Let's turn to Exodus chapter 4. Exodus 4. Now, our Lord was commissioning Moses to go to Egypt, back to Egypt, to deliver God's people from their bondage. And after seeing the burning bush and hearing all that the Lord had said unto Moses there from the burning bush, Moses was still not convinced that he was the man to deliver God's people from their bondage.

So in verse one, to that point, Moses answered and said, but behold, they will not believe me. Now the Lord had just told him back in verse 18 of chapter three that they would believe him. They will hearken to your voice. But he says, well, what if they don't believe me? Nor hearken unto my voice, for they will say, the Lord hath not appeared unto thee." Now in some sense this speaks to the humility that we now see in Moses that wasn't there before when 40 years earlier he supposed that the Israelites would understand that that he was the deliverer that God had raised up to deliver them.

But now he's being stripped down in the wilderness for 40 years and humbled. He's nothing more than a sheep herder now, not even his own sheep, but his father-in-law's sheep. And he doesn't think that way. He doesn't think so highly of himself anymore.

But in reality here, we see the humility, but in reality, he's doubting God. He's standing in unbelief. Because God had just said, they will hear you. But rather than rebuke Moses, God is very gracious to Moses. He doesn't even address his unbelief there.

Instead, he gives Moses three signs. He gives Moses three signs to perform that will show that he is God's ambassador to this people, that God has sent him to deliver his people from their bondage. And I just wanna say a few words on that point there, that our God used signs, right? Signs back then, that what he's given to Moses, these are signs that would picture what the Lord now declares to us in the gospel.

Where are these signs? These signs are declared and made known to you through the preaching of the gospel. And so, we see these signs. They're a declaration of that which you hear in the preaching of his word. You hear these very truths that are being revealed in the signs that God gives him, and they're revealed to you in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, when the Apostle Paul, was declaring the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ to his people, he preached the signs. He preached these signs that we're gonna see this morning, which God accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross and what our Lord accomplishes in the hearts and minds of his people still to this day. What he does and works in his people through the ministration of the spirit and the preaching of the word. Paul said this, In 2 Corinthians 5, verses 17 through 21, he said, therefore, if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creature.

All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. The old things were all that the Israelites knew in their bondage. In that darkness and bondage to the Egyptians, all that they knew, that all became old. Moses came down there and began to reveal to them what God had said, and faith was wrought in their hearts, and all things became new, and they saw the deliverance of God. And Paul said, all things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Well, this is what Moses is being commissioned to do now. He's going down there as God's ambassador to reveal to them the promises of God made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and to reconcile them to that.

For the people of God, why are we in bondage? Well, now you're not. God is coming, he's delivering you out of that bondage. And he was sent there to declare their salvation pictured in these first two signs. That it's gonna be pictured in these first two signs. And so what Moses does here as a type of the deliverer, and when he delivered Israel from their bondage, well, so it is that our Lord Jesus Christ does for all his people who are scattered throughout the world. He accomplishes this for us.

Paul goes on, to wit, to know, to give you understanding of these things, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. All right, not holding them guilty and to account for it. And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation to declare that to you. to declare the deliverance, the liberty from your sins and the punishment of it in Christ. Now then, he says, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. And he's saying these words are words of life. Hear them, receive these words, believe these words, call out, cry out to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Why? Because God hath made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That's why your sins are not imputed to you, because they were laid on Christ, that Christ's righteousness be imputed unto you. Not for any works of righteousness that you have done, but in grace. purely in grace.

Therefore, these three signs are given to Moses, two of which would speak of the deliverance of the sinner, who's in bondage to sin and death, to declare your deliverance in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. And then the third one speaks of judgment upon the unbeliever, who does not hear this word, who does not believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. So that's what we're gonna see here this morning. Let's look at our Lord's response now to Moses in verses two through five.

And the Lord said unto him, what is that in thine hand? And he said, a rod. And he said, cast it on the ground. And he cast it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses fled from before it. And the Lord said unto Moses, put forth thine hand and take it by the tail. And he put forth his hand and caught it, and it became a rod in his hand, that they may believe that the Lord God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, And the God of Jacob hath appeared unto thee. And so this first sign is turning this rod that Moses held in his hand into a serpent, and then the serpent being turned back into a rod again.

Now there's many pictures. There's a lot of gospel pictures that are, that can and are drawn from this sign here, and the rod being cast down and then being taken up again. There's a number of pictures that, I'm not gonna show them all, but I'll show you a few of the things that really stood out to me. This rod, it means a staff, right? It's a staff. It could also mean a scepter, like a king holds a scepter to rule with, but it's a staff here.

And Moses would carry this staff with him through the wilderness, right? He would walk with this staff. And the reason why he kept it with him is it was a help to him. It was a help to him, and it helped him walk over difficult ground and through difficult passages. It would help him walk, and upon this rod, Moses could lean. He could rest upon it, and it would bear his weight. It would bear him up and provide for him in times of unsteadiness.

The way you use that cane, it holds you up. You put your weight on it, and it keeps you steady. It keeps you walking well. If he was in any danger, that rod could, and I'm sure was used as a defensive weapon to protect him, to beat back his enemies as it were.

And so this rod is a comfort to Moses in the wilderness. He depended upon it. In saying those things, I'm sure you can begin to see a certain practical lesson in what the Lord is teaching, first to Moses, and also to the people of Israel, and also to you who hear this word. This rod pictures to Moses that God, is his rod, that God is his strength, that God is his almighty God and Savior.

David wrote of this rod in Psalm 23, verse four, saying, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. God's rod comforts us, not our earthly rod, but the rod of God comforts us. And later in this chapter, Exodus 4, in verse 20, it's actually called the rod of God.

If this rod becomes, to Moses, the rod of God, that is his stay and his support. It's a picture of him depending upon God now. when Moses cast that rod on the ground and it became a serpent, there is a picture there that shows us that if you cast away your confidence in Christ, if you cast away your confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he does, you're helpless before the serpent. You have no help to stand against the serpent. You flee the way Moses fled. You've given up your hope. You've cast it away. And so don't cast away your hope.

That's one of the things that we see there, that God is your hope and confidence to go through this wilderness world and to be brought finally to your inheritance, your eternal inheritance safely, securely, soundly in and by the Lord Jesus Christ. Additionally, there's several doctrinal things that we draw from this picture here in this rod of it being cast down and turning into a serpent here. For one thing, it pictures the destruction of Satan, our enemy. It pictures the destruction of the evil one by the coming of Christ our Deliverer.

We're told in 1 John 3.8 that for this purpose the Son of God came into the world that he might destroy the works of the devil.

He casts the enemy down. He casts Satan down. He casts him down to the ground. It testifies to the accuser of the brethren being cast out of heaven. The scriptures speak of him and Job, of him coming before the throne and the Lord saying, what have you been doing? And him giving an account. Well, now that wicked one is cast out. He has nothing more to say or to accuse the brethren of.

Because Christ has cast him out. Our Lord said, I saw Satan fall from heaven. I saw him cast out from heaven. And in Revelation 12, 9, it says the great dragon was cast out. That old serpent called the devil and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world, he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And so all his kingdom is defeated. He's bound now. How is the work of Satan bound now, today? How is that bound?

Through the preaching of the gospel. Through the preaching of Christ, the good news of what God has done and provided for his people. Not dependent on you and your help. But Christ alone, everything resting, the whole government resting on his shoulders, he bore it so that through the preaching of the gospel, the work of the devil, the work of the enemy, the work of that serpent is bound so that he has no more power over you. Sin and that darkness has no more power over you to keep you from inheriting that which Christ has obtained and freely given to you. And so we see it there. We see how Christ binds his work, destroys that work in you, so that you hear and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

This body is still weak, this body still feels the lusts of sin raging in it, but through the grace and power of God, He gives us a cry to cry out to him, Lord, save me. Keep my heart. Deliver me from these lusts. Keep me looking to you and trusting you. And he provides that strength and help in time of need. And when you do sin, he gives you that cry to confess your sin to him and ask him, Lord, have mercy on me. Wash me and cleanse me from my sin. Because that work of the devil is bound up. It's destroyed. and he strengthens the new man and blesses you in Christ through the preaching of the gospel, ministering the spirit to you, keeping you ever looking to him.

And so it pictures here, Moses we'll see is a picture of the deliverer for his people. Moreover, it is only through the preaching of the gospel where the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted and lifted up. before the masses, before the people can see him. And so he's exalted as the only Savior, the only salvation whom the Father had sent, that there's not many ways unto God. There is but one way, one life. one truth, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that, through this preaching, through the declaration of Christ, the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ as the Savior, that is how the vain imaginations of men and women are defeated in your minds. That which we hope in by nature, that which we criticize of God and think, well, I think this, and have our opinions and our philosophies and our ideas, all those are destroyed, are cast down by Christ through the preaching of Christ.

As Paul said it this way in 2 Corinthians 10.5, through this gospel, we are casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And that's why it's The preaching of the gospel and worshiping our God together as a body, being gathered together, is made so important to us who need Christ, because we've seen time and time again how that apostasy doesn't just happen. It comes when people just begin to absent themselves from the preaching of the gospel.

And a lot of times that's the beginning of where then the world just keeps on feeding and feeding those imaginations and there's no truth countering that. And so if you're the Lord, he'll break you, he'll deliver you from that, but it's the Lord that does it. That's where those imaginations and ideas that pop up in our head from the world, from the devil, are cast down. through the ministration of the Spirit of God. And so man can't deliver himself from this bondage. Jesus Christ is the deliverer. He's the one that delivers us from it.

It's only in the hands of a mediator, which Moses serves as under the Old Testament. He's a mediator to stand between God and his people there with the Old Testament. And he's a picture of the mediator between God and men, the Lord. Jesus Christ. And so here he is as the mediator holding that rod and casting down the serpent as the ambassador that God has sent. God has given him power over it to take it by the tail and to rule over it. I had a picture of our Lord ruling and reigning with a scepter in his hand over all his enemies here. Well, if Moses did that, how much greater is our Lord Jesus Christ, a mediator between God and his people to deliver us from death, to deliver us from bondage, to deliver us from the corruption of this flesh and the bondage of this world. Our Lord prayed in John 17 too, as thou hast given him, speaking of him as the Christ, in that office of the Son of God as the Christ, thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. And that's exactly what the Lord does. That's exactly what he does through the ministration of the gospel. And so this rod is clearly representative of Christ, the rod of God's strength. It pictures him. In Psalm 110, verse 2, the Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Christ is the rod of God's strength given unto you. to save us, to deliver us from our sin and death.

And whereas the serpent is connected with the curse, right? Because we, in the garden there, when man came under the curse, the serpent was there, right? With his voice, saying his words to lead Eve astray there. And whereas the serpent is connected with that curse, when man rejected the voice of God in favor of listening to the serpent and sold himself into bondage, he had everything. Man had everything. He had the dominion over all things, and he sold it for nothing. for nothing. He gave it all up and received nothing but pain and misery in return. And so man and we in Adam came under the curse, meaning that we can't keep the law of God. We didn't keep the law of God, it was just one law, don't eat of that tree. And we did in Adam, and now we can't keep any law of God.

Because when you break one, you've broken them all. You're guilty of the whole thing. Well, our blessed Lord Jesus, He did keep the law. He fulfilled the law perfectly. Loving God, His Father, and His neighbor as Himself. In all things, the Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled all the law.

Well, when he came, he came to be made a curse for his people, right? When he hung on the tree for his people as their substitute in order to obtain the forgiveness of our sins, to take our place, to bear the wrath of God against himself, that was rightly due to us. It should have fallen on us, but instead he turned that wrath of God from us upon himself, and he bore it that we go free in liberty, free from that death. He said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up. And he was speaking of his death.

Speaking of his death and so the Apostle Paul speaking of this tells us plainly in Galatians 3 13 Christ hath Redeemed us from the curse of the law a curse that we were under being made a curse for us For it is written cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree The Father made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we through him might be made the righteousness of God.

And so the wrath of God was propitiated toward us because it was poured out on Christ, and we who were loaded up with the debt of our sin go free because it's satisfied. God is satisfied. The holy justice of God is satisfied on Christ. on Christ, that you and I who believe Him and trust Him for all our righteousness go free from our sin and death. Christ has washed us in His blood and adopted us into the family of God by His blood. And so Christ finished the work and our Lord, the rod of God, is raised from the dead, and he is seated right now at the right hand of the throne of God, expecting till his enemies be made his footstool." And so John 12, 31, and 32, now is the judgment of this world. Now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. And so that's the first sign there. It pictures that authority and power which is given to Moses as the ambassador of God to go and declare these things. God's saying, I will be with you. I've sent you and you shall have success because I've purposed it. And God's able to bring it to pass. Now, let's move on to the second sign concerning Moses' hand. Let's read verse six and seven.

And the Lord said furthermore unto him, put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom. And when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous. It was leprous as snow, covered white in the snow. He had leprosy on his hand. And he said, put thine hand into thy bosom again. And he put his hand into his bosom again and plucked it out of his bosom and behold, it was turned again as his other flesh.

Now, we know, if you're familiar with the scriptures, there's a couple chapters in Leviticus, I think it's 12 and 13, that describe leprosy and the description puts our minds on the fact that this is talking about my sin. This is a picture in Typere of my sin, of my corruption, of that which is, that disease which has gone through my whole body, my whole heart, mind, and soul. This is, I'm diseased with sin, like leprosy in the body. Leprosy, well, like leprosy, sin destroys the body.

It rots it out. From the inside out, it's rotten, it spreads, it's contagious to others, it gives a horrible, painful death. It requires that you have to remove from everybody, go outside the camp, you can't dwell with the people who don't have leprosy, and lepers just rotted, they stank, they became foul, it was just, it was not good.

Well, the Lord instructed Moses to put his hand into his bosom And I think right into his shirt, right? And he was just touching his, right there at his heart there. He's just touching where his heart is. And when he pulled it out, it was a leprous. All right, well, what's the picture there? His heart made him a leper. His heart made him a sinner here.

It's showing it's not what you and I do that makes us sinners. That's not why you're a sinner, because you've done something bad, or you're good because you didn't do something bad. That doesn't make us sinners, what we do. What makes us sinners is our heart. We are corrupt and defiled. We are sinners by nature, in Adam. So we cannot please God. We cannot please God with our works. There's enmity there. There's death there.

There's corruption there. And so when he put his hand in there, that's what made his hand leprous. That's where the leprosy came. That's why a man is a sinner and does sinful deeds, because his heart is sinful. He's corrupt. That's what the Lord is teaching us. Our Lord said it this way in Mark 7, 20 through 23. Christ said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the man.

Not because you did it and then it works back up. No, it comes out of you. You do these things because your heart is corrupt and we're sinners. That's what the Lord is teaching us. And so our hearts are corrupt. That's why we do sinful things. We are sinners. But the Lord told Moses, now put your hand back into your bosom.

And when he took it out, it was clean, as pure as his other flesh, picturing how that God changes the heart. A good tree brings forth good fruit. That's when we confess our sin, and we cry out to God, Lord have mercy on me, Lord save me, that's when we confess Christ, that he's all my righteousness, that he's the savior, then it's new, right? Because you live now, now there's, Christ is rooted in your heart, and that's why then you confess Christ, and confess what I am, because that's not my hope, that I fix myself, my hope is Christ. that though I don't see what I would see, yet I know by faith he has done this. And so that's all the fruit of his spirit.

And so the picture of the second sign is one of cleansing. And that again speaks to Christ, our substitute, who himself is undefiled, pure, spotless, holy, without blemish, and he's the spotless Lamb of God. Peter saying of Christ that he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth, but he came to redeem sinners, given to him by the Father before the foundation of the world, and to do so with his own precious blood being spilled for them, being poured out for them to wash us. 1 Peter 2, 24 and 25 saying, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness by whose stripes ye were healed." All right, that corruption has no more power over us to destroy us, cast us into hell. So we're not working and laboring to purge ourselves of those things.

We look to Christ who purged us from those things so that we live now to righteousness. That's what he's saying. That's our hope. We walk in that faith. We walk in that hope. We walk in that light. For ye were a sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of your souls. And so our Lord Jesus Christ restored that which he took not away. He didn't do this to us. He didn't do the sinning at all. He didn't do that at all.

Adam did. And we, in Adam, did these things. We sold ourselves. We ruined everything. And we still do. We show and picture that. And there was a time when God created Adam, and we were pure in Adam. The hand was pure, as it were. And then we fell in Adam, and it became corrupt and defiled. But in Christ, we're healed, and it's restored again. He's reconciled that which was lost in and by his grace there. And so we're pure once more now, perfectly righteous to stand before God without fault, without guilt and shame. because of Christ, because of Christ there.

Now, one more thing on this, on this second sign here, the leper was to go outside the camp. He was to go outside the camp and the scriptures say in Leviticus 13, 46, all the days were in the plague shall be in him, he shall be defiled, he is unclean, he shall dwell alone without the camp shall his habitation be. Well, when our Savior came and when he was crucified, he wasn't crucified in Jerusalem, he was crucified outside of Jerusalem, without the camp. There's a picture in that.

He bore the sin of his people outside the camp. He took it away, he put it away forever, and that's where he cleansed us of our filthiness and our sin. and that which separated us from God. In Hebrews 13, 12-14 says, Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate. Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.

For here we have no continuing city, but we look for one to come. And that's the picture. We go to Christ, bearing this world's reproach against us for trusting Him, for needing Him, for believing Him, and we bear it. just as he bore the shame because he saw the joy.

And he was pleased to lay down his life for his sheep, for his bride. He loved, he loves us. And so he did that willingly. And so we're called to go out to him. And so we see here in this second sign here, a picture that speaks of the cleansing power of Christ's blood. That's what our Lord is testifying and ministering here. He has sent the Savior.

Believe Him. That's your salvation. That's your deliverance. That's your cleansing. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. All who believe Christ are cleansed from their sin. He delivers us from the disease and death. and eternal ruin and death. Trust Him, believe Him.

That's what He's declaring. Those are what the signs are picturing. That is what we preach the gospel for, to reveal them that are His, to preach Christ, and that's where God reveals faith in the heart that wasn't there. That's where, when there was death, now it's replaced. It's gone. It's filled with light and life. trusting and believing Christ Jesus. And so it pictures that were washed, made new, regenerated, washed in his blood and made new creatures born again in him.

Now, that's the picture there of the first two signs there. There's a third sign given to Moses here. This is the final sign we're looking at here, verse eight and nine. And it shall come to pass, if they will not believe thee, See that? It's a third and different sign. If they will not believe thee, neither hearken to the voice of the first sign, that they will believe the voice of the latter sign.

I think that's amazing. It says the voice. That's what I'm saying. This is what God used to do in signs and pictures, is what you hear through the preaching of the gospel. That's where you hear the voice of Christ your Savior. when he ministers this to your heart, to hear what others don't hear, to know he's talking to me. He's calling me out. I'm the sinner. I need the Savior, right?

And so if they won't hear the voice in the first sign that God has sent Christ, and they won't hear the voice of the second sign that he and he alone is the Savior of his people, that he did this and accomplished our redemption, Well, it shall come to pass, if they will not believe also these two signs, neither hearken unto the voice that thou shalt take of the water of the river. This is what you're gonna do. You're gonna take the water of the river and pour it upon the dry land, and the water which thou takest out of the river shall become blood upon the dry land.

All right, so the first sign is revealing the power and the authority of God. And it pictures Christ coming, being sent to the Father in the flesh. Second sign, picturing the cleansing of Christ for His people, that He is the Savior. He is the Lamb of God. There is no other salvation but by Him. And those for whom our Lord did this, they rejoice. Well, when we get up there later, we'll see that the people hearkened to those signs. They believed Moses. They believed that God had sent him.

And it pictures you that believe Christ. It's revealing that God has given you faith. It's as simple as that. If you believe Christ is all your righteousness, and you have no righteousness of your own, and you're made to cry out to him, it's a picture. It's showing that God has given you faith. which he gives to all his children. That's why you believe, otherwise you would not believe.

But, because there are some who will not believe, who do not have faith, and refuse God's word, and refuse the testimony of God concerning his son and his gospel, therefore he speaks of this third sign, which pictures judgment. Judgment upon the unbeliever. When Moses poured out the water on the ground and it became blood, That's a picture of the first plague, which the Lord brought upon Egypt, Pharaoh and Egypt. It was a sign of judgment upon those people who would not believe the word of God.

They would not let God's people go. They didn't believe the voice of it. And so those waters were turned to blood, the river, the streams feeding the river, The water in their pots that they had collected all turned to blood. And everything in there, the fish that were in the river, died. It was a picture of judgment, of death come upon them there.

And so it is that those who do not believe Christ, that do not believe that Christ is Son of God, that do not believe that Christ's blood cleanses us from sin, that he's all my righteousness, Their end is a horrible end. It's an end in judgment. There's no blessing for them. There's no life for them. There's no light for them. There's no peace. There's only pain and suffering.

Romans 2.5, Paul warns, but after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

So Paul said to the Corinthians, We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain, that you don't just let it fall by the wayside and be left and forgotten and become fruitless. For, he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succored thee, or ministered to you grace and healing and comfort for your souls. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. That's from 2 Corinthians 6, 1 and 2. So Christ Jesus is the salvation of God for sinners.

In Adam, all died. That's why we're all sinners. We don't know anybody that's perfect. We know people that are better than us, but we don't know anybody that's perfect. And without sin and fault, all come forth polluted and corrupt and defiled by sin. All are lepers. All are corrupted in their hearts.

But he tells us, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And he shall return again and raise up our bodies to forever be with the Lord, to know Him and have Him as our eternal inheritance. And so, but all those who refuse Him, there's only judgment. There's only judgment. And he says, why will you die in your sins? Why go and face God in your sins? Look to Christ. Believe on him.

And God is pleased to be merciful and gracious to you and to wash you of your sins and to give you light and life and comfort and peace in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, the rod of God. I pray the Lord bless that word to us. Let's pray. Our gracious Lord, we do thank you. for these signs which were given to Moses here, and the same signs which you reveal to us in the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to make known unto us who are sinners and have nothing, that you have sent the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and that he has accomplished the redemption of his people. Lord, we pray that you would bless this word to our hearts, that we not come under the judgment of God, but that we have only the light, the life, and the spiritual blessings which you give freely to your people, in and by the Lord Jesus Christ, whom you sent. It's in Christ's name we pray and give thanks. Amen.