Beloved congregation, after the sermon, shall we sing Psalter 446, the fourth stanza. 446, the fourth stanza. So beloved, we are again privileged to be in God's house. And in God's house, there we hear the gospel. And what is the gospel all about? It's about salvation. It's about deliverance. It's about a new beginning for those who are in great need. And that's what we find so often recorded in the Word of God. When Lydia, the seller of purple, heard Paul preach at Philippi, the Lord opened her heart and she paid attention to the words of Paul. She was converted. She became a different person after that sermon. And when the Lord Jesus stood in front of the grave of Lazarus and said that they should open the grave and that he called forth Lazarus with a loud voice, Lazarus come forth. And Lazarus came forth after he had been buried for four days. And so the Lord opened a new beginning for Lazarus and for his sisters, Martha and Mary, and for all the people standing around that grave. Then they realized he must be the Messiah. And so many other examples can be given of how the Lord Jesus opened the eyes of the blind, how he spoke to a deaf person, Ephrathah, that person could hear and speak clearly. So the Lord Jesus gives a new beginning to people in distress, to people in need, and basically we are all in a certain distress. We may not be blind, we are not in the grave, we may not be deaf, but we are all in great need. because we have a corrupt heart. And the most important thing in life is that we would be delivered from our corrupt heart. That must be the aim of our life. That must be the problem we are focused upon. Not that we may gain more income, have more prosperity, and have more enjoyment in this life. No. The most important thing in life is that we will be delivered from our corrupt heart. And that, my friend, is a lifelong struggle, a lifelong battle. But it is a necessary battle, a battle we all must know if we want to enter heaven, if we want to be with the Lord forevermore. We need salvation. And that's what the Gospel is all about. Salvation for lost sinners. And we find this also in the portion of scripture we just read. The Lord Jesus here in this account is telling his disciples to go out and preach the gospel. For now, God's plan had to be proclaimed to all nations. And it started at the day of Pentecost. And ever since that day, it continued on till the day of today. The gospel must be preached. The gates of heaven must be opened. Sinners must hear the word of God, for now they can be saved. And the disciples must commence with this most important work. They must proclaim the gospel among all nations. And that's what they did. After a while they all went out into various directions, into Asia Minor, further into Europe, into Africa, into Asia, even into India. These disciples went out and they preached. But, the Lord Jesus told them, you have to start at Jerusalem. That's where you must start. And these are the words of our text this afternoon. The words of our text is formed by the last part of verse 47, where we read the words, beginning at Jerusalem. And these words form the text for the proclamation of God's word this afternoon. Beginning at Jerusalem. And we see here in the first place, the Lord's goodness. Secondly, the Lord's love. In the third place, the Lord's grace. Beginning at Jerusalem, that's what the Lord told his disciples expressly. The first place where they were to go and preach was in Jerusalem. and that shows us his goodness, his love, and his grace. So we imagine the city, the disciples are together, and they are discussing the events that have taken place. It's right after the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus has appeared to several of them. He appeared to the women and to Mary Magdalene, to Peter, to the two travelers on their way to Emmaus, as they are discussing this, then suddenly, The Lord Jesus stands amongst them. Initially they were shocked and they thought they were seeing a ghost. How can that be? He was not here, now he is here. And the Lord Jesus asked them, why are you troubled? And we read then, and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? You don't have to wonder what's happening. Because I told you this already, that this was going to happen. The Lord Jesus says, behold, look at my hands and my feet. There they could see the holes of those enormous spikes that were stuck into the hands and the feet of the Lord Jesus. And the Lord sees, Jesus says, behold my hands and my feet, that it is I, myself, And why do thoughts arise who handle me and see? Touch me then, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoke, and he showed them his hands and his feet, and while they yet believed not for joy and wondered, he said unto them, have ye here any meat, any food? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of a honeycomb, and he took and did eat before them. And they saw him eating and swallowing. And so the Lord Jesus did all these signs to convince his disciples that he had physically arisen from the dead. And now they realized it. Now they believed it. And then the Lord goes back and reminds him of the words he had spoke to them in the past. But recently they had not remembered those words. They had not listened. They had not paid attention. They never understood really what the Lord Jesus was telling them. And then we read in verse 45 that the Lord opened their understanding so that they would understand the scriptures and at that moment everything fell into place. Then they saw it, as in one glorious panorama, why the Lord Jesus had to come, why he was prophesied and why he came on earth, that he had to die, that he had to be buried, that he had to rise from the grave, that in this way a full redemption would be secured. And here we see already how important it is that our understanding is opened. Your and my understanding needs to be opened. And therefore we need the Holy Spirit to do this. That the Holy Spirit would enlighten our mind. We are greatly dependent upon the Lord. And so we may simply ask the Lord to do this. Do you ever do that? When was the last time you prayed, Lord, open my understanding that I may understand the Scriptures? When was the last time you prayed that? Maybe it's time for a change in our prayer life, that we urgently start praying for God's Spirit in us. that we start praying for an enlightened understanding, that we start praying that the Lord would lay upon us His glorious image. This is what life is all about. And we are invited to do so. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it. If you ask anything in my name, I shall do it. The Lord Jesus says it twice in the gospel according to John. And after this, after the Lord has opened their understanding, then the Lord Jesus gives his disciples the command to publish his gospel, to proclaim his word. Because in His goodness, the Lord wants all nations to know about His crucifixion and resurrection. All people need to hear and they need to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and arise in a new life with Christ. And therefore, the Lord gives them this calling in verse 47, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations. Here we have what you may expect from preaching. What is preaching all about? Is it tell you all kinds of nice stories? Is preaching about entertaining people and keeping their attention? No. Preaching is in the first place preaching repentance and remission of sins. That's what preaching is all about. Proclaiming to people the necessity of repentance. And what is repentance? Think of the prodigal son. He came to himself. He saw his sins. He kind of woke up, what am I doing? And he remembered how the slaves in his father's house were treated better than what he was doing. He remembered the goodness of his father and then he left those pigs, those swine, and he got up and he returned to his father. That's what repentance is. It's seeing what you're doing, turning away from sins, turning to the Lord. Or like the Shorter Catechism says, it's having a sense of one's own guilt and sin and corruption, and having a perspective upon the grace and mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ, and in calling upon the name of the Lord, and on not wanting to live on as you have lived on. That's repentance, and that's needed. And you know, repentance is not just a one-time thing. There is an initial repentance, an initial conversion. But then there's also a daily repentance. a deepening of these matters. That's what preaching is about. Repentance and remission of sins. That's our biggest problem, is it not? Our sins. And that's what you may expect from preaching. That's what the disciples had to preach. And then all the ramifications and all the the fleshing out of those matters, how the Holy Spirit converts a person and how the willingness of the Lord Jesus must be proclaimed. Well, that's preaching, repentance and remission of sins. But they had to start at Jerusalem. Now, what's so specific about that Jerusalem? Well, that was the capital city of the land of Israel. That was the city that the Lord had chosen where he would dwell. That's where the temple was, so I guess Jerusalem would be entitled to receive the gospel, but then we have totally misunderstood these words. Beginning at Jerusalem. That was where the Lord Jesus was put on trial. That's where the Lord Jesus was crucified. That's where the blatant enemies of the gospel were. That's where Jerusalem's sinners were, scribes, Pharisees, priests. They had cast out the Lord Jesus and the people of Jerusalem had cried out, crucify him. And when he was hanging on the cross, they walked past him and they laughed at him and scorned at him. They had crucified the Lord Jesus and mocked him. And now we would think that the Lord Jesus would want to have nothing to do with those people in Jerusalem. They are worse than Sodom. They are worse than Gomorrah. They are worse than the people of Nineveh. They repented. following the words of Jonah. But Jerusalem didn't repent. So away with Jerusalem. Nothing to do with them. They had the gospel and now it'll go to other countries. Go to Galilee or to the outskirts of Judea or Samaria, but not to Jerusalem. But the Lord Jesus wants in His goodness the gospel first to be preached at Jerusalem. Jerusalem. They stoned the prophets. They killed those who were sent by God to them. They have just cast out Christ. They even cried out, cursing, His blood be on us and our children. And it's exactly to these people, they may be the first ones to heal of remission of sins and the call to repentance. They must be the first ones to hear that there is forgiveness in the blood of Christ of all people. The Lord Jesus comes first to Jerusalem. And there they must hear repentance and remission of sins. They didn't deserve to receive the gospel first. They had forfeited every right. They were the least fitting people of the whole world to hear the gospel. If the Lord Jesus had said, preach the gospel among all nations, and they finally preached it at Jerusalem, then that would have been sheer grace of Christ to say that. And we would have been amazed. But the Lord Jesus doesn't even say that. He says, first at Jerusalem. And this is the glorious proclamation of grace overflowing for the chief of sinners. Here we see that Christ is inviting the greatest sinner to come to him. The greatest sinners that were at that time on the face of the earth, they were found not in Rome, but in Jerusalem. During his ministry, the Lord Jesus saw it as his calling to preach the gospel first to the lost sheep of the people of Israel. The Lord Jesus was very concerned about the lost. He has much care for perishing sinners. It's especially in the gospel according to Luke that we find this. It's there in the gospel according to Luke in 15 that you find the parables of the lost coin And you find the parable of the prodigal son, of the lost sheep. Luke portrays the Lord Jesus as one who is concerned with the lost, and here in this same gospel, these words are recorded, that the Lord Jesus is concerned about Jerusalem's sinners. And it's these people who have done wicked things, Acts 3 verse 14, there Peter tells these same men, you denied the Holy One and the just, you desired a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead, whereof we are witnesses. They didn't deserve it at all. But the gospel must first be preached to these men at Jerusalem. And we can imagine when the Apostles were preaching then eventually there in Jerusalem that one of those men who were listening, one of those Jerusalem sinners would have said, yeah, but I was a false witness against Christ. Would there be salvation for me? And then Peter would have answered, this salvation is for everyone who confesses his sins and turns to Christ. But then another one who was listening We would imagine he could have said, I also cried out, crucify him. And I also chose Barabbas. Would there be grace for me? And Peter said, yes, there would also be grace for you. But, says another, I spat in his face and I scorned him. Would there be mercy for me? Yes, Peter would have said. There's mercy for everyone. Repent. and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost for the promises unto you and to your children and to all that are afar off even as many as the Lord our God shall call. And the Lord gave his blessing upon the preaching of Peter. And what we read in Acts 2 and Acts 3 is only a small excerpt of his actual sermon. He said many words to them. And the result was on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 men were led to repentance, and after that another 2,000. And so after a number of weeks, the Christian church at Jerusalem, which had started with 120 members, was over the 5,000 people. And in Act 6, On top of that, we read that a great number of the priests came to faith in Christ. They were the worst sinners. They had condemned the Lord Jesus. They had nailed him to the cross. But he received the great goodness that even among the priests, there were a great number who came to conversion. And as we so meditate on these things, is this not a great encouragement for you and me? Jerusalem had heard the gospel many a time, and likewise we have heard the gospel many years. And what is the fruit of this preaching to us? Are we still chasing after the frivolities of this world? Do we prefer its dainties? or do we still hold on to our sins? Instead of fleeing to the Lord Jesus, instead of confessing that I am a sinner, and Lord, I must confess that I do not even realize that I am a sinner, but thy word tells me that I am a lost sinner, and that is what I confess I am to be. Show me, Lord, my lost condition. Show me my corruption. Has that been the fruit of the preacher you've heard? The fruit of your life? Have we learned to flee to the Lord Jesus? Maybe you came to church many years, but you're still unconverted because you're resisting Christ and His gospel. Well, then you also belong to these Jerusalem sinners. because we have put him to shame. We have ignored him. Someone was calling us and we turned our backs to him and we had no time for him. We had to do other things which for us were most important, far more important than listening to the Lord Jesus Christ. We turned actually everyone to his own way. Where are the fruits of love, of humility? of peace, of self-control and devotion to God. We all need Christ. We need the living Christ within us. What privileges! We've heard His Gospel so many a time. Let this outpouring of His goodness lead us to repentance. Beginning at Jerusalem, we see the Lord's goodness, but also His love. Because it is with love that the Lord sends His disciples to work in Jerusalem first, because the Lord still has His people there, and they have to be drawn out. His people who are there don't know Him and don't want to know Him, but He's going to draw them out with power. And so it's Christ's good pleasure to send his disciples to Jerusalem to preach there. He wants the proclamation of the gospel to resound first in Jerusalem. But if we look at this a bit more in depth, why the disciples had to go to Jerusalem to preach there. Why? Because that's where the greatest sinners were. the greatest sinners on earth. And the greatest sinners have the greatest need for repentance and remission of sins. Those who are whole, who are healthy, don't need the physician, but those who are sick. And the Lord Jesus came not to call the just, but sinners to repentance. And in Jerusalem were the greatest sinners, and that's where He first sent His disciples, moved by His love. If you walk past a pond, and four children have fallen into the pond, four children, but three of them are on the edge. They're standing up, very shallow water. You know they can just walk out. But this one child somehow ended up in the middle of the pond. And you see him bobbing up and down. And what do you do? You jump in and grab that one child. Because that child is in great need. He's at the point of drowning. He's in the greatest peril. And so these disciples, these men of Jerusalem, they are in the greatest peril. They're at the point of perishing forever. And so we see the great love of the Lord Jesus. What compassion of Christ. What willingness to forgive sins. He is moved with those in need, in misery, who are on their way to condemnation, who are lost. who are under the curse of God. The Lord Jesus is the good shepherd and he has come to seek and to save that which was lost. And that's his loving kindness. And that's why the Lord is still sending his word also to you. It was because of his love that he sent his disciples to preach at Jerusalem. It was the same love that led the Lord to go down to Jericho because there was Zacchaeus. And there was the same love that caused him to go through the land of the Samaritans because there was that one woman at Sychar who had to be saved. He was moved. And that woman who was bowed down for 18 years and could not deliver herself. He seeks the lost. It's his love. And so he comes to us. in His unfathomable love. So why did the Lord Jesus send His disciples first at Jerusalem? Because they were the greatest sinners. Another reason why the Lord Jesus sends His disciples to first preach at Jerusalem, so that His name would be glorified. So when these men at Jerusalem come to conversion and they realize what the Lord Jesus had done for them, they will praise Him and honor Him and love Him more. It's to the glory of the Lord Jesus when great sinners are saved. They will glorify His name, people who first cared nothing about the Lord Jesus. When they are saved and they see from what danger they have been saved, they will love Him. That's why we sang this psalter, I love the Lord. Because that's what a person does when he is saved. They will seek to glorify his name. They realize he must be honored and praised. The Lord saves to the praise of his glory. He forgives sins so that he will be worshiped and adored throughout all nations. Another reason why the Lord in his love sends the disciples to preach first at Jerusalem Because then other sinners will be encouraged to flee to Christ. Other sinners will be encouraged to flee to Christ. That's how it was, for instance, with that possessed man of Gadara. The man was possessed by a legion of devils. The Lord Jesus delivered him. And that man was at the feet of the Lord Jesus, properly dressed. And he wanted to follow the Lord Jesus. And the Lord Jesus went into that boat to go to the other side. He wanted to come along. He wanted to be with the Lord Jesus. But the Lord Jesus told him, no. You go back to your country, the country of Decapolis, the ten cities, on the other side of Jordan, and tell them what great deeds the Lord has done in your life. And the man did that. He preached everywhere. And the people were amazed. So this man was a herald, a scout, you can say, sent out to till the soil before the disciples would later on come and preach the gospel here. When great sinners are saved, other sinners are drawn to Christ. They will grasp courage. And they will also seek the Lord. When the Lord converted Saul of Tarsus, He can also convert me. When the Lord converted Manasseh in the prison cell in Babylon, He can also convert me. When you know of a doctor who can heal from a very dreadful disease, and he healed you, you would speak about that to others. and refer them to this doctor so that they would also be healed from a similar disease. And when the Lord Jesus saves Jerusalem's sinners, it's an encouragement for you and me to seek Him, to be saved. Also, when the Lord Jesus had healed the sick, many people heard about it. and they took other sick people along with them. And that's how it is when a sinner finds peace, unspeakable in the Lord Jesus. Sinners are drawn. And what else can we say why the Lord Jesus sends out his disciples to the greatest sinners? The aim is that sinners would learn to love him, that they would learn to love him above all. Because when the greatest sinners are saved, the Lord will also receive the greatest love. For those who have been forgiven little, will also love little. But those who have been forgiven much, will also love much. And when the Lord shows you your need of forgiveness, and shows you that you have lived so long outside of Christ, because you refuse to repent and when you see how you have misbehaved yourself and that the Lord enters your life and sets you free, then you love the Lord and you want to love Him. You want to love Him more and more. You see that He is worthy of all your love. You are on your way to perish, although you went to church, but there was a time in your life when the Lord crossed your life and He stopped you in your tracks and then you realized who you were even to some extent only, because the depths of our depravity we probably won't even know. But you saw something of your lost condition, and then you saw how he spoke peace to your soul, and now he is worthy of all your love. You know, therefore it's so necessary that we realize these matters, that we realize that grace is a one-sided work of God. You found him because he sought after you. You didn't seek after him. It's all fruit of his one-sided love. You see that also in the life of Peter. The Lord had forgiven Peter's denial. And when Peter was asked in the circle of the disciples whether he loved Jesus, he confessed three times, Lord, thou knowest all things. Thou knowest that I love thee. That's how it was with the apostle Paul. He was stopped short on the way to Damascus, and Paul had participated in the stoning of Stephen. He had destroyed the congregation at Jerusalem, and yet God saved Paul. And that's why he loved the Lord Jesus. was willing to do anything for the Lord Jesus. Is that not the experience of every child of God? When you realize that you were found, that you were saved because of sheer grace, because He had compassion upon you, then it cannot be otherwise. But you want to love Him and you want to love Him more. And that's Yes, what we sing in Psalter of in Psalm 116, I love the Lord who heard my cry and granted my request. Yes, that love to the Lord is awakened. Love, reciprocal love, because he first loved you. So it was because of his love that the Lord Jesus sent out his disciples to preach the gospel first in Jerusalem. But what we also see then is grace, because you understand, this is sheer grace that the disciples receive the task to first preach the gospel in Jerusalem. It's not to be understood. that the Lord Jesus will want to have His salvation and forgiveness of sins first to be proclaimed to the very people who crucified Him. And here, congregation, we look straight into the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a miracle that the Lord Jesus gave Himself for sinners in the heathen lands and countries, but that He's also willing to be the Savior for Jerusalem sinners. That is grace. It's divine grace. And here you see also the merits of Christ Jesus are fully sufficient and they are of eternal value. For the chief of sinners, His blood is enough even for those who crucified Him. Here we are staring into the unfathomable riches of Christ. That's why Paul could later on proclaim to the Jews in Acts 13, be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins. The greatest sinners are welcome to come to him. They may bow the knee, confess their corruption, and maybe you don't see your corruption. You may come as you are in all your blindness. You may drop into the arms of Christ. You are called to do so. And not just once, but time and again. To find in Him all you need. His eyes are now even upon you. Now at this service. And maybe He's saying to you, maybe you've forgotten me. And you have ignored me. And even if you've sinned against all of My commandments, come now to Me with all your burden, and I will give you rest. For those who come unto Me I will in no wise cast out. But you say, My heart, Pastor, My heart is so hard as a rock. That will only show that you are a great sinner. But My heart is always going against the Lord. Well, that shows that you are a great sinner. But I've lived so long without the Lord, although I went to church, it never really entered my heart. Well, that shows you belong to great sinners. But I've wasted my life, and now I'm old and gray. That shows that you are a great sinner. But my heart, my body, my entire life are filthy. Well, then you should position yourself with the great sinners. And now the Lord Jesus is proclaiming remission of sins and a new life for great sinners. They may hear the gospel. They are invited to come with repentance and sorrow for sin. This call is also for those who have to say, your sins are as scarlet, they are like crimson, or they are black. Whatever they are, when you come to Him, He will wash you, that you become whiter than snow. For there is a fountain opened for Jerusalem sinners, for all filth and uncleanness. Well, Pastor, but I think I'm not one of the elect. Well, then you're a great fool to think like that. You want to interfere in matters which are none of your business. There's no sin that makes you to be a non-elect except the sin of impenitence. When you desire remission of sin, and you long to be saved, you are welcome with the Lord, and He will not cast you out. Then you have also no right whatsoever to say that you belong to the reprobate. The Lord Jesus stands between hell and you, and He is calling you, and He starts proclaiming this grace at Jerusalem. But when you refuse this gospel, and when you pay no attention, and you don't want to have your life governed by him, and you don't want him to be your king who would rule over your life, and you don't want him to be your priest who would cover all your sins and pray for you and bless you in your life, and you don't want him as your prophet to instruct you and to teach you the way you must go. keeping yourself at arm's length from Christ, and you are a stranger to Him, then He must say, I don't know you. Yeah, but I was in church. I don't know you, because you are keeping yourself outside of the Kingdom of God, and you are rejecting His grace. See how far the Lord Jesus is descending to meet you in your lost condition. He gives grace. If the Lord Jesus wants His Gospel to be preached to those who crucified Him, He cannot descend any lower. And so He is proclaiming His Word to you. He's inviting you. He's commanding you. Repent and believe the gospel. Cast yourself upon Him. But I hear someone say, that's exactly what I cannot do. Well, the Lord knows that far better than you do. But why don't you try to cast yourself upon Him? Then He will place you upon Himself. Then He will take your heart. He will renew it. But do not stay away from Christ. Flee to Him, because He saves even the greatest sinners. And so there's no need for despair, but there's every reason for good hope in Christ. And so none may say, it's not for me, that sheer unbelief. That's unwillingness, that's impenitence, because the reality is that Christ can save to the uttermost. But you say, I have never experienced the love of God in my heart, and I've waited for Him a long time. Well, still you have seen something of your great need. If you say you've waited for Him, you've been praying to Him, calling upon Him earnestly, you've seen something of your sins, and you have received grace from the Lord to wait upon Him for many days. The fact that you have not given up prayer is because the Lord is working in your heart. It's because of an outpouring of some degree of love and desire for Christ in your heart, so that you realize that you are poor and needy, and that you have been attracted to Him, and that's why you repeatedly flee to Him. But to your own estimation, you don't experience His love. But still the Lord is at work. Don't give up. The Lord will give love and grace according to the measure He allots to you. But take courage and look to Christ. He will enliven you. He will lead you, He will take you by the hand. And you will experience His love at His time. And in the time being He will give you enough. But the Lord doesn't let His people wait long. He longs more for them than they for Him. But you say, the Lord has never spoken to me. Well, He has spoken, but you didn't hear. He spoke to you when you saw something of your lost condition. He spoke to you when He presented Himself to you under the preaching of His Word. He spoke to you when He invited you personally. He spoke to you already when you were a child, when you were baptized, but you didn't listen. You didn't listen. When a person is converted, he will say, he will hear new things in God's house and he will say to others, why didn't anyone tell me this before? Well, we've been telling you this for years, but you never listened. The Lord does speak. Maybe not like you imagine it to be. Maybe you expect some great experience. Don't desire great things, great experiences. Don't think your conversion is to copy that of your father or your grandfather. No, you're all different persons. The Lord knows what you need. Do not despair. Despair is denying the power of Christ. Despair is actually saying to the Lord God that He is lying and doesn't really mean it when He's offering you grace. Put away that despair. Although you see Him not and feel Him not and touch Him not, wait for the Lord. Hope upon Him. And it's also not The idea that you just lie down in quiet presumption and say, well, I'm under the proclamation of the gospel. I'm in church and I'm doing quite well. I'm not a notorious sinner. I'm no criminal. I'm honest. I'm fair. I'm faithful in my church attendance. I'm not doing so bad. I'm actually quite well. Actually, the Lord should be quite happy with me. I'm not like my neighbors. And so you talk yourself into having received grace. But that's not what this word is all about. Repentance and remission of sins doesn't mean that we have to talk ourselves into the mindset that we've received grace and presume all is well. No. That's presumption. But what we are talking about is a total change of life. What we're talking about is a being focused on the one thing needful, the Lord Jesus Christ. I need Him that I may know Christ and the power of His resurrection, renewing me that I may be conformed to His image. That's what we're talking about. Like a horse wanting to go back to the stable and is pulling the reins. That's how we must be. Desiring Christ and more of the Lord Jesus. Presumption, that's also unbelief. We must realize that we belong to the greatest sinners. We, you and me. These greatest sinners are not the people in Gomorrah and in Sodom and in Jerusalem. No, it's us. We are those greatest sinners. And the more grace you see, the more you realize that you and I, that we belong to these greater sinners. Because it were not the Jews who crucified the Lord Jesus, but I did it with my sins and my guilt. And now he's calling Jerusalem sinners. Why shall we then not listen? to this gracious invitation. Christ gives us the inestimable privilege to hear this precious gospel. Let us adore him and seek him first and foremost in our lives. Amen.