This evening our confessional lesson's gonna come from the Westminster Larger Catechism, question and answer 84 and 85. You can find these in the back of your hymnal on page 949. 949. Again, question and answer 84 and 85, 949. Question 84, shall all men die? Death being threatened as the wages of sin, it is appointed unto all men once to die, for that all have sinned. Question 85, death being the wages of sin, why are not the righteous delivered from death, seeing all their sins are forgiven in Christ? the righteous shall be delivered from death itself at the last day. And even in death are delivered from the sting and curse of it. So that although they die, yet it's out of God's love to free them perfectly from sin and misery and to make them capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon. You know, when you read the book of Genesis, one of the amazing things it teaches is the origins of life. Creation's story begins with life. In the first chapter, we're told that life comes from the living God. In the second chapter, we're told specifically that God breathed life into man, and he became a living soul. That's the origin of life. But Genesis also teaches us how death encroached upon our world. It happened when God's image bearers, Adam and Eve, our first parents, sinned. And just as God had told them the penalty for their rebellion was death. And so the book of the Bible that begins in a garden of life quite literally ends in a coffin. in Egypt. In that way, Romans 6.23 is a summary of one of the main storylines in Genesis. The wages of sin is death. And every natural-born person after Adam is born with a death sentence. As Paul writes in Romans 5.12, sin came into the world through one man and death through sin, and so death spread to all men. And so now As it says in Hebrews 9, 27, it's appointed for men to die once and after this, the judgment. This is the unhappy consequence of sin and what question 84 is teaching us. Of course, for the elect, Jesus dealt with the consequences of sin. He paid the wages of sin for us. He died in our place. That's why Romans 6.23 not only says the wages of sin is death, it goes on to say, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. You see, the sin debt has been paid, the wages has been paid, Christ died in our place. But that begs an important question, doesn't it? Why then do believers still have to die? And that's the question that question 85 is drawing our attention to. You may have noticed that the catechism doesn't directly answer the question because there's a sense in which we can't answer it with great specificity. Instead, question 85 reminds us on the last day that will all be settled. That'll be the day of our supreme happiness when the righteous will be fully delivered from death. Till then, God's people still die. But don't miss that our catechism reminds us that because of Christ's finished work, the stinging curse of death, that is removed for us. And here's what that means. If I can sort of paraphrase Johannes Vos, While genuine Christians aren't spared the experience of physical death, we are spared a condition of death. That's an important comfort. If the Lord tarries, we will all have an experience of death, but we'll never be. You and I will never be in a state or a condition of death. Rather, for the believer, the experience of death is a portal to glory. Now, as we read our catechism, it is important to notice that our catechism doesn't say we'll be delivered from the agony of dying. What we're delivered from is the realm of death. When the believer dies, all the sin that's in his flesh or her flesh is laid in the grave. And in that moment, any relationship the believer has to sin is utterly severed. If your hymnals are still open, glance there at the middle of answer 85. This is really wonderful teaching. Although they die, yet it's out of God's love to free them perfectly. from sin and misery, and to make them capable of further communion with Christ in glory, which they then enter upon. So what the catechism is telling us is death is the end of pain, it's the end of tears, it's the end of battling with sin. All the miseries of living in a fallen creation are done. when we pass through that experience of death. Nothing of sin's consequences or its miseries follow us to glory. As I said, our flesh is placed in the ground and our souls are transported to glory where they're prepared for the sweetest and most marvelous communion. with Jesus. This is actually what theologians call the intermediate state. And then a day will come when there's the shout of the archangel, and the trump of God sounds, and Christ descends from heaven, and those bodies that died and have been laying in the ground, they'll be raised up to immortal glory and reunited with our souls. That's the glorious hope that believers have. We all know these truths, I trust. And yet, there's still a sense in which believers rightly have an aversion to death, even the godliest believers. And it's not hard to understand. Something you've heard me say many times over the years is death is perhaps one of the most unnatural things that we have to deal with because it's unnatural separation. It's the unnatural separation of body and soul. It's the unnatural separation of friendships and families. It's unnatural deaths and intrusion into God's creation. Woody Allen, who clearly isn't a believer, is famous for saying, I'm not afraid of dying, I just don't want to be there when it happens. This evening when we return to our study in 2 Kings, we're going to see that Hezekiah didn't want to die any more than anyone else. And perhaps Hezekiah could have used some larger catechism studies. But for now, let's continue praising the Lord. Singing number 471. 471, the sands of time are sinking. Well, let me ask you to open up your copy of scripture to 2 Kings chapter 20. 2 Kings chapter 20, and we're gonna read verses one through 11. 2 Kings chapter 20, beginning in verse one. This is the inerrant word of our great God. In those days, Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, thus says the Lord, said, your house in order, for you shall die and not live. Then he turned his face toward the wall and he prayed to the Lord saying, remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I've walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court that the word of the Lord came to him saying, return. and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people, thus says the Lord, the God of David your father, I've heard your prayer, I've seen your tears, surely I will heal you. On the third day, you should go up to the house of the Lord, and I'll add to your days 15 years, I'll deliver you and this city, from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I'll defend this city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David. Then Isaiah said, take a lump of figs. So they took and laid it on the boil and he recovered. And Hezekiah said to Isaiah, what is the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I should go up to the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, this is the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do the thing which he has spoken. Shall the shadow go forward 10 degrees or go backwards 10 degrees? And Hezekiah answered, it's an easy thing for the shadow to go down 10 degrees, no, but let the shadow go backwards 10 degrees. So Isaiah the prophet cried out to the Lord and he brought the shadow 10 degrees backwards by which it had gone down on the sundial. of Ahaz. The grass withers, the flowers fade, but the word of our God, it endures forever. May it bless it too, our hearts this evening. Well, dearest congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, after this evening, we only have one more lesson on Hezekiah. So it's worth remembering that according to the testimony of scripture, after King David There are two kings of Judah that have remarkable standout reputations. One is Hezekiah, the other is Josiah, which we'll begin looking at in three or four weeks. Hezekiah became king after the horrendous reign of his idolatrous father Ahaz. And as a young man and a young king, Hezekiah set himself diligently to reform Judah. And he did at least three amazing things. First, he restored temple worship in Jerusalem. He reinstituted a faithful cadre of priests and he implemented worship that was biblically faithful. Second, he removed and destroyed the idols that were not only pervasive in Jerusalem, but were pervasive in all of Judah. And third, he led the people to celebrate the Passover, and that's something that hadn't been done for a long time. We really can't overestimate the significance of these religious reforms, which is why it said of him way back in chapter 18 and verse 5, of all the kings of Judah, there are none like him. As a religious reformer, unparalleled reputation. Now the way he handled international affairs was less impressive. Assyria had sacked the northern kingdom and wanted to force Judah to submit to Assyrian rule. Hezekiah initially refused, but when he witnessed the mass of Assyrian military, his courage failed and he tried to pay them off. It did no good. Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, wasn't satisfied to be paid tribute, and after destroying some of the major cities in Judah, he arrayed his army around Jerusalem just waiting to pounce. And as soon as Sennacherib's force were in place, you may remember from a few weeks back, they began a campaign of intimidation. The Assyrian messengers made it clear that Judah's situation was hopeless. There was nothing Hezekiah, there was nothing Hezekiah's God could do. Judah, Jerusalem, it's all at the mercy of Sennacherib. And for good measure, Sennacherib's messengers actually went above and beyond in blaspheming Yahweh. Unfortunately for the Assyrians, The Lord heard their blasphemies and would not overlook their blasphemies. Hezekiah cried out to God to deliver Judah and to vindicate his name for his own glory, and the Lord did. And you'll remember he did it in a remarkable, miraculous way. great Assyrian army is arrayed around Jerusalem and Yahweh sent the angel of the Lord who killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. That war was over before it began. And Sennacherib tucked tail and went back to Nineveh and that's where we pick up this evening. Now the first thing we need to recognize is that the account of 2 Kings 20 is out of chronological order. Stick with me here. The events of 2 Kings 20 took place somewhere within the events of chapter 18 and 19, probably early on in those chapters. If you look there at verse 6, it says that the Lord's going to deliver Hezekiah and the city from the coming Assyrian invasion. But here's the thing, that's already happened, hasn't it? So this narrative predates the Assyrian attack. Also, if you glance down to verse 13, I know we didn't read that this evening, but if you glance down to verse 13, you can see the royal treasuries are still overflowing with silver and gold and all kinds of riches, which tells us this is before Hezekiah plundered the treasuries to pay off Sennacherib, right? That's not uncommon. for Scripture to arrange things thematically, excuse me, rather than chronologically. I mean, you have five chapters of Isaiah prophesying and preaching before we're ever told about his call to the prophetic office in chapter six. It's not uncommon. And usually it's done in a way to emphasize, often the reigns of good kings are front-loaded to tell you all the good things they do. That's a very normal way to do it. But let me tell you why I think this chronology is especially important for us this evening. It means that the situation of 2 Kings 20 takes place in the middle of his reign at the time when there could be no mistake that Hezekiah was living for God's glory. It's at that time in his reign when he was fully dedicated to restoring faithful worship in Judah. He had done a great work because he was completely devoted to God. To put it simply, at this point, Hezekiah's life was characterized by a genuine holy zeal. And the reason I think this is important is that it makes the events of our text even more shocking. Whatever we might imagine that Hezekiah would experience at that moment, it's probably not what we read in verse one. Look there at your Bible. In those days, Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, went to him and said to him, thus says the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die and not live. Again, this is a remarkable scene. This is not what you would expect. Because in our minds, we tend to think, you do good things for the Lord, he'll do good things for you. As we learned in Sunday school, that's conventional wisdom, but sometimes God works by way of unconventional wisdom. And Hezekiah's a young man at this point. He's got so much promise. He's probably no older than mid to late 30s, 36, 37, maybe 38. And he has accomplished so many things for the Lord, and there's so many things he wants to accomplish. But here he is on his deathbed, and he gets a visit from Isaiah the prophet. And you have to think, when he initially saw Isaiah come into his room, he probably anticipated the prophet was there to give him a word of comfort, of encouragement, announce his healing and his restoration. And while we can't know for sure what was on Hezekiah's mind when he first saw Isaiah, his response tells us that he certainly didn't expect to get this message. Get your affairs straightened out. You're gonna die. Breathtaking, isn't it? Isaiah was a great man of God, but he had a rather rough bedside manner, didn't he? Now, if you hear what Isaiah said to him, on one level, we need to acknowledge the prophet has just provided him some important counsel. And in and of itself, it's a grace. This is what the Lord is going to do. You're going to die, so make appropriate preparations. That was a grace. But honestly, I suspect the king was so overwhelmed by the news that that particular counsel went in one ear and out the other. Because that's often how it is when you get shockingly bad news. You're almost numb to it. I do want to take a moment and insert a bit of pastoral counsel, if I may, at this point. And since I'm up here talking, I may. And this particular counsel is geared to people my age and older. If the Lord tarries, your final day on earth will come. And you don't know when that day is going to be, but still this is good counsel that Isaiah gives. Get your affairs in order. If you love your family, Make as many decisions and plans for your demise as you possibly can. Here's what I mean, very specifically. Tell them where you want to be buried. Tell them what kind of casket you want to be in. Tell them the gravestone you want. Tell them what kind of service you want. So what kind of funeral service? Tell them the songs you want to be sung. And let me tell you why this is important. I have seen godly families lose someone precious, and when they're making final preparations, family members who typically get along will almost come to blows. Mom wanted a brown casket. No, she didn't. She wanted a black one. Mom wanted to be buried with her wedding ring. No, no, Mom wanted the wedding ring to go to the grandchildren. Mom wanted the old rugged cross to be sung. Oh, Mom never liked that song. I promise you. If you preside at funerals, you'll hear those arguments often. That's why, if you can make preparations, make them. You see, when someone dies, their family already has something to do. It's called grieving, and we don't allow that in our 21st century mentality the way we should. It's an act of love to make as many decisions as you can regarding your state, final preparations, so those who are grieving don't have to. Well, as I said, Hezekiah, he's a relatively young man, and this message shook him up. This dear man went to the Lord in earnest prayer. Now, I want to insert something here. There are quite a number of fine Bible commentators who think that Hezekiah should have simply accepted the word of the prophet Isaiah, and that the prayer really was out of place. And for no other reason, it's filled with hubris. They argue that Hezekiah heard God's word from God's prophet, and he should have simply submitted to it. And I will say that's not an illegitimate point. That's why, as I said, there's some very fine commentators who make that case. Nonetheless, I believe they're wrong because there's nothing in our text that indicates the Lord had any displeasure with this prayer. And in fact, we're going to see God responds to it with incredible compassion. So I take this as an earnest prayer. that God was pleased to answer. So let's just look at it a bit more closely. Well, having heard Isaiah's prognosis, again, Hezekiah's heart was breaking, and we're told there in verse 2, he turned his face toward the wall, and he prayed to the Lord. It seems to me that Hezekiah intended to have a time of deep, personal, intimate communion with the Lord. And I suspect turning to the wall was likely a way to not let anything or anyone else interfere with his communion with the Lord or distract him in any way, right? Because when you're in that moment, When the only thing you can do is cry out to God, you don't want to be interrupted in that moment. And I suspect that's why he turned to the wall. Hezekiah is a man who knows there is no human solution to his dilemma. Only Yahweh can heal him. restore and in verse 3 we we can hear we can hear him pleading remember now Oh Lord I pray how I've walked before you in truth and with a loyal heart and have done what was good in your sight and he wept bitterly now to our ears it might sound strange that Hezekiah is appealing to his Again, we might be inclined to think it sounds prideful, but I want to mention a few things that we need to remember as we evaluate this aspect of his prayer. First, what Hezekiah is saying about his life of faith is very similar to what the inspired author said about him back up in chapter 18 in verses 3 through 5. And so if the Bible is saying that about him, it's probably not necessarily hubris for him to say it about himself. We have to be able to distinguish between humility and false humility. And we like false humility, don't we, right? Oh, I'm so bad, I'm so unworthy. I had a conversation about two weeks ago with a dear man of God. And he's a minister, he's been a minister for about 30 years. He's one of the most faithful brothers I know. And I said something to the effect, I said, you're a mighty man of God. And he said, oh, no, I'm not. Oh, no, I'm not. And I was like, yes, you are. Do I have to twist your arm to tell you? And he should know that. That's not wrong, to acknowledge the truth. That's what Hezekiah is doing. The way Hezekiah prays is really mimicking the way David prayed often. In Psalm 7, David is crying out for deliverance from his enemies. And in verse 3 through 5, he says, if there's any wrong in my hands, Then let my enemy overtake me and trample me to the ground." You see, the implication was, I'm pleading with you, God, saying that there's nothing in my hands that's wrong. I'm walking faithfully with you. And then in verse 8 of that psalm, he says, Lord, judge me according to my righteousness. And please understand, when David says this sort of thing, he's not trying to make the case that he's sinless. David knew that from the time he was in his mother's womb, he was a sinner. He got that. What he's doing is saying to the Lord, when you survey the totality of my life, my heart has been loyal, right? David also uses this language in Psalm 18 and Psalm 26, where he again appeals to his covenant loyalty. In Psalm 44, one of the sons of Korah pleads covenant loyalty when he's asking for deliverance in the same way. Lord, I have been righteous. He's saying, I've walked uprightly before you. Nehemiah does this in Nehemiah 5, Nehemiah 13. That's what Hezekiah's doing. He's not claiming. sinless perfection. He's saying, Lord, up to this point in my life, I have been loyal to your covenant. And he has. The third thing we want to keep in mind is Hezekiah knew his Bible well. He had great theological acumen. We learned that when we studied his Reformation in the temple. And he would have known that God had promised his father David a kingdom that would have no end. And Hezekiah would have known what his place was in that covenant succession. And at this point, Hezekiah had no children. And if he died, how would God advance the covenant promises that he had made with David back in 2 Samuel 7? You see, I believe Hezekiah was actually concerned for God's covenant. And notice when the Lord answers the prayer, he connects the answer to David, which again, I think is a demonstration that that was the idea that Hezekiah had. Look there at verses 4 through 6. And it happened before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court that the word of the Lord came to him saying, return and tell Hezekiah, the leader of my people. Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father, I've heard your prayer. I've seen your tears. Surely I will heal you. On the third day, you should go up to the house of the Lord, and I will add to your days 15 years. I'll deliver you and the city from the hand of the king of Assyria, and I'll defend the city for my own sake and for the sake of my servant, David." It seems that the Lord was answering Hezekiah's concern. about covenant succession in the covenant that he had established with David. So in that way, the Lord's answer to Hezekiah's prayer seems to flow from two different directions. First, it's theological. It is for the sake of his covenant with David that he hears the prayer. He's going to deliver Hezekiah from death, and he's going to defend the city from the Assyrian attack for the sake of David. I've pointed out this so So often, brothers and sisters, I hope you don't tire of hearing this, but it's remarkable when you open up the New Testament to the book of Matthew and it's introducing you to Jesus Christ, the son of David, right? That's the first thing we read when we open up the New Testament. That tells you that you can read back in the Old Testament, God was never going to break that covenant line. And so his answer to this prayer was theological because he's faithful to his covenant promises. But there's a second reason that the Lord answered this prayer, and it has to do with the Lord's compassion. In verse three, we're told that Hezekiah wept That means this is a guy who's sobbing. He didn't want to die, and he's crying out to the Lord from a place of personal agony. And we're told something that ought to grip our hearts there in verse 5. The Lord says, I have seen your tears. Surely, I'll hear you." Our God is so compassionate, and His compassion is often related to and associated with His covenant promises. When Israel was laboring under the heavy burden of Egyptian bondage, they cried out and groaned to the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And we're told something remarkable in Exodus 3. God heard the prayers, He remembered His covenant, and He was moved by their groans. It's a remarkable thing that the Lord has such compassion on saints who are filled with pain and grief. But he surely does. Again, we see this in Romans 8 when Paul says, you know, there are going to be times when you're so overwhelmed that you just don't know how to pray. And the Holy Spirit that's at work in you, he'll produce utterances and groans that will offer the prayers you need. All this by way of teaching us the Lord is compassionate. When he's hurting children, cry out, cries out. Well, the Lord will heal Hezekiah, and you'll give him 15 more years. There's something in this text you don't want to miss, and I'm surprised that more commentators don't pick up on this. But did you notice Hezekiah in his prayer doesn't actually ask for healing? He doesn't ask for healing. He simply said, Lord, I don't know what to say other than I've been faithful. And this was all God's gracious initiative that would bring about his healing. I need to briefly address a couple sort of looming questions for those of you who are theologically inclined. One of those questions might be, did Hezekiah's prayer change God's mind? And the answer to that has to be a resounding no. That's impossible. The Bible is crystal clear. God is immutable. He can't change. He doesn't change. If He changed, He would not be God. So clearly, His prayer didn't change God's mind. Some of you may be familiar with the name Roger Nicole. He was a professor for many, many, many, many, many years at Gordon-Conwell and then at Reformed Theological Seminary. And he made an interesting comment I read in an article he wrote a number of years ago now. He said, I've thought about this over the years. And he said, if I thought my prayer could change God's mind, I'd stop praying. Right? I'd stop praying. Because that would be hubris to think there's something in my mind that's better than what's in God's mind. So again, this is not Hezekiah changing God's mind by prayer. What this was, was a test. As Hezekiah has faced them in the past, he's gonna face another one with Assyria. The test is simply this. You're in this moment of desperation. Will you trust wholly in God? And he did, and he cried out, and God answered him. And you might want to think about it this way. If you're sort of thinking this through and connecting theological dots, if Hezekiah hadn't prayed, that word would have come true. He would have died. Again, God's going to heal him. And it's a remarkable picture of God's compassion. Well, he told Hezekiah he's going to give him 15 more years and that he would be healed in three days and he'd be able to go to the temple. So he'll be fully restored in that time. And you have to think this reference to three day, that's such a common theme in the Bible. It's the day of resurrection. And so you have to think this is sort of a picture of Judas King who was functioning under a death sentence for three days and then would go into the temple on the day of resurrection. Probably, almost certainly, I think, was meant to point us to Jesus. But Isaiah didn't stop there. He cried out. He cried out on behalf of this saint. Now, one of the things that is questionable is Hezekiah apparently wasn't satisfied simply with this glorious word from Isaiah, and he asks for a sign. I say that that's questionable, but once again, There is no chastisement to Hezekiah for asking. And he's basically given the option, do you want God to do it the easy way or the hard way? And he says, I want you to do it the hard way. It's very easy if the shadow moves the way the shadow normally moves. I want the shadow to go backwards. And the language here is really difficult to understand. Probably had something to do with a sundial that Ahaz had put there. Or maybe it was steps in the temple. It really is all over the place with commentators and the language, as I said, is not easy to discern. But the point is the Lord did that. And this is what is truly remarkable. At the end of the day, the Lord was willing to move heaven and earth because he's faithful to his covenant promises. And he was willing to move heaven and earth because he had so much compassion for this godly man. Last week in the morning, we sang these wonderful words. Come, my soul, thy suit prepared. Jesus loves to answer prayer. He himself has bid thee pray, therefore will not say thee nay. Thou art coming to a king, large petitions. with thee bring, for his grace and power are such none can ever ask too much." Clearly, Hezekiah prayed with that mindset. He pleaded his covenant loyalty and said, God, remember me. What's remarkable for us, brothers and sisters, is while we should have covenant loyalty, When we pray, we don't plead our covenant loyalty. We plead the righteousness of Christ. And in and through him, the greater King, we know God hears our prayers. Amen. Well, I'll give you a moment to ask any questions or make any comments. As Akai is making his plea, there might have been also like, I'll say it this way, Lord, I'm all you've got in that he was a faithful king. Everybody else had to turn their back on God. So it's like, if I die, not only have I no heir, but it's going to go back to the way it was. That kind of happens, you know. Yeah. And it's interesting, there are no other kings that cried out for healing after David. Except Ezekiah, of course. These commentators that think that it was hubris of Hezekiah to not just accept what Isaiah said and he prayed, what do they say about Moses when God says, I'm going to destroy Israel and Moses pleads on their behalf? I say the same thing. It's exactly the same thing, right? Part of the issue is, after this event, If you read that parallel account in 2 Chronicles 32, after this healing, Hezekiah was puffed up. But there's no indication that he was before. It was a response. And I suspect that that happened well beyond, right? Those commentators, again, I'm gonna throw this out just for your information. I don't agree with this, but it's worth knowing, because if you read different commentators, you may hear this position. They think it was wrong for him to pray. And the evidence of that is the fruit of him living, right? And here's how they get there. His son Manasseh is gonna be the longest reigning king in either Judah or Israel. He's gonna reign for 55 years and talk about a train wreck, right? And when we come back next week, we're gonna see Hezekiah really blundered things. And again, if he had died then, those things would have not happened. But the reason I disagree with it is, in many ways, connects to what Todd said. He didn't have an heir. What was going to happen to the Davidic line? And I think that was on Hezekiah's mind. Yeah. This happened before a Syrian attack? What? This happened before a Syrian attack? So he had to be there. I mean, he's the one that God used to deliver them from Assyria. Exactly. That's another issue. Who would have done that? Who would have been a godly, pious king who would have taken the letter that was sent by the rapsakai into the temple and say, Lord, they're blaspheming you. Vindicate your name. I want you to do this, Lord, for your glory. Who would have done that, right? So yeah. Anything else? Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you. We thank you for your word. We're thankful to see this picture of the fervent prayer of a righteous man and seeing it availeth much. We pray, O God, that as we read these testimonies, that it'll motivate us to be men and women who pray with a boldness and are willing to ask for big things because there is nothing too great for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. We're thankful, O God, for Hezekiah's life. We're thankful that he was a godly king But ultimately, he was a sinner. And the torch would pass from him to his son, eventually to Ammon, to Josiah, all the way through to Zedekiah. None of those kings were truly righteous. And Judah needed a righteous king. And he would come. when you sent your son to take on flesh and to fulfill your covenant promises. That's the king who flies the banner under which we live and move and have our being. May we trust in him to know that through him we have access to the throne room of heaven, to the very throne of grace, and to be men and women who avail ourselves to that. and may it comfort us and bless us as we go from here this evening. We ask all this in Jesus' name, amen. Let me ask you to stand, brothers and sisters, to receive the Lord's benediction. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And all of God's people said, amen.