For our scripture reading this morning, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4. 1 Corinthians 12, we read together verses 12 through 27, that familiar portion where the church, the body of Christ, is likened to the physical body. We read together 12 through 27, then Ephesians 4, the first 13 verses. And the text for this morning is taken from verses 4 through 6 of Ephesians chapter 4. First we give our consideration to the reading of the Word of God in 1 Corinthians 12, beginning at verse 12. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts, and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free, and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Now the body is not made up of one part, but of many. If the foot should say, Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. And if the ear should say, Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body, it would not for that reason cease to be a part of the body. If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, I don't need you. And the head cannot say to the feet, I don't need you. On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it. If one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. In Ephesians 4, the first 13 verses again, 4 through 6, serving as the text. As a prisoner for the Lord, then I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. This is why it says, When He ascended on high, He led captives in His train and gave gifts to men. What does He ascended mean except that He also descended to the lower earthly regions? He who descended is the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens in order to fill the whole universe. It was He who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers to prepare God's people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. May God add His blessing to the reading of His Word and to the preaching of His Word. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, dear people of God, Isn't that a beautiful address? Isn't that a most wonderful title? Does it thrill you to be called that? I sincerely hope it does because indeed there is no greater designation, no more wonderful title than that to be called the congregation of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be called the people of God. And of course, we confess that God's people are the holy, catholic, or universal church. Boys and girls, universal in the sense that she is brought together from all ages, from the beginning of time to the end of time, and from all places, every tribe, every tongue, and every nation. And as professing Christians, we are a part of a list. True Christians are a part of that list recorded in the Lamb's Book of Life, a list that cannot be counted, a list that will not be altered. But then we might ask, what do we have in common with other believers? For example, saints in the Old Testament, or the apostles, or believers in other lands. Because there are so many that we have not known and we will never know in this life, yet we call them our brothers and sisters, don't we? How can that be? How can we do that? What is it that we have in common with each other? Well, we heard it already this morning, didn't we, in the song of the choir, one faith, one hope, one Lord. And of course we know that there are those who teach that all roads lead to heaven. It's been described as a wheel with spokes. I think of the big covered wagon wheel with many spokes. And God is the axle at the center. And all these spokes are different ways that lead to God. And our way, that is the way of Christ, The way of the Christian, they say, is only one of those ways. And Christians are called intolerant and narrow-minded if we don't accept other ways, like the ways of the Muslims or Hindus or Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses or many others. But congregation, if we are intolerant, then you must know that we are in good company, aren't we? Because God Himself is intolerant. What did Jesus say? He said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one, absolutely no one comes to the Father except through me. There are many different religions out there, but only one people of God. There is only one true God and only one true people of God, united by faith, hope, and love. And with this text before us, Paul's message completely goes against the grain of society, doesn't it? But our comfort is that the triune God Himself defines the unity of His church. There is only one true church, and she is united by God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And as we consider the unity of God's church, notice, first of all, that she is united in calling. Secondly, she is united in identification. And finally, she is united under one sovereign. Now, Paul preached and wrote his letters, including this particular one, in a day when emperor worship was practiced. Boys and girls, the Roman emperor was considered to be a god. He was given the title Lord. He was to be addressed as Lord. And Ephesus had the earthly honor of being the home of three different temples for three different Roman emperors throughout her history. As well, this city was also the home of the temple of the Greek goddess Diana. And Diana was considered to be the nourishing mother of all of life. In fact, the cities of Asia boasted of being united under Diana. There was a coin with a picture of Diana stamped on it with the words to that effect that they were united together under this goddess. Diana worship was universally practiced. Her temple also served as a bank or a financial institution where treasures were deposited. Many businesses made Diana souvenirs and worship relics and therefore they depended upon worshippers and tourists to come to Ephesus from far and wide to either worship in or simply to visit this wonderful tourist attraction, this magnificent temple of Diana. And therefore with these things you can imagine, I trust, that Christianity wasn't very popular in Ephesus. Well, in his letter to the Christian church in Ephesus, in the first three chapters, Paul reminds the church of who she is. He speaks of her calling from before the foundation of the world and he speaks of her salvation by grace through faith and that he has been called to preach this good news, to teach them about it. And then in chapters 4 through 6, Paul exhorts the church with regard to her conduct, what is expected of and from believers because of their blessed privilege of being called children of God. because of the privilege of being a united people of God. And then with the words of this text, which I believe serve as somewhat of a bridge between these two sections of chapters, with the words of this text, Paul gives the church confidence of who she is and why she is who she is, which is also foundational for her practice in life. Notice verse 3, right before the text. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. Now notice Paul doesn't instruct the church to get united. Go out and do that. He doesn't say that. Or be united. He says keep what you have. By her very nature. Because of what she is and whose she is, the church is united. He says don't break that unity. This is important instruction to stick together and to do so because of the one who is the cause or foundation of her unity and that is the triune God. And in verse 2, he outlines how the church is to keep and even strengthen that unity. Be completely humble and gentle. Be patient, bearing with one another in love. That is how we as believers are to live together in this place and as well to live together with believers all over the place. We, the church, are who we are and what we are because of the work of God the Holy Spirit. But then the Holy Spirit would not have come if not for God the Son and His work. And then God the Son would not have come if it were not true that God the Father so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And notice, as someone has said, Paul begins right where we are at. and with the work of the Holy Spirit. First of all, the church is united in calling. Verse 4, there is one body and one spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called. God's people are called together as one body. Now that's the most wonderful analogy, and Paul uses it from time to time. He used it already in chapter 3, verse 6. This mystery is that through the Gospel, the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, And share us together in the promise in Christ Jesus. As well as we read that wonderful portion of Scripture in 1 Corinthians chapter 12. Again, where Paul likens the church of Christ, the body of Christ. Likens it to the physical body. Showing how everything fits together and works together. The church is the body of Christ. And He is the head. And that body is multivariate. Not only is she gathered from beginning to end of time as we know it, and from every nation throughout the ends of the earth, but this body is composed of many different parts that have many different functions. Just as the arms and the legs and the eyes and the ears and the mouth are all essential for the operation of the physical body. The church, the body of Christ, is composed of different members with different functions. God has given different gifts, including spiritual gifts, to His people. And in Romans 12, Paul speaks of this body and the different gifts of the different members. Prophesying, teaching, encouraging, contributing to the needs of others, leadership, and showing mercy. Yet, beloved, Paul's point with all of this body talk is that although there is a variety within the body and some have more glamorous positions than others. The feet walk in the dirt. Yet all are equal in Christ Jesus. Even in the body of His church, some may have a more visible role. Some a less visible role. The task of some may seem more glamorous than the task of others, but all are equal in Christ Jesus. The parts of the body are indeed all parts. Not one part is the whole. But they are all parts that make up the one body. And the parts are not independent. All are essential. All are interdependent. Not one part is unimportant. And all have the same goal. When one suffers, the whole body suffers. Think about the last time you stubbed your big toe. It wasn't just your toe that hurt, I'm sure. Your whole body suffered. Christians are to be united, beloved. Not in part, but completely. body and soul. Believers share the one and same inheritance and therefore, even in this life, we are to demonstrate that we are one. That means, at least in part, especially for us as a family of God, in this particular location, that means that all of the things in this life that may distinguish us from one another are left at the door of the church building. They have no place in here. Indeed, the elders are to oversee and care for the spiritual life of the flock with the authority of Christ which they have been given. And we as believers, as the flock, must submit to their admonition and correction and their authority. But as believers, we are not to lord anything over each other because not one of us as believers holds a higher status than anyone else as a believer. And in all of life. The members of Christ's church are to work for the benefit of God's kingdom and for the benefit of each other. And as each member does their part, the body grows. That's natural, isn't it? The physical body grows, it matures, it changes throughout life. Paul points to this in verses 15 and 16 of chapter 4 of Ephesians. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Him who is the head, that is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. Yet the sad truth is that at times we as individual believers seem more united with the world than with each other. Sometimes believers reflect animosity and dislike and maybe even hatred towards one another, which separates. When And we are called to be separate, not from each other, but from the world. The sad part, maybe even a sadder part, is that even when we are separated from one another as believers because of discord and rivalry, we claim to still be one with God. How can that be? That's the height of hypocrisy. And now, some of you may be thinking, as I struggled with, what about this business with different denominations and federations? And it's true that throughout history, especially the history that most of us are familiar with, the history of Reformed churches, there has been much hurt and seemingly much hatred as divisions have taken place, as many of us have experienced. But we need to understand that Paul is talking here about the universal church of Jesus Christ gathered together from the beginning to the end of time, again from every corner of the earth. And I don't believe for a moment that having different denominations or federations is sinful. The cause of them may be sinful. But in and of themselves, denominations or federations are not sinful. There may be issues, biblical issues that divide us and therefore there is more unity within the body by separating in order to keep the bond of peace in Christ that this side can go off and worship in peace and this side can put an end to the arguing and bickering. But the question then is, how do we treat and speak of our brothers and sisters for us, for example, who are not in the United Reformed Churches? First of all, beloved, we must remember that we are not better than true Christians outside of the URC. We are not better than anyone else. Now we do believe, and I say this carefully, we do believe that we have the most accurate interpretation of Scripture. As one of the conference speakers said at the banner conference this past week, He said it so beautifully that we have the cream of reformed reflection. If you don't believe that, then you're in the wrong place. If you don't believe that we have the most accurate interpretation of Scripture, then you are here for the wrong reason, whatever that reason may be. And beloved, we must hold true, be true, and hold fast to that which we believe. We must hold fast to that faith which God has given to us. We are not to be filled with pride and with a sense of elitism, but humility. Lord, why me? Lord, why us? Why the blessings of Your grace that we enjoy? And our responsibility with regard to all of God's people, we are to pray for the church of Jesus Christ and all who call upon His name alone for salvation. We must pray that where we are ignorant in what we believe Scripture says, that God would correct us. And also that is to be our prayer for all of our fellow believers. We are called to pray on behalf of the entire church of Jesus Christ, all who call upon the name of the Lord, that the church would be built up in the most holy faith. That she would stand strong. That God would continue to gather her together to complete her. That she would stand firm as a bright light shining forth in a dark world. Yet along with all of the saints of all ages who are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, for the sake of Christ alone, the only code of honor that we are to subscribe to, whether at home, at work, at play, in school, in church, the only code of honor that we are to subscribe to is that which honors Christ. Beloved, the church of Christ is one body. You can't change that. I can't change that. And we shouldn't want to change that. We are to rejoice in that because if you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have been called to be united with, to be a part of that body. But then the body is nothing without life, right? The body is united because of the One who gives it life and that is the one Spirit which Paul speaks of. Paul is speaking here about the Holy Spirit of God, the third person of the Blessed Trinity. He indwells the church, having been sent by the Son of God. The Holy Spirit operates in the church, in the production of the church. He calls her together. He operates in the maintenance of the church, in the well-being of the church, in the very life of the church. Plain and simple, the Holy Spirit gives life to the church. The evidence of this was seen on Pentecost and the lives of Christ's followers and in the rapid growth of the church at that time. And we see that evidence today as God's people grow in faith, hope, and love through the preaching of the Word and through the faithful administration and use of the sacraments. We see it as young people come to stand before God and His people to profess their faith. Lord willing, we'll have that privilege again tonight. We see that as the children of the covenant. Come to understand what their baptism means. And they claim the promise of God as their very own. We see that as God brings into His church those who were not born and raised in the faith in any way, shape, or form, but by His grace, the Word of God has reached their ears and has been planted in their heart by the Holy Spirit. And they are grafted into the family of God. And the Holy Spirit not only gives life to the church, But he maintains that new life by making his home. Not only in the hearts and lives of individual believers, but also in the church as a whole. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 16, there Paul says, Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? Paul is talking about the church. The Holy Spirit gives the same new life to all believers, no matter what status you may be. What position in this life you may hold. All enjoy the same sanctification of the Spirit. All believers can only bear the same fruit of the Spirit. Maybe differently at different times, but the same fruit. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, self-control, and the other things. And how does the Holy Spirit lead Christ's church? He leads her, beloved, with the knowledge of and toward the one hope they were called to. The united calling that God's people received, which Paul speaks of in verse 1, to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. That united calling is the call of salvation in Jesus Christ. All believers have a common hope. Indeed, you and I may have different hopes and dreams and aspirations in this life, but all believers have a common hope, a living hope, as Peter says. with regard to our future with God. This is the hope of salvation in Jesus Christ which unites the church together. The call of the Gospel unites those who believe. And the Holy Spirit brings the treasure of this hope of salvation to the united body of Christ. But even more than that, more than just bringing that treasure, the Holy Spirit Himself is the down payment. The guarantee of this hope. The Holy Spirit who gives you and me the gift of faith and makes that faith alive is the first installment of that living hope, a promise, a guarantee that the entirety of it, the complete fulfillment of it will be ours. The Spirit's work is preparation for something else yet to take place. He is preparing the body for that great day yet to come. The Holy Spirit of God draws the body of Christ together from various backgrounds and from various life situations. But each and every one of God's people is headed toward the same hope. I believe Paul says it best in 2 Timothy 4 when he says, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day. And not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing. Beloved, as we've said before, the preacher and you and I as believers can only preach the Word and share the Gospel message to give the outer call, hopefully to reach one's ears. The Holy Spirit takes that outward call and makes it inward, makes it effective, effectually calls God's people together. The Holy Spirit unites the church. And then He makes the church's identity real. In the second place, the church is united in identification. Verse 5 says, One Lord, one faith, one baptism. Again, the church is united in calling as a body, called together by the Holy Spirit with one hope. But her identification comes from one Lord, one faith, one baptism. Jesus said in John 16, He said that when the Spirit would come upon the church, the Spirit would glorify the Son. The Spirit leads us to Christ who gives us our identity, His identity. He is the head of His body, the church. He gives the church life through His Spirit. Just as the branch draws life giving sap from the vine and therefore lives in the same way the life of Christ flows through His church, through individual believers, and we too live. He is one Lord. That means He does not share His glory with another. But also He is the church's one and only Lord. He redeemed the church. Boys and girls, Jesus purchased the church. Paul says in both 1 Corinthians 6 and 7, he uses this phrase, You were bought at a price, purchased. The price being the blood of Christ. He gave Himself for you and me. He owns us, loves us, cares for us, protects us. And our response, as one commentator says, we recognize His sovereignty, own Him as our deliverer and ruler, trust, obey, love and worship Him. Beloved, Christ alone is the authority to whom we are to submit. And the Catechism rightly teaches us that our only hope was in one who was both true and righteous man and at the same time true God. Our only hope in one such as this. Only He could pay the penalty for our sins. Only He could live in perfect righteousness in our place so that once again we could be accepted into God's favor And this Jesus, the Christ, is the only one. None other. Not Diana. Not the emperor. Not the government. Not you or me ourselves. Not anything anyone might try to set up as their own Savior. In John 21, verse 7, an episode that takes place after the resurrection. You may recall that as the disciples were fishing and they had caught nothing all night. Jesus is on the shore and He says, your nets on the other side and all of a sudden a bounty so full they had to drag the nets in the water to shore but but in that time john says to peter it is the lord the one and only lord and notice he is the one lord over all of his people the jewish christian or greek slave or free male or female homeless and down and out or wealthy and prosperous in the church triumphant or in the church militant all true believers whatever social class rank or position call upon the one and the same Lord, the one who is the head of His body, the church. All believers are one in Christ, as Paul says in Galatians 3, verse 28. And the church is united in identity with one faith in this one Lord. Now some ask if this is talking about objective faith, which means the very substance and truth believed by Christians, the doctrines of the faith which we confess, or as this subjective faith, which means the act or the exercise of believing by all Christians. And I believe that includes an element of both. What is believed and the act of believing it. All believers must confess the same thing about Jesus Christ. But ultimately, I agree with those who say that this is to be understood as what we would call justifying grace. We are justified by grace through faith. Paul says in Romans 1, verses 16 and 17, I am not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes, first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the Gospel, a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written, the righteous will live by faith. This one faith, this justifying faith, is that instrument that receives all of the benefits, It's all of the merits earned by Christ. We are saved by grace through faith. This is that faith that connects us with our Lord, makes us one with Him, through which He applies to us all of the merits of salvation, making Christians acceptable, right, and reconciled with God and through which we know Him as our Father. This one faith is that faith in the one Lord and His work alone as the only way of salvation. But again, that unity and that identity is broken when we try to bring in something of ourselves as necessary for salvation. Or when we deny the absolute centrality and necessity of Christ and His work. Or whatever we may try to add to our salvation. This one faith is common to all true believers. And this faith is only in the one Lord who unites the church together with His identity and that united identity of one faith in the one Lord is sealed by one baptism. Again, is this talking about physical baptism or spirit baptism or both or what? And unfortunately, we don't have the time to analyze the pros and cons of each and I don't believe that these are necessarily mutually exclusive. We know that this is talking about that baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit which Christ commanded. But I take sides with those who say this is talking about that of which baptism is a sign and seal which the Holy Spirit of God applies to you and me and draws us together, identifies us through that. Baptism is a sign of the washing away of our sins by the blood of Christ. It is a sign of the washing of regeneration and new life in Him. Baptism is a sign of being put into the realm, the sphere, and influence of Christ Jesus. And it is a seal, a promise or guarantee that for those who truly confess and repent of their sins, their sins are removed as far as the east is from the west. God remembers them no more. The sacrament of baptism is a sign and seal of God coming to us once again and sealing our fellowship with Him for the sake of Jesus' blood and righteousness. Galatians 3, verse 27 says, For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. Well, finally then, those united in calling as a living body through the Spirit's power and those united in identification with Christ and faith in Him, in other words, the church, is also united under one sovereign. Verse 6, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. And beloved, this brings our attention back to the one who called his church from before the foundation of the earth. As Paul says in verses 3 and 4 of chapter 1, Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. You see, the work of the Son and the work of the Holy Spirit is to bring us to the Father. And this Father, this very One, is sovereign. Boys and girls, very simply that means that He is over all things, over the entire universe, over all people, over all other powers. There is no power greater than God. Nothing. And no one can challenge Him and win. His law is supreme. Everything and everyone must answer to Him. And this sovereign one, this sovereign one, is our Heavenly Father. Now when Paul says that He is one God and Father of all, he is not saying that God is the Father of absolutely all of mankind, every man, woman, and child who has lived, lives today, or will live, but He is the Father of all who believe by God's grace. And as the Sovereign Father, God determines all that happens to us and for us, and that means that we enjoy this unity that we have been talking about, because God the Father determined that we should be united to our Lord and to one another. In this epistle, Paul speaks of God's household and of the Father's whole family in heaven and on earth. God the Father unites His children to Himself. And Paul demonstrates the Father's sovereignty over his children by means of a three-fold relationship. The text says He is over all and through all and in all. Now again, we do not have the time to do full justice to this. Not even a little bit, but just a comment. Our Heavenly Father, beloved, is over all by means of His transcendent power by which He controls all things and protects His people so that our comfort is that even as He cares for the tiny sparrow, we may confidently trust that He cares for us. He is through all by means of His nearness to us for Jesus' sake. The psalmist says in Psalm 145, verse 18, The Lord is near to all who call upon Him. To all who call upon Him in truth, He is as near as your prayer. And He is in all by means of His Holy Spirit who dwells within His people by whom our Heavenly Father draws His people close to His heart. Beloved, this God is sovereign. He is the one who has created all things. He is the one who preserves all that He has made. He is the one to whom nature bows. All nature bows before His very voice. He is the one before whom even the demons tremble. He knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows our words before we say them. He will have the last word. Now meditate on this for a bit today. This sovereign one is our Father. And that's why Paul can confidently write in Romans chapter 8 that nothing, no created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The family of God is a family in which all, except the only begotten Son of God, all others are adopted. That beautiful designation, that beautiful concept of adoption. Yet this family is one, united with each other and with the triune God through the work of the triune God. And therefore, we must consider this morning how do you fit in this united body are you humbled to be a part of this body of christ are you a good fit in this body or are you one who who tries to break up that unity the emperor and diana and other false gods only serve to cause division to tear away god's people from the only God. And the believer's true treasure does not consist of anything deposited in the safe, but that true treasure, that hope, that inheritance, is stored in heaven where moth and rust do not consume, where thieves do not break in and steal. And the end and object of salvation is to unite this body with God forever in His house that together we may glorify Him and enjoy Him forever. He, beloved, not Diana. He is the author and nourisher of true life. Brothers and sisters, those who are not with Christ are against Him and will be cast away forever. But those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are one with Him and one with all those who call upon the name of the Lord alone for salvation. And may we be encouraged together as we celebrate one faith, one hope, one Lord. May we pray for in this place. May we pray for and encourage each other. May we build each other up and not tear each other down. May we seek and pray for the building up and God's blessing upon the church as a whole. That the church of Christ, as she is being prepared as a bride for her bridegroom, that indeed she might be strengthened. That our brothers and sisters in Christ might continue as we pray for ourselves to be prepared for that great day of God's salvation. That the church of Jesus Christ might stand as a bright light, a beacon throughout the world before the presence of a dark world. And that congregation, that this church may include you and me. Amen. Shall we pray? Father, indeed, we are humbled once again as we consider what You have done. As we consider the fact that You owed us nothing. We deserve to be cast away forever. But You have called a church for Yourself. You continue to gather together that church to bring Your elect into the walls of Your church. throughout history and that includes us as believers. And Father, we are humbled that you should look upon us with your favor, that we should be made an everlasting part of that body, never to be separated, never to be torn away from you because even as our Lord says, of all that the Father has given me, I lose none. Father, we pray that in the joy of this truth, we as believers would be spurned on to greater service for you. That indeed our hearts might be altars of sacrifice and praise to you more every day. That we would desire to be obedient. That we would be led by your Holy Spirit to be more faithful to your word, to your law. Prepare us, O Lord, for that day when Jesus Christ comes again to greet his bride, to take her to the Father, And present her without spot, without wrinkle, holy and blameless before your throne of grace. Hear our prayer, O Lord, for Jesus' sake and in his name. Amen.