This morning, as we continue making our way through the book of Genesis, we come to Genesis chapter 18, and we'll begin reading in verse 16, and then read to the end of the chapter, verse 33. So Genesis 18, verses 16 through 33, this is God's holy and inspired word. Give your attention to it. Then the men set out from there, and they looked down towards Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have chosen him that he might command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him. Then the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grave, I will go down to see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I will know. So the men turned from there and went towards Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. Then Abraham drew near and said, Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? Suppose there are 50 righteous within the city, will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the 50 righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked. Far be it from you. Shall not the judge of all the earth do what is right or just? And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom 50 righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake. Abraham answered and said, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am the dust and ashes. Suppose five of the 50 righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five? And he said, I will not destroy it if I find 45 there. Again, he spoke to him and said, suppose 40 are found there. He answered, for the sake of 40, I will not do it. Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose 30 are found there. And he answered, I will not do it if I find 30 there. He said, behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose 20 are found there. He answered, for the sake of 20, I will not destroy it. Then he said, oh, let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose 10 are found there. He answered, For the sake of 10, I will not destroy it. And the Lord went his way when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place. Amen. Let's seek the Lord's face again for help as we come to this passage, let's pray. Our faithful Lord, you have caused all of scripture to be written for our instruction, for our learning, for our growth in grace, that we would be brought to full maturity through Jesus, your son. And so now as we consider these words, Lord, give us your spirit to shine them like a light into our hearts and our minds, that we might be led again to rest in, to receive, and to rejoice in Jesus Christ, your only begotten son, given to us. We thank you, oh Lord, for all of holy scripture which points us to him, and we pray this in his name, amen. You may be seated. Getting to truly know someone is a lifelong matter, and no doubt you all in here who have been married for decades can attest to that fact. It might be that someone you've known for, say, 20 or 30 years still at times surprises you, how much more than someone you've known for, say, maybe a couple of months. Well, in the passage that we're looking at this morning, God is further revealing his character to Abraham. Now, Abraham's known the Lord now for decades, Yet he's known, it seems, one particular aspect of the Lord's character. He's known one attribute of God above all the others thus far. That attribute is his grace, his love, his kindness, his mercy. Abraham has over and over again received promises of God's goodwill towards him, not based on any righteousness in himself, but solely based on his grace. And when Abraham and his wife Sarah have messed up big time, when they've denied the Lord's grace in their lives, when they've taken matters into their own hands, the Lord still appears to them in grace. In the passage before us this morning, and then especially next week, we'll see God further shows his character to Abraham. Yes, highlighting his grace, but against the backdrop of his divine justice. against his holy wrath, against his anger and hatred towards sin and depravity. In other words, in the passage before us this morning, we have the beginnings of a description to Abraham and through Abraham to us of God's justice, which is not at war with his grace, but provides, again, the proper frame, the proper background, the context and foundation of his mercy, both to Abraham and to you and to me. This morning we'll make our way through these verses here with three points to guide us. You have these outlined in your bulletin. First we'll see here as Abraham continues to behold the God of justice. He's learning about God's justice and righteousness here as he sees him face to face here. We'll also see Abraham take up a conversation with the Lord to plead for mercy to be shown to both the lost of Sodom as well as the theoretically righteous or saved there, should there be a certain number of them. We'll consider what Abram's doing there. We'll also then see how this passage concludes with a sort of a pregnant pause, a wait to see God's mercy displayed. So let's jump right into these verses. A bit of the context here in Genesis 18, God has appeared to Abraham while Abraham was in the hottest point of the day. He was lounging at his tent's door and he looked in the distance and he saw three what looked like men approaching him. And these three men were really the Lord himself in human form appearing to Abraham. and two angels with him, members perhaps of his, the angelic council perhaps that he makes decisions with as God directs the affairs of men. And he goes now to visit Abraham. He appears in human form so that Abraham can behold him. This is a temporary human form that God displays himself to Abraham in. And he has a conversation with him. And he reassured Abraham and Sarah, for she was eavesdropping just inside the tent door, of his intention that in the year to come, they will have a child, which is fascinating. It's almost laughable. Actually, it is laughable. Sarah laughed, just as Abraham laughed earlier, in disbelief of how someone so old could have a baby. Yet God promised it, and he's a God of mercy. Nothing is too hard for him. Well it's in the context of that discussion that then the Lord with his two angels start to make their way to Sodom because really that's their ultimate destination. They didn't come just to visit Abraham. Perhaps that was a bit of like stopping in to say hello on the trip to Sodom. God is going to Sodom with his angels here because there is a great outcry against this city. And that's where the passage picks up here as the men, that's referring to the Lord and the two angels here, as they look down to Sodom and set out on their way. Abraham, you can imagine, is like seeing them to the door, so to speak, seeing them outside of the boundaries of where he's dwelling, he's walking them out, and as they're walking along the way, we have a description of the Lord's thoughts here, a little soliloquy you could say, where the Lord says in verse 17, shall I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do? For the Lord knows that he's going to Sodom. Yes, he's going to search out to see whether the outcry against them is truly as he has received it. I mean, he knows it already. But he's going down, just like he went down to Babel to see what men have done. And he knows what he'll do. And so he thinks to himself, you could say, again, this is all putting the Lord in like this anthropomorphism, describing the incomprehensible Lord in human ways. And he's saying, should I hide this from Abraham? Now, why would he say that? Well, two reasons. One is just kind of practical here, and that is that Abraham's nephew, Lot, resides in this city. And so, of course, Abraham has an investment in Sodom, and it's his family, his own flesh and blood, one who, apart from Ishmael, would have been, perhaps, the heir alongside another man named Eleazar. And so here, there's definitely concern on Abraham's behalf for Sodom. and its, well, existence. But we're told here that the Lord is considering, you could say, letting Abraham in on his plans is another reason, not just because Lot resides in Sodom, but because Abraham is, I think he's a prophet. He is one of the greatest prophets of Scripture. His job and role as a prophet is to speak the words of God, the revelation that he receives. That's one of the ways he will be a blessing to all the nations. It's one of the ways he will pass on the blessing, the covenant blessing of God to his own children, to Isaac and to Jacob, is by speaking, by making a prophetic announcement. And we're told in Scripture, particularly the book of Amos, that what marks an office of the prophet is a knowledge of God's ways and his plans. This is how God directed his people in the Old Covenant. He raised up prophets to whom he revealed his intentions. They had this privileged position to hear the thoughts of God and then to communicate it to the people of God. This is also a burdensome position because many times these prophetic announcements involved the coming judgment of God's people. This knowledge of God's way here will include judgment, judgment of Sodom. And so the Lord does decide, you could say here, to reveal his plans to Abraham. Why? Verse 19. or verse 18 and verse 19, because Abraham will become a great and mighty nation. Nations of the earth will be blessed through him, and because God has chosen him, or known him, or loved him, and he desires that Abraham might command his children and his household after him to keep the righteous, or to keep the ways of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice. Now this right here sets in context what is about to happen. God is, yes, going to take care of sinners, who have had plenty of time to repent. We'll see that in a bit. But he is instructing Abraham. He's letting Abraham in on his plans that Abraham might know righteousness and justice. And therefore, again, in a proper way, be able to pass it on to his children and to others as a prophet. You know, Abraham is coming more and more to know the character of God. He knows God and mercy. Nobody's gonna see that mercy highlighted, contrasted against the backdrop. of his righteousness and justice. And so God lets him in on the situation concerning the cities of the valley here. The Lord says, verse 20, because of the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah, is because it's great, and because their sin is very grave, I will go down, and see if they had done all together according to this outcry. God searches out the matter. He's a faithful judge, he is the just judge of all the earth, and he does so, he shows his justice by going down and investigating this situation. And he's showing his servant, Abraham here, his justice. He's showing him his righteousness, that first of all we see, and we'll bring this to application in a bit, but he hears the cries of those who are suffering injustice, of those who are suffering. of those who cry out to the Lord for help. Think of Israel under the heavy hand of the taskmasters in Egypt. The Lord redeems his people from Israel because he's heard their cry throughout all of the psalms. We have psalm after psalm, lament after lament, both crying to the Lord for help, crying to the Lord for salvation, crying to the Lord for deliverance, and God hearing because he doesn't turn a deaf ear to his people, he doesn't turn a deaf ear to those who know suffering. He responds. And so he hears the cries of the afflicted, and he calms down, again, just as he did at Babel. Now, this should be sobering. It should be terrifying to the people of Sodom. Of course, they don't know yet. It's right, you could say, right terrifying to Abraham. So much so that he begins to plead for the people of Sodom, both the righteous, supposed who are there, and really the whole city as well on behalf of the righteous. This is our second point. Here we see Abraham pleading for the lost and saved of Sodom. Now there's a number of ways we see him pleading here. This is verse 22 and following. First we see that Abraham approaches the Lord. Abraham drew near, and said. And don't let that go overlooked. This is the first time in Scripture when someone initiates a conversation with God. Now, we do have places in Scripture, especially in early chapters of Genesis, where the very essence of worship is described as calling upon the name of the Lord, which is initiating a conversation with God. But here, in the very presence of the Lord, albeit the Lord appearing in a human form, here Abraham takes it upon himself confidently, yet we'll see in a second, very, very humbly and carefully, to initiate a conversation with the just judge of all the earth. He has a confident boldness here to the Lord. He draws near to the Lord for this purpose, but notice he is very humble in what he does. This is not Abraham haggling with the Lord. Have you ever been in a foreign country or perhaps even places in their own country where you try to get a price down to like a place, you kind of bring that to this text. I know when I first read it, that's what I thought of. It's almost like this is, yeah, this is like a bartering deal here. I can't stand that. Some of you might not be able to stand that, and if that's the case, then this might stand out all the more in that way. But that's not what's happening here. This is not Abraham haggling with God. This is Abraham confidently, boldly, yet humbly pleading. or the better word for it is interceding for the people of Sodom here. So we see his humility in a number of ways here. First, and he constantly recognizes the Lord's holiness. He recognizes in verse say 25 that God is the judge of all the earth who will do what is just. We see Abraham also here recognizing his own frailty. He confesses over and over again throughout this exchange that he is, say in the words of verse 27, dust and ashes. Like what right does he have to speak to the Lord of all the universe, even as God has spoken to him many times over the decades? He says, I have undertaken to speak to you, but I am but dust and ashes. We see as well in verse 30, and a number of times, this is not him haggling, this is him saying, Lord, please do not be angry, but let me speak. Let me speak. Suppose 30 are there? There's that level of interaction. And then again, verse 31, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Verse 32, oh Lord, do not be angry and let me speak this one more time. Suppose 10 are found there. In other words, this is Abraham approaching the Lord boldly, absolutely, but with a robust humility. He recognizes God's glory and justice and holiness and his immense frailty before the face of God. We'll bring that out in a bit of application in a bit. We see him as well here. having a concern that his pleading, his intercession is based on a holy and good and loving and caring concern for the people of Sodom, both the righteous and the unrighteous. Now, the righteous here would be those who are in covenant with God. Doesn't mean the perfect. Abraham's not pleading and saying, hey, it would be nice if, Lord, you would spare the city if there are 50 perfect people there, because there are no such thing as such perfect people. He has in mind those who have been declared righteous. He would use the word justify those who trust in by faith the promises of God. Now we know that there's at least one family there that fits that bill and that will be lot. But he's praying to the Lord and saying, look, if there are others, Lord, please spare the city because this does raise a bit of a moral Question God wipes out the whole city and the city includes righteous Then is not he subjecting the righteous to the same judgment as the unrighteous and would that be just no it wouldn't Therefore he's making this plea on the basis of God's justice of God who is the one who will do what is right? He does so because he has a concern for this city we see that in remember these righteous are those who would be in covenant with with God the same way Abraham is. And so he brings his intercession, he brings his concern to the Lord, that his mercy would be shown to the righteous as well as the lost. Now notice this intercession here. Again, I won't go through it, but he eventually gets assurance. He's filling out God, you could say. He is very slowly, very humbly, very carefully, I don't wanna use the word testing, but bringing out God's mercy here. 50, 45, 30, 20, 10. Notice he stops there, by the way, rather than going down to maybe four, which would be, or five, Lot, his wife, his daughters. He's continuing to intercede for this people that they would at least get a bit more common grace for the time being. At least have a bit more time to perhaps call upon the name of the Lord. This is intercession here. When we read in Hebrews 7 about Jesus interceding for us, this is like what he's doing. This is like what we do when we pray for others. We're pleading in a sense with the Lord, Lord, show your mercy to our city. Show your mercy to your people, show your mercy to your church, show your mercy to this dear saint who's suffering. We're interceding in that way. Now, in doing this, Abraham really is the first in a long line of faithful intercessors. Think of a couple other examples in the scripture actually just well, too, that stand out, and that is Moses. Remember the people of Israel, after they had been brought out from Egypt, they traveled for a bit in the wilderness. They got to Sinai where God brought Moses up to the mountain and was in the very act of making his covenant with his people through Moses as the covenant head. Like in that moment, God was giving the law and what were the people doing in that very instance? They were breaking that law. Like they broke the law before it even was finished being carved in stone by the finger of God. They erected a golden calf. They made festival. They danced around it. They heard the words of Aaron say, behold, you're gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt. They worshiped an idol. They broke God's covenant. And God says, he expresses even to Moses, after Moses goes down, sees the people, breaks the tablets of Stalin as a witness to them that they have broken God's law, and then goes back up to the mountain. And what does he do? He intercedes for them. God actually says, perhaps to test Moses' faith. Let me do away with this stiff-necked people and just start over with you, Moses. Just wipe them all out and start with you, Moses. And Moses doesn't do, doesn't take that offer. Rather, he lays himself down and essentially says, Lord, take me in their place. Lord, and go with us. And he intercedes. He actually puts himself between God and the people of Israel there. And God does show mercy, but he says not for the sake of Moses, for his own sake. Later on we'll see how, based on the language of Isaiah 53, there'll be another servant of God, indeed a prophet greater than Abraham or Moses who comes and makes that same intercession on behalf of God's people. And makes that intercession as a servant who did lay down his life, who did stand in the gap, who did take the guilt and the punishment and the condemnation of God for his wayward, stiff-necked, rebellious people. That is, the suffering servant, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is that great high priest who lives forever to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God. Through him, the very intercession of Christ is portrayed and foreshadowed and presented to us way back here in Genesis 18. We'll bring that out in a second, but before we do, let's look at our third point. Let's consider how this passage leads us to the mercy of God. Again, the justice of God hasn't been as strongly highlighted to Abraham thus far, but here it will be. And it does so, or God does that, yes, to make Abraham knowledgeable of his righteousness, of his justice, of his holiness, that it might show his mercy all the more clearly. Now God has already shown great mercy to Abraham, he's already shown great mercy to even Sodom and Gomorrah. Remember earlier in Genesis, Sodom as a city, it was attacked, it was captured, its king was held in bondage and Lot was brought off or was kidnapped and Abraham went out and marshaled his strong men and beat pretty much all the armies of the land and brought back Lot and brought back the king of Sodom. and saved the city, you could say. Abraham has already been a savior of Sodom. The king did not return gratitude for that. In Genesis earlier, chapter 14, remember at the end of that old ordeal, no thank you, no gratitude from Sodom, just give me my people and let me go. That's all he said. Because, we're told in that passage, the people of Sodom Well, they're notable for their sinfulness. And so God has shown them great mercy, not only in the redemption they received at the hand of Abraham, but in his divine forbearance of their great sin. I mean, the Lord's words about this city should be terrifying. He says against them that their sin is very grave. For God to say that about you, about a city, would be absolutely terrifying. And so God has already shown them abundant mercy in the fact that they continue without being absolutely obliterated. God has shown them common grace over and over and over again. You could say giving them space to repent, just as he will later give the people in the land of Canaan space to repent. And yet they don't. And judgment comes, all to foreshadow a great final judgment that one day will come But even that final judgment comes within the context of God having been so merciful to delay that judgment. People might repent. Here God continues to prove himself as merciful, even as he says, for the sake of 10, he will spare the whole city. That is hopeful, you could say, because 10 seems like a reasonable number, given the perhaps thousands that live in the area. And so God is saying here, just consider that for a second. For the sake of 10 righteous people, 10 Christians, let's put this in context. For the sake of 10 Christians, I'll save Hickory, which is notable for its sin. For the sake of 10 Christians, I'll save Las Vegas. You see that there's mercy in that to the ungodly. It's even a preservation that God has of a society on the basis of those who are in covenant with him and members of that society. And perhaps it shows even what it's like to be salt of the earth, to preserve even a nation. And yet, there is a question at the end of these verses that leaves us hanging, that causes us to wait to see how the mercy of God will be exercised in this narrative. Because if you notice, again, the number stopped at 10. It leaves open the question, what about Lot? How will he fare? Perhaps there are only five, or perhaps even less than five, given Lot's family's waywardness. What then, Lord? If there are less than ten, will you sweep away the righteous with the unrighteous? We're left kind of wondering. Will the just judge of all the earth do? What if right now we'll see next week he does, he goes in, he seeks out Lot, he brings them out, he calls it like Lot and his family are brought out like in an exodus from the city before the judgment falls. God will indeed show his mercy in the context of judgment. What are some points of application we can make here as we conclude this here? I have five brief points here. First of all, we should consider here Abraham's calling to pass on the faith as God outlined in his soliloquy, you could say here. We should consider that and be instructed by it. No matter our station in life, look back, if you're looking at this text, look back at verse 19. The Lord says, In other words, in this chapter, God is revealing his whole counsel to Abraham. He's showing him his justice and his mercy, that he might then, well, grasp it himself, understand it himself, grow in the grace and knowledge of God himself, and then pass it on to his children, to the next generation. So the point of application here, first and foremost, falls to families, to fathers, to mothers, who are called in this holy task of passing on the faith. of giving it, passing it like a baton in a relay race to the next generation, to your children. This not only affects mothers and fathers, but also the whole church. In our baptisms, when we observe it, the church itself is charged. to come alongside parents, to bring up the next generation. We are a family, and as a family, as a church, we are tasked with passing on this faith, just as Abraham is tasked here with teaching his children and his household after him the ways of the Lord. That means that for all of us, but especially parents, or would-be parents, that we ought to make ourselves full of the knowledge of God. If we're gonna pass on something, we ourselves must have something to pass on. This is a reason for parents to study, to learn, to grow, to pray, to flourish as a Christian, and then to plant seeds in the hearts of the next generation. Should it be children the Lord gives you or children in the church? We see here the call in each of us in our various roles to teach and pass on the faith. This is one of the things we do in our very gathering this morning. Paul, when he instructs the Colossian church, he says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. He's speaking to the whole body, families, singles, individuals. And then he says, this is how you do it. Singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Like teaching and admonishing one another in that way. And just the way you sing, it has a vertical or a horizontal ministry to instruct. Like that's happening. We're passing on the faith in the context of our gathered worship. Let's do that with zeal. Let's do that with faithfulness. Let's grasp the character and attributes of God ourselves. And then as best God gives us strength, as best we are able, pass it on. to the next generation. Second point of application here is that we all ought to seek a confident boldness, but never apart from a selfless humility as we approach the Lord's throne of grace. That's what Abraham has here. He's confident, he's bold. He's also humble. He acknowledges his frailty. This deals with the way we pray, absolutely. Our prayers ought be prayers made with both the confidence that we grasp, that we know that we can ascend before God's throne of grace and not be crushed like the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for our sins, but know that we are accepted and righteous with God, that we have the Lord Jesus Christ and our prayers are prayed in his name. We can boldly go before his throne of grace the same way Abraham boldly goes before the Lord here, perhaps even with more boldness, because we know more than Abraham knows. We have the assurance, more than Abraham has, of God's covenant faithfulness and goodness to us in Jesus Christ. And so we can boldly go before this realm of grace, but we ought never do so without a selfless humility. Our Lord is a consuming fire. God is not just our friend, though he is a friend to sinners. He is the just judge of all the earth. He is terrifying in his holiness. He is one before whom Abraham and Moses and all the servants of God, even as they stand in his presence in grace, fall to their face in the ground. This is the one we approach in prayer, but even more than that, this is the one before whom we live our entire lives. We live our whole lives quorum deo, before the face of God. And therefore our whole lives ought to be shot through with the confidence we belong to the Lord, we are safe with him, We are accepted before him based on the work of Jesus Christ, received by faith alone, but we also do so with a humility. Isn't that one of the three things that we are taught is good? Micah 6, 8, he has told you, O man, what is good? To do justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly before our Lord. So adopt a confidence as you pray, as you live before the face of God, but in the context of a selfless humility. It's one of the reasons why pride is so destructive, not only in relationships and in life, but also our walk before the Lord. Third point of application here is, like Abraham, let us all have a concern for the lost. Let us be those who pray often for family members who haven't yet confessed the Lord for neighbors, for our cities, for our neighborhood, those we work with, let us have a burden for those who do not know the Lord. Especially considering those we constantly interact with. Let us pray and seek the Lord's face that we might be a blessing to those who do not know the Lord and be the means through which they know perhaps a little bit more of the Lord. The imagery in scripture of witnessing and seeds being planted and watered. Maybe we're just a drop of water. to someone as their seed is germinated and eventually will bud forth in faith. But let us have such a robust concern for the lost the same way Abraham does here. When Jesus calls the church to be the salt of the earth and the city on a hill, he's calling the church to preserve. And here you see, even in a vivid way, how the church and the old covenant should there be a congregation of just 10 in the city. that would preserve the whole city. Have such a concern for the laws. That means that your concern for the law should never be divorced from your own piety, your own holiness, your own relationship with the Lord. Fourthly, cultivate a strong reliance upon God's justice. We'll see this more come to the foreground next week, but suffice it to say for now, strongly rely upon God who hears the cries of the afflicted. I mean, this is what this passage teaches us. Even in this city, these cities, as even those who are unbelievers are afflicted, and their cry goes up to the Lord. He does hear, and he does something about it. He brings judgment. This perhaps is a foreshadowing of the final judgment. That means in our own perhaps struggles with injustice, or what we see in the world is everywhere, Perhaps the best thing we can do is follow Abraham's example here and boldly and confidently go before the Lord's throne and let your cry be joined with the cries of others that God would hear and respond. A good and proper response to the injustices of this age is to cry out and leave it in the Lord's hands and let him act. And then finally, in conjunction with that, let us cultivate a strong reliance upon God's mercy. It might seem kind of like the cliche token sermon application, right? Trust the Lord, but it's absolutely true. Trust the Lord who is both just and merciful. And His justice is not at war with His mercy. They are both together. Because the grave sin of Sodom, we might be tempted to think is like so far off the charts, you know, has nothing to do with us. But the very sins in the heart of the people of Sodom are the very sins in your heart and my heart. And the seed of every evil is in us. And therefore, we ought to humble ourselves before the merciful God. We ought to recognize that the judgment Sodom would receive is the very judgment that we deserve every day. Except God is merciful, and his hand has stayed his judgment. because someone has come and stood in our place and taken such condemnation for us. Willingly, joyfully, in a way that glorifies God perfectly, our Lord Jesus Christ secured mercy for us in taking on his shoulders our punishment. And he died, and he rose again. And he assented and he said to the right hand of God, and what does he do there now? He makes intercession for us, that we would be saved to the uttermost. In other words, that we would be kept saved, that we would grow in grace, that you and I would more and more come to know the God of justice and the God of mercy. This is what our Savior accomplishes before us, or for us. This is what this passage calls us to think about the ministry of Jesus as he pleads on our behalf before the throne of God on the basis of a far more sure foundation, his own sacrifice. This is why you and I, if we, this is what keeps us saved. This is what keeps us before the Lord. This is why we can be confident and secure that just as, you know, our salvation is as secure as Jesus' intercession. And if he drops the ball and doesn't pray for us, then yes, we're hopeless and lost. But he will never do that. For he ever lives to make intercession for you, his saint. So let's be confident of God's justice, confident of his mercy, concerned for the lost. Let's have such a humility that recognizes that we deserve such judgment and God's grace to us. Let's seek to pass on our knowledge of God to others, especially the generation to come, as we ourselves grow in the grace and knowledge of the covenant word of Israel, Jesus Christ himself. Amen. Lord, we bless you and praise you for your word, which is firmly fixed in the heavens that you send out, O Lord, and will not return void. We pray that you instruct and nourish our hearts in the truth of scripture, especially in the acknowledgement of your grace and your justice. We pray, Father, that you would give to us a strong humility, whereby we approach your throne, O Lord, confident of your goodwill towards us and your son, but also humbly confessing, Lord, our frailty, and that we, O Lord, are dust and ashes. We long, Lord, for your salvation, and we thank you that Christ Jesus, your Son, continues to intercede for us, that we will be saved to the uttermost. We thank you that once and for all we are your people, and that one day, oh Lord, our Lord will return and fully bring us to himself. Until that day comes, please build and strengthen and bless and encourage and rebuke and convict and comfort us now and be us. In Jesus' name. Let's stand together now and sing our hymnal of response. You can find it in the back of your bulletin. Our hymnal is number 280, Wonders King All-Glorious 280. O precious King of Glorious, Sovereign Lord, make joyous, O receive our praise with favor. Humbly we'll bless Thy hands, Thou being in our lives, ♪ Sing now, ye that hast sinned, sing it loud ♪ ♪ Sing it loud, loud, loud, loud ♪ ♪ Let our lungs be singing ♪ ♪ Let our brains be screaming ♪ ♪ Heaven's breath restoring ♪ ♪ God make her tolling ♪ ♪ All along the earth a-tolling ♪ ♪ Still thy grace descending ♪ ♪ By thy beams extending ♪ ♪ Light to all the earth a-tolling ♪ ♪ Blue and strong, great and warm ♪ ♪ Fair Newport, we give you ♪ ♪ Love as heaven did give you ♪ ♪ Oh, my soul rejoice in you ♪ ♪ Sing thy praises, boys, sing ♪ ♪ Sing their dreams of fame and honor ever ♪ ♪ All who hear that meaning ♪ ♪ Shout your voices freely ♪ ♪ Bow down with the doubts before Him ♪ ♪ He is God, Son of God ♪ ♪ Praise the Lord, the Savior ♪ ♪ Here and there forever ♪ Alleluia, prayer to the Lord, O tender, beautiful man of the Savior. Alleluia, singing, we redeem the weary. Look up now and receive the departing words of blessing upon your divine God. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. Ready? What are you doing? You did what? How are you? I'm good. How are you? Doing well? Yes, sir. You hired people? I do. What day works best for you? I'll text you. I'll text you. Yeah, I guess I gotta go back to bed. Well, yeah. All right. Have fun. See you guys later. How are you doing? I'm surviving. Headed in the wrong direction? Good. Oh, I thought I stopped.