Would you turn now to 2 Samuel
chapter 16. Tonight I'm going to be preaching
from Ephesians chapter 5 verse 17 from this text of scripture.
Be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. I'm going to be bringing a message
on understanding what the will of the Lord is. And I want to
encourage everybody to hear this message. It's a very important
message. I've entitled this message, Shemai,
a story with three scenes. In John chapter 5 verse 39, the
Lord said to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures and in
them you think you have eternal life. You think if I can just
read the Bible and learn how to keep these rules, learn God's
will, I can be saved. He said, but they are they which
testify of me. And the passage of scripture
we're going to look at is a historical account from the Old Testament.
But if all I see is some kind of weird story from the Old Testament,
I've missed everything. This is given to teach us something
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we're going to look
at the three different places where a man named Shimei is named. In verse 5 of 2 Samuel 16, And when King David came to Bahurim,
behold, there came out a man of the family of the house of
Saul, whose name was Shemai, the son of Gera. He came forth
and cursed still as he came. And he cast stones at David,
and at all the servants of the King David, and all the people,
and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
And thus said Shemai, When he cursed, come out, come out, thou
bloody man, you murderer, and thou man of Belial, thou evil
man. The Lord hath returned upon thee
all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast
reigned, and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of
Absalom thy son. Behold, thou art taken in thy
mischief, because thou art a bloody man. You are a murderous man. You are a wicked man. Now these were the words of Shemai
to David. Now what's the setting? David
is fleeing because his son Absalom is seeking to take his place.
He seduced the people and they're following him. And David is fleeing
for his life. His son is seeking his death. Now, years before this, David
had sinned a great sin. Perhaps you remember the story
when he should have been out doing whatever kings do. He was
loitering on the rooftop of his house while Joab was out fighting
and he should have been with him. He wasn't there. And he
spied a woman bathing herself named Bathsheba. Look in 2 Samuel
chapter 11. And it came to pass after the
year was expired at the time when kings go forth to battle
that David sent Joab. and his servants with him and
all of Israel. And they destroyed the children
of Ammon and besieged Rabba. But David tarried still at Jerusalem,
and it came to pass an evening tide. But David arose from off
his bed and walked upon the roof of the king's house. And from
the roof he saw a woman washing herself. And the woman was very
beautiful to look upon. And David sent and inquired after
the woman. And one said, is not this Bathsheba,
the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? And David
sent messengers and took her. And she came in unto him and
he lay with her. And she was purified from her
uncleanness. And she returned unto her house and the woman
conceived. And sent and told David and said,
I am with child. David spies this woman and in
a terrible abuse of power, He had his servants come and take
her and bring her to himself. And the scripture says, he lay
with her and she conceived. He could do what he wanted. He
was the king and he did what he wanted. And he took this woman. Now let's go on reading in verse
six. And David sent to Joab saying,
send me Uriah the Hittite. That was her husband. And Joab
sent Uriah to David, and when Uriah was coming to him, David
demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how
the war prospered. And David said to Uriah, go down to thy
house and wash thy feet. And Uriah departed out of the
king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king.
But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the
servants of his lord, and he went on down to his house. Now
David had wanted him to go home and lay with his wife and he
thought that would take care of everything and my sin would
be covered. That was his purpose, but it didn't happen. Uriah wouldn't
do this. He said, how am I going to sleep
in a bed with my wife when all my buddies are out in the fields
fighting? He wouldn't do that. Verse 10, And when they told David, saying,
Uriah went not down to his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest
thou not from thy journey? Why then didst thou not go down
into thine house? And Uriah said unto David, The ark and Israel
and Judah abide in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants
of my lord are camped in the open fields. Shall I then go
into mine house to eat and to drink and to lie with my wife?
As thou livest, as thy soul liveth, I'll not do this thing. What
a loyal, faithful man he was. What a man of principle. And David said to Uriah, I tarry
here today also, and tomorrow I'll let thee depart. So Uriah
bowed in Jerusalem that day and the morrow. And when David called
him, he did eat and drink before him, and he made him drunk. And
at even, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of
his Lord, but he went not down to his house. And it came to
pass in the morning that David wrote a letter to Joab and sent
it by the hand of Uriah. And he wrote in the letter saying,
set you, Uriah, in the forefront of the hottest battle and retire
you from him that he may be smitten and die. Now this is the man
after God's own heart. This is David. What does he do? He commits adultery with a woman. He tries to cover it up and his
cover up doesn't work. So he takes this faithful man,
Uriah, and he gives him a letter with the orders of his own execution. He knew he was so faithful that
he would never open that letter. And here the man delivers the
letter to Joab and Joab lets him be killed as a result. What does David do? David, through
the terrible abuse of his power, committed adultery, he committed
murder, and he used somebody else and involved them in his
murder in order to cover all of this up. Now somebody says,
could a true believer do something that horrible? That's a really stupid question
because everybody in this room has done something this horrible. You've done all these things
in your heart. You've committed adultery, you've committed murder,
and you've tried to cover it up. You don't want anybody to
know what goes on in your mind and in your heart. You and I
have been guilty of the precise same things. Well, the Lord tells David, chapter
12, you know the story. And the Lord sent Nathan unto
David, and he came unto him and said unto him, There are two
men in one city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich
man had exceeding many flocks and herds, but the poor man had
nothing save one little ewe lamb. which he brought up, nourished
up, and grew up together with him, with his own children, and
did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay
in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. And there came
a traveler, verse four, chapter 12, there came a traveler unto
the rich man, and he spared the take of his own flock of his
own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was coming to him, but
he took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that
was coming to him. They ate that man's lamb, Verse
five, and David's anger was greatly kindled against the man. And
he said to Nathan, as the Lord liveth, the man that hath done
this thing shall surely die. And he shall restore the lamb
fourfold because he did this thing and because he had no pity.
And Nathan said to David, thou art the man. I'm describing you. Look what verse 11 says. Thus saith the Lord, because
I will behold, I will raise up evil against thine own house.
I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto
thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of
the son. For you did this secretly, but I'll do this thing before
all Israel and before the son. And David said, I've sinned against
the Lord. And Nathan said unto David, the
Lord also hath put away thy sin. Thou shalt not die, how be it?
Because by this deed you've given great occasion to the enemies
of the Lord to blaspheme. The child that is born unto thee
shall surely die. If you go up in this passage
of scripture, look at verse 11. He says, I raise up evil against
thee out of thine own house. Now, Years later, the Lord has
raised up evil against David of his own house. The coup of
his son Absalom and Absalom is seeking to take his place. Absalom
won the hearts of the people. They all turn against David.
David has to flee for his life from Absalom. Just as the Lord
said, he would raise up somebody out of his house. And I'm sure
David's heart was heavy as this took place. He remembers these
words. These were words years later. And he knows, this is
all my fault. This has taken place. He remembers
what happened with Bathsheba and Uriah. And while he's leaving,
in chapter 16, he's fleeing from Absalom. And while he's leaving, Verse 5, And when king David
came to Behurim, behold, there came out a man of the family
of the house of Saul, whose name was Shemai. Now remember Saul
is the king who had been displaced. And this man no doubt thought
he was the loser by David being king and Saul no longer being
king. The son of Gerah came forth and cursed still as he came.
Now David is leaving in sorrow. and fear. And this man cursed
him, and he cast stones at David, and at the servants of the king
David. And all the people and the mighty men were on his right
hand and on his left. Thus said Shammai, when he cursed,
Come out, come out, thou bloody man, and thou man of Belial.
The Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of
Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned. And the Lord hath delivered
the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son. Behold, thou
art taken in thy mischief. because thou art a bloody man. Now, let me point this out about
Shammai. Shammai, no doubt, had committed
many sins in his lifetime, just like me and you have. No excuse
for that, but such he was. What was his greatest sin? The
wit of David. the false accusations he made
of David. David sought to save Saul's life,
didn't he? On two different occasions. He
wouldn't lift up his hand against the Lord's anointing. But this
man had such low, venomous thoughts of David. And let me say this,
the problem that you and I have before God, yes, all of our sins
are great, but the greatest sin is the low views that you and
I have had of the Son of God. What God thinks of you, personally,
is seen by what you think of His Son. And Shemai demonstrates
such a low view of David, that great type of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now let's go on reading. Verse
9, then said, Abishai, the son of Zariah, unto the king, Why
should this dead dog curse my Lord the King? Let me go over,
I pray thee, and take off his head. And the king said, what
have I to do with you, you sons of Zarias? Oh, let him curse,
because the Lord hath said unto him, curse David. Whoso then say, wherefore hast
thou done so? David said to Abshine, to all
the servants, Behold my son which came forth out of my bowels seeking
my life. How much more now may this Benjamite doeth? Let him
alone, let him curse. For the Lord hath bidden him. It may be that the Lord will
look on my affliction and that the Lord will quite be good for
his cursing this day. Now, when Jemi was making these
false accusations, did David get mad at him? No. David said, the Lord told you
to do this. Now, the next time someone makes
false accusations against you, two things to remember. They
might have been false accusations, But if they had known the truth,
the accusations would have been worse. Number two, remember the Lord
told him to do it. Everything that happens is of
the Lord. Now, David forgave Shimei. He could have ordered his death
right then. Absalom wanted to do it and he could have done
it. But David forgave Shammai for these horrible accusations,
these untrue accusations that he made without Shammai asking
for it. Can I forgive somebody if they
don't ask for forgiveness? David did. And let's take it
a step further. The greater David forgave you
before you ever asked for anything. The most God-like thing, the
most Christ-like thing anybody can do is to, from their heart,
forgive somebody, even if they're not asking for forgiveness. David
did this. He forgave him. Now let's go
to the second scene. Chapter 19. Now the setting is David coming
back in victory. Absalom's been put to death.
David is now once again king and he's coming back to Jerusalem.
Beginning in verse 16 of 2 Samuel 19, and Shemai The son of Gerah, Benjamite,
which was of Behurim, hasted and came down with the men of
Judah to meet King David. Can you imagine how he felt after
he'd been cursing the king? And now the king's coming back
as the victor. And he said, uh-oh, I'm in trouble. I am in big trouble. But he came to meet King David,
and there was a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and Zebe,
the servant of the house of Saul, and his 15 sons and his 20 servants
with him. And they went over Jordan before
the king, and then went over a ferry boat to carry over the
king's household and to do what he thought good. And Shemai, the son of Gera,
fell down before the king as he was come over Jordan." Now,
a couple of things. What does this signify, him coming over
Jordan? What's Jordan represent? Death. He's coming back from
death. This represents the resurrection
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you and I ever come to
Christ, we come to the resurrected Christ, to the one who has all
authority. Notice what it says about him
in verse 8, the king's household, verse 18, to do what he thought
good. He was coming to do whatever
he was pleased to do. As the absolute sovereign of
the universe, he's coming to do what he's pleased to do. Now that's the Christ you and
I have to deal with. the one who's resurrected from
the dead, who's accomplished the work the Father gave Him
to do, and the one who is pleased to do whatever He's pleased to
do. You know what that means? He's
sovereign. That means He does as He pleases. That means you
and me are in His hands, and He can do with us whatever He
wants to do. Now, if somebody says, I don't
see that, then you've never seen Christ. Because this is the Christ of
the Bible, the resurrected Christ, the living Christ, the one who
accomplished what He came to do by His death. And now He comes
back to do whatever He's pleased to do. The sovereign Christ.
Our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever He hath
pleased. He's the first cause of everything. That's who He is. Whatever happens
is Him doing what He's pleased to do. Now this is the David
that Shimei meets. Now look what he says. Verse 19, Shemai says unto the
king, let not my Lord impute iniquity unto me. Neither do
thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day
that my Lord the king went out of Jerusalem. What I was doing
was perverted. It was wrong. It was evil. There wasn't any
truth to it. and that the king should not
take it to his heart, for thy servant doth know that I've sinned.
Therefore, behold, I've come first this day out of the house
of Joseph to go down and meet my Lord, the king." Now, picture
what's going on in your mind. He'd been cursing the king, and
now the king's coming back as a mighty victor, as an absolute
sovereign. He says, I'm in trouble. And
he asked the king to do three things for him. He knew it was
in his sovereign hands. He could do it or not do it,
but there's three things he asked for. Don't impute my iniquity
to me. He didn't deny the iniquity,
but he said, don't impute it to me. Don't charge it to my
account. Let me not be held responsible
for it. Number two, he said, don't remember it. Don't remember
it. Make it to where you don't remember
it. And don't take it. to heart. Now, this is exactly what I asked
the Lord to do about my sin. Don't impute it to me. He's not
denying the reality of it or the perversity of it, but he
said, don't impute it to me. Don't let it be charged to my
account. David knew something about this. I know something
about this. I hesitate to give a personal
experience very often because I don't want somebody to think,
well, I need to have that experience. Because you don't have to have
experience. You don't have to have an experience. You just
believe what God says. But I can remember 30 years ago
when I was in the hospital, thought I was dying. Everybody else thought
I was dying. And I thought, I'm going to meet
God in judgment. Am I saved? And I started looking within
myself to try to find a reason to think that I'm saved, and
I couldn't find one reason. Not one. And I thought, I'm going
to hell. And I can remember being so scared
and frightened, thinking, I'm going to meet God, and He's going
to send me to hell. That's exactly what I deserve. And this scripture
came to my mind. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Psalm 32, 1. Everything I thought
about myself was true, but here's my hope, that God did not impute
it to me. Now, God's just. If he didn't impute it to me,
he imputed it to somebody. It became the sin of his son. And that's why his son died on
the cross. But here's his first request
regarding this horrible thing that I've done. Don't impute
it to me. And second, he says, don't even remember it. How can
that be? Somehow, and I know how, I don't
understand. I mean, I believe it. I can't
say that I grasp it, but somehow, if you sin against me, I'll forgive
you, but I guarantee I won't forget it. I wish I would. I'd love to. I'd love to never
think about it again, and that's the way it ought to be. I realize
that, but I'm still going to remember until I'm dead. Thank
God I won't have any memory after that. But here's the point. When
God looks at his people, he doesn't say, I remember what they did.
I remember the sin they committed. I remember the way they treated.
No, he does not remember the sin. How? How can God not remember
sin? Hebrews 8, 12, I will be propitious
to their unrighteousness and their sins and iniquities. I
will remember no more. How is it that God can forget
sin? And that's what he's asking.
Lord, don't even remember my sin. through the sacrifice of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It was a propitiation, a sin
removing sacrifice. When He said it is finished,
all sin was removed, was gone, was done away with. There's no
sin there for Him to remember. There is no sin for Him to remember. That's how glorious, that's how
effectual this taking away of sin is. There's nothing there
to remember. And then he said, don't take
it to heart. Don't acknowledge it. I know I've done perversely,
but don't take it to heart because it's not there. If, and I shouldn't
say if, because this is just a fact, but Colossians 2.20 says,
because of the peace he made by the blood of his cross, Colossians
1.22 says, every believer is holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. There's nothing there for him
to take to heart, is it? Now that's what, Shemai wanted to
be done about his sin. Don't impute it to me, don't
remember it, and don't take it to heart. That's what really
inspired this message, because I was reading this passage of
scripture, and I thought, that's exactly what I want the Lord
to do with my sin. To not impute it to me, to not remember it
by the effectual removing of it by the Lord Jesus Christ and
his propitiation, and to not take it to heart. Verse 20, for
thy servant doth know that I've sinned. Therefore I'm become
first this day of all the house of Joseph to go that to meet
my Lord, the King, but Abishai, same guy, Abishai remembered
it. But Abishai the son of Zeriah
answered and said, shall not Shem I be put to death for this?
Because he is cursed, the Lord's anointed. And David said, What
have I to do with you, you sons of Zeriah, that you should this
day be adversaries unto me? Shall there any man be put to
death this day in Israel? For do I not know that I am this
day king over Israel? Therefore the king said to Shammai,
Thou shalt not die. And the king swear unto him."
Now, if Christ died for you, that's salvation, isn't it? Amen? Your only hope is the death
of Christ. If Christ died for you, he swears
you shall not be put to death. You see, your sin's been removed.
Jeremiah 50, 20 says, in those days the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for and there shall be none. He hath not beheld iniquity
in Jacob, neither perverseness in Israel. So he swears. you will not be put to death. And the reason is the death of
his dear son. Now let's go to the third scene.
Turn with me to first Kings chapter two. David is dying and he's giving
Solomon his dying wishes. First Kings chapter two. And
this is his final act before his death. And he says to Solomon, behold,
thou hast with thee Shimei, the son of Gerah, Benjamin of Bahurim,
which cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went
to Mahanahan. But he came down to meet me at
Jordan, and I swear to him by the Lord, saying, I'll not put
thee to death with the sword. Now, therefore, hold him not
guiltless. I promised I wouldn't put him
to death, but I want you to do it. Somebody says, I thought he forgave
him. And I read where one fellow said,
well, the reason he did this because he forgave, it was personal
forgiveness, but he couldn't forgive him for what he did against
the king. And it was a capital offense
to curse the king. This is given to illustrate the
gospel. So just remember that. This is given for one reason.
You're thinking, why didn't David, he said, you know, I promised
I wouldn't kill him, but I want you to do it. That seems vindicative,
doesn't it? That seems like, well, I'm, what's
the difference? But such as David, but let's,
let's go on reading. Now, therefore hold him not guiltless,
verse nine, for thou art a wise man and knowest what thou oughtest
to do unto him. But his whorehead bring thou
to the gray bring thou down to the grave with blood. So David
slept with his fathers and was buried in the sea. Now this was
his last request, put him to death. Now look in verse 37 of
the same chapter. Verse 36, rather. And the king
sent and called for Shemai and said unto him, build thee a house
in Jerusalem. dwell there and go not forth
thence any whither. Don't go anywhere else. You stay
in Jerusalem. For it shall be that on the day thou goest out
and passest over the book of Chodron, thou shalt know for
certain that thou shalt surely die. Thy blood shall be upon
thine own head. Now, as long as you stay in Jerusalem,
you're safe. Go outside of Jerusalem, your
blood's only your own you will surely die. And Shemai said unto
the king, the saying is good as my lord the king has said,
so would I serve and do. And Shemai dwelt in Jerusalem
many days. Now look at the picture. As long
as you're in Jerusalem, you're completely safe by my oath. The moment you go outside of
Jerusalem, you're a dead man. If you were in the ark, how safe
were you? Totally safe. What if you're real bad? Still
totally safe. Safety's in the ark. Outside
of the ark, the wrath of God. If you were in the house with
the blood over the door, how safe were you? You were completely safe. What if the person committed
some horrible sin that very day? I'm not justifying sin in any
way. And as far as that goes, David's
sin affected him the rest of his life. It didn't affect him
before the Lord, but look at the problems he brought in his
life through his sin. But let's say somebody had sinned
some grievous, horrible sin that very day and entered the house
with the blood over the door. Were they safe? Absolutely. What if they decided,
well, I'm going outside and I'm going to hang out with the avenging
Anglican? They'd be put to death, wouldn't they? What about the
city of refuge? If the manslayer was in the city
of refuge, the avenger blood could not touch him. But if it
went outside, what happened? He'd be put to death. Now, there's
safety only in Jerusalem, in Christ, is what that's a reference
to. Now, what's this mean, to stay in Christ? That means at
all times, at all times, I can't take this too far, at all times,
I want God to see me only in Christ, to where all He sees
is Christ. That's what baptism signifies.
When I'm baptized, I'm saying when Christ lived, I lived, I
was in Him. His obedience is the only obedience
I have. When He died, I died in Him. That's how my sin was
paid for. When He was raised, I was raised, accepted in Him. I don't want God to see me as
a preacher, as a husband, as anything but in Christ. I want him to just see Christ,
not to see my Bible reading, my witnessing, my praying, just
see me in Christ. I don't want to be anywhere else.
Jerusalem. Well, what happened? Verse 39. And it came to pass that at the
end of three years, that two of the servants of Shimei ran
away, and Achish son of Maokah, king of Gath, And they told Shammai,
saying, behold, thy servants be in Gath. They've run away.
That seems innocent enough. He wants to get his servants.
And Shammai rose and saddled his ass and went to Gath to Achish
to seek his servants. And Shammai went and brought
his servants from Gath and was told Solomon that Shammai had
gone out from Jerusalem to Gath and would come again. And the
king sent and called for Shimei and said unto him, Did I not
make thee to swear by the Lord and protested unto thee, saying,
Know ye for certain on the day that you go out and walk abroad
anywhither, that thou shalt surely die? And thou saidst unto me,
The word that I have heard is good. Why then hast thou not
kept the oath of the Lord and the commandment that I have charged
thee with? The king said moreover to Shimei, Thou knowest all the
wickedness which thine heart is privy to, that thou didst
to David my father. Therefore the Lord shall return
thy wickedness upon thine own self. And King Solomon shall
be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established forever. So the king commanded Benaiah
the son of Jehodiah, which went out and fell upon him that he
died, and the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon. I'd like you to turn with me
to 1 John 2. This is what we're going to close with. 1 John 2. Several verses out of 1 John
2. Now he was safe as long as he
stayed in Jerusalem. The moment he went outside of
Jerusalem, he's put to death. 1 John 2, verse 28. And now little children abide
in him. that when He shall appear, we
may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming."
How am I going to have confidence and not be ashamed before Him
at His coming? By abiding in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now this is a conscious desire
to not be found anywhere else. I just want to be seen in Christ,
nowhere else. Look in chapter 3 verse 4. Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth
also the law, for sin is the transgression of the law. Anything short of perfect conformity
to the Ten Commandments is Sin, the transgression of the law,
verse five. And you know that he was manifested
to take away our sins. Did he do it? Did he do it? Yes, he did. When he by himself purged our
sins. In him, is no sin. If I'm in him, I have
no sin. Verse six, whosoever abideth
in him sinneth not. Well, that means they don't commit
sin as a habitual practice. How do you fit in there? As far
as that goes, it doesn't say that. It doesn't say he doesn't
commit sin as a habitual practice. It says he sinneth not. That's what I have in abiding
in Christ. Look in verse nine, whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin for his seed, God's seed
remains in him. He cannot sin. He lacks the ability
to sin because he's born of God. This is the new nature. Abiding
in Him, abiding in Him. And that means, listen to me
real carefully. The hardest and the easiest thing
you're ever called on to do is to look to Christ alone and abide
only in Him. It's so hard that you won't do
it unless God causes you to. And it's easy when you see you
have nowhere else to look. Christ only. Now Shema, his sin
was the horrible, he had all kinds of sins. I don't want to
diminish anything else, but his, his chief sin was his attitude
toward David. When he finds out who David is
coming back as a King, the resurrection, coming past Jordan, having accomplished
His work, doing whatever He wants to do.
He bows down before Him. He knows who He is now. He was
wrong. He knows it. And He thinks about
His sin. He says, don't impute it to me.
Don't remember it. Don't take it to heart. And the
reason God can do that is because that sin was imputed to Christ
and became His, and He became guilty of it. And God remembered
it. That's why he died. God took
it to heart. But now there's no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. And what was Simeon to do? Stay in Jerusalem. Don't go outside. If you go outside,
your blood's on your own head. And this is what the believer
does. The believer doesn't want to be seen, viewed, or found
anywhere but in Christ. And if one seeks to go outside
of Christ, their blood is on their own head, isn't it? May
the Lord enable us, me and you, everybody in this room, to abide
in Christ and look nowhere else. Let's pray. Lord, in Christ's blessed name,
we ask that our sin might not be imputed to us, that you would not remember it,
that you would not take it to heart because of the precious
blood of thy son. And Lord, we ask that you would
give us grace to abide in your son and to look nowhere else
because in him is no sin. Lord, this is above the comprehension
of the flesh. We ask that by your spirit you
teach each person here according to your will. In Christ's blessed
name we pray. Amen.