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Well, dear friends, the title of my sermon this morning is Returning and Rest, and for
the benefit of the children who find it hard to follow along, listening, there’s four key
words to listen to.
Word, smooth, destruction, and rest.
My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if you’ve been walking with the Lord for any
length of time, you know that God’s Word is a great source of comfort and consolation.
It’s a great source of comfort and consolation in many and varied life circumstances, but
especially a source of comfort and consolation during times when we believers feel broken
and overwhelmed with the burden of our own remaining in dwelling sin.
Friends, the good news of the Lord Jesus Christ is a potent home to the repentant,
brokenhearted sinner who trusts Christ as Savior.
So God’s Word indeed comforts, God’s Word consoles, God’s Word indeed brings inner
healing to the brokenhearted believer.
But friends, God’s Word also confers, God’s Word also rebukes, and God’s Word at times
even imprisons hardened sinners who willfully persist unrepentant in their sin, as well
as confronting and disturbing seriously backslidden believers who’ve wandered far from the fold
of Christ, that they might be disturbed out of their spiritual stupor and brought back
from the fold of Christ the Savior.
It’s important to us, brothers and sisters, that both the comforting and the confrontational
aspects of Scripture are equally valid functions of the Word of God.
God’s Word is a great source of comfort and consolation, isn’t it?
Don’t we?
Indeed, it is our natural fall-and-bent to want to hear God speak to us only smooth things.
Unless God, the Holy Spirit, changes our hearts and makes us willing to hear the hard truths
of Scripture, we will naturally, in our fallen condition, we will want to dictate to God
what we would have Him speak to us.
And of course, we want Him only to positively affirm us in our ultimate autonomy.
We want Him to affirm us in our self-chosen identity.
We want Him to affirm us in our favorite sins.
We want Him to call our vice virtues and the virtues that we want to avoid, we want Him
to call vices.
You see, apart from the grace of Christ, we are naturally prone to having what the Scriptures
describe as itching ears.
It’s interesting, the Apostle Paul, writing to his son in the faith, Pastor Timothy, mentions
these itching ears.
Let’s just turn over to 2 Timothy, chapter 4, and let me read the first four verses of
that passage.
1 Timothy, I’m sorry, 2 Timothy, chapter 4, verses 1 through 4.
The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus,
who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, preach the
word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete
patience and teaching.
And then note verse 3 especially, for the time is coming when people will not endure
sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to
suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and will wander
off into myths.
It’s almost as if Paul is talking about our own time, isn’t it?
And of course we think of itching ears and folks accumulating to themselves teachers
that will tell them the things that they want to hear.
We think of, for example, the ongoing and regrettable popularity of the so-called prosperity
gospel in its various manifestations.
It’s basically the gospel, the so-called gospel that says God wants you healthy, He
wants you wealthy, He wants you comfortable, so much for what Jesus said in His call to
discipleship where He said, if anyone would come after me, let him do what?
Let him deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow me.
But again, it’s not just those who are out there who are prone to having itching ears.
We all have itching ears.
We all want to hear smooth things.
And of course there’s nothing new under the sun.
For this desire for smooth things was precisely the problem with Isaiah’s contemporaries
whom he confronts in this judgment passage.
And so as we approach our text from God’s Word this morning, it’s important to understand
and be reminded of the historical setting.
You see, brothers and sisters, at the time that Isaiah wrote this passage, the biggest
international threat to the covenant nation of Judah at the time was the looming military
expansion of the brutal pagan Assyrian empire.
And it was a very real threat.
If you read anything about the Assyrians and how they treated people whom they conquered,
it was a fearful thing to face the Assyrian threat.
But instead of trusting in their divine king as God through the prophets was calling them
to do, God through the prophets like Isaiah was calling the people not to trust in human
alliances but to trust in their divine king.
But instead of trusting in their divine king, their covenant lord and redeemer, instead
of trusting Yahweh their God to take care of this threat and to protect his people,
the leaders of Jerusalem had put their trust in a scheme that they had concocted to make
a military alliance with Egypt.
Now I want you to think, brothers and sisters, about the irony of that.
Instead of trusting in the God who had graciously delivered them from the oppression and slavery
that they had suffered under the heavy yoke of idol-worshipping Egypt, they turn away
from the Lord, their deliverer, they turn away from him in unbelief, and they instead
turn for help to their historic enslavers, their historic oppressors, namely the Egyptians.
Indeed, even as Isaiah wrote this passage, it seems that envoys were on their way to
Egypt.
That is what the language of verse 4 seems to draw out.
It says, for though his officials are at Zohan and his envoys reach Hainis, everyone comes
to shame through a people that cannot profit them that brings neither help nor profit.
But in this passage, beloved, the Lord warns that this misplaced trust in Egypt’s help
would prove to be a disaster, tragically misplaced.
In terms of when precisely this prophecy was fulfilled, as one commentator puts it, this
prophecy was not, of course, fulfilled in 701, but rather in 586 when Nebuchadnezzar
took Jerusalem, and perhaps even more in the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70.
And of course, as I’ll point out in a little bit, all of these historic judgments that
God had predicted through the prophets, all of these historical judgments ultimately point
to the final judgment of the Lord against the unrepentant wicked.
So friends, let’s turn our attention to our text for today, and let’s focus first of all
on verses 8 through 12, as we consider God’s word despised and smooth things desired.
It says in verse 8, and now go, write it before them on a tablet and inscribe it in a book
that it may be for the time to come as a witness forever.
Now, God called his prophets like Isaiah to preach and to proclaim the word of the Lord
to their contemporaries, but that message that was proclaimed orally needed to be preserved
and that’s what the Lord is instructing Isaiah to do here.
Isaiah is commanded to write this down as a witness for the benefit of future generations
and brothers and sisters, we, who lived many generations after this passage was written,
we benefit from the spiritual truths that we learn in this portion of God’s word.
But that raises the question, what precisely is Isaiah’s message?
What precisely is Isaiah to write?
Now, some think that this command to write it refers to the statement in verse 7,
which describes Egypt as Rahab who sits still,
or as some have suggested it could be translated Rahab the do-nothing.
In other words, the point is that Egypt is going to be worthless.
It’s going to be a worthless ally.
Egypt, called Rahab here, is worthless.
It’s a do-nothing.
However, friends, it seems more likely to me that in the context of this passage,
Isaiah is to record, he’s instructed by the Lord to record in writing
the entirety of the judgment oracles of the Lord against his rebellious people
who relied on their alliance with Egypt.
And that is recorded as a witness against that generation
and recorded for our instruction and our benefit.
And then it goes on to say this in verse 9.
In verse 9, the Lord describes the people that Isaiah is preaching to and renouncing here.
For they are what? A rebellious people, lying children,
children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord.
They were children unwilling to hear the instruction of the Lord.
They were hardened against the word of God.
And yet these were, as we learned in previous weeks,
Isaiah’s primarily has in view the religious leaders in Jerusalem
who should have known better.
And yet they refuse the word of the Lord.
We have here a description in verses 9 through 11 of the rebellious people
who trusted in their alliance to Egypt.
And their resistance to, their refusal to hear the instruction of the Lord
The instruction of the Lord is brought out by Isaiah in verse 10
where he says he puts words in their mouths to express their attitudes.
Who say to the seers, a seer is a prophet, a prophet is a seer,
different words to describe the same office.
Who say to the seers, do not see, and to the prophets,
do not prophesy to us what is right.
Don’t keep telling us that we should not trust in Egypt,
that we should trust in the Lord instead.
Stop telling us that.
Stop telling us about the Holy One of Israel.
Instead, what do they say?
Speak to us smooth things.
Tell us what we want to hear.
Affirm our delusions, our illusions.
Verse 11, leave the way, turn aside from the path.
Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.
They were getting sick of hearing Isaiah proclaim the holiness of God.
It’s interesting.
Isaiah, if you study the book of Isaiah carefully,
one of the major themes that is woven throughout this marvelous portion of Scripture
is the theme of the holiness of God.
And one of Isaiah’s distinctive titles for God is the title,
The Holy One of Israel.
That is a title for God that is used some 25 times throughout the book of Isaiah.
But the rebellious leaders in Jerusalem
who trusted in their military scheming rather than in the Lord,
they were sick and tired of hearing about the Holy One of Israel.
Indeed, that should not surprise us
because unholy people do not wish to be reminded of the holiness of God.
And then verse 12 lays down the indictment against the people.
Verse 12, therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel.
They say, stop telling us about the Holy One of Israel, but Isaiah doesn’t stop.
He goes on to say, the Holy One of Israel says this,
because you do what? Despise this word.
Not only did they not hear the word of the Lord,
not only were they unwilling to be corrected and instructed
by the divine revelation coming through the prophet Isaiah and like-minded prophets,
they refused to hear because they despised the word.
It wasn’t what they wanted to hear, so they refused to receive it.
Here we again have Yahweh’s indictment against this people
that they had despised this word.
Which word is he talking about?
In other words, God’s word coming to them through his true prophets
like the prophet Isaiah.
And in this present context, especially his word to them,
warning them not to enter into an alliance with Egypt.
Now there’s much that we can learn from passages like this in God’s word,
but let me lay before you a few important lessons here.
You know, friends, in passages like this one,
we have examples of Yahweh’s almost shocking bluntness
in confronting his faithless people.
You know, the scriptures I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon,
the scriptures are incredibly comforting, but they are also disturbing
and they jostle us, they disturb us,
they overturn the rocks in our hearts to expose the skeletons that are hiding under it.
In judgment passages like this one,
we often see the Lord being very blunt and direct with his people,
and that’s kind of shocking to us.
You see, the Lord doesn’t tend to communicate to his unfaithful people
through diplomatically worded hints, nor is he particularly polite.
In fact, sometimes his words to his faithless people sting.
Sometimes they are heavy with rebuke, sometimes even heavy with sarcasm.
Of course, our Lord Jesus himself,
Jesus who spoke so gently and kindly to broken sinners and to outcasts,
gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
the same Lord Jesus who was kind to the humble and the broken,
that same Lord Jesus spoke with strong prophetic harshness toward those who were his enemies,
those who led the people astray and opposed him and his proclamation of the Kingdom of God.
But again, it’s important to understand, beloved,
that when God speaks this way in Scripture,
it’s not because he’s lost his cool.
It’s not because God is having a temper tantrum,
or he is speaking in an out of control rage.
No, instead, it is because of his love.
God speaks sharply at times, harshly at times,
because of his love and zeal to maintain holiness,
because of his love and zeal for his own glory,
and also because of his love for the sinners whom he rebukes
and his earnest desire for them to be brought to repentance.
And I think we need to take instruction from that, beloved,
as we might, if you’re reading through the prophets,
especially in the Old Testament,
and you find these passages where God is really like laying in to his people,
and we might say, well, that’s kind of intense what’s going on here.
We need to realize God speaks this way because he cares.
He cares. He loves.
He’s concerned, ultimately, for his glory.
He’s concerned to maintain holiness,
but he’s also concerned that his wayward people be brought back to the fold.
Friends, let’s be honest.
There are times in all of our lives when we need to be corrected.
But let’s also be honest that even necessary correction,
even at those times when we need to receive necessary correction,
it can be difficult medicine to swallow such correction,
especially if that correction exposes something embarrassing
about our attitudes or our actions or behaviors or what have you.
But, dear listener,
a true friend will love you enough to correct you when you need it.
A true friend is not going to be nitpicky, hypercritical,
eager to jump down your throat with criticisms.
No.
But a true friend will be willing to confront you.
I’ve heard it described as carefront.
Will be willing to confront you in love if you are going astray.
There’s a tendency today to imagine that, well,
the way that you love other people is by always affirming them,
always affirming their decisions,
always affirming their lifestyles and so forth.
And that is simply not the case.
It is not a loving thing, for example,
to affirm someone in a delusion that will lead them to hell.
That’s the opposite of love.
Love confronts with the truth.
A true friend will love you enough to correct you when you need it.
Biblical correction, when it is wisely and lovingly administered,
may initially hurt, sometimes hurt bad.
But in the end, it brings healing and wholeness
to those who are willing to receive it.
And I think that is how we are to read passages like this in God’s Word.
God is confronting His people.
Yes, He is pronouncing judgment against the unrepentant wicked,
but He’s also pronouncing judgment that those who hear,
those who by the Spirit are unable to hear,
might be brought back into a right relationship with the Lord.
I may have shared this illustration before,
but there was a time when I was in college.
I think it was the summer after my junior year of college.
A friend of mine from our college, Christian Fellowship,
and another gentleman, we all pitched in to rent an apartment together
so that we could live in the college town.
And I was working in the cafeteria, and I was taking a class that summer.
But there was a particular incident where I was about to do something
really stupid and naive.
And I kind of knew in my heart of hearts that it was a stupid and naive thing
that I was contemplating doing, because I kind of kept it to myself.
But my friend, his name was Bill, a fellow believer.
Bill found out what I was thinking of doing, and man, he laid into me.
He was like, Jeff, what are you doing? What are you thinking?
In fact, he laid into me so hard that it brought tears to my eyes.
I was so embarrassed, and I realized, yeah, that’s pretty stupid.
Why was I thinking of doing that?
But the thing that also brought me to tears, I know my friend Bill.
I knew that he was laying into me not because he wanted to tear me down,
not because he wanted to crush me or embarrass me or humiliate me.
I could see it in his eyes. He was confronting me because he really cared.
He really cared.
Do you have a friend like that in your life?
If not, you need to pray that God would bring a friend into your life
who will speak into your life what you need to hear
and not always what you want to hear.
God speaks the truth. God is a God of truth.
And he speaks truth into our lives, and he speaks truth to his people
in the Scriptures.
Friends, may God grant us the grace to be willing to receive hard words
when necessary with a humble and teachable spirit.
And of course, this is not to be misunderstood.
This does not give the corrector a license to be hypercritical
or nitpicky or obnoxious.
Being gentle and kind in our communication with each other
should still be the norm. That should be the rule.
We are commanded as part of the fruit of the Spirit,
love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control.
But sometimes hard or harsh words need to be spoken.
And when that is the case, they should only be used sparingly
with great care and prayer and wisdom and only in extreme circumstances.
But getting back to our passage for today,
these were extreme circumstances that the Lord is confronting.
And that brings me to my next point as we move on in our passage
to verses 12-14.
We see in this section of Isaiah 30,
sudden and utter destruction declared.
We see here Isaiah declaring sudden and utter destruction.
It says in verse 12,
Therefore, thus says the Holy One of Israel,
Because you despise this word and trust in oppression and perverseness
and rely on them, therefore this iniquity shall be to you
like a breach in a high wall and so forth.
Now Isaiah is a master illustrator.
He was a master at using illustrations that especially his contemporaries
would understand and be able to picture in their minds.
But what does he say to them?
He says they trust in oppression and perverseness.
In what way?
Well, this is probably, this trust in oppression and perverseness
is likely a reference to their reliance upon Egypt
because Egypt itself was known historically for its oppression
and its deceptiveness.
But he says relying upon Egypt, he compares it to what?
Look at verse 13.
Therefore, this iniquity shall be to you like a breach in a high wall
bulging out and about to collapse whose breaking comes suddenly in an instance.
As one commentator puts it,
Isaiah compares Egyptian protection with a wall under pressure
collapsible at any moment.
And then he goes on and uses another illustration,
a shattered potter’s vessel, verse 14,
and its breaking is like that of a potter’s vessel that is smashed so ruthlessly
that among its fragments not a shard is found with which to take fire from the hearth
or to dip up water out of the cistern.
In other words, it’ll be so shattered that it’s useless for even the most menial of tasks.
And again, as this commentator puts it, Egypt’s promises of aid will be smashed to bits.
Appearances can be deceiving.
My friends, in the scriptures, God is revealed to be slow to anger
and abounding in steadfast love.
Our God is amazingly patient and forbearing.
Even towards the rebellious, hard-hearted.
But nevertheless, the scriptures also make it clear
that the Lord will not tolerate forever those who persist unrepentant in their sin.
As it says in Proverbs 29, verse 1,
He who is often reproved yet stiffens his neck will suddenly be broken beyond healing.
You get rebukes and correction over and over and over again,
but you continue to harden your heart.
There will come a time when you will be broken,
when the judgment will come, and there will be no road to recovery.
And of course, it’s important to remember that all of these historical judgments
that we find predicted in the prophets like the destruction here predicted by Isaiah,
all of these historical judgments point to the ultimate destruction of the unrepentant wicked
that will take place on the final day of judgment.
Again, I’d like us to look at another passage from the Pauline letters
in 2 Thessalonians 1, 5 through 10, where he speaks about this ultimate destruction.
It says here, and here, 2 Thessalonians, let me just get there,
2 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verses 5 through 10.
And here, Paul is writing to believers who are facing persecution, experiencing persecution,
and he says this, This is evidence of the righteous judgment of God,
that you may be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are also suffering.
Since indeed God considers it just to repay with affliction those who afflict you,
and to grant relief to you who are afflicted as well as to us,
when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire,
inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God,
and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus,
they will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction,
away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might.
When he comes on that day to be glorified in his saints,
and to be marveled at among all who have believed,
because our testimony to you was believed.
Beloved, let us be warned against presuming upon the grace of God.
God is patient, but again, he calls us to repent and believe.
Let us be warned against presuming upon his grace,
just as we are to take his gospel promises with utmost seriousness,
let us also take his warnings with utmost seriousness.
And let us also avoid sidestepping the hard parts of scripture.
They’re there for a reason, they’re there for our instruction,
and they’re ultimately there for our edification.
May the hard truths of scripture drive us ever closer
to wholehearted dependence upon Christ as our only hope of salvation.
And that brings us to our final point, as we consider verses 15 through 18.
Speaking of the way of salvation, we learn, finally,
of the way of returning and rest, the way of returning and rest.
It says this in verse 15,
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel.
There’s that title again, the Holy One of Israel.
Thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel.
In returning and rest, you shall be saved.
Some translations say in repentance and rest, you shall be saved.
Returning is repenting.
In returning and rest, you shall be saved.
In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you were unwilling.
And you said, No, we will flee upon horses, therefore you shall flee away.
And we will ride upon swift steeds, therefore your pursuers shall be swift.
A thousand shall flee at the threat of one, at the threat of five,
you shall flee till you are left like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain,
like a signal on a hill.
In returning and rest, you shall be saved, Isaiah says.
Now, in the original historical context,
this would mean that instead of the anxious and frantic activity of sealing
an illicit alliance with the Egyptians,
let them return from Egypt and let them rest.
Let them put their trust in Yahweh, their God, to deliver them.
In other words, let them repent of their trust in Egypt
and trust in the Lord instead to deliver them.
However, sadly, as we see in verse 15,
they were unwilling to heed this call to repentance and trust.
Verse 16 points out the fact that their reliance upon Egypt
will commit them to an unavoidable military engagement against the Assyrians,
which was exactly what they were hoping to avoid.
And then in verse 17, Isaiah reminds them that they will experience
the covenantal curse spoken of in Deuteronomy 32, verse 30.
It says in verse 17,
A thousand shall flee at the threat of one.
At the threat of five you shall flee till you are left basically all alone,
like a flagstaff on the top of a mountain, like a signal on a hill.
Let’s turn to Deuteronomy 32 and look at verse 30.
This is where Isaiah derives the language from.
Deuteronomy 32, verse 30.
Actually, let me start reading at verse 28.
This is the song of Moses,
which is a witness against the people in their rebellion.
For they are a nation void of counsel, and there is no understanding in them.
If they were wise, they would understand this.
They would discern their latter end.
How could one have chased a thousand and two have put ten thousand to flight
unless their rock had sold them and the Lord had given them up?
If they had trusted the Lord and obeyed him,
then they would be able to cause their enemies to flee.
But now their enemies will cause them to flee.
This is the covenantal curse that they would experience.
But even in the midst of this judgment oracle,
as we close our time in the Word this morning in verse 18,
there’s a glimmer of hope.
Look at verse 18.
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him.
At that point in redemptive history, it was time for judgment.
God was going to display his justice,
and so he will wait at this point in time to be gracious,
as it says at the beginning of verse 18.
Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you.
But what does that imply?
That implies that he will once again show his grace and mercy to his people.
The Lord’s grace is delayed because he must first manifest his justice
in punishing the unrepentant among his professed people.
However, this verse does not imply that all hope is gone.
Indeed, it implies a promise that one day,
one day, one day God will again be gracious to his people.
Even in the midst of pronouncing his just judgment,
we are not to forget that he remains merciful and gracious.
Beloved, returning and rest describe the heart of the gospel call,
for the gospel call includes the call not only to faith,
but also to repentance.
We see this in the preaching of Jesus himself,
as Mark, for example, introduces the preaching ministry of Jesus
in Mark 1, verses 14 and 15.
We read these words.
It says, Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee,
proclaiming the gospel, the good news of God,
and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
And what is the response to be?
Repent and believe in the gospel.
In other words, return and rest.
While faith and repentance can and indeed must be distinguished,
they can never be separated, for they are like two sides of the same coin.
No one who truly repents neglects faith.
No one who truly has faith will neglect to repent.
The two go together.
And friends, this biblical language describing faith as rest,
it should be familiar to you who know your shorter catechisms,
because it is reflected in the Bible-based answer
to shorter catechism number 86.
The question being, what is faith in Jesus Christ?
The Bible-based answer is faith in Jesus Christ is what?
A saving grace whereby we receive and rest upon him alone for salvation
as he is offered to us in the gospel.
This language of receiving and resting upon Christ is also based upon passages,
for example, like John chapter 1, 12 and 13,
where in the opening prologue of John’s gospel it says,
But to all who did receive him, receive Christ, who believed in his name,
he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
To believe in the name of Christ, to trust him as your Savior,
is to receive him, and to receive him is to rest upon him.
As the Lord Jesus says, and I know I love to quote this passage
from Matthew 11, verses 28 and following,
Jesus says, Come to me, all who labor and are heavy-laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Dear listener, have you personally received and rested upon Jesus Christ alone
as he is offered to you in the gospel?
In repentance and rest, you shall be saved.
But friends, as we return and rest in the Lord by repentance and trust in Christ alone
for our salvation from sin, let us remember that it is in this way,
this way of returning and rest that we reach our ultimate eternal Sabbath rest
in the new heavens and the new earth.
And that is where we are headed.
We’ve considered this judgment oracle.
We’ve heard some disturbing truths from God’s Word.
Let me close my sermon today by reminding us of our eschatological hope
in the new heavens and the new earth, Revelation 21, 1 through 4.
This is what returning and rest will ultimately bring us to.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth,
for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away,
and the sea was no more.
And I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man.
He will dwell with them, and they will be his people,
and God himself will be with them as their God.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more.
Neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore,
for the former things have passed away.
That is our eternal eschatological Sabbath rest.
Let us return and rest as we make our journey towards the new heavens and the new earth.
Let us pray.
Our gracious Lord and Father in heaven,
we thank you that through the gospel you offer us sinners rest,
that you offer to remove from us the burden and weight of sin.
We thank you, Lord, that you love us enough to confront us in our sin
and to call us to turn to you.
May we rest upon you both now and throughout our lives
as we make our journey toward our eternal rest.
In Jesus’ name we pray, and all of God’s people said, Amen.
Let’s close our worship service today by rising and we’ll sing
number 479, Jesus, I am resting, resting 479.