Turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter five. Beginning at verse one. And I’ll read the first 10 verses after we pray for God’s illumination on his word. Let us pray. Almighty God and most merciful Father, we humbly submit ourselves and fall down before your majesty, asking you from the bottom of our hearts that this seed of your word, now sown among us, may take such deep root that neither the burning heat of persecution cause it to wither, nor the thorny cares of this life choke it. but that as seed sown in good ground, it may bring forth 30, 60, or a hundredfold as your heavenly wisdom has appointed. Amen. That prayer was from the Middleburg Liturgy. This is the word of God, Matthew chapter five.
As you, leading up to this passage, we see in chapter four, the temptation of Christ, and then the beginning of his ministry. His ministry begins in the land of Zebulun, the land of Naphtali, the way of the sea from that prophecy in verses 15 to 16 of chapter 4.
Then Jesus in 17 lays it out, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That’s his opening salvo, his opening statement. Then Jesus pulls together and calls his disciples. And then he’s great crowds start coming to hear Jesus. And then we get to this point where we’re at chapter five, and this is the word of God. Chapter five, verse one, seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain. And when he sat down, his disciples came to him and he opened his mouth and taught them saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is a kingdom of heaven. This is the word of God. How would you summarize the kind of person Jesus says is a member of his kingdom. How would you summarize the kind of person Jesus says is a member of his kingdom?
Well, to answer that question, I’m going to back up a little bit as how I arrived at this passage tonight. I’m thinking about things to do with Misty in terms of our family worship. I was reading the Beatitudes in my devotionals And it brought me back to a set of classes that Dr. LaBelle had during the pandemic here on Saturday morning, and Melody, I know you were there, where he went over the morning exercises from the Puritan Thomas Case at Cripple Gate St. Giles in the Field. in 1661, Pastor LaBelle read many of these lectures proving the existence of God, proving the Trinity, the authority of scripture, but the gateway message was from Thomas Case and there were different Puritans that read throughout this whole series of lectures And it was just a tremendous production. You know, each, each, there were different men, some that were well-known, some that weren’t as well-known. But it was, it was just a wonderful time, those mornings that we had together. And James would just, James LaBelle would just read these. And when I, when I read the Beatitudes, I came back to the thinking of Thomas Case as in his opening, his opening statement.
Thomas Kay said, methodical systems of the main and special points of the Christian religion are very useful and profitable for ministers and people. They are to be found in scripture more compendious and summary, excuse me, they are to be found in scripture more compendious and summary abstracts and abridgments containing certain of the main heads and points of saving doctrine methodize into lesser bodies of tables and for the help of faith and knowledge and we find them accommodated by the penman of the Holy Ghost to inform the church in the principles of religion.
Now that’s a mouthful, but the bottom line is there are main points of doctrine that are very important and as I get older and as I get I have grandchildren and children now. I want to make sure I know these main points of doctrine, which Mr. Case wants us to think about, and I want my posterity.
And I think it’s important. I’m not, you know, the goal here is not to say, okay, you know, I’m just cherry picking scriptures. But on the other hand, it’s important that the God, the Holy Spirit did write these summaries. starting with Jesus, really starting with the Ten Commandments as it’s just a summary of the moral law in the Old Testament, you know, and taking that and as it just expands, you can expand your thinking and learning on all of these doctrines. So, anyway, I went back to that and, you know, Misty and I, Very slow in getting started with this.
I know we’ve gone through a few of these. We’re about ready to get Romans. Romans, the whole book of Romans is one of these summarizations of doctrine. Mr. Case calls it the Western Catechism or not the Western, the Catechism, the Christian Catechism. And so, make sure Misty holds me too. I need to get started on Romans.
So, but anyway, there are three modules, three of these modules if you want to call them. that come from Jesus Christ. They are the Beatitudes, which we just read, which he calls the credenda or the articles of faith to be believed. The second module coming from Jesus is in the same sermon, Matthew 5, 17 to 48, the list of duties, the things that are to be done, Matthew 5, and, and, um, Thomas Case uses the word, that’s the facienda. And then the Lord’s Prayer, Matthew 6, 9 to 15, the list of petitions, the Lord’s Prayer, the pitenda, the things prayed for.
This is kingdom living. Christ, in this sermon, is inaugurating the kingdom of God. Everything has all been set up. He’s delivered. He’s delivered us in the 40 days of temptation. He has put together his apostolic band. He has sounded the trumpet of repent because the kingdom of God is here. We are living in an inaugurated kingdom.
And next week we’re going to talk about a little bit about this and how it links to eschatology. So it’s and really the Sermon on the Mount is just a strategic plan, a strategic teaching of how we’re to live in this kingdom. So I go back to that question, how would you summarize the kind of person that says, that Jesus says is a member of his kingdom?
And I hope you will see that particularly in the Beatitudes tonight. So, The Beatitudes are a list of particulars wherein man’s true and chief happiness consist. This is our identity. This is something we live and breathe are these points. And it’s challenging. It’s challenging and all the years I read the Beatitudes and I’m nothing like this. I’m not focusing on this. This is hard. All these years. At some point, you just have to. This is our Christian articles of faith. And let’s all together think about this tonight and implement these directions.
So, beginning in Matthew 5, this is the first of five discourses of Christ recorded in this Gospel of Matthew. As Moses did when God revealed the law, Christ is a new and greater Moses, a supreme prophet. As a matter of fact, as you recall in Deuteronomy, Moses predicted this prophet that was to come. And Jesus’ message in this sermon really holds together in himself as the king of his kingdom. His kingdom or reign has already begun in his people transforming their lives by changing their nature, repent, people are starting being saved, crowds are starting to hear him. And Christ’s standards and so people are changing, people are coming to Christ, people are regenerated, called, becoming sanctified, justified.
And Christ’s standards for obedience are possible, impossible apart from grace. That’s our comfort. It’s impossible. We can’t live up to a perfect kingdom life because we’re sinners. But by his grace, by his sanctifying grace and the work of the spirit and his laws constantly press the people to seek more grace from God. So may that be your goal tonight. is take these teachings, these beatitudes and ask for God’s grace and let’s take a focus because this is our, let’s focus on this because this is our kingdom identity. So the beatitudes of Christ are pithy exposition of repentance in light of the kingdom. From that time Jesus began to preach, as I said in 417, repent for the kingdom of heaven. is at hand, and this is your directive, not just with the Beatitudes, but as we go on through this magnificent sermon. So let’s start. Verse three, blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed be the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
What does it mean to be blessed? It means being rich, and I’m using the RHB study notes for my context tonight. Blessed means rich in the benefits of God’s grace, regardless of their present outward condition. Let me say that again, I’m sorry. Blessed means rich in the benefits of God’s grace, regardless of their present outward condition. Psalm 1-1, blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers. We walk in righteousness.
The poor in spirit are those who recognize their complete spiritual bankruptcy, right? We were all bankrupt before we became Christians, our bankruptcy. And we need God’s grace or we still be bankrupt continually. Revelation 317, for you say, I am rich, I have prospered and I need nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind and naked. We are poor in spirit, poor in spirit. We are in a wretched state without grace. Humble ourselves, humble ourselves in this. but yet theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
And here’s where we get into a little bit of the eschatology. The present tense, theirs is the kingdom of heaven, implies that these people already partake of God’s reign in this present life of the spirit. But if, Matthew 12, 28, but if is by the spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. It’s here. We are in the kingdom of heaven now. I keep saying that, it’s so important. Though the full experience of God’s glory is yet to be experienced in the future, we all know that.
Matthew 13, 43, then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears, let him hear. Matthew 13, 43. So blessed are the poor in spirit, in our condition, in our lowliness, because we will inherit the kingdom because of Christ’s grace.
There’s two dangers here. You don’t want to get on the one hand overly despondent about your sinful nature and be overly introspective and really hard on yourself. That’s not what we want to look at as being poor in spirit. you know, sackcloth and ashes over our heads. No, no, that’s not quite what we’re looking at. But on the other hand, we don’t want to be just so presumptuous that, you know, we got this and everything and that.
No, we need God’s grace every morning. And that’s why we come to worship even with an extra booster shot on Sunday to know that we are coming to a God who loves us but we we have to call upon him and he has to deliver us and give us grace. So that’s the balance on the one hand versus the other.
I remember we were doing a study on the mortification of sin by John Owen many years ago and if you really if you really that’s a tough book to read because if it You have to know a lot of context about John Owen and Grace, but he really lays it on you, you know?
What was it? Sin will find you out? I can’t even remember the quote. But you know, if you don’t mortify sin, sin will find you out, something like that. I mean, it was almost, if you didn’t know the context and you didn’t know, obviously, the evangelical bona fides of Owen, you could get weighed down in that. We don’t want, I don’t want, I warn probably folk in our camp of the reform camp of trying to avoiding being excessively, excessively poor in spirit.
We have grace. Next verse four. Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Mourning. Mourning is not the sorrow of the world, but sorrow over sin. against God, producing repentance and zeal for the Lord. 2 Corinthians 7, 10 to 11. For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death. For see what earnestness this godly grief has produced in you. but also what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what punishment at every point you have proven yourselves innocent in the matter. That is our godly grief, that is our mourning, our sorrow that leads us to repentance and forgiveness and mercy and not the worldly grief that we all know is not what we’re looking at.
And then the result, the result of mourning over our sins and seeking out repentance and fresh drops of grace is the comfort, comforted. Christ’s spirit anointed preaching announces that God will heal the brokenhearted sinners and replace sorrow with joy. Psalm 33, O Lord, you have brought my soul up from Sheol. You have restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.
So we grieve, we repent, we seek comfort, we seek God’s grace, and we receive comfort from God. That is our disposition. So poor in spirit, those who mourn. This is our identity. Think about that. Ours is the kingdom of heaven. and we will be comforted day by day, minute by minute. Here’s a big one. I’m gonna spend most of my time here, which will be limited, but this is a big one.
Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. So the RHB just talks about meek is not weakness or passivity, but humility, gentleness, and patience. doing good as they wait on the Lord for vindication and blessing. Psalm 37, 11, but the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace. Inheriting the earth. Those who are meek will receive the promised covenant inheritance.
Romans 4.13, for the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. And then in the new creation, then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more.
Revelation 21.1, the meek will inherit the earth.
Now, the first thing that comes to my mind in Pastor Carson Cashin’s sermons, are numbers. When we read about the rebellion of Miriam and Aaron, and then Moses’ reaction to that. Remember Pastor Cashin said, and scripture said, Moses said nothing. He just looked to God.
And I was struck by that. I was just struck by that was a vicious accusation. And Moses had every right to, in a sense, be angry and put that down. And yet, he was meek. He was meek. Obviously, our Savior was meek. He’s telling us. He’s telling us how he will live, how he lives in the kingdom. True. Throughout the money changers, he was very taught, I guess, if you will, with the Pharisees and Jews, but those were over major issues. Idolatry, God, this is father turning the temple in a house of robbers. So, you know, you can’t say, okay, was Jesus not meek there?
Well, in sticking up for really, really his father, it is, at some point, you do get angry about those things. But I do really think, I really think that this, as this congregation, I would encourage you to work on being meek. We often want to fight for our rights. We often want to engage in battles and back and forth, this is unfair, this is not fair, and so forth. We need to be meek. I encourage you that, of that.
Men in presbytery who I have, who are meek men, I’ve served with Arnie. I’ll call Arnie out. I mean, I’ve served with Arnie for many years. And I pushed Arnie to the limit in arguments. And he just is loving and kind. And he’s a great example of meekness. He’s been in my house. Yeah, you know, and things, and we have debates on stuff. And you have an elder that, and I’m just starting to serve with Barry and David, of course, but what a great example of meekness.
So I would encourage you, Misty got this book probably 20 years ago, 30 years ago maybe, by Matthew Henry, The Quest for Meekness and Quietness of Spirit. I would love to read a passage from this, but time won’t allow me tonight. I really encourage, this is a very, it’s a small book, it’s very thin, very easily readable. It just, I just drink this book in every day to help me with this, with my problem of meekness, you know, my struggle with it. You know, my dear wife has ministered by getting this book And she took it in.
And I just encourage you, it’s out there. Matthew Henry can split hairs in his points, but you just get a big dose of being gentle and meek. And every day, it’s like, again, it’s like a shot every day. I read a couple pages every day. Probably going to read it again after I finish it. Strongly encourage that book. We live in a society where it’s fight, fight, fight.
And in the church, on the web, on social media, everywhere, there’s no meekness. There’s none. There’s none. It’s bad. Cultivate meekness, brothers and sisters. Let’s practice this. I submit that If we grow in meekness, we will be unified and we will be more united as was discussed this morning. Okay.
Next verse, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be satisfied. Just take that at face value without me even commenting. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? This is another probably very convicted, do we hunger and thirst for righteousness. For they shall be satisfied. Do we get up in the morning and jump out of bed and say, I hunger and thirst for righteousness? If we don’t, we should. We should. Because that’s kingdom living. Righteousness. Are we going to be perfect? Are we going to be perfectly righteous? Of course not. We’re sinners. but hunger for it.
Wake up, ask the Holy Spirit today. In all of these, this is the will of God. In all of these, ask me, help me to hunger and thirst for righteousness. R.H.B. says, strongly desire to live in a manner pleasing to the Father. Do we want to please our Father? Of course we do.
Put your mind off of things in the world. and the hard providences you have, and you know, I sympathize with that, but God wants you to please him and he will give you the grace to do it. And you will be satisfied. They will be satisfied with the holiness that God gives them. God gives us this holiness.
When John 3, 2, beloved, we are God’s children now and what will we be? What we will be has not yet appeared. But we know that when he appears, We shall be like him because we shall see him as he is. Now do you see the eschatological component in all of these?
This is now the beginning of our kingdom and we keep coming back in the end to where we will be, we will see God, we will be perfectly righteous, we will have all of these qualities perfectly. So it’s very important to see that we are being, our Christian identity, our articles of faith, are moving us and preparing us for his coming.
Verse seven, blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy. Merciful are those who respond to human need and with compassion and grace. I praise God every morning for this body of believers that shows so much mercy to people. I’m blessed, thank you. Thank you for all those needs that we have and we certainly talk about them in prayer meeting. Come to prayer meeting so we can pray for God’s mercy, but we talk about all the work that’s being done around here and I praise God.
We are doing very well in the mercy department. Matthew 9, 27, and as Jesus passed on from there, two blind men followed him, crying aloud, have mercy on me, son of David. and out of a sense of their own need, excuse me, for mercy. In Matthew 18.33, and should not you have mercy on your fellow servant as I had mercy on you? So Jesus, people are crying out to Jesus for mercy in 9.27, and Jesus is turning that around and saying, I showed you mercy. You show others mercy and then we receive mercy.
It’s almost a circle in a way. Those who show compassion to others will receive compassion from God certainly in this life but here again certainly on Judgment Day. God will have mercy on us. James 2, 12 to 13, so speak and act as those who are to be judged under the law of liberty. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment. Listen to that. James is tough. We’re almost ready to get to him again in McShane. He’s tough.
For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. But mercy triumphs over judgment. Be merciful. Augustine said, you hear the voice of a beggar, but before God, you yourself are a beggar. Someone is begging from you while you yourself are begging. As you treat your beggar, so will God treat his. You who are empty are being filled. Out of your fullness, fill an empty person in need so that your own emptiness may be again fulfilled by the fullness of God.
That’s profound. That’s a profound statement on this verse. I’d read it again if I had time, but it is. You hear the voice of a beggar, but before God, you are a beggar. Someone’s begging from us, and you yourself are begging. As you treat a beggar, so God treat his, and so on, showing mercy. Very powerful.
Verse eight, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Pure in heart, pure in heart. Not external purity or ceremonial cleanness, but inward sincerity, though not perfection, in faith and love. Do you seek to be pure in heart? Do you have sincere motives to be pure? Are we always gonna be pure again? No, no, but God will give us. Seek out purity. Seek out righteousness. Seek it out. Sincerely, remember, as Pastor James taught us so well, God does look at the sincerity of the heart. So don’t get discouraged. If your heart is moving towards purity, that’s great.
1 Timothy 1.5, the aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart. Listen to this again, Paul says, the aim, the aim of our charge is love. that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” That’s a great verse. That’s a great verse for this. Pure heart, good conscience, sincere faith.
And those who are pure in heart will see God. You’ll enjoy close fellowship with the Father in his glory through Jesus Christ. Once again, eschatologically speaking, no longer will there be any accursed, but the throne of God and the lamb will be in it and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads.
Be pure. Fellowship with God begins with purity in your heart as well as all these other things. Edwards said, it is a thing truly happy for the soul of men to see God. Having a pure heart is a certain and only way to come to the blessedness of seeing God.
Then they shall see him as he is. Their light, which now is but a glimmering, will be brought into clear sunshine. That which is here is but the dawning that will become a perfect day. The already and the not yet. Being pure now brings us in fellowship with God, and one day we will attain that purity.
Peacemakers. Pastor Kashin spoke on that I think from Two Thessalonians, being a peacemaker. So that is verse 9, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall become called sons of God. Peacemakers, not smoothing over disobedience to God’s word but seeking to restore people to harmony with God and each other.
Romans 12, 18 to 21, if possible. So far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never agree, avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God. For it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink. For by so doing, you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not overcome. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Romans 14, 19.
So then let us pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. Christ made peace for us on the cross, Ephesians 2, 14 to 17, for he himself is our peace who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who are far off and peace to those who are near. Be peacemakers. Christ demonstrated it. He lived it. He brought down that wall of hostility, creating peace with us and God. And you will be called sons of God. God will vindicate and glorify his adopted children in the ways they have shown that they bear his image by grace.
Matthew 5.45, so that you may be the sons of your father who is in heaven, for he makes his son rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and the unjust.
Are we peacemakers? And this kind of dovetails with meekness. Do we want conflict? Are we trying to reconcile? Unity, there again, here again is a unity application as well. Kingdom living is to make peace. With our brothers and sisters, peace, even with men or women who aren’t unbelievers, try to make peace.
There’s such an excellent book written by this many, many years ago. When church I was in previously, there were a lot of peace issues, The Peacemakers by Ken Sandy. It’s just a classic on peacemaking. It’s a bigger book, but if you’ve heard of it and you’ve seen it, it is really, really good. Be peacemakers. It’s just, again, I’ll say it again. It just really goes hand in hand. If you’re meek, I would submit, you’re going to be a peacemaker. You’re going to want peace. You’re not going to run and rub up against people.
We’re, as Mark said this morning, we’re the body of, we’re the visible church that we can see now, but we’re the invisible church. We’re in fellowship with one another. We love one another. We need to be at peace. And finally, verse 10, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. If we’re still being recorded, I need to be quiet.
But again, meeting a missionary who was persecuted recently and for that man to come and just be full of love and joy and encouragement. He wrote me a note last week. I was telling Misty, he encouraged me, you know, for my work. Here’s a man. that we all know what he went through and what he wants to go to.
He didn’t want to leave and he can’t go back probably now, but there is persecution. There is persecution for sure. I think our pastor is going to be speaking to men and teaching men. They may be in Mbawe at Knox College, you know, relatively safe environment, but they go to Ethiopia, to Kenya, Congo, places where there’s no peace. There’s persecution, persecution. And Pastor Cash, and that’s why I love so much that we’re able to send him out.
You think it’s just a little thing to teach 10, 15 men, but do you know what 10 and 15 men can do when they go out into the world and preach Jesus and peace and exhibit these articles of our faith to Muslims and terrorists and people starving, people in prison? Jesus makes clear that the lives of his disciples will inevitably invite insult and mistreatment because of the distinctive qualities highlighted in all these verses. That’s right. You’re meek. You’re pure in heart. You’re trying to be a peacemaker. The world’s going to come down on you, but the world is going to be convicted and the world may be saved. Men and women may be saved as a result.
Brothers and sisters, go back to the question, how would you summarize the kind of person Jesus says is a member of his kingdom? So Chris always has his opening question, and then he has his, I had nine points tonight, he has much less, he has three. Sorry. But in any event, how would you sum it up? This is it, this is the beginning of it. And of course, as you go into the, The list of duties that are in the next part of this chapter, these are the things that are to be done. Jesus taking, bringing a New Testament spotlight on the Ten Commandments, salt and light, fulfill the law, anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation, love your enemies, These are just practical outworkings, really, of the Beatitudes.
Isn’t this such a strategic sermon? Mr. and I were witnessing to this gentleman at the fitness center, and I think a lot of people have really said this. They say, you know, I don’t want to know much about Jesus, but I really do like the Sermon on the Mount. And I said to him, You reject all of this. I mean, Jesus, you know, it’s like some kind of political thing. I mean, taking it, and the liberal church does that, but Machen does a great job of pointing out, you know, well, how can you buy into this when this is the Jesus of salvation? You can read all this stuff, but, and then you start to take bits and pieces away from it and start, tearing down Jesus’s ministry, but this isn’t who he is. It’s really kind of sad, but this is it. This is our credenda. This is our credenda to live by these words.
So I would encourage you tomorrow to take one of these beatitudes a day or a week or whatever. Certainly commit them to memory. and ask God to help you in these areas, knowing, as we’ll talk about next week, knowing that there will come a day where this kingdom is finally fulfilled and Christ will return.
And then, then won’t it be wonderful, won’t it be wonderful that we’ll, all the sin will be off us and we can really do this stuff perfectly. We can live righteous, we’ll be meek, we’ll be peacemakers. We will be grateful in spirit for the salvation that we have and we have an eternity to draw that out. What a blessing, what a blessing. When Christ spoke the Beatitudes, he was not promising some kind of perfectionism or offering a higher level of spirituality to those already saved, but giving a concise description of the character of those blessed by God. These are the articles of our faith.
In addition, I have one last question for you. How can these traits help believers recognize the work of the Spirit in their hearts and confirm their assurance of salvation, which we talked about this morning? It’s important. That’s important. The Spirit works in us. And the more we engage and embrace these articles of our faith, the more assured we are, right? The more assured we are. What a blessing.
Let’s pray. Father God, we do praise you. We do praise you for this strategic plan that you’ve given us in your kingdom. I pray that you would help every one of us, every one of us, poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry and thirsting for righteousness, merciful, pure, Peacemakers, persecuted. Oh God, help us to take up the armor of these teachings. Fill us with your spirit. Guide us, help us. We ask your forgiveness on all the times that we’ve broken these articles of our faith, God, but you are merciful. Your mercy just keeps coming at us, Lord. Renew us, fill us with your spirit and guide us this week and in the days ahead. And oh God, come Lord Jesus, come quickly so that we can experience this in all of its fullness. In Christ’s name, amen.