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2:01Well, two characteristics of this church, we've already noted, even though it was a small church, it had two characteristics that distinguished it. It cherished Christ's words and it cherished Christ's name. And this is what distinguished this church. It was an expression of the way they loved him. They loved Christ, and it's evident by the way one relates to his word and his name. They were not ashamed of his name. They were not afraid to embrace his teaching and go where his teaching took them. This was an expression of love that the church had for Christ. And in fact, Christ loves churches who love him.

2:58And so we began looking at. way that Jesus expresses his love for the churches that cherish him. Again looking at this for the church that Jesus cherishes number one he opens the door to eternal honor to hend before their enemies and three he delivers them from the great hour of testing that's where we've been wanting to looking at this looking at these expressions of Jesus' love for his church so that we will be encouraged to cherish his word more and cherish his name more. And so it brings us to verse 11. Verse 11. Look back. Verse 11. I am coming quickly. Hold fast what you have so that no one will take your crown.

3:55I am coming quickly. This brings us to the fourth expression of love that Jesus has or expresses to the church that cherishes him and that is he crowns with victory. The church that cherishes him he crowns with victory as an expression of his love. Let's observe this for just a moment. Notice what he says. I am coming quickly. I am coming swiftly. My coming is imminent. It is just like that great earthquake in... California, that's been imminent.

4:33So is Christ's return. It can happen at any time. Soon our lives will be over. Soon, earth will be ushered into a whole nother epoch. That which comes as a result of his coming. He is coming quickly. And you come to the main command there: hold fast. It's the present. Be holding fast. Be holding on. Be gripping tightly. Be keeping in your custody. Be holding fast what you have. Saying, hold on to what you have. What do they have? Well, they don't have much. From a worldly standpoint, they really don't have much at all.

5:23They're a church of little power, little influence, little size. But what do they have? They have something very special, something very precious. They have a love for his word. And they have a love for his name. This is what they have. Hold on to that. Hold on what you have. Keep holding on. Do not ease up. Do not wear out. Do not let up. Do not diminish in the least. I don't know if you've ever. Try to educate your children in how to drive a vehicle.

6:07But one of the first lessons you want to communicate to them: hold on to that wheel. If you see a bump in the road, none of this. Hold on to the wheel. Hold on. That's what he's saying. Hold on. Do not let up. They have something very, very precious. Hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown. I want to talk about this crown. One of the first observations I want you to see and understand. Hold fast so that no one will take your crown. Jesus wants this church to wear a crown. Just observe it. It's there in the text. He wants this church walking in victory. He wants this church to experience the reward of victory. This is what he wants for them. This is what he wants for all of his people. He wants us to wear the crowns that he has set before us. He wants us to walk through the open doors that he has given us. He wants us to prevail through this life in the place that he has given us for his glory. He wants us to work the field. He wants us to enjoy. the hardships and to patiently wait for him.

7:35Why? Because he wants you to wear the victor's crown. Settle this in your heart. You must know this. This is what he wants for you. This is what he wants for his people to walk in victory. He wants you to wear the crown. Be very much aware of all that goes on. We understand this. It shouldn't be hard. Parents, we understand this. As kids, it's not hard to understand. As parents, what do we want? We want what's good for our kids. We want to set before them open doors. We want them to walk through those doors. We want them to learn to walk in a way that is good and experience the good things of life. And we knock ourselves out sometimes trying to open those doors to provide a means of education, to provide opportunities and experiences so that they can see the world, understand the world, and learn how to be victorious over the temptations and the trials and the besetting things that will inevitably come against them. We understand this.

8:49And this is exactly the way our Heavenly Father is. This is exactly our Lord Jesus Christ. He sets opportunities before. He wants us to experience the good life, the good life that he has set before us. Know that. Settle that in your heart. And if nothing else, you want to experience the reward that Christ has you simply out of love for Christ. He wants you to wear this. He wants you to experience this. So respond by simply, out of love for him, I want what you have.

9:30Ready to endure whatever you have. Because I want what you have. Well, I'm going to ask three questions. What is this crown? Question number two: Is it possible for someone to take the crown? Question number three: How do we ensure that it doesn't happen? First question: What is this crown? What crown is clearly the victor's wreath? It is that the games and the games were prevalent in this town, as in many other towns there, cities there in Asia Minor at the time.

10:13It's the victor's wreath that they would wear, the wreath that they would wear. The victor, the crown, and the parade, the celebration, all of that. It's the adornment. That awaits the victor. That's what he's talking about. The adornment that awaits victory. There is an adornment that follows victory. And what Jesus has in mind is eternal adornment. Eternal adornment. It's an eternal adornment for those who walk through the door that He has opened. Cherishing His name, cherishing His word, and despising the shame of ever compromising any of those categories.

11:17No matter the cost. That's what He wants. Eternal adornment for those who walk through the door that He has opened for them, no matter what the cost is. Eternal adornment awaits those who obey Jesus' words and identify with His name. There's going to be a whole lot of things in life that are going to try to knock you off balance for those few things. Question number two: Is it possible for someone? To take your crown. Look at that. I am coming quickly. Hold fast to what you have so that no one will take your crown. Now, to be sure, he's not talking about your salvation here. He's talking about something else, this eternal adornment that goes with obedience and the victor's crown.

12:21Isn't it the context of salvation? It's one of adornment, victory, joy, and all that goes along with the victory. It's clear that John has already said in 1 John 5:4, 1, who is born of God doesn't become unborn of God. For whatever is born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Faith. And what Jesus is doing is encouraging this church to continue in that faith, that faith in His word, faith in His name, and is exhorting them and encouraging them even to greater faithfulness and greater cherishing of His name and word. But it's also clear that there is a real threat to this eternal adornment, so that no one will take your crown.

13:21Very clear in the verse. Yes, there's a strong command and a real threat. Hold on, be holding on. Because the threat is somebody or something will take your crown. But how might this happen? Well, in the context of Philadelphia, as we have already noticed, this is a church that cherishes his words and cherishes his name. Christ had already given them an open door to eternal honor as an expression of his love for them. And then he strongly exhorts them to hold on.

14:05Hold on. And as long as they hold on, no one can take their crown. Jesus is saying, hold on, be holding on to what you have so that no one takes your crown. If you let up, someone can take your crown. But if you hold on, no one can take your crown. The remedy is holding on. No one can come and take this by some overpowering force. Something can't just strong-arm God and then take your crown, take your eternal adornment.

14:50As long as they hold on, no one can take the crown. So the threat of someone taking their crown is tied to the temptation and depression. Or the compulsion to cause them to let go. That's how somebody's going to take their crown. It's to get them, to trip them up, to get them detached from God, to tempt them to not cherish His Word, to pressure them into being ashamed of His name, and so trip them up and take their crown. So the loss is more of a forfeiture. It's more of a forfeiture rather than some overpowering force coming in and taking away something that God wants you to have. No, it's the temptation to let go.

15:51And just as we've looked at the other churches, there's quite a resume of temptations that are coming against these churches. There is the workplace conformity, serve the gods of the workplace, the guild gods, serve these gods, serve their ways, take part in the temple party scenes, all of that, and all of the idolatry and the immorality and the contradictions to God's word, all that, embrace all of that. So there's all that workplace conformity. There's also all of this sexual immorality associated with the temple party scenes. And there is the whole category of immorality. Is emperorism, that's a word, or nationalism, elevate the emperor to the highest place, let him take priority over, let the political sphere take priority over Christ.

16:48There was, of course, the slander, of course, the persecution, of course, those who would want to embarrass them. So these people were constantly being tempted to deny Christ, to be embarrassed of his ways, to be embarrassed of his standards, to be embarrassed of his exclusive, his exclusive claims upon his people, his exclusive claims upon them, and his exclusiveness, etc., etc. They were embarrassed. They were tempted to be embarrassed. They will face all of these. But in our context today, if anybody, if someone or something can cause you to let go of cherishing God's word or let go of cherishing his name, your crown can be taken from you.

17:58Well, I'm going to take a few moments. Just to underscore that this is a real possibility. Forfeiture, forfeiting what's been given to you is an awful concept. The whole idea of having to forfeit without even playing the game. Forfeiting. Many great things are forfeited. Given up without even really much of a conflict. It's a disconcerting concept. It's a heartbreaking concept. Painful to watch people forfeit something valuable. For the next few moments, I'm going to take you through what I might call like a dark museum of light.

19:00Just step with me in your mind. We'll go through the scriptures. There is. It is like a museum. A dark museum. A museum where people who have disgraced God, who have shunned the grace of God, who have insulted God, God's grace, those who have left a great inheritance and gave it away for nothing. For the next moment, I want to just be your tour guide, if you will, and step through a few pages of scripture and just show you what I mean. It's a dark place. It's the hall of shame of life.

19:57A dark place. I want you to spend the next few moments with me just looking at some people who forfeited their inheritance. I want to show you these dark places so that you will be encouraged to walk through the open door that God has given you. You don't need like these who are immortalized in this hall of shame. Those who insulted the spirit of grace. As we make our way through, I want to first stop to a young man. His name is Esau. Esau. Let me tell you a little bit about Esau. Well, he was a favorite of his father.

20:50He was Isaac's child. He had a brother named Jacob. Esau, the favorite one of his father Isaac. Genesis 25, 27, it speaks about the boys when they grew up. Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field. But Jacob was a peaceful man living in the tents. Esau was a great hunter, a man of the field, a man who could mine, a man who could hunt, a man who knew how to fish, a man in the field, a man who knew how to cook wild game. Somebody we would probably very well connect with.

21:35Verse 28 says this: Now Isaac loved Esau because he had a taste for game. Esau liked the game. His dad loved him. Verse 29, when Jacob had cooked stew, Esau came in from the field and he was famished. So after being hunting, I guess things didn't go that well in the field. He was absolutely famished, very hungry. And Esau said to Jacob, Please let me have a swallow of that red stuff that you're eating. Whatever it is you're eating, that looks so good. I am famished.

22:16But Jacob said to him, First, sell me your birthright. Give me that blessing. Give me that privilege of you being the firstborn and all the blessings that go along with your position over the Family, please give me that. Esau said, Behold, I'm about to die. What good, what use is that silly birthright to me? What use is that birthright? I'm about to die. This birthright and all the blessings that go along with it are of no value.

22:54And Jacob said, First swear to me. So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright. He thought little of his birthright, thought little of the God who gave it to him, thought little of the blessings associated with it. And in Hebrews 12, 15, we read a commentary on Esau. See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God. That there be no immoral or godless person like Esau among you who sold his own birthright for a single meal.

23:46Something great for so little. For you know that even afterwards, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance. He couldn't true. Repent, though he sought the blessing with tears. And I'm not going to go through and sort through all of this theologically, but I want to hold up what is intended to be an exhortation to not be like him. That's what Scripture is doing. Do not be like Esau.

24:28Do not let this be you. Malachi 1:3 says this: I have hated Esau. Those are God's words. Romans 9:13 says it again. Jacob I have loved, but Esau I hate. Look at that. Esau despised the inheritance of God. He despised the God who gave him that inheritance. This is an example of someone who insulted the spirit of grace. What can we learn? Let us not be distracted by Esau's pursuits. Do not be distracted by any other pursuit.

25:32I'm so thankful that none of our people would dare think about sitting in a deer stand. Oh, he could be at church. None of us have people, right? Nobody in Texas would do that, right? No. Whatever that pursuit may be, don't be distracted by it. Let the lesson of Esau burn deeply into your mind. Second thing, do not let anybody cause you to think or believe little about the things of God. The things of God are everything.

26:14Do not let anyone trip you up and make you think a little of them. And number three, do not let your physical appetite distract you. Do not allow your physical appetite to take precedence over what God has given you. Learn the lesson of Esau. Let me move you to another place in this dark museum we call the Hall of Shame in Scripture. A little bit later in Scripture, we encounter an entire family, a family of people. Not just an individual, but a family. A tribe of Israel who forfeited their inheritance.

27:09You remember Dan, the tribe of Dan? They were given some choice land. Their inheritance. It was from Jerusalem all the way over to the Mediterranean Sea. Talk about some choice land living. You just talk about some of the best land there where you just want to go set up a house and just live. That was it. It was in that area. But they had trouble with the Amorites and Philistines. Let me read to you a few verses out of Judges chapter 1, verse 37. Then the Amorites forced the sons of Dan into the hill country, for they did not allow them to come down to the valley. Yet the Amorites persisted in living in the Mount Peres and Adgelon and Shalbin. But when the power of the house of Joseph grew strong, they became forced labor. So in the time, the back of resistance had been broken in the land. Joshua had divided up the tribal inheritance. They were each given their land. They had the promise to go in, and God was with them, would continue to finish the job. They got to a place where they were. The inhabitants were overpowering them, but then this house of Joseph grew strong, and they put these people to forced labor.

28:38Should be okay. Why don't you complete the job? There we go. He's the gut mic, forced labor. We come to then one of the most important, or one of the most famous judges in Israel. Who's that? If you think of the judge, what's one of the ones that comes to your mind? Samson, yes, thank you. Samson. One of the most famous judges in Israel. In chapter 13, 1, we read to you in Judges. Now the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines 40 years. There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Canites, whose name was Manoah, and his wife was barren and bore no children. A Canite tribe. Samson was of the Canite tribe.

29:36Father, Manoah. Samson, born. He's a Nazarite. God uses him, raises him up, raises him up. He becomes a judge who will bring about a great deliverance in Israel. Going to come through intermarrying, doing things that he shouldn't have done. Couldn't control himself. And then, after those major chapters of the whole narrative of Samson, chapters 13 to 16, he gets more space, gets so much space. He's a Danite. And then, after the great retribution and the slaughter of so many Philistines, and even at the final moment when Samson pushes out the pillars and kills more Philistines in his death than in his life, you would think that the Danites would be great.

30:45Let's go ahead and complete the task. Chapter 18, verse 1. That's not what happens. In those days, there was no king in Israel. And in those days, the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance. Right after the whole episode of God showed them that he would deliver them from the Philistines, Dan decides, you know what? Let's go find our own inheritance. We're done. And the whole family picks up. And they move to the north. They find a place called Laish, verse 27, to a quiet and secure people, and struck them with the edge of the sword, and they burned the City with fire. They called the name of the city Dan, and after the name of Dan, their father, who was born in Israel, the sons of Dan set up for themselves the graven image. And Jonathan, the son of Gershom, the son of Holly Moses.

31:50And he and his sons were priests to the tribe of the Danites until the day of the captivity of the lion. If you've been there to Israel, you've probably been to the place where they set up this idolatry a little in the north part. But the tribe of Dan despised their inheritance. They sought to carve out an inheritance of their own. God, I'm not happy with the inheritance that you've given me. I'm going to go get my own.

32:28I've got a better mind than you do, God. I'm going to go carve out my own place in this world. You ever heard that? That's us, isn't it? You turned a few pages into Revelation chapter 7. Let me read you some very heartbreaking words. Chapter 7, before the seventh seal is broken. God wants to seal 144,000 people from every tribe of Israel. Let me just read to you. Beginning in verse 4, and I heard the number of those who were sealed. 144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. Verse 5, from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed. Then the tribe of Reuben, 12,000. Gad, 12,000. Asher, 12,000. Napkali, 12,000. Manasseh, 12,000. From the tribe of Simeon, 12,000. The tribe of Levi, 12,000. From the tribe of Issachar, 12,000. From the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000. From the tribe of Joseph, 12,000. From the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000. Who's missing?

33:54Dan. In the final roll call of Israel. Dan is not there. It's disconcerting. Painful. Heartbreaking. Tragic. Like Esau, they despise their inheritance and the God who gave it to them. And they served a graven image. This tribe forfeited great things because they were afraid of the inhabitants. Of the land. Don't let this be you. Yes, we must sojourn here along this earth for a while. There are inhabitants of the land that are very hostile to the name of Christ and to the words of Christ. Don't let them take your inheritance. Don't let them take your crown by causing you to turn away.

35:04It's also important to note about this tribe is that these sins are not in isolation. When you forfeit that inheritance, that open door that God has set before you, when you refuse to walk through it, you impact other lives dramatically. When Dan refused to take the territory that they were given to take and promised to be able to take, when they didn't do it, the other 11 tribes felt the impact. They felt the impact of Dan's failure. That was the place became the stronghold for the Philistines. They occupied the places where. The Danites were supposed to occupy, and they became a stronghold and a source of ongoing conflict for the rest of the tribes.

36:12Listen, what can we learn? There's so much that we can forfeit because of the fear of people. We can think that our challengers are too much. We can be carelessly indifferent to what our failures cost others. Listen, when you refuse to take on what God has purposed for you to take on, and you refuse to play your role and do your things, it grossly impacts others. Told you, this is a dark museum. Let me take you around one more corner.

37:08A little later in scripture, we meet a king, a king who forfeited his inheritance. His name is Saul. Saul. Saul had a great calling. 1 Samuel 10:1. Samuel took the flask of oil, poured it on his head. kissed him and said, Has not the Lord anointed you a ruler over his inheritance? Saul was granted to be a ruler over God's inheritance. And then he was also equipped. 1 Samuel 10, 6, then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with him and be changed into another man. Not only was he given a special calling, but he was given a special equipping for that calling. He himself would be transformed so that he could do the things that his calling required of him.

38:13But he was a man who couldn't wait for God. He couldn't sacrifices that were forbidden for him to offer. Let me just jump in and read a portion of this narrative. 1 Samuel 13, 11. But Samuel said, What have you done? After he offered these sacrifices? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattering from me and that you did not come within the appointed days. Pick that up. He said, time limit for God.

38:56Look, you didn't come. You didn't come to make the offer. You didn't send your man to do what needed to be done because you did not come within the appointed days, so I forced myself and offered the burnt offering. Samuel said to Saul, You have acted foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which he commanded you. For now, and listen to these words, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever.

39:29But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought for himself a man after his own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as a ruler over his people because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you. Pause and think for just a moment. What Saul forfeited. The Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But he couldn't wait for God. He couldn't patiently endure. He couldn't wait. Astounding. He became impatient with God. Sound familiar? Yes.

40:22Resonates all too well with us, doesn't it? He did not patiently endure the moment. He did not patiently endure his times. Well, I wish I had time. I could continue our journey through this hall of shame, but you get the idea. These illustrations are sufficient to know that we can refuse to walk through the open door that Christ has set before us. We could forfeit that eternal adornment of victory that awaits on the other side. But before you leave this little museum, as I call it, I just made it up.

41:05But before we get back into Revelation, these be the final words of my little tour here. When you leave this building today, you enter into a world of forfeiture. You enter into a world where you are going to be tempted and tried and pressured and put under compulsion to forfeit that which is truly valuable. I see it all the time. Manhood, biblical manhood forfeited. For what? For substances, for pleasure, for comfort, for esteem. All of these things are temporary. Biblical womanhood forfeited.

41:59We've told our Daughters, that you know, you can do anything a man can do. In fact, you're probably a lot better at it, so go out and do it. You can do whatever a man can do, and you can do it a lot better, so go out and do it. In fact, now it's become shame on you if you don't go out there. Many young women today buy into it and they forfeit womanhood, biblical womanhood, and they forfeit motherhood for something that's fleeting. Youth.

42:36So many young people forfeit so much in front of a screen. You forfeit your youth in front of a screen for what? I could go on down the list. Marriages, forfeiting good marriages for selfish pursuits and petty things, forfeiting ministries. You see it all the time around us. College students don't forfeit the education. Yeah, just talking about it. Yeah, you can cheat on this exam, but you forfeit the whole purpose of it. See people forfeiting health. We go on enough to say, When you leave this building today, you enter into a world of forfeiture.

43:36Don't be like Dan. Don't be like Esau. Do not be like Saul. Let's move on. Back to the context, the church of Philadelphia. We'll leave the museum. In this context, I believe there are two scenarios, two scenarios, where someone or something can take your crown. First scenario is a force that causes you to stop cherishing Jesus' word, something that distracts you from his word. Second force is that force which would cause you to stop cherishing his name, something that would cause you to be embarrassed about Jesus.

44:30Well, question number one, looked at what is the crown. Question number two, is it possible for someone to take your crown? Third question I want to ask, how do we ensure that no one takes our crown? That's the exhortation here. We don't want to. I'll give you five steps. Five quick steps. Number one. No. No. Know that there is somebody who wants you to fall. You have a real enemy. You have real opponents that do not want you to gain victory. They do not want you walking through the door that God has placed for you. And this is the nature of the spiritual conflict you are in.

45:30There are people that do not want you, influences that do not want you. There are going to be influences in your life that seek to distract, entice, and shame you into letting go of Christ's words or his name, to cut you off from this open door, to cause you to become impatient with God. This is the nature of the spiritual conflict you are in. Number two, remember. Remember the good news. Remember the good news of Jesus Christ. And without this, you can't go forward. Remember the good news. We have a God. We have a king. We have a brother who restores forfeited inheritances. He is our kinsman. Redeemer. You can read about him in Deuteronomy 25:5. You can read about him in the book of Ruth. All about God is the God who restores inheritances.

46:46One of the greatest shames in all of human history is what Adam walked away from, what he forfeited. And the story of human history is how God restores to humanity what was forfeited. This is the heart of your God. Remember that good news. He is one who forfeits. And rejoice that this is the heart of your God, of your king, and your kinsman redeemer. Remember, it's he's the one who makes the crown possible. That's why in chapter 4, we see this image, this worship scene, and the elders. What are they doing? They're taking their crowns, and what are they doing? Throwing them down at Christ's feet. They say this: 24 elders will fall on their feet, fall down before him who sits on the throne, and will worship him, who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Worthy are you, our Lord, and our Lord. Our God to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created. Remember the good news. We have a kinsman redeemer. Remember the one who makes the crown possible. Listen, the elders throw down the crown because Christ is the one who made it possible in the first place.

48:25It's not some token, it's an acknowledgement. Worthy are you. You're the one who gave us the open door. You're the one who created us. You're the one who redeemed us. You are worthy of this crown. And so they throw it down. So know, remember, identify. Identify. Be sure to identify the sources of temptation in your life, whatever they may be, whether they be substances, whether they be entertainment venues, or whether they be some kind of adversarial school of thought that's associated with your schooling or with your workplace or whatever it is. It may be people, maybe certain people, it may be your profession or certain elements of your profession. It may be where you live or certain aspects of where you live. But put all these in their proper place because they may continue to be part of your life.

49:24But make sure they have their place. Fourth. Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus. His endurance is our model. He patiently endured his times, including the cross. Look to Jesus and hold fast to his name and his word. Finish strong. Number five, finish strong. He is coming quickly. It's like a race. We have a lot of runners here. We understand what that final stretch of a race is like. Keep at it. Do not let up. Many races are won or lost right in those final moments. Finish strong. He is coming quickly. This life is quickly going to be over. Do not let up. Do not slow down.

50:22Well, for the church that Jesus cherishes, he opens the door to eternal honor. He vindicates them before their enemies. He delivers from the great hour of testing, and he crowns with victory. How do we respond to all this? Say to yourself today, I will walk in the path that he has for me. I want to experience what he wants me to experience in this life and the next. I will wear the crown that he has for me.

51:01I will not forfeit it. I will keep cherishing his word and his name. God help me to do so. And I will do all of this not in my own strength or because I want to be somebody, but simply out of love for him. This is what he wants for me, and this is what I'm going to do. Simply as a response of loving him. He wants to instill his government in your heart. And sometimes, oftentimes, the majority of the times, all of the times, he uses situations to bring that about. Let's pray.

51:54Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for your truth. We thank you, Father, that you have prepared an open banquet, that anyone who wants to come can come. Your call is for all of us here today. Give us faith that we may respond. Help us to love you by loving your words, cherishing your name, walking through the doors that you open for us, and in a way that you want us to walk through them.

52:30Help us to wait patiently upon you. Forgive us where we've acted like Saul, where we've acted like Esau, and our proneness to leave the inheritance and put you into our box and to carve out a life of our own independent of you. Forgive us for all of that, and thank you. We have this wonderful kinsman, Redeemer, who takes all of these offenses, all of our sins, carries them away. Help us to have more faith in your Son. In Christ's name, amen.