John, Pt. 23 | John 5:19-32

All right, if you will join me take your copy of the scriptures

We'll be in John chapter 5 verses 19 through 32

John chapter 5 Verses 19 through 32.

This is the 23rd message in the book of John If you're looking in your pew

Bibles that is page 1076 Let me pray

Our Father in God Lord We come to you in the name of your beloved

Son Jesus He is the Christ the Son of the

Living God and Lord. We ask by his name and by his faithfulness

That you will at this time use me To speak forth your word and by which you feed your people

Or they have not come here to listen to me. They come here to feast At the foot of Jesus at Mount Zion Lord in his name

Bless us Amen I'm going to begin reading the text and I'll say up front

We will not get through all my points today So this is a lot of scripture.

So Beginning in verse 19 therefore

Jesus answered and Was saying to them that them. Here's the religious

Jews truly truly I say to you The Son can do nothing from himself

Unless It is something he sees the father doing

For who for whatever the father does these things the son also does in the same manner for the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing and the father will show him greater works than these

So that you will marvel For just as the father raises the dead and gives them life even so the son also gives life to whom he wishes for not even the father judges anyone but He has given all judgment to the son

So that all will honor the son even as they honor

The father He who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him truly

Truly I say to you He who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and Does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death in to life

Truly truly I say to you an hour is coming and now is when

This dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live

For just as the father has life in himself even so he gives life

Gives to the son also to have life in himself and he gave him authority to Execute judgment because he is the son of man.

Do not marvel at This for an hour is coming in which all

Who are in the tombs will hear his voice? and Will come forth

Those who did good deeds to the resurrection of life And those who committed evil deeds to the resurrection of judgment.

I Can do nothing for myself as I hear I judge and my judgment is righteous because I do not seek my own will but the will of him who sent me if I alone bear witness about myself

My witness is not true There is another who bears witness about me and I know that the witness which he gives about me is true our theme for this

Lord's Day is the equality of Jesus with the father the equality of Jesus with the father my proposition is something that we have spoken about many times

Which is in every way that the father is God Jesus also is

God the father is not Outgauding Jesus, right? You know like this this term in the streets where if you hang out with someone and you have this this male

Dominance where people guys try to outman other men, right? We try to outdo one another the father does not out

God Jesus in Every way that the father is

God. Jesus also is God also Holy Spirit is

God Particularly with our text the equality here is speaking about works

The Equality from our text is speaking about works and the works here done by God the father are the same kind of works done by God the

Son The same question our text raises is the question that we have to ask ourselves today that is

Who is? Jesus C .s. Lewis one of the great authors of All time in my opinion says this quote

I Am trying here to prevent anyone from saying

The real if the really foolish thing that people often say about him

I Am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher

But I don't accept his claim to be God. This is the one thing we must not say a

Man who is merely a man and says the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher

He would either be a lunatic on the level of a man who says he is a poached egg or Else, he would be the devil of hell

You must make a choice Either this man was and is the

Son of God Or else a madman or something worse

You can shut him up for a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon

Or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher

He has not left that open to us He did not intend to do so in quotes

Jesus is either a liar a lunatic or Lord, right?

That's just what it comes down to if if he was not God and knew he was not

God then he is a liar right If he was not

God, but believed himself to be God He is a lunatic if our only two options were these two

Our gathering here together is for nothing, right? We echo what

Paul says we are to be among most people pitied and you should never call someone who claimed to be

God and knew he wasn't or Claimed to be God and wasn't but believed himself to be a good moral teacher

Her other option is is that he is Lord. He is who he says he is And if that is true, you still cannot say that he was only a good teacher

The option is not there Jesus being only a good teacher that option is not there

If he is Lord, we are to receive him as such and we are to honor him as such

His claim to deity does not allow for any of us to have that option of good teacher he is either a liar a lunatic

Or he is Lord So who is Jesus in our context?

We have Jesus traveling to Jerusalem and one of the three major feast days and at Jerusalem He spots a lame man lying by the pool of Bethesda Hoping to get healed right two weeks ago.

We walked through this This story that took place so I won't revisit that If he wasn't here

It should be on YouTube soon You can go on the Facebook page You can go on the

Facebook page and you can see it there But I've been in that we spoke about how

Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath day and told him to pick up his map We saw that from the book of Jeremiah that that that they were not supposed to carry any kind of a load on The Sabbath day and we also saw that Sabbath day keeping was the sign of the

Mosaic covenant In our outline today, we were going to see the equality of Jesus The equality that Jesus shares with his father

He does whatever the father is doing. He raises the dead and gives life He has been given all judgment and he receives honor just as the father so point number one

He does whatever the father is doing point number two He raises the dead and gives life point number three he has been given all judgment and point number four

He receives honor just as the father so we'll only go through two of the points today

So if you will join me back in our text we'll read verses 19 and 20 19 and 20 there for Jesus answered and Was saying to them remember the them here is the

Jews who were coming against him Claiming that he broke the Sabbath and making himself equal with God He said to them truly truly

I say to you religious Jews the son Can do nothing from himself unless it is something he sees the father doing

For whatever the father does these things the son also does

Listen in the same manner for the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing and the father will

Show him greater works than these so that you religious Jews will marvel

So this right here is coming in the context Of that we see taking place in verses 16 through 18 verse 16 we have that Speaking about the reason speaking about the reason they were persecuting

Jesus It says and for this reason him making a lame man

Well, and that lame man walking carrying his man on the Sabbath the Jews were

Persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things that these things would be making a lame man.

Well on the Sabbath But he answered them my father is

Working until now and I myself am working For this reason the breaking of the

Sabbath doing the miracles calling him father calling the father Calling God his father for this reason therefore

The Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because he was not only breaking the

Sabbath But he was also calling God his own father making himself equal with God so we're not gonna really touch

Sabbath here just the the fact that Jesus has been accused of Blaspheming really by calling

God his father, right? He didn't say our father right if you go back two weeks ago.

I mentioned this in there Also, he didn't say our father including himself with the

Jews. He said my father We remember in the Lord's Prayer Jesus taught his disciples to pray and we pray that every

Lord's Day we pray our Father we say our father We're including that all of us are his children in in one way by saying

Jesus saying my father He is excluding himself from the group Claiming that he himself is the

Son of God and so By that the Jews were saying that he was making himself

Equal with God Jesus seems to be telling these religious Jews that he is able to heal on the

Sabbath the reason why is because that is the work of God Jesus coming and Doing these mighty works on the

Sabbath is a part of the work of God We also saw two weeks ago that Jesus was the

Lord of the Sabbath We saw that the Sabbath was not made for man. I Was made we saw that the

Sabbath was made for man not man for the Sabbath Meaning like if you were to to take the principle that we use in general equity

Meaning that it was a way to make sure That there was a day of rest.

So if you at this time Was a master you had slaves

The Sabbath meant that you can't work your slaves seven days a week You have to give them a day off if you were a business owner

You cannot work your employees seven days a week. You must give them a day off Well, this is something that we can extract from that and say yes, absolutely.

This is something that we need, right? We don't need people Working seven days a week or you know, you might be someone what we call a workaholic, right?

And you're just trying to work your life away So a principle that we can take from Sabbath is that you

You need rest. You don't need to work your life away, right?

So this is what's called general equity of course, it's a moral law there was a

Just penalty for people that did not obey Sabbath and that just penalty was death

And so I would say we're not Including death for a workaholic, but please

Take a day off. Don't work your life away. So that's a general equity That's something that we can look at and say yes, this is something that we can apply to our own lives today

Because it was We was made for us in that way. God does not want us to live our life

Working he wants us to take a day of rest and also pointed out that we

You be far and it would be hard for you to try to prove from the text that this was

Generally speaking about a day of worship because in Jewish custom every day was a day of worship

Right every day. There was something to do in temples and synagogues So it wasn't so much of gathering together to worship

God it was Not working Don't work your life away and Jesus came and he was performing miracles on the

Sabbath And so because of that Including himself with the father that the he is the father's son.

They accused him of Blaspheming which also carried a just penalty of death

Jesus doing whatever the father does seems to be What it what is driving this discourse, right?

So if you if you just read over this discourse, you see that it's

Jesus Identifying himself with God concerning works

Jesus here has Jesus begins his argument by by Why he is able to do these works so Jesus if you as we walk through this

We're going to see the reason why he's he is saying that he is able to do the works of God Do these very works that he's doing such as healing people on the

Sabbath and it's because the father Loves him So he is able to do what the father does

Because the father loves him. That's what he's proclaiming I am able to do this because I am loved by my father in John chapter 3 verse 35 it says the father

Jesus speaking the father loves the son and Has given him all things until his hands so everything that the father does

Jesus is able to do Verse 17. He calls God father my father, but in verse 20

Speaking of God the father he see he declared he calls himself the father

So he says the father loves the son So two ways that he's supposedly in the eyes of the

Jews are is blaspheming first He doesn't include them in his he doesn't say our father.

He says my father, but then he says that the father loves the son He didn't he doesn't say that the father loves his sons

Right. He's excluding himself from the religious Jewish group He doesn't say the father loves the sons the

Jews. He says but the father loves the son and he's pointing to himself so again, if you're a religious

Jew at this time if you hold to the The law of God in a strict form you would have to say he is blaspheming and he deserves to die

So Jesus here is making himself equal with God So Jesus being the son of God calling himself

God He is making himself equal with God. Now what we need to understand here is that the equality here is being

Being remember if we're gonna walk through the doctrine of God There is only one

God right being one being the the one what the three who's one the one

What is the one being the three who's are the father son and the Holy Spirit? So his equality with God is in the being right the one being he is not saying that him and the father

Are the same person he's not saying that he is the father Right.

That's not what Jesus is saying. He is saying that he is equal with God Speaking of the being speaking of the name

Yahweh Yahweh represents the being of God so the equality in Referent to the being not the person

He begins to speak in a way I Think that we're all gonna be able to appreciate this.

He speaks in a way That would be familiar to the Jews by story but not by experience

Meaning a prophetic word, right So he is speaking in such a way that he's able to see the father and the father is showing him works so this would been familiar to them in a and by story only

Right the these stories of the prophets were passed down to the Jewish people

So by story only they were able to understand in a way of what he was saying.

They had never experienced prophets in their time

Remember before John the Baptist it had been 400 years Since God has spoken by way of prophets

Jesus is saying he does what he sees the father doing

Right. So so Jesus is saying he does that the works that he is doing he is able to see the father doing these works

Jesus here is saying that he is able to experience the father in a way

That way you and I understand theologically But we don't understand in practice we don't understand what he's

Experiencing in practice because we you and I we don't see the father right with our eyes.

We don't see the father We don't have an inner eyesight of what the father is doing in heaven We understand it theologically, but we don't understand it in practice the same with the

Jews They understood it by stories being passed down to them, but they didn't understand it in experience

We understand it This experience that he's having theologically, but we don't understand it in practice the

Jews would have probably understood this experience by way of visions or dreams

So this is how the prophets were spoke to by way of visions or dreams or even God coming in an angelic being the angel of the

Lord We would probably understand this more dealing with his omniscience

The omniscience of Jesus Christ if you turn in your Bible to John chapter 3 verse 13 and I'm going to add some words at the end that I believe should be in the text because I hold to the majority text view so verse 13 says and No one has ascended into heaven

But he who descended from heaven the son of man. That's a messianic claim

And so our Bibles also in my opinion should have who is in heaven

Who is in heaven? So if you take the manuscripts that we have the most of it

Says who is in heaven so in some way we have Jesus on earth

But it's in heaven, and I believe it's speaking of his omniscience

We understand that the hypo we understand through the hypostatic Union Jesus has two natures two natures the divine nature and the human nature and Yet he was he is one

Christ one Christ two natures Jesus in his divine nature is

Omniscience he can hold all things together by the word of his power, right?

He can be on earth present with his disciples While at the same time experiencing his father in heaven

So that's his divine nature is able to do these things he can he can be with his disciples

Hold all things together by the word of his power and experience his father in heaven

The human nature of Jesus can only be in one place at one time So he is able to experience the father in a way that we don't understand an experience.

We're not omniscient We don't hold all things together. We cannot be here and there Our understanding is merely theological

And as we transition the greater works than these That will cause them to marvel will be the rest of what our verses are speaking about so point number two

He raises the dead Look at verse 21

For as the father Raises the dead and gives them life even so the son also

Gives life to whom he wishes Now what I want to do is a little different than what we normally do

Because there's two sections as you see right here. There's two paragraphs you if you have the LSB The first paragraph is the

Jesus Equality with the father and then the second paragraph would be the two resurrections now

If you walk through this and we're going to walk through it this way We're going to see that these two parallel each other that Jesus mentioned something in one paragraph

But the answer a fuller picture of it comes in the next paragraph and so what we're going to do is

I want to We're going to look at today verse 21 and our second point along with verse 25 and 26

So I'm gonna read verse 21 again, then we'll read verse 25 and 26 21

For just as the father raises the dead and gives them life even so the son

Also gives life to whom he wishes verse 25 truly Truly I say to you an hour is coming in now is

When the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live

For just as the father has life in himself Even so he gave to the son also to have life in himself now the first thing to notice here is

The raising of the dead unto life is not a future judgment It's not a future raising of the dead.

We'll see that in verses 22 Connected to 27 and 28 verse 22 connected to 27 and 28

And we'll look at that next week the raising of the dead in verses 21 25 and 26 is speaking about Regeneration it's speaking about the new birth, which we clearly walk through in John chapter 3 right as Jesus as John is writing this gospel

And after he says something or makes a statement or makes a theological term He's not leaving it there right and as he's continuing to write he's bringing it with him the whole way

So we're gonna see this brought through the gospel all the way through this idea of the new birth

Remember Jesus speaking with Nicodemus. He tells him unless the man is born again. He cannot see he cannot enter the kingdom of God and This is speaking about what we see taking place in Ezekiel 36.

It's the regeneration that that God himself is going to to Sprinkle us with clean water.

He's going to remove our heart of stone Give us a heart of flesh and put his spirit in us

That will cause us to keep his law Now for our proof text

I want us to look at Ephesians chapter 2 Ephesians chapter 2 and let's look at verse 1

Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 and You were dead in In your transgressions and sins

Let's stop right there and you were dead and your transgressions and sins

The death here expressed in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 1 is spiritual death

It's spiritual death Every one of us were born When we were born we were born

Physically alive right we We're physically alive every one of us.

We're born. We're physically alive, but we are Spiritually dead. This is what

Scripture tells us Think about what I just said a minute ago with that Ezekiel passage that God puts his spirit in us

We're born without the Spirit of God in us. We're born spiritually dead spiritually dead means

Spiritually listen to this spiritually unable to live for God so Spiritually dead means that you are born spiritually unable to live for God and spiritually unable to Respond to the call of God so not only can you not live for God remember?

He has to put his spirit in you that causes you to obey his law But you you are spiritually unable to respond

To the call of God and this right here would be the gospel so when someone's witnessing to you are if you hear a preacher preaching they're preaching the gospel or or In the

Reformed circle we say this quite often you know no one just wakes up and decides to be a Christian Right so whether it's we're saying that no one wakes up and decides to be a

Christian But we're also saying even if you're hearing the gospel preach you can't respond to that call

You're unable to respond Because you're spiritually dead we hear people debating the idea of free will all the time

This free will idea this Spiritual death that we're speaking about that is the dividing wall

That your will cannot climb over You cannot climb over the fact that you are spiritually dead

In order for anyone to not be spiritually dead they must be given life

And that is what our text is talking about so if you look back at our text again

I'm gonna read again. I'm gonna try to do it a little slower John 5 21 25 and 26 and as I'm reading it think about Spiritual death not a physical resurrection, but a spiritual death that's being spirit spiritual with the spiritual resurrection

Again next week we'll see the physical death with physical resurrection For just as the father

Raises the dead so if you just look at verse 21 it seems to be talking about physical That's why I'm saying like the next portion gives more light for just as the father

Raises the dead and gives them life even so the son also gives life to whom he wishes

Truly truly I say to you an hour is Coming right here and now is

So if this was future there wouldn't be no and now is When the dead will hear the voice of the

Son of God and those who hear will live For just as the father has life in himself even so he gives

To the son also to have life in himself Now turn back to Ephesians chapter 2

Ephesians chapter 2 tells us what spiritual death looks like Ephesians 2 will read verses 1 through 3

And you were dead and the transgressions of your sins in which you

Formerly walked according to the course of this world according to the ruler of the power of the air the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedient among whom we also

Formerly conducted ourselves in the lust of our flesh Doing the desires of the flesh and of the mind we were by nature

Children of wrath even as the rest of mankind our spiritual death

Was are by nature were by nature born Spiritually dead the conduct of the spiritual death is fleshly

I Sounds weird right the conduct of the spiritual death of spiritual death is fleshly because we're born physically alive

And the conduct that's been that that takes place in the spiritual dead is fleshly

They conduct themselves it says in the lust of the flesh Doing the desires of the flesh and their mind the

Greek word here for flesh as Actually speaking about bodies Like when it says the flesh conducting yourself in the flesh.

It's this the Greek word for body That's all it means is your body The Greek word here for mind speaks about thoughts and imaginations

Thoughts and imaginations meaning not only are we living for our flesh or our

Let me not put it on us. Not only are they the spiritual dead living for their flesh

But that their flesh is what draw is what's been driven by their mind their flesh is only doing

What their mind tells them to do right? They're only reacting on the thoughts the imaginations of their their mind their heart the will of a person

You talk about this the whole free will controversy the will of a person who is driven by their mind

Carrying out the desires of their flesh is not free right if You are living for the desires of your flesh, and it's being driven by the imagination of your mind

You're not free You're enslaved

You cannot Live for God and you cannot respond to the call

You're unable to I hit this too many times.

Okay, the only way for them to be made

Alive spiritually and able to respond to the call of God Again, we go back to John 3 is regeneration.

You must be born again And as the father has the power to raise the dead and to give life

Jesus has the power to raise the dead and give life.

This is what's 21 is talking about. So let's look back at 21 I'm gonna point out something real quick 21

Chapter John chapter 5 verse 21 for just as the father Raises the dead and gives them life even so the son also gives life to him right here

He wishes to whom he wishes on the great day of judgment

All people are going to get life and come out of their graves Right everyone that's that has died will come forth will receive some kind of life new bodies and will come out of their graves some will go to To be with God and some are going to go into destruction, but but every one of them come out the grave alive

This resurrection this raising of the dead he says to whom he wishes Meaning that's this this resurrection is not for everyone this raising of the dead is not for everyone

But it's for whom he wishes Right and we could go back to the doctrine of election, which we're not going to do right now

We we walk through that previously in this in this gospel notice

He doesn't say Again, it's everyone. It's not to everyone but also notice that this life regeneration that's being spoken about it's talking about the first and between the first and second advent so first advent

Jesus Christ the the hypostatic Union God enters into creation Jesus becomes flesh

Right that's first advent Jesus enters into time the infinite becomes finite the

Creator enters creation first advent second advent Jesus comes back

His feet touched down on earth second coming and at that moment

He will judge the living and the dead so what takes place between first advent and second advent is

Regeneration this is what this raising of the dead is speaking about it says an hour is coming and now is

This is speaking about the first advent an hour is coming in verse 28 if you see verse 28

It says do not marvel at this for an hour is coming It doesn't say and now is and an hour is coming.

That's future tense It's not that our the hour is coming and now is

This is the one that's coming. That's future tense This is speaking about the second advent the return of Jesus Christ and when that happens

That raising of the dead again. We'll look at that next week from verse 28 will take place so Let's just read that for clarity

Verse 28 do not marvel at this I want you to see if you notice the difference an hour is coming in which all

Not who he wishes right all Who are in the tombs will hear his voice and Will come forth and Those who did good deeds to the resurrection of life and those who committed evil deeds to the resurrection of judgment

So in verse 21 again verse 21 doesn't Doesn't separate the two so if you just read verse 21

It seems like it's speaking about what verse 28 is speaking about it doesn't seem to be speaking about a a

Spiritual resurrection, that's why you have to look at 25 26 and then

Again 27 through 29. There's two resurrections there

So back to where we are but the hour is coming and now is this life from the dead is regeneration and It takes place when a spiritual dead person hears the voice of the

Son of God, so how does it take place a spiritually dead person

Hears the voice of the Son of God. That's what it says verse 21

No, excuse me verse 25 is now coming is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the

Son of God So the a good question to ask is this How does a spiritually dead?

Person hear the voice of the Son of God right how does the spiritual dead hear the voice of the

Son of God and I believe that it's through gospel preaching and gospel conversation through gospel preaching whether it be behind the pulpit on a street corner or You sitting around a table talking with family or talking with friends

That that's how they hear the voice of the Son of God when ministering the gospel to the spiritually dead those who hear the voice of the

Son of God are Given life and those who hear my voice or your voice remain dead in their trespasses and sins

Right like something happens in the preaching of the gospel whether you're ministering

By by speaking forth the truth and pulpits are on streets or just having conversation

To where it's not you speaking or or we can say that's not

You who they are hearing So as I'm preaching if they do not hear the voice of Christ calling them

They will remain dead in their trespasses and sins They must hear the voice of the

Son of God the gospel is God's power for salvation So somehow as the gospel is being ministered the voice of God speaks forth

Whether it's like we see in John 11 when he calls for Lazarus Lazarus come forth

You know for me, you know, I can't tell you that I actually heard Jesus Jesus and Jeff come forth

But it's through that message of the gospel right that that I heard the voice of the Son of God I was given life.

I was given life. I was given faith to believe and You so so you and I when we call someone to repent

So this is the the gospel called the call of God when we call someone to repent and believe

We we can't call them to repent and believe without speaking forth The Message of reconciliation.

So after we preach to them the message of reconciliation we call them to repent and believe

They cannot respond to gospel proclamation unless they hear the voice of God Salvation is through the proclamation of the gospel.

That is the message of reconciliation So when you're witnessing to someone You know, you have to talk about God who is

God you have to talk about man who is man and you have to talk About Jesus who is

Jesus and then you have to call them to repentance right, this is the

Steps right. We need to tell people that there's only one God and you are not him and that this one

God has revealed himself to us in time through Jesus Christ who lived the life that we could not live and he took upon himself the death that we deserve because We have broken

God's law and because we have broken God's law. We are condemned but Reconciliation is given to us because God so loved the world

Red yellow black and white he sent his son to live the life They could not live and to take their punishment and then we call them to faith and we call them to believe

Right, if you do not take those steps, they cannot hear the voice of God They cannot hear

Christ. The gospel is God's power for salvation now real quick by way of conclusion

Jesus has absolute Equality with the father he does what he sees the father doing think omniscience

Both the father and the son raised the dead and give life and Again, I would add that to spiritual death and also physical the

Jews understood Jesus to be making himself equal with God calling God his own father and by Calling the father calling himself the father's son

The question is is is what do you understand Jesus to be doing here?

Right is Jesus not really making himself equal with God Right does it seem to be that's what he's doing

But that's not really what he's doing right as we or is is you know Like we have some critics say well, he's not actually saying he's

God's what the Muslims will say He's not actually saying he's God and you got the one is Pentecostals are saying Well, he's actually saying he is the father when he says that he's

God. He's actually saying that him and the father are the same Right, or is he actually?

Making himself equal concern and deity the him and the father He the things that he's doing.

He's actually seeing the father do Omniscience and because both of them shared deity right the being of God He's able to do what the father is doing is that what you believe

Right. Do you believe that that Jesus is

God meaning? the second person of the Trinity Or is

Jesus just a liar Is he a lunatic on the level of a man who believed he is a poached egg

Or he's Lord right like those are only three options Jesus did live

Jesus of Nazareth is a real historical being And every one of us who live and die we have to make a choice is he a liar

Is he a lunatic? Or is he Lord because I can tell you this he's not just a good teacher.

I pray this day You believe he is Lord. I'm available to anyone who wants to talk

Pastor Cowan Josh I might should just say your leadership We're available.

If you want to talk join me in prayer Father Lord, we thank you for your word

We thank you that you have sent your son and that reconciliation is made not because We're very intellectual and we were able to you know, see the good from the bad

But because you Through this message have raised us up to spiritual life every one of us

Lord. We're born shaking our fist sending Assault words at you

Worshiping ourselves in the mirror Or any one of these spiritually dead people if had the opportunity would remove you from the throne and sit on it themselves

But we're so thankful That you have waken us to spiritual truth that you have given us a new heart

That beats for you and you have placed your spirit in us and that you have washed us with pure water

And then now we are able to see the truth and live for you in Jesus Well, we thank you for this meal that we are about to receive

And Lord, I just pray that you will help us to understand that this is a way that you are growing us in holiness

That you have given to the church word and sacrament Had a wonderful conversation last week about it

Please Lord in Jesus name Use this to grow us in holiness