This Lord's Day is the day of the year on which much of the church celebrates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is typically called Palm Sunday. I can fondly remember as a child standing outside of our church building waving palm branches in the air. It was a very happy time for me, much as it was a very happy time for some of those Jews who welcomed Christ as he rode into town on a donkey. Just as we sing the Sanctus every Sunday before entering our time of consecration, these Jews called out, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. But Palm Sunday isn't just about happiness. This day would begin the last several days of Jesus's life before being betrayed on Thursday, crucified on Friday, harrowing the grave on Saturday, and rising again to new life on Sunday, the very first Lord's Day. So this was also a time of preparing for sorrow. I'm sure that Christ was experiencing many emotions as he humbly entered Jerusalem as the soon-to-be victorious, yet suffering king. So on this Palm Sunday, I thought it would be a good time for us to take a brief break from our series in the Gospel of John and look at one of the readings suggested by our lectionary. The psalm listed for today is Psalm 31. On one hand, this is an interesting psalm for Palm Sunday. This is a day where we remember a specific moment of Jesus's life as he is preparing for his death. But when you look up a list of messianic psalms, those are the psalms which theologians tell us directly and clearly point to Jesus. When you look up the messianic psalms, either in a commentary or another book about the Psalter or online, you rarely, if ever, see Psalm 31 listed. When I was preparing for this message, I looked at a number of books about the Messianic Psalms and did not see Psalm 31 listed in the table of contents or main chapter headings in a single one. I also looked on several websites listing out the Messianic Psalms and did not see Psalm 31 listed. Yet the lectionary used by many liturgical churches has Psalm 31 as the reading for Palm Sunday. Now, in reality, there is no one Lord's Day, which is more important than any other. There are 52 Lord's Days in a year, and each of them is a feast day. Every Lord's Day is Resurrection Sunday. Nonetheless, you would think that on one of those fixed Lord's days, where each year we reflect on a specific important moment in Christ's life and ministry, we might have a messianic psalm to read. So we might ask, why is this the psalm for today? Why are we preaching through Psalm 31? And my answer is twofold. These aren't the main points of our sermon, but this twofold answer will set the foundation for us going forward. First, Psalm 31 is, in fact, a messianic psalm. Why do you say that, you might ask? James, are you really right and all the scholars wrong? Well, I wouldn't say that exactly, but I do feel fully and completely confident in saying that Psalm 31 is a messianic psalm, because number one, Christ quotes this psalm on the cross right before he dies. He owns this prayer of David as his own. In Luke chapter 23 and verse 46, Jesus says, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. And right here in Psalm 31 verse five, we read, into your hand, I commit my spirit. And though he doesn't say father in verse five of our text today, David is very clearly and plainly crying out to God just as his Lord Jesus would do a thousand years later. And second, the second reason that we are going through Psalm 31 on Palm Sunday, is that all of the Psalms are the words of Christ. Even the so-called non-Messianic Psalms often point to something true about Jesus's life, death, and resurrection. Whether about his sufferings, or whether they point out his victory, or whether they point to his kingship, whatever it may be, they're pointing to Christ. Also, Christ himself sang and prayed the whole Psalter, all 150 Psalms. They were an important part of his worship and communion with his Father in heaven. And lastly, Christ as God himself, and notably as the Word of God, is the one who inspired all of the Psalms. So contrary to what some may say, we can confidently assert that Psalm 31 is messianic and especially fitting for a text to preach through on Palm Sunday. Not that there would ever be any part of God's word that would be inappropriate to preach on. Remember all of our Sundays are gifts to us and holy convocations to the Lord and all of God's word is fitting for all of God's people. but I do think it makes total sense that our lectionary has Psalm 31 listed for today. And no, we will not be talking about the specifics of Palm Sunday this morning, but we will be looking at how this prayer of David points to Jesus in these last days of his life and how we can apply what we see here to our lives as well. Well, now that we've established our background, let's read the psalm itself. Psalm 31. This is the word of the Lord. To the chief musician, a psalm of David. In You, O Lord Yahweh, I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for Your name's sake, lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for you are my strength. Into your hand I commit my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord Yahweh, God of truth. I have hated those who regard useless idols, but I trust in the Lord Yahweh. I will be glad and rejoice in your mercy, for you have considered my trouble. You have known my soul in adversities and have not shut me up into the hand of the enemy. You have set my feet in a wide place. Have mercy on me, O Lord Yahweh, for I am in trouble. My eye wastes away with grief. Yes, my soul and my body. For my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity and my bones waste away. I am a reproach among all my enemies, but especially among my neighbors, and am repulsive to my acquaintances. Those who see me outside flee from me. I am forgotten like a dead man out of mind. I am like a broken vessel, for I hear the slander of many. Fear is on every side. While they take counsel together against me, they scheme to take away my life. But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord Yahweh. I say, You are my God. My times are in Your hand. Deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. Make Your face shine upon Your servant. Save me for Your mercy's sake. Do not let me be ashamed, O LORD Yahweh, for I have called upon You. Let the wicked be ashamed. Let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. Oh, how great is your goodness which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have prepared for those who trust in you in the presence of the sons of men. You shall hide them in the secret place of your presence from the plots of man. You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord Yahweh, for He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before your eyes. Nevertheless, you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to you. Oh, love the Lord Yahweh, all you his saints, for the Lord Yahweh preserves the faithful and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Let us pray. God, I thank you for this wonderful word today. I thank you that you are our God. You are our strength, that you are the one who keeps us safe from our enemies, and you will be the one who judges our enemies on the final day. And God, today, I pray that you would just strengthen us, that your word would pierce to our innermost being, that you would speak directly to our conscience, that we would be drawn to trust in you completely as our Lord Jesus Christ did, that we would know that you are the God who delivers us from death and from the grave, and you are the God who will bring us into glory, Lord, one day. God, we thank you and praise you for your wonderful, powerful, amazing love for us. We thank you that even though we are but sinners in our flesh, Lord, that we turn from you constantly, that regardless of that, Lord, you chose to love us. Lord, we know that this is love, that Christ came and died for the ungodly. And God, we thank you for that wonderful gift, and we ask your blessing on us right now, today. Open our eyes, God. If I begin to say something contrary to your word, I pray you would steer me right back on path, that you would put me on the right course, Lord. I pray that you would preach through me, making your plea through me, and calling souls to repentance and faith in you. Bless us now, Lord, in Christ's name, and amen. Psalm 31 was written by King David. And while the human author and the original context is important here, that won't be our main focus this morning. We will talk about David some, but we'll largely be looking at how this Psalm points to Jesus and what it teaches us about living the Christian life. And for sake of time, we'll have to leave a lot of meat on the bones in this Psalm. So if there's something we just read that you really wanna learn more about, but we don't get into in our sermon today, just let that motivate you to go home and dig into it more yourself. This morning, we'll be looking at three main points. Point number one, Christ trusted his father completely, and we should trust our father completely. Christ trusted his father completely and we should trust our father completely. Point number two, sin brought death to Christ and sin brings death to us. Sin brought death to Christ and sin brings death to us. And point number three, God delivered Christ from death and God delivers us from death. God delivered Christ from death and God delivers us from death. So let's jump in at point number one. Christ trusted his father completely and we should trust our father completely. Verse one of our text opens with these words. In you, oh Lord, I put my trust. The type of trust that David is talking about here isn't just a generic type of trust. Like, I trust that when I ask you a question, you're going to tell me the truth. Rather, this is a lived out faith in Jehovah. David is in the midst of a major time of distress in his life, which wasn't really uncommon for David. Whether it was the Philistines or Saul or Absalom or his own countrymen, He was often in dangerous and scary situations. And he doesn't look back to his amazing accomplishments for hope or comfort. He doesn't think of slaying the 10,000s or of killing Goliath or tearing animals in two. He looks straight to God in faith. David is like Paul many centuries later, who said, if anyone has reason to boast in the flesh, I have more. It would have been easy for him to look to his own strength and trust himself more than anyone else to rescue him. But David doesn't do that. He's humble and he looks to God. Well, if David has this huge faith in God and he only points to Christ and foreshadows Christ, how much better must Christ himself have faith in his father who is in heaven? How much better is the mountain, for instance, than the shadow it casts? And how much more could Christ boast than David? David was an adulterer and a murderer. Jesus, on the other hand, never sinned, not even once. He never disobeyed his parents when he was a little boy. He never took the Lord's name in vain. He never lusted after a woman. He never coveted anyone's property. He never failed to offer true worship to God. Further, Jesus performed works far greater than those of David. He walked on water and calmed the sea. He turned water into wine. He multiplied a little boy's lunch to feed thousands upon thousands. Jesus had every reason to boast, and not just in the flesh, as Paul did. Jesus, in fact, had every right to boast and to trust in himself. He did something that no one else did or could do. He earned his place in heaven. Christ had faith, but unlike us, he did not get to heaven on faith apart from works. His faith-filled works merited heaven for him. But Jesus shows us in his earthly life, and especially as he is surrounded by enemies, abandoned by friends and approaching death, that his trust was first and foremost in God the Father. Even the God-man himself had faith. He shows us, in fact, a perfect example of living out a true trust in God. It may sound odd at times to our fleshly ears to think of Christ having faith in God. I mean, Christ was God, Christ is God. And because of that, some people really struggle with this idea that Jesus had faith. But if faith in its purest form is trust in the person, work and promises of God, then how could Jesus not have faith? God's word says in Habakkuk and again in Romans, the just shall live by faith. Or it could be rendered, the just one or the just man shall live by faith. Who can be a just or righteous man if not Jesus Christ? Dutch reformed theologian Herman Bovinck says that Christ's faith was nothing other than the act of clinging to the word and promises of God. And Puritan pastor Thomas Goodwin opens his book, Christ Set Forth, with this first point. After a few introductory remarks, he writes this, observe that Christ lived by faith as well as we do. Certainly the author and perfecter of our faith, who gives us the gift of faith, exercised faith himself when he was on earth. We can see the immense love and faith of Christ displayed in the incarnation. Christ loved us so much that he humbled himself and took on the form of a servant and put all of his trust in the sovereign plan and control of his father in a way that he hadn't done before. Something unique happened in the incarnation. When the Son of God, by the power of the Holy Spirit, became a tiny little single-celled zygote, that's the scientific name for the earliest stage of development of a baby, right when he is conceived, that action of Jesus was an act of total and complete trust or faith in his Father. to go from reigning in heaven to becoming a single celled little boy in Mary's womb was an immense display of faith. Now, Jesus did not become any less God in any sense when he became a man. He did not in his being become any less powerful or knowledgeable or wise, but He did voluntarily choose not to access certain aspects of His divinity during His incarnation. He submitted to the reality of human nature and all of its weaknesses aside from sin. Christ was still all powerful in His divine nature as the Son of God while He was here on earth. But he was not all powerful in all his actions. He chose rather to be weak. Christ still owned the cattle on a thousand hills and every beast of the forest. Yet he chose to be poor. In heaven right now, Christ is on the throne ruling the nations. He is not weak or poor now. He can bring a nation into conviction and repentance, or he can shatter a nation with a rod of iron. Yet while he was on earth, he set all this aside and he chose to be killed by those whom he had created. Jesus even had the power to avoid being crucified, but he didn't use it. Christ said, no man takes away my life from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again. This command I have received from my father. The reason he didn't stop himself from being crucified is because he trusted the plan of the father completely. and he loved us completely. Jesus had faith in God and his ways, even amidst the most horrible suffering anyone has ever known. As he prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus said, Father, if it is your will, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done. Jesus was living out faith in God perfectly here. Once again, there's a difference in His faith and ours. We have to have faith in His work on the cross. He had to do the work. So I don't wanna flatten out the distinction between our faith in Christ, our faith and Christ's faith, so that it seems that they're the exact same in every way. They're not. but he nevertheless had a true and living faith that is an example for us. And we can see that clearly here in Psalm 31. This Psalm reminds us that faith is not tested or shown to be real in the sunshine days of our lives. when everything is going easy and right, when the man you long for proposes to you, when the company you want to work for offers you a job, when the child you have been praying for is conceived or born. No, look at verses 11 and following of our text this morning. Faith is tested when you are a reproach among all your enemies. Faith is tested when you are repulsive to your acquaintances, and you realize that people you thought would take a bullet for you are only fair weather friends. Faith is tested when you are forgotten like a dead man, when fear is on every side, when you hear the slander of many, when people scheme to take away your life. Where do you turn to in times like this? These verses describe what Jesus went through on that last day of his life. And during that time of immense agony, he turned as he did every day to his father in heaven. If we were all powerful, we may be tempted to trust only in ourselves in moments like these. But Christ, who is the only all-powerful one, patiently endured the mocking and the betrayal and even the death because he believed that the Father's plan was best and that God would raise him up from the grave and exalt him to the highest heaven. It is at the times when you feel abandoned by everyone that you must pray with David and with Christ himself saying, verse 14, but as for me, I trust in you, O Lord. I say, you are my God. My times are in your hand. Think of Jesus praying that prayer. My times are in your hand. What trust in God? Not my will, the Lord of Glory says, but yours. Trust God completely, friends, not yourself, not anything else, only God. I heard once of a godly Scottish minister who, as he lay dying on his deathbed, said this to those around him. I am gathering together all my sermons and all my prayers, all my good deeds and all my evil deeds, and I'm throwing them overboard, determined to swim to glory on the plank of free grace. That's not how Christ swam to glory. He swam on the merit of his perfect life. But that is the only hope that any son or daughter of Adam has to get there. Do not rely even on your prayers and your good works. They will not get you across that river. If you were trusting in yourself or in anything about you to get across the river of death, you will sink. But all you need is a single plank of free grace and you will make it. Put all your eggs in the basket of Christ. He is our only hope and we could never ask for more. Secondly, we see in Psalm 31 that sin brought death to Christ and sin brings death to us. The Apostle Paul says that the wages of sin is death. That's the biblical equation. If you sin, you will die. Had Adam not sinned in the garden, he would have lived forever. But alas, Adam sinned. And as the New England Primer teaches us, in Adam's fall, we sinned all. In fact, this second point here that sin brought death to Christ is one of the reasons I think that many people are hesitant to label Psalm 31 as a messianic psalm. Now, they might not say it so bluntly as that, but I think the holdup for a lot of people can be found here in verse 10. I'll actually reread verses nine through 13 to give us some context, and I'll point out the stumbling block for people. Starting in verse nine, have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble. My eye wastes away with grief. Yes, my soul and my body. For my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing. And now here's the apparent problem verse. My strength fails because of my iniquity. and my bones waste away. I am a reproach among all my enemies, and especially among my neighbors, and am repulsive to my acquaintances. Those who see me outside flee from me. I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind. I am like a broken vessel. For I hear the slander of many. Fear is on every side. While they take counsel together against me, they scheme to take away my life. Now, personally, I don't see how a Christian who knew his Bible well could read those verses and not think of Christ. But let's address the apparent problem verse. Verse 10 of our text today says, my strength fails because of my iniquity. Now, if we're saying that this Psalm refers to Christ, does that mean that we are saying that Christ sinned? Now, children, I have a hard question for you. Can any of you tell me what the word iniquity means? Iniquity means sin. Sin. So children, if we say Psalm 31 refers to Christ, are we saying that Jesus's strength failed because he sinned? No. Or as the apostle Paul might say, by no means. So what are we saying? I think the most reasonable way to understand verse 10 is this. Christ, who knew no sin, became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God. That's 2 Corinthians 5.21. Our sin was so closely identified with Christ that although he never sinned, He claimed our sin as if it were his own. And as he was on the cross, he was regarded by God as the chief of sinners. And the weight of those sins upon our Lord brought him into unimaginable misery. God the Father poured out his full wrath upon his son, because when he looked at him, he saw iniquity. He saw sin. Galatians 3.13 says this, Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. Isaiah 53.6 says the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. There are more verses that we could bring in, but the point is this, the word of God says that Jesus became sin for us. though he was without sin. The word of God says that he became a curse for us, though he is blessed forever. That he was bruised, crushed, and killed for our iniquity. So we shouldn't shrink back when David prays, my strength fails because of my iniquity. On one hand, we can easily understand that David was a sinner, and many of his sufferings in life were a direct result of his own sins. And on the other hand, we can understand that while Jesus was not a sinner himself, he nevertheless suffered as a sinner in our place. Sin brought death to Christ, and sin also brings death to us. If you still have your Bibles open to Psalm 31, look with me again at verses nine and 10. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble. My eye wastes away with grief. Yes, my soul and my body. For my life is spent with grief and my years with sighing. My strength fails because of my iniquity and my bones waste away. We've already talked about how sin brings death, but this death is even more broad than just being laid in the grave when our body gives up the ghost, or even being cast into the lake of fire, which is the second death that all apart from Christ will experience. Sinning is first and foremost an act of spiritual treason. For the believer, it's when we let the old man, the flesh, have his way. And these acts of the soul affect our body as well. When we sin, every part of us suffers a taste of death. Even if we don't directly involve our bodies in whatever sin we are committing. Maybe we're just harboring hatred in our hearts. but even acts that we don't think involve our bodies at all can severely impact our bodies and bring us under the shadow of the grave. David says that his strength fails because of his iniquity, that his bones waste away because of the sins he has committed. We are not just souls or minds or even just bodies, but we are physical and we are spiritual together, a body soul union. And whatever we do to one aspect of our being affects the other aspect too. Oftentimes the relationship here is mysterious and we can't draw a straight line between sin A and physical suffering B. But we have to remember that the only reason anyone ever suffers is because of sin. It may not be their sin at all. Job suffered because of the sin of Satan, not because of his own sin. But all of your suffering is either a result of the curse which sin brought onto the world in a general sense, or the sin of someone else, or your own sin. So yes, your bones even can start to waste away because of the sins you have committed in your heart. Sometimes you'll hear stories about when people break free from addictions. And I don't mean a physical addiction, but something that we would regard as more spiritual. Maybe they were looking at things they ought not to look at and giving themselves over to immoral passions. Or maybe they were constantly indulging in proud, self-righteous or hateful thoughts against their spouse or boss or parents. Or maybe they were investing all of their emotions into some online fantasy life. But when they break free, not only do they find spiritual release, but renewed physical health, better sleep, more energy. What we do in here, our hearts, and in here, our minds, can affect every part of us. So be careful how you walk, and remember that death follows hard after sin. And then our third and final point for today, God delivered Christ from death, and God delivers us from death. Like our other two points we've discussed, as clear as it is, this statement may require a little explaining. We just got done speaking about how Christ died because of sin and how we die because of sin. But now I'm saying that God delivers Christ and all his brothers from death. Well, which is it? Let's look at what David prays here in Psalm 31. Beginning in verse 1. In you, O Lord, I put my trust. Let me never be ashamed. Deliver me in your righteousness. Bow down your ear to me. Deliver me speedily. Be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. For you are my rock and my fortress. Therefore, for your name's sake, lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me. For you are my strength. Into your hand I commit my spirit. You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth." Here, David is surrounded by his enemies. Death is closing in on every side, and he asks for deliverance, for defense, for salvation, for guidance, for being pulled out of the net, for strength. He commits his spirit into God's hand, and God redeems him. He redeems him. Then hopping down to Psalm 31 verse 15, deliver me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me. Make your face shine upon your servant. Save me for your mercy's sake. Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon you. Let the wicked be ashamed. Let them be silent in the grave. Let the lying lips be put to silence, which speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous. similar prayers for deliverance, and also prayers that God would judge the wicked. Let the evildoer be silent in the grave, but not me. No, save me from my enemies and my persecutors. Make your face shine upon me. Save me for your mercy's sake. Well, these are all reasonable requests, but does God fulfill them? Does God really judge the wicked? and deliver His children from death? We find our answer starting in verse 19. Oh, how great is your goodness, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have prepared for those who trust in you in the presence of the sons of men. You shall hide them in the secret place of your presence from the plots of man. You shall keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. Blessed be the Lord, for he has shown me his marvelous kindness in a strong city. For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before your eyes. Nevertheless, you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried out to you. Oh, love the Lord, all you his saints, for the Lord preserves the faithful and fully repays the proud person. Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all you who hope in the Lord. God indeed delivered David, and he indeed delivered Christ. and he will indeed deliver us. Now, the fact still stands, though, that Christ died and that we will all die. But as David prays elsewhere, God would not abandon Jesus' soul to the grave. The Lord will preserve his faithful ones. He has prepared goodness for those who fear him and will bring them into his very own presence. Verse 22, for I said in my haste, I am cut off from before your eyes. Nevertheless, you heard the voice of my supplications when I cried to you. God will deliver our souls from death. And this deliverance is twofold. First, on the surface, God delivered David from the troubles he was in in this life. Several times in David's life, it seemed that he was up against these terrible, unbeatable odds, and that he would certainly be killed by his enemies, and yet God saved him. So too in this life, there may be times when it looks like your life is over, and yet God works a special providence to save you. That was the case many times for Jesus, where Herod or the Jews saw his life and seemed to have every advantage against him. And then God sends an angel to warn his family to flee. Or Christ miraculously disappears through a crowd that is about to stone him or throw him off a cliff. So God does often, not always, but often deliver his children from death in this life for a season. But the deeper meaning is that even though David died, and even though Christ died, and even though we die, God will not abandon our souls to the grave. The very moment your soul leaves your body, if God has claimed you as his child, then you will go to be with him in heaven. Today, Jesus said to the thief on the cross, you will be with me in paradise. He who believes in me, Jesus says, though he may die, yet shall he live. God has laid up goodness for us in the life to come, and he will deliver our souls from the second death. Further, not only will God save our souls, but he will not abandon our bodies to the grave either. God will raise the bodies of his children up at the last day, never to die again. Job confidently says this, after my skin is destroyed, this I know that in my flesh, I shall see God. Even though Christ's body was marred and wounded so badly that he didn't even look like himself anymore, God raised him up imperishable, glorious, shining like the sun. That Christ was raised was proof that God always keeps his word and always does what is best for his children. And even though you will be laid in the grave one day, and your bones will turn to dust, God will raise you up too. The apostle Paul says that the body is sown in corruption and it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. If you were in Christ by faith, then God will deliver your body from the grave one day. The grave was not the end of the story for Christ, and it will not be the end of the story for you. Christ rising again to life on that Easter Sunday, 2000 years ago, was proof positive that he will raise you again as well. Praise God for this wonderful mercy. Now, as we end our time together today, I want us to just quickly sum up by reminding you of our three main points. First, Christ trusted his father completely and we should trust our father completely. No matter how bad things may look at times, you can take God at his word and you can follow Christ's example. As the Heidelberg Catechism teaches us, we can trust God that everything in this life comes not by chance, but by his fatherly hand. Second, sin brought death to Christ and sin brings death to us. This is the bad news. This is the part of our message that we don't like, but it is something that we must accept. And we must remember also that there is an answer to this bad news. There is good news as well, and that's the last point of our message today. God delivered Christ from death, and God will deliver you from death if you believe on him. Puritan pastor Richard Baxter said that being born again brings us into the kingdom of grace. and death brings us into the kingdom of glory. Believe this truth and live your life accordingly. Let's pray. God, we thank you that you are a good and loving God. Jesus, we thank you, Lord, that even though our sin is a sin, brought you, the sinless and spotless Lamb of God, to death, even though our sin killed you, nailed you to the cross, Lord. We thank you that you defeated death, that you defeated the grave, that you rose to life, and that by your blood and by your resurrection, you have forgiven and justified us. God, thank you so much for this. Thank you, Lord, that you have not abandoned our souls to the grave, that you have not abandoned us in our sins, but that you have sought us out, that you have bought us back with your precious blood. God, help us to remember as we go through each day that we need to hate our sin and put our sin to death, God, because its desire is to destroy us. Lord, help us flee from sin. God, continue to renew our faith even now as we continue our service of worship. We thank you, God, we praise you, and we love you. In Jesus Christ's name, and amen.