Good morning. Let's open this
morning's service with hymn number 442 in your hardbacked hymnal,
442. Let's all stand together. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus,
our blessed Redeemer, sing, oh, wonderful love proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangels
in glory, strength and honor give to His holy name. Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard
His children, In His arms He carries them all day long. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. For our sins He suffered and
bled and died. He our rock, our hope of eternal
salvation. Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the
crucified. Sound His praises, Jesus who
bore our sorrows. Love unbounded, wonderful, deep,
and strong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Heavenly portals loud with hosannas
ring. Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever
and ever. Crown Him, crown Him, Prophet
and priest and king, Christ is coming over the world victorious. Power and glory unto the Lord
belong. Praise Him, praise Him, tell
of His excellent greatness. Praise him, praise him, ever
in joyful song. Please be seated, Caleb. Good morning. As most of you all know, my children
are in Tennessee this past week and this coming week. I received
a phone call from my daughter this morning and. She said Daddy,
I just wanted to call you and tell you good luck. And I thought
to myself how often. Do I approach the throne of our
Lord? In ignorance and how often I
need to be excused. Of my ignorance and this morning
I pray the Lord would keep us. In this entire time looking to
him. And forgive us of our ignorance.
If you would turn with me. to 2 Samuel chapter nine. My purpose this morning is to
proclaim what Christ has accomplished in his salvation of his elected
sinners. I would like us to look at why
he saves shameful sinners, who Christ died for, and how he saves
shameful sinners. Tim was mentioning back in the
study there a little bit ago about feeling shameful for the. The way that we used to approach
the Lord and the knowledge that we would get from in religion
of. Continuing to study, but never
seeing Christ. And the term shameful it was.
I didn't mention this back there, but the term shameful means disgraced.
Dishonored, discredited, condemned, and cursed. Cursed, that's what
shameful means. I pray the Lord would give us
hope this morning as I've titled this message, Hope for Shameful
Sinners. So in 2 Samuel 9, begin reading
at verse 1. And David said, is there yet
any that is left of the house of Saul that I may show him kindness. For Jonathan's sake. Now. In order for David to be interested
in showing kindness for Jonathan's sake, there had to be a covenant
that took place and I would like to take you there to first Samuel
Chapter 17. Towards the end of the chapter.
To see why David was interested in showing this kindness or this
mercy. First Samuel chapter 17 and verse
54. And David took the head of the
Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem. But he put his armor
in his tent. And when Saul saw David go forth
against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the
host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, as thy
soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, inquire
whose son the stripling is. And as David returned from the
slaughter of the Philistines, Abner took him and brought him
before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, whose son
art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the
son of thy servant, Jesse, the Bethlehemite. And it came to
pass when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul that the
soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan
loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day and
would let him go no more home to his father's house. Then Jonathan and David made
a covenant because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan
stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it
to David, and his garments even to his sword, and to his bow,
and to his girdle." We don't know the words exactly of what
this covenant was, but we do know the actions that Jonathan
showed forth to David are significant in the fact that he stripped
himself of all that he was and gave it to David. The future actions of these two
show the commitment to the covenant. So we're not going to go into
what each of these items may mean. But the point this morning
is, is there was a covenant made in eternity. God, the father
and the king, Jesus Christ, according to the father's choosing. purposed
in his son to elect a bride, to elect a people, to redeem
a people back to himself before the foundation of the world.
This was a blood covenant. Our father has always required
blood. Even in the beginning, in Genesis
chapter three, the very first thing he did after the first
sin is he took an animal and he killed it for a covering for
Adam and for Eve. We see in Exodus, the Passover
lamb, Exodus chapter 12, that whenever the death angel was
to come. that the only hope that they
had was that the blood was upon the lintel and upon the doorpost.
I pray the Lord would apply the blood to my heart, to the lintel
and the doorpost of myself, that I would be found hidden in Christ,
just as Noah was brought into the ark. I need Christ, a covering
from the storm, not just the storm that we go through in this
life, but the storm of the judgment and the fire of God. I need a
covering that the Lord would save me from what I am, From
who I am, from what I think, from what I do, I need a savior.
I need that covenant. I need to be in that covenant
of grace that took place. We know that the covenant of
Jonathan and David was just a top and a shadow of the covenant
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his father. Because
of this covenant, we have a substitute. I need a substitute. In Revelation
chapter 13 in verse 8, it says that Christ is the lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. In Hebrews chapter 13 in verse
20, it says, now the God of peace that brought again from the dead,
our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the everlasting covenant. This is not a temporary covenant.
The Lord doesn't do things temporary. I take confidence in knowing
my father has never had one thought. He never thinks he just knows
and is. He is the I am. I need to be
found in this covenant. Turn with me back to Samuel Chapter
9, please. I'm sorry, Hebrews Chapter 10
first. I apologize. Hebrews Chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 and verse
11. And every priest standeth daily
ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can
never take away sins. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified, whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness
to us. For after that, he had said before,
this is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
saith the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts
and in their minds will I write them. And their sins and iniquities
will I remember no more. Because of this covenant, shameful
centers are made perfectly righteous in the blood of Jesus Christ.
That is our hope this morning. Look back in Second Samuel 9
or text if you would please. And David said. Is there yet
any that is left of the House of Saul? that I may shew him
kindness for Jonathan's sake. And there was of the house of
Saul a servant whose name was Ziba. And when they had called
him unto David, the king said unto him, art thou Ziba? And
he said, thy servant is he. And the king said, is there not
yet any of the house of Saul that I may shew the kindness
of God unto him? And Ziba said unto the king,
Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. And the
king said unto him, where is he? And Ziba said unto the king,
behold, he is in the house of Maker, the son of Amiel in Lodabar. Then King David sent and fetched
him out of the house of Maker, the son of Amiel in Lodabar. First thing I'd like to bring
to our attention is in verse number three, the king said,
is there not, is there yet any left? The covenant has to be
honored. It must be honored. And the king
did the seeking and the searching and found he will always find
his sheep. As he said, he would leave the
ninety and nine to find the one lost as he did for Mephibosheth. The second thing in verse four
is he says, where is he? He had to inquire as to what
his location was, his whereabouts. And then lastly, in verse 5,
David sent and fetched him. He was made to come. I find it
interesting because in religion so many times they act like David
sent him a pair of crutches. And say, why don't you get here
whenever you can? You just if you can make it, you just come
on and and I've done my part. You have to do your part. That's
that's blasphemous. I need a savior that not only
searches for me, but finds me and brings me and puts me. In
Christ, I need to be in Christ. As the scripture says in John
644, no man can come to me except the father which sent me draw
him. And I want to mention here that I really love conjunctions.
Every time we see a conjunction, normally the gospel follows,
but God who is rich in mercy, but God because he loved us. And here he says, except the
father which sent me draw him. I can find hope in the fact that
the Lord is drawing. If he wasn't drawing, then it
would never say here, which sent me draw him. He's still drawing.
I need to be drawn. Lord, don't pass me by. Come
to where I'm at even today and save me. Rescue me. David didn't. Make a way that
Mephibosheth could come to the. The King's Palace. And so many
times people use the term the Lord made a way. Christ is the
way he didn't make away. He is the way. And he said that
in John 14 six. Jesus saith unto him, I am the
way, the truth and the life. No man cometh into the father
but by me. So if you look again in verse
5. He says where he fetched him
from. Was out of the House of Maker, the son of Amiel. in Lodabar. The housemaker, the definition
of that is sold or in slavery, bondage, sold. And something
that is sold has an owner. But at this particular time,
he was in Lodabar also, which means no pasture, no word, no
bread. He was in a place where there
was no word from the king. There was no bread for him to
eat. and he was sold in bondage. We was sold in our father Adam
whenever he sinned in the garden and we died. And so a preacher
said one time, if you're wrong on the fall, you're wrong on
it all. We didn't just partially die or that we could maybe figure
out a way to get back to the palace. We was impotent, completely
impotent. As we're gonna see Mephibosheth
here, as he's already told us, he's laying on his feet. We've
had no hope that ever becoming able to get back to the Lord's
palace, ever being able to obtain salvation in and of ourself.
There was no choice that we could make, nothing we could bring. As the song says, in my hand,
no price I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. In verse 6. He says now in Mephibosheth.
The son of Jonathan. The son of Saul was come unto
David. He fell on his face. And did
reference and David said Mephibosheth. And he answered behold thy servant.
The name Mephibosheth means a shameful thing. And that's where I got
the title of this message from this morning. Hope for shameful
centers. We can see. Mephibosheth as he
enters into the throne room, a disgraced, dishonored, discredited,
condemned, cursed, shameful thing. First thing he does is he falls
on his face in reverence. The second thing he does, he
acknowledged who he was. The king asked his name, Mephibosheth,
and he said, behold, thy servant. This was a confession of what
he was. I'm guilty. I'm Mephibosheth. Yes, that's
me. I'm a shameful thing. And that is certainly our cry.
He acknowledged who he was in saying, behold thy servant. And
he acknowledged what he was. But I want us to notice that
here, there's a difference between his response to the king than
Ziba's response. When you go back to verse two,
at the end, it says, art thou Ziba? And he said, thy servant
is he. But here, Mephibosheth says in verse six, and he answered,
behold thy servant. That's a very different response
to the king. That terms means to, uh, behold
means to see or observe, to look upon. This was a plea for mercy.
This was not the same as Zaba. Yup. I'm here. Yes. Your servants. That, that is not what Mephibosheth
is doing. He is pleading for mercy. Behold thy servant. Look
upon me. I am impotent. I am broken. I am the bloodline that's in
my veins is the enemy of you. As far as Mephibosheth was concerned,
he was the only one that still had a claim on the throne from
Saul's lineage. Everything about Mephibosheth
did not deserve mercy. Everything. There was nothing
that he could bring, nothing that he could do that deserves
the king's favor. It was all because of a covenant,
and that is our hope this morning, that Christ, that we would be
found in the covenant of grace. What's the King's response to
this plea for mercy? I find great hope in this. What
is the King's response in the next verse? And David said unto
him, fear not. Fear not. Why should not? Why should he not be afraid for?
I will surely show the kindness. For Jonathan, my father's sake,
see. The King and the father made a covenant. Mephibosheth
had no part of that. He wasn't even alive. He wasn't
even a thought at the time to the king and the father in this
story. But I'm thankful I was a thought to the king and the
father who made a covenant in eternity. I'm thankful that he
called my name. He called Caleb. And I said,
behold thy servant. Lord, I am impotent, and I am
broken, and I am needy. I was in a place of no bread.
I was in a place of no word. Lord, I am a shameful sinner.
I am a dog and we're going to find I'm getting ahead of myself
a little bit here, but I'm a dog who needs a savior. I will surely show the kindness.
For Jonathan, the father steak. And will restore the all the
land of Saul, the father. And thou shall eat bread at my
table. Continually. First thing he says
is fear not. For I will Greg preached a message
recently. I will and they shall remember
that. David says I will. For I will surely show the kindness
in the last part of that thou shalt eat bread at my table.
He had no part of that and nothing that he done was deserving of
that. The King said I will and you
shall. I need a I need a King. I need a Savior that says I will
and you shall. I don't need options. I don't
need a choice. I need a person in Christ and
I need to be found in him. He says in Ephesians chapter
4 verse 32, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving
one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. God hath made shameful sinners
willing. He's made them fit. He has made
them worthy to call upon a holy God, and he has made them perfectly
righteous so that he can hear them. What a God, what a king,
what a savior. David says into Mephibosheth.
Fear not. The term fear not is written
in our Bibles. 71 times. If we Lord knowing
our make that we are but dust, we're often compared to many
things in the scripture, grasped and a flower fading and dust.
The Lord wrote 71 times fear not to give us comfort, because
we're going to be afraid of some things in this life. But I believe
our greatest fear. Is that Christ would leave us
to ourselves? We need him to speak. Fear not unto our soul.
When that fear comes upon us, we need to see his face. I am. Often reminded of a child and
Greg preached the message something along this line recently as well.
And I'm so thankful for our pastor. Let me just say that I'm thankful
for the. the stand that he takes in the
gospel that he preaches. But he mentioned that how we
are, um, babes crying. And many of us has had children
before. And you know, at nighttime, we
lay them down in their crib and the room's dark and you walk
out of the room and they're crying. And, um, the only thing that
baby wants is for the mother or the father to come in there
and rescue them. Once they see the face of the
mother or the father, they're completely satisfied. When we
come into this place, we're like babies that are just crying out
in the darkness, because this world is just a place of no bread,
no hope, and no word. And our feet are broken, our
legs are broken, and we can't come into the Lord's presence
without a substitute. But we come here, and we say,
Lord, we would see Jesus. Just let us see his face for
a moment, that way that we can feel those words, fear not, in
our soul. We needn't fear circumstances
because we have Christ. Whenever the Lord appeared unto
Abram in Genesis 15, when he said, fear not, Abram, I am thy
shield and thy exceeding great reward. Deuteronomy 31, six says,
be strong and a good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them
for the Lord, thy God, he it is that doth go with thee. He
will not fail thee nor forsake thee. Hebrews 13, five says, I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee. I'm not so concerned with
we, we, we often get concerned with the things of this temporal
life, but I need him. Whenever we, as Greg said recently,
when we lay our head on our pillow and we're about to draw our last
breath, whatever's on our mind at that moment is the most important
thing to us. I need Christ to say, I will
never leave thee nor forsake thee. Fear not, for I am with
thee. Verse seven. And David said unto him, fear
not, for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's
sake. And I will restore thee all the
land of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table
continually. And Mephibosheth bowed himself
and said, what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I am? When Mephibosheth entered into
the throne room of David, Mephibosheth asked David, what
is thy servant? David did not see Mephibosheth. He saw Jonathan's face. It was
his own blood, his son. He had a resemblance. He had
to have a resemblance of Jonathan. He didn't see the, there was
nothing about Mephibosheth that the king was taking note of.
Everything was already done. It was finished. The covenant
had already been accomplished. The covenant at this moment,
he was just the benefactor of the covenant. He was just standing
there in the presence of the king and David saw Jonathan. And he said, I'll show thee mercy
for Jonathan's sake. When the Lord sees us, I need
him to see Jesus Christ. I need to be a benefactor of
that covenant. I need to be found in Christ.
I do not want to be seen in myself as anything of myself. I want
to be seen as Jesus Christ. That's my hope is that he is
my substitute. So if you would turn with me
here to Luke 12, four and seven, Luke Chapter 12. So if we are found. In Christ
now than we have always been found in Christ, there's never
been a time. Where we have not been saw in
Christ. Luke Chapter 12 begin reading
at verse 4. And I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of
them that kill the body, and after that have no more that
they can do. But I will forewarn you whom
you shall fear. Fear him which after he hath
killed hath the power to cast into hell. Yea, I say unto you,
fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for
two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten? before God. But even the very hairs of your
head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore, ye are of
more value than many sparrows." Notice that it doesn't say here
that the hairs of your head are counted. In religion, a lot of
men believe that the Lord took the time to Count the number
of hairs, but that's a totally different God that I'm talking
about. The hairs of our head are numbered the exact number
they're supposed to be. I can rest in a God. That says,
fear not for I am with thee. The hairs of your head are numbered.
Not one sparrow falls to the ground unnoticed and in Christ
you can you think about the? The love that the father has
for the son. And How foolish it would be to
think that the father could ever stop loving the son. That's how
foolish it is when we begin to think if we are in Christ, how
foolish it would, how foolish it is that the father would stop
loving us. If we're in Christ, he is never
going to leave us, never going to forsake us. We are always
in him because he loves his son. And verse eight, back in our
text, He says, and he bowed himself
and said, what is that servant that thou shouldest look upon
such a dead dog as I, the King don't respond to this in verse
nine. Then the King called to Zaba. This was a confession by Mephibosheth
as to what he was, but David did not see a shameful thing.
He saw the face of Jonathan, as we've mentioned before. All we can do when the Lord shows
us mercy is bow and worship. There's nothing that we can. There's nothing that we can do
but confess that we are a dog in worship. The other day we was. And y'all
y'all have children, so a lot of times I like to maybe talk
about my children, cause I love them, you know, and. But My daughter
went to the dentist, and they had to pull a tooth. She had
an abscessed tooth. And we told her everything that
was going to happen and made her as comfortable as she could.
And they gave her all of the medication that they needed to
in order to proceed with the procedure. But whenever they
began, she began to cry out. She became very scared. And she
became very, very afraid. And I asked the dentist to stop
for a moment, and I tried to console her and comfort her,
but she cried. And I would have gladly taken
her place. I would have gladly, they could
have took all my teeth out at that point. At that moment, I
would not have minded to go through that pain for my daughter, because
I love her with all of my heart. But there was nothing I could
do to help her. Not a thing. It had to be taken
out because she had infection. They couldn't put her to sleep
because she had an infection. And it could spread. There was
nothing I could do. So they continued the procedure.
And as soon as it was over, I grabbed her and I just held her. And
of course, she cried. Thankfully, she doesn't remember it because
of the medicine that they gave her. But I was thinking about
our Lord and Savior Whenever he went to the cross, the king of glory went to the
cross. And in Galatians chapter three,
verse 13, it says, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, cursed
is everyone that hangeth on a tree. Christ became a curse for us. And I've just told you the definition
of a curse is the same thing as a shameful thing. And I say
that reverently. He had to become a Fibisheth
and he had to become me. But in his darkest hour on the
cross, the heavenly father. The heavenly father looked upon
his son and saw sin. The angels of glory cannot look
upon Christ in his glory. That's how holy we're talking
about. And in 2nd Corinthians 520 when he said for he hath
made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. When Christ was made
sin. The father did not save his son. He did not spare his son. He
put him to death. That was the covenant of grace
before the world was ever formed before the world was ever made.
That was the covenant that was entered into. The king and the
father had never been separated before that moment. But when
the father saw sin upon his son, he had to put him to death. And
we see our Lord crying from the cross, my God, my God, why has
thou forsaken me? He was forsaken of the father
in his darkest hour, so we would not be forsaken ever. Christ
said it is finished. And at that moment, all the sins,
of all God's elected people chosen in Christ in the covenant of
grace were made perfectly righteous without blame. That is the hope
for shameful sinners. Isaiah 40 verse two says, speak
you comfortably to Jerusalem and cry into her that her warfare
is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned for she hath received
of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. In verse number 9. Then the king called to Zaba,
Saul's servant, and said unto him, I have given unto thy master's
son all that pertain to Saul and to all his house. The king
gave this because of this covenant. And in Titus 3, 5, it says, not
by works of righteousness, but we have done, but according to
his mercy. According to his mercy hath he
saved us. Let's read on in verse 10. Thou
therefore and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land
for him and thou shalt bring in fruits that thy master's son
may have food to eat. But Mephibosheth thy master's
son shall eat bread all way at my table. Now Ziba had 15 sons
and 20 servants. In verse 10 he says, thou shalt
till the land for him. All the work that is to be done
in the salvation of God's elect people was done at Calvary's
cross. When the Lord said it is finished,
that means it is finished. In Psalm 138 verse eight, the
Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. Thy mercy, O Lord,
endureth forever. Forsake not the works of thine
own hands. David says in verse 10, but Mephibosheth,
thy master's son, shall eat bread always at my table. Mephibosheth,
the shameful thing, is gonna be put at my table.
He's gonna have a covering. His iniquity is going to be put
away and covered. Everyone at the table is equal.
Nobody could see Mephibosheth's infirmities. Nobody noticed that
he was impotent. As far as everybody else was
concerned, he was one of the king's sons. Not everyone is welcome at the
king's table. Only those that have been chosen
bought and brought. I thought, what would they do
at the king's table? Of course, they're going to eat. But you know what we do when
we come here? You're in Zion right now. This is the king's
table. We come to observe the king. We continually watch him,
looking at him, praying that he will look to us, have mercy
on us. As we sit there and you can see
the scene set before, the table is no doubt beautiful, but nobody
cares about that. They don't care how pretty the
building is. We're not worried about how pretty the paint job
is or how nice the lights are or anything like that. We come
here to see the King. We come to observe the King. The only two things that are
served at the King's table are the body and the blood of Christ.
When we come here, we're not seeking what work do we need
to do? We're coming here to observe
the king and to feast upon the lamb. As the scripture says in
Psalm 34, eight, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. This
is why we take communion in remembrance of him. My little girls was asking
me, why do we do that? Why are you eating the bread
and drinking the wine? I said, in remembrance, in remembrance,
This is the same reason we attend worship to look to Christ to
attempt to see the king. That's why we're here this morning
to feast on the lamb. Because of this covenant being
fulfilled, we are sitting at the king's table right now with
our infirmities covered by his table being found in his body. Our iniquities cleansed by his
blood and his sins. And our sins, because of him,
cast as far as the east is from the west. Because of covenant
grace, there is hope for shameful sinners. Turn with me, if you
would, to Psalm chapter 89. And we're going to begin reading
at verse 1. I will sing of the mercies of
the Lord forever. With my mouth will I make known
thy faithfulness to all generations. For I have said, mercy shall
be built up forever. Thy faithfulness shalt thou establish
in the very heavens. I have made a covenant with my
chosen. I have sworn unto David my servant. Thy seed will I establish forever.
And we know that's Christ. And build up thy throne to all
generations. And the heavens shall praise
thy wonders, O Lord, thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the
saints. For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord,
whom among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and
to be had in reverence of all them that are about him. O Lord
of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee, or to thy faithfulness
round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the
seas. When the waves thereof arise,
thou stillest them. I believe this is Mephibosheth's
prayer after David showed him mercy. And if you turn back to
our text just a moment in chapter nine, in verse 12, and Mephibosheth
had a young son whose name was Micah. You know what the name
Micah means? Who is like the Lord? After everything was said
and done. After the Lord showed great mercy
unto Mephibosheth, he named his son who is like the Lord. In closing, I would like to turn
to Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah 55 verse one. Ho, everyone
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. He that hath no money,
come ye, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price. Wherefore do you spend money
for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which
satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and
ye eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. If you bring anything with you
to the king's palace, you won't be welcome. Reminded of the story
that Christ had told about the groomsmen and seeking the groomsmen
to come, or the individuals to come to the marriage. And he
was sending out invitations and they wouldn't come. And he said,
well, go into the highways and hedges, compel them to come in.
And those that are hungry, those that are thirsty will come to
the king's table every time the doors open. That's our hearts
need. That's my greatest desire is
to see the king one more time to see his face. That's why we
come here. In first John Chapter 3 in verse
one and two, it says, behold, what manner of love the father
hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of
God. Therefore, the world knoweth us not because it knew him not
beloved now. Right now, are we the sons of
God? And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear, we shall
be like him, for we shall see him as he is. May I be found
in Christ. Leave me not to myself, O Lord.
Turn me into thee. Shut me up to your bosom. Hide
not your face from me. Lord, have mercy on me, the shameful
sinner. Let's take a break.