Why We Need Christmas (Part 2)

3:46And it says that he sat appalled until the evening sacrifice. So it is, after all that God has done, here you are going back down this road which we just came. And then he prays in verse 5. I rose from my humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I fell on my knees and stretched out my hands to the God, to the Lord my God, and I said, O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to you. My God, for our iniquities have risen above our heads, and our guilt has even grown to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day, We have been in great guilt, and on account of our iniquities, we, our kings, and our priests, have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands to the sword, to the captivity, to plunder, and to open shame, as it is this day. So, in other words, we've been openly shamed, but now for a brief moment, grace has been shown from the Lord our God to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a peg in this holy place that our God may enlighten our lives and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. Basically, saying, You brought us back into the land and you've given us one more hope. And then, in verse 9, listen to these words, for we are slaves in our bondage. We are slaves in our bondage. And yet, our God has not forsaken us, but has extended loving kindness to us. That's the picture of Ezra. We are slaves in our bondage. After all that is done, we still have a hard heart towards you, God. We need a Savior. Something needs to be done. And look at Nehemiah chapter 13, the very end of the narrative history of the Old Testament. This is how it concludes. In those days, verse 23 of Nehemiah 13, in those days, I, Nehemiah, also saw that the Jews had married women. Women from Ashdod, Ammon, and Moab. As for their children, half spoke in the language of Ashdod, and none of them was able to speak the language of Judah, but the language of his own people. So they couldn't even speak.

6:17They were being incorporated and becoming just like the nations in whom they were called to be distinct from. So this is what Nehemiah did. So I contended with him and cursed them and struck some of them on, and struck some of them and pulled out their hair. Now, see, he has a little bit, he's a little different than Ezra, right? Ezra pulled out his own hair. What did Nehemiah do? He pulled out their hair, you know.

6:42So I contended with them and cursed them and struck some of them and pulled out their hair and made them swear by God, You shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons for yourselves. And then he says, the reason. Did not Solomon, king of Israel, sin regarding these things? Yet among the many nations there was no king like him, and he was loved by his God, and God made him king over Israel. Nevertheless, the foreign women caused even him to sin. He mixed his religion with their religion, synchronized it all together, and the end wasn't that they became worshipers of the one true God of Israel, but Israel became worshippers of all these pagan people. Deities.

7:32And so at the end, the end of the narrative history of the Old Testament in verse 30, Nehemiah says, This, thus I purified them from every foreign and appointed duties for the priests and the Levites, because they were the firstmost in this sin. He says, I arranged for the supply of wood and appointed times for the first feast. And then these last words: Remember me, O my God, for good. Remember me. I tried to work with this nation, and here at the closing of the Old Testament period, there is nothing left but great need. Israel is still hard-hearted. They're not going to obey your covenant. They're going to go right down the same path. We need a Savior. And that's how the Old Testament narrative ends. A need. Something has to be done within the heart of Israel. A transformation must take place. A complete and thorough change. Well, you come to Malachi. Malachi is prophesying right there during that time of Nehemiah, right at the very end. And so here we have the prophetic history coming to a close. And what Malachi Is going to be ringing the same notes. It's a book about the spiritual defection of the priesthood, which then leads to the spiritual defection of the people. So it's about spiritual defection, which leads to social disorder, which leads to societal disintegration. That Israel is just disintegrating as a nation. And it starts because they have again broken covenant with God. They are defecting from their right relationship with God.

9:38And so, because of that, social disorder sets in, and this society just begins to just fall apart and be absorbed into the nations around them. Well, it's against this backdrop that Malachi is prophesying. And he comes up with the same message. The very same message at the end of Malachi is: Israel needs a Savior. Not just Israel. Mankind needs a Savior. Mankind needs someone to save him from his defecting heart. No matter how many lessons we learn, no matter how much judgment comes upon us or whatever we go through, there is this tendency within man to go right back into his old ways, to defect from God.

10:31How does this cycle get broken? How does man stop following the inclinations of his heart and turns permanently and forever to Yahweh, the one true God? We need a Savior. A Savior has to step in. So last week we looked at Malachi 1 and verses 6 through chapter 2, verse 9, and we looked at the cause of spiritual defection. The cause of spiritual defection, which was Israel's spiritual leadership had defected from God, and they didn't honor God as God.

11:16And this was evident in the lame sacrifices that they were bringing. That's the core issue. They're bringing these lame, defective sacrifices. The priests are tolerating it, and even more so, leading the people into it. They're not telling them how to do things right. They're not honoring the covenant of the Lord. And so they create, by their leadership, a whole nation of spiritual defectors. Look, if the spiritual leadership of a nation doesn't lead according to the principles of the God of the universe, don't expect anybody else in society to do the same.

11:55And so that was Israel's situation. So this morning, I want us to look at the result of their spiritual defection. Last week we looked at the cause of their spiritual defection. This week I want us to look at the result of their spiritual defection. And there are three manifestations of this spiritual defection in Malachi 2, verses 10 through 17. Let me just read that and we'll look at each one of these. Verse 10. Do we not all have one father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously, each against his brother, so as to profane the covenant of our fathers? Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem. For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord, which he loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign God. As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers, or who presents an offering to the Lord of hosts. This is another thing you do. You cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. Yet you say, for what reason? Because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife. By covenant, but not one has done so who has a remnant of the spirit. And what did that one do while he was seeking a godly offspring? Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel, and him who covers his garment with wrong, says the Lord of hosts. So take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously. You have wearied the Lord with your words, yet you say, How have we wearied him? In that you say, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them. Or where is the God of justice?

14:15There are three manifestations of spiritual defection in this passage. We'll just look at each one this morning. The first is treacherous worship. Treacherous worship. Look back at Malachi 2.10. Do we not all have one Father? Has not one God created us? Why do we deal treacherously? There's that word. Treacherously. Why do we deal so treacherously against each other? Word for treacherous means breaking faith, and there's a prior agreement in view. It's like if we had a contract, and then I violated that contract. That's how treacherous is defined here.

15:00An agreement, an obligation, a duty which I am dependent upon you to provide, but you have broken it. Betrayal, complete forsaking. It's breaking faith. That's what some translations will translate this word as breaking faith. It's, I had faith in you, you had an obligation to hold, and you didn't do it. That is treacherous. And in this context, you'll notice that it's in the context of the covenant of our fathers, the Mosaic covenant. They are dealing treacherously, each against his brother, so as to profane the covenant of our fathers. It goes on, Judah has dealt treacherously, and an abomination has been committed in Israel and Jerusalem. So an abomination, abomination is something that is abhorrent to God, something that God really, really detests. So to act treacherously is to break covenant. They have broken the covenant. The covenant that God put in place with his people at Sinai. This is what is in view here. And it brings about treacherous worship. What is it? What's this abomination? It's treacherous worship. Treacherous worship. Look at verse 211, the second part of that.

16:22For Judah has profaned the sanctuary of the Lord which he loves and has married the daughter of a foreign God. What is treacherous worship? It's reducing the holiness of God. Reducing the distinctiveness of God. You see, all other gods of the earth were created by man. God is very different. He was not created by man. He himself created men. And so God is very distinct. That's how he refers to himself. I am different from all the other gods. You created all the other gods. There's a quality, a character difference between me and the other gods. And so I am not to be treated like the God that you have barfed out of your heart. I am not going to be treated that way. I am to be treated holy, be treated as your creator. None of these guys did that. And so what was taking place is they were cheapening the worship of the one true God. They were reducing it and making it like all the other gods. You see, it's not like they were going to profaning something, isn't necessarily picking up sticks and stones and just going to in full attack mode. That's not what's happening here. It's that they're failing to give God the honor due His name. And so they're reducing the holiness of God in His sanctuary, right there in the very place where He is to be worshipped. They are reducing His holiness. How did they cheap? Keeping it? Well, by marrying women who worshipped other gods and then incorporating them into their temple worship practices. This is the issue with Solomon. This is the issue of their history. They were bringing them in, and they weren't just, they were, and as the context will later show, they were divorcing their wives by covenant and marrying these foreign women who worshiped other gods. And the daughter of a foreign god is just another way to refer to a person who worships that God. So a worshipper of an idol was considered to be its child. And so they were marrying these worshipers of other gods.

18:51And see, temple worship could not be what it was meant to be in the presence of those who worshiped other gods, right? There was Ashdod, the God of Ammon, the God of Moab. All of these worshipers were in there in the temple. And I guarantee you, temple worship is not going to be what God intended it to be if you've got a bunch of worshipers of other gods in there. You know, you guys are Aggies, or a lot of you guys, right? One thing that's really known about Texas AM is its spirit, right? For supporting its ass. Athletes, right? Especially football.

19:32I mean, they playing in Kyle Field, it's been remarked. I've heard several sports commentators just how incredible the fans of these Aggies are and how die-hard they are. Now, and this is something you haven't been here very long, you know, it. You know, the Aggies, even when they're having a losing season, they're there, right? Especially, you see this in Midnight Yell. How many of you all have been to Midnight Yell? Okay, you see, there's tens of thousands people gather midnight so they can rehearse all the yells. People say you're not really a true Aggie until you've been there or until you've seen that. So I see there's a lot of non-true Aggies among us. But there are some true Aggies here. And now, picture what Midnight Yell would be like. Well, you're just hooping and hollering, just top of your lungs, just yelling, getting ready for the Aggies. Now, picture us busting in a bunch of Crimson Tide fans, okay? And moving in a whole bunch of Crimson Tide fans and just having them intermingle, right? And then let's bring in another, let's bring in the whole LSU football team and put them in there. And now carry on your. You're ranting and raving, and yelling, that's probably what it's going to sound like. But anyway, go ahead and cheer on. Now, I'll tell you what, what if game day came and we've got all the Aggies in, and all of a sudden we brought in Texas Longhorn Band and put them there to play among the Aggie band?

21:20I mean, it'd be kind of hard to really get the momentum, right, for the Aggies going, right? Well, could you imagine if we had to have a midnight yell where we had to keep the LSU fans happy and we could only say cheers that all of us could get together and really get behind, right? If we could reduce the whole NCAA football rivalry to what we all can agree upon, it would pretty much kill NCAA football, wouldn't it? Right? Would any of you want to go to a midnight yell where we had to say cheers that the LSU fans were excited about, the Crimson Tide fans were excited about, and the Texas Longhorns could get on board with? It'd be gross. I mean, it'd be like, forget it. Forget it. Well, put this in the context of temple worship amongst a bunch of pagan gods. Does not God deserve the distinctive worship of his people with all their hearts, with all their minds, and with all their souls? Soul and all their strength. Only in that context can God truly be exalted for who He is.

22:39And yet, this is what's taking place. And Malachi is saying, time out! Foul! Flag! You know, whatever. I mean, how are you? It's like, this isn't right. You're bringing in worshipers of other gods. And you're so syncretizing. And it's just awful. I mean, in fact, just get rid of the whole temple worship itself. I mean, you guys wouldn't go to midnight yell if it got so watered down. This is how God feels about his sanctuary. This is how he feels about his church.

23:18You know, years ago, there was the seeker movement, right? It started saying church really needs to be geared for the unbeliever and those who are seeking, who perhaps find God. Then it's kind of morphed into this emergent movement, this postmodern movement that, again, is kind of geared towards the unbeliever. But let me tell you something. God desires the worship of his people. And our church services are to be geared towards the believer. Not towards the unbeliever. Yes, unbelievers are welcome, of course. Of course. But they will not get a picture of who God is except through the praise and worship of God's people who truly love him.

23:58You see this. Movement to reduce God to the lowest common denominator is puff. I mean, can we really truly be reduce God to such level and expect church to be anything worth attending? Well, this is what Malachi was dealing. This is treacherous worship, reducing God to the lowest common denominator of the gods around him. How does God feel about treacherous worship? Well, look at verse 12. As for the man who does this, may the Lord cut off from the tents of Jacob everyone who awakes and answers or who presents an offering to the Lord of hosts. A little bit of a strange sentence, but there's a proverbial expression there. The one who awakes and answers. This is a proverb that apparently comes out of a nomadic tribal-type people that had guards outside the tents, so those would stay awake, and then there were those that would be made aware of the danger. But what this is, it's an expression that says basically everybody involved with that household. Everybody involved. It's not just this one man. It's a comprehensive statement. May everyone who does this be cut off from the tents of Jacob. And that's severe language when God says, cut him off. That's like, I want no part of this individual in my assembly. Very, very strong. But look, I want you to see another dimension of treacherous worship, and that is to cheapen prayer. Look at verse 13. This is another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, and with groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand. You know, they got really good then at going through the theatrics of prayer and making themselves look like they're weeping or they just became very good at just reducing prayer to a stage performance. You remember in 1 Kings 18, and Elijah was dealing with the Baal worshipers, and he's saying, Look, come on, maybe cut yourselves, do some more, pray louder. Maybe he can't hear you. What kind of view of God is that? That God, he can't really hear us, doesn't really know what's going on in our hearts until we really get dramatic with our tears and we cut ourselves and we get really ramped up, that somehow that is what prayer is. He's like, no, no. You see, that which profanes the sanctuary also profanes society. That which reduces the holiness of the worship of Yahweh in. A society will have its impact of reducing the holiness of that society. You see, treacherous worship leads to treacherous relationships. Treacherous worship leads to treacherous relationships. And this is social injustice. You want to know where the cause of social injustice comes from? It comes from somebody who is defected from the one true God. And that then is manifested in how people deal one with another. So, it's a very logical, straightforward consequence. When you defect from God and you deal treacherously with God, you're going to deal treacherously with the image of God, which is man. And he gives a specific example here. Look at verse 14, and that is the marriage covenant.

27:58Malachi 2:14, yet you say, for what reason? For what reason are you not accepting our offerings with favor? Why? What's wrong? And the answer is here, because the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. So here's that word treacherously again. You have broken a covenant. And now the covenant just isn't the Mosaic covenant. Yes, it's That, but it's more, you made a covenant with this woman, the wife of your youth, and you're setting them aside, and you're going after these foreign women. And God, of course, He's not going to honor or look with favor with your offerings because you have dealt so treacherously. This person has based her whole life, given herself to you. Her whole life is based upon one thing that you promised, that your faithfulness. And now you have broken faithfulness with her, and you have sent her away for another. And you expect me to look upon favor? God hates divorce. This is what he says, verse 16. For I hate divorce. Let me underscore that. I hate this treacherous behavior because it's a sign of a treacherous heart.

29:28He says, Take heed then to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. For I hate divorce, says the Lord God of Israel, and him who covers his garment with wrong, says the Lord of hosts. But he goes on in some other examples of social injustice. He'll do that in chapter 3, verse 5. And you can turn over there and look at that. Just listen to the words of. Chapter 3, verse 5. Then I will draw near to you for judgment. These are the things that have irritated me to the point to where I'm going to bring judgment against you. I will be swift. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers and against the adulterers and against those who swear falsely. You see, all these are dealing with those who break covenant. The adulterers who break covenant with the marriage union, those who swear falsely, that is, commit perjury, you're swearing with the intention of misleading others, and against those who oppress the wage earner, the widow, and the orphan. Right? Oppression. This is the oppressors of society. All this, this is social injustice. The perjurers, the oppressors. And he says, look at this one. And those who oppress the wage earner in his wages, the widow and the orphan, and finally, those who turn aside the alien. Those who turn aside those who are in your midst, looking for perhaps sanctuary, looking for your goodness, desperation. And then the final one: those who do not fear me. All that stems from the perjurer, the extortioner, the oppressor. All this comes out of a heart that does not fear God.

31:31So, what do you do? Look at verse 16, second part of that. So, take heed to your spirit that you do not deal treacherously. Do not deal treacherously. Take heed to your spirit, so that you do not have a heart that deals treacherously with one another. Well, treacherous worship leads to treacherous relationships on the social level, and that leads to a treacherous thinking. Treacherous thinking. Look at verse 2.17. And this is thinking, treacherous thinking is that thinking which questions God's justice. Look at Malachi 2:17. You have wearied the Lord with your words. Yet you say, How have we wearied him? In that you say, everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them. Or where is the God of justice? In other words, treacherous thinking questions God's justice. It says, God delights in doing evil. That's what he is. Or he is not a God of justice at all. That's their thinking, questioning God's justice. God prefers evil over good. That's treacherous thinking. Be careful. Check your own spirit. Make sure you question as you walk with God in this world as a believer and you walk. You will be tempted at times to question, God, is this truly just?

33:07Be careful of such treacherous thinking that says, God delights in evil. This is what they were doing. If you turn to Malachi 1:2, you don't have to, but we've already looked at, they were already questioning God's love for them. Very opening statement in Malachi chapter 1. Their question, God says in verse 2, I have loved you, says the Lord, but you say, How have you loved us? Oh, yeah, you loved us. How have you loved us?

33:38You do not love us. It's basically the insinuation. You don't love us, or you will give us what we want. You will bless our way. If you truly love us, you will give us what we want. I mean, how many of you have had children? You might have heard something like this. Not that I've ever heard this, but you don't love me, right? You won't let me have that piece of cake, so you don't love me, right? You turn it back, like, you just don't love me at all, you know? That's the problem. And it's problems with you. You know, I remember a boy, his mother told him, I want you to go clean up your room, or something to that effect, some kind of chore. And his response was, you just want me to be your slave. Slave.

34:32Yeah, you got it right, kid. You got it right, kid. No, she's trying to teach you how to live in society. And that wasn't in my household, in case some of you were wondering, it was not. But anyway, you get the idea. This is how you don't love us. So either, and this brings us back to our common denominator as human beings, right? There are times when we ask the question, God, do you really love us? And God, are you really fair? Are you really just?

35:03Well, they dealt with this, and they dealt with it wrongly because they failed to honor God. But then this stuff graduates. This thinking goes up a notch to thinking that outright opposes God. So not only do they question God's judgment and they question God's love, but they then turned to their thinking turned to outright oppose God. And you can see this as the development of Malachi, or as a development in Malachi in verse 3, 13, chapter 3, and verse 13. Listen to these words. God says, Your words have been arrogant against me, says the Lord. Yet you say, What have we spoken against you? You have said, It is vain to serve God, and what profit is it that we have kept his charge, and that we have walked in mourning before the Lord of hosts. In other words, there Saying, look, it's vain to serve the Lord. Been there, done that, I've prayed, I've jumped through all, I checked all the boxes, and guess what? It's just vain to serve Him. What profit is there?

36:16I mean, this is the generation very much like Jesus' day. If you remember in Luke chapter 7, verse 31, Jesus says, To what should I compare this generation? And Jesus said this: They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another, and they say, We played the flute for you, and you did not dance. We sang a dirge, and you did not weep. In other words, God, I did this, this, and this, and you did not do that.

36:47Same generation in Jesus' day, same mentality, same mentality back in Malachi's day. Look at verse 15, chapter 3. And this is where their thinking crystallizes in opposition to God. So now we call the arrogant blessed. The proud are the blessed ones. Not only are the doers of wickedness built up, but they also test God and escape. The blessed ones are the arrogant ones who boldly test God. They're the ones who get away with it. And this is where their mind has gone.

37:32And this is dangerous thinking, is it not? It sets a person on a course to destruction. It sets a person and a nation inviting God's judgment. I will continue in my way. And this is the path that man's on. All this leads to one point: Israel needs a Savior. And they show us how they get to the end of having been given the law and having all the curses come upon them. And then God shows them favor, brings them back into the land, and then He shows them one more time: Your heart is still hard against me. Something needs to change. And that something is a new covenant built on better promises, built upon a better Savior. Man cannot save himself. Man cannot measure up.

38:32And it's important that we take this to heart because what begins with lame sacrifices and failure to honor God ends up in complete rejection of God's ways and ultimately his judgment invites his judgment. When you fail to honor God, think about what kind of course that is on. What begins with lame sacrifices? Sacrifices and failure to honor God ends in complete rejection. You need to be a people who are moving towards honoring God. Well, the cause of spiritual defection is failure to honor God as God. The result of spiritual defection is treacherous worship, treacherous relationships, and treacherous thinking. And that leads to only one place: God's judgment.

39:27You see, your lame sacrifices say a lot more about you than you may realize. The lame sacrifices spoke volumes about the spiritual condition of the heart of Israel. You see, each offering we bring to God says something about us, says something about our view of God. Let me tell you, what's the reason for lame sacrifices? You have a spiritually defective heart. I don't want you to take out of this message, well, I want to go and I'm going to try to do better. I'm going to make Him better sacrifices. I hope you do that, but in the right spirit. At the end of the day, I want you to look within and see the cause for your lame sacrifices, and the cause of your lame sacrifices is your own personal spiritual defection from God.

40:21You may be needing to be born from above. Because, see, it's not hard to sacrifice for someone you love. If you love something, sacrifice is not hard. But if you don't love somebody, then sacrifice, even the littlest ones, is very, very difficult. A father will gladly sacrifice his life for his children. It's not hard to sacrifice for someone you love. See, you probably don't have a sacrifice problem or a lame offering problem. You have a love problem towards God. You love little because you do not have the Spirit of God living in you. That's the problem.

41:04And you do not have the Spirit of God living in you because you have not been born from above. Jesus is the baptizer, He baptizes in the Holy Spirit, that you would have a clean desire to obey and honor and worship God. And there is no limit to what you can pour out for Him because you have a heart of love towards Him. And so your gifts aren't even seen as sacrifice. But how do we get born from above? We need a Savior. We need a Savior.

41:39We need to be saved from serving ourselves. And I hope you'll leave today seeing that serving our fleshly desires is tyranny. It will never say enough. And I hope you'll come away just hating your own. Lame sacrifices and the disposition that gives brings forth lame sacrifices. That we would truly be a people who give good sacrifices, not because they're sacrifices, but because out of a heart of love for him. Listen, the Lord didn't make a lame sacrifice for us, did he? No, he didn't. He made an extreme sacrifice for us. So why should we give him less?

42:32Turn to Matthew chapter 1. 400 years of prophetic silence. And Matthew is the first gospel written. By the way, I don't believe that Mark is. Matthew is the first gospel. We have the breaking of the prophetic silence of 400 years. We read these words in verse 18 of Matthew 1. Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph, her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid. To take Mary as your wife, for the child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you will call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.

43:45Jesus came to save his people from the penalty of their sins, but he also came to save his people from the disposition to sin, to save his people from that spiritually defecting heart. He saved us that we might truly love him with all of our heart and soul and mind, that we might be able to present sacrifices that please and excite the Lord of the universe. You think about that. We can contribute to the happiness of God. It's a possibility beyond our comprehension, but he is pleased with his people when they delight in him. And it is through this new birth, being born from above, that we can present sacrifices that please him.

44:44Well, he didn't make a lame sacrifice for us, so let us not make lame sacrifices for him. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we are reminded, Father, that the message today to sacrifice greatly to you is the absolute. Impossible if we are in bondage to our own fleshly desires. When we are still on our own throne, Father, it is impossible to do these things. And Father, we need your saving work in our lives. Father, that we would truly be a people who delight in you and honor you. Father, we need the Savior so that we can honor you as you deserve. Father, forgive us where we have so many times defected. Father, and just pray for your grace and salvation to be present here today. We pray for your grace in sanctifying your people here today.

45:47God, we thank you that you did send a Savior to save us from the penalty of our sins and our spiritually defecting hearts. And so we come to Him now in Jesus' name.