Exodus chapter 30. I hope, I believe, that I am coming to some definite conclusion, or a definite conclusion about this thing of preaching. It was two years ago, about two weeks ago, March the 12th, that you called me here as your pastor. And I came here very green, very inexperienced, and I'm still very green and very inexperienced. But I think I've come to a conclusion a definite conclusion about this thing of preaching. And it's the thing I want to strive for from here on out, and I hope the thing that I have the Lord, by His grace, has enabled me to do a little bit, at least, in the course of these two years. And that is to preach the gospel as clearly as I know how. every time that I step up here. I know that I haven't done that, but I believe I'm coming to a conclusion about this thing that, as Paul said, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. And I dare not take it for granted that everybody in this room, and I look at every face, and I have pretty much confidence in just about everyone that sits here this evening, but I dare not be presumptuous. concerning your soul and. And because I don't know who has really heard it with the heart and who really believe I dare not be presumptive. And there's only one thing or rather there's only one who will meet every need that we have. Whether it be the need of comfort assurance of peace strength whatever it may be. Whatever need we may have, there's only one message that will effectually meet all of those needs. And I don't know everyone's needs, what's going through our minds and hearts, but God does, and he's provided the balm of Gilead that will meet all of those needs. One salve, one ointment will take care of it all. The gospel. It was the gospel that first spoke peace to our hearts when we first heard it. It was the gospel that first thrilled us. It was the gospel that first enlightened our eyes. It was the gospel that kept us coming back early on and kept on thrilling us. And I believe it's the same gospel that will keep doing that. So I want to do that every time that the Lord will remind me and give me the strength and the grace. I want to stand up here and regardless of The crowd, I want to claim the gospel just as clearly as I know how. Just as plainly, just as simply. I have found out, like on the basis of Sunday morning's message, how many times have you heard Romans 8 preached from? How many times? And yet it still distrills you every time. It does me. So, like Paul said in Philippians 3, to write the same things to you, to me, is not grievous. And it's certainly not bad for you, it's safe, it's salvation. So this message tonight, and this too, I don't know who's going to come here and hear these messages. So I can't prepare a message particularly for God's people, just God's people, have them in mind. I don't know who's coming to these services tonight. And so I have to prepare these messages like There'll be some unbelievers here, isn't there? Who was it that said, one of them, I forget who it was that said, I preach, I want to preach as if this, as if Christ came yesterday, died today. No, wasn't it? Christ died yesterday, rose again today, and is coming again tomorrow. That's the way I want to preach. All right, that's the importance and the seriousness of this thing, because he may be. He may be coming tomorrow. And woe is me, woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel. And the gospel does everything, it warns, it exhorts, it encourages, it admonishes, it does all these things. I don't, without me trying to do so. Exodus 30. I just want to make those comments because this message is going to be very, very basic. Exodus 30, beginning with verse 1. And thou shalt make an altar, an altar to burn incense upon, of chitin wood shalt thou make it. A cubit shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof. Four square shall it be, and two cubits shall be the height thereof. The horns thereof shall be the same, of the same. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, the top thereof, the sides thereof round about, and the horns thereof, and thou shalt make unto it a crown of gold round about. And two golden rings shalt thou make to it under the crown of it, by the two corners thereof, upon the two sides of it shalt thou make it And they shall be for places for the staves to bear it withal. And thou shalt make the staves of chitin wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put it before the veil. This altar shall put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the testimony, where I will meet with thee. And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning. When he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at evening, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations. You shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering, neither shall you pour a drink offering thereon, just incense. And Aaron shall make an atonement, or that is, apply the blood upon the horns of this altar once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. Once in a year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generations. It is most holy unto the Lord." Now, the scriptures say, Proverbs 9, 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Now, I generally stop there. There's another part of that verse. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding. It's a two-part verse there. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy, or Holy One, is understanding. And let everybody remember that verse, Proverbs 9, 10. That is where we all must start. This is where we must start. Very clearly, very plainly, very boldly and emphatically, let me tell you the message of this book, the message of salvation, the message of the gospel, the word of truth. God Almighty is holy. Holy. The Creator, the Ruler, the Sovereign Controller of all things, the Sustainer, the Provider of all life is absolutely holy. That word is too holy to take upon these lips, You must understand, I must understand this chief attribute of God Almighty, this chief characteristic. Everyone must understand this chief characteristic of God Almighty or you know nothing about God at all, nothing. This is the characteristic, this is the attribute of God which determines all of his purposes, all of his works, and the rest of his character is determined by his holiness. OK? God decrees holy decrees. God commits holy acts. God thinks holy thoughts. God judges, holy judgment. God loves with a holy love. Holy. The scripture says holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts. The seraphims, the angels, the cherubs, those angelic beings stand before the throne of God day and night and never quit saying this. Read it sometime. They never stopped saying this throughout time and eternity. Holy. Holy. Holy. Christ holy. God is holy. Now turn with me to Psalm 99. Psalm 99. Look at this powerful portion of Scripture. dealing with the holiness of God, his holy character. Holy, holy, holy. Psalm 99, look at verse 1 with me. The Lord reigneth. Let the people tremble. He sitteth between the cherubims. Let the earth be moved or staggered. The Lord is great in thy and his church. He is high above all the people. Let them praise thy great and terrible name. Watch it, for it is holy. The King's strength also loveth judgment, justice. This is the strength of his character. Thou, God, dost establish equity, perfection. God executes justice, judgment, and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt ye the Lord our God and worship at his footstool, for he is Holy. Look at verse 9. Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his holy hill, for the Lord our God is holy. Holy. You recall when I told you about that preacher who responded to an article of mine concerning the holiness of God, and I was talking about this very thing. How that all men must understand, must come to know something of this holiness of God Almighty. How that all understanding or wisdom begins right here. The holy character of God. And this preacher responded in kind, well not in kind, but he responded with a veiled reference to that by saying everyone knows about the moral superiority of God. That man revealed right there that he didn't know anything about it, did he? The holiness of God is much more than moral superiority. It's much more than morality. The holiness of God is just this. He is infinitely, immaculately, immutably, amazingly, marvelously, majestically, Magnificently, inexplicably, pure and perfect. It goes much deeper than just morality. Pure, spotless, perfect. Turn with me to Job, chapter 25. Job, chapter 25. The scriptures say this, listen to this, if you've never heard this verse before. Over in Habakkuk 1.13, it says, God is of purer eyes than to behold evil and cannot even look upon iniquity. Well, you say, I thought the scripture said, thou God seest me, and God beholds us in all things, and naked before. I know it says that, but I know it says this too. Somehow or another, God is aware of it, but he cannot look his holy eyes upon it. Look at Job 25, look at verse 5 with me. Behold, even the moon, according to the brightness of God, the moon doesn't shine. Yea, the stars, are you looking at that? Verse 5, the stars are not pure in his sight. The stars? The stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man, that is a maggot, that's the word, maggot. feeding on dead things, that is, this dead earth, and the Son of Man, which is a worm. In other words, as he said in verse 5 there, the moon shines, not God who is light, who shines brighter and hotter and more gloriously than the sun in the heavens. God dwells in this all-revealing light, this all-consuming brightness which no man can approach unto without being consumed. And nothing and no one is allowed into his bright presence, his holy presence, except that which can withstand it. Nothing and no one is allowed into his holy presence except that which is absolutely positively, spotlessly pure and immaculately holy like Him. Not one single imperfection will be allowed in one person in the presence of God Almighty. No impurities, because God is pure. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, perfection. It shall be perfect to be accepted. Do you hear that? Now, think about that verse that I first quoted. The fear of the Lord, this holy Lord. The fear of this Lord, the understanding. The fear of the Lord is wisdom. The beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge of his holy character. And much more than that, his holy one, his holy one that he provided, is understanding. So here's the question of all questions found here in Job 25. Now, I've just very insufficiently, very inadequately tried to explain, describe the holiness of God. An angel ought to come down here and express this. But here's the question of all questions, verse 4. Since God is holy like this, since God is this bright being that no man can even get close to without being consumed, how then, verse 4, how then can man be justified? How can man be accepted? How can man, Ellen, be declared acceptable, be allowed admittance, be granted access into the presence of this God. How? Blessed are your eyes and your ears, woman. Do you know? Does everyone in here know this question, the answer of this? How can he be clean? You've got to be clean. You've got to be clean. It's a lot cleaner than a hound's tooth. You've got to be as perfect as God. Be ye holy, for I am holy. How? Well, look over at Romans chapter 3. Basic gospel truth. Romans chapter 3. How? Are you interested? I know you know the answer. Some of you. Most of you. But here's the problem with our generation. They are ignorant of this holy character of God. They're ignorant of what I've just been trying to feebly—I can't even describe it. We don't know much about it. We know an inkling. We have a little inkling of it. If we knew more about it, we'd fear him more. We'd worship him aright. We'd serve him properly. But our generation is altogether ignorant of this holy character of God, and therefore They're ignorant of the only way to get to this holy God, the only way they're going to get into his presence. And modern religion has a God of its own imagination. They have a way they devise, they've imagined, they've come up with a way of salvation that seems right in their own eyes, right? But the scripture says it's the way of destruction. Why? They've bypassed the only way. Oh, they use some names, they use some terms, but they're not coming by him. And they're attempting to come before a God they don't know, and they're in for a terrible surprise. And here's the first indictment, verse 18, against our generation. The first indictment is there's no fear of God before their eyes. No fear of God. Why should they? Why should anybody fear the God of this twentieth century? The God that is preached and believed today, who tries and fails. The God who wants to and can't. Why should I fear somebody like that? He's no more, evidently no more powerful than I am. Evidently, John, his will's no more powerful than mine. He can't overcome my will. His will's bound, mine's free, they say. Why should I fear a God like that? I'll just make him my co-pilot. I'll run the show. Why should I fear a God who loves everybody? If he loves me, what have I got to worry about? What have I got to fear? Perfect love casts out fear, doesn't it? Why should I fear a God who's waiting hand on foot for man to do something? He's waiting on man hand and foot at man's beckoning call. Why should I fear? He's my puppy dog. He's my servant. Why should I fear a God who's powerless against Satan? It's Satan that I've got to be afraid of, right? He's the one that's messing things up. Why should I fear a weak, sentimental, helpless, emotional mystic? Don't need to. Not that God. But that's not the God of the Bible. That God is a lie. There is a God, though. Romans chapter 3, verse 4. And the Scripture says that this God is true, and every Man is a liar. In other words, every man who believes in any other God, he's a liar. He's deceived. He's deceived himself, and he's lying on God Almighty. Now, verse 10, as it is written, now this is what the Scripture says about us, there is none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understandeth. There's none that seeketh after God. That is, there's none by nature. First Corinthians 2, 11 says, what man knows the things of a man? save the spirit of man which is in him. Even so knoweth no man the things of God save the spirit of God." In other words, no man, no man understands, no man knows this God until God is pleased to reveal himself to that man. And the natural man won't receive the things of God, their foolishness unto him, and their spiritually discerned. But he says to some people, That God has revealed these things unto us by his Spirit. He didn't have to, but he did. But he has. What has he revealed unto us? How we can approach this holy God. How we can come to him. How we can be accepted by this holy God. Look down at verse 21. Now here it is. Here's the answer. Now, the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God. The righteousness, now the first righteousness is the holy character I've been describing, this holy character. And we're also talking about, he's also talking about the way we can be made righteous. the only righteousness that God will accept. And it ain't ours, is it? Is it really? It ain't ours. Isaiah said we have some. Yeah, we have a righteousness. What do you call it? What? Filthy rights. Filthy rights. Man's got a righteousness, all right. But it's filthy rags. Will God accept filthiness? No. Holy. I've been trying to say God is holy, pure, spotless. Can't accept anything. If our righteousness is anything other than perfection, God can't look on us. Can he? All right. Now, the righteousness of God is witnessed by the law and the prophets throughout this tabernacle. We've seen the holy character of God and how that only one person can come into his holy presence. Verse 23, because all have sinned and come short All are imperfect, all are impure, all are unholy and come short of this glory, this holiness that God requires, this spotless perfection, the requirements, the absolute strict requirements of God's law. All men, women, and children have come way short of that. So, how? How can man be just, be declared righteous, be declared holy, be made pure, be accepted, be allowed into the presence of this holy God? That's the question of all questions, isn't it? It was Jobus, one of the oldest recorded books in our Bible, and that was one of the first questions, the gospel questions. How can man be just with God? How can he be clean as born of a woman? Now, before God, look at verse 24. This is how they'll be justified freely by His grace. Free grace. That's where we get the term, right there, that verse. Romans 3, 24. Free grace. Free grace. By grace are you saved. By grace are you saved. He said, it's not of works, it's by grace. And nobody's going to boast, because it's by grace. And Paul said in one place, Romans 11, verse 6, listen. And he said, if it's by grace, then it's no more works. It's got to be one or the other, right? Now, if it's by grace, and it are, it is. He said it over and over again. Now, if it's by grace, then it's not works. Let this be firmly established in our minds. If it's about grace, then works don't play any part in it whatsoever, not our works. Otherwise, grace wouldn't be grace, what Paul said. But if it's of works, then grace ain't got a thing to do with it. And Paul said in another place, and Christ came and died in man, didn't he? Otherwise, work wouldn't be work. And let me illustrate this very, very simply. If I give you $20. If I give you $20. It's a gift. That's grace, right? I say to somebody, Charles, I love you. Here's $20. Charles, he didn't do anything to earn that. I just upped because of my affection for him, my love for him. I said, here, buddy, take this. It's yours. Thank you. Grace. Grace, right? Undeserved, unearned, unmerited gift. Grace. Now, if Charles goes over and cuts my grass, I say, here, Charles, I'm going to give you $20. Oh, no. You're not giving me anything. Charles said, I earned that twenty bucks. I worked for it. Right? Now, if you get to heaven because you're moral, that's worse. If you get to heaven because you're religious, that's worse. If you get to heaven because you made a decision, that's worse. If you get to heaven because you believed, that's worse. Right? But no, the scripture says what? By grace are you saved. Through faith, yes, but that's not even of yourselves. Even it's grace. God graciously bestows the gift of thanksgiving. It's a means, but you can't drum it up, you can't work it, can you? God must give it. Even that faith is a gift of God. It's not of works, lest any man should boast. Why? Why is this thing all of grace and not of work? Why? Because to God be the glory. To God be the glory. Great things he hath done. To him be all the glory. No flesh, he said, no flesh will glory in my presence. Not going to do it. He's not going to abide by it. Not for a second. No room for boasting. All boasting excluded, all pride will be abased, because we are only sinners. And if you save, it'll be by grace. Right? No room for boasting, no. But it's free, verse 24, we're justified freely by his grace. It's free to us, but it costs God something. It's not by works that we have done, but it cost somebody a work, a priceless work, a lifelong work. Right? Who was it? Who was it? Verse 24, we are justified freely, accepted by God, by his grace, through our morality, our good—no, through the redemption, that glorious work on Calvary's hill. That's in Jesus Christ or by the Lord Jesus Christ. Go on. By whom God has set forth or ordained to be a bloody sacrifice. That's what propitiation means. Bloody sacrifice, sin atonement, propitiation through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness. What righteousness? The only righteousness God will accept. The only one God will accept for the forgiveness of sins through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say, Paul said, to declare, I'll say it, at this time, the righteousness of Jesus Christ, the holy life, the shed blood of Jesus Christ, that God might be judged. It's excluded. We conclude, verse 28, that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law. Now turn back to Exodus chapter 30, would you? You say, what's all this got to do with the altar of incense? Thirty minutes later. Well, I ask you like the Lord, like the angel asked Zechariah, don't you know? What's all this got to do, what's this blood got to do with the altar of incense? Don't you know? Huh? Paul said in Hebrews, almost all things are by the law purified by, purged by what? Blood. Because it's the blood that makes atonement for the soul. The whole tabernacle that we've been studying, and everything in it speaks of blood, blood sacrifice and atonement. The first thing you saw in going into that tabernacle was the altar where the blood was shed. The last thing you'll see when we finish this tabernacle is blood being poured on top of that mercy seat. Blood going in, blood coming out. It's a bloody religion, I know that. It's an old-fashioned, yes, fashioned of old. He was the Lamb slain, the sacrifice before the foundation of the world. Because the only way to approach this Holy God, I've been attempting to describe and explain, is through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, God's Holy Son, and his intercessory prayer. We need these two things. One is just as vital as the other. The blood before the Lord and the incense before the Lord. OK? Now, read verse 10 with me. And Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of this altar once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonement. Once in a year shall he make atonement upon it throughout your generation. Blood atonement. Because it's most holy under the Lord. Now, the altar of incense. The altar of incense is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, like everything else. A perfect, a beautiful picture. Not a perfect picture, but a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at verse 1. He says, this altar of incense is made of wood. That's the manhood of Christ. We've seen that before. Verse 2. And verse 3, it is overlaid with pure gold, pure gold. He's more than just a man, he's God. Verse 2 says he's foursquare. He's a perfect man, and he's a golden one, a spotless, pure one. You notice that pure? If you'll go back and look it up, nearly every time it mentions gold, it says pure gold, pure gold. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. And this golden altar, look at verse 6, this golden altar was placed before the veil, thou shalt put it before the veil that is by the ark of the testimony, to burn incense. Before the ark of the testimony, before the mercy seat, is over the testimony where I'll meet with thee, and Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense. Every morning when he dresses the lamps, you remember the lamp, he'll burn incense in the When he lights the lamps in the morning, and in verse 8, and when Aaron lights the lamps at evening, he'll burn the incense on them. Now turn with me to Job chapter 9. I want you to look at this. This is a blessed portion of scripture. Just as the high priest dare not go into the holy place without blood, he goes in once a year, Paul said in Hebrews, but not without blood. He dare not go into that Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant is, without blood. And even so, he dare not pass through that veil except this incense be burning at all times. He's not going to slip in. He's not going to come into the presence of God except this incense be burning. Now, what's this talking about, Preacher? Well, this is talking about there's no access to the Holy God except through the righteousness and shed blood of Christ, and there's no communion, no acceptance, no access still apart from his prayers to the Father, right now. His mediatorial intercessory prayers, praying for his people, just like that high prayer, just like the incense. Look at Job 9, verse Look at verse 30 with me. Job 9, verse 30. Job said, And if I wash myself, I don't think this is Job speaking. Yeah, it is. This is Job. He said, And if I wash myself with snow water, and make my hands ever so clean, yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch. You won't take me. You'll plunge me in the ditch. Get out of my presence. If I wash myself, my own clothes shall abhor me. My rags that I've got on won't allow me in there. God's not a man as I am, that I should talk to him or speak to him or approach unto him. You see, sinful men and women must have a mediator. This is a basic gospel, Kurt. We must have a go-between, an intercessor. We cannot pray, and I tried to say it Sunday morning, we cannot even pray to God and have him hear us. Somebody's got to pray for us, because our prayers, our very best prayers are full of sin, self, self. No amount of sincerity, no amount of morality, no amount of separatism, no amount of self-denial will do. Did you read the article in the back of the bulletin? But Christ will do. Christ did. He did all that needed to be done. And God is still holy. He's still holy. And man must have a mediator, one whom the holy God will hear. One as holy as God. That God will say, now I'll take you. I won't take the rest of this evil generation, but I'll take you. I'll hear you. And it must be one that can have compassion on us. One who can understand us, who can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, who knows where we're at, who knows what we need, just what we need. Is there one? Job said, look at this, verse 32, God's not a man. I can't come to him. He won't answer me. that we should come together in judgment, and there's no daysman betwixt us that might lay his hand upon us both." Oh, yes there is, Joe. You speak as one of the foolish men. Yes, there is, Joe. Is there one? The psalm says, yes, there's one. Only one. Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, he's the one, the only one. The scripture says the only mediator between God and men. Men now, get that correct, get that translation right. The only mediator between God and men, not man, men, elect people, certain people, people on the name of, names on his breastplate. The only mediator between God and men, and it ain't the Pope, and it ain't Mary. Mary had to pray to him, didn't she? And it ain't Saint Jude, it ain't the preacher, it ain't the priest. It is a man, though, but more than a man. The man, the God-man, Christ Jesus. And he stands before the Father, before the Holy of Holies like that that altar of incense, he stands there in the gap. That's what daismon, one that can lay his hand on me and hand on God and judge between us. That's what daismon betwixt us, an umpire, one who can rightly judge things, who can rightly judge the holy character of God, what he requires, and who can rightly judge our state and bring us together as only one. Job, there's one, buddy. There's one. He found that later on, didn't he? And he said, I know he lives. My Redeemer. I know he lives. A daveman. He always has been before the Father, interceding, and he always will. Look back at the text again, real quick. Exodus 30, verse 7. And like Aaron burned that incense in the morning, Christ was at Intercessor that mediator before the foundation of the world in the morning and the dawn of time Christ was there with the father. He was there and in the evening verse eight at evening. He'll burn that incense perpetual incense. The scripture says Christ ever liveth to make intercession for us. He never stops. And you know what? He really doesn't even have to say a word. He really doesn't even have to say a word. Just him being there intercedes for me. That mediates for me. The fact that there's a man at the right hand of God means that another man can come too. Another man. But only in that man. Verse 9, and I'll wrap this thing up. Now you're not going to offer any strange incense there on. No strange incense. Henry, he doesn't hear our prayers in and of our prayers, does he? Isn't that what we study over there in Romans 8? That spirit must make intercession for us, groanings that cannot be uttered? He doesn't hear our prayers. He hears them, but they're sifted. They're purified. They're corrected. Or rather, they're blotted out and made anew. They're made awry. through our mediator, our intercessor, because no strange incense will do no strange fire. I recall one fellow coming in trying to burn some strange fire, don't you? They drug him out of there by his heels. Strange fire. What's that smell? Selfish smell. Self-righteous prayer coming up in my nostrils, God says. I won't have it. And you've heard them pray. where you can reek of self-righteousness. God won't hear these prayers. He won't hear it. It's only that pure and lovely, God-honoring, altogether God-honoring, exalting prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ, because He's the only one that ever had a heart to really pray for the will of God, the holy, the good of God, God's glory. Only one. Always has, always will be. No strange incense allowed. God won't accept it. God won't receive it. God won't hear and answer you, me, or anybody else apart from the blood, the merits, and the prayers of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Look at the very last line in verse 10. Because he's the only one who's most holy under the Lord. Only one. Only one. And it shall be perfect to be accepted. But there is good news, though. God will receive all that come to him by Christ, through Christ. But you dare not rush into God's presence. I hear people pray all the time. I hear them pray without even mentioning the name of Christ. Oh, they might at the end, you know, in Jesus name. Amen. Oh, my, I hear you men pray. And the prayer is full of Christ, Christ, in the name of Christ, for Christ's sake. Christ, what? That's that, that's that incense going up in God's mouth. He likes that name. It's a sweet smelling. I like that. It sounds sweet to my ear. Doesn't it, Yuri? Christ. Christ, the only name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved, and we must pray through him. All right, stand with me, and we dismiss and pray. Our prayers seem so hollow at times like this, after looking at your word, after looking at the truth of the matter. It seems so hollow. So, Lord, take these prayers, these supplications, take these words and transform them, transform them, and transform our very minds Our very lives conform us, mold us, and make us into the very will and mind of Christ himself, the will of God, the mind of Christ. Let this mind be in us, mold us daily, until someday we might be able to pray with just one half ounce of sincerity and one half ounce of desire for the glory of God. We thank you for Christ, our mediator. Hear Him. Hear us because of Him. In His name we pray. Amen. You're dismissed.