This morning we're going to continue our series of looking at the providence of God through the scriptures. I believe I have this message and one more on this great subject. I want to do a brief review for those who may be visiting. We've been moving from the theoretical and doctrinal concept of the providence of God and clarifying that. and then working more practically and experientially of how to benefit from that, how to live in that reality as Christians, as God's people, and to live the providence of God and how it affects our daily life, which we'll be speaking of this morning. The first message on this subject was the profound reality of providence. that as the Catechism says, God's works of providence are His most holy, wise, powerful, preserving and governing all His creatures and all their actions. That is a profound reality that with a microscope, with a telescope, with every animal, every beast, every creature in the sea, God is governing and over all of it. and is sustaining it, and not only created it, but sustains it every day, all day, without growing weary. Aren't you thankful for that? Secondly, we looked at having a proper recognition of God's providence, in that too often we have a limited understanding. We certainly cannot grasp the depth and the breadth and the height of God's wisdom and His power Romans 11.33 testifies this. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out that we certainly do not comprehend and grasp all that God is doing in Providence, but we are called to search that out in Psalm 111 and verse 2. Great are the works of the Lord. I mean, read it, not butcher it. The works of the Lord are great, sought out of all them that have pleasure therein. And we take great pleasure in what God is doing, and knowing that He is in control, and we desire to seek them out and to understand them. And then the third message, we looked at the precious relationship of providence. That God, as He is this transcendent God, He is also an imminent God. That He is involved in the daily affairs of your life. intimately involved with everything, every word, thought, and deed in your life, God is intimately involved. And that's a fearful thought at some level, but it's also a very comforting thought to God's people. That we can commune with God in every circumstance of our life. That we don't have to inform God in our prayers and bring Him up to speed. He's up to speed. And so we can go directly to Him, and He's there, and He's present, and He knows, and He cares. And He says, cast all of your care on Me, because I care for you. And so what a glorious, wonderful relationship, precious relationship, that the doctrine of providence is. And I encourage you, as the Puritans have done, to reflect upon God's providence in your life. in the circumstances that were involved in your birth, in your genealogy and past, and not getting lost in those genealogies, but realizing all that has transpired to the day of your birth that you were oblivious to. But then your conversion, and your spouse, and your vocation, and the things that God is involved in every aspect of these things in your life. And then last Sunday we looked at the practical responses to providence. So what do we do with this if we believe that He's involved in all of this? And so I talk specifically about the importance to discern in our lives when is it necessary to act in faith and when is it necessary to rest and trust God's providence. And not to be pacifist or fatalist, but to have wisdom. And to know in this situation, God is calling me to act. But in this, He's saying, stand still. See the salvation of the Lord. And how difficult those decisions can be. We looked at several examples in Scripture from Moses. How when he saw his own people, the children of Israel in Egyptian bondage, that he thought, it's time to act. He saw the taskmaster injuring or striving with one of his countrymen and he thought, it's time to act. And he strikes the Egyptian and kills him and buries him. And then we see Moses at the Red Sea. Where God said, stand back, see the salvation of the Lord as Pharaoh's army is bearing down and I part the Red Sea and you walk over. And as you cross, I bring it back in upon Pharaoh's army and deliver. And then we even talked about Moses briefly striking the rock. He was to speak to it that second time. And so the wisdom of these practical decisions, and then we alluded to David when he was fleeing from Saul and God delivers him in the cave and puts him right in front of him. Is it time to act? Or is it time to trust God? Well, we know what the counsel of his friends was. Taking. God has delivered him to you. And the necessity of wisdom to discern those situations. And then the life of Esther. Mordecai pleaded with her that it's time to act. You cannot just sit here and do nothing. You have been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this to do something. When I'm sure her desire would have been to pray, trust God, let somebody else do it. And so the wisdom of discerning our practical responses, if we embrace this, we don't want it to lend into pacifism. Right? The famous quote from William Carey, You know, God will convert the heathen when He desires to. Something of that flavor. No, we've been given a commission to go and to preach the gospel to every creature. So the wisdom in discerning when to submit and when to act. And so this morning I want to discuss another practical aspect of our response in understanding providence to the best of our ability. And this is what has been called the sphere of our responsibility. What does God expect of me in His authority? Matthew 28, 18. All authority is given to Christ. He rules over all of it. This was a question that was asked of Christ. If you want to turn to Matthew 7. This subject of authority. was a popular subject in his time. We're going to be looking at a variety of texts, so keep your fingers limber. But the assembled people that Christ taught to recognized there's something different about Him. And at the end of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 and verse 29, this was the thing that stood out to them. For He taught them as one having authority. and not as the scribes. He knew what he was speaking of. And then over to Matthew 21, this was a great question that was asked of him as they perceived his ministry by the chief priests in the temple and the elders. In Matthew 21 and verse 23. And when he was coming to the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto him as he was teaching and said, By what authority doest thou these things? Who gave you this authority? And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing, which if you tell me, I likewise will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John, whence was it? From heaven or of men? And they reasoned to themselves, saying, if he shall say from heaven, he will say unto us, well, why did you not believe him? Because John pointed to him, right? But if we say, of men, we fear the people, for all hold John as a prophet. And they answered Jesus and said, we cannot tell. And he said unto them, neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. So in God's providence, he has all authority over everything. Right? No maverick molecules. But then he delegates that authority. He gave that authority to Christ. They discerned that He had this authority. In Mark chapter 1 and verse 27, it says, And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned among themselves, saying, What thing is this? What new doctrine is this? For with authority He commandeth even the unclean spirits, and they do obey Him. Right? So in his ministry, another demonstration of his authority and his governing over everything is even the demons are subject to him. The winds and the waves are subject to him. Peace be still stops. Everything is subject to his authority. Over in Mark 13 and verse 34, He gave a parable to describe His authority and how He delegates it. So where I'm going with this is that He ultimately delegates it down through, we'll briefly mention the spheres of home, government, and the church, but ultimately down to the individual. That God delegates authority to you, and you have a sphere where you are operating under God's authority over what He calls you to do. In Mark 13, 34, he gives this parable. I don't want to read the whole parable for time's sake, but he gives this description of, For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. I'll refer back to this in a minute, but you understand he's left. He gave all authority he's given unto me, and I've commanded authority for you. Romans 13.1, that all power, even in government, comes from God. He ordains it. Luke 19 and verse 17 even tells us that He will delegate authority in the resurrection. You have been faithful over that which is least, have thou authority over ten cities. It was an interesting... And so I've preached before, several months ago, on the spheres of God's authority, how He delegates it. into the home, that there is a sphere there with authority and leadership and a structure in the church, and then in the state. And these spheres have authority. They also hold each other accountable. So I'm not going to get all into that. But then of talking about how that trickles down to individual authority and accountability back to God for what He puts in our life. We live in a time where men despise authority. Jude 8 and 2 Peter 2 describes false teachers are to be identified as those who despise dominion or despise authority. I used to have a running joke with a friend of mine. We used to tell each other, you're not the boss of me. So you'd say, hey, would you go get that? You're not the boss of me. Don't tell me what to do. And it was a joke, but the reality behind it is I don't like people telling me what to do. And so what is the purpose of God's delegated authority? It's for the flourishing of those under your authority. If it's in your individual sphere, it's for the flourishing and the managing of everything that God puts under your stewardship for His glory, the good of others, and that it flourishes there. That you take ownership of it and you have a sphere of responsibility. To rule it well. Right? That as a qualification for a pastor is to rule well his own home. To use his authority. To command his children. To manage his finances. That things under his sphere are managed well. That it's not used in oppression. There's categories of wrongdoing. Which is the imposition of unreasonable burdens. Right? And my children probably think this happens with their chores of dad's unreasonable requests of taking the trash out and making my bed. Right? And that there's the exercise of authority to command. But not to be oppressive like the Egyptians when they said to the Hebrews, you need to make these bricks without straw. Go get your own straw. We're not giving it. That's oppressive. Apart from the slavery. Of manipulation. to handle or control in a skillful, clever, unscrupulous way. Or abuse. I don't have time to dive into all of these. But we need to recognize that there are spheres of authority. There is abuse of authority. But all authority comes from God and will give an account to God. We talked last Sunday evening about individual accountability. Ecclesiastes 12.14 describes this, that every deed will be given an account of before our Creator. Every even secret deed. So God exercises his providential rule over the universe and delegates authority. Let me ask you a question just to provoke a thought. What do you think of how God's running the world? What would his approval rating be? Are you thankful he's running the world? Are you thankful that you're not in charge of making... Now, because you know why I say that? Because we can kind of get an attitude like, you know, if only I were running things, they'd be going a lot smoother. You understand, God does not make mistakes. He is executing His authority over the righteous and the unrighteous. and doing it well. And I think we need to be reminded of that, that He's the one who determines kings and rulers and sets one up and takes down another. He uses human instrumentation in that. But ultimately, I don't know. Russia, Ukraine, I have no idea. I can't sort through that. Maybe some of you can. But there is a God in heaven. who rules over the kingdoms of men. And we take great comfort. And I think I'll preach about this next week. And so we understand that God gives this authority. And so I want to just narrow that down and look at this sphere of our responsibility. Some in the biblical counseling realm have described it as the sphere of your responsibility, and having a circle, and having clarity about what's in that. And then what's not in that? And that is often called the sphere of your concern. I'm concerned about what's going on in Iran. I'm concerned about what's going on in our country and all of those things. But is that, in God's providence, in the sphere of my responsibility where I'm going to give an account for how I manage that situation? Very thankfully for myself, and I'm sure you would agree, no, it's not. And so we have to look at and have clarity on what does God require of me? What am I going to have to give an account for? and that am I ruling it well? Am I stewarding under the providence of God the authority He has delegated to me over myself to rule it? Would you agree with me that there are often two different types of people in the world? Those whose inclination is to be independent, and those whose inclination is to be more dependent. Right? And in the wisdom of God, they often marry. Because it's a match made in heaven. I'm seeking independence and to take responsibility for people, and I'm looking for somebody to do that. Not that even being dependent is necessarily a bad thing. They're usually very relational people. Right? Not responsible, primarily, as we talked about previously. But this morning I want to look at what is inside your sphere of responsibility. Do you have clarity on that? Do you have clarity on what's going to be on the test? On what God is going to require of you? That we will give an account for what God has given authority and therefore responsibility over. One of the principles I've tried to use and exercise in parenting, and my kids will probably twitch when I say this because they've heard it so often, is that of correlating the relationship between responsibility and privileges. That children want all of the privileges with none of the responsibility, right? Being an adult is when you realize that there's a correlation to those And you can do that for yourself. And in that transition time, parents, you're involved to help them correlate that my privileges and my responsibility need to be correlated. And that God does this even in our lives as adults. I was thinking of the children's story, The Little Red Hen. If you've ever read those to your children, Who will help me plant the wheat? Who will help me harvest the wheat? Who will help me bake the wheat? And this little red hen, and nobody wants to help, and he says, oh, I'll do it all by myself. And so then it gets all the way down, and the little red hen bakes the bread. And who will help me eat the bread? I'll do it all by myself. Not that we're extolling the virtues of selfishness, but do you realize it's a good opportunity to help children, even at a child's level, understand this? The Proverbs speak of this in Proverbs 27, 23, take heed to the state of your flocks. Be aware of how you're managing them. Not necessarily others' flocks. So this sphere of my responsibility to God, under His providence, under His authority, is my body. That my body is the temple of the living God and is to glorify Him. I'm not to defile it. My mind, both physically, spiritually, mentally, emotionally, ruling it well to the glory of God. That those under that God delegates to me, that I am stewarding those and managing those well. This is what entails private property. The things that you own. This is mine. That is yours. I am responsible to have to renew the license plates on my vehicle. If anybody else would like to take that on, I would gladly delegate that to you. To renew those tags. And so there are stewardships. I'm responsible for my behavior in a situation. I have to take ownership of it. My words, my actions. And then the question is, as we have clarity on our responsibilities, is are these flourishing to the glory of God? This is living under the providence of God, recognizing that everything I have, I have received. I don't glory in it, but it is a stewardship for me to manage for the glory of God and for the good of other people. This raises the issue of contentment. Am I content with God's providence in my life? Am I content with the sphere that He has given me, or do I think He really needs to expand this a little bit? and push out the walls of it a little further. Psalm 75, in verses 5 through 7, I think addresses this and says that we need to understand that promotion doesn't come from the East or from the West or from the South, but from the Lord. Let Him determine the bounds of my habitation. So there is a necessity To embrace and understand God's providence in the world, but also in your individual life. To understand experientially what that means. That your priority and laser focus is to have clarity about what is in this circle. That God is going to require and expect diligence and faithfulness that it's flourishing and ruled well. But then what about, secondly, those things outside of the sphere of your responsibility, as it's been called, the sphere of your concern? This is where we can get into a might bit of trouble. It's just not having clarity on what is ours. The official term for it is being nosy. It's attempting to expand our sphere or getting into the spheres that are outside of what God is asking us to do. What happens, incidentally, when we take on things outside of the sphere of our responsibility? Is it often leads to what's called stress. Stress can also be a guilty conscience over neglect of what's in our responsibility. But usually we neglect what's in our responsibility, why? Because we got into something that wasn't, right? It also leads to frustration. Why? Because I'm trying to influence or control something that God hasn't given me authority. And I'm trying to make something happen that He's not asking me to do. And so this is why we have to be careful that we don't watch too much media about all the world's problems and just get all conjured up into a ball of stress and frustration Because God's not asking you to solve all of those problems. And that's why those things outside of our sphere of responsibility and in the sphere of our concern are matters that we take to God in prayer, knowing that He's involved in all of it. and laying our care and concern. We have an opinion about it. My opinion can change often. But we have an opinion about how things should be run. I'm not saying that. But we're not allowing it to affect our mental, spiritual, emotional state based on our frustration and stress about how the world is being run. Beloved, take great confidence to know that God, there is a King in the heavens. And He is ruling over all. And He is not making any mistakes. His hand is not shortened. It's not slack. He's not forgetting. He's not asleep. He's not off on vacation. He is aware of all things at all times, and He's doing a great job. And so as a child of God, we can take great comfort in that. that man, God is in control. Praise God. I have no idea what He's doing. One of the challenges is when we reach outside of our responsibility, especially when we gather and solicit others to help us to start a mutiny, to gather a mob, To get the tar and pitchfork, one indicator that you're crossing some lines is when we're in a hurry. We've got to make this happen. We've got to have mob justice. We don't have time to follow due process. Jeremy, get the torch and pitchforks. Joel, get the tar and feathers. Let's get this taken care of, right? Let's just start a big brush fire and burn the whole thing down. Why? Because you don't have any authority to actually deal with it. And you're not being asked to. This is one of the dangers of watching all the nationalists. Nobody's asking my opinion about the LA riots and how I think they should be handled. I have no authority to tell anybody what to do. Now I can watch it and run color commentary on how they're exercising their authority, how I would do it differently. But again, nobody's watching that. This is not unlike the life of the Apostle Paul. Remember the scene in Ephesus in Acts 19, where there was a riot in Ephesus because the sale of the shrines to the goddess Diana of the Ephesians was in decline, and the mob chants for two hours, great is Diana of the Ephesians. Can you imagine being in that setting? And you remember how that all kind of came to a close in Acts 19 toward the end of the chapter, I think verse 36. Finally a magistrate stood forward who had authority and said, seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, you ought to be quiet and to do nothing rashly. For you have brought hither these men Paul, Silas, I believe, Silas. "...which are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess. Wherefore, if Demetrius and the craftsmen which are with him have a matter against any man, the law is open, there are deputies, let them implead one another. But if you inquire anything concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly." So even in ancient history there was that inclination to mob, flash, rule, chanting, screaming, whatever, let's hear it in a lawful assembly. The exercise of magistrates and authority. My wife has been, as many of you know, my wife has been on vacation with her parents last week. And I probably wouldn't pull, get dad's approval rating while mom has been gone. The kids are not exactly liking dad's government over the food. As I clean out freezers and delegate, we're not buying any groceries until this is gone. I remember my mother saying that. We're not, I'm not making any more meals until those leftovers are eaten. Right? And so there was a mild mutiny and they wanted to form a committee to influence the trip to the grocery store and what we needed to buy. And I said, that's a great idea. And here's how this authority is going to work. Whoever pays for it can decide what we're going to eat. The committee disbanded. There was no purchases. We have a similar problem with the thermostat in our home, is that some people think it needs to be cold, and this heat wave we're having, think the temperature needs to be colder than it is. And again, responsibility and privilege, my job's just to correlate those. If you come to my house, I have no problem if you want to control the thermostat. You can set it at 68, 72, wherever you're most comfortable. There's just one catch. You've got to pay the utility bill. And if you pay the utility bill, I will adapt. I will modify my apparel, my clothing to be comfortable and to function appropriately. And so we understand we have to be careful of extending our authority outside of what God has delegated to us. This also can be true, for example, even in something as a counseling ministry. The challenge with a counseling ministry, if you've ever been involved in such ministry, outside of the church, is that you realize very quickly as the counselor, I don't really have authority to enforce this. I can give counsel, which then can be just suggestion, but there's no ability to enforce it. and how that can not be the most helpful in the situation. We see this in our culture. It's often been called a cancel culture. What is that? It is the denial of due process. You have offended me and you must die, and so I'm going to lobby for you to be eliminated, not in a court of law, Not with the establishment of guilt, not with the ability to testify before a jury of your peers. I'm going to make an accusation, I don't need to defend it, and Jeremy, you're canceled. That little small business that you had is done because you're a hater. And I made an accusation and I don't even need to prove it. That is extending our authority to influence other people in abusive or oppressive ways. Another concept, a distinction to understand with this, is that those matters that are outside of what God has delegated to you, He is not giving you grace to deal with them because He's not asking you to deal with them. That doesn't mean you can't offer help and encouragement, that you can't help shoulder the burden. but not coming in as an authority. But let me offer and turn that on the other side, that that should be a great source of encouragement for us. Meaning, that if it is in my sphere of authority, you can take great encouragement that God is giving you the grace to deal with it. Does that make sense? He is not going to put you where you can do it in your own strength, but He will put you where He is going to provide the grace sufficient for you to handle what He asks you to do. Would you not, as a good parent, do that to your children? Occasionally I may give my boys a task that might be outside of their ability to execute. You know, lift those full trash cans up on the trailer so we can take them to the dump. Maybe this happened this week. Dad, I can't lift those, right? Well, ask for help, right? So trying to help them learn how to, even if I hit an obstacle, to overcome. Aren't you thankful? Because often when we're overwhelmed and discouraged, we come to believe that we have to accomplish this in our own strength. And God puts us in these situations to teach us our dependence on Him and prayer, which reminds us of our dependence and our insufficiency to do it ourself. The sphere of your concern, how do you handle those things? You pray about them. We pray for 1 Timothy 2 for those who are in authority. that we may lead a quiet, peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. And we would not, I don't know about you, but that's not my natural inclination. I have an opinion. And leave it with him. Don't pray about it and then take it back on your shoulders, right? Cast your care on him and then reel it back in, put it back on there. Even our society has us saying, stay in your lane. Stay in your lane. Know what your lane is. Scripture contains warnings about getting involved in matters that don't belong to you. Proverbs 26, 17, one of my favorites. It says, he that, I better read it to quote it exactly because I have my version of it that may not be how it's exactly said. Proverbs 26 and verse 17. He that passeth by and meddleth with strife belonging not to him. Do you see that? Doesn't belong to you. Is like one that takes a dog by the ears. What is he saying? Go up to a dog that isn't yours, a stray dog, and just grab it by the ears. And see what happens. I have a really good idea of what's going to happen. You're going to get bit. And it's going to hurt. And you're going to learn, don't grab a dog by the ears, right? So stay out of those things that don't belong to you. So, there's that concept of the sphere of my responsibility, what does belong to me, is mine to deal with. 1 Peter 4 and verse 15 talks about not being a busybody in other men's matters. Not your matters, be busy there, but not other men's matters. Don't be busy there. In 1 Timothy 5, in the instruction regarding widows, and especially the younger women, I better turn there to make sure I, again, quote this correctly. In 1 Timothy 5, verse 13, talking about younger widows, the Bible is very candid. And with all, they learn to be idle. Wandering about from house to house. And not only idle, but taddlers also in busy bodies, speaking things which they ought not." Right? They're out in others' matters. Where should they be? "'I will, therefore, that the younger women marry, bear children, guide the house, give none occasion to the adversary to speak reproachfully.'" It defines that sphere of what you should be focused on. And then Romans 14.10, another familiar text about involving ourselves in other people's matters. But why dost thou judge thy brother? Or why dost thou set it not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. So there is clarity on the sphere of my responsibility, of God's providential ruling, confidence that He's given me grace, confidence that I can brush my teeth to the glory of God, I can make my bed to the glory of God, I can clean my room to the glory of God, I can wash my car to the glory of God, and vacuum it out, and keep my garage clean, and whatever is under my stewardship, I can do that to the glory of God. And then those things outside of my concern, I can be concerned about them, but I can pray about them. I can trust God's providence to govern those things. And if He needs me to step in, He can call me in out of the bullpen. We're going to need you in here, right? And then to have clarity on it. And you understand this is messy. And you might say, well, how do I know where all those lines are? And when is civil disobedience acceptable? Well, if you have those questions, write them down. Pastor Paul will be out in the foyer after service. You can ask him and he'll give clarity on all of those. Let me close with this. The life of Christ was the epitome of living in submission to his Father's authority, would you agree? that he had crystal clarity about what was his to do and what was not. And the disciples and his mother had all kinds of ideas about what he needed to be doing and he would say, did you not know I would be about my father's business? Right? When she wanted him to turn the water into wine, woman, what have I to do with this? This is not my, you understand, is this my business? What have I to do with this? So Christ was the epitome of every moment, every thought, word and deed of His life, was in complete submission to God, perfectly. It's unbelievable. And you say, well why is, let me just give you two more scriptures. In John 5, in verse 30. And Scripture says, I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which has sent me. And then in Luke 22 and verse 42, his prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane saying, Father, if Thou wilt be willing to remove this cup from me, nevertheless not my will, but Thine be done. Philippians 2, He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Whatever the Father puts upon Me to do, My, remember He said, My meat, My food is what? To do the will of Him that sent Me. And that's what I feast on. That's where I derive my satisfaction and pleasure. Remember when he would do miracles and the people are trying to restrain him and he says, I am sent to other cities also. And that's where I'm going. I'm not just here to gather a crowd and heal people. You understand the context of that. But he had crystal clarity. And you say, well, what good is that to me? Because that's the obedience that you have imputed to you by faith in Christ. Perfect obedience, as if you did it. Because you say, well, I can't manage half of the things I have on my plate. But you have a substitute before God to be righteous, who is perfectly obedient in everything. Jesus said his family was outside, I think cousins, mentions brothers, but he said, remember, who are my mother and my brethren? Those who hear the word of God and do it. Those are my mother and my brethren. That they grasp this concept that we are to live in obedience. Last verse and I'll be done. Micah 6.8, what does the Lord require of you? But to do justly, to love mercy and walk humbly with your God. Realizing what you give me to do, I'm gonna, I mean, parents, can you not see this? If you had a child who just speak the word only, you say it, full of vigor and enthusiasm, full focus and concentration, full perseverance to the end, right? You know, like normal. That they give honor to the Father, to your command. And so our commitment in understanding God's providence practically is that I can take such great comfort in this is what He's delegated to me. Let me rule this well and steward that to the glory of God. Let's pray. God, thank you for your most holy, wise, and powerful, preserving and governing all of your creatures and all of your actions. They're yours. They belong to you. You're the creator. You're the sustainer. God, forgive us. for our sin and rebellion in this area to your authority and to what you give us. Help us this morning to, with a renewed vigor, enthusiasm and passion, pour ourselves into those things that you have given us. Give us pause before we extend into other men's matters that you're not asking. Help us to have wisdom and discernment to know what you would have us to do and what not. God, help us and thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, who though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we through his poverty might be rich. Thank you for the active obedience of Christ and his imputed righteousness counted to us. God, would you reveal to those outside of Christ their great need of a Savior and His infinite riches of obedience and righteousness. That they would exchange the filthy rags of their righteousnesses and cling to Christ. Help your people to live this by faith. Help us to trust your providence, to rejoice in it, to find great joy That we will look in eternity and look back and say, you did all things well, you made no mistakes. Help us to draw great comfort from your word. Christ's name. Amen.