1st Peter chapter 5 and we are looking at verses 5 through 7 today. Let's hear God's word read one more time. 1st Peter 5 verses 5 through 7. Likewise, you younger ones, submit yourselves to the elders. Yes, all of you be submissive one to another and clothe yourselves with humility because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that he may exalt you in due time. Cast all your care upon him because he cares for you. The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever. I've titled this morning's sermon, Walking Together, in humility. And I hope that this point will be made by the end of the message today. That when we live according to the Lord's command, we find together a good life of humble service to him and to one another. that when we live according to the Lord's command, we find together a good life of humble service to him and to one another, walking together in humility. As chapter five opened, we saw a command, an exhortation, a plea crying out to the elders by the apostle to shepherd the flock of God that was among them. That is an exhortation and a plea that stands today to all elders everywhere in the house of God that these elders would shepherd the flock of God. As we move through verses one through four, and then verses five through seven, we find an apostolic application of the fifth commandment to the life of the church. We heard last time about those who, according to the Westminster exposition of the Fifth Commandment, would be labeled superiors in the church, not by anything substantial to ourselves, but simply by calling, that the Lord has called certain folk to lead in a certain way. And today we hear about the calling of what would be labeled inferiors, those who do not hold the office of an overseer. And so therefore we're talking about the overseen and also as equals how all of us should act in the household of God toward one another. Now I want to confess to you right off the back that this is not a comfortable sermon to preach for me anyway. This is like when you go to get your oil changed and they are trying to convince you of why you need an air filter and why you need this done and that done and your blinker fluid is running low and that's going to be $90 to fill that up. There's no such thing as blinker fluid for any of you who I might have just confused there for a second. And they rest in saying, well, we're the expert and we know what needs to be happening here. And it always seems self serving. And I do not want this to be self serving, but to be an encouragement to all of us in what we can have together as the Church of Christ in this place. A little review of the fifth commandment. Honor thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Exodus 20 and verse 12. And the Westminster Divines asked, who are meant by father and mother in the fifth commandment? And they answer that it's not only our natural parents. Kids, you can look around, see your mom or your dad. or both, and they might already be looking at you, telling you to sit still, quit fidgeting, take notes, all the things that you are to be doing during worship. But also superiors in age and gifts and those by God's ordination who are over us in a place of authority in the family, the church, or in society and commonwealth. the government and the nation. And then they asked, why are these superiors painted? Why are they styled as father and mother? And it's partly to teach those who are in a superior calling, to teach them the duties that they have towards the inferiors. In other words, they were saying if if we don't think of it this way, there will be things about the service to which one is called that will be missed if we do not think of it in the way that scripture calls us to. And like natural parents, they are to express love and tenderness to them according to the various relationships. And to work in inferiors, those who are underneath are those who are overseen to a greater willingness and cheerfulness in performing their duties to their superiors as to their parents. The presumption there is that as children we enjoyed obeying our parents. What is the general scope they ask then of the fifth commandment? the performance of those duties which we mutually owe in our several relations as inferiors, superiors, or equals, that we would perform those duties well. And then thinking back, look back at the beginning of chapter 5 of 1 Peter there and scan those verses and then hear this from the Westminster Divines. It's almost as if Peter is laying the groundwork for what is said here. What is required of superiors toward their inferiors? If we're to enact and to live these responsibilities in these relationships, what is it is required of superiors according to that power they receive from God and that relation wherein they stand to love, pray for, and bless their inferiors. to instruct, counsel, and admonish them, countenancing, commending, and rewarding such as do well, and discountencing, reproving, and chastising such as do ill, protecting and providing for them all things necessary for soul and body, and by grave, wise, holy, and exemplary carriage, that means how they carry out their duties, to procure glory to God, honor to themselves, and so to preserve that authority which God hath put upon them. We hear that in Peter's words, do we not? I exhort the elders who are among you as one who is also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Shepherd the flock of God that is among you. Take care of them. not by constraint, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. Do not lord over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. We hear this also as we understand the sins of superiors, besides neglecting the duties that are required and inordinate seeking of themselves, their own glory, ease, profit or pleasure, commanding things unlawful or not in the power of inferiors to perform. counseling, encouraging, or favoring them in that which is evil, dissuading, discouraging, or discountencing them in that which is good, correcting them unduly, careless, exposing, or leaving them to wrong, temptation, and danger, provoking them to wrath, or in any way dishonoring themselves or lessening their authority by an unjust, indiscreet, rigorous, or remiss behavior. Isn't that what we heard in Hophni and Phineas? That they were coming to God's people and making them do something that was in line with what God had required of them. But Hophni and Phinehas were causing them or trying to cause them to do it in such a way so that Hophni and Phinehas benefited from it in a way that they were not to. They were sinning against God's people. So that is a lot of what we heard about last time, as we heard about the superior office, not again superior because of necessarily the inherent holiness of the men who hold that office, but the fact that it is an ordained office of God and God has appointed people to serve in that office, to oversee others in the church. And now we come to verse 5. where Peter is keeping on this same theme. We see this as we hear the word likewise again, as he used it up above. Likewise, you younger ones submit yourselves to the elders. And there's been great debate, are we simply talking about younger people in the church honoring and respecting and listening to the older, more aged, the more antiquated, the more seasoned saints among us. Is that what the apostle is calling us to? If that were the case, Mrs. Porter could have the run of the place. We would have to come before the red plastic throne and and ask her permission to do whatever we wanted to do in the church. We would have to listen to her. And as much as we want to respect and hear and listen to our senior saints. And as much as we desire more of them among us and day by day, more of you are approaching that season. This is not necessarily talking about elder in age, but elder in office. And the divines, the Westminster theologians asked What is the honor that inferiors owe to their superiors? And this is the perfect time to ask that question, because they are being told, you younger ones, submit yourselves to the elders. The resulting question is, well, how do we do that? And the Westminster theologians answer this, the honor which inferiors owe to their superiors is all due reverence in heart, word, and behavior. prayer and thanksgiving for them, imitation of their virtues and graces, willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels, due submission to their corrections, fidelity to, defense and maintenance of their persons and authority, according to their several ranks and the nature of their places, bearing with their infirmities and covering them in love so that they may be an honor to them and to their government. Now I want to be totally forthright here and say that in the church particularly in the reformed church we are much more comfortable applying this even in the civil government sphere and mostly comfortable in the familial or family sphere But can I be so brash and bold as to say we hate to apply this in the ecclesiastical sphere? That we do not like, Justin, to be told that we might need to do something that we don't naturally want to do. There's an interesting line in here, willing obedience to their lawful commands and counsels, which is a challenge to all of us. Because this means that as you come to your elders and as your elders oversee you, we will not necessarily just parrot word for word what scripture says. What should I do? Well, here is chapter and verse. And might I suggests that if that were the case, there would really be no need for the structure in the church, and there would really only need to be a reminder to obey God's Word. But God in His wisdom, not man's, not human wisdom, in His wisdom has seen fit to grant authority and oversight to a certain group of folks in the church to help the rest of the church process and apply God's word in particular situations in their lives that might not naturally occur to them as they consider what God would have them do. What are the sins of inferiors against their superiors then? Well, other than neglecting the duties required toward them, envying at, contempt of, and rebellion against their persons and places in their lawful counsels, commands and corrections, cursing, mocking and all such refractory and scandalous carriage as proves a shame and dishonor to them and their government. I said this was a challenge to us all. This definitely is because then the gauntlet is thrown down for the elders to be giving lawful counsel and commands and corrections. The role for us is to fulfill verses one through four, so that it is easy for all of you to want to fulfill verse five, to submit to the elders. And Wayne Grudem had an interesting comment, kind of melding together the whole age and office question of verse 5. He said, young people might need a reminder to submit themselves to the authorities over them. But brothers and sisters, I think those of us who have a few more miles on us also need that reminder to submit to the authorities that are over us. But there is something about that vigor of youth, is there not? You've heard it said that the older I get, the wiser my mom and dad have become. I'm just gonna guess, but maybe they were wise to begin with. And it's just now dawning on us how wise they are. And all the moms and dads said, Amen. We're reminded here of the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy in his second letter to Timothy, as he is laying out to him the various roles and responsibilities and relationships within the church. And it is in the context of this that we hear a phrase that we use so often in the sexual realm, but we apply very little in the relational realm of authority and submission in the church. And that is, as the modern English version puts it, flee youthful desires. You've probably heard it over the years as flee youthful lusts. Here's that whole context in 2 Timothy 2. And I'm going to read verses 20 through 26. In a large house, there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also those of wood and clay, some for honor and some for dishonor. One who cleanses himself from these things will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, fit for the master's use, and prepared for every good work. So flee youthful desires and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But, and this is the contrast then to fleeing youthful desires, but avoid foolish and unlearned debates knowing that they create strife. Goes on, the servant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be gentle toward all people, able to teach, patient in gentleness, instructing those in opposition. Perhaps God will grant them repentance to know the truth, and they may escape from the snare of the devil after being captured by him to do his will. But see, here we have in this idea, this fleeing youthful lust, this idea of A contrast of that is not creating strife and conflict. But there's to be in the elders and then also in the people a gentleness. We are to understand how we are fit for the master's use. In every house there are vessels of honor and vessels of dishonor. If I am working on a toilet and I need to empty that toilet out at the house, I don't look at one of my kids and say, go grab mom's punch bowl from the dining room. No, what do I say? I say, go grab one of the old ice cream buckets, or for you, whatever the equivalent of an old ice cream bucket is in your house. Because that's what we put dirty water in, not in the fine crystal, or the fine silver, or the fine gold. Each of us understand how we are to be fit for use in the Master's house. And who is our primary example of this submission of understanding His place in the Lord's house, His place in the Master's plan? Who is our prime example? There is no one other than Jesus Christ Himself. Kids, you probably remember this part of Jesus' life. We read of it in Luke 2. Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. Remember, parents, Jesus' parents were faithful in the services of the church. They didn't say, we've got God the Son. We're good. We're off the hook. No, they went to church. So remember that, parents. Just a loving nudge. We are to expose our children constantly to the services of the church. When he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When the days of the feast were complete, as they returned, the child Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother did not know of it. But supposing him to be in their company, they went a day's journey. Again, large groups, large families, villages, entire massive groups of people would travel together. Then they searched for him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Now you can imagine the panic here. in the hearts of Mary and Joseph. Have you ever had one of those really stressful days where there's so much going on and everybody's operating on a different level? This is the time of year where that can happen. People are preparing for school and if you've got a an educator and those being educated in the same house. Everyone's working on a different wavelength, it seems. There's so much going on. And you look at your kids and you say, kids, it's time to go to bed. And they look at you and say, are we going to eat supper? And that horrified feeling of failure that comes over you as a parent, that it's bedtime and you forgot to feed these treasures of the Lord that have been entrusted to you. Now, imagine Mary and Joseph when it's bedtime. They've traveled for an entire day and they say, well, let's make sure Jesus is in bed. And they don't even know where he is. What if you were sitting in your house and you looked at your kids to say it's time for bed and your kids weren't even there? You could have sworn they were there and they're gone. Well, they go back and they find Jesus sitting in the temple, in the midst of the teachers, and He's listening to them, and He is asking them questions. All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and His answers. When they saw Him, they were amazed. And His mother said to Him, Son, why have you dealt with us like this? Why have you done this to us? So you look at your kids and you say, it's time for bed. And they say, are we going to eat supper? And you say, what is your problem? Why have you done this to us? How could you not have reminded me that you need to eat? Mary and Joseph look at Jesus and say, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have anxiously searched for you. I love this. As a parent, as a young man who may have caused my parents angst at some point in my life, I can see this unfolding. Look at your father. He's a mess. Why have you done this to us? He said to them, how is it that you searched for me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? But they did not understand the word which he spoke to them. Now, brothers and sisters, in our sinful, rebellious, fallen, broken human hearts, human relationships, I am afraid that our narrative at that point would go on to say, if it were about us, he then understood what incompetent parents they were, and so he decided then he was going to have to do his own thing. Because clearly, they did not know what they were doing. They clearly were incompetent superiors, and after all, He was God the Son, living in sinless perfection. Why should He submit to them? But what does it say? Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. And kids, Well, his mother kept all these words in her heart, and kids, I told you in the reading of 1 Samuel, it says, Samuel increased in wisdom and in favor with God and men. 52 of Luke 2, and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men. Children, so often it is tempting to be concerned about growing in stature. Am I getting taller? Am I taller than mom? Am I taller than grandma? Am I taller than dad? and in favor with men. Do I have friends? Am I accepted? Am I loved? Am I socially abhorrent? I hope not. But you are to be a well-rounded child of God, growing in wisdom. Yes, the physical is important. Christ grew in that as well. And the social is important. Christ grew in that as well. But He also grew in His relationship with His Heavenly Father. And that should be a priority for you as well. In Hebrews 5, verses 7-10, we read this, In the days of His flesh, isn't that an interesting way of putting the incarnation? In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death. What does that sound like? That sounds like the Garden of Gethsemane. Lord, let this cup, Father, let this cup pass away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Thine be done. He offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him who was able to save him from death. He was heard because of his godly fear. Now note, it does not mean that because he was heard, he did not die. But the Heavenly Father heard his cries. Though he was a son, he learned obedience through the things that he suffered and being made perfect. That doesn't mean that Jesus was sinful and then reached a point of sinlessness. That means that there reached a point of maturity in who he was and the mission that he came to accomplish. He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him, being designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek. So, brothers and sisters, Christ himself lived in humble submission to the teachers in the temple, to his father and to his mother. And I encourage you, be submissive to the elders. Be submissive to the elders It is not natural to us, but learn that obedience even as Christ did. Secondly, be humble amongst yourselves. Be humble amongst yourselves. Yes, all of you be submissive one to another and clothe yourselves with Humility. John Calvin says, and this is a lengthy quote, but I think it's helpful in these words, yea, all or yes, all of you. He shows the reason why the younger ought to submit to the elder, even that there may be an equitable state of things and do order among them. For when authority is granted to the elders, there is not given them the right or the liberty of throwing off the bridle, but they are also themselves to be under due restraint, so that there may be mutual subjection. So the husband is the head of the wife, and yet he in his turn is to be in some things subject to her. So the father has authority over his children, and still he is not exempt from all subjection, but something is due to them. The same thing also is to be thought of others. In short, all ranks in society have to defend the whole body, which cannot be done except all the members are joined together by the bond of mutual subjection. Nothing is more adverse to the disposition of man than subjection. Let me say that again. Nothing is more adverse to the disposition of man than subjection. For it was formerly very truly said that everyone has within him the soul of a king. Until then, the high spirits with which the nature of men swells are subdued. No man will give way to another. But on the contrary, each one despising others will claim all things for himself. We are to live in subjection to one another. We are to be submissive one to another, and it does not come naturally. In Caesarea Philippi, in the in the fort there that was built so many centuries ago, there was an interesting way that invading armies had to approach the main gate of the city. You've all seen pictures or perhaps a movie where there's a castle and there's that long straightaway up to the moat and the drawbridge and the gate. The enemy's trying to get in that way. But in Caesarea Philippi, they built the fort this way. The approach was to the right of the main gate of the city. And they built walls, basically built a hallway, so that even invading armies on horses would have to ride in and then turn left to get to the main gate. And there was a series of slits in the wall there. The majority of people are right handed. And so a warrior would carry his shield on his left, correct? And even on a horse as they would be riding quickly up as they would go starting at the right and turn left along that wall. It was exposing their weak side that was unable to defend. Brothers and sisters, I believe the enemy in our world very often constructs things in such a way so that we as the church, as we believe we are attacking and confronting the enemy, are really simply exposing our weakness to attack. All of us have to work to defend all of us. You don't see soldiers heading to Iraq or Afghanistan with flip-flops on, saying, well, I've got the important gear on up here, that doesn't really matter down there. No, every article is important to a soldier. Their packs are very heavy, but every single piece that is in there is very important. There is nothing superfluous. There is nothing that is just to take along, just for kicks and giggles. It is all important to the battle. And brothers and sisters, all of us must be all in in defending all of the body together. And Paul calls us to be submissive to one another and to how to outfit ourselves, to clothe ourselves with humility. It's interesting that he phrases it this way. He calls us to be submissive, but he calls us to clothe ourselves with humility, to wrap and to surround ourselves with the humility that can only come from God. This is like the mutual submission spoken of by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 2. Let nothing be done out of strife or conceit, but in humility, let each esteem the other better than himself. Let each of you look not only to your own interests, but also the interests of others. You know, it can make us so mad when we look at somebody and we say, you know, they just think they're better than me. And that's completely backwards because we're supposed to think that they are better than me. That's the humility that we are called to. Looking out for one another. And the reason here, because God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Quoting here, as Peter is apt to do, quoting from the Old Testament, Proverbs 3, 34, Surely he scorns the scornful, but he gives favor to the humble. He scorns the scornful. He does to them the very thing that they are doing. He gives favor, He gives grace to the humble. Now, some commentators say that, you know, back in the day when they were creating the chapters and the paragraphs, that a new paragraph should have been cut here. But I don't think so. I'm not convinced that verses 6 and 7 aren't tied inextricably to the previous verses. Because Thirdly, today, we are to trust the Lord in these relationships. Remember that these believers to whom Peter was writing were in times of great anguish and great strife. And there is there is no better time for us to get off kilter and off base in how we handle our relationships with one another than when we are under great stress. And when we feel attacked from the outside and we build a mentality that says, if you're not 100% for me, you are 100% against me. And so I believe Peter is going on to tease out how we are to live in these relationships as we trust the Lord. See, because if we are not humbling ourselves for only humbling ourselves in relation to one another and not ultimately, to the supremacy and authority of God in our lives, that humility will quickly come undone. And so he goes on in verse 6, Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. Might I say, even if the only reason you humble yourself is so that you might someday experience an exaltation, at least you're obeying. As Paul talks about those who are preaching the gospel for all the wrong reasons, and everybody's all riled up about this, and Paul goes, the gospel's being preached. How can I get upset about that? If I see you humbling yourself, but I hear you mumbling under your breath, someday, someday, someday, at least I can say you're humbling yourself. Jesus spoke of this, didn't he? Luke 14, verses seven through 11. When he marked how they chose the seats of honor, Jesus never missed a teachable moment. When he marked how they chose the seats of honor, he told a parable to those who were invited, saying to them, when you are invited by any man to a wedding banquet, do not sit down in a seat of honor, lest a more honorable man than you be invited by him. And he who invited you both will come and say to you, give this man the seat, and then you will begin with shame to take the lowest seat. But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest seat, so that when he who invited you comes, he may say to you, friend, go up higher. Then you will have respect in the presence of those who sit at dinner with you. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." A modern day illustration of this was in the great newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst, who had a cottage, shall we say, in the south central coast of California, known as Hearst Castle, that was constructed out of his massive collections of artwork and architecture from around the world. And in the massive dining room there, a dining room table that would seat 50 easily, you knew if you were in his good graces and he would invite friends and acquaintances and people to come and they would stay with him sometimes for weeks at a time. It was a massive complex with much to do, his own zoo. There are still zebras running the hills that were the offspring from that zoo, and swimming pools, and they would film movies and show them in the movie theater. I mean, all sorts of things. And there was this quadrant of seats right around William Randolph Hearst, that if you were in his good graces, you were seated at dinner every night in that table. And they said you could often tell when your time to leave was coming, because each dinner, each meal, your seat would move further and further down the table. And the stories are told of those who would walk into the dining hall, presuming I'm still in a place of honor, and they would sit down in that quadrant close to him and they would be told, No, I'm sorry, your place is down here. Brothers and sisters, if we humble ourselves, the Lord draws us near. He is. He is close to the broken hearted. He is near to the humble. If we walk into his presence prideful. He has to knock us down to remind us who we are, what our place is now. Praise God. The overall welcome never ends. We are never kicked completely out of the dining room. We're never told to pack and go home. We're always welcome at his table. We're also also told again is cast all your care upon Him because He cares for you. How often we are tempted in the midst of strife, in the midst of conflict, to begin to take it all on ourselves. If I don't fix this, if I don't do what I know how to do, this cannot be repaired. This cannot be overcome. It is up to me. And we begin to put ourselves in the place of God in the midst of relationships, in the midst of conflict, in the midst of struggle. But see, what's beautiful about this text, about verse 7, the second half, cast all your care upon Him. Why? Because He cares for you. It's almost the opposite of verse 6, where we are called to do something so that an end result might happen. We do not cast our care upon Him so that He will care for us. The root reason for why we are to cast our cares upon Him is because He cares for us. It's the reason for it, not the result of it. How much anxiety and stress. Comes from us not interacting and interrelating the way we ought to in our human relationships, particularly those of authority and submission. How often do we find ourselves trying to finagle something that is wrong or the wrong timing? because we believe it's up to us. Now, if you remember my main point, it wasn't too long ago. When we live according to the Lord's command, we find together a good life of humble service to him and to one another. There's a final question that the Westminster theologians asked about the fifth commandment. They asked, what is the reason annexed to the fifth commandment, the more to enforce it? And the answer comes, the reason annexed to the fifth commandment. In these words that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee is an express promise of long life and prosperity as far as it shall serve for God's glory and their own good to all such as keep this commandment. When we think of eternal life, yes, we think of quantity. We think of this life that goes on and on and on forever. But would we really want to go on and on forever in the body that we currently have? No. As George Scipione used to say, who praise God, now has that new body in heaven with the Lord. He used to say, if this is the new heavens and the new earth, I got ripped off. This is a joke. He was asthmatic and had a lot of physical problems over the years. No, it's not just quantity of life, it's quality of life. It's a life of perfection and joy. And while we do not experience that perfection in this life, we experience the perfecting of life on so many levels. Do you think it would honor God as we're to be concerned with God's glory if we lived well within the positions that he has given us in society? Teachers, if you walk into the classroom whenever that's able to happen for you, And the student said, you know what, we're going to take it from here. That would not honor God. That would not be for their own good. Do you think it would honor God and serve for God's glory and our own good if we live within the positions he has given us within our families? Dads, what if you call a family meeting and before you can start, the kids start telling you how things are going to be. That probably would not be for their own good anyway. How much more is God honored and glorified if within his very own household we live as we should? upholding his law. And I've tried to prove to you today that Peter's words here are not. Yes, we know their spirit inspired, but it's it's not just Peter grabbing this out of thin air. This will sound good. He is applying God's law to the church, saying this is how you live this out. Upholding his law, showing proper respect and deference amongst superiors, inferiors and equals. How glorified would he be and how much for our own good would it serve if we simply loved one another? For isn't that the purpose of the law? And if we lived together in the fruit of that love. Finding brothers and sisters that when we live according to the Lord's command, we find together a good life of humble service to him and to one another. Stand with me as we pray. Father, help us. As John Calvin reminded us, these are things that we do not like. At times we might say this is against every fiber in our being. But Lord, how desperately we need them. Cause, oh Lord, your elders to walk in uprightness, to walk in joy, to lead and shepherd and guide and counsel and correct in such a way as to uphold your glory and the good of the flock and Lord help the flock. to flock together in such a way as is humble and submissive and bringing honor and glory to you and good to themselves. We pray in Christ's name and church, let us pray together. Our father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.