Turn, please, in your Bibles
this morning to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 29. I wish we had time to read the
entire chapter and so many other examples. If you would look with me in
verse 18, where we read, And Jacob loved
Rachel, and said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel thy
younger daughter. He spoke those words to her father
Laban. And Laban said, It is better
that I give her to thee than that I should give her to another
man. Abide with me. And Jacob served
seven years for Rachel, and they seemed unto him but a few days
for the love he had to her. And Jacob said unto Laban, Give
me my wife, for my days are fulfilled, that I may go in unto her." I call this message this morning,
The Love Story. You see, the gospel is truly
a love story. As a matter of fact, it is the
love story. It is a declaration from God
about a bridegroom and a bride, about a husband and his wife,
about a lover called the Beloved and his And what we read here of Jacob
and Rachel is a picture, actually one of many pictures in the Old
Testament, of Christ and His bride. And it is a picture of
what marriage really represents. Turn over, if you would, in your
Bibles to Ephesians chapter 5 and listen to what the Apostle Paul
writes. Ephesians 5 and verse 22. Wives, submit yourselves unto
your own husbands as unto the Lord. For the husband is the
head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and
He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject
unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives even
as Christ also loved the church. and gave himself for it, that
he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water
by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should
be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives
as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth
himself. For no man ever yet hated his
own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it even as the Lord
the Church. For we are members of his body,
of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave
his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and
they too shall be one flesh." This is a great mystery, but
I speak concerning Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, let
every one of you in particular So love his wife even as himself,
and the wife see that she reverence her husband." You see, this relationship,
as I usually remind people of in the marriage ceremony and
in the vows, was ordained of God. And this union between husband
and wife is so important. And such things as infidelity
and divorce and adultery so serious because of the union that it
represents. God has not ordained marriage
just for our good, but as all things for His glory. And it is that union between
husband and wife that pictures the union between Christ and
His church. And in giving these exhortations
here in Ephesians 5, Paul shows this especially in that 32nd
verse. He says, this is a great mystery. But I'm speaking about, I'm talking
about, I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nothing demonstrates
the love of God and the wonder of His grace and the faithfulness
of his character more than this union. Paul says this is a great
mystery. In other words, this is a profound
truth. This is something beyond man's
power of discovery, but it is now revealed. And while no one
is joined to Christ by any natural union, the union between husband
and wife is a type of that spiritual union of Christ to His church. He said, and they too shall be
one flesh. And this is a glorious thing,
and it must be, because the Scriptures are full of such pictures and
language all the way from Genesis to the book of Revelation, from
Adam and Eve to the Lamb's wife that is spoken of in the Revelation. And in all these pictures, there
is a continuing thing. There are some common denominators
that we see in these loves here in the Scripture. And there are
several things that I want us to notice this morning. And the
first thing is that there is in these marriages a covenant
betrothal. Now, we don't hear much about
that word betrothed anymore as in past days. But there is in
all of these marriages a covenant betrothal which represents that
everlasting covenant in which God chose for His Son a people
in Jesus Christ. And in our day it is such a no-no
to most modern liberal thinking, such things as an arranged marriage,
but this marriage is just exactly that. There was a ceremony of
betrothing. And it was a formal agreement
between the parties then coming under obligation for this purpose
of marriage. And these betrothals in the East
were frequently contracted years before the marriage was celebrated. And to betroth is to promise
by one's truth. You remember in some ceremonies,
not many today in which they write their own ceremony, which
is a contract for the most part that they can easily get out
of, but in the old ceremonies it spoke of them betrothing one
to another." That means to promise by one's truth. And so if anybody comes to me
and says that they want to write their own vows, I say, just get
you another preacher. Because this is so serious in
what it represents. Men and women were betrothed
when they were engaged to be married. And from the time of
betrothal, the woman was regarded as the lawful wife of the man
to whom she was betrothed, and likewise the man to the woman. And likewise, or in a similar
manner, God has betrothed a people of Christ, or to Christ, and
they have been in an eternal relationship before the world
began. They have been betrothed to the
Lord Jesus Christ, and not only that, He has been betrothed or
promised of God to them. And the language of Scripture
declares this again and again and pictures this. Listen to
Hosea's words concerning Gomer. They are very much the same as
God's covenant words to His elect in Christ. He said, and I will
betroth thee to me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in
mercies. I will even betroth thee unto
me in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." He speaks
in those covenant words. He speaks in that language of
the Godhead and uses this same thought as to what He will be
to all His people and what He will make them unto His own self. As a matter of fact, He says
it in this way by Isaiah, as the bridegroom rejoices over
the bride. So shall thy God rejoice over
thee." Isn't that amazing? He uses this illustration of
a bridegroom rejoicing over his bride. The moment she walks down
that aisle, his heart leaps And he delights to think that she
is his bride. And God says, so shall thy God
rejoice over thee. In Isaiah again, he says, for
thy Maker is thine husband, the Lord of hosts is his name, and
thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel. You see, God in Christ
has been in relationship with His people long before the world
ever began. He cries out to them in Jeremiah,
Turn, O back-siding children, saith the Lord, for I am married
unto you, and I will take you one of a city and two of a family,
and I'll bring you to Zion. Everything in this universe,
everything ordained of God, pictures the love, the grace, the mercy,
the salvation, the glory of all that God is to His people in
the Lord Jesus Christ. If you remember the marriage
of Isaac, who is a type of Christ the promised Son. That was arranged
by his father Abraham. If you look back at Judah and
many others, it says that he took a wife for his son. And the bride of Christ, the
people of God, when he reveals this truth to them and in them,
they rejoice. that it is just exactly this
way. Paul expresses it like this in
the first chapter of Ephesians. He says, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as
he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world."
Somebody says, well, I don't like election. Well, that doesn't
affect the choice of God. And if you stop and think, and
if God opens your eyes to see, what He's talking about is that
this blessing of election is to all spiritual blessings. It is an act of divine love to
His people, and it is the mercy of God without which nobody would
be saved. We thank God for election. and for His choice of us in His
grace, and for His giving us to Christ in that covenant arrangement,
and His everlasting love and choice is the fountainhead of
all our blessings. We love Him because He first
loved us. Because His choice is the choice
of grace. And if you stop and think and
read in the Scriptures of those such as who God chose for Hosea, she was a worthless, harlot,
adulterer, And yet God, in order to demonstrate His holy love
and His righteous grace to His people, He tells Hosea, you go
and you take this woman, Gomer, to your wife. Why? Because it's
a picture of grace. Because there isn't anything
lovable about any of us. Because we are everyone in ourselves
spiritually what she was physically, and the only way that we could
ever be joined to such a one as the living God is in His grace
that is in Christ Jesus. Who did Boaz choose? He chose Ruth, the Moabitess
woman. Who did Jacob choose? He chose
this Rachel who lived in a far country. Who did David choose
as a type of Christ? He chose Bathsheba. And when you look back as far
as the garden, you find Adam, a glorious type of Christ, who
after Eve, who was deceived in the transgression, Eve that he
loved, and to love her, and to be with her, and to make this
choice of her. He knew that it meant absolute
death for him. He chose her. And that's what you find in this
marriage, in this love between Christ and His church. You find
this covenant betrothal. He betrothed Himself to us. And at the same time, God in
mercy betrothed all of his elect to Christ in an unchanging, irreversible,
gracious, merciful promise. And then there is another thing.
In all of these situations, For the most part, there was required
this also for this marriage and in this love story. And that
was a legal bride price. When my daughter began to tell
me that she was going to get married, or there was a great
likelihood that she would, Aside from trying to discourage
her a bit, I was picking on her and kidding her, and I'd say,
well, what will the dowry be? You see, it was required that
the bridegroom pay the bride price to the father of the woman
he wanted to marry. Listen to Shacom's words to Jacob
concerning his daughter Dinah. And Shacom said unto her father
and unto her brethren, Let me find grace in your eyes, and
what ye shall say unto me I will give. Ask me never so much diary
and gift And I will give according as ye shall say unto me, but
give me the damsel to wife." Whatever the price. And I dare
say there's not a man in this world who's ever fallen in love
with a woman. I'm talking about falling in
love with her that he would not if it was required and if he
was able to give it. give everything he had to have
her. David was a poor man. And so Saul required this bride
price or this dowry of David for his daughter Michael. That
was a hundred of his Philistine enemies dead. And there was a bride price required
of Christ for His bride. You see, God's chosen, they have
nothing to pay with, but they themselves required a high price. If you remember, before Boaz
could take Ruth to his wife, he had to go down to the gates
of the city, and he had to pay the price that was required of
redeeming her as the near kinsman. And the same is true of that
redemption which was accomplished by Christ the Redeemer. There was a bride price. to pay. And it was a price that had to
be paid to the inflexible law and justice of God. Paul expresses
it like this to the bride of Christ. He said, you were bought
with a price. Hosea had to pay the price to
redeem Gomer off the slave market. And if you think about how she
must have How she must have appeared at that hour when He redeemed
her off the slave market, that one that He was already betrothed
to and married to. What an awful sight she must
have been. What an awful sight are all the
Lord's people in themselves. What an awful sight we are having
fallen in Adam. What an awful sight we are coming
forth from our mother's womb, speaking lies as rebels against
God, as haters of the very One who loved His people in Christ. And Hosea had to pay that price. Likewise, the Lord Jesus Christ,
because the wages of our sin is death. Do we really believe that? The only way that you and I could
ever be joined to Christ, the only way we could ever receive
all of these covenant blessings, the only way we could ever be
forgiven of our sins, the only way that we could ever receive
the great grace and mercy of God is for Him to die. Because the soul that sins, and
that's us, the soul that sins shall surely
die. And in order to have his bride,
this bridegroom must die. And in order for Christ, the
Son of God, to die and be the price for this bridegroom, he
has to leave the Father's house in heaven and come to earth as
a man to accomplish it. He had to die. The Bible says in Hosea, Speaking
of Jacob, and Jacob fled into the country
of Syria and Israel. He's the same. Served for a wife,
and for a wife he kept sheep. How did Jacob ever have Rachel? He didn't just walk in there
and say, I want Rachel for my wife, tell her to come and go
with him. No, she was under her father
Laban, and Laban required of him quite a lot. He served for his
wife. It says that he kept sheep for
his wife, whatever was required. And likewise, the Lord Jesus
Christ says, I lay down my life for the sheep. It would be the
same as if it said, as it does elsewhere, I lay down my life
for my bride. And that's why the Scriptures
instruct a husband to love his wife. even as Christ loved the
church and gave Himself for it. In Hebrews it says, For as
much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood,
He also Himself likewise took part of the same, that through
death He might destroy him that had the power of death, that
is, the devil, and deliver them who through fear of death were
all their lifetime subject to bondage. This is a love story beyond the
greatest of fairy tales. Paul writes and he says, For
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he
was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might
be rich. Christ redeemed His bride from
the curse of the law by being made a curse for her. It says
that through the shedding of His blood, He obtained eternal
redemption. And Paul writing to the Galatians,
he said, but when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son made of a woman, made under the law. I struggled a long time trying
to figure out what that means, and I may not know all that it
means now. But when it says made under the
law, what we have to do is go back and see what the law required
of everyone who broke it. What was it? It was to die. There wasn't any second chances. There wasn't any new opportunities. There wasn't a new set of regulations
to go by. I told you recently that man
that went out and gathered sticks on the Sabbath to make a fire,
God said, take him outside of the camp and stone him to death. So this means that when Christ
came, made of a woman, made under the law, He was put under that
law in this place as a substitute and surety for His people and
made under the law to endure the sentence of the law, which
was to die. to redeem them that were under
the law that we might receive the adoption of sons. Paul says, God commended His
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. And the greatest manifestation
of love As a matter of fact, the only true manifestation of
the only love that there is, is in Jesus Christ dying on that
cross. How much did He love His Bride? Enough to lay down for a time
His glory as the Eternal Son. Enough as to humble Himself and
become a man on this earth. Enough to endure the humiliation
of that obedience which is obedience unto death, even the death of
the cross. People today, they embrace each
other. They love each other. Well, why
do you want to get married? We love each other. Give them
a year, they've gone this way or that way. What happened to
that love? I'll tell every one of you young
people here this morning. Do not believe it when people
tell you that marriage is a 50-50 proposition. It is not. And you go into that vow and
you enter into that relationship with any other intention other
than giving of yourself 100% without the expectation of anything
in return, and you've got a problem. Because there's going to come
that day. There's going to come that time. When you look at your
mate and in your natural mind you say, well, they're not just
pulling their load. They're not giving their 50%.
I'm doing 75, I'm doing 90, and they're only doing 10. And that'll be the end of it.
But when you go and you love, And as Paul commands love, even
as Christ loved the church, when Christ loved the church and came
and joined himself to the church, it was not with any expectation
of getting anything from them out of it, but simply getting
the glory, the glory of saving them every
one by himself. You see, we are like Abigail.
We already have had a bad previous marriage. That man, Adam. And like Esther of old, we had
a determined enemy, the devil. And like Ruth, we were all poverty
stricken. And like Gomer, we had played
the harlot and were in bondage. But look over in Romans chapter
7. How could such as we are ever
be married to Christ? Romans 7 verse 1, Paul says,
Know ye not, brethren, for I speak to them that know the law, how
that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth? For the woman which hath an husband
is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth. But if
the husband be dead, she is loose from the law of
her husband. So then if while her husband
liveth she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband be dead, she
is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though
she be married to another man." Now, Paul draws from the Mosaic
law the example. But look at verse 4. "'Wherefore,
my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law, by the body
of Christ. When he writes to the Corinthians,
Paul says, if any man be in Jesus Christ, he is a new creation,
and old things are passed away and the new has come. All our connections with Adam. When Christ died, and we died
in Him, that made an end of all those connections, and the new
has come. Now, listen to the language here.
Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by
the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from
the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God. Married to Adam, we never brought
forth anything but that fruit unto death. And married that
to Christ, we bring forth fruit unto God. But even with our debt paid,
The bride has nothing with which to stand before God or to commend
her to God. You remember what Abraham did. The Bible says on the behalf of his
son, he sent gifts to Rebekah. And all this picture is simply
this, that everything is the gift of God's grace. Ruth had nothing of herself. She didn't even have bread. But married to Boaz, she had
great riches. Let me read you two verses from
Jeremiah. And this is a reflection of that
very union with Christ and His church. In Jeremiah 23, it says, Behold,
the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David
a righteous branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and
shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah
shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely. And this is the
name, this is his name whereby he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness." Jehovah Sidken you. But a woman who marries a man
takes her husband's name. So listen just a little bit later
in Jeremiah 33. In those days shall Judah be
saved and Jerusalem shall dwell safely. Sounds like the same
thing, doesn't it? It is. But listen to this. And this is the name wherewith
she shall be called. The Lord, our righteousness,
Jehovah, said, Oh, Robert Hawker said, as he
became sin for her when he knew no sin, so she, when she knew
no righteousness, shall by virtue of her union and relationship
with him be righteous. Even the righteousness of God
in him. perfect in Him, holy in Him. Isaiah writes in chapter 61,
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord. My soul shall be joyful
in my God, for He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with the robe
of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
and as a bride adorneth herself with jewels. You see Ruth one day, she's out
there with the rest of the poverty stricken, gathering up those
handfuls of purpose that might have fallen as the gleaners reaped. And you look at her a week later,
and there she is in a royal fine robe, clean, bejeweled, the wife
of Boaz. What happened? She married him. Turn over to Ezekiel chapter
16. This is a precious, precious
portion of God's Word. It's the same picture. Ezekiel 16 and verse 8. He says, Now when I passed by
thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love. And I spread my skirt over thee. What does that mean? That was
in the east in Ruth and Boaz' day, that was like a proposal
of marriage. Do you remember when she went
in the instructions of Naomi and laid down at the foot of
Boaz on the threshing floor. And he awoke and spread the skirt
of his garment over her. That was a proposal. He gave
her food, told her to go home and wait until he took care of
the matter. And Naomi, when she heard it,
she said, the man will not rest until he finishes it. I spread my skirt over thee,
and covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, and entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
mine." Men and women don't seem to like
that language anymore. That's the language of the Beloved
and His love. When they say in the Song of
Solomon, I am my Beloved's and He is mine. Then I washed thee with water.
Yea, I throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed
thee with oil. That's the cleansing from sin
that God gives to His bride. But listen to this, I clothed
thee also with broidered work, and shod thee with badger skin,
and I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee
with silk, I decked thee also with ornaments, and I put bracelets
upon thy hands, and a chain on thy neck, and I put a jewel on
thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown
upon thine head. Thus wast thou decked with gold
and silver, and thy raiment was of fine linen and silk and broidered
work, and thou didst eat fine flour and honey and oil, and
thou wast exceedingly beautiful, and thou didst prosper into a
kingdom." I've never seen an ugly bride.
I don't know what happens to you gals, but it seems like on
that wedding day when you get dressed up for your wedding,
the homeliest of gals somehow sort of radiates with a beauty,
but none that compares to the beauty of Christ's bride. The next verse says, "...and
thy renown went forth among the heathen for thy beauty." This bride is famous for her
beauty. How did one so ugly, how did
a bunch of sinners so vile and corrupting themselves, how did
they become to be renowned for their beauty? He says, "...for it was Perfect. Perfect. And we all have our
little flaws, don't we? And I've got more than most.
But the beauty of this bride is perfect. Have to be perfect
to go to heaven. Have to be perfect to be accepted
by God. So where did her perfection,
her beauty come from? He says, For it was perfect through
my comeliness, which I had put upon thee, saith
the Lord God. the beauty of Christ's bride. This bunch of fallen sinners
that he chose out of Adam's race and sent his son to die in their
place. For the beauty of that bride
is that imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. She is perfect,
he says, through my commandments, which I put upon thee, saith the Lord." The bridegroom says
to the bride in the Song of Solomon, Thou art all fair, my love. There is no spot in thee. Now, I've always heard that love
is blind. And so when we really love somebody, we tend to not
be able to see their faults and imperfections. And I'm glad it's
that way. But when he says, thou art all
fair to his church, it's because they are. Because they are made
the very righteousness of God in him. Thou art all fair, my love, there
is no spot in thee." He says, Thou hast ravished my heart. What language! The Lord Jesus Christ saying
of His Bride, You have ravished my heart. Then very hurriedly, There has
to be a divine wooing. Some people look at the Spirit's
work as a kind of earthly wooing. He tries, and He pressures maybe,
or He tends to try to lead you in a direction. That's not the
case here. You see, like Abraham, God sends
His servant, His Spirit, to fetch the bride. Did Abraham's servant bring back
the bride? Yes, he did. And likewise, our
Lord says, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that comes to me I'll in no wise cast out. They shall
all be taught of God. Everyone that learns of the Father
comes to me. Not all courtships are successful,
but this one surely will be. He says, thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. Abraham sent Eleazar the servant
down to fetch a bride for Isaac. He goes down there and sees Rebecca
and has the witness of God that this is the one. The question comes to our mind,
Rebecca, Will you go with him? Will you take this man, Isaac,
whom you've never seen? Yes. And likewise, faith beholds the
King whom we've not seen in His beauty. whom having not seen, we love."
That's what faith is. But listen to what Abraham's
servant told him. Somebody said, well, that's just
blind faith. No, it isn't. But most especially, believe
in the gospel is not blind faith. It's God-given faith. But like
the Eleazar said to her, And the Lord hath blessed my master
greatly, and he is become great. And he hath given him flocks,
and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants,
and camels, and asses. And Sarah, my master's wife,
bare a son to my master when she was old, and unto him hath
he given All that He has. That's how God presents His Son.
He says, He's the heir of all things. All things in heaven
and earth, all things in creation, all things in providence, but,
oh, all things in salvation. And we have it by being joint
heirs with Jesus Christ. God's preacher goes out with
this message of redeeming love and tells of the glorious person
and work of the Bridegroom. We preach Christ and Him crucified. We herald that the Bridegroom
comes. We are jealous over you with
a godly jealousy, he says, for I have espoused you to one husband
that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ." And God's Spirit. takes the things
preached, takes the message of the bridegroom, and his sacrifice
for the bride, his love for the bride, his death for the bride.
He takes the gospel of Christ crucified, and he gives life. And that life he manifests in
faith. and spiritual sight. And He enables
us to see the eternal beauties of Christ and His finished salvation. And when the bride sees Christ,
she forsakes all to follow Him. She leaves her old works, her
old imagined, filthy rags of righteousness to take this garment
of perfect, imputed righteousness. She leaves all of her old commitments
to false religion. She leaves all of these things
that she once thought commended her to God, and she repents of
them. That's what that picture is there in Ephesians 5. Forsake your father and mother,
and they too shall be joined together, and there will be one
flesh." Somebody said that faith, the letters in faith stood for
this. Forsaking all, I take Him. And then the fourth thing is
this, the last thing. has to be a blissful ever after. I don't watch much TV and stuff
like that. I'm not a movie person because
I like a story. I got enough pressure on me in
this world. I like a story that says, and
they lived happily ever after. But you know, in truth, such
an ending can only truly belong to the story of redemption in
Christ. As a matter of fact, even the
most blissful marriage in this world, and for which I'm thankful
to God for every one and for the one he's given me, but it
says that in heaven they neither marry or are given in marriage.
With all this talk about our eternal love for each other,
I'm afraid that just outside of Christ it's not going to be. But married to Christ, neither death nor divorce will
ever spoil us. Matthew says, "'And for this
cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave
to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. Wherefore they
are no more two, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined
together, let no man put asunder.'" We use that in the wedding vows.
But it's really talking about Christ and His Church. Under the law in the book of
Deuteronomy it said this, when a man hath taken a new wife,
he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any
business, but he shall be free at home one year and shall cheer
up his wife which he hath taken. It would be nice if that was
the case now, wouldn't it? All that is is a picture that Christ will cheer His bride
for all eternity. Worlds without end. His people
will be in His embrace and nothing shall separate us from the love
of Christ. And this book closes. with words of the Bridegroom
soon coming. The world is not ready for that. But it says, the Spirit, the
Holy Spirit and the Bride say, Come. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, the lover of my soul. Come,
my Redeemer and my Savior. Come and make faith sight. Come
and give me new capacity to love you and to worship you and to
adore you forever. Come because I rejoice that you are mine and I am yours." That's the love story. That's the only real and eternal
love story. God helped us to look to Christ.
to cause us to fall in love with Him, believe on Him, and forsake
all others. Father, this day we give You
honor and glory for Your great mercy and grace in the Lord Jesus
Christ. If it would please You, grant
that everyone in this building this day that they would know you and
love you, believe on you, see you for who you are and for what
you've done for them. We know that that would never
be apart from the workings of your spirit. We know that we are in such a
state and condition that even loved of you, we are blind to
it and have no affection, but rather enmity towards you. Cause us to be born from above and to love the Lord Jesus Christ. Trust Him and forsake all others. We ask these things in Him. Amen. Figure out what I did wrong.
I don't know.