A Baptism Like No Other - Luke 3:18-22 - June 26, 2022

 Luke 3.18-22 A Baptism Like No Other

Good morning! We are continuing our work in the Gospel of Luke with chapter three beginning in verse eighteen, that’s on page 859 in the pew Bibles.

We have spent the last few weeks dealing with the remarkable character John the Baptist. In our study of the Gospel of Luke, this is it, this is the end. This is the moment when all our attention will turn from the Voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord to the Lord Himself. And we have this dramatic transition that happens at the baptism of Jesus.

Now as we look at our passage this morning, you may notice two things, one, that it is really short and low on details, and two, that it seems out of order chronologically speaking. I how you notice those two things, especially since I just pointed them out.

Let’s look at our passage and we can test whether or not you were paying attention just now.

18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people. 19 But Herod the tetrarch, who had been reproved by him for Herodias, his brother’s wife, and for all the evil things that Herod had done, 20 added this to them all, that he locked up John in prison. 

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 

Let’s pray.

So did you notice that these two paragraphs are out of order? 

Jesus could not have been baptized by John if John was already in prison. 

Maybe you didn’t notice but Luke leaves out a lot of details about the baptism of Jesus that the other Gospel writers included. 

Well let’s get those things straightened out.

First things first, Luke’s purpose here in this passage, though it is not in chronological order, is to point to the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus and the beginning of the end of John the Baptist’s.

John the Baptist said in John 3:28-30, 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” 

The decrease of John’s ministry began with his imprisonment by Herod the tetrarch. John confronted Herod for marrying his own brothers wife, who incidentally was also his niece. (Herod’s family tree was more like a wreath.)

Herod, wicked as he was, was also morbidly curious about John and his message.

Mark records in his Gospel in chapter six, 17 For it was Herod who had sent and seized John and bound him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because he had married her. 18 For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” 19 And Herodias had a grudge against him and wanted to put him to death. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he kept him safe. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed, and yet he heard him gladly.

Soon after this John would be beheaded in prison. But this wouldn’t happen for around two years after the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River which is recorded in the next paragraph in Luke 3. 

Though they are out of chronological order, Luke’s purpose was to move on from the ministry of John and focus solely on the ministry of Jesus beginning with His baptism. 

So let’s look at that.

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” 

Matthew records another great example of the humility of John when Jesus came to him to be baptized in Matthew 3:13-15

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14 John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15 But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented.

Can you imagine being in John’s position? I’ve had the privilege of baptizing a number of people in the Name of Jesus and it’s always humbling, but to be asked to baptize Jesus Himself? I can’t even imagine!

Doctrinally speaking there is another item of great interest here and that is the presence and work of the Trinity at Jesus’ baptism.

Now if you’ve ever used a concordance or even an internet search for the word “trinity” in the Bible you won’t find it, there is no chapter and verse that uses the word. 

However, the teaching of the reality of the Trinity is all over the Bible beginning at creation and is perhaps never closer to the surface than in this event, the baptism of Jesus.

Here you have the Father speaking from heaven, the Son in the water, and the Holy Spirit descending on the Son in bodily form like a dove. 

What a beautiful picture of God who is distinct, yet three in one.

There’s lots of discussion to be had about that, especially when it comes to talking with our Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness friends who don’t believe in the Trinity, but that’s beyond our purposes for today.

All this is well and good and interesting, well, maybe, maybe not, but whenever I read this passage, or read about this event in the Gospels, I am always left with the question, why was Jesus baptized at all?

Think about it for a minute. John was baptizing people for repentance. 

The people came to John, were convicted of their sins, and were seeking to turn away from them in preparation for the coming of Messiah, and were baptized.

Jesus had no sin to repent of, he was perfectly sinless, He had no sin to turn from.

Some people say that Jesus was baptized to give us an example. Jesus was baptized and so we His disciples who have faith in Him and want to follow Him get baptized too.

Well, that isn’t quite right either. 

When a believer gets baptized they are symbolically looking back on the completed work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection from the dead, embracing our spiritual death to sin and rising to new life as a new creation through faith in Jesus.

While there are certainly similarities between the believer’s baptism and the baptism of Jesus, such as through baptism we both identify with the church, the family of God, and through baptism we both are consecrated to the Father’s plan for us, there is no denying that no one has ever had a baptism like Jesus.

First off, as I already mentioned, Jesus was sinless, John was right in saying that he ought to be baptized by Jesus not the other way around, Jesus is Messiah, the Christ, no one who had ever been baptized, nor any who have been baptized since can rightly claim that they are Messiah.

When Jesus was baptized, as He told John in Matthew 3:15, He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. This is not to say that he was not righteous before this moment, but it was an exercise in completing the observances and practices required.

To be baptized has always symbolized a change, a new start, and that’s exactly what Jesus was doing. He was moving from the quiet obscurity of growing up in Nazareth to unbounded publicity. 

His baptism was not for repentance but for a new direction, a direction that would lead Him to the cross.

When the Apostle John recorded the baptism of Jesus he wrote it this way in John 1,

29 The next day [John] saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. 33 I myself did not know him, but he who sent me to baptize with water said to me, ‘He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 And I have seen and have borne witness that this is the Son of God.”

Isaiah wrote about this event in Isaiah 11.1-3,

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. 3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

There is some debate about whether or not there was an actual dove and whether or not it was only John and Jesus that saw it, not that it really matters, we have all we need to understand.

This was the anointing of the Spirit, the inauguration of Jesus’ ministry for us as the atoning High Priest.

And finally there was the voice from heaven, the Father saying, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

This is an echo of Isaiah 42:1-3, Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. 2 He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; 3 a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench…

And also Psalm 2:7, The Lord said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.”

This was not news to Jesus, He knew who He was. But the voice of the Father from heaven served as a seal and a consecration to Jesus as the Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world.

Only Jesus could truly say the words of Isaiah 61 about Himself, 

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Jesus’ baptism marked the beginning of His public ministry of proclaiming Good News to the poor, binding up the brokenhearted, proclaiming liberty to the captives, and through His death on the cross and resurrection form the dead He opened up the prison doors and set free those who were bound in sin.

In our baptism (and we get baptized because Jesus commanded us to) we look back on Jesus’ completed work and identify with the rest of the church family as belonging to Him, be made like Him in His death and raised again to new life through faith in Him.

— to be given a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that we may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that HE may be glorified.

Amen.

John and Jesus - Luke 3:15-18 - June 19, 2022

 Luke 3.15-18 John and Jesus

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter three. Today we are going to look at verses 15-18, that’s page 858 in the pew Bibles. Today we are going to continue to examine the remarkable character of John the Baptist and how he stands as a model for preachers.

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.” 18 So with many other exhortations he preached good news to the people.

Let’s pray.

A few weeks ago we talked about John the Baptist and the strength of his one point sermon: Repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. This, I think, is a model for all preachers to follow. Keep it to one point.

John gave a couple other types of examples for preachers to follow as well. 

Alistair Begg said, and I’m paraphrasing, “It’s hard for preachers to preach on preaching because the people listening might say, ‘Why don’t you follow your own advice?’”

Believe me, I share his conviction.

The people who were coming out to the wilderness to hear John preach and maybe be baptized by him knew that he was not just another ordinary guy. Apart from the weird way that he dressed and his wilderness diet of locusts and wild honey, his message was powerful. It was full of conviction and authority. 

People weren’t used to that at this time, they were used to the same old same old teaching of the Pharisees that was devoid of life and power because it did not offer neither life nor power. But along comes this hippy in the hills who spoke the Word of God and crowds were gathering to hear him preach and be baptized by him. He was extremely effective and popular.

And because he was an effective and popular preacher the people started to do what people tend to do to effective and popular preachers, they started to idolize him, to think that he was more than he was.

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ,

The Apostle John, in his Gospel, said:

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him. 8 He was not the light, but came to bear witness about the light. 9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

John the Baptist was not the Light, he was not the Messiah, but people being people started to think that he was more than he really was. Instead of a witness to the Light that was coming, they started to think that he might just be that light himself.

This is honestly the struggle for preachers. When a preacher is effective people start to make more of him than he really is. The temptation that preachers face is to think maybe they’re right.

John did not submit to this temptation and therefore gives another example for all preachers to emulate, he took the focus off himself and pointed people to Jesus.

15 As the people were in expectation, and all were questioning in their hearts concerning John, whether he might be the Christ, 16 John answered them all, saying, “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.

Again from the Apostle John’s Gospel,

19 And this is the testimony of John [the Baptist], when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, “Who are you?” 20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, “I am not the Christ.” 21 And they asked him, “What then? Are you Elijah?” He said, “I am not.” “Are you the Prophet?” And he answered, “No.” 22 So they said to him, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” 23 He said, “I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord,’ as the prophet Isaiah said.” 

24 (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) 25 They asked him, “Then why are you baptizing, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?” 26 John answered them, “I baptize with water, but among you stands one you do not know, 27 even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.”

John exercised humility and deference, he pointed away from himself to Jesus, saying that His power, His rank, and His baptism were all greater than his own.

The hardest thing that preachers face, at least in my view as a preacher, is accolades.

No good preacher preaches just to say something, good preachers preach because there is something to say. The messenger is nothing, the message is everything! 

THE GREATEST COMPLIMENT ANY PREACHER COULD RECEIVE IS FOR THOSE WHO LISTEN TO HEAR AND OBEY THE WORD OF GOD.

John told the people, “I’m just baptizing you with water, the One you want is still on His way! He is mightier than I could ever be, I’m not even worthy to unbuckle His Berkenstocks!

Even the slaves that were tasked with washing the feet of guests weren’t required to actually untie the sandals of the people’s feet that they were to wash, even that was too menial a task for a slave. But John said that he wasn’t even worthy to do that!

Again from John chapter one and verse 15:

15 (John [the Baptist] bore witness about [Jesus], and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks before me, because he was before me.’ ”)

John said in Luke 3 and verse 16, “I baptize you with water… But He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

John recognized and pointed out to his hearers that even his baptism was less than that of Jesus. Messiah Jesus’ baptism can accomplish what John’s baptism was powerless to produce.

JP Lange wrote, “[Jesus] will, so to speak, wholly immerse you in the Holy Ghost, and in the fire. The baptism of the Spirit, which produces renewal, is contrasted with the baptism of water, which can only represent it. The baptism of fire is appointed for the unconverted, as that of the Holy Spirit is for believers. As Simeon had announced that Christ was set for the fall of some and the rising of others, so does John here describe Him as coming with a twofold baptism. Some are renovated by His baptism, others are buried in the fiery baptism of final judgment.”

John testified that Jesus’ rank, His power, and His baptism were all greater than his own, he pointed away from himself to Jesus, the constant task of preachers.

But deference and humility are not the only John had to say in our text, he didn’t JUST point away from himself, he pointed to Jesus, and what did He say about Him?

First, and I touched on it already, Jesus will baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “It is unfortunate that the term “baptism of the Spirit” has been divorced from its original New Testament meaning. God has spoken to us in Spirit-given words which we must not confuse. The baptism of the Spirit occurs at conversion when the Spirit enters the believing sinner, gives him new life, and makes his body the temple of God. All believers have experienced this once-for-all baptism [as seen in 1 Cor. 12:13]. Nowhere does the Scripture command us to seek this baptism, because we have already experienced it and it need not be repeated.

John Calvin also wrote, “To men has been committed nothing more than the administration of an outward and visible sign: the reality dwells with Christ alone.”

The baptism of the Spirit which produces renewal, being born again, happens at the point of faith in Jesus Christ. When we baptize a new believer it merely an outward representation of this, already happened, inward occurrence.

The second baptism John mentions is the baptism of fire.

I used to think that this was a kind of refining fire for the believer, but after examining the context here it is actually something quite different. As I already quoted from JP Lange, “The baptism of fire is appointed for the unconverted, as that of the Holy Spirit is for believers. As Simeon had announced that Christ was set for the fall of some and the rising of others, so does John here describe Him as coming with a twofold baptism. Some are renovated by His baptism, others are buried in the fiery baptism of final judgment.”

John the Baptist said in verse 17, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

This is a picture of the practice of separating wheat from chaff. Individual kernels of wheat are surrounded in this light and fluffy, useless stuff called chaff. And after treading out the grain on the threshing floor, where an ox would walk around on top of the wheat in order to separate the two, the farmers would take their winnowing fork and throw it all up in the air, and the kernels of wheat which were heavier would fall straight down and the light and fluffy chaff would blow off to one side in the breeze.

The useless chaff would be burned up and the kernels of wheat would be gathered into the barn.

This is the picture of the coming judgment of Christ. This is the bad news.

In this picture, the kernels of wheat are all those who put their trust in Jesus. The chaff are all those that reject Him. There is no third option.

The question that every person must answer is: am I wheat or am I chaff?

Have I trusted in Jesus for the forgiveness of my sin and received the Holy Spirit, or have I rejected Him, am I rejecting Him and stand waiting for the baptism of fire that is eternal judgment?

There is no third option. I beg you… please… trust in Jesus.

With John I say to you: repent of your sin, Jesus is coming soon!

Amen.

The Fruit of Repentance - Luke 3:7-14 - June 12, 2022

 Luke 3.7-14 The Fruit of Repentance

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter three. Today we are going to look at verses 7-14 and that’s on page 858 in the pew Bibles.

Last week we looked a little bit at the remarkable character John the Baptist and his one point sermon: repent for the kingdom of God is at hand.

Today we are going to drill down a little bit on the practical nature of that one point sermon and examine what it means to bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

So, let’s look at our text and then dive in.

7 He said therefore to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Bear fruits in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham. 9 Even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.” 

10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

Let’s pray.

So here we see in our text John preaching his message of repentance to an audience that is made up of two types of people. 

In verses 7-9 he is preaching to the religious people which we examined last week, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the religious leaders from Jerusalem that came to find out what this guy in the camel outfit was talking about out here in the wilderness.

Today I’d like to look at the second type of people who came out to hear John preach, first we saw the religious people, counting on their outward religion to keep them safe from God’s wrath, and now, we see the repentant people, the people who were genuinely interested in doing what was really necessary to avoid God’s wrath, anxious inquirers after salvation.

There is a third category of the members of John’s audience which is the morbidly curious in Herod but we will talk about him later. Today we’ll look at the repentant and John’s message to them.

Have you ever heard the expression, “easy believism?” I don’t know who coined the phrase but easy believism is the idea that following Jesus has no cost, that all one has to do is believe that Jesus is real, that he died on the cross for our sins, and change absolutely nothing about their lives.

This was not the message that John preached. This is not the message that Jesus preached either.

In fact, Jesus said, as recorded in all three synoptic Gospels, Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34, and Luke 9:23: “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.”

Easy believism denies the idea of repentance, the idea that we should actually turn away from our sinful ways and follow the Lord. It’s especially prevalent today that following Jesus is merely a spiritual thing and has no real relevance to our moral codes or behaviors.

Anyone who subscribes to this kind of thinking is ignorant of the Scriptures and is ignorant of repentance. This kind of thinking is idolatry, making a god in an image that is more suitable to us and less offensive than the reality of the God of the Bible and His Son Jesus.

John’s message and John’s lifestyle was that of biblical morality, he was calling people to holy living in preparation for Jesus.

To the religious he said don’t count on your heritage, your connection to Abraham, your empty religious rituals, instead bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

John Calvin wrote, “Repentance is an inward renewal of the man, which manifests itself in the outward life, as a tree produces its fruit.”

And the reality of what that might look like was the question of the second type of people who came to listen to John preach, the repentant. Luke records this group asking three times, “what should we do?” And though on the surface the answer to each question looks different, if you peel it back a little, you’ll see that his answer is the same to each one. Look at verse 10…

10 And the crowds asked him, “What then shall we do?” 11 And he answered them, “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.” 12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?” 13 And he said to them, “Collect no more than you are authorized to do.” 14 Soldiers also asked him, “And we, what shall we do?” And he said to them, “Do not extort money from anyone by threats or by false accusation, and be content with your wages.”

To the repentant his message was simple: sacrifice your selfishness. This is what denying yourself and taking up your cross daily looks like.

When Jesus was asked what the greatest commandment in the Law was in Matthew 22:37-39 His response was simple:

37 …“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 

That second commandment, what James calls the royal law, love your neighbor as yourself is the fruit of repentance.

John says when the crowd asked, “What then shall we do?” “Whoever has two tunics is to share with him who has none, and whoever has food is to do likewise.”

James 2:15-16 says, and I think I read this last week, “If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace, be warmed and filled,’ without giving them the things need for the body, what good is that?”

The Golden Rule used to be posted in every classroom in America, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” You know who said that? Jesus! If only we would all live by that rule!

That’s exactly what John was saying, don’t be selfish with your stuff, instead, love your neighbor, if you have an extra coat and they don’t have one, if you have extra food and they are lacking, love them by sharing with them. Don’t be selfish against your neighbor, love them instead.

The tax collectors and soldiers were faced with a similar conviction, we want to bear fruits in keeping with repentance, “what do we do?”

Every occupation is faced with its own set of temptations for those who would follow Jesus. 

For the tax collectors it was inflating the tax rates. The government tells the tax collectors to collect five percent, but the tax collectors tell the people that they have to pay six percent and pocket the difference. 

Everybody knew that they did it but they were powerless to do anything about it. The Romans didn’t care if the tax collectors cheated their own people just as long as Rome got their share.

John’s message to the tax collectors: Don’t cheat your neighbors, love them instead. Zacceus, the wee little man that climbed up in the Sycamore tree was a great example of a tax collector that repented when he met the Lord Jesus and gave back to everyone he cheated. Don’t cheat your neighbors, love them instead.

The soldiers, whether they were Roman soldiers or Jewish soldiers we don’t know, but these were men in positions of power and authority over the people who used their position, and fear, and threats of violence, and false accusations to extort money from their neighbors.

When they asked John what they should do he told them, stop extorting and blackmailing people, be content with your wages. Don’t squeeze your neighbors, love them instead.

What shall we do? Exercise generosity instead of selfishness, honesty instead of cheating, and contentment instead of extortion.

John Calvin wrote, “Let the necessity of our brethren affect us powerfully, and let the bounty of God, which is in our hands, stimulate us to acts of kindness and generosity.”

John called the people to repentance, to a change of mind, which is evidenced in a change of behavior. The change of our ways is the evidence of the change of our minds.

As Alistair Begg said, “Be different! So different that people say, ‘something happened to this chap!’ I’d rather see a gospel than hear one any day!”

So what’s our takeaway? 

Be different. Don’t live a life marked by selfishness, and pride, and bad language, and drunkenness, and dishonesty, turn away from your selfish ways and live a life marked by love, love for the Lord and for our neighbors. 

Let us truly do unto others as we would have them do unto us, let us deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow Jesus. 

That’s exactly the example He left for us, he denied Himself and took up His cross, our cross, and died in our place. Not so we could spend the rest of our days in selfishness and pride, but so that we could truly be different through faith in Him and with the help of the Holy Spirit.

To Him be glory in the church both now and forevermore.

Amen.