Now to the scripture reading for the sermon. The sermon is the continuation in our journey through the Westminster Confession. We will be covering Lord willing chapter 13 today and the text that I will read in advance now is from Galatians chapter 5. Galatians chapter five and verses 16 through 26. Galatians chapter five, verses 16 through 26. Please rise out of respect for the word of God. When I say then walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh, For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries and the like of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another. Congregation, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. Amen, please be seated. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in our journey through the Westminster Confession of Faith, we have now arrived at Article 13, which is titled, Of Sanctification. And you see that our confession goes more or less through the order salutis, through the order of salvation, and today it is of sanctification. Now this fits very well because we covered the doctrine of sanctification just recently in our education hour as we're going through the Shorter Catechism. So this keeps fitting together so well. But let us now turn to the Confession, Article 13, which you find on page 927 in your Trinity Psalter Hymnal. Article 13, paragraph 1. They who are once effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them, are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection, by his word and spirit dwelling in them. The dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed and the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened and mortified. And they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces to the practice of true holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord. Now what we have here in the first paragraph of the 13th article or article of the Westminster Confession of Faith is a definition of sanctification. This is a prescription of what sanctification is and the definition. And right here we see once again how closely sanctification is connected with effectual calling and regeneration as it says, they who are once effectually called and regenerated, having a new heart and a new spirit created in them. So it refers back to this act of grace, this act of God in regeneration after he has effectually called us. And after that, it says they are further sanctified, really and personally, through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection. In fact, these two are so closely connected that we see here clearly what I've told you many times in the past, that there is no true regeneration of anyone in Jesus Christ without following sanctification. And this sanctification flows out logically, but not automatically, of our regeneration, out of this new principle, out of this new heart, out of this new spirit that dwells within us. Or to say it in Calvin's words, Christ justifies no one whom he does not also sanctify. Calvin further writes concerning this connection, justification and sanctification, gifts of grace go together as if tied by an inseparable bond so that if anyone tries to separate them, he is in a sense tearing Christ to pieces. I think this is very well said. And Calvin then goes on to explain that it is not justification that, as I said before, not automatically produces sanctification. But again, by virtue of a union with Christ, it says, he bestows both gifts. The one never without the other, says Calvin. It comes from the union with Christ. Both come from Christ. In other words, Christ does not only give justification and lets it run its course, so as if then automatically sanctification will be produced, Christ not being necessary anymore, but both are individual gifts from Christ, but Christ never gives one without the other. He never gives conversion, he never gives regeneration, he never gives justification. This one act where it all happens together, he never gives that without the following sanctification. It is true that in our regeneration as we receive this new life, we receive a new heart, we receive a new spirit, but that doesn't automatically cause sanctification. As it says, we are then further sanctified really and personally through the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection by his word and spirit dwelling in them. So you see that the one-time act of regeneration is followed by a long-lasting, ongoing process, which is sanctification. And both are individually given and driven and caused by the virtue of Christ's death and resurrection. I just don't want you to think that this is an automatism. that all that Christ does or all that God does in Jesus Christ is to give us this new life, this new heart, this new principle, and everything else then goes automatically like a clockmaker gets a clock to go and then it keeps ticking automatically. It always happens, that is true, it always happens that where there is regeneration, where there is this new principle, this new life, this new heart, there will always be sanctification. But not as an automatism, as if God wasn't involved, as if Christ wasn't necessary for sanctification anymore. And it is interesting for us to see that the Westminster Confession says we are further sanctified. after it says, after it talks about effectual calling and so forth, we are further sanctified. Now, the reason for this term further sanctified is that sanctification, this term can actually be used in two senses. It's just a little blurry in the English language because we have mainly put one meaning to the word sanctification, but for example, in the German word Heiligom, which is the same word almost in Dutch, it is clear that this word is used in two senses. And the first sense being to be consecrated. to be set apart, to be set apart from the common use to the sacred use. That is one meaning. So when we regenerate, when we become believers, when we receive this redemption, in one moment, we are turned, we are moved from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. In a moment, we are being set apart for God. And that is also, In English, you have two words. You have holiness and you have sanctification. In other Germanic languages, of which English is one, there is the same word. Holiness is used for both. Heiligung is holiness. Both start with the H. I'm sure they have the same root. So the first sanctification happens when we are regenerated and God sets us apart from the world, apart from the darkness. And then the second way that it's mostly used in the English language, theological language, is becoming morally pure or holy. And that's what's mentioned here as further sanctified. So first we are sanctified in regeneration and the most original meaning that we are removed from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. We are being set apart. That's the original term, sanctification or holiness, meaning to be set apart. But then, and that's why it says further sanctified, now the process of sanctification begins. First, we are just de facto set apart, or de jure set apart. And now, what we already are in the eyes of God through Jesus Christ now begins to become reality. In God's eyes, we have the righteousness of Christ, of course. But what's happening then is that begins a process where what we only are forensically, only in the eyes of God through the work of Christ, we become more and more in real life. And that's why it says that we are further sanctified, where is it personally and really. so that we are further sanctified really and personally. So which means what is forensic, what has been only legally, that God through Christ as a, I don't want to say legal construct because it is real. The penalty is taken from us, but what we already are through Christ in God's eyes now really and personally begins to take shape. of course, very, very, very slowly. And this process of further sanctification consists of two activities, two activities, mortification and vivification. Mortification means bringing to death something, and vivification means bringing to life something else. As the confession describes it in these words, the dominion of the whole body of sin is destroyed. That's mortification. And the several lusts thereof are more and more weakened. And what? Mortified. Mortification. Death. Put to death. And they more and more quickened and strengthened in all saving graces. That is vivification, to the practice of true holiness without which no man shall see the Lord. So what's happening is we bring in the power of the Holy Spirit and the grace of God, we lay to death more and more, we beat to death sin. and its dominance in our lives, and the cornerstone is being set in our regeneration, that the dominance of sin is being killed right away, which means that we have no more excuse not to take on this fight to mortify sin more and more. And our goal must be, our practical goal must be that sin is not the rule anymore, but becomes more and more the exception. and our ultimate goal must be perfection. And I know this sounds strange, because there is a doctrine called perfectionism, as the Methodists or the Westlands originally taught it. The difference is, what the Westlands taught was that in this life you actually can be perfect without sin, which, of course, is not true. But the way that we teach it is that our goal must be perfection. When I was a young believer, I said many stupid things, many for which I would cut my tongue out today. And one of these things, I wanted to be more gracious than the Lord Jesus Christ. I would tell people when they said they're struggling with sin, I said, well, you sin and that's okay. That is a very dangerous statement. It is never okay to sin. We are involved in a life or death war against sin, and we must mortify sin at every turn, at every moment. This fight, we must never give up. John Owen says, kill sin, no sin be killing you. This is the fight that we are in. And this sin is not only, you know, the Ten Commandments in their most literal form, but all the sins that are connected with it. It is not like some would say the sin of adultery is actually committing intercourse with somebody else. The sin of adultery begins as a desire in a heart The sin of homosexuality is not just the committing of that sin, it is the lusting thereafter already. So you have plenty of sin to fight against all day long, even those that we do not think first of when we think of sins, like pride, like greed, like selfishness. That is, if you think about how many sins there are, this is a 24-7 activity. We constantly have to be engaged in the business that in the power of the Holy Spirit, driven by what we read in the Word of God, we mortify sin all day long. There's never a moment to sit idle. There's never a moment when we are not tempted to sin. This is just how much we have to do. We have to mortify the sin, and we have to vivify righteousness and the fruit of the Spirit. Now, this mortifying and vivifying, this putting to death and bringing to life is explained also sometimes in one text, like Ephesians 4, verse 22, where we are called to put off concerning your former conduct. The old man which grows corrupt according to deceitful lusts. That's mortification. And then it says, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind that you put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. Vivification. killing and bringing unto life. Now, of course, you will ask, how does this work? How can we do this? Because just admonishing congregations to be good and to be doing what God wants sounds very good and makes for a good effect, but it's not good enough for your day-to-day battle against sin. You want to know, pastor, how do we exactly do that? And I must say, I don't know. Thank God we have confession. that are biblical and that are true to the word of God. Now there are means for sanctification. There are outward means and there are inward means. So the inward means is the faith that God has given us as a gift, this new principle that is now working in our soul, the principle of faith. We have received that in regeneration. If we wouldn't have received this new principle in our heart, we would have never gotten, become converted. We would have never trusted and believed in Jesus Christ. So faith is the new principle that we have received inwardly. It is the instrument for our justification, but it is also our instrument for sanctification by which we trust God in our daily conduct and in our experiences. So we have the instrument that we need to be sanctified. That's inward, what God has already changed in regeneration in us. But then there are outward means, which we have to use plentifully. First of all, the word. The word of God is the first means of grace. We must live in and by the word of God. John chapter 17, verse 17, easy to remember, where Christ prays to the Father, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. So how are we sanctified by the truth? There is no sanctification apart from the word of God. There is no sanctification in the mere resolution, I want to be better now. Well, better in what respect? How will you muster up that strength? How will you muster up that knowledge? How to be better? And this book, I've said it many times, even in the danger of being called a mystic, this is not a normal book. It's not a book that we read and gain information like with any other book. We have said this many times, that the Holy Spirit is never far from his word. This book is like a key that will unlock your soul. You will never be able to have a real success in sanctification without living in and by this word. And by reading, by studying, God especially blesses the preaching of his word. And you can also thank God, besides all the dangers that are connected with it, there are blessings that we have instruments on the internet where we can listen to sermons. We can listen to good sermons, and we can let the Word of God do its work in our soul. We let the key of God's Word that the Holy Spirit uses unlock our heart to more and more sanctification. It is not hard to understand. In fact, it is so easy to understand that even the world has understood it a long time ago. With what you fill your mind, that will be your life. If you fill your mind with television, with worldly television, if you fill your mind with the things of the world, if you fill your mind how to get richer all the time, if you fill your mind with pornography, that's who you're gonna be. And God says, no, fill your mind with the things of God. If you fill your mind with the things of God, you'll be drawn closer to him. Your whole demeanor, all your emotions will be turned towards God. But you can never be a godly Christian if the vast majority of your time you think about things of the world. Now you will probably object and say, well, I have a job. I'm an insurance agent. I'm a doctor. I'm a pilot. I'm a school headmaster. How can I, the majority of time, think about the things of God? Well, you can actually think 100% of the time about the things of God and be the best in your profession that you possibly could be. It is when every thought that you have concerning your profession is taken captive into the obedience of Christ. And you look at every thought that you have for your profession, for your calling, with the addendum. How does Christ want me to deal with this? How does Christ want me to look at this? You will be the best in your profession, if it is an honorable profession, of course. If it's not an honorable profession, then you shouldn't take it anyway. So the Word is important. It shall live in you. It shall take root in you, and you will see what happens when you live in this Word, when you study this Word, that the Holy Spirit will use this Word. We'll use this word. You are in a situation that is difficult and you're about to do something foolish and suddenly a text comes to mind. Do you think that's your intellect? No, it is usually the Holy Spirit. If this is a text that is fitting to the situation, it gives you understanding and insight or correction how to act in this situation, it is most certainly the Holy Spirit. But for this, you have to fill your heart with the word of God. Your inward faith connects with the outward word. As it is explained in the Westminster Confession, for example, in Chapter 14, Paragraph 2, that this faith that you have inwardly acts differently upon that which each particular passage thereof or of the Word of God contains. And here it gives some examples. Yielding obedience to the commands, trembling at the threatenings, and embracing the promises of God for this life and that which is to come. So this is what the word does. If we live in the word and faith connects with this word, this is what it does. It yields to the commands, it trembles by God's threats, but it also is encouraged by the promises of God. This is the proper response to the word of God. So that is a means by which God confers to us the grace that we need to be more and more sanctified. The second one is the sacraments. I've often explained to you, if the sacraments, especially the Lord's Supper, of course, which you receive basically on a weekly basis, if it is received by faith, it will strengthen your faith. It will strengthen your walk with Christ. It will strengthen your sanctification. So in other words, if the sacrament is being received or connects with the inward faith, it will produce graces. It will produce a more Christian life. It will produce more peace of conscience. It will produce more joy in the Lord. These are the sacraments. And I'm glad that I have the general impression that one of the reasons why we tinker around with our service times and so forth is that all, even those who live far away, want to take the Lord's Supper. I think the Lord's Supper has gone under a little bit because we have become so afraid, again, the pendulum, so afraid to become Roman Catholics that overemphasize the sacrament, over above the word, and over above salvation, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. But don't let the fear of one thing drive you in the opposite heresy. The Lord's Supper is important. If it's received by grace, by faith, it truly confers real grace and strengthening in the Holy Spirit. So we have the word, we have sacraments, and then the next, what we call means of grace or ordinary means of grace is prayer. What is prayer? In prayer the soul engages in communion with God. How shall this not strengthen you when you are connecting, when you're getting in touch in prayer and engaging in the communion with your God? And God also hears your request for spiritual gifts. God hears your request for strength in the fight against sin, that you want to mortify sin and vivify righteousness. That's what you pray for, and these are the prayers that God loves to hear, John 14, 13. and whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it." Well, then you will object, well, I've asked many times for a suitcase full of money be deposited in front of my main door. Well, you will be interested to hear, maybe amused that I knew a pastor back in Europe who regularly prayed for a suitcase of money. And he even told me that. Well, he had some dire straits financially. He was in dire straits financially, but he prayed for that suitcase of money. I'm also happy to tell her that that suitcase never came. And then you ask me, well, doesn't it say that whatever we pray for, we will receive? That's not what it says. Whatever you ask in my name. I don't think we can, in accordance with God's will, ask for a suitcase of money just for the heck of it. Because we want to live well, because we want to have the best vacations. Maybe we want to buy a private jet or a new car. That's not how it works. This is not asking in Christ's name, this is asking in your own name. Because this is something that is directed towards selfish desires. But I will promise you that if you sincerely pray for wisdom, that you pray for more strength in the fight against sin, those are prayers that the Lord loves to hear. And to grant you, there is no reason not to grant you these prayers, because these are prayers that are 100% in line with the will of Christ for us. So keep praying for wisdom. Keep praying for strength in your fight against sin. Keep praying for your success in sanctification. So that is the third, ordinary means of grace. And many pastors stop here and say, these are the main ordinary means of grace, which means means by which God confers grace to his people. And you will hear pastors often say, well, our church is an ordinary means of grace ministry, and that's a good thing. They focus on the word and sacrament and prayer. Those are the basic elements. If a pastor says that, you're basically dealing with a good guy. But often, a fourth one is for God. And I, for many years, have not really thought about it as a means of grace. I did mention it many times, but then I realized there's another fourth major ordinary means of grace, and that is God's discipline for us through his providence in our lives. God's discipline, as we can clearly see in the Word of God, constantly is a means of grace. God's chastisement is a way by which he confers grace to us, not immediately, but immediately. Because it says, for example, in Hebrews chapter 12, If you endure chastening, that's the immediate pain. If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons. For what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, all true believers, that is, then you are illegitimate sons. No, it says illegitimate and not sons. Luther translated bastards, right? Fatherless. Which means if you don't ever have chastisement, discipline, hard times, dark times, turbulences, storms, then there's a strong likelihood that you are not real adopted children of the Father in heaven. But curiously, often people come and say, well, there's one hardship after hardship, I wonder if I'm really saved. I would smile, but it's really tragic because some people are really beaten up a lot in their life. like Joseph was, right? Before he became the second most powerful man on the face of the earth, right behind Pharaoh of Egypt. God has different plans with different people, but chastisement is always a part of it. So if there's anything that happened in your life or is happening right now, and I don't wanna be overly therapeutical, but also not un-therapeutical, because the word of God is therapeutical. If you are in a situation or have witnessed or had in your life a situation for which you daily ask yourself, why has it happened? Well, the answer is clear. For your sanctification, for your blessing, it was immediately painful. It was immediately hard. It was immediately distressing. But it will bring forth the fruit of righteousness. For whom? For those who are trained by it. This means that hardship is an ongoing process. Training is an ongoing process. Training, we use that term, we go to the gym, we train, and the English still say that way, they don't go to the gym, they don't work out, they train their muscles. It's an ongoing process, and if you don't follow up, or you will realize this when you're sick for a while and you cannot work out, your muscles will shrink immediately. So you have to keep training them, and that's the reason why hardship is a common denominator in all Christians' life. And it is not a necessary evil, it is a blessing from God. And never say to a Christian when he experiences hardship, that might be a blessing in disguise. You know better than that. You can say this is a blessing in disguise. Because what else is there? What do you do with Romans chapter 8, 28? That all things, and it says all, work together for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. So it might not be a blessing in disguise when hardship comes, it always is. As perplexing as this might be, the word perplexed is used in the New Testament, which tells me that some things can hit us. as Christians, as Christians even in good standing with the Father, that can hit us so hard that we are perplexed. What does that mean? When a boxer is being hit hard, he gets a strong right. For a moment, he's out. And then he has to shake his head to come back. That's what hardship in the Christian life can do to you. And the next thing you know is you want to ask out, you want to exclaim and ask God, why in the world can this happen? I'm your child. And we all know this situation. We know the temptation, but this is where we have to put our hand over our mouth and say to ourselves, the Lord knows. It will be good. And I know it's easily said, but that doesn't change the truth of it. I've been in a situation where I wouldn't have been able to say this in such a cavalier manner, but it is still the truth. It doesn't matter how I feel right now. There is no other conclusion that you can draw from the word of God, that God's discipline is one of his most potent means to sanctify us and to strengthen us. So this paragraph one can be scary. If you look at its demand, we have to constantly put sin to death and vivify righteousness and this and that and the other. It almost sounds like a success story here, but it can be scary in its description of the Christian life. But paragraph two brings us some comfort when it says, this sanctification is throughout in the whole man, yet imperfect in this life. There abiding still some remnants of corruption in every part, whence arises a continual and irreconcilable war, the flesh lusting against the spirit and the spirit lusting against the flesh. So first of all, this paragraph makes it clear that this sanctification has to happen in the whole man, every area of life, intellect, affections, will, soul, and body, because all areas of life have been fallen. All areas of life have been affected by sin. Every faculty of our soul, every part of our body has been in some form affected by sin. It doesn't mean that it has been fully destroyed. But total depravity, I mean, we needed the T for tulip. It's not the best word, but what it means is not that we are as bad as we possibly can be, but it means that every area of our life, every faculty of our body and soul has been in some form affected by sin, even every cell. Why do you think you're gonna die at some point and wither away? Before the fall, that wouldn't have happened. And therefore, really, every faculty has been affected by sin. So total depravity would be better called radical corruption, as R.C. Sproul recommends. But then we had Rulip. It cannot do much with the flower called Rulip. We could rename the plant. But I don't think that's going to happen, or anytime soon, at least. So paragraph two does not only describe or explain to us the fact of indwelling sin, but also its relationship to sanctification. That indwelling sin and this desire to sanctification are dead set enemies. They're dead set against each other within us. And the Christian reads this and I hope the response will be ah. This is what I feel every day in my soul, in my life. So this is not something that's only befallen me, this constant struggle against sin. I almost thought something's wrong with me. Well, something is wrong with you. But the fact that something is wrong with you is normal, sadly, ever since the fall. It is this war of indwelling sin against the new principle, against sanctification that Paul describes from his own life in Romans chapter seven, for example, verse 18, when he laments, for I know that in me, Paul says that, for I know that in me, that is in my flesh, nothing good dwells, for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good, I do not find. Now, does that sound familiar? Isn't that every day of our lives? Oh, we know what's right. We know what we want. And then we find ourselves again in desperation. Again, I failed. Again, it didn't work. Again, I wasn't perfect. Not even close. And this is what is normal ever since the fall. It is exactly what our text describes, Galatians 5, verse 17. It describes what is going on in us. The flesh, which is the old man, the old principle, for the flesh lusts against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another so that you do not do the things that you wish. I mean, in theory, we got it all figured out who we want to be, right? In theory, I would be a perfect minister. I would preach one perfect sermon after the other. I would never lose my temper. I would never think a bad thought. I would never do anything that would make you even think that I could have sins. That's in my mind. Now, reality is a completely different animal. You have these wonderful plans. You aim for perfection, which is right, but then you find yourself on the floor with your face in the mud over and over and over again. This is not an experience that only you have. This is an experience that we all share. And what we do in this life, we will fight against it as much as we can to fall on our faces. It will never disappear. And that's why the doctrine of perfectionism is heresy. It's wrong. We cannot attain it in this life. But yet we have to envision it and we have to, if we do not aim for perfection, we will compromise with sin. So this is kind of a paradox, right? It is kind of hard to grasp, but we aim for perfection knowing that in this life, we will not attain it, but we will continue to aim and to run. And it is a supernatural principle. that lets us get up again and again and again and again and keep aiming for perfection without ever being utterly discouraged. That is already you experiencing the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Don't you ever ask yourself, why in the world am I still a Christian? Everything else I would have given up a thousand times. If I would fall that often in reffing ice hockey that I fall as a Christian, I would have stopped 20 years ago. And yet here I am. Even optimistic. There's another principle when it comes to the things of God. We keep going, and we fall, and we keep going. Do you know these kind of children that fall, and instead of crying, they laugh and want to get up and want to try again? You want to have these children, right? But somehow the Holy Spirit makes us these children. Yeah, we might be upset for a while, but then we get up. And even if our personalities are such that we are not these kind of people who have the most stamina or are the people who really hold out or hold on to things, in the faith it's different. And how do I know that? Well, you're still here. I'm only speaking to those who hold on and those who are truly of Christ will hold on. They will persevere. It is a supernatural principle. But this is the war that we are facing every day, every moment. This is the war that you have to fight. This is the discouragement that wants to bring you down, but which you have to overcome. This is the battle that you must fight and win. No mercy with the old man, no patience with your own sin. Paul at some point says, I beat my body into submission. What he means is the old man. No matter what the cost, it must be submitted. Everything must be submitted to the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this war against sin will never be perfect in this life, but in paragraph three, we have nevertheless the wonderful assurance of victory. It says, in which war, although the remaining corruption for a time may much prevail, Yet through the continual supply of strength from the sanctifying Spirit of Christ, the regenerate part does overcome, and so the saints grow in grace, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now, this should be a great encouragement to you all, as this makes it absolutely clear that ultimately, By God's grace, you and I will win this war within. You and I will win this war that rages in each one of us. We must understand that it is the Holy Spirit who sanctifies us. And because of that, our sanctification will continue on and on and on. And while there will be setbacks, maybe with some even periods of backsliding, by the grace of God, the regenerate part in us will overcome. We will overcome evil with good. And why? Because it is God who works both in us, to will and to do. And when we will one day close our eyes for the last time on this planet, We will be finally done with sin and look towards the completion of our sanctification. And that is when our glorification happens, when our bodies will be raised and reunited with our souls in the blessed eternal presence of our Lord. Then there will be no more war in us. There will be no more sin. There will be no more pain. There will be no more sleepless nights. There will just be the blessed presence of the Lord into all eternity. May we all meet there one day. Amen and amen. Let us pray. Our Lord and our God, we thank you for this wonderful encouragement like a spectator in a race or in a match of football or whatever, you cheer us on through your word. Keep persevering, keep persevering, and at the end, it is still your spirit who does it in us. Oh, Lord, what a wonderful principle of grace this is. Help us all to persevere until the end, to grow in sanctification, to put to death sin, and to bring to life righteousness. And may you bless us in it until that one day that we will spend all eternity in your presence. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.