A Tale of Two Covenants
Hebrews chapter 12. We won't be focusing on this particular passage, I do want to read it, however, to set the stage for our study tonight, our meditation with reference to the Lord's Supper, a tale of two covenants. We'll look at a contrast between the old and the new covenant. Just want to begin reading in Hebrews chapter 12 at verse 18. For you have not come to the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire and the blackness and darkness and tempest and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore, for they could not endure what was commanded. And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned or shot with an arrow. And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, I am exceedingly afraid and trembling. But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the General Assembly and Church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God, the judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Amen. Well, let us pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for the blessings that we enjoy in the new covenant. We pray that you would just cause us to appreciate this afresh, cause us to reflect upon this in light of the cross work of our Lord Jesus, in light of his entire life and his death and his resurrection. We need a whole Christ and we thank you that you have provided such a savior for us. We just pray now forgive us for our sins, forgive us for anything that would darken our understanding and send forth your spirit and guide us and illumine us and teach us your wondrous truth. And we ask through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Well, we have in various situations considered covenant theology. My hope and my prayer is that you will appreciate this, not just as an esoteric study of some of the finer points of Reformed theology, but rather you would see covenant theology as the basis for sweet relief and comfort and for blessing and for all of the promises of God that have been given to us. We need to appreciate a contrast I want to look at a contrast tonight that we have not brought out specifically, that I hope will be very encouraging to all of us. We know, of course, based on the book of Hebrews, that we live in the new covenant. In the book of Hebrews, it says that the new covenant provides a better hope, that it is a better covenant. It is founded on better promises, and it has the surety of the one called the Lord Jesus Christ. So tonight I want to just look at the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, not in their entirety, not in all of the details, but we'll look at a couple of things before we participate in the Lord's Supper. If you look back at Exodus 24, first of all, we consider a brief survey of the Old Covenant. A brief survey of the Old Covenant. A covenant, as you remember, is simply, in its most basic definition, an agreement between two or more persons. There are covenants in the Bible wherein God unilaterally makes them. We see that in the Abrahamic covenant. Remember, God alone passes between the pieces. We saw that this morning in the Davidic covenant. God alone has promised that he will install a king upon the throne of David. Well, the Sinai covenant or the old covenant, God was the king, obviously, but the people had to embrace certain aspects. And we notice this in Exodus 24. Scholars, commentators, Bible historians have recognized that the pattern that we find in this covenant is very similar to covenants that were practiced around Israel at that particular time. It was very common. For a king, if he were to conquer a people, to engage in a covenant, there would be a preamble. That means that the one who is making the covenant identifies himself. There was then a historical prologue. The one making the covenant gives a brief history or backdrop for that covenant. Then there are stipulations. The king gives commands. The king gives certain things that the people must be faithful in. And then the king issues forth sanctions. There are blessings for obedience, and there are curses for violations of the covenant. And we see that very thing throughout the old covenant, specifically here in Exodus chapters 20 to 24. There is a preamble. Notice in chapter 20, verse 1. It says, And God spoke all these words, saying, And then there is the historical prologue. Here's what he says. I am the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. So there is the identification of the king entering into covenant. There is the historical prologue that serves as the basic the basis of the framework of the foundation for that covenant. And then, of course, there are stipulations. Here's what God says. There are 10 commandments. And then in chapters 21 to 23, he fleshes out or he tells the people how those Ten Commandments are to be applied in the society in which they live. There are sanctions. If you read Deuteronomy 27 and 28, you will see sanctions associated with this Sinai covenant. If you are faithful, you will receive blessings. If you are unfaithful, you will receive cursing. What were the people? Ultimately they were unfaithful. So God brought curses upon them. He brought them via Assyria in the 8th century. He brought them via Babylon in the 6th century. He ultimately brought them via Rome in A.D. 70 for their having broken this covenant that was made. But notice here in Exodus chapter 24. Let us read beginning in verse 1. Now he said to Moses, Come up to the Lord, you and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, and worship from afar. And Moses alone shall come near the Lord, but they shall not come near, nor shall the people go up with him. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments, and all the people answered with one voice and said, All the words which the Lord has said we will do. This is their response to the stipulations given in the covenant. Notice that they pledge themselves in this particular fashion. All the words that have been spoken, they said, we will do notice in verse three, verse four. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord. And he rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain. and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of us into the Lord. And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. Then he took the book of the covenant and read in the hearing of the people, and they said, All that the Lord has said we will do and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, This is the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you according to all these words. Hopefully your mind's launching forward to Matthew 26 and Luke 22 and specifically the institution of the Lord's Supper. What does Jesus say? He says, This is my blood, the blood of the new covenant. Look at what the background is for his statement here. Moses takes half the blood. He splashes it on the altar. It answers God word. And then he takes half the blood and he splashes it upon the people. It has a man word effect pointing, of course, typologically to that blood of Jesus, which answers to God and answers for man. But we'll get into that in more detail momentarily. But I do want you to see, and I want you to understand, verses 3 and 7 very specifically. They pledged that they would do all the words of this law. Now, turn over for a moment to Jeremiah 31. Again, we're just sketching with reference to the old covenant. In Jeremiah 31, there is the announcement of the new covenant. A passage that is not unknown in this church. We often refer to it. It is an old covenant announcement of what God will do in the new covenant. Jeremiah 31 verse 31. Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant, which they broke. So were they faithful to verses 3 and 7? Did they do all the words that were written in the law? Absolutely not. In fact, it doesn't take us long to see that they plunged themselves into utter apostasy already in Exodus chapter 32. Exodus 24, they are basically pledging their fidelity to all of the terms of God's covenant. And just a few short chapters later, they are bowing down and worshiping a calf. It is absolutely crazy. And here, in the announcement of the new covenant, God says, I'll make one, not like I made before, which they broke. The old covenant was breakable. The new covenant is not. Is that because we're more loyal, we're more faithful, we're more holy and we're more righteous? No, it's because our covenant head is, which we'll look at in just a moment. Notice what he goes on to say. He says, my covenant, which they brought, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their heart. Isn't that beautiful? That is a blessed effect of New Covenant Christianity. The law is not a problem. The law is not a bad thing. The law is a good thing. The problem is with the sinner. We break the law. We trash the law. We despise and disdain the law. So when God saves us, he puts a new heart in us. He puts that law in us and we love it. We want to respond favorably, not in order to be saved, but because we have been saved. He goes on to say, He says, and I will be their God and they shall be my people. Immanuel principle. We saw that in Matthew 1. You shall call his name Immanuel. God is with us. This is the fulfillment of covenant blessing that we are God's people and he is our God. And then in verse 34, no more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. So a feature of the new covenant is that we know God. A feature of the new covenant is that we have the forgiveness of sins. Isn't this the way Jesus prayed in John 17 3? And this is eternal life. that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. So we see the ratification of that old covenant. We see that it's been broken in the Old Testament. We see the announcement of a new covenant in Jeremiah 31. Now let's look in Matthew 26. Matthew 26, that institution of the Lord's Supper, when the blessed Christ says, or as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broken, and gave it to the disciples and said, Take this is my body. Then he took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. It's a beautiful statement. Just as the Old Covenant had parties, God and the nation of Israel, so does the New Covenant. The New Covenant has parties, the Father and the Son, and all the elect in the Son. Jesus is the Israel in the New Covenant. Jesus pledges faithfulness in the New Covenant. Jesus fulfills all of the terms and obligations placed upon him by the Father in the New Covenant. Our confession says that the full discovery of God's covenant of grace was completed in the New Testament. London Baptist Confession, Chapter 8, Paragraph 1. It says, It pleased God in His eternal purpose to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, His only begotten Son, according to the covenant made between them both. Talking about what's called the covenant of redemption. The Father and the Son enter into an agreement to save a people from their sins. That is made in the persons or by the persons of the Trinity. It is fleshed out in the covenant of grace. It goes on to say, to choose and ordain the Lord Jesus, his only begotten son, according to the covenant made between them both, to be the mediator between God and man, the prophet, priest and king, head and savior of his church, the heir of all things and judge of the world, unto whom he did from all eternity give a people to be his seed and to be by him in time redeemed, called justified, sanctified and glorified. So what I'm trying to present to you tonight is that we need to appreciate that our Lord Jesus did what Israel failed to do. They said in chapter 24, verses 3 and 7, all the words that the Lord has spoken, we will do. They didn't do it. They broke that. They failed miserably. We outlined some of the leaders this morning, some of the kings, various men that should have set the example were the worst and most wretched that they could possibly see. Christ rather fulfills all these obligations. The Westminster Larger Catechism says, with whom was the covenant of grace made? The covenant of grace was made with Christ as the second Adam and in him with all the elect as his seed. So hopefully you're understanding the good news associated with this. Our salvation ultimately depends on Jesus. Our salvation is guaranteed by Jesus. There are some teaching today that in order to achieve final salvation, your works, your faithfulness, your accomplishments have to go into the mix, not according to the scripture. The scripture says that when we are justified freely by his grace, we are pardoned of all of our sins and we receive the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. And it is received by faith alone. Jesus inaugurates or ratifies or announces, rather, this new covenant in Matthew 26. He accomplishes it, of course, at the cross. Remember, in John 19, 30, he says, it is finished. He carried out all that which the Father had given him. Now, with reference to the contrast that I mentioned, I've already hinted to it. I've already alluded to it. Remember the words spoken by the people at Sinai. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice and said all the words which the Lord has said we will do. Turn to John's gospel for a moment. John, chapter two. John 2, verse 16, and he said to those who sold dogs, take these things away. Do not make my father's house a house of merchandise. Then his disciples remembered that it was written zeal for your house has eaten me up. Chapter four, verse thirty four. Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. John six, verses thirty eight and thirty nine. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me. This is the will of Him who sent me, that of all He has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day." John 8, verse 29. Just sketching briefly, it will culminate in John 17, verse 4. But notice in John 8, verse 29. It says, And he who sent me is with me, the Father has not left me alone, for I always do those things that please Him. See, when Jesus pledges fidelity to the covenant, He executes it. He carries it out. He doesn't renege. He doesn't go pursue calf idols. He doesn't go and pursue child sacrifice. He doesn't engage in spiritual adultery. When Jesus pledges faithfulness to the new covenant and its accomplishment, He executes it perfectly, obediently, completely, and utterly. John 8, verse 55, Yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you. But I do know Him, And I keep His Word. John 12, 27 and 28. John 12, 27. Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour. But for this purpose, I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name. Then a voice came from heaven saying, I have both glorified it and will glorify it again. And John 14 and verse 31. John 14, 31. But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave me commandment, so I do. Now let's look at John 17. Keep in mind Exodus 24, 3 and 7. All the words that have been spoken, we will do. They fail. What Jesus says in John 17, 4. I have glorified you on the earth I have finished the work which you have given me to do." You see the blessed privilege that we have in the New Covenant. We are not called upon to perform unto God's satisfaction so that He will then bless us with salvation. We are called to look to Him who alone accomplishes the will of the Father. One man has said Sinai is not displaced, but fulfilled. It is rendered obsolete, not because it was wrong, but because it was always a temporary regime and it reached its goal despite Israel's failures. In fact, precisely because Israel's representative servant has kept his father's word, even in this sense, the law covenant has been fulfilled. So you need to understand something, brethren. We are saved by Jesus' death, to be sure. We need our sins parted. We need the blood of Jesus to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. But we need a righteousness to stand before God. Jesus satisfies that by carrying out the terms of the covenant, by fulfilling the law. We are saved by his life, by his death, by his resurrection. Men call this the active obedience of Christ. It is imputed to us. It is given to us. And some would say, well, if you believe that, then you'll go out and live like wicked, wretched sinners. No. The faith that justifies or the justification that we have by faith alone in Christ alone always produces sanctification. In fact, we cannot pursue the Christian life. We cannot pursue holiness. We cannot pursue righteousness unless we've got this doctrine down. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We are justified freely by his grace. Again, the London Baptist Confession, Chapter 11, Paragraph 1 says, Those whom God affectionately calls, He also freely justifies, not by infusing righteousness into them, but by pardoning their sins and by accounting and accepting their persons as righteous. Not for anything wrought in them or done by them, but for Christ's sake alone, not by imputing faith itself, the act of believing or any other evangelical obedience to them as their righteousness. Notice this. But by imputing Christ's active obedience unto the whole law and passive obedience in his death for their whole and sole righteousness. Now, If you understand that and you appreciate it, you will want to do holy jigs. You will want to delight and celebrate. If you're somewhat conversant with the recent literature in evangelical religion, you'll lament the fact that this doctrine of the active obedience of Christ, the imputation of it, has fallen on rough times. Men are saying it's a fiction. Men are saying it's not necessary. Men are saying the Bible doesn't teach it. The men are saying we don't have anything to do with the life of Jesus. It is solely his death. Now we need somebody who pledges fidelity to the law of God and carries it out fully. We need one who always does what the father pleases the father. We need one who is able to say, I have completed the work that you entrusted to me. We need a champion. We need a righteousness. We need to be clothed in a righteousness, not our own. And Christ answers to that particular necessity. The Hebrews chapter 5 points out, Hebrews chapter 10 verses 5 to 10 points out the same fact. Hebrews chapter 10 at verse five. Therefore, when he came into the world, he said, sacrifice an offering you did not desire, but a body you have prepared for me in burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. You had no pleasure. Then I said, behold, I have come in the volume of the book. It is written of me. Notice to do your will, O God. Jesus wasn't just an example. He was that to be sure we ought to look at the life of Jesus as a pattern for our own holiness. We ought to see how Jesus was a man who went about doing good. We ought to see Jesus who had compassion on the downtrodden and the poor. We ought to see Jesus and imitate him in that whole effort to do good to men. But that's not all. He fulfilled the righteousness of God as the mediator of a better covenant. He fulfilled all the righteousness of God so that that righteousness could be imputed to his seed. He fulfilled the righteousness of God so that when we stand before the Lord on that day, we are clothed in a righteousness, not our own. But we are fit and prepared and ready to stand before the Lord God most high. Verse eight previously saying sacrifice and offering burnt offerings and offerings for sin. You did not desire nor had pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law. Then he said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first that he may establish the second. By that will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. You look at Romans chapter 5, 2nd Corinthians chapter 5, and you see this exchange, this glorious exchange that our sin, our depravity, our wickedness, our filthiness is heaped upon the Son of God, punished at the cross, and then the righteousness that avails with God that He accomplished is given to us freely by His grace. So when you hear those words in Exodus 24 verses 3 and 7, you turn over to Exodus chapter 32 and you see them plunge themselves into apostasy. You might be willing or you might be tempted to cry out, who will save us? Well, that's what the Bible illustrates. That's what the Bible points to. It tells us about the Lord Jesus. It tells us that one is coming who would ultimately, in his high priestly prayer, be able to say, I have glorified you on the earth. I have finished the work which you have given me to do. All the words which the Lord has said, Jesus Christ has done. That's why we stand here tonight justified. That is why we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus. It is based on his life, his death, and his resurrection. You've heard me refer to it before. One of the last things that J. Gresham Machen ever communicated was by way of telegraph when he was about to die. I forget who it was he sent this telegraph to, but he said, I'm so happy for the active obedience of Jesus Christ. For without it, there is no hope. A doctrine that is just being thrown out the back door. A doctrine that is being neglected. A doctrine that is everywhere upheld in the scripture. That glorious exchange that Martin Luther spoke of. That glorious exchange. Let me just read these words. It typifies, or pictures rather, what goes on in this whole affair. The rich, noble, pious bridegroom Christ takes this poor, despised, wicked little whore in marriage, redeems her of all evil, and adorns her with all his goods. So the contrast that I want us to consider tonight is the fact that Israel pledged fidelity to the old covenant, failed miserably. Jesus pledged fidelity to the new covenant and carried it out beautifully, perfectly, and wonderfully. It is good to think about covenant theology when we come to the table. D.A. Carson reminds us that just as the people of Israel associated their deliverance from Egypt with eating the pastoral meal prescribed as a divine ordinance, so also Messiah's people are to associate Jesus' redemptive death with eating this bread by Jesus' authority. In the old covenant, the Israelite committed himself to do all the law of God. In the New Covenant, the Christian, by God's grace, believes in Him who did all the law of God and who offered Himself up as a sacrifice. The New Testament picks up on this imagery of this splashed or sprinkled blood. We read in Hebrews chapter 9, Hebrews chapter 9, there is a contrast set up there for us. But Christ came as High Priest, verse 11, of the good things to come, with greater and more perfect I'm sorry, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood he entered the most holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption." Isn't that a beautiful statement? Next time you hear somebody say, oh, a Christian can lose his salvation. No, he can't. Jesus didn't obtain a partial salvation. He didn't get you a temporal redemption. I'll get you in, and then you have to maintain fidelity in order to stay in. That's not what the text says. You talk about cause for a holy day. He has obtained eternal redemption. It's a done deal. Jesus, as we're about to sing, paid it all. Jesus accomplished everything the Father gave him to do. Verse 13, for if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? Hebrews 12, we read it at the outset of worship. Or at the outset of the message, verse 24, to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. Peter's greeting in 1 Peter chapter 1, he describes the believers in a Trinitarian fashion. Not the believers, but it's based on the Trinity. Verse two of first Peter one. It says he left, according to the foreknowledge of God, the father in sanctification of the spirit for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. All three persons of the triune God, father, spirit, son. What is uniquely connected to the son is that sprinkling of blood. Jesus fulfilled all the terms of the covenant. He fulfilled the law covenant made at Sinai. And we, by His grace, by His work, by His finished conduct, have that imputed to us by faith alone. Praise God that He has dealt so graciously with us. Well, hopefully we can remember that tonight as we eat the bread and as we drink the wine. Think back to Exodus 24. Think in terms of what they pledged to do and were not able to do. And think in terms of Matthew 26 where Jesus says this is my blood of the new covenant and John 17 where he says I have finished. I have completed all the work that the father has given me so that all those by God's grace who believe in him receive the forgiveness of sins and the imputation of righteousness. Now, if you are here tonight and you are not a Christian, all of that probably just went right over your head and you're thinking, oh, what was covenant again? I've seen a covenant transport before. You ever see that moving company? Always wondered, is there a Christian background there? Covenant transport. Covenant is not a word you hear a lot outside of Christianity or other various religions. You might still be thinking, is that an agreement between two or more persons? You know what you need to know tonight? Jesus Christ alone is the Savior. That covenant theology that we can stand amazed at is the framework. It sets the stage. It's the girders, if you will, of the main theme that Jesus Christ came into this world. He lived in obedience to the law of God because we cannot. We can't. None of us. None of us. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. You know, today we like to think about what man's problem is. Oh, you know, he just needs a little bit of help. He needs a little bit more education. He needs a little more money. He needs a little more economic stability. No, he needs a new heart. Jeremiah 17, the prophet says, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. I mean, wicked is bad, isn't it? Something's desperately wicked. It's really bad. That's God's indictment of the human heart. We don't need a little help from our friends. We don't need a little assistance from Revenue Canada. We need thoroughgoing renovation. It comes through the work of Christ. So Jesus fulfilled the law, always doing what his father said. And not like us. We might obey a command, but in our hearts, secretly, we're not obeying. Right? Somebody tells you to do something, you're going to do it. But you're not happy about it. And then when you accomplish it, it's almost like you need a spotlight so everybody can appreciate what you did. Yeah, I did the dishes tonight. Yeah, I did this or I did that. We always have to get credit. That's not how Jesus operated. He sought to please his father. So he fulfills the law of God obediently, perfectly, completely, thoroughly and always. And then he dies as a sacrifice. You see, God sent the best. Israel, as a general rule, did not bring the best. It was stipulated in their law. When you went to the temple or the tabernacle on Sabbath day, you pick the best of your flock. You pick the one that's worth the most money. That's what a sacrifice is all about. Instead of taking it to market and getting all of that money, you take it to the tabernacle or temple and slit its throat and present it up to God because he's worthy. Well, they didn't always do that. They picked the worst. They picked the mangiest one, or manky, as my son might say. They picked the one that was lame, or blind, or maimed. They would hobble that thing in, and as their sacrifice, offer that up to God. Not God. God sent His only begotten Son. God sent the one in whom He is well pleased. God sent the best, one in whom was no sin. No blemish, no spot. He wasn't lame. He wasn't blind, spiritually speaking. He answered completely to the requirements of God Most High. So you see, you need his life. You need righteousness. You need somebody to obey. But you also need his death. Because without the shedding of blood, there is no remission. If Jesus doesn't die, if the sacrifice isn't made, if atonement doesn't happen, we are still in our sins. But it's through that powerful bloodshedding of Christ that God washes us from all iniquity. God washes us from all of our sin. You know, the Bible says the way that we have that, the way that we get that, is by God's grace alone, through faith alone. What does that mean? What's the cash value of what I'm telling you? What are you supposed to think on when we close in just a moment? You need to believe on this Lord Jesus. You need to look to him. You need to see him as the one alone who can save you from your sins. You need to be reminded of Matthew 121. You shall call his name Jesus for it is he who will save his people from their sins. If you are convicted that you're a sinner, look to the Savior. Look by faith and you will have everlasting life. Praise God for the new covenant. Praise God that it is founded on better promises and that we have a surety. Jesus Christ will let us pray. Father, how we thank you for your word and how we thank you for covenant theology. How we thank you that the God who promises does not renege. How we praise you that you sent your son to fulfill the terms, to fulfill the obligations, to fulfill this covenant arrangement so that he could secure the salvation of all whom the father had given him. Lord, I pray that you would just bless and encourage our hearts, that we would look to passages like the ones we've seen tonight, that we would reflect upon our Lord Jesus, that we would meditate upon him, that we would find great comfort. And God as well, knowing that we are justified freely by your grace, let us go from this place seeking holiness, pursuing righteousness, seeking to walk in the Spirit by your grace and for your glory. We ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.