Turn with me please in your Bibles today as we return to the gospel of Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5 our text will be coming from verses 21 through verse 26. As we once again return to our Lord's Sermon on the Mount and we join him in a particular place in this sermon where he has spoken as we addressed last week with regard to the implications of the law. Now, Christ has already begun, lest we take too much time to review here, to remember coming up through the Beatitudes and how He has continuously built upon this sermon, not only to that which begins in the inside of the heart and the mind of men, Knowing that it's outpouring is evidence manifested in your life is going to cause a reaction. Initial the initial reaction that he speaks of as he speaks about how we are to be blessed and rejoice if persecution is to come into our lives. For it is very clear that the idea of persecution coming into the life of a believer is in part a great assurance to the believer rather than a detriment. In fact, he said, take consolation. For those of the prophets who walk before you, he did the same. He would then charge us with regard to what it means, the responsibility, if you will, of being the salt and the light. And we spoke at great length about that, followed by Christ telling us, even as he's about to enter in this section of the sermon, that think not that I have come to do away with the law, but in fact, I have come to establish and to fulfill the law. In saying those words, as we discussed it last week, it was not that Christ was ever intending to do away with the law. Why is it that he was suspected of doing such? Because the behavior that Christ was exhibiting before the people offered an opportunity for accusation to be made by the scribes and the Pharisees. It was not that he wasn't abiding by the law of Moses that God had given, but in fact, he was not abiding by the law of the rabbis. the Pharisees, the Sanhedrin, the Jewish leaders, and what the law had come to mean by virtue of their interpretation to the people. So in fact, as we began today in earnest in this part of the Lord's Sermon, he's about to give us the first of six examples of his teaching regarding God's law. And in fact, we see in the tone here, the crime, if you will, the sin of murder is being addressed. Now, when we think about the idea of being schooled on murder today, I can almost imagine that there are some of us in this room who may be tempted to think, well, my goodness, you need not worry about me, Pastor. I have no intention of murdering anybody. Well, if that's the idea, and if you can't get beyond that thought, then you're in the same school with the Pharisees. What Christ is going to say, and He's going to say it repeatedly, He's going to begin, as he does in our text, by telling us, you have heard that it was said to those of old. So he is now going to give us the back and forth between the idea of what you have been told, and then he's going to say, but I will tell you. I will say to you. And this is the equivalent of what Christ is doing with regard to the law. We will find that the Pharisees' interpretation of the law was not wrong in and of itself, not of murder. The problem was they were interpreting, they were applying it far too narrowly. This is what Christ exposed, and it is consistent with where He has been all along in this sermon. For as He began with the Beatitudes, everything that He addressed was that which had to begin in the heart and the mind of the individual. It was to cultivate an attitude that would, in fact, express itself in action. And so, what Christ is speaking about here is not simply murder, but in fact, Christ is using the ultimate fracture of any human relationship to bring before us the teaching, from God's point of view, of how we are to view our human relationships. After all, the absolute malice murder, taking someone's life from them. In this case, and we're talking about a hate-filled murder, taking of life, selfish reasons, selfish cause. When he speaks of this, he speaks this of an evil, sinful act that is more representative of one who is headed toward God's judgment. It is not the action of a believer. It is not the action of one in Christ. And it's certainly by no means even beginning to measure on the scale of righteousness that Christ has already given them a standard of that in their minds they surely believe they cannot exceed. And that was they had to exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. The implication of preserving life certainly is present in this text, but it goes far, far deeper than that. This is, in fact, Christ teaching on how a person, how we as his children, are to view and how we are to conduct ourselves in the relationships that God has given us one with another. This is a challenge to the mind, to the thoughts, and to the actions. And it is intended, like the law has always been, to expose our failure, not praise our success. It is intended to expose our weakness, not propose our strength. It is, in fact, not to fill any measure of satisfaction in ourselves, but it is intended to cause us to turn to Christ. having recognized that there is no hope in anything else. And so as we continue to see Christ build with these examples today, we have the opportunity to examine the subject of murder itself. Now. I was tempted. To change the title this morning, I left it simple with murder, but if I had gone differently, I would have said we are all murderers. Now at first that may not go over well with some, but I believe our text today will prove what I'm saying to be true. Matthew chapter 5 verse 21. You have heard that it was said to those of old, you shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Rock up, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. Agree with your adversary quickly. while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny." Fascinating verses. So we began in verse 21 with a declaration of what you have heard. You shall not murder and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment. This, of course, was taken from Exodus chapter 20 and verse 13. And it is as is spoken of here. And it is true with regard to the law, with regard to the Ten Commandments. When the Ten Commandments tell us, thou shalt not kill, the translation to the word here is not by simply the idea of taking a life, it is in fact to commit malice murder. And so the same principle is brought to bear here. And he says that the Pharisee's position, as you have been told, surely is true. But the flaw is, is that the narrow application comes into play. Because the Scribes and the Pharisees had adopted a system of righteousness such, and proposed it to others, that as long, as long as you don't carry out the act of murder, you're okay. As long as you think it, but you don't act on it, it's alright. You've not really committed the sin, you've not really committed the act. By the way, that is one of the most instinctive human reactions, I think, in our flesh. and that is still very much present today. We imagine the same of ourselves. We have no sense of the importance of constraining our thoughts from the very beginning. If only we can keep from speaking, we'll be all right. By the way, there are many of us who fail miserably at that. We imagine we're just thinking it, we're not going to say it, but when it comes to anger, when it comes to this idea of emotion-filled thoughts that are not under control, then you are more likely to speak than you give yourself credit for. And oftentimes we talk all the time about the need to think before we speak, but in fact Christ goes a little bit further. We need to be careful of what we think. This is the challenge that is being posed before us because he tells us, he says, I would have you to know that, in fact, a verse 22, that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says you fool shall be in danger of hell fire. This is an incredible verse because Jesus is declaring that a contemptuous anger A contemptuous anger will get you a fiery hell. Now, that is the description of someone who is not a believer. It is the actions of someone who is godless that is being described here. But it is important before we examine this idea of anger that we must put it in its proper perspective. It is not that Christ is condemning all anger. In fact, in the Scriptures, He models for us what a righteous anger looks like. If we remind ourselves of what takes place in John chapter 2, then we understand the time that Jesus, in His anger, cleared the temple. Make no mistake, it was a righteous anger of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But what was He angry about? He was not angry at the people that He cleared out. He was angry at the sin that was being committed of the people that were cleared out. In Mark chapter 3 in verse 5, we find once again the word anger is used, where the Bible says, And when he had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, he said to the man, Stretch out your hand. And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. The occasion of Jesus' anger was once again where the scribes and the Pharisees were looking to narrowly apply the law, misplaced ideas, misjudged, where their anger at Jesus had overtaken any sense of the righteousness of the law. And they were sitting there waiting to see if he would dare to heal a man on the Sabbath day. So Jesus had asked the question, is it wrong? Is it a violation of law to do good unto someone on the Sabbath day? And no one would answer. And therefore, that is when he responded in anger and healed the man. Jesus, in Matthew chapter 23, says these words, fools and blind, for which is greater the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold? So here we find, interestingly enough, Jesus calls the Pharisees blind fools. And by the way, the word for fool is the same word that we address in our text today in verse 22. Same one. So there is a righteous anger that Jesus puts forward here, but we must be important to understand what that amounts to. One of the great distinguishing marks, again, is that Christ is not angry at the insult. He's angry at the sin. Jesus' anger was expressed towards sin and injustice, not the personal insult that came to him from so many different places. We hear this affirmed in Peter's epistle. In 1 Peter chapter 2 and verse 23, Peter writes, who Jesus, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. There is a place for righteous anger. But the righteous anger should result from that which we see as dishonoring to God. It has to be an anger against the sin, against the act. And it can't be an anger that simply responds from someone's personal insult or attack against us. This becomes the issue for us. Because quite frankly, when we think about this unrighteous anger that Jesus is addressing, It is the one that is most often evident in our lives. Why? Because this is the anger that quickly rises, quickly rises from a personal insult, but is far slower when it's regarding sin and injustice. Is it not true? I remember as a child, I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I had a quick temper. Some of you asking, you still don't. The Lord has delivered me and restrained me tremendously over the years of my life. But as a child, just like that. And I had a brother-in-law who was a natural agitator in his personality. He came into my life at a young age and he put me to the test, tormented me. And I was a sucker for it more times than I could count. Why? Because I was reacting to the personal insult. He was proud of me and proud of me and I was only too happy to go along. This is the anger most of us know. It is the anger that is constantly presuming about what is being done to me. What is being done to us. It is a natural inclination. And it is one that if we do not constrain ourselves, produces a natural and hateful reaction. We tend to not glory in the Lord's protection and presence. Instead, we tend to react violently in defense of ourselves, believing it's the right thing to do. There is a constant crutch that many fall upon with regard to the dishonor or the insult that comes to themselves that they are concerned about, more so than they're concerned about what's going on in the mind and the heart who would lob, who would share, who would render such a hateful attack. We turn on our news today, and only in this past week, we have seen such an incredible, incredible, once again, with the smallest of causes, the most ridiculous, Illegitimate arguments. And yet there are people who are screaming to the top of their lungs all across this country. Wrongly. Imagining somehow that they're defending somebody else's great attack, when in reality, it is only being seen as an opportunity to express rage. To encourage violence and violent action. Because this is what feeds the flesh, this is what feeds the mind when it is not focused, when it is not concentrated on Christ. Jesus describes the same anger here. He uses a word here. He says, And whoever says to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council, but whoever says, Yuvul, shall be in danger of hell fire. When we examine these words, they are interesting, if you will. The Aramaic word, Raca, literally means to call someone empty-headed. It is in the effect of calling someone stupid, not head, knucklehead. I lovingly call my dog at home, Doofus. But I truly do it with love. That's not what we're speaking about here. The idea that it's done with anger, with hatred, with resentment. He said, this would get you a trip before the council. He said, but I tell you that the idea of calling someone a fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Now, this is an interesting word. We've already said that raka translated speaks to the idea of being empty headed. However, when we look at the word for fool, it is a translation of a Greek word that is moros. And we derive the word moron from the word moros. And so at first glance, we may imagine that this is simply another insult that he's ramped up. However, if we take a closer look, we'll find out that this idea and the application of moros is not simply that definition that comes to the idea of being either senseless, stupid, but in fact, it does not judge the IQ at all, but instead raises concerns about the moral condition of the one. Where do we get that from? If we look at such passages that are found in the Psalms, such as Psalm 14 and verse 1, we can see the application to this principle. For the Bible says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. They are corrupt. They have done abominable works. There is none who does good. So the idea of accusing someone or rendering someone a fool is reserved to examine the idea whether they are godless. So when we put this thing together, Jesus is talking about the idea of someone whose anger, whose self-righteous anger, self-serving anger, is so lashing out such that they would call someone raka, empty-headed and stupid, someone they would call that would be godless in their morality. There is a question here of what's going on in the mind and the heart of the one who would make such an accusation. So if we're to think about this idea of this unjustified, this ungodly state of being, we are now beginning to close in on the attribute that is found in every one of us as human beings and believers included. And that is the tempestuous challenge of corralling, restraining, constraining, our thoughts and our emotions. For the Bible tells us that those who have such violent thoughts, those who have such violent hatred against someone is in effect committing the sin of murder. Now, to help us understand just how bad this can be, let's refer to where we were this morning in our Sunday morning Bible study time. We were in the book of Acts. It was the time of Paul's journey to Rome and his incarceration for so many years. And we're reminded of what it means to carry such hatred in order to carry a grudge. The Bible says that Paul had spent two years' time under the protection of an incarceration to a man by the name of Felix. And when a new governor came and took his place, the people at Jerusalem had never forgotten about Paul. Paul had been out of town for two years. Well away from the city. He's not causing any stir. He's not causing any riot. Doesn't matter. As soon as a new man comes into the position, the first thing they want to do out of their hatred is seek to have the man killed. Now they will shroud this in the idea of moving, if you will, the jurisdiction of his trial. But we later find out that was because there were people still sitting on ready to assassinate the man en route to Jerusalem. When we think of this kind of harboring such thoughts, we begin to see the potential in the mind and the heart of all. And Jesus is speaking of not restraining the actions of your hand, but in fact, restraining the actions of your mind and your heart before your hand ever reacts. Now, if you're starting to see something here about how this is impossible. If you're starting to imagine about how many thoughts you have every day, If you're starting to contemplate the last time when somebody cut you off in traffic and what you really thought about them. If you stop to contemplate the challenges that you have to deal with week in and week out in human relationships, those in business, those in family, those in church, and you begin to analyze all the thoughts that you have committed during that time and began to weigh them in the scales of whether they measure up to such measure of anger or is a measure of righteousness, you're going to find The answer that God wants you to be sober to. And that is the answer that we are all murderers. That even as believers, even those possessing the ministry of the Holy Spirit, even those possessing a measure of the revelation of God's Word, and yet with all of that. We still can be and often are guilty. Christ is neither shocked By this, nor has he been found unprepared by this. The demand that he makes of us in righteousness in large part is to drive us to him for the grace, the unmerited favor that is given to us by which we are, in fact, a believer. It does not take away the idea of the demand of Christ's righteousness, nor even the effort that we make to fulfill that demand. But what it does do is it helps to strip away It helps to strip away the veneer of our pride, strip away the veneer of our ego, strip away any thoughts or any notions that there's any spiritual superiority in us whatsoever. It is well on record. that the Scribes and Pharisees made a practice of not making sure they were so holy and righteous that God would accept them. They simply wanted to make sure they were righteous and holy enough to be better than anybody else. Their comparison was not Christ. Their comparison was the fellow in the community they wanted to make feel small as they felt big. Thus, we have that passage in the Gospel of Luke that we refer to often. where the Pharisee looks up at God and says, he doesn't cry out, I'm thankful for your grace upon my life. I'm thankful for the mercy you've bestowed upon me that I do not deserve. Instead, he's already looked across the aisle and saw the publican in town in the pimple praying too. And he says, God, I'm thankful that I'm not like this fellow. So when we think of such anger, when we think of such resentment, when we think of such behavior, The problem is, is the great delusion that man is natural to think that he is better than he actually is. Always trying to excuse themselves from the actions that we take, excuse ourselves, rationalize, justify ourselves for the sins that we commit. From the most extreme to even the mildest part of us, we have a tendency to do this. I was reading it, and one pastor dealing with this passage of Scripture had recalled a story that was recorded in the 30s. One of the great gangsters, in fact, he had a great gangster name. His name was Two-Gun Crowley. It is said that he brutally murdered multitudes of people, including a policeman. Well, when they finally caught up with him as he had held up in an apartment somewhere, a gun battle ensued and they, of course, killed him. And as they approached his dead body, they found that there was a blood spattered note apparently on him where it said, and I quote, Under my coat is a weary heart, but a kind one. One that would do nobody any harm. Imagine the worst possible case of someone trying to exonerate themselves for the actions that they have taken. And you say, well, that's absolutely awful. Folks do it every day. Folks do it every day. Our heart goes out to a parent who has a child, a teenager, an adult, who's now been arrested for a violent crime. May have even committed murder. And yet there is a tendency for that parent to get on camera and say, well, he was always such a good boy. He's not bad. Yes, he is. You say, how dare you say that? I say that because I'm bad, too. No one should look at another and say, hey, that's not me, thank goodness. No, that is you. There is no room for you and I to take the high ground and imagine ourselves superior. The Bible tells us, if not for the grace of God, there go I. If not for the grace of God, I get caught up in the mess that that young man has been caught up in. If not for the grace of God, I may find myself with this gangster who is crying out in such a pitiful state to suggest that his heart was kind or good. We often hear people talking about looking for the best in people. And I understand the sentiment behind that, but one of the things that a believer must grab hold of is we need to recognize the worst that's in each one of us and understand that the love of God that's been given to us in spite of that is the love of God we want to give to each other. We must all be sober to our sinful selves. This is what Christ is telling these people. You have no ability to get on the top step. You have to exceed the self-righteous men over here. You have to exceed the men who hold the keys to the book where the law is found. You have to exceed their self-ordained righteousness. And the bottom line is, we can't. And even if we could, we'd still be well below the true standard of righteousness that is in Christ. So this idea of anger, this idea of response that is triggered, that is spoken of by Christ here, that the idea of the law regarding murder is not just what you've done with your hands, but what you have done with your mind, and what you have done with your heart, and what it makes you capable of even doing with your hands. To help us understand this, He doesn't suggest that all of you are ready to go out and commit mass murder. Instead, he boils this down to what you endeavor to do in your daily lives. Look with me in verse 23. He says, therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. The point that is mentioned here is, is that continued worship and even giving itself cannot bring to you a clear conscience. Instead, if one knows that they have made an offense to someone, that someone is upset with them, that someone has an issue with them, then it should be their heart's desire to reconcile that brother unto themselves. That's the principle policy that's being put forward here. He's saying, how can you expect worship to be pleasing to God? How can you expect worship to have the measure of seeking repentance and forgiveness if you're not acting on it? The psalmist wrote in Psalm 66 and verse 18, if I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear. In 1 Peter chapter 3 and verse 7, as Peter is speaking about the relationship between husbands and wives, he says, husbands likewise dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life. But notice the last phrase. He says that your prayers may not be hindered. He speaks the obvious truth that the condition of your heart and the mind has a direct effect upon the ability to worship and to honor God. Has a direct effect on what's going to happen as a result of worship, whether it will truly be meaningful to you. Now, I want you to notice the implication here. The implication is you're not to wait about giving the gift on the altar until so-and-so comes and admits what they've done wrong to you and straightens everything out. No. The implication is upon you. Go and reconcile. Do all that you can. Do all that you can. And by the way, if pride's a barrier in the previous occasion, pride's going to be a barrier here too. When you come to someone and they're upset with you, when you begin to say, listen, I'm sorry you're upset, but you just don't understand. Let me explain it to you. How do you think that's going to go? The idea is to be reconciled is to come with great humility. We see the same effort being made here in the last two verses of our text, where he says, Agree with your adversary quickly while you're on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison. In verse 25, he is giving allusion here to any proceeding in your work or in your human relationships. Especially with a believer, a brother in Christ or a sister in Christ, one should be doing all that they can to settle the matter and to settle it amicably. Now, the idea is not to get away with paying as little as you can. Instead, the idea is to be generous in your payment so that there is no temptation to go deliver you to the judge. What does it work here? Is it not an implication on the child of God, on the brother and sister in Christ, that the law, the judge, shouldn't have to make us do what is right? We should have an earnest desire on our own to do what is right? The scriptures even speak to the fact, Paul addresses the idea, what a shame it is that one brother in Christ should have to take another brother in Christ to court. When in fact the scriptures have given us plain teaching on how these matters are to be settled in the love of Christ. All of this related to the subject that began with the principle of what it means to take a life. But in fact Christ said there's something more important going on here. The act of murder is directly related to how one views the human relationship one with another. And he says, let me show you, let me remind you of how we're to view any relationship we have with another human being. It is not simply anger that is the problem. It is an unrighteous anger that is a problem. It is unrighteous when it's self-serving. It is unrighteous when it's a prideful response to our hurt feelings. It is unrighteous. When it is more so a response or a an attempt to respond not to sin and injustice, but in fact our own hurt and our own harm. We find that example in Peter's writing in 1 Peter where he says that when Christ was hurled insults at, that's not what he reviled against. That's not what he responded to. However, when he saw the house of God become a den of thieves, this is what he responded to. When He stood before men who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders of the community, as He stood before them trying to teach them, get their agreement on the idea of what an honorable thing it is, a godly thing it is to do good to someone on the Sabbath day, and they were absolutely silent. For they could not bring themselves to agree with Christ, what they no doubt probably knew in their hearts and minds, but so clouded with hatred and resentment, they would never go along with it. And so indeed, in the anger of their sin, Christ went ahead and healed that man. Can we understand the difference? The fact of the matter is, it's difficult for us. You know why? We are to be like Christ, but we are not Christ. We are sinners who have been saved by grace. Paul himself said, Christ came to save sinners of which I am chief. When we go to share the gospel with those around us, we can come with no air of superiority, no air of knowledge versus their ignorance. Instead, we come, we pray with great humility. We look at them and say, it's an absolute miracle that we know Christ today. that we possess His love, that we have an understanding of His truth, and we would desperately want them to know what we know and more. When we think in those terms and we have a better thought process about our life and the relationships that we have with others. Can we be angry? Yes. But be angry at the sin. Be angry at the injustice. Make certain that the actions you take are those that positively affect this. How is this about the Gospel? It has everything to do with the Gospel. Because God is putting an impossible standard before our lives that can only be accomplished through Him. That is the message that Christ is delivering, by the way. He is doing it so wonderfully, so beautifully, so perfectly, as He begins the structure and builds it to the point that there is no mistaking what the truth is being brought to pass. If you and I are believers today, then we look back to the moment that Christ gloriously saved us, and we must freely admit, must surely admit, looking in the spiritual rear-view mirror, that we were nothing without Him, could have understood nothing without Him, causing us to see it and understand it. Surely all of us can look back and know some notion of what he meant when he said being brought from death to life, when he talked about being blind and now being able to see. When we think in those terms, we have nothing to take credit for, we have nothing to boast of except Christ. We have no righteousness that we can put on the wall like a plaque or a trophy. For the Bible says that we fall short of the glory of God every day. And yet that same scripture, in fact, that same book will tell us in Romans chapter eight that we are more than conquerors. But in who? Not in me, not in you, but we are more than conquerors in Christ. Who has saved us, who has delivered us through his perfect, sinless righteousness, This is our hope. This is the promise that we cling to with all that we have. That God, the father through his son, Jesus Christ, has saved us, that he has made himself known to us through the power and the ministry of his Holy Spirit. Who has opened our eyes and our minds and our hearts to see the truth. To see our sin. And in the face of it, run to Christ. fall on our faces before Him and say, Lord, please save me. As one man said in the scripture, I believe, help me with my unbelief. I believe with all I've got, but I'm already an understanding of the weakness of what I can produce. Help me. May we look to the Lord today to help us, to help us with our thoughts, to help us with our temptation to anger, to help us understand that it's not just good enough to think it, but not say it. That it's not just good enough to think about it, but not act upon it. Instead, we are to seek such a communion and fellowship with the Lord through prayer, through devotion to His Word, and devotion to His righteousness, so that we may fend off those thoughts. And you say, Pastor, I'll never get all of them. Me neither. But would you please hold up a hand and try to stop a few? Is it not worth it? Is he not deserving of it? That we do all we can. Recognize his weakness and understanding that anything we have done is because he has done it through us. Because he's empowered us to do it. Paul said it. He said, I recognized in my weakness, that's when he became far stronger in my heart, in my life. And so certainly the admission of this weakness is clear. It is key. It is part of the growth and the maturity of every child of God in Christ. May it be ours, too. Would you stand with me this morning? As Steve comes. Lead us in a verse of our song of commitment. When I survey the wondrous cross. Throughout our time together, we have examined songs today that have spoken to us of the cross of crucifixion, that have understood the sacrifice that Christ has made on our behalf. We are to observe the Lord's Supper today, and it is absolutely key that we understand these truths if we are to humble ourselves before God, if we are to examine ourselves before God, find ourselves wanting, confess, and repent as we consider this glorious truth today. Let us pray before we sing. Father, I pray that we come before you today in humility, for we have no, no other course. We have no other way to approach your throne and have any expectation of being heard. Lord, we do not come demanding, we come pleading. We do not come declaring, Lord. We come begging. Lord, you have seen fit to save us and to set us aside, and we pray, Lord, in your love, mercy, and grace, that you would find us, that you would make us worthy as an instrument in your hand. For we have nothing in and of ourselves, it is all of you. And Lord, you are magnificent. You are all that we could possibly ever need. From the best of days to the worst of days, to triumph and tragedy, in challenge and in conquest, it matters not, Lord. We desperately need you. I pray we would understand that even more today. In this time that we have together still this morning, may we contemplate these great truths in our heart and our mind, sincerely. Not with a mind simply to meditate, but a mind to act. For we ask these things in thy dear and precious name. Amen.