Worshipping the Holy God

How did you come to worship today? That's another way. What is your disposition towards God this morning? Are you coming expectantly? Are you coming with it with an all or are you just here because it's what you've always done on Sunday? Have you come to hear something from God because you believe God speaks? I believe how we come to worship says a lot about what we believe about God. How we posture ourselves, how we come to this worship service, how we come to Bible reading, how we come to prayer, how we come to the worship service. It says something about what we think of God. Have we come expecting to hear a word from God? Because if we haven't, my question is, do you trust God speaks? And if God speaks to you, it has nothing to do with the quality of the preacher or the sermon. It has nothing to do with the power of the Spirit. It's not the eloquence, it's the unction of the spirit that speaks to you. So I ask you, do you expect to hear God speak? Do you prepare yourself to hear God speak? Are you studying this text? Are you praying? God, this morning I need your word of comfort. God, this morning I need correction. Let me hear correction so that I can hear of grace and love it and appreciate it. Maybe it doesn't say your lack of expectancy says more about you. Do you think you need correction? Do you think you need to hear God's word? Let's go to the Lord in prayer and pray for him to speak this morning. Father. We praise you that you have given us your word, we praise you that you have sent your son who has revealed you perfectly. We praise you and thank you that you sent your spirit to indwell us. We thank you for the words of the spirit has inspired. We pray now may your spirit be with us to illuminate the words proclaimed. Illuminate your word revealed and teach us, teach us about you, teach us who you are and your holiness, help us to see your glory and your holiness more fully and clearly. Help us see our sin. And help us, Lord, to see that where our sin abounds, your grace abounds all the more. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen. This morning's sermon is about coming, how we come to worship. We're going to read about Israel's experience and well, there's a clear contrast, as Ron read earlier, in how they came to worship and how we come to worship. We're in Exodus 19. We're still at Sinai, and our message this morning is that we are called to worship God with joy in Christ. But first, we want to walk through and examine what God has revealed in Exodus 19, where they came to worship in fear under the law so that we can truly appreciate how we're called to worship with joy in Christ. We're at Sinai, and I want to back up. Because we need to realize, as Ron wanted to add in that first line from Haggai 2, we're looking within the covenant of God. There's one plan of salvation from God. God made a promise to Adam after Adam's sin, after Adam rebelled against God, God made a promise. I will bless you with a son and that son will crush the head of the serpent. The servant. What God is saying there, He's going to reverse this curse. He's going to give life to those who are dead. And then God called a man out named Abraham. And God said, I'm going to bless you with numerous sons. Well, this man didn't have a son. He thought he was beyond the age of bearing children. But really what God was focusing on was that among all those sons, there would be one son. And he would be the fulfillment of what he promised Adam. God promised Abraham that he would be a numerous people. And God sent Abraham's children into Egypt. There they were in an incubator. They grew into that numerous people that God had promised. God delivered them with his mighty right army. He pulled them and and carried them through the desert. And then here we are at Sinai. And the significance of Sinai is that these people become a nation. That's the real significance here. These people become a nation. God's one plan has a slight change in how these people will relate to God and function. They're going to not just be a people, they're a nation. And we see this in the law. The law is kind of like a bill of rights. Notice God, the king of the people, his rights are first and foremost. The first commandments are his protection, that he alone is worthy of worship, that you will have no other idols. You have no other gods before him. And then it's the Bill of Rights for all the other people. You're not going to murder others because they have a right to their life. They have a right to their property. You're not going to steal. They have a right to the truth. You're not going to lie. There's a nation being formed. God has taken his children, he's multiplied them, and now they've become a nation. A nation with a law. And it's one plan of salvation. Obeying this law is not a new plan of salvation. Salvation always comes by believing in God's promises. Salvation is by faith in God's promises. The reason I say it like that is this. Abraham believed God's promise would come true. Abraham had to look forward and say, you have promised something is going to happen, I'm going to look forward to that coming true. So Abraham's promises, the promise to Abraham was about looking forward. The promises we believe in, we get to look back. We look back and we see that the promise was fulfilled to Abraham because Jesus Christ came. He died on the cross. He removed and destroyed sin and death for those who believe in him. Salvation is always by faith. As we look at the promise to Abraham and we look at the law of Moses, Christ is the fulfillment of both. He is the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham because he is that son who was born. He's the fulfillment of the law because he alone obeyed it. If Israel was supposed to obey the law, if you continue reading, it really gets frustrating. No one would be saved if it was about obeying the law. Only Christ obeys the law. That's why Paul says every promise is a yes and an amen in Christ. Or, after Jesus was risen from the grave, he's walking on the Emmaus Road and he opens up all of scripture and says how all of it is pointing to him. The promises and the law. We can look at the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8. The point is all of the Old Testament is pointing to Christ, and we appreciate Christ and know of Christ more as we know more of the Old Testament. Now, let's focus in on Exodus 19. Last week, we read some of the rich declarations of God. These declarations are not made anywhere else in Scripture, many of them in the Old Testament, rather. He carried them on eagle's wings. He brought them to himself. You see the power and the care of God in those declarations. He says, you're my treasured people, my holy nation, my priestly kingdom. These are rich declarations of who he has called these people out to be. This morning, we're going to be looking at the worship now as God's going to come down on Mount Sinai. He's going to declare what he's going to do, and he's going to declare how they are to respond. I want you to listen for the different breaks. As I said last week, chapter 19 is really broken up into three different sections. Moses keeps going up and down the mountain. He got his exercise this day. God calls him up to say something. Calls him down to share it with the people. Calls him up to tell him something. Calls him down to share with the people. Calls him up. All right, make sure they're set apart. Sends him back down. And that's where our chapters are broken up. So that's verses 1 through 8 is the first track that was last week. The second trip up and down the mountain is verses 8 through 19. And the final one is verses 20 through 25. Listen for how in verse 9, God tells Moses how he's going to come. Verses 10 through 13 is God telling Moses how the people must come. Verse 9 is how God will come. Verses 10 through 13 is him telling how the people must come. And then Moses goes down and he retells with some new information for us in verses 14 and 15. And then verse 4, he comes down. Listen for these key words as I read our passage. Smoke, fire, thunder, and trumpets blessing. So some important concepts. Fear, trembling, limits. Fear, trembling, and limits. I'll begin in half of verse 8, chapter 19 of Exodus. And Moses reported the words of the people to the Lord. And the Lord said to Moses, Behold, I am coming to you in a thick cloud. that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever. When Moses told the words of the people to the Lord, the Lord said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their garments and be ready for the third day. From the third day, the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people, and you shall set limits for the people all around, saying, Take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain shall be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot. Whether beast or man, he shall not live. When the trumpet sounds a long blast, they shall come up to the mountain. So Moses went down from the mountain to the people and consecrated the people and they washed their garments. And he said to the people, be ready for the third day, do not go near a woman. Second, Shrek, verse 16, on the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled. When Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they then that Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God and they took their stand at the feet at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it and fire and smoke. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down on Mount Sinai to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, Go down, and one of the people, lest they break through to the Lord, to look, and many of them perish. Also, let the priests who come near to the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them. And Moses said to the Lord, The people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, Let's set limits around the mountain and consecrate it. And the Lord said to him, Go down and come up, bringing Aaron with you. But do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them. So Moses went down to the people and told them. So first, God tells Moses how he will come. He says, I will speak with you. One of the first things God establishes here in verse nine is that Moses is God's ambassador. Moses is God's prophet. Whenever he speaks, it's going to empower Moses. So the people will be looking to Moses. The people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe you forever. More so, he says, I am coming to you in a thick cloud. This isn't the first time we've seen a thick cloud. This isn't the first time God has used a cloud to reveal himself. This is how God delivered Israel out of Egypt. This is how God carried them through the wilderness. It was a fire by night. He represented himself. It was a cloud by day. It was a cloud that separated Israel from the army of Egypt to protect them. So a thick cloud is using a symbol he's already given and it's supposed to remind them God is with them. God is for them. God is their king and they are to worship him alone. The next thing we see, God tells Moses how the people must come. They are to be consecrated. Now, this correlates with the fact that he's already declared them to be a holy nation. To be holy is to be consecrated. They've already been declared his people. Now, after he has consecrated them, they are called to be consecrated, to be set apart by Moses. The first thing, they are to wash their garments. They've been in the wilderness for three months. There's been a lack of water. I assume there's been a lack of bathing. So, there's the possibility that they're not clean. They need refreshing. They need their clothes washed. I think there's something to this in that our physical appearance affects the way we come to God. I believe there is something to that and that's why I believe our posture in prayer is so important. How you posture yourself before God in prayer affects the way we pray. Now, I've heard some folks say this rule. When you come to worship, you should wear your best. It's kind of a rule I've heard a number of times, that when you come to worship, you should always wear your best. And I think this has some truth in it, because I do believe the way we approach God with our physical appearance and our physical way, it changes us spiritually. It affects us spiritually. My barber tells this every time I go visit him. I'm very thankful for that. It reminds me, wear your best. I think it is right to be thoughtful in the way you dress. Scripture is very clear. You should be modest. Here we can see they need washing, and I'm not sure if this should be interpreted in wear your best, but if this is the verse that would speak to it. Let me speak to the wearing your best, given that we're talking about how we come to God in our physical appearance. One, I'm a pretty casual person, so maybe this is just me justifying my own casual sin. But I have a conviction about the way you dress. And it's this, if we dress sharp, we look like we have it all together. And it concerns me, because if we're a church that's dressed in such a way that it looks like we have it all together, what does that say to a sinner who comes in and doesn't have all together and they look around and they just see people that look like they have it all together? They wouldn't feel like they belong, maybe. I'm sensitive to that person that might come in and think these people have it all together. This isn't for me. When in reality, I know that while we look great, we're a wreck. Spiritually, we're all sinners. And so it's a matter of how that outward expression of the way we dress, how would it communicate to others? More so, I actually have a greater concern than that. Our self-deceptive self-righteousness may actually lead us to think we have it all together. The way we appear affects the way we actually think about ourselves. So I just give a warning. I dressed up today, but I want to make sure I don't think I have it all together. I want you to know we don't have it all together. If you're a sinner coming here with us, you just joined a bunch of other sinners. The difference between us and you, if you're not a Christian, is that we've just believed in Christ who saves us. The real point here is that God is pure and we must come to worship him with purity. It's not our clothes that makes us holy, it's our hearts. Secondly, after washing their garments, he tells them when he's going to come. And this is something that's just really amazing throughout all of Exodus. If you look at all the plagues, he gives a warning for seven of them. He's always telling him what he's going to do and when he's going to do it. So there's a built in expectancy. This is what I'm going to do. This is what I'm going to do it. And it helps build the faith of the people. If God says he's going to do something, tells you exactly when he's going to do it, you start to realize he's consistent. He keeps his word. What God says he will do, he will do. It really sets a mood of expectancy. Third and really foremost here. Set limits. Let me read verses 12 through 14 again. And you shall set limits for the people all around saying, take care not to go up into the mountain or touch the edge of it. Whoever touches the mountain should be put to death. No hand shall touch him, but he shall be stoned or shot with a beast or man. He shall not live when the trumpet sound a long blast. They shall come up to the mountain. Here we hear there's a limit set, there's a boundary. The mountain is marked off. It's holy ground. They're under the threat of death. If they approach the mountain, if they set foot, they will die, beast or man. If you touch the mountain, you shall die. This mountain is declared holy space, just like the burning bush, because God has said this is where I'm going to place my presence. It's holy ground. There's nothing holy about the mountain in itself. It's the fact that God says, this is where I have come down to meet my people. What's interesting to think about Mount Sinai, it's the model for the tabernacle that we're going to go on and on in later chapters about in terms of the detail of the tabernacle, the worship center. That's why Exodus 19 is arguably the most important. It's already setting up the basic worship principles for Israel. Mount Sinai is the tabernacle. There's the holiest of holies. That's the one place at the top of the mountain where only Moses can go. There's the high place, which is a little lower than where Moses is, but it's still on the mountain. That's where Aaron can stand. And then there's the outer court. There's the place where all the other believers, they can't go into the most holy place. Tabernacle is built upon Sinai. This is already setting forth the basic principles for how they're going to worship. Most importantly, God has declared it holy, so they can't step foot on it. Next, Moses tells the people. And what's great here is they do all that God said. If you've been with us, this has been a stiff-necked people that has not done anything God said. God kept providing them bread, and he made one restriction. Don't go out on Sunday. I'm not going to provide any food on Sunday. They still go out on Sunday. They're a stiff-necked people. But here, it's pleasantly surprising that they do all that God said. There's an interesting added restriction in verse 15. Do not go near a woman. That wasn't said in the above section. Moses comes down and he says, do not go near a woman. So what does this mean? Why is this? Well, we can look at the New Testament. There's actually a parallel. In 1 Corinthians 7, Paul says that it's acceptable for spouses to agree to restrain themselves for a committed time. And it's interesting, if you look at that 1 Corinthians passage, all the modern commentaries talk about how this is an individual time of prayer that a husband or a wife or both, they set themselves aside for a personal time of devotion. All the early church commentators talk about how this was when the church would come together for all night prayer times. And it's obvious why you would not go near a woman if you're having an all night of prayer. And I think this is what is paralleling here. The fact that all the people are coming to God together to worship him as one nation. It could be that it's a fast of sorts to to to keep them focused on worshiping the Lord. But I think the fact that it's a it's a group, it's a it's a body coming together all as one to seek the Lord. And then finally, verses 16 through 19, God calms down. Let me read this again. On the morning of the third day, there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain, a very loud trumpet blast so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him in thunder. The Lord came down, wrapping the mountain in smoke, because He came down as a fire. As Hebrews declares, God is a consuming fire. This is a frightening scene. Imagine standing at the foot of the mountain. You can come up to the mountain, but you cannot step foot on it. And you see smoke wrapping itself around the mountain because a great fire has landed on the top. God is a consuming fire. It's supposed to bring some terror to us, some fear. But when God presents himself as fire, what he's actually presenting is that he's accepting your sacrifice. When men would sacrifice goats or lambs, they're presenting a sacrifice and God consumes it with a fire, he's saying, I've accepted this as a sacrifice. I believe what God is doing here is declaring that he is accepting their obedience and their commitment. He is coming down to consecrate them as his people. He got Moses, leads him to the mountain at the position of the foot and then fire and smoke and velvet. This must be terrifying. The mountain itself is trembling because the creator has just descended upon his creation. Let's look at our second track, verses 20 through 25. Let me read this again. And the Lord came down to Mount Sinai, to the top of the mountain, and the Lord called to Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up. And the Lord said to Moses, Go down and warn the people, lest they break through the Lord. Look, and many of them perish. Also, let the priests who come near the Lord consecrate themselves, lest the Lord break out against them." So God repeats this warning. Do not come near. If the priests are going to come up to the high place with Aaron, they must be consecrated. Listen to Moses' response in verse 23. Moses said to the Lord, the people cannot come up to Mount Sinai, for you yourself warned us, saying, set limits around the mountain and consecrate it. Well, God, you already told us that. We've done it. It's kind of a it's an interesting exchange. Moses has learned to speak to God. As a king, but in a friendly way, he's able to say, God, you've told us that we know we've we've set limits. We've done what you have said. I just find that response from Moses, who was so terrified in chapter three of Exodus. Now he's speaking to God openly and honestly. He's not afraid to speak to him. Verse 24, and the Lord said to him, go down. Come up again, bringing Aaron with you. Do not let the priests and the people break through to come up to the Lord, lest he break out against them." Again, the warning, be careful. Do not let them come up unless they have been properly consecrated. For the people to even come up to the mountain, they must be consecrated. Then God speaks the law. He gives the Ten Commandments. We'll be studying those throughout, well, 2013 for the first quarter. You can look forward to that, I am. But drop down to chapter 20, verse 18 and 20, how the people respond. It continues our theme. Now, when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountains smoking, the people were afraid and trembled and they stood far off and said to Moses, you speak to us and we will listen, but do not let God speak to us lest we Moses said to the people, do not fear for God has come to test you that the fear of him may be before you that you may not sin. The people stood far off while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. A great contrast. The people have to stand far off. Moses draws near. They're afraid. Moses says, do not fear. He's testing you. He's trying to keep you from the future sin that they are going to commit when they build a golden calf to worship because they're afraid, because Moses has been on the mountain too long with the God who is a consuming fire. So how can we define this worship experience for Israel? We're called to worship. They were called to worship God with fear under his wall. First thing we see is it's fearful. He's a consuming fire. There's darkness. There's all there's thunder and lightning. There's loud trumpets blasting. It's fearful. God is also distant. This is somewhat anticlimactic. God has been speaking to them as the firstborn. He calls them his firstborn. He loves them. He says, I've brought you near. There's a great tenderness and care. But then when it comes to this worship, God keeps them at arm's distance. He says you cannot come near. Only Moses can come all the way up into the presence of God. Stay back. This is important for us. Because as we realize and recognize the holiness of God and what kept Israel at the foot of the mountain, their sin, we can appreciate that we get to draw near to God. As Ron read in the second passage of our call to worship, the theme of Hebrews is enter boldly into the presence of God. Enter boldly into the true Holy Holies. Enter boldly into the immediate presence of God. You can see that in verses chapter 411 and 1022. Our call to worship was enter boldly, whereas they are told to stand back. And that is why we are called to worship with joy in Christ, in contrast to their call to worship with fear under the law. So, why is our worship not fearful or distant? Why is our worship not fearful or distant? Why is our worship joyful and full of thanksgiving? Well, first and foremost, our mediator is better. Moses was established as God's ambassador, as a mediator, but our mediator is better. Galatians 4 declares, when the fullness of time had come, God sent his own son. Born of the Virgin Mary, born under the law. God sent his own son to become like us in every way so that he could live the life we were meant to live so that he could die for us. Moses was just a man empowered by God in a unique way. Our mediator is God himself who became like us. He's qualified to be a better mediator. As we talked about last week, Moses had to keep going up and down the mountain to hear the message and then declare it. Jesus himself is the word. He is the declaration of God. He hasn't just come to tell us to live better, though, by his word. He came to die in our place. The mountain is the model of the temple, but the mountain is really just a model of the Holy of Holies, the true temple of God. You see, Jesus died on the cross physically, but the sacrifice he made was made right before the father. He died on the cross physically, but the sacrifice he was making, he made before the father because what he was doing was dying to appease the father's wrath against us. You see, we are all sinners. We have all sinned against God and God being a good and just God, he must put his wrath upon us. His wrath is over us by our own very nature and our own very actions. When Jesus Christ died in the presence of the father, his wrath was moved from us who believe in him and placed upon Jesus. His work is better than Moses, because his sacrifice is better than Moses, because it actually takes place in the true holy place, not on top of a mountain. Christ physically died, but he was a substitute for us before the father. See, we began by reading Haggai. Haggai says there was once, one time God shook and trembled the earth. And that's talking about Mount Sinai. The mountain itself trembled. God shook creation because God himself came down on it. There was one other time the earth shook in this way, and that's when the Creator died. That's who Jesus is. He is the creator who took upon himself the form of us, the creation, and he died and the earth shook. It trembled because his creator died. Because of that, the earth will never shake again because the kingdom that Christ established when he died for us is unshakable now. Our sure and steadfast anchor is a risen Savior who stands on the right hand of the Father, making perfect intercession for us. It is a perfect eternal kingdom that cannot be shaken. It's important for us to realize also that Jesus is a better mediator because he is the son of the Father. Listen to Galatians three. So then, as the law was our guardian until Christ came in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian for in Christ Jesus. You are all sons of God. He's a better mediator because his gifts are better. Israelites were still servants. They were still under the law. They were they were being put under a guardian. But now that Christ has come, he has shared his sonship. We are now all adopted. Finally, our worship is not fearful or distant because the place of our worship is better. Do you realize that where the sacrifice was made with Jesus, it was better than where Moses was standing, where our worship takes place, it's better than Moses, because we're actually in the presence of the father. We now get to seek God face to face. This is one of Moses' great heritages. We remember Moses because he said, let me see your glory. And God said, you cannot see my glory. So he showed him his backside, not his face. The New Testament declares to us, we can seek God's face. We have the opportunity because Christ is a better mediator, one who actually covers our sin, removes our sin, purifies us. We can now seek God's face. Jesus declares in Matthew 5a, blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see the face of God. Friend, we can worship God by pursuing to see Him more fully. The key is our purity. We're not saved by purifying ourselves. No, Christ saves us by purifying us by His blood that shed for us. But if we want to worship, if we want to experience the fullness of worship, we want to seek God's face. And what's keeping us from seeking God's face is our own sin. We cannot look at the pure God with our impurity. God must purify us. Worship is supposed to be joyful because it's full of awe and wonder. So here's the key question. Christian, are you coming to God with praise and joy because of Christ? What keeps us out of the immediate, intimate, intimate presence of God is fear. It's fear that we've sinned too great. It's fear that Christ couldn't love us because we're so sinful. It's fear that our guilt is against us. Friend, believe in Christ. Believe in what He has done. Believe in what He has declared about you more than what you experience yourself. You are forgiven because Christ has died for you. You are free because Christ has rescued you. You are a new creation because Christ is risen for you. You belong in the presence of God because that's where Christ is and that's where He wants you to be. You belong in the presence of God, adoring him, looking at him, glorifying him and enjoying his glory. He descended, taking upon himself flesh. He was buried. He rose again. And then he rose and ascended again into the heavens to take you there. And not just when he comes back or when you die, to take you there now. so that you can enjoy the immediate presence of God. The choice is ours. Will we cast away the sins that entangle us and keep us from ascending and drawing near to God? Or will we continue to delight in them? Will we delight in the perverse images in our computer screen? Or will we delight in casting our eyes upon the glory of our Creator? Will we delight by gossiping and complaining, or will we delight in singing God's praises? Will we delight in boasting of what we've accomplished? Or will we boast in Christ? If you're not a Christian, you're distant from God. And it's worse than just being distant from God that you can't experience him. The wrath of God is upon you because he's a good and just God. Friends, you must believe in Christ because he is the only one who lived the perfect life. He is God himself who died for sinners. He alone can remove the sin that is upon you. He alone can remove God's wrath from you. You must believe in Christ who took upon himself the wrath of God. You must believe in Christ who rose again to give you new life, eternal life and life abundantly. Friends, if you're a Christian. I love Advent songs. Because they remind us of how to be expectant. Before Christ came, they were expectant, they were waiting for the Messiah to come, and that's why we sing Advent songs so we can begin to anticipate and appreciate when Christmas comes, we can celebrate the birth of Christ. But if we sing Advent songs, we should be singing them also looking forward to the day when Christ comes again. That's why I love O Come, O Come, Emmanuel. Okay, I forgot the one we're going to sing next. Come thou long expected Jesus. Because they're talking about the freedom that Christ is going to come and bring. They declare Christ will actually remove all that sin that entangles us, that ensnares us and keeps us from pure and absolute worship. We are singing that Christ will come. We're singing and praising him that he has come and he will come again and that we will be able to perfectly draw near without the stain of sin upon us. Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, we praise you. We thank you. We seek to worship you. May we find worship in Christ joyful. May he remove every fear we have of God because he has removed our guilt and our sin. Help us. Help us to long to see your face more now. Help us to long to see your face when Christ returns or when we die. Help us to purify ourselves so that we can see you who are pure. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen.