Good afternoon. Please open your Bibles with me to Genesis chapter 32 verses 22 to 33. In sports, many who got injured are not able to, are not able to play games anymore the way they played before. Example um Derrick Rose, Penny Hardaway and many more. Some of these injuries were truly life-changing, some of them are not able to live their lives the way they lived before. Some of them truly lost their careers. You know in our passage this afternoon, Jacob, the man of God, the faithful man Jacob will be injured and it will truly change his life as well. It is not caused by play sports or doing something strenuous, but because of a wrestling match with God. Let us read Genesis chapter 32 verses 22 to 32. The same night he arose and took his two wives, his two female servants, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and everything else that he had. And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he touched his hip socket, and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day has broken.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” And he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then he said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the name of the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life has been delivered.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.
The grass withers, the flower fades but the word of our Lord stands forever.
It was night time and Jacob could not sleep. He was about to meet his brother, Esau who wanted to kill him 20 years ago. And so he then brings his family to the other side. It could be because of their, because he wants them to be protected. And then he was left alone in the dark, no sleep.
Gabi, hindi pa nag-uumaga. Probably before midnight and then a man approached him suddenly wrestled Jacob; wrestled him. Now this isn’t like what you’re, what you see in TV. Hindi katulad ng mga entertainment na nakikita ninyo. It is not like that. Eto yung talagang wrestling with a man, punong-puno ng pawis, probably may mga tama na sa katawan and coming to grips with one another, grappling one another. This is the kind of wrestling that we see here. The whole night, the whole night. At first, Jacob didn’t know who he was ‘no. Hindi kilala ni Jacob sino ito. In fact the way that Moses wrote this makikita natin yung progression. He was first introduced as a man, right. Mysterious, ‘no. Not so mysterious after a few words, after a few passages, ‘no. But yeah, Moses made it that way. And as they wrestle, Jacob seemed to be overpowering the man, right. It says that the Man saw that He cannot prevail against Jacob, right. So it looks like Jacob was overpowering this Man… Not until the Man touched the hip socket of Jacob making him limp, hindi na siya makalakad afterwards. And so Jacob held on to the Man, recognising now who that is. All through in the night he’s trying to overpower this mysterious Man and then just with one touch in the hip socket, all of Jacob’s strength lost, nawala lahat.
Now, I think he knows who this is. He asks the Man to bless him and the Man indeed blessed Jacob. And then the passage tells us that this is not just a Man. Jacob named the place Peniel which means he saw God face to face. So he knew who this was. In fact, this is what we call Christophany, Christophany, a visible manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, his manifestation visibly before His actual incarnation.
This is what we call a pre-incarnation. He showed Himself in human form before His actual assumption of a human form. That is a pre-incarnation or Christophany, a visible manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ prior His incarnation. Bakit natin sinasabing this is the second person? Remember the Father, no one has seen the Father, it says the New Testament. A visible manifestation of let’s say if it says Angel of the Lord, and yet that Angel of the Lord is worshiped. That is God. And to be specific, the second person of the Trinity, not the Father. This is God in human form, Jesus Christ. His again, His pre-incarnation. So Christ wrestles here with Jacob. Christ was the initiator of the wrestling match. Christ was the initiator of the blessing. Christ was the blesser. And in that time it is known that the greater blesses the lesser. And so when Jacob was trying to wrestle with Jesus Christ, that Man. And when that Man touched the hip socket of Jacob and he became link limp rather, and he asked for a blessing, now he knew this is greater, this is the Lord.
So what do we see here? You know Jacob has been wrestling. He’s a wrestler he has been wrestling with his brother Esau for a long time. He did that too with his father, Isaac and then for 20 years he had a wrestling match, 20-year wrestling match with uh his father-in-law, Laban. And all throughout Jacob’s journey, we see his faith truly wavered. It seems as if okay, now his faith has grown.. oh wait, wait a minute, teka, medyo hindi pala, o hindi na..o teka, okay uli! oh wait, wait, wait, parang christian life talaga. There were times when his faith was evident and there were times when it wasn’t. And so while there’s anticipation, well in this passage there is that anticipation of the face to face of Jacob and Esau. Here we learn that it wasn’t really Esau whom Jacob was wrestling with. It wasn’t Laban. Now he can see who has been wrestling with the entire time. Now he’s able to physically grapple with the one who he has been wrestling with, struggling with. Now he’s able to fight his adversary. It wasn’t even Satan this time… but it was God. And what a perfect time it is, it was to be alone in the dark with God wrestling with him. God always knows the perfect time. It was God who is the initiator of this wrestling match, not Jacob. Jacob’s story was full of full of ups and downs, faith and then self-dependence, lying, trickery and then again dependence on the Lord. Now God settles this with Jacob. It wasn’t Esau. It wasn’t Laban whom Jacob was fighting, who was wrestling with. It was Jacob versus God all along. That is the issue here.
The battle is really do you really want to obey my precepts? Do you really want to reconcile with your brother or not? Oh you did that, you made, you have separated the droves, the first group, second group, so that they can approach Esau and ask for forgiveness. Oh you did that.. we can see the desire for reconciliation. But now that you’re alone, have you given yourself fully to the Lord? That is the issue here. Before you go to the promised land, Jacob, I want you to reconcile with your brother, Esau. But I want you to recognise your weakness, Jacob. I want you to recognise your unworthiness your sin, Jacob. And Jacob, even though your body is weak, your heart must be renewed, your heart must be refreshed, your spirit must be awakened. And so after this wrestling with God, Jacob was never the same. Life-changing; this was a truly life-changing event for Jacob. I’m not saying that this was the point of conversion of Jacob. Oh he was converted many years ago. But clearly there was this event, right, where God settled it with Jacob. He was truly blessed by God. His life turned around. He was being conformed to the image of the Son. And that is basically my message this afternoon: God wrestles not just with Jacob, but with us also, brethren. With us, to spiritually bless us and conform us into Christ’s likeness.
How can we say that Jacob was spiritually blessed? How can we say that Jacob was being conformed into the image of Christ? I have two points for you this afternoon. Firstly, there was this Divine Dislocation and secondly, now he has a Limping Life.
Let’s consider the first point, Divine Dislocation. And so the God-man engaged with Jacob in an all-night wrestling match. Imagine from night time to the breaking of dawn, probably five to six hours of wrestling?! And Jacob was prevailing? Jacob persevered, yes. Jacob was strong, yes. But remember he’s fighting against God here. And in this event, this scenario, God was like a father who plays with his son. You know when you’re, when you’re a father and you play with your son, sometimes you let yourself loose, right.
Hinahayaan mong manalo yung iyong anak, right. But we know who’s truly powerful here. Because when God decides to stop the match, it’s now the breaking of the dawn.. let’s stop this. He just basically just touched the hip of Jacob and it got dislocated. Now I’m sure you know by now that I am not a wrestler. But friends, hips are so important in wrestling. If it is dislocated, you won’t even be able to walk properly. Standing up would be so difficult.
What more yung ig-grapple mo pa siya, it-try mo pa siyang ihiga? Ikaw nga hindi mo kayang tumayo. So iyon yung pinanggagalingan ng strength ni Jacob in order to win a wrestling match. And that part has been dislocated. But there’s more to this. This is where swords are usually located, the hip. And when the thigh, or under the thigh, or even the hip is touched by another, it is a picture of two people making an oath. If a servant touches the hip or the thigh of another man, it shows a picture of a servant touching the authority of another. That’s basically what happened in Genesis chapter 24, remember? When the servant of Abraham put his hand under the thigh of Abraham to make him swear that he will not take a wife or Isaac from the Canaanites, remember that? But now, here we have God touching the authority of Jacob and he breaks it, he breaks it. Now God touching the part that would give Jacob the proper push. A part where Jacob could get into more effective positions so he could defeat his adversary, his opponent. A part where he could better leverage his own strench, strength rather. And God breaks it.
So again, God breaks the authority. God breaks the strength. Now Jacob knows he is weak. Now Jacob knows he has no authority over this man. And so what happened afterwards? God decides that the match is done. God says let me go, for the day has broken, mag-u-umaga na. And with no more strength, Jacob holds on to his opponent in desperation. He says, it’s like parang nakasabit na siya, parang nakasabit na si Jacob. And he’s saying I will not let you go unless you bless me. And no, this is not one of those interpretations where Jacob seems to still overpower God despite of the dislocated hip and says I will not let you go unless you bless me. Oh no. He was desperate, he was weeping. We read this a while ago in Hosea chapter 12 verses 3 to 4, right. In the womb, he took his brother by the hill. And in his manhood, he strove with God. Hosea was referring to Jacob. And it says here, he strove with the angel. We know that that angel is God and he prevailed. It says he wept, he wept and prev, he wept and sought. He sought the favour of the greater. He sought the favour of God. That’s what Hosea’s interpretation was… of the Jacob and the angel of God event.
And so Jacob now realises who this is. He realises that this man is able to bless him, that this man is more than a man. When it comes to blessings again it is the greater who blesses the lesser. Jacob was saying Lord bless me. I have no strength, I’m holding on to you. Lord bless me as I go back to Canaan. Now I recognise who you are. It is you! It is you who sent me to Laban. It is you who are now wrestling with me. Now I recognise it Lord.
Now I have no strength. Lord bless me as I go back to Canaan. Lord bless me as I go back to my brother, Esau. Lord may the outcome be favourable for us. Now you see the shift of power, right. The shift of power the shift of who truly has authority, of who is truly submitting. Jacob learned that in order to continue doing God’s will, he must be brought low. His hip was dislocated.
And for God, now that you’re limp, now you’re ready to meet your brother Esau. It is a perfect time to meet your brother Esau, Jacob. Now that you are limp. It is now the perfect time to meet your family again, Jacob. It is now the perfect time for you to go back to the promised land, Jacob as a limp. In fact you, shouldn’t be there if you’re not a limp. And Jacob, you may be limp; your body may have been weakened. But this is the blessing: your faith has become stronger. Yes, this was an affliction, a purposeful divine affliction coming from no one else but God. Jacob must limp so he can continue on to be the Israel of God. He must limp in order that he may always depend on the greater, who is God. See, divine afflictions are meant to humble Jacob. It is, these are meant to humble us. These divine dislocations, dislocated hips that we have are meant to humble us, brethren. To make us more dependent on God.
I like what A.W. pink says and I quote he said: “Jacob was not wrestling with this man to obtain a blessing. Instead, the man was wrestling with Jacob to gain some object from him. It was to reduce Jacob to a sense of his nothingness to cause him to see what a poor, worthless creature he was without him.” And that’s exactly what happened to Jacob, brethren. And this is exactly what happens to us as well. We are afflicted with what ailments sickness or whatever hardships in life. It is not meant to push us away from God. Whatever those hardships are, afflictions are, rather the purpose is for us to come to grips with God. To hold on to God and never let go, to say Lord, I will not let you go because I depend on you. I have no strength. You are my strength Lord. That is the purpose of God.
And so God tells Jacob that he has driven with God and with men and have prevailed. That’s what God Said and we all know that Jacob did not win this match. And yet God proclaims that Jacob, the one who lost, also won for prevailing, by persevering. In fact it was Jacob who said that he has seen God face to face and yet my life has been spared, right. Siya talaga yung talo eh. And yet, God proclaims that he has prevailed. Jacob prevailed by properly recognising that his opponent was not truly his adversary but his friend. It was God. He prevailed in a sense he won by rightly admitting his weakness and his need of God, his need of a blessing from God. He clung to his Lord. He knew that he is weak. He’s basically repeating the words of Paul that ‘when I am weak, I am strong.’ There is a in a sense a paradox there.
That when we are weak, we are strong because we rely on the strength that we have and that is Christ. And we have the same challenge for us presented to us, brethren this afternoon. It is to cling to God. It is to cling to Christ the wrestler, the initiator, the blesser. Cling to Him for in our weakness, He is our strength. Cling to Christ. Cling to the One who wrestled with Jacob.
Because it is He who truly prevailed. He is better than Jacob because Christ prevailed in another wrestling match. Christ prevailed in another wrestling match. He was in a dark place where His human will resigns from the divine will where Christ, being human prayed to God in Luke chapter 22 verse 42 Father if you are willing remove this cup from me, this cup of wrath that I’m about to experience to receive, Lord, if you’re willing to remove it from me. And then he says nevertheless, not my will but yours be done. And I echo what Sinclair Ferguson said about this matter. That it is Christ wrestling with His Father and He’s like echoing also the words of Jacob on that cross saying I will not let you go Father until you bless them. It is us who are the recipients of the blessing of that wrestling match between The Father And The Son. The Son submitting willingly to the divine will. Christ willingly received the wrath of God on that cross where He died for three days and yet truly prevailed and defeated even death by resurrecting from that, from death. You see, this is why we can cling to Christ. We can rest in Christ because that kind of strength is what we all need. Christ Alone can provide such strength to conquer sin and death. Kanino pa tayo pupunta kundi doon sa sumugpo ng kamatayan at kasalanan. Siya ang ating kalakasan. He is our strength.
So if you’re not in Christ, repent now of your sins and come to faith in Him. Come to faith in the provision of God for your salvation so that your sins will be forgiven. Come to faith in Him. But if you are in Christ, let me tell you brother, let me tell you sister, there is wrestling with God. If you’re a christian, there’s wrestling with God. Because remember that God wrestles with us to spiritually bless us and conform us into Christ’s likeness. When we depend so much on ourselves and we forget to cling to our Savior, there will be times when God divinely dislocates our hips so you and I would hold on and all the more seek His blessing. Such a strength! Lord give me strength.
Lord make my heart to grow deeper, my devotion grow more. We seek His strength, we hold on to Him. So that you and I would always run to Him.
And again God desires to bless His people. It’s obvious in this passage. And so brother, sister, are you in a situation where you are wrestling with God? Lord, do I really have to do? Do I really have to reconcile with my brother? with my sister? Do I really have to put off this sin? I know Lord, I know it’s in Your word. I know Lord, I heard it, I heard it this morning. But do we really have to Lord? If you’re in that situation, submit immediately to God. But when God, when you experience that divine dislocation, the divine dislocation of whatever member of the body, whatever affliction you have, know that it has a purpose. That God divinely dislocate your hip. Are you experiencing any affliction? Thank the Lord that he touched the socket of your hip. Praise Him that He has made you limp, brother or sister.
We’re reminded of Paul in second Corinthians chapter 1 verses 8 to 9 and it says Paul says “For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength we’re so weak because of this affliction that we have experienced in Asia. It has made us weak. We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. We’ve almost gave up! Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.” See Paul sees this divine dislocation as a providence from God to make them more conformed to the image of the Son. And he mentions again many chapters after in chapter 12 that he mentions that there’s this thorn in the flesh that was given to him. He says that it was a messenger of Satan that harasses him. Whatever this is, this may be sickness or whatever. It’s not been given to us specifically what it is. But he says, he asks God, he pleaded with God three times to remove these thorns. But God didn’t do it because God said Paul, my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. And so Paul says therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Jacob was weak but this is the strongest he has ever been in his life. You see here the stronger Jacob when he became limp. Kayo ba ay nalumpo na rin mga kapatid, ng Panginoon? Pasalamat tayo sa Kaniyang blessing na tayo ay ginawa Niyang mas malakas para tayo ay lalong kumapit sa Panginoon. Dahil pag di Niya ito ginawa, kakapit ka ba? Will you hold on? You see, as we move forward in the story, we see that he continues to be, and this is my second, my last point: there is this limping life of Jacob.
So right after Jacob said that he will not let go unless God bless him, God asks him his name. And God did this of course, God knows who this is, right. Why does God ask what his name was? Of course alam ng Panginoon. But it is for Jacob to be reminded of his name. It is for Jacob to know who he was. Jacob, in other terms it means deceiver, it means heel-grabber, it means supplanter. That was his name and God reminds him by asking him what was your name? I am the deceiver, Jacob That was him before and now God gives him a new name.. to remember something different for him to not go back to his old life. His new name is Israel which means he struggled, he’s driven with God, he wrestled with God and with men and have prevailed.
Just like Abraham, just like Sarah, Jacob too was given this new name which give them, which gives them their new identity. Abraham had a new identity. Sarah had a new identity. Jacob too was given a new name to have this new identity. That he should not be remembered as the deceiver anymore, but as someone who has wrestled with God and has prevailed. But you see it’s all, it’s not only the name that is new here. Hindi lang yung pangalan, but now Jacob will be forever limp. This wasn’t a one night temporary condition. This will become his life. Jacob will not be able to run anymore. He will be forever limp. Of course, baka daanin ninyo ako as teolohiya, glorified na si Jacob, okay, ngayon. Andun na siya, kasama na niya ang Panginoon during this time. he was limp. Verse 32 says Therefore to this day the people of Israel do not eat the sinew of the thigh that is on the hip socket, because he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip on the sinew of the thigh.
So the Israelites in Moses’ time commemorates the life of Jacob as a limp. They don’t commemorate that one event. It seems to me that the passage is telling us that it was his whole life. Yun yung tumatak sa mga minds ng Israel. In fact, wala namang biblical command for them not eat the sinew, yung katabi ng muscle sa may thigh, ‘no sa mga hayop na kanilang kakainin. Wala namang bibilical command but sila mismo as an Israel, they commemorate the life of this limp forefather, Jacob. That is why they do that kapag ginagawa nila kapag sila ay kumakain, hindi nila kinakain yung specific part na iyon.
So again, the point here is that Jacob has been, I mean, he has become limp. Jacob now lives a life fully depending on God kasi forever na siyang limp. Again, now he’s ready to meet his brother, now he is ready to meet his brother in Canaan not as a Jacob, deceiver but as Israel. He can now enter the promised land, not a deceiver, but as someone who has met God face to face and has prevailed by faith. Someone who in appearance is truly weak, and yet strong in the Lord. Eto na yung magiging buhay ni Jacob. Now his faith is stronger than ever, now his spirit has been truly awakened by the encounter with God. Yes he’s so weak physically, but his spirit, his heart, his mind, his devotion, his faith is stronger than ever. This is the new life of Jacob. You know what? This is the same life that we have in Christ. In fact the reason why Jacob’s faith is stronger, because he himself has faith in the coming Christ. And in our case, Christ has already come and because of our faith in him, we have a new life in him. It is a life of limping. We enter the narrow gate and we walk through the narrow road. It’s not an easy life to be a christian. We limp as pilgrims on earth. We experience hardships, trials, oppositions, afflictions in life. That’s because this world and Satan will make it hard for us. And in this life of limping, we continue to look at our true identity in Christ. And we continue to put off our old selves. Yun ang ating duty rito as christians. That is our new life in Jesus Christ. That’s the new life as well of Jacob.
Our new life in Christ requires us to look to our identity who is Christ, requires us to continue putting off sin, putting off the old self. That is why it is a hard and difficult life. You know why? Because you’re sinful self would want more. It is a life of limping and the promise is that the celestial city is within a reach. We move forward as christians; we are on our journey to the promised land just as Jacob walking like this. We move forward, having a limp life. But we have a promise that God is with us and God has changed us that he has made our faith stronger.
I love what Sam Waldron has said and I quote he said “praise God that you are limping for now you are not walking to hell. Now you are limping into heaven.” If you are in Christ, you are new. Christ is the bringer of the new creation. When he died on the cross, when he rose again from the dead and when you have faith in him the justification has happened. Now the sanctification is happening now. There isn an already and of course there is a not yet, but there’s an already. If you’re not in Him, you are still with the old creation. And just as the old creation will pass you too, will pass away. you will be far from God. Kapatid, kaibigan, rather. So maniwala ka kay Kristo. Repent of your sins and come to Faith in the bringer of the new creation who is Jesus Christ. But if you are in Christ, again, you have a new life. You have a new identity and that is Christ. Therefore do not go back to your old sinful self. Yes, I know in theology, we know that if you are truly in Christ you can never go back. You can never go back. But even in the scriptures there are warnings to christians, to readers, to not go back; put them off; put Christ on; put them off; put Christ on. So I tell you the same thing, the same challenge to each and everyone, to all christians here ,if you are in Christ you are new. You have a new life, you have a new identity. Therefore, do not.. never, never go back to your old life, to your old sinful self. And you may see that the old sins are tempting, that there are times, there are temptation when you feel like oh these sins were beautiful. I want to I want to experience them again. No! Don’t go back! Huwag lang babalik. Find that the sins of old are not tempting, they’re not beautiful. Don’t go back! We were prisoners before and no prisoner would say I want to go back to that prison.. oh I missed the orange uh clothes. Oh I missed the prison food. I miss the rats. I want the comfort there. Don’t go back, brethren.
Don’t go back to Egypt thinking that on your way back, God would part the Red Sea again? Don’t go back just as Jacob would be forever limp and he never went back to his old life. Ikaw din, you and I brethren must never go back. We have a new identity, we must live a christian life limping always into Christ.
This is the challenge for us – never go back to your old life; rather, rejoice in your new limping life, the life that we have now, the identity we have now in Jesus Christ. Rejoice that our new identity is found not in your old self. Hindi tayo kilala because of our sins of before. I mean when you go to the church, oh, kumusta ka? Ikaw yung before, di ba? No. We know each and everyone as redeemed by Christ. If you were a lover of porn before, don’t go back please. If you were known because of your crude words, don’t go back please. If you were identified as an angry person, one without self- control, don’t go back. If the false comforts of this world deceives you and tempts you that the old life is better, don’t go back. It is better to be limp. It is more beautiful to be limped and heading to Christ. Not going back to the old life thinking that it is more comforting there. Not knowing that as we go back there is a big possibility that you were never truly limp.
I’ve seen many public testimonies before and in their testimonies they were afflicted, they suffered in this life, and when they learned about Christ, now they are leaders. Now they are called to lead people, now they have businesses. That’s basically the pattern and the theme of many public testimonies nowadays, thinking that the gospel would give you such good businesses that would give you leadership. No, so what happens is that the christian life becomes just an attraction.. oh, I want to be like that! When I hear it.. oh, I want to be a leader, I want to own a business, I want that!
Rather than I want Christ.. I want Christ alone. Imagine if Jacob would testify..I had everything before, now I can’t even walk. Friends, that is Christianity. Because you know what? Even if you can’t walk, Christ walks with you because He is your strength. And He’s now your identity. Christ has died for the death of your sins. Christ has risen for your transformation, for the new creation of your new life. But remember that this new life is to be again, to be conformed to the image of His Son to Christ. And so as He suffered, tayo rin who follow Him will be afflicted. There will be suffering for us.
Let me ask you.. can we really make a distinction between your life before and your life now? Are you tempted to go back because the afflictions you have now weigh heavily in your soul that you would want out.
Remember who you are in Christ, that in Him, you have been justified before God. That you…clean slate! Because of what Christ has done. You have been forgiven, that is your new identity. You are saved, you are being conformed to Christ’s likeness. God gives us the afflictions that weaken us to accomplish His sanctifying work in us. Brethren, that is the privilege we have in the new life we have in Christ. 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. Great God and gracious Father, thank You for the humble afflictions that accomplish Your work. Lord may we always remember that as redeemed by Your Son O Lord, that You love us, that You will never leave us O Lord, that You are our strength. Now when we are weak, that’s the time when that we are strong O Lord. May we continue to always depend on You. Recognise Lord that in our unworthiness and our weakness, we have Christ who is our strength. That we always have Him, O, Lord that we can always run to Him and rest in Him. Rest in the strength that He gives to us, that the Spirit gives to us, rest that Christ has. So Lord we praise You for Your words we pray Lord that You would allow us Lord to continue. As we wrestle with You O, Lord may we submit to You, recognise Your authority.
And Lord, make us submit to You, Lord. We know Lord that there is our sinful selves so Lord would want to sin O Lord. That we are easily tempted by sin. Lord, we ask that You would remind us of Your commands to be like Christ. So Lord, as we have fellowship this afternoon and tonight Lord, may we continue to minister to one another, may we continue to remind one another of our identity in Christ. May we treat one another as redeemed by Christ as a redeemed to become, to be conformed In His image, I mean we treat one another as how You treat us how You love us and so Lord we praise You. We ask our Lord that You would continue to uh to to strengthen our faith in the next days Lord when we are tempted or we always cling to our Lord and Saviour. We praise You for Your word in His Name amen.