John 10
7 So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
Father, we ask that You teach us why that last verse is true, that there’s only one flock and one Shepherd. There’s only one Person we are to listen to. There’s only one Person we are to follow. There’s only one Person who will protect us. There’s only one Person who will shepherd us, one Person who laid down His life for us, one Person who brings us into eternity. And that Person is you, Lord Jesus. Nobody else. Nothing else. Only you, Lord Jesus. Teach us why this is true. Thank you, Lord. In Jesus Name, Amen
In verse 1 it says that man who climbs into the sheepfold another way (not through the door) is a thief and a robber. And you might think, well, aren’t they the same? Thieves and robbers? It’s interesting — if you look at the original language, the thief is somebody who steals secretly, in stealth. You don’t even know you’re being robbed. And the robber is like a bandit, a pirate where you know he’s stealing from you. And the church is filled with thieves and robbers. They are climbing over the wall. They’re trying to break through. They’re coming for the sheep.
Satan doesn’t have to do come after those in the world. He doesn’t have to break in. He doesn’t have to steal. He already owns them. He’s already their father. Everybody who does not believe in Jesus is a slave. But Satan comes as a thief and a robber and he attacks the church. And sometimes he steals blatantly like a robber where everybody looks at a situation and you know, that is not of Christ.
But what makes it difficult is a lot of times Satan comes and he masquerades and disguises himself. And he’s a thief. You don’t even know that he’s there to steal from you. You let them through the front door. This person calls himself a Christian. He shows his diploma from a seminary and you just submit under this person. You follow this person, not realizing that he or she is stealing from you.
And why is it a true statement when Jesus says in verse 8 that all who came before me (Jesus speaking) are thieves and robbers. That’s a pretty bold statement. All who came before me.
All of the so-called shepherds are just thieves and robbers. Some of them have blatantly deceived you. Because they’re not pointing to the Messiah. They’re not talking about Jesus.
Others are trickier — they talk about Jesus, but they have an agenda and you don’t know what that is. But their goal is to steal, kill and destroy. Why is it a true statement that all who came before me, Jesus says, are thieves and robbers?
If you remember last week, verse 3, it says, to him the gatekeeper opens, or the doorkeeper opens. And we talked about last week, that is a watchman. Somebody who is watching the door. This person has a night duty. He’s watching over multiple flocks and he will only open the door when the shepherd arrives at the door to retrieve his flock. And that is a picture of a Christian who is watchful, who is awake, who is waiting for Jesus, who knows who the true Shepherd is.
And who all the false shepherds? The term “watchman” or doorkeeper reminds us of Ezekiel 33, when Ezekiel, a watchman called by God, calls others in Israel to be watchman. And I did not realize how there is a close link between the book of Ezekiel and John 10. And I believe that when Jesus was preaching John 10, he had Ezekiel in mind.
If you could turn with me to Ezekiel 34, I want to make my case that Jesus had Ezekiel 34 in mind when he’s preaching John 10.
Ezekiel 34
The word of the Lord came to me: 2 “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord God: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? 3 You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. 4 The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. 5 So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts. My sheep were scattered; 6 they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill. My sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with none to search or seek for them. 7 “Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 8 As I live, declares the Lord God, surely because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild beasts, since there was no shepherd, and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep, 9 therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: 10 Thus says the Lord God, Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. 11 “For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. 12 As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. 13 And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. 14 I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. 15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. 16 I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.
Ezek 34
23 And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. 24 And I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord; I have spoken.
This prophecy of the Book of Ezekiel spans 22 years and he begins the prophecy after Babylon had already taken the first captives from from the nation of Israel. He is prophesying that if the people don’t repent, then the captivity will be in full swing and and the the city of Jerusalem will be utterly destroyed. God tells Ezekiel in advance that the people will not listen to you. He’s receiving this prophecy in Babylon as a captive of Babylon.
After the captivity is finally realized in chapter 33 and the walls have been destroyed – the city of Jerusalem has been completely under siege and destroyed, chapter 34 is prophesied and God highlights the evil of the shepherds – the wickedness of the shepherds. How there is no good shepherd among them and these false shepherds are just feeding on the sheep.
They’re just stealing from the sheep. They’re making themselves fattened off the backs of the sheep when they should be sacrificing. When they should be feeding them. When they should be caring for them. They don’t care for the sheep. They care for themselves. They care for their position. They care for all the praise of men. They love money. They love influence. They love their position. And Jesus says, these are wicked shepherds. There’s not even one that is righteous. There’s not even one that is good. They are all evil.
Then Ezekiel talks about David and that’s an odd reference because this is in the 6th century.
David was 500 years before Ezekiel. So why is he talking about David? This is a prophetic word that one day there will be a son of David. This is a Messianic title that is used for Jesus. Because all of the shepherds who have gone before have failed. All the spiritual leaders of the nation of Israel and Judah failed.
From the line of David will rise a true Shepherd and there’s only one. Jesus is our Good Shepherd. We never submit to anyone else. We don’t submit to anything else. We don’t follow anyone and anything. We don’t listen to anybody else’s voice. We don’t seek the protection of anything else. We only seek Jesus Christ because He Himself will set us free. He himself will give us eternal life. He himself will give us the abundant life. He himself will protect us from the evil one.
There was only one shepherd in Ezekiel’s day. Is it any different in Jesus’ day?
Is there any good shepherd among the nation of Israel who is preaching in a synagogue? Is there any of the shepherds, the leaders, the ministers, the high priest – is there any of them who is good?
Where is Jesus making a statement that isn’t equal to today?
It is in my day. As it is today, it hasn’t changed. There’s only one good shepherd. Any person in leadership who is attracting people’s attention and wants the praise of people – that is a false shepherd.
Any minister, leader, shepherd role, whatever you want to call them, pastor, anyone who is doing the right thing is pointing to the Good Shepherd, then you know, that’s someone you can trust but you don’t trust anybody else.
Because every person is fallible. We’re not infallible. And so you could say, yeah, Ray is trustworthy, but maybe next year, I won’t be trustworthy. You can’t put your hope in anybody. You can’t put your hope in any person, any institution, any church, any denomination. If you put your faith in these things and you submit under these things, if you follow the leaders of that thing, then you will be led astray. You’ll be bound and you’ll be disappointed.
And you risk losing eternal life. There’s only one good shepherd and it was like that in Ezekiel’s day. It was like that in Jesus’ day. It’s like that in our day. Let me try to convince you that it was the same way – complete darkness in the leadership – in Jesus’s day, so that there was only one shining light of Jesus Christ. Only one good shepherd and it was like that in Ezekiel’s day. I want to point out that it was like that in Jesus’ day so that you will believe me when I say it is like that today.
It was like that in Jesus’ day. Look at John chapter 8:31. These are not even talking about the leaders. These are talking about the Jews. In fact, these are talking about Jews who once believed in Jesus.
John 8
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. 37 I know that you are offspring of Abraham; yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you. 38 I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” 39 They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
Again, I want to point out that these were Jews who had believed in Jesus. And Jesus says they are of the devil. The devil is their lowercase father and the devil was a murderer. The devil is the father of lies and these Jews who had once believed in Jesus are also murderers and liars. They practice sin. They are slaves of sin. That’s why Jesus is giving these verses to them. He sees our heart. They don’t turn from sin. There’s no remorse over sin. There is no shedding of blood over sin. There is just an accommodation of sin. They are comfortable practicing sin. And these are Jews who had once believe in Jesus. So do you think that in the church today there are people who had once believed in Jesus, too?
As it was in Jesus’ day, there are those who are seeking to murder Jesus and murder the offspring who are the brothers and sisters of Christ and they are lying to gain your trust. They are calling themselves pastor, priest, Christian and just because they say they’re Christian, you just give them a pass. You trust them. You submit to them. You follow them. And these are like the Jews who had once believed. There’s a mixture there. They used to believe but now they don’t believe and they will be among the crowd who yells, Crucify Him.
In John 11, it is the raising of Lazarus at Bethany. This is the seventh miracle that John records and 7 is a number of perfection. There are many different miracles that could have been recorded. Jesus did many that are not even recorded in scripture for us. But he chose to record these seven and and some of them were private like the wedding at Cana. It was a private miracle only Mary knew about it and the servants and the disciples. It was very private. There were some like the feeding of the five thousand men – which is about 10,000 to 15,000 people in the crowd. That was a very public miracle, right?
But this one is the raising of a dead man. This is the final straw that broke the camel’s back. This is not just 10,000 to 15,000 strangers who all scattered to their homes after the miraculous feeding. And they talked about what happened, but people can dismiss it saying, I wasn’t there.
Yeah, you just you just imagined it. You can easily dismiss a random assembling of 10,000 to 15,000, though it’s hard, you can dismiss it and say, well, you were there, but I wasn’t there. I can’t validate this.
But the raising of Lazarus–it’s like everybody knows Lazarus. Everybody knows that he’s been dead in a tomb for four days. The whole town of Bethany grew up with Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They know him. They know this is not fake. They can’t dismiss it. It’s their own people. It’s a family they know well. They can’t dismiss it. And so when Jesus raises Lazarus, now many are believing in Jesus.
And if you are a true shepherd, a true leader that God has appointed, and the Messiah has come and many are believing in Him, wouldn’t you rejoice? Wouldn’t you be so happy that the synagogue is being emptied out. The religious system is being emptied, and now people are following the true Shepherd and Master. Wouldn’t you be so happy as somebody supposedly caring for the sheep and waiting for the Messiah? Now the Messiah has come–wouldn’t you be so happy that they’re no longer there at the synagogue? They’re not listening to you and they’re listening to the Good Shepherd. The one true Shepherd. Wouldn’t you be so happy?
John the Baptist–he’s so happy when he sees the Lamb of God. He had his following, but as soon as he sees Jesus, John is a shepherd who cares for the sheep, he is a true prophet. And he tells his disciples, that’s the Man to follow. But were these shepherds of Israel, the Pharisees, the scribes, the high priest–were they happy that everybody is flocking to Jesus? No.
John 11
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
In any dark religious system, I’ve seen this so many times in my history, you have a evil shepherd and one of your friends in that place sees what you are doing, they spy on you and they rat you out and tell the leader what you did. Because they don’t care about jeopardizing your friendship. They just want to be close to the leader. And that’s what these Jews are doing. They just want to be close to the Pharisee. They just want to be honored by the Pharisees. They want the Pharisees to treat them well. That is why they are ratting out Jesus.
What do the Pharisees do with this information?
John 11
47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
Do these shepherds care about the sheep? No, they don’t care about the sheep. What do they care about? Remember, at this time the nation of Israel is a conquered people and they have their master, Rome. And they’re afraid that if the synagogue is emptied out, they will lose their livelihood. They say, we’re going to lose our place. They have a very cushy position as leaders. Although they’re conquered, at least they’re not the slave at the bottom. They’re working with Rome to keep this region in order through religion.
And Satan will love to just keep people in order through religion, but religion binds you, it keeps you in a certain narrow lane of behavior modification. That is not saving faith. They’re slaves under Rome. And they’re using their religion to keep the people in order and collect taxes for Rome. They function as go-betweens. They’re going to rob the people and skim from the top and then give Rome what they want to keep them happy.
That’s the position that these leaders of Israel are in. They’re trying to appease their master and they don’t want Rome to be unhappy. They don’t want Rome to show up and say, where’s my money? And they don’t want to do anything to risk the synagogue being shut down because Rome is unhappy. So they have to pander to their master and keep Rome happy. They don’t care anything for the sheep. That’s what I want you to see. They don’t care anything for the sheep. They just want to maintain their position and their place and their nation so that Rome doesn’t do anything to them and they don’t get kicked out of their position. That’s all they care about–their position and their place.
There are many false shepherds today. They only care about their position. They only care about their name and the name of their church. They only care about their glory and who is glorifying them. How many people are glorifying them? They don’t care for the sheep. You’re just a number.
For example, in a crowd of people of even 500, can any shepherd say, I care for all 500? It’s impossible. Unless you’re God, you can’t care for 500 people. Can you care for 1,000 people? Can you care for 10,000 people? And yet we do church this way. Can anybody know 500? Can anybody even know 150? 200? 300? Can these pastors know them? Can you honestly say you care for everybody who comes through the door of your church?
Only Jesus can love at that scale. And yet we have many people who say, the bigger, the better.
That means more money for me. More fame for me.
Going back to John 10:8.
John 10
8 All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
So thieves steal in secret and robbers steal blatantly. But as sheep, we’re supposed to be able to turn away from them and not listen to them. Why is the Church of God in such a mess today?
So splintered. Why is it so messy, so divided, so many scandals? Because we listened to man. We listened to someone other than the Good Shepherd. And if you listen to anybody other than the Good Shepherd, you risk losing everything. And certainly, you open yourself up to thieves and robbers.
And a thief, it says, verse 10, comes only to steal and kill and destroy. Stealing in secret, in stealth, when the thief comes, he’s masquerading as somebody who cares for you. Somebody says, I’m a Christian. We’re all on the same team, but they’re a thief and you spend time with them and you don’t feel edified. They call themselves Christians. Weird. He called himself a Christian. I’m a Christian. You spend time with them and you’re not edified. You’re not drawn to Jesus. It’s weird. Isn’t it? If you spend time with a Christian and you’re a Christian, you should feel your affection for Christ growing, but you spend time with this person and it’s like your heart is growing cold.
It’s because you’re fellowshipping with a thief and this person is stealing something from you without your knowledge. And then it says, kill and destroy. You may say, why is Jesus making a distinction? If you’re killed, aren’t you destroyed? But the word for “kill” is to offer as a sacrifice.
And false teachers, false shepherds, false prophets, they will put some kind of a cause before you and say, sacrifice for this. And as you live this way for weeks and months and years and even decades, what you don’t realize is that spiritually you’re being killed slowly.
You’re being severed from the Head who is Christ. And it’s a good cause like missions, but if that’s what you are living for, that what’s driving you is a love for neighbor, if that’s what’s driving you because I want to be considered a loving person and it’s something that you’re offering your life as an offering, you’re giving yourself for this cause, and you do not realize that a thief is killing you slowly. And eventually, if you stay on that path and you keep listening to that voice and you dedicate your life for several decades to this cause, you will in the end be destroyed.
John 10
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. 11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me…
Here, we have things that only the Good Shepherd can do. Only the Good Shepherd, only the Author of Life, can give you life. Only the One who is from above can give you eternal life. But here, when it talks about life, is Jesus speaking only about eternal life? No, He is talking about life present and life feature. And that’s why it says, “and have it abundantly” because if you have eternal life, how can you have abundant eternal life? It’s already abundant. But Jesus is talking about now, you can have abundant life, present and future, full of abundance. Only Jesus can give it to you.
Why are we not thriving? Why are we not having an abundant life now? Why are we still enslaved? It’s because we don’t know that voice. It’s because you’re not allowing Him to shepherd you. You’re not going to Him because if you go to Him you will thrive. There will be an abundance. You’ll be free.
If you’re not free, going back to John 8, if you’re not free, it doesn’t matter how much money you have. If you’re enslaved to money, it doesn’t matter how much money you have. A little money, you’ll want more. A lot of money, you’ll want more. A little money, you’ll be stressed because you don’t have enough. A lot of money, you’ll be stressed because you don’t know what to do with the money. You are a slave. And you bring yourself into every situation. And Jesus says, I will set you free. So no matter what situation, poor or rich, you’re thriving.
Why are some people unhappy no matter what God gives to them? Is that God’s fault? No, that’s our fault. We are still enslaved. We still have our mood. We still have our preferences. We still have the desire to be praised by men. We want to succeed. And we bring ourselves into every situation. Why can’t we have abundant life? Because we’re still enslaved. It doesn’t matter what God gives you, you’re going to find some reason to be unhappy because it’s the same you. But if you know the Truth, if you know Jesus, He will set you free. He will bring about an abundance.
Only Jesus can do it. I can’t do it. Your favorite pastor on Youtube can’t do it. The reason why we’re in such disarray in the Church is because we are follow all the wrong lowercase “s” shepherd’s. We’ve listened to all the wrong voices. And of course, there’s division. Some guy loves John Piper. Another guy loves Francis Chan. And they’re in disagreement and they run in different circles. Already there’s division because we’re following a person. It’s not supposed to be this way.
In Ezekiel’s day, all the shepherds were thieves and robbers. In Jesus’ day, look at the synagogue. All of the leaders in the synagogue are thieves and robbers. And today, any leader, any preacher, any minister who says, look at me, and does not preach Christ is also a thief and a robber. That is why we have such division. That’s why we’re in such disarray. That’s why we’re not thriving. That’s why we’re still enslaved. We’re not following the true Shepherd who alone can give you life, abundant life, freedom. Jesus Himself will protect you from the wolves. Jesus says, I will lead you away from the Evil one. I will secure you. I will take you all the way to my Father’s house. Only one person can do that.
That’s why as Christians, we have to keep coming to Jesus. We should never submit ourselves to anything else. Not a church. Not a denomination. Not an institution. Not a theological camp. We shouldn’t submit to any of these things. We shouldn’t submit to any person. A father, a mother, a teacher, a professor, a pastor, a preacher. We shouldn’t submit to anybody else or follow anybody else.
The only people who are trustworthy are those who tell you to follow Jesus. Follow Jesus. Let me tell you about Jesus. Let me tell you my experience with Jesus. You need to follow Jesus. Don’t look to me. Follow Jesus. The apostles like Peter and John understood this. People saw the signs and wonders they performed and the people were like bowing down before Peter and John. What did Peter and John say? Stand up. We’re just men. We’re just like you. We’re not special. Don’t look to us. They deflected in a proper way.
People want to praise the worker, the gifted person, the preacher. But a true Christian leader says, no, you need to look to the Shepherd. You need to look to Jesus because only He can give you life, abundant life, a free life, eternal life, a protected life. Only Jesus can guarantee you these things. Nobody else.
Let’s pray.
Father, forgive us. We are no different from your people in the nation of Israel. Because you sent to them, prophets like Ezekiel, Jeremiah and Isaiah, and what did the people do to these prophets? They did not listen, they mistreated them, they killed them. And Jesus, when You came, how did they treat You? They didn’t know You. They hated You when they should have loved You. Instead of embracing You, they nailed You to a cross.
And in the Book of Revelation, to the Church at Smyrna and Philadelphia, you say that there’s a synagogue of Satan that has persisted. Even when John’s revelation about Jesus Christ was given, that even to this day, there’s a synagogue of Satan coming out of organized religion.
Where people are pretending to love You, Father, pretending to I love You, Jesus, and pretending to have the Holy Spirit while they have unclean spirits. They have a mixed spirit. There’s an idolatry of false religions. They’re actually worshiping Satan. Their father is the devil.
And that’s why you call it a synagogue of Satan.
It’s in the Church today. From the beginning, the devil, the father of lies, he’s been murdering and lying, stealing, killing, destroying. And that was the case during Ezekiel’s day. That was the case in Jesus’s day. And that is the case today. We are surrounded by thieves and robbers.
Jesus, forgive us for not following You, for not submitting to You, for listening to all the wrong voices and thinking that we can find freedom elsewhere, or protection elsewhere, or life elsewhere, or abundance elsewhere. Forgive us Lord. There’s only one place, one person and it’s You, Lord Jesus.
Jesus, we want to follow You. Jesus, we want to submit to You. Jesus, we want to hear Your voice and follow You because You give us life and protection. You make us lie down in green pastures. You’re with us in the valley of the shadow of death. You protect us, you’re with us. And you will take us all the way to be in the Father’s house.
Help us to discern liars and murderers from among our friends. Those we didn’t even question what their agenda was. We just gladly accepted them into our circle. Father, give us discernment–who we should consider a friend and who we should spend time. With some, it’s not so easy to tell. We need to test the spirits.
We know that if we were with a true believer, he or she would tell us to abide in Christ and to seek Christ and to listen only to Christ. That is a true believer. Father, thank you for giving us clarity as to how we can tell who is of You and who is of the devil. Thank you, Lord.
Continue to minister to us as we come to the Lord’s table. Nourish us as we partake. We pray that you would be present with us in the feeding of Your body and the drinking of your blood which covers our sin. In Jesus Name, Amen
