Let us have a word of prayer first.
O Lord, Thou art One who is so worthy to be praised. We do desire to sing praises unto Thee from the very bottom of our hearts. We do desire to come into Thy presence with a worshiping spirit, knowing that Thou hast done all things well.
Thou Thyself art so supreme and superior. Thou art truly the finality of God, the all-ending All to us. Lord, we do pray that more and more we may lose sight of things, but may be occupied with Christ.
We pray that more and more there may be a deeper union with Christ. We do commit this morning into Thy hands, Lord. We pray that Thou wilt give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation unto the full knowledge of God, without which we are lost.
O Lord, we open our hearts to Thee. We turn our hearts to Thee, that we may behold Thy glory and be transformed accordingly. And to Thee be all the praise and the glory, unto the ages of ages. Amen.
Last night, we read two passages from the Book of Hebrews. In the first passage, in Hebrews 1, it says that God, having spoken to the fathers formerly in many parts and in many ways, has now spoken to us in His Son.
God’s speaking through the prophets was in part and in many ways. But when God speaks in His Son, He speaks fully, completely, and finally. In this we see the finality of Christ.
Because Christ is final, in the second passage we read, from Hebrews 12, we are exhorted to look away from all things and to look steadfastly, fixing our eyes upon One—that is, upon Christ.
Christianity is not full of things. Christianity is Christ. Until Christ becomes all things to us—that is to say, until it is no longer things to us, but Christ to us—we find that the will of God is not completed.
The theme of the Book of Hebrews is to encourage us to go on to Christ, from things to Christ. This is the kingdom that cannot be shaken.
As we mentioned last night, we are living in days of great shaking. Everything will be tested—not only things that are not of God, but even things that come from God. They will be shaken until only Christ remains, and that is God’s purpose.
This morning, we would like to continue with the Book of Hebrews. In this book there is a key word. Sometimes, when you read a book of the Bible, if you can find a key word, then you are able to open that book.
If you do not find the key, it is very difficult. You may read it many times, but if there is no key, the book is still closed to you. You may get some good thoughts here and there, but so far as the whole book is concerned, it is not opened up.
In the Book of Hebrews, there is a key word, and this key word is not difficult to find. Why? Because it is a word repeated many times in this letter. Whenever you find something repeated, you know that the Holy Spirit never repeats Himself in vain.
When He repeats something, He wants to emphasize something. He wants to bring to us a very important message, and that is the reason why He repeats.
In the Book of Hebrews, there is a word which is repeated thirteen times. When you find a word repeated so much, you know there is something to it. You know that the Holy Spirit is trying to say something to us.
That word—you know it already—is the word better. Better: B-E-T-T-E-R, better. The whole Book of Hebrews is based upon this word, better. The writer of Hebrews is trying to show us something better.
What you have may be good, but God says He has something better for you. Let us go very hurriedly over these thirteen mentions of the word better.
In Hebrews 1:4, the writer speaks of Christ, how He is much better than the angels:
Having become by so much better than the angels,
As He hath inherited a more excellent name than they.
You will find not only the word better here, but another word, more excellent. Actually, it conveys the same meaning. In Hebrews, you find not only the word better repeated thirteen times, but other words that carry similar meanings. That increases the force of the word better.
The second mention is in Hebrews 6:9:
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you,
And things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak.
Better things connected with salvation.
Hebrews 7:7 says:
But without any dispute the less is blessed of the better.
Here, the better blesses the inferior.
Hebrews 7:19 says:
For the law made nothing perfect,
And a bringing in thereupon of a better hope,
Through which we draw nigh unto God.
A better hope.
Then Hebrews 7:22:
By so much also hath Jesus become the surety of a better covenant.
A better covenant than the old one.
Hebrews 8:6 says:
But now hath He obtained a ministry the more excellent,
By so much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant,
Which hath been enacted upon better promises.
This better covenant is based upon better promises.
Hebrews 9:23 says:
It was necessary therefore that the copies of the things in the heavens should be cleansed with these;
But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
Better sacrifices.
Hebrews 10:34 says:
For ye both had compassion on them that were in bonds,
And took joyfully the spoiling of your possessions,
Knowing that ye have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.
A better substance, an abiding possession.
Hebrews 11:16 says:
But now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly:
Wherefore God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God;
For He hath prepared for them a city.
A better, heavenly city.
Hebrews 11:35 says:
Women received their dead by a resurrection:
And others were tortured, not accepting their deliverance;
That they might obtain a better resurrection.
A better resurrection.
Then Hebrews 11:40:
God having provided some better thing concerning us,
That apart from us they should not be made perfect.
A better thing, a better arrangement, so that they should not be made perfect without us.
Finally, Hebrews 12:24 says:
And to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant,
And to the blood of sprinkling that speaketh better than that of Abel.
The blood of our Lord Jesus speaks better than Abel’s blood, because Abel’s blood accuses, but the blood of our Lord Jesus speaks forgiveness.
In these many mentions of the word better, the Holy Spirit is trying to draw our attention to something better.
As we mentioned last night, the background of this letter is to help those Jewish believers who were still tied down with Judaism at that time to be freed from Judaism, that they might enter into the purity of faith in Christ Jesus.
They had good things in their hands—many good things—and these good things came from God. Because they were good things and came from God, they were very reluctant to let these things go.
Even after they believed in the Lord Jesus, even after they had experienced salvation in Christ Jesus, they still held on to these good things of Judaism. They tried to mix Christianity with Judaism, trying to put Christ on the same footing as Moses.
Because of that, they could not enter into perfection. God wanted to win them from these things, that they might grow up in Christ. God had something better for them, and when you get a better thing, you let the good go.
Better is not in contrast with bad. Better is in contrast with good. Here, it is not a question of whether something is good or bad.
Our question is always in the realm of good and evil. We ask, “Is it bad?” If it is bad, it should be rejected. If it is good, then it should be accepted. Our whole Christian outlook, our whole Christian concept, is often in the realm of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But God does not want us to live in that realm. God wants us to live on a higher realm. In that higher realm, it is no longer a matter of good and bad; it is a matter of better and good.
These things are good. These things come from God. These things are spiritual things. Yet, when Christ comes into our lives, God wants us to see that it is no longer these good things; it is the better Christ.
Are we willing to let these good things go in order that Christ may be all things to us? Then you will find that you are on a higher ground.
That is the meaning of Hebrews 6. We should leave behind the beginnings of the Christ and move on to perfection.
Even though today we do not cling to Judaism, we cling to many things in Christianity. Because we are occupied with things, somehow we are held back by these things and unable to launch completely into the current of Christ.
That is the reason why we need the message of the Book of Hebrews. Last night, we fellowshipped on the finality of Christ. This morning, we would like to speak about the superiority of Christ. Christ is far superior to all things. He is better.
The writer of Hebrews uses a number of contrasts. In Hebrews 1 and 2, Christ is contrasted with the angels.
Today we do not talk much about angels. But with the Jewish people, angels played a very important part in their lives.
You remember, in the old days, how angels appeared to Abraham before they went to investigate the city of Sodom and Gomorrah. God appeared to Abraham with two angels.
You remember Jacob’s dream at Bethel. God was at one end of the ladder, Jacob lay at the other end, and angels were ascending and descending upon that ladder.
You remember Moses. The angel of the Lord appeared to him in the burning bush and gave him the command to go to Egypt to deliver God’s people. Even on Mount Horeb, Mount Sinai, when he received the Ten Commandments, the law was ordained through the ministry of angels.
This was confirmed not only by Acts 7, but also by Galatians 3:19. As you go along in the Old Testament, you find that angels played a very important part in the lives of the prophets and in the lives of the children of Israel.
Even when you come to the Gospels, you find how an angel appeared to Zacharias while he was burning incense in the temple, and how an angel appeared to Mary to inform her that she was blessed of the Lord.
When our Lord was in the wilderness, tempted by the devil, after forty days and forty nights, the angels came and ministered to Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He was agonizing in prayer. His sweat came down like drops of blood, and an angel appeared to strengthen Him.
In the Book of Acts, Peter was in prison, and an angel was sent by God to open the iron gate and set him free. In Revelation, it was an angel who showed the apostle John the New Jerusalem, the holy city.
So you find that angels played a very important part in the life of the Jewish people—an exceedingly important part.
We are not too much aware of angelic activity today. I wonder whether it is because we are too materialistic in our minds. But the Jewish people believed in a spiritual world just as they believed in a physical world, and these two worlds interact even today.
We are not only living in a physical world, but there is a spiritual world. In the spiritual world, there are angels, ministering servants of God. They carry out God’s commands, and, as the Bible says, they minister to those who will inherit God’s salvation. In other words, they minister to us.
Many times things happen to us and we have no explanation. We do not know that God has sent His angels to minister. Sometimes we are not aware of these things, but they are sent by God to minister to those who inherit God’s salvation.
You are not alone. You have angels. Sometimes people make a joke and say, “Do not drive too fast. If you are speeding, you may leave your guardian angel behind you.” It may be a joke, but there is something to it.
Hebrews says that sometimes, when you receive people, you may receive angels unawares. Angels are very real. Even though you may not see them, they are here, carrying out God’s will. They are helping and ministering unto those who are the Lord’s.
Just as evil spirits are very real, demons are very real. More and more people are beginning to discover that. At one time, Christians seemed to laugh at the very thought of demons, as if they were nonexistent. But more and more people are aware of the evil spirits in this world.
Unfortunately, when people begin to be aware of demons, they become too conscious of demons. We should be conscious of God. We should be more occupied with God and not occupied with demons. What have they to do with us?
We should be God-conscious, not too much demon-conscious. That is something of which we should be careful. In like manner, we should be aware of the angels, but we should not be too much occupied with angels.
You can become so occupied with angels that you come to the point of worshiping them. Even the apostle John was tempted to do that.
You remember in Revelation: when the angel showed John the New Jerusalem, the holy city, it was such a great revelation that unconsciously John fell before the angel and worshiped him. Thank God it was a good angel. The angel said, “Do not do that. Do not worship me. We are fellow servants. Worship God.”
But Satan will come to us as an angel of light, and his purpose is that he might receive our worship. That is the trouble; that is the problem.
On the one hand, we should be aware of angels. Yet, on the other hand, we should be careful lest we be misled into worshiping them. Angels definitely have a part to play in the economy of God, but God wants us to be occupied with His Son, with Christ, not with angels.
In Colossians 2:18, Paul says:
Let no man rob you of your prize by a voluntary humility and worshipping of the angels,
Dwelling in the things which he hath seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,
And not holding fast the Head,
From whom all the body, being supplied and knit together through the joints and bands,
Increaseth with the increase of God.
There are many heresies in Christianity today that come through supposed special revelation by angels. Have you heard of that? But Paul said that if anyone should preach another gospel, even an angel, he is accursed.
When the law was given, it was given through the ministry of angels. Therefore, the writer of Hebrews says that we should be very careful to keep what God has said to us.
But now He has spoken in His Son. When He speaks in His Son, that is the final word. We will not have any new revelation anymore. God’s revelation is complete in Christ Jesus.
If, after Christ, an angel should come to give a special revelation, you know that it is not of God, because God’s revelation is already complete.
How much better is God’s Son than the angels? In Hebrews 1, the writer presents Christ as the Son of God. In Hebrews 2, He is presented as the Son of Man.
As the Son of God, He is sevenfold superior to the angels. God has established Him heir of all things. Christ is the heir of all things. By Him also God made the worlds. By Christ, He created the universe.
Christ is the effulgence of God’s glory, just as light is the outshining of the sun. He is the very expression of God’s substance. God’s substance is expressed through His Son.
Christ upholds all things by the word of His power. He not only created the world, but He maintains the world by His power. Having made by Himself the purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
He is now sitting at the right hand of God, waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool. To which of the angels did God ever say anything like this? Christ is the Son; the angels are servants. Christ inherits all things, and the angels are only servants of those who inherit salvation.
Christ is far superior to the angels. As the Son of God, He is superior.
In Hebrews 2, man is made a little lower than the angels. So far as the order of God’s creation is concerned, man is lower than angels. Man is higher than animals, but lower than angels. Angels are spirits; they are superior to men in intelligence and power.
Yet, even when Christ was made a little lower than the angels when He came to become a man, after He accomplished the work of salvation, He was given glory and honor. He is to inherit all things. Even as the Son of Man, He is superior to the angels.
What is the practical application of this? Why do we need to know that Christ is superior to the angels? The application is found in Hebrews 2:
Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things that were heard,
Lest haply we drift away from them.
For if the word spoken through angels proved stedfast,
And every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward;
How shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?
We should pay attention to the law, which was spoken through angels. If people were to pay attention to the law because it was spoken through angels, and if anyone who did not listen to the law was punished, how much more should we pay attention to so great a salvation, which was spoken to us by Christ?
Brothers and sisters, what is it that Christ has spoken to us? He has brought to us so great a salvation. What is this great salvation?
We often think of salvation merely in terms of forgiveness of sins and of going to heaven one day. These things are true, and they are very precious. If we have experienced the forgiveness of sins, we know how precious it is. If we know that one day we will go to heaven to be with God forever, how comforting that is.
But when Christ comes and speaks to us, He brings something far better than merely having our sins forgiven or merely promising us that after we die we shall go to heaven. He brings to us so great a salvation.
What is it? It is to bring many sons to glory. That is so great a salvation.
To have our sins forgiven, to be born again, and to receive a new life—thank God for this salvation. But we are all babes in Christ. God’s intention is not that we should remain as babes. God’s intention is that we may be sons, like His Son, conformed to the image of His Son.
As His Son is, so shall we be, that His Son may lead many sons to glory. Children and sons are different. Children are in the initial stage of life; sons are mature and grown up.
The message that Christ has brought to us is that we may be sons. He wants to lead many sons to glory. He is the heir, and we are joint-heirs with Christ. Is not this message far superior to the message brought to us by angels?
The message the angels brought was the message of the law: “You do this, you keep that, and then you shall live.” It puts us into bondage. But the message that Christ has brought is that He is to lead many sons to glory.
Because of that, we must be careful lest it slip by us. How many of God’s children today have really heard the words spoken by Christ? How many only know the law of Moses and do not know the grace of Christ?
How many do not know that Christ is to lead many sons to glory? How many of God’s people have simply let the word slip? How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?
One day, when we appear before the judgment seat of Christ, the question will be: Have we heard the words spoken by God’s Son? Have we accepted so great a salvation? Have we allowed Christ to work in our lives so that we may grow into mature sons?
Do we have the glory in view? Or are we negligent of the whole thing, content merely to be little children in Christ?
This is the practical application. Because Christ is far superior to the angels, we should pay more attention to what He says.
The kingdom of God is this: “This is My beloved Son; hear Him.” You have heard Moses, but now hear Him. Hear Him. His word is final.
In this respect, we can see the superiority of Christ. If we hear Him, then the angels will come to minister to us. God does not want us to hear the angels or set our eyes on them. God wants us to hear the Son and fix our gaze upon Him.
Then the angels will come and minister to us. They will help us to grow. They will help us to be obedient to the Lord. They will help us to mature in Christ, because God has made them ministering spirits.
This is the first point. Then the second point: in Hebrews 3 and 4, Christ is contrasted with Moses.
With the Jewish people, aside from Abraham, because Abraham is their father, Moses was very great in their eyes. Even at the time of our Lord Jesus, the Pharisees said to Him, “We are disciples of Moses. Who are You?”
Yes, Moses was a great servant of God. The Bible says that he was faithful in all God’s house. Moses served the house of God—that is, Israel—very faithfully.
Again and again, when God said, “I will wipe out the nation, and I will bless you and prosper you and make you a great nation,” Moses said, “Lord, remember, this is Your people.” Moses was even willing to have his name erased from the book of life if only God would forgive the children of Israel.
Moses was most faithful in God’s house. He led the people of Israel out of Egypt through the wilderness. Yet, in spite of all his faithfulness, he failed to bring God’s people into the promised land, and he failed to enter the land himself.
But when Christ is contrasted with Moses, first, He is the Son over God’s house. Moses was but a servant in God’s house.
In one sense, Moses was an apostle to the Jews, to that nation, because an apostle is one sent by God to do a certain work. In that sense, Moses was an apostle to the children of Israel.
In a very real sense, Christ is our Apostle. In Hebrews 3, He is called “the Apostle and High Priest of our confession.” Christ is the Apostle sent by God to do a certain work.
He has opened a way for us into heaven, into the presence of God Himself. He is the author of our eternal salvation.
Christ is superior to Moses. That is why, when Peter tried to put Moses on the same level as Christ—“Let us make three tabernacles: one for You, Lord, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—immediately God dismissed Moses. It is Christ.
What is the practical application? Christ is superior to Moses. What is the practical application for us today?
Great as Moses was as a servant of God, God wants us to follow Christ and not to follow men. Men point us to Christ. We should follow Christ and not follow men, however great that man may be.
We have a tendency in this direction. In 1 Corinthians 1, the problem with the believers in the church at Corinth was that some said, “I am of Paul”; some said, “I am of Apollos”; and some said, “I am of Cephas.”
Paul, Apollos, and Cephas were great servants of God. God sent them to the church at Corinth to help these believers. By Paul, they were brought to Christ. By Apollos, they were established and strengthened. By Peter, they were helped in another way.
These were servants of God, greatly used by God. The people at Corinth received help from different servants, but human nature is to follow a man. Some said, “I am of Paul. I follow Paul.” Others said, “I think Apollos is deeper. I am of Apollos.” Others said, “Peter is more practical. I am of Peter.”
Is Christ divided? Is Christ divided, brothers and sisters?
Paul said, “Why are you so small as to say, ‘I am of Paul’? Yes, Paul is yours, and so are Cephas and Apollos. They are all yours. The whole world is yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
Therefore, in Hebrews we read: “Today if ye shall hear His voice, harden not your hearts.” Today we are to hear Him. We are to follow Him. If we do, we will enter into rest.
He is our Apostle. He goes ahead to open a way for us, and we ought to follow Him. If we follow Him, we will enter into rest.
Just as in John 10, the Lord said, “My sheep hear My voice.” He is the Shepherd who goes before, and the sheep follow Him. If the sheep follow the Shepherd, they will be in good pastures; they shall not want.
The practical application for us today is this: knowing that Christ is superior to Moses, how we need to be delivered from men and be wholly occupied with Christ, that we may hear Him and follow Him.
From Hebrews 5 through 7, the writer contrasts Christ with Aaron and the Aaronic or Levitical priesthood.
To Judaism, Aaron was very important. The Levitical priesthood was essential, because without it they were lost.
Suppose an Israelite sinned. If he sinned, he would be cast out from the presence of God and excommunicated from the congregation of Israel. If a person touched an unclean thing and was defiled, and there was no way of purification, he was forever lost. He could not come to God or have fellowship with the rest of God’s people. He was permanently barred.
But thank God, there was the Levitical priesthood. When one failed, sinned, or was defiled, the priests, being men themselves, knew human weakness. Therefore, they were sympathetic to those who had fallen.
By the command of God, they helped fallen Israelites offer sacrifices and be purified, that they might be restored to God and to the congregation of the people of Israel. Without a Levitical priesthood, they were completely lost.
No wonder they leaned so heavily upon the Levitical priesthood. But Christ is our High Priest. He is a Priest after the order of Melchizedek.
He came to this world to become a man. He was tempted in all things, yet without sin. In other words, we have a sympathetic High Priest.
God in heaven knows everything. But sometimes you may wonder, “He has no experience of our weaknesses.” He knows; He does not need to experience it in order to know. Yet our faith is sometimes weak. We say, “You are so strong. You do not know what I have gone through.”
Even though He does know, Christ, God the Son, became a man. He passed through all things for us. He is very, very sympathetic by experience, but without sin.
He was tempted in all things without sin. Such a High Priest is suited to us.
He is not only sympathetic, but He ever lives. Unlike the Levitical priesthood, a priest might be sympathetic, but he soon died, and his ministry was interrupted. You had to start all over again.
But Christ ever lives, making intercession for us. He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him. What a High Priest we have! He never fails. He never fails.
We can depend upon Him for our whole life and for eternity. Knowing Christ as our High Priest is essential to our daily life.
If we do not know Christ as our High Priest, how can we live? How can we live for one day? We cannot. But we have Christ as our High Priest, ever living—not only sympathetic, but powerful, all-powerful.
Therefore, we can trust ourselves to His ministry. He will carry us through. Let us hold fast our confession, and let us come to God with confidence. Christ is superior.
Lastly, from Hebrews 8 through 10:18, Christ is contrasted with all the cardinal, essential things in Judaism.
In Judaism, there are five things that are most essential:
These five things form the very basis of Judaism.
God made a covenant with the Jewish people, and that was the basis of Judaism. Without a covenant, how could they be God’s people? But Christ has a better covenant for us.
In the old covenant, God held the hands of their fathers, trying to lead them on. But sometimes, when you hold the hand of your child to lead him on, the child struggles out of your hand because he wants to go somewhere else. That is exactly what happened to the children of Israel.
In the old covenant, God said, “If you keep these laws, then you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” In other words, the responsibility rested upon the children of Israel.
But in the new covenant, God says:
I will put My laws into their mind,
And on their heart also will I write them:
And I will be to them a God,
And they shall be to Me a people.
In other words, the responsibility is upon the shoulders of God. “I will be your God. Because I am your God, therefore you will be My people.”
It is the law of life inscribed in our hearts. It is different—different, brothers and sisters. In Christ we have a better covenant. Because the better covenant has come, the old covenant passes away.
How many of God’s children today still live under the old covenant? How many really live in the good of the new covenant?
Then there is the tabernacle, or the temple. Christ did not enter into a temple made with hands, but He entered into heaven itself, to appear before the face of God.
In Hebrews, the true tabernacle is not made with hands; it is not of this creation. The true tabernacle is a new creation.
The true tabernacle is heaven itself—the presence of God. The true tabernacle in which Christ ministers today is the church of God. That is the truth. He is a minister of the true sanctuary.
The law has been superseded by grace.
There were millions of sacrifices offered, but they did not cleanse us from sins. Christ, through the eternal Spirit, offered Himself spotless to God once for all. Redemption is complete.
How much better is the sacrifice that Christ has offered for us—even Himself.
The priesthood, of course, we have mentioned already. How far superior is His priesthood and priestly ministry to the Levitical priesthood.
The writer of Hebrews brings everything essential to Judaism and compares it with Christ. The result is that he dismisses every one of them.
You have a better covenant, so why hold on to the old covenant? You have grace, so why hold on to law? You have the true tabernacle, so why hold on to the physical temple?
You have a better sacrifice, so why hold on to many sacrifices that can never cleanse us from our sins? You have a better High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, so you do not need a Levitical priesthood anymore.
By contrasting them, the writer—or rather, the Holy Spirit—dismisses every one of them and shows us that Christ is not only superior, but that Christ is all things to us.
He is our new covenant. If you really read the new covenant, you find that He is the new covenant, because it is His very life that is given to us.
He is grace. He not only gives grace to us, but He is grace. He is the grace of God to us.
He is our dwelling place, our house. He is our sacrifice. He not only offers a sacrifice; He is our sacrifice. He is our Priest, our High Priest.
Christ is all things to us today. Because you have Christ, you do not need all these things.
God has already dismissed Judaism. But are we willing to let it go, so that we may enter into the purity of faith in Christ Jesus?
This is the first part of the Book of Hebrews. The Book of Hebrews can be divided into two parts. The first part is from Hebrews 1 through Hebrews 10:18. The second part is from Hebrews 10:19 through the end of Hebrews 13.
The first part of the Book of Hebrews is trying to show us the superiority of Christ. Seeing that He is superior, let us pay more attention to Him.
Let us be willing to let other things go, because God has already dismissed them all, that we may have Christ. If you have all these things without Christ, you have nothing. If you have Christ without these things, you have all things.
This is the will of God.
Our heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee because Thou dost desire to keep Thy Son, our Christ, ever before our eyes. Thou wantest us to be occupied with Him and not with many, many good things.
We praise and thank Thee that in Him we find the better. We want to be occupied with Thee. Lord, we pray that more and more, gradually, we may come to see that Christ is all things to us.
If He is all things to us, how much better it is than to have all things in themselves. O Lord, do exercise our hearts that we may run in this direction, because we believe this is what God desires to lead us to.
We pray in the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.