In it for himself. He and his companions didn't really care about the church. Paul left them high and dry to deal with their own problems. He wasn't a sincere preacher, they said. In fact, the message that he preached wasn't true. It was just a message that was causing trouble all over the world. If you think about it, it's true, isn't it? Because the Gospel is an offense. It's an offense to those who don't believe. And therefore, it's going to cause trouble. What kind of foolishness is this anyway, to say that a man came back to life? Come on. We all know better. When it came right down to it, Paul was just like any other man. He was more concerned about saving his own skin than he was with saving this church. But this simply wasn't true. And Paul defends his departure by saying that they were torn away from this church. They were literally separated from the church against their will. The Greek gives us the idea of being orphaned. Like a child being orphaned or separated from his parents from those he loves. Beloved, Paul loved this young church in Thessalonica. How could he not love them? He preached the saving gospel of Jesus Christ, and they received that gospel message by grace through faith. They were now a part of the body of Christ. Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 1, verses 8 and 9, that your faith in God has become known everywhere. And he says that they turn to God from idols to serve a living and true God. And in chapter 2 verse 8, Paul reminds the church just how much he loved them. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God, but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. And then in verse 13, and we also thank God continually because when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the Word of men, but as it actually is the Word of God, which is at work in you who believe. You see, Paul loved them not because they thought that Paul was such a great guy. Not because they believed in Paul. No, Paul loved them because God loved them. Because God claimed them for His own. And because this church believed in Jesus Christ and received Him as their own. This was true Christian Christ-like love at work, which Paul makes clear when he says that they were unwillingly separated in person, not in thought, or as another version says, not in spirit. You see, we are attached, if you will, to God's people, even those around the world, halfway around the world, that we will never meet in this life. We are attached to them by that greatest thing we have in common, the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And even though these Jewish persecutors were trying to make the church believe that for Paul, this church was out of sight and therefore out of mind, Paul says, no way. No way. You may be out of our sight, but you are very much in our thoughts and in our hearts. In fact, we cannot stop thinking about you. They were such an encouragement to the faith. Such an encouragement to what God does in the lives of sinners. Paul wanted to see them. He wanted to be with them with such great desire that he says, Out of our intense longing, we made every effort to see you. Another version makes it more clear, really, what Paul is saying. He says, we want to see your face. Face to face. In other words, a letter from this church catching up on the latest news. Who got married? Who moved away? Who died? What children were born? Would not have satisfied Paul. He desired to see them face to face, to be in their presence, preaching and teaching, breaking the bread of life together. Paul considered the church of Thessalonica his brothers and sisters in Christ, and he wanted to worship Jesus Christ with them. You see, beloved, there's no greater activity that you and I can share together than to worship the one, to worship the tie that binds our hearts together in Christian love. See, Satan had attacked Paul and this church through those who had forced Paul out of town and spread false accusations in the church about Paul. God allowed Satan to separate Paul from this young church, but Satan could never break the tie that binds the hearts of God's people in Christian love. Nothing could break the love of God that flowed through this pastor's heart to Christ's congregation. By the grace of God, a faithful pastor's heart cannot be separated from the sheep. He has a longing and a desire to be with them, feeding them with the bread of life. And beloved, as God's people, we are to have this same spirit of Christian love within us for each other. We are called to love God's people with a Christ-like love, not because they have money, not because they do business with us, not because they make us look good in some way, not even because they go to our church here in this place, but we are to love them with a Christ-like love because God loves them. You see, together, we are a part of His family. And we share in that greatest gift. Everything else pales in comparison. We share in that greatest gift of salvation. Paul is teaching us here that we must love and have an earnest desire to fellowship with those who belong to the body of Christ. With those whom God has claimed for His own. Those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Does this describe you? Is that your desire? Indeed, to fellowship as in worship, to be sure, but also in daily life, to fellowship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. To be of an encouragement to them and have them to be of an encouragement to you. And together, beloved, we must stand up for the truth of the Gospel, rejoicing in the tie that binds our hearts together in Christ. In the second place, the pastor's heart is grieved by frustrated plans. Paul's earnest desire to be with this church was frustrated as his plans to rejoin them were hindered. He says in verse 18, For we wanted to come to you. Certainly, I, Paul, did again and again. But Satan stopped us. And here Paul shows us just how much he and his companions wanted to go to Thessalonica. And he emphasized the fact that not only was this a group desire, but it was personal. He says, certainly I, Paul. It's not just Silas and Timothy who want to come to you, but I do too. The very one who the enemies probably want the most. Yet I want to come to you. Paul says, for we wanted to come to you again and again. And beloved, again, the Greek gives us a little different flavor and helps us to understand the significance of what Paul is saying. He is saying that they had determined, they had intended every intention to make the trip. Paul assures this young congregation that he is so committed to them in Christ that he had made the arrangements to come and to be with them. In fact, their trip was a sure thing. We might say the travel plans had been made. The airplane or the bus tickets had been bought and paid for. It was a done deal. And it was a done deal more than once, maybe even more than twice, as Paul says, again and again. There was nothing holding them back, at least nothing foreseeable. And then Paul goes on to explain why they didn't make the trip. But Satan stopped us. Satan's attack stopped Paul from coming to see them. He doesn't tell the Thessalonians or us how Satan stopped him. There has been much speculation by various commentators, but Paul simply doesn't tell us. We know as we read in Acts 17 that Paul's friend Jason and a few other brothers had been arrested because of Paul and his companions. And it's possible that there were continued threats to them if Paul showed his face again, but we don't know. Again, Paul doesn't tell us. Satan uses different situations and different means, but whatever he did to stop Paul, he made it impossible for Paul to make the trip. He hindered Paul's plans in the sense that he blocked the way. He put an obstacle in the way. We might say the road was undriveable. Kind of like when the highway crews break up a section of the highway and you simply cannot drive over it, you will get stuck and you'll do damage to your car. Or if you grew up in the snow country, like I did, you might have found out the hard way, as I did, that you cannot drive through certain snow drifts. You will get stuck. The road is impassable. Satan had hindered Paul's plans in such a way, though, that he was trying to block the progress of the Gospel. You see, Satan cannot attack God directly. So he attacks God indirectly through men and women like Paul or you and me. But praise God, congregation, Satan failed. He may have kept Paul from returning to the church in Thessalonica, but he could not stop the Spirit of God from working in the hearts of this church, from keeping their memory of Paul alive, and he could not stop, he could not snuff out their love for the gospel of Christ. We know this because Paul did eventually get there. He didn't go himself, but he was able to send Timothy to represent him. He tells us in chapter 3, verse 6, But Timothy has just now come to us from you and has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have pleasant memories of us, and that you long to see us just as we also long to see you. Beloved, this is to be a comfort for you and me today that Satan cannot stop the progress of the Gospel. He cannot stop the work of the Holy Spirit. If we should ever find ourselves in a situation where we have lost our freedom to come together in public to worship, if we ever find ourselves in a situation where the Word of God has been ripped out of our hands and taken out of our homes forcibly. Yet we are to be comforted that Satan cannot take out of our hearts that Word which we have hidden in our hearts by the power of the Holy Spirit. Satan cannot stop the prayers of God's people from reaching His throne of grace. He cannot stop our encouragement of one another. He cannot stop God's people from being temples of the Holy Spirit. Paul thought it best that he go back to be with this young church in Thessalonica, but very simply, God didn't. God allowed Satan to hinder Paul's plans to get in his way. We don't understand this, and maybe Paul didn't either. Maybe this was a lesson for Paul to remind him that he was only God's instrument. He was only God's instrument. and to remind him that God would take care of his church. We don't know. But sometimes, beloved God, allows even our best laid plans to be stopped by Satan. We make plans for the church. And we're sure that these plans are a part of God's will, but He allows Satan to mess them up, maybe through fighting and discord within the church, maybe through decreasing the size of a particular congregation. We make plans for our local Christian school and to make improvements that cost a lot of money and try to enhance the education of our covenant youth, God's covenant youth, and yet these plans are frustrated by declining enrollment or other factors so that we simply can't afford it. We make plans for our children, those whom God has given to us, but then our plans are frustrated when a child is taken from us by death. We don't know why God allows Satan to hinder our plans, especially when we firmly believe that they are within God's will. But we do know that sometimes God tests our faith and our faithfulness. And we do know, beloved, that God's will, even when we don't understand it, is sovereign and perfect. Isaiah 55, verses 8 and 9 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways. and my thoughts than your thoughts. Beloved, we do know and believe, and we are confident that God has our good in mind. Paul was assuring this young church that he was so committed to them and to building them up in the faith that he tried to return to them, but Satan hindered them. He blocked the way. But he couldn't block Paul's goal for the Thessalonian church. Paul had an everlasting goal for this young church. He had a heart longing for the congregation's perfection in Christ. You see, the results of Paul's goal couldn't be stopped by Satan because those results were guaranteed by Jesus Christ Himself. What was or is that everlasting goal? Verses 19 and 20. For what is our hope, our joy, or the crown in which we will glory in the presence of our Lord Jesus when He comes? Is it not you? Indeed, you are our glory and joy. What an assurance these words must have been for the church in Thessalonica. For one thing, with these few words, Paul destroys the accusation that he is selfish. He's not selfish. He is selfless. He wasn't worried about himself. He was concerned about the future of this church. His desire was for their eternal future, for their perfection in Christ. And what is the everlasting goal that he was longing for? That this body of believers be at Christ's right hand at His coming to judge the living and the dead. that He who began a good work in them completed. This is Paul's longing hope for the church. His joy, as well as the joy of his companions, is seeing, by God's grace, the fruit of their ministry being presented to Christ without any spot or wrinkle or defect. Their crown of glory is the church of Jesus Christ who have been one for Christ. Again, Hebrews 13.17 says, Obey your leaders and submit to their authority. They keep watch over you as men who must give an account. Obey them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you. When Paul has to give an account, the salvation of this young church by God's grace will be his crown of glory in Jesus Christ. But don't misunderstand this people of God. Paul doesn't labor in the ministry, first of all because he has to give an account, No doubt Paul took this charge very seriously. This is not some sort of an ego trip that Paul is on here. Paul's desire, very simply, is the salvation of man. His first goal was the glory of God and the honor of Jesus Christ. Success in the ministry for Paul doesn't mean that men be won by him. Not at all. Maybe you've run into people who have asked you, well, how many people have you led to the Lord? Well, I've led so many. So and so and so and so. That's not success in the ministry as far as Paul is concerned. Success in the ministry for Paul was that men be won for Christ. That was the most important and it still is. And if Paul happened to be Christ's instrument in winning men, Well, then that too was for the honor and glory of Christ. Congregation, the Thessalonian church, was also grieved by Paul's absence. It wasn't just on his side, but it was also on their side. But this pastor opens his heart for the congregation's encouragement. Paul makes it clear that whatever Satan may put in his way, by God's grace, he is committed to this young church for eternity. He was committed to the family of God. His everlasting desire is that they have the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul wasn't content to just be saved himself, and we shouldn't be either. If we truly do understand what a precious gift salvation is, how can we just bottle it up and lock it inside? We are, as the church fathers have said, we are to desire the salvation of everyone with whom God gives us contact. We don't know if God plans to save them. But that is to be our desire. Paul earnestly desired the salvation of others. One of the greatest joys for parents is when their children respond to God's saving grace by committing their life to Jesus Christ and by making profession of faith. In the same way, the hope or joy or crown of glory for the pastor is when the congregation stands before God and rejoices in the love of Jesus Christ so that God is glorified. The secret of the faithful pastor's heart is that he lives and glories and rejoices in God through a people formed by the Gospel. And that's why he struggles in his study and seeks through the Spirit's strength to bring only the Word of God from the pulpit, in the counseling room, In the classroom, the bond between a pastor and congregation is strong because of Jesus Christ. His work of salvation guarantees those results. His work of salvation is the tie that binds our hearts in Christian love. That bond then is also to be strong between us as brothers and sisters in Christ. That very same bond that we desire each other. to be gathered together in Christ's kingdom. But oh, how Satan tries to loosen that tie. To cut it off. Satan can try to hinder us in many ways, and he does try. He can block our best laid plans. I believe that Satan works the hardest at times to separate or create a barrier or chasm, for example, between a pastor and the congregation. He works through disagreements or fighting or false accusations. The pastor tries to preach love for God above all and for your neighbor as yourself, but Satan is busy cultivating hatred between brothers and sisters in Christ. He tries to use the offense of the gospel that convicts us of our sin, convicts our hearts, to turn us against each other instead of being humbled toward repentance. A number of pastors have been run out of their congregations, beloved, because people took offense at the pastor for the offense that the gospel gave. On the other side, some congregations have been left almost destroyed because the pastor was more concerned about his own reputation and his getting his own way than being concerned about the welfare of the congregation. Satan at times tries to dim the divine spark in the pastor when the pastor doesn't see the spiritual growth or godly love in the congregation that he would like to see. He causes us to attack each other's character. Now be assured, I'm not saying these things are found here. We are very blessed. Very blessed. And may it be our prayer that God would continue to bless us as pastors and elders and deacons and congregation to be united in the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. The devil works hard to try to make the pastor worry about his performance rating with the congregation, worry more about that than longing for their soul's salvation. But the salvation is to be our concern, isn't it? One of my favorite stories is a true story that I read about, I believe it concerned Spurgeon, Charles Spurgeon, about a hundred years ago or so, that a man went to church one Sunday morning and he was heard saying as he came out of church, my, what a great preacher. Well, that night, the man went back to that same church and Spurgeon was on the pulpit, a different minister in the morning. That same man was heard to say as he came out of church, my, what a great Savior. That is to be the pastor's desire. For those of you here tonight training for the Gospel ministry, for those of you who train them, even for us as God's people, that others may see in us, not that we are such great Christians. Oh, may that be true too. But may that not be what they talk about. May it be that in us, they see what a great Savior we have. Praise God that Satan will not prevail because He cannot prevail. Jesus Christ has stripped Him of His deceiving power. Those who are in Christ will not be deceived because the Spirit keeps their eyes open to the truth. A faithful pastor's love for His congregation and the faithful congregation's love for Christ's shepherd cannot be broken because as the Lord said to Moses, certainly I will be with you. But those who try to hinder the Gospel ministry in whatever way, and the spiritual growth of God's people, those who take sides with the devil and try to put a roadblock in the way of the gospel ministry will find one day that for them, there will be a roadblock in the way of salvation. And as they stand before Christ the Judge, hoping for admittance into His heaven, instead of hearing, enter into your rest, they will hear from His tongue from that sharp, double-edged sword, depart from me. I never knew you. It's only in Christ Jesus and the salvation that He brings that we might be assured of our eternal rest in Him. Heaven is the place where God is loved above all and neighbors and your neighbor as yourself. If that's not practiced here, beloved. There will be no opportunity there. And when the Spirit of God takes the Word of God that comes from this pulpit or wherever you might be worshiping and convicts you of your sin and cuts you to the heart, and I hope it does, as well that it would give you assurance of your salvation, then you must see the almighty God who stands behind the one who brings it. And it must be the preacher's goal that by God's grace, the Lord will bless and strengthen each of you through the preaching of His Word. And may you rejoice that by God, by the grace of God, His servants love you enough in Christ to feed you with the bread of heaven so that God may be glorified and that one day Jesus would say to you those precious words, enter into your rest. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, we must confess that so often, even as a people of God, we do fight. We don't always get along. We sometimes forget of what a great salvation it is that we have that we confess. And may it be, O Lord, that we would every day glory in such a great salvation. When we open our eyes in the morning that we might remember what a great day it is. Why? Because I'm saved by the blood of Jesus. That throughout the day, all that we think and say and do, whatever problems or struggles we make might come upon, or even encouragements in the day, they all have meaning, they all have value because of such a great salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. And may it be our desire for each other that each one enjoys that salvation to the fullest possible in this life. Looking forward to the full extent of it in glory one day with you. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.