Let us open our Bibles to the Old Testament to the first book of the Bible Genesis chapter 27 and we'll begin reading at verse 18 to verse 40 Genesis chapter 27 verse 18 we'll pick it up halfway through this chapter Isaac has called his oldest son Esau to him has told him to prepare some venison for him so that he might bless him. Rebecca overhears what Isaac has said and instructs Jacob to deceive his father, and we'll pick it up at verse 18. And he came unto his father and said, My father. And he said, Here am I. Who art thou, my son? And Jacob said unto his father, I am Esau, thy firstborn. I have done according as thou badest me. Arise, I pray thee, sit, and eat of my venison, that thy soul may bless me.' And Isaac said unto his son, How is it that thou hast found it so quickly, my son? And he said, Because the Lord thy God brought it to me. And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not. And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father, and he felt him, and said, The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau. And he discerned him not, because his hands were hairy as his brother Esau's hands. So he blessed him. And he said, Art thou my very son Esau? And he said, I am. And he said, Bring it near to me, and I will eat of my son's venison, that my soul may bless thee. And he brought it near to him, and he did eat. And he brought him wine, and he drank. And his father Isaac said unto him, Come near now, and kiss me, my son. And he came near and kissed him, and he smelled the smell of his raiment, and blessed him, and said, See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed. Therefore, God, give thee of the dew of heaven, and the fatness of the earth, and plenty of corn and wine. Let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee. Be Lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. Cursed be everyone that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was yet scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that Esau his brother came in from his hunting. And he also had made savory meat and brought it unto his father, and said unto his father, Let my father arise, and eat of his son's venison, that thy soul may bless me. And Isaac his father said unto him, Who art thou? And he said, I am thy son, thy firstborn son Esau. And Isaac trembled very exceedingly, and said, Who? Where is he that hath taken venison, and brought it me? And I have eaten of all before thou camest, and have blessed him, yea, and he shall be blessed.' And when Esau heard the words of his father, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless me, even me also, O my father. And he said, Thy brother came with subtlety, and hath taken away thy And he said, Is not he rightly named Jacob? For he hath supplanted me these two times. He took away my birthright, and behold, now he hath taken away my blessing. And he said, Hast thou not reserved a blessing for me? And Isaac answered and said unto Esau, Behold, I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have I given to him for servants. And with corn and wine have I sustained him. And what shall I do now unto thee, my son? And Esau said unto his father, Hast thou but one blessing, my father? Bless me, even me also, my father. And Esau lifted up his voice and wept. And Isaac, his father, answered and said unto him, Behold, thy dwelling shall be the fatness of the earth and of the dew of heaven from above. And by thy sword shalt thou live and shalt serve thy brother. And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt have the dominion, that thou shalt break his yoke from off thy neck. Thus far the reading of God's holy word. If you open up your Bibles, I will direct you to the text for this evening. And while we will cover much of the history that we read from Genesis chapter 27, I wish to direct your attention to Hebrews 12, Hebrews 12, verse 17b. Hebrews 12, verse 17b, where speaking of Esau, it says, he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears. Well, hereby we come to the end of another year, dear congregation, When we come to the end of another year, then all kinds of reflections and thoughts go through us. We look back on this past year and we look forward to another year if the Lord tarry and if He spares us. But as I was thinking about what really is the task of the preaching of the gospel in the last evening of this year, I thought that the preaching of the gospel should do three things. For one thing, it should call us to examination. Yes, to examination. How has the year been? What has marked us in this past year? With the Lord coming to us with His manifold blessings, has it also led us to repentance? Has His goodness let us to humble ourselves before God in repentance. And not only when we think on temporal blessings that we have received, but when we think also on the gospel blessings that have been ours in this past year in our homes and in our families. And also in the midst of the congregation, how many times has God not come to you and to us And how have we responded to Him? What have we rendered to Him? Yes, it should call us to examination. Secondly, it should give us instruction. It should give us instruction. After all, that's one of the reasons God has given His Word, is for instruction. in order that we might see what the Lord is doing in the midst of this world, sometimes in the midst of what seems as uncontrolled chaos, and in the midst of the mess that we can make in our own lives, we need instruction that says God is working all things together for good. Thirdly, the preaching of the gospel in the last night of the year should not only Call us to examination. Not only give instruction, but also issue exhortation. Exhortation, for we need to be directed somewhere. That seeing something of our sin and guilt, that we're pointed to what the writer to the Hebrews in chapter 12 tells us about, a place of repentance that Esau did not find. And yet we need to be brought there also at the end of the year, the place of repentance, in order to find mercy from the Lord. And this passage that we opened up this evening does all these three things. Let's listen to finding the place of repentance. Finding the place of repentance. And we'll give five reasons why we need to find a place of repentance. Friends, often when we are together around New Year's, then, especially if we stay up till midnight, or if we're gathered together with family and friends, then we want to wish each other a blessed New Year and speak our well wishes to one another. And that's fitting. Especially we want to do that if we know someone has to undergo various medical procedures or tests in the coming year, perhaps a surgery is awaiting them, or the unknown reality. Then we want our loved one to know that we are praying for them and that we wish the Lord's blessing upon them, that the Lord will go with them so that they may be able to face whatever the outcome may be. So that if a trying year awaits us, that we don't need to be afraid. That would be special, isn't it? When the Lord goes with you through life. That really is what the blessing of the Lord is all about. The Lord with You. And now, that's what this chapter in Genesis 27 is all about, the blessing. But who would get it, boys and girls? Esau or Jacob? Not Esau, of course. We know because the Lord had said to Rebekah that the older would serve the younger. That's what the Lord had said to Rebekah. Jacob would receive the blessing. Now what will happen? Well, let's see. When we come to Genesis chapter 27, Jacob and Esau have grown up. They're older now. Esau has sold his birthright for a pot of stew. He has shrugged his shoulders at the blessing of the Lord, at the firstborn blessing. What does he need the Lord for? A pot of stew will do him just as well. In the meantime, Esau has been married, having married two women from the world that's told us in the last part of the chapter just before chapter 26. Of course, Jacob, let's be honest, is no goody-goody either. But do you know what Jacob wants, boys and girls? He wants the blessing from the Lord. That's what he desires so badly, but he finds it hard to wait. for God's time, something that we can struggle with too, waiting on the Lord and on His time. The story is told of Spurgeon, that great preacher, who was also a teacher, who ran a seminary, and one of the students at his seminary came to his home to write an exam, and Spurgeon, hearing the knock on the door, let the student wait on his doorstep for a while. And when finally Spurgeon opened the door, he congratulated the man because the young man had stayed standing and had kept patiently waiting. And Spurgeon said, you've passed the exam because you can wait. Waiting is one of the rules, you see, in the kingdom of God. Waiting for God. But it is not such an easy lesson, and Jacob certainly did not find it an easy lesson. That's why he tried to bring the promise to himself. That's why he tried to steal the promise. But the blessing seems to elude him. In this chapter, it seems as if it's going to slip away from him. Isaac has become old. Young people, he's 137 years old. He suffers from quite a number of physical weaknesses so that he is not able to do what once he was able to do. He cannot see so well. He's almost completely blind. And he feels as if the time is nearing that he is to die. And he calls Esau because he wants a tasty supper first. And then he will bless him with the firstborn blessing, the blessing of the covenant of God, the blessing as had been given to Abram, that in him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Can I put it simply? Whoever gets the blessing will be happy. Because through Him the Lord Jesus will be born, and through the Lord Jesus comes salvation, and through Him comes true happiness. But what a twisted mess in this chapter. Isaac, who knows the will of God that the older will serve the younger, He sets the Word of God aside. He wants to give the blessing not to Jacob as God had revealed, but to Esau. And he's trying to outmaneuver God. And he's trying to circumvent God's decree. He will do it his own way. After all, he loves Esau. That son of his is so good at hunting. That boy of his can make such tasty meals. That son Esau is his pride and joy. Yes, God had said something else, but Isaac will do his own thing. You see, he's marked by unbelief. I said I wanted to give reasons for why we need to find a place of repentance. Let that be the first reason, because of unbelief. Isaac's unbelief and Rebecca's unbelief too. She is not trusting either. She's listening in. And she hears how Isaac is planning to bless Esau with that special blessing, but that must not happen. And she has no time to lose, that she quickly calls Jacob and tells Jacob quickly, Go get two goats of the flock. I will prepare them, and you will bring them to Father Jacob, so that he blesses you before he blesses Esau." Rebecca. Unbelief. The woman, remember, who some chapters before in her barrenness, brought her knee to the Lord and Jacob as a tender husband to her. In her need was a real priest to her and a priest to God on her behalf. But Isaac is marked by unbelief and Rebecca is too. She doesn't trust God either to do what he has said. She will take things into her own hands. Her response is, Here, I'll fix it. myself. Isaac is not trusting God. Rebecca is not trusting God either. Is that the covenant people of God? And as husband and wife they don't trust each other either. Why does Rebecca not go on her knees to pray and lay the need before the Lord? And why does she not go to Isaac and remind Isaac of the Word of the Lord? Why not? They had not grown apart that much that they couldn't talk anymore, had they? They were both grieved about Esau's marriage partners that had been expressed. Why then did they not speak together here? Why did they not trust the Lord? Why this unbelief? Why is there that unbelief in you? Why do you not trust the Lord? Why do you take matters into your hands? Why do you expect good things to come from yourself, time and again, and not from God? And so you don't turn to Him in prayer, and you don't lay the need before Him in prayer. When things went differently this past year, differently than you had expected, why did you not turn to the Lord? Why did you not do that first? And why did you not trust the Lord? Why were we not laying our needs before Him? What explains your unbelief? What excuse do you have that God will understand and say, yeah, I understand? There is no explanation for unbelief. So not in your life, you who have come to truly fear the Lord by the grace of the Holy Spirit, you have found that with Him you don't need to fear, and that you will never be ashamed to trust Him, and yet you so often go your own way still. Unbelief. It's stubbornness, isn't it? It's sin, isn't it? And that's how we hear in this chapter of a mother who is not afraid to manipulate things in her home and to instruct her son to deceive and to sin. And Jacob is not so sure about this plan. He has his objections. What if Father Isaac puts his hand on me? What if he feels and I don't have as much hair as brother Esau, then he'll know that I'm a deceiver, but Rebecca knows what to do. Jacob must put on the clothes of Esau, and he must put on the hairy fur of the goat over his neck and his hands. And Rebecca doesn't fold her hands to pray for God's blessing on this. You can't fold your hands when you do this, can you? Unbelief. Has that been there in your life this past year? How much has it manifested itself? Unbelief. Do you see why we need to find a place of repentance? Because of our unbelief. Secondly, because of our disobedience. Yes, our disobedience. What commandments of the Lord are broken here? Well, I think the young people can tell us which of the Ten Commandments are broken. Well, there's the fifth commandment that is broken. Honor thy father and thy mother. And Jacob, he's ready to lie. And he does deceive his father. And he does that now that his father is old and frail and blind, taking advantage of his father, who's weak and frail. He dishonors him and he sins against the ninth commandment that says, thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. There is blatant deception of his father. There's no word of truth in anything he says. For when his father asks, who are you? Then Jacob says, verse 19, I am thy son, thy firstborn, here's the meal you've asked for. And when his father asks, but are you back already so soon? Isaac, his father, knows that it takes time to hunt, it takes time to get a kill, it takes time to skin an animal, it takes time to clean the meat, it takes time to prepare the meat. Jacob speaks another lie and he breaks the third commandment. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for Jacob says, the Lord thy God brought it to me. He knows that his brother would never, his brother Esau, would never say the Lord my God, but he knows that he does say the Lord thy God. He has given me a successful hunt, but it's not true. And when his father says, son, come a little closer so that I can touch you, Isaac, you see, is not so sure. Isaac is suspicious. There's something fishy here. It doesn't add up. It's strange. The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau. Esau, are you really Esau? Yes, father. And he lies again. And the final betrayal is with a kiss. as Judas would later betray the Lord Jesus with a kiss. A kiss that was supposed to express honor and affection is now being used to deceive. Disobedience. What can you expect when the Lord says trust and obey? For there's no other way. And when you stop trusting, then you stop obeying. Friends, which commandments did you break this past year? Did you honor your father and your mother, young people? How often did you bear false witness and tell a little lie, maybe? Of course, there is no such thing as a little white lie. How many times did you take the name of the Lord in vain? Don't you need to find a place of repentance for your unbelief and for your disobedience? Thirdly, also for your misery, your misery. And finally, the covenant blessing is given to Jacob. It's told us in verses 27 to 29, Isaac blesses Jacob. And the smell of Esau's garments that Jacob is wearing seem to have stimulated Isaac's thoughts of the field and land, and with rich language the blessing of God is given to Jacob. Three things. There's the promise of land, the Lord blessing the land with the dew of heaven so that there will be plenty, picturing the abundance of the heavenly land and the salvation that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, with whom there is no lack but fullness. As the promise of dominion, verse 29a, let people serve thee, and nations bow down to thee, be lord over thy brethren, and let thy mother's sons bow down to thee. The promise of dominion. And the people of Israel would have a measure of dominion. at times, but it points forward especially to the dominion in the Lord Jesus. After all, Christ shall have dominion over land and sea, and every knee shall bow before Him. And then there's the promise of blessing in the last words of verse 29. Cursed be everyone that curseth thee, and blessed be he that blesseth thee. And that blessing, how can it come but through the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes, Jacob has received the blessing. The plan has worked. The blessing has been gotten. It's been stolen. But do you think he was happy? You think Rebecca was happy? I don't think so. They could not thank the Lord here. After all, they had arranged all of it themselves. Oh, what misery there is now! Oh, I don't think there can be happiness, and Rebecca, who loves her son Jacob so much, who has led her son in the way of sin, will have to say goodbye to him in the next chapter, because it's safer if Jacob leaves, and Jacob leaves, and Rebecca will never see her darling son again. No, there's no happiness. Sin doesn't bring happiness, but misery. How much better it is to say no to sin, to say when tempted to sin, this is wrong, we cannot do this. Like Joseph, a son of Jacob, later would do when tempted to sin. How shall I do this great evil and sin against God? And he flees from sin. That's much better. For sin cannot bring true happiness. Have you not found that this past year? You realize we are no better than Rebecca and Jacob. We are people who go against God's Word. We go against our consciences. We make others sad by our sins. And you wonder, how can this ever come right? How can this ever come right in my life? What is actually God's way? Here, through this history, through everything the Lord is carrying out His counsel and His will, in spite of the sins of people and the sorry messes that people make, the Lord is at work fulfilling His purposes. For the elder shall serve the younger, and through the younger the promised seed will come. Do you see how great God is to overrule in such a history as this one? As Thomas Watson, the Puritan, put it, God can strike a straight stroke with a crooked stick. Or as Martin Luther put it, God can draw a straight line with a crooked stick. I cannot do that, but God can. No, that doesn't mean we excuse the deceit and lies of Rebekah and Jacob, or that we excuse Isaac who's trying to circumvent God's decree. But it means that our sins, our sins cannot frustrate the plan and purpose of God. He is above it all. He is also above our sins. And He knows, in the words of Romans 8 verse 28, how to turn all things together for good. I mean, did He not do that in the fall into sin already? Satan thought that with the fall into sin he had destroyed the purposes of God, but the Lord is greater than it all. And his ways cannot be frustrated. He continues to work, even through the fall into sin, and the messy lives, and the sins in our lives. No, he cannot be blamed for sin. He cannot be charged with sin. Sin is what we do. Sin is ours. But the Lord knows how to use sin for His purposes. to magnify himself and to humble the sinner. Is that not what would happen also on the day of Pentecost? And that the grace and love of God would be shown in the Lord Jesus. That's what Peter says on the day of Pentecost. Acts 2, when he says, and he is strong, and the accusations are laid against this people who have taken Jesus, This one sent by God, who had done only good, they took him with wicked hands and crucified him, and that was their guilt. But Peter says, but this was done according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. You see, we can ask sometimes, how can this turn out right? But God is greater than it all. His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts higher than our thoughts. And in spite of all that is of us, our unbelief, our sin and disobedience, our deceit, He fulfills His Word. Jehovah's counsel stands secure. His purposes of heart endure. What a comfort if you've come to trust in Him and hope in Him with your sin and messy life. I know we can shake our heads and we can be filled with worry and concern. How will this come right? Maybe when we look around us at what happens in our world Or maybe when we look around and see what happens in the church, how much carnality there can be, how much sin there is. And especially if we've been uncovered by the Holy Spirit to our own hearts and see what all lives there, that heart of ours that is incapable of doing any good and prone to all manner of wickedness. As our catechism says in question answer A, How can it turn out for good? You know what we do? It's like a young child who's maybe five years old, sees a pen on dad's desk, and he's seen his father writing with that pen, and he thinks he can too, and he does. And what happens? What's the result? There's a book. full of messy lines. That's our life. Also, if we've received grace, but God is greater than our hearts, and greater than the world, and greater than our sin, He says, My counsel shall stand. I will do all my pleasure. And sovereignly He goes His way. and we can leave it to him. Of myself I make a mess. But God's purposes shall stand. And the great Son of Jacob comes to merit the blessing and to give it to sinners. But then there must also be repentance. And we need to find a place of repentance. And Esau doesn't find it. That's another reason. Yes, I'm mentioning several reasons why we need to find a place of repentance. Because of our unbelief I've mentioned, because of our disobedience, because of our misery, but also because of our impenitence by nature. Our impenitence. Let's go back to the story. Then we see the other son of Isaac entering into the tent of his father. With a bow and an arrow he has shot the venison and has prepared it for his father just the way his father likes. And now Esau is eager to receive the blessing. But what a disappointment when his father asks him, but who are you then? And Esau says, I am Esau, thy son, thy firstborn Esau. And then Isaac trembled and was afraid. It dawns on Isaac now. The truth dawns on Isaac now, and he is shaken to the core of his being. He is shaken physically and emotionally, and he's trembling. He had wanted to give the blessing to Esau, but he had given it to Jacob. And Isaac trembled because he sees his sin now in trying to circumvent, in trying to outmaneuver God's decree. But he believes now that Jacob shall be blessed. That's what he says in verse 33, and he shall be blessed, Jacob. And he sees that God is working out his will and purpose through this mess. And then Esau is angry and Esau begins to cry. Verse 34, he cried with a great and exceeding bitter cry and said, Bless me, even me, O my father. Now Esau wants the blessing. Before he had no trouble shrugging his shoulders at it and selling it for a pot of stew. What did he need the firstborn blessing for? But now he bursts out in tears and crying over it. He's in anguish. Why is he crying? Does he really want the God of the promises? Or does he just want the gifts of God and the riches from God? And then we have to say, yes, that's all he wants. He doesn't want the God of the promises, but just the gifts of the promises, the earthly blessings, the earthly riches. You see, he's sad. But he's not sad about his sin. He's not crying because of what he has done by his sin. He doesn't see that he has made himself unworthy of the blessing. He's not blaming himself. He begins to blame his brother Jacob. Jacob has deceived me. And Jacob, his heart is full of anger towards Jacob. And once his father Isaac has died, then he plans to kill Jacob. He does cry, but he's not changed. Those words of Hebrews 12, Esau sought the blessing with tears, but he did not receive it because he found no place of repentance. He does have regret. that he doesn't get the blessing. He does have regret, but no repentance for his sin. He found no place of repentance. Friends, is that what must be said of you this past year? You have your regrets. You have your regrets, but no repentance. You see, it's bad enough that we've sinned this past year and that we've been marked by unbelief and disobedience and by misery. But it's worse. It's worse. when we don't repent. If we didn't find a place of repentance, if you never went into your closet alone to pour out your heart before God to tell Him of your sin and guilt and to say with David against thee, thee only have I sinned and done this evil in thy sight. Friends, did you have regret, but no repentance? Did you have tears this past year? Tears, it's possible to have tears because things didn't go the way you had hoped. There have been tears maybe because of difficulties, tears because of problems, tears because of sickness. but no tears because of sin, and you did not need Christ, and there was no godly sorrow. Esau never found the place of repentance. What place did Esau never find? Shall I put it simply? He never found the cross of Jesus in his life. That's the place of repentance. That's where tears shed are good tears. And it's sad if we don't find that place. because an animal was caught and killed, and because there was an altar, and because the cross has been raised before our eyes. It's sad if we don't find that place, for if we come to Him as sinners, you may receive forgiveness. Whoever you are, whatever you've done, wherever you've been, you may receive forgiveness at the cross of Jesus, where not only tears were shed, but blood was shed for a full remission. You see why you need to find that place of repentance. And you need to find it tonight for your unbelief, your disobedience, your misery, your impenitence, and lastly, for your hardness, your hardness of heart. Therefore, we turn back to the story and we look at Father Isaac. He's the one who has been called upon to give the blessing. He's the one who carries the promise of God, and he has to pass it on, and he doesn't postpone it. He knows that death has come closer. Many people postpone death. They don't want to think about death, and people don't set their lives in order for death and eternity. But Isaac does do that. He reckons with death. but he's governed by his own preferences, and he's governed by his appetites. Esau can make such a tasty meal, and if he comes and brings me a tasty meal, I will give him the blessing. And he loves food, and he's willing even to go against the will of God. Remember Isaac, boys and girls? When Isaac was younger and he climbed the Mount Moriah with his father, and when he said, Father, where is the lamb? And the time came when his father said, Son, You have to be tied to the altar." And Isaac didn't resist, and he let himself be bound to the altar by Father Abram. Isaac, what strong faith he had had! He had been a praying man for when Rebekah came from that faraway land. How did she find Isaac? He had gone into the field to pray. But now that he's become old, what does he want? Just a tasty meal. And he doesn't love the Lord as in earlier days. Sad, isn't it? Weaknesses in faith. He loves his appetite more than he loves God. Maybe, maybe you understand Isaac. And in becoming older, you've become You've come to backslide. And things we never thought would occupy us, they now rule us. Do you recognize your picture? What rules you? You, who at one time desired to serve the Lord uprightly. And it shows, doesn't it, that we always need to repent. Also those who have a new heart. need to repent till the very last day of their life. I hope to take my repentance, Philip Henry said, the father of Matthew, and I hope to take my repentance to the very gates of heaven. And we need the Lord to keep us by his grace and to bring us time and again to the cross. Draw me, and we will run there. even in our old age like Simeon and Anna. You see, sometimes we have our priorities wrong. Even God's people can have that. We have our plans and anything that stands in the way is pushed out of it. But the Lord has to set us straight and has to set things straight again. And that happens when Esau comes inside his tent and he trembles. And he sees his disobedience, and Isaac becomes a poor and needy sinner again. He trembles. And the Lord has said in Isaiah 66, To this man will I look, even to him that is of a poor and contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word. And Isaac is confronted with the Lord. And Isaac is stopped. And that's what has to happen also at the end of the year that we ask. And what have I been so busy with this past year? Where have my priorities been? And sometimes God's people have to say, I've been seeking myself and my own self-chosen way, and I'm being ruled by my carnal and sinful flesh. It must change. And it's good when we begin to tremble again. And we learn again that we are a sinner before God. And then does Isaac agree with the will of God? Yes. For in chapter 28, verse 3 and 4, he stretches out his hands over Jacob again knowingly. And he says, the Lord give thee the blessing of Abraham. Isaac surrenders to the Lord and his good pleasure. God's good pleasure in the least. The one who came as the man of sorrows, of whom the father said, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. He who was betrayed with a kiss and who took the lies and the sins of his people and bore them away. who took the curse so that he might give the blessing and allow us tonight to go home with it. Friends, have you seen yourself in this chapter? It calls for examination. That's me, inclined to all evil. I am carnal, sold under sin. And do you hear the instruction, God knows how to work all things together for good to those that love Him? And do you hear the exhortation that says, flee, where Esau never fled to, and he perished. Flee to the cross of Jesus for the blessing, for the salvation there at the cross. That's the place of repentance. That's the place to end the year and to begin a new year, saying, God be merciful to me. On thy grace I rest my plea. Plenteous in compassion thou, blot out my transgressions now. Amen. Let us give thanks and pray. We desire so much to go to the cross of Jesus. As sinners like Isaac and Rebecca, as sinners painted for us in this chapter, even some of them who knew of thy grace in their lives but had so slidden back and their priorities had become all wrong, Lord, we confess the unbelief of this past year and the disobedience and the many forms in which these sins have manifested themselves and our misery, our lack of the true happiness and our impenitence, Lord, and of our hardness of heart. And we pray Thee, wilt Thou to that end bring us there where repentance is given, to that Prince and Savior who is ascended for to give repentance and remission of sin at the foot of the cross. Oh, to end there and to begin, if Thou wilt spare us, to begin there. Grant that to our boys and girls, our young people too, in all simplicity of heart, to say, Lord, I am evil, born in sin. Thou desirest truth within. Thou alone my Savior art. Give us a good closing to this year. Forgive graciously all our sins. Bring us together again tomorrow morning. And hear us in Christ's name. Amen.