Nathaniel R. Martin

Store and Speak: Psalm 119:9-16

Sermon Idea: Those who delight in God store His Word in their hearts and speak it with their mouths.

Introduction: Are you familiar with the name John Bunyan? He was a 17th-century English Puritan who spent over a decade in prison for preaching the gospel without government approval. His most famous work is an allegory of the Christian life called The Pilgrim’s Progress, which is delightful to read and offers much reflection on how to persevere in hope as we make our way to glory.

I mention John Bunyan this morning because of what others remembered and said about him. There is no greater example of this than the reflection of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who, while preaching two hundred years after Bunyan’s death, said that those who read him can’t help but say:

“Why, this man is a living Bible!” Prick him anywhere; his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text, for his very soul is full of the Word of God.”

That is high praise coming from Spurgeon, someone who would later earn the nickname, “the Prince of Preachers.”

I want you to take note of exactly what is being praised. It is not bare biblical knowledge itself. Spurgeon does not praise Bunyan for being an encyclopedia of biblical knowledge. Spurgeon sees in Bunyan a soul nourished and formed by Scripture. In Spurgeon’s words, Bunyan’s “very soul is full of the Word of God,” so that if you were to prick him, his very blood would be biblical. In other words, Bunyan did not merely know the Bible, but was transformed by it.

As people hear you speak and as they see you act, what conclusions would they draw about what has nourished and formed you? If someone were to prick you, if we can keep the imagery alive for a moment, what would your blood testify about your soul?

The second stanza of Psalm 119 gives us Holy Spirit-inspired, perfect guidance about how to become a person whose very life is formed by the Word of God.

As we have said, our exposition of Psalm 119 can be summarized with two words: discipline and delight. We want to be a people who give ourselves to a disciplined hearing and reading of the Word of God, so that we might delight in it and, in turn, delight more in the God of the Word.

How does Psalm 119:9-16 help us do that this morning? If we can capture its message in just a sentence, it would be this: those who delight in God store His Word in their hearts and speak it with their mouths.

I.) Those who delight in God store the Word in their hearts (Psalm 119:9-12)

The opening question in verse 9 sets the theme for the rest of the stanza: How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word (119:1)

This is a Word from God to all of us, but He mentions young men for a reason. Young men can make a mess of their lives if they don’t direct their passions and desires well, and the stakes are high because those early formative years also shape the kind of grown man they will be.

Brothers, the seeds you sow in your youth, you will have to reap when you’re older. So don’t waste your strength, your youth, and your time on that which will not benefit and edify you in the future.

It seems that this is meant to work as a principle from harder to easier. In other words, if the answer provided is sufficient to keep the purity of young men, then it’s sufficient for men and women of every age.

The answer is, “by guarding it according to your word.”

To guard our lives according to the Word means more than trying really hard to obey it. Rather, the Word serves as a guardian or protector for our lives, because it shapes and forms us.

Here is a beautiful truth to consider as you seek to have your life guarded by the Word of God: Jesus has prayed that the truth of God’s Word sanctify us, and he is the example of guarding his life according to the Word.

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth (Jn 17:17)

19 And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (Jn 17:19)

What’s my point? Jesus is for you as you pursue a life guarded by God’s Word. He is not only for you, but is praying for you as you seek to be shaped and formed by the Bible. He prays that you would be sanctified by God’s truth.

Robert Murray M’Cheyne once said, “If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies. Yet distance makes no difference. He is praying for me.”

How can we better understand what it means to guard our lives according to the Word? Verses 10-16 help us with that, starting in verse 10: we are to seek the Lord with our whole hearts.

With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! (Ps 119:10)

If we are going to be a people who delight in the Lord, then we must be a people who prayerfully seek the Lord with our whole hearts. The two phrases of verse 10 go together. We seek to know, worship, and obey the Lord with our whole person from the heart.

Those who delight in God are not satisfied with the appearance of godliness. Those who delight in God will not settle for merely being applauded for external acts of service. Those who delight in God understand and believe Isaiah and the Lord Jesus, that it is possible to acknowledge God with your mouth while your heart is far from him.

7 You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: 8 “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 9 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Mt 15:7–9)

Those who delight in God have no desire to be described as Paul describes wicked men to Timothy, as those, “having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” (2 Tim 3:5)

The primary way to seek the Lord with our whole heart is to pray that the Lord would not let us wander from his commandments. Reading and reflecting on Scripture is a spiritual exercise. It is not like following an instruction manual for putting furniture together. You can know the commandments while your heart is apathetic towards them.

So, as those who seek to guard their lives by the Word, we pray fervently for God to keep us, stir our hearts to love the Word, rejoice in his commandments, and obey him with a sincere heart.

You will not understand the necessity of such a prayer until you admit and acknowledge your own propensity to wander. Those who delight in God know that without his grace and the Spirit’s help, their heart will chase a whole host of things not worthy of their attention. That is why it’s helpful to sing that last stanza of Come Thou Fount.

O to grace how great a debtor

daily I’m constrained to be!

Let that grace now, like a fetter,

bind my wandering heart to thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love;

here’s my heart; O take and seal it;

seal it for thy courts above

Given our proneness to wander, we should take special heed to verse 11. How can we preemptively attack our own weakness and temptation to sin? We store the Word in our hearts.

I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Ps 119:11)

I really love the way John Gill comments on the Psalmist’s meaning in verse 11: “Not only heard and read it, but received it into his affections; mixed with faith, laid it up in his mind and memory for future use; preserved it in his heart as a choice treasure, where it might dwell richly, and be of service to him on many occasions…”

I want you to imagine briefly that you are in a circumstance or situation in which you don’t have access to a Bible—not a physical copy, an app on your phone, nothing—but the circumstances are so dire you’d need the Word to persevere through them. How much of the Bible could you access in your own mind and heart? How much of it would be so stored up in your heart through memorization that you could meditate on it without ever seeing it on a written page?

One of the most underutilized spiritual disciplines among so many Christians today is memorizing Scripture. The Lord commands that we not only read the Word, but that we store it in our hearts like a precious treasure. The Bible’s encouragement to memorize Scripture is greater than you may think.

6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Dt 6:6–7)

If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. (Jn 15:7)

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… (Col 3:16)

When I was in seminary, I had the opportunity to take a class on Jonathan Edwards with Dr. Andy Davis, pastor of FBC, Durham, North Carolina, who occasionally teaches church history classes on campus. From the first day of class, I was struck by his presence and the way he spoke of Scripture. It felt like, “…this guy walks with Jesus at a different level than I do.”

What I came to learn, and what he is known for now, is that he has committed entire books of the Bible to memory and has been disciplining himself to do that for over thirty-five years. The Bible has 66 books, and as of 2017, when I was in his class, he’d memorized 42 of them. Sitting in his class is my closest personal experience to Spurgeon’s reflection on Bunyan.

I want to encourage you to think about how you might better memorize and store up the Word in your heart. I also want to challenge you not to fall back on the typical excuses. Your memory is good enough; you can make time, and there are resources available to help. Chief among them is Dr. Davis’ little book, How to Memorize Scripture for Life: From One Verse to Entire Books.

Those who delight in God store the Word in their heart, so they may not sin against God. No greater antidote to sin exists than internalizing God’s Word. This is how the Lord Jesus endured Satan’s temptations in the wilderness. Three different times Jesus said, “It is written.”

Notice also verse 12, which combines praise and prayer.

Blessed are you, O LORD; teach me your statutes (Ps 119:12)

The Lord is the fountain of all that is good, true, and beautiful, and in Christ God becomes our teacher. You can pray this prayer with confidence, because if you’re a Christian, you’ve already begun to be taught by God.

45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— (Jn 6:45)

No one is a greater teacher than God the Holy Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. If you’re in Christ, then you’ve been taught by the Father, and if you’re in Christ, you’ve been given the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus promises in John 14 will be our teacher:

the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. (Jn 14:26)

So friends, pray for God to teach you as you hear the Word preached. Pray for God to teach you as you read the Word. Pray for God to teach you as you memorize the Word.

Those who delight in God store the Word in their hearts.

II.) Those who delight in God speak the Word with their mouths (Psalm 119:13-16)

Verse 13 shifts from internal digestion of the Word to external declaration of the Word. Those who delight in God not only store the Word in their hearts, but they speak the Word with their mouths.

With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth. (Ps 119:13)

Rather than talk through the second half of the stanza verse by verse, I want to mention three ways those who delight in God declare all the rules of God’s Word.

  1. Speak the Word to evangelize and disciple

“In this verse he declares that the law of God was not only deeply graven on his heart, but that it was his earnest and strenuous endeavor to gain over man of his fellow-disciples into subjection to God.”- John Calvin

2. Speak the Word to edify

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. (Eph 4:29)

14 And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all (1 Th 5:13–14)

3. Sing the Word to exalt God and encourage the people of God

16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Col 3:16)

but be filled with the Spirit, 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. (Eph 5:18–21)

In these three manners of speaking the Word, we obey and adhere to verses 14-16.

As we speak the Word to others, we meditate on God’s precepts and fix our eyes on them (Psalm 119:15)

As we sing the Word to edify the church and exalt God’s name, we delight in God’s testimonies as in riches; we meditate on his precepts through song, and delight in God’s Word, so that we will never forget it (Psalm 119:14, 15, 16).

Those who delight in God speak his Word with their mouths.

In closing, it would be good to offer some points of application that may seem obvious, but are important to hear again given our culture’s rampant biblical illiteracy and the importance of knowing God’s Word.

  1. Keep a Bible with you, and reference it throughout your life.
  1. Read your Bible, all of it, as much as you’re able.
  1. Study Scripture in depth. Connect with good Bible studies, come on Wednesday night, join Precepts, and use good resources.
  2. Pray the Bible. Pray the very words of Scripture, for we know that prayers according to God’s will are answered (1 John 5:14-15)
  1. Sing the Bible. Sing the Psalms, sing Scripture-saturated hymns. Do so in corporate worship, but also around your kitchen table.
  1. Share the Bible with others. Evangelize the lost, counsel sinners and sufferers, and edify the saints.
Nathaniel R. Martin

Theological Themes in Leviticus

The holy God dwells with his covenant people and provides the means of cleansing, atonement, and consecration by which they may live in his presence and enjoy fellowship with him.

  1. Divine Presence – God Dwelling with His People

Leviticus begins where Exodus ends: God’s glory fills the tabernacle, and the LORD speaks to Moses from the tent of meeting (Ex. 40:34-38; Lev. 1:1). God’s presence gives the book its setting and purpose: Israel must learn how to live with the holy God in its midst.

The sacrifices and priestly ministry culminate in the appearance of God’s glory (Lev. 9:6, 23-24).

6 And Moses said, “This is the thing that the LORD commanded you to do, that the glory of the LORD may appear to you.” (Le 9:6)

His presence is gracious but also dangerous when approached contrary to his command (Lev. 10:1-3; 16:1-2). The covenant promise reaches its height in God dwelling and walking among his people (Lev. 26:11-12).

The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the LORD and died, 2 and the LORD said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. (Le 16:1–3)

11 I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. 12 And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people. 13 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. (Le 26:11–13)

“Leviticus distinguishes between the permanent presence of God with his people, a presence which is to regulate their whole way of life, and his visible presence in glory which is obvious on special occasions. The book similarly distinguishes between general presence within the camp of Israel and his localized presence about the ark of the tent of meeting.” – Gordon Wenham

2. Holiness – Belonging to God and Reflecting His Character

The priests must distinguish the holy from the common and the unclean from the clean (Lev. 10:10-11). Holiness concerns consecration to God: priests, offerings, sacred space, and appointed times are set apart for his service (Lev. 8:10-12; 6:25-27; 23:1-4).

10 You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean, 11 and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the LORD has spoken to them by Moses.” (Le 10:10–11)

Israel’s holiness also requires conduct that reflects God’s character: “You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy” (Lev. 19:2). Justice, generosity, truthful dealing, and love of neighbor belong to this calling (Lev. 19:9-18). God sets Israel apart as his own and sanctifies his people (Lev. 20:7-8, 26).

3. Clean and Unclean – Fitness for Sacred Approach

To understand the laws of clean and unclean, it helps to see the Levitical system as mediated between two spaces: the common and the sacred.

“Everything that is not holy is common. Common things divide into two groups, the clean and the unclean. Clean things become holy when they are sanctified. But unclean objects cannot be sanctified. Clean things can be made unclean if they are polluted. Finally, holy items may be defiled and become common, even polluted, and therefore unclean…Sanctification can elevate the clean into the holy, while pollution degrades the clean into unclean. The unclean and the holy are two states which must never come into contact with each other….According to Leviticus, then,  sacrificial blood is necessary to cleanse and sanctify. Sacrifice can undo the effects of sin and human infirmity. Sin and disease lead to profanation of the holy and pollution of the clean. Sacrifice can reverse this process.” – Gordon Wenham

Purity and holiness are related but distinct: being clean does not itself mean being consecrated as holy (Lev. 10:10). Ritual uncleanness can arise without moral wrongdoing, including through childbirth, skin conditions, and bodily discharges (Lev. 12:1-8; 13:1-8; 15:16-24). Uncleanness must therefore not be equated simply with personal guilt.

A person could become unclean through things that are not themselves sinful:

  • childbirth (Lev. 12)
  • skin disease (Lev. 13–14)
  • bodily discharges (Lev. 15)
  • contact with certain animals or carcasses (Lev. 11)

31 “Thus you shall keep the people of Israel separate from their uncleanness, lest they die in their uncleanness by defiling my tabernacle that is in their midst.” (Le 15:3)

Purification protects both the people and God’s dwelling: uncleanness must not defile the tabernacle (Lev. 15:31). The Day of Atonement cleanses the sanctuary from Israel’s impurities and transgressions (Lev. 16:16, 19). Moral rebellion also defiles: prohibited sexual practices pollute the land, and idolatry defiles the sanctuary (Lev. 18:24-30; 20:1-3).

4. Ritual Sacrifice – Atonement, Consecration, and Communion

God appoints offerings through which Israel approaches him. The burnt offering makes atonement (Lev. 1:3-4); grain offerings present gifts from the produce of the land (Lev. 2:1-3); peace offerings include a shared meal (Lev. 7:11-21). Sin offerings provide atonement and forgiveness, while guilt offerings address offenses requiring restitution (Lev. 4:20, 26; 5:14-16; 6:1-7).

Sacrifice serves several purposes: cleansing, forgiveness, consecration, thanksgiving, and fellowship. God gives the blood on the altar for atonement (Lev. 17:11). Leviticus 9 illustrates the goal: sacrifices are offered, the people are blessed, and God’s glory appears (Lev. 9:22-24).

5. Covenant – A Redeemed People Living with Their God

Israel receives these commands as a people already delivered from Egypt. The LORD grounds their holiness and obedience in his redeeming action (Lev. 11:44-45; 19:36; 25:38, 55; 26:13). Covenant obedience responds to that redemption and governs worship, relationships, work, and care for the vulnerable (Lev. 19:9-18, 33-34; 25:35-43).

44 For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy. You shall not defile yourselves with any swarming thing that crawls on the ground. 45 For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.” (Le 11:44–45)

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt. 37 And you shall observe all my statutes and all my rules, and do them: I am the LORD.” (Le 19:36–37)

Leviticus 26 sets out covenant blessings and judgments (Lev. 26:3-39). The highest blessing is God’s dwelling among his people: he will be their God, and they will be his people (Lev. 26:11-12). Even after judgment, God promises to remember his covenant when Israel confesses its unfaithfulness (Lev. 26:40-45).

How the Five Themes Fit Together

Divine presence: God dwells among Israel (Lev. 1:1; 26:11-12).

Holiness: his people must reflect his holiness (Lev. 19:2).

Purity: they must guard his dwelling from defilement (Lev. 15:31). Sacrifice: he provides atonement and cleansing (Lev. 17:11; 16:30). Covenant: all of this expresses the relationship established by the God who redeemed them (Lev. 26:12-13).

Fulfillment in Christ and the New Creation

Presence: the Word becomes flesh and dwells among us (John 1:14). Holiness: God’s people remain called to be holy (1 Pet. 1:15-16). Cleansing: Christ’s blood purifies the conscience (Heb. 9:13-14). Sacrifice: his one offering accomplishes what repeated sacrifices could not finally secure (Heb. 10:1-4, 11-14).

Covenant and access: Christ mediates the new covenant, and his people draw near through him (Heb. 9:15; 10:19-22).

The promise of God dwelling with his people reaches its consummation in the new creation, where death is removed, and nothing unclean enters (Rev. 21:3-4, 27; 22:3-5).

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Re 21:22–27)

Nathaniel R. Martin

The Grain Offering: Leviticus 2:1-16

“…one approaches the divine Majesty not only utterly purified but with a tribute.”– L. Michael Morales

“The Lord expects his people to offer themselves and the best they have as a token of their dedication and gratitude.”– Allen P. Ross

Structure of Leviticus 2:1-16

Uncooked grain offerings (2:1-3)

Cooked grain offerings (2:4-10)

Regulations for grain offerings (2:11-13)

Firstfruits of the grain harvest (2:14-16)

In the opening chapter of Leviticus, our Lord instructs Moses regarding the whole burnt offering. That offering’s central purpose was to make atonement. The grain offering would be offered alongside the whole burnt offering after it was made (Lev. 9:17), with a distinct purpose. But any Israelite could also offer it on its own (Deut. 26). The grain offering is similar to the whole burnt offering in many ways, but differs in others. Its similarity is found in remaining a burnt offering that is transformed into “a pleasing aroma to the Lord” (2:2, 9).

The difference is that it is a cereal/grain offering, not an animal. Another difference is that only a portion of the grain offering was burned, and the remainder was given to the priests to eat.

If the whole burnt offering is about atonement, then the grain offering is about dedication and gratitude to the one for whom the worshipper is atoned.

Mark Rooker summarizes the meaning of the offering: “The grain offering was a gift to the LORD that honored him as the source of life and of the fertility of the land. It represented the dedication to God of the fruit of one’s labor. In the grain offering, the worshiper offered the best to God, which signified the dedication of one’s life and work to God.”

Three repeated phrases speak to the nature of this offering.

  1. The offering is a memorial.
  2. The offering is pleasing the Lord.
  3. The offering is most holy.

I.) The uncooked grain offering (2:1-3)

“When anyone brings a grain offering as an offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. (Lev 2:1)

The grain offering served as a tribute to God, a gift given to the LORD out of gratitude and expressing dedication to the LORD. The word was used throughout the Ancient Near East in non-religious contexts; vassal kings paid money to their overlord (Suzerian) as tribute. Consider the helpful commentary by Gordon Wenham.

“The cereal offering is a kind of tribute from the faithful worshipper to his divine overlord. When a treaty was made, the conquered nations were expected to bring their tribute to the great king. Israel too was bound by a covenant with God, and therefore had a responsibility to express her fidelity by bringing her cereal offerings.”

As new covenant believers, we worship God in the same spirit. We come to the Lord giving of ourselves and all that we own to serve the Lord (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 8-9). In so doing, we acknowledge God as the giver of every perfect gift (including our health and money) and dedicate ourselves in a manner that his costly, i.e., the giving of our strength, time, money, etc.

The grain offering expresses both of these realities as well. By offering grain, the worshiper acknowledges the Lord as the provider of the harvest and dedicates it in a costly way. Consider the way the offering is made in verses 1-2.

He shall pour oil on it and put frankincense on it 2 and bring it to Aaron’s sons, the priests. And he shall take from it a handful of the fine flour and oil, with all of its frankincense, and the priest shall burn this as its memorial portion on the altar, a food offering with a pleasing aroma to the LORD. (Lev 2:1–2)

Frankincense was an expensive luxury. Although it was readily available, it was not cheap. Proper dedication to God does not offer simply what is left over. God does not get the margins of our time, energy, and resources. The use of frankincense shows that we faithfully dedicate ourselves to the Lord and worship Him by offering our best.

Now let’s consider the provision to the priesthood in verse 3.

3 But the rest of the grain offering shall be for Aaron and his sons; it is a most holy part of the LORD’s food offerings. (Lev 2:3)

The grain offering served the practical purpose of providing for the priesthood, as they did not own land and depended on the tithes and sacrifices of the people. It was their primary source of income.

Reflecting on this principle, Gordon Wenham writes, “The cereal offering also provided the priests with their main income. Christian laity are responsible for ensuring that their ministers and clergy receive proper provision.”

13 Do you not know that those who are employed in the temple service get their food from the temple, and those who serve at the altar share in the sacrificial offerings? 14 In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel. (1 Co 9:13–14)

II.) Cooked grain offerings (2:4-10)

As in chapter one’s outline of various options for the whole burnt offering, God’s grace appears again in the grain offering. Not everyone could afford Frankincense, so they could offer a cooked offering, which required more time and energy but was equally acceptable and pleasant unto the Lord. Allen Mosely writes, “If we have the money to get the best, we’ll spend it, and if we don’t have the money we’ll spend the time to make our gift the best we can.”

The central theme in these verses is that those who worship God should actively exclude what corrupts and defiles our lives.

Notice the prohibition in verse 4.

4 “When you bring a grain offering baked in the oven as an offering, it shall be unleavened loaves of fine flour mixed with oil or unleavened wafers smeared with oil (Lev 2:4)

In verse 4, and again in verse 11, the Lord prohibits leaven or yeast in the offering. The reason is not stated, leaving many Old Testament scholars to conclude that it is because yeast manifests decomposition and decay. In other words, it symbolizes death. Perhaps this is right, but what is clear is that leaven in Scripture is symbolic, and when used, the symbolism is negative.

Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. (Lk 12:1)

8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Co 5:8)

As the church seeks to enter God’s presence in worship, we need to remove and repent of all that is unrighteous and wicked. It is not that sinners are not welcome into worship—they are. But we are to avoid thinking that our singing, giving, and serving are pleasant to God while refusing to repent and turn from sin, which we know corrupts our soul and harms the body of Christ.

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. (Ps 51:16–17)

III.) Regulations for grain offerings (Lev. 2:11-13)

We discussed the prohibition at length above, so let’s focus on verses 12-13.

12 As an offering of firstfruits you may bring them to the LORD, but they shall not be offered on the altar for a pleasing aroma. 13 You shall season all your grain offerings with salt. You shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be missing from your grain offering; with all your offerings you shall offer salt. (Le 2:12–13)

Let’s focus on the addition of salt to the offering. What is God communicating by the command to salt “all your offerings”

The best answer is to interpret it in the context of the salt covenant. In the Ancient world, covenants were sometimes concluded by exchanging and eating salt.

19 All the holy contributions that the people of Israel present to the LORD I give to you, and to your sons and daughters with you, as a perpetual due. It is a covenant of salt forever before the LORD for you and for your offspring with you.” (Nu 18:19)

5 Ought you not to know that the LORD God of Israel gave the kingship over Israel forever to David and his sons by a covenant of salt? (2 Ch 13:5)

Salt was not only a preservative, but was something that was easily preserved. It cannot be destroyed by fire or other means, representing the covenant’s eternality.

Gordon Wenham is again worth quoting in full: “To add salt to the offering was a reminder that the worshiper was in an eternal covenant relationship with his God. This meant that God would never forsake him, and also that the worshipper had a perpetual duty to uphold and keep the covenant.”

IV.) The firstfruits of the grain harvest (Lev. 2:14-16)

14 “If you offer a grain offering of firstfruits to the LORD, you shall offer for the grain offering of your firstfruits fresh ears, roasted with fire, crushed new grain. (Lev 2:14)

One appropriate time to offer the grain offering was at the beginning of the harvest, during the harvest festival, when the firstfruits of the harvest were brought to the altar (Deuteronomy 26). Again, what is offered to the Lord is what is best and costly. To give the firstfruits was a sign of gratitude and devotion to the Lord.

The Grain Offering and the New Testament

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Ro 12:1)

15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Heb 13:15–16)

The Grain Offering and our Lord Jesus Christ

  1. Jesus is our example in showing gratitude
  • Jesus gave thanks before feeding the 5,000 (Matt. 14:19)
  • Jesus gave thanks before feeding the 4,000 (Matt. 15:36)
  • Jesus gave thanks before transforming Passover into the Lord’s Supper (Luke 22:17-19)
  1. Jesus is our example in dedication.

Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ (Heb 10:7)

  1. Jesus makes our dedication possible

13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (Ro 6:13)

  1. Jesus is the firstfruits of our resurrection

20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. (1 Co 15:20)

Nathaniel R. Martin

The Whole Burnt Offering: Leviticus 1:1-7

The laws of Leviticus were revealed to the covenant nation at a particular phase of their history. They were designed to mold Israel into a holy people in a particular historical environment. Though God’s holiness is unchanging, its expression may vary from age to age.” – Gordon Wenham

Structure of Leviticus 1:1-17

The call of God to worship (1:1-2)

Whole burnt offerings of cattle (1:3-9)

Whole burnt offerings of sheep and goats (1:10-13)

Whole burnt offerings of birds (1:14-17)

I.) The call of God to worship (1:1-12)

The LORD called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock. (Leviticus 1:1–2)

The solution to the tension created at the end of Exodus begins with God calling to Moses. Leviticus is not about obscure laws, but about God’s redemptive plan to bring his people into his divine presence. The opening words, “The LORD called Moses…,” tie Leviticus into the larger context of God’s redemptive work throughout Genesis-Exodus.

YHWH God called to Adam [in the garden]Genesis 3:9
God called to him [Moses] from within the bushExodus 3:4
YHWH called to him [Moses] from the mountainExodus 19:3 
YHWH called to Moses from within the cloudExodus 24:16
YHWH called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meetingLeviticus 1:1 

Two key things are worth mentioning in the opening verses. First, God initiates and calls his people back into his presence; second, he provides the ways and means of entering his presence.

Leviticus 1-10 presents a redemptive solution that turns the tabernacle (God’s dwelling place) into a tent of meeting. Before God gives his grace through the Levitical sacrificial system, the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place, cannot function as a tent of meeting.

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting (because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.) (Ex 40:34–35)

We can draw a great deal of reflection about biblical worship from these themes in Leviticus 1:1-2. Worship is far from self-expression. As David Peterson writes, worship “…is an engagement with him on the terms that he proposes and in the way that he alone makes possible.”

Allen Mosely encourages Christians to reflect on the implications of Leviticus 1:1-2 for Christian worship, and it is worth quoting in full.

“It would be good for us to spend time meditating on the fact that the worship of Israel described in Leviticus was at God’s initiative and according to God’s words that He spoke to His people. These days, when the topic of conversation is worship, people often speak of their preferences. When God speaks about worship in His Word, He doesn’t address our personal preferences about styles of preaching or styles of music. Since that is not what God says about worship, why do we talk about it so much? Why are our preferences in worship so important to us, when they’re not important in God’s Word? Who determined the worship forms of Israel? God did. Who was at the center of the worship of Israel? God was. So when we talk about worship, why do we talk so little about God and so much about what we like? God spoke to Moses about Israel’s worship; Moses listened and obeyed. Let us listen to what God says about worship, and let us obey.”

God’s call to worship is also an invitation into his presence: 2 “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.

Let’s note carefully who is being invited: “When any one of you brings an offering…”

The offerings mentioned in verse 2 are not exclusively priestly offerings or sacrifices for the nation of Israel as a whole (Numbers 28-29); rather, Leviticus 1:2 speaks of personal, individual offerings that any member of Israel could make. As we study Leviticus, we’ll come to see the many reasons why individuals might make a sacrifice before the Lord (Lev. 4-5, 12-15), but for now it is enough to see that God invites sinful people into his presence and provides the means for them to do so.

The offering was to come from the livestock from the herd or from the flock.

The offerings came from the herd or the flock, meaning the worshipper would not offer a wild animal but an animal from their own flock or herd. In worship, we give God our best, and that means worship costs something. Worshippers could eat wild animals (Deut. 14:5), but never offer them as sacrifices because they cost the worshipper nothing.

II.) The Whole Burnt Offering (Leviticus 1:3-17)

The first sacrifice mentioned in Leviticus is the whole burnt offering. This offering was the most common, as the priests began and ended each day in the tabernacle with a whole burnt offering to the Lord (Exodus 29:38-46).

  1. The sacrifice must be without blemish or perfect (cf. Malachi 1:8)

3 “If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer a male without blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD (Lev 1:3)

“The animal had to be perfect because it was given in place of the morally, sometimes physically, blemished worshipper.”- Allen P. Ross

The New Testament emphasizes Jesus Christ’s sinless nature for this very reason. It tells us not only about the nature of the Lord Jesus, but also about the sufficiency of his sacrifice (2 Cor. 5:21; Hebrews 7:26-27)

2. The worshipper must be identified with the sacrifice

4 He shall lay his hand on the head of the burnt offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. (Lev 1:4)

Laying on of hands consecrates the animal as an atoning sacrifice and as a substitutionary sacrifice. The sacrifice is offered in place of the worshipper’s life. The laying on of hands symbolizes both identification and transference. The sacrifice takes on the worshipper’s guilt.

3. The sacrifice, spreading of blood with the division of labor

Worshipper Priests 
The worshipper killes the animal (vs. 5)Aaron’s sons bring the blood and throw it on the sides of the altar (vs. 5)
The worshipper flays the offering and cuts it into pieces (vs. 6)Aaron’s sons put the fire on the altar and arrange the wood (vs. 7)
The worshipper washes the legs and entriails with water (vs. 9)Aaron’s sons attange the pieces on the altar (vs. 8)

Aaron’s sons burn the offering as a burnt offering (vs. 9)

The same procedure applies to sheep and goats (Leviticus 1:10-13), but birds differ slightly (Leviticus 1:14-17). Because the sacrifice is small, the priest drains the blood on the side of the altar (Lev. 1:15) rather than cutting it into pieces. The priest also removes the bird’s head himself (Lev. 1:15).

What significance can be drawn from the three different animal options for sacrifice? This is another act of God’s redemptive grace. God accepts an unblemished offering that the person can afford. No one is excluded from worship because of socio-economic status or income.

The Purpose of the Whole Burnt Offering

The purpose of the burnt offering is stated clearly in vs. 3-4 in two related concepts: acceptance before God and the making of atonement (Lev. 14:20; 16:24)

Vs. 3: He shall bring it to the entrance of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD

Vs. 4: and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.

Perhaps we can summarize it this way: the purpose of the whole burnt offering was peace with God through atonement.

The whole burnt offering maintained the worshippers’ fellowship with God by appeasing God’s wrath for their sin and consecrating the worshipper for life with God among God’s people.

It is called the whole burnt offering because the entire sacrifice was burned and became a pleasing aroma before the Lord (Lev. 1:9, 13, 17)

Important background for this appears in Genesis 8:21.

20 Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 21 And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth. Neither will I ever again strike down every living creature as I have done. (Ge 8:20–21)

Gordon Wenham helpfully writes, “Though man was unchanged in his sinfulness, God’s attitude to man altered, thanks to the burnt offering…Sacrifice is the appointed means whereby peaceful coexistence between a holy God and sinful people becomes a possibility.”

The Whole Burnt Offering and the Christian Life

Space does not allow us to consider the ways that the New Testament alludes to Jesus Christ true burnt offering for sins (Eph. 5:2; 1 Peter 1:18-19; Heb. 10:6-8), but we can say that Christ has fulfilled all that the whole burnt offering represented, so that we have no need to offer atonign sacrifices in bulls, goats, and birds. Through Christ’s perfect, atoning sacrifice, we are at peace with God.

However, the New Testament also speaks of Christian service and good works as an offering pleasing to the Lord.

15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God. (Heb 13:15–16)

18 I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God (Php 4:18)

5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Pe 2:4–5)

The Whole Burnt Offering and Christian Worship

Gordon Wenham again is worth quoting in full:

“The burnt offerings were the first offering of the day in normal worship. This reminds us that forgiveness of sins is the prerequisite of true worship. Only those whose sins are forgiven can enjoy God’s fellowship and praise him from their hearts. The pattern of OT sacrifices may thus provide a pattern of truly Christian worship. Worship should begin with confession of sins, a claiming of Christ’s forgiveness, and a total rededication to God’s service, before going on to praise and petition.”

The most neglected part of biblical worship in modern church services today is the corporate confession of sin and the assurance of pardon. People rarely like to deal with confession, sin, and forgiveness today. They want worship that is light and feels good.

The problem, of course, is that this does not resemble the way God has instructed us to worship. Daily confession of sin and weekly corporate confession of sin on the Lord’s Day should be a regular rhythm in the life of the church (1 John 1:9).

Nathaniel R. Martin

Lead Us & Deliver Us: Matthew 6:13

Sermon Idea: To pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” is to ask God to preserve us and deliver us from evil.

Introduction: There is something disarming about someone who has experienced difficulties similar to yours. It’s easier to connect with those who’ve shared similar suffering than with those who know nothing of your struggle. Whether it is our battle against sin or our suffering in this fallen world, we are grateful to learn that our pain is not unique and that others may relate to what we are experiencing.

It is not insignificant that the one who teaches us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” was once led into the wilderness of temptation himself and came out the other side victorious.

For the Gospel of Matthew, the memory of Jesus’ temptation is usually fresh in every reader’s mind as they read through it, because the temptation narrative appears in Matthew 4:1-11.

We read in Matthew 4:1, Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Mt 4:1)

Three times Satan, who is identified as the “tempter” in verse 2, comes to Jesus. The first time, Satan appeals to Jesus’ hunger, as he had been fasting forty days, and tells him to command stone to become loaves of bread. The second time, Satan attempts to wield Scripture against Jesus, telling him to throw himself off the Temple, because there are promises that God will protect his Messiah. The third time, Satan pulled out his best card. He took Jesus to a very high mountain to show him the kingdoms of the world and their glory. To receive them all, he simply had to bow his knee and worship the tempter.

Each of these was not only a temptation to unnecessarily prove that he was, in fact, the Son of God—the coming Messiah —but also a temptation to pursue good things in all the wrong ways.

Jim Orrick says this well, “Satan’s temptations are illegitimate shortcuts to a legitimate goal.”

Food is good, but trusting God too little to provide is not. Turning stones into bread would be an illegitimate shortcut to a legitimate goal.

Having confidence in someone’s love for you is good, but pursuing affirmation of that love with dramatic action—like casting yourself off a building—is not good. God’s care for the Son has already been declared. Jesus already has what he needs. At Jesus’ baptism, a voice came from heaven and said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matt. 3:17)

For Jesus, the kingdoms of the world and their glory were a legitimate goal. They are promised to him by the Father, but Satan wants to tempt Jesus with this thought: God’s ways are too hard, too difficult. God’s way is the way of the cross and the tomb. Sure, Jesus, I’ll give you the kingdoms of the world if you bow and worship me. Why be nailed to a cross, when you can simply bend a knee?

Each time, Jesus responded by quoting Scripture, and the last time he commands that Satan leave him, saying, “Be gone, Satan!” Of course, he does, because when Jesus commands that you go, you go.

The one who teaches us to pray about temptation and evil has been in the wilderness before us. He has stared the evil one in the face, and emerged obedient.

We know Jesus endured more temptations than these, because the author of Hebrews tells us, 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. (Heb 4:14–15)

As we consider the sixth petition, we need to keep our eyes on Jesus Christ, because his perfect obedience is the ground of our assurance before God, not our own. We also need to keep our eyes on Jesus, because as the one who has endured temptation without sin, he has become a merciful High Priest who grants us access to the throne of God and offers mercy and grace in our time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16).

To pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil,” is to ask God to preserve us and deliver us from evil.

It has a future aspect and a present aspect. The future aspect is heard in the words, “Lead us not into temptation.” That is, preserve us as we face the trials and temptations that are to come. The present aspect is heard in the words, “and deliver us from evil.” Right now, God, there is evil still in me, there is evil in the world, and there is an evil one against me. Deliver me now from evil.

I should not have to state the urgency and necessity of this prayer, but let’s be clear as to the stakes.

We will have trouble, and we will be tempted. In all of this, there is an enemy, an evil one who only means us harm.

8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Pe 5:8)

Now that we have put Jesus at the center of this petition and been plain about the stakes, let’s pray for preservation from evil and deliverance from evil, with the posture & practice required to resist evil.

I.) We pray for preservation from evil

Before we think about what Jesus means by “Lead us not…,” it will be helpful for us to think carefully about temptation. You can read Christian writers throughout the centuries across different theological traditions, and you will often find them identifying three enemies involved in temptation: the world, the flesh, and the devil.

An Orthodox Catechism says, for example, in question 150, “We are so feeble and weak by nature that we cannot stand even one moment without our most deadly enemies—Satan, the world, and our own flesh—incessantly attacking and assaulting us.”

We need to think about this, because it’s invaluable information. Insight into the enemy’s playbook better equips us to discern temptation, fight sin, and resist the devil.

  1. We are tempted by the world

19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (Jn 15:19)

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1 Jn 2:15–17)

The danger of temptation from the world is that it obscures reality—the way things really are—and then pressures us to fear being in the minority, to be strange. No one has thought about this better than David Wells, one of the most important and prophetic theological voices you’ve probably never heard of. In his book God in the Wasteland, he offers the best description of worldliness that I have read.

“Worldliness, as we have seen, is that set of practices in a society, its values and ways of looking at life, that make sin look normal and righteousness look strange.” – David Wells

2. We are tempted by our flesh

14 But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. 15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. (Jas 1:14–15)

17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Ga 5:17)

So let’s make it plain. Even the redeemed love things they shouldn’t love, desire what they shouldn’t desire, and haven’t grown to hate what is opposed to God’s law.

Because of this, we can lead ourselves into temptation when we become careless about people, places, and circumstances that could have been avoided but make sinning more likely.

We lead ourselves into temptation when we are casual about what we think about and dwell on it. We lead ourselves into temptation when we put off actions that are clearly right and good in accordance with God’s Word. Delayed obedience quickly turns into disobedience.

3. We are tempted by the devil

In Scripture, Satan is referred to as the tempter (Matthew 4:3), the enemy (Matt. 13:39), the adversary (1 Pet. 5:8), and the devil (James 4:7).

His ways are not direct, for he is a schemer: “11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Eph 6:11)

If I can press upon you anything important about the schemes of the devil, it would be this: Satan most likely doesn’t want to ruin your life today; he wants to give you just enough for you to minimize its effect on your life in your own mind. Then he’ll give a little more, then a little more, and a little more, until he can do great damage to you and those around you. Satan is laying the groundwork to ruin your life ten years from now.

Wilhelmus A. Brakel helpfully writes, “To advance all his temptations at once would not be effective with many. He knows the constitution of the body as well as its vulnerability; he knows the sin most likely to be committed, and he knows what circumstances we must at all times be in to do so.”

That’s some insight into temptation, but now let us consider what it means not to be led into it.

If Jesus promised that we would have trouble (John 16:33) and the Bible assumes temptation is an expected difficulty of the Christian life, then we can safely assume that this is not a prayer to avoid trials and temptations altogether.

Rather, the idea is that God would empower us and help us not to be overwhelmed by temptation, and so not sin. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians

13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Co 10:13)

To pray Lead us not into temptation” is to ask God to keep us from giving in to people, places, and circumstances that will result in sin.

To pray this prayer sincerely, we need to believe at least four things with conviction. It is worth borrowing from Brakel again, becasue it is hard to improve on these reflections.

To pray this sincerely indicates…

  1. Knowledge and acknowledgment of the sinfulness of our heart and our weakness in resisting temptation.
  2. A hatred and aversion to sin, and a fear of falling into it.
  3. A love for communion with God, which sin affects and obscures; and a love for the honor of God’s name, the reputation of godliness, and the joy of the godly.
  4. Faith in God’s care for his own, and in God’s omnipotence to give them strength to subdue the enemies in their assaults.

II.) We pray for deliverance from evil

The second part of the petition is similar to the first, but concerns the present reality of evil, ranging from the evil that remains in us, the evil in the world, and the evil one—Satan himself.

To pray, “Deliver us from evil,” is to pray that we will not walk in the flesh, but in the Spirit. It is to pray that unrighteousness and wickedness are stamped out, so that our family, culture, and society celebrate what is good, beautiful, and true.

We pray for the fulfillment of Romans 16:20: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. (Ro 16:20)

We can pray this prayer in confidence and hope, because we know that nothing unrighteous or wicked can enter the kingdom of God. All of it will eventually expire; we simply need to keep praying for God to bring that day.

Earlier, I quoted a part of the answer to question 150 of the Orthodox Catechism. Here is the rest of the answer.

“Therefore, we pray that you would uphold, establish, and strengthen us by the might of your Spirit, that we may not yield in this spiritual combat as conquered, but withstand our enemies both courageously and consistently, until we get the perfect victory.”

III.) We pray with the posture & practice required to resist evil

  1. Humility & Earnestness

As we pray this petition, we must confess with conviction that we are too weak to overcome temptation and resist sin in our own power. We can overcome it in Christ and with the help of the Spirit, which is why we pray. That is, we pray this prayer with the posture of humility.

We also need to pray this prayer with earnestness. That is, we should pray it daily and with sincerity, because the risk is high. 

Sin is not a mere mistake that has no impact on you and those around you. Sin deforms the soul. Sin only brings sorrow and misery. Nothing good comes from it, and the cost is far higher than we can afford.

“Sinning does not merely consist in the committing of transitory evil thoughts, words, and deeds, but it injures the spiritual life itself. It becomes more feeble and weaker, and a person becomes less fit to live godly and to turn from sin.” – Wilhelmus A. Brakel

  1. Pursue and practice obedience and resistance to the devil while praying, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

We must practice what we pray for. There is to be no contradiction between our acts and our prayers. That is, to truly pray this petition, you must make every effort to avoid opportunities that may invite temptation and to resist sin and the devil’s schemes.

What did Jesus also teach us in the Sermon on the Mount?

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. (Mt 5:29–30)

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. (Ro 6:12–13)

Yes, we should pray for the Lord to help us overcome temptation, but as we do so, we should make every effort not to lead ourselves into temptation!

Application

  1. How often do you pray like this? When was the last time you were so aware of yourself and your circumstances that bringing God’s help to overcome temptation and resist sin was imperative?
  2. Are you harboring any hidden sin this morning that could hinder the sincerity of this prayer if you prayed it? Or perhaps, we can say it this way: what dangerous areas of your life have you grown casual about?
  1. As you reflect on these two questions, prepare your heart to go before the Lord, honestly confess sin with a broken heart, rest in his gospel promise to forgive and to cleanse, and then pray for the grace to change.
Nathaniel R. Martin

Forgive Us Our Debts: Matthew 6:12

Sermon Idea: Praying, “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” means seeking God’s pardon for our sins and the power to forgive those who’ve sinned against us.

Introduction: More often than not, good preaching begins with an illustration that sets up a key question or central point the sermon develops. It is meant to pique interest and curiosity. It is meant to grab the attention of those listening, so that you can keep them engaged with all that is being said.

Other times, a text teaches us so clearly, and Scripture illustrates it so well, that other attempts don’t do the theme justice. I think the biblical teaching on forgiveness, and in particular the illustrative way Jesus teaches us about it, carries the day and deserves more reflection, not less.

To begin, I want to state clear, obvious truths about the dangers of not forgiving others, each escalating from the last. This isn’t for shock value, but to match the Bible’s tone when it speaks of an unforgiving spirit.

Without a forgiving spirit, you will not gain or keep any true friends.

Without a forgiving spirit, you cannot fulfill your covenant commitments in a local church, which inevitably hurts real people you profess to love and care about.

Without a forgiving spirit, your marriage will not be healthy and will deteriorate.

Without a forgiving spirit, your relationship with your children will become strained at best and estranged at worst.

Without a forgiving spirit, you cannot fulfill the two great commandments: loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself.

Without a forgiving spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven.

At stake in this fifth petition is the quality of our life now and whether we’ll spend eternity with God in the future.

This is how Scripture speaks of the importance of forgiveness. Let me support this by pointing to two passages in Matthew.

The first is right here in Matthew 6. The fifth petition, “Forgive us our debts,  as we have also forgiven our debtors,” is the only petition in the Lord’s Prayer that Jesus comments on and elaborates on. Look with me at Matthew 6:14-15.

14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, 15 but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. (Mt 6:14–15)

This should get the attention of every Bible reader, because this is the only petition Jesus provides commentary on. Especially when the elaboration suggests some relationship between our forgiving of others and God’s forgiving of us.

The second passage I want you to think about is Matthew 18:21-35. If you remember, this is the parable of the unforgiving servant. Jesus tells this parable after Peter’s question in verse 21.

21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. (Mt 18:21–22)

Immediately after this, Jesus tells a parable—and this is key—of the kingdom of heaven.

The parable is about a servant who owed the king an enormous amount of money. Think billions of dollars. The exact amount isn’t the point; Jesus uses such an extreme number to make it plain that no one could ever pay it back. Yet after the servant pleads for mercy, the king is moved with pity, releases him, and forgives the debt. Astonishing mercy.

This act of mercy should have filled the servant with gratitude and made him merciful. That isn’t what happens.

The servant, forgiven an enormous amount, then goes to someone who owed him much less, grabs him by the neck, demands repayment, and imprisons him when he says he can’t pay. Now listen to how Jesus concludes the parable.

32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?’ 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart.” (Mt 18:32–35)

We cannot take this petition lightly, because the Bible simply won’t allow it.

Let’s be really clear about this connection. Forgiveness is not a work that merits God’s forgiveness. This is not cause and effect. Rather, an unrepentant, unforgiving spirit reveals a person who has never known God’s forgiveness in the gospel or been transformed by his grace.

A forgiving spirit is evidence of grace in a person’s life, whereas an unforgiving spirit is evidence of a life void of God’s transforming grace.

What is forgiveness? It might be helpful to start with what forgiveness is not. Ken Sande, in his influential book The Peacemaker, explains that forgiveness is not a feeling, forgetting, or excusing sin.

1. Forgiveness is not a feeling. We can’t think of forgiveness in terms of how we feel about the person who sinned against us or the sin they committed. Forgiveness is a decision, an act of our will about how we respond and relate to the person who has sinned against us.

2. Forgiveness is not forgetting. Sande helpfully notes that forgetting is a passive process. Thoughts fade out of our memory. Forgiveness is an active process by which we make conscious choices regarding our relationship with this person.

3. Forgiveness is not excusing sin. To forgive is not to say, “Oh, it’s really ok,” or “it’s not a big deal.” Forgiveness is agreeing with God’s assessment of the wrongness of someone’s actions and obeying God by forgiving those wrong actions.

Now that we know what forgiveness is not, let’s consider a robust definition of forgiveness from Wilhelmus A. Brakel.

“Forgiveness is a declaration to the offender proceeding from the heart of an offended party that he entertains neither hatred, aversion, nor wrath in his heart toward him, and that he will not inflict evil upon him due to his offense, but rather is inclined to live in peace and love with him.”

That definition contains so much biblical language and imagery.

Consider the following commands.

19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. (Ro 12:19.)

15 See that no one repays anyone evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to everyone (1 Th 5:15)

27 “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. (Lk 6:27–28)

18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Ro 12:18)

None of these commands suggest that forgiveness gives the offender the same access to us as before, or that the relationship doesn’t change to some degree. You can forgive someone while not trusting them as you once did. That’s not unforgiveness. You can forgive and have healthy boundaries if that is necessary. Forgiveness does not require you to embrace the offender as your best friend. It is a decision not to avenge yourself and, as much as you can, to live at peace.

The Bible also conditions forgiveness on the repentance of the one who sinned against us.

3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” (Lk 17:2–4)

There is a sin that an unrepentant person cannot be completely forgiven for. I mean you can’t fully reconcile with, or pursue a deeper relationship with, someone who won’t repent. I think John Piper is right when he says the following:

“The difference is that when a person who wronged us does not repent with contrition and confession and conversion (turning from sin to righteousness), he cuts off the full work of forgiveness. We can still lay down our ill will; we can hand over our anger to God; we can seek to do him good; but we cannot carry through reconciliation or intimacy.”

Now that we’ve thought about the gravity of this petition and the meaning of forgiveness, we can think about what it is to pray this prayer.

Praying, “forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors,” means seeking God’s pardon for our sins and the power to forgive those who’ve sinned against us.

I.) We pray for forgiveness to maintain fellowship with God

Jesus’ example prayer is one that only Christian disciples can pray. Jesus intends for Christians to pray regularly for God to forgive their debts, sins, and transgressions. We do so not becasue we fear being disowned by our Father in heaven, but to maintain the sweetness of our fellowship with him.

For the Christian, our covenant with God cannot be broken because it’s dependent on God’s faithfulness and the finished work of Jesus Christ. Our sin can disrupt the sweetness of our communion with God, so that we feel as if he is absent from us. Our conscience burdens us, so we lack temporary comfort in our communion with the Lord.

Listen to how David describes his feelings before confessing and repenting of his sin before the Lord.

3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. (Ps 32:3–5)

We seek the Lord’s forgiveness daily because we know that until glory, sin will still hinder us, not glorify God, and run contrary to the gospel we’ve been called to walk in. Those who’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good want to bring before God anything and everything that attempts to spoil their enjoyment of that goodness.

10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us (1 Jn 1:10)

What truths do we need to remember when we are tempted to not confess and seek God’s forgiveness?

1. We should seek God’s forgiveness because of the character of God.

6 The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Ex 34:6–7)

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. (Ps 86:5)

2. We should seek God’s forgiveness because of God’s promise.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9)

3. We should seek God’s forgiveness because of the priestly ministry of Jesus.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous (1 Jn 2:1)

.

II.) We pray for the power to forgive to maintain fellowship with others

Two guarantees in your life make Jesus’ teaching here essential.

The First is that you’re going to sin, and the second is that you’re going to be sinned against. That harms you, your relationships, and the communities you inhabit together. We pray for the power of forgiveness to maintain our relationships and seek the good of the communities we live in.

We seek this in prayer, because the power of forgiveness comes not from us but from God. If forgiveness were strictly up to us, we’d choose to stay bitter and angry. Forgiveness from the heart overflows from a heart changed by God’s forgiveness.

31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. (Eph 4:31–32)

III.) We pray to forgive as we have been forgiven by God

No matter how we are sinned against, God is not calling us to forgive a greater debt than we owed Him because of our sin. God has shown us abundant grace by forgiving every terrible thought, every wicked word, and every damning deed.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. (Ps 103:11–12)

This great act of forgiveness shapes and forms us into forgiving, merciful people.

12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. (Col 3:12–13)

How can we who’ve been forgiven so much forgive so little?

Nathaniel R. Martin

Give us this day our daily bread: Matthew 6:11

Sermon Idea: To pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” is to ask for God’s good gifts of provision for ourselves and others.

Introduction: What does it mean to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” while living in a time and place where bread seems to be in abundance? We have restaurants with “bread” in the name, such as St. Louis Bread Company or Panera Bread. Other restaurants will place rolls or biscuits on your table long before you order the main course. If you visit Taylor Cruz’s house on any given day, you may very well smell freshly baked bread being made for family, friends, and church members alike.

For many of us, food can be taken for granted, but in the ancient world, and still for many around the world, the basic necessities of life were not guaranteed. The Lord Jesus teaches his disciples to pray this way, so they’ll not only pursue what they need, but also remember where these necessary provisions come from—their Father in heaven.

To pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” is to ask for God’s good gifts of provision for ourselves and others.

Notice that the meaning of “bread” is expanded not just to food but to all physical and material provision: food, clothing, shelter, etc. We seek in prayer whatever is essential for life and for serving the Lord. This is not a prayer for delicacy or extravagance, but basic daily needs. The Lord Jesus is not teaching us to pray for better craft coffee, designer clothing, or a home that impresses our friends.

Still, you may not be sure what this means for your prayer life because you’ve never wanted for anything. If we believe Jesus intended this exemplary prayer for us as much as for these original disciples. What reflections can we draw for our own Christian lives? There are several, and I’ve hinted at them already, but I want to consider them under three larger points.

“Give us this day our daily bread,” is…

  1. A prayer for physical strength and provision
  2. A prayer of total dependance
  3. A prayer for the needs of others

I.) A prayer for physical strength and provision

The first three petitions concern God’s name, kingdom, and will. As worshippers of God, we first seek his kingdom and his righteousness (Matt. 6:33). Then Jesus instructs us to seek the Lord for our own needs. Jesus’ mention of food draws our attention to the body’s importance and the need for nourishment and strength, without which we cannot be healthy enough to serve the Lord.

This may seem odd to us, but early in the church’s life, Christians had to respond to various false teachings about physical creation. Several movements taught that physical matter, especially the body, was inherently evil. This led to a number of heretical teachings about Christ—like he only appeared in bodily form, but was not truly incarnate.

Nothing could be further from the truth, for the Word truly became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). One of the first things Jesus did after rising from the dead was to invite his disciples to breakfast.

12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. (Jn 21:12–13)

On the road to Emmaus, Jesus broke bread with the disciples to open their eyes to the risen Christ (Luke 24:30). The eternal Son of God became a human being with a true, physical body, and when he was raised from the dead, his physical body was glorified, but still real, physical—he ate fish and bread.

Jesus teaches us to pray for nourishment for our bodies with food, then reminds us of three greater realities. The first I have already mentioned: our created bodies are good because God created them. The only thing wrong with them is the effects that sin has had on them. Second, God cares for our bodies; third, our salvation has a necessary bodily aspect.

God cares about our bodies

The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.16 You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. (Ps 145:15–16)

31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (Mt 6:31–33)

Our salvation has a necessary bodily aspect (Hebrews 2:14-15)

23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. (Ro 8:23)

20 as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. (Php 1:20)

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself (Php 3:20–21)

The application for us, then, should be obvious and straightforward—as we pray for God to give us our daily bread, we should eat, drink, and care for our bodies so we can glorify God and have the strength to serve him.

God has made us as embodied souls, so that neglect of the body can negatively impact our spiritual health, and neglect of our soul can have negative effects on the body.

One theologian is right when he wrote, “For we observe in this that we also are to care for the body, for if we are to hallow God’s name, edify the congregation, and do the will of God, we are in need of a soul and a body which are both in health. If the one is not healthy, the other will be hindered and the entire man cannot function properly.” – Wilhelmus A Brakel

One of the first things I’ll do when walking alongside someone who is struggling is get a sense of their daily habits of sleep, exercise, and eating. I take any and all spiritual, mental, and emotional pain very seriously. To start, though, it helps to understand where a person is.

For example, if someone only gets 4-5 hours of sleep because they’re watching TV, on social media, or playing video games; if their breakfast amounts to nothing but sugar, they don’t drink water, and hardly exercise because of their sedentary job—then maybe their feelings of sadness and irritability can be helped by greater care of their body.

It is a prayer for strength and provision, and so it is a prayer of total dependance.

II.) A prayer of total dependance

As we pray for God’s provision, we confess our dependance on God. The emphasis on daily bread reinforces that our dependance on God is total. Everything we need comes from God’s good and sovereign hand. Even as he works through labor, agriculture, markets, and grocery stores, it is still God’s provision, and we depend on him.

14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth,15 and wine to gladden the heart of man, oil to make his face shine and bread to strengthen man’s heart. (Ps 104:14–15)

These two truths, that we are dependent on God through prayer and that he works through means, remind us of something important. Our dependance on God in prayer for provision does not relieve us of the duty to live, work, and use every means we can to care for ourselves and others.

10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. (2 Th 3:10–12)

This double reference to daily teaches us something else rather important. As much as this is a prayer for provision, it is also a prayer for contentment.

One of my favorite presbyterians, Derek Thomas, puts it well: “Give us this day our daily bread” is coded language for, “Lord, help me to be content with whatever you are pleased to give me. I will not ask for more than I need. Forgive me for all forms of self-indulgence and distrust.”

Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, 9n lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God. (Pr 30:8–9)

8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. (1 Ti 6:8–10)

How are you doing with contentment in your own life? God has provided a home, clothing, and food to everyone in this room. Are you grateful for that provision, or do you grumble because you want more?

This is a danger for us today, more than ever. Never before in human history have we had more access to the details of people’s lives than we do today. Social media has brought the temptation to be discontent to your phone every day. You scroll, compare, scroll, compare until you no longer appreciate the good gift of provision you’ve been given, but long to be the envy of others.

If the Lord chooses to bless you, that is not a problem. Money is not the root of evil, but the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Be ambitious, work hard, earn money, and steward it well. All of this is good and right. The danger comes when we think God’s meeting of our needs is insufficient. The good life is not self-indulgent, but a life of gratitude and contentment.

11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned, in whatever situation I am, to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. (Php 4:11–13)

This is what Paul found while sitting in prison; surely we can find it in the comfort of our homes.

III.) A prayer for the essential needs of others

Like the entire prayer, it is not singular but corporate. We pray for the members of our local church, Christians across the globe, and even non-believers who are lacking daily needs.

Scripture is filled with stories of God’s people caring for others’ physical needs, especially providing food to those who need it. You might think of Joseph in Egypt providing food to the surrounding peoples during a famine. Boaz also cared for Ruth the Moabite. One of the clearest examples of God’s care for the poor and needy is the law that commands Israel not to harvest their entire field, but to leave some for the poor.

9 “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. 10 And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard. You shall leave them for the poor and for the sojourner: I am the LORD your God. (Le 19:9–10)

This concern for others’ physical and material needs continues in the New Testament.

Now in these days when the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint by the Hellenists arose against the Hebrews because their widows were being neglected in the daily distribution (Ac 6:1)

15 If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? (Jas 2:15–16)

We pray not only for ourselves, but for others, that our needs might be met, our bodies healthy and strong, and that with those bodies we might serve the Lord.

Conclusion & Gospel Invitation

How does this petition lead us to the gospel of Jesus Christ? Our need for bread and our prayer for it should remind us that man cannot live on bread alone.

3 And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD (Dt 8:3)

2 And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ (Mt 4:2–4)

Our need for food points us to our greater need of salvation. It is no wonder that the Bible often speaks of salvation with the language of physical sustenance: bread from heaven, living water, etc.

Only through repentance and faith in Christ can we truly be satisfied in this life and the next. God, in his great grace, gave the Son of God to be born of a virgin as a human being. Jesus lived in perfect obedience to God’s law and then suffered the penalty for our breaking of that same law on the cross. When we are saved, God credits us with Jesus’ perfect obedience to God’s law. We are lawbreakers, but we are clothed in Jesus’ perfect obedience.

Are you living on bread alone? Are you living on money alone? Are you living on property alone? We need all these things, but we cannot live by them alone. We need the Lord Jesus Christ.

Look to Christ this morning in repentance and faith. Come, and let’s talk about baptism and what it means to be a disciple of Jesus.

Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! (Is 55:1)

Amen!

Nathaniel R. Martin

Kingdom Come: Matthew 6:9-10

Sermon Idea: Praying, “Your kingdom come,” is to pray for the destruction of Satan’s kingdom, the advancement of God’s kingdom of grace, the bringing and keeping of saints in it, and the Kingdom of glory to come. 

Introduction: The Gospel of Mark tells a remarkable story in which a desperate father comes to Jesus’ disciples, hoping they can heal his son, who is oppressed by an unclean spirit. The description of the suffering is devastating and traumatic.

17 And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. 18 And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” (Mk 9:17–18)

As you can imagine, this initial disappointment leads the father, in desperation, to plead with Jesus to have compassion on him and heal the boy, which Jesus does. The Lord Jesus’ command exorcises and defeats the unclean spirit. 

I bring this story to your attention because it shows what Jesus teaches his disciples about their failure. They asked him, “Why could we not cast it out?” 

29 And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.” (Mk 9:29) 

The nature of the fight required more than intellect, gifting, and resources. It required more than grit, willpower, and determination. It was a battle of spiritual proportion, and so it required the chief means of spiritual work–prayer. 

All that we want to see happen in our midst, all that we hope to experience–salvation, disciple-making, church health, holiness, gospel advancement–requires prayer. 

Jesus told us in John 18:36 that his kingdom is spiritual. 

36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.” (Jn 18:36)

Wilhelmus A Brakel is certainly right when he wrote, “It originates in heaven, is of a heavenly nature, functions in a heavenly manner, and culminates in heaven. It is therefore called the kingdom of heaven.”

The second petition in the Lord’s prayer is, “Your kingdom come.”

This is appropriate if we pray for the hallowing of God’s name as Jesus taught us, because the coming of God’s kingdom is the primary way that God’s name is hallowed. 

What does it mean to pray for God’s kingdom to come? Does it mean that we pray for the rising of an empire, a castle, and an army? Does it mean we pray for the future coming of the kingdom or the present coming of the kingdom?

It is really difficult to improve upon the older understandings of this petition as found in the Baptist Catechism. Listen to how the saints who’ve gone before us reflected on this passage. 

Q 109: What do we pray for in the second petition?

A: In the second petition, which is, “Thy kingdom come,” we pray that Satan’s kingdom may be destroyed, and that the kingdom of grace may be advanced, ourselves and others brought into it and kept in it, and that the kingdom of glory may be hastened.

Since this cannot be improved upon, these four ways will serve as the outline for the rest of our time. 

I.) We pray for Satan’s kingdom to be destroyed 

The Bible often speaks of the fallen world as Satan’s kingdom through a variety of images. For example, Paul in 2 Cor. 4:4 refers to Satan as “the god of this world,” who has blinded unbelievers. In Ephesians 2:2, Satan is called the “prince of the power of the air.” Multiple times Jesus refers to Satan as “the ruler of this world” (John 12:27-32; 14:30). 

These descriptions do not mean that Satan had or has ultimate power. His kingdom is not equal to the kingdom of God. It does mean that he exercises authority and dominion over sinners. Those who are dead in sin are held captive and under the influence of Satan’s kingdom. 

We can pray for Satan’s kingdom to be destroyed because Christ has already laid a fatal blow to his rule through his death, resurrection, and ascension. The first gospel promise in the Bible is found in Genesis 3:15, where God promises that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. 

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (Jn 12:27–32)

The cross presses Jesus’ foot firmly on Satan’s head, and when he returns, Jesus will crush Satan’s head and destroy his kingdom.   

Meanwhile, God’s people are responsible for praying for the destruction of Satan’s kingdom. We pray for the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to pierce through the darkness of unbelief, so that blind sinners get a glimpse of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:5-6).

We pray for any continuing influence of Satan’s kingdom in the world to over governments, authorities, or powers to be undone. We pray that the influence of Satan and his demons would lose influence over people’s lives, and that the power of God would extinguish at last. 

Now, do you see why I began where we did? We cannot do ministry armed with nothing but our gifts, resources, and willpower. We’ll need more than our intellect. We need to pray and stand in Christ’s strength (Eph. 6:10). 

We pray, “Your kingdom come,” because it is by the power of God and the coming of Christ’s kingdom that the devil and his works will be destroyed. 

We need to ask a question at this point. Whose kingdom do you serve? No neutral ground exists between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. To reject Christ and his Lordship is to declare your citizenship in the domain of darkness. 

This brings us to the second element of this petition: we pray for God’s kingdom of grace to be advanced.

II.) We pray for God’s kingdom of grace to be advanced 

This is the positive side of the first element. If we pray for the destruction of Satan’s kingdom, we are also praying for the advancement of God’s kingdom of grace. 

At the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, he announced that the kingdom of God was at hand, “…The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mk 1:15)

Note the declaration of the kingdom and the necessary response: repentance and belief in the gospel. God’s kingdom of grace advances, as people come to acknowledge and then submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Prayer is the means through which God works to advance the gospel around the globe and that is vital, because it is the gospel that is the power of God unto salvation (Rom. 1:16)

We should learn and seek to be like Paul, who, while in prison, was overjoyed that the gospel was advancing and becoming more widely known.

12 I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13 so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. (Php 1:12–13)

To pray, “your kingdom come,” is to pray that the gospel not only advances, but is embraced. As sinners come to trust Christ, they are brought into the kingdom of God under the Lordship of Christ. We need to pray toward this end. 

This brings us to the third element of the petition: we pray that we and others be brought into it and kept in it. 

III.) We pray for ourselves and others to be brought and kept in it

Entrance into the kingdom of God is not like admission into an earthly organization or club. You don’t simply put in an application or commit to paying dues. Entrance into the kingdom of God comes only by God’s grace and the gift of the new birth. Listen to what Jesus told Nicodemus. 

3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Jn 3:3)

In salvation, God gives a new heart through our faith in the Lord Jesus. With that new heart we turn from Satan, sin, and darkness to the Kingdom of God. 

Listen to how Paul describes salvation in Colossians 1:13-14. 

13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Col 1:13–14)

Prayer is the means God uses not only to spread the gospel, but to draw sinners through it. If people will be saved, it will be in response to our prayers. To pray, “your kingdom come,” is to pray that the gospel finds reception in hearts ready to respond in repentance and faith. It is to pray that the Spirit calls, regenerates, and indwells sinners as they hear the gospel. 

Notice this as well. We are to pray that God keeps us in his kingdom by his grace. Make no mistake: every true believer who has entered the kingdom of God will remain there, but not because they kept themselves there. They will remain there because God faithfully keeps them. 

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Pe 1:3–5)

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ (Jud 1)

23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Th 5:23–24)

God keeps us by the use of means! The Word of God, prayer, the fellowship in the local church, and the administration of the ordinances. These are not lifeless rituals, but means of grace by which we are built up by the grace of God, conformed to Christ, and kept by the power of God.

As we are being kept by God, we look forward in hope to Christ’s return and the consummation of Christ’s kingdom. 

IV.) We pray for the kingdom of glory to come 

To pray, “your kingdom come,” is to pray for God’s kingdom and power to be fully known on earth as it is in heaven. It is to pray that God would be with us and we would be in his divine presence without limitation, separation, or restriction. 

It is to pray 1 John 3:2, 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (1 Jn 3:2)

With God’s presence in the kingdom of glory comes the astonishing promise that sin, sickness, and death will no longer exist. The pains and heartaches of this fallen world and the suffering that ravages our fallen bodies will be undone. God himself will wipe the tears from our eyes. 

3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 

5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Re 21:3–5)

Nathaniel R. Martin

Leviticus: An Introduction

“…Leviticus was and is one of the most important books of the Old Testament. It not only presents the entire religious system of ancient Israel, but also lays the theological foundation for the New Testament teaching about the atoning work of Jesus Christ.”– Allen P. Ross

Introduction: Many believers have tried to read the Bible in a year, only to falter and grow frustrated by Leviticus’s tedious nature. Many commands seem foreign to everyday life, and others seem plain weird. In discouragement, the reader initially presses on as long as they can, then gives up. Why is this the case? If all Scripture is breathed out by God, and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, why is it so hard to find the benefit of Leviticus? 

Common Reasons for Being Disinterested in Leviticus 

1. Leviticus is perceived as an interruption of the narrative of Exodus.

2. Leviticus reads as a collection of obscure ritual regulations. 

3. Leviticus is primarily concerned with ancient Israelite worship. 

4. Leviticus is difficult to relate to Christian faith and practice.

What all of these reasons miss, however, is the book’s true heart and meaning, which the reader can grasp only by appreciating the redemptive drama unfolding not only in Genesis-Exodus, but also in Numbers-Deuteronomy. 

To fully appreciate Leviticus, readers must understand the problems posed by Genesis and Exodus. Genesis recounts the gravity of sin and humanity’s exile from God’s presence. Eden has not only been lost; life in God’s divine presence has been lost with it. 

Exodus records not only God’s great redemptive act of delivering his people from Egypt through the Passover lamb, but also the command to build the tabernacle, which would be at the center of Israel’s worship of God and a means to experience God’s presence again. Exodus, however, ends with a problem. God’s glory fills the tabernacle, and no one can draw near to Him—not even Moses. 

34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. (Ex 40:34–35)

Here, in response to this exact problem, Leviticus becomes significant. 

Exodus 40:34-35Leviticus 1:1-2 (CSB)
34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. 35 And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. Then the Lord summoned Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting: 2 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any of you brings an offering to the Lord from the livestock, you may bring your offering from the herd or the flock.   

Leviticus is not a stand-alone book with an altogether different theme than Exodus. It is the sequel to Exodus, which not only explains how Israel becomes the nation it is, but also answers and solves the problem at the end of Exodus. It’s about restoration to and life in God’s divine presence. That’s the point of Genesis-Deuteronomy. It is the point of the entire Bible. 

The Main Theme of Leviticus 

So, with L. Michael Morales, we agree that the theme and theology of Leviticus is “YHWH’s opening a way for humanity to dwell in the divine Presence.” 

Scripture begins with life in God’s divine presence (Gen. 1-2) and ends with life in God’s divine presence in the new heavens and the new earth (Rev. 21-22). 

 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God (Re 21:3)

Between these two great visions of life in God’s divine presence is God’s gracious making of a way through his covenants, laws, and sacrifices, ultimately fulfilled in the New Covenant. 

This longing for God’s presence is the Bible’s theme. Consider how it appears throughout the Psalms, for example.  

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. (Ps 16:11)

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever. (Ps 23:6)

O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells. (Ps 26:8)

One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple. (Ps 27:4)

As to the importance of this theme of divine presence, Morales is worth quoting in full. 

“Its dominating concern, as well as the rest of the Bible, is the way in which humanity may come to dwell in the house of God. Under the Mosaic covenant, that way opened by YHWH was through the tabernacle and later temple, its priesthood and rituals—that is, through the Levitical cult. The advent of Christ would open a new and living way into the house of God; indeed, that was the goal of his taking out humanity upon himself, of his suffering, of his resurrection, and ascension.”

Leviticus as the center of the Pentateuch

The first five books of the Bible, Genesis-Deuteronomy, are a collection of Scripture known as the Pentateuch (i.e., “five-scroll). Notably, Leviticus sits at the center of these five books, underscoring its importance not only to the Pentateuch but to the rest of the Bible. 

(A) Genesis 

    (B) Exodus 

               (C) Leviticus

    (B) Numbers 

  1. Deuteronomy 

The Day of Atonement as the center of Leviticus 

We cannot survey all the reasons and evidence here, but several Old Testament scholars consider Leviticus 16, the Day of Atonement, central to the book’s literary structure. Atonement means “to be reconciled,” at-one-ment. 

Lev 1-7 Sacrifices 

     8-10 Institution of priesthood                          (Approaching God)

       11-15 Clean/Unclean in daily life 

                  16 Day of Atonement                        (Judgement/Cleansing) 

        17-20 Holy/profane in daily life 

      21-22 Legislation for the priesthood.              (Communion with God) 

 23-27 Festivals/sacred time                                  Holiness 

Again, Morales is helpful. 

“How the Day of Atonement relates to the theme of YHWH’s opening a way for humanity to dwell in the divine Presence is readily recognized when the significance of the atonement is understood, namely, that it makes possible life in the divine presence.” 

The purpose of highlighting the structural nature of the Pentateuch and the structure of Leviticus is to reinforce the central theme of God’s divine presence and what it means for sinful people to dwell in it once again. 

Why should Christians care about and study Leviticus? 

  1. Leviticus is Christian Scripture not only intended for those in the ancient past, but for the church today. 

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Ro 15:4)

16 All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, 17 that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Ti 3:16–17)

I like the encouragement from Gordon Wenham, “…the biblical writers believed, and the Church has always accepted, that they were writing more than history. They were recording God’s word to his people. Leviticus is therefore more than a description of past historical events and more than a collection of dated laws. It tells us about God’s character and will, which found expression in his dealings with Israel and in the laws he gave them. Those who believe that God the Lord “is the same yesterday and today and forever” may look to the book’s theology for insights that are still valid and relevant.”

2. Leviticus is vital for a proper understanding of the New Testament in general, and some books like Hebrews in particular. 

4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. (Heb 8:4–6)

3. Leviticus explores the importance of holiness, a theme too often overlooked by many Christians today. 

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy. (1 Pe 1:14–16)

14 Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. (Heb 12:14)

4. Leviticus teaches the importance of liturgy and proper worship of the triune God, a theme neglected by many evangelicals today (Lev. 10). 

Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, which he had not commanded them. 2 And fire came out from before the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD. (Le 10:1–2)

28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:28–29)

5. Leviticus lays the foundation that sinful people can only dwell with God by the means he provides—a truth that ultimately brings us to the centrality of Christ crucified and risen. 

13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Heb 9:13–14)

Nathaniel R. Martin

God So Loved: John 3:16

Sermon Idea: God’s love is why He sent the Son to save the world. 

Introduction: John 3:16 is the most recognizable verse in the entire Bible. It is the first verse young children memorize; you can see it on billboards along the highway and in the stands at sporting events. In 2009, Tim Tebow even etched “John 3:16” into his eye paint for the BCS National Championship game as the University of Florida quarterback. 

It is simply familiar. This familiarity, of course, is not bad, but it can become problematic when we take these familiar truths for granted. Here is one scholar describing the potential problem. 

Familiar verses can seem like the ABCs of the Christian faith—things to move beyond in order to drink from deeper wells. But if we have this attitude, we may forget key elements of the Christian gospel and miss the deeper, varied truths that are right there. – Jarvis Williams 

This evening I want to put this familiar verse before you one more time, not as the ABC’s of the Christian faith, but as the very life-giving message of the gospel and the only hope for sinners. I want us to see the deeper, varied truths that are right here. 

This Spirit has used this single verse to convict sinners, bring repentance, and bring faith in the Lord Jesus. For that reason, I decided to begin this week with this familiar verse. My simple prayer is that God will use this evening to draw people to Himself through this familiar but crystal-clear Word. 

As we look at John 3:16, I hope to show you the greatness of God’s love, the giving of the Son, and the gift of eternal life.

I.) The greatness of God’s love 

It is hard to think of a more famous use of the word “so.” If you listen closely, you can probably even hear the stress people put on the so, when they say, “For God so loved the world…” 

This word captures the greatness of God’s love because it directs our attention to both the action and the object of God’s love. 

The word “so” captures the greatness of God’s love because it shows how God’s love is made manifest. It might he helpful to read John 3:16 in the CSB, which makes this crystal clear. 

16 For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son (Jn 3:16)

Giving His Son makes God’s love great and glorious. This act manifests His love and makes it known! This is why 1 John says that God sending His Son is love. 

9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 1 Jn 4:9–10.

All that we have in the gospel: the sending of the Son incarnate in Jesus Christ, his perfect sacrifice on the cross in the place of sinners, his glorious resurrection from the dead, and the grace of salvation begins with God’s great love. 

As part of discipleship, I’ll often encourage people to ask several questions about Scripture. The first one I teach them to ask is, “What do these verses teach us about God?” 

We learn that God has demonstrated his love for the world in a visible, historical, and sacrificial way. God is love, and his love is great, so he manifests it by sending the Son. 

God’s love is also great because of the object of God’s love: “For God so loved the world…”

Two important points stand out here. The world is very big, and the world is very bad. 

We need to remember that Jesus is having a conversation with Nicodemus, who is described as “a ruler of the Jews.” Nicodemus expected God to send a Messiah to save Israel and to judge Israel’s enemies. He expected that Israel would be with God in his Kingdom. God’s love for Israel was little in doubt. 

John 3:16 does not say, “For God so loved Israel…” No, the Gospel of John is teaching us the greatness of God’s love and the extent to which the gospel will reach. God’s salvation through the Messiah will not be for Israel alone, but for both Jew and Gentile. In other words, it will be for the world. God loves the world: every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. There is not a people group on planet earth that we should not labor, strive, and give to get the gospel to. God loves the world. 

Something more needs to be said here. It is not just that the world is big. It is also bad. Here, the greatness of God’s love is amazing. God’s love for the world is not a love for an obedient, righteous, and holy world. It is love for the world that is wicked, rebellious, and sinful.

In fact, this is why John tells Christians not to love the world: “world,” in John’s gospel, refers to fallen, sinful humanity. Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (1 Jn 2:15)

 God loved the world when the world did not love God. 

8 But God proves his own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Ro 5:8)

This brings up an important practical point. The gospel will not be good news to you, and God’s love will not be great in your eyes, unless you are convicted that you are part of a wicked, rebellious world in need of salvation. 

Scripture is clear that every person in the world is in need of salvation, because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Ro 3:23)

In 1 John, we are told that denying that we have sinned makes God a liar and means his word is not in us. All of us, without exception, are members of the world God loved by sending his Son, which means we all need a Savior. 

The gospel will not be sweet to you until you realize how necessary it is. 

The gospel is the good news that God loved the world that sinned against God. The manifestation of that is the giving of the Son. Let’s look at verse 16 again.

II.) The giving of God’s Son 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

The phrase “only Son” carries great weight in the ESV, or “only-begotten Son” in other translations. “Son” is a royal title in the Bible, but when it refers to Jesus, it means more. It speaks to Jesus’ shared divine nature with the Father. He is the eternally-begotten Son of God.  

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (Jn 1:14)

We see the greatness of God’s love in giving the Son at two levels. The first is the incarnation. The eternal Son of God is sent into the world by becoming flesh and dwelling among us.

The second giving is Jesus’ offering as a sacrifice on the cross in the place of sinners. We know both are in view because John 3:16 is sandwiched between John 3:14-15 and John 3:17. 

In John 3:14-15, Jesus told Nicodemus that just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so also must the Son of Man be lifted up. This clearly references the cross. Jesus will be lifted up by his substitutionary death on the cross, so that all who look to him in faith will be saved. 

John 3:17, we are told that God sent the Son into the world. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (Jn 3:17)

The “giving” mentioned in 3:16 includes both sending the Son and sacrificing the Son. God’s love results in the mission of the Son of God, who leaves the glories of heaven, humbles himself by becoming human, and is sacrificed on the cross, dying in the place of sinners.

Great love and a great cost. These two themes led Isaac Watts to pen When I Survey the Wondrous Cross. 

See from His head His hands His feet

Sorrow and love flow mingled down

Did ever such love and sorrow meet

Or thorns compose so rich a crown

Were the whole realm of nature mine

That were an offering far too small

Love so amazing so divine

Demands my soul, my life, my all

Since Jesus is the one whom God sent to accomplish the mission of salvation, belief in Him brings salvation. Let’s consider the final point—eternal life. 

III.) The gift of eternal life 

The purpose of giving His only Son is that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. Notice that although not all will respond to the gospel, the gospel is offered to everyone. Many will hear—“whoever believes in him” — but will not believe. 

The Bible places the blame for that unbelief squarely on the unbeliever. They sin because they love the darkness, and in their sin they hate Christ’s light. 

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (Jn 3:19–20)

The end for those who do not believe is perishing. It is to be eternally separated from God, so that eternity is defined as death or perishing rather than life. 

That doesn’t have to be your story. Hear the call of the gospel. For all who believe in Jesus, there is eternal life. 

Eternal life is sharing in God’s life through faith in Jesus Christ. It is a life of quality and quantity. It includes the future resurrection and eternity with God in heaven, but also includes real, spiritual resurrection life the moment someone is saved. 

Those who place their faith in Jesus Christ can live content in the present while also hoping for the future. Listen to Jesus’ words to Martha in John 11. 

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. (Jn 11:25–26)

The comfort that these truths can bring to the Christian is many, and if taken seriously, will anchor your heart in the midst of the most difficult moments. 

The hope of eternal life transforms a fear of death, so that we can say with Paul, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”  

Eternal life means we can say, “To live is Christ and to die is gain.”

When I was in North Carolina, one of my members had a heart attack. While talking to the doctor, he said, “To live is Christ and to die is gain,” to which the doctor responded, “Do you have a death wish?” 

The answer, of course, is no! The hope of eternal life means we don’t live like the world, grieve like the world, or even die like the world.

Hope in eternal life means that we can answer the first question of the Heidelberg Catechism with confidence in every word.

Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

  1. That I am not my own,1 but belong—body and soul, in life and in death2—to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ….Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life9 and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

Hear the familiar words one more time. 

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. (Jn 3:16)

Amen.