I'm I know. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. oh you know what i forgot to
bring Thank you. Thank you. th th th Okay. And then three tenths of
a line. That's the order. Yeah. Yeah. It's all right. It's all right. so so Good evening, everyone. Turn
with me to 2 Timothy chapter 1, if you would, please. 2 Timothy
chapter 1. Just read a few verses here,
beginning in verse seven. For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. but is now made manifest by the
appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death
and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
whereunto I am appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher
of the Gentiles, and for the which cause I also suffer these
things nevertheless, I am not ashamed for I know whom I have
believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which
I've committed unto him against that day. Let's pray. Heavenly
Father, Lord, we thank you for your word and the reading of
it. Lord, we... Thank you that you've
done for us what we could not do for ourselves. And Lord, we,
through the preaching of the gospel, have been given revelation
to the fact that we know the one who saves us and calls us. We know that it's not according
to our works or anything that we've done, but according to
your will and purpose that you determined before the world ever
began. Thank you, Lord, for Christ,
whom you've enabled us to know, believe, and we're persuaded,
Lord, by your instilled confidence in Christ
that he's able to complete, he's finished the work for us, and
that we can commit our very souls to his well-keeping. Thank you,
Lord, for all that you've done for us in Christ. Be with us,
Lord, as we sing praises unto your name and open your word
and ask again for a fresh revelation of the Lord Jesus. It's in his
name that we ask these things and for his sake that we ask,
amen. Okay, let's begin our singing
by turning to hymn number 492, 492. I am so glad that our Father
in heaven tells of His love in the book He has given. Wonderful things in the Bible
I see. This is the nearest that Jesus
loves me. I am so glad that Jesus loves
me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. I am so glad that Jesus loves
me. Jesus loves even me. Though I forget Him and wander
away, Still He does love me wherever I stray. Back to His dear loving
arms would I flee, When I remember that Jesus loves me. I am so glad that Jesus loves
me, Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me. I am so glad that Jesus loves
me, Jesus loves even me. Oh, if there's only one song
I can sing When in His beauty I see the great King This shall
my song in eternity be. Oh, what a wonder that Jesus
loves me. I am so glad that Jesus loves
me. Jesus loves me. Jesus loves me. I am so glad
that Jesus loves me. Jesus won't even be. And turn back to hymn number
326. More about Jesus. 326. More about Jesus would I know,
More of His grace to others show, More of His saving fullness see,
More of His love who died for me. More, more about Jesus, More of His saving fullness sing. ? More of His love who died for
me ? ? More about Jesus let me learn ? ? More of His holy will
discern ? ? Spirit of God my teacher be ? Showing the things
of Christ to me. More, more about Jesus. More, more about Jesus. More of His saving fullness see. or of His love who died for me. More about Jesus in His Word,
holding communion with my Lord, hearing His voice in every line,
making each faithful saying mine. More, more about Jesus, More,
more about Jesus, More of His saving fullness see, More of
His love who died for me. More about Jesus on His throne,
Riches in glory all His own, More of His kingdom sure increase,
More of His coming Prince of Peace. Okay, thank you, Sheila. Before turning with me to Judges
chapter 1, if you would look at with me once again Romans
chapter 15. In our studies of the Old Testament
scriptures, we've mentioned this passage so many times. And let me just say before we
turn to Judges, when reading and studying Judges chapter 1,
it becomes very apparent that very much of chapter 1 in Judges
is a repeat of Israel's victories found in the book of Joshua.
And us just coming or getting through with the book of Joshua,
some of these things will be very familiar to you. But let
me say that when this repetition occurs in the word of God, we
can always be assured that it has something to do with what
Paul is referring to right here in Romans chapter 15, verse four
in particular. He writes, for whatsoever things
were written aforetime were written for our learning. They were written
for our understanding. These things were written, these
things that were written, excuse me, aforetime applied to the
Lord Jesus Christ. And all things written in the
Old Testament scriptures have to do with our faith in Him. They're written for our instruction.
That's what learning is, it's instruction. And verse four continues
and says that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures,
which are about Christ, that we might have hope. The only
hope that we have is in Christ. The purpose of the scriptures
is to impart hope unto the child of God that puts their trust
in Him. These things in Judges chapter
one should give us great hope because they're about Him. And you know, we've never found,
I don't suppose, the true revelation of any scripture till we've seen
Christ in it, because it's all about Him. It's a Him book, we
say that often. Now this repeating of, Israel's
victories is so important because they teach us of Christ and the
comfort that we have in Him alone. And look what Paul says here
in verse five and six of Romans 15. He says, now the God of patience. Now that word patience there
means endurance. Our God is a God of endurance. As we say in Kentucky, stickability. He's a God of stickability. And
He's a God of consolation. He's a God of comfort. That's
what the word means. May He grant you to be like-minded
one toward another according to Christ Jesus, that ye may
with one mind and one mouth glorify God. even the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, believers are not just of
the same opinion, though we are, but we're in harmony in the comfort
that we have in Christ. And that's how we comfort one
another with the scriptures, because our comfort's in the
same one. It's in the same Savior, the same substitute, the same
sacrifice that God has provided for us. And that's my desire
and prayer for our study tonight, that we may hold fast the profession
of our faith without wavering. And then the scripture says,
for He is faithful that promised. Aren't you glad that your Savior
is a faithful Savior? Not only is He faithful, but
He's willing and He's able, He's capable of doing everything that
He's promised. He is faithful that promised. Okay, you can go ahead and turn
with me to Judges chapter 1. And while you're turning, let
me say that in our first two studies here in the book of Judges,
we find Judah, by the will and the purpose and appointment of
God, going up to fight for his people. The people have lost
Joshua, and they say, who shall go up for us? And the Lord said,
Judah shall go up. Judah shall go up. I have delivered
it into his hand. How glorious is it that Judah's
victory was sure, but for that reason alone, the Lord had delivered
the enemy into his hands. The children of God are always
victorious for the same reason. And our story and message is
always the same. I know that some grow tired of
hearing it, but the child of God never. Never grow tired of
hearing about what Christ has done for them. Christ, he finished
the work of our redemption and the putting away of our enemies. Christ was the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world, as we just read. And in the sovereign
providence of God and in time, Christ died on Calvary's cross.
to pay the debt of His elect people. And this is where we
find peace and rest and eternal assurance in the words of our
Lord from the cross when He said, it is finished. Because it is
finished. And because He finished it is
for certain. And that is proven in fact that
the Lord raised him from the dead and he now sits at the right
hand of God. God accepted his work and he
accepted us in Christ, the beloved. And that's the gospel. That's
the good news. It's a very simple message. Okay. What a picture we have
of this victory that's been accomplished for us. And we see it very well
here in verse seven, where Adonai Bezek, the false Messiah, you
remember, his name means the Lord of light. He's brought to
Jerusalem where he died. And I was thinking more about
that this week. God will amputate all the thumbs
and big toes of every false Messiah who endeavors to take for themselves
the glory that belongs to the true anointed Messiah, the Lord
Jesus Christ. Every idol and false savior God
will destroy just like God did Odaigon. You remember that in
the Temple of the Philistines? Every false idol. They'll be
broken to pieces in the presence of God's ark, the Lord Jesus
Christ. And yet men will continue to
pick them up and patch them up and set them back up and worship
them again and again, only for them to be knocked down again
and again and broken to pieces. I repeat, every man that for
himself takes the glory which belongs to God alone will be
disabled, dismembered and put to death. And in verse eight
we read, now the children of Judah had fought against Jerusalem
and had taken it. and smitten it with the edge
of the sword and set the city on fire. Judah took Jerusalem
because God gave it to him." And this is much more than just
a chronological reference to a repeated battle that we saw
in our study of Joshua chapter 10. This is mentioned again.
to remind us that another false Christ, this one named Adonai
Zedek, the other one Adonai Bezek, and his name means the Lord of
Righteousness. He also had been destroyed by
the Lord God. And what a picture we have in
the fact that it was in Jerusalem. the city of peace, where the
chosen church of God dwells, that we have another false Christ
put to death. All false prophets who transform
themselves into angels of light, ministers of righteousness, will
be obliterated. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 11,
for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, don't
be surprised by that, for Satan himself is transformed into an
angel, messenger of light, illumination, Therefore is no great thing if
his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness,
whose end shall be according to their works. And I've heard
preachers all my life preach against bars and brothels and
all this. And I tell you, the folks that
are found in those places, no challenge to Satan. We need to
pray for those standing in pool pits. as ministers of righteousness
who are relying on God. We need to pray that the Lord
would deliver their hearers from their messages. The gospel is our weapon. As we discussed last week, these
ministers, so-called ministers of righteousness are just imposters
and counterfeits of the real thing. And so what's our weapon
against such? The gospel. We just preach the
gospel. It's not carnal fleshly. Our weapons aren't carnal. They're
mighty through God. One day the Lord asked His disciples,
He said, who do men say that I am? And they responded and
they said, some say that you're John the Baptist and Elijah. And some say you're Jeremiah
or one of the other prophets. And the Lord asked, I think,
one of the most crucial, critical questions ever asked. But whom
say ye that I am? That is a question that every
preacher ought to ask when they preach. Who do you say that Christ
is? Peter said, thou art the Christ,
the son of the living God. And you remember how the Lord
responded? He said, blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh
and blood did not reveal this to you. but my Father which is
in heaven. So if Jesus is the Christ, the
Son of the living God, let me ask you a similar question of
equal and critical importance. What think ye of Christ? If you
agree with Peter and all who know him, know this also, this
great truth, this glorious gospel, had to be divinely revealed to
you. And it was God that revealed
it, only God can do so. Now the Lord continued to speaking
to Peter in that account and he said, thou art Peter and upon
this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. And though the name Peter means
rock, Peter wasn't the rock that the church was built upon. I've
always thought that before I ever really looked into it. But the
foundation, the rock upon which the church is built, is the revelation
of Jesus of Nazareth being the Christ, the Son of God, and God
the Son. That's what he said to Peter.
Peter said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He
said, that's what I'm gonna build my church upon. It's built upon
the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the gospel. We
preach a person. And upon this church, the church
is built. And the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. God's given us the victory. He's
given us the victory over our enemies in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, look at verse 10. And Judah
went against the Canaanites that dwelt in Hebron. And it says
now the name of Hebron was, before was Kirjathba. And they slew Shishah, and Haman,
and Thamah. And it's easy for folks to read
these verses and pass right over the blessings of their contents.
As you well know, from our study long ago in the book of Numbers,
Numbers chapter 13, the 10 spies returned to give an account to
Moses of what they saw in the land of Canaan, and only Joshua
and Caleb believed what God had said. And you remember, I've
pictured this in my mind so many times. Caleb, he stood up and
he preached the gospel, really. He believed the promise of God.
And so what is the Holy Spirit teaching us here in these verses? Well, he's teaching us that faith
without works is dead being alone. You know, one of the biggest
fears of Israel were the giants of the sons of Adam. And Caleb
is now 85 years old, and he proves and shows us his faith by his
works. Children of faith don't claim
to believe God and then just sit idle without any action.
Some 45 years earlier, Caleb had calmed and stilled the people
before Moses, and he said, let's go up at once. Let's go right
now. God's given us the land, God's
delivered the enemy. What are we waiting on? Let's
go, let's go now. And now 45 years later, Caleb
was putting action behind his words of faith. Being of the
tribe of Judah, he went against these three giants, Shishai,
Ahimeh, and Tammai, and he slew them. That's amazing, isn't it? Whatever God commands, whatever commands the Lord gives
us, He gives us the power to carry them out. And that's why
every child of God desires to show their faith by their works.
For as the body without the spirit, and that word means breath, is
dead, so faith without works is dead. You know, I have never
seen a dead man that breathed. And I have never seen a man of
faith without works. Sinners are not saved by works,
but their works give evidence that they're saved. And these
things were written for our learning. Look at verse 11. And from thence
he went against the inhabitants of Debaer, and the name of Debaer
before was Kerjathsephir. And Caleb said, he that smited
Kerjathsephir and taketh it to him, I will give "'Aksal, my
daughter, to wife.'" You remember that story in Joshua. "'And Othniel,
the son of Kanaz, "'Caleb's younger brother, took it, "'and he gave
him Aksal, his daughter, to wife. "'And it came to pass, when she
came to him,' "'that being her husband, Othniel, "'that she
moved him to ask of her father a field, And she lighted from
off her ass. And Caleb said unto her, what
wilt thou? And she said unto him, give me
a blessing for thou has given me a south land. Give me also
springs of water. And Caleb gave her the upper
springs and the nether springs." Remember when we looked at that
from our study in Joshua, if you remember the, the name Kerjethsephir
means, it means a city of books. It means a city of knowledge. It's believed that this was the
place where the storehouse of Canaan's doctrines and laws were
kept. Kind of like a capital of a major
city. And Othniel, whose name means
the Lion of God, He took the challenge of Caleb, and what
a pitcher he is of Christ, the line of the tribe of Judah, who
destroyed the wisdom of this world, and by his victory took
possession of his bride. See, all these things are to
teach us of Christ. And again, this is recorded for
our learning. This is recorded for our comfort.
I find such comfort in these things. My Lord is victorious. Christ was successful in his
conquest and he took possession of his bride. And what a picture
this is. How comforting to know that our
Lord and Savior is always victorious. He doesn't just have a winning
record. He wins 70% of the time. No, he always wins. He never loses. And he, by his
victory over the so-called wisdom of this world, He procured for
himself a bride, the church of God. We're of that bride. And all that he does, he does
for his bride. In order for Othimel to have
his bride, he must conquer and be successful in his conquest. And Christ did just that. And
the bride and the conqueror are wed in eternal and holy matrimony. Christ is forever our heavenly
husband, and we are forever his bride. We see the certainty of
that in the name of axol, which means adornment. You know, the
names in the scriptures are amazing when you look into them. The
church of Christ is prepared as a bride counted, adorned,
excuse me, for her husband. And what a picture of Christ's
bride we have in Aksal who moved her husband to seek a gift of
her father. How did she come to her father?
She came through a mediator. She came through her husband.
He was touched by her feelings. He loved her. How beautiful is
the picture that whatsoever we shall ask the Father in the name
of Christ, our heavenly husband, who is touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, we'll mediate to God, our Father, and on our
behalf, and He'll give it to us. He's faithful with that promise. Okay, verse 16. And the children of the Kenite,
Moses' father-in-law, went up out of the city of palm trees
with the children of Judah into the wilderness of Judah, which
lieth in the south of Arad, or Arad, and they went and dwelt
among the people. And Judah went with Simeon his
brother, and they slew the Canaanites that inhabited Zephath and utterly
destroyed it. And the name of the city was
called Hormah. And Judah took Gaza with the
coast thereof, and Ascalon with the coast thereof, and Ekron
with the coast thereof." Now, those are just accounts of the
additional victories of Judah. where they're recorded. But then
in verse 19, Judas ceases to be a type of Christ and becomes
a type of every individual believer. And I hope to show you how. You
know, at our best state, we're just full of unbelief. It ought
not be so, but it's true nonetheless. And I think of that poor father
that came to the Lord, and he said, can you believe? And he saw, Lord, I believe,
but help thou my unbelief. Help my unbelief. That's a constant
prayer of mine. Lord, I do believe, but help
thou my unbelief. It seems to be so prevalent.
Verse 19, and the Lord was with Judah, And he drove out the inhabitants
of the mountain, but, but could not drive out the inhabitants
of the valley because they had chariots of iron. Now it tells
us here that the Lord was with them. The Lord was with Judah,
but unbelief raised its ugly head as it very often does. Chariots of iron, Well, they
weren't any problem for the Lord. But they were a problem for Judah.
And they're a problem for us. If we act upon the things that
we see instead of the God whom we cannot see, we'll never have
any personal victory. We have to look to Christ alone.
He's our conqueror. He's our Joshua. He's our Judah. Why do we fear the chariots of
honor? There's nothing that can separate us from the love of
God. Not death, nor life, nor angels,
principalities, powers. Paul said nothing present, nothing
that may come, no high thing, no low thing, no creature can. I like what Tim James said concerning
this. He said they were scared of chariots
of iron. He said at the bottom of the
Red Sea was full of the remains of twisted iron from the chariots
of Egypt belonging to Pharaoh's army. What are chariots of iron
against the Lord God Almighty? That's a good point. You know,
unbelief makes cowards of us all. And when the Lord came to
His own country, His own hometown, He taught as one who had authority. So much so that the people that
heard Him were astonished. Instead of bowing to Him and
worshiping Him, they said, is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother named Mary?
Isn't this James and Joseph and Simon and Judas, his brothers?
And his sisters, well, they're sitting right over there in the
temple. They only saw the Lord with carnal
sight. The child of God, we've got to
walk by faith and not by sight. Chariots of iron are no problem
for the Lord. And the Lord Jesus said to them,
a prophet's not without honor, save or except in his own country
and in his own house. And then it says this, and he
did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Unbelief, nothing more contagious
than unbelief. Unbelief breeds more unbelief.
And the rest of this chapter, there seems to be just a downward
spiral that brought nothing but trouble for Israel. And the cause
for this was unbelief. Verse 20 again reminds us of
the man of faith, Caleb. It says, and they gave Hebron
unto Caleb, and Moses, Moses said, and he expelled. That means
killed. He killed, thence, the three
sons of Anak." He took care of those three giants that all Israel
feared. But then in verse 21, we see
the effects of more unbelief. Verse 21, and the children of
Benjamin did not drive out the Jebusites that inhabited Jerusalem,
but the Jebusites dwelled with the children of Benjamin in Jerusalem
until this day. The Jebusites remained in Jerusalem
actually until King David drove them out, and no doubt David's
throne, pictures the throne of the true Messiah, the Lord Jesus
Christ. You see, the enemies of God that
reside in our hearts, and we have them, they've been defeated, but they
will not finally be put away until the King of Kings returns
to make his enemies and our enemies too. Our enemies are his and
his enemies are ours. till he makes them his footstool. And then in verse 22, we see
another type of unbelief. And let me just say that I've
known a lot of folks that give good directions, but don't follow
those directions themselves. I once had a business partner
who had a very good business sense, a good mind for business. And he taught me a great deal
about how to run a business. but he never practiced, personally,
the things that he taught. And sadly, he died a broke man
and a failure. All of his business is failed. We've all heard the saying, practice
what you preach. But look at verse 22. And the
house of Joseph, they also went up against Bethel, and the Lord
was with them. And the house of Joseph sent
to descry Bethel. And it says, now the name of
the city before was Luz. That's how I believe it's pronounced.
And if you remember in the book of Genesis, when Jacob, when
the Lord changed Jacob's name, the Lord changed the name of
this Luz to Bethel because it was there that he saw the vision
of Christ as the ladder, the only way to heaven. The name
Bethel means just that, the house of the Lord. And in verse 24,
it says, and the spies saw a man come forth out of the city. And
they said unto him, show us, we pray thee, the entrance into
the city, and we'll show thee mercy. And when he showed them
the entrance into the city, They smoked the city with the edge
of the sword, and they let go of the man and all his family,
just like they said they would. And the man went into the land
of the Hittites and built a city and called the name, therefore,
Luz. He named it what had been named
before, which is the name thereof until this day." Now, what's
the lesson here? The tribe of Joseph ask a man for directions,
and then they promise, if you show us how to get into the city,
no harm will come to you and your family. And he helps them
find the entrance to Bethel. Undoubtedly, there was no visible
entrance, kind of like a secret passage or something. But that
name Luz, you look it up in the concordance, it actually means
nut. Like a hard shell nut. And it
means impenetrable. It seems that the city was called
this because it had no visible entrance. It had to be entered
through a secret passage. And our Bethel, the house of
the Lord, has only one entrance. An invisible entrance. It's a
spiritual entrance. Christ said, I am the door. There's
only one way into the house of the Lord. And the Lord said,
verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. There's
only one way for God's sheep to get in the house of the Lord.
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. This man that gave Joseph, the
tribe of Joseph, these directions, pictures one who gives another
directions to the city of God, but never enters into the city
himself. I know some who, folks that are
always encouraging people, oh, you'll go here and hear the gospel,
and you ought to go there and hear the gospel. And never go
or attend anywhere themselves. This man, after he told the tribe
of Joseph where the entrance was and was spared, he went to
the land of the Hittites. And he built a city and he named
it Luz, which was the name of the city of Bethel before it
was changed. And he named his city Luz, impenetrable,
because he could not let go of what once was. And like a signpost
to the city of refuge that pointed others to a place of safety,
the house of the Lord, he never himself entered in. How many
there are today who still embrace the doctrines of the old covenant
as a rule of life and will not enter into Christ? the city of
refuge, the house of the Lord. They are bent on doing a work
of righteousness themselves that God will never accept because
it has to be perfect to be accepted. And we should never be satisfied
with knowing only where the door is and directing others where
it is while we ourselves never enter in. So may we learn from
this chapter that unbelief begins, of course, that we should all
learn from. And that's why these things were
written aforetime for our learning. Now in closing, I would have
you to notice that the word neither begins five different sentences
here that reminds us of the failures of unbelief. Look at verse 27. Remember a moment ago, I said
that unbelief's contagious. Verse 27, neither did Manasseh
drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean and her towns, nor
Teanoch and her towns, nor the inhabitants of Dor and her towns,
nor the inhabitants of in her towns, nor the inhabitants of
Megiddo in her towns, but the Canaanites would dwell in that
land. And it came to pass when Israel
was strong that they put the Canaanites to tribute and did
not utterly drive them out. Neither did Ephraim drive out
the Canaanites that dwell in Gezer, but the Canaanites dwelt
in Gezer among them. And neither did Zebulun drive
out the inhabitants of Kithron nor the inhabitants of Nahalah,
but the Canaanites dwelt among them and became tributaries."
And neither did Asher drive out the inhabitants of Akko, nor
the inhabitants of Zidon, nor of Elab, nor of Akzeb, nor of
Helba, nor of Aphek, nor of Rehob. But the Asherites dwelt among
the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land, for they did not
drive them out. And neither did Nactali drive
out the inhabitants of Bathshemesh, nor the inhabitants of Bethanath,
but he dwelt among the Canaanites, the inhabitants of the land.
Nevertheless, the inhabitants of Bathshemesh and Bethanath
became tributaries unto them." Now we see from these verses
that Israel didn't drive out these enemies. They simply made
them pay tribute. They said, okay, well, you can
stay here, but you're gonna have to pay us. You're gonna have
to give us some money. And we see that verse, we saw
it there in verse 28, verse 30, and verse 33. Israel became rich. with the world's goods, but in
the end, they themselves were led into captivity. And that's
why we're not to love this world, nor the things of this world.
The Lord said, don't set your affection on the things of this
world. Things in this world, they're gonna rust, they're gonna
corrupt, thieves are gonna break in to steal them. Set your affection
on things above, where they won't corrupt, and they won't rust,
and they can't be stolen. Look at verse 34. And the Amorites
forced the children of Dan into the mountain, for they would
not suffer or allow them to come down to the valley. But the Amorites
would dwell in Mount Heres, in Ajalon, and in Shalabim, get
the hand of the house of Joseph prevailed, so that they became
tributaries. And the coast of the Amorites
was from the going up to Achrebim, and from the rock and upward." What a mess unbelief causes. With whom was the Lord grieved
for 40 years? Was it not with them whose carcasses
fell in the wilderness? Was it not with them whom God
swore would not enter into His rest? To them who believed not. Was it not to them that could
not enter in because of unbelief? Friends, these things were written
aforetime for our learning that we, you and I, through patience,
endurance, and comfort of the scriptures might find hope. What is the hope that we find
in the Word of God? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christ in you is the hope of
glory. And these things were written
to comfort us in Christ, that whosoever believeth in Him should
not perish, but have eternal life. May God be pleased to bless
the preaching of his word and may we see Christ high and lifted
up. That's my prayer for you and
for me. May God be pleased to make it
so. OK, Miss Shelley, let's let's
sing closing him together. 310 in the hymn book. If you turn there with me and
you can remain seated. And Brother Clayton, if you would
dismiss us at the end of this hymn. Wider Than Snow. Let's sing together. Lord Jesus, I long to be perfectly
whole. I want Thee forever to live in
my soul. Break down every idol, cast out
every foe. Thou wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow. Wider than snow, yes, wider than
snow. Now wash me and I shall be wider
than snow. Lord Jesus, look down from Thy
throne in the skies, and help me to make a complete sacrifice. I give up myself and whatever
I know, I shall be whiter than snow. Whiter than snow, yes, whiter
than snow. Now wash me, and I shall be whiter
than snow. Lord Jesus, for this I most humbly
entreat, I wait, blessed Lord, at Thy crucified feet. By faith brought, by cleansing,
I see Thy blood flow. Now wash me, and I shall be whiter
than day. wider than snow, yes wider than
snow. Now wash me and I shall Lord Jesus, Thou seest I patiently
wait. Come now, and within me a new
heart create. To those who have sought Thee,
Thou never said no. Now wash me and I shall be whiter
than snow Whiter than snow, yes, whiter than snow Now wash me
and I shall be whiter than snow and all that good stuff. Amen. You're dismissed. Checkmate. Huh? Checkmate.