Please turn in your Bibles to Mark chapter two. Mark chapter two. And as we continue on in this gospel account, we see that Mark progressively reveals more about Christ's mission and ministry. We saw that he came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. That he was one who had authority in his teaching, that he had the power to heal the sick and cast out unclean spirits, and that he is the one who can forgive sins. Here in our text this morning, we see more fully the mission of Christ. in why he came into the world. So with that in mind, please give your attention to the reading of God's word from Mark chapter two, beginning at verse 13. And he went forth again by the seaside and all the multitude resorted unto him and he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom and said unto him, follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass that as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many. and they followed him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, how is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. to repentance, amen. May God add a blessing to the reading of his word and let us go to him once again in prayer. Heavenly Father, we come before thee now and we do thank thee for thy word that thou hast given us. This pure and precious word, this word which we take delight in, This word which is our meat day and night. Oh Lord, we ask that thy blessing would be upon the reading of this word here today. That the Word of God would go forth and it would not return void. That by thy spirit breathing out this word to us today. That it would penetrate into our hearts. And that we would treasure it there. such that it transforms us, that it would guide us and direct us in the paths that thou wouldst have us to go. O Lord, we pray that thy blessing would be upon the minister now as he opens up this word for us, as he preaches this word. We ask, Lord, that he would preach with authority And that what is preached here today would not be in the enticing words of man's wisdom, but would be in the demonstration of the spirit and of power. Oh Lord, speak to us through thy minister. And may the minister decrease so that Christ Jesus would increase. Show us Christ today. And let us look to Christ. as that great example for how we must live as those who are united to him. Lord, we ask thy blessing be upon the preaching of this word, and that the preaching of the word would be received for what it is, the very word of God. O Lord, speak to us now. Feed us by thy word. Nourish and strengthen our hungry souls, and may it be sweet to us, sweeter than honey from the comb, and let us delight in it. So Lord, we ask thy blessing now, and we ask this in Christ's name, amen. If you were a great religious teacher like Jesus, who would you associate with? Who would you want to be seen with? What kind of people would you choose to be your friends and your acquaintances? Well, most of us, if we're honest, we would say that we would associate with the people like us. Religious people, serious people, strict people. They would be our companions. They would be the people that we would want to be seen with. After all, a man is known by his company. And for a religious man, a religious teacher like Jesus to associate with people who were not religious, who were not upright, who did not strive to keep the law of God, that would be unthinkable to us. At least that's how we think. But that's not how Jesus thought. Jesus, throughout his earthly ministry, spent most of his time with common ordinary people like you and like me. And he even spent time with publicans and sinners. We read about that here in our passage this morning. We saw last week that Jesus was in Capernaum and that he had just healed that man sick of the palsy and now we see that he's making his way to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And on his way, he encounters a man by the name of Levi, a publican, a tax collector. And he commands Levi to come and follow him. And Levi did. And then later that same day, we find Jesus in Levi's house, eating and drinking with a large number of publicans like Levi. and with sinners, much to the outrage of the scribes and the Pharisees. Why does Jesus do that? What does this say about Jesus? What does it say about the reason for why he came to the earth? Well, this is what we will consider this morning. And so our theme this morning is that Jesus Christ associates with publicans and sinners. And we'll consider this under two heads. First, that this association is demonstrated and then that it is defended. So let us first consider this association demonstrated. Look with me at verses 13 to 15. And he went forth again by the seaside, and all the multitude resorted unto him, and he taught them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi, the son of Alphaeus, sitting at the receipt of custom, and said unto him, follow me. And he arose and followed him. And it came to pass that as Jesus sat at meat in his house, Many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples, and there were many, and they followed him. As I already mentioned, the events of our text took place while Jesus was in Capernaum on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. He had just healed that man sick of the palsy, as we considered last week, and following that, he makes his way out of that house where that miracle took place and he made his way to the seaside, to the shore of the Sea of Galilee. And Mark says that the multitude resorted unto him. They're following close behind him. There was this large crowd of people who evidently were quite impressed with that miracle that Jesus had just performed. And they were also quite impressed with his teaching. They realized that Jesus was no ordinary man. He was no ordinary religious teacher. There was something special about Jesus and they wanted to know more about him. They wanted to hear more of his teaching and so They followed him. They followed him from that house to the seaside. We might be tempted to think that Jesus should have told these people to go away. After all, he had just finished that morning of preaching and he had healed the paralytic man. And Jesus was a human being like you and me. He might have needed an occasion for rest and for fresh air. He might have needed some time to be alone. Perhaps he felt the need to be with his father, as we saw back in chapter one, verse 35. Maybe that's the reason why he went to the seaside, to the seashore, so that he could go and commune with his father. And so we might be tempted to think that he should turn around and tell these people to go home, to leave him alone, to give him some time for himself. But he doesn't do that. Mark tells us here that he taught them. He didn't tell them to go away. Instead, he taught them. And the way that the Greek text reads, it means that the multitudes kept coming to him and he kept on teaching them. It's a continuous action that we see here. This is the regular pattern of Jesus' ministry. The Gospels record several times where Jesus sought to escape from the multitudes, escape from the crowds to be alone for a little while, and the crowds followed him. And in every case, Jesus does the same thing. He put his own needs last, and he put the needs of the people first. Moved with compassion time and time again, he teaches the people. He truly is the perfect example of a servant of God. And we read that as Christ walks along the seaside, he encounters a man by the name of Levi. Now, Levi is his original name, but he has another name, one which you may be more familiar with. And his other name is Matthew, the same Matthew who wrote the Gospel of Matthew. How Levi got this name Matthew, we don't know, it's likely that he got it from Jesus himself. During those times, it was not uncommon for someone who changed occupations to receive a new name to commemorate that change of occupation. Think of Simon, for example, who Jesus changed his name to Cephas, or Peter, And so the same thing could have happened here to Levi. He received this additional name of Matthew. We don't know if that's the case, but it's possible. Mark also adds here that he is the son of Alphaeus. And again, that's not uncommon in New Testament times for the sons to bear the name of their father. It's kind of like a last name. And there's a lot of speculation about who Alphaeus is, but we don't really know. What we do know is that Jesus encountered Levi. And he was sitting at the receipt of custom. Now this would have been a little booth that was set up for the purposes of collecting taxes. So we know that Levi is a publican. He's a tax collector. There were many of these tax booths in and around Capernaum because that city sat on a really important trade route linking Damascus in Syria to the Mediterranean Sea and to Egypt in the south. Levi was sitting at his usual post collecting taxes probably from the fishermen who were taking their catch of fish from the shore. And we see in verse 14, Christ Jesus approached him and he commanded Levi to follow him. Notice that Jesus here doesn't invite Levi to follow him. He doesn't ask Levi to follow him. He doesn't suggest. that Levi should follow him. He commands him, follow me. We don't know if Jesus and Levi had ever met before. Likely Levi had heard things about Christ, but he didn't know him personally. But Jesus comes to him here and he says, follow me. Jesus is demonstrating here that he's no ordinary man. He's demonstrating something of his divine power and authority. He is God incarnate because only God incarnate can command someone to follow him. And that's what Jesus does here. He commands Levi, follow me. In effect, He's saying to Levi, I want you to become one of my disciples. He doesn't ask him for his thoughts on the matter. He doesn't ask him to negotiate. He doesn't ask him what he thinks of it. No, he gives him the simple command, follow me. The text doesn't tell us this, but you can imagine how the people standing there that day must have reacted to this. They must have been shocked because publicans were among the most despised members of Jewish society. And there were many reasons that they were hated. They were employees of the Roman government Roman government was the occupying force. The Jews hated the Romans. They wanted nothing more than to kick the Romans out of their land. Publicans were collaborators with the Romans. And so the Jews hated publicans. But they also hated them because these publicans had very broad powers. They could tax basically anything that you can imagine. They could tax your property. They could tax your income. They could issue license fees and registration fees and docking fees for your boat. And they could set their own rates. Whatever they said you had to pay, you had to pay. And if you didn't pay it, They had the authority to call the Roman soldiers and place you under arrest. You can imagine that this caused a lot of resentment among the people at that time. Many people felt that they were being unfairly treated, that they were cheated out of their hard-earned money, that they were being charged for things that they never should be charged for. And what specifically, or what was especially aggravating to the people was the fact that a large portion of the money that they gave to these publicans was used by the publicans to line their own pockets. They were thieves. And to make the matters worse, publicans were known to be very corrupt. They often accepted bribes from the wealthy to reduce or even falsify their taxes. And because of all this, the religious leaders of the Jews especially hated the publicans. They were regarded as ceremonially unclean because they associated with the Roman government and Gentiles. They were forbidden to enter into the synagogue. They couldn't give testimony in the court of law. And we see in the gospels that they're categorized together with harlots, and Gentiles and sinners. They were as offensive to Jews for their economic and social practices as lepers were for their uncleanness. And so this was shocking to the people. Shocking especially to the scribes and the Pharisees. And yet Jesus called this man, this publican, to be his disciple. but none of that mattered to Jesus. None of those concerns of the Jews mattered to Jesus. He knew what the reaction of the people would be. He knew what the reaction of the religious leaders would be, and he didn't care. He wanted Levi to be one of his disciples, and so he said to him, follow me. And how did Levi respond to this? We wouldn't have been surprised if he had refused. After all, this is a big decision, one that would require Levi leaving behind his profession, and there was a lot of money to be made in tax collecting. It was an especially lucrative business, so we wouldn't have been surprised to see him hesitate To see him ask the Lord if he could have some time to think about it. To first set his affairs in order and then he would come. But he doesn't do that. He simply obeys the command of Christ. We read in verse 14, and he arose and followed him. And Luke's account of this event gives even more detail. In Luke 5, 28, we read, And he left all, rose up and followed him. He left all. His business, his friends, his family, his acquaintances, everything. He left it all and he followed Jesus. What a sacrifice. Levi probably sacrificed even more than the other disciples had sacrificed. The other disciples that Jesus had called, Peter and Andrew and James and John, they were fishermen. They could return to their former occupation now and then, and they did do that. But that wasn't the case with Levi. Once you abandon your position as a publican, it's gone forever. Levi left it behind. He left it all and he followed Jesus. We learn here that when Jesus calls, sinners will and must respond. To put it in theological terms, we see that the call of the Lord is an effectual call. Now, not everybody agrees With that, there are some who teach that the call of the Lord can be rejected. But we see here that when Jesus calls, it must be responded to. When Jesus calls, sinners come. That's what we see here. Jesus says to Levi, follow me. And Levi leaves all behind and he follows Him. But what about you this morning? Friends, Jesus has also called you here today. How is He calling you? Well, He calls you in the preaching of His Word. Every Sunday, every Lord's Day, Christ Jesus tells you by His Word, to leave everything behind, to sacrifice everything and to follow Him. Are you doing that? Are you like Levi this morning? Have you left it all behind and have you followed Jesus? Are you following Him now? You cannot hold on to the world in one hand and try to grasp on to Christ with the other. If you're following the world, then you cannot claim to be one of Christ's disciples. A true disciple of the Lord Jesus is one who hears the call of God and who responds to that call no matter what, no matter the cost, no matter what the sacrifice. Is that true of you? Have you responded to that call? Levi leaves all behind and he follows Christ and you must as well. But that's not all we see here in our text. Continuing on, we read, and it came to pass that as Jesus sat at meat in his house, Many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many and they followed him. Levi invited Jesus to come to his home for dinner. It was one thing for Jesus to call a publican to come and be one of his disciples, but it's quite another thing for him to enter into a publican's house. The scribes and the Pharisees would never have done such a thing. To do such a thing would be beneath their dignity, but this is what Jesus does. He enters into Levi's house and he ate with him. We have a tendency to glance over these details, but they're very significant. In ancient times, for someone to eat with someone else was a very meaningful thing. To eat with someone meant that you regarded them as your friend, as your ally, as someone who you trusted and cared about. That's what's happening here. Jesus is eating with Levi, he's sending the message to Levi and to everyone who witnessed this, that he regarded Levi, a publican, as a friend. And as if that wasn't enough, we see that many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples. We know who the publicans are, they're tax collectors. But who are these sinners that are mentioned here? In the eyes of the scribes and the Pharisees, the word sinners is a general term for anyone who did not keep the law of Moses as strictly as they did. And so in that respect, even Jesus and his disciples were in the category of sinners according to the Pharisees. Jesus did all kinds of things that they did not approve of. We'll see this as we go on in this gospel that he healed on the Sabbath day. His disciples plucked corn and they ate it on the Sabbath day. They didn't always wash their hands before they ate. All these different rules and regulations that the scribes and the Pharisees said you have to observe, Jesus and his disciples didn't. And so in their minds, they were also sinners. So some of the people that gathered around Jesus were these kind of people, but some of them were probably worse than that. Some of them were probably very wicked people. Some of them were probably thieves and drunkards and prostitutes and other social outcasts. and they came to Jesus in droves. They gathered there in Levi's house, and they ate with him, and they drank with him, and he ate and drank with them. Why did so many of these people come to Jesus? Well, some may have come out of curiosity. It's possible that they heard that Levi had left behind his position as a publican and had followed Jesus and they couldn't believe it. And so they had to see it for themselves. Others may have been invited by Levi himself. Levi experienced a great conversion here and he wanted to tell all of his former friends and acquaintances about what had happened to him, how he had met the Lord. He wanted them to meet the Lord too. And so he opened up the doors of his house and told them, come and meet the one whom he believed to be the promised Messiah. And still others may have come because they felt their need for Christ. For many years, these people had been treated as social outcasts. Perhaps some of them were feeling guilty about their way of life and they were laboring under conviction of sin. And now here was a man, Jesus of Nazareth, who ate with publicans and sinners. Here was a man who was not ashamed to be associated with them. Here was a man who cared about them regardless of their past. And most importantly, here was a man who had already demonstrated that he had the power and the authority to forgive sins. These people needed to be relieved from the burden of their sin, and so they came to Jesus, such that Levi's house was filled with publicans and sinners. And how did Jesus respond to this? Did he get up in disgust and walk out of the house? Did he say, oh, this isn't my crowd, I can't afford Be seen with people like this. I've got work to do. I'm a religious man. I'm a pious man. I am the son of God. I can't be seen with these people. Is that what he said? No, he stayed right there where he was and he ate and drank with them. What about you, dear saints? Would you want to be seen with such people? Think of the most despicable person that you can, people that you detest, people that disgust you. Thieves, rapists, child molesters, murderers, extortioners, mobsters, drug dealers, prostitutes, homosexuals, homeless people, racists, alcoholics. Would you invite them to come into your home? Would you go into their home? Would you eat with them? Would you prepare a meal for them in your home? Welcoming them into your lives. Would you bring them to church? Would you be seen with them at all? For being honest, most of us wouldn't. And I include myself in that. There would certainly be some hesitation. Why? Because we're afraid of what other people may think. Some of you wouldn't do this because you don't like to go outside of your comfort zone. You like to associate with people who are just like you, from the same background, the same traditions, who measure up to your standards, who dress like you, who think like you, who are just like you. But you must learn that being a true disciple of Jesus means reaching outside of your comfort zone for the sake of winning sinners to Christ. Are you doing that? How you answer that question reveals a lot about what's inside of you. It reveals a lot about your spiritual condition before God. If your hearts are overflowing with love for God and for your fellow men, if you genuinely cared about the spiritual welfare of the people around you and their eternal destiny, then you would do as Jesus does. You would set aside all of your cultural assumptions and your presuppositions and your fear of man. You would go outside of your comfort zones and you would try to reach those people for Christ. And this ought to not only impact you individually, it ought to impact us as a church. What's the vision of our church? What kind of church do we want to be? We want to reach out to the community, and that's good. We do things to reach out to the community, going door to door, doing street evangelism, inviting people to come to church. But you need to understand that reaching out to the community means much more than just that. It means extending your reach outside of your comfort zone. It means rubbing shoulders with people that you wouldn't normally rub shoulders with. It means going into those places where sinners are and eating and drinking with them. It means opening your homes to those who may be the undesirables of this world. The fact that Christ Jesus associated with publicans and sinners must have implications for who we are as a congregation, for how we live our lives, for the people that we associated with. Until we let this impact our lives, both individually and corporately, we will never truly reach out to this community. You must be faithful to Christ. You must be faithful to his word. You must be faithful to his doctrine. And you must be faithful to his example. Reach out and keep on reaching out. Reach outside of your comfort zone. and bring them in. So we see Christ Jesus' association with publicans and sinners demonstrated. Let us now see it defended. Look with me at verses 16 and 17. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Jesus and his disciples were in Levi's house, surrounded by publicans and sinners, eating and drinking. And within a few moments, there was a gathering of scribes and Pharisees outside of the house. The Pharisees, as you know, were legalists. Now we need to be clear about what a legalist is. A legalist is not someone who follows certain rules and regulations. That's the impression that many people have today. I've heard people say so many times that a person who strictly observes the Lord's Day, a person who doesn't watch certain television shows or movies, a person who doesn't wear certain types of clothing, a person who wears a head covering to church, that those people are legalists. That's not true. That's not what a legalist is. Such a person would be a legalist if they thought that by doing those things or by not doing those things, that they somehow earn the favor of God. Now, it can be the case that people who practice such things believe that they are somehow earning favor with God, but it's not necessarily the case. Pharisees were people who believed that by doing certain things, by observing their own man-made traditions, they could earn the favor of God, that they could earn their own righteousness before God. And one of the rules and regulations that the scribes and Pharisees observed was not to associate with Gentiles and not to associate with any Jew who did not keep the law as they did. They believed that to associate with such people was to make oneself ceremonially unclean. It was beneath them. It was beneath their dignity. And so you can imagine their surprise when they heard that Jesus was in Levi's house eating with publicans and sinners. They were scandalized. And so they had to see this for themselves. They gathered together at the door of Levi's house, looking in, and they saw what was happening. And we read in verse 16, and when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, how is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? Notice that the Pharisees Don't ask Jesus himself. They go to his disciples instead. Now why don't they come to Jesus? Because these scribes and Pharisees knew that they were no match for Jesus. And so they go to his disciples, those whom they saw as weaker. They approach the disciples and they ask, how is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners? And before they can have an opportunity to answer, Christ Jesus gives his defense in verse 17. When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, they that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. It's not difficult to understand what Jesus is saying here. Those who are whole are the scribes and the Pharisees. They're whole because they think that they are righteous. Now, they weren't righteous. They were far from it, but they thought that they were righteous. And so in their own minds, they were healthy, they were well, they were whole, and therefore they thought that they had no need of a physician. And those who are sick, They're the publicans and the sinners. And they're not well because they are sinners and they know that they are sinners. Jesus says that those who are healthy don't go to the doctor, but those who are sick. And he's saying that this is the reason why publicans and sinners are coming to him because they are sick. They know that they need a physician. And since Christ is the great physician, he must go to them. He goes to those who cannot help themselves. He goes to those who need a remedy, and then to drive this point home, he declares, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. Now the word righteous here refers to those who are righteous in their own eyes. Those who are trying to earn the favor of God by the things that they do and the things that they don't do. The reference here, of course, is to the scribes and the Pharisees. But sinners, sinners are those who are not righteous in their own eyes. who do not think that they can earn the righteousness that they need to stand before God and live. They see themselves only as unrighteous. And Jesus says that it's for such people that he came and it is such people that he came to call. Why? Why only them? Because they are the only ones who will respond to his call. These scribes and Pharisees missed what Christ was saying. As R.C. Sproul says, the implication was that these religious leaders themselves needed to repent of their sins. They were the sickest of the sick, all the while thinking they had no need of a physician. Now, there's a great lesson to be learned here, dear friends. And that is that no one comes to Christ who has not, first of all, experienced something of their need for him. There are many ministers who need to remind themselves of this. We can urge sinners to come to Christ. We can warn them of the consequences of not coming to Christ. But unless they first experience something of their need for him, they will not come. Now that's not to say that our conviction of sin is somehow a prerequisite for coming to Christ, not at all. The gospel teaches that we come to Christ as we are, whether that is with the great burden of sin or with a very slow burden of conviction of sin. The point is that we come to Christ and we must come to Christ. There are no conditions, there are no prerequisites for coming to Christ. But at the same time, it must also be said that no one will come to him unless they experience something of their need for him. That's what drives men to repentance. And repentance and faith are necessary for salvation. What category are you in this morning? Are you of the righteous? One of those who thinks that by doing certain things or not doing certain things, you can somehow earn your way to heaven. I know that you would never say that so explicitly. You know that that's not correct. And yet deep down inside you have a tendency to think that way, don't you? Are you like the righteous or are you like the sinners? Are you like those who have nothing, who are nothing, whose only hope is the atoning work of Christ on the cross and his perfect righteousness? Which category are you in this morning? Have you seen something of your need for him? If you have, then hear this good news. The Lord Jesus will receive you. And you can know this is a promise that is sure because you have all the evidence you need right here in this text. He eats with publicans and sinners. in Levi's house. What more proof do you need of Christ's willingness to save sinners? And if that was true then, it is still true today. Jesus hasn't changed. He is still the same Savior, still waiting, still able, still eager to receive publicans and sinners of all sorts unto himself to eat and drink with them. Are we not reminded of this every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper? Who are those people that sit at the table of the Lord? It's not those who are striving to attain their own righteousness. But those who know that they can never do it, but that Christ has done it. and they're looking to him. Friends, you can know that as long as you look to Christ, the Lord Jesus will never say to you, you have no place here. He eats with publicans and sinners. Do you get that? If Jesus called Levi to be his disciple, if he ate with publicans and senators, if he associated with such people, then there is no limit to the people with whom he will associate today. And if that's true, then what's stopping you from coming to him today? Brothers and sisters, what we see here in this passage is the mission of Christ being made known that he did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. And that is good news for you and for me. See the love that Jesus has for those who others deem unlovable. See his desire for those whom others deem undesirable. and see how he is willing to go and bring salvation to them all despite what others may think or say. Let this be a comfort to you that Christ has invited you to sit beside him, to commune with him, and to eat and drink with him, and let his example stir in you a desire to go and bring that love of Christ to the undesirables of this world so that they may know that Christ has come to call sinners unto repentance and that they may find eternal life in him. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we come before thee now. And what a Beautiful picture we have before us here in this text. Christ Jesus eats with publicans and sinners. Lord, we know that we are sinners. We are worse than the publicans. And yet. The Lord Jesus has called us to be his disciples. To leave everything behind and to follow him. Lord, how easy it is for us to keep hold of certain things in our old lives. And try to follow Christ while holding on to those things of the world, Lord. calls us to let it all go, to leave it all behind, and to cling both hands fully, tightly to our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And let us rejoice in knowing that we are numbered among the publicans and sinners who Jesus Christ delights to eat and drink with, who Jesus Christ delights to associate with, that the Lord Jesus Christ is a friend of sinners, and he is our friend. Oh, what a comfort that is to our souls, that even in our worst state, even when we were the undesirables of this world. The Lord Jesus has come to us and made us his friend. What a comfort that is to our souls. Oh Lord, stir in us a desire to live out that example of the Lord Jesus by going out into our communities, into our neighborhoods, showing that same love towards sinners, toward the undesirables, towards those whom society has shunned. May we be willing to open our homes and our lives and our tables and our church to publicans and sinners. To thieves and murderers. To prostitutes. To the homeless. To the drunkards. To the abortionists. Let us be willing to open our lives to them. To show them the love of Christ. And to call those centers to repentance. So that they may experience what we have. Being brought from darkness. Into the marvelous light. Oh Lord, may it be so. Be with us now as we continue to worship thee this day. And may all that we do. Be to the praise and the glory and the honor. of our Lord and Savior, King Jesus.