The Book of Hebrews 7:11-22 Much the More Also Jesus

Good morning. As we look at the passage here, we want to just kind of go back to what we were looking at previously last time we studied here. We want to bring out here that the readers of the book of Hebrews were thinking of going back to the Jewish sacrificial system. At the time, the sacrificial system was still in place and operating.

It was under the priests and the Levites and as we explained previously and I'll explain again just so it's clear Those who are descended from Levi Those are the Levites within that there's a subset priests descended from Aaron who was from the tribe of Levi so you you could be a Levite and of the tribe of Levi, but not be a priest, because the priests were the ones who dealt directly with the sacrifices. There were other temple duties that the Levites, the ones who were descended from Levi, but not priests, carried out.

So that's the distinction. When we use those terms, that's what we're talking about. But what these readers of the book of Hebrews didn't seem to realize, this Jewish sacrificial system centered in Jerusalem, there at the temple, was based on a line of priests from the tribe of Levi, but they were inferior, as our Hebrews 7, 1-10 passage pointed out, they were inferior to the priesthood of Melchizedek.

Melchizedek's priesthood is a superior priesthood. That's the key point here. And one of the words that is a theme, and we're right now summarizing the whole chapter 7, verses 1 through 28, is the word better. Melchizedek was superior to and better than Abraham, Levi, and Aaron. That's what the chapter starts off demonstrating by several different lines of reasoning.

The Son of God, Christ the Son of God, who was of the priesthood of Melchizedek, was superior to Levi and Aaron. That was the statement that was made particularly in the first 10 verses there. The Law of Moses, all 613 of those laws, which required the sacrifice to be done by an inferior priesthood, that of Levi and Aaron, will also be replaced. That priesthood will be replaced.

So as we get into the passage here, verse at a time, Hebrews 7.11 reads like this. Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood, for on the basis of it, that is the Levitical priesthood, the people received the law. What further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?

Question here. One thing to bring out this word perfection here means completion. It's the idea of bringing something to a point of completion. That's the definition of perfection here. So whether it's perfection, perfect, whatever, it's completion as in complete and total accomplishment. That's the idea behind this word.

A form of perfect, that is perfect, perfected, perfection, all the different forms, A form of perfect is found in Hebrews 2.10, 5.9, in this verse we're looking at right now, 7.11, and then again in verse 19, 28, and on into chapter 12. So this idea of perfect being complete is a significant theme from early on until later on in this book of Hebrews. It's a biggie. One deficiency of the Levitical system of sacrifices was that those priests never get it done. They never get it done. They always have this deja vu experience.

I think I've been doing this before, right? One of the things we show here, this is a Hebrew calendar. This showed their schedule. And by the way, the Star of David is put in there to tell you it's Hebrew, but the Star of David is only a few centuries old. You'll have to forgive me for that. At any rate, the calendar, you'll notice, is circular. And it keeps going and going and going and going. It's kind of like the Energizer bunny. The calendar just keeps going and the sacrifices just keep going.

Because why? Because the sacrificial system, God told them to do it, but it never gets it done. It's not even Zeno's paradox where you're getting closer and closer and closer but not quite getting there. But instead, it's just you're going to keep doing and doing and doing this and not go anywhere. You almost have this kind of feeling like the kids ask, are we there yet?

And the answer is no, because the car isn't moving. Right? It's that kind of thing. It isn't really doing anything. We're just going through the motions. This is pointing to Christ as the ultimate sacrifice, but you don't get close. It just never does it.

Now, we want to compare the Levitical priesthood, on a few points, with the Melchizedek priesthood, of whom Christ is our High Priest. So looking at that, the first one is the Levitical priesthood is entirely defined by the Law of Moses. The Melchizedek priesthood, on the other hand, is under the principle of grace. One of the points that we like to make here is the Law of Moses is not just the Ten Commandments.

It is all 613 laws, every single one of them, not some smaller subset. All of them. All the laws. 613 laws, and the importance of that is if we have some mini-law, we might be satisfied with mini-grace. but we in fact need to understand the full weight and the full gravity of the Law of Moses as the Apostle Paul calls it, a ministry of death and a ministry of condemnation in order that we fully understand grace. Gotta have it.

The next, in the Levitical priesthood, the priests were descended from Levi and Aaron all of whom die off and must be replaced by another priest. Moses recorded the death of Aaron. Aaron was replaced by another, and that one was replaced by another, by another, by another. Generation after generation, the priests die off and have to be replaced by another.

One priest, the Son of God of the line of Melchizedek, who always lives to make intercession under the Melchizedek priesthood. One. always lives to make intercession. A thousand years go by, still, he's of the priesthood, always lives to make intercession. Finally, in the point we've made here, the Levitical priesthood had sacrifices that were never complete.

There was always this deja vu experience. I think I've done this before, right? And you keep doing it, and doing it, and doing it, and are we there yet? No. Never going to get there. It can never get there. have to be done again and again and again but under the Melchizedek priesthood his, Christ's, once and final sacrifice is complete and finished never to be done again the words were it is finished that Christ pronounced on the cross is actually just one word in the Greek one word and it's an accounting term it's all paid it's all paid It says also in 711 that the priests gave people the law, or the people received the law through these priests.

The written law was put into the hands of the priests, the sons of Levi, by Moses himself. He said, here's the law. He put it in their hands. He told them to read the law to the people of Israel periodically, at regular intervals. And Moses himself put it in their hands. It was their job to make sure the people heard the law. Their job is to convey it to the people regularly.

So what Hebrews 7.11 says is literally true. On the basis of the Levitical priesthood, the people received the law, and that pattern was set in motion by Moses himself.

Now Hebrews 7.12 reads like this, For when the priesthood is changed of necessity, there takes place a change of law also. When the priesthood is changed in necessity, there takes place a change of law also.

So we have a change of operating principles. So the priests who were descended from Levi and Aaron operated strictly under the law of Moses, and by that law must be of the line of Levi and Aaron only, no exceptions. Nobody else. To have a priesthood changed from the order of Levi and Aaron to the order of Melchizedek must require a change of operating principles. Not under the Law of Moses.

As a matter of fact, not from one law to the next set of laws. And that's why I make the distinction, a change of operating principles is ultimately what it's looking at. Not a replacement set of laws, but a different operating system, the principle of grace, as we showed previously. From the Law of Moses to the principle of grace is the change of operating system that he's talking about there. One of the things that comes out under this is something that we've seen before in the letters of the Apostle Paul. We're not under law, we're under grace. The Apostle Paul written in numerous places that we're not under law but under grace. And of course the explicit statement of that twice in Romans 6, 14, and 15. And then we have several other passages in Romans and in Galatians. And I put et al. because there are others. We could point to others.

So the Apostle Paul had written in numerous places, we're not under law, we're under grace. The author of Hebrews shows this very same truth, we're no longer under the law of Moses, but did so with an entirely different line of reasoning, and his line of reasoning that Paul never used was because we have a change in order of priesthood. Same conclusion, different line of reasoning, different set of assumptions. But the Bible is consistent. We're not under law, we're under grace.

Now, in Hebrews 7, 13, and 14, it reads like this, For the one concerning whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no one is officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests. I'm going to make a few clarifications here. For the one concerning whom these things are spoken, that's Jesus Christ, belongs to another tribe, the tribe of Judah, from which no one has officiated at the altar. Nobody from the tribe of Judah was allowed, or any other tribe outside of Levi, was allowed to officiate at the altar. Nobody.

For it is evident from Matthew 1-2 and Luke 33, and we'll note that in the subsequent slide, and the genealogy records in the Temple of Jerusalem at this time, that our Lord was descended from Judah through King David, a tribe with reference to which Moses spoke nothing concerning priests.

So, let's take a look at that. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah. The Law of Moses said that temple services must be carried out by those of the tribe of Levi, and that the priest must also be not only of Levi, but descended from Aaron. Must be. So you have that requirement of the Law of Moses. You have here on page 2 this family tree. It's not complete, but it's to show certain things.

The sons of Jacob are the tribes of Israel, according to each of the different mothers that they had. And you see from Levi has descended Moses, Aaron, and then particularly the high priest through Zadok. And then you see Jesus of the line of Judah. through King David and King Solomon and the kings of Judah. You see his descendancy shown there.

So he's definitely not of the right tribe to be doing any temple ceremony work in the Jewish temple. Definitely not qualified for that. But because the order of Melchizedek does not depend on a genealogy, the fact that he's from the tribe of Judah does not matter. It's a different priesthood.

Let's take a look here. Jesus is from the tribe of Judah, as is stated in Matthew 1, 2 and Luke 3, 33. And anyone could go to the temple to check out the records. Or you could look at the record in Matthew and in Luke. So the genealogies of the Jews were kept in the temple until its destruction in 70 AD. The fact that it says, it is evident, present tense, tells us that this book was very likely written before the destruction of the temple. It is evident. You can go check it out yourself.

Jesus name and the lineage is there in the temple records So we have then Jesus descended from Judah through the line of David So the genealogies of the Jews were kept there and here you see this is a kind of a model of the temple as it was constructed and zeroing in on the middle part of that temple and This is a picture kind of looking down at an angle into there, and it is right in here in that temple where the genealogy records were kept. However, that's all a moot point because what the Romans do, they went and lit the whole thing on fire and shoved every single stone off the top of the temple mount, so it was all destroyed. And that's why to this day, few of the Jews have any idea who they're descended from. Now we have in Hebrews 7, 15 and 16 this, and we have some explanatory notes in there as well.

And this is clear still if another priest arises according to the likeness of Melchizedek, that is, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who has become such a priest not on the basis of a law of physical requirement that he must be descended from Aaron and Levi and earthly genealogy, but according to the power of an indestructible life.

An entirely different set of criteria. Let's take a look at that. So this word physical or the words physical requirement actually mean a fleshly commandment and the King James that comes close to that with a carnal commandment. So it's actually that this is a this is a fleshly and earthly requirement.

In other words, you must have this genealogy So the Law of Moses required that all the Levites in temple service, and additionally those from Aaron, be descended from Levi. Then the priests handling the sacrifices also had to be descended from Aaron.

The Levites and priests went through many generations, several generations a century, because they all died and had to be replaced. this genealogy would get more and more complex and lengthy over time because you had the priest dying off and another replacing them all from the tribe of Levi Jesus Christ however was raised to an indestructible life now it's interesting this this word only shows up here in the whole New Testament and I think the King James has their eternal life but in fact the New American Standard is closer to responding to the actual word that's used, it literally means an indestructible life.

An indestructible life. Whereas the priests and the Levites, they all died. Jesus Christ couldn't even accidentally die again. It cannot happen. He has an indestructible life. Nothing is going to happen that is going to change that. He has an indestructible life. His life will continue on eternally.

If we look at Ephesians 1.18-21, I've included that as a slide on page 2 of your handout, I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, and literally having been enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness," by the way, that word surpassing means overthrown, okay? "...overthrown greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places. It was an immense, the most immense demonstration of power and might in the entire universe to raise Christ from the dead. And it's not going to go whoops and slip back. He has an indestructible life. God did this with great power that is to be sustained for eternity. Now in Hebrews 7, 17-19 we have this. It is attested of him, you are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek."

Quoting again from the last half of Psalm 110-4, which we'll take a look at in a minute. For on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness, for the law made nothing perfect. And on the other hand, there is a bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God. Now, this passage here has some huge implications. We'll take a look at that. At Psalm 110, 1-4, it's a passage where we see a pattern here.

The first verse and the fourth verse are things that are true now. They began when Christ was ascended. When Christ was ascended, this was back ascended from the Mount of Olives, when he was ascended, The Father said to Christ, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet, which will happen when Christ comes again and establishes his kingdom. So Hebrews 5 and 6, 7, 17, and 21 quote Psalm 110, 4 with discussion of Melchizedek between. So verse 4 reads, and the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind. You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

That is also begun at the time Christ ascended. So Christ in verse 1 has authority, Christ in verse 4 has ministry. Both of those have already begun from the time he was ascended. They are continuing now. He has authority there now, and he has ministry there now. The part in between fits the time of the Millennial Kingdom. So both of those are in anticipation of the Millennial Kingdom.

Now, so let's look in these verses at how these verses speak of the Law. And actually it's rather stunning. Here is a fellow who is of Jewish background writing to a bunch of Jews and he's going to speak of the Law of Moses in ways that would be shocking.

One, he says, a former commandment. See that? Past tense. A former commandment. It doesn't apply now. Oh yeah, you've got priests doing their thing there in the temple, but it doesn't fit. Okay? A former commandment. And, past tense, it made, not it makes, it made nothing perfect. That is, nothing was complete. Nothing was complete. So here you have the commandment put in the past tense, and you have its deficiency that it made nothing complete.

Now, the next. These verses also say that the Law of Moses has problems. Can you imagine a Jew telling a bunch of Jews who are thinking of going back to the Levitical sacrifices, telling them that the Law of Moses has problems. Not only is it passé, But it has problems. It has weakness.

What a thing to say! You'd go all day without saying that. Uselessness! Shocking words. Shocking words. Made nothing perfect. It didn't get complete. Are we there yet? No! And you're never gonna get there! See? That's the problem. Made nothing complete and it never will. You don't get there. It's the, you know, are we there yet? No, because the car's not moving, right? And it never will move.

Romans 7.12 puts it this way, So then the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. How can you use words like weakness and uselessness?

Oh! Well, so let's take a look at that. So why does the law of Moses have problems? Why? I mean, here is this holy and righteous and good book, set of books. How can the author of Hebrews say that it's weak, useless, and makes nobody complete? I mean, that's almost sacrilege, you know? Well, the major problem with the Law of Moses, kind of like this barnacle guy here, Is that fallen human beings are not empowered to carry out the law of Moses.

Okay? Here's 613 laws. Okay? Got them? 613 laws. Okay. Do it. 365 of them are things not to do. Okay? Just like the number of days in a year. Right? 365 of them are things not to do. The rest of them are things that you must do. Okay? Here's the law. Do it. What's the problem? No empowerment. You're like the barnacle guy. You're just stuck.

And when you commit sins, you're in them. That's what Jesus told the Jewish leaders. If you don't believe, you're going to die in your sins. So when you commit the sins, it's not just a problem that you did them. The problem is you're still positionally in those sins. The law defines sin. It didn't help you with not doing them.

As the Apostle Paul said in Romans chapter 7, the sin nature actually gets stimulated by the law. It actually uses the law to gain the upper hand. And it only takes one. Remember in Romans 7, all he says is, he heard, thou shalt not covet. And all he could do is just covet and covet and covet and covet and covet, right? So what happens is the sin nature gains the upper hand and only one law is all it takes. It doesn't matter that you got 10 or 9 or 11 or any other number. One law is all it takes and the sin nature goes, aha, gotcha!

Here on this slide is all 613 laws. All of them. Trust me, they're all there. The print's a bit small, but that's what it is. And you've got to know them all and memorize, because the one that you don't memorize is the one you're going to break, right? So how many of you got all 613 down? Not so many, huh?

Me neither. OK. But it's all on that slide. I'll send it to you if you want. So here, it's not just the 10. It's not just the 10, that's just the start, that's the down payment. You got to have all 613. And, all it takes is one of them to have the sin nature grab you and say, gotcha! The sin nature uses the law and even just one, just one, to gain the upper hand.

So also in verses 18 and 19 is a better hope. Mobeta as we put it here informally Hebrews is all about the words more and better they show up in this passage in previous passages and passages. We shall soon see Verses 19 and 22 have better and 21 has more. Okay, so more and better is what the word Pair that keeps coming up.

It's kind of like if this was Sesame Street today You know, this book is brought to you by the words more and better now what is better in this case is hope better than the law of moses could offer with the law of moses you were blessed if you could keep all 613 laws by the way the male jews had a prayer thanking god that they were born male because there were more laws for them to keep What is better is this hope, better than the Law of Moses could offer, because the Law of Moses says, if you do this, you'll be blessed.

So your hope was you're going to do all 613 right, all the time. That's your hope. Good luck with that. A better hope, because the better hope that we have because of Jesus Christ, is His job, not mine. That better hope, unlike the law of Moses, calls us to draw near to God.

Now, when the law of Moses was being given, and Moses was up on top of Mount Sinai, what were the Israelites told that they were to do? Stay away from the mountain! Okay? Get back, stay away, don't touch, don't come close. You're to be killed if you get close while this law is being delivered. Okay? The law is dangerous. Stay away from it.

We'll see that in Hebrews 7.25, James 4.8 is another one, also calls us to draw near to God, as we saw similarly in Hebrews 4.16. This drawing near to God is the exact opposite of what the law invites us to do. The law says, stay away! You're going to die!

Whereas here, Under grace we have a better hope. It's a certain hope. It is an absolute hope. It is not an I hope so kind of hope. It's not I am hoping to keep all 613 laws of the law of Moses. It's not that. I have an absolute certain hope and that hope is centered in the person of Jesus Christ who absolutely has an indestructible life.

Hebrews 3.6 puts it this way, we hold fast our confidence in the boast of our hope, firm until the end. Our hope is a different kind of hope, not an I hope so hope, but an absolute hope.

Hebrews 6.11.18 and 19 and the passage we're looking at here, realize the full assurance of hope until the end, strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us, this hope we have as an anchor of the soul. 7.19, there is a bringing in of a better hope. That's this better hope we look at here. Better hope because it's not an I hope so hope. It's an absolute hope. We're not just hopeful, but we have an absolute hope.

And finally, in Hebrews 10.23, let us hold fast the confession of our hope, a certain hope, an absolute hope, a hope that will not fail.

Hebrews 7 20 through 21 in as much as it was not without an oath for they indeed became priests without an oath but he with an oath through the one who said to him the Lord has sworn and he will not change his mind you are a priest forever again quoting from Psalm 110 so we have an oath given from God the Father swearing that the Son of God Jesus Christ would be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek Now God doesn't have to give an oath, does he?

God doesn't have to give an oath. I mean, what we do as human beings in order that we are really making sure of what we say is we'll, we won't raise the left hand, sorry I'm a lefty, we'll raise the right hand, right? And we'll give some kind of an oath to make more certain of what we're saying. More certain of what we're saying. God doesn't have to do that. Whatever God says, that's what's going to happen.

But he gives an oath for our sake. He gives an oath for our sake, as an accommodation to human beings. He will not change his mind about that oath, and he will not change his mind about the assignment of the priesthood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, on our behalf forever. Not going to change his mind on it. The earthly priests in the line of Levi and Aaron cannot make such a claim. Besides that, they died. They did have a destructible life. Their lives ended.

In Hebrews 7.22, it says, So much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

Now here's more and better in the same line, right? Mo betta. So much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. Now we're going to be taking a look at what this better covenant is. But let's take a look. Jesus has become a guarantee. What's that talking about? If Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant, what does that mean? And which covenant is he talking about? There are various covenants in the Bible, right?

So in Hebrews 8.6, Christ is also the mediator of a better covenant. So we're going to see that when we get there. He's the guarantee of a better covenant. He is the mediator of a better covenant. So we'll see that when we get into chapter 8. After that, the new covenant for Israel is being introduced and discussed.

And so we'll go into this in more detail, introducing it and making reference to it today so in the new covenant implemented in the coming kingdom the jews will know and live out the law this coming kingdom may be as soon as seven years from today if christ comes and takes us home could be as soon as seven years from today the coming kingdom could be that close as soon as seven years from now in that kingdom only believing jews will enter into That Millennial Kingdom, where Christ will reign as the King of the Jews.

And all of the Jews will have the continuing indwelling and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. All of them. All of them will be empowered with the Holy Spirit to know and live out the Law. And because they know and live out the Law, remember the character of the Law of Moses, if you obey, you'll be blessed.

This new covenant says you will obey, know and obey, and be empowered to know and obey the law, and therefore you will be blessed. This is the difference with the new covenant. With the old covenant, it was, boy, I sure hope I can follow all these laws and keep them all in mind and memorize and keep them in front of me and I hope I don't mess up and get stoned to death. That's your hope.

With this new covenant, starting as soon as seven years from today, the Jews will all be universally empowered to know and live out the law, and so they will be blessed in earthly ways. We're already blessed. We in the church are already blessed. The Jews will be blessed in earthly ways during this time. So it will be implemented in the coming kingdom. Beginning as soon as seven years from now, the Jews will know and they will live out the law and will be blessed in earthly ways.

Now, what is this guarantee of a better covenant? Christ's death on the cross confirmed and guaranteed Israel's new covenant. We'll talk about what that means more in the weeks ahead of us. A covenant contains a promise. Here's the content. Here's what I promise. Here's what I promise. A swearing by a deity, and when God made a covenant, he swore by himself. And third, a sign or a gesture, which is often a sacrifice.

Christ's death on the cross was the sacrifice confirming and guaranteeing Israel's new covenant. So that's why we have this slide up frequently for the Lord's Table. We'll do that this next Sunday. We have this slide up and that's why you have the words here, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, confirming and guaranteeing the new covenant. Confirming and guaranteeing Israel's new covenant. That's what he's talking about here. Christ's death on the cross was the confirmation and the guarantee, that gesture that was needed to confirm that yes, this new covenant will be implemented. In the new covenant, implemented in the coming kingdom, the Jews will know and live out the law. And this will be their land. This, by Genesis 15, 18 through 21, is the land that was promised.

And Ezekiel 48 tells how, by tribe, each one of those is divided up. So we'll see a much larger nation of Israel. Much larger nation of Israel at that time. And each tribe will have their land. And what tribe do you see missing? tribe of Levi, right? Because they don't have an inheritance in the land.

Now you have God's covenants with Israel. And so stepping through them, Abraham, 2100 BC, Genesis 12, 1 through 3 is kind of the beginning statement of that. You have the covenant with Moses under the law, 1446 BC, Exodus 19, 1 through 6 initiates that. You have the land covenant as they're going into the land of Israel that Moses passes along to them, 1406 BC, and Deuteronomy 31-10, and then the Davidic covenant, the covenant with David, 990 BC, 2 Samuel 7, 12-16, says that this line of David shall continue forever and then the new covenant that was given in 590 BC in Jeremiah 31 31 a little bit earlier in those passages in Isaiah about a century earlier in those passages in Isaiah it will be implemented all these things will come to fruition in the coming kingdom okay all of these covenants will be fulfilled in the coming kingdom You have the New Covenant timeline. A covenant is promised. We have a passage in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. There are about 11 passages that speak in those three books about a covenant promised.

The covenant confirmed or guaranteed in Luke 22.20 and 1 Corinthians 11.25 that we pointed out there. And the covenant fulfilled in Isaiah 61, 65, and 66. So you have the covenant promised, confirmed, or guaranteed, as we see in this passage, and then fulfilled.

We'll be looking at it more as we get into chapter 8, and the new covenant is brought up. But there's a reason for bringing up this new covenant, and that is because the new covenant replaces the old one that these Hebrews are thinking of going back to. The one that made nobody perfect, nobody complete. So what we find here is Christ, with whom we're seated in the heavenlies, where we have a heavenly citizenship, from which there is a heavenly calling, the place where we're blessed, Christ is the one with whom we're seated. He is the Lion of Judah, and He's also the Lamb. And in that heavenly place, He also lives to make intercession for us. He represents us before God. as not only the Lamb who paid the once and final sacrifice, but as our heavenly High Priest now, having been Himself the sacrifice for us.

Hebrews 4.16 says, Therefore let us draw near with confidence, not trembling, not saying, Oh, I hope God will accept me, not worried that somehow we'll be rejected and turned away, Let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. This is not hypothetical and theoretical. It's practical. We draw near to the throne of grace not just because we're religious. It's practical. Receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Let's draw near now.

Lord, we thank you that as you presented these truths we're getting greater and greater glimpses of who you are and of what you have done. And Lord, we thank you for those wonderful truths. that are not just truths to be believed hypothetically, but practical truths, truths that are real. We can count upon your continuing and unbroken ministering on our behalf. We thank you for that and for your most amazing grace. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.