Turn with me, if you would, to
hymn 509 and the hardback hymnal 509, and we'll stand together
to sing. The sands of time are sinking,
the dawn of heaven breaks, the summer morn I The fair sweet
morn awakes, Dark, dark hath been the midnight, But day's
spring is at hand, And glory, glory dwelleth In Emmanuel's
land. O Christ, He is the fountain,
the deep sweet well of love. The streams on earth I've tasted,
more deep I'll drink above. There to an ocean fullness His
mercy doth expand, And glory, glory dwelleth In Emmanuel's
land. Oh, I am my Beloved's, and my
Beloved's mine. He brings a poor vile sinner
into his house of wine. I stand upon His merit, I know
no other stand, Not even where glory dwelleth in Emmanuel's
land. The bride eyes not her garment,
but her dear bridegroom's face. I will not... glory, but on my
King of grace. Not at the crown he giveth, but
on his pierced hand. The Lamb is all the glory of
Emmanuel's land. Be seated, please. Thank you, Adam. I can't think
of a better hymn to open tonight's service with. If you'll open
your Bibles with me to Revelation 21. Revelation 21. Message tonight will be from
2 Peter 3, watching and waiting for the coming of
our Lord. What a hopeful expectation we
have. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.
God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God shall
wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more
death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat
upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he
said unto me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, it is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, and I will give
unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of
life freely. What blessed words of hope for
the believer. I want us to have a time of prayer
together. I've been talking to Chris Weishe
Phil had some surgery done in his neck on Monday, and he had
to go back to the hospital today. He's having some swelling and
difficulty breathing. So I told them that we would
remember to pray for them tonight. And Charlie Belarus is leaving
Monday to Parris Island, South Carolina. joining the Marines. And Charlie, we're proud of you
and we want to pray for you tonight. OK. All right. Our heavenly father. Thank you for the blessed hope
of eternal life that you've given us and my dear son. Thank you
for the. For the glory that we have to to hope and look to and rest
in. Lord, we pray tonight that you
would stir our hearts and cause us to remember all the precious
promises that you've made. And that you would cause us,
Lord, by your spirit to set our affections, not on the things
of the earth, but on the things above, where Christ Jesus the
Lord is seated at thy right hand. Lord, that we would look on him
and to him and we would rest in him. Lord, we pray for Phil and ask,
Lord, that you would be with the medical staff that ministers
to him and give them the knowledge they need to do their job well
and place your hand of healing on him, Lord, and give him recovery
from this surgery. We thank you for Charlie. Lord,
we pray for your hand of grace and protection and mercy to be
upon him. And Lord, that you would keep
him and reveal yourself in him. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen. In the hardback tenor, let's
stand again and sing hymn number 75. Abide with me, fast falls the
eventide. The darkness deepens, Lord, with
me abide. When other helpers fail and comforts
flee, Help of the helpless, O abide with me. Swift to its close ebbs out life's
little day. Earth's joys grow dim, its glories
pass away. Change and decay in all around
I see. O Thou who changest not, abide
with me. I need thy presence every passing
hour. What but thy grace can foil the
tempter's power? Who like thyself my guide and
stay can be? Cloud and sunshine, abide with
me. Hold thou thy word before my
closing eyes. Shine through the gloom and point
me to the sky. morning breaks, and earth's vain
shadows flee. In life, in death, O Lord, abide
with me. Be seated, please. Let's open our Bibles together
to 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter two, chapter three,
I'm sorry. David said in Psalm 17 verse
15, ask for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness. and I shall be satisfied when
I awake in thy likeness." Faith is never satisfied with itself. It's not satisfied with this
world. We're always looking for the
fullness that the Lord has promised in revealing himself in all of
his glory. I hear, I listen to religious
people talk about the gospel as if it's just something to
help them get through this world and make a better life for themselves. It's about salvation, it's about
eternal life. And when the Lord is pleased
to cause us to see that and to believe that and to know how
vain this world is. Peter finishes his letter with
this last verse in chapter three when he says, but you grow in
grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the
more we grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the more we want more of him and the more we want to
be with him and the less attraction it seems this world has. I've titled this message Watching
and Waiting and this is a message of encouragement that the Lord
gives to his people over and over again that the Lord Jesus
Christ is coming again. And the trump of God will sound,
the dead in Christ will raise, and those of us which were alive
will be caught up together with them in the air. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. And that's our hope. That's our
hope. And this whole chapter, we may
end up doing most of chapter three tonight because it's one
It's one thought that the Lord carries through in this whole
chapter. In verse one, this second epistle,
beloved, and the word of God is always for the beloved, isn't
it? Oh, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of
God. Loved with an everlasting loved. Loved by God. I now write unto you in both
which I stir up your pure minds in way of remembrance. What is
a pure mind? Is it a mind absent of vain and
fleshly thoughts? Wish it was. Wish we could have
that. Wish I had that. One day we will. One day we will have that. But this word pure is the same
word translated to judge. And a pure mind is a mind capable
of making righteous judgments. A pure mind is a mind that has
been enlightened by the Spirit of God to discern the difference
between truth and error. And so when the Lord says, I'm
gonna stir up your pure mind, I'm going to remind you of those
things that the Lord has taught you in his judgments as to where
your life is and where your hope is. It's the ability to make righteous
judgments. It is the understanding mind
able to hear and to believe what God has revealed. The unregenerate
mind is not able to be stirred up. Only the pure mind can be
stirred up. All the unregenerate mind has
is a fleshly mind and that which is of the flesh is flesh and
the flesh profiteth nothing. So we come into this world As flesh, that's all we have.
All we have is our natural mind, our natural man. And we can't
make discernments about the truth and we can't know God without
God. And so the Lord, the pure mind
is the new heart. It's the mind of Christ as the
scripture reveals it. It's the inner man of the heart,
Ephesians chapter three, verse 16. Colossians 3, it's the new man,
it's the hidden man of the heart, 1 Peter chapter 3. It's the inward
man, that which is born of the spirit. It is the mind that the Holy
Spirit speaks to and through, revealing the truth of God's
word and of Christ. Only the pure mind can be stirred
up to remember that which the Lord has spoken because you can't
remember something you've never experienced. So you've had it
happen to you, I've had it happen to me on several occasions. Somebody
will say something to you, you remember such and such and they
thought you were there. And you listen to the story and
you say, I don't know what you're talking about, I wasn't there.
Oh, I'm sorry, I thought you were there. You can't remember
something you never knew, you never experienced. And so when
the Lord says that I'm here to stir up your pure mind to remember
those things which you've experienced, those things which you know to
be true, those things which have been revealed to you by the Spirit
of God through the Word of God. and how often we need to be stirred
up, don't we? Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter five. I hope tonight the Lord will
stir up our minds and cause us to be in remembrance of those
precious truths and precious hopes that he's already taught
us. These things we know, but we
live in a world that is contrary to everything that we believe
and everything we love. We live in a body of flesh that
is in conflict with our spirit. We live among spiritual powers
that would distract us. Paul said to the church at Corinth,
he said, I fear lest by any means And there's a lot of different
means that Satan uses. Less by any means as the serpent
beguiled Eve in the garden. So your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. So when God gives you
a pure mind, a new heart, he teaches you of Christ. And how easy it is for us to
lose sight of him. and how needful it is that we
have those minds stirred up to remember the things that he has
taught us. 1 Corinthians chapter five, verse six. Your glorying is not good, And
how often we glory in things that aren't good. Let him who glories glory in
the Lord. That's the only thing good to
glory in, isn't it? Know ye not that a little leaven
leavens the whole lump? We make little compromises here
and there and before long we find that everything's infected. Purge out, therefore, the old
leaven, that you may be a new lump, as you are unleavened. For even Christ, our Passover,
is sacrificed for us. Therefore, let us keep the feast,
not with the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and
wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth."
Now, this word pure that Peter uses not only is translated to
judge, and make judgments, but it's also translated sincere,
which is the same word we just read. And so when Peter says,
I'm here to stir up your pure minds, the mind that is capable
of making judgments between truth and error, between light and
darkness, between that which is to be gloried in in Christ
and that which is not. and to do it in such a way that
there's not hypocrisy and it's not a vain religious excitement. In religion, because there's
no new man, there's no pure mind, there's no new nature
in Christ, the only thing they can do is stir up the flesh.
We were talking about this last night. We, you know, they just,
religion's all about, you know, getting people excited about
something. And all they're doing is appealing
to the emotions and appealing to the flesh. And there's no
sincerity to it. And there's no judgment to it. So the Lord's saying, you have
the mind of Christ. You've been taught of God. You
know how to make right judgments between that which is true and
that which is not. And by God's grace, it'll be
a sincere work of grace. And so this is what we do. We fail to make judgments as
we ought and we have plenty of hypocrisy in everything that
we do. And so how often we need to have these pure minds stirred
up again to remember the judgments that the Lord has revealed to
us and the sincerity that he's given to us. One day, one day our hearts will be perfectly conformed, and we'll
see him as he is, and there won't be any insincerity, and there
won't be any bad judgments anymore. But as long as we're on this
side of heaven, we're needing to be stirred up, aren't we? In the Song of Solomon, let's
turn there, Song of Solomon chapter two, Look at verse nine in Song of
Solomon, chapter two. My beloved, now this is the bride
of Christ. This is the church. This is the believer speaking
of her husband. And she says, my beloved is like
a row or a young heart behold, he standeth behind our wall,
he looketh forth at the window, showing himself through the lattice."
He reveals glimpses of his glory now and the more we see of him,
the more we want to see him. And so, he's stirring up our
pure minds by giving us revelations of himself and shining
the light of his grace in our hearts. Look at verse 10, my
beloved spake and said unto me, rise up my love, my fair one,
and come away. And then she goes on to tell
what all else he says. And then chapter three, look
at chapter three, verse one. By night on my bed I sought him
whom my soul loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not. I will rise now and go about the city and the streets and
in the broad ways. I will seek him whom my soul
loveth. I sought him, but I found him
not." And she goes out into the city looking for her beloved. And that's the life of the believer. We look through a glass darkly
now, but then face to face, face to face. That's our hope. Go back with me to our text in
2 Peter. The means by which the Lord stirs
up the pure mind to remember is his word and his spirit. Look what Peter says in verse
one, this second epistle beloved I now write unto you in both
which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance that you
may be mindful of the words which are spoken before by the holy
prophets and of the commandments of us the apostles of the Lord
and Savior. So his authority of truth is
the word of God. And we know that God's word is
not by private interpretation. It wasn't, men didn't just come
up with this, but holy men, men that had been called out by God
spake as they were moved by the Holy Spirit. And this is God's
word. What glory? The natural man's
not interested in God's word. But God's word's all we have. And it's all we need. God speaks,
faith just believes God and rests in his precious promises and
rejoices in all that he's revealed about himself. So the means by
which the Lord stirs up our minds is his word which is a lamp unto
our feet, it is a light into our path. It's God's word that
points to and reveals the glory of Christ. Turn with me to Psalm
19. Psalm 19. The first part of that Psalm
speaks of the sun rising and setting, and it's a picture of
Christ. who lights the world. And Peter's
going to go on to remind us that the natural man doesn't have
his mind stirred up because he doesn't believe God's Word. He's not moved at all. He doesn't bow to God's Word. He doesn't rejoice in God's Word.
But for the believer, look at verse seven, the law of the Lord
is perfect. It's perfect. There's no error
in it. And it's by God's word that our
souls are converted. Of his own will begat he us with
the word of truth. God uses his word to speak truth
to the hearts of his people and give them this pure mind. The
testimony of the Lord is sure. It's sure, it's certain. What
else can you say that about? Nothing. Nothing in this world
is sure, it's certain. God's Word is. God's Word, it
doesn't change. It's settled, it's certain, it's
sure. It's the sure foundation. And this sure testimony makes
wise the simple. You have to be. You have to be
a babe to believe God's Word. You have to come in a spirit
of trust and faith and much like a child. And then wisdom comes
as a result of that simplicity. The statutes of the Lord are
right. They're right. No error. They're not wrong.
They're right. And those statutes rejoice the heart. We have reasons
to rejoice because the Lord has spoken. The commandments of the
Lord, the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightened in
the eyes by God's commandments and by his word. And these words,
the word, you know, the word law and testimony and statutes
and commandment are all used to refer to the revelation that
God's given us in his word. And that's what Peter's saying.
I want to stir up your pure minds to remember the things that the
prophets and the apostles have spoken. The fear of the Lord is clean,
enduring forever, and the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous
altogether. What comfort, what hope we have. God has spoken and he's given
us faith to believe him. And he's given us a heart to
bow to him and to rejoice in all that he said. What does the
world have? They have empty promises. They have their own opinions
and imaginations and the thoughts of religion, whatever they might
be. We have God's word. God has spoken. This is where we settle all things
and all our minds and all of our questions and all of our
fears and all of our doubts. We're stirred up by the word
of God. The Lord tells us in Hebrews
chapter four that God's word is quick. It's alive. That's what that word quick means.
We see that word quickening. The word quickening means to
be made alive and so God's word is quick, it makes alive and
it's powerful. It can raise the dead and it's
sharper than any two-edged sword. It kills and it makes alive. It does both. It wounds and it
heals. sharper than any two-edged sword.
And it's able, it's able to divide us under the soul from the spirit
and the marrow to the discerning of the heart. That's what God's
word does. It speaks to the heart. So Peter's saying, I'm gonna
stir up your pure minds by reminding you what God has said in his
word. And again, we know that the written
word is a revelation of the living word, the Lord Jesus Christ,
we don't separate the two. So when we're, the Lord said
to the Pharisees, you search the scriptures, you're diligent
Bible students and you've memorized things and you've tried to You
know, you've tried to use these things. We don't go to God's
Word in order to learn a principle or a program or something, you
know, something that we can put into practice. We go to God's
Word looking for a person. We're looking for the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You search the scriptures because
you think in them you have eternal life but these are they which
testify of me. You miss the whole meaning of the Bible if you miss
Christ. He is the one who stirs up our
minds and reveals himself and he's the one that saves us. How do we know if our pure hearts have been
stirred to remembrance. Well, turn back with me to Hebrews
chapter four. Quoted a couple of verses later
on in that chapter, but let's look at the first couple of verses
in Hebrews chapter four. Let us therefore fear. God has
spoken, we don't, We don't contradict what God has said. We don't butt
what God has said. We don't try to soften what God
has said or correct what God has said. We bow to it. That's
what fear, fearing God is just truth, Lord. It's bowing to him. It's believing him. Let us therefore fear, lest a
promise being left us of entering into his rest. That's where we're
headed. We're resting the hope of our
salvation now in the Lord Jesus Christ and in his accomplished
work of redemption. And we know that that work was
finished from the foundation of the world as we're gonna see
here in a moment. But the fullness of our rest
won't be experienced until we are free from this world and
from this body, and we are able to rest in him fully. And so let us fear, lest a promise
being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem
to come short of it. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them, but the word preached did not profit
them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. They didn't
believe God. They weren't moved. They didn't
have their hearts stirred. They didn't have faith to believe
God. For we which have believed do
enter his rest. How do I know that I believe
God? I'm resting in Christ. I'm looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ for all the hope of my salvation. I have nothing to
add to what he has done. I cannot find any ground on which
to stand in the presence of God other than his grace in the finished
work. and glorious person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's the only one I can, I can't
come to God outside of Christ. I can't find any hope of acceptance
with God other than in the beloved. God has caused me to look and
to rest and to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. we which have believed do enter
into rest, as he said, as I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall
enter into my rest, although the works were finished from
the foundation of the world." Now this is a reference back
to the covenant of grace, the eternal covenant of grace. When
the Lord Jesus Christ became our surety in eternity past,
and agreed to redeem his people from their sins. And the scriptures
in the book of Revelation refer to our Lord as the Lamb slain
before the foundation of the world. So even though the Lord
was actually slain 2000 years ago on Calvary's cross, the covenant
of grace had been established from eternity past before the
foundation of the world. He had agreed to become the Lamb
slain. And what happened there was sure
to be fulfilled in time. Everything that's happening in
time is the fulfillment of that which God ordained in eternity. Look at verse four. For he spoke
in a certain place of the seventh day of this wise, and God did
rest the seventh day from all his works. How do I know I'm
believing on Christ? I'm resting in him. I'm not trying
to add to what he did. His work is finished, it's complete,
and it's all my hope of salvation. The Bible, as I said, is not
a plan to follow or a principle to apply. It is a person. It is none other than the Son
of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's
go back with our text. And I love how the Lord You know,
our minds are being stirred up to trust Christ and to rest in
his promises. And then he says, first of all,
you need to be reminded of something. You live in a world of scoffers. Not everybody's gonna believe
this. Matter of fact, most will not. You're gonna find yourself
you're gonna find yourself in at odds with the world in which
you live. The Lord's saying, don't let
them influence you, don't let them intimidate you, don't let
them cause you to doubt the things that God has taught you. Well,
look what he says in verse three, knowing this first, this is the
first thing you need to know. there will be scoffers in the
last days. And again, the last days, the
days in which we live, the days in which the church has been
since the first coming of Christ. Everything between his first
coming and his second coming is the last days. People talk
about the antichrist being a person and they try to identify that
person today. John tells us that the antichrist
was in the world in the first century when John wrote his gospel,
the epistle of 1 John, he said, the Antichrist is already here.
So that which is contrary to Christ, that which would add
to or take away from the person of the Lord Jesus, the world
has always done that. And the religious world has done
it. And so you're going to live in a world that is against Christ. and they're gonna be scoffers.
And the reason why they don't believe is because they're walking
after their own lust. You see that in verse three? Light has come into the world.
But men love darkness rather than light because their deeds
are evil. The Lord Jesus said in John chapter five, he said,
you will not come to me that you might have life. And then
later on in John chapter six, he said, no man can come to me. You won't come to me and you
can't come to me. Why? Because you're minding the
things of the flesh. And they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh. They can only, they don't have
this pure mind where they can make judgments and discernments
about truth. All they can do is judge things
after the flesh. And so the religious won't come
to Christ because the gospel declares their righteousness
as evil. Light is coming to the world.
Men love darkness rather than light. The religious love the
darkness of their own self-righteousness. They won't come to Christ because
coming to Christ would expose their religion for what it is.
Vain. Empty. Soul damning. And the
irreligious won't come to Christ because they're engaged in things
that they would have to change. if they were to believe the gospel. And what do they say? Where is
the promise of his coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
That's what the scoffers say. Well, there's no. The natural man who does not
have the mind of Christ who cannot have his pure heart stirred up
by the word of God, who has no love for Christ and does not
believe on Christ, doesn't think about the second coming of Christ. It's of no consequence to them.
It's of no value to them. It's of no interest to them. The thing that is of most interest
to us, the thing that we long for, the thing that we live for,
is the thing that's least important to them. So surely they would
say, well, where is this coming? Y'all been talking about that
for 2000 years. What are they doing? They're
just justifying themselves. Look at the next verse. For this
they willingly are ignorant of. Now I've looked up some of these
words. That word willingly means they
listened They considered what you were saying and they made
a willful decision not to believe it. The only thing that man's free
will can do is not believe. Scripture says some believed
and some believe not. If we believe it's because God
has done a work of grace causing us to believe and making us willing
in the day of his power. He's drawn us to himself. If
we don't believe it's because we've made a willful conscious
decision to not believe. Coming to Christ is not a decision.
Not coming to Christ is a decision. a conscious decision, they willingly
said no. This they willingly are ignorant
of. I don't want to know anything
about that. They don't want to know any more
about it. They hear just enough to be able to say no, to be able
to say no. that by the word of God the heavens
were of old and the earth standing out of water and in water whereby
the world that then was being overflowed with water perished. But the heavens and the earth
which are now by the same word This is God's word, are kept.
You see, but Peter's referring back to that generation of Noah. Noah preached and told them what
was gonna happen and they willingly ignored him. They didn't believe
it. And they perished in the flood. And the same thing's happening
today. We warn men and we declare the
truth to men and they have no interest. Not going to happen. What we are watching and waiting
with great anticipation to happen, and I wish that I could watch
and wait more faithfully than I do, which should be the very
first and often thought that we would have every day, is the thing that that's the
farthest thing from their mind. This world, verse 7, is reserved
by God unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition
of ungodly men. The Lord has made it clear. Men know in their conscience
that there's a God. Men know in their conscience
that that God is holy and just and that that he must be justified
and judgment's coming. They put that out of their mind,
ignore it. And I love the way the Lord contrast
the willing ignorance of the world to what he says in verse
eight, but beloved, be ye not ignorant. Be not ignorant of
this one thing, that one day is what the Lord has a thousand
years and a thousand years is one day. God doesn't reckon time
like we do. And what he promised, he's gonna
fulfill. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promise as some men count slackness, but is long suffering
to us word. Oh, Aren't you thankful for the
long-suffering of God? It's our salvation. We're dull
of hearing often. We're like those disciples in
the Garden of Gethsemane. Could you not pray with me for
one hour? Oh, the spirit is willing, flesh is weak. We're so prone
to wander, lose sight of Christ. But here's our hope, our God
is long-suffering, to usward, to usward. And the usward is
important to understand the rest of this verse, not willing that
any should perish. If God was not willing for any
man to perish, no man would perish. God's will is always gonna be
performed, it's always gonna be fulfilled. He's not willing for any of us
word to perish, but that all of us word should come to repentance.
He's going to be sure that all of those for whom Christ died,
all those chosen by God in the covenant of grace will come to
faith and repentance in Christ. And he'll be long suffering and
making sure that that happens for each one. But the day of the Lord will
come, and it'll come as a thief in the night. If you knew a thief was coming,
you'd be up armed and prepared and ready. But a thief is going
to overcome the world. They're not going to be watching
and waiting. The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise,
and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and the earth also,
and the works that are therein shall be burned up." All the works of the flesh, all
the wood and stubble, it's gonna be consumed by the fiery wrath
of God's judgment. Well to be preserved, God's work. the work of Christ, the work
that he accomplished in redeeming his people, the work of faith
that he puts into the hearts of his people, the work of love
and grace that he gives us to look to him and follow after
him, all those works that he did, all the works that he performed
will remain. Verse 11. seeing then that these
things shall be dissolved." This world is going to be burned up,
it's going to happen. What manner of persons ought
you to be in holy conversation and godliness? This is why we stirred up, isn't
it? Looking for, looking and hastening anxious for that day,
waiting for that day, looking for and hastening unto the coming
of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be
dissolved and the elements shall melt with fervent heat. Nevertheless,
we, nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for a new heaven. We read
about this in Revelation 21 just a little bit ago. We look for
a new heaven, a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. No sin, no unbelief, no fear,
no doubts, no more wandering. No more looking away. Eyes and
hearts fixed on the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, glorying
in the fullness of him. A new body. Nothing but righteousness. Wherein
dwelleth righteousness. Perfect righteousness. What hope? The world doesn't
know anything about that hope. And but for God's grace, neither
would we. I pray that the Spirit of God
will stir up our pure minds to remember. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly
Father, thank you for your word. Lord, forgive us for being so caught up and bound
to the temporal things of this world. Lord, we thank you that
you remember that we're made of dust. We thank you that you
remember how frail we are. And Lord, we thank you for your
long suffering and for your patience and for your mercy and love toward
us. We ask that you would give us
your spirit and cause us to remember the things that you've taught
us. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. 204, 204, let's stand together. O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness you
see. There's light for a look at the
Savior, And life more abundant and free. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.