Tonight is found in Genesis chapter
3 and verse 9. Genesis 3, 9 And the Lord God
called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? Genesis 3, 9 And the Lord God
called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou. And the subject matter, the theme
I want to take up is that of the Lord God seeking sinners,
the Lord God seeking sinners. Here in the context we of course
see something of the awful consequence of man's sin. Sodom chapter that
we read, Genesis chapter 3, the history of the fall, of Adam
and Eve, our first parents, the entrance of sin into that creation
that God had pronounced to be very good. But here we see that though man
rebels, though man is disobedient, yet God is so merciful, so gracious,
as he comes to seek out sinners. In the consequence of the fall,
among other things, we might observe something of the shame
that was felt by Adam and Eve, and yet, at the same time, in
a sense, they seem to be so self-righteous. Verse 7, the eyes of them both
were open, we're told, and they knew that they were naked and
they're ashamed of their nakedness and then they sewed fig leaves
together and made themselves aprons. Oh, man, even as he sinks into
sin, he's such a self-righteous creature. He will do something
for himself. They will cover their own nakedness. Sinners are so backward really
to confess what they are. They don't want to confess their
sin, they want to conceal their sins. They want to make excuses. And we see this immediately in
the way in which Adam and Eve explain themselves to the Lord
God. Verse 12, the man said, this
is speaking to the Lord God himself, the woman whom thou gavest to
be with me, she gave me of the tree and I did eat. And the Lord
God said unto the woman, what is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, the serpents
beguiled me and I did eat. Adam will blaze thee. And indirectly,
of course, in blaming Eve is really blaming God. It was the
woman that God had given to him that led him into the sin. And
then when God speaks to Eve, she is so quick to blame the
serpents. This is how sinners are. They
want to excuse themselves of their sins. They want to explain
the extenuating circumstances. the reason why it was that they
fell into sin. And yet, to do that, surely,
in dealing with God, such behavior is utterly futile. It's vain,
it's frivolous. What are sinners to do before
a God who is three times holy? Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy
Spirit. But what is a sinner to do? If
we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth
is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us
from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar and His Word is not in us. Those familiar
words at the end of that opening chapter of John's first general
epistle. We're not to make excuses, we're
to acknowledge our sin and we see it. Oh, we see it so wonderfully
in the man after God's own heart. What a man was David, he was
a great sinner. But that man was favoured with
a remarkable display of the grace of God. When he ascends, what
does he say as he comes before God there in the 38th Psalm?
I will declare my iniquity. I will be sorry for my sin. This is to be our response, not
like Adam and Eve as we see them in this particular chapter. Only
wanting to make excuses, only wanting to pass the blame to
someone else. But rather to come and to make
our confessions open. Confession to God, the acknowledgement
of what we are and the things that we have done. Here then
we see in this awful history of the fall and the entrance
of sin we see so much of the grace of God. It is God who first
comes and seeks out the sinner. It is God who is here coming
to the sinner. Verse 8, they heard the voice
of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day
and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord
God amongst the trees of the garden and the Lord God called
unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? Interesting words,
they heard the voice It says they heard the voice. Now the
particular word that we have here really has the idea of sound. They heard the sound, we might
render it. The same word is used in Exodus
28-35 with regards to those bowels around the hem of the garments
of the high priest. And of course when the High Priest
on the Great Day of Atonement goes into the Holy of Holies
the people would be listening out for the sound of those bells
as they were tinkling as he is about that solemn business of
presenting the atoning sacrifice. It was on that one day of the
year that the High Priest was permitted to go beyond that second
veil into the Holy of Holies. And doubtless the people thought,
will the high priest ever come out? Will he be struck down dead
before the Shekinah? The glory, the glory of God there
upon the mercy seat. And so they're listening for
the sound, the sound of those bells as they're tinkling. And it's the same word that we
have here. The voice, the sounds of the
Lord God's walking in the garden. Now, When God comes to speak to us
and speak of himself he does use this language which is called
anthropomorphic language. God speaking of himself in terms
of a man. Now we know God is a spirit. God doesn't have a body. God
isn't a man. God is a spirit. God is everywhere. God is omnipresent. But how God
graciously condescends to speak to us in language that we can
understand. And this is not an easy chapter
for us to rightly understand and interpret. In parts the language,
as I say, to use that technical term, is anthropomorphic. It's human language, but it's
describing the great gods, the eternal spirit. And we have to
remember also that previous to the fall what we have is something
we cannot really begin to conceive. This was paradise. The Garden
of Eden. This was the creation in its
pristine condition when it came from the hand of its great creator.
And there was of course a perfect harmony in all the Garden of
Eden. And in that sense we might say
Eve was not really surprised when even the serpent was able
to communicate with her. What sort of a creature was the
serpent? Well we're told the serpent was more subtle than
any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. Martin Luther says of the serpent
it was the most beautiful of creatures. the most beautiful
of creatures and could dispute concerning great matters. This is the paradise of God that
we're reading of. Now, of course, animals have
no faculty of speech. But we are aware, I'm sure, that
there are occasions in scripture when angels communicate through
animals. We are familiar, I'm sure, with
the account of Balaam's ass in Numbers chapter 22. The ass, as it were, speaks to
that prophet in his folly as the angel of the Lord is withstanding
him. The angels speak. so angels can
speak through to animals and here we have this problem with
the serpent this creature that as he came from the hand of God
was so beautiful a creature and is the instrument by and through
which Satan will come and tempt the woman Satan of course a fallen
angel Good angels might speak through animals. Well, here we
have a fallen angel, a wicked, fallen spirit, Satan himself,
coming to the woman. But it's interesting when we
consider that it was the serpent. The serpent. We read about the
Lord sent fiery serpents among the people of Israel. fiery serpents
and the word fiery is the very word from which our English word
Seraphim comes Seraphim is a Hebrew word that has been brought over
into our English language and we read of course of the Seraphim
in Isaiah chapter 6 Remember the throne of God that Isaiah
sees, and above it stood the Seraphim, it says. And they have
six wings, and with two they are covering their feet, and
with two they are covering their faces, and with two they are
flying at the command of God. We read of these angels, our
Seraphim, we also read of the Cherubim. We read of the Cherubim
here at the end of this particular third chapter of Genesis. where they're placed at the east
of the Garden of Eden together with a flaming sword to protect
the way of the tree of life. There are different types of
angels, but Seraphim are the fiery ones, the burning ones,
and I suppose in a sense Seraphim is that that has the idea of
burning, suggests their purity, their holiness. as such bright, burning angels. But it's interesting that it's
that very word that is used there in Numbers 21 with regards to
the fiery serpents, the seraphic serpents that come and there's
destruction in the camp and you remember the the account there
that Moses is commanded to make the brazen serpent and he holds
it up and those who are bitten they are to look to that that
is held up and it's all typical of the Lord Jesus Christ who
is that one to be exalted on the cross and there to put an
end of sin. Well these are just some interesting
thoughts as it were but the point I make is simply this that if
angels might come and communicate with men and women here in scripture
it's no strange thing if the Lord God himself also comes to
communicate and to speak with his creatures and that's what
we have here the Lord God obviously there in the Garden of Eden would
come and he would commune with Adam and Eve there was fellowship
between heaven and earth there in that paradise and subsequently
in the Old Testament we have several occasions when the Lord
God will come and appear to individuals and speak with them. And I think
in particular of what we're told concerning the experience of
Abraham. Remember here in chapter 18,
we read of him entertaining three men, men entertaining angels,
as if we're unaware. There in the beginning of chapter
18, the Lord it says, the Lord appeared unto him. Mark the words,
Who was it that came? Who was it that appeared unto
him in the plains of Mamre? The Lord appeared unto him. And
Abel sat in the door in the heat of the day, and he lifted up
his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him. And when
he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door and bowed
himself toward the ground. Three men. And we think, of course,
immediately of the three persons in the Godhead, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit. It's the Lord appearing to him.
And what do we read subsequently? Verse 22, The men turned their
faces from thence and went towards Sodom, but Abram stood yet before
the Lord. And then in the next chapter
we read of two angels, the two angels, the two men as he were,
who were going on their way, arriving at Sodom and Gomorrah. where God is going to visit judgment
upon those wicked cities of the plain. But here is Abram and
it says there at verse 22, is to object before the Lord. And then again at the end of
the chapter after Abram has pleaded and prayed concerning those wicked
cities that God would spare them if righteous people be found
there. There were not the people to be found other than other
than faithful knights and his little family. But Abram pleased
with God and then at the end of that 18th chapter the Lord
went his way. As soon as he had left communing
with Abram and Abram returned unto his place. There was communion,
it was the Lord Jesus appearing as a man to Abram. anticipating as it were the fullness
of the time when God would send forth his son made of a woman
made under the law. It's not surprising that the
Lord God here appears and comes to Adam and to Eve and comes
as that one who is seeking out sinners. And the words, as I
said, that I really want to concentrate on for a text are these at verse
9. The Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art
thou? And to try to understand the
purpose of the Lord's coming on this occasion. What was the
purpose of His coming? He's coming to see. And what
does that entail? Well, He comes to convince. He
comes to convince the sinner. And He comes to comfort the sinner. That's how God seeks sinners.
That's the way of God seeking, is it not? The Lord Jesus Christ
comes not to call the righteous but sinners. He says the whole
have no need of the physician but they that are sick. I came
not to call the righteous but sinners. And so the first thing
is that there must be that conviction, that realization that we're sinners.
And these two They are trying to cover their sin and to hide
their sin. They are not wanting to confess
their sin. Well, let us consider then how God comes to convince. What do we read? Verse 8 says,
I heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in
the cool, the margin says, in the wind. I hear the sound of
the Lord God walking in the garden in the wind of the day. That's interesting, the wind
of the day. It reminds us of Ezekiel 37 where we have the
vision of the Valley of Dry Bones, remember? Representing the children
of Israel who were languishing in exile in Babylon. And Ezekiel sees this valley
and it's full of bones. And they're dry bones. And he
has to prophesy to the bones, he has to preach to the bones.
And the bones come together. One bone comes to another bone.
And then sinews and flesh begin to cover the bones. But it's
all lifeless. And then he's told to prophesy
unto the wind, son of man. prophesy unto the wind and say
come from the four winds oh breath of God and breathe upon these
slain that they may live. Oh the wind reminds us of that
blessed work of the Spirit how the Spirit must come to those
who are dead in trespasses and in sins. The winds. And how that winds as it circuits. We read the opening chapter of
of Ecclesiastes this morning. And there we have the circuits
of the wind. It's in the north, it's in the south. The circuits
of the wind. The Lord Jesus says, The wind
bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof,
but canst not tell whence it cometh, nor whither it goeth. So is every one that is born
of the Spirit. All those who are born of the
Spirit They know that sovereign work of the Spirit in their hearts.
And what does the Spirit do? He comes to convince, to reprove
of sin, of righteousness, of judgment. That's part of His
work, a vital part of His work. And so here, what is Adam brought
to? He is brought to this. He must
make his confession. He must make his confession and
acknowledge. And he does that in verse 10,
I heard thy voice in the garden and I was afraid because I was
naked and I hid myself, he says. Oh, there's no hiding from God,
you see. No hiding from God. God's judgments must come. God's judgments do come upon
sinners. Either in this day of grace in
the way of reproof and the conviction of sin or in that terrible day
of judgments to condemn the sinner to a lost eternity but God judgments
do come and there's no hiding from God
and how the Apostle experienced that how he was brought under
that conviction of sin Paul He says, I was alive without the
law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived
and I died. God's judgment. We know that
what things whoever the law saith, it saith to them who are under
the law, that every mouth may be stopped. And all the world
become guilty before God. And here is Adam, you see. And he must recognize what He
has done and the consequence that will come as a result of
His sin. What does God say to this pair? Verse 16, unto the woman He said,
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow
thou shalt bring forth children, and thy desires shall be to thy
husband, and he shall rule over them. And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast
eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not
eat of it, cursed is the ground for thy sake. In sorrow shalt
thou eat of it all the days of thy life, thorns also, and thistles
shall it bring forth to thee. And thou shalt eat the herb of
the field, and in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread. till thou return unto the ground
for out of it was thou taken for thus thou art and unto thus
shalt thou return." Had not God said concerning disobedience
if they were to partake of that forbidden fruit in the day that
they eat us hereof they shall surely die. Dying they shall
die. There is no avoiding these things.
God comes to convict the sinner. to open the eyes of the sinner
to the consequence of his sins they heard the voice the sound
of the Lord God as he comes oh and that voice when God speaks
the voice of the Lord you know one thinks of the language that
we have there in the 29th Psalm and I think it's on six times
in that Psalm We read of the voice of the Lord. Look at Psalm
29, verse 3. The voice of the Lord is upon
the waters. The God of glory thundereth.
The Lord is upon many waters. The voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty. The voice of the
Lord breaketh the cedars. Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars
of Lebanon. He maketh them to skip like a
calf, Lebanon and Syrian like a young unicorn. The voice of
the Lord divideth the flames of fire. The voice of the Lord
shaketh the wilderness. The Lord shaketh the wilderness
of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord maketh
the hinds to carve and discovereth the forest. Oh, the voice of
the Lord. And this is what they're hearing.
It's that voice that is so mighty that's full of authority. It's
that that comes in all the terrors of that Holy Lord of God that
we're all transgressors of. Or remember how we're told concerning
those thunderings of the voice of God at the giving of the law?
There in Exodus 19, 16 we read of thundering and lightnings,
and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpets
exceeding loud, so that all the people that were in the camp
trembled. This is when God descends upon
the mount. What do they say? Oh, they're
frightened. They don't want God to speak
with them. They want Moses to be their mediator, to stand between
them and God. When God comes, you see, He is
seeking the sinner, but how does God come? He comes first in all
those terrors, all those terrors of the holy law. He comes to
shut men's mouths, to bring men in guilty. By the law is the
knowledge of sin. But what we have here, as I say,
is God coming to seek the sinner, and so ultimately, It's not the
terrors of the Lord, it's the grace of God that we see. God
comes in all the consolations of His grace. You know, in this
very chapter, where we have the entrance of sin, I think in some
ways it's to be recognized as the most solemn chapter in all
of the Bible, Genesis chapter 3. And yet, where do you find
the first promise of the Gospel? Where is the first promise of
the Gospel? It's here. It's right in the
middle of this very chapter. And it's the words that the Lord
God speaks unto the serpents. Verse 15, I will put enmity between
thee and the woman and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. That is the first promise of
the Gospel. All where sin abounds, grace
doth so much more abound. And so what we have here, as
God is seeking this couple, is not the terrors of the broken
law, but really it's the tenderness of God coming in the Gospel.
They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in
the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves
from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the
garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him,
Where art thou? O where art thou Adam? Now I
said just now that In verse 15 we have what is recognized to
be the first gospel promise, the Protoevangelium, the first
promise of the gospel. But you know that's not really
the first gospel word, it might be the first promise. When God
says, I will, that's how God addresses us in his promises,
all the promises of God in the Lord Jesus Christ they're all
yea and amen God says I will ye shall that's promise and that's
what we have in verse 15 but it's not the first gospel word
I would say that the first gospel word is what we have here at
the end of verse 9 three words where art thou? oh that's the
first gospel word where art thou? And I think of it like this.
I think of this in many ways as John Gill's text. John Gill's
text. If you read that little account
of John Gill's life, it's the beginning of his commentary,
the account, the memoir. There's also the account that
is published separately by John Rippon who was his successor in the ministry there in London.
but we're told concerning John Gill he was just 12 years of
age a young boy, 12 years of age and his parents attended
what was called a little meeting in Kettering in Northamptonshire,
that's where he lived, that was his native place, Kettering and
there had been a meeting of dissenters after 1662 when the Book of Common
Prayer was an attempt to impose it upon the Puritans so many
of them of course refused to accept that and they were forced
out of the Church of England ejected from the Church of England
and they set up their own meetings and there was what was called
the the large meeting in Kettering which was all those who would
not conform to the Book of Common Prayer but after a while there
was a division because there were those who were Baptists
others were pedo-Baptists the Baptists of course would only
accept the baptism of believers whilst the others were baptizing
their offspring so there was what was called a little meeting
and that's where the girls attended and the minister was a man called
William Wallace and there was John Gill 12 years of age and
attending the ministry and Mr Wallace preached on this verse
the Lord God called unto Adam and said unto him where art thou
and all that word he came with such authority Into the heart
of that young lad, 12 years of age, where art thou John Gill?
Where art thou John Gill? Oh, when God's Word comes to
us like that, what a gracious thing it is. I call this in John
Gill's text, it's a great text, the Lord God's seeking of sinners. Now, We're not to think, of course,
that God was unaware of the whereabouts of Adam and Eve. We know that God is omniscient. He knows all things. God is omnipresent.
God is in all places. He says in his fear, I hid myself,
but there's no hiding from God. There's no hiding from God. We're
familiar with the language of David in the psalm, that great
139th psalm, which is such a celebration of God's omniscience, the all-knowing
one, and the omnipresent one, that God who is in all places.
What does David say? O Lord, thou hast searched me
and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting
and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thoughts
afar off, Thou compassed my path and my lying down, And art acquainted
with all my ways. For there is not a word in my
tongue, But, lo, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast
beset me behind and before, And laid Thine hand upon me. Such
knowledge is too wonderful for me, It is high I cannot attain
unto it. Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?
For whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up
into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, Hades
really, the realm of the dead, behold, thou art there. If I
take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts
of the sea, even there thy hand shall lead me and thy right hand
shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness
shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me, and
so it goes on. There's no hiding from God. And
there was no hiding for Adam and Eve, God knew where they
were. God wasn't asking the question because He was ignorant of their
whereabouts. This word is not to be understood,
you see, in that sort of geographical sense. but more in terms of their
state. That's what God's enquiring.
What is their condition? What is their condition? Where
are they? What's your spiritual state tonight
before a God whose eyes are as a flaming fire? A God who can
look into the very depths of our souls. Where are they? How is your standing before this
Holy One, the Creator and the Sustainer of all things? And you know, really the question
that's put to Adam is not to be understood as that that is
severe, it's to alarm him, yes, but it's also to minister comfort
to him, he's not He's not upbraiding the man in a sense, God wants
to convict the man, God wants to humble the man as it were.
We might say in a sense, is God reasoning with the man? Where
art thou? Where art thou Adam? We know
how when he came to the creation God spoke with himself, reasoned
with himself we might say. Back in verse 26 of the first
chapter, God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the
fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. God speaks to himself and reasons
with himself about the creation of man. And here is God beginning
to reason with Adam. Where art thou? He asks. And
so he goes on, this sort of interview we might say. He says in verse 11, Who told
you that thou wast naked? And so eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? Wasn't the grace in
these questions? He says to the woman, verse 13,
What is this that thou wast done? God reasoning. Can we know God
reasons in His grace? That lovely verse in Isaiah,
Isaiah 118, Come now, He says, and let us reason together, saith
the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. God reasoned with us. Isn't that
a remarkable thing, this God? this God whom they had so offended,
this God whom they had rebelled against and disobeyed and yet
He comes and He speaks such gracious words, He reasons with them. This is the way of God. Well
again, look at the language that we have in the book of the Prophet
Hosea. Hosea 11 verse 8 God says, how shall I give thee
up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? Mine heart is turned within me.
My repentings are kindled together. I will not execute the fierceness
of mine anger. I will not return to destroy
Ephraim. For I am God, and not man, the
Holy One. who is in the midst of them.
This is the God that we are so privileged to have dealings with.
Our God is a good God. Or the Psalmist says it, Psalm
119, is it verse 68? Thou art good, and thou doest
good. That's the God that we have to
do with, a good God, a gracious God. And He comes sometimes,
does He not, in that still small voice. Wasn't that how He came
to Elijah? He wasn't in the earthquake,
He wasn't in the wind, He was in the still, small voice. And
what we have here is God's still, small voice. It's not really
God's coming in all the awful authority of His law. He doesn't
descend suddenly. Oh, that's how it was when God
gave the Ten Commandments. as we read in Exodus 19 verse
18, Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke because the Lord descended
on it. It's not like that, is it? How
does God come? Oh, it's a gospel coming that
we have here. They heard the voice of the Lord
God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. It's such a gracious way of God's
approaching as he draws near to them it's gospel coming and
what is God's aim? well God's aim certainly is to
to reason with them he does come to reason with them as we've
said and he reasons so graciously
so persuasively but he doesn't just come to reason
with them he comes also to address their need. He will cover their
sin. He will cover their sin. Verse
21, unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats
of skins and clothes them. In this very chapter you see
they are justified sinners. Coats of skins, the sacrifice
of animals, the blood of sprinkling, the provision of a covering,
doesn't it all remind us of the great work of the Lord Jesus
Christ who came to accomplish the salvation of his people.
How did he do it? Obedience. And he was obedient
unto death, even the death of the cross, honoring the law,
magnifying the law, first of all in terms of all its holy
precepts, Holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, made higher
than the heavens was He. The righteousness. And that righteousness
is the righteousness with which He clothed His people. But then
also His obedience unto death, the death of the cross, there
He bears all that punishment of the broken law. or there he
satisfies God in all its terrible penalties that Lord it must be
satisfied he makes the great sacrifice and all of that is
seen here in verse 21 unto Adam also and to his wife did the
Lord God make coats of skins and clothes all God comes you
see not just to reason with them but he has the answer he has
the covering of all their sins, the cleansing
in precious blood, the robe of righteousness. And how God is
doing all of this so deliberately, so deliberately, so graciously. He walks, we read of God walking
in the garden in the cool of the day. He didn't come as he
were riding upon a cherub That's how the Psalmist speaks of God
in the 18th Psalm. Verse 10, he rode upon a cherub
and did fly, yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind. He
made darkness his secret place, his pavilion round about him
were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies. that the brightness
that was before Him, His thick clouds passed, hailstones and
coals of fire. The Lord also thundered in the
heavens and the highest gave His voice, hailstones and coals
of fire." No, God doesn't come here riding, riding upon a cherub. He comes so quietly, so deliberately,
so graciously. It's the grace of God that we
see in the text then. God seeking the sinner. The Lord's
God called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art thou? Oh friends, how foolish to hide
from such a God as this. That's the folly of sin. To keep
back from this God. The Lord Jesus is that one who
receives sinners. He receiveth sinners and eateth
with them. He's the sinner's friend, God
is. He's the saviour of sinners. Surely the best thing for us
is to come to this God and to come to Him openly, honestly,
to be those who are diligent in our seeking of Him, never
ready to confess Him. and to acknowledge all that He
is in His goodness and in His grace. Yes, He comes and He will
convince the sinner. But that's not the end of the
matter. It's not enough to know I'm a sinner, is it? It's not
enough to know I'm a sinner. I must know what salvation is.
And if I know what salvation is, then surely I must make that
confession of this God who has done so graciously with me to
show me myself in order that He might reveal to me Himself
in all the fullness of His grace in the Gospel. Oh, the Lord help
us then to be those who would ever acknowledge our sins and
confess His great Name. Oh, the Lord bless this word
to us. Amen.