Well, uh, good morning Ebenezer Baptist Church. It's, uh, as you've heard, my name is John Tellis. I am delighted to be with you this morning. I'm here with my wife, as Jamie has said, Pastor Jamie had said, my wife Leslie, our youngest son Riley, and my 2 daughters are at home. One has just finished university, and as I was telling the previous service, she needs to get a job.

And, uh, and the youngest one took a gap year. She was at Bible college in Florida and is now back and started a university in Scotland, so she couldn't come either. But it's a real joy to be with you here this morning. This church has been such a blessing to us, not only for our church planting work but as a— personally, as a family. In fact, I might go so far as to say that although this is actually my first time in this building I honestly feel that I'm visiting my home church.

You, you guys are really precious to us. There are some church partnerships that you know that people support the work that you're doing, but it is rare to have a relationship with a church that you genuinely know that if you need real help, that they will do everything that they can to help you. And that kind of partnership is precious. To us, and we are deeply thankful for all you guys. We've had 2 teams from Ebenezer come over to Scotland.

On that slide there, we ran— we took a big swing that day— that week, excuse me, a very big swing. We had some of you doing a children's sports VBS while at the same time another group of us were renovating the cafe space. And man, that was hard work. That was hard work. I needed a month— a week off to recover from that one.

But when you guys came back the second time, and I think, yeah, that's the one there. Now, I didn't get a before picture, but really that room looked like a prison cell, and it sounded like a prison cell. And so you guys came, renovated that classroom. It's for our primary school-aged children, and it's now a warm, welcoming space, and we have you guys to thank for that. We are very grateful.

So, so thanks and greetings from the Wallerford Community Church to you all. Um, it is a— it's an honor to, to be able to open up the word of God with you this morning. But before I do that, I've been allowed to just take a few moments to share with you some of the work that we are involved with. As some of you may know, Scotland is now considered by many to be a unreached people group. Now that might be hard for some of you to believe.

I mean, remember that Scotland used to send out more missionaries than the rest of the world combined at one stage. Now we are unreached people group. In the area where we live, I've got some nice pictures up there, it's really a beautiful place, East Lothian. Because the churches are so few and because the churches are so small, I could do the math myself and tell you how big that population of Christians are, and it works out to 0.4%. 0.4% are evangelical Christians.

For the first, for the first time in our recorded history, um, it was up in the previous slide, but we are now a majority atheist country. That means that if you add up Roman Catholics, all denominations Hindus, Muslims, you name it. You add them all together, we are still a minority in our country. And it's really, really sad that the birthplace of John Knox, the Reformation, uh, he just had so much going on over there. David Livingstone, perhaps you all know that name.

But now 0.4% of our county anyway are Christians. So Lord willing, it is our vision to see small gospel-centered churches planted throughout the county, and we pray one day the country. Yes, our plan is to identify and train church planters. Indigenous men are the gold prize, but we are looking for American men as well to come over. We will assimilate you into Scottish culture.

Because that's so important. You need to understand what it means to share the gospel in a Scottish context. And we will then send these people out surrounded with a group of other people to support them into a village where there is highly likely there is no gospel witness whatsoever. And so that's what our plans are. We're calling it the Ember Project.

The name speaks for itself. But when we began this work about 18 months ago, it became very clear to, to us very quickly that, um, there was a huge amount of work involved. And so we began to pray, because that's what we want everything to be built on— not on strategy or good planning, but on prayer. And so we began to pray, and the Lord has graciously answered that prayer. Phil and Helene Demarte, a missionary family who had previously been involved in church planting in France, have now moved to Scotland, and there have been a series of miracles to get them there.

On August 18th, that was their first day with us, and already they have been such a blessing. I call them our pressure release valve, and that's exactly what they are in our church. We have— we church planted the Wallerford— we started the Wallerford church about 15 years ago. If the church grows by 1% per annum, that is the national average. So if you've got a church of 100 people and 1 person gets saved, that is the national average.

And so 15 years ago we started that church, and right now it is just Andrew and myself that co-pastor that church, and our wives of course who, who give more than normal working hours probably about 50 to 60 hours a week sometimes in volunteer hours to the church. But that's basically our team and, and 2 other lay elders. But it has been a blessing to see what the Lord has been doing with Phil and Helene and somebody else the Lord provided as well. And so now that we have a bit of infrastructure and a bit of help in Scotland, we have turned our attention to finding the first point of the spear, you could say, the first church planter. And to be honest, this has been far more difficult than I expected.

I don't know if I was a little naive, but I thought that if I would cast a net across Bible colleges in the UK— and the Bible college in Edinburgh where we are from, in Edinburgh, uh, it has 6 students, by the way, just so it gives you a bit of context. But, uh, even if I would cast that net across the American Bible Belt in the context, uh, contacts that we have, um, I thought we would have a lot of people wanting to come and be church planters in Scotland. But that has not been the case so far. I've had conversations with about 8 men, many of them having excellent Bible college training, some of them in junior pastoral roles, But one thing that I've noticed is that their fear is greater than their faith. And I don't judge them for that, by the way.

It is tough. What we are asking of them is tough, and you have to count the cost. Church planting is something that is lonely at times, and it is tough. But folks, even as Christians, We, we know, right, that nothing worthwhile is easy. Yes, it is so true.

Nothing is worthwhile— nothing worthwhile is easy. Um, I'm sure there was a lot of fear in, uh, David's young heart as he went off to face Goliath. And we know that Moses was terrified before he went to see Pharaoh. And we know that several other prophets wanted God to take their lives from them rather than go out and fulfill the call that God had put on them. But folks, unless they stood up from under their fear, we would have no David and Goliath story to learn from and tell our children about, and the book of Exodus would be missing.

And please give me a bit of grace there. God's sovereignty would have fixed all that, of course. But you know what I'm saying.

Nothing of eternal value is going to happen anywhere, including here, unless we— if we have— excuse me, only if we have a good strategy and some good plans or enough resources. No, we must be men and women of prayer. That's the, that's the calling that we are looking for on these young men, um, people who are utterly dependent upon the Lord. And when I look back over the last 18 months, I must say that everything that has been accomplished has been because of prayer. Nothing that has happened is because of me.

I'm so glad to be able to tell you that the Lord has done it. And we believe the Lord and the Lord alone can rebuild his church in Scotland if men and women would stand up from under their fear and say, Lord, send me.

Nothing is impossible for him. If we as Christians, even in your own context, if you never go anywhere— which we all have a mission field on our doorstep— if we would just abide in him, abide in him, and become men and women of prayer, God can do so much more than we could ever accomplish on our own strength. A verse that has really spoken to me this year is from Zechariah 4:6. And it says this: Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty. Isn't that, uh, recentering?

Isn't that wisdom?

And we are therefore confident that in his time the Lord will raise up the right people, um, energetic It's hard work. Energetic young men and women that, uh, they would realize that church planting is not a short-term commitment. We believe it requires a long-term commitment, perhaps 7 to 10 years. And we are once again praying for people that are more concerned about the lost than they are about how far they are from their babysitters, aka parents and in-laws. Um, because the call to go and make disciples is costly.

Even if you stay local, it is still costly. It requires sacrifice, and the gospel has always taught us that from the beginning. Of course, that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is the perfect example of that.

So today, my ask of you is that you will be people who join us in prayer. Pray that the Lord would rise up young Davids for Scotland, men and women who are willing to face what may seem like a Goliath, but they're willing to stand not because they are naturally brave or strong or confident in themselves, but because they have a great confidence in the Lord. You know, guys, our life as Christians can be so exciting If we would step out and trust him to do marvelous things.

Or it can be nominal if we hardly ever open up our Bibles and our Christian life is only about coming to church on a Sunday.

So I ask you guys to please pray with us. I can't repeat that enough. Prayer is what this ministry will be built on, and prayer is how the church in Scotland will be rebuilt by the power of the Lord. So please pray with us. For laborers in the Lord's harvest in Scotland.

Now, if you have any questions about that, please speak to myself or Pastor Jamie. I know Pastor Randy, who's not here, knows about everything as well. Please speak to them. But we are deeply grateful for this partnership. Um, but let's move into something that is perhaps more important— definitely more important— the word of God.

Matthew 17. We're going to be looking at verses 1 through 8 this morning. And it's a really interesting few verses here. Many people read these verses as an independent event, but it's so important that we remember what happened 6 days before it. Peter tried to get into the— get in the way of the crucifixion.

I mean, who would think, right? He tried to stop the crucifixion, and that's what led Jesus to be very direct with them about their false expectations of a life of ease and comfort as a follower of Jesus. That was not going to be the case. And folks, if we are doing things well, that is not— that is exactly the same for us. Jesus said to them, whoever wants to be my disciple, not some of you, but whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow me.

But he ended that by saying, but truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom. And in today's verses, which are 6 days after those events, we're going to see Jesus pour out his grace to some people, to some disciples, by showing them a glimpse of what is to come after a difficult life of following Jesus. You know, Peter tells us, he says, set your hope fully on the glory to be revealed at the coming of Jesus Christ, not partially. That is how we are to live, and this gives us strength and energy and hope to do that. We're going to see Jesus pour out his grace.

They're going to see the glory of God, the visible splendor of his kingly majesty. And so guys, as we must also utterly abandon ourselves and take up our cross. I hope that this morning, at least by the end of this morning, you also will be greatly encouraged by what we read, because the road is hard and we need to acknowledge that the road is hard, but the glorious outcome is guaranteed. So let's look at these verses in a few parts. We'll work through them.

Firstly, verses 1 and 2. And it says, after 6 days Jesus took with him Peter and James and John his brother and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.

So it's clear something magnificent has happened. This has really got to be one of the most marvelous moments in Jesus's earthly ministry. You see, 6 days has been enough time for them to get over the shock of Jesus's words, to utterly abandon themselves. Remember that these guys had been taught from childhood that when the Messiah came, he's going to restore their fortunes, not call them to a more difficult life. That's poor teaching.

And so we read Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up a high mountain to Now we might ask the question, why Peter, James, and John? We can't be 100% sure. I do believe that the most reasonable answer is that these 3 men became pillars of the early church. But why 3 of them? Why not 5 or 6?

Why not all 12 and leave Judas behind, perhaps? Why not all of them? Excuse me. Deuteronomy 19:15 gives us the answer to that, and it says this: A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of 2 witnesses or 3 witnesses shall a charge be established.

Now I know that's talking about things almost in the negative, but these are the standards and requirements for judicial witnesses. According to Old Testament. And so we see Jesus is taking the full number. 2 is good, 3 is better. The full number that would be needed to testify to what happened, and they would be witnesses in due course.

James was the first apostle martyred, and so we don't have anything written by him, but Peter and John, they lived long enough, and we have some precious Holy Spirit-inspired letters written by them.

But guys, what they saw was amazing. Jesus is transfigured before them. The Greek word here is metamorph, okay? And I'm sure you all know that word. It's high school biology.

It's, it's changing from one form into something completely different. We would use it more, uh, probably more commonly known as The example would be when a caterpillar changes into a butterfly, we say metamorphosis has occurred. That's the Greek word. Now, we don't get a scientific blueprint of what— some atomic structure or DNA change. We didn't get that, and it's not important.

The description is simply that his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light. We see an outward expression of an inward reality. We knew Jesus's identity already, but now that's being outwardly revealed. Glory is being radiated from his face and clothing.

Now, back home, if I ask people, what is the glory of God? A lot of people kind of get nervous and move around in their chairs a wee bit. They're not quite sure what the answer is. It's something we think we know until we're asked, right? It's something we can define, but I don't think we can ever fully understand it.

The idea of the glory of God in the Hebrew comes from a word that means weight or importance or substance. In the Greek, it's the word doxa, which we, uh, we we use and we get doxology. It means splendor, honor, reputation. And I have a quote that defines it really well. It says, the glory of God is the manifestation of God's own perfect character and greatness, whereby he displays his holiness, beauty, power, love, and majesty, so that he is known, worshiped, and honored.

Folks, it is God's perfection, utter perfection, infinite perfection in every attribute, every action, every thought, absolute purity, all in absolute agape love. You know, we can rightfully say, for example, that God does not just speak truth, but he is truth. And why is that? It's because everything that comes from him is true. And as Creator, he is the perfect standard to which truth and every other attribute is measured at perfection.

So think about that. That's why he is truth, he is love, he is mercy, because he is the perfect standard to which everything else is measured. That's enough to blow some fuses, at least in my mind, when you spend long enough meditating on it. The glory and perfection and infinite knowledge of God that changes his physical appearance— that's pretty amazing. Revelation says this: And in the midst of the Lamb stands one like a Son of Man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.

The hairs of his head were white like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand held— he held 7 stars. From his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining at full strength.

That's Jesus Christ. And it's incredible, folks. It's incredible. Hebrews 1 tells us that he is the radiance— Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature.

And I am sure that even this is a glimpse of what we will one day understand of him in heaven.

In Revelation 22, um, it talks about the beginning of eternity, you could say. And in verse 5 it says, night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or the sun, for the Lord God will be their light.

Wow, what's it going to be like, folks?

But in this event that we're reading about some 2,000 years ago, from himself, in a way that cannot be fully understand— understood, God the Son's divine holiness and deity are visibly revealed as his perfection is radiated from his face and even made his clothes shine. Just a little bit, just a little bit of shining? No, his face shone like the sun. Folks, we can't even look at that. We just had an eclipse.

I think it was a 98% eclipse in Scotland. We were warned over and over again, don't look at the sun. Even the eclipse will cause damage.

Guys, this is perhaps the most greatest, the greatest supernatural testimony to the deity of Jesus anywhere in the Gospels, perhaps apart from the resurrection from the dead.

John, one of the witnesses, one of the 3 witnesses, he writes years later, he says, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

What else can we learn from these verses? It's so important. It was so important that these 3 disciples saw this, because not only were they witnesses to their own generation, but they were witnesses to every generation after them, even to us, that not only is Jesus God, but that God is perfectly good and holy. And then we think, but what about ourselves? What, what, how, what is our part in all this?

What are the implications for us? Well, the Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 3, he says, but our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Praise the Lord! These 3 disciples are witnesses that we too have a great hope here, folks, that one day our bodies will also shine with glory. But please understand, we're not talking about— this is not the goal to have shiny bodies.

What that means is that we will be without sin, perfectly without sin. Praise the Lord! I'm sure you're all the same, but I hate my sin.

But it won't be our glory. As Christ died and paid the cost to redeem us from hell, we need to make sure we understand That it is his righteousness that is imputed on us. It is his blood that washes away our sins. And we too will be perfect because we have thrown off our sinful natures and put on Christ's perfection in the next life, not our own. So important to know that.

And I just cannot wait. I cannot wait. But I love this passage. There's even more interesting things coming up from verse 3. And it says this: And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah talking with him.

And Peter said to Jesus, Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make 3 tents here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. He was still speaking when behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and the voice of the— from the cloud said, this is my beloved Son. With whom I am well pleased. Listen to him.

And when the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified. You know, in Luke 9:31, it tells us that Moses and Elijah also appeared in glory, but it does not say that they were radiant in the same way as Jesus. And we cannot be 100% sure of this, but I think it is safe to say that they were well overshadowed by the glory of Christ. Remember, while he was still on earth, Moses's face shone with the, the radiance of God when all he saw was the back of God as he passed by. That's Exodus 33.

So if that was the case, how much more will these men shine with the glory of God after being in the presence of God in heaven?

Why Moses and Elijah? We can ask the same question. Why not Daniel, Isaiah? And there are theories for that, and I don't have time to go into that, but if you want some homework, think Law and Prophets. Think how they represented the Law and the Prophets.

Because there's a more important question to focus on, or, or statement rather. It's that we've now had 2 more witnesses come on the scene. These are 2 heavenly witnesses. And in Luke's Gospel, we're told that all the disciples heard was that they were talking with Jesus about his departure. And I think it's really cool that the word in the Greek here, departure, is exodus.

They were talking to him about his exodus. Moses, who led God's people in a great exodus, from the bondage of slavery to the Egyptians, is now talking with God himself. That is about to be the complete fulfillment to what Moses's Exodus was truly pointing to. Christ's Exodus would free people from their bondage of slavery to sin.

What else were they witnesses to? The disciples, when they recover from the shock of this day, the blissful shock. The disciples would once again know without a shadow of a doubt that the suffering and death and the resurrection of Jesus was 100% in accordance with the foreknowledge and plan of God. What— this is about 6 months before the crucifixion, and it was not a mistake, folks. Like I said, we live in an atheistic country, Scotland.

And we are told on a regular basis that Jesus did exist, I'll give you that. There's enough historical record. But he was just some man, and the crucifixion was a big mistake. He didn't plan for that to happen. Folks, 6 months before it happened, they were talking about it.

6 months.

God's plan of redemption would never need a plan B. Why? Because God is perfect. God's glory would not allow for a mistake. The cross was always God's plan because only a sinless Creator would be— who was so perfect that he shined like the sun— only he could be sufficient enough a sacrifice to cover the seriousness and the grotesqueness of mankind's sin.

And Moses and Elijah now are the heavenly witnesses to the 3 earthly witnesses that this was always the plan and the events of the cross were not an accident.

Peter, once again, he says some crazy stuff. If you follow what Peter says through the Gospels, what a man, what a man. He comes up with some crazy ideas, but When you look at the other Gospels, we're told that Jesus said to them, we're going to go up a high mountain and pray. And then when they finished that journey, they got up there, they were tired, these disciples, and they actually fell a bit asleep. They were semi-asleep, and they woke up to what— to see what had already been going on.

And so perhaps it's a silly thing, but this is my theory, that when Peter woke up, his mind immediately went to the facts that he knew. That when Moses had spent— gone up the high mountain to be alone with God, he was there for 40 days. 40 days. So maybe it's not as crazy as it sounds. Maybe Peter was trying to do the good thing.

He was definitely a man of action. And so, assuming that they would be there a while, Peter says, let me build some shelters. But suddenly, a radiant cloud of glory, another cloud of glory, a voice from within. Who is it? The 3rd heavenly witness, God the Father.

And he says, this is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him. Peter writes about this years later.

He received glory and honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the majestic glory saying, this is my Son whom I love. With him I am well pleased.

But folks, when the Father says listen to him, don't you think that is as much for us as it was for the disciples? And every other generation in between and every generation that is to come. If Jesus is beginning to show you how you need to utterly abandon yourself, how you need to take up your cross and follow him, isn't it time to stop making excuses and listen to him? If you're always turning down ministry opportunities because, I can't do that and I'm not gifted with this— it's what we hear in Scotland all the time. I'm not good enough with this.

I'm not good enough with that. When Moses came up with that excuse in Exodus, what did God say? Who made your mouth?

I did. God the Father did. Nothing is impossible for you to accomplish when you are men and women of prayer, depending on him to do great things through you. Doesn't matter who sees it. It's not for our glory, it's for his glory.

So would you listen to him? If Jesus is telling us that every word that he speaks is perfect, and therefore what Jesus calls sin is indeed a great evil, should we not listen to him?

Um, I love the way Jude puts it in the book of Jude. He says, hate even the clothing corrupted by sinful flesh. Is that our attitudes in first-world Christianity, Western Christianity, Europe and the US? I don't think so. I think we are desperately trying to find ways to justify, justify, justify.

But God says hate even the clothing corrupted by sinful flesh.

Listen to him. That's what we need to be doing, listening to him. And if Jesus is calling us to go and make disciples of all nations, listen to him. The cost is hard, but the outcome, if he sends you, is sure, and it will be worth it. Who of us don't want to hear the words, well done, my good and faithful servant?

Little secret for you: I hate public speaking. I hate it. You have no idea. My wife is here. She will tell you how much I hate it.

But the Lord has put something in my heart that I love unpacking the Word of God. They're incompatible from a human perspective, but from God's perspective, he wants me to know how weak I am so that he can do everything. Folks, that is what it's like to serve the Lord. The Apostle Paul needed a thorn in his side to stop from getting conceited.

Please listen to him. Are we fixating on just about everything except the majesty and glory and splendor of God and the precious Word of God?

Perhaps this is something that we need to think about, but we need to remember The less time that we spend with God, the more we are influenced by the world. And the more we are influenced by the world, God's glory is forgotten. The pursuit of holiness is nothing more than an unused gym membership in our lives. And we probably— the most of us have had that.

Folks, the Word of God is precious. And when we saw in Revelation that there was a double-edged sword coming out of Jesus' mouth in that vision, that was the Word of God.

How precious is the Word of God to us this morning?

We must also consider what the disciples' reaction was. They didn't even see God the Father. Why? Because we're told throughout Scripture that if a sinner would see God the Father, he would drop down, or she would drop down dead. We're told that.

They just hear his voice from a cloud, and they fell on their face and were terrified. This is the same way others reacted— Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, and many more. Why? Because the fullness of the majesty and the glory of God is overwhelming to a sinner. There's some famous TV personalities in the UK, and one of them has said, well, when I get to heaven, I'm going to give God a piece of my mind.

I'm going to tell him why this and that and this and that, and I want answers. I wish he would read the word of God. He's going to fall down on his face and be terrified by the glory of God.

God's perfect grace. His perfect love, sovereignty, justice, and so much more. If correctly, albeit partially understood because of our limits of our sinful nature, it should create a reverential awe of him as we consider our very sinful natures in light of him. The more we understand his glory, the more the filth of our sin should become apparent. When I was in Bible college, Many years ago now, I remember one of the lecturers saying to me, the more you learn about God, the more you know God, everything else is going to begin to pale in comparison.

And I said to him, oh, I don't know if I believe that. But after a few decades, it is becoming true. It's becoming true.

First, and by the way, As first world Christianity, as I've already said, seems increasingly determined to compromise and justify sin. Folks, surely that's a symptom of the lack of pursuit, the lack of desire for the understanding of the glory and holiness of God. David wrote in the Psalms, delight yourself in the Lord, delight yourself in him. Do we do that? You know, sometimes I think to myself, God must love me so, so, so much to do what he did on the cross to save me, a sinner who is so content with evil.

And at times, I really must admit to you, my sin makes me feel so unlovable. And I'll bet there's many in this room that know what I'm talking about. But the cross, folks, tells us that he loves us more than we will ever know, despite our sinfulness. And that is why he works so hard and continues to sanctify us, because he is creating something in us that we can't even imagine right now.

I love those next verses. In verse 7 from our Matthew passage, it says, but Jesus came They were terrified, and Jesus came and touched them, saying, rise, have no fear. And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only. Folks, I do believe that it is important to see ourselves in light of God's holiness, but it should never take away from our worth in God's eyes or understanding of that. It shouldn't make us feel terrible.

It should only magnify The glory that is the perfection of God's grace and love and mercy upon us. That is all it should do. And as we read in the gospel like today about the glory of God, and then we read of him humbling himself into the hands of evil men that would beat him beyond, beyond recognition, Isaiah tells us. And then be crucified on a cross for us. It is this perfect— perfection incarnate, Jesus Christ crucified— that would be the perfect, complete, utterly complete atonement for our sins.

And now that his perfect sacrifice for us has paid for our sins, We don't need to fear the holiness and glory of God. And that's why these words, rise, have no fear, they apply to us also. They apply to us also if, if we would turn from our sins and put our faith in him. That's what, that's what the Christian life is. It's not about coming to church.

It's not about volunteering for anything. It's about what Jesus went out to, to preach in the Gospels. What were we told he preached? Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That is what we ought to do as well, that if we would turn from our sin and put our faith in him, the loving sacrifice of the perfect Lamb of God will perfectly reconcile any person back to him.

Through faith. Folks, let's not take our eyes off the glory of God this week. As I conclude here, let's not take our eyes off the glory of God. It steadies us in the storms as we know his power to carry us through these storms. It reminds us of his love, his perfect love that helps us when we stumble and fall, and it helps us to hate sin.

It helps us to be dependent on him and so become men and women of prayer.

We have an awesome God, folks. And can we not just— can't you wait? I can't wait for the day that we see that. Let's close in prayer.

Heavenly Father, Almighty God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, There is no one like you. Oh Lord God, we thank you right now that in your perfection you chose to come to earth, die on a cross to be the perfect sacrifice and the only sacrifice that could pay for our sins, so that our sins can be washed away and we can be at peace with you. Father, help us to remember these things this week. As Monday comes tomorrow, let us hate the sin that you hate. Let us run to you in prayer.

And if we have slipped away, if our prayer life is only once or twice a week, or on, on our drive to work on a Monday or Tuesday, that's all we can give you, Lord, convict our hearts. That we would want to get on our hands and knees. We want to get home this afternoon, get on our hands and knees in our bedrooms in private and say, Lord, forgive me, a sinner, by the blood of Jesus. Lord, help us to live those types of lives that are wholly committed to you. Lord, we want to be men and women of prayer, but we are weak in our flesh.

And so we pray for strength this week to bring you glory and honor that you deserve. We thank you so much. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.