Please turn with me in your Bibles to Amos and chapter number 4. Amos and chapter number 4. Our text for this morning is in Amos chapter number 4 and verse number 12. Verse number 12. Therefore, thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. Amen. And our title for this morning's message is this, prepare to meet God. Prepare to meet God. There is a very well-known expression, I'm sure you've heard it, fail to prepare, prepare to fail. Now what does that mean? Well, I think most of us know that if we don't make plans, if we don't have some sort of direction in what we're doing, generally speaking, usually these things don't really work out. It's good to plan and it's good to prepare. If you're in school and you're writing an essay, often the teachers years ago would say, plan out what you're going to write, where does your story begin, who are the main characters, and you plan it out before you start writing at all. Otherwise, the story might go in all the wrong direction and not have any satisfying conclusion at all. Or perhaps you have a lot of guests come to your house and you're very unprepared and there's a sense of panic and you don't feel ready for all the people coming over to your house and Well friends, we have a more important meeting to prepare ourselves next Sabbath morning when we come to meet the Lord at the Lord's Table. We should not ignore preparation for the Lord's table. And in life we know this, but I wonder if we know this when it comes to things of the church. Even this morning, friends, when we come into the presence of the Lord, we should prepare our hearts before we even come to the Holy of Holies. If you've got exams, what should you do? You prepare. You study. And what happens if you don't study for that exam? The question comes up and panic. You're not ready for it. Children, you must get ready for bed. And you usually have to get ready in quite a lot of time because if you don't, Takes you a long time maybe to brush your teeth, maybe takes you a long time to put the pajamas on, all these kinds of things. You have to prepare or you're going to be rushing through everything and not do things properly. You might even forget to do something. Maybe you'll even forget to brush your teeth. We prepare for all kinds of things in life. Things that are not nearly as important as meeting with God. But we spend so much time preparing for things, don't we? Preparing for all sorts of things. Friends, we must prepare to meet with God. So that we don't come coldly, but warm before the Lord. To prepare our hearts so we would receive it. That there's a blessing in coming to meet God, but there is a danger, isn't there? When we don't, when we're not prepared. This morning is what you could call a preparatory sermon for the Lord's Supper next Sabbath day. And Lord willing, we will, in the morning service, observe the Lord's Table together. And you probably are not maybe familiar with our practice here, and you may wonder, how come we don't have the Lord's Table every week? Well, let's give one or two reasons for that. Number one, we're not told in the Bible how often we're supposed to do it, but we are also to prepare ourselves sufficiently for the sacrament. That's not easy to do if you're doing it every single week. It is a sign of Christ's body and blood. It is a seal of the promises made. What's a seal? See it at the end of a document or something official, and it gives you confidence. It reassures you. So it's very, very important that we as a session in this congregation know and have confidence that you are a believer in Jesus Christ. This is why we also fence the table. And Lord willing, we'll see this next week. But this is not possible to do every single week. The Westminster Larger Catechism says this. This is question 171 of the Westminster Larger Catechism. How are they that receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper to prepare themselves before they come unto it? Answer, they that receive the sacrament of the Lord's Supper are, before they come, to prepare themselves thereunto by examining themselves of their being in Christ, of their sins and wants, of the truth and measure of their knowledge, faith, and repentance, love to God and the brethren, charity to all men, forgiving those that have done them wrong, of their desires after Christ, and of their new obedience, and by renewing the exercise of these graces by serious meditation and fervent prayer." So you see there friends, our subordinate standards of this church, we recognize. That it is important to prepare ourselves for the Lord's table. That we don't come mechanically. We come by faith. And faith alone. Our first point that we're going to look at here this morning as we look at verse number 12 is this. Reason. Reason. And what I mean by reason is this. Reason as against foolishness. Reason as against folly. What is logical to do when we see all this death and destruction around us? Which they saw in Amos' day as well, when he preached to the northern kingdom of Israel. It says, remind ourselves of our text, therefore, thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God. And this, what is being referred to here is, I have overthrown, verse 11, some of you. So this is coming. What should we do? Should we prepare ourselves for death? Should we prepare ourselves for the inevitable? It says in Proverbs 22 in verse 3. Proverbs 22 and verse number 3. It says, a prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished. The wise will prepare themselves. If there's a storm coming, what should you do? Ignore it? Pretend it's not going to happen, it's not going to be that dangerous? Well, usually when people go through really bad storms and really bad experiences with wind and rain, possibly heavy snow, they realize how dangerous it is. there's danger all around us, but nothing compares to the danger of eternal death. Friends, none of us here have experienced the full fury of Almighty God, but we have seen evidences and suffering and indeed suffered ourselves because we live in this fallen world that is all around us. Death, you could say, stalks us at every turn. It is an enemy we face. And it is an enemy facing all those outside of Jesus Christ. Eternal and everlasting death. We have reminders in the hospital wards. If you go to see a friend in hospital, you see a lot of sick people. You see a lot of people suffering. The reminders of the death and destruction that we all face and why we must be prepared to meet God one day. We have reminders in the graveyards. We have reminders in the care homes. We have reminders when we visit our elderly parents. We have reminders when we see sick children in hospitals and in homes. Why? In Adam, all died. 1 Corinthians 15, 22. In Adam, all died. Sin brought in all this that we see around us. In Genesis 2, 17. Genesis chapter two and verse number 17. Well, verse 16 as well. And the Lord God commanded the man of every tree of the garden, thou mayest freely eat. But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And the man there is referring to Adam. But they're allowed to eat of every tree, but there's one tree that they're not allowed to eat from. They break that commandment. Now, when that commandment was given, there was no pain. There was no death. There was no suffering. They were not surrounded by all the evidences of what would happen if they ignored this warning from Almighty God. But what did they do? They listened to the lies of the enemy. They listened to the false promises. of the world, the flesh, and the devil. Genesis chapter 3. Genesis chapter 3 from verse number 14 down to verse number 19. This is what happened because of the curse. And the Lord God said unto the serpent, because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon thy belly thou shalt go, and dust thou shalt eat all the days of thy life. And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam he said, because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, thou hast eaten of the tree which I commended thee. saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee. And thou shalt eat the herb of the field. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return unto the ground. For out of it thou wast taken. For dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return. Work is not a bad thing, but work became extremely difficult from the fall. And we see time and time again all around us suffering, difficulties, misery because of sin. This is not the way the world was originally made. Now, in our text in Amos, when it says, prepare to meet thy God. Who is saying this to Israel? And Israel had become extremely complacent. This is the northern kingdom. There had been a division that had taken place between the north and the south. The southern kingdom was Judah. The northern kingdom was called Israel. And they were given many warnings. And who is He who warns them? Verse 13 of Amos chapter 4, For lo, He that formeth the mountains, and created the wind, and declared unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, the Lord, the God of hosts, is His name. And that phrase there, the God of hosts, or the God of armies, the God mighty and powerful. He has many hosts, legions to serve Him. Not that He needs any. He's all-powerful. But it shows His power. It shows His strength. And it shows His might. He is the one who says to you here this morning, friends, prepare to meet God. And what will we do? Will we embrace the way of reason? Or will we embrace the way of foolishness. Those are the only two ways before you. Will we embrace the way of preparedness, preparation of our souls, seeking God's way of salvation, or will we seek our own way? Will we live our lives our way, in our time, and it pleases us just like those in Amos' day that he preached to? Actually, if you read through the book of Amos, You may wonder, is it speaking of many of the things we see in our own day? Why? Because we see time and time again, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. We must be ready. We must be prepared. We must embrace the way of truth. In Matthew chapter 24, Matthew chapter number 24, verse 42 to 44, Matthew 24. And verse 44, Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh. And this, and just give a little context here, this text, verse 42. Verse 42 of Matthew 24, Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour Your Lord doth come. And I know people read this and go, well, we don't know when the Lord's going to return. That's true. We don't. There are only very strange cults who will claim to know that the time of the Lord's return. But we're to be ready, aren't we? Watch, be ready, because the person of faith, the person who's prepared, is expecting the Lord's return. And we're living in such a way that shows that preparedness. We don't live like the world that doesn't, that acts like the Lord will not return. So friends, we need to be prepared for heaven. And we also need to be prepared for the Lord's table. Our second point here this morning is this resistance. Number one, reason. Number two, resistance. Why was Amos chapter 4 verse 12 said at this time? Well quite simply, they were not prepared. The Northern Kingdom was in a mess, spiritually and otherwise. Very cruel. It had kind of come into a very self-righteous state. And Amos, this person who doesn't come from, you could say, a theological background, he's taking care of animals, and the Lord takes him from that place and sends him with a message to this Northern Kingdom to warn them. Because they were not prepared for the Lord. They were not prepared to stand before God. They would face the same destruction as Sodom and Gomorrah. Amos chapter 5 and verses 18 to 20. Amos chapter 5 and verses 18 to 20. Woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord. To what end is it for you? The day of the Lord is darkness and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion and a bear met him, or went into the house and leaned his hand on the wall and a serpent bit him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness and not light, even very dark and no brightness in it? There's a strange thing that they thought a day was coming. This is fairly religious. And even though with all the errors that they'd embraced. They thought, God's going to come back one day. And God's going to sort out all our enemies all around us. The book of Amos starts off like this. And it deals with all the enemies of Israel. And then it comes to Judah. So Judah's got problems as well. And they will be judged. But then, let's not forget you. Oh Israel. Let's not forget your sins. It's very easy, isn't it? To look at the sins of others. To look at all the things that other people have to sort out in our own heart, in our lives. But what about our own hearts? And what about our own sin? You may say, I'm here this morning, I'm saved, I've trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ, and I praise God for that. I pray that it is true in your heart. However, we do not say we're just one and done, I've done that. We grow in these things. We must, as believers, not be resistant to the truth of the gospel. But Amos has been sent, it seems, to people that are very self-righteous and have no reason, you could say, to be. They're resistant to the gospel message. And again, we point out there's a division. This sometimes can be kind of confusing when people are reading through the Old Testament. People are going, Okay, this is Israel, Judah, what's all this about? But it was all one country at one point, under David, under Solomon, indeed under Saul. But then later on, after the death of Solomon, there's a very painful division that takes place between the northern kingdom, which is being referred to here, which was, the first king was Jeroboam, the son of the Baal. And then in the south, there was Rehoboam. And you've got this painful division between Judah and Israel and their enemies. And generally speaking, there are some somewhat good kings in the south, in Judah, but the kings of Israel are horrid. There's a hostile resistance to the truth in this northern kingdom of Israel. It says in Amos chapter 2 and verses 11 and 12, Amos chapter 2 and verses 11 and 12, And I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your son And of your young men, for Nazarites, is it not even thus, O ye children of Israel, saith the Lord? Which ye have given the Nazarites wine to drink, and commanded the prophets, saying, Prophesy not. There was a Nazarite vow that somebody had given themselves to in the Old Testament. And one of the things that they said was they wouldn't keep away from grapes and keep away from wine. That does not mean that this is for everyone, because we have wine in the Lord's table. But you have, they have turned away and they've polluted this Nazarite vow of this Old Testament. But they've also commanded the prophets saying, prophesy not. They don't want to hear. They don't want to listen to the truth that God had sent via the prophets. Now, we may say, ah, these people, why didn't they listen? So often, friends, why don't we? This is us by nature. This is us all by nature. See, we need grace. from God. Romans 3 and verse 12. Romans 3 and verse number 12. It says this, they are all gone out of the way, they are all together become unprofitable for there is none that doeth good, no not one. And this is quoting as well from Psalm number 14. Paul in the Romans, Romans chapter three verse 12. There's none that doeth good, no not one. There's none that seeketh after God, none. So there's none of us can boast and say we're better than anyone else. Because friends here this morning, do you think I'm a good person? I'm pretty good. And you think that you deserve things. Friends, there's only one thing that we deserve in our own works. And that is the wrath of God. Either you agree with the Bible, but if you think you're a good person and you say, I agree with the Bible too, what you're really calling the Bible is foolishness. Because the Bible says that there's, all are under sin. All are under the wrath of God outside of Jesus Christ. Friends, if you agree with the Bible, you will see you are a sinner. You are someone who has broken the law of God. That is what it is to embrace Jesus Christ. You see your sin. You see that you would be overthrown like the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. It's referred to in verse 11. Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel, because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel. Are you ready? Or will you continue your war against God? You see, unbelief is not just neutrality towards God, it is hostile resistance. We read earlier in Genesis chapter three and verse 15, What came with the fall was also enmity, hostility between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Between the godly seed and those who serve the world, the flesh, and the devil. There's war. And those who serve the seed of the serpent, who follow in that way, are at war with God. And how will that war end? Now, a lot of people who are at war with God don't realize it. Which is why Amos says to them, woe unto you that desire the day of the Lord. They think the day of the Lord's a wonderful thing for them, but there's no evidence for that whatsoever. Why? Because we see they treat their neighbor horribly. There's a massive disconnect between what they profess to believe and the way they live their lives. In Amos chapter 2 and verse 6 gives an idea of this. Thus saith the Lord for three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof because they have sold the righteous for silver and the poor for a pair of shoes. And they're all about worldly materialism. And they treat the poor so badly that they sell them for a pair of shoes. They have such a low view of human life. Short-lived prosperity. And they gave up the unsearchable riches of Christ For the temporary, small riches of this world. For the applause of this world. Friends, if a man, woman, or child is resistant to preparation to coming to Christ, they don't know their sin. Friends, do you know your sin? Do you know perfection of holiness that is demanded in heaven. Your thought life. How pure is your thought life? There was a recent talk that I saw a few years ago and one man stood up and it seems to be a virtue these days that people can talk but all the horrible things that they're thinking about in their minds and in their hearts But I'm not going to follow through and do it. Friends, our thought life matters as well. What we think about matters. Now, I know when the suggestions of Satan come into our minds and we wonder, where did that come from? But we must be active, seeking to put these things to death. And I know these things are difficult. We get weary, we get tired in the midst of a war. The longer it goes on, way will it end. But friends, it will end when God decides for it to end. And then we will go and meet God. Our third point, retribution. Retribution. Here in verse number 12, we have, it's a rebuke. It is a rebuke to the people of Israel, that they're not ready. Resistant rebels. And this word retribution is the idea of what is to be repaid. What is owed? What is the penalty to be paid? Well, it's the wrath of God. Ezekiel chapter 5 and verse 15. Ezekiel chapter 5 and verse number 15. So it shall be a reproach and a taunt, an instruction and an astonishment unto the nations that are round about thee, when I shall execute judgments in thee, in anger and in fury, and in furious rebukes. I, the Lord, have spoken it." Sometimes we'll read about hell, and the torments of hell, and the horrors of hell, and we almost think that these things seem so beyond that we almost downplay it. It can't possibly be that bad, we think. It's far worse than we can ever imagine. Not just the duration, but to have the torments of knowing that we have been justly punished for all that we have done. See, one of the most frightening things about hell is this. We deserve it. We deserve it. Ezekiel 25 and verse 17. Ezekiel 25 and verse number 17. And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them. We say, people like to say, God is love, God is love and it is true. But a loving God, what does He do with sinners who break and refuse His law? And even the sin of unbelief. What does a good God do with the unbeliever? What does a good God do with you if you're here this morning and you do not, if you have not trusted? And Jesus Christ, if you said no to him, well friends, you have embraced to pay the penalty yourself. That's a frightening thing. And what has happened then in history, we find out, the Northern Kingdom is warned, prepare to meet thy God. And what happens to them? Eventually, They do not listen. Time and time again, they don't listen. There's warnings being sent time and time again. Verse 9 of the same chapter, it says, I've smitten you with blasting and mildew. When your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmer worm devoured them. Yet, have ye not returned unto me, saith the Lord. And there's other examples throughout the book of Amos. I've sent you warnings. I've shown you. taste of the path that you are following on right now. But you would not turn unto me, the Lord said. But eventually, the Lord used a frightening army. The Assyrians. The Assyrian Empire was the largest empire at that time. And they were frightening. You did not want to be on the receiving end. of what they did to their enemies. But God used that army, the Assyrian army, to judge the people of the Northern Kingdom. Rather than what they thought was going to happen, God would come and defeat all their enemies for them. what would happen is their enemies would be used as an instrument of justice and judgment upon them. 2 Kings chapter 15 and verse 29. 2 Kings chapter 15 and verse number 29. We read from verse 27 for context. In the 250th year of Azariah king of Judah, Pekah the son of Ramaliah began to reign over Israel in Samaria and reigned 20 years. And he did that which is evil in the sight of the LORD. He departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of the BOT, who made Israel to sin. Verse 29 of that chapter. In the days of Pekah, king of Israel, came Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, and took Aijon and Abel, Beth, Macca, and Jonah, and Kadesh, and Hazor, and Gilead, and Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and carry them captive to Assyria." If you read the accounts of the Assyrians in history, they were a frightening, frightening empire. They made the Babylonians and the Persians and indeed the Greeks and the Romans that came after look quite tame and timid in comparison to the Assyrians and what they would do to their enemies. Friends, it's not just a warning to them, it's a warning to us here this morning. If we do not heed the warnings of Scripture, Time and time again, there was God raised up, it says in Amos 2.11, and I raised up of your sons for prophets. Time and time again, He would raise up prophets in His love, in His mercy, showing love. The gospel is an expression of God's love. Come all ye to be saved, and whosoever will trust on the name of the Lord shall be saved. but whosoever will stiffen their neck and say no to that Savior offered in the gospel will taste of the fury of Almighty God. Those who shut their eyes. And Amos, we know from this book, taken from looking after his flocks to warn them once more God was lovingly warning, wasn't he? Friends, when another frightening thing about hell is this, you'll remember all the loving warning that you received throughout your life. All the sermons, all the pleadings of your parents, all the friends that invited you to church, it will be used in evidence against you. Second Chronicles, chapter 36. Second Chronicles, and chapter 36. Verses 15 and 16. Now this is referring now to the southern kingdom of Judah, but much the same principle. Verses 15 and 16 of 2 Chronicles 36. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, raising up betimes, that is early, and sending because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. But friends, one of the most Heartbreaking texts of all the New Testament. But they mocked the messengers of God and despised His words and misused His prophets. Until the wrath of the Lord arose against His people. Till there was no remedy. Literally, there was no healing. You say no to the medicine. You are saying yes. to the full wrath of God. A fourth point is this. Repentance, repentance. How can you be prepared to meet with the Lord? Now, we've seen it in question 171 of the larger catechism. How do we come to the table of the Lord? How do we approach that table? We don't just come with our feet mechanically. We don't just come because we've gotten our cars and all this kind of thing. We come to the table by faith. The sacraments, whether that's baptism or the Lord's Supper, they are a means of grace, but only to those who have faith. If you do not have faith, these signs and seals condemn you. Even when we think about baptism, water was used as an instrument of judgment during the time of Noah. And water can also be an instrument of blessing to wash you clean. But we need to turn. Something needs to change. The sinner's relationship with God needs to change. God does not change. God does not need to change. If God did change, we would be consumed. But God does not change, praise God. And we must turn from our sin to Christ. Amos chapter 3 and verse 3 says this, Can two walk together except they be agreed? The sinner is not in agreement with God. The sinner cannot walk with God until he turns from his sin and trusts in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And walking with God, there is food. Walking with God, there is sustenance. Walking with God, there is water, there is refreshment, there is the strength to keep going and to be brought safely to your heavenly home. As we said earlier, you say, well, I'm a believer, I don't need to repent, I don't need to think of these things anymore. We do. In our walking with God, we constantly say, if you're walking along a road and you get all the dirt along your feet, What do you need to do? You keep needing to wash your feet time and time again. Because we're sinners. And if we say we're not sinners, we call God a liar. 1 John chapter 1 and verse 10. John Trapp said this, God permits His people to walk together with Him in humble familiarity. But then they must take care that that familiarity breeds not contempt, and that they conceit not that He will connive, that is, close His eyes at their iniquities. Or that their holy services will bear them out in any known sin. He is just and jealous of His glory. Do you see what John Trapp was saying here? That the holy services would bear them out of any known sin. We need to turn, we need to turn to the one who washes us. We need to turn to the one who provides that perfect righteousness. Because if we do not, we remain in our sin and we are not prepared for heaven. We are not prepared for the Lord's table. You see, Christ is in heaven. But Christ is also at the Lord's table. Not physically, like the Roman Catholics will teach. Or even, you know, to some degree in Lutheranism. He's not physically there. He sits at the right hand of the Majesty on High. But because He is omnipresent in His divine nature, nothing restrains Him. to bless those who eat and drink. How? By faith at the table of the Lord. And as we see that we fall short, we turn from these things. Acts 20 and verse 21. Acts 20 and verse number 21. It says this, testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. We have really just begun, when we first get saved, a life of growth in repentance and faith. We learn. There's going to be things that you're going to see, that you realize today are sinful, that five years ago, though you were a sinner five years ago, or though you were saved five years ago, that you did not yet see at that point. Praise God for that. That ought to be encouraging for you. That you look back. Not that we boast of these things. We don't boast in our repentance. We don't boast in our change. We boast in the God who has changed us. Very important, but take comfort in that, friends, that God is changing you and conforming you. No, we're not perfect. No, we're not the finished article, which is why we continue to need to repent and turn unto Him. Our fifth and final point is this, redemption. So reason, resistance, retribution, repentance, and finally, number five, redemption. Redemption. What does redemption mean? As an action, a buying back of a slave, or captive through payment of a ransom, hence setting free. In turning, in being prepared to meet the Lord, we cannot come in our own name. We cannot come in our own reputation. We cannot come in these things. We need Someone who has paid that penalty. That retribution we spoke about in point number three, that needs to be paid by someone else. That wrath that is due to us, spoken about by Sodom and Gomorrah in verse 11, is paid by another. Ephesians chapter one in verse seven. Ephesians chapter one. And verse number seven, in whom we have redemption through his blood for the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace. But that phrase there, in whom, that is Christ, in whom we have redemption through his blood. We have been set free. The ransom that has been due to us, that debt against us, has been paid. So if we have repented, if we have trusted in Him, that redemption has been paid through His blood. He has died in our place, so we need not worry. It does not need to be paid a second time. If Christ has died in your stead and you've laid hold upon Him, why would any more be need to be paid? Yes, there will be suffering until that day in which we go into heaven. But we will not face the wrath of God. We have been saved by a grace undeserving, undeserved. We once were slaves to our lusts and now By God's power, by God's grace, by God's pity, we have been turned away from such things. Romans 3 and verse 24. Romans 3 and verse 24. Romans 3 and verse 24, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. God has provided a way. Even though we have broken the law of God, even though we all deserve what is spoken about here in verse number 12, even though we deserve the same thing as Sodom and Gomorrah and all the other Acts of judgment we see in the Bible. God has provided a way of payment in His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So that we don't come mechanically And in our own efforts to the table of the Lord, we come to eat and to drink by faith. We come to be blessed. We come to the one who has offered us his life. He gives us his life, signs of his body and blood. He says, here is all. He gives us himself. Does the Lord Jesus Christ keep us back from us? Is He saying, you know, some people who are very important, you know, their time and all this kind of, He gives us Himself to all who will come by faith and by faith alone. This is why it's the Lord's table. It is Christ's table. It is meeting with Him. And it's such a wonderful blessing. Friends, we're baptized once, but we come many times throughout our lives, I pray, to be fed by the Lord at his table, to be fed by his life. Paul Washer said this, God saved you for himself. God saved you by himself. God saved you for himself. And what we have at the table of the Lord as well is a wonderful, enjoyment of him. To be closer to him. In conclusion. We meet with God by faith. Friends, you do not come to the sacraments mechanically. We must never say, how do you know I'm a Christian? Well, the waters of baptism were applied to me at one point in the past. So friends, are you saying it's the mechanical pouring of water is going to save your soul? No. Are you saying it is the eating of bread and drinking of wine that's gonna save your soul? No, but the one who it points toward, he washes you clean from your sin. And he gives us these visible signs and seals, these sensible signs and seals, which show the inward change, that grace of God, to encourage us, the believer. If you're a believer here this morning, may these things encourage you. Friends, because we look at repentance, why do we look at repentance? For many, many reasons. To glorify God. But the more you're closer to God, the more He reassures you and says to you, dear believer, you are mine. And it's a wonderful thing to be reminded of whatever you're going through. that you belong to God. He offers you and says to you at the table, this is my body. But you can't receive that blessing unless you are prepared, unless you have turned from your sin, and unless and until you have faith in the one, who it points toward, faith in the one whom this is a seal of. Amen.