WEBVTT 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:02.319 So the passage this morning is not Joshua. 00:00:02.399 --> 00:00:07.599 We had been working our way through the book of Joshua, but we're pausing from Joshua for the season of Lent. 00:00:07.679 --> 00:00:09.039 So the season of Lent started. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:12.720 That's this church season, 40 days leading up to Easter. 00:00:12.880 --> 00:00:17.839 And so it's a season of us remembering Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. 00:00:17.920 --> 00:00:22.160 And so it begins with this passage about Jesus being tempted. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:24.800 It begins with a passage about what is temptation? 00:00:25.039 --> 00:00:26.079 What is that? 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:29.440 So this week, temptation arrived in my home. 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.519 It started about two months ago. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:33.600 I made a commitment. 00:00:33.840 --> 00:00:38.799 And then this past Monday, a box arrived at our house. 00:00:39.039 --> 00:00:40.240 It was small. 00:00:40.799 --> 00:00:41.600 Purple. 00:00:42.880 --> 00:00:43.439 Anyone? 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:44.000 Yet? 00:00:44.320 --> 00:00:45.359 It was the Samoas. 00:00:45.520 --> 00:00:45.759 That's right. 00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:46.479 You got it. 00:00:46.560 --> 00:00:47.840 A few of you, you know, right? 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:49.679 And maybe you're not a, I don't know. 00:00:49.759 --> 00:00:51.359 I wasn't making a big confession. 00:00:51.439 --> 00:00:53.759 You know, it wasn't like, you know, here comes the pastor. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:55.520 Maybe you're a taglong. 00:00:55.600 --> 00:00:56.000 I don't know. 00:00:56.240 --> 00:00:58.159 Thin mint, are you putting them in the fridge? 00:00:58.240 --> 00:00:59.359 Anybody putting them in the fridge? 00:00:59.439 --> 00:01:01.200 We know that trick, you know. 00:01:01.679 --> 00:01:03.840 The thin mint, the dosy dough. 00:01:03.920 --> 00:01:06.000 Um, I don't want to hear about the short bread. 00:01:06.239 --> 00:01:06.959 Don't want to. 00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:10.159 It's like kind of like it's like broccoli of the cookie line. 00:01:10.319 --> 00:01:11.680 It's just not that impressive. 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:14.480 It's not like you're not really eating a cookie, let's be honest. 00:01:14.560 --> 00:01:16.719 Um, now the Samoa is a real cookie. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:18.000 This is the real deal. 00:01:18.159 --> 00:01:20.079 This is this is what I go for. 00:01:20.239 --> 00:01:22.079 So the Samoas arrive. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:24.000 One box, right? 00:01:24.079 --> 00:01:25.519 Just one box of Samoas. 00:01:25.599 --> 00:01:30.640 There's a couple boxes, some other ones, but one box of the Samoas in I have a few, I have a few. 00:01:30.719 --> 00:01:31.359 Like right foot. 00:01:31.519 --> 00:01:32.879 I'm not talking like an abundance. 00:01:33.040 --> 00:01:35.519 Just right away, I grabbed like three or four. 00:01:35.680 --> 00:01:40.400 A good, godly freedom eating amount of cookies, right? 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:42.159 No shame, no guilt, nothing. 00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:46.560 Just like a good amount of I'm a human being enjoying life. 00:01:46.640 --> 00:01:53.599 I'm gonna have a few cookies, and I have those, and then I put them back on the counter, and you know how it works. 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:55.920 We're talking about temptation, by the way. 00:01:56.079 --> 00:01:56.959 You know how it works, right? 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:03.840 Because they're sitting there and you walk back to the kitchen, maybe you're leaving, maybe go back in the kitchen to get something else, like an orange, right? 00:02:04.079 --> 00:02:05.760 But then the box is there. 00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:11.120 The box is there, and the box very clearly uh it says something to you. 00:02:11.280 --> 00:02:17.520 What the box says is if you'll have a few more, now you'll really be happy, right? 00:02:17.680 --> 00:02:20.479 That's that's what the Girl Scout cookie says to you. 00:02:21.120 --> 00:02:28.639 And in my case, it's like nine or ten more, because there's limited supply, so you gotta, you know, you really gotta go for it when you have a chance. 00:02:28.719 --> 00:02:32.800 And so uh, you know, I I finished the box off in about a day. 00:02:32.879 --> 00:02:44.240 Um, and that's past the like godly freedom amount and into like some shame there, unto the point that one of my children cried because the box was gone. 00:02:44.319 --> 00:02:47.599 And I explained to her that it was my that they were my cookies. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:52.879 That didn't help, but it was true, they were mine, and I bought them. 00:02:53.919 --> 00:02:58.719 So we know about temptation, and operationally, this is actually how all temptation works. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:13.120 I mean, we could go from the Samoa all the way to pornography or food addiction or an affair or uh stealing, or we could go into any, any dysfunctional and sinful behavior, but the operationally it works the same. 00:03:13.439 --> 00:03:17.439 If you just have this, if you just have this. 00:03:19.360 --> 00:03:21.520 So, Matthew 4, 1 and 2. 00:03:21.680 --> 00:03:25.759 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 00:03:25.840 --> 00:03:29.199 Now, the devil means that that word actually means liar. 00:03:29.360 --> 00:03:36.879 So this is a a person, a force in the world with a personality that is the slanderer, the liar, the condemner. 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:38.000 So he does. 00:03:38.319 --> 00:03:39.360 You see it in this passage. 00:03:39.520 --> 00:03:44.080 And after fasting 40 days and 40 nights, Jesus was hungry. 00:03:44.479 --> 00:03:57.599 So the Spirit of God leads Jesus into the desert, and that's actually uh reassuring in some way because what it means is that God himself leads himself into the wilderness to be tempted, which means he understands us. 00:03:58.479 --> 00:04:02.000 He understands what we face all the time. 00:04:03.759 --> 00:04:05.199 Verses three and four. 00:04:05.439 --> 00:04:10.960 And the tempter came and said to him, If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread. 00:04:11.120 --> 00:04:18.879 But he answered, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. 00:04:19.360 --> 00:04:27.439 So point number one is this our souls were created for wholeness and satisfaction in God alone. 00:04:27.600 --> 00:04:31.920 Our souls were created for wholeness and satisfaction in God alone. 00:04:32.319 --> 00:04:39.680 So the lie is that the next loaf of bread, that'll be the one that'll finally satisfy you. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:42.639 That'll be the one that'll finally make you whole. 00:04:43.759 --> 00:04:52.959 So this past fall I spent the early mornings uh waking up and changed my schedule and spent the early mornings working on a book with my mentor, Scotty Smith. 00:04:53.040 --> 00:04:58.160 And so I spent about three months every morning writing for about two and a half hours. 00:04:58.240 --> 00:05:10.399 And I tell you that because when it releases in the fall, everybody's gonna be required to buy 25 copies to build up the Masterson Girl wedding fund because we're gonna need a lot of money for three weddings, and so everybody's gonna be required for 25 copies, just let you know. 00:05:10.480 --> 00:05:32.319 So I'd wake up every morning and I'd write three months, and the dream was that I would turn in a manuscript to a publisher and an editor that sees manuscripts and sees this all the time, and I would get back from them an email that would say, This is so good. 00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:35.600 And guess what? 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:37.519 I got the email. 00:05:38.319 --> 00:05:39.759 I have that email. 00:05:40.000 --> 00:05:48.160 It's in my deleted folder because I'm not ego, I have enough ego to keep in the inbox, but I have it in the deleted folder, and I I've read it more than once, okay? 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.000 I'll go ahead and admit that. 00:05:50.160 --> 00:05:52.399 So I have that email of validation. 00:05:54.160 --> 00:05:55.680 Now maybe they're just being nice. 00:05:55.759 --> 00:05:56.079 I don't know. 00:05:56.160 --> 00:05:58.560 They want to keep us motivated to want to sell a book, right? 00:05:58.639 --> 00:06:00.560 But hey, I still I have it. 00:06:00.800 --> 00:06:03.040 And here's here's here's what I've learned about that. 00:06:03.199 --> 00:06:03.680 You know what? 00:06:03.759 --> 00:06:05.759 It felt really good for just a little bit. 00:06:07.199 --> 00:06:08.800 Felt really good for just a little bit. 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:18.240 Just like if your boss told you, your spouse told you, that friend you wanted to be friends with so badly told you, you are so amazing. 00:06:18.399 --> 00:06:21.519 And it feels really good for a little bit. 00:06:22.319 --> 00:06:34.480 And what I realized after I read that email seven times, you know, privately, reassuring myself that I am a good person and I have some talent in this world, you know, after reading that, I realized all the goodness already came. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:39.600 Because it happened really early in the morning when it was quiet. 00:06:40.079 --> 00:07:03.439 And it happened with the Holy Spirit inside of my heart, and a depth of my being by which nothing that I work on or produce, if it's great or it's not great, it sells or doesn't sell, you like the sermon, you don't like the sermon, none of that, none of that can actually touch the depth of my soul that actually needs and longs for wholeness and satisfaction that can only be found in God alone. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:12.240 And yet, and yet, yet, yet, we all know how tempting it is to try to turn stones into bread. 00:07:12.399 --> 00:07:17.519 Because that next loaf of bread in this world, that would be the one. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:27.439 And this is the temptation about what I call, it's not a it's not a succinct term here, the burden of self-soul nourishment. 00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:40.720 The burden of self-soul nourishment, the temptation for you to nourish your own soul by your own self and what you produce or manufacture or curate or gather in this world. 00:07:41.120 --> 00:07:45.439 And the good news is by the grace of God, you're relieved of that exhausting way of life. 00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:47.680 I'm relieved of that exhausting way of life. 00:07:47.920 --> 00:07:54.879 And your soul can only be satisfied in God alone, the most free and available reality in this world. 00:07:55.439 --> 00:07:57.600 God's love for you and Jesus. 00:07:59.439 --> 00:08:01.360 Matthew 4, verses 5 through 7. 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:15.519 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, He will command his angels concerning you, and on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. 00:08:15.680 --> 00:08:20.800 Jesus said to him, Again it's written, you shall not put the Lord your God to the test. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:22.639 So point number two is this. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:48.720 That's a dangerous place for you and I. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:54.799 This is the temptation and the burden of self-importance and self-righteousness. 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:55.759 Right? 00:08:55.919 --> 00:09:03.360 Constantly having to make yourself seem important and come off as important or righteous, you know, more righteous than the next person. 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:08.960 It's so exhausting, so judgmental as well. 00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:18.080 But in the gospel, you are declared by the grace of God in Jesus, where your sin is put on him and your and his righteousness given to you. 00:09:18.159 --> 00:09:32.240 So any of your righteousness standing before God, your belovedness that is forever and secure, all of that is given by the grace of God in Christ alone, and therefore you are free of that kind of self-importance and self-righteous living. 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:35.200 The exhaustion of all of that. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:41.759 And so we can understand ourselves as fully worthy, fully sinful, and fully redeemed. 00:09:43.200 --> 00:09:48.639 And this equips us with humility of the self and as well as security of the self. 00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:50.879 Verses 8 through 11. 00:09:51.039 --> 00:10:01.840 Again the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kings of the world and their glory, and he said to him, All these I will give you if you will fall down and worship me. 00:10:02.559 --> 00:10:10.720 Then Jesus said to him, Be gone, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve. 00:10:10.879 --> 00:10:16.159 Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. 00:10:16.639 --> 00:10:22.399 So point number three is this our souls were created to be the created, not the creator. 00:10:22.720 --> 00:10:26.159 Our souls were created to be the created, not the creator. 00:10:27.120 --> 00:10:40.480 So at our house, when we sit down in the evening to watch TV, I hoard the remote control, and I don't want to cause family and marital conflict this morning because I know we can do that when we talk about the remote control of the television. 00:10:40.639 --> 00:10:42.399 But I take the remote control. 00:10:42.559 --> 00:10:43.360 I just do that. 00:10:43.519 --> 00:10:44.639 I love to be in control. 00:10:44.799 --> 00:10:49.519 I have a hard time letting somebody else hold that remote control, and so I hold it, and we're on YouTube TV. 00:10:49.600 --> 00:10:56.879 I don't know how you're watching TV these days, but we're on YouTube TV, and so you know the commercial hits, and you can fast forward it, but we have the Apple remote. 00:10:57.039 --> 00:10:58.960 Is anybody using the Apple TV remote? 00:10:59.039 --> 00:11:01.200 And it is so tiny, and you lose that thing. 00:11:01.279 --> 00:11:02.879 It's very frustrating, that little remote. 00:11:02.960 --> 00:11:07.440 Um, and so it's tiny, and the fast-forward is up on that little touch, it's like a one inch by one inch. 00:11:07.519 --> 00:11:11.039 You're supposed to get your big old thumb up there and be able to scroll it over. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:13.279 And so the same thing happens all the time. 00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:34.799 Mind you, I'm in a room with four ladies, three little ones, one that I married and produced the other three, and so when the show begins again, and I and I have overlaps, I've shot over, you know, dad, stop! It's a horrible moment, you know, like the world has ended. 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:48.480 Now, now imagine how much easier it'd be just to hand the remote over to my oldest daughter, or maybe my youngest daughter probably operated it better than me, right? 00:11:48.559 --> 00:11:50.559 Like just somebody else in the room. 00:11:50.639 --> 00:11:54.320 Uh imagine if I just surrendered the remote control over. 00:11:55.039 --> 00:12:01.840 Imagine how free I would be of all this remote control shaming and verbal abuse that I'm taking on every day. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:04.320 I'd be such a free individual. 00:12:04.639 --> 00:12:05.440 I just can't. 00:12:06.960 --> 00:12:07.759 I love control. 00:12:08.879 --> 00:12:10.960 And so do you in some way. 00:12:11.519 --> 00:12:14.399 This temptation here about all these kingdoms. 00:12:14.559 --> 00:12:16.399 Oh, you can have all these kingdoms. 00:12:16.559 --> 00:12:17.679 It's about control. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:23.759 It's the burden to have everything planned out and under control. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:26.559 Because if you have it under control, see how the temptation works? 00:12:26.720 --> 00:12:34.799 If you have a few more of these samoas, if you have everything under control, then you'll be whole, then you'll be satisfied. 00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:36.879 And has it ever worked? 00:12:37.759 --> 00:12:38.320 Of course not. 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:39.679 That's why it's temptation. 00:12:40.879 --> 00:13:02.559 And as a child of God, of the sovereign loving God, we get to live in wisdom and make decisions and plans on wisdom and also release that kind of concern that can burden us over to God so that today, today we can live non-anxious and present and joyful. 00:13:03.120 --> 00:13:05.679 Because you and I don't have to rule over all the kingdoms of the world. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:09.120 We don't have to rule over all the kingdoms in our own worlds. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:13.120 All right, two last things about temptation, two points to make directly about temptation. 00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:19.120 Point number one is this we may be imperfect, but we are not helpless before temptation. 00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:22.879 We may be imperfect, but we are not helpless before temptation. 00:13:23.279 --> 00:13:26.240 1 Corinthians 10, 12 through 13. 00:13:26.399 --> 00:13:27.200 12 and 13. 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:32.480 Therefore, let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. 00:13:33.519 --> 00:13:37.759 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:43.679 God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. 00:13:44.320 --> 00:13:50.960 But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it. 00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:57.360 So a couple things, it's interesting, these just two verses kind of open this idea of temptation up for us how we make our way through it. 00:13:57.600 --> 00:14:06.879 Admitting that you don't hold power actually helps you be empowered by the Holy Spirit to make it through temptation. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:22.480 See, because it's by admitting, finally, that we are powerless, it's in those cracks that the Holy Spirit begins to show up in our hearts and our lives to move us toward the godliness and the holiness that we are called to live in. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:26.720 Galatians 5, 16 and 17 explains this. 00:14:26.879 --> 00:14:29.039 But I say, walk by the Spirit. 00:14:29.200 --> 00:14:31.360 So the same author wrote 1 Corinthians, Paul. 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:37.759 He's explaining this idea of walking in the Spirit, but I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 00:14:38.000 --> 00:14:48.080 For the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, the desires of the spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 00:14:48.399 --> 00:14:50.480 You've felt this, haven't you? 00:14:51.039 --> 00:14:53.840 That there is a war inside of you. 00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:56.559 Flesh and spirit. 00:14:57.360 --> 00:14:59.120 Lies and truth. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:09.840 So by means of application this week, I was beginning to ask some heart questions, asking the Holy Spirit to convict and reveal some things inside of me, and when I offer these out to you by means of application. 00:15:09.919 --> 00:15:14.399 So here are a few questions for the heart, for your heart that you can prayerfully use this week. 00:15:14.639 --> 00:15:19.120 Abba Father, God, how might I live in a slower pace of grace? 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:32.000 And so I say that and begin with that question and say, perhaps if we're just a little bit slower, we begin to be aware of some lies that are operating in our hearts that we're not even aware of because we're just moving so quickly. 00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:33.759 That leads us to the second question. 00:15:34.000 --> 00:15:40.240 Abba Father, what is an influential lie in my heart that no longer needs to be there? 00:15:40.960 --> 00:15:42.320 Like time's up. 00:15:42.559 --> 00:15:56.480 And we just ask God for a conviction by the Holy Spirit, not condemnation, conviction without shame to move us toward godliness and wholeness in Him, satisfaction in Him. 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:57.120 Third question. 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:02.080 Ah, but Father, what does it mean for me to walk in the truth today? 00:16:02.240 --> 00:16:03.679 Now that's a wide open question. 00:16:03.840 --> 00:16:06.320 You could get a lot of journaling out of that question right there. 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:09.759 What does it mean for me to walk in the truth today? 00:16:12.639 --> 00:16:14.159 Point number two about temptation. 00:16:14.320 --> 00:16:15.519 Last point of the sermon. 00:16:15.759 --> 00:16:19.039 Temptation is always a conditional statement. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:21.519 Temptation is always a conditional statement. 00:16:21.759 --> 00:16:24.639 The gospel is a promise. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:26.320 See, did you know that? 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:27.759 Notice that in the passage? 00:16:28.240 --> 00:16:35.759 I didn't notice it for a while, and then I heard this great sermon by a priest Paul Walker, who's at Christ Church, Charlottesville, and I love listening to his. 00:16:35.840 --> 00:16:38.799 He has these like the best 16-minute sermons you can imagine. 00:16:39.120 --> 00:16:41.759 He gets so much in 16 minutes, I'm still impressed with. 00:16:42.080 --> 00:16:45.440 And I listen to this, and I'm gonna read this long quote. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.159 This quote's so good, I should have just read it and didn't even have to preach. 00:16:48.240 --> 00:16:48.960 I mean, I'll be honest. 00:16:49.039 --> 00:16:50.559 That's how good this quote is. 00:16:50.799 --> 00:16:51.679 So hang with me. 00:16:51.759 --> 00:16:56.639 I think it'll just just open up our awareness to this passage and to temptation. 00:16:57.919 --> 00:17:01.519 Who doesn't know the power of this devilish temptation? 00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:03.519 What is it for you? 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:07.119 Money, sex, and power are the usual suspects. 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:09.359 I'm not immune to that triune. 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:18.720 But a few years ago I preached a sermon saying, if we just had crown molding in our living room, I would be a happy, fulfilled homeowner in person. 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:21.039 Well, wouldn't you know it? 00:17:21.279 --> 00:17:23.519 We put crown molding in the living room. 00:17:23.680 --> 00:17:28.079 And gosh darn it, it looks really good and it made me happy for a month or two. 00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:36.799 Now, if we could just figure out a way to put it in a master bathroom, adjoining our bedroom, I'd be really happy. 00:17:37.519 --> 00:17:44.319 Some of the more searing conditional sentences are if you were lovable, then you would be loved. 00:17:44.559 --> 00:17:48.400 Or if you had worth, then you would show your worth. 00:17:48.720 --> 00:17:52.960 If you were a better parent, your children would be happy and successful. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:55.920 The list goes on and on and on. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:03.839 If the sentence structure of Satan is conditional, then the grammar of God is declarative. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:10.240 Jesus responds to each of the devil's temptations with a declarative statement from Scripture. 00:18:10.559 --> 00:18:12.880 It is written. 00:18:13.200 --> 00:18:14.880 He says three times over. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:22.079 One doesn't live by bread alone, worship God alone only, don't put God to the test. 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:28.960 To each of the devil's slippery slopes, Jesus answers back with a solid rock. 00:18:29.759 --> 00:18:34.000 So I don't know your mistakes, I don't know your temptations. 00:18:34.720 --> 00:18:39.039 But I know you are like me, and we need a power. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:46.640 We need a love from beyond ourselves that is not based on our merit, is not based on what we deserve. 00:18:46.880 --> 00:18:57.920 And this is the good news, the declarative statement of the gospel that is not conditioned upon what we do or have done or will do is declared over us. 00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:00.640 That's what the cross is. 00:19:01.759 --> 00:19:08.160 That our forgiveness and righteousness is sealed in Jesus' work for us, and we are forever his beloved. 00:19:08.480 --> 00:19:10.960 I close with Psalm 133 through 7. 00:19:11.119 --> 00:19:15.440 If you or Lord should mark iniquities, O Lord, who can stand? 00:19:17.279 --> 00:19:22.000 But with you there's forgiveness, that you may be feared. 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:27.440 I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope. 00:19:27.759 --> 00:19:33.839 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning. 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:37.039 O Israel, hope in the Lord. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:43.599 For with the Lord there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:45.200 Let's pray together. 00:19:45.759 --> 00:20:02.799 God, thank you for your grace to us that even when we fall in temptation and we've given over ourselves so many times, your grace, your promise is always deeper, for it is declared over us, not conditioned upon our behavior or motive or thinking. 00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:11.680 And in that we rest, it's in that we wait on you in your word and in your word alone. 00:20:12.240 --> 00:20:34.640 I thank you that you have not left us helpless in our powerlessness, but that you give your very Spirit the Holy Spirit to live inside of us, to convict us free of condemnation, and to empower us to walk in godliness. 00:20:37.519 --> 00:20:54.799 Reveal your goodness and your grace to us that in mistakes and temptations and in our successes, God, that you are good and you are gracious and you are for us and that our wholeness and our satisfaction, our forgiveness, absolution, and righteousness, all of it is in you and in you alone. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:20:59.599 In Jesus and in Jesus alone. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:00.799 We pray. 00:21:01.039 --> 00:21:01.680 Amen.