Genesis chapter 35. The story of Jacob's life should
prove to us beyond a shadow of a doubt that God saved sinners. The story of Jacob's life ought
to convince us that there's nothing in the center, nothing done by
the center that would cause God to be at all mindful of the center. Don't we see that so clearly
in the life of Jacob? The story of Jacob proves to
believing sinners that God in Christ will never ever give up
on them, never leave them nor forsake them. You know why I
find that so comforting because I know that's what God ought
to do. He ought to just leave me to myself. That's why we want
mercy. Mercy is God not giving us what
we deserve. The story of Jacob proves to
us that God will always save his people to the uttermost.
You'll always redeem them in spite of them. That's comforting
to me because I've gotten a little bit of whiff of what I am. Over
70 times in the book of Psalms, the psalmist speaks of giving
thanks to the Lord for his goodness and his mercy. We read many times,
oh, give thanks unto the Lord for he is good, for his mercy
endureth forever. Four times in Psalm 107, I encourage
you to read that Psalm sometime in your leisure. Four times in
that Psalm alone, the Psalmist said, oh, that men would praise
the Lord for His goodness and for His wonderful works to the
children of men. Salvation has something to do
with the wonderful work, but not ours. His wonderful works
to the children of men. And the word good and goodness
here is to be understood in the widest and broadest terms. It refers to God's love, to God's
kindness, to God's mercy, goodness. He's good. His graciousness,
His favor, His pity. And what is His wonderful work?
Well, it's a work of mercy and grace. I know that. It's a work
of redemption and atonement. It's a free work of justification
done by Christ for His elect. And I strongly use the word free
because the scriptures say being justified freely by His grace
to the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Don't you love
to hear about the goodness and the mercy of God in Christ? If
you're a sinner, you do. I never get tired of hearing
about it. Matter of fact, it's all I want to hear. Despises
thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering,
not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. Romans two verse four. You see
the goodness of God, not only comforts the believer, the goodness
of God leads unbelievers to repentance. And you can stand and you can
preach the torments of hell, and you can scare people into
making a profession of faith, but I'm telling you, it's the
goodness of God that leads men and women to repentance. Hearing
about His love, His mercy, and His grace for sinners, that's
what God uses, through Christ and Christ alone. Don't leave
that out. God's goodness still leads me
to repentance. When I think about the goodness
of God to me, Lord, forgive me for not loving you and trusting
you more. Now, some would say that Jacob
didn't love God. Some would say that God didn't
love Jacob. Some would say that Jacob didn't act like a believer.
Some would say that Jacob has backslidden. I stayed slidding
back most of my life, according to the church that I went to.
Some will say that Jacob wasn't yet saved, but it doesn't matter
how you phrase it. There's only one thing that really
mattered, and it's the only thing that really matters concerning
you and I, and that is if God loves us or not. God said, Jacob
have I loved. That settled it right there.
If God loves me, that's all that matters. If Christ died for me,
I cannot be lost. If God loves me and if Christ
died for me, then my journey in this life will always be to
make my way home. Jacob had promised God that he'd
return home and he gets within 30 miles. Instead of going to
his father's house, he becomes a citizen in an idolatrous community
called Shechem in the land of Canaan. And it's there in Shechem
that his daughter is raped. His sons commit mass murder. Jacob compromises himself. He becomes unequally yoked with
idolaters. He forsakes the worship of God. When he first got there, we're
told that he built and erected an altar, but there's no mention
of him at all using it. Jacob's life is a mess. And I'm
telling you, we're mistaken to think, but we cannot rub shoulders
with this world and expect no harm to come from it. Remember
Lot? Christ said, remember Lot's wife?
Yet I'm telling you the goodness and the mercy of God is found
here in verse one. Look at it. Chapter 35, verse one. And God
said unto Jacob, arise, go up to Bethel and dwell there. And
make there an altar unto God that appeared unto thee when
thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother. Now, child
of God, hear me. When you are at your lowest,
God says, arise. If you're one of His, God will,
in mercy and in grace, tell you to arise. Now that word arise
means to get up. That's not hard, is it? It means
to continue. It means to endure. It means
to succeed. And when God says arise, it's
always effectual, always. Notice that God says, arise and
go up to Bethel. You see the way to Bethel, the
way to the house of God is always upward from where we are. Think
of that passage in Psalm that says, oh, send out thy light
and thy truth and let them lead me. Let them bring me into thy
holy hill and to thy tabernacle, Psalm 43. And God tells Jacob
to rise, to get up, to continue on, to endure and succeed. Go up to Bethel and dwell there. Now I try to pay attention to
these words. He says, dwell there. No more
wandering, no more roaming, no more straying like a lost sheep. Arise and go up to Bethel and
dwell there. And did you know that the word
dwell here means to sit down? I got tickled when I thought
about that. God says, arise, get up, go up to the house of
God and sit down. And that's exactly what the child
of God does. We are to go up to the house
of God. We're to dwell there forever. We're to rest there
forever in the work and righteousness of our Lord and Savior, Jesus
Christ. Notice also that we are to make
an altar unto God. You see that there in verse one? This altar is for the thanksgiving
and the praise to God for the redemption that we have in the
Lord Jesus Christ and in Him alone. And where an altar is
made, a lamb is slain. Blood is shed. Sin is forgiven. Christ is honored. God is glorified. That's what worship in the house
of God is all about. It's all about Christ, our substitute
and our sacrifice for sin. Isn't that what you're interested
in? I'm interested in how my sin can be put away. That's the
only way that I can be reconciled to God is to be perfect. without
spot, without blemish, without any such thing. And that's what
God makes His people. He's gonna present to Himself
a bride that is what? Without spot, wrinkle, blemish,
any such thing. You see, worship in the house
of God is about worshiping around the sacrificial altar of Christ
and Him crucified. He who offered one sacrifice
for sin forever and then sit down on the right hand of God.
And we dwell and we sit down and we rest in the house of God
because Christ's work is finished and He sat down and we're resting
in Him and the work that He's done. He sat down on the right
hand of God and that's the only reason that we can rest. Work's
finished. He said it's finished, it's done.
Salvation is accomplished for the elect of God. Another interesting
note that we might look right over is this. If someone would
have asked Jacob why he left home, he probably would have
said, and it wouldn't have been untrue, but he probably would
have said that the reason that he left home was because his
father Isaac wanted him to find a bride among the house of Laban. That wouldn't have been a lie.
But the Holy Spirit always records for us the truth, even when it's
bad, and even when it's about us. God exposes Jacob's sin and
he reminds him that there in verse one, that he fled from
the face of Esau, whom he had wronged. That's why he's fleeing, that's
why he left home. because of what he done to his
own brother. God never hides the sins. of his people. How many times
have we seen that? He never hides the sin of his
elect in the scripture. He always exposes the sin of
his people in this book. We run from God whom we have
wronged. And that's what makes his grace
so beautiful. Now listen, if we could ever
really get a hold of this, I mean really get a hold of it in our
hearts, it would absolutely set us free. No matter how far I've
strayed, No matter how long I've strayed, doesn't matter. If I
belong to Christ my Savior, God will see to it that I'll journey
up to Bethel and dwell there. And I find so much comfort and
assurance in that. It's not dependent upon me. God's
gonna see to it. that his people go up to Bethel
and dwell there. Now we saw last time in verse
two, in order for this journey to be successful, we've got to
put away our strange gods. It's Christ only. You won't enter
into true worship if you're carrying a bunch of strange gods with
you. And a god or an idol can be anything that we put above
God himself. We see from verse 2 that we must
be cleansed. We've got to be washed clean
in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've got to change our
garments. God's got to create in us a new
heart, a right spirit within us. We've got to be made new
creatures in Christ. Old things have got to be put
away. All things have to become new. We've got to be robed with
the righteousness of Christ. Christ who knew no sin was made
to be sin for us that we might be made robed with the righteousness
of God in Him. You see, God's will, God's purpose,
His grace cannot be resisted. God comes to Jacob and he's in
a mess again. And he says, arise, arise. For who hath resisted his will?
None can, none can. And that's the confidence and
the assurance we have in our redemption. If God called me,
I'm gonna come. If God saves me, I will be saved. If God keeps me, I will be kept. I will be glorified. And God
doesn't do one without the others. If he calls me, he saves me.
If he saves me, I'm saved forever. And if he keeps me, I'm forever
kept by his power. And that's what we see in verse
three. It says, Jacob says, and let us arise and go up to Bethel. We don't resist the will of God. And he said, I will make there
an altar unto God who answered me in the day of my distress.
Oh, are you in distress? God will answer. Oh, the God
who answered me in the day of my distress and was with me in
the way which I went. Even if it was the wrong way?
Absolutely right. Yes, sir. He will never leave
you nor forsake you. Doesn't say only if you're walking
in the path of righteousness, does it? I'll be with you when
you pass through the waters and through the fire. Verse four,
and they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in
their hand and all their earrings which were in their ears. I'll
just comment briefly on that. A lot of times they wore jewelry
that had inscriptions of their God on there or their idol. That's
why I'm telling you, I'm opposed to crosses and earrings with
crosses on them. I don't want to offend anybody,
but I think it's, we can make an idol out of a cross. That
was the instrument that was used to kill the Son of God. We worship
the Christ of the cross. He who was on the cross, not
the cross. Anyway, threw that in for free.
And verse five, and they journeyed. That's what this chapter's about.
It's about a journey. And they journeyed in the terror
of God was upon the cities that were around about them. And they
did not pursue after the sons of Jacob." The thing that Jacob
feared the most, God easily took care of without any effort. So Jacob came to Luz, which in
the land of Canaan, that is Bethel. He changed that name when he
went there the first time. He and all the people that were
with him, and he built there an altar, and he called the place
Elbethel, God of the house of God, as we saw last time, because
their God appeared unto him when he fled from the face of his
brother. Now we live in a day where people
just live in absolute fear. Afraid to travel anywhere because
of terrorists. Live in fear of nuclear missiles
of North Korea. I hear people say, oh, what about
those missiles in North Korea? Lose sleep over the chemical
weapons that are in Syria. Jacob and the family of God journeyed,
and the terror of God was upon the cities that were around about
then. God's not going to allow any harm to come to his people
except that which he ordains and permits. And if he ordains
and permits trouble for us, then it's a good thing because it's
good for me when I've been afflicted that I might learn more about
Christ, learn more about God. Do you think that the people
of Israel were afraid when the army of Pharaoh chased them to
the Red Sea? Yes, I do. I think they were. Terrified. I would have been.
Do you think the Israelites were afraid when they passed through
the Red Sea on dry ground? I believe they were still afraid.
Can you imagine the God opening the sea and you walking across
and here's walls of water on each side? There's no doubt in
my mind that they were afraid. I would have been. Do you think
they were afraid when they got to the other side and looked
back and saw the army of Pharaoh drowned in the waters? Well,
I'd say that there was some fear, but it wasn't for Pharaoh and
his army. Then it was fear of God, a reverential
fear. Look what God has done for us. Different kind of fear altogether.
Time and time again, we see the deliverance of the Lord, and
for a short while, we're not afraid. It always comes back,
doesn't it? We fear so many things, so many
things. But God says, when thou passest
through the waters, I'll be with thee. Why are we afraid? He says,
when thou goest through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee.
When Israel got to the Jordan River in flood season, they had
to pass across to enter into the promised land. It was the
worst time of year to pass. But God said, when you pass through
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee. It's going to be alright. And not one of them was lost
when they crossed. Remember our study in Joshua?
God's people need not fear what men can do unto them. God's people
need not fear those who can destroy their body. God's people fear
him who's able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Over 200
times in scripture, the phrase is fear not, fear ye not, be
not afraid, ye shall not be afraid. Over 200 times those words appear
in the scriptures. Do you know why so many times?
Because God's people are so fearful. We are just by nature so fearful. What about this? Or what if that? We're fearful of things that
may never come to pass. It seems that Jacob was constantly
fearful. He was afraid of Esau. He was
afraid of Laban. He was afraid of the Canaanites
and the Perizzites. And the things he feared most,
God resolved with no effort at all, as I said. Laban made a
covenant with him. Esau jumped off his camel and
ran and kissed him on his neck. You see, the king's heart's in
the hand of the Lord. He turns it however he pleases.
That's what he did to Esau's heart. Oh, I'm telling you, we
fear Esau ran and kissed him. The terror of the Lord dumbfounded
the enemies of Canaan. A couple of weeks ago, we talked
about a race of endurance that a believer runs. A race of patience
and endurance is a journey, really. That's what chapter 35 is about. It's about our journey to Bethel.
It's about our journey home. And when God saves us by His
grace, He normally doesn't just take us home right then. That's
usually not the way He does it. What a blessing it would be if
He did, wouldn't it? The Lord save us and then just
take us on home. It'd be a blessing. But He leaves
us here to journey home, in most cases. And four times in chapter
35 of Genesis here, the word journey, or sojourned, same thing
is mentioned in verses five, verses 16, verses 21, and then
sojourned in verse 27. And I was thinking today that
most of you here tonight that trust in Christ alone for salvation
have been on a journey for some time now. It's been a long journey. Hadn't been an easy journey.
It's been a hard journey. Hadn't always been a fun journey.
Hadn't always been a comfortable journey. And a journey implies
that we're only passing through. A journey implies that where
we're passing through is not our home. We're just sojourners.
To sojourn means to reside as a foreigner. That's the definition
of it. To sojourn is to be a stranger
in the land that we're in. Sojourner. To be a sojourner
is to be a non-citizen of the land that we're in. That's what
we are in this world. Just pilgrims and strangers,
just passing through. Oh, that God might show us that. Turn with me to Hebrews 11. I'm
not going to be able to get through everything that I've prepared
for tonight, and that's okay. We're in no hurry, and I'm not
going to keep you any longer than normal. You know, we can
move a lot quicker through Genesis if I kept y'all for an hour and
a half every Wednesday night, but I'm not going to do that.
So we're just taking our time. But look at Hebrews chapter 11,
keep your marker here in Genesis 35, we'll come back to it. But
I want you to see this in reference to our journey here. Hebrews
chapter 11, I want us to learn something about this journey
that we're on. Look at verse eight, verse eight. It says,
by faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place,
which he should after receive for an inheritance, that was
the land of Canaan. He obeyed and he went out not
knowing whither he went. And by faith he sojourned, there's
that word, in the land of promise as in a strange country. Now that word strange there means
hostile. He sojourned in the land of promise
as in a hostile country. dwelling in tabernacles, tents
is what that is, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of
the same promise. For he looked for a city which
hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God. And look down
at verse 13, speaking of all these in this hall of faith here,
these all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them. Persuaded of the promises that
God made. Are you persuaded of the promises
that God made to you? They embraced them. They embraced
the promises that God made. Have you embraced God's promises
to you, child of God? And they confessed. What did
they confess? That they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country and truly If they had
been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they
might have had opportunity to have returned. In other words,
if they thought so highly of the place where they had left,
they would have gone back, but they didn't. But now, verse 16,
they desire a better country. That is a heavenly, a heavenly
country. Wherefore God is not ashamed
to be called their God, for he hath prepared for them a city. Now that's talking about our
journey. That's what that is, our journey.
And back in Genesis chapter 35, look at verse nine with me. I'm
telling you, friends, this is the gospel. I hope we see it.
Here we find the gospel, the good news that God has for sojourning
sinners. And we see it in the first six
words of verse nine. And God appeared unto Jacob again. Again. Key word, again. Again is a good word if you need
mercy. If being a great sinner, you
need mercy, then you can be assured that being a great sinner, you're
gonna need mercy again, and again, and again. I'm so glad that the
Holy Spirit prompted Moses to put that word in there, again.
In spite of Jacob's faithless journey, God appeared unto him
again. In spite of the detours that
Jacob took, God appeared unto him again. In spite of the crooked
road that Jacob chose, God appeared unto him again. Sound familiar? In spite of his fear, in spite
of his sin, in spite of his disobedience, in despite of his laxness against
the worship of God, God appeared unto Jacob again. Why? Because Jacob have I loved. Jacob have I loved, that's precious
to me because David have I loved. In spite of David. In spite of
Jacob, God loved him. What hope and assurance and confidence
that gives me. Oh, I'm telling you it does,
don't it you? I think you'll remember this, John the Baptist
was thrown into prison. You know, we say this all the
time, but it's so true. The best of men are men at best.
John the Baptist, the forerunner of Christ, the one compared to
Elijah that was sent to prepare the way of the Lord. He's a man. Used of God, yes, mightily, but
just a man. A sinner saved by God's grace,
just like you and I are. And he was there in the prison,
and his mind began to wander, he began to think, and two of
his disciples were there visiting him one day, and he told them,
he sent two of his disciples into the Lord Jesus, and he had
them ask him this question. He said, are thou he that should
come, or do we look for another? Ah, we're so full of doubt and
fear, aren't we? Even John the Baptist was. And
you remember what the Lord said to him? The Lord said, you go
and you show John again. You show him again. Those things which you do here
and say. I'm so glad he put that in there, that word, again. Again. I need to be shown again and
again. I need to hear again and again. Go show John again those things.
Again and again, God is merciful to His people. Again and again,
God deals with us patiently. Again and again, God reasons
with us. He says, come, let us reason
together. God reasoning with a sinner?
Oh, if you're His. He gave you to Christ before
the foundation of the world. He says, we're gonna reason this
out. He's gonna come again and again.
Again and again, he says, turn from your evil ways. Again and
again, God asks, why will you die? Why will you die? Now notice also verse nine, it
says, and God appeared unto Jacob again when he came out of, I've
been pronouncing that, Padanaram. I think maybe I'm pronouncing
it wrong, but it doesn't matter. But he came out of a Padanaram
and he blessed him. Now, we've talked about this
so much, but it's worth mentioning again. It's been 10 years, 10
years since Jacob left Paddanuram, where Laban
was, 10 years. And it's as if those 10 years
here are forgotten by God. He says there, God appeared again
when he came out of Paddanuram. Well, that'd been 10 years ago.
God appeared to Jacob before he went to Paddan Aram. Now he
appears unto him again when he comes out of Paddan Aram, but
nothing at all is mentioned about the 10 years Jacob wasted in
the land of Shechem. I find that very interesting.
I find it very comforting. All the years spent with Laban
are lost, not mentioned. All the years that he lived in
Succoth and Shechem seem to be forgotten. Truly, God remembers
our sin and iniquities no more. No mention of it. When God appears
to Jacob here in verse 1 and tells him to rise and to go into
bed, He doesn't say, you rotten scoundrel. How many times have
I dealt with you over this? You disobedient. He just said,
rise and go. We see that in Hebrews 11, which
informs us that by faith Israel passed through the Red Sea as
by dry land. And then the next thing we read
is by faith the walls of Jericho fell down. But there's no mention
of the 40 years that Israel wandered in unbelief in the wilderness. God doesn't mention it. Nothing
said about that. Nothing of faith was to be found
in that period of Israel's history. And I just wonder sometimes how
many blank spots will be found in the records of our journey
home. Well, I can answer it for you.
None. None. Because God chooses to forget
our sin and our iniquity in Christ. That's what I want us to see.
God has mercy on us again. And again and again, what mercy,
what grace, what love, what patience that God has for his people.
What good news we find, what gospel was found in that word
again. God appeared unto Jacob again.
God powerfully speaks to Jacob again. God could have left him
in Shechem. God could have left you and I
in this world, but he didn't. Look at verse 10, I'm almost
done. And God said unto him, I hope God says something to
you tonight. I hope you just don't hear me. That's my prayer
every time I stand. Lord, don't let them just hear
me. And God said unto him, what did God say? Well, he says the
same thing he always says. The gospel is never something
new. Oh, I tell you, when we as preachers try to preach something
new, oh, we're on dangerous ground. No, no, no, this ain't about
anything new. The gospel never changes. God
saves sinners the same way He always has, in Christ and in
Christ alone. The gospel message is how God
saves sinners, the substitution and sacrifice of Christ. Here's
the gospel in the chapter. I'm going to give you four or
five things here. I forget how many. I think it's four. God
is going to reveal to you who and what you are. That's always
part of it. That's what He's going to do.
He's going to show you your need before He shows you Christ. If you're God's child, He's going
to reveal to you who and what you are. Verse 10, And God said
unto him the first thing, Thy name is Jacob. We talked about
this some in chapter, I think, 28, when Jacob wrestled with
the Lord. But your name is Jacob. You're
one who plans and works in deception. That's what Jacob means, a planter. You're one who plots with crafty
means and intentions. You're the one who lies in wait
to take from another. Your name's Jacob. Second thing,
God is gonna reveal to you what he does for sinners. He is, that's
part of, he makes them new creatures in Christ. He creates in them
a new heart. He creates in them a right spirit. Thy name shall not be called
anymore Jacob, but Israel shall be thy name. And he called his
name Israel. You remember what Israel means? We saw it, it was in Genesis
32, by the way, I did write it down. It means prince of God,
princess of God. I don't have a problem with that
for you ladies. How wonderful it is that God lifts us up, the
beggars that we are, from the dunghill to set us among princes. How much greater is it that when
He does, He makes us princes and princesses of God? He makes us royalty. When you're part of the family
of royalty, then you are yourself royalty. Third thing, God's gonna
show you who Christ is. That's part of it. That's a big
part of it, isn't it? Verse 11, and God said unto him,
I am God Almighty. Jesus Christ is God Almighty. We're seeing that in our study
of John. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. God said unto him,
I'm God Almighty. Not just God, not just what you
imagine God to be, Not a God of your imagination. I'm God
Almighty. I have all might, all power. I'm God Almighty. There are a
lot of gods spoken of today. But our God is God Almighty.
Our God is the Almighty God. He's the God of this book. This
book declares Him as He is. He distinguishes himself from
all other gods. He said, I'm God Almighty. I'm a sovereign God. I'm an omnipotent
God. When I say something, it comes
to pass. God said unto Jacob, I'm God
Almighty. There are many who still don't
know who God is. To some, God is the man upstairs. He's the man He is what man has
imagined Him to be. To some, He is a God, but He's
anything but almighty. He tries, He wants, He wishes,
He would like to, but that's not the almighty God, is it?
The almighty God is the one who works all things after the counsel
of His own will. The almighty God is the one who
works all things together for the good of them who love Him,
who are Thee called according to His purpose. Fourth thing, God is gonna show
us what He's gonna do for us, what He must do for us. Look
at verse 11. And God said unto him, I am God
Almighty, be fruitful and multiply. Now that's not a request, that's
a command. Be fruitful and multiply. I'm
gonna see to it as God Almighty that you're fruitful and multiply.
A nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall
come out of thy loins." You know what king came out of the loins
of Jacob? The King of Kings and the Lord
of Lords, the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 12, and he said, in the
land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it,
and to thy seed after thee, and I will give thee the land. God is the one who causes us
to be fruitful and to multiply, and both the words fruitful and
multiply suggest growth and increase, do they not? If there's gonna
be any spiritual growth or increase, God's gonna have to be the one
to give it. Right? We can't produce any of that
for ourselves. Paul said, I planted, Paulos
watered, but God gave the increase. He's the only one who can. That's
what makes him almighty. If you've grown in the grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord, dear sinner, God gave that increase. If you have any spiritual fruit
whatsoever in your life, God gave the increase. He that plants
is nothing, neither is he the waters. He that plants and waters
are one. They're messengers, they're unprofitable
servants. They do only what they've been
commanded to do, only that which is what's reasonable for them
to do. They're laborers together with
God, but God gives the increase. Don't ever forget that. God's
the life giver, and that's what makes him God. That's what makes
Him God Almighty. That's why we worship Him because
of who He is. That's why He gets all the honor
and the glory. So, what's my word to you? Rejoice that God's going to cause
you to make your journey to Bethel again and again. And if you get
sidetracked, He's going to appear to you again,
if you're one of His. We get sidetracked, we do. We
wander off, we stray often. But it's then that the Good Shepherd
comes and puts us upon His shoulder and carries us all the way home. Though you've strayed often,
Once again, sacrifice upon the altar of God, and offer up to
God that sweet smelling savor of Christ and Him crucified.
And then to the nostrils of God, He goes, oh, that's a sweet smell. And you're going to do it again,
and again, and again, because God comes in mercy and grace
to us again, and again, and again.