Our scripture reading is the Epistle of Jude. Second to the last book of the New Testament, the Epistle of Jude. Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. Mercy unto you and peace and love be multiplied. Beloved, When I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there were certain men, crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels, which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, and set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee. But these speak evil of those things which they know not. But what they know naturally is brute beasts. In those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them. For they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear. Clouds they are without water, carried about of winds, trees whose fruit withereth without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots. Raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame. Wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers. complainers, walking after their own lusts, and their mouths speaketh great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage. But beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, how they told you, how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual having not the spirit. But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. And of some, have compassion making a difference, and others, save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. So far we read God's holy word. The text for the sermon is verses 22 and 23. and of some have compassion, making a difference, and others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, this obviously is a very brief, inspired epistle. written by Jude, who identifies himself in verse one as the servant of Jesus Christ, not an apostle, but a servant, and then adds, and brother of James. James would almost surely be the James who wrote an epistle also to the Jews. James and Jude are half-brothers of Jesus. The same mother, but of course having a different father, the father being Joseph, whereas Jesus' father is God himself. So they're half-brothers. They call themselves servants of Jesus Christ. And then they write to the saints to those who are sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ and called. And he speaks of why he is writing to them, that he wrote them to explain the common salvation, the faith, the doctrine, but he says, Then it was needful, it was almost as if the Spirit compelled him then to write, to exhort you that you should earnestly contend for the faith. And why is that so necessary? Because, verse four, there are certain men crept in unawares, men who are coming into the church who are ordained to condemnation. They're reprobate. They're wicked men. And so what he goes on in verses five through 19 is to describe the character of these men and the evil deeds that they will perform and the evil influence that they will have on the church. And then at verse 20, he changes, and he addresses now the believers, but ye, beloved, building up yourselves in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. What must you do in the face of these men that will come into the church, especially as we draw nearer to the end of time, and the evil that they will promote? Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto the end. So that's one calling that you have. Be aware of your own circumstance and build yourself up in the faith and in the love of God. But then he adds in the text that we consider, and of some have compassion. Now he says, now look around you. Look at the believers around you and you have a calling with regard to them. For some of them, have compassion. For others, save with fear, pulling them out of the fire. You have a calling with regards not only to your own spiritual welfare that you take heed to yourself, but with regard to the fellow members in the church of Jesus Christ. But as you consider your calling with regard to fellow members, he said, make a difference, make a distinction in the people that you're working with and the people that you are seeking to help. One will be the kind of believer that's tenderhearted, that will readily admit that he sins, that she sins, repent very quickly. For others, however, they will give every evidence that they love their sins. They need, as it were, to be dragged away from them. So he calls for a different approach. The minister faces the same issue when he brings a text to a congregation, the text has to be applied to the lives of God's people. Some of the people in the congregation need only a gentle admonition, but for others there is a need for a very sharp rebuke. And that comes to the fore whenever we have preparatory service, because this service is to help all of us to prepare for the Lord's Supper. And the Reformed Church says that's what we need. that we do not approach it carelessly, but that we come with the right attitude, that we come and be edified and not eat and drink judgment to ourselves, we will have a preparatory service, a sermon. But some need a very strong admonition to forsake their evil walk and to be told that If they do not, they ought not come to the table of the Lord. They will eat and drink judgment to themselves. But for others, the thought even of coming to the Lord's table makes them tremble. Am I worthy? Should I come? They're so conscious of their sins. And so the text today addresses both. It's addressed to all of us, a calling for all of us to look around and see how can I help other members of this congregation, particularly in the matter of sin. We're called to encourage, we're called to assist fellow believers, fellow sinners in Jesus Christ. But as we do that, we make a difference of some having compassion and of others delivering them with fear. So let's examine these two verses under the theme, helping fellow saints discerningly. Helping fellow saints discerningly. We'll notice in the first place, recognizing the differences among the people of God, recognizing the differences. Secondly, working with discernment. And finally, experiencing the blessings. Recognizing the difference, the text speaks about something that everybody knows from some experience. All parents know that. We talked about that a bit this morning. And teachers and ministers, the differences that you find, let's start with children, how different they are. They all have a unique personality. Each one is unique. One is bold and outgoing, and one is very sensitive. One child is quick to catch on, another is very slow to catch on, needs gentle instruction. One is confident and outgoing and wants to be a leader, and another is quite shy and reserved and quite happy never to be in the limelight. You can see that expression in their personality, even when they're toddlers, the difference between children in the same family. And the first day of school is quite a test. Some are eager to go and some are weeping. They don't want to leave. You can see it in discipline when a child has done something wrong and it's necessary to turn the child from sin that for one just a stern word or a look will do it and for another it is a good hard spanking that is necessary. Those are the extremes, of course, and all our children fit somewhere in the middle of that. But the same thing is true from a spiritual point of view of believers of all ages, also adults. Let's be clear, this is what the text is talking about. The text is not referring to the wicked men that he described in verses 4 through 19 that deliberately are seeking to destroy the truth and destroy the church. He's not referring to them. He's talking about fellow believers, those who are in the church and that we must therefore view with the judgment of charity. We studied that last week in the Canons, Head 3 and 4, Article 15, that looks at how do we view people in the church? And it said those who make a profession of faith and those who live regular lives, not perfect lives, but the life of a Christian, we are to Judge them and speak of them in the most favorable manner. And that's the way we look at each other in the congregation. We don't try to find hypocrites. We don't try to find ungodly. We use the judgment of charity. These are fellow saints. They have a spiritual side. We've seen that to one degree or another. And yes, they're sinners. We believe that they, like we, at night confess our sins before God on our knees, that they do that as well. But they are sinners. Every one of us here. Not one is perfect. And there are times when sin in a life of a child of God seems to be dominating, becoming a problem in the life of a child of God. Again, all saints are different. As Jude says, make a distinction, make a difference. Some approach with compassion, some save with fear. Who are those, first of all, that we must approach with compassion? To have compassion is literally to have mercy, to have mercy. And you have mercy on someone who's miserable. And What we're talking about here is not, first of all, that they have a physical affliction which then makes them miserable, or they have a tragic loss in their life that makes them to be sorrowful. It's not that. But the misery is rooted in sin. If there were no sin in this world, there would be no misery. That's always the root, even if one's misery is not immediately directed or coming out of a sin. Sin is the cause of the misery in this world. But not everyone recognizes the connection between misery and sin. These are believers who are very easily conscious, convicted of their own sin. When they go through and the minister goes through the first part of the catechism and it talks about the sinful nature, they're convicted of that. They see their sins and they're troubled by them. They have a knowledge of how great their sin and misery is. And they see their evil nature and it grieves them and they hate their sin. And so if you behold a sin in them that seems to be besetting, seems to be something that's part of their life that they're not recognizing, and you point that out to them and you bring the word, they will very quickly recognize the sin in their life and will confess it and turn away from it. Do you know believers like that? I'm sure you do. who by nature are very tender-hearted, sensitive to sin, quick to confess their own sins to God and to others. Such a believer knows God, truly knows God with the knowledge of faith as a true relationship of life. and fellowship with God, perhaps a young convert that still has the first love and zeal for God's truth, one who knows God, knows His righteousness, knows His holiness, knows how much God hates sin, and knows what God reveals, what the Scriptures reveal about God, knows that from experience. I know God, he can say. and therefore is very sensitive to the demands of the law. Such a one is so grateful when the cross is preached, when it is revealed, reminded to them that Jesus has paid for our sins. Overwhelming gratitude fills the soul. On such, have compassion. Such would also be someone who approaches the Lord's Supper with tremendous spiritual sensitivity of his or her own sins. A week of self-examination really does bring misery because the individual sees his sins so clearly, is convicted by them, and recognizes, I am not worthy. I am not worthy to go to the table. My sin is so great and may even come to the table of the Lord with trepidation, with fear that maybe I shouldn't even be here. Maybe I shouldn't even partake of the Lord's Supper. And if a person comes that way, then there isn't a blessing because there isn't that relief. There isn't that confirmation of forgiveness, but there's only the struggle and the doubt upon such have compassion. But in contrast with that is someone who must be saved with fear. And the fear is not that the person approaching that individual is afraid. but it must be the way that person is approached and to bring fear to that fellow believer. That's the sentence. It's a very graphic expression here that helps us to understand that this one must be pulled out of the fire. He does not come willingly. He does not want to leave the sins that he is committing. He wants to live in them. He is addicted to his sin. He loves his lifestyle. If you would approach him and express some concern, he would immediately make excuses. He would ask, well, what's wrong with that? And that's because the things of the world are so important, so attractive to him. Maybe it's the world's entertainment, the dramas and the shows, and maybe this person has a favorite television program, have to watch this every week, this drama, this show, knows what's happening, can talk about it endlessly. The world's entertainment on the internet, that's his regular lifestyle, TikTok and the FaceTime and the Instagram and maybe even pornography, he can sit for hours mindlessly watching the videos online. Or maybe it's a matter of love for the world's friendship, friendship with those who are a very questionable character that he enjoys exchanging stories of sinful activities. and that enjoys drinking beers with them and becomes maybe even a nightly ritual. He thrives on parties or some other form of entertainment. Maybe it's the world's sports that is so captivating that it's a seven-day-a-week affair with him. He absolutely cannot put it aside. He loves these things. You can hardly drag him away from them. When he's at work, he's thinking about what he did last night, making plans for tonight, living for the weekend, as the world puts it. Do you know anyone like that? It's easy to see why they are so immersed in these earthly things because that is their life. They're not spiritually minded. They're very much devoted to the earthly and its pleasures and treasures. Perhaps even as a child that was true. Perhaps even then already catechism was a bore. And the instruction, the spiritual instruction at home and school was almost wasted. Sermons were intolerably long. The young people's society is just tolerated. There's no interest at all in what the Bible actually says there. And maybe he saw the same attitude in his parents and is only reflecting their life. These patterns stuck. And you can hardly find a spiritual bone in this individual. It's all he cares about is earthly things. And so when it comes time for spiritual things, when communion comes around, then it hardly causes a ripple in his life. He knows there's something special about it. He knows he should examine himself before he comes to the table of the Lord. But That thought doesn't come into his heart all week long. And Saturday night, the night before, he's out doing what he does every Saturday night, living with the world, and as the world, immersed in their activities. Maybe, maybe the conscience smites him a little bit when the form is read, examine yourself. But that soon passes, and he eats and drinks, not discerning the Lord's body. And he eats and drinks judgment. to himself. And the next week, there's no change in his life. These are, of course, extremes. Those who are extremely sensitive to sin and those who seem to have no interest in spiritual things, those are extremes, but I set them before us tonight because they do exist. in the church of Jesus Christ. And I set them before us because we're all a bit of a mixture of these things. Some are more spiritually sensitive, but have a tendency toward wanting to live with the world. And some are struggling against worldly mindedness. They're struggling with it. But besides that, we all can tend toward one way or another at different times in our life. And in all of us, there are areas of our life where we are blind. We don't see it. Other people can say, why does he do that? Why does she do that? You would think they would recognize that that's not good for them, for their family, for their spiritual life. And that's because we all have blind spots and we can't see that that's not good, that it's an offense even. So we can all be spiritually minded and yet slip and become even casual about sin and maybe even hardened to it. in our lives. So he sets this before us. Here are the people of God. You're called to help them. But as you do that, make a difference, he said. Some deal with compassionately, some pull them out of the fire with fear. So let's look at that then, working with discernment. Having compassion, having mercy. Mercy is pity. You don't go there to make them more miserable. You feel bad for them. You want to lift them up out of their misery. You want them to have spiritual joy. You want that. And so you approach them very gently, even tenderly, as opposed to a rough, coarse, accusing way of approaching someone. I've heard some people excuse that approach. That's the way I approach all. Doesn't matter who they are, and they kind of are proud of the fact that they don't mince words, and they don't pull any punches, and they don't spare any feelings. But the Bible says, no, you must. You must make a difference. And some have compassion. Jesus himself is our model. He was a merciful high priest. Hebrews, we looked at that, Hebrews 4. We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace. to help in time of need. Talks about a high priest who offers sacrifices for the sins of the people and then it says in Hebrews, who can have compassion on the ignorant and on them that are out of the way for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity. So part of the way of approaching anyone is that first that we recognize our own sins and we've confessed them before God and pleaded with God to open our eyes to our own sins. And then it's so much easier to be merciful to someone else when we know how much mercy we've received from God. Jesus was merciful. You think of the woman caught in adultery. You think of all of the wicked, wicked people that he converted, casting demons out of them. He was merciful. And so we bring the word of God, not to crush, not to do more damage, but to open eyes because we love. because we want their good and we want them to see the sin that they are apparently not understanding, and then to lead them to the cross and to bow with them before the cross of Jesus Christ, confessing our sins together. Such will hear the word, such will be softened by the word, and thank you for bringing it. The text says, do it, do this. On some, having compassion. Others are more difficult. Save them with fear. Save, obviously, not in the absolute sense. Jesus alone saves. We'll come back to that in the third point, what that means to save. But something is needed. because this child of God is on the broad way that leads to destruction. He must see the terrible danger that he is in. A gentle admonition will not work. Reminders of the Bible's commands have no effect. He does not see the danger. He refuses to recognize that he is in the wrong, that he is walking in this sinful way. And so one must then seek to instill fear into that person. Sometimes we have to do that with children, don't we? They don't see why it's wrong. They don't believe they have to do anything differently. They may continue to walk down that path. And we have to say, not only is that a sin, but here are the consequences. They're dreadful. For a little child, it's a good hard spanking. Maybe when they get older, there have to be serious consequences so that they have some fear of going down that pathway. For an adult, the threat, which is not empty, is fire, the fire of hell. That's what it says. Pulling him out of the fire. You can look at that from two viewpoints and they're both accurate, they're both correct. First of all, the fire of the dreadful consequences of your walk. God's judgment comes upon sin. He is not a God to be mocked. David experienced that. King of Israel thought he could do as he pleased, but God visited judgment on him, and the sword never left his house. One son assaulted his half-sister, and her brother murdered the rapist. And others rose up and sought to kill others of the sons of David, and some even sought to push him off the throne and put him to death, the sword never departed. God's consequences for sin are dreadful, absolutely dreadful, but ultimately it's hell. If you do not turn from this way, you will perish eternally in the fires of hell, the agony of God's wrath, that infinite eternal wrath. You dare to say that? Certainly not fashionable today, fire and brimstone preaching. They mock that. It's too judgmental. to say to someone, you will go to hell if you do not repent. But that's the Word of God. In this epistle, Jude speaks of that in verse 7, even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities round about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication and going after strange fesh, homosexuality, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Amos picks up on that in the Old Testament on the example of Sodom and Gomorrah. Amos 4, verse 11, I have overthrown some of you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and ye were as a firebrand plucked out of the burning. Pulled out of the fire, as it were. So to set before them the dreadful consequences of their walk, that it is leading to eternal hell. That's the fear. Some save with fear. But that might not even be enough. You might have to pull them out. Pull them out. Very expressive word. Pull them out is snatch. Snatch them out of the fire, so to speak. That means you get personally involved. It means that you might have to go to the place where the brother is carrying on his sinful activities. That you need to confront him as he opens his beer. at the party. That you may have to stand outside the dance. That you may have to go to the place where the party is and pull them out. But do not stop. If he will not hear, if he will not be moved by the terror of hell. If it's not something that you can prevent, there is a consistory to assist. There are elders that you can ask for help. This is not pleasant. This kind of involvement is not pleasant. It's not pleasant, first of all, because often the response of the sinner is, most unpleasant. He may laugh at you. He may become very angry. He may hate you. He may demand of you, who do you think you are? What about your sins? What about the sins of somebody else? Have you confronted them too? Why are you coming after me? Very ugly. But then there's the sin that's ugly. the sin that is a power that controls, that seeks to destroy a fellow believer in the church. It is not a pleasant thing to see sin gripping, controlling a fellow believer. The Tuck says, as we do, We must hate even the garments spotted by the flesh. The wickedness, the corruption coming out of the sinful flesh. It's as if you have a friend that falls into an absolute horrible stinking sewer and says, will you help me? And so now you have to make a decision. Am I gonna let him ride in my car with me? This stinking mess? That's what sin is. And we have to remember that, the need for this, because our own flesh is pulled in the direction of sin. And we must not think, oh, no, not that sin. That one will never trouble me. I'll never have to worry about that. I hate that sin. And then you deny the catechism which says, I am inclined to every evil. Yes, we can let things go because our own flesh is attracted to it. Hating the garment spotted by the flesh. But we must. We must. because we're part of a body. And as my right hand must care about my left and must care about my leg and my head, so all of us as part of the body must care for every member of this body and indeed of the body of Jesus Christ, not merely this congregation. We're responsible for each other. The catechism says the communion of the saints means one of the things. It means that as we use our gifts from God to the advantage and salvation of other members, we use it for their advantage, for their salvation. And so we face our responsibilities as members. Perhaps there's things we see that we do not like. Maybe a worldly lifestyle. World conformity. Maybe it's a mom working that is not good for the family. Not her calling. Maybe we learn of a teenager that's drinking. Maybe we hear about a young adult that goes to a party where hard drugs are used. Maybe we learn of sexual immorality. There are stories that I've been told without names that are so shocking to me that I don't want to give them any credence at all. But if you learn of someone engaging in such immoral activities, this is your calling to do something. We want the consistory to do it. Why isn't the consistory doing something about this? Why isn't the preacher doing something about that? But the text is addressing all of us as members of the Church of Jesus Christ. Evil men, Jude says, will creep into the church, and they will have an influence on the church. The world influences us more than we like to admit. And as Kelvin says in his commentary on this, if someone is in danger of being burned by a fire, we don't just kind of casually call out or wave the hand. We go grab that person and pull them away from the fire. That's what we do in natural fire. Now we're talking about a spiritual fire. We must seek them out, must act, must speak. Yes, I know we need wisdom. We mustn't be busybodies that are poking our noses into things where we really shouldn't be, and that takes great wisdom, but our more natural tendency is simply to turn a blind eye to it. We're part of a church, a church that was purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ, that he is washing with the word because he wants that church to be cleansed, to be sanctified, to be holy. And therefore, as we come to the Lord's Supper next week, if you know of a brother or sister that's not living as he or she ought to, this is our calling. We may not ignore that and then come to the table of the Lord next week and then look over and see that person and say, ooh, shouldn't be here, shouldn't be at the table. You understand? That means we've allowed that table to be defiled. Paul says there's a judgment that comes on the congregation. We must make a difference. with some having compassion, others saving with fear. We will in this way experience the blessing of salvation. That is to say, salvation, the saving power of Jesus Christ manifested in the church. Notice, as I pointed out earlier, that it says, some save with fear. Now, you cannot save anyone. I cannot save anyone. We cannot save ourselves, let alone to save someone else from hell. Christ alone saves. He saves sovereignly, powerfully. He saves from guilt and punishment. He took the guilt of his people upon himself in order that he might be able to go to the cross and pay the debt by bearing their punishment, redeeming them and justifying them in his blood. He also saves from the power and the corruption of sin. He is a complete Savior. He sanctifies. He sends His Spirit into the hearts of His people, and the Spirit delivers from the binding power, from the domination of sin, and from the daily power of sin. More and more we walk in obedience. It's a small beginning, says the Catechism, but there is an effort more and more But Christ uses means. He uses the preaching of the gospel. He uses Christian discipline to instruct in the right paths of righteousness and to warn from paths of iniquity and even to bring discipline to those who will not listen. But he also uses you. He uses you as members of the church He saves the church as a body. All of us have a place, a purpose, and a function, and one of it is to serve the church, to do exactly what Jude is calling us to do here. To love the church, to admonish each other, to encourage each other. We are simply servants of Christ when we do this, when we save someone from the fire. We're just servants of Christ. But there is a blessing there. The body of Jesus Christ, when the members are actively seeking to encourage and strengthen and sometimes admonish and rebuke each other, then the body is strong, the body is united. That's true of a family. A family that's united by blood can have some pretty strong differences and some strong words, but when that's resolved, the family is united. And that's the way we have to look at each other, not that person or that person, but as a family of God, where we're all children of God, we're unified in Jesus Christ. The purpose of someone coming to me is not that they want to destroy, but because they love, they want to show that this is not good what is being done in my life. That's the way we have to see it. And that makes the family, the body stronger. Stronger to stand against the wiles of the evil men who creep in or who influence us from the outside. Stronger to stand for the truth together. Stronger in love. The love of Christ is experienced in the body when we do what Jude admonishes us to do. The love of Christ who came into the world to seek the lost, to seek sinners. That's why he came. That's what we're doing. We need this, especially as we approach the end of times. That's what Jude is writing about. He's writing about the end times and how things will only get worse and worse as we go to the end. And so it's all the more important that we do that. And next week, the Lord willing, we'll consider that in Hebrews chapter 10. Let us consider one another to provoke, to love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together as the matter of some is, but Exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching. What a what an incentive as you see the day of judgment approaching. To exhort each other. Blessings. The blessing ultimately, of course, is eternal life heaven. where all the members of the body are there, and all the members have their place and are fulfilling their calling, God will bless the efforts of His people in this life. The people who are in heaven that we may have approached because of sin, some of them with compassion, others in fear, I assure you, they will not hold a grudge against you. not in heaven. They will not avoid your look or your company. They will thank you for your love, that you cared enough, hating the garments spotted with the flesh, that you cared enough to pull them out of the fire. So let's do it. Do it this week. Do it all our life. We're on our way to heaven together. And so we encourage each other along the way in this way. May God give us grace. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, we thank Thee for Thy abundant goodness, for the body, for the love of Christ that is in our hearts, which love is manifested in our care and concern for others. We pray for wisdom. We pray for a proper spirit. But Lord, build us up as a congregation as we take this seriously to assist each other in whatever way we can. especially in our terrible battle against sin. This we pray for Jesus' sake. Amen. Psalter number 232. 232, in stanza two he's saying, his saving help is surely near. To those his holy name that fear, thus glory dwells in all our land. Now heavenly truth unites with grace and righteousness and peace embrace and full accord they ever stand. The three stands is 232. and my salvation now bestow. We wait to hear what God will say. We stir as we know He will speak. ♪ And surely be to God's care so deep in that fear ♪ ♪ A story found in our land ♪ ♪ How heavenly truth unites with grace and righteousness ♪ to sleep. God bless Chicago. the hosts of old in yonder heavenly height. Then bless the Lord, ye Saints, we know, Let all that breathe it praise unite. The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen.