Would you join us this morning
in the Gospel according to Ezra? Ezra chapter 7. Ezra to me at one time was like
the book of Leviticus, it was a flyover book. But like all
of the books of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament,
the Lord Jesus shares with us that those holy men of God spoke
as they were moved by the Holy Spirit, had a message to share.
And that message was the message of Christ, the message of the
Messiah, the message of a Savior, the only Savior recognized by
God the Father to make a reconciliation for his people. And here in the
book of Ezra chapter 7, we've been going through several verses
of scripture that share with us how Ezra is a type of Christ
in many respects in what he is called on to do. and where he
is called on to go, and who he is called on to go with. We find
that there's many things in this passage of scripture that share
with us the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ to the church. And
here in verse 25, we went over that verse of scripture last
week, but I'd like to review just a moment and then step into
verse 26. But let me first of all read
verses 25 through the end of the chapter. And thou, Ezra,
after the wisdom of thy God, that is in thy hand set magistrates
and judges, which may judge all the people that are beyond the
river, all such as know the laws of thy God, and teach ye them
that know them not. And whosoever will not do the
law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed
speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment,
or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment. And then
we have a break because Here are some words from Ezra, and
the previous words in this chapter have been from the decree of
King Artaxerxes on the behalf of Ezra, who was his servant
to go back to Jerusalem. But here in verse 27, blessed
be the Lord God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as
this in the king's heart, to beautify the house of the Lord,
which is in Jerusalem, and hath extended mercy unto me before
the king, and his counselors, and before all the kings, mighty
princes, and I was strengthened as the hand of the Lord my God
was upon me, and I gathered together out of Israel chief men to go
up with me." In that final verse, it says, I was strengthened by
the hand of the Lord my God who was upon me. That really shares
with us the difference between preaching the word and preaching
the word in power and in truth. So, Ezra was a mighty scribe
of the Lord and of God's word and when he spoke the word that
was given unto him, he was bringing it in power and demonstration
of the spirit and not just in word only to these folks. Well,
let's back up here to verse 25. It says, Ezra, after the wisdom
of that God, God had given Ezra wisdom. Now, God had given Ezra
no more wisdom than he gives every one of his children. He
gave him wisdom. Now, he may have a little more
understanding about that wisdom, but the wisdom that God gives
his children is the person Christ Jesus. We read in the book of
1 Corinthians that Christ to us is wisdom before we are made
children of God by the new birth. We're already lost sheep of the
house of Israel, but when we come to the point that God regenerates
us and we're made to know what we are in Christ Jesus, before
that time we don't have any wisdom except out of a book. and that
wisdom often gets us into trouble because it's somebody else's
thoughts for us. But once the Lord saves us by
his grace, and we have knowledge of our Savior, the Lord Jesus,
we have wisdom that we've never known before, the wisdom of God
in the person Christ Jesus. It puts together, it doesn't
matter whether we understand redemption completely, we just
understand that he has redeemed us. It puts together that we
don't have to understand all the Word of God to be knowledgeable
or have wisdom. We are given some of the Word
of God. And for every little bit that
God reveals to us and lets us know about in the person Christ
Jesus, we're thankful. We don't count ourselves as losers
as a result. We count ourselves as blessed
because every piece of the Word of God is brought to us. We may
not know a lot, but we certainly know a whole lot more than we
knew. About the person Christ Jesus. I have said a number of
times I knew about the Savior But when he saved me, I know
the Savior and he is more importantly knows me. That's so valuable
Well, it tells us here in verse 25 that God was going to give
Ezra wisdom to select some magistrates and judges over the people when
they got back to Jerusalem and God was going to give Ezra some
wisdom about some folks. Now, these folks that were going
to be selected as magistrates and judges, some of them probably
did not have their PhD. Some of them might have been
fishers. Some of them might have been tax collectors. Just like
we find in the New Testament with regard to those select few
that Jesus Christ called his apostles. He had a whole host
of disciples, but as we heard this morning, 12 of them were
chosen out and one of them was a demon, was a devil. Well, we
find with regard to the Lord, he shared with Ezra, you're going
to select some people. And these people have a ministry
and a message to share with those that are at Jerusalem. And it
tells us in verse 25 what that is, it says, you shall teach
them to know the laws of thy God. Now, we know that Ezra did
not believe that he was saved by keeping the law. No one in
the Old Testament that was ever saved, they knew they were not
saved by the keeping of the law. In fact, they knew the exact
opposite about the law. The law saved nobody, and particularly
it didn't save Ezra. It didn't save Moses. It didn't save David. It didn't
save anybody in the Old Testament. The law was only used to condemn. There was no deliverance, there
was no salvation in it, and so this lesson that these magistrates
and these judges were going to bring to Israel, to the people
of Judah and to Benjamin there in Jerusalem, was not a moralistic
law. It was the law of Christ, and
the law of Christ is, trust Him. He's the only Savior. There is
no hope outside of Him. There is no blessing outside
of Him. He is the only Savior. That's the law of Christ. That
is the law we preach. There's no other name under heaven
given among men whereby we must be saved. There is nothing else. Jesus said it this way, no man
cometh unto the Father but by me. That is the law of Christ,
and we will not have any hope, we'll not have any redemption,
we'll have no sanctification, we'll have nothing spiritual
outside of Christ. So we want those that God selects
to bring along with a message of his eternal grace in Christ
Jesus. And that's what we find over,
we read this over in the book of Ephesians, but I'd like to
read it again this morning before we move into the next verse,
and that's in Ephesians chapter 4. We read these wonderful words
as the Apostle Paul, like Ezra, a servant of God, He would say,
I'm nothing more than the least of the apostles. I'm nothing
more than the least of men. I am the chiefest of sinners.
And yet, God used him to write to us and give to us these blessed
messages that are contained in the word of God. In the book
of Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11 and 12, it says, these words,
Ephesians chapter 4, verses 11 and 12, it says, and he gave
some apostles and some prophets, and some evangelists. Now, I
thought about this as I was reading it, as we see the punctuation. You know, he didn't give everybody
that ever heard the gospel, he did not give everybody apostles.
And he didn't give everybody prophets or foretellers. And
he didn't give everybody evangelists. And he didn't give everybody
pastor teachers. but everybody that he gives has
the same message. Everybody that God gives over
the church and for the benefit of the church has the same message. The apostles, the evangelists,
the pastor teachers, everything that God has ever given to the
church. He has not raised up somebody to call cause consternation
and division in the church. He has always raised up people
that would cause the same thing to be preached, and that's what
Paul said. You need to believe the same things. There is no
variation here when it comes to the grace of God. And then
in verse 12 it says, these folks are raised up for a purpose,
for the perfecting of the saints. Can you imagine as Ezra appointed
judges and magistrates there in Jerusalem, that they were
there for the perfecting of the saints? They were there to make
them better as they heard the Word of God and then to say the
same thing over and over. One of the articles in today's
bulletin was written by Brother Henry Mahan and he talked about,
you know, to remember is good because even the Lord said, do
this in remembrance of me. The communion service, do this
in remembrance of me. What does that mean? We need
to be called to remember time and time again. There is no wearing
out the message of grace. There's no wearing out the message
of Christ. There's no wearing out the gospel. And whoever God
calls to be magistrates and judges, to be people over the house of
God, they have the same message. They may look at it from a different
standpoint, they may preach only from the New Testament, they
may only preach from the book of John, they may only preach
from the book of Genesis, but the message will always be the
same, Christ and Him crucified. That is the message of grace.
So, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry.
When God's people are called by His grace to salvation, and
they continue to hear the word of God, they are going to be
made perfecting the saints for the work of the ministry. What
am I going to say to someone who asks me about the gospel? What is different now between
what you believe now and what you believed then? I had someone
very close to me one time ask that question on a travel to
Klamath Falls, Oregon. It's quite a while. You got a
lot of time to talk and you're in a car without cell phones
at the time. And I explained to it, he says, that's the difference
between daylight and dark. What I had and what I have now
is the difference between daylight and dark. Light emulates from
the Lord Jesus Christ, and darkness emulates from the law. Nothing
but darkness, no hope whatsoever. Well, let's go back over here
to the book of Ezra, and we're gonna look at verse 26. These
magistrates and judges were to instruct in the things that be
of God, to comfort the dear folks that had been brought from Babylon
to Jerusalem, to comfort them as we find in Isaiah chapter
40. There is no comfort in demanding the law to be kept. You and I
probably all have been under that kind of ministry. And the person that says that
is usually, like the Pharisees, they ask us to do it, but do
not. They are markers off of us, and
yet it doesn't apply to them. Well, there's no comfort in preaching
the law. There is comfort in preaching
the law of Christ. There's comfort in hearing Ezra
say what he had to say about the Lord Jesus Christ. There's
comfort in reading the Psalms as it declares the person and
work and salvation of God in Christ Jesus. Once you have completed the classes
on keeping the law, you get your doctorate of Phariseeism. Guaranteed. That's what you get, the Doctrine
of Phariseeism. And the Doctrine of Phariseeism
gives you a handbook with check marks. And you put someone else's
name at the top, never yours, and you start checking off, and
then you have to go talk to them about their failures. Well, let
me tell you, my friends, the redemptive work of Christ
is not a failure. He takes those who have failed
in so many ways. Now, over there in the book of
Ezra chapter 7 and verse 26, it says, and whosoever will not
do the law of thy God and the law of the king. Did you read
that with me? Let these things happen to them. And the first thing listed there
is death. Ezra chapter 7, verse 26. and
whosoever will not do the law of thy God and the law of the
king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it
be unto the death or to banishment or confiscation of goods or to
imprisonment. Now, I don't know for sure if
anybody had any of those things imposed upon them, those that
lived in Jerusalem. But I do know this, that if anybody
had any of those things imposed upon them, death or banishment
or confiscation of goods, those things did not bring them to
Christ. The threat of death, the threat
of banishment, the threat of confiscation of goods, The threat,
the threat, the threat did not bring any of them to Christ because
it is the goodness of God that leads you to repentance. threatening
people never brings them anywhere or all of Israel would have been
saved. There would have been no deaths
there throughout the wilderness wanderings. There would not be
a record that says, these all died in unbelief because they
were threatened, and threatened, and threatened, and threatened.
It was by the great threatener, God Almighty. He knew, So well,
God knows so well that nobody can keep the law. If you look
at this passage of scripture, there's not one of us. In fact,
I was sharing with Brother Mike in the study this morning, there
wouldn't be a person on the face of the earth if this was enforced.
We would be an empty building. The world, there would be nobody
in the Dalles, there would be nobody in Oregon, there'd be
nobody in the United States, Western Hemisphere. or in the
entire world, this is not salvation. Now, as I read through there,
I was brought, I was drawn, I was taken to that passage of scripture
that Brother Craig read this morning over there in the Psalms.
Would you direct your attention to Psalm 130 this morning? Psalm
130. We find this principle found
a number of times in the scriptures, and this principle is, if God
should regard iniquity. If God should regard iniquity,
if God took, and that word regard is used over there in the book
of 1 Samuel where Hannah is in church. She's moving her lips
but not saying a word and Eli uses this word. He regarded her
lips. What does that mean? He was paying
attention to what she was doing. Now, let me say this. In our
modern times, most people that would have had this kind of accusation
brought against them would have never been back in church. It's
the grace of God that allows us to be instructed and still
come back, isn't it? And I've had people say, boy,
that message really struck me. Well, I don't know what in it
did. We just don't know, do we, how God's work works. But here,
we find that Eli marked her mouth moving and then said, you shouldn't
come to church drunk. And she said, I'm not drunk,
sir. I am praying. In my heart, my heart has been
poured out to the Lord about a child. All right, now notice
here in Psalm 130, that word marked is found here in Psalm
130. Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord. Lord, hear
my voice. Let thine ears be attentive to
the voice of my supplications. Now notice verse 3. If thou,
Lord, shouldest pay attention to my sin, my iniquities, if
You're like Eli watching the lips of Hannah in church, moving
her lips and not saying a word. If you mark me that close, Lord,
how in the world can I stand? If thou, Lord, shouldest mark
iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Good question. Who is
going to stand before the Lord? We know ourselves a little bit.
I used to, most of my sin before I was saved was this, I got caught. That's how we identify it. I
got caught. I'll never do it again. I'm so
sorry. Please forgive me. I'll never do it again, and then
we get caught again. That's not real sin. Sin is against
God. Sin is against God. David said,
against thee and thee only have I sinned. And yet there's a trail
of sin behind him. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned, O God. And so here we have in Psalm
130 and verse 4, if thou, Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord,
who shall stand? As those words go out to those
in Jerusalem about the law, death, confiscation, moving you out,
all of those things. Everyone could say to themselves,
who can stand? Who will be able to? Then there
are those says, I've kept those things from my youth up. I've
done a real good job or I've got them almost all down but
one and I'm working on that one. Well, or against thee, and thee
only have I sinned. And in verse four, notice verse
four with me in Psalm 130, but there is forgiveness with thee,
that thou mayest be feared, or reverenced, or respected, or
honored. What does the church do with
a Savior? Honor Him. What does the church
do with a person who has redeemed them out of the depths of despair?
Honor Him. He is the King of kings and Lord
of lords and is due all our honor and praise for all our salvation. Not one thread of our robe of
righteousness is ours. He is to be honored for all the
threads of the robe of our righteousness, because he has perfectly kept
what was demanded upon man that could not keep. He perfectly
kept. He was obedient to every jot
and every tittle, every part of the law, and they crucified
him in the book of Isaiah. Chapter 53 and verse 6 all we
like sheep have gone astray We have turned everyone to his own
way and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all oh
When we get to looking at the feast we have in Christ Jesus
and all that he has done on our behalf We are like this where
it says But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be
reverenced Honored that's why we don't spend any time on saying
you got to keep this and got to keep this because that's not
honoring to God We're only going to honor God be respecting him
as the only Savior that saves Everybody that he ever intended
to save and he paid the internal everlasting price for them And
there's not one person not one demon that can raise up an accusation
against God's anointed ones the church Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. So there's no charges. Nobody
can lay a charge. Why? Because forgiveness. We
know ourselves in regeneration. Part of regeneration lets us
understand where we were. Part of regeneration lets us
understand the depths that we were in. a little bit about the
fall. I don't know how many times in
the last 10 years we said, I didn't think things could get worse,
but they did. We're just seeing a little bit more of the despair
of the fall. The fall put us into great despair,
into great position away from God, and great enmity towards
Him. Yet, there is plenteous mercy
with God. As it says there, if the Lord
should mark iniquities, who shall stand? But there is forgiveness
with thee that thou mayest be feared. Turn with me, if you
would, to the book of John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Now, as Brother
Mike has been going through the book of Luke, it's been quite
apparent to me again. I have to be reminded over and
over and over that the events of the Gospels are not random. They're just not random events.
Now, when we go to a section of scripture, So often we just
look at that event and we don't connect it with some other events.
But as he's going through there and as we go through the scriptures,
we find out that they're just not random events. They are events
that took place because of the purpose of an eternal God. He
had these people and these things happen at the right time. He
purposed them. Jesus never took a step that
he shouldn't have taken. He never had a stumble. He never
came to a road sign and said, I wonder which way I should go.
Because he knew where he went, I must need to go there because
there's somebody I must meet. There's an event I must participate
in. And this is God's eternal purpose,
working out through his son, and it's not just random events. Well, here in the middle of John,
if you'd look there, John chapter 8, verse 7. John chapter 8 and
verse 7 is a wonderful illustration that we have of Psalm 130 and
verse 3 and 4. John chapter 8, there is a woman
taking in a great sin. I hate to say this, but she was
taking in no greater sin than anybody else has ever committed.
She had some lawyers. some that had earned their Pharisee
PhD, keeping track of her, and when they caught her at the right
moment, they took this issue to the God of heaven on purpose,
and he's there on purpose to hear the case. It's going to be the same way
throughout our life. We are brought to the very presence
of the Lord in the preaching of the gospel wherever we are,
whatever we were doing to make us acquainted with the God of
heaven in the person Christ Jesus and he's there on purpose to
hear our case. This woman was taken in a very
great crime. And she is brought. Now, I can
say, where's the man? That's not the issue. Here's
a woman that is an elect child of God. She is taken in a great crime.
He is also taken. Don't hear a word about him.
Why? He'll stand before God. She's going to be before God,
but he'll stand before God. And if God never dealt with him
ever after that, he will hear those words that the goats will
hear. Depart from me, ye worker of
iniquity, for I never knew you. Now he's going to say something
else to this lady. She gets to hear the very God
of heaven. She gets to read his writing.
We don't even know what he wrote on the ground, but she got to
see it. Someone told me one time it was the words of amazing grace
that he wrote on the ground. Well, it's a little early, but
the message is there. John 8, verse 7. So when they continued asking
him, he lifted up himself and said unto them. Now there's been
a lot of conversation going on, but right now we're going to
hear the words of the Lord. Pharisees, I want you to take
this into consideration. You that have your master's degree
in mosaic law, I want to bring this subject up. I'm going to
bring you up in the presence of this woman that you've taken
in this great crime. He that is without sin among
you. Now, did you notice he didn't
say a word to that woman? You guys that have been so careful
to bring this situation into my presence. You guys, I want
you to hear me. You that is without sin among
you, let him cast the first stone at her. I am convinced in my
mind that they brought her and stones. Because that's what they're
supposed to deal with this woman with. stone her to death for
her great crime. And Jesus puts it into their
lap, and notice the next word, and again he stooped down and
wrote on the ground, and they which heard it being convicted
by their own conscience. What does that mean? They're
sorry they got caught. If they were convicted by the
spirit, they'd have stayed around for the rest of the message. They were convicted by their
own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest. Isn't that interesting? Even
unto the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing
in the midst, and there's no greater place to be than to be
with the Lord God Almighty alone. That's why we don't have a mourner's
bench up here. That's why we don't give an invitation.
The invitation is Christ and he is already the mourner's bench. And the only place that we can
direct anybody is to Jesus Christ alone. This woman is standing
in the presence of God Almighty alone. And that's where we are
brought to by the Holy Spirit. We're brought to him. When Jesus
had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, is that the
first time he knew what was going on with the rest of them? Oh, this is God. He knew who left. He knew the
order they left in. He knew how many there were and
how they left. They all left with their tails
between their legs. Their PhD in mosaic law was of
no benefit when God spoke to them. Now we have a woman alone. Woman, where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? And
she said, no man, L-O-R-D. No greater words. Can someone
speak with significance, with conviction, with knowledge than
Lord to the Lord Jesus Christ? No greater words. That's why
God's people call him Lord. And they mean it. They have reverence
for him. He has redeemed them. He has
forgiven them. He's plucked them as irons out
of the fire, if you please. It goes on to say, no man has
condemned thee. Woman, where are thine accusers?
Hath no man condemned thee? And she said, no man, Lord. And
Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin
no more. How could he do that? How could he say, I condemn thee
not? Because the law said she's to
be stoned to death. Well, Psalm 130, verse 4. There is forgiveness. Now, where
did that great crime get put? It was a great crime, she committed.
Where did the great crimes of the church, where did the great
crimes of God's people get put? Did they get put in a bag? Were
they swept under the carpet? Were they put away just to put
out of sight? No. The sins, the great crimes
of God's people were put on Him. put on him. They were imputed
to him. He became the bearer, the carrier,
the one who had all these great crimes imposed upon him. And
he knew exactly that the sin of this lady, the sin of her
heart, the sin of her being, the sin of being related to Adam
would be put on him. It had been put on him in type,
shadow, and picture in the Old Testament, even in the Lamb of
God. Set aside before the foundation
of the world this one, but he said I Don't accuse you because
I know where this crime will be placed Go and sin no more
Well I had a preacher say he couldn't say anything else, but
that because he couldn't give any other perfect thing you know
what all her sins and All her past sins, all her sins from
this point forward, were going to be imputed to the Lord Jesus
Christ. And in the eyes of God, she would
never, ever commit another sin. All were taken care of by the
person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. What a glorious
Savior we have. what one that can take care of
the problem that we have. It goes beyond just making an
excuse and saying I got caught, but it is that sin that we have
committed against a thrice holy God that he makes us acquainted
with. Then the gospel is so glorious
to say, he's the one that takes care of the sin. Just as he told
this woman here that was taken in this great crime. Would you
turn with me to the book of Romans Chapter 3, Romans chapter 3 as
we look at this again Romans chapter 3 again the Apostle Paul
the secretary of the Holy Spirit brought this out in Romans chapter
3 verse 20 Romans chapter 3 in verse 20 therefore by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. That's, there it is. There's
the reason for Ezra. There's the reason for Moses'
writing, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. There's
the reason for Haggai. There's the reason for Isaiah.
That's the reason. even the righteousness of God,
which is by faith of Jesus Christ, to all and upon all them that
believe, for there is no difference for all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Those who have their master's
degree in Mosaic law, it doesn't help a bit, only made Pharisees. They're the ones that walk out
first, and that woman who was guilty before him stayed put. because she knew this is someone
who could do something for her. And she left, and it was said
to her, go and sin no more. It's just as secure as that thief
on the cross. The moment you die, you'll be
in my presence. I'll be with you here, I'll travel with you
here, and I can't help but think that she didn't get involved
with a group of people that believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ there in Jerusalem. I'm just so happy there's a man
told me all things ever I did. Isn't this the Christ? And then
in Romans chapter 10, Romans chapter 10 and verse 4, as we
look here, something else about Christ. Another blessing of Christ. Where's the law go? What's the
law have to do with us? Nothing. Nothing. There's no
law anymore. There's the law of Christ. Trust
Him. There's the law of Christ. Believe Him. There's the law
of Christ. Worship Him. There's the law of Christ. Have
Him. Here in the book of Romans chapter 10 verse 4 it says, for
Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believeth. Oh my goodness. Most people who
say they have kept it have lied through their teeth. They've
just lied through their teeth. I've kept the law. That young
man, I've kept all of that from my youth up. And Jesus just made
one request on him and he went away very sad because he was
very rich. and 1st Timothy chapter 1 and
verse 9. 1st Timothy chapter 1 and verse
9, this passage of scripture, I'm thankful that the Lord Jesus
Christ was able in his own, he was able because he is God to
keep the law of God completely, totally, without exception, had
no failings, nothing did he unkeep. He kept it in totality. He is
righteous and is able to impute that righteousness to us and
for us. In 1 Timothy 1 and verse 9, the
scripture says, knowing this, that the law is not made for
a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient For the
ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murders
of fathers and murders of mothers, and for manslayers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselves with mankind, for men-stealers,
for liars, and perjured persons. Do you find yourself there? By grace, we've been taken out
of the mix, and the law is not for us. He's kept it completely. So, those words over there, how
many people actually had that imposed upon them? I don't know.
But nobody, by those judges or by those magistrates, ever was
told that you keep this and you have salvation. Because they
knew the gospel. They knew the Christ. They knew
the Messiah. They knew the promised one. And
that's who they preached. And if this was the requirement,
this world would be an empty place. Nobody could stand. Only one has, and he has blessed
his church with that imputed righteousness that he has kept
it completely and in totality. So Ezra appointed judges and
magistrates to share Christ, to give good tidings of glad
joy that Jesus Christ is the Savior. Old Testament, New Testament,
preachers of righteousness continued with that ministry. Along come
those who said, no, you have to keep the law, and thank God. God interposed there and said,
just listen for a moment. There's some folks here that
know differently. Our fathers nor us, are able
to keep it, we're not going to impose that on Gentile believers. Jesus Christ is the Savior. He saves completely and totally
and without the law. He kept it, we can't, and he
has promised us salvation and forgiveness. If God should regard
iniquity, who can stand? But there is forgiveness with
him. May we pray. Gracious Father, we bow before
you. We're thankful, Lord, for your great salvation, that you
have not just hidden our sin, but they were placed upon the
Redeemer. You've not just put our sins
behind you, but you have completely taken care of them. in the shed
blood of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. You placed our sin upon
him on the cross, and you bore out your wrath against him as
if it would be against us, and we are the ones that go free.
The just for the unjust, the holy for the unholy, the righteous
for the unrighteous. We're so thankful for all your
goodness to us, and that we can rejoice in you even as it says,
there's plenty of forgiveness, and that we can have reverence
for you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God bless you. May you have a
good week. At two o'clock, and if you'd like to come up
and say hello to our friends that have journeyed far. So good to be with you. Hey,
Aaron. Hey. Good to be with you today. Hi,
Wayne. Hi, Vicki. Hi, Dan. Hi, Aaron.