John chapter 6. John chapter
6 may be the most powerful chapter. It's powerful because it tells
us what our salvation is and where it comes from. It is Christ
and it comes from God. It tells us that God the Father,
by His will and by His work, brings us to the Lord Jesus Christ. It tells us that the Lord Jesus
Christ laid down His life that we might live. And it tells us
that by the words that Christ spoke, which is the gospel, the
spirit of God gives us life. Christ is our life, and we have
no life until he gives us life. So our condition is deplorable,
it's terrible, and it's because of sin. And there's no hope for
us unless God acts. Salvation is of the Lord, and
that's what this chapter is talking about. And when I'm studying
and I'm thinking about things, I'll often use my wife as a sounding
board. And so in verse 27, it says this,
labor not, Jesus said, labor not for the meat which perishes,
but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life, which
the Son of Man shall give you. For him hath God the Father sealed. I told Denise, I can't imagine
that the men hearing those words could have possibly absorbed
even a fraction of what Jesus just said. Don't work, don't
spend your energy, your labor, your money trying to get what
is perishing and will leave you perishing. But labor for that
meat which endures, that's meat that doesn't perish, it's everlasting
meat and it gives everlasting life And that meat is what the
Son of Man shall give you. So it comes from him. For him
hath God the Father sealed. God has set him forth in the
brightest possible manner, unmistakable in history, in his word, and
through the preaching of it through centuries now, in order that
he could set him forth. This is the one. Your salvation
is in him alone. And this is a message from God
the Father. He sealed him by his spirit.
He gave him miracles to perform, which he did, which were a testimony
to the fact that he was the very one he said he was, because God
would never have sanctioned his approval if he wasn't speaking
God's word. And then he did the most phenomenal
thing of all, which is the eternal will of God to save his people
from their sins. That's what this verse is saying.
How could they have possibly absorbed that? But when we hear
it say, labor not for the meat which perishes, we might wonder,
well, what is the meat that doesn't perish? And the answer is everything
but Christ perishes, only Christ gives life. And how do we labor? Well, that's a thorny one right
there. We are prone to think of labor as an effort on our
part that God looks at and then approves and therefore blesses
us, but that's not what he's talking about here. And the easiest
way to understand that is the first point in my message today,
and I've entitled this message, Given to the Son to Save. given to the Son to save, and
you find that as we will find it in the verses of 37 and following. But I wanted to get to this way
in which God has given us this bread of life, this meat that
endures to everlasting life. How is it that we are to labor,
if it's to be called labor? And we read this throughout scripture,
but Jesus, when he was tempted by the devil, remember in Matthew
chapter 4, and he had not eaten or drank in 40 days and 40 nights,
and he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness. And he told
the devil in his first temptation, which was that Christ would prove
he was the Son of God by doing something that others could see,
and he said, no. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God." Now,
understand that in that statement, Christ is telling us how bread
comes to us, how this non-perishing everlasting life, giving bread
is given to us. It's through the Word of God. We live by the Word of God. And then in Isaiah 55, this is
also emphasized, this contrast between laboring for what is
perishing and we'll end in our own perishing versus not laboring
but believing on Christ. Listen to these words. This is
a prophecy in Isaiah 55 concerning this very thing. Ho, everyone
that thirsteth, come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money,
that's the only way we can come to Christ, with nothing. If we
don't come with nothing and we have something, we expect to
be accepted by God because of what we bring, we are not coming
to Christ. You that have no money, come
ye by And eat, isn't that the same thing we were just reading
about in John 6? Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and
without price. And here's what they were doing
there in John 6. Wherefore do you spend your money
for that which is not bread, and your labor? or that which
satisfieth not. And here's what we're to do.
This is the way we're supposed to labor for the meat that doesn't
perish. Hearken diligently unto me and
eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear and come unto
me here and your soul shall live. And then he goes on to talk about
the Lord Jesus Christ I will make an everlasting covenant
with you, even the sure mercies of David. Behold, I have given
him, Christ, for a witness to the people, a prophet, a leader
and commander to the people, a king. Behold, thou shalt call
a nation that thou knewest not, and nations that knew not thee
shall run unto thee because of the Lord thy God. The Father,
God the Father, is gonna bring them to his Son. and for the
holy one of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. He has glorified
his son. That's the way. Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found. Call ye upon him while he is
near. Let the wicked forsake his way
and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord,
and he will have mercy upon him and to our God. for he will abundantly
pardon." Amazing, isn't it? How do we labor? We hear. We
give attendance to the gospel. It says in 1 Peter 1, verse 25,
this is the word which by the gospel is preached to you. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing
by the word of God, and that word of God by which he gives
faith is the gospel, and the gospel concerns his son. It concerns His Son as the Son
of God and as the Son of Man. It concerns His Son as the one
who was given by God to do all of His will and save His people
from their sins. And it concerns Him because God
the Father gave to Him all those He had Him save. He would give
Him those that He would have Him save, and He saves them. It's all on Him. The gospel is
all about Him. And this gospel is declared to
those who have no money and have spent their life's labors on
what is not bread. And He says, now you who have
nothing, you listen and incline your ear and hear. Faith comes
by hearing this word, the gospel of Jesus Christ, who He is and
what He's done to save sinners. The Lord's people saved by Him. Now we hear that. We hear that
right now today. I hear that. I've been thinking
about this for weeks and thinking, Lord, how can I take and eat
of you? How can I, how can I take to
myself what is, which is the meat that doesn't perish and
have everlasting life? How? Well, remember that woman
who was, had an issue of blood for 12 years? The law of God
called her unclean. She was ashamed. She couldn't
hardly get around people. And she heard that Jesus was
coming and she thought in herself, if I can just get to him, if
I can just touch the hem of his garment, I know that I will be
made clean of all of this filth and shame before God's law. It doesn't matter that all the
money I had, I've spent on doctors who could help me, nothing. And
so she comes, sneaking up in the crowd behind Jesus. Everyone's
pushing and bumping into Him, but she touches Him with a touch
of faith, expecting that in that touch, she would take from Him
the life and cleansing that she needed. And she did, as soon
as she touched. And then the Lord knew that virtue
had departed from him. And he turned around to look
at her. He said, who touched me? And his disciples said, Lord,
what do you mean? Everyone's bumping into you.
No, somebody touched me. And the woman, fearing and trembling,
comes forward and she tells him everything. And he says, Be of good cheer. Your faith
has made you whole. It wasn't that her action of
faith was the virtue. The virtue came from him. His
garments represented the virtue was his own righteousness. But it was because she had a
need and she heard of him and coming to him, she reached out
to take from him as a needy sinner, because the Lord Jesus Christ
is fulfilled in all the plentitude of His grace as God and man. He is fulfilled when sinners
come to Him and take from Him what they need for life because
their sins have brought them into death. and helplessness,
and ruin, and alienation, and separation, and ignorance of
God. But by faith in Christ, we know
God and have eternal life. And that's what God's Word is
about. It's about Him. He's the bread,
and the Gospel tells us about Him. The Gospel is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. And the faith
that we have is only given to us when we hear the gospel and
God blesses his word and by his spirit gives life to us and continues
to give life to us every time we take from Christ when we hear
the gospel. We listen to a sermon, we read
the scripture, we hear a hymn, we sing a hymn, we talk to our
brothers and sisters in Christ, and in so doing, we're thinking
This heart action is thinking about how we need to be saved.
We need God's grace. And it only comes to us because
of what Christ has done. And all of God's life to us is
in what Christ has done. And we find ourselves saying,
Lord, give me, even me, I don't deserve, I have no reason in
myself to expect it, but for your name's sake, give me this
saving grace from Christ to take from him and live upon him and
find in him my all. That's it. That's the Gospel,
isn't it? Christ is everything in the Gospel. And faith in Christ
is not faith in how I feel. It's not faith in how I'm doing. It's not faith in my condition
or my progress. It's not faith in looking for
something to happen in me. It's not that. It's faith in
God's Word concerning His Son. It takes the whole burden off
of my shoulders, doesn't it? It takes everything off of me
and it brings me into direct contact with Him who is the fullness
of the Godhead in His body. And we are complete in Him, as
Brad just read to us from Colossians 2. The treasures, all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge are in the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm ignorant. I need wisdom. I ask him to give
me wisdom and the wisdom he gives me is his own wisdom himself. I'm lost. I need salvation, I
ask him to give me salvation, and the salvation he gives me
is he himself. His life laid down, his life
risen, reigning, interceding, his answer to God for me as a
sinner. I find that he's all, and in
everything I need, God gives me all that I need in Christ. Christ himself is the truth,
the way, the life. He's everything. He's my all.
And that's what God's word, God's own word, teaches this to us. We have nothing. We have no money.
We've wasted all that we had, spent it on what was not bread,
and we're left hungry and thirsty. And God says, now, listen to
me. Let me tell you about him, the commander. I'll make an everlasting
covenant with you in him. All right, now on to the scriptures
in John chapter 6. Look at verse 36 again. It sets
it up for us. You also have seen me and believe
not. That's the condition of these
men. You've seen me. You saw the miracles. You chased
me around the countryside to get some more bread. You never
once thought those miracles indicated that as the Christ of God, you
should come to me for life and come to God by me. You never
thought that. You believe not. You're content
with the husks of the swine of this world in order, instead
of the everlasting bread of life. You don't believe, but listen
to the next verse. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Now this is a great, great promise
and a very deep content of truth here in this one verse. But the
first thing I want you to see here is that the Father gives
to His Son. And the thing the father gives
to his son is his people to save. This is why he gave them, to
save them. If you read on in verse 38, I
came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will
of him that sent me. And this is the father's will,
which has sent me, that of all which he has given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
All right? So this was why He gave them.
And this is what He gave them to the Son to do, to save them,
to give them life. This was the Father's will. God
wanted this. God got His will done. He got
His will done by His Son, and He did it by giving those He
would save to His Son to save them. Salvation is of the Lord,
isn't it? I read a commentator who was
a heretic, but it's good sometimes I heard someone say, I can't
remember, maybe it was I can't remember, anyways, Jim James,
I don't know what his name is, back in Florida, he said, sometimes
I listen to preachers that are preaching wrong, so I'll get
fired up to preach the truth. He said, there's two kinds of
preachers that inspire me to preach, those who preach error
and those who preach the truth. Anyway, I read this commentary
by this man who is a heretic. I say he's a heretic because
of what he says about this verse. He says that God influences all
men because Jesus died for all men and therefore God influences
them, the Father influences all men, but He will not save them
unless they themselves do the rest, which is to believe on
Christ. He was basically saying, God
has a bridge that goes almost all the way across the water,
and you have to build the rest of it. Or that he has this support
for you. It's a foundation, but it's not
quite able to hold you up. You have to do your part. It's
like Abraham with Hagar. Let's make God's promise happen
here. Nothing's happening. This is called works religion. This is called false religion. This is a doctrine that will
damn you. This is not the truth. What does it mean that God the
Father has given to his son? Does it mean that he waits until
they believe on Christ and then Jesus says, oh, look, surprise,
surprise. Here's somebody I wasn't expecting. I didn't know about you. Where'd
you come from? This is foolishness, isn't it?
Utter foolishness. God has, as we read last week
in Acts 15, 18, known unto God are all his works from the foundation
of the world. Does God learn? Does God adopt
new ideas and change his plans according to what? Does he hinge
his eternal will on the fickle Will of his creation? Of course not. To think such
thoughts about God is to make God so insignificantly small,
an idol god of man's imagination. But this man that I read about,
he works in order to try to make... You know what he says about Ephesians
1, verse 4, where it says that God, the Father, has chosen us
in Christ before the foundation of the world that we should be
holy and without blame before him in love. He says, well, yeah,
God just meant by that that he was going to have Gentiles saved
and not just Jews. What good is that? I'm gonna
have some Gentiles saved. How are they gonna get saved?
Well, I'm gonna bring them to a point, influence them, then
wait for them to do their part. It's ridiculous. It really angers
me. But you know why it makes me
so mad? because there's no salvation in that. There is none. For me,
I'd be lost. If you have to look to see if
you actually did what God requires of you for your salvation, you
will never find peace, never know joy, and you will be eternally
lost because you'll come before Christ in the day of judgment
or you'll be as the person in the coffin and the children will
be around them and they'll be saying, well, I think they were
ready. Well, how do you know they were
ready? Well, because they did this, or they did that, or they
said this or said that. No! If they didn't profess and
believe and love the gospel that the only way I could be acceptable
to God is what God has done in Christ, they don't know God. I'm sorry, that's just the way
it is, because the gospel is the only power of God to salvation,
and we can only be saved trusting Christ alone. Alright, so giving
by the Father is not a late gift where Christ is going about and
people somehow come to Him and they're brought to Him and then
He sees them and, oh look, someone, the Father just gave to me. No,
no. This is election. This is God's
choice. As many as were ordained to eternal
life believed. That's what the scripture says
in Acts 13, 48. Who believed? As many as were
ordained to eternal life. Did any others believe? No. In fact, he says here, you don't
believe, all that the Father gives me shall come to me. Why did they come? Because they
were given. Isn't that clear? The scripture
is so clear here. What does it mean to be given?
One thing this teaches us is that we're utterly unable to
save ourselves. People don't like that. No, no,
no, I can make this happen. I'm going to get up at night
and lay on the floor and cry and moan and I'm going to shed
tears of sorrow for 12 years or something, a long time, finally,
God, I'll break through. I was told this when I was young. Make a list of all your sins.
That's not long enough. Keep going. And now when you
get that, now you start confessing them to God and you just keep
praying and praying and eventually you'll break through. It didn't
happen. It did not happen. Or, you know,
if you really want to know you're a Christian, you have to have
saving faith, not that kind of faith. Well, what's saving faith?
Well, it's where you've really surrendered. I mean, you've gone
on all this time, you've been playing around with God, but
now you need to really commit yourself and really surrender.
Well, how will I know when I've done enough? Well, you just keep
at it, boy. You know what? You're going to
keep at it the rest of your life and you're going to die keeping
at it and you will be lost. Because there's only one thing
that God accepts. The 33 years of the life and
the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that already has been accomplished. When He hung on the cross and
cried, it is finished, then our salvation was done. Then. And
we look to Him only. And so we can do nothing here.
God has to bring us, and in bringing us, he brings us to Christ. And
in bringing us to Christ, he gives us his faith, which based
on God's word says, he did it all. When we were without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly. Being now justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him, you see. being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That is what the Gospel says.
It says in 1 Corinthians 15 that the Gospel is how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried
and the third day rose again according to the Scriptures. It's a done work. It's a finished
work. And God gets the glory. And God
the Father brings us to Christ to see Him who did the work and
now gives the life because of that work. All that the Father
gives me. All. Here's universalism. You
want to know what universalism is? How big is the net of God's
saving work? It's all that the Father has
given to Christ. They shall be saved. Christ will
not cast out one of them. He will receive them and he will
never let them depart. He will go and find them and
bring them and he will keep them. This was the Father's will, he
says in verse 38. And this is the will of Him that
sent me, the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which
He has given me, all, I should lose nothing, but should raise
it up again at the last day. None lost. And then he goes on. Let's just read through the next
few verses in verse 40. And this is the will of Him that
sent me. How do we know that I've been given? Read it. that every one which seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life, and I
will raise him up at the last day." God the Father gives us
something when He brings us to Christ. He gives us faith to
believe. He gives us life to believe. Life and faith to believe Him.
And we therefore come to Him. Is there a difference between
believing Christ and coming to Christ? Not really, but one is
a progression more than the other and based on the other. When
we believe Christ, we're taking God's word as true concerning
him. Whatever God said concerning
his son, that's the way we take it. I don't feel like I can come. It doesn't matter. God's word
said he came for sinners. I don't know if I have enough
faith. That's okay. God said faith is a gift of God. And the
man came, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. And the disciple
said, Lord, increase our faith. So faith comes from him. He's
the author and finisher of faith. So come for faith. Well, but
I don't feel like I've believed enough. It doesn't matter how
much you believe. It's who you believe. Did he
do what God said he did? Yes. And that's what faith sees. That's what faith clings to. That's what faith takes hold
of. That's what faith trusts. That's
what faith depends and relies upon. That God's Word concerning
Christ and His ability to save and His work to save is everything
I need for God to save me. And so I come to Him believing
that. I come, Lord, give all that you are in your work
and in your person that I might live. I take it like the woman
touching his garment. Lord, it's mine. You said it's
true. I believe it. I'm persuaded of
it. And I lay hold upon him. In my heart, I come to him, not
just once, all the time. This is the expression of our
hearts, isn't it? That's the work of the Father. causing us
to rely only on the Son. That's what faith is. It goes
on in verse 41. The Jews then murmured at him
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
They said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father
and mother we know? How is it then that he said,
I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and
said to them, murmur not amongst yourselves. Anytime we're talking
with one another, you get a phone call on the phone, let's talk
about this, let's talk about that, let's figure it out. No,
let's listen to what God says. What did Christ say? That's what
we should do. Verse 44, no man, I don't care
if you're Moses or Paul or Peter, no man, You have no ability. No man can come to me except
the Father which has sent me. Draw him, and I will raise him
up at the last day. It's written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Now there's another all. Let's listen to it now. God uses
the word all, and he says, They shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath
heard and learned of the Father comes to me. Every one. No exceptions. All of them. Okay? So all those given, all those
taught, all those drawn are brought to Christ, are come to Christ.
Who are those that see and believe the Son? All those given, all
those taught, all those drawn to the Lord Jesus Christ by the
Father, without exception. He's not going to lose any. Now,
doesn't that tell you that God's saving work is specific? that
is not every individual in all the world throughout time? No,
it is not. There are those, before they
were born, God said, Esau have I hated. And there are those,
before they were born, God said, Jacob have I loved. And we might
find issue with that. But if you have a problem with
that, then submit to God and look to Christ. Because that's
the only way you can be saved. You come to Him. Everyone who
does is given by the Father. Everyone who does was taught
by God. And everyone who wasn't, was not taught, was not given,
because this is a specific salvation. Look at John chapter 17. I want
you to see this. Given by the Father to the Son
to save. He says in John 17, now remember,
these words are given to us to do two things. First, humble
us. Second, to encourage us that
all that we need is in Christ. And third, that we would honor
God for his greatness, that he would save us when we couldn't
save ourselves and wouldn't be saved. He says in John 17, notice
in verse two. As thou has given him power over
all flesh, everybody in all the world over all time are given
to the Lord Jesus Christ, he has power over them all. Why? He says that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou has given him. There it is, God the Father
has given Christ people out of all the world. It's undeniably
clear. And this is eternal life. This
is what Christ is gonna give them, that they might know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.
What is the promise in the New Covenant? That they would all
know the Lord, and how do they know Him? Here, Christ gives
them to know Him. They're drawn to Christ. They
believe on Him, and in believing Him, they know Him. We know He's
the Savior, don't we? We know He's our salvation, don't
we? The wisdom of God, the righteousness
of God, the holiness of God. Everything we need as a sinner.
All that God is, Christ is to us. And all that we need to God,
Christ is to God. He's the great mediator. And
God has given us to Him. What grace is this that the Father
would so give us to Christ to save, and it would be God's work. And notice in also in verse six,
John 17, Jesus says, I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou
gavest me out of the world, thine they were, and thou gavest them
me, and they have kept thy word. Okay, so God the Father, out
of all the people in the world, gave Christ these apostles. And Christ made himself known
to them, and they kept his word. They were the Lord's, they belonged
to the Father. He said, thine they were. Before he gave them, they belonged
to the Father. All that belonged to the Father
in this way, in this relationship, were given to Christ. And in
giving them to Christ, then Christ says, he gave them to me and
they have kept thy word. They heard it, they believed
it. And you say, well, that's great for those guys. What about
me? Well, look at verse 20. He says, neither pray I for these
alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word. We hear the gospel, it comes to us from Christ, through
the apostles, in the scriptures, and we say, yes. That's it. That's everything what Christ
did and who he is. He's all. And in our hearts,
we go to the Lord, we say, Lord, answer for me. Take away my sin,
wash me and clothe me in your righteousness. Receive me and
make me know you in your saving work. And that's, he says, that's God's
work for them too, not just the 11, but for everyone who hears
them. Now, look at verse nine. He says,
I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which thou hast given me, and they are thine." All
these words, therefore, apply to all those who believe Christ. He says in verse 10, verse 10,
Mine are thine. Every one Christ had believing
Him are the fathers given to Him. And all thine are mine.
Every one God the Father had before He gave them to Christ,
they are Christ's. There's no difference between
the people of the Father and the people of the Son. They're
the same ones. and I'm glorified in them, no doubt about it, Christ
will glorify himself in his people. And we can just go on and on
through this chapter, and I encourage you to do that. Given by the
Father. There's no possible way that
this is some kind of an action by the Father that takes place
in a moment of time in our own personal life, but it took place
from eternity, and Christ came to save those given to him by
the Father. He gave them to him to save,
and he teaches them. He draws them. What does this
word draw mean? Look at Jeremiah chapter 31. This explains it. It's a wonderful word. God the
Father draws us to the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice. And why? It tells us not only that he
does, but he tells us why. In Jeremiah 31, He says in verse
one, at the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of
all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people, thus
saith the Lord. The people which were left of
the sword found grace in the wilderness, even Israel, when
I went to cause him to rest. He's talking about Israel in
a spiritual way to refer to all of God's elect. Notice in verse
three, the Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea,
I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore, because I loved
you with an everlasting love, therefore, with lovingkindness
have I drawn thee. Who does the Father draw? All
those He loved with an everlasting love. Why does He draw them?
Because He loved them from everlasting. Who are they? They're called
the Israel of God. What about all the people who
came out of Egypt? Well, many of them perished in the wilderness.
They were not the Israel of God. And what about those who went
into Canaan, who believed God? Yeah, people like that, those
were the Israel of God. Did they believe because, I mean,
were they the Israel of God because they believed? No, they were
given faith because they were God's elect. They were given
faith because Christ died for them and rose and took his place
on the throne and sent his spirit in order to preach his gospel
with efficacious grace so that when they hear the word of God,
they believe it. They were taught of the father.
They were they heard and they learned of the father. All of
them come to Christ. That's the evidence that they
were the father's children given to Christ and taught by him because
they obey the the edict of God to look to my son. Amazing grace,
amazing grace. We come to the Lord. He does
the work. We find our salvation in Him,
and we wonder, how did I get here? I was a lost sinner. I was afraid of dying in my sins. I didn't know God. Even today,
even in preparing this message, I'm thinking, Lord, how do I
believe I can't do it myself? And then I hear from Scripture,
have you heard what Christ has done? Have you heard that He
did it for the ungodly sinners who were the enemies of God?
That when they were yet without strength, He did it. His strength,
not theirs. His virtue, His righteousness,
His holiness. His answer to God, not theirs.
They had nothing to bring, nothing to give, no answer to render.
And He did it all. Have you heard that? Well, what
are you looking for more than God's word? Nothing, nothing. Now that I've
been reminded, I realize, yes, the gospel is enough. What Christ
did is all sufficient. Everything is in Him that I need.
The fullness of the Godhead, I'm complete in Him. All the
treasures of wisdom and knowledge, everything needed for life and
godliness is in Him. What great grace. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word.
What a blessing it is to be taught again and again by you from your
word about your son and about his everlasting life because
he laid down his life for those who had no life in order to bring
us to God, to reconcile us, to make full remission of our sins,
to make us holy, to justify us, to do everything, to be our heaven,
to be our life, to be our all. Thank you for the Lord Jesus
Christ. Cause us, Lord, to believe him. Draw us with the cords of
love. Don't leave us to ourselves and
don't cast us out. Fulfill your word and your pleasure.
You can do all that's in your heart and you do. And we entrust
ourselves, we come to you asking you to give us this desire to
trust you only and this ability to trust you only. We find ourselves
so empty and bankrupt and ruined and helpless and everything that
you said we are, we find it to be so. And daily it pains us
to find that we cannot produce one good thing in ourselves.
But then we hear again and again, Christ is everything. And so
happy we are. In his name we pray, amen.