Please turn in your copies of God's Word once again to the Gospel of Luke. We're now in chapter 10, and we'll be reading verses 1 to 16. This is God's Word. After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way. Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, peace be to this house. And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you and remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house. Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near you. But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into the streets and say, even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we will wipe off against you. Nevertheless, know this, that the kingdom of God has come near. I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. Woe to you, Chorazin. Woe to you, Bethsaida. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more bearable in the judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you shall be brought down to Hades. The one who hears you hears me. The one who rejects you rejects me. And the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me. Well, so ends God's word, let us pray. Lord, we read here of Christ sending out messengers to proclaim his word and we read of the eternal consequences of those who receive the word and sit under it and whether they receive it or reject it. Lord, may you show your mercy in giving all of us ears to hear that we might be those who receive and thus are called sons of peace. Help us to receive your gospel, and in doing so, receive Christ, and in doing so, receive the one from whom Christ is sent. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen. Well, in our passage, we find Jesus continuing on his mission to go to Jerusalem. He's continuing to go along that road to Jerusalem. He has set his face like flint to go there and to do all that is necessary in order to accomplish our salvation. And just like kings do when they travel to a new town, Jesus also sends messengers on ahead to the towns that he's going to be visiting. The purpose being to prepare those towns for his reception. That's what kings do. Now, I've never been in a city that was receiving a king, but I was once part of the reception for a queen. Back in 2011, the Queen of England planned a visit to Ireland. And it was a very big deal because it was the first time that a reigning British monarch was visiting the Republic of Ireland. And given England's tyranny of the Irish for 800 years, there was reason to be concerned. The last time that the English had visited my city, in terms of the crown that is, obviously not English people, but the crown, was when my grandfather was a teenager and they burnt my city to the ground. So for weeks ahead of her visit, Irish police worked with Scotland Yard and MI6 to go through all of the various security risks and measures that needed to be put in place. I remember being there and overseeing and watching them welding shut manhole covers so that they couldn't be opened up and accessed to plant explosives to blow up on the poor Queen. Well, after weeks of planning, she finally arrived with her husband, Prince Philip, and it was the largest security operation the state had ever undertaken. Every police officer in Ireland was on duty, myself included. Every junction along her route was blocked off. There were snipers on every rooftop in the city. all to prepare for the arrival of the Queen. And thanks be to God, it went off without a hitch. It's interesting, actually, the first city she was in, well, I think she might have landed in Belfast, but when she was in Dublin, the first city in the Republic, she received a very cold welcome. There was no one who came out to see her. But then when she came to Cork, in my city, there was such a warm reception. She actually broke protocol and she got out of the car and she started mingling with the crowd, something that probably made her security have heart attacks. But all that to say, it was a successful visit and she was received very warmly. Well, here in our passage, we have a king who's traveling through a country. He's traveling from town to town. But he isn't just any old king. He is the king of kings. He is the Lord of Lords. He is Jesus Christ, God incarnate. And if anyone deserves a carefully choreographed and carefully security measures being put in place for his visit from town to town, well, it's King Jesus. However, Jesus' travels from town to town are not preceded by the usual security efforts that most kings receive. There's no pomp or ceremony or parade. There's no junctions blocked off. Typically, messengers of the king that were sent ahead were very well-dressed because, well, they represent the king himself. But Jesus sends out his messengers from town to town dressed like beggars. Instead of telling his disciples to wear their best suit and tie and polish their shoes, he tells them to go barefoot. And instead of demanding a place to stay when they arrive in the town, they're to politely request lodging, while also expecting a great measure of rejection from the people of that town. From external appearances, the kingdom of Jesus is not much to look at. In fact, what it looks like is weakness. It looks pathetic in the eyes of the world. And yet, the power that these messengers have as they announce the king's coming is not in their fine clothing or their appearances. It's not because they're carrying large swords to intimidate people. No, the power that these messengers have is in their message. Christ has given his messengers the authority to declare the coming of the kingdom and to announce peace to those who will receive it. and to warn of impending judgment for those who reject their message. And the reality is that this same powerful message is going out today. Again, in the eyes of the world, the church looks weak and pathetic and beggarly. But it is, as Paul says, the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. To all with eyes of faith, we see that the church and her message is the only refuge for sinners. Well, this morning, Christ continues to proclaim news of himself to people. So let's consider then how this passage reveals to us and what it announces to us about who Jesus is. First we see Jesus is the Lord of the harvest. And secondly, how he is the shepherd of his flock. And then third, how he is the coming king. First we see Jesus revealed as the Lord of the harvest. So as Jesus has been making his way to Jerusalem, he's been traveling from town to town, but he doesn't just go into town unannounced. No, he has been sending messengers. We saw that actually back in chapter nine, verse 52, where he had sent ahead several disciples to the city of the Samaritans in order to prepare his coming and to secure lodgings. Well, now he expands this mission that had been given to the 12 to a much larger group. We read that in verse one. After this, the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And just as the number 12 is significant, the 12 disciples corresponds with the 12 tribes of Israel, the number 72 or 70, whichever one it is, could also be drawing on that kind of Moses imagery where he appoints 70 elders. Either way, these 72 are chosen much like the 12, and they're sent out on a similar short-term mission trip, much like the 12 had been back in chapter nine. Well, after appointing these new messengers, Jesus speaks to them of the kind of work they must do. The work of these ministers is most clearly described in verse nine. He sends them out to heal the sick and to say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. So the mission of these 72 is primarily one of proclamation. It's a speaking mission. They're not there to paint houses or to hand out bread or something like that. No, they're there to proclaim the good news of the coming of the king and of his kingdom. And what's interesting is that in verse two, Jesus compares that work to harvesting. Harvesting, look with me at verse two. And he said to them, the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So their work of proclaiming the gospel and of gathering together those who believe is much like the work of a farmer and his laborers who are bringing in the harvest from the field. And notice that Jesus says it is a plentiful harvest. In other words, there are so many people that need to be harvested. There are so many people that need to hear the gospel, the message that the King is coming. These people need to be brought in. There is no shortage of work. Now, most farmers, of course, would be delighted with a plentiful harvest. However, the reality of having a plentiful harvest means that there's a lot of work to be done. When a crop is ready to be harvested, you can't sit around and just wait. No, you need to be efficient in gathering in that harvest. If you leave out the harvest too long, well then it can be ruined by weather or insects or disease. And so Jesus is striking a note of urgency here. This is a task that must be done in earnest. However, there's also a problem. Jesus strikes a note of concern when he says that the harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. So there's all this work that needs to be done in order to bring in the harvest, but there are very few hands to help in doing it. Well, what are we to do if the harvest is ready, it's ripe, it needs to be brought in before the storm comes or the weather changes? Is it a lost cause? No, Jesus says, therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. There's so much theology that Jesus packs in here into his harvest metaphor. First of all, whose harvest is it? Is it your harvest? Is it our harvest as a church? Is it the church's harvest? No, it's not ours at all. Jesus says it's his harvest. He is the Lord, or maybe better translated, the master who owns the field. And he owns the harvest, he owns the property, he owns everything in it. And he directs and appoints all of the workers in his field. And because it's all his, Jesus tells us to pray to him, to send out more laborers in his harvest. What does this teach us? Well, it teaches us that while we, the church, have the responsibility to proclaim the gospel to sinners, and we, the church, have the responsibility to support and send missionaries and support and help church planting efforts, ultimately, we do not do it in our own strengths. We do it in the strength that he gives us. There are so many organizations of human origin, many even worthwhile organizations that will rise and fall over time, over the years and decades as empires themselves rise and fall. But the Church is not an organization of human origin. It is of divine origin. And it has one lord and master who oversees it, who first established it and now oversees it and continues to provide for it and provide leadership for it. God is the master of the harvest, sovereignly overseeing and ordering all things because it's all his. The world is his. The laborers are his. The harvest is his. And he will bring to himself all that is his. So even though the disciples might be knocking at the knees as they think about going from city to city, and soon to go throughout all the world, maybe they feel overwhelmed by their labor. Or they can know with confidence that the Lord is in control, and so they can ask him for help. Well, the application to us this morning couldn't be clearer, could it? We are to pray for God to raise up more laborers for his harvest because God is the one who raises ministers and appoints them and equips them and calls them through his church. We are to ask him to do that very thing. As we think of unreached people groups around the world, we're to pray that God might put a burning desire in the hearts of men to go and to announce the gospel to those people. We need the Lord to raise up laborers. We can't manufacture these things. But it doesn't only apply to missionary contexts. I'm sure you can think of many local churches that need more elders, more pastors, churches without full-time preaching pastors. So even locally, it's needed. Let me tell you, we as a local church need more laborers in the gospel. We need the Lord to provide. Men who, as Paul says, aspire to the office of elder. We need men whose hearts burn with a desire to shepherd God's people and help train and mature people in the maturity of Christ. So would you pray with me that the Lord would provide for us as a church? To this application, I'd also add, pray not only for more laborers, pray for the laborers you already have. Continue to pray, as I know you already do, for those who currently labor in this church. Now, that might be fine to say, well, pray for us elders. Well, you might be asking, well, I want to pray for you, but how can I best pray for my elders, my pastors? The greatest thing, easily, easily the greatest thing that you can pray for your elders and your pastors is that we may be found faithful to our calling. There are all kinds of buzzwords for ministry and what pastors do and all that kind of stuff, and you go into most Christian bookstores and they're on the cover of every book, all these buzzwords and things. Somebody needs to write a book just called Faithful, Faithful, because that's what we're called to be. There are plenty of laborers who burn bright for a moment, like Roman candles, and then they're gone. The church doesn't need more men like that. What she needs is men who will stay the course, so pray. that your laborers may be faithful to their callings. Isn't that Paul's continual plea to Timothy and Titus? Brothers, be patient with those under your care. Take time. Be faithful. Timothy, I know you're feeling like leaving. I know it looks like there's greener pastures over there, but remain in Ephesus, Timothy. As Jesus said, as we considered it, I think it was last week, Jesus says, keep your hand to the plow. Don't look back. stay faithful, persevere, so pray for us, would you, that we might be found faithful to the task that we have been given, that we might be faithful men by God's grace, and men of integrity, whether it's in the home, or it's alone in our studies, or it's in the pulpit, that we might be men of integrity. And whether we are those doing the labor, or we are those who are upholding those who labor with our giving and with our prayers, Let us all do what we've been called to do in the confidence that God will accomplish all of his holy will. And you know what his will is. Jesus has told us. He said, I should lose nothing. of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. This is what we're working towards by God's grace. So let us pray and let us depend upon the Lord of the harvest. Well, Jesus is the Lord of the harvest. Secondly, Jesus is the shepherd of his flock. Well, after selecting the 72 and calling them to this great work of proclamation and then sending them out, well, before he sends them out, actually, he tells them something startling, something that probably made them kind of give each other glances. In verse three, he says, go your way. Behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Now, that's a frightening thought, isn't it? You know, this may have been written 2,000 years ago, Jesus may have said these words 2,000 years ago, but this imagery of lambs among wolves is not something that's lost on us. Children, what do you think happens if you have a field full of lambs and then suddenly you unleash all these rabid wolves among them? What happens? Nothing good. To a lamb, wolves are cunning and vicious. To a wolf, a lamb looks silly and weak and delicious. It's as if Jesus is saying, I am going to hang you as a stake before hungry dogs. Jesus is not sending his disciples out in the strength of lions, but in the weakness of lambs. And we see this weak lamb imagery played out then in the instructions that he gives them. These instructions that he gives are almost identical to the instructions he gave to the 12 back in the beginning of chapter nine. Again, just to say, these instructions are for a specific time. Later, he will revoke or amend those instructions. Well, Jesus instructs them here, carry no money bag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. So they're being sent out to go from town to town announcing the coming of this glorious king, but the only thing they'll have with them is the clothes on their back and the message that Jesus has given them. They won't carry a royal scepter or a royal insignia or brooch. They won't be riding into town on a royal steed or on a chariot pulled by mighty horses. No, they won't even have shoes on their feet. What does that look like? Picture it, two men walking into your town, no possessions, no bags, no money, not even shoes on their feet. They look like beggars is what they look like. Then he tells them not to greet anyone on the road. An unusual order, but I think one that conveys the sense of the urgency there to get to the town and do their job. Now why would Jesus send them out like this? Well, I think there are several reasons. The first is to teach them to rely on the Lord's provision and on His strengths. Although the 72 cannot take any provisions with them, they will be provided for. Jesus explains in verses seven and eight that those who receive their message will invite them into their homes and then they'll provide for their needs. So there is an obligation that Jesus places on those who receive the benefits of the gospel, that they must care for those who do the work of the gospel. As Jesus says, the laborer deserves his wages. And so while the host is being gracious, the minister has deserved that support, they must give it to him. And when they are supported, he tells them they're to receive it gratefully. Why does he tell them this? Well, in that day, in the ancient world, it was very common for these sort of traveling philosophers and teachers and rabbis to kind of go from town to town and almost prey on the goodwill and the hospitality of people. And they were known for, you know, going into a town and, you know, finding, you know, some kind of lodging. And then when they find out that some place is better over there, they'll switch over and, you know, improve their lodging. And so essentially, Jesus says, if you come to a town and someone invites you for dinner and they're serving hot dogs, well, don't go to the next door neighbor because you smell that they're grilling up ribeyes. No, stay in the first house and be grateful for whatever they provide you with. And so here we see, even though the 72 are sent out in weakness, God will provide for their needs. And in this, we see that even though they're sent out like lambs among wolves, They're not lambs wandering aimlessly through the hillside. They're not lambs wandering alone. In the first metaphor, the 72 were the workers, and therefore we were told explicitly that therefore Jesus is the Lord of the harvest. Here, with this imagery of the disciples as lambs, what does that make Jesus? If Jesus' people are lambs, all that makes Jesus the shepherd of his flock. Of course, this is imagery that's familiar to us. We think warmly and fondly and recollect with love the tender words of Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd. We can think of other places, like Isaiah 40, verse 11, which says, he will tend his flock like a shepherd. He will gather the lambs in his arms. He will carry them in his bosom and gently lead them, lead those that are with young. So on the one hand, yes, Jesus is sending them out like lambs among wolves. They will face real danger, but they're not alone. They will not be without the protection and the leading of their shepherd. Cyril of Alexandria, the ancient church father, comments. How then does he command the holy apostles who were innocent men and sheep to seek the company of wolves and go to them of their own will? Is not the danger apparent? Are they not set up as ready prey for their attacks? How can a sheep prevail over a wolf? How can one so peaceful conquer the savages of beasts of prey? Yes, he says, for they all have me as their shepherd, small and great, people and princes, teachers and students. I will be with you all, help you and deliver you from all evil. What a comforting truth this is. While you may not be an apostle or a minister, you may not be called to do what these 72 have been called to do, you may not be gifted with the gift of preaching or the accompanying office, you have been called by Christ. And Christ has placed you exactly where you are. He has sent you into the world. And wherever you are, whether it's in your specific workplace, your building site, your office block, or wherever it is, or whether you're in a nursing home, or you're still studying in school, or you're in university, wherever you are, he has called you and he has placed you there to be a light for him and for his gospel. And perhaps as you are in those various callings, that imagery of a lamb among wolves is exactly how you feel. Perhaps you know all too well the savagery of the wolves of the world as you're simply trying to live peaceably with all men, as you're trying to live in the world but not be of it, as you're trying to live to the glory of God while all the time taking flack from those who are unbelievers. And you might be knocking at the knees at the very thought of sharing the gospel with a coworker, let alone just trying to survive the onslaught of wolves. It's in those times that you are to remember your shepherd and that the Lord is the one who is your shepherd. And while he doesn't promise to keep you from those dark valleys, he doesn't say, don't worry, there won't be any wolves. Well, he doesn't promise those things. What he does promise is to lead you through those difficult times, those hard situations, those toxic relationships. So just as with the 72, Jesus' talk of lambs and wolves is not designed to scare us or make us feel hopeless. Rather, it's to remind us that we have a shepherd, a good shepherd, one who leads us, who guides us, who provides for us, who, in the words of Isaiah the prophet, who picks us up and carries us in his arms tenderly. And so, beloved, as you struggle among the wolves, draw near to Christ, draw near to the one who is your good shepherd. Jesus is the Lord of the harvest. He's the shepherd of his flock. Third, we see Jesus is the coming king. The primary mission of the 72 is to go from town to town proclaiming the coming of King Jesus. They're not being sent out as snake oil salesmen. They're not being sent out just giving practical moral advice on how to be good Israelites. No, they're going to announce the arrival of the one whom the world has been pining for, as the hymn says. They're announcing the arrival of the king that was first promised to Adam. a promise to Abraham, to David, and to Israel. But as they announce the coming of the king, Jesus prepares them for two different kinds of responses. Some will receive their message, but some will reject it. Those who receive their message will also receive peace. Verse five. Whatever house you enter, first say, peace be to this house. And if the son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon them. And then verse nine, heal the sick in it and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you. So those who receive their message, they are to announce the kingdom's nearness and the peace of the Lord. What is this peace that they are announcing? Well, recall how so many times throughout the Gospel of Luke so far, when Jesus heals someone, he often accompanies that with a word of peace. He tells someone to go in peace. Think in particular of the sinful woman in the house of Simon the Pharisee. Jesus declares to her, your sins are forgiven, your faith has made you well, go in peace. So this peace isn't shalom. It isn't the common greeting of the day. Rather, it is the peace of God. It is the peace that Jesus Christ brings. It is the peace we have with God in a restored and reconciled relationship through the merits of Christ's work. And to all who receive the message of Christ, his ministers have the authority to, with these words of benediction, to announce, peace be upon you. Well, that's one response, those who receive the message and thus receive peace. There's a second response, which the disciples are to anticipate. Some will reject their message and thus fall under judgment. Now what's interesting is that the kingdom is preached to everybody indiscriminately. Peace is only fully declared to those who receive the gospel, but the offer is made to all. St. Augustine notes in this passage, since we do not know who is a son of peace, it is our part to leave no one out, to set no one aside, but to desire that all to whom we preach this peace be saved. So they're to preach to all, but for those who reject the message, well Jesus gives instructions of what they're to do in verses 10 and 11. If a town does not receive them or their message, they are to shake the dust from their feet, a sign that that town or those people have been cut off from the kingdom. But again, interestingly, just as with those who receive the kingdom, the 72 are still to proclaim that the kingdom has come near. The kingdom isn't something that exists in your heart and it's something you feel to be true. No, whether you reject the kingdom or you accept the kingdom, the kingdom is coming near and the king is coming. That's what they are to declare. And for those who reject the kingdom, they will be judged. Jesus describes this judgment in verses 12 to 16. He says that the cities who reject his kingship now will be judged, much like the wicked city of Sodom. On judgment day, Sodom, the most despicable of ancient Gentile cities, and the very symbol of unrighteousness, Jesus says will fare better than those cities that reject him now. The reality is that this same gospel message is still being announced today from town to town, city to city, country to country. The kingdom is being announced to all with the promise of peace for those who receive it, but also with the warning of judgment for those who reject the king. This is not a popular message today, but it is one that must be announced, and it's one that must be heard. What most people believe today is that if you're trying your best, and you're living the best version of yourself, and you're not really too bad a person, well then it'll all end okay. You'll have your version of heaven. And we don't need the idea of hell so much, at least not for ourselves. Sure, we need to reserve the idea of judgment and hell for someone like Hitler, and maybe the people I don't like. But most of us are fine. After all, aren't we all seeking the same thing? Our own version of the good, our own version of God? Whether we call him different names, or we take different paths, or we have different holy books, or different religions, isn't it all the same in the end? Doesn't it all lead the same way? Confessional Reformed Christian, why can't you be more like the Christians who are, you know, all into coexist and being okay with all that stuff? Why do you have those dusty old creeds and confessions with their archaic and ugly doctrines of the gospel with its exclusive call to Christ and the doctrines of hell? Won't we all just inherit the kingdom of heaven in the end if we try to do our best? This may be the common message of the day, but it's not the message of Christ, and it's not the message that's contained in the Gospel of Luke or the whole of Scripture. No, Scripture is clear, that only the righteous will inherit the kingdom. Listen to Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 6, 9-11. He writes, do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. All of us, every one of us, should find a place in that list. And if you haven't, you need to read that section again. If you haven't committed adultery, you have been greedy. All of us are sinners. None of us are righteous. And therefore, all of us are unrighteous. And thus, none of us deserve the kingdom, and all of us deserve that same judgment that's awaiting Sodom and Tyre and Sidon. To enter the kingdom of God, you must be righteous. You must be pure, and that is not pure in your own definition of what a good person is. No, righteous before the courts of heaven, before God himself. The bad news is that we're not righteous. We are unrighteous. The good news is that God has provided the way for us to be made righteous. That only way is through Jesus Christ. There is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. There is no back door into heaven. There is no other religion or philosophy or way of life. There are no good works that you can pile up to claw your way into heaven. No, it comes only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. It comes through not leaning on your own works and your own understanding, but looking to the works of Christ. As Paul continues, In 1 Corinthians 6, you were these things, now he says, and such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. Whereas we stood condemned as unrighteous rebels and sinners in our sin and in our unrighteousness, Christ has come. And he has become our righteousness. Paul says that we're justified through Christ. That we're justified simply means that we who were unrighteous have been made and declared righteous before the eyes of God. This is how we inherit heaven, only through the merits and work of Jesus Christ. He is the only way. And that's why the work of these messengers is so important. It was then and it is now. That's why as a church, our mission as a church, I won't go through the list of things that are in my head that we're not called to do as a church. What we are called to do is to proclaim the gospel week in and week out from the pulpit here. We are to send missionaries. We're to support church plants. This is the kingdom work to which we have been called. We're to pray for the Lord of the harvest, to send out messengers, to announce this glorious gospel that sinners who stand under condemnation might be saved by a gospel that they do not deserve, but that Christ has earned for them. Well, dear friend, Make no mistake, Jesus is coming again. The question for you is, having heard this very message, what is your response? Will you receive the king? Will you reject him? Do you have peace with God? Do you have certainty and assurance that on the final day when the king returns, that you will inherit heaven? Or will you be like Sodom and Tyre and those cities, cast down to Hades? You must repent of your sin. You must turn to Christ. Lean no longer on your own understanding, but look to the one who has made peace, and thus can announce peace to you. And to all who do believe, rejoice that you have peace with God through Jesus Christ, and rejoice that because of Christ and nothing in yourself, your names are written in heaven. Let's pray. Lord, even now we ask you as the Lord of the Harvest to do the work that must be done by you alone. Even through the preaching of the word, we ask that your Holy Spirit would bring conviction as we remember what we've heard this morning. Bring comfort as we've been comforted that Christ is our good shepherd who's with us even as we are among the wolves. And Lord, for all who may not know you this morning, we ask that their consciences would be pricked and that they would long for and look to the righteousness that comes by faith alone, through Christ alone, through the glory and praise of God alone. We pray these things in Jesus' name, amen.