If I leave, may I hear these
pages read, and I will finally be free. I go back to 1 John 2. This is the first epistle. It says, Epistle of John, Epistle
General, meaning that it is a letter to not any church in particular,
but the church in general, the church everywhere in all ages,
the church. And this is a letter to the church,
and the title of this message is a letter to the family, a
letter to God's family. That's what it is. Written by
John, really, it's written by God. It's God's letter, as all
of His Word is, His own. And it is addressed to believers. It's addressed to God's people. They are called, throughout this
letter, children, little children. All men and women are not God's
children. But many are by adoption, by
His choice, by new birth. They're called little children.
They're called brethren. Throughout this epistle, they're
called brethren. Throughout this epistle, they're
called beloved. That's who this is written to.
This is not written to the world. Because he told us, and we read
there, love not the world. He needed the things of the world.
Not written to the world, as our Lord in John 17 did not pray
for the world. He said, I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me. So this is written
to not the world, to God's people, to believers. God has nothing
to say to the world, that is, unbelievers, to those who are
not His own, has nothing to say but bow, repent. That's it. He says, call, seek,
knock, ask, but to promises. And these things that we're going
to read about are to God's people. But then if you're in doubt whether
or not you are, then seek the Lord with all thine heart. Ask,
and it shall be given thee. Seek not. Much is written, though, to God's
people, many promises, many words of comfort. This should be comforting to
God's people, many words of encouragement, many words of reproof, many words
of rebuke, many words of chastisement. We need them just
like children. This is a blessed portion. of
God's work. I love this. And it is for the
comfort and encouragement and exhortation of God's family.
It's a letter to God's children. That's how he begins. I write
unto you, little children. Verse 12. You can't comfort a
world that doesn't know God, that rejects God. You can't tell them, smile, God
loves you. No, sir. They're not under the love of
God. But you can say to God's children,
those who truly believe him and trust Christ, you can say, God
loves you. You can call them little children,
little children. He said, I write unto you little
children, read verses twelve through fourteen again. I write
unto you little children because your sins are forgiven you, for
his name's sake. I write unto you father. because
you have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you,
young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write unto
you, little children, because you have known the Father. I
have written unto you, fathers, because you have known him that
is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young
men, because you are strong, and the word of God abideth in
you, and you have overcome Now, as in every family, that's why
I started this out by saying this is through the family, because
it is. As in every family, there are different members in the
family, different ages, different states. They're all in the family. They're all members of the family.
They all have the same father. They're all taught. The scripture says, they shall
all be taught of God, that is God's family. But they're different
in their age, they're different in their understanding, they're
different in their degree of understanding, yet they're all
one family. The weakest member of the family is no less a member
of the family than the strongest. A little baby in arms is no less
a member of the family than the strong older brother. Huh? No, they're all members
of the family. So he writes here to fathers,
he writes to young men, and he writes to little children. And
now when he uses the male gender, is that the word? Gender? Thank you, Mark. You've got more
education than I do. The male gender, he's talking
to women, he's talking to females too. When he talks about fathers,
he's talking about mothers, older women. When he talks to young
men, he's talking to young women. When he talks to little children,
well, that's boys and girls. Now this is written, so this
is written to all those, all, and to each one of them. How
blessed, what a blessing God's word is that it meets the needs.
It meets the needs of the father as well as the babe, the weakest.
It meets the need of the weak as well as the strong. It meets
the need of the peasant as well as the king. That's why you know
it's God's Word. The same Word, the very same
Word, will meet the need of those who differ. It's a great thing. All right, he says little children.
He writes first to little children. for their comfort. I write unto
you little children, he's talking about now, though I want our
young people to listen carefully, I do. We're very concerned about
our, those young in age, very concerned. We have, I hope you
parents appreciate our teaching. I was talking to I don't know
who it was, but about their child being in Deborah Hoof's class.
And I told them, I hope you realize what a wonderful teacher your
child is. I talk to her all the time about
what she's teaching. And it's wonderful. It's marvelous. Our children are under the best
of care as far as I wish all of you could hear what our children
are hearing. I hear it from my wife who teaches
our teenagers, my son-in-law who does the same, Vicki Patton. We're concerned about our young
people. Now this is talking about young
believers. They may be young in age, but
this is talking about those who are babes in Christ. You can
be 50 years old and be a babe in Christ. You can be 60. You
can be 70 and be a babe in Christ. That's who this is talking about.
Young in the faith. Young believer. I want you to
turn with me to Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. Little children. That is, babes in Christ. Young
believer. New believer. How many years are you talking
about preachers? Well, you know, it's all relevant, isn't it? Little children, babes in
Christ. Even some who've been sitting
here a while at times feel like babes in Christ. And you're going
to appreciate what he has to say to babes as well as to older
men and women. He says, your sins are forgiven
you. Now, what older person or older believer doesn't want to
hear that all the time? I write unto you little children
though, little children because they're, that is, young believers
because they feel so weak in the faith. If they have any at
all, it's very weak, they feel. They're full of doubts, like
little children, full of fears. The slightest thing worries them.
The slightest thing will send them into turmoil. They're full
of worries. Little children, young believers,
the thing that bothers them the most is their sin. Well, the
thing that bothers all believers the most is their sin. But young
believers especially, they fear because they're such sinners
that they can't be one of God's children. And he says first to
young believers, I write unto you, little children, young believers,
because your sins are forgiven. Now, if I don't get any further
than this right here, somebody's going to get a blessing tonight.
I write unto you, little children, babes in Christ, because your
sins are forgiven you. Yeah, but you don't know my path.
But God does. He's the one that wrote this.
He said, they're gone. They're gone. Wiped out. The
slate's clean. Your sins are forgiven you. Why? Because you
cleaned up your life? Because you turned over a new
belief? Because you straightened up your act? No! For his name's
sake. Because Jesus Christ came to
this earth. There's only one reason why sins
are forgiven. It's because Jesus Christ paid
for them. Because Jesus Christ gave you
his righteousness, and he took all your sin and your shame and
your blame, and so your sins are gone. So he starts right off to the
little children saying, you're full of fears, you're full of
doubts, you're full of worries that you're even one of God's
children at all because you're a sinner. You're such a rotten
sinner. He says, but I'm writing to you to tell you, your sins
are forgiven. All of them. Yeah, but you don't. He does. Our Lord said, I say
unto you, all manner of sin shall be forgiven. Didn't it? All manner. Your sins are forgiven. I'll never forget, as long as
I live, the first time I read this passage here in Luke 12.
I was a young believer. And like young believers, I was
full of doubts and fears. I was worried about whether I
was a child of God or not. And I read this and I jumped.
Well, not literally, but spiritually, jumped three feet off the ground.
It was like God said it out loud to me. Look at it. Verse 32,
Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to
give unto you the kingdom. Don't be afraid. It's your Father's
good pleasure. It pleases Him. He gets great
pleasure and enjoyment in giving you the kingdom. God did not send his love upon
you because you were worthy, because you were without sin.
He sent his love upon you when you were yet sinners. So he's
not going to remove it because you're still a sinner. He won't protect you. Fear not,
little flock. Young people, young children.
I write unto you, because your sins are forgiven." Now, that word of forgiveness
is something everyone needs to hear. Little children, young
men, and the aged believer, huh? Your sins are forgiven. For Christ's
sake. For Christ's sake. You want to
know what salvation is in a phrase, in a word? You want to know why
God saves any human being? I'll give it to you in a phrase,
for Christ's sake. Men use that as a byword and
a curse word, but this is the believer's hope for Christ's
sake. I cringe when I hear people say
that. That's a blessing. Isn't it,
Nancy? Oh, for Christ's sake. God, for
Christ's sake, forgive me. He will. Because you have his
word on it. You have his word on it. Look
at the next line in our text, verse 13. He says, I write unto
you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning
father. Now this is talking to those
who have been around a while. This is talking to men and women
with several years under the gospel. They've been under the
gospel under the sound of the word for several years and who
have been walking with God. Yes God's people walk with God. And they've been walking with
The Lord, though they're not so quick to say it, or certainly
won't tell anybody that, but they are. And he says, I've written
unto you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the
beginning. You have known him that is from
the beginning. Now, what? No man knoweth the
Father, save the Son. Neither knoweth any man the Son,
saith the Father. No man knoweth the Father, saith
the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal the Father." Nobody
knows God by nature. The natural man receiveth not
the things of God, the foolishness unto him, the Scriptures say.
Neither can he know them. They're spiritually discerned.
But God, he went on to say, hath revealed them unto us by his
Spirit. Now, what a blessing, what mercy,
what grace, if you know God. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you. That's what our Lord said to Simon Peter, when the
Lord asked the disciples, whom do men say that I am? And they
were saying John the Baptist and Elijah and so forth. He said,
whom do you say that I am? And every believer in here can
say the same thing that Peter said, that Simon said. Thou art
the Christ. And our Lord said, blessed are
you, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
that to you. You didn't figure that out on
your own. You wouldn't even know God. You wouldn't even have a
thought toward God. You'd die without God, without
hope, without God, without Christ, had not God in mercy and grace
chosen you and set his love and affection on you and revealed
himself to you through his cross. What a blessing. You've known
him. And why you know him is because he revealed himself to
you. So many have a concept of God, so many call God their Father
and are going to stand before that God someday only to hear
him say unto them, shockingly to them, I never knew you. And
if they're, and they're going to be honest at that time and
say, I never knew you, you're not the God I believe. But I've written unto you Father.
Because you know. Him that is from the beginning
it's not you knew him from the beginning though. You. If you're a father in the faith
you knew him from an early age but he's talking about Christ
who was from the beginning. You know you've known him that
is from the beginning doesn't John's gospel say in the beginning
was the word and the word was with God the word was. You have known him that is from
the beginning. You've known Christ by the word. This is how he reveals himself.
That's how he reveals himself. That's how he speaks. God doesn't
speak out loud to any human being. He used to. Well, no, he spoke
through the prophet. Then he spoke through his son.
But God speaks through his word. That's the only way God speaks
to human beings. And you've heard him speak to you through his
words. You have known him through prayer. Prayer is communication with
your father. I know the religion of this world
abuses this and says this all the time, but nevertheless it's
true. Because people hang themselves with ropes, we don't throw away
ropes. But it's true, God answers. God does answer him. He said,
call unto me, and I'll answer you. He sure does. God's people pray to him, and
he makes himself known, near and dear, doesn't he? I'm talking
to fathers. Now, young babes, well, you've
known him by the word, you've known him through prayer, you've
known him through your walk, that is, your experience through
trial and tribulation. God makes himself known to you.
God proves himself to you. God consoles you, like a father
does. God gives you assurance of who
he is through experience, through trial, through tribulation. You come through, you know, tough
times, and the Lord brings you through it, and it just solidifies
that union with him. You know him. You know him. Now, this is written to Father. The babe in Christ says this,
I hope I'm one of the Lord's. I think I know the Lord. I sure
hope I know the Lord. Sometimes I just don't know. I'm not so sure, but now older
believers Without pride, this is not pride
or presumption, this is faith, this is belief. Older believers
can say, with Paul the agent, I know whom I have believed.
And I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him. It took a lifetime, but they've
committed Paul to him, and he's proven to them. Cast your care
on him, and they have. And he cared for them that way
they know him more than they did in the beginning. You've known him that is from
the beginning. He who's going forth are from
everlasting. Oh, my, I had so much to say
about this, but I've got to go on. He says, I write unto you
young men, verse thirteen. I write unto you young This is
talking to those in middle years, not babes in Christ, not new
believers, brand new believers, and not old experienced believers,
but young men, young women in the faith who know Christ and
walk with God, though they're not as settled as older believers,
not as wise, not as experienced, they haven't been through as
much as older believers yet. He says to them in verse fourteen,
he says, I've written unto you young men because you're strong
and the word of God abided in you and you have overcome the
wicked one. They have strength, they have
zeal, they have This strength to fight the fight and this life
of faith is a fight. It is a warfare. It is a warfare. Not that we're fighting to save
our own souls, but it's a fight with temptation. It's a fight. It's a warfare. It's a struggle. As I said in the beginning, there
are different members of the same family. Older men, younger
men, and babies. Aren't you glad? I'm so glad
now we've got babies in the church. These babies have just renewed
a lot of people. And I don't mind so much anymore.
I would have early on preaching and people came here to see the
baby, you know, came early to see the baby. That's fine. I'm
just glad they're here now. But babies just I've been places
I went to a place a couple of years ago to preach. There was
not one single young person in that congregation. I mean not
one. Not a baby, not a toddler, not
a teenager. It was depressing, wasn't it? You didn't hear any real laughter,
you didn't hear, you know, Youth, zeal, enthusiasm, that's what
youth brings. And so, you know, it's what a
blessing to have older men. We've got various age groups
here, and I'm so glad, so thankful for these men. This man right
there has been a nephew for 104 years, and his wife. So she's not nearly that old.
How do I explain? I can't explain. But nevertheless,
been here a long time. That means something, doesn't
it? I hope I'm around that long.
How about you? I'm so thankful for these men.
Back there in the back. Old Charlie. Been here a long
time. I'm so thankful. during that
old man group. So thankful, aren't you? Thankful for these old men and
young men, young men. What would the church do without
young men with the strength to do what needs to be done and
babies? Aren't you glad for all, all
the And what a lesson this is to
us. Old men start out as babies.
Brother Bob Coffey was relating to us the other night how that
when he first started attending 13th Street, and he was in his
late 30s, I guess, at the time, and the Lord saved him. And then
he was in his early 40s, still a babe, and cried. He said, he said by Charlie Payne,
back in the men's study one time, and he said something that was
just absolutely contrary to truth. It was just terrible. He made
some blasphemy, some Arminian statement, you know. And, you
know, eyebrow razor. And nobody, You know blasted
a more or nobody you know caught the corner of the collar game
and tried to straighten him out and all they had. Patience with. Either strong or to bear the
infirmities of the week receive them that are weak in the faith
without doubtful disputations. That's what it said who had to
despise a day of small things we all started young. We say ignorant things when we
get old. And we still have that mercy and grace upon us, forgiveness. But young men, it's written to
young men, he says they're strong, strong to the work. They're not
babies anymore, but they're in this thing. This is talking about
young men who are in this thing. I was telling this to my son-in-law
recently who feels overworked as most young men do in their
prime, you know, but that's the way it's going to be. Our Lord
said, a man shall work while there's twelve hours in the day.
What does that mean? You put in a twelve hour day.
While you've got the strength. There's going to come a time
when you don't have the strength. The older men had the wisdom.
and the know-how, but don't have the strength to do it. They see
what needs to be done, but they just can't do it. Young men can't
do it. It's time to do it. Those who
are not into work, well, I don't know about them,
but young men, in this time, John, our Lord, writes, I write
unto you young men, because you are strong, strong to the work,
and his word abideth in you, truly growing in grace and knowledge. You can see babes turn into young
men, and young men just start growing. I love to watch it. I love to watch it. I love to
look at the the progress that people make on the sound of prayer.
Don't you love to see people growing in grace and knowledge
of God? That's what it does. There's
real life. There's growth. The Word abideth
in you. Young men are zealous. Young
men are zealous. Sometimes they're too zealous. Young men are prone to dive into
things and start ripping and tearing. I remember when I used to work
in construction, that old carpenter always told me, don't get in
a hurry. He had to tell us young men that
all the time. Don't get in a hurry or you'll cut the board wrong
or cut your finger off. Don't think before you act. Young men are prone to do that. It's a good thing about this,
that we need each other. This wisdom, young men need wisdom
to, you know, temper their enthusiasm, and older men need that young
enthusiasm to pick them back up again. Word about it's in you. What does that mean? The Word
of God abideth in you. Young man, you're strong. He says you're
strong. The Word of God abideth in you.
You've overcome the wicked one. You know one who is still on
milk can't stand me. Talking about the whole council,
Paul said, let's go on. Remember when Paul wrote that
in Hebrew? You know the word, John. There's a proof. He said,
let's go on. Shall we stay? We've got to stand
up and talk about election every time? Well, we do. But we go on, the
other thing. And build on that. I remember
as a young believer not liking the Book of James. I'll just
be honest with you. Anybody else? About the endures of the word
and the works of believers and all, and I start thinking, are
they legalistic? They're preaching works. You
know what I mean? Huh? That's works. Oh, but young
men, no, young men growing in grace and knowledge, you can
talk about the law. Oh, I love that law. You can talk, you can say that
without feeling uneasy. You can talk about works without
crying legalism. It's the words abiding, that
is. Because the word abiding, you
don't need to qualify everything. When you start growing the word
abiding, you don't have to qualify everything you say. You shouldn't
do that anyway. We're not policing God's word.
We're supposed to preach it like it's written. If somebody misconstrues
it, that's their problem. We don't write wrongly divided,
that's one thing. But if we're just preaching the
truth as it is and somebody gets carried away, that's not our
fault. But he says, A word abideth in
you, you know the word, and have overcome the wicked one. What
does that mean? Is that worrisome of you? The cheap work of Satan. The chief work of Satan, among believers that is, is to
try and dissuade them or convince them that they're not one of
God's people. You know that? I'll give you
an example. I'll give you a perfect illustration.
The Lord Jesus Christ, tempted in all points like as we are,
who by? Satan. What did he say to us?
All three times when he tempted, what did he say? Precede everything
he tempted him with, what did he say to him? All three times
he said, if I'll be the son of God, do this, do that. If you're really a child of God,
why don't you? Now, obeyed, that would just
tear them all to pieces. If you're a son of God, why are
you still a sinner? If you're a son of God, how could
you think thoughts like that? If you're a son of God, how could
you fall to a temptation like that? If you're a son of God,
why do you still have problems with the old man like that? If,
if, if, if. But a young man says, I've heard
that before. You're not going to destroy my
confidence in Christ, because I may have been looking to myself
as a young believer, but I'm not anymore. That's what it means,
overcome. What is that that overcometh
the world and Satan? It's your faith, looking to Christ. He said, if you're the Son of
God, how could you be a sinner? Christ died for sinners, that's
why. Oh, I love that. Don't you, old
man? You still want to hear that,
too, don't you? Your sins are forgiven you. Satan comes to
you with the same old wiles, same old thing. How could you? I'm sorry for my sin. My sin
is ever before me. I don't want to do it again.
I've got to make an effort not to do it again. And I strive
to be like Christ, and strive though I may, I still fall and
fail miserably. That's because I'm a sinner,
but thank God this is a faithful saint, that Christ Jesus came
into the world to save sinners, and I'm the chief, and all of
my hope and confidence is in Christ. Get thee behind me, Satan!
I don't believe a thing you're saying. No more of that legal
fear for me. Don't point the law at me anymore.
I've heard that before. You've overcome it. That doesn't
mean you're duking it out with the devil. That doesn't mean
you're stronger than him. That doesn't mean that at all. It means you're
looking to Christ and not yourself. I've written to you young men, young
women. And I've written unto you, he
says, verse 14, Verse 13, I've written unto you,
Father, he says all this again, doesn't he? Why does he repeat
it? I'm sure glad he did, aren't
you? It might have been a misprint. Young babe, your sins are forgiven. Are you sure? Yeah. Let's read
it again. Your sins are forgiven. You've
known him. He says that to young believers.
You've known him. Oh, I don't feel like I know
him. If you didn't worry about your salvation, you wouldn't
be. I went for years without giving
a thought to it. Because I wasn't. I've written under you young
children because you've known it. You know it. Does that baby
know her daddy? She sure does. Know her mother? Take her away from her for a
while. You'll see. How well does she know her mother,
Father? Well enough. Well enough to be their own. Well, Britain, to all of you,
he said, I've written unto you. Now, listen to this, and I've
got to hurry. What time did I start? Somebody
tell me. I forget, so I'm sorry. I'm going
to go on. There are babies which at times
act like fathers. There are young believers, like
Samuel. And Eli acted like a baby. And
Samuel acted like the wise one, didn't he? There are young babies that act
like father. David. David, as a young man,
acted and spoke in such wisdom. Did he not? Huh? Joseph. What
about Joseph? You old man, wouldn't you like
to be like Joseph? Was as a young man. Elihu. Elihu heard Job. And Job spoke wisely in the beginning,
but if he kept talking, he didn't. The more you keep talking, the
more. In a multitude of words, there wanteth not sin. And Job
fell right into it with his brothers. They all started talking around
to justify themselves. And Job did too. And Elihu, the
youngest of the bunch, acted more wisely than others. So it can happen. There are fathers
that act like babies. There are those who should be
fathers and act like children. Samson, Eli, Eli, Job, and so
forth. Once Christ marveled at the faith
of a babe, a centurion. He said, I marveled, he marveled
at his faith. I've never, he said, I haven't seen so great
a faith, no one, not in all Israel. This was a young babe in Christ.
And then he marveled at the unbelief of his disciples after they'd
been walking with him three and a half years. Are you yet without
faith? So we all act One way or another,
both ways at times, don't we? So we need each other, as I said.
We need each other. Older, settled believers have
been weaned from much of this world. The young people need
to learn from that. They need to learn from the older
believers that they need to listen to them. Tell them that there
is nothing here. So young people won't be taken
with it. Older people, as I said, need
to be enthused by and uplifted by the zeal. We get complacent,
don't we, as older people? I'm just going to drift on in.
As long as we're here, there's a purpose. to all of it. And he says all
of these things in closing to all of us, older, younger, middle-aged. Let me read. I'm just going to
read to you what my pastor wrote in his commentary. This is one.
All right. In verses 15 through 17, he says,
Love not the world. These are the things that are
in the world. Any man love the world, the love of the Father
is not in him. Love not the world. Now, the believer loves his relatives,
loves his friends, He loves and pities all people of the world.
He loves the blessings of fellowship, and he's thankful for the good
things that God gives to us. God gives us all things richly
to enjoy. It's not simple to enjoy things
God gave them to enjoy. It's sin not to. I mean, it really
is. It's being unthankful. But now,
the believer does not love the world more than God, more than
Christ. He doesn't take true satisfaction
from the world. He doesn't take his true contentment
from these things, nor make them idols. That is, bow and scrape
and do everything he can to serve them. No, a man cannot have two
masters. Just a fact. Just a fact. Because a believer,
his interests are in the kingdom of God, his true family. He doesn't
prefer his own blood family to God's family, but his true family
is the family of God because he knows his relationships are
ending. He prefers nothing and no one in this world to Christ. Love not the world. These are
the things in the Word. If a man's affections and interests
are set on the world, he doesn't know God. Just a fact. The love of the Father is in
him or her. That's who he'll love. She'll love. That's who
they'll pursue. That's who has their affection. The next time, verse sixteen,
all is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, the pride of life, is not of the Father, it's of the world.
Lust of the flesh, sensual desires and unchaste thoughts and intemperance
in food and drink and costly apparel and luxurious and wasteful
living and fine homes and indulgence in all these fleshly appetites
and so forth, self-satisfaction, lust of the eyes, that is, covetousness
after this and that and the other unlawful things. Akin said, I
saw it, I coveted it, I took it. And he died with it, Akin
did. Pride of life, that is ambition,
honor, worldly fame. What do you have if you've reached
the top? What do you have? A huge fall. Let me ask you what everyone
in the World Trade Center attained to. Which floor would you rather
be on? 130? That's a good illustration,
is it not? Those who have arrived are in
the penthouse. Better to stay low. Seekest thou
great things for thyself? Seek them not. pride of life, and he says in
verse seventeen, in closing, the world passeth away. It's
in me. I mean, it really is. This is
God's word. This is not some fellow standing
on the street corner with a long beard saying the world is coming
to an end. This is God. This is God's word. I know the world scoffs at this.
That's what Peter said they would say in the last day. Then scoffers
will come. Where is the promise of his coming?
Don't you see it, man? Can't you look around you? God
sent judgment after judgment, calamity after calamity. He said
in Isaiah 1, why should I strike you anymore? This world is passing away. All
that is in it, the lust thereof, no matter what it is, it's passing
away. It's passing away. It's passing
away. No matter who it is or what it
is, you're going to lose it. It's gone. The dearest relationship,
the finest possession, it's going to be gone. Then what? But he that doeth the will of
God. What's the will of God? What's
not the will that he said? I know it's primarily. I want
to believe on practice. This is a work of God. You believe
on him. This is the father's will, which
had sent me that every man that seeeth the son believeth on him
should have everlasting life. This is the father's will, too,
that you be young men, that you be fathers. This is his will. He that doeth the will, not hearers
only, but doeth. do it. Lord. Help me. I'm a babe. Cause me to grow
in grace and knowledge of God. Lord. Help me. I want to be an
old man. I want to be wise. I want to
put dye in the face. Lord. Help me. Bring back that
tenderness as a baby. Let me weep every time I hear
the gospel like I did as a baby. Babies weep a lot, don't they? Bring on Mr. Wet-Eyes back, Lord.
I believe more than I ever did, but it's so cold. I've been waiting so long. Help
me. All right, stand with me. Our
Father, thank you for your Word. It is so wonderful. It is truly
your Word, the Word of God that liveth and abideth forever. Thank
you for it, Lord. We ask that you use it as a sword,
a sharp sword, a two-edged sword in the hearts of your people.
Pierce, Lord, the thoughts and intents of the heart. Lord,
you know this is your word, and you use it as you will. We ask that you might speak through
it powerfully. to someone tonight in your son's
mind that we've met here tonight.