Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to Romans chapter 10 and verse
3. Romans chapter 10 and verse 3. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Romans 10 verse 3 With the Lord's
help this afternoon, I desire to preach to you on the three
righteousnesses that are found in our text. Three righteousnesses
which the Apostle says that the children of Israel were ignorant
of. Specifically the first one, but
It implies and it involves every one of those three they were
ignorant of and it is those righteousnesses that I decide to set before you
and the blessing it will be if we are not ignorant of those
righteousnesses. But first I want to speak of
what Paul leads up to the text in the two previous verses, and
he makes three very important points. The first is that desire
for men to be saved. He says, My brethren, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. Now he is viewing the whole of
the nation of Israel and he's saying that they might be saved.
He's not saying that the elect might be saved, that will be
true, but he is using it in the term like the apostle directs
to Timothy that prayer be made for all men, for kings, for all
in authority, for God will have all men to be saved and to come
to a knowledge of salvation. So the desire is that the gospel,
it goes as the Lord commanded it to be preached in all the
world, and it is that the Lord will save His own people in every
nation, kindred and tongue. We do not know who are the Lords,
but what we do know is that the people of God, like the Apostle
here, have that real desire that men might be saved, and especially
these are His brethren, these are His kindred, these are His
own people. It's like you're saying, I desire
the people of Australia to be saved, or for us in the UK, that
those in our land, that they might be saved. And then it comes
even closer, and we think our own families, our children, our
wives, our husbands, our parents, our uncles, our aunts, those
that are our relatives, our kindred, that we might have that same
desire that the Apostle expressed here. I wonder sometimes whether
the Lord's people lose sight of that. They say, well we are
saved and that is the world outside forgetting that it is from the
world the Lord called us And though he might have been in
a form of worship, yet really we are world by nature, and many
have been called completely without any background of the things
of God at all, and especially those to whom Paul was going. And so We are not to rule people
out as if to say, well, the gospel is not for you or the word would
be wasted for you, but to have a real desire that others be
saved. You know, when the Lord worked
the miracles, He sent those back, go to thy house, go to thy brethren,
mad gathering, go to thy friends and tell what wonderful things
that God hath done for thee and had mercy upon thee. Each convert
really is a missionary, is an example, is a trophy of grace,
is a miracle of grace, and they are to be those that desire others
to know that same thing. If people look upon us and they
discern that we've no desire that others might have what we
have, In one way, it's like having a great treasure, like the lepers
going out in the time with Syria, when the Lord had caused the
Syrians to flee. And at first, they got the gold,
they got treasures, they got garments, and they went and hid
it. And then they said, we do not well. This is a day of good
tidings. Let us go and tell the king's
household. And we can be like that. with
the gospel, with grace, with rich treasures, and keep it as
it were to ourselves and think, well, don't matter about anyone
else. And other people might think,
well, if you really knew the blessings of the gospel, why
don't you want to spread it? Why do you not want others to
know this secret and this blessing? And so we need to really examine
ourselves Do we have this same spirit that Paul had here, his
heart's desire, and it was that others, especially his brethren,
his own people, that they be so, not just that they come to
chapel, not just that they keep the Sabbath day or believe in
creation, you can have many things that people will do right, and
yet not be saved. And he aims at the crucial, the
most important thing, is that there be saving faith. They truly be saved. Saved from
sin, here below, the power and dominion of it, and saved eternally
to be with Christ in heaven. The second thing is turning that
desire into prayer. Now, obviously we've mentioned
about the desire to go and to tell and to live, pointing to
Christ. But there's that closet work,
isn't there? We know it is the power of God. We know that except the Lord
build the house, they labour in vain that build it. And so those that really know
that, those that know they need the power themselves and they
know that others need it as well, And maybe they have tried to
reason and tried to bring the Word to their brethren, and they've
rejected it. They couldn't hear, they didn't
hear, they didn't follow in that way, they weren't saved. And they think, what hope is
there? Well, the hope is in prayer. What man cannot do, God can do. And so Paul, he turns it into
prayer. He says, my heart's desire And
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. So, not
only our attitude, but what are our prayers? Do we pray for the
lost? Do we pray for those out of the
secret? Do we pray for those that are
not saved? Now, later on we'll come to look
more deeply at what the Apostle there views these people, and
that's the third point that I want to bring before you as leading
up to this text, because Paul, he notices the condition of those
that he desires to be saved. He's actually looking at them
and he's thinking, where are they? What path are they? You might look at your loved
ones and you think, where are they? Well, they're right out
into the world. They've completely turned their
back upon religion, upon the Bible, upon the way of salvation
through Christ, completely turned their back on it. And you might
recognize that's where they are. you might look and see a people
that's even like Paul is looking at here and he sees them and
they have a zeal for God they're very zealous that they're religious
people a real zeal for God And I said, well, isn't that enough?
And they go to the church and they're very active in that church
and they're very diligent and they're diligent even in evangelism. He said, but Paul, he noticed
something else as well. That that zeal is a wrong zeal. It's not according to knowledge. It's going in the wrong way.
It's religious, but it's not seeking salvation in God's way,
in the right way, at all, and it is not saving. The apostle
is looking at his brethren here, and he's not blinded, he's not
deceived by a form of religion, he's not deceived by those that
are very zealous, he looks past all that. Where is their faith? What are they trusting in? Where
is their energies being sent to? Is it saving? No, it's not. And so, his desire, his prayer
is that they might be saved. And we might be the same. Don't
be deceived. And those of you in the chapels
here today, don't be deceived and thinking, well, I'm in the
Lord's house. I attend to the things of God.
I listen to the Word. Therefore, I must be saved. No. Look at the text here. It is a knowledge, a knowledge
according to grace. It is that knowledge of the salvation
of God through the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
it is centering in these three righteousnesses in our text,
and is not just learning them, not just knowing them as I might
set it before you this afternoon, to be able to write it down as
to what these things mean, but to actually know it in the heart,
to be persuaded of it and to be completely taken up with this,
these three righteousnesses. So I desire then to bring before
you these three righteousnesses. I'll name them first. They are
clearly set forth in this thus but we have firstly we have God's
righteousness that Paul says Israel was ignorant of then we have secondly their own
righteousness that they were going about to establish and then we have thirdly the
righteousness of God, or that comes from God, communicated
from God, that they had not submitted unto. Three righteousnesses. The first one, specifically Paul
says they being ignorant of, and that really then led to error
in the other two as well. And so it's absolutely vital
that we be not ignorant, because if we are, then what Paul says
here is true of us. We are not saved. We are not
saved. So firstly then, the righteousness
of God, the righteousness that Israel was ignorant of, for they
being ignorant of God's righteousness. So this then is looking at God,
His own Righteousness that is not communicated, cannot be communicated
to another. It belongs to Him as the Great,
the Eternal Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The Righteousness of God is one
of the chief attributes of God. In Leviticus and many parts of
the scripture we have set forth how the Lord delights in a just
balance, a just weight, and in fairness of judgment in all the
directions to the children of Israel, their judgments had to
be righteous, morally right and upright in the sight of a holy,
pure God. We read in Proverbs 8, I lead
in the way of righteousness. That is, that He is above all
in righteousness. There is none more righteous,
more holy, more just than that Eternal God. In fact, in Psalm
7, we actually read the description of God, the Righteous God. The highest standard of holiness
is with God. He sets that standard and He
requires perfection and that is really seen in all of the
law that is given to Israel. The thunderings, the lightnings,
the great demonstration of the greatness and power of God which
we're told in Hebrews that even Moses said, I do fear and quake,
to come before that great eternal God, the God who spake and this
world was made, made out of nothing, in whom we live and move and
have our being, that great God, who fills immensity, who fills
eternity, who cannot change, whose wisdom cannot be measured,
whose knowledge is unsearchable, whose eye is everywhere, whose
knowledge extends not just to what is seen, but into the thoughts
and intents of the heart and minds of all the millions and
billions of the inhabitants of this world. What is set before us here, they
had an ignorance of really the majesty and greatness and might
of God. They'd made Him to become a little
God, They made Him to be like unto them. In fact, the Lord
charges Israel at one time, Thou thoughtest that Thou wast, that
I was altogether like unto Thee. This was the first righteousness
that they were ignorant of. And it is a ignorance that really
you can see so often today, and especially in assemblies, so-called
assemblies for worship, there's been such a taking away of the
reverence and awe and setting apart of even the places of worship. Instead of a place of worship
being consecrated for worship, They are used now for all manner
of things, just to get the income to keep the building going. You
know our Lord, when He came to the temple, He cast out the buyers
and the sellers. He says, My house is a house
of prayer, ye have made it a den of thieves. A consecrated place
of worship, God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of
the saints, to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.
And yet in so many assemblies, to look at the assembly, to look
at their gathering, you think, well, this is a social club,
or this is a coffee morning. Instead of the pews, there are
tables scattered around with chairs around them. Instead of
a pulpit, there's a lectern. Instead of an organ or a pitch
pipe, there's a band and a drum kit in the corner. And it bears
no resemblance. to those days when the people
of God gathered to hear the word of the Lord, to hear what the
Lord Jesus Christ would speak to them, what God would speak
to them. and how that they trembled, you think of in Ezra's day, how
they trembled, how they wept as the Word of God was read,
as it was opened on a pulpit, opened in the presence and in
the sight of all the people and they could see the Word of God
that was being set before them and the awe that it had upon
them and yet you don't see that now. Hymn books are taken away
and everything's on the overhead screen. People don't bother with
the Bible because they don't know what version the minister
is going to bring. And there's so little reverence
or thought that we meet in the presence of the King of Kings
and Lord of Lords. We meet before Him that He is
a devouring fire. Who can stand before this great
God? And this was the God that Israel
had just an ignorance of. You know, reading through Judges
recently, and especially at the end of it, there's no king in
Israel. Every man did that which is right
in his own eyes. And you have Micah and his mother,
mother setting by that thousands of shekels and using it for an
idol and we read Micah he had a house of gods and they're saying
though that they're making these idols for the Lord And even in
Mount Sinai, it seems that they made the golden calf, but they're
worshipping the Lord, but they wanted something to look at.
And you speak to those that have idols today, and they'll say,
yes, but we don't worship that, we're using that as an aid to
worship, to worship the true God. and Israel was like that
and we can be like that today as if we need something more
than what our Lord said to the rich man when he said that if
one rose from the dead then they would believe he said no they
have Moses and the prophets if they believe not then neither
will they believe though one rose from the dead this reverence
of this great eternal God is absolutely key, it is central,
it is the beginning here, and it is the root cause of why Paul
says of his brethren here, Israel themselves, that at every reason
to know and understand the greatness of God through the history as
a nation, that this was the key why of all the errors that followed
after. Dear friends, beware of small
low thoughts of God, of a familiarity, of a lightness, a carnality,
anything that brings God down from His throne and from His
greatness. We would emphasize this in our
text, this first righteousness, being ignorant of God's righteousness. And really then it brings in
with men bringing God to their bar of their morality and their
righteousness and saying that, well, God should approve this
and should approve that and should go along with this and that.
But when we view God as great and humble ourselves before him,
then we are on the path of salvation. As soon as it is reversed the
other way, then we can say with all the certainty of the Apostle
Paul, of the inspired Word of God, these people ignorant of
that righteousness are not saved. But then we have the second point,
the second righteousness, And this is a righteousness that
they had a zeal for, a zeal of God. For they being ignorant
of God's righteousness and going about to establish their own
righteousness." Their own righteousness. Ignorance of that righteousness. The Word of God tells us very
clearly that all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. There is
none righteous, no, not one." So really we're coming from the
other way, from God being all righteous, perfectly righteous
and holy, we're coming now to man that has no holiness, no
righteousness of his own, only filthy rags, nothing but sin
and disgrace, no way at all of being able to make himself acceptable
to God by his works, good or bad. Remember, righteousnesses
are our good works, and the Scriptures say they are as filthy rags. There's no soundness in our flesh
because of our sin. We are full of wounds and bruises
and putrefying sores. There's none that doeth good.
No, not one. The law of God, the holy, righteous
law of God, such a high standard. was given, not that man was to
attain unto it, was to by that obtain salvation, it was given
to bring all the world in guilty before God, that God might be
truly justified in this and to show man that he is a sinner,
he is under condemnation, he is lost, he needs a saviour outside
of himself, he needs a righteousness that is not his own, but given
him as if it was his own. But because these were ignorant
of God's righteousness, that holy standard, they thought they
could attain to it. Their small God, their low God,
they thought, well, we can be like Him. We can satisfy Him. He may require just balance and,
yeah, we can make up for our sins. We can pay the price and
He can look at our good works and our charities and our zeal
and what we're doing for God and He's in our debt. And that
again is so much the religion of our day. Adam and Eve were
formed under the law. And that is our natural desire
is to obtain salvation by the works of the law. But by the
works of the law, no man living can be justified or can be saved. Paul, when he writes to the Galatians
in the second chapter, he says, I do not frustrate the grace
of God. For if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain. So Paul is saying exactly
what he's saying to the Romans here. The righteousness, they
were thinking that it might come through their works. Galatians
were thinking, we can be circumcised, we can keep the law. Paul says,
no, I do not frustrate the grace of God. If righteousness come
by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. And in the third chapter
as well, he says, but that No man is justified for as many
as are under the works of the law are under the curse. For
it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueth not in all things
which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that
no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident
the just shall live by faith. And the Lord is not of faith,
but the man that doeth them shall live in them. And then goes on,
Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. He asks the question in verse
21 of Galatians 3, Is the law then against the promises of
God? God forbid, for if there had
been a law given, which could have given life, verily righteousness
should have been by the law. But the scripture hath concluded,
All under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe. But before faith came, we were
kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards
be revealed. He says the law was a schoolmaster
unto Christ. Now, very often when the Lord
begins to open the eyes of His people, and they're first concerned
for their souls, they first realize that they are lost, they will
try and do by works the things of God. But you know the great
secret is, if they truly know what these Israelites did not
know, if they truly know the righteousness of God, then they
will prove, we will prove, if we're walking this path, that
our works are as filthy rags. We will look upon all the works
of our hands, and it won't satisfy us. We won't say, well, that's
good enough. It will be a schoolmaster under
Christ. And may we bless the Lord if
ever that is our case. And maybe some of you this afternoon,
very discouraged, very disheartened, because all that you do, you
see sin mixed with everything. You see that you fail, you see
that you come short in your thoughts, your words, your actions. May
I remind you, even of the falls of God's people recorded in the
Word of God. even Peter denying the Lord,
or David, his adultery and his murder, the children of Israel,
their murmuring, complaining, their idolatry. The picture of
God's children is not of perfection, and we are told that he who so
offendeth in one point, he is guilty of all of the law. And so those that are ignorant
of God's righteousness, they'll be quite satisfied with their
own works, their own life. Those that have been shown and
truly seen God as He is, they may seek righteousness by the
deeds of the law, but they won't find it. It'll be a schoolmaster
to them unto Christ. It'll be teaching them, using
them, teaching them in that way, that they cannot obtain salvation
that way. And if that is your case this
afternoon, that which you are learning, it is a vital lesson. A vital lesson to stop you resting
on your works, your good works. Is the Lord working that way
with you, showing you your sin, showing you your failures, showing
you how far short you come, no peace, only condemnation, no
rest in conscience, no assurance of life, and all the time you're
looking, looking at what you are, you're seeing more and more,
turn again, we read in Ezekiel, thou shalt see greater abominations
than these, and you're seeing these abominations in your own
heart, dear friend, don't despair, despair in self, for the Gospel
is a hope out of self, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in
a righteousness that is not yours by nature, but it is given to
the people of God. And so the ignorance here, or
those that are going about to establish their own righteousness,
really we can fall into, say, two camps. One that's supposedly
succeeding, And yet if they succeed in their own eyes, they are not
saved. And the others, they're not succeeding. And it makes them humble, makes
them low. And maybe without the balancing
of the word, and we hope to balance it here this afternoon, it tends
to despair and despondency. However, can I be saved? But
dear friend, if you're brought to be like the publicans, God
be merciful to me a sinner. Really, these two ways of viewing
our own righteousness are seen in that example of those two
going up to pray. The Pharisee, he was satisfied
with his own works. He even paraded them before God,
what he did, his tithing and all that he did. He was trusting
in his own righteousness. He could not see anything wrong
with it. He could not see he was being
before God but filthy rags. But the publican, he beat upon
his breast. He knew what was there. God be
merciful to me, a sinner. And so where do we stand? Where
do you stand, dear friend, this afternoon? How do you view your
own righteousness? Where have your efforts been?
zealous and with every desire to be saved. May I point you
this afternoon to where salvation is to be found. The Hymn writer
says, Out of self to Jesus lead, for an inner intercede. And that's where we need to be
led, out of self, away from the law, and unto the Lord Jesus
Christ and what He has done. So I want to look then thirdly
at the third righteousness, the righteousness of God that these
brethren, these of Israel, had not submitted themselves unto,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Now notice the difference in
the order here in the beginning, the first righteousness, ignorant
of God's righteousness. But now this third one submitted
themselves unto the righteousness of God, that comes of God. It's like we heard recently regarding
faith. We can have faith in Christ and
we can have the faith of Christ. That faith that comes from Him
as the author and finisher of faith. And here we have the righteousness
that comes from God. He is the author of that. We have in Jeremiah concerning
our Lord Jesus Christ, this is the name wherewith He shall be
called the Lord our righteousness. And then later on in the 33rd
of Jeremiah, we have this is the name wherewith She, that
is the Church of God, shall be called the Lord our righteousness. It is the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now I want to make this very
clear. What puts away sin is the precious blood of Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ came, made
under the law, made of a woman to redeem them that are under
the law. He took our place, took our nature,
and had laid on Him the iniquity and sin of us all, the sin of
His people. I lay down my life for the sheep,
The other sheep I have which are not of this world, them also
I must bring." And he lays down his life, particular redemption,
specific love for those for whom he took their sins and bore their
sins in his body on the tree and suffered in their place the
wrath of God. Have a beautiful type of that
with Abraham and Isaac. Isaac taken off the altar and
the ram put in his place. and the ram slain and consumed
in his place. They shall look upon him whom
they have pierced, they shall mourn for him. Tis Jesus in the
sinner's place. And that is vital that we see
that substitutionary offering. It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again. The children of Israel in Egypt,
they sheltered beneath the blood. When I see the blood, I will
pass over you. It is the blood that cleanseth. from all sin. The blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanseth from all sin. Now may we be very
clear on that. It is the blood, it is that which
we remember at the Lord's Supper, in the cup, this cup is given
for you, this New Testament in my blood, it is the blood that
we remember that was shed. Without the shedding of blood
there is no remission. You might say then, well, Why
is it here being emphasized on righteousness? Why is it not
emphasizing on the blood? Because these two things, they
go inseparably together. Those for whom Christ died and
shed His blood, those are they that He will justify, those are
they that He will call by His grace show them Himself, show
them themselves, bring them to a knowledge of their own filthy
rag righteousness, He'll bring them to believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is what is emphasized throughout
this chapter, a belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is
the end of the law for righteousness, to whom? to every one that believeth. Moses describeth the righteousness
which is of the law, that the man which doeth those things
shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith, and he virtually is saying in these verses, it's
not who shall ascend up into heaven and to bring Christ down
shall have great heights of experience. No, not that. Or depths of experience
bring up Christ from the dead. No, not that. But what is it? The word is neither. Even in thy mouth and in thy
heart, that is the word of faith which we preach, the word that
we preach to you. That is the word of faith. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. That if thou
shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, shalt believe
in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved. This is the Emphasis here. believe they will be baptized
going into all the world preach the gospel to every creature
he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved not baptismal
regeneration but baptism as obedience to the will of God but it is
a believing it is Christ that died yea rather that it is risen
again well in that believing to every believer The Lord then
imputes, or puts to their account, His righteousness. It is in His
righteousness that we stand before the throne of God. We might meet
with someone in this life, and we might see them as perhaps
a godly person, a person who's living an upright life. And then
we might ask them, well, where did you live? How were you brought
up? And what was your life like?
And they falter and they're very embarrassed because they're ashamed
of their past life and they're ashamed of all that they've done.
But you know, that won't happen in heaven. We might think, well,
we get to heaven and we think, of what our testimony is in our
life, we are so ashamed of our righteousness. But the wedding
garment that God gives His children is not their own working out,
it is what Christ has brought out, and they stand before the
throne faultless. That righteousness is not covering
their sin, is not blotting out their sin, the blood has done
that, but the righteousness is enabling them to stand before
the throne without shame, in righteousness that is spotless,
acceptable in the sight of God, of which he can see no fault.
No spot in thee, thou art all pure, black, yet comely through
our Lord Jesus Christ. And that then, it translates
here below, as to how we walk here below. God's dear children
will walk as uprightly as they can. The salvation of the Lord
is not to save from sin as just a saving to heaven. It's to save
them from the power and dominion of sin here below. They hate
sin. They mourn over it. They struggle
against it. But their efforts, their struggles,
their desire to live holy and godly and upright lives is not
arising from the thought of obtaining heaven by that, but because they
don't want to grieve the Lord. They hate the sins that made
the Lord to suffer, that were laid on Him. And so it does not
bring us, as Paul, he deals with in Romans 6, shall we sin that
grace might abound? No. How shall we, that are dead
to sin, live any longer therein? But our hope, our hope in life,
and it's a balance every time we feel so sick of self, so full
of our sins, so such a failure, so unlike we feel the Lord's
people And yet to be reminded, our righteousness is in Christ. He is our acceptance. In Christ's
obedient clothe and wash me in his blood, so shall I lift my
head with joy among the sons of God. And you know these people
here, We read they have not submitted themselves. Submitted? But this righteousness is free. What are they not submitted to?
God's way of salvation. Man, proud man, will not be humbled
unless God humbles him. He will not submit to salvation
by grace through faith alone in Jesus Christ. It will not
submit to have it freely. Whosoever will, let him come
and take of the waters of life freely. And man will not come. He does not like to have something
that is set before him that free, without cost. He wants to be
able to put his part for it. And so this submitting, it is
really telling us that man in his proudness, he will not bow
down, he will not humble himself to receive the gospel on God's
terms as a hell-deserving sinner like the publican, God be merciful
to me a sinner. He is too proud. Bless the Lord
if he has humbled us and laid us low in the dust and brought
us to be begging for mercy and looking for hope in Christ alone,
nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. But these
of Paul's countrymen, they were not submitting, they were not
bowing down, they were not receiving this righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ, they were despising it, they were not valuing it. Is that different with us, dear
friends? Do we prize it and value it as
our only hope, as what we rely on, that Christ has wrought for
us, that we shall stand before God? There's great comfort, there's
great joy in this provision of the Lord. And what leads to it
is a path that seems so opposite. It is a path that is humbled
and brought down. And isn't it not the path of
our Lord? who was so great, yet humbled himself, and became obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath
highly exalted him, and giving him a name which is above every
name, that at name of Jesus every knee should bow, submit, and
brought low to worship him, and to bow before him. Pride is a
terrible thing, and it keeps men from the Saviour, from the
way of salvation, but those that walk in pride, He is able to
abase. And may we be humbled at His
footstool, may we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and be
saved, trust in His precious blood, His sin-atoning blood,
trust in His righteousness, and not be going about to establish
our own. Yes, desiring to live godly and
upright lives, but not with an idea of attaining heaven by that. Our hope only in what Christ
has done, what He has suffered. And bless the Lord then, if when
we look at these three righteousnesses, you can say before the Lord,
Lord, I am not ignorant of these. Thou hast taught me these three
righteousnesses. Bless the Lord for that, dear
friends. Give him the honour and glory that he has opened
your understanding, shown you these things. All thy children
shall be taught of the Lord. Great shall be the peace of thy
children. May the Lord through the Word
this afternoon give peace to some poor soul as the truth here
is set before us in the Word. The Lord add his blessing. Amen.