Simon and the Sinful Woman - Luke 7:36-50 - January 22, 2023

 Luke 7:36-50 Simon and the Sinful Woman

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 7:36. We are going to be looking at verses 36-50 and that’s on page 864 in the pew Bibles.

I hope you all appreciated Lou Going’s message last week, I know I did. I had never even heard the expression “justified by faith,” before I took Lou’s theology class at BICS. One statement that he made that was especially powerful to me personally was that “God loves you, He doesn’t merely put up with you, He loves you!” It’s a powerful thought, at least to me.

Well that theme of justification by faith is certainly present in our text for this morning, so let’s look at it together.

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.” 40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” 48 And he said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.” 49 Then those who were at table with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”

Let’s pray.

So in this account we have three characters, Jesus obviously, a Pharisee named Simon who invited Jesus over for dinner, and a woman of the city who was a sinner.

All we know about Simon the Pharisee and the sinful woman are right here in this text, they don’t appear elsewhere in Scripture, at least not by name. The woman here is not to be confused with Mary from Bethany who was the sister of Martha and Lazarus who also anointed Jesus with oil and wiped His feet with her hair, that account can be found in Matthew’s Gospel. There is also no evidence in Scripture that she is Mary Magdalene as is a popular but incorrect assumption. All we know is that she was a woman from the city that Jesus was in at the time and that she had a pretty bad, though well deserved, reputation. 

As often happens with any story, those that hear it have a tendency to identify with one of the characters, seeing themselves reflected in them. I wonder, as we look at this account, whom we each identify with. Each of the three characters expresses an attitude that we can take a lesson form. But don’t worry, that doesn’t make this a three point sermon!

We are first introduced to Simon, a Pharisee. Simon expresses judgment, not sound judgment, or good judgment, Simon passes judgment both on Jesus and the woman who entered his home.

 It’s clear from the text that, at least initially, Simon had not made up his mind about Jesus. It’s possible that his intentions for inviting Jesus over for supper were not pure, maybe he was looking to better his social standing by having this well known rabbi in his house, it’s also possible that he was merely curious and wanted to question Jesus himself within the confines of his home instead of the public square.

It’s also clear from the text that this dinner was far from private as banquets in that day tended to be more open than a dinner party we might have. There were other guests there at the table as well as those from around the city that wanted to hear the conversation, or who wanted to catch a glimpse of Jesus, and that included the sinful woman.

36 One of the Pharisees asked him to eat with him, and he went into the Pharisee’s house and reclined at table. 37 And behold, a woman of the city, who was a sinner, when she learned that he was reclining at table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of ointment, 38 and standing behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head and kissed his feet and anointed them with the ointment. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would have known who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

So it appears that Simon’s mind was made up after watching this display and he made his judgment about Jesus as well as the woman. He decided that Jesus could not possibly be a prophet because he did not display the power nor the holiness of a prophet. Simon decided that since prophets know what is hidden and shudder at the contact of that which is unholy that Jesus was disqualified. Jesus either didn’t know or didn’t care what kind of woman it was that was touching Him.

But Jesus, knowing this man’s heart and his thoughts answered his judgment.

40 And Jesus answering said to him, “Simon, I have something to say to you.” And he answered, “Say it, Teacher.” 

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.”

Providing water to wash the feet of guests, greeting them with a kiss, and anointing their heads with oil was customary in First Century Palestine, these were common gestures that Simon had neglected. The simple things like greeting your guests with a handshake or a hug, and taking their coat, offering them a drink, that’s what Simon neglected to do for Jesus.

But this woman, in her humility and love for Jesus, washed His feet with her own tears, continually kissed His feet, and anointed them with fragrant ointment. Simon displayed no love for Jesus while the woman humbly displayed great love for Him.

Jesus’ parable, as they often do, exposed the heart of Simon.

41 “A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered, “The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” And he said to him, “You have judged rightly.”

In this whole exchange, our tendency is to focus on the actions of the woman and how she expressed her great love for Jesus because she had been forgiven for so much, she was the greater debtor. But Simon also missed a very important point, there were two debtors who couldn’t pay their debts, but the moneylender extended grace to both and cancelled the debt of both. Simon was blind to his own sin as was evidenced by his expression of zero love for Jesus, not even the customary welcome that any guest would expect.

Ray Stedman said, “It is impossible to love until you understand how much you have been forgiven.”

Though Simon answered Jesus correctly, that the debtor with the greater debt would love the moneylender more, he was wrong about everything else.

He was wrong because he judged that Jesus was not a prophet, say nothing of being Messiah.

He was wrong because he decided that he was better than that sinful woman and was offended at her presence.

He was wrong because he didn’t realize nor recognize his own debt of sin and his own inability to repay it.

He was wrong because he didn’t extend grace because he didn’t understand grace.

He was wrong because he didn’t love Jesus.

Like I said before, we tend to identify with characters in stories, most often the heroes, but if we’re honest, there are plenty of times that we are more like Simon than we are the repentant woman.

John Calvin wrote, “Simon’s mistake lies only in this: Not considering that Christ came to save what was lost, he rashly concludes that Christ does not distinguish between the worthy and the unworthy. That we may not share in this dislike, let us learn, first, that Christ was given as a Deliverer to miserable and lost people, and to restore them from death to life. Secondly, let every person examine himself and his life, and then we will not wonder that others are admitted along with us, for no one will dare to place themselves above others.”

Simon was just as unworthy as the woman to receive forgiveness, and so are we, and that is what makes God’s grace in Christ so amazing. 

We all stand as equals at the foot of the cross.

… [for] God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Amen.

Dirge-ing and Dancing - Luke 7:24-35 - January 8, 2023

 Luke 7:24-35 Dirge-ing and Dancing

Good morning! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke 7. Today we are going to look at verses 24-35, and that’s on page 864 in the pew Bibles.

You may remember from last week that we dealt with Jesus’ interaction with the two disciples of John the Baptist when he sent them to Jesus to ask if He truly was the Messiah or if they should be waiting for somebody else. Jesus showed them by healing the blind, the deaf, the lame, by raising the dead, and preaching Good News to the poor that He was in fact the One that they were waiting for.

And that’s where we pick up the story this morning, Luke 7:24-35.

24 When John’s messengers had gone, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are dressed in splendid clothing and live in luxury are in kings’ courts. 26 What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 27 This is he of whom it is written, “ ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 

28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.) 

31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, “ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ 

33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

Let’s pray.

As I said last week, I have always found the question from John the Baptist perplexing but it’s clear that even John expected a different kind of Messiah, one who brought the fire of judgment not the grace of God. But even though John may have faltered, that didn’t disqualify him from his calling.

As soon as John’s disciples left the scene Jesus gives him a glowing commendation.

What did you go out into the wilderness to see, a reed shaken by the wind, some wimpy, wispy blade of grass, weak and unable to stand up whenever the wind blew? 

No, John the Baptist was strong in his message and his character. He was unyielding to the pressure of popular opinion. He had no qualms about standing up against the establishment and calling them a brood of vipers.

What did you go out into the wilderness to see, some fancy guy in fine robes, dignified in the eyes of men, outstanding in his cultural relevance, and walking on a red carpet?

No, John the Baptist was far from culturally relevant in his appearance or his message. Cultural relevance was totally irrelevant! Culturally relevant, finely dressed people are easy to find in the palace, in the places of societal importance. Not John, he was out in the wilderness, out in the desert.

So what did you go out to see, a prophet? *DING, DING!* John was a prophet and more. 

What made John a special kind of prophet is that he was Messiah’s herald, preparing His way. The other prophets of the Old Testament prophesied about Messiah with symbols and shadows from a distance but John was up close, even at the door.

Jesus quotes Malachi 3:1, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ 

When Jesus confirms this He is saying a lot more than just who John is.

Johannes Riggenbach wrote, “He is, if ye will hear, Elijah who is to come as Malachi prophesied; and before whom is Elijah to go prepare the way? Malachi says: ‘Before God Himself.’ What does Jesus therefore testify about Himself when He says that John has gone as Elijah before Him? Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.”

I’ve said it before and I‘ll say it again so we don’t waste time with subtlety: Jesus is God and John was His herald preparing His way, a prophet who was prophesied about.

Jesus also gave Him this ringing and curious endorsement: 28 I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

Can you work out that math for me? No one born of women is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he?

I really wanted the “greater’s” to be two different Greek words so as to explain this a little better but they’re not. How is John the greatest ever born and yet somehow not greater than the least in the kingdom of God?

Even though John was written about in the New Testament he is still and Old Testament prophet, he was still looking forward to the redemption through Jesus. John was beheaded in prison before Jesus was crucified, he didn’t witness His resurrection, he didn’t get to experience the tongues of fire on Pentecost.

It’s not that John wasn’t included in the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus but his station and his work was still under the Old Covenant.

JJ vanOosterzee wrote, [Jesus] speaks of the least of His disciples, and this not only so far as they appear as apostles or evangelists, but without any distinction. He thinks of their preeminence above the most distinguished men of the Old Covenant, the array of whom closed with John. They had, through the light of the experience of His redeeming power, deeper insight into the nature, the course of development, and the blessings of the kingdom of heaven, than had been the portion of John.

Now when Jesus makes this bold statement about John’s greatness and the greater-ness of those in the kingdom of God those listening to Him had two very different reactions.

29 (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30 but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)

The people who believed John and were baptized for the repentance of sin, looking forward to the coming of Messiah “declared God just,” meaning that they declared that God’s will that called them sinners in need of repentance was right. He was right then and He is right now.

The Pharisees and the experts in the Law were a different story. Instead of embracing the will of God, which called them sinners, they rejected the purpose of God for themselves. 

Why? Self-righteousness.

Over and over in the New Testament we can see this group representing self-righteousness, whether it’s the Pharisees and teachers of the Law in this case or the Sadducees and Elders of the people in other places. 

Unfortunately, this group is still alive and well today. They made not be called Pharisees or Sadducees but the spirit is still there. 

They don’t want to hear about judgment from John and they don’t want to hear about grace from Jesus because in either case they would have to admit their own sin and sinfulness. Good thing we’re never like that!

Jesus said in verse 31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation [meaning this self-righteous group of Pharisees and teachers of the Law], and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, 

“ ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.’ 

33 For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 Yet wisdom is justified by all her children.”

What is Jesus saying, what is He comparing the self-righteous to? He is saying that He played a happy, joyful, gracious tune, but they didn’t want to dance, John sang a dirge, a sad song played on an organ in a funeral home but they didn’t want to weep.

Neither one of them could move this group with their message, either the message of judgment as with John, or the message of grace as with Jesus, because both messages would force them to accept their guilt and they wanted nothing to do with that.

It wouldn’t have mattered who played the song or what kind of music it was, if it pointed out their guilt and sin they would not dance and they would not weep. The same is still true today.

The gospel gets watered down because nobody wants to hear about their guilt and without guilt there is no need of grace.

It’s those who have the wisdom from God to humbly see the truth of our sinfulness and our need of saving by the grace of God through Christ’s work on the cross that show that God’s wisdom is just.

Is that you? Do you recognize your guilt before God, do you recognize your need for His grace? Have you asked for His forgiveness? He will forgive you, He will make you new, He will make you His own. All you have to do is ask Him.

Amen.

Disappointed with Jesus - Luke 7:18-23 - January 1, 2022

 Luke 7:18-23 Disappointed with Jesus

Good morning and happy New Year!

New Years is a funny time, a time to reset, a time to start some things over. New diets, gym memberships, Bible reading plans, kicking bad habits, starting new good habits, these ideas are all very popular this time of year. I once preached a sermon entitled, “Pay for your gym membership by the year,” it’ll hurt more when you quit. I have no idea what that sermon was about…

Well, we aren’t starting anything new here this morning, we are going to continue to do what we’ve been doing and that is examining Scripture book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse.

If you are determined to change anything about yourself or your life in the New Year I would challenge you to consider aligning your expectations to what the Bible actually says. That is the topic of our text for this morning in Luke chapter seven, verses eighteen through twenty-three, and that’s on page 864 in the pew Bibles.

Let’s look at it together.

18 The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19 calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20 And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’ ” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Let’s pray.

So this is among the most perplexing accounts in the New Testament in my view. In our walk through the Gospel of Luke we have examined the life and ministry of John the Baptist. In Luke one, we read about his special birth, born to a barren couple who was, to put it politely, “advanced in years.” 

The angel Gabriel appeared to John’s father Zechariah while he was serving as a priest at the temple in Jerusalem and told him to name his son John. 

When Zechariah doubted the word of the angel he was made mute until the child was born when he wrote out on a tablet that the baby’s name was John as the angel had directed him. 

John was also Jesus’ cousin through their mothers, and he was about six months older that Jesus. After Mary had conceived she went to visit Elizabeth, John’s mother, and when Mary arrived the baby in Elizabeth’s womb, John the Baptist, leapt for joy.

Luke 1:80 says, “The child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.”

Fast forward to Luke chapter three when John did finally appear publically where Luke record the words of Isaiah the prophet concerning John the Baptist in verses 2-6:

…the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 And he went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. 5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, 6 and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’ ”

And here is what John said about himself there in chapter three and verses 15-17.

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.”

And then there’s this passage in the Gospel of John (a different John) in chapter one:

19 And this is the testimony of John, 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.” 28 These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptizing. 

29 The next day he 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.”

Now, having heard all this, are you with me in thinking that our text from Luke 7 is perplexing?

John the Baptist, who leapt for joy in his mother’s womb at the coming of Mary to visit, who was prophesied about in Isaiah as the new type of Elijah preparing the way of the Lord, who testified himself that Jesus was in fact the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, now, just a year or two later seems to doubt whether or not Jesus really was the Messiah. Why?

The scholars are divided on this like they are about everything. Some claim that John did not in fact doubt Jesus, that this was an attempt to get his disciples to follow Jesus rather than him, some hold John to be completely blameless here and it appears that they hold him up as being almost guiltless of any sin at all. 

And though Jesus Himself says that there is no one born of women greater than John, John was not without sin, not without guilt, and not without his own set of expectations of Jesus.

Why didn’t John himself go to see Jesus, why did he send two of his disciples? Because he was in prison.

And why did he send them to ask if Jesus really was Messiah or should they look for somebody else?

The answer, I think, is simple and disappointing, and all too familiar. John was disappointed by Jesus, not by anything that Jesus had done but what He hadn’t done.

John was a fiery preacher and he was expecting a fiery Messiah. Where was the winnowing fork, where was the separation of the wheat from the chaff, where was the unquenchable fire of judgment, where was the axe already laid at the root of the tree?

John didn’t ask if Jesus was the Messiah because of unbelief but because of impatience. Jesus brought blessings and benefits not punishment. John was sent to prepare the Way of the Lord but it turned out to be a Way that not even he expected.

But why is that? Was it just because of his personality? Did he expect the Messiah to look and act like him with his camel hair robe, leather belt and diet of locusts and wild honey?

Jesus’ response to the inquiry gives us the clue of exactly why John was disappointed, and in His response He also shines light on why we too are often disappointed with Jesus.

 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22 And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23 And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

Why was John disappointed? Because his expectations of Jesus didn’t line up with what the Bible actually says about Jesus.

Jesus read from the scroll of Isaiah chapter 61:1-2 when He was in Nazareth from Luke 4,

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

And here in His response to John’s disciples Jesus quotes:

Isaiah 29:18-19, In that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of their gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind shall see. 19 The meek shall obtain fresh joy in the Lord, and the poor among mankind shall exult in the Holy One of Israel.

Isaiah 35:5-6, Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy.

This isn’t magic, I’m just reading the cross references you have right there in your own Bibles.

John’s understanding of Messiah wasn’t completely wrong, it was just incomplete. His expectations were that Jesus would do all of those things, all the judgment and fire as well as the healing and liberty immediately and all at once.

I don’t say all this to chastise John the Baptist or to put him in a bad light. I only say all this because I think that John and us have this in common: that sometimes we wish that things were different than they are, and sometimes we have unmet expectations of Jesus because we don’t really know what the Bible actually says about Him and what He is doing and is going to do.

But as great a man as John the Baptist was we have some tremendous advantages over him as we will see later in this chapter, we have the Bible in its entirety, we have two thousand years of scholarly work and study of it, and most importantly, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit through faith in Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

So in the words of Saint Augustine of Hippo, “Take up and read!”

Read your Bible, ask questions, think about what you have read, meditate on it, chew on it, get to know what the actual Words of God say about the real Jesus Christ, the humble, healing Messiah, who preached good news to the poor, who died on the cross in our place, who rose from the grave, ascended into heaven, and is coming back again with the unquenchable fire of judgment and a warm welcome into His eternal kingdom for all who believe in Him.

Amen.