 So this morning the this is the 19th lesson on union with Christ and it's union with Christ in the ordinances in the ordinances and to begin with I have a Couple verses at the top of the handout and I'll read each of them and I Want to try to get some dialogue this morning, so I'll ask a couple questions before we begin But to read the verses first The first one is Matthew 28 19 go therefore and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and Also Luke 22 19 and he took bread gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying this is my body Which is given for you Do this in remembrance of me so the first one is the command to baptize and the second one is the command to Practice the Lord Supper so Quick question for you. Why do we call these two? Commandments ordinances and what are other names that? They might be called Sergio Ordinance is because God ordered it. Uh-huh, and then I could be wrong about that And then the other one is the sacraments the sacraments, right? So It's another word for commandment It does have the nuance of authority and a standing commandment with the word ordinance But there's nothing like special about that particular word it these are commandments but we prefer to call them ordinances instead of sacraments and yes sacraments are what some denominations and other religions will call these Commandments and church activities But we Prefer not to use sacrament because in the Roman Catholic Church. They call these sacraments and They define them differently in the way that they go about practicing baptism and the way that they go about practicing the Eucharist and the Lord Supper they also call confirmation a sacrament and other Activities of the Catholic Church, so to distinct make ourselves distinct from that We call them ordinances How many Ordinances are there Braillea just to That's right Baptism and Lord Supper so on the handout you can see there's really just two points Baptism and the Lord Supper and I've got water next to baptism Because I don't want to anyone to get confused When we use that word baptism what we're referencing If you look at the second bullet under baptism symbolizes our spiritual baptism into Christ so there is a Spirit baptism that comes from Christ and that's not the same thing as water baptism when someone's physically immersed in water and Brought back out of the water Those are two different things one's theological and spiritual the other one's physical and has no Immediate grace Invested in it like just the participation of it means that you get grace it it's a means of grace and Appropriated by faith it does grow us and God does bless us in the activity But we're talking about two different things when we talk about water baptism and spiritual baptism any questions So far All right So let's look at the first bullet. How is union with Christ revealed in the ordinances and First of all will be more specific. How is union with Christ revealed in the ordinance of water baptism and First of all that bullet doesn't really that first bullet doesn't really answer the question But it does establish that this is in fact a biblical Christ-given commandment and Requires our study and attention because it is his command. So let's look at that first If you will turn to Matthew 28 19 and I'm gonna start in 16 And if you will remember with the Great Commission what has occurred in history is that the Lord has atoned for sin and Fulfilled his state of humiliation and all that was required of him by the law and Having done that which pleased the father even to death the death of the cross. He has resurrected with power and Now in verse 16 we pick up Then the 11 disciples went away into Galilee to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them when he saw him they worshiped him but some doubted and Jesus came and spoke to them saying all authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth Go therefore and make disciples of all nations Baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you and low I am with you always even to the end of age end of the age. Amen So right here in verse 19. We have the commandment to go Which carries the imperative force of the word make the main verb of that's that sentence is make So we are to make disciples and that involves baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and This is a reference to water baptism It's something that the church is to obey Christ in not just the 11 disciples Because the 11 disciple 12 apostles when we add in Matthias Not just the 12 and then the 13th with Paul are to fulfill this commandment But there to teach the church and the people of God to observe all the things that Christ has commanded including Baptizing so we practice baptizing today just as they were initially commanded. This is a commandment for the church and Water baptism you can see it in John And then in Acts so if you go to Acts briefly Just to show you it's Happening in the first church in the early church Acts chapter 2 verse 40 and This is after Pentecost Peter has just preached and By God's grace and the Holy Spirit has convicted them of their sin and They respond and it says here and with many other words he testified and exhorted them saying be saved from this perverse generation Then those who gladly received his word were baptized and that day about 3000 souls were added to them. This is the church baptizing The apostles and those who are baptizing baptizing new believers So they're fulfilling the commandment back here in Matthew 28 and it is water baptism What does that mean when it says in the name of the father and in the name of the son and in the name of the Spirit anybody Mr. Lee the authority that's that's who that is that's who you being baptized And you're not being baptized in the name of Paul or being baptized in the name of You know Julia Caesar whoever it's the one who is an authority that you being baptized. Amen. Amen. That's very well said I Have another question when let's say today when we baptize someone Are we baptizing them into union with Christ? spiritual union Like when they go into the water Are they entering into spiritual union with Jesus Christ? No Braleos got something. I'm sorry brother. I missed you All right, I was gonna say no only because in acts it says Those who had received his word were baptized. So you receive his word first Meaning you're converted and then you are baptized. Yes. Amen and I Think that most everyone here has heard total depravity taught and understands it to some degree But if you're new or a visitor or you haven't heard that word that term before Braleo is stating that in acts we saw that who was it that was baptized It was those who gladly received the word that Peter was preaching the word of God So why does that mean that they were in union with Christ? Prior to their water baptism and he was stating because they gladly receive the word So underlying what he was thinking you're thinking well brother and amen. I'm just trying to explain it better or More specifically is because of who we are dead in our sins Unresponsive to the word of God to the spirit of God in our life We are aliens from God and enemies and we are enemies by nature By nature we hate God And we cannot please him and we do not want to please him. We suppress the truth and unrighteousness and And total means it affects every aspect of our life Whether it's the way we think intellectually the way we have emotions and we respond emotionally to things our values Everything the way we make choices and decisions our sin affects everything. Are we as sinful as we can be in our practices? No But that does not mean you're good and the fact that we Aren't as evil as we could be is only a testimony to God's restraining common grace on us he restrained sin all over the world even the most vile men and Paul understood that he said I a Hebrew of Hebrews a Benjamin a Benjamin Zellas as far as the law goes blameless I am the chief of sinners and We ought to see ourself that way It's the Pharisee that says I thank you God that I'm not like him him and him But it's the one that recognizes in truth that he's pouring spirit that says I won't even look to heaven God have mercy on me So if that if you understand that biblically and if you have it yet if that causes you friction And you just disagree and you think no there's some good in man Or he has the potential to do good apart from God only God needs to stir him up to do that good that is potentially lying within him And then he will respond that's unbiblical Romans 8-7 so when we say they gladly receive the word of God We know biblically That they only gladly received the word of God by faith Because they had been granted that faith in the regeneration of their spirit So the regeneration there's already a union that has occurred now Sometime later for them, maybe hours or less they were water baptized In accordance with Christ's commandment They were not brought into union into which they were already a part of what what kind of law Is baptism in the Lord's Supper when we talk about different types of laws in the Bible I'll give you two major categories so you have and some of you might not have heard this before you have moral law and You have positive law Positive law is Authoritative and yes to disobey it is morally sinful But it's not eternal and it is not Indivisible from God's character like the moral law is I'll give you an example circumcision was a positive law and To disobey circumcision was to disobey the Lord and to sin against the Lord, but yet there's no circumcision today That's because it's it's a positive law and not an eternal Law of God which we would call the moral law the Ten Commandments and God in his sovereignty and in his timing is free to make it obsolete and no longer a commandment But God will not ever Change his name and his character therefore it's always sinful to commit adultery But it's not always sinful to not circumcise. It depends on which covenant you're in in which era you live in because that positive law was only in authority During a certain time period in God's history and that's what we call positive law. So baptism and the Lord's Supper Will we call that moral law or positive law? No, well positive law positive law. That's right Positive law is it sinful to disobey these positive laws? Yes However, it is positive law Will we will we baptize anyone after Christ returns like after the consummation of all things? Is that sinful? Well one there's not gonna be new converts But are we gonna practice the Lord's Supper in the same way that we're practicing it today? We will gonna we're gonna The Lord's Supper points forward to something and when that that thing arrives There's no need for the ordinance anymore similar to a lot of the ordinances of or ceremonial law of the Old Covenant I'm going through that because I think there's a lot of confusion in history around baptism and There are some that teach that you receive the Spirit when you're water baptized and that's unbiblical and I know that the text of John 3 and Roman 6 and Acts 2 38 are used and you can get a book of it But You can't maintain that theology and be biblical when you start to see Clearly what the Bible teaches on total to privacy and on the order of solutice like how the ways in which God saves So it is Christ's commandment and it isn't ordinance since it's a positive law Let's talk about positive laws briefly. What are some positive laws in the Old Covenant? I already said one on you. I think one of the first ones was not to eat the fruit of the tree Not to eat the fruit of the tree. Oh like wine or No, then the garden of Eden. Oh, oh I'm sorry. I didn't know I didn't know what you meant. Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm thinking mosaic covenant I'm sorry. Yeah, not to eat the tree not to eat the fruit of the tree in the garden of Eden. So That's a positive law. It's not a moral law, but God gave that positive law as part of the Covenant of Works And to disobey it was sinful What's one though in After the fall What's some positive laws after the fall? You can't eat bacon you can't eat bacon dietary laws and we have the Seventh-day Adventist Predominant here in Florida. We have a whole health system the Adventist health system, which is coming off of Seventh-day Adventist theology There's this this heavy emphasis on health. Is that wrong? No But when you make it Theologically necessary to practice certain dietary laws today in order to be holy. That's unbiblical. I think I know where you're going with this All right Circumcision and the Passover. Yes. Yes, you'd thank you brother And I'll get to where I'm going now that you said that because that's really easy to jump off of Circumcision and Passover meal Were required by the children of Israel during the time of the Old Covenant Circumcision wasn't a positive law that just had meaning and purpose or use In its time it was symbolized and pointed forward to God's promises Related to his anointed the Messiah When he would circumcise the hearts of his people Passover was to remind them of a physical redemption out of Egypt when they were in slavery to Pharaoh and the Egyptians The meal was to remind them of that past event and to point forward and symbolize of a greater redemption in the promise of redemption from sins and When Christ comes there is the Doing away of the Old Covenant because much of what it pointed to is now already here and no longer necessary so we need to Take into consideration of what's the purpose of baptism and what's the purpose of the Lord's Supper What is it is it? Pointing to what is it symbolizing? How is it supposed to inform my faith and encourage me in this Christian walk? Because We want to avoid formalism We want to avoid the legalism that our hearts latches on to Do you remember when the children of Israel? I think it was that they complained and I can't remember for sure what their sin was but they sinned against the Lord and he sent fiery serpents to bite them Mr. Ron you got it. Okay. Yeah, did you want to say it? Say the feast the sacrifices and the burnt offerings. Yes. Yeah, the sacrifices and the burnt offerings Amen, and we know the sacrifices pointed forward to the greater sacrifice Amen, that's another good one, but there with the fiery serpents. What did God use to say? I will physically heal you of your judgment For your sins, which is poison and death If you do this, what did he say? Mr. Lee if you look at the standard it was a Snake a bronze serpent on a standard or I don't know. I haven't got a good image of what that was I imagine some kind of big pole Study of that and and what it was it was Like the cross, but the serpent was You know the way he had it. Okay. It was like Okay So but the my point there is the children of Israel With if you imagine, let's just say a million people. That's a large camp You got the tabernacle in the middle and you've got tents all over For a long distance that way that way that way and that way and then the Lord says You get word from Moses and on down There is a piece of wood with a bronze serpent on it and the center of the camp if you go up there and look at it, you'll be healed and They would have to walk up there and they would get healed from it What did the children Israel do? Later on with that's that bronze serpent. They made it an idol They started to worship the serpent. It's just wood and metal There's no ability for that object to do anything for your spirit and The fact that you're physically healed by looking at it is merely by God's good pleasure and wisdom that he he Would heal you by that act The there's no Force or healing power physically coming from that wood and that metal to heal you It's from God and it's just an act and you know You would and think about it if you're looking at that you have to think Why am I looking at a serpent? I'm looking at my own judgment. You can't look at it and not remember your sin and Jesus said just as Moses raised up the serpent in the wilderness so to the Son of man must be looked up You can't look at Jesus Christ by faith and not see your sin and your judgment So we don't want to be guilty of the same sins with these ordinances and somehow in our minds Falsely invest into water value that is not there and power that is not there or In taking food into my mouth and juice into my mouth that there's power in that You can take those things and do those things and go go to hell It's not the doing of it It's not the objects themselves It's God by his grace and power that he caused you to overcome sin through faith in act doing those things and I know I'm hitting hard on that and the reason why is when you study this more and you look more Even with the limited amount that I've done You start to see there's a lot of confusion The Roman Catholic Church practices transubstantiation Which believes that the food and the the bread and the wine actually Become the body and blood of Christ and that there is an actual Resacrifice of Christ and you are actually physically eating the body of Christ And I don't know that if we're in jeopardy very much of becoming Roman Catholics But even within other circles, you know, there's differences on the mode of baptism with Presbyterians And there's some even in what I would say is reform circles that believe there is some kind of grace invested in baptism Because it's through it that you become partaker of the covenant So I'm saying all that because I want to inform us and guard now. Let's go to Romans 6 symbolizes our water baptism Symbolizes our spiritual baptism into Christ What shall we I'm reading from verse 1? What shall we say then shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as Were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death That just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father even so we also should walk in newness of life For if we had been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection Knowing this that our old man was crucified with him and that the body of sin might be done away with That we should no longer be slaves of sin for he who has died Has been freed from sin in here You have to ask the question is this speaking of water baptism and I know that we've only talked about it briefly in the Sunday school classes But I do not believe that this is referencing water baptism If we look at Paul's argument, he's just got done telling in chapter 5 That there was death in Adam and life in Christ and he said in verse 20 of chapter 5 The law entered that offense might might abound But where sin abounded grace abounding much more so that as sin reigned in death Even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Christ Jesus Christ our Lord and Paul is thinking of Someone who's contrary or asking contrary questions to what he's teaching and when he talks about the grace of God here Romans 5 how it abounds in light of sin abounding The thought process of someone opposing Paul would say well Paul it sounds like you're saying that Let us continue to sin So that God's grace will be even more manifest Didn't you say that the law came that sin might abound So are you teaching that as Christians that if You practice more sin you're going to only manifest the grace of God and That's why he asked that question he says mega noita certainly not it's a very emphatic negative How shall we who died to sin? Live any longer in it He doesn't say baptism there. He doesn't say how shall we who were baptized live any longer in it He says dead What does it mean to die to sin? Claudia, what does it mean to die to sin? It means to die to Your sin to everything that is Contrary to what God teaches Yeah, yeah anybody else. We're gonna say something brother I Simply it's to be released from the power scene, but I was thinking of Roman seven how there's an analogy Between somebody who's married and how you know by say the husband dying then the woman is free from the law. Yeah and specifically In verse five from seven Says for while we were living in the flesh our sinful passions aroused by the law We're at work in our members to bear food for death But now we are released from the law having died to that which held us captive Captive so that we will serve in the new way of the spirit not in the old way of the written code code Amen He goes on later in Roman six and he he says in verse 20 for when you were slaves of sin you were free in regard to righteousness In verse 22 but now having been set free from sin and Having become slaves of God you have your fruit to holiness in the end everlasting life When he talks about death to sin there It we know that to say you're without sin is sin first John It's clear about that You know, he says he's without sin is a liar but there is a death to sin now and initially occurring in the believer's life when he is born again and he dies to the power and Condemnation of sin in other words the the influence that Sin had as a master and him being a slave to that and the influence of his guilt in its condemnation and his Subjection to the influence of that Those things he is now free from and when you die to something if you think about death in this life You are released from it. You no longer live within its boundaries and its Its domain You are now Going to go into the intermediate state and be under a new realm and another domain and You are now like inactive in that one You're free from that one and you're alive to this one so to speak So that's why marriage, you know like when there is When marriage ceases let's just say through death one of the spouses dies that bond of marriage is done away with So that person is no longer to consider themselves a married individual Because they're freed from those bonds now that that other person has has passed away So they died to the marriage Not that they like don't love the person. They just died to that bond they're no longer active in that bond and Same way when when a Christian is born again, he's no longer a slave of sin and That's supernatural That's not man-made it it comes from God So here what Paul is focusing on is answering the objection of Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? No way Absolutely not because how can we Who have spiritually died to the reign and realm of sin and in that and its reign Live in it, you know, it's like how can how can someone who's passed away live in this world? I Want to read John Brown on this The adversary might say no no doubt such as your obligation to Live righteously, but how can the obligation consist with your doctrine? If you are indeed in a moral sense dead to sin It is more than what to be expected It is more than what's to be expected from that doctrine of yours And this is coming from a standpoint of somebody not understanding what it means to die to sin And they're saying of course you're dead to sin. That's exactly what your doctrine teaches And whatever whatever you've engaged to do that is what your doctrine warrants and encourages and we doubt We doubt not we'll end in leading you to do to continue in sin that grace may abound The apostle takes up different ground altogether He sets himself to show that the divine method of justification, which was the first four chapters Is the once nest is is at once necessary to sanctification so The divine method of justification faith in Jesus Christ Through the atoning work of Christ and the renewal of the spirit is at once necessary to sanctification And that same method that that God supernaturally Causes you to be born again grants faith and thereby gives you Justified state by the imputed righteousness of Christ that same divine work is necessary to sanctification And secures it He shows that's paul shows first that the divine method of justification Establishes such a union Or intimate relation between those who are its subjects and jesus christ Both in his death and in his restored life As secures that anything like habitual unholiness of heart and life cannot take place And as besides furnishes the strongest motives and encouragement to the cultivation of universal holiness in other words God's way of salvation Through union with christ and our relation therein Secures not only our justification, but our sanctification in paul's argument is basically How can we who have been justified and died to sin live in it? Because the union that we have in christ And have received our justification is the same union that we have with christ in life Or do you not know he says in verse three that as many of us as we're baptized into christ We're baptized into his death therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death that just as christ was raised from the dead By the glory of the father even so we should also walk in newness of life You look at galatians three And i'll read verse 26 for all you are all sons of god through faith In g in christ jesus for as many of as Many of you as we're baptized into christ have put on christ It does say here Baptized into what? into christ This is talking about being immersed into christ It's not talking about Water baptism it's talking about being brought into union with christ and his body By spiritual baptism So water baptism though symbolizes that It symbolizes The spiritual baptism That a believer has In their salvation They receive the spirit and they're born again and christ has baptized them With the spirit and now they are in union with him And baptism the water baptism is meant to symbolize that The third one is Symbolizes water baptism Symbolizes our union with christ and his death burial and resurrection which we read in romans There's this union and relation that we have with christ that We are benefactors of his death burial and resurrection and partakers of it when salvation is applied to us In our relation to sin and its reign The fourth point at water baptism symbolizes our spiritual purification in union with christ So water baptism is doing more Than just one thing it's not just symbolizing one thing If you go to axe 238 You could say it's one thing, but i mean that broadly when i say one thing not one thing i mean like specifics Perspectives of of a greater thing, but those perspectives are distinct So i don't want to get lost in semantics, but it's symbolizing not just death burial and resurrection In our spiritual union with christ but also water Is often used to clean the body and it's a symbol of cleaning So we look at axe two Uh 38 Then peter said to them repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins And you shall receive the gift of the holy spirit for the promises to you and to your children And to all who are far off as many as the lord will call So here we can see water baptism He's commanding it and now go to axe 22 Verse i'm gonna start in verse 15 Well, let's start in 12 Then a certain ananias a devout man according to the law having a good testimony with all the jews who dwelt there came to me This is paul giving his testimony of his own Time of conversion And ananias has come to him by the direction of the lord And he stood and said to me brother saw receive your sight physically And at that same hour i looked up at him Then he said The god of our fathers has chosen you That you should know his will And see the just one And hear the voice of his mouth For you will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard And now why are you waiting arise and be baptized? Wash away your sins calling on the name of the lord So was paul Responsive to the lord at this point Prior to ananias coming was he Did he have a new heart Any questions any thoughts there mr. Lee? Yeah I think that someone could argue and i've read that A little but i heard a counter argument and I'm convinced that he was converted before this moment As you said He responds to christ and and christ is saying why is it why do you kick against the goads? And he's already there Under the revelation of christ by his Glorious revelation Responding lord Who are you lord and then lord reveals his name to him who he is? And then paul is here uh was there waiting on ananias And the lord told him that he would be coming So but what you can see here in verse 16 he says now why are you waiting chapter 22 16 arise and be baptized and wash away your sins Calling on the name of the lord There's this element of cleansing That occurs when a person is brought into union with christ The holy spirit purifies them of the filth of their sin and its guilt The stain that no man can clean When someone's brought into union with christ They're made a new creation and by faith in christ by the spirit They are purified They are what another what term would be definitively sanctified Made holy set apart by the lord They're not what they once were anymore If if you had a bar graph and they're down if this is like Somewhat externally moral on your way down here and then you're regenerated you go way up Or that you're not all the way to the top though But there is a supernatural changing of the man where he is made holy by the work of the spirit And that that spirit's work is there's a washing that occurs a cleansing You can hear people's testimonies when they Have a soft heart and they don't have that that the burden of guilt And I know that introspective people with lacking assurance can have troubles with guilt But all those even those who have struggled with assurance Put their faith in christ and have hope in him And do not have the crushing guilt of their sin when they were dead so baptism symbolizes that Symbolizes a washing so when you see somebody getting baptized you can think That person's died and they've come to life In christ That person was once filthy And now they're made clean By god's grace by his spirit Praise the lord And even now this water is doing nothing for them But we are obeying christ and i am appropriating this activity by faith and praising god in my heart And with his people I say do nothing and what I mean by that not that it's not set apart and holy and its use What i'm saying nothing what i'm talking about is the water itself is not being Made uh some kind of an elixir All right, so let's go to the lord supper is christ The lord supper is christ's command and ordinance So we go to luke 22 19 And i'm just going to read this one and move to the next point I'm going to read these two verses just to show you that it is a commandment 22 19 And he took bread Gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them saying this is my body Which is given for you Do this commandment in remembrance of me His body has not yet been crucified And he's telling them to remember it This is intended for a future use And the church understood that through the holy spirit Helping and guiding the apostles into truth If you look at first Corinthians 11 Just verse 20 Therefore when you come together in one place it is not to eat the lord supper He's he's rebuking them. But what you can see here is that the Corinthians were meeting supposedly Or there was some intent to do that to do to practice remembering the lord Through this ordinance of bread and wine It is not that you and he's saying you're not doing it though properly And he goes down look at verse 24 and when he had given And when he had given thanks he broke it and said take eat. This is my body Which is broken for you do this in remembrance of me In the same manner he also took the cup after the supper saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood This do as often as you drink it in remembrance of me For and now paul speaking for as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the lord's death till he comes So you can see that this is not just something that was occurring Towards the end of christ's life. It was An ordinance intended for the church. It's a commandment Second point it symbolizes christ's body and blood in our redemption So just to wrap up When it was instituted they were having the Passover feast and christ is now replacing The Passover with his own Passover and he's giving an ordinance on the basis of that But similar they were to have a feast related to the Passover to remember their redemption from israel And to point forward to promises god made for them in the land Well, god christ pass over when we partake of this food here and this this drink We are to remember our redemption Spiritually and we are to to look forward to the redemption Consummated the redemption of our bodies and our final Bring brought into Fellowship with christ when he returns physically So when we are partaking of that of try to guard against formalism and renew your mind pray and by faith appropriate that come prepared And remember the redemption that was purchased for you by the body of blood of christ And then look forward to What's coming with the completion of this redemption And then last it symbolizes our fellowship with christ and if we went to first Corinthians 10 paul talks about the table Partaking of the sacrifices eating food. So in the old covenant, they had peace offerings a thanksgiving meal that they would have together In this ordinance, we are symbolizing a fellowship that we have with christ We're not actually eating a meal with him. He's not here physically But we are proclaiming his death like I said with the redemption and we're also proclaiming our union with him and our fellowship in it And we're hoping for that day that we will have the consummation when we fellowship with him physically Any questions? Well, let's pray and we'll close Thank you Father for these ordinances. Thank you lord jesus for commanding them and Thank you for the word of god o holy spirit For informing us of What is proper related to them and how they are symbols positive law intended to be obeyed for Means of grace that we might grow and walk with you I pray that we as a church would not fall into any formalism with our ordinances but by faith rejoice in christ jesus and Be strengthened in this fellowship and in this union As it s as it pertains to our own sanctification Amen