40. Offered as Sons

I now see how the writer of Hebrews thought and why Hebrews has not been understood. Every detail in the entire letter filled the mind of the writer up front and center all the time, and in every phrase, that mind was going back and forth from part to whole and whole to part without pause. You cannot understand any part of Hebrews unless you KNOW the whole, and you cannot know the whole unless you understand fully every part. (Thus we approach Hebrews with humility that the Spirit might cause us to perceive what is most important).

And we can now include Chapter 13 because Hebrews came out from fellowship between Paul and it’s writer. Paul understood the whole meaning of Hebrews, and thus added his bit to fit that whole.

Faith out from God. Now we see that the intention of God for Hebrews 11, the “faith chapter,” is not a faith that goes into God, but a faith that comes out from God, being about the Father’s business. This completely different way of seeing will recast the meaning of everything in the chapter.

In fact, you have to go to the end of the chapter to know first how you must begin it. You see, everything in Chapter 11 is from the Old Testament. And Hebrews has already clearly defined our use of the old, starting with God’s meaning of “the New is BETTER.” It then continues into, “the old is only an outline, and NOT the REAL.” – God, having perceived inside the core of His being [pro-seeing] something better for us, that apart from us they (of the old) will not come to completion (Hebrews 11:40).

Offered for Jerusalem. Verse 40 means that we are to apply these things, not to our own completion, for that is Jesus already, but rather, to the Kingdom, to the Church, to God winning all, to the gathering into Christ, to the open doors of Tabernacles, to all creation set free, to the New Jerusalem arising in every land on earth.

In short, verse 40 means that we take the Flow of Gospel Word in this lesson, “Offered as Sons,” and entwine it with the same Flow of Gospel Word in Lesson 65, “Jerusalem,” the final lesson of this present study. In fact, here is a paraphrase of Hebrews 12:2. For the Jerusalem set before Him, He endured being offered as a Son for her sake. The ever-widening scope in our diagram means that we must keep every thought written up-front and center. Not one concept can be set aside from Hebrews 1 to “offered as sons.”

“Out From.” (Chapter 11) • 1 Now, faith is the substance and underlying reality of things hoped for, the proof of things not now being perceived. 2 For through faith people of history bore witness. • 3 Through faith we understand that the ages are formed and completed by the speaking of God, such that the things we perceive come into being out from what is not visible.

The first key words are “out from,” referencing Hebrews 1:3, that all things are coming continuously out from the Word of His power. It is God who is not and never will be visible. Yet all things are God’s thoughts before they ever come into existence, and thus are part of God first. Next, we must understand “the ages.” Material things are the expression of electrical charges, which are always in movement. I suspect heavenly substance is similar. All created existence is a movement, an unfolding, one step at a time.

The Gift of Jesus. The only “future” that is real is the next moment. Thus “to form” the ages means the unfolding from God’s thoughts through the speaking of Jesus into our next step. BUT – God is Personal, not deterministic. For that reason we also are personal. One special ability of the Lord Jesus, then, is not just that He speaks us every moment, but that, in speaking us, we are personal like God, and free. Thus, His most incredible abilities are Symmorphy and Synergeia.

Likewise, having cleansed us and joined us with God, and through sharing with us the same form and the same life force, Jesus gives to us His own faith, the faith of the Son of God. That Faith is utterly and completely OURS. And the two ruling verses of Hebrews have defined faith for us as boldness inside of God and confidence out from God.

Hope and Proof. My hope is that I am just like Jesus in three ways, first in my relationship with God, second, in my experience of reciprocal love with other believers, and third in my mission to give myself to the Father for His purposes through me, for we together humble ourselves for the sake of others. Faith is the certainty that as I take my next step, as I pass into the next moment, God shares ALL with me, the Covenant.

A witness, then, is the person who demonstrates to others the certainty of God’s thoughts coming through into our every next step. And the proof that God comes through is Love. Faith is an invisible God coming through me into my world as He is, that is, as Love. Faith which works through Love. God, His thoughts, is the Source; the faith of Jesus given to me is the passageway; and Love is the appearance of God.

The Passageway of Faith. This is so important. We have seen that this passageway for God is Ruling Verse 4, coming through Ruling Verses 5 and 3, Union and Spirit together, and that our being offered as sons and Revelation 12:11 are the same thing. And God has given us two MASSIVE pictures of such a thing, the crossing of the Jordan and a woman giving birth. Or I should say three, for in Hebrews and in Revelation, the Ark of the Covenant is also the passageway of FAITH.

The Pillar of Fire, God as Spirit Word, coming through Mercy upon Blood, our hearts of flesh written with the same Word, coming as our prayers offered into the knowing of all. God’s thoughts spoken by Jesus now written on our hearts, now spoken through our mouths, the same Word as us, “I Love you,” the passageway of FAITH, Father now known by all.

Defining Faith. 11:1-3 Definition: There is one Faith, the Faith of the Son of God given utterly to us (see Galatians 2:20). We possess all the Faith there is. God is and always will be invisible, yet all things visible and True come only out from His thoughts. God is the Source of every next step we take, the unfolding of the ages forever. Through the boldness of the assurance of Faith, we apprehend all that is God given to us in the present moment, and through the confidence of Faith already all, we take that next step as God sharing all with us.

1-3 Ruling Verse 4: The Proof and Witness of God inside of creation is reciprocal Love, that is, Christians loving one another as Jesus. Yet God alone is Love. Faith is the passageway of God from being not-known to being known by all. Faith is the Ark standing firm in the lowest place; Faith is the travail bringing the knowledge of God into the knowledge of all.

God in Every Next Step. • 6 Moreover, without faith one is incapable of pleasing God; indeed, it is required of the one approaching God [in the Most Devoted Place] to believe that God is and that He becomes the rewarder of those seeking out and requiring of Him.

The cross is a barrier to those whom God does not trust, for they see only their sins; they see no Door at all. The boldness that pleases God is found in those who will not be left out, but who give their sins to Jesus now living as them and place themselves utterly and only inside of God. But to “believe that God is,” such a wondrous thing is proven by one action only, to turn around upon Mercy, to become God through us for others. The faith that pleases God certainly does include apprehending everything of God given to us, that God is ours. But much more, faith that pleases God means that we require God in every next step we take, even Love together.

Faith that Pleases God. 6 Definition: To believe that God is, such a thing is found only in giving thanks, the Eucharist, for as we give thanks inside of and for the sake of all things, we discover that we are and have always been inside of God. We discover that God is, “I Am,” already. Thus Faith accepts the One who walks beneath, who sees others better. To require of God is to expect that God shares all things of Himself with us and of ourselves with Him in every next step we take.

6 Ruling Verse 4: The Faith that pleases God is “turned-around Faith” as on the Day of Atonement, that our entrance into God is Complete, and that we are about our Father’s business. Faith sits upon the Mercy Seat, upon Blood, now perceiving the great Joy set before us, a Church enclothed with Jesus, Jerusalem. Faith gives all to the Father, with Jesus, until every single fellow believer has passed into the knowledge of all Salvation now.

Made Ready a City. • 10 For he was expecting the city having foundations, whose engineer and builder is God. – • 16 Now, moreover, they eagerly yearned for a better homeland, that is, a homeland of the heavens [the Promise of the Spirit]; therefore, God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God, for He has made ready a city for them.

Now we come to what God desires; God desires a city, which He calls Jerusalem. The word is “polis,” from which we get policy and politics. It is a primary word meaning “many bustling together.” Yet many bustling together can also mean a lot of fighting going on. Babylon seeks control of all the bustling through violence, producing confusion and chaos. Jerusalem acknowledges God, faith coming through Love, producing liberty.

Only This Moment, Today. The Christian conceptions of a heaven to which one “goes” are entirely delusional. The image is that of no faith needed at all, for everything will be automatic, that we will “love one another” without any costliness. Except – most do not include “one another” in their image, just solitary bliss. But “the future” is a mental construct only, it does not exist. There is only today, this moment – and – the passing from this moment to the next – forever. And this moment is the surrender of giving thanks, this moment is the costliness of bearing with others, this moment is the humility of going under with Father, this moment is the crisis of our lives.

And it’s true that there is no need for faith “in the future,” for faith dwells inexorably inside of this moment, right now. Faith is found in the consideration of the next step we take with God.

It’s All about Jerusalem. Everything in Hebrews is going towards this city prepared for us, and Chapters 11 and 12 are all about Jerusalem. Jerusalem is God’s dwelling place and ours forever. Jerusalem is all about the costliness of many walking together as one. Jerusalem is now; it is daily life together.

10 & 16 Kingdom: We expect God that our every next step is inside of His City, prepared for us, Jerusalem. “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” Our feet have been standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!” (Psalm 122).

10 & 16 The Form for God through Jesus: God has only one Jerusalem, the heavenly New Jerusalem, the city of David. The Greek polis, translated city, means many bustling together, not in strife, but in liberty, in the expectation that God is all our connections together. The City Abraham expected is the Church of Jesus Christ as Christian Community.

Offering the Promise. • 17 Through [full assurance of] faith Abraham offered up Isaac. Being proven, he offered up his only seed-kind son, the one having received the promises, 18 to whom it was said, “In Isaac will be reckoned your offspring,” • 19 having reasoned that God was able even to raise him out from the dead, from whence also he figuratively received him.

“Offered up Isaac” – offered as sons. Through full assurance of faith, we now turn everything going forward into the meaning of being offered for the Father’s sake, offered for the sake of that which means everything to Him. Isaac is everything God promises us. Faith is always inside this moment right now, looking to the next. Through full assurance of faith in every present moment, we offer to God all that He gives to us. And we EXPECT that our very next step will be RESURRECTION, God sharing Life with us.

Devotion to What God Wants. You see, to “believe that God is” means devotion to what God wants, and what God wants is a people in whom to dwell and among whom to reveal Himself as Love. This costliness mirrored to us by Abraham is FOR the City God wants.

17-19 Ruling Verses 7, 4, & 9: Abraham is our father in faith inside of Jesus and our example. Abraham offered back to God everything God had promised him, with willingness of heart, but with NO fatalism. Abraham was so convinced that God speaks the Truth, that he KNEW God would raise Isaac from the dead. This is the offering of our faith as well, for we give back to the Father all the Promise of the Covenant – for the sake of our Christian brethren, knowing that God swallows up all that we are into the Life of Jesus’ Resurrection. This offering is the essence of Devotion, for we give our all that our Father might have the City of His Desire.

The Costliness of Wealth. • 24 Through faith Moses, having come to maturity, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; 25 preferring, rather, to endure affliction together with the people of God, than to possess the temporary enjoyment of sin. 26 [Moses] esteemed the wrongful condemnation of Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking away into the reward.

Through my twenties and thirties, I preferred to endure affliction with God’s people inside Christian Community above the “enjoyment” of not knowing God at all. I now see every part of 1998 as God’s careful design to enable me to go on from that fellowship without turning away from the reward, which has been for me a return to the Community of my heart, the city and dwelling place of God, many bustling together as one. I KNOW the costliness of such wealth.

Our Reward. My preference for enduring affliction together with God’s people continues to this day, for I would know God, and I would walk with a people who know God. Yet God has required of me many times in the years since to offer His Promise to me back to Him inside of loss. But always I have expected that He will raise up around me the Community of my heart. This offering to the Father has been very costly, yet my perspective has widened through the years to now include the entire Church of Christ inside my expectation, millions of believers in Jesus all across the earth RUNNING through the wide-open gates of Jerusalem, running into thousands of local Christian Communities among the peoples.

24-26 Ruling Verses 4 & 9: Our desire for Community, for many entering into Jerusalem, leads us to endure affliction together with our brethren, that God among us might be our reward.

Completion Here and Now. 39 And all these, bearing witness through their faith, did not receive the promise; • 40 God, having perceived inside the core of His being [pro-seeing] something better for us, that apart from us they will not come to completion.

It is clear that from these verses regarding Abraham and Moses, we have captured the meaning of Hebrews 11. Because Hebrews is establishing the witness of Christ, many as one, a great “cloud” of such witnesses is brought into the picture. Christian Community is the True appearance of the Promise.

Here we must raise an interesting question. Did Abraham, and those with him, receive Jesus into their hearts at the same moment that Jesus breathed the Devoted Spirit upon the disciples in the upper room? The point is that Completion must always begin here and now.

So Much Better. 40 Kingdom: The thing which God perceives inside of Himself that is so much better for us is the FULNESS of Christ in all that Christ is and means, a many-membered Body, the revelation of the Father. – The Church, which is His body, the fulness of Christ who fills all inside of all (Ephesians 1:23). Part of that which is “better” is that we share with Jesus in His affliction for the sake of our brethren (see Colossians 1:24). Yet as we give ourselves in full Devotion to the Father, we know that Abraham, Moses, and all who have gone before until now are running with Joy into the same Jerusalem which God is bringing forth through us.

40 Speak Christ: I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace… You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He… makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth (Isaiah 62:6-7).

No Consciousness of Sins. (Chapter 12) • 1 Therefore we also, being surrounded by a great company of witnesses, have set aside every encumbrance and the easily distracting [consciousness of] sins. Through patient enduring we should exercise ourselves in the great conflict set before us, • 2 looking with purpose into Jesus, the source and the completion of our faith, who, looking instead at the joy and delight set before Him [the Church] endured the cross, thinking nothing of the shame, and sat down inside of the right hand of the throne of God.

Consciousness of sins ALWAYS turns one away from God to self. One who does not give all sin and lack to God through faith will be unconcerned about what God wants or of being about the Father’s business. Any moment that we fail to look with purpose into Jesus is SIN. Yet even such sin, we also give utterly to Jesus, the One who lives as us.

For Jerusalem’s Sake. The “great conflict” is clearly for Jerusalem’s sake. The context is unmistakable. Thus to turn these lines into “for our sake” that we might appease God through unbelief, inside a “great struggle against sin” is a demonic travesty. It’s all about the JOY set before us, a Joy that only exists as shared between God and us. God receives His Joy in return when our Joy has become His.

What does it take for the gathering together of believers into Christ Community to become the only thing you want? Yet this gathering of Jerusalem contains nothing of the unbelief of Nicene Christianity; it is the belonging we have always wanted. Those who sit at God’s right hand are THEY of Revelation 20:4, those who possess the judgment that it takes to enable God’s people to live inside the LAW of the Spirit of Life.

For the Joy Set Before Us. 12:1-2 Ruling Verses 6 & 7: Dwelling now inside of God, seated upon Mercy, we know through faith that Jesus now shares with us that same passageway of His Devotion to God, that we might carry our brethren in our hearts as He carries us (see 1 John 3:16). Only when we walk in no consciousness of sins can we exercise ourselves in the great conflict, not for ourselves, but as our travail with the Spirit for the sake of all who are called into Jerusalem.

1-2 Ruling Verses 4 & 9: As we look with purpose into Jesus, so we share with Him and He with us the same passion of His Heart, the same vision of a Church without spot or wrinkle, the dwelling place of God inside of creation forever. Such joy set before us enables us to humble ourselves with the Father in all costliness, for we value the Church above all.

Consider Jesus Fully. • 3 Consider fully the One who patiently endured such great contradiction from sinners against Himself, that you should not grow weary to the point of fainting in your souls. 4 You have not yet set the blood towards the antagonizing of sin, 5 and you have forgotten the encouragement that He addresses to you as sons, “My son, do not make light of the training of the Lord, nor become weary or faint when you are convinced by Him. • 6 Indeed, whom the Lord loves, He disciplines, and flogs every son whom He openly welcomes and receives.”

Something happens inside of us when we consider Jesus fully.

3-4 Ruling Verse 9: Jesus alone connects us with God, and He does so only through our faith inside of Him. All that we might call “the dealings of God in our lives” is only out from a God in whom we already dwell, and it is for great purpose, for God addresses us as sons and we are about our Father’s business.

Convinced by God. As I look across the span of my life, pressed in by thorns and filled with chastisement, I see that the words “that I might be convinced by God” define the meaning of everything. But of what am I convinced? I am convinced that all my difficulty and travail has been EFFECTIVE with my God for the sake of all God’s people in heaven and earth. Of truth, this is the Faith that pleases God.

5-6 Ruling Verse 9: As we give thanks inside of and for the sake of all things across the years of our lives, receiving chastisement from our Father’s Hand, even in the lonely places, even in utter failure, so we become CONVINCED by God. We are convinced that all our difficulty and travail has been EFFECTIVE with God for the sake of all God’s people in heaven and earth. Of Truth, this is the faith that pleases God.

God Offers You as Sons. • 7 If you patiently endure instruction and training, God is offering you as sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? – 10 Truly, they trained us for a few days according to what seemed good to them, • but He for our profit with Him, in order to share devotion with Him. 11 Moreover, training for the present does not seem to be fun, but distressing; afterward, however, to those having passed through the exercises, it gives in return the peaceful and profitable fruit of just innocence.

To share Devotion with God is to share Hheart with Him; it is a life devoted to what the Father wants. We now adjust our definition of Hebrews. The target is Jerusalem as Christian Community filled with God. Being offered as sons is the hitting of the target, what Hebrews is about.

Just Like Jesus. Being offered as sons for the sake of Jerusalem is the third part of being just like Jesus, symmorphosed with His image.

7-11 Ruling Verses 1 & 8: “God is offering you as a son.” This is the deepest level of being made just like Jesus, symmorphosed with His image. And this offering is for the sake of many brethren, that God would have all His Desire. To share Devotion with God is the greatest reward; it is to share Hheart with Him, to be the expression of True God-Love forever.

7-11 Ruling Verses 10 & 4: Just like Jesus, we give all to the Father for the sake of our brethren (see 1 John 3:16). Indeed, as we put the Lord Jesus upon ourselves, so we put upon every moment of the years of our affliction, upon every striking blow we have known, the same Redemptive Love of Jesus Himself, that our entire lives are effective inside of God in the fruit of just innocence, for ourselves, yes, but even more for Jerusalem.

Inside the Most Devoted. • 22 But you have approached Mount Zion, and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and myriads of angels [everything inside the Most Devoted]. • 23 [You have approached] the festival assembly and the church of the firstborn enrolled in the heavens. [You have approached] God, the Judge of all, and the already perfected spirits of the just. • 24 [You have approached] Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant; and the sprinkling of blood speaking far better things than Abel’s.

The word “approached” is the same ruling verb of Hebrews 10:19-22, thus placing Mount Zion and Jerusalem into the Most Devoted, into God whom we apprehend for ourselves. None of this is about a future “go to” heaven, for no such thing exists. All of these things are in God for us right now.

The Heavenly Jerusalem. Those in the Old Testament could not enter the promised Jerusalem because she is the Church. We must be that Jerusalem for them to enter into the same Promise. Abraham and Moses are about to return to this earth! And when they do, they will rejoice with all Joy inside Christ Community.

Mount Zion is those who implement the law of the Spirit of Life inside the Church, Jerusalem, from which goes forth the Word of the Lord to all the peoples. The angels are servants of the heirs of Salvation. The festival assembly is the gathering together of the Feast of Tabernacles, a people for the Father’s Desire. The Church of the Firstborn is Romans 8:29, many sons just like Jesus. Inside such a gathering, and out from our perfected spirits, God is the Judge of all (see Revelation 20:4a). But most of all, inside this God in whom we dwell, we apprehend Jesus in all, as the Mediator of the New Covenant in His Blood.

For Completion in Appearance. Being offered as sons, then, is for the completion of all these things, the Substance of them coming through our faith into full appearance upon this earth.

22-24 Ruling Verses 6 & 1: “You have approached” is the ruling verb of Hebrews 10:19-22, thus everything in verses 22-24 is found inside the Most Devoted, inside of God. That makes each of these specific things to be qualities out from God, things that God is pleased only when we call them our own right now. Today is the Day of Salvation, here and now; God knows nothing of “someday.” The primary thing that we find here inside of God, which we are to apprehend for ourselves, is the city of the Living God, the Jerusalem inside the Spirit, also called the Church of the Firstborn, Romans 8:29. Jerusalem established in Completion, in full appearance inside all heaven-earth, is what Salvation is all about.

An Unshakeable Kingdom. • 27 This “Yet once more,” makes clear that the things being shaken will be changed, as created things, so that those things not being shaken should remain. • 28 Therefore, since we are receiving an unshakeable kingdom, we hold onto and possess fully the grace through which we worship God well-pleasingly, with reverence. • 29 For our God is a consuming fire. – Let brotherly love continue.

The establishment of Jerusalem upon this earth comes with the SHAKING of everything. Everything physical, everything heavenly, Christian theology, all will be shaken, literally and psychologically, the mind of good versus evil. It is the Ark of the Covenant standing firm in the lowest place on earth that is God’s picture of “unshakeable.” Yet that Ark is always in the Most Devoted, the tip-point of Consuming Fire.

A Consuming Fire. And that Consuming Fire always Flows through as God-Love.

27-28 Kingdom: Everything inside creation, inside heaven as much as earth, is marred by humans eating of good versus evil in all their thinking, especially “Christian” theology. The entrance of the Kingdom shakes apart everything, literally and psychologically, bringing silence first and worship second.

28 Definition: Worship is offering ourselves to a God who offers us for the sake of others, just like Jesus. Worship is sharing Devotion with the Father inside the Spirit.

29 Definition: That which is not shaken is the Ark of the Covenant in the lowest place on earth, standing upon firm until all have passed through death into all the Life of Christ. God as a Pillar of Consuming Fire always passes through us as that Ark into God-Love seen and known inside the Church.

Adding Paul’s Little Bit. We can see now how Paul wrote his bit to fit “offered as sons.”

Remember those leading you in the way, who speak the word of God to you; observe carefully what comes out from their way of living; imitate their faith. Jesus Christ the same, yesterday, today, and into the ages. – Therefore, we should go forth to Him outside the camp, bearing His reproach, that is, the accusations against Him. Indeed, we do not have an abiding city here [in our present circumstances], but we are seeking for one ready to come. Through Him, then, we should bring the offering of praise to God through everything, that is, the fruit of our lips, speaking together His same name. And do not be forgetful of doing good in the koinonia of sharing, indeed, such offerings are well pleasing to God. Have confidence in those who are leading you, and yield to them as they watch over your souls [your self-story], as they restore word to you… (Hebrews 13:7-8 & 13-17).

For Jerusalem’s Sake. First, verses 7 & 17, those leading in the way, are Mount Zion, the examples of Christ Jesus at the heart of every Christian Community. Bearing Jesus’ reproach, the Joy of Jerusalem before our eyes, offering praise to God, and speaking together the same word that is Jesus, these are all part of our giving ourselves to the Father as Jesus with us. God offers us as sons for Jerusalem’s sake.

13-16 Ruling Verses 8 & 9: We share with Jesus as God’s offering for the sake of all our Christian brethren, that our life-time of bearing Jesus’ reproach, of giving thanks in all, of speaking the same word that is Jesus, that in all of these things, God offers us as sons, the revelation of God-Love, our ministry forever.

Hitting the Target. Nothing is more rewarding than to be able to KNOW for CERTAIN that our lives, every moment, every tear, every joy, every failure, every triumph, all that we are and have ever known, that God has made us EFFECTIVE for the sake of all our brethren throughout heaven and earth. Coming in second is the wondrous reward of finally knowing Hebrews in detail all the way through that ever-enlarging straight-arrow shot to the hitting of the target, the thing the Father wants above all, Jerusalem, Christian Community.

In this lesson, I am also wrapping up this wondrous study, this Flow of Gospel Word, that so fills us with Joy. Here is faith. I trust that, in spite of all our inability and limited reach, this very Flow of Gospel Word now coming through us will prevail inside the Church, that God through us HITS the Target in all, that Jerusalem is the next chapter of human history.

Reading for Next Time. I hope to re-write the last chapter of my life story, Prepare a Path, the chapter titled “All That I Am.” I might split this task into two Zoom meetings. I knew when I wrote it that it was quite confusing, but I could not see clearly and I needed to get down on paper the events we shared with God through that year of 2022. This is now 2026, four years later. I am confident that, as I outline this new final chapter with care, everything I really want to say will become clear.

To prepare for that lesson, you could read Chapter 54, “A New Direction,” in Prepare a Path. If you were ambitious, you could read the next two Chapters as well, “The Meaning of a Life” and the first version of “All That I Am.” (I may first insert into Zoom the Flow of Word outlines for The Open Scroll II, if I am still needing to finish those.)

Let’s Pray Together. “God, our Father, we seize hold of You in all Devotion, here inside Your Heart. Father, we know for certain that You have made every particle and moment of our lives to be for Your sake, that You might offer us as sons for the sake of all who belong to Jesus. Inside of all the Faith of Jesus which You have so freely given to us, Oh God, we expect that this wondrous Flow of Gospel Word now flows forth from us into all Your Church in all heaven-earth.

“Father, for Jerusalem’s sake, we are not silent, for we require of You, Oh God, that You would establish Jerusalem, Christian Communities among all the peoples, and that Your Church would be a praise in all the earth. Father, You have indeed answered us.”