Great is thy faithfulness, amen. Good singing. It's good to be together and worship the Lord, amen. What a profound privilege we have to lift our voices to the one true God and acknowledge him, praise him, worship him. This is a great day. It's good to be together. I want you to open your Bibles to the book of Exodus. If you're visiting, we're going through the book of Exodus and we're in chapter 20, verse 18. This morning, we want to hear from God's Word this morning. Please stand for the reading of the Word of God. Exodus 20, verse 18, this is God's Word. Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountains smoking, the people were afraid and trembled and they stood far off and said to Moses, you speak to us and we will listen but do not let God speak to us lest we die. Moses said to the people, do not fear for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you that you may not sin. The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was and the Lord said to Moses, thus you shall say to the people of Israel, You've seen for yourselves that I have talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. If you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness be not exposed on it. Father, we thank you for your word this morning. We need it. We hear the words of men all week long. We've come to hear from God. We've come to hear from your word, so speak to us. As we just sung, Lord, speak to us. Shape us, conform us into the image of your beloved son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Cause our hearts to properly revere and fear God. Teach us, Lord, something, something of what the Israelites sensed and felt here in this passage. We pray in the name of Jesus, amen. Well, we come now to the end of the Decalogue, the 10 words. We come to the really important juncture in this book. It's really a halfway point in the book of Exodus. A number of you have asked me how we're going to cover the rest of the book of Exodus. It's a fair question. We are today smack dab in the middle. The first 20 chapters of Exodus sort of are almost like a Marvel action movie jam packed with nonstop thrill and application. And the next 20 chapters read a little bit like Moby Dick. It's a bit of a slog. But very rewarding for the students. One of the reasons the next 20 chapters are challenging is that these laws are particular, they're detailed, they're specifically given for Israel. The second reason is that the Lord gives instruction for the building of the tabernacle and some of the items for worship, and it can be a little tedious. Now, it's significant, it's important, it's relevant even today for us, and we'll get there, but we're gonna cover that material in larger swaths than we have in the first 20 chapters. Let me give a little context of where we are at this morning. Since the beginning of April, we've been in the Ten Commands all in chapter 20. We took a break for the summer, But we've very much been in the trees, not the forest. We have slowed it way down. We took it a command at a time, or even more so in a few cases. I wanna span out for a minute. The first few verses of our passage today are really like a bridge. The very next thing that happens after the 10 commandments is the giving of the book of the covenant. That comes in verse 22. The book of the covenant is an elaboration of the 10 commands. If you think of it like this, Israel had 614 laws consolidated into 10 commands, consolidated into really two commands, love God, love neighbor. The Book of the Covenant is part of the case law that elaborated on the Ten Commands. Our passage is a bridge to that happening. The Book of the Covenant will cover chapter 21, 22, and 23. It's basically all application or case law. It covers things like property rights, personal injury, justice issues, and the point, really big picture, is that serving God impacts every aspect of our lives, from how we worship Him to how we treat those around us. In chapter 24, the covenant is confirmed or ratified with blood. And really with the exception of the golden calf story that comes after that, the rest of the book of Exodus is really instructions on worship and how to worship. So that's the bigger picture of Exodus. For our immediate passage, here's what's happening. The Israelites are freaking out. They've just heard the Lord very loud. They've seen the mountain shake. They are terrified. They actually beg Moses to be a mediator so they don't have to ever experience that again. There is a barrier and that barrier goes both ways. God says, do not come near this mountain. Don't touch it or you'll die. And the people after it happens say, we will not come near this mountain. We don't want to come near the mountain ever again. So Moses intercedes. Let's look at verse 18. Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled and they stood far off. Now again, because we've been in the weeds for the last number of months, we might have lost appreciation for the fact that this entire time, the giving of the Ten Commands, while each law is given, the Israelites are scared to death this whole time. The thunder, the flashes of lightning, the mountains smoking, they're afraid, they're trembling, they're standing far off. Look back at chapter 19 with me, verse 16. On the morning of the third day, There were thunders and lightnings, a thick cloud in the mountain, very loud trumpet blasts so that all the people in the camp trembled. There is thunder and lightning before, during, and after the giving of the law. So if we just could summarize what's happening here, it's really one word, fear. They fear God. Verse 19 says, they're scared they might die. Can I just submit to us, this is a lost doctrine today. So often we fear things we shouldn't fear, and we don't fear things we should fear. Proper fear, biblical fear, is a missing ingredient among the people of God today. There's not enough of this kind of fear, this kind of terror, This kind of trembling, we so easily gravitate to the love and mercy of God for good reason. We need it. Perfect love casts out fear, yes, but we must not neglect the fact that God is holy And the fact is he is powerful and terrifying. Both of those are true. The Bible tells us that the fear of God is the essence of all saving knowledge and wisdom. It might help us, I think, to know a little bit more about what this means, properly define it. Solomon, in his thesis statement in the book of Proverbs, puts it like this. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. All wisdom starts with a basic understanding of Creator God. Now the world really knows nothing of that fear. But again, I would say the people of God need a healthy dose of this kind of fear. This is for the people of God. It's for the whole world, too, but this fear of God assumes the existence of an all-powerful, almighty, holy God. Isaiah prophesied, the Lord Almighty is the one you are to fear. He's the one you are to dread. Jesus says, fear God, who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell. Yes, He's the one you are to fear. Kevin Miller put it like this, so when the Bible talks about fearing God, it means not just awe and not just reverence, it also means fear. It's the kind of fear I felt at the Grand Canyon, he says, where I was drawn to the amazing beauty, but I also felt a realistic fear at the danger because people who act foolishly near it die. So it's a posture towards God. It's a reverence. It's a respect. A number of years ago I was snowmobiling around Vail Pass with a friend. It was a beautiful day. Lots of fresh powder and we sort of tooled around, ripped around the mountain and decided to head to the summit. Found a trail. We reached the summit, turned off our snowmobiles. We're at the edge of this huge drop off and I wanted to see how far it went down. I was curious. It was a dumb move. You'll hear it in just a second, but about halfway out, and the cornice maybe went 30, 40, maybe 50 feet out. I thought, I want to see if I can look over the edge. Again, dumb, I get it, all right? But about halfway out, I snapped through a thin layer of snow, and the next thing I remember, because it happened so quick, is that my entire body was dangling. My armpits were holding me up, but my entire body, my feet, legs, everything was just kind of dangling. Well, praise the Lord, I managed to crawl out and shimmy on my belly, and I was able to, before going back to safety, I looked down this hole, and it went down. I don't even know how far it went down. 30, 40, 50 feet, it just, after that, went black. The feeling of getting to safety was a very satisfying feeling. But I'll tell you, I had after that a much more healthy reverence and respect for the mountain. There's a proper fear. John Piper put it like this, suppose you were exploring an unknown Greenland glacier in the dead of winter just as you reach the sheer cliff with a spectacular view of miles of jagged ice and mountains of snow, a terrible storm breaks in. The wind is so strong that the fear rises in your heart that it might blow you over the cliff, but in the midst of the storm, you discover a cleft in the ice where you can hide. Here you feel secure. But even though secure, the awesome might of the storm rages on, and you watch it with a kind of trembling pleasure as it surges out across the distant glaciers, not everything we call fear vanishes from your heart, only the life-threatening part. There remains the trembling, the awe, the wonder, the feeling that you would never wanna tangle with such a storm or be the adversary of such a power, and so it is with God. The fear of God is what is left of the storm when you have a safe place to watch right in the middle of it. Hope turns fear into a trembling and peaceful wonder, he says, and fear takes everything trivial out of hope and makes it earnest and profound. The terrors of God make the pleasures of his people intense. The fireside fellowship is all the sweeter when the storm is howling outside the cottage. It is theologically accurate to say that we are saved by God, for God, and from God. Jesus is gonna return, Paul says, in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not obey the gospel. Do you fear God? Are you saved? One of the lessons from this section of scripture is that God is holy and we are to take sin seriously. You can't toy with God. You mustn't ignore God. You have to deal with him. And stubbornness doesn't work. Hardening your heart doesn't work. Disobedience doesn't work. Ignoring him doesn't work. Suppressing him doesn't work. Rebellion doesn't work because he is almighty and all powerful and his holiness is gonna break out. Verse 18 is like a dress rehearsal for the day of judgment. This is a window into what coming judgment is gonna look like, and there's no place to hide. The great Charles Spurgeon commented on this verse. I've gotta read what he said. He said, this terrible grandeur may also have been intended to suggest to the people the condemning force of the law. Not with sweet sound of harp, nor with the song of angels was the law given, but with an awful voice from amid a terrible burning. By reason of man's sinfulness, the law worketh wrath. And to indicate this, it was made public with accompaniments of fear and death. The battalions of omnipotence marshaled upon the scene. The dread artillery of God with awful salvos adding emphasis to every syllable. The tremendous scene at Sinai was also in some respects a prophecy, if not a rehearsal for the day of judgment. Look at verse 19. They said to Moses, you speak to us and we'll listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we die. Interestingly, the word in verse 19 in this whole section is not the word Yahweh, but the word Elohim, God. I'm not sure why, actually. Maybe it's to conjure up the awesomeness of the whole scene. But hearing and seeing this whole production was scary to the point where they plead with Moses to be the go-between, be a mediator. So Moses is now going to act as prophet and priest. A priest speaks to God on behalf of the people, a prophet speaks to the people on behalf of God. Moses is a mediator. And again, here's a lesson, it's important, we need a mediator. We pray to the Father through the Son by the Spirit. There's a Trinitarian aspect we need to recognize and uphold. Now I'm not saying it's wrong to pray to Jesus, if I can just make an application here. I'm not saying it's wrong to pray to Jesus, but that's not the model we see in the Bible. Jesus' teaching on prayer taught us to pray, our Father who's in heaven, holy is your name. We pray to the Father through the Son. Sometimes I hear people pray just to the Son, and there may be a place for that, but at least according to the scriptures, we don't necessarily pray to the mediator, we pray through the mediator. We pray to the Father through the Son. That mediation is important to uphold. Look at verse 20. Moses said to the people, do not fear for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you that you may not sin. So the testing here, the word probably is better understood as train. The Lord is training them. Well, how is the Lord training them? Through the law. To do what? Well, to sin less. The fear of God helps them to sin less, but the law of God also helps them to sin less. Raises really an important topic we need to bring up and it's the uses of the law. Borrowing from the late great R.C. Sproul, historically theologians have pretty much agreed on three primary uses of the law. The first use is that the law is a mirror. The law works like a mirror to reflect both the perfect righteousness of God and our own sinfulness and shortcomings. Augustine said it like this, the law bids us as we try to fulfill its requirements and become wearied in our weakness under it to know how to ask the help of grace. You could say the law is a spotlight on the cobwebs of sin we didn't even know we had. The law shows us our need for pardon. The law shows us our danger of judgment. The law leads us in repentance and faith in Christ. The Westminster Shorter Catechism said it like this, no mere man since the fall is able in this life perfectly to keep the commands of God, but doth daily break them in thought, word, and deed. We're constantly breaking the law. Constantly breaking the law. Law shows us that. Number two, the law restrains evil. That's the use of the law in our passage. This is more of a civil use of the law. It restrains evil in society. Even though the law can't change the heart, the law can't legislate morality, so to speak, it does help mitigate sin and wickedness. We don't like to get punished. The penalty for speeding helps us to speed less. It restrains evil. Without the law, we would sin a lot more. We would speed a lot more, to use that illustration. Not just as individuals, but as a society. The fear of judgment is healthy and purposeful. It's good, it's proper, it's correct. You can ignore the law, but you do it at your own peril. It's like the old song, I fought the law and the law won. That's how it works. Craig Brian Larson tells a story, he says seatbelts can be a hassle. Some people just don't want to be bothered even when the law requires them to buckle up. According to the AP, a New Zealander named Ivan Segedin, took it to the extreme, the police ticketed him 32 times over five years for failing to use a seatbelt. And even though this was costing him a lot of money, Segodon refused to buckle up. Finally, instead of obeying the law, the man decided to rely on a little deception. He made a fake seatbelt that would hang over his shoulder and make it appear that he was wearing a seatbelt when he wasn't. I mean, instead of actually just clicking the seatbelt, he made a fake seatbelt and then he had a head-on collision. He was thrown forward into the steering wheel, he was killed. Later, discussing the accident at the corner, described the fake seatbelt, though his car was fitted with seatbelts, an extra belt with a long strap had been knotted above the seatbelt on the driver's side, providing a belt to simply sit over the driver's shoulder. You can ignore the law, but the second use of the law is meant to help you. In more severe cases, other than seat belts or speeding, it's meant to restrain evil. In the case of a number of the Ten Commands, it's good that murder is punishable, stealing. That's a good thing, not a bad thing. Third use of the law is that it teaches us righteousness. The law functions as a guide for the people of God. The law shows us how to love God, how to love neighbor. The law is good, not bad. Christ used the law in this sense, oftentimes, when he said those who became his disciples must be taught to obey all that he had commanded in the Great Commission. The New Covenant, the law is actually written on our hearts. We actually can do the law by the Spirit, rather than the law being abrogated The law is actually fulfilled. Nowhere at any time ever has the law been a means of salvation. We don't do the law and then get rewarded with salvation. We get rewarded with salvation, and then we do the law. That's what happened with Israel, and that's what happens with the believer. Israel is delivered out of slavery, they're delivered out of bondage, then they're given the gift of the law, and that order salutis matters. All that to say the law helps us sin less, helps restrain evil. Look at verse 21. The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. Now notice what happens. Moses actually heads back up the mountain to hear from God. The people can't handle it. Moses, will you be the mediator? And this becomes the pattern from now on. Moses hears from God and the people hear from God through Moses. Verse 22, the Lord said to Moses, thus you shall say to the people of Israel, You've seen for yourselves that I've talked with you from heaven. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold." Now, this is interesting. The very first thing God tells Moses is to warn the people about idolatry. Now think about this. Minutes earlier, we don't know the time frame, maybe it was hours earlier, but probably that day, it seems chronologically, they just heard God himself speak about idolatry. Really the first and second command. And then God says again, you shall not make. Just a reminder about idolatry. One of the reasons idolatry is offensive is that anything you make cannot possibly represent the maker. An idol could never reflect the God whose name is limitless. I am who I am. You can't make an idol that corresponds to the unrestricted nature of God. Can't do it. Anything you make will be offensive. You can't draw, paint, carve the attributes of God. His nature restricts it. When that command, the Lord says, you shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness in heaven above, on the earth beneath, water under the earth, creation. You can't use creation to make an idol. It's wrong. Worship the creator. So the second command has to do with making idols that represent God, making things that look like God, or as the King James said, graven images. But generally what would happen in paganism is that the worshiper thought that the God really resided in the idol. And again, to reduce God to our affections, to something of our own making, to imagine him to be different than he is. To wish him to be different than he is. is very, very wrong. It's an attempt at editing God, making him usually more palatable, lo and behold, more like us. Agreeing with, wouldn't you have it? My opinions. You can't do that. Back to verse 23. You shall not make gods of silver to be with me, nor shall you make for yourselves gods of gold. So the very first warning after the giving of the Ten Commands is a warning not to make gods of silver and gold. And, you know this, what's basically one of the very first things that happen? Israel makes a golden calf. Gods of gold will be the first infraction. Only took a couple weeks. The God of money. Now, I mentioned this last week. Jesus makes a statement that has to find its context in this story. I referenced this last week, but it is strikingly relevant to our passage. Keep in mind, the Lord is saying in Exodus, you can only have one master. That's the context. Now listen to what Jesus says, okay? No one can serve two masters. He'll either hate the one and love the other, or he'll be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. Most translations use the word wealth, I love the word mammon, even though it's an archaic word. The 1984 NIV capitalized money, capital M, because, and they're right, it's a god. It's a deity. It's a competitor with God. And again, isn't it fascinating that the very first thing that happens in Israel after the Lord tells them explicitly not to do this, is they make an idol of gold. Money's a bad master, it's a bad lord. Proverbs 18, 11, a rich man's wealth is his strong city and like a high wall in his imagination. It's delusional. He actually thinks his riches can shield him and secure him. He thinks his idols of silver and gold will shield him, protect him, insulate him. But it's a lie. Anthony Salvaggio said, although it was a good and noble idea to print in God we trust on US dollars, the irony is that most Americans trust their finances far more than in their creator. So that's a warning. We spent two weeks on this, the last two weeks on the God of money and coveting. And again, the very first warning is this very thing. We could go on, but the point is this, the Lord is the only source of trustworthiness. Have one God, the Lord God, Yahweh. Homeowner's insurance, 401ks, disability insurance, umbrella policies, these things are not wrong. They're good things, but they can insulate us from reality of life and death and eternity. The only source of trustworthiness is God. Marriage counselors will say one of the biggest issues in marriage, if not the biggest, is money. Money has the power to ruin your life, your marriage, your future, tempts us into pride, arrogance, self-sufficiency. And God tells Israel, don't be enslaved by that God. Don't do it, turn from those idols. Let's look at this last point in verse 24. As I read verse 24, keep in mind the palpable fear that's guiding the whole context and narrative right now. The fear of God shapes their lives, it helps them sin less, it keeps them from idolatry. In this last point, we see that the fear of God guides the worship of Israel. The Lord cares about how he's to be worshiped. And this is gonna be abundantly clear the rest of Exodus, but look at verse 24. Last two verses are really about worship. An altar of earth you shall make for me and sacrifice on it your burnt offerings, your peace offerings, your sheep, your oxen. In every place where I cause my name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. Now this isn't the first time that Israel has sacrificed animals for worship. It's one of the first times. This is very new. Of course, they sacrifice the lamb at the Passover, but I think this is the first time they're doing it together as a nation since the Exodus. I think Moses had an example in there prior, but it's the first example of fellowship offerings at a minimum. These meals would emphasize peace, peace between God and the worshipers. And I wanna say a word about these meals. It's a significant part of their worship. Turn your Bibles over to Exodus 24 for just a second. This is after the book of the covenant is read and the covenant is confirmed and ratified with blood. In Exodus 24, 7 we read, Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people, and they said, All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient. And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu and 70 of the elders of Israel went up and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone like the very heaven for clearness. And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel. they beheld God and ate and drank. After the meal is ratified, they had a meal, after the covenant is ratified, they had a meal with God. They beheld God, they ate and drank. Just ponder that for a moment. It sounds a bit like a supper with the Lord, a Lord's supper, a meal with God. Now, if I could just back up for a second. If paradise with Adam and Eve involved eating food in the presence of the Lord, then the fall brought a colossal change to that. Sin spoiled the supper. God still allowed people to eat, get pleasure from eating, but it was different. It was apart from his presence. But as the drama of redemption unfolded, occasionally the Lord allowed his people to eat with him. and worship him through various meals. Peter Lightheart said it well. The people of God always worship at the table. Foodless worship is unthinkable in the Bible and has been unthinkable through most of Christian history. This ties into the Lord's Supper that believers are gonna take here in just a minute. This is really what we do at the table. We behold God. We eat and drink. Well, these religious meals in Exodus, I want you to see this, they were in some ways temporary restorations of Eden and a foreshadowing of heaven. These meals were a partial restoration of divine fellowship. Now in Revelation, to bring this full swing, the Bible culminates, the crescendo of the story of salvation is that God is with redeemed humanity, dwelling together face to face, and what are they doing? They're having a supper, a meal. the marriage supper of the Lamb. The angel says to the apostle John in Revelation, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. The undeserving have been brought near to a table. Table fellowship with Yahweh. So verse 24 is a step, it's a click in that direction. A step towards more intimacy with God. A step closer to Eden, or better yet, a step closer to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Our Lord's Supper punctuates this as well. Verse 25, if you make me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you profane it. We don't worship God any which way we choose. Common tools can't be used. The same tools you use to build your home or a latrine can't be used for this, to make an altar. God is particular how he is to be worshiped. There are things we do, things we don't do. This last statement comes in verse 26, you shall not go up by steps to my altar that your nakedness be not exposed. Just a couple quick comments on this. The Canaanites, I should mention first of all, had a knack for mixing sex and worship and this seems to be a nod toward don't do that. Don't do anything like that. Your worship is to look nothing like the Canaanites. If I could just say the same thing needs to be said to the church. Don't imitate the nations. The other practical aspect was probably just the practical side of indecent exposure. Don't climb a ladder behind a Scottish man in a kilt, you could say. A common attire in those days didn't include underwear that came later. In fact, later in Leviticus, the priests are ordered to wear undergarments to avoid this very issue. This is kind of an odd place to end the sermon, so I'm just gonna say a couple comments as it relates to some other parts of this passage. I was really thinking about this and just praying about this, because we don't wanna just come and hear information and oh well, learn some new things. What are we having for lunch? We wanna be doers of the word here. Even in the book of Exodus, what does the word of God, how does it inform our day-to-day lives? It's to inform their day-to-day lives. How does it inform ours? Number one, when we fear God, we sin less. Dads and moms, is God big or small in your home? God and the knowledge of God and who God is informs our day-to-day lives. Here I think is one of the main takeaways for us. God needs to be big in our lives, not small. The knowledge of God is healthy for the soul. Instead of tuning out his voice, we need to tune in. Instead of suppressing God, we need to remember God. Think about God, fear God. When we fear God, When we're in His Word, when we attend the supper, we sin less. It's a good thing. There's a sanctifying element to just the knowledge of God. If you ignore Him, if you skip church, if you're not really that involved, if Bible reading is not really that much of a priority to you, you will practically sin more. When we fear God, we sin less. We sin less, we forsake our idols more, we delight in God more, not mammon. It's an ecosystem. I read a story of a father who illustrated the fear of God, how it informs our lives. He said, I used to think that living in the fear of the Lord is like driving down the street while watching the policeman in your rear view mirror, but actually there's a better picture for the fear of the Lord. It's like a teenage driver who suddenly spots her father's car in her rear view mirror. Seeing him back there puts her on notice to be on her best behavior, to use her blinkers and stop at the yellow light and to keep both hands on the wheel. But it also tells her that her father cares enough to follow her. It tells her that she's safe. Her father isn't trying to trap her or trick her. He's trying to help her develop good habits. Not just to be careful on this trip, but to obey the laws and stay safe until she gets home. She's driving on her own, but not completely on her own. So it is with the people of God. The fear of the Lord means we live life with our heavenly Father always in our rear view mirror. We glance up. and see his brilliant holiness, but also his care and his love and our response to the fear of the Lord is a mix of reverence, trust, and love. We need the knowledge of God, which is why it's good you're here this morning. I need it, you need it. When we don't fear God, we fear everything else. When we fear and revere God, we fear nothing else. Number two, When we fear God, we worship. Dads and moms, again, is God big or small in your home? Is church a priority? Or is it ancillary, something we might get to? I want to say prioritize the word of God. Prioritize the supper. In the case of Israel, their fear led them to worship God. Church, is God big or is God small in our midst? May he be big in our worship. One of the most important things we do as a church is the Lord's Supper. We remember him and worship him in a meal. And I just want to close with a quote from J.C. Ryle. Ryle said, nothing can possibly be of small importance which the Lord Jesus Christ ordained and appointed. Our Lord most distinctly commanded his disciples to eat bread and drink wine in remembrance of him. What right has any Christian to disobey this commandment? No doubt a man may be saved like the penitent thief without having received the Lord's Supper. It's not a matter of absolute and indispensable necessity like repentance, faith, and conversion. But it is impossible to say that any professing Christian is in a safe, healthy, or satisfactory condition of soul who habitually refuses to obey Christ and attend the supper. So for baptized believers, this is our opportunity to worship Christ through a meal. Let's do that. I wanna invite you if you're here today and you've not trusted Christ, your only hope in this world and the next is the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's provided a way for the worst of sinners, the most rebellious of sinners, to be forgiven, saved, sanctified, cleansed, given the gift of eternal life. It's for anybody, anybody, who's willing to turn from sin and trust Christ. Father, we thank you for this word this morning, written thousands of years ago, but no doubt inspired by the Holy Spirit and relevant and applicable for the people of God even today. Lord, help us to have a proper fear of you. Help us to see you as you are, or at least a little bit more, bigger, not smaller in our lives. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.