Our Great High Priest

seated. Well, good morning. Again, it is warm. I see the fans and the bulletins flapping.

Just so you can know, there are fan zones. If you are not in a fan zone and you are feeling like you

are dying, go ahead and get up now and move to a fan zone so that you can feel the breeze and stay

awake and stay alert for the next few minutes. If you need to get up and take a glass of water or

the water fountain out by the bathroom in the back, please feel free to do that in the middle

of my sermon. I promise I won't be offended. And please know that as well, there's downstairs,

I think, is still a little cooler. Alex, is that right? Yes? A little bit. Not a lot, but a little

bit. So if you just need a different space to get up, you may go downstairs and there's speakers down

there and you'll be able to hear the sermon well from there. So in the next little while, we want

you to be as comfortable as possible so that you can listen to God's Word. Because this is,

as we gather, the central thing in many ways about what we do is to listen to what God has

to say to us. So let me encourage you to take those steps as we get started this morning.

We are in a series in the book of Exodus. And if you would like to turn there, you may turn there

with me. Page 68 is in the Pew Bibles. As you're turning there, I want to ask you a question.

If you could walk into God's throne room, what would be your default understanding of God?

We often, I think, fall into one of two camps. And for those kids in the room, I'm going to teach you

two really big words right now. The first one, the first camp is that we focus on God's transcendence.

What does transcendence mean? My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty. It means that God is high

and exalted and beyond us in His greatness and in His glory. He's untouchable and unreachable. That's

transcendence. And often I think we focus on this, His majesty and His power, His sovereignty and His

creator role that is other than the creation in which we live. His holiness, His moral purity and His

judgment make a transcendent God unapproachable and terrifying. But some of us perhaps think of God by

focusing on His imminence. Imminence means that He is close by or approachable or near to us.

We focus on the fact that God has made Himself known, that God is with us. You know the old

Bible song, Jesus is a friend, is a friend next to you. Jesus is a friend, is a friend. La la. Nope.

Okay. I just dated myself, didn't I? So if you haven't heard that one, you need to sign up for a

vacation Bible school or go off to Christian camp somewhere so you can pick it up. This sense that

Jesus, that God is familiar to us, that He is close to us, that He is a friend and that in doing so,

and that God in His mercy and grace is approachable and accepting.

And I think the reality is that most of us have a default of one or the other.

If I looked at our broad church culture, generally I think we lean towards the second.

God is very familiar and approachable to us, and we lack a valuing of His holiness.

But for each of us, because of your own story, because of your own background, both in church

and in your own family, you may be on either side of this spectrum.

But I want you to think about it because as you consider this, our default view of how God is

then affects how we think we can or cannot approach Him, and how we worship Him, and how we serve Him.

And we tend towards one or the other, and yet what we see in the Bible and what we have seen already

in the book of Exodus is that the Bible affirms both. God is both a transcendent, high, exalted,

holy God, and a God who has come down to be with His people, to be known, and to know, and to be amongst them.

We've seen it. His transcendence is shown in things like His power in the ten plagues when He judged Egypt

and showed His great judgment against sin and His great power over the created order.

How He traveled with His people in a pillar of smoke and fire that was terrifying and unapproachable.

How when Moses went up to the top of the mountain, the glory descended, and it was like lightning and thunder

and a storm beyond, and the people shrank back in fear and said,

we can't go up there. Moses, you go for us.

Moses. And yet, this same story of Exodus has also had God meeting with Moses at the burning bush.

We've seen God meeting with Moses on the mountain face to face.

And we've seen back in chapter 19 the incredible promise that God will take this people

and having delivered them from Egypt, make them His people.

And He will be their God and He will dwell in their midst.

This high and exalted, transcendent God will actually live among the people of God.

And as we've been just recently talking about, if you were here last week,

in chapters 25 through 31, we have the picture of the tabernacle,

which is this portable worship center, basically, for God's people to worship Him.

And the very picture that Nick painted of this is that this tabernacle had the amazing good news

that God would actually, His glory would come and dwell in the midst of His people.

And yet, that dwelling had curtains and layers and all these barriers

because a holy God cannot be casually addressed, cannot be casually walked up into.

Why is this?

Try to make it through.

Because God is a holy God.

The Bible describes Him as being an unapproachable light

or having a purity that is white as snow,

having the purity of a clean water.

And when in our sinfulness,

in our imperfection, both morally and personally,

we try to interact with this purity,

all we do is besmirch such holiness.

We soil His purity.

We ruin His perfection.

And so, sin is this defilement of a holy God.

It is incompatible with God.

And it results in judgment.

Like approaching a fire too closely,

you get burned.

So, in our sinfulness,

as we approach the fire of God's holiness,

we find that judgment is the appropriate response

for our imperfection.

And so, this then leaves us with a great dilemma, doesn't it?

And this is what God is answering

in this section on the tabernacle

and indeed in this greater story in Exodus

of God calling His people to be His people

is how is it that God,

the Holy Transcendent One,

can have communion or fellowship

or be with a sinful people like us?

How is it possible

that we could approach God

and that He could dwell in our midst?

And this brings us to our text this morning.

Chapters 28 and 29.

Again, Nick mentioned last…

or Nick preached last week

on the tabernacle,

the building in which all of this happened.

But what we see is that

in the midst of the building,

God has provided something else

for us to understand.

No, I'm good, thanks.

God has given us something else

so that we can understand

how it is that His people

may interact with Him,

a holy God,

and that is the priesthood.

God has provided one

to stand in the gap

between a holy God

and sinful people

to be a priesthood for us.

So we're going to look at

the nature of the priesthood today.

We're going to look at

what these two chapters

tell us about it

and we're going to think about

what it means for us.

So if you want to follow along with me,

I'm going to read three sections.

I'm not going to read

the whole two chapters.

I promise, good heavens,

we'd be here till noon.

We're going to read two sections,

the beginning of chapter 28,

the beginning of chapter 29,

and the very end of chapter 29,

just so you can get the shape

of what it is.

Broadly, chapter 28

is about the garments

that the priest would wear

and chapter 29

is about the process

of the consecration

or the setting apart

of Aaron and his sons

to actually be the priesthood.

So broadly,

that's what these two chapters

are about.

Let me read

and then we'll pray

and then we'll dive in

and see what this has to teach us.

So Exodus 28, chapter 1.

Then bring near to you

Aaron, your brother,

and his sons with him

from among the people of Israel

to serve me as priests,

Aaron and Aaron's sons,

Nadab and Abihu,

Eleazar and Ithamar.

And you shall make holy garments

for Aaron, your brother,

for glory and for beauty.

You shall speak

to all the skillful

whom I have filled

with a spirit of skill

that they make Aaron's garment

to consecrate him

for my priesthood.

These are the garments

that they shall make,

a breast piece,

an ephod,

a robe,

a coat of checker work,

a turban,

and a sash.

They shall make holy garments

for Aaron, your brother,

and his sons

to serve me as priests.

They shall receive gold,

blue and purple

and scarlet yarns

and fine twisted linen.

And flip with me

to the beginning of chapter 29

and the consecration.

Now this is what you shall do

to them,

to consecrate them,

that they may serve me

as priests.

Take one bull of the herd

and two rams

without blemish,

an unleavened bread,

unleavened cake

mixed with oil

and unleavened wafers

smeared with oil.

You shall make them

of fine wheat flour.

You shall put them

in one basket

and bring them

in the basket

and you shall bring

the bull and the two rams.

You shall bring Aaron

and his sons

to the entrance

of the tent of meeting

and wash them with water.

Then you shall take

the garments

and put on Aaron

the coat and the robe

and the ephod

and the ephod

and the breast piece

and gird him

with the skillfully woven

band of the ephod.

And you shall set

the turban on his head

and you put the holy crown

on the turban.

You shall take

the anointing oil

and pour it on his head

and anoint him.

Then you shall bring

his sons

and put coats on them

and you shall gird Aaron

and his sons

with sashes

and bind caps on them.

And the priesthood

shall be theirs

by a statute forever.

Thus you shall ordain

Aaron and his sons.

And then flip to me

to the very end.

God restates his purpose

in doing all this.

Starting in verse 44

of chapter 29.

I will consecrate

the tent of meeting

and the altar.

Aaron also

and his sons

I will consecrate

to serve me as priests.

I will dwell

among the people of Israel

and will be their God

and they shall know

that I am the Lord

their God

who brought them

out of the land of Egypt

that I might dwell

among them.

I am the Lord

their God.

Please pray with me.

Lord as we look

into your word

this morning

we pray you help us

on this hot day

to listen well

to your word

and to learn of you.

Lord I pray

for your help.

Lord that your word

might be clear

and that together

we might marvel

in the greatness

of not only

your holiness

but also

of the grace

that you have shown

giving us means

that we might

have fellowship

with you.

We pray this

in Jesus name.

Amen.

Amen.

What do we learn?

As we're looking

at this

I just want to point out

to you that in the bulletin

if you haven't looked

through it yet

there is this lovely picture

for those of you

who have

reading glasses

I'm sorry

the type

is really small

it's what we could get

so

I apologize

for that not being

as useful

but what this does

is it gives you

a picture

of everything

that's talked about

in chapter 28

and I just want

to point it out now

because I'm not going

to be reading

through the sections

but I'm going

to be referring

to verses

and aspects

of the priestly garments

as part of

what I want to do

is look at the nature

of the priesthood

both in terms

of its garments

and in terms

of its

their consecration

so that we can learn

a little bit

about what it means

for these priests

to play a mediating role

between a holy God

and a sinful man

how is it that they

take up this role

and how is it that

they are a blessing

to God's people

so let's look at that

there are four things

I want to point out

this morning

about the priesthood

the first thing

I want you to see

and you see this

in verses

1 through 4

of chapter 28

is that

the priesthood

was God's plan

remember Moses

has gone back up

onto the mountain

and God is now

giving him further

instruction

on how they are

to live as God's people

and he's instructed them

on this building

they're supposed to make

this movable tent

and then in verse 28

he just launches

into it

remember that the priesthood

is not man's idea

it was not Moses

thinking hey

I think there's a problem

here God

and I've got a solution

God was the one

who set aside

Aaron and his sons

and here's a remarkable thing

Moses

after the tabernacle

was put together

and consecrated

Moses couldn't go in

that wasn't his place anymore

Moses was actually

he had a different role

to meet with God

at the tent of meeting

but he couldn't go in

to the holy of holies

his job was not

as a priest

in the same way

it's a fascinating

recognition

that when God

ordained this

he actually brought

Aaron in

and his tribe

to take this place

and to play this role

and what you see

look at verse 41

of chapter 28

nope

yep

verse 41

of chapter 28

and you shall put

them on Aaron

your brother

and on his sons

and you shall

anoint them

and ordain them

and consecrate them

anoint them

means that they are

marked with God

but with oil

and for a special role

to ordain them

is to commission them

to a particular

place of service

and to consecrate them

is to set them apart

these priests

now have a role

that is distinct

from all the other

peoples

within God's

within God's people

they have now

a special

a special role

that God has

called them to

to be fully devoted

to this service

of the Lord

and to serve

in the temple

and it's a remarkable

thing that God

has said

now I want

this chunk

of you

to be set apart

for just this

and nothing else

and we see that

as it plays out

the Levites

don't have a land

because they serve

in the temple

and they have cities

and they're provided

for by the other tribes

and there are all sorts

of ways in which

God has allowed them

and set them apart

to have a focus

on this one role

and then on top of that

look at 28

verse 36

for a minute

as God is instructing

them of the turban

there is a crown

there

and that crown

has emblazoned on it

holy to the Lord

is that what it says

in the ESV

holy to the Lord

which means

that the priest

himself

is being set apart

again holiness

really means set apart

it has a moral component

because God

in his moral perfection

is set apart

from us

but it's a broader

concept

to simply be set apart

for God

and the priest

the high priest here

Aaron is set apart

and when he puts

that thing on

he is set apart

for God

to play this role

and to do nothing else

but to play that role

friends

what good news it is

that God

has ordained

this role

and this thing

that he has created

this priesthood

that he has graciously

seen the problem

that we have

of a sinful people

approaching a holy God

and he has set apart

people to play

a role of mediation

between us

we should know

that we cannot

approach God

casually

or on our own

we ought to be

reinforced

in our understanding

that we may not

choose God

simply on our own

but that God

calls

and God

invites

and God

draws

and God

makes us

his people

and what good news

that is

not only

is the priesthood

then set apart

by God

but the priesthood

is characterized

by beauty

and glory

you see this

in chapter 28

verse 2

which I read

earlier

and again

in chapter 28

verse 40

you shall make them

for glory

and for beauty

now when we

unpack this

we see all sorts

of things

the colors

purple

gold

blue

are the colors

of the tabernacle

these are colors

of royalty

and colors

of richness

and both the tabernacle

and the priestly garments

are meant to reflect

the richness

and the beauty

of God himself

precious metals

are used

over and over again

in the making

of this garment

for them

gold in particular

is throughout

precious stones

are put

on the breastplate

we see

that God

uses

God

takes

the most precious

things

that the Israelites

have

to clothe

the priest

to clothe

the one

who will be

this representative

because it is

fitting

for one

who approaches

a holy God

to have clothing

that reflects

his beauty

and his glory

and his majesty

and interestingly

too

even something

as mundane

as the undergarments

okay

I don't know

if you picked this

we didn't read this

so in verses 42

and following

of chapter 28

it talks about

the undergarments

of the priest

which is a little awkward

but here's

here's the amazing

thing about it

in all of the nations

around

in Canaanite ritual

one of the major

ways in which

gods were worshipped

in the cultures

had to do

with sex

there was temple

prostitution

you would go in

those who served

in the temple

would be available

so that the worshipper

could come

and by having sex

with them

would actually

then

claim

some sort of right

or at least

make a case

for God

to respond

to them

in a particular way

and friends

it's so

far

from what we do

here at church

that it's

it's sort of

unthinkable

but recognize

how radical

it was

because the God

of the Bible

says

no that is not

what that is for

and that is not

what it means

to worship me

and so I will

clothe my priest

with undergarments

so that

it is clear

to all

that this is not

a part of worshipping

me

you worship me

in spirit and truth

you worship me

through the offering

of sacrifices

and the washing

of your hands

you worship me

through the lighting

of candle

because all of these

have images

of light

and truth

and purity

that reflect

who I am

but not that

now in the old days

the church used to get

dressed up for church

used to wear

a coat and tie

some of you still do

praise the Lord

because there's a

right recognition

that in that culture

there was a sense of

I want to bring

my best to church

and there's a good

heart behind that

but on the other hand

what we do see

is that it's easy

for us to

just as in the old testament

to get caught up

in externalism

and to think

if I look good

on the outside

isn't that great

and what God

really wants

is for us

to clothe ourselves

in beauty

and glory

not with our

external

merely

thankfully we have

great freedom

in this church

and may it go on

forever

you can wear

what you have

to come to church

but what God

really wants

is for us

to worship Him

in the splendor

of holiness

Psalm 96

says this

ascribe to the Lord

the glory

due to His name

bring an offering

and come into His courts

worship the Lord

in the splendor

of holiness

tremble before Him

all the earth

say among the nations

the Lord reigns

worship the Lord

in the splendor

of holiness

is not His holiness

it's ours

we are to bring

the splendor

of who He is

and what He's done

in us

and for us

to bear

and we are to bring

a goodness

a character

an internal

reality

that our life

is set apart

for God

and that is a beautiful

God that we serve

so God has ordained

the priests

and God has made them

beautiful

and full of glory

to reflect Him

and to rightly

approach Him

the third thing

we see is that

the priest represents

the people

and turn with me

to chapter 28

verse 9

in the middle

of the ephod

which is this tunic

or piece of clothing

that they wear

there are clasps

on the top

and on those clasps

there are onyx stones

onyx is a black

gemstone

and on those stones

then are written

in filigree of gold

the names of the tribes

of the people of Israel

and then on top of that

is put the breast piece

which some translations

have breast plate

which makes it feel

like a medieval

set of armor

it's not that

it's a piece of cloth

but on that piece of cloth

it has stones

twelve of them in fact

and on each stone

is written

again

the names

of the twelve tribes

of Israel

because

the priest stands

as he goes in

and serves

in the tabernacle

because he represents

the people of God

he stands

for

the people of God

just as Moses

did

in some way

on the mountain

as Moses went up

and the people said

no, no, no

we don't want to go

you go for us

so God

graciously accommodates

and recognizes this

and says

okay

I'm going to

there is a priesthood

that I have ordained

to represent you

before me

and they wear these clothes

so that they might do it

and friends

this is good news

that one might stand

for us

we often think

in our

individualism

and maybe

in our pride

and self-confidence

that we can approach

God on our own

and be okay

but I hope

that as we've reflected

a little bit

on God's holiness

this morning

we realize

it's a fearsome thing

and that there is a place

where it is a valuable thing

to have someone

mediate

or someone stand

between us

and those

who rule over us

and judge us

though God

is a good God

it does

remind me of

there's this great story

that I read

called

The Miracle

on the River Kwai

about a guy

named Ernest Gordon

who was a

prisoner

in Southeast Asia

in World War II

and how he

saw God

at work

in the midst

of the most

dismal

abominable

and cruel

circumstances

and one of the things

that happened

in those

in those camps

is that the officers

would often

stand in the place

of their men

when a man

would find himself

on the wrong side

of a guard's attention

where he'd done

something wrong

or maybe he hadn't

done anything wrong

and the guard

had started

to just abuse him

which was common

in this place

the officers

often would step in

and stand in the place

of their soldiers

to mediate

and sometimes

that just

simply relieved

the pressure

and the punishment

did not happen

and sometimes

the punishment

was turned

on the officer

friends

those soldiers

were glad

to have one

stand

in their place

now our God

is not a cruel

taskmaster

but he is a holy God

and for us

to have one

to stand

in our place

and to bear

our names

is a beautiful thing

so finally

God ordains them

God dresses them

in beauty

and glory

God calls them

to bear

the role

of a representative

and finally

we see

that this priesthood

must be

without sin

this is what

chapter 29

in some ways

is all about

as Aaron

and his sons

are set apart

there is a

recognition

that they

may not

approach

a holy God

on their own

righteousness

either

that they too

are sinful

that they too

must have

sacrifices

shed for them

in verses

10 through 25

of chapter 29

it's about

three sacrifices

a bull

for a sin offering

to atone

for their sin

the first

ram

offered

as a

burnt offering

to express

their devotion

to God

and then the

third one

a wave offering

or a food offering

to express

their communion

with God

having had

the covering

of the first

two sacrifices

already

and when you

look throughout

you see

the blood

of these sacrifices

is sprinkled

everywhere

it's on the

altars

it's on the

clothing of the

priests

it's on the

priests themselves

their ear

and their nose

and their toe

signifying everything

that they do

these priests

needed

a sacrifice

to cover

their sin

as well

so that they

might not die

and you see

this actually

mentioned twice

in verse 28

or in chapter 28

verse 35

you see

this made

clear

right

they're wearing

these bells

and the hem

of their robe

is a particular

thing

when he comes

out

so that

the very end

of the verse

is so that

he does not

die

and then again

on verse 43

and then when

Aaron and his

sons

when they go

into the tent

of meeting

or when they

come near the

altar to minister

in the holy

place

lest they

bear guilt

and die

so built

into this

whole picture

there's a

recognition

that it

is a

fearsome

thing

to approach

a holy

God

and as we'll

see in just

a few more

chapters

as Aaron

and the people

rebel against

God with the

incident of the

holy calf

God breaks

out against

them

and he even

says I

can't go

with you

anymore

because my

holiness is so

hot and your

sinfulness is so

great I will

merely destroy

you

this is the

assumption

that God

is so

holy

and yet

what we see

here is that

even these

priests

who are

ordained

and called

by God

to represent

the people

and to stand

between

sinful people

and a

holy God

as they do

their office

they too

must offer

up

sacrifices

so what do

we see

we see

that the

tension

of how

a sinful

people

may

approach

a holy

God

is relieved

God

has provided

a mediator

God

has provided

someone

to serve

in the

temple

and to

play this

role

so that

we don't

have to

be afraid

as the

people

of God

and as

the people

of Israel

of old

and yet

the tension

is also

ratcheted up

because we

see that

even the

priest

that was

provided

wasn't

enough

it wasn't

perfect

enough

it didn't

actually

resolve

the tension

because they

were men

just like

we

they were

human beings

in our

sinful

condition

just like

we are

and it

is

awesomely

good

that God

would choose

them to

play this

role

but it

is

awesomely

terrifying

because God

cannot tolerate

sin

because only

a sinless

one

could truly

represent

and bear

the sins

of another

friends

this is

the good

news

is that

this whole

priestly

system

as much

as it

graciously

provided a

way for

God's

people to

interact

with him

and for

a holy

God to

dwell in

their midst

it also

pointed

ahead

it expressed

an incompleteness

a lack

of total

resolution

of the

problem

and it

pointed

ahead

and so

the

saints

of the

Old

Testament

looked

ahead

longing

to see

how

God

would

do

this

how

it

is

that

the

priesthood

would

be

finally

fulfilled

how

it

is

that

their

sins

could

finally

be

atoned

for

how

it

is

that

they

could

finally

dwell

with

God

and

he

with

them

in

perfection

and friends

this leads

us to

the passage

that was

read

earlier

and I

want to

look at

it

again

we're

not

going to

spend

a lot

of

time

here

but

in

Hebrews

Hebrews 7:23–27

chapter

7

verses

23

through

27

let me

just

read

this

the

former

priests

were

many

in

number

because

they

were

prevented

by

death

from

continuing

in

office

but

he

that

is

Jesus

holds

his

priesthood

permanently

because

he

continues

forever

consequently

he

is

able

to

save

to

the

uttermost

those

who

draw

near

to

God

through

him

since

he

always

lives

to

make

intercession

for

them

now

listen

to

this

because

this

should

have

echoes

of

everything

we've

just

read

for

it

is

indeed

fitting

that

we

should

have

such

a

high

priest

holy

innocent

unstained

separate

from

sinners

and

exalted

above

the

heavens

he

has

no

need

like

those

high

priests

to

offer

sacrifices

daily

first

for

his

own

sins

and

then

for

those

of

the

people

since

he

did

this

once

for

all

when

he

offered

up

himself

for

the

law

appoints

men

in

their

weakness

as

high

priests

but

the

word

of

the

oath

which

came

later

than

the

law

appoints

a

son

who

has

been

made

perfect

forever

friends

do you

see

this

God

has

chosen

Jesus

and

anointed

him

and

consecrated

him

and

ordained

him

to

be

ultimately

our

high

priest

and

he

has

clothed

him

with

beauty

and

with

glory

that

is

unmatched

that

actually

reflects

the

fullness

of

the

glory

of

God

and

friends

Jesus

as

he

took

on

human

flesh

he

took

on

the

name

of

humanity

and

he

identified

with

us

so

that

he

might

bear

before

God

our

names

and

represent

us

completely

fully

as a

man

as a

human

being

and

finally

he

came

in

the

wonder

of

God's

plan

he

came

not only

as the

high

priest

who

needed

no

sacrifice

for

himself

but

he

came

as

the

sacrifice

as

well

he

as

the

high

priest

offered

up

himself

as

the

perfect

sacrifice

because

he

the

sinless

one

could

die

for

us

to

atone

for

our

sin

he

the

sinless

one

could

walk

into

the

holy

of

holies

and

not

die

and

not

be

burned

up

and

so

he

walks

into

the

heavenly

holy

of

holies

and

he

lays

his

own

blood

and

his

own

life

on

that

mercy

seat

to

cover

his

people

so

that

all

who

are

in

Christ

may

approach

God

and

friends

we've

read

this

and

we

have

to

keep

reading

it

because

it's

the

right

way

to

close

this

section

of

Ephesians

in

Hebrews

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

chapter

10

listen

to

what

the

benefit

of

Christ

as

our

high

priest

is

for

us

therefore

sisters

and

brothers

since

we

have

confidence

to

enter

the

holy

places

by

the

blood

of

Jesus

by

the

new

and

living

way

he

opened

for

us

through

the

curtain

that

is

through

his

flesh

and

since

we

have

a

great

priest

over

the

house

of

God

let

us

draw

near

with

a

true

heart

in

full

assurance

of

faith

with

our

hearts

sprinkled

clean

from

an

evil

conscience

in

our

bodies

washed

with

pure

water

let

us

hold

fast

the

confession

of

our

hope

without

wavering

for

he

who

promised

is

faithful

and

let

us

consider

how

to

stir

up

one

another

to

love

and

good

works

not

neglecting

to

meet

together

as

the

habit

of

son

but

encouraging

one

another

and

all

the

more

as

you

see

the

day

dawning

friends

because

of

Jesus

we

as

sinful

people

can

know

a

holy

God

and

in

fact

he

comes

and

he

says

I

will

dwell

not

amongst

my

people

but

in

my

people

as

his

Holy

Spirit

comes

into

the

heart

of

all

who

place

their

faith

in

Jesus

Christ

and

are