 So we're going to be looking today at verses 7 through 10 here in the book of Ephesians chapter 4. And it actually is a foundation as we're going to look at the verses that follow. And so I'm going to lay a foundation with this because those verses that follow will be built upon this. And this is a very important portion of the book of Ephesians. And so I'll begin reading at verse 7. I'll read to verse 10 and we'll look at the study. Obviously, as is my normal way of teaching, I'll give you some things to remind you of, build up the foundation for our particular study, and then we'll move into the verses in front of us. So begin reading at verse 7, beginning to read at verse 7, reading to verse 10. Paul writes, But to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. And therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men. Now this, he ascended, what does it mean? But that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth. He who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things. And so let me lay a foundation for you as we look at this portion of Scripture. As we've been going through the book of Ephesians, Paul had just begged the believers in Ephesus to walk worthy of their calling. God's grace had been poured out on them and had brought them into the family of God. You see, as Gentiles, at one time, they were without Christ in the world. We already saw that in chapter 2, verse 12. But now they have been adopted as God's children through Jesus Christ. He said that in chapter 1, verse 5. They become citizens with the saints, members of the household of God, chapter 2, verse 19. And they are fellow heirs of the same body, partakers of God's promise in Jesus, according to chapter 3, verse 6. So this is all come about because they've received and believed that gospel. And it's the gospel that broke down the barriers and it's the gospel that made the two into one new man. Now the gospel is a message. It's a message that centers on the love and holiness of God. And it's a message that centers on the grace of God. And it's a message that is not to be only proclaimed but also modeled by believers. It reveals a loving and a holy God. And those who serve him are also to be loving as well as live holy lives. This specifically would be seen as Jewish and Gentile believers were living out the message. So they're to walk worthy of the calling with which they've been called. Now that's going to be revealed. And we saw this last time by lowliness, by gentleness, long suffering, by their bearing with one another, and by their endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit. So endeavoring to keep unity spoke of the unity, I mentioned this last time, the unity of the inner person. It speaks of the love that believers should have for one another. It's that love in Christ that actually cements us together. The love of Christ is what joins us and keeps us together. Jews for centuries had distanced themselves from Gentiles. Now because of Jesus, they've been made one and they need to live in this reality. In 1 Corinthians 1 verse 10, Paul said it like this. He said, I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment, that you would dwell together endeavoring to keep the peace and the unity of the Spirit. And this is something that you need to do. And when believers are one in Christ, we can accomplish the great things that he desires us to accomplish in his name. So the enemy knows that unity produces great fruit and works overtime to divide us. He works overtime to encourage schisms and divisions because he wants to divide us and he wants to frustrate the plans of God. Jesus in Mark 3.25 said, if a house is divided against itself, the house cannot stand. And that's why Jesus prayed that we would be united in him. So at this point, Paul is beginning to teach concerning the gifts that Jesus gave to the church and these gifts that Jesus gave to the church are intended to work together. That's because the church is a body and each member of that body has its own function. When Paul was writing about this in 1 Corinthians 12, verses 18 through 20, he said it like this. Paul said, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. So in verses seven, actually into verse 11, though I'm not going to touch on verse 11 today, Paul shows us three basic things concerning these gifts. One, each believer has a spiritual gift. Two, Christ obtained the right to give these gifts. And then finally, we'll move into this in our next study. Third, that God uses gifted men to bless the church. You may or may not know this or believe this, but when we get to verse 11, and I'll just read it, notice how it says, he himself gave some to be apostles, prophets, evangelists, some pastors, and teachers. He gave some as gifts to the church. We'll look at that. I didn't want to touch that today because I want to build myself up for 45 minutes next time we're together. I just want to give you a deeper study on that. So I'm going to just keep us to verse 10. So God is the one who desires us to be used in his kingdom and to minister in his name. Now, as it says in verse seven, to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Notice this, Paul begins by saying, but to each one of us, but to each one of us grace was given. Not only do we have unity with others, but that unity is not extinguished. We still retain, it doesn't extinguish our personal personalities. We still retain our own uniqueness. We're all one in Jesus Christ, but there are places in the body of Christ that are set apart so that we can have our individual gifting. In Romans 12, four and five, it says, as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function. So we, being many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. So God has gifted us with spiritual gifts. We'll look at some of this in a moment, but not all of us have the same giftings. Each one of us are part of the single body of Christ, but we have our uniqueness in Christ also. So I'm not, I'm not supposed to try and form myself into the image of some other believer that I admire. I'm not supposed to try to make myself into something different than God has ordained or designed me to be. Sometimes in ministry there are pastors who greatly covet and desire to have the gifts of another pastor. They may like the way that he speaks. They may like the way that he teaches. They may like the way that he dresses. They may like a thousand and one different things about them. And so they try to model themselves after that. That's not a good idea for a couple of reasons. One is there's there's no reason for that person to try and model themselves after that one whom they admire. They should just appreciate that person for who he is and what he does. But two, I was, I heard a teacher one time ask this question. I'll repeat it. And they said, have you ever wanted to be exactly like somebody else? And he was speaking to us in a pastors conference. And he said, have you ever stopped to consider that if there were two of the same person that one of you isn't necessary? And I thought, oh, that was good. That was good because God only made one Billy Graham. God only made one whomever you may like. He only made one of them. So instead of us trying to be like that person, the Holy Spirit is to form us into the image of Jesus and our individuality remains intact. And so one person may preach in a certain way. And the other is also preaching, but he preaches in a different way. One person teaches in a certain way. Another is teaching, but they teach in a different way. It's unique to their own personalities, though they're exercising the gift of preaching or gift of teaching. And all of this is to realize that that we are individuals in the body of Christ, though there's a unity that we have because of him. And so Paul is making it clear that each believer has through grace received a gift. And the distribution of both the grace and the gift has been measured out by Jesus himself. Now, when he speaks of this word gift, when he speaks of the gift, when it says, to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ gift. That word gift is an interesting word. That word speaks of a free gift. It's really referring to how Jesus freely gave that gift. So God gives us grace that enables us to minister his free gift that he has given to us. We didn't do anything to deserve it to earn it. We didn't work to have it. It's a free gift that he knowing you and knowing your personality and knowing how what you're going to do with his word, he has gifted you appropriately so that that's all going to work together to bring glory to him. Now notice in verse seven, how he says, according to the measure of Christ gift. So he gives his gifts according to our capacity of faith to receive such gifts. In Romans 12.3, Paul said it like this. He said, I say through the grace given to me, to everyone who's among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. And so we have been gifted according to the capacity of faith we have to receive and operate those gifts. Now various scriptures refer to and describe what are called spiritual gifts. In Romans chapter 12 verses six through eight, let me read to you a few of these gifts. Paul says, having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them. If prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith or ministry, which would be administration, let us use it in our ministry. He who teaches in teaching, he who exhorts in exhortation, he who gives with liberality, he who leads with diligence, he who shows mercy with cheerfulness. In 1 Corinthians 12, eight through 10, for to one is given the word of wisdom through the spirit. To the other, the word of knowledge through the same spirit, to another faith by the same spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same spirit, to another, the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. In 1 Peter 4, 10 and 11, as each one has received a gift, minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, once again administrates, let them do it as with the ability which God supplies. Then in all things, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. And he's speaking of the spiritual gifts of the gifts that have been freely bestowed to each one. These gifts are measured out to us in proportion to what is necessary for their operation. And the result will be that God will be glorified as these gifts are exercise. Now I want to give you a little more insight into this because we don't touch on the gifts of the spirit very often and I'm really not going to give you a full teaching on it tonight. But God is the one who determines which gift he bestows on us. You may desire one gift, but he determines which gift or gifts you receive. And sometimes people get caught up with certain gifts. One of the gifts that people get caught up with in the spiritual gifts is the gift of tongues. And I still remember many years ago now we had a Sunday night service and and at the conclusion of the service I had a walk down I was talking to people in Holland and a lady walks up to me and she says this is my first time here and I wanted to ask you a question if I may and I said no I'm off the clock no I I said well of course she said I just want to ask you when does the spirit move here that was she says my first time I just want to know when does the spirit move here and I smiled at her I said when does the spirit move here she said yes I said were you here for the Bible study she said yes I said did you participate in worship she said yes I did I said the spirit was moving did you hear the Bible study today she said yeah I said the spirit was moving through the teaching of the word I said did you see the invitation she said yes did you see people get saved yes the Holy Spirit the gifts of the spirit were moving at that time I said do you look around right now and you see people praying for one another she says yes I said the spirit is moving right now I said what you're really asking me is when do we speak in tongues right she goes yeah when do we speak in in tongues I said Shandala right now no I said she wrote a Honda I said you know I said the gifts and the operations of the Holy Spirit are not limited to one manifestation of gifts if you're looking for for tongues there's a place of course for that but the gifts of the spirit are in operation right now and you need to understand that you see there are those who will will beg God for a particular gift they want this gift for the longest time I had prayed that the Lord would gift me with the with the the ability to to pray for and see healings I I wanted that for a lot of reasons especially many of you would already know because my mother was sick for so long I had asked the Lord please give me the ability to pray for a miracle and see a healing because of my mom for the longest time but I I read the scripture 1st Corinthians chapter 12 verse 11 it says one in the same spirit works all these things distributing to each one individually as he wills so you could desire and you could ask but it's God who determines that you're gifting so spiritual gifts are not given to us for only our own use and spiritual gifts are not given to us for only our own profit they are given to profit the ones who are receiving from the Lord but they're not given to profit the one exercising them in Acts chapter 8 there's an evangelist his name is Philip and the evangelist Philip who by the way is the only person in scripture in the New Testament ever referred to as an evangelist that I find interesting but Philip is called Philip the evangelist and and he had gone to a city in the region of Samaria and while he was there he preached the gospel he was performing signs he was casting out demons people were listening to what he had to say well in the same city was a sorcerer his name was Simon and Simon was one who was greatly honored by the people they actually called this man Simon the sorcerer they called him the great power of God and many followed after Simon the sorcerer well when the people began to listen to Philip Simon began losing his audience and it caused him to begin following after Philip and he was amazed at the things he saw Philip doing he was amazed at the miracles that he was witnessing well during this time Peter and John the apostles were in the seat of Jerusalem and they heard what was taking place there in Samaria there was a revival and when they heard that there was a revival they left and came to Samaria now Simon was watching as these apostles laid hands on people and he saw the people receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit so in Acts chapter 8 verses 18 through 22 it reads when Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles hands he offered them money and said give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit Peter answered may your money perish with you because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money you have no part or share in this ministry because your heart is not right before God repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord and the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart for I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin have you ever heard the term Simon the term Simon is as church related it's trying to purchase an office in the church it's trying to purchase the office of bishop an office of pastor it's called Simon it's called Simon because of what Simon tried to do he tried to buy the gift of the Holy Spirit because he was jealous of seeing his audience dwindle and he wanted to have the same kind of of impact that he saw these other others having and so God's free gifts are not intended to be used for self promotion they're given for the purpose of serving God and man and the result is always intended to be the glory the glory of God in 1st Corinthians 12 7 it says to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good it's not just for the individual who's exercising the gifts we have a tendency in our day to have to actually give so much attention to the person exercising the gifts that we don't give the glory to the one who gifted him with those abilities and what happens is fan clubs begin springing up for that individual and it removes the glory from God and places it on that individual the spiritual gifts are not intended to do that spiritual gifts are not intended to draw attention to the vessels exercising the gifts the gifts are intended to bring glory to God through Jesus Christ now we see this with Peter and John once again at the gate that was called beautiful and a reaction of the crowd you see Peter and John had gone to the temple to pray at the hour of prayer and they had encountered a man who was crippled at the gate this man the scripture tells us would be put there daily so he could beg from those who were entering the temple courts so as Peter and John were about to enter he asked them for money and Peter spoke he said look at us so the man paid attention expecting the scripture says to receive something and it was at this time that Peter said these famous words in the book of Acts chapter 3 verses 6 through 8 Peter said silver and gold I do not have but what I do have I give to you in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk he took him by the right hand lifted him up immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength so he leaping up stood and walked and entered the temple with them walking and leaping and praising God we used to sing that as a song when I first got saved walking and leaping and praising God we used to sing that song silver and gold have I none and then we clapped but such as I have give ID in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk walking and leaping and praising God walking and leaping and praising God we sang that when I first got saved because we were raised in a time when we expected God to move and so we would glorify God in our songs for the things that he could do in scripture and so this man was walking and leaping and praising God and as we see the exercise of gifts the gift of faith and miraculous healing Peter was given an opportunity at that time to preach and and as he was sharing because people came and they saw this man and they recognize him for who he was and there he was holding on to the apostles and all and then Peter began preach them he said he said men of Israel why are you looking upon us in this way as if it was through our own goodness and power that we made this man to walk and they began to preach the gospel began to preach to them then it was the name of Jesus it was in his power and he went on to go on so far as to say the one whom you kill the one you crucify this one was raised the third day and and it's through him and oh my god everybody upset when he did that it got upset because they were putting the blame it was felt on those who had crucified Jesus what happened is they got they got arrested Peter and John were jailbirds they had tear drops and everything but God I don't know why he said forgive me it's not in my notes but it got Peter and John arrested but God got all the glory in Acts chapter four verse four many of those who heard the word believed in the number of the men came to be about five thousand so the gifts of the Holy Spirit are intended to draw people to Jesus Christ and bring glory to God and because these are gifts that he's given to us we are to exercise them in faith and we have received gifts individually but we exercise those gifts for the benefit of all and that recognizes our personal individuality while benefiting the entire body of Christ I've had people say but how do I know what my spiritual gift is what is it that you do that you love to do that produces fruit in God's kingdom what is it that's one of the ways to discover the gifts I gave you the chapters in scripture that you could begin to look at and pour over and pray over when I was about 23 just about three years ago when I was 23 we had a church group at my parents house I had just gotten out of the military and this group had come over to my parents house and as they had come to my parents house I was speaking to one of these individuals who was part of the church group in and I was in the kitchen my dad happened to be there standing next to me and this man had made a statement made a question and actually had made an incorrect statement and again I was only three years old in the Lord but I was familiar with scripture enough to know this was incorrect what he just said and so when he said what he said I wasn't thinking I just said well you know that's interesting but that's really not what the bible says this is what the bible says and I quoted a scripture to him and kind of explained to him why what he said was incorrect and why this is what the scripture actually says and I did with them just just in a conversation and the guy looks at me I'll never forget this and he nods his head and he said you know that makes sense thank you so much I said of course and he walks into the front room and starts speaking to the other young people who were there and my dad looks at me and he said to me son I didn't know you could do that I said do what I didn't know that you could explain scripture like that I said really he says I didn't know you could do that I didn't think about it at all but it was that prompting that made me begin to wonder maybe that's what I'm supposed to do and that's how I actually asked my dad a little while later dad would you mind if we have a home bible study here and in September of 1973 I started teaching bible studies to my parents because my father recognized that gift you have gifts too every believer in the body of Christ has at least one you more than likely have more than one you may have what is called the gift mix which means you may have exhortation you may have the ability to communicate preach the gospel you may have the gift of faith you may have a variety exhortation there's so many different gifts that work together my primary gifting is exhortation my primary gifting is teaching and preaching that's what I do but there are other gifts in the body of Christ and every one of you have at least one and when you discover that you see how exciting the Christian life actually is and so the body of Christ is made up of individuals that are still united in one in Jesus Christ and the gifts have been given to us according to the measure of Christ's gift well in verse eight he goes on to say therefore he says when he ascended on high he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men now this he ascended what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things and so he begins by quoting a psalm now I want I'm going to develop this with you he says when he ascended on high verse eight he led captivity captive and gave gifts to men this is a psalm psalm 68 psalm 68 is called a victory hymn what it is it's a hymn a celebration of a war victory in this particular psalm 68 it's a picture of a Jewish king who is setting free soldiers who are once prisoners of the enemy and so that's what he's speaking concerning he ascended on high led captivity captive gave gifts to men the context is setting soldiers free who at one time had been captive so here's what the picture is Jesus has defeated Satan and has set those who were at one time Satan's captives free we were once captives of Satan we were prone to sin and open to Satan's enticements but Jesus set the captives free when we when they received his forgiveness and were born again and in that Jesus conquered Satan sin and death and he did it by his own death and resurrection what this is a picture of has been called a triumphal march so I look that up and I'm going to just quote from the source that I use in Rome the conqueror rode along the via sacra in his chariot followed by his troops and prisoners captive kings and princes and trophies of victory fragrant clouds of incense accompanied his march rising from fixed altars or wafted from sensors how at the foot of the capitoline hill some of the prisoners condemned as treacherous or rebellious were led off to execution or thrown into the dungeons of the mammartine prison while others were pardoned and set free we are the ones who have been set free we are the ones who are Jesus's captives because we've been set free from captivity of satan in 2nd Corinthians 214 Paul said it like this thanks be to God who always leads us triumphantly as captives in christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him that's a picture of this roman triumph now the incense that was rising to the captives those who were being set free it was an incense of freedom but to those who were dying it was the fragrance of death and so to us this incense that was he's speaking about there is the freedom that we have in Jesus christ and the bible teaches very clearly that we are the ones who have been set free and are no longer oh god help us understand this we are no longer satan's captives can you rejoice in that for just a moment we are no longer satan's captives thank you Jesus we are no longer satan's captives because he has set us free how did he do it he did it at the cross Colossians 215 having disarmed the word disarmed means to strip the powers strip them to strip the powers of the chieftains so having disarmed having stripped the powers having stripped the the chieftains speaking of those with authority and those authorities who had delegated influence he made a public spectacle he made a show of them triumphing over them by the cross so after his ascension it says here again in verse eight when he ascended on high he led captivity captive gave gifts to men after his ascension he gave gifts to men when Jesus was exalted he sent the spirit and with the spirit comes spiritual gifts in john 16 verse 7 Jesus said nevertheless I tell you the truth it is to your advantage that I go away for if I do not go away the helper the comforter the holy spirit will not come to you but if I go I will send him to you speaks of the coming of the holy spirit and the gifts that come along with him he goes on in verse nine now this he ascended what does it mean but that he also first descended into the lower parts of the earth now these verses I'm giving to you are controversial not in in the negative sense but in the sense that great scholars over the centuries have debated their meaning and so obviously I'm no scholar so I have to rely on what I think are the most trusted sources for this and I'm going to give to you some insights that different scholars have have over the years come to conclude and so when we look at this and it says again in verse eight after his ascension he gave gifts to men goes on to say now this he ascended what does it mean but that he first also he also first descended so when that's the area of controversy there are different ways of viewing this there are those who would say that this speaking of a descending it speaks of him proclaiming victory over those who rejected their opportunity of salvation it would be speaking according to some it would be speaking of those who rejected Noah's message and perished in the flood why would some say that well first Peter 3 19 and 20 says it like this after being made alive he went and made proclamation to the imprisoned spirits to those who were disobedient long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built in it only a few people ate in all were saved through water so some will say that this speaks of Jesus's in the three days that he had died that he had gone to the place where the it called Hades where the the spirits of it was divided into two sections of the section of the righteous dead and the section of those awaiting final judgment and ultimately being cast into into the lake of fire there at one time this compartment of the dead the souls who have departed was divided into those two sections you see that in Luke chapter 16 you see the parable or the story of Lazarus and the rich man and so there are those who say that is not an actual parable they say that's really a story that there was an actual man named Lazarus why do they say that they say because in none of the other parables did Jesus ever use somebody's proper name and so there are those who would say that this was speaking of Jesus after he died on the cross that he went into this place of imprisoned spirits and that he took those who were in Hades in the place of the righteous dead and brought them with him to paradise when he resurrected and ascended that's one way of looking at it there's a second way of looking at it the word ascended could refer to the Lord's ascension after his resurrection the word descended would mean his coming to earth in his incarnation into the lower parts could be referring to his death in his burial so that would illustrate just how far Jesus was willing to go for us in 2nd Corinthians 8 verse 9 you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor so that you through his poverty might become rich or rich in him and so they speak concerning his ascending when he was ascended on 40 days after his resurrection or descended could be speaking of his coming to earth in his incarnation I I'm trying not to confuse you I know I am but let's go into a third way and that would be again I already kind of alluded to this that Jesus descended into Hades to release the godly awaiting his victory in order that they might accompany him to heaven that would be what was referred to as the victory parade so I'm no scholar and some are probably wondering well which one of those views do you to you lean towards I lean towards Jesus taking captivity captive that Jesus in those days that that we count as the three days that he was in the bowels of the earth that he actually brought these with him as the first fruits of his resurrection took them to be with him and but all three of these views they're all they're all acceptable so it just depends on the moment that you're considering them I don't want to make light of that but it that's a very difficult portion of scripture the scholars have been arguing over for many many years so let's go on and let's see if I can close with a little more confusion verse 10 he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things he who descended is the one who ascended far above the heavens so this is the one who has the right to be exalted above all things in heaven and on earth in revelation in chapter 5 verses 11 and 12 I looked and I heard the voice of many angels numbering thousands upon thousand ten thousands time ten thousand they encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders in a loud voice they were saying worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power wealth wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise the picture of jesus christ receiving receiving all that praise surrounded by thousands upon thousand and ten thousand times ten thousand and and and so much praise and so much worship you know I used to say it in the earlier days of our ministry but it's worth repeating at this moment I would say if you don't like worshiping God here right now heaven's not a place for you because heaven is filled with worship heaven is filled with praise people say i'd be kind of bored there I I don't think so I I have no belief whatsoever that heaven's a boring place um heaven is a place that is filled with with joy heaven is a place that is there is no sorrow there's no pain there are no tears there's no death there's no illness there's no broken hearts there's no sicknesses of any sort there's no children who who who who are dying not don't say no children there are no children who are dying I heard that giggle over there there are no older people who are who are slowly slowly dying Marie and I have have been around for a while now neither one of us are young anymore we laugh about it but it's true there's a joy and there's a sorrow in growing older everybody knows the joy but there's a sorrow too because I have seen friends people I've loved deeply go through so much pain and I've said goodbye to quite a number of people over the years that meant quite a number of things to me that would include a dad and a mom and father-in-law that would include friends in this fellowship because the COVID thing that we as a church went through I don't know how some churches didn't seem to be touched by it but there were many in our fellowship that suffered through that many and we saw a number of people go to heaven we used to come here during the um the first closure and when we had to close down churches because we didn't know what was going on with this disease and one of the brothers would come Marie and I would come John would come some of the other guys on south would come one of the brothers who would come was a guy named Daniel Varela Daniel was very dear to me Daniel when he first started coming to this church I call everybody bro and he'd say pastor David you don't have to call me bro and I so really he says just think of a man in the Bible there's a book named after him and I said and what book is that Daniel so every time I would see Daniel I'd be thinking a book in the Bible hey Daniel how you're doing you know hey Job no Daniel Daniel became dear to me Daniel became dear to me Daniel would come and he'd be here on the on the church grounds and Marie and I John and some of the others would be here and he would come and we'd see him come pulling in in his car and we're always afraid he's going to run into something he was a dangerous Daniel driver but I loved him and he'd get off the car and he'd come and stand next to us and he'd visit with us and and then one day I didn't see him again probably shouldn't tell you these stories because he died he went to heaven he's not he's not sad where he's at but there are people like me that are sad because I miss him and there've been many others many others I could begin naming names I mean we saw many people go home to be with the Lord you may or may not realize this some of you wouldn't but this this fellowship has averaged between 40 and 50 funerals a year that's quite a number of funerals and a good number of people who contacted COVID went home to be with Jesus and that will give you insight into why I wanted to be as careful as I could with all of you to protect you to the best that we could because there were those who were saying that Pastor David is a coward he's not standing up against this but it's because I loved you that I didn't want to put you in a place where am I lose you and so that's a shepherd's heart and I cared because we've seen a lot of pain and so when I read scriptures that speak of the praise and the worship and the glory and the joy they speak to me because that's what I'm looking forward to that's what I as a Christian longed for to be with the Lord to see him face to face to worship him and to just enjoy his presence forever and so when I read scriptures about the thousands upon thousands who are crying out to the Lord worthy as the lamb who is slain to receive power wealth wisdom strength and honor and glory and praise that's something I want to learn to give to him now while I'm on earth I'm all practiced up so I'm ready to give it to him when I see him face to face you see the Jesus who has ascended into heaven is the same one who ministered on earth and the one who loved the outcast the one who ministered to all that one now reigns in heaven and he still seeks the lost he still forgives he still comforts those who are hurt he still heals the sick he still loves his sheep he hasn't left the world but by his spirit is everywhere in these available to all who call upon him he who descended is also the one who ascended far above all the heavens that he might fill all things and John 14 15 through 18 Jesus said it like this he said if you love me keep my commandments and I will pray the Father and he will give you another helper that he may abide with you forever the spirit of truth whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him but you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you and he went on to say I will not leave you orphans I will come to you this Jesus dwells within us he didn't leave us orphans he's our support he cares for us he is with us he is ascended into heaven but he fills everything so that today even here right now his spirit is with us he has not left us alone Father we bless you