 Good evening, and thank you for joining us tonight. In a moment, we will go to our study. You will see that we will not have a bulletin, but we'll go directly to our teaching and then we'll conclude the teaching with a few words of encouragement to you who are viewing our services online. Please take the opportunity of letting us know that you're watching, and if you desire to give an offering, you can do so online. If you're watching us via computer, click on the give button in the upper right corner of your screen. If you're watching on your mobile device or iPad, click give under the menu button. If this is your first time giving digitally, follow the instruction under four ways to give to process your gift. You can also mail your checks to 1-2-2-0-5 North Pipeline Avenue, Chino, California, 91710. And remember, you can still come in and use the kiosks we have in the foyer that are set up to process gifts, or you can place your gift in an envelope and hand it to one of our receptionists in the foyer. Thank you. And with that, let's get into the teaching. Chapter five here in Song of Songs are also known as Song of Solomon. And basically, I could have called it Honeymoon's Over, because that's what we're looking at. We're looking at conflicts, because there's going to be a conflict here between the Honeymooners. And so we'll look at that together. But we'll begin at verse one here, and I'll read that, because verse one actually is part of chapter four. They who put in the chapters and all could have left verse one there as a conclusion of chapter four, because this particular verse actually goes along with that. And then verse two is going to give to us something different. But verse one says, I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse. I have gathered my myrrh with my spice. I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my wine with my milk. And then Solomon says, eat, oh, friends, drink, yes, drink deeply, oh, beloved ones. Normally in a in a situation of marriage, during the time of Solomon, the Honeymooners, the husband and wife would have a place of privacy, a time of consummation of their marriage vows. And at the conclusion of the consummation in terms of their physical intimacy, the groom would come out and he would announce that that particular portion of their their marital relationship had been accomplished. And that's basically what you're seeing here in verse one. And the first portion when it says, I have come to my garden, my sister, my spouse. I've gathered my myrrh with my spice. He's basically announcing that their marriage has been completed, their intimacy has been consummated. Then he goes into the place where the guests are banqueting. And as he does so, you see that the second portion, he pronounces a blessing by saying, eat, oh, friends, drink, yes, drink deeply, oh, beloved ones. So that was basically a blessing. And he's pronouncing his blessing on those who are there. So verse one actually went with chapter four. Verse two gives to us something new to look at. And basically what we're looking at is conflict. And that's what we're looking at as we look at these verses. So in verse two, this is his bride. This is the Shulamite who is speaking, Solomon's wife. And in verse two, she says, I sleep, but my heart is awake. It's the voice of my beloved. He knocks saying, open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one. Your hair is like a flock of goats. I'm sorry, I just feel impulsive sometimes to do things like that. He doesn't say that. For my head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night. And so what we have is a different setting here right now. And we have the first conflict in their marriage. Now, as we look at this, let me lay a foundation, if you will, an introduction. Obviously, you've heard me say this before. It's been said every wedding is beautiful. It's the living together afterwards that is difficult. And what we have here is the first conflict. Obviously, every every relationship has times of conflict. Just because the two have become one doesn't mean that we don't retain our own personalities. Each one of us continues to have opinions and preferences. We have our goals, our perspectives. We retain our personal ideas. Marriage doesn't wipe out our upbringing. It doesn't change our culture or language differences that we might bring into our marriage. We bring into the marriage our personalities and we bring into the marriage our religious beliefs and faith as it is related to marriage and working together. We bring all of those things. We have our preferences and we all have good reasons for holding them. You know, when people get married, it could it can actually amaze that person that their wife or their husband doesn't see things as clearly as they do. You have this attitude like, why don't you see things my way? It makes so much sense to you. You would think that everybody would have the wisdom to know that you're right. That's what happens when you get married. When Marie and I got married, we honeymooned a place in San Clemente called the San Clementean. And then the next two days, we went off to Crestline and we stayed in a friend's cabin. And I was amazed. I was amazed that Marie got upset because she was cooking dinners every night while we're there. I was amazed at that. Why are you so upset? I mean, isn't that what wives do? And she's saying, it's my honeymoon. And I'm thinking, so what, you know? I'm hungry. It doesn't matter what, you know, honeymoon or dinner, you know, feed me. It made no sense to me whatsoever that she thought, well, I should take her out for dinner. Are you kidding me? I took you to the jack-in-the-box on our wedding night. What else do you want? Come on. Don't be so demanding. So conflict happens. And it can happen immediately. But we know that the honeymoon is a time when in marriage, people get to know one another more intimately. That's what's supposed to happen. And it's supposed to be a time that's uninterrupted by outside distractions. That was actually part of the law that God gave to the nation of Israel. In Deuteronomy in chapter 24, verse 5, it says, when a man has taken a new wife, he should not go out to war or be charged with any business. He shall be free at home one year and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken. It was believed that when a man had recently been married, his mind would be on his wife. So on the battlefield, he wouldn't be able to concentrate on his duties because he'd be thinking of her. And what he was to do was he was supposed to give her a full year of bringing happiness to her. And he would do so by dedicating himself to her and enjoying her without distraction. It was their honeymoon. It was their time. They're seasoned together to get to know one another and develop a solid foundation for the marriage. Honeymoon. We're all familiar with that. Term, it's a word that we use. We say they got married, they're on their honeymoon. But you can have disagreements even in your honeymoon period. Now, honeymoon literally speaks of a sweet month. Most people don't really spend any time wondering why did we even get the term honeymoon. But that's what it means, sweet month. And the origin of the term honeymoon is really a mystery. But there are beliefs that it stems from marriage practices of days long before they were wedding ceremonies such as we celebrate. Instead of having a public marriage right, a man would very often simply kidnap his bride. And then they'd go into hiding with her. He'd go into hiding with her for a period of time until her possibly enraged relatives stopped looking for him. While in hiding, the newlywed couple would supposedly drink a special type of wine made from honey. The period of hiding traditionally lasted for a month. Half time for the moon to go through its phases, hence the name honeymoon. Even to this day, many couples keep their honeymoon plans a secret. And so what you have here is you have the honeymoon, but you also have something that goes along with marriage and that is a conflict. Obviously conflicts are to be expected. They ought to be prepared for because they're inevitable. You have two rivers that are meeting and they produce turmoil and all the stuff that's on the bottom will come to the surface. But as the river flows further downstream, it calms down and the junk that's been brought up to the surface eventually will sink. And so you need to expect it. You got married, two different people got together and there are two separate rivers that are joining together. And as they join together, they bring in their own baggage. That happens. That's what happens. Really seeing it today where people are waiting longer to get married. They're going to have more baggage that they bring into their relationship, more things that they think are the way it should always be and it's always been done this way. My mom and dad got married when my mom was one month past her 17th birthday. My dad was 20 years old. They didn't bring in all kinds of baggage that somebody who's in their mid 30s will bring in. It's just logical. It's just a fact. The longer you live without being married, the more things you think are right. Then you get married and you end up having conflicts because of those things. Obviously, we don't live in denial. We just need to be expecting conflict and we need to be prepared to deal with it. You see, eventually the honeymoon glow will disappear and the daily business of living does begin. The wife discovers that her brad pit is actually Homer Simpson. But the husband discovers that his Jennifer Aniston is actually Hillary. So I mean, there's a... That was good, huh? I like that. I didn't even have to say the last name. You knew what I was talking about. You discover that you didn't marry the perfect person. So what you end up with is conflict and they actually do begin, obviously. They can start because one or both of the people are feeling wronged or they can begin to experience conflict because they're misunderstood. They can begin because you begin to feel taken for granted or unappreciated. You see that other person exhibiting selfish behavior and it gets you upset. It seems, in this particular portion of scripture, that that's how the Shulamite is viewing her husband Solomon. Notice again, verse two, I sleep but my heart is awake. It's a voice of my beloved. I knock saying open for me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one, for my head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night. And so the Shulamite is in bed, she's half asleep. You see, during this time the husband and wife might have different bedrooms and he's made his way to hers. It's obviously early or late at night at least because it says in verse two, Solomon speaking, my head is covered with dew, my locks with the drops of the night. So it's late at night or early morning. She hears a knock at the door, basically it's hey baby, open up, it's me. Well what's her response? Well she says, I was asleep but my heart's awake. Maybe she's restless. Maybe she's unable to sleep soundly or it may be when she says my heart is awake, it may be that she's speaking of Solomon who is her heart but it appears that Solomon wants to be with her. But she's not in the mood. She was asleep. And in her mind she may be thinking, well if he wanted to spend time with me he could have come home earlier. Where's his consideration for me? And he doesn't care that I need to sleep. Now he's in the mood for love and he expects a response just because he asks. So what is her response? Well verse three, I've taken off my robe. How can I put it on again? I've washed my feet. How can I defile them? In today's terms I have a headache. I've been asleep. You want me to wake up and be with you? Are you kidding me? No way. Now at this point he's making demands and she's insisting on her rights. Now when you read this they're both right and they're both wrong. Her anger is simple. I stayed up late waiting for you. You didn't show up. Now you want me? Too late. I've been, I'm in bed. Now in chapter two verse nine you have to ask the question whatever happened to when she said my beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Whatever happened to that? Nope. She's upset. And so when she's saying I'm not available, verse four, she goes on to say, but my beloved put his hand by the latch of the door and my heart yearned for him. So she had an awakening. She started thinking, oh I ought to go to him. I arose to open for my beloved and my hands dripped with myr. My fingers with liquid myr on the handles of the lock. I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart went out to him when he spoke. I sought him, but I couldn't find him. I called him, but he gave me no answer. She had a turn of heart, a change of heart. You see at first Solomon wasn't taking no for an answer. So he persisted in expressing his desire for her, but when she doesn't come and open the door it bothers him and he leaves. But he left myr on the latch as a token of sweetness and a reminder that he was there. This with me, he didn't bang on the door. He didn't tell her that she had to satisfy his needs. He walked away, probably feeling rejected and frustrated. He was obviously a bit angry. He's learning some things. And I've talked to young men who are getting ready to get married and more than one has said the same kind of thing to me. They've got this idea that, you know, we're going to get married in intimacy anytime I want. I'm going to be a great man. And the way they talk to me, I just look at them and say, you obviously aren't married. It ain't that way at all. You know, but they get this idea like, oh, we'll just be intimate all the time, all the time. Well, that's not the truth. You know, this woman has her moods, she has her needs, she has a sense of being taken advantage of, she has all of those things that she deals with. So Solomon is there. He's saying, open up for me. I want to come to be with you. But she's saying, no, I'm in bed. I don't want to get up. I don't want to go and satisfy your needs. If you wanted to be with me, you should have been here earlier. Now you're telling me, as you come in, your hair is wet with the dew. That means you're out late. Are you kidding with me? There's no way. But what he had done is he left some mur on the door latch. She has a change of heart. And as she has a change of heart, she says, you know, I desire him. He's mine. I want to be with him. She opens the door and as she opens the door and she reaches out, she feels the other latch there and there's myrrh there, which is a reminder of his presence. He was there, but he's no longer there. And now she's feeling bad. She's feeling badly because she wanted to be with him, but he has walked away. Now sometimes when people get rejected like that, they could feel the need to get back, to punish for rejection. And when you feel rejected, you can feel justified in punishing the other person for rejecting. You can think, they made me mad so they should feel what I feel. There are quite a number of people who try to get back like that. They actually instead of just treating that situation for what it really is, they get mad and they want to get even. They want to have retribution or they want that person to feel badly about that. That's really the response of a fleshly heart. That's not the proper way to respond. In 1 Thessalonians 515, Paul said it like this. He said, see that no one renders evil for evil to anyone. But always pursue what is good, both for yourselves and for all. You don't render evil for evil. You do that which is good. See the way to respond when angered is to subject your will to God's spirit. You don't have to act impulsively because the heart of such behavior often is selfishness. This is where Christian faith actually comes to play by the way when you begin to learn to die to yourself and your desires and you begin to care about other people and see what their desires may be and how legitimate they are. That's really important in marriage. In John 15 verse 13, Jesus said, greater love has no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. And that's a scripture that comes alive in marriage. You begin to learn to lay down your life for your friend. Someone says, well, if I'm angry, I'll be real. I'll be authentic. Let them know how I feel. The need to express feelings is important. But how and why we do so is also important. It's better to express your feelings after the emotions have cooled. That requires some patient maturity. But if you just want to let them know right now you made me angry, any person in this room who's ever had any kind of relationship knows that that doesn't work because anger simply begets anger. And accusation just has an accusation in response. And the Bible tells us in Proverbs 29, 22, an angry man stirs up strife. And a furious man abounds in transgression. It's never wise to just pour out your anger, just a vent. You see Solomon didn't react to his wife in an immature self-centered punitive way. He appears to have understood and even after he's spoken to him the way she did, he reached out to her. This isn't something that they needed to fight over, so he left it alone. You need to know that everything you have in terms of your relationship and the petty things that can cause a conflict, not everything's worth fighting over. You don't have to draw a line in the sand over every small issue. You don't have to do that. What you learn to do is to get along with one another. She has a way, she thinks you have a way that you think and what you do is you begin to blend those into who we are together. And you find ways to be able to accomplish that task. There are things that I do that Marie doesn't like me doing and the things that she does that I don't like her doing. But they're not all something worth a war over. We learned that from the early days of our marriage to the point where it is now. We don't have to fight over things because the things that we are learning to deal with, most of those things are inconsequentials. So what we do is we will save anything that needs to be discussed for the things that matter most. Why constantly argue over silly things? Why get upset over the basic things that so many people get upset over? That are very often the small foxes that are ruining vines. There's no really any reason for those arguments. I don't have to run around telling Marie, I'm the head of the house and God made me that because she'll say I'm the neck and I turned the head where I want, I mean, there can be an argument whenever we speak. Any time a man has to say I'm the boss, he's already lost it. He's already lost it. If I have to keep saying I'm your dad or I'm your husband or I'm your, I've already lost that position. They're not seeing me that way and I'm trying to reiterate what I consider myself to be, but I've already lost that position. I yielded it up because I haven't been that. I haven't been acting that way, you see? And so in marriage, I don't believe that you have to fight over every little thing. There are things that you should discuss, there are things that you should speak about, things that you should hammer out. Obviously there are things that are real conflicts, but there are so many things that are not and it's not worth the time. It's not worth the effort. It's not worth the argument. It's not worth the pain. It's not worth the tears. It's not worth any of that. I've discovered that and many of you have too. You just wait for the things, they'll come up, the things that you need to deal with. You begin early. You begin when you first get married and you discover there are so many things that are different about you. You were raised differently. You think differently. That's just the way it is. And over time, you discover the things that matter, the things that don't. You put away the things that don't and you concentrate on the things that do. In this particular case, she's upset. He came in, he wanted her. She says, basically, I have a headache. I'm not ready for you. He leaves a token of that. He was there. She notices that. She begins to look for her. And what happened is her conscience is now stirred because she feels bad for what had happened. He didn't have to say a word. When it says in verse five, I arose to open for my beloved and my hands dripped with my fingers with liquid mirror on the handles of the lock. He had left that mirror there to remind her that he was there. So in verse six, I opened for my beloved, but my beloved had turned away and was gone. My heart went out to him when he spoke. I sought him, but I couldn't find him. I called him, but he gave me no answer. The watchman who went about the city found me. They struck me. They wounded me. The keepers of the walls took my veil away from me. I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him I'm love sick. When there's a problem between two people, somebody needs to have a change of heart. Sometimes both do, but a change of heart needs to happen. If there is no change of heart, it will simply harden. And hardened hearts are what cause divorce. Jesus in Matthew 19.8 said, Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives. But from the beginning, it was not so. Hardness of heart is the origin of divorce. And when people do not recognize their error, it hardens and can harden permanently. And so her heart was changed. In verse seven, when it says, the watchman who went about the city found me and struck me, they wounded me. Well, his wife realizes that she'd been wrong. So what does she do? She begins looking for her beloved. Now here, the watchmen are not helping her find Solomon. They actually struck her and wounded her. That would be a picture of her conscience. It's a picture of conviction. She realizes that she had mistreated her husband. Now, I want you to notice something. It wasn't Solomon who inflicted this pain on her. It was the watchman. The watchman could speak of conscience. He can speak of conviction, a conviction that comes from the Lord. You know, very often God will give, if we give God time to work and we stay out of it, he can actually work on the heart of that individual that we're having a problem with. But if we begin to argue and if we belittle, if we yell at them or nag, that doesn't accomplish anything. It just causes them to come, become harder. If I lecture Marie and lecture Marie about the things I think she needs to do and what she should have done and this and that, you know, there's a certain point where she selects to not listen anymore. She may look at me, but she's not listening. Because you can just beat that dead horse. You can just keep going over and over and over again and it doesn't work that way. I learned that even before I got married. My dad sometimes would lecture me. And I would look at my dad and he'd be talking and I wasn't listening to a word he had to say. I had turned off what he was saying a long time before. But I'd watch his mouth move and I'd just be waiting. I remember on one occasion my dad was lecturing me about something or other and finally he stopped and said, you're not listening to me, are you? And I smiled at him and I said, yes, I am. I lied, I wasn't listening. And he said, well, what did I say? So I repeated something. I just said what was on my mind and he goes, oh, you were listening, I was lucky. I wasn't listening at all. But there are times when you're having a conversation with somebody and they just, they just shut you down. They're not listening to a word you have to say and it could happen in marriage. And there are certain things that you have to understand in this particular case, that's what she's learning. You see the bottom line is her conscience has stricken her. The conviction has come upon her. She didn't need a lot of words from Solomon. She already was struck down. It says in Proverbs 10, 19, in the multitude of words, sin is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is wise. Sometimes it's simply best to leave things completely in the hands of God and pray. Sometimes that's more effective. Now, when it says in verse nine, what is your beloved more than another beloved or fairest among women? What is your beloved more than another beloved that you so charge us? I want you to see something here. This to me is really interesting. One of the things that can resolve conflict is to think about what it is about them that you love. What makes them special in your eyes? And what is it that made you want them as a spouse? What is it? You who are married here listening to this, what is it about that woman or that man that you're with, your husband or your wife that made you say to yourself, I can't live without this person. I wanna go to bed every night with them and I wanna wake up every morning with them. I wanna spend the rest of my natural life with this person. What is it and what are those things? Can you speak of them? If someone were to walk up to you and say, look, can you give me five things about your husband or your wife that you like? Can you just shoot those things out like this? Can you do that? Can you say, I like this, I like this, I like this, I like this, and I like this. I like these things about him. I love these things about him. Can you do that? You ought to be able to. Because that's the questions being asked right now. What is it about your beloved that's so special is being asked? Why is that question being asked? Because when you begin to think about the things that make them what they are to you, they are the things that keep you with them. When you start remembering, well, you know what, the first time I met them, the smile, their sense of humor, their religious faith, their beauty, or how handsome they may be, these are things that attracted me. Well, those are the things that keep you also. And it's a good thing to have a practice of knowing what it is about that person that you so love. It's a good thing to be able to say, I like this, I like this, I like this, and I like this. She has a whole list that she's able to give. Notice what she says. Verse 10, my beloved is white and ruddy, chief among 10,000. His head is like the finest gold. His locks are wavy and black as a raven. His eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters washed with milk and fitly set. His cheeks are like a bed of spices, like banks of scented herbs. His lips are lilies dripping liquid mur. His hands are rods of gold set with burl. His body is carved ivory inlaid with sapphires. His legs are pillars of marble, set on bases of fine gold. His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars. His mouth is most sweet. Yes, he's altogether lovely. This is my beloved. And this is my friend, oh daughters of Jerusalem. She's able to give a list. When she was asked, she had an instant answer because she knows him. She has a list of things in her heart and she can speak of him spontaneously. Why again is that important to deal with conflict quickly? Because in her case, this is someone she cannot live without. And these are the things she sees about him. Notice, he is white and ruddy. That speaks of his preeminence and that he's very handsome. He is chief among 10,000, meaning there's no one who can match him. He has a head like the finest gold, means that he is extremely wise. His hair, his locks are wavy and black as raven. Though he's young, he's highly respected. His eyes are like doves. When she says that, he's gentle towards her and loving. Washed with milk, speaks of the whites of his eyes, not being red with alcohol. He's sober. They are fitly set, meaning that he has vision and purpose and it's focused on her. His cheeks are like a bed of spices, meaning that he holds her close and is tender to her. His lips are lilies, which means his kisses are tender and sweet. His hands are rods of gold, set with burl, meaning he's strong in his authority. His body is carved ivory. Marisa's that about me, but she's thinking of a Buddha statue. That can be a picture of strength, perhaps the spiritual kind. His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold. Speaks of his physical strength. His mouth is most sweet. He is altogether lovely. And she said, this is my beloved and this is my friend. His mouth is most sweet. He speaks with me with kindness. How do I say this? In marital relations, one of the things that I think is very important is to speak with kindness, to have a gentleness in the way that you approach. The word of the Lord tells us that our wives are weaker vessels. Not that they are physically inferior, but because they're tender and should be cherished. So as a husband, we speak to our wives with a tenderness because that woman loves her husband enough to have given up everything else. All her plans and her desires many times have been yielded, submitted to their plans and their desires. And in my case with my wife, and I think I'm speaking for most every husband who loves their wife, I'm very grateful for that. I'm grateful for my wife. She's quite a woman and I'm thankful to God for her. And I try to let her know. I try to speak with tenderness towards her. I try to let her know that she's important to me. I try to cherish her and speak that way to her. Of course, you know, I'm not saying that every time she walks in the room that I say, oh, thou most lovely amongst women. I mean, I don't do that normally. And here I am, you know, you're big, strong, handsome man. I don't play that, you know. And I have a body of carved ivory. You know, I don't say that. I say her hair is like a flock of goats, but that's God, yeah. But you know what I'm talking about. All of us have been around couples that we've become uncomfortable to be around because they're so at each other. And there's such disrespect that's being spoken that you just just, you know, I just, I can't hang with this, you know, I'll hang with Yama one-on-one, but I don't like to see that dynamic, the put down, you know, the, I hate that. You know, in this church, I will tease sometimes my precious, but every person in this church who knows me and has been around for a while, knows how valuable my wife is to me. But I made a decision long ago that when I speak of Marie, you hear the good things because that's what a husband's supposed to do. He's supposed to lift her up, not bring her down. And in private, when she and I have our disagreements, you know, and we have them sometimes because she doesn't see how I'm always right. And so sometimes we have to fight about that till she gets it. When we have our disagreements, you know, there has to be the law of kindness upon my tongue. I need to speak to her with love and grace. That comes by the spirit of the Lord. Again, there are times that you don't say anything until you're settled, until you're ready, then you're able. And with Marie and I, when we've had conflict, what I'll do is I'll say, I need to speak to you. I wanna share my heart with you for a moment. And I'm asking you to listen carefully so that I might be able to say it as clearly as possible. This is what I'm feeling. And this is, I know that you're not intending to make me feel this way, but this is how I feel. And I don't like what I'm feeling right now because there's a sense of conflict between us. I'm angry over this and let's resolve it. That's how I deal with my wife. And Marie can do the same thing if necessary with me. You ought to. I don't appreciate this or honey, you need to know that and why didn't. And I have to listen. If I don't listen to her, somebody else will. And I wanna be the one who listens to her. It's just that simple. And so as you do that, you begin to understand. And I like the way she speaks, by the way, because she says at the end of the chapter, this is my friend, not only is he my lover, this is my beloved, but he's also my friend. And again, if you treat your husband or wife like you would your closest friend, you'll keep them longer. You'll keep them longer. If you treat them with the same respect that you show your friends, you'll keep them longer because there are things you'll do for your friends that you don't even think sometimes of doing for your loved one. And when they begin to feel that they're less than your closest friends, puts conflict in the marriage. But when you begin to make that person feel like they're the most important person in your life, they free you up emotionally to be a friend to everybody because it matters because that's what you are, your friends first and your lovers. And so she said, he's my beloved, but he's also my friend. I feel bad because I turned him away. I sought for him because my heart was pained and I looked for him because he is of such value. What value does he have? Oh, he is a leader amongst men. He is handsome and wise. This is the man of strength, both spiritually and physically and he's my beloved and he's my friend. And when you can speak like that and think like that and act like that, your conflicts will be resolved and that's how it works normally. Father, we ask that you would work in us and that we would be able to have a spiritual attitude. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who brings conviction, awakens us at the times that we haven't been as kind as we could be. And thank you for the power that you give to us to change. Now I ask that you would work within us so that we might become those children of yours that live lives that are pleasing to you. Work in us today and have your way in us today, we pray. And even as our eyes are closed, our heads are bowed, perhaps there are some in this room who need, you need prayer, you need to get right with the Lord. There may be issues you're dealing with right now that only the Holy Spirit can really, really change and bring healing and direction to your life for. So if you need prayer right now and I'd like to pray for you, would you raise your hand and let me pray if you're right where you're at? Just raise your hand so I might see you. Lord, you see these hands. You know the reason why these hands are being raised to you and now I'm asking that you would reach down and touch them. Lord, whatever it is within them, whatever the conflict may be, whatever the spiritual condition of their heart is at this moment, I pray that you would individually minister to each one of them exactly where they need your hand to be, exactly where they need your touch, Lord. And may you work in them and may you restore them and may you heal them and work within them, forgive them where necessary and empower them that they might live for you, Lord. We lift our hands to you and we ask that you would move upon us and use us for your glory. We yield ourselves now to you, Lord and thank you for this, bless you. You can put your hands down. And Jesus, would you keep moving in all of us to your glory? In your name we pray, amen. I pray the study was encouraging and I wanna thank you for your continued support and prayers and invite you to join us next Sunday night as we move into the next part of our study. As I mentioned earlier, if you would like to give your offering, you can do so online. If you're using a computer, click on the give button in the upper right corner of your screen. If you're watching on your mobile device or iPad, click give under the menu button. If this is your first time giving digitally, follow the instruction under four ways to give to process your gift and finally you can either mail your checks to 12205 North Pipeline Avenue, Chino, California, 91710 or if you're able, you can come to the sanctuary and use the kiosk we have in the foyer that are set up to process gifts. You can also place your gift in an envelope handed to one of the receptionists in the foyer. So thank you. God be with you and we look forward to having you with us once again.