One of the most effective tools for teaching is the Decalogue.
Isaac Watts made it easier by shortening it and naglagay siya ng mga rhymes, ‘no. Familiar kayo doon; every Lord’s Day nire-recite natin siya twice a day. I say effective tool because whenever we look at scriptures, kailangan nating isuot ang ating mga salamin, ang ating mga law and gospel lenses. The gospel lens, when we read the scripture let’s us see our hope. Kita natin ang gospel kapag suot natin yung salamin na iyon. But of course before we see the gospel, the hope, it is important to see sin. And we see that by wearing our “Law Lens.”
Kaya nga lagi nating nire-recite ang Decalogue. It’s very important and so as we read in Genesis chapter 27 and if I ask you to wear your Law Lens, what is the sin that is most evident when we wear our decalogue lens? ANo yung sin na kitang-kita dito sa Genesis chapter 27? Oh you can see lots of sins there, pero ano yung kitang-kita? I say it is NOR MAKE A WILFUL LIE NOR LOVE IT.
So turn with me to Genesis chapter 27 verses 11 to 29. Genesis chapter 27 verses 11 to 29. But Jacob said to Rebekah his mother, “Behold, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing.” His mother said to him, “Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my voice, and go, bring them to me.” So he went and took them and brought them to his mother, and his mother prepared delicious food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of Esau her older son, which were with her in the house, and put them on Jacob her younger son. And the skins of the young goats she put on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. And she put the delicious food and the bread, which she had prepared, into the hand of her son Jacob. So he went in to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, that your soul may bless me.” But Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?” He answered, “Because the Lord your God granted me success.” Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob went near to Isaac his father, who felt him and said, “The voice is Jacob’s voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” And he did not recognise him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands. So he blessed him. He said, “Are you really my son Esau?” He answered, “I am.” Then he said, “Bring it near to me, that I may eat of my son’s game and bless you.” So he brought it near to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, “Come near and kiss me, my son.” So he came near and kissed him. And Isaac smelled the smell of his garments and blessed him and said, “See, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed! May God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother’s sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!”
When Rebecca heard what Isaac said to Esau, she immediately
devised a plan for Jacob to get the blessing. It was a plan that required Jacob to lie about who he was. It was a plan that required Jacob to deceive his father Isaac. A plan that must be properly executed. The food must be the same delicious food that Esau usually prepares. His words must be convincing that he was Esau and not Jacob. He must wear the garments of Esau. Naglagay siya ng mga, ng balat ng hayop.
His skin must be hairy like Esau. And you know, that’s exactly what happened. That’s exactly how the deception happened. This is, this was how Jacob got the blessing. However, we mentioned before that attaining this by deceiving Isaac as you know, is definitely sinful, right. God said the older shall serve the younger but attaining it, accomplishing, accomplishing it in a sinful way in a deceitful way, of course, it’s really, really bad. As we know, lying, deceiving is a sin. “Nor make a willful lie nor love it” says in our decalogue. In fact, lying is what Satan is known for. Satan is the deceiver. Satan deceived Eve in the garden, we know in Genesis chapter 3, he lied about what eating of the fruit can do. He deceived Eve into thinking that God was a cosmic Killjoy. That’s who Satan, Satan is. Up until now, a liar, a deceiver. Paul said in Ephesians chapter four, binasa natin ito kanina. That’s, we, hindi natin ito..kung kayo ay kay Kristo, hindi ninyo natutunan kay Kristo na mag-sinungaling. Kung wala ka kay Kristo, natural ang kasinungalingan sa iyo. Sabi ni Paul sa Ephesians chapter four, that we when we learned who Christ was, we put off our old self which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through, sabi ni Paul, deceitful desires. So as christians, dapat, bagong tao ka na.
Dapat renewed person ka na. Hindi ka na dapat characterised na parang si satanas na liar at deceiver. As christians, we must be representatives of Christ who said, sabi ni Christ, He is the way, the truth and the life. Ibig lang sabihin noon, in Christ, there are no lies. In Christ, there’s no deception. And as people whom Christ has redeemed, we therefore must be advocates of the truth. That is my message this afternoon. CHRISTIANS MUST BE ADVOCATES OF THE TRUTH BECAUSE FALSEHOOD IS CONTRARY TO THE NATURE OF GOD. Anything false ay
contrary sa kung sino ang Panginoon natin. Ang Mga Kristiyano Ay Dapat Ay Tagapag-Taguyod Ng Katotohanan Dahil Ang Kasinungalingan Ay Salungat Kung Sino Ang Diyos. If you are a christian, you are a renewed person. You now live in the realm of truth. Therefore, we must not be identified to be people of falsehood. But of course we still have remaining sins. Hindi ibig sabihin na tayo ay mga perpekto na. We still lie. We still deceive, we still struggle with this sin. This is why it is important as christians that we know the dangers of deception. We must be advocates of the truth because we are representatives of that, the, of the capital “T,” Truth. And so we must know the dangers of deception.
I have two points for us to understand this. Firstly, the Deception’s Temptation and secondly, the Deception’s Trap. The Deception’s Temptation and the Deception’s Trap.
Let us consider the first point, the DECEPTION’S TEMPTATION. So, after Rebecca told Jacob the plan, Jacob replied to his mother in verses 11 to 13. Sabi ni Jacob, nung narinig niya yung “napakagandang plano” ng kaniyang ina, sabi ni Jacob – behold my brother Esau is a hairy man and I am a smooth man; perhaps my father will feel me and I shall seem to be mocking him and bring a curse upon myself and not a blessing. So here we have Jacob instead of saying – “wait, mother, this isn’t right. Why are we deceiving daddy or father (daddy), why are we deceiving father?” Di natin alam, Malay niyo, mommy daddy. Ang sinabi niya, what he said was – mother, what if father Isaac finds out? What if I get the curse? If he finds out, I will get the curse and not get the blessing. You see here that Jacob was more concerned about being caught instead of the fact that he’s about to sin against his father. Mas nakakatakot nga naman yung curse, right. And so mother, tandaan mo, I am a smooth man, Esau is a hairy man, so let’s do something about this. Or else I’m gonna get the curse. He’s so resolved in doing this, right. Sobrang resolved siya dun sa fact na “talagang gagawin ko ‘to. I will get that blessing however we need to be wise.” Kasi baka ma- curse ako, mom, mother. Jacob was avoiding these consequences of being cut off from the material blessings, of being cut off from the covenant community, of being cut off from the patriarchal line na siya dapat yung next patriarch. Takot siya sa mga consequences na ito. Now before we say, ‘grabe naman itong si Jacob,’ akala ko ba faithful man yan. Sabi sa Hebrews 11, he was one of those na nasa hall of faith.
Saved siya..pero grabe naman itong taong ito. Isn’t this something that our sinful selves have done or have been doing, brethren? First we lie, second, we don’t want the consequences when people find out about our lies. So what are we gonna do? We conceal it and by concealing it, that’s deception. We deceive people. We conceal. Ayokong malaman mo, so itatago ko ‘to sa iyo. And so magpapatuloy ako sa buhay ko na ganito. Tinatago ko itong kasalanan na ito, whatever that is. Isn’t that deception? We all know that sins may have earthly consequences.
Marahil maranasan mo ito habang buhay ka, marahil hindi mo maranasan. Pero mayroong mga consequences, temporary earthly ang ating mga kasalanan. Magsinungaling ka sa iyong kapatid, kaibigan, kamag-anak, marahil maapektuhan ang trust. That’s a consequence.
We’ll know that sins may have earthly consequences and it’s absolutely appropriate for us to, in a sense, fear those bad consequences because they’re really bad it does affect relationships it may affect you as a person. You may lose your job, you may lose friends, you may lose relationships, you may lose the trust of your loved ones, you may lose a lot in this lifetime. What if my family finds out? What if my husband, what if my wife finds out? What if my pastor finds out? What if the church finds out? There may be so many what-ifs but to fear the consequences alone, my friends, brethren is not enough. If there is sorrow for the consequence and not for the sin that’s counterfeit repentance! Because you may lie and lie again kasi walang nakaalam. Naitago mo successfully. Dahil sa takot mo sa consequence, walang nakaalam, hindi ka umamin, hindi ka nag- confess. Malaking possibility na gagawin at gagawin mo siya muli. You may sin again because you don’t hate the sin, you hate the consequence. You hate what’s gonna happen. If you become truthful.
The scripture says you, you have to be truthful. Christians must be the advocates of truth. Because we are representatives of the capital T, Truth, Jesus Christ. And yet I don’t want to experience the consequences. Oh let me tell you, we can avoid the consequences. You can avoid the consequences in this earthly lifetime. You may be able to run from sin’s consequences. You know how? You conceal it, you lie again, you deceive. The only way to avoid the consequences is to lie again, to sin again. And as a christian, you will be tempted. There will be temptations to conceal such sins. The temptation to avoid consequences is a temptation to conceal our sin, conceal our sins with further deception. Ganun mo siya itatago, magde-deceive ka lalo. So see the deception’s temptation therefore is to think more of what the judgment will be. Even a christian can be tempted to avoid consequences. Even a christian can be tempted to conceal his or her lies with further deception. But christians, remember that your sins have been pardoned. Christ died for your sins already. Christ died on the cross for your lives to be renewed. You have been brought from the realm of lies to the realm of truth, to the realm of the spirit of truth, to the kingdom of Christ. Christ, who said that He is the truth. Meaning no falsehood can be seen and heard from Christ. He lived a faithful obedient life, no deception was found in Him, in His heart. Christ is the truth, means ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF CHRIST IS FALSEHOOD. To
be outside of the capital “T” truth who is Christ, is to be in the deceiver’s realm. So kung wala ka kay Kristo, marahil i-e-enjoy mo ang kasinungalingan. Pero kung na kay Kristo ka, and you struggle with this, you’ll struggle with this in your heart. You have the Spirit of the Truth, telling you to confess to God, to people whom you have hurt. Kasi ganun dapat mamuhay ang kristiyano. Katulad ng Panginoong Hesukristo na walang kasalanan. Na Siya mismo ay Katotohanan.
Walang kasinungalingang lumabas sa Kanya. Sa sobrang katotohanan ni Kristo, ay sinunod Niya ang will at purpose, layunin ng Panginoon. At kung ikaw ay wala sa Kanya, then namumuhay ka doon sa realm na iyon. Realm ng kalaban. Kaya kung wala ka kay Kristo, tumalikod ka na sa sinful, deceitful desires mo. Repent of your sins and come to faith in the truth that is Christ. But if you are in Jesus Christ, kapatid, we are called to walk in the truth. We are called not just to walk, but to be lovers of the truth. Na gugustuhin natin ang katotohanan lagi.
Mamahalin natin ang katotohanan lagi. In fact, pag may kasinungalingan, we will hate it because we know that that is sin. And so earthly consequences should not frighten you brethren.
Magkakaroon talaga ng mga consequences. Ganun kasama kasi ang kasalanan. Ganun kasama ang kasinungalingan. So, sure tayo may mga consequences ito. Pero kapatid, kung ikaw ay kristiyano, huwag kang matakot. Do not avoid these consequences. Do not fear these consequences. It should not hinder you from truly repenting. Maniwala ka sa Diyos.
Sabi ni Thomas Watson in his book The Doctrine Of Repentance, he said it is one thing to be a terrified sinner and another to be a repenting sinner. There may be terror yet with no change of heart.
There may be terror because of the consequences. But that is not true repentance. A changed heart is a repentant heart. A changed heart would want to live walking in the truth saying truthful things, living hating deceitful desires. A repentant person trusts God that even if he faces the consequences here on earth, he knows that he’s doing the will of God. Kaya ang challenge ko sa lahat, TRUST GOD. Magtiwala ka sa Diyos and face the consequences of your sin. Face it! Trust God that He will discipline you as a father disciplines his child. Isn’t that a good thing? And face the consequences of your sins, of your lies. And if we don’t face them, we will lie more. And we would think, um, hindi naman ako nahuli nung umpisa heh. Yun yung ma-cu-cultivate sa heart mo kapatid, kaibigan. We will lie more, we will sin more and that is a problem. But the more you face it, the more you will hate your sins. Kasi mararamdaman mo yung disiplina ng Diyos. If we face the consequences here in this life, we’re saying this is the effect of sin.
Therefore I will hate my sin, I will hate my sin of deceit. Face it. Confess your sins to God and to the ones you’ve sinned against.
Sabi sa Psalm chapter 51, nakikita natin yung lament ni David. This was the psalm that was his response when he was rebuked by the prophet, Nathan noong siya ay naki-apid. When David committed adultery with Bathsheba and murder against Uriah, the Hittite. Now in Psalm chapter 51, David did not say the people of Israel will be angered by what I’ve done. The consequences of my sin is before me.
According to the law of God, my adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah the Hittite were punishable by death, he didn’t didn’t say those things. Hindi siya nagpakita ng takot doon sa i-he-hate siya ng mga Israelites. Hindi siya natatakot doon sa consequence of, um, sinning against the law of God. What he said in Psalm chapter 51 verses 2 to 3, sabi niya – Wash Me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. I know, for I know my transgressions and my sin is ever before me. Kapatid, are you afraid to be caught? Are you afraid of the earthly consequences of your sins? Are you addicted to pornography? And you hide it from your spouse? Now, is being caught by your spouse worse? Then you continue and become addicted to pornography. Because if you conceal it, you’ll be more addicted.
Walang nakakaalam, so gagawin ko uli. Magpapatuloy ako sa deception na ito. Is being caught by your pastors, by your church worse than hiding your sin of contempt? Hiding your sin of unforgiveness? Would you rather hide that sinful relationship that you are in because if people find out you’ll be disciplined. Nakakahiya naman, Ayoko yun. Or you may be in sin now, or you want or you are concealing it by showing a holy life and you’re afraid that people may find out and so you continue living this life. That’s deception. That is living a lie. Is this your life now? If yes repent sooner. Repent now. Do not take it longer. Repent now of your sins. There is hope because Christ renewed us. If you are, if you say that you profess Christianity, then you believe and you, you are a representative of the truth, that is Christ. So sinasabi natin na even a christian may struggle with this. Remember, trust God and face the consequences of your sin. Remember that God is good.
Come to the merciful Christ who is compassionate towards sinners. Believe in Christ. Repent now.
But see, deception doesn’t just have this temptation to avoid the consequences. One may also fall into its trap. My last point is the DECEPTION’S TRAP. So, we see the progression of the sin ofJacob.
Again, meron siyang resolve to really lie to his father. Kita natin yun na talagang sure siya na gagawin talaga niya itong kasalanan na ito. When he brought the young goats to his mother. Nung hinuli niya yung mga young goats, binigay niya sa kaniyang ina, oh he’s saying na talagang sure akong gagawin ko ito. Hinuli ko ito, binigay ko na sa nanay ko. Dun na nagsisimula. May resolve na yung kaniyang sin of deceit. And then he acted on it by actually going to his father and lying to his father.
Verse 19, tinanong siya, sino ka? Ang sabi niya, I am Esau, lie number one. Your firstborn, lie number two. Hindi ka first born. I have done as you have told me lie number three, hindi niya sinabi sa iyo yon. Again, because he has begun the deception, he couldn’t stop. Hindi na siya tumigil. Kailangan niyang ituloy. Kailangan niyang panindigan ang kaniyang kasinungalingan. Not only that, when Isaac asked him in verse 20, sabi ni Isaac – how is it that you’ve found it so quickly my son? Ang bilis mo ah. Ano ginawa ni Jacob? He used the name of God in vain. He said because the Lord your God granted me success. Lies beget more lies. Sin begets sin.
Again, sabi ni Thomas Watson in The Doctrine Of Repentance, he said and I quote “lying is a sin that does not go alone it ushers in other sins.” end quote And if lies are unmortified, pag hindi natin ito kaagad pinatay sa umpisa pa lang, it can trap a sinners, a sinner into a web of deceit. Trap ka na diyan. The worst thing is you won’t even know that you’re trapped. You don’t even know that you’re trapped. That’s worse! Your conscience have already been seared. Sira na ang iyong konsensiya. Dahil hinayaan mo ang sarili mo na ma-trap sa web of deceit. The deception’s trap therefore, is that you would sin more and more. You would cover up your lies. You would cover up deceptions.
Hindi ka na makaalis. Friends, brethren, know that this is the nature of sin. You will want more. You’ll do it more unless you stop now, you will want more and more of this sin. Then you’ll end up with that compounded guilt. Patong-patong. Patong Patong na. Kada patong mo, mas mahirap nang umalis. Mas bumibigat, hindi ka makaalis sa bigat.
Mas lalo mong pinapahirapan ang sarili mo. It’s like your favourite food, cookies. Pag kumain ka ba ng cookies, isa lang kinukuha mo? Kuha ka pa ng marami. Or kung ano mang chips ang paborito mo. O, kumuha ka pa. One is not enough! You will want more of it. Now if you struggle with this, again, repent sooner. Huwag mong patagalin and see the mercy of God in Christ. See the grace of God in Christ for Christ Himself is the one who can change us and sanctify us. Yun lang ang tanging escape mo, si Kristo lang. Si Kristo ang namuhay ng perpekto.
Kasi hindi mo nga kayang umalis sa web of lies na iyan. Pero si Kristo , perpekto. Perfect obedience to God the Father and then He died on that cross. Dapat tayo ang deserving because of our compounded sin, compounded guilt. But it was Christ who died for our stead. And again, see, kita natin sa Genesis chapter 27 despite of the sins of Jacob, he was still blessed immensely. And God granted that blessing to him.
Verse 28, sabi ni Isaac, no, now, you have to understand, this is really God blessing Jacob through his father Isaac. Ang sabi, verse 28, may God give you of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Yun ang sinabi niya kay Jacob na mararanasan daw ni Jacob. At mararanasan din ng mga descendants ni Jacob. You know what that means? Balik tayo sa Genesis chapter 3. Do you remember the curse? The curse to men? Ang curse kay Adam? Curse is the ground in pain you shall eat all of it all the days of your life. Ibig sabihin, against na sa iyo ang creation ng Panginoon. You will work hard and yet the creation will sometimes not give you its harvest.
Sometimes thorns and thistles pa nga ang ibibigay sa iyo. However, God said to Jacob: “oh you will get the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth. How blessed Jacob was, immensely, and also the land of Israel. Hindi lang iyon ang sinabi sa kaniya. He will be materially blessed, they will not hunger and thirst. Not only that, Jacob, from Jacob will come earthly kings. And the rest will serve his line and also curse him will be cursed those who bless him will be blessed. Jacob will be protected. And again the scriptures recognise Jacob while he’s a sinful man, a man of faith. He was one of those men in the hall of faith in Hebrews chapter 11, one of those faithful men. Man of great faith. And yet we see in Genesis chapter 27, he’s like us. You see this is grace upon grace upon grace upon grace. The undeserving Jacob gets immensely blessed despite of the compounded sin and guilt. Patung- patong na grasya sa isang taong patung-patong ang kasalanan. Now let me ask you, isn’t this what happened to us? Hindi ba’t ganito rin ang nangyayari sa atin kapatid? Despite of our many sins, despite of the many lies that we have done in our lives. We have every spiritual blessing in Christ. For us, the dew of heaven is realised in the blessings that Christ bestows upon us from heaven. The fatness of the earth is realised when we inherit the all earth when Christ returns. We, the church are going to rule with Christ and no one will curse us because Christ Himself became cursed for us already. This is the grace of God grace upon grace upon grace accomplished by Christ’s death on the cross. And so remember the grace of God despite of the many sins we have done, remember the grace of God in Christ that cleansed us from these many sins. The grace of God is greater than all of our sins. And mga kapatid, because we have learned Christ, because of Christ we are called to put off our old selves with our deceitful desires and put on the truth that is in Christ. Sabi ni Paul sa Ephesians chapter 4 verses 2, verse 25, Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbour, for we are members one of another. Brethren, to be in Christ is to be a lover of truth. Therefore, we must speak truth. Despite of our many sins, grabe yung grace ni God sa atin; patung-patong din. Mas immense pa iyon compared sa kung naiisip mo sobrang dami mong kasalanan, kapatid, sobrang dami at lawak!
Incomprehensible ang grasya ng Panginoon! Na kung ikaw ay kristiyano, matatanggap mo iyon. Yung ganung klaseng grasya. Na kung ikaw ay kristiyano, tinatawag ka ng Panginoon therefore, to speak the truth.
To be in Christ, you must be a lover of truth, you must speak truth. But see in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 25, Paul wasn’t just saying that we speak truth as in truth na opposite ng falsehood. O, huwag kang magsinungaling, magsabi ka ng totoo. Hindi ganon ang sinasabi ni Paul sa Ephesians chapter 4 verse 25. He’s saying that the truth is in Christ. Ibig sabihin, you speak the truth that is in Christ, meaning don’t lie anymore. Yes, be honest, rather speak the words of Christ. If you lie, you will hurt people. If you say the truth and be honest, you really wouldn’t hurt people but as a christian, you are called to do even a greater thing. And that is to bless people. How do you bless? Don’t lie. Be honest, speak the words of God. That is what Ephesians 4 verse 25 is saying.
And so ang challenge ko sa lahat, ponder them. If you’re a christian, ponder on this grace upon grace. Ponder regularly on the grace of God and speak the truth of Christ. Ponder in the grace of God that has given us, that He has given us. Yun dapat natin i-cultivate natin sa ating mga isipan to be able to mortify the sin of deception.
And then speak the word of Christ. The words of God. That is the truth na sinasabi ni Paul sa Ephesians 4. Now an unbeliever can be truthful. An unbeliever has the ability to not lie and just speak the truth. Kahit na maliit na bata, pwedeng hindi magsinungaling. I mean naturally, lahat tayo ay sinungaling. Pero even mga bata ay may kakayahan na magsabi ng totoo. And the world will say amen to honesty is the best policy. I mean they can agree that lying is bad. In fact there’s an article that says Five Steps To Save Your Reputation When You’re Caught Lying. Number one, own up to it; number two, apologise; number three, avoid excuses but provide explanation; number four, do damage control; number five, avoid it in the future. Sounds good, right? I mean someone who is apart from Christ can just obey it, do it, right. And yet remain outside of Christ. Sounds good. But see, a christian is called to do a greater thing to escape the web of deceit by looking to Christ.
Ponder on the graces of God, for Christ was perfect and you can’t be perfect. And instead of hurting people when you lie, do good by speaking to them the truth which is the word of God. Yun ang calling ng kristiyano, huwag kang magsinungaling, edify by speaking God’s word. Ang tanong ko sa inyo, how would you do it if you don’t hear the word? If you’re not worshiping God? And when you worship God, you know what worship is every Lord’s Day? Worship is listening, and so if you don’t listen, it’s not worship. So how can you do this? Firstly, how can you ponder on the graces of God if you’re not hearing the word of God? Secondly, how can you speak the truth of God in Christ if you’re not hearing the word of God? Now if you can’t do these things, how can you get out when you are in a web of deceit? You need the word of God. Are you already caught in a web of lies? Hindi ka ba makaalis? Are you tempted to lie more? Are you in that situation wherein you think wala ka nang magagawa kundi magkasala pa uli? Brethren, remember God’s continuous grace in your life. Let that be your motivation. Look to Christ who is the truth because He died. We could live a life walking in the truth and loving the truth. Siya ang katotohanan na nagbabago, who sanctifies our deceitful hearts and continues to transform us into lovers of truth. Always look to Christ if you think that you are struggling with lying and deceit. There is a way to get out of this by going to Christ to the mercy seat. Receive His grace and mercy. There is forgiveness in God because He has accepted our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is the perfect sacrifice, who is the perfect Priest who sacrificed Himself for our salvation. May the word of God enrich our knowledge of Him and may it stir us to live in light of these truths.
Let us pray. Heavenly Father, again thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for giving us the truth who is Christ. Thank You for the reminder oh Lord, that we have been brought into this realm of truth because of what Christ has done. And so Lord, falsehood should not be named among us. We should not be known as liars and deceivers, rather people who are advocates of the truth, representatives of Christ. But Lord we know we’re not perfect and we still struggle with this sin. So Lord, we ask that You would enable us and strengthen us to always look to our Savior, to our hope to give us strength and motivation O Lord. And as we look to Christ, may we be reminded of Your immense grace o Lord that You have given us despite of our many sins and may that be our motivation to obey You. So Lord thank you for Your grace and mercy. O Lord bless us as we partake of the Lord’s supper. We thank You in Jesus’ name, amen.