Sermons

Can I ask you please to open your Bibles to Luke chapter 22, Luke chapter 22. Let's take a moment and pray.

(Prayer) Our Heavenly Father, Scripture tells us that the heart of man is deceptively wicked. Who can know it? You know the reality that the people in this room, we are individuals who struggle, who still struggle with sin. So often the very things that we want to do we don't, the things we don't want to do we find ourselves doing and we struggle or to rationalize it all out in our mind.

We stand together, we sing hymns to You about the power of the cross and we come back and we look at our own lives and we wonder, has there really been an effect had? We thank You, Lord, that salvation is not rooted in us or our efforts, but it is a work, a work done by Christ alone, a work that is received through grace alone. And we pray and ask, Lord, that You would allow us that ability to see the reality of our heart condition the way You see us. To those that are in Christ, we pray that even as they come to the challenge of a Judas, that You would provide comfort and hope as they assess their heart, that they would see that they do love You because You first loved them.

But Lord, where there may be on the surface an appearance of life, and yet at the heart level a hardness, a selfishness, an anger towards Christ, we ask that the sword of this Word would cut where we need to be cut and expose that reality that the individual would be caused to call out to You while they may be saved. So, Lord, You know the need of each heart in this room and we pray that the Spirit would be busy administering the Word where it is needed and how it is needed. For the glory of Jesus Christ in whose name, we pray. Amen.

So, it's all a long time ago, not that the Bible took place, but that I went to seminary a long time ago. And I remember very clearly the day I first arrived at Master's Seminary campus. Matt was actually there, but Matt didn't talk to me at that stage. He was in a whole other circle. He knew a bunch of guys that had gone to seminary from UCLA and, you know, naturally you gravitate to the people you know. Well, I didn't know anybody. And so, I stood there in the first day and we all introduced ourselves. Nobody understood a word that I was saying.

And, you know, we kind of got used to that over the years, but that's the way it was. And awkwardly at lunchtime, they kind of gave us all like box lunches and told us to go and find, you know, space to eat. And so, everybody awkwardly went down the stairs, the orientation meetings were all up on the third floor, and we went down the stairs, and there were these areas around Grace Community Church where there were kind of picnic benches and chairs around them, and normally there were about eight chairs around one of those tables and so I kind of awkwardly sat down at a table with seven other guys and began to get to know them.

Now what is scary and genuinely scary is looking back and looking at the present considering where those seminary students currently are. One of the guys who sat around that table is your pastor. You can make of that what you want. One of the guys who sat around that table is now the music minister at a church in Bakersfield, in California. Another one is a pastor of a small church in Northwest Arkansas, a really good guy. His wife is very sick at the moment, and he is faithfully trying to care for the church and care for his wife. He's a good guy. The third one currently works in a casino in New York State, dealing cards. Another one at that table, he dropped out of seminary halfway through his second year and kind of joined a liberal Episcopalian church. Another one went home at Christmas break and got his girlfriend pregnant. Another one is really bright, really dynamic as a preacher. He got married in the middle of seminary; around the same time, I did. And he was divorced by the end of seminary because of repeated affairs. And the last one at that table is currently in federal prison. I'll not unfold why, but it is very, very sad.

And so, the reality was that there are less of us today that are in ministry than have fallen out of ministry, and for some of them, fallen away from Christianity altogether. How do we understand that? Like, these were men who were drawn to Master's Seminary because they saw it as a bastion of truth, as a place where they would be well-equipped. They weren't in odd, wild aspects of Christendom. They were people who were committed to expository preaching and wanting to know sound doctrine and at least aspiring to care for the people of God. How do we understand that? Luke 8:13 says, and the ones on the rock are those that when they hear the word receive it with joy, but they have no root.

They believe for a while and in a time of testing fall away. Hebrews 3:12 says, take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. The writer to the Hebrews is writing to professing believers, to those who identify with the church, and yet issues that warning that there may be some amongst the professing church that actually what is inside is an evil reality, an unbelieving heart. And inevitably, if that is the case internally, in time the out folding of that has to be, as Hebrews 3:12 says, a falling away. It leads to a falling away from the living God.

The Bible tells us about this reality, that the Bible explains my seminary lunch and the outflow from that, in part, through the doctrine of apostasy. That there will be some who are part of the professing church that ultimately will abandon or completely renounce true religion, even though at one stage they profess to have a strong connection to it. And this morning we come to arguably the most shocking apostasy in all of Scripture. And it's the most shocking because it is from one who was the closest to the Lord.

The book of Isaiah spoke of Jesus' life and ministry, describing Him as one who would be despised and what? Rejected. And the reality was one of the most significant ways He was rejected took place in the passage we come to today. Would you stand as we read Luke chapter 22, verses one to six. Luke chapter 22, reading from verse one.

(Scripture reading) "Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. And the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put him to death, for they feared the people. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. And they were glad, and agreed to give him money. So, he consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of a crowd."

Have a seat.

In these six verses, I want us simply to notice the marks of ultimate betrayal. Five marks in particular, five marks of ultimate betrayal that we can see reflected in this narrative in front of us.

1. You plot instead of worship (vs 1-2)

And the first thing I want us to see from verses one and two is that the one who will betray plots instead of worship. If you're gonna be a betrayer, you plot instead of worship. Notice this time indicator in verse one. We're told about when this all took place.

It says, now the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, which is called the Passover. Now, in Jewish custom at this stage, they talked about the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover almost interchangeably. They were one and the same, though biblically they were two distinct festivals that sat together. There would be the event of Passover, and it would be followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread, seven days where the people would eat only that that had no yeast in it. It was the Feast of Unleavened Bread drawing near. It was that time in the calendar when the Israelites would go through a seven-day leaven fast. They would eat only unleavened bread.

It would remind them; it was meant to remind them of that time when God had delivered them from Exodus. And whenever God moved, He moved clearly, He moved decisively, He moved with pace. When He brought about that deliverance, everything turned so quickly. A people that were in slavery suddenly became free. A people that were told, you cannot go, were suddenly ordered to go. A people that had been enslaved for 400 years were suddenly released from their captivity, and this Feast of Unleavened Bread was to commemorate that because they had to leave at such pace that bread didn't even have time to rise.

And so, every year when this feast came up, it was a way to remind the people of the speed of God's deliverance. That when God acts, things change real fast. And in this sense, at this particular time of year, as the Feast of Unleavened Bread drew near, the people should have been looking for a clear, decisive move of God. They should have been filled with the expectation that God can act at any moment.

We're also told, again, that this is also a time of the Passover. Again, they were one and the same in that they both happened around the same time. But the Passover specifically reminds us of that particular event that took place in Exodus. That night, when the angel of death passed over, the homes where the doorposts and lintels were marked with blood, where an appropriate sacrifice had been made, a qualified lamb had been killed, and the home marked by the blood that was shed.

This time of year, was a loud time of year. Jerusalem was filled with visitors that had come to be at the temple for Passover. And all of the people seeking to profit off it, all those who ran and worked in the markets, they had brought in all of the qualified lambs to sell, to make money. So, both the noise of the crowd and the noise of the primed and ready lambs, all of this was a time of noise, a time that was loud, that was clear, that demanded your attention, but all of it spoke of sacrifice. It was a noise that reminded people of sacrifice, of blood needing to be shed in order for life to be gained. That's what they were remembering or meant to be remembering at this time of year.

And yet during this time, when the religious festivals called the people to remember that God acts quickly and it's only by sacrifice do His people gain life, we read in verse 2, in contrast, and the chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to put Him to death, for they feared the people. In particular, verse 2 highlights the highest of the religious leaders. It mentions the chief priests. Now technically there was a chief priest. There was one who was meant to lead the people, but actually Luke shows incredible awareness about the reality of the situation because at this particular time in Jewish history there was an official chief priest, his name was Caiaphas.

But actually, during this period, the guy who was pulling the strings, who was in charge, was Annas, Caiaphas' father-in-law. You don't mess with your father-in-law. You do what your father-in-law tells you, or it doesn't work out well for you at home.

And so, Caiaphas came after Annas had been the chief priests, and then the Romans got annoyed with him and deposed him. And Annas had appointed his sons and multiple sons. When he ran out of sons, he then appointed his son-in-law to this particular role.

And that's what's taking place here at the time of Christ. Really, there is a chief priest, but there are two that are controlling the situation. You see the same thing mentioned in Luke 3:2. It states that when the word of God came to John the Baptist, it was during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas. It's why whenever Jesus gets arrested, He first gets brought to Annas' house.

Because really, he was the guy in charge. So, we have the guys at the very top of the religious system, and the scribes. They were the teachers. Those who explained to the people the Word of God, they had incredible influence on what was taught and what was communicated and what took place and what the people believed. And these two groups, really a descriptor of the leaders of the religion of the day, what are they doing?

At a time of festival, at a time in particular of sacrifice, at a time where they are meant to be looking to the moving hand of God, and at a time when they're meant to be remembering that only by sacrifice does God grant life to His people, what are they doing? Well, they're seeking to kill, according to verse 2. They're plotting the death of the very Son of God. So, the point is, here when the religion should have been most aware of God's deliverance, that it comes fast and it requires sacrifice to gain life, their focus instead is on plotting the death of the Lamb of God. They plot when they should be worshiping.

The things you do come from somewhere, don't they? Nobody accidentally steals something. Nobody accidentally lies. We want something in our heart that causes that. We long for something, so we steal it. We want someone to believe something a certain way, and so we lie. In other words, the sinful actions we do flow out of a heart that is broken. And that's what we see here.

Here are the very people that should be leading the worship, and they are plotting the death of the Son of God. To this point, according to the end of verse 2, they had been restrained because of the fear of the people. The only thing that held their wickedness back from an out-and-out murder of Jesus at this point had been the fact that they were scared of the crowd. They wanted to stay on the right side of the crowd. But that heart of betrayal is bubbling because these worship leaders are plotting to kill the very one who should be the object of their worship.

2. You are filled with Satan rather than the Spirit (vs 3)

The second mark of ultimate betrayal is that you're filled with Satan rather than the Spirit. Filled with Satan rather than the Spirit. Look at verse 3. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was one of the number of the twelve. This is one of the scariest and saddest statements that we find in Scripture. Then Satan entered into Judas. Satan doesn't simply tempt him, nor does he take over him. This is not like demon possession where Judas is no longer in control of his own actions.

He enters Judas by Judas's willful consent. Acts 1:25 describes Judas as being culpable because he turned aside to go to his own place. He did it. He's guilty. He's an actor in this. This is not Satan taking a puppet and causing the individual to move in a way he had no control over. Judas is a guilty party in this. Judas will give an account for his betrayal before the Lord. Judas is still accountable for his actions in this moment.

When verse three says, Satan entered into Judas, it is a statement not that Judas was taken over and that he no longer has control, but it is a statement of Judas yielding himself to the wicked plans of Satan. Just as in sanctification, believers are called to be filled with the Spirit, to yield to the Spirit, to allow the Holy Spirit to have control over all aspects of our life and thinking and drive and action. The ongoing filling of the Spirit is that, that we would prayerfully and purposefully seek to have our whole life controlled by the will and desire and design of God. So, to here, Judas yields himself to the control, the design, and the plans of Satan over every area of his life.

This is a scarier statement than simply Judas was a pawn in Satan's scheme. Judas rather here is presented as Satan's willful servant that will be used to attack Jesus. It's a reminder that there is no such thing as a spiritual vacuum. Nobody gets to be neutral when it comes to Jesus.

You either are a believer growing in the Spirit, being increasingly filled with the Spirit in the sense that His control begins to renew your mind and purify your desires and produce that fruit of righteousness according to Christ, or Satan's hold and control is what you are yielding to. And every day, and as time progresses, more and more in the corruption of your mind, in the ugliness of your desires, and the brokenness of the outflow of the action, there's greater and greater breakdown take place. It's one direction or the other. The individual is either a servant of Christ that is growing towards greater Christ-likeness or a servant of evil that will be used increasingly to attack the people of Christ. And what makes verse 3 all the more unnerving is the nature of the one that Satan entered. Look at what we're told. Then Satan entered into Judas called Iscariot, who was of the number of the twelve.

This is the same individual who had spent three years traveling with Jesus, three years under His profound teaching, three years seeing every miracle, three years being entrusted with the money. Three years sitting near Jesus at mealtimes. Do you ever wonder why whenever, we're gonna read it later on in the chapter in a few weeks. At the last supper, Jesus is so easily able to pass the bread to Judas. Because Judas is beside Him. And nobody is surprised at that. Judas is right there because Judas was perceived to be close. He experienced commission. Luke chapter 9, do you remember Luke 9:1-2?

It said, and Jesus called the 12 together and gave them power. The 12, the same language, this includes Judas, gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases. And he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. Judas had done this work. Judas had cast out demons. Judas had preached the gospel. Judas had been used by God as an instrument of healing. Judas was like Saul, King Saul in the Old Testament. He was filled with the Holy Spirit to do a work for a season. He may have had a stony heart, that's clear from the outflow of this, and yet he was still one used by the Holy Spirit to do Christ's work.

And so, Satan enters into not a random person, but one of the 12. Satan fights dirty. He tries to take the closest of friends and he uses and corrupts him to inflict the greatest damage upon Jesus. It's why in chapter 22, later on in this particular chapter, verse 31, we see the same thing being declared about Peter, another one of the 12. Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you as wheat. Why is Satan after Simon or Peter?

It's because it's gonna hurt. It reminds me of Psalm 55:12. If an enemy were insulting me, I could endure it. If a foe were rising against me, I could hide. But it is you, a man like myself, my companion, my close friend, with whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship at the house of God. Jesus is betrayed by one who was close. And this close companion, appointed by Christ to be an apostle. An apostle will betray his Lord with a venomous kiss.

Ultimate betrayal is marked by plotting instead of worship, being filled with Satan rather than the Spirit.

3. You seek to betray rather than proclaim (vs 4)

And thirdly, you seek to betray rather than proclaim. You seek to betray rather than proclaim. Look at verse four. He went away and conferred with the chief priests and officers how he might betray him to them. Again, when we remember what we've just said about the nature of Judas' life over the last three years, Luke 6:13 says, and when day came, Jesus called his disciples and chose from them twelve whom he named apostles. Verse 16 lists as one of those 12, Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

He wasn't just a disciple. Sometimes we encourage ourselves by thinking, well, he was just a disciple. No, he was an apostle. He was an apostle. The highest office in the church. Part of the foundation upon which the church was built. One of those foundation stones was broken from the beginning. Acts 1:17, Peter says of Judas, he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.

He had a real work, a real role, a real significant role that he had played over the last three years. Matthew 10:1 describes that significant work as follows. He called to him his 12 disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits to cast them out and to heal every disease and every affliction. His work wasn't a small work. He wasn't just a guy who stood at the back with a miserly face, grabbing hold of the money bag, looking on while Jesus did good things. He was healing. He was casting out demons. He was preaching the gospel.

People were following Jesus because Judas had brought them in. Be careful that you don't create a caricature that excuses Judas or excuses the challenge that a Judas presents. I don't want to make anybody feel awkward. Judas sat on the front row. Judas served in the music. Judas stood behind the pulpit.

And yet, as time unfolded, so did truth. And what verse 4 proclaims is the one who was called to proclaim the coming of Christ. As his true heart was exposed, was one instead who gave himself to the betrayal of Christ. He finds those who he knows to be the enemies of Jesus, the chief priests and the scribes. And he conspires with them how to hand Jesus over. There's another mark of betrayal in verse five, look at verse five.

And they were glad, the chief priests, the scribes, they were glad. Remember they were worried, how are we gonna get this guy? All the crowds, all the people, every time he's there, we're there, everybody else is there too. We're never going to get away with it. And Judas, one of the insiders, turns up with his wicked plot, and they're rubbing their hands together, these enemies of Jesus, and they're glad. Verse 5 continues, and they were glad and agreed to give him money.

4. You seek to profit rather than serve (vs 5)

The fourth mark we see in the text is if you are a betrayer of Jesus, you seek profit rather than to serve. You seek the profit rather than to serve. Money is clearly involved here, isn't it? Verse 5. That's not an incidental statement. That word in verse 5, and agreed to give him money, it has the idea in it of bartering, of going back and forth, of hammering out an agreement. You know whenever somebody buys or seeks to buy a house, there's that kind of time when you're on the phone going back and forward between the realtor, the people who are selling the house, the person that is buying the house, trying to work out the terms so that both sides feel that they are getting a fair deal. Well, that's the idea in this word. There is an agreement that is reached through back-and-forth discussion.

In other words, Judas is invested in this. It's not just Judas turns up, I'll betray Jesus, and they say, oh wow, that's amazing, have some money. No, Judas is going into the room to play his hand. And to see what he can get out of this. To see what he can come away with. He's bartering over Jesus's life. And he ultimately hands Jesus over in order to profit himself.

We know from the rest of Scripture he did it for 30 pieces of silver, the amount that it would have cost to buy a slave. It's not the first time or the last time that Satan's tool to manipulate his workers, his money. In Acts 5:1, we read, but a man named Ananias and his wife, Sapphira, sold a piece of property. With his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles' feet.

But Peter said, Ananias, now listen to this, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? Satan tries to disturb the early church through that hunger, that greed, that love of money.

And the Bible makes it very clear; money is not evil. In fact, God blessed Solomon, David, Abraham with riches. In and of itself, it's not evil. But the Bible also says the love of money is. The love of money is evil. And there are many people, both in Scripture certainly in church history, that have descended into wicked behavior over a longing for more money. If a Christ-like heart is generous because He is a servant King that came not to be served but to serve, if a Christ-like heart is generous to others, a satanic heart is marked by greed.

The marks of betrayal, you plot instead of worship. You are filled with Satan rather than Spirit. You seek to betray rather than proclaim. You seek to profit rather than to serve.

5. You seek opportunity for evil rather than good (vs 6)

And lastly, you seek opportunity for evil rather than good. You seek opportunity for evil rather than good.

Look at verse six. So, Judas consented and sought an opportunity to betray him to them in the absence of the crowd. Here in verse six, those corrupt leaders that we were told in verse two were too scared of the people, they now have their inside man to deliver Jesus over to them at a time when there will be no crowd. They get what they want. But did you notice the word opportunity? Judas consented to seek, or he sought an opportunity. This individual who Satan has entered, verse three, is now seeking an opportunity.

It should remind us of something we've read before in Luke's gospel. Do you remember back in chapter four? In verse 13, chapter four and verse 13, following the devil's attempts to tempt Jesus, remember he tries that time of temptation to cause the Lord to stumble. Do you remember how that narrative finished? Chapter four, verse 13.

It says, when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time. And now that opportune time has come. And it has come because a broken heart is in Jesus's inner circle. And now that great Satan who would seek any opportunity he could for evil rather than good, the one described in Scripture as a roaring lion, he is now ready to pounce and to do his destructive work.

And it's all because there was one, open to evil rather than good. You plot rather than worship. You're filled with Satan rather than the Spirit. You seek to betray rather than proclaim. You seek to profit rather than serve. You seek opportunity for evil rather than good. All those points are true. This marks the heart of ultimate betrayal. But we miss the full weight of this section and what's being proclaimed if we don't see that this is a personal betrayal. Judas isn't primarily driven by money. He's not primarily driven by power. It's not primarily about roles and responsibilities among the 12. It is personal. You've got to understand that. It is personal.

His betrayal, the text keeps saying, it was against Him. Verse 2, he was seeking how to put Him to death. Verse 4, how he might betray Him to them. He sought an opportunity, verse 6, to betray Him to them. Judas betrayed Him, the one he knew. The one he had stayed with and shared accommodation with and every meal with for the last three years. The Jesus he saw every day. The Jesus he had been listening to. The Jesus he did everything with.

He betrayed Him. And the scary thing is, if one that close to Jesus, who knew everything about Him, who had watched how He moved over the last three years, who heard His words way clearer than we have, who saw the fruit of His life far more vibrantly than we have, that walked literally but walk off Christ. He walked behind Him with closer proximity than we have managed. If he betrayed Him, how are we not going to do the same?

If a committed Judas in time is exposed for having an ugly, broken, hard, rocky heart that ultimately sought to serve self. How do you know you're not just another Judas? This guy knew the teaching of Jesus. He believed the miraculous power of Jesus. He lived a life as a follower of Jesus. That's why the chief priests are so excited. They knew who he was associated with. He worked for Jesus. He did remarkable things for Jesus. And yet he betrays Jesus. How are you sure you're not gonna do the same? Well, enjoy your picnic. How do you know? How do you know you're not another Judas?

The glory is that Scripture speaks not of simply a Judas, but it speaks of a Peter, another disciple who messed up, another disciple like you and I who struggled with sin, another disciple who even denied his Lord. And yet Judas is condemned in his betrayal, and Peter is restored.

What's the difference? As we close, if you just turn to Luke 21, we can see that difference. Here's a challenge I want to leave you with. Jesus here in Luke chapter one, He shows a true shepherding heart for His disciples. Judas' hard, broken heart was revealed through his betrayal. And that in itself is a challenge for many of us. Maybe this morning you realize as you look to your own heart condition, that you have the appearance of Christianity, and yet a heart that is hostile ultimately to Christ. The difference in one who falters, one who falls, and yet has a heart that is true, as seen here at the beach by the Sea of Galilee in John 21:15. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep.

Those words in verse 17 I think are the key. Peter, broken under the crosshairs of Jesus's examination here, is forced to look into the condition of his heart and declare the reality that he knows, not that he is perfect, not that he is trying harder, not that he has cleaned up his life, but he says, Lord, You know all things. Nothing's hidden here. What Peter is declaring is the reality of his heart condition, and he says, Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You. Friends, that's the difference.

Judas had no love for Christ. He maybe had desires for the kingdom; he maybe had desires to serve. He maybe had ambition to be part of the team. But at the end of the day, he had no love for Christ. And Peter, who messed up, was able to declare a reality that needs to be true of us.

Can you, this morning, stand before the Lord, knowing He sees full well the heart, and say, Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You. Well, if that is you, if you know a true love of Christ, friend, that is not self-created. The Bible says we love Him because He first loved us. There is no natural love for Christ in the heart of man because our hearts are wicked apart from Him.

And so, this morning, as we close, let me ask you, are you a Judas or are you a Peter? In other words, are you religious and ultimately, it's on the surface and it has nothing to do with the heart? Because that will end in betrayal. That will end in destruction. Or can you, like Peter, not bring your efforts, your qualifications, your successes to the table, but instead with all honesty say, Lord, You know all things. You know that I love You. For in knowing that reality that you love Christ, there is glorious assurance to be found.

Let's pray and ask that the Lord would give us eyes to see the reality of our heart condition.

Heavenly Father, we do ask that You would cause us to see that which has been hidden for so long, the reality of our heart. Help us to see what You see. We pray, Lord, for those who are in this room who have faltered, who have fallen, who have messed up. We ask, Lord, for the grace to repent, and yet, Lord, we ask that they would know the comfort that is to be found in the reality that for those who love Christ, nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. And yet, Lord, we do pray for those amongst us who look exactly the same as everybody else, and maybe even like Judas, have more accolades to their name and their Christian practice than anybody else in this room. And yet, Lord, there is no hiding from You.

You know the heart. We pray, Lord, that You would expose their hypocrisy. You would expose their vulnerability. You would expose their need here and now to repent of their sin, to put their trust solely in the finished work of Jesus Christ, that even now they too would taste and see and know that You are good. Work amongst us, we pray, for it's in Jesus' name we ask it. Amen.

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