You can open your Bibles again
to Isaiah 55. OK, I had to look at that picture.
Eric's taller than me, and when he was leaving to sing, and this
is all they could see. And he backed up for the scripture
reading, and they could see the whole face. But I wanted to make
sure they could see me, because, you know, I don't want them to
miss that. Isaiah 55. best blessings for the best price. Spurgeon said that the job of
most salesmen is to get the buyer up to the price. But the job
of a gospel preacher is to get the buyer, so to speak, down
to the price. In every aspect of life, men
try to get the best deal they can to bargain for the lowest
price possible to get the things they want. But when it comes
to the most important thing, they refuse They absolutely refuse
with all of their being to receive the blessings of God for the
price that they are offered. It says, come all you who are
thirsty, come to the waters and you who have no money. Come buy wine and milk without
money and without cost. If a man wants to buy a car, he wrestles with the car salesman. And it's offer and counteroffer
and all this. He's trying to get that low,
low price. If a store were to offer something
for free, why, people would clear the shelves in no time. In fact,
every year now, we get the reports on, what do they call that, Black
Friday. All the stores have their big
Christmas sales, and they'll be offering things at rock-bottom
prices, and people will camp out all night in front of the
local Walmart in hopes of getting one of those big screen TVs at
much less than they would have to pay otherwise. And yet you
go out and declare the most wonderful thing that has ever been held
out to men and tell them that it is absolutely free, and not
only will they not camp outside the place where that message
is declared, The least little thing seems to be able to keep
them away from coming at all. I realize that salvation is not
here in this building, but you understand what I mean. People
seem to have very little interest in that which God gives absolutely
free. Even though it's the best thing
a person could ever have, and it is held out at the best price
one could imagine. Nothing whatsoever. Now here's the reason, I believe. It says, come all you who are
thirsty. They don't come. They don't come
to Christ because they're not thirsty. That's why. And they're not thirsty because
they're not alive. Only living people have thirst. Now you think about that. Only
living people get hungry. Only living people get thirsty. And so here he says, come all
you who are thirsty. And even though he does not explicitly
say it in this scripture, he is implying what our Lord taught
to Nicodemus there in John chapter three, unless a man is born again,
he cannot perceive the kingdom of God. Logically speaking, a person
has to have spiritual life before he can understand and desire
spiritual things. Therefore, when the Lord gives
his invitation, if that's the right word to put here, and really
I don't have a problem with that word, I just know some people
do, they say, well, God doesn't invite You know, God is powerful
and God is sovereign and He causes to happen whatever He wants.
That's true. That doesn't mean God doesn't invite. What we realize
is this, those who are only invited never come. It's those to whom He has given
life, they come because only they have a desire. to come to the feast that he's
prepared. But in this invitation, he gives
it to the thirsty. And this is, by the way, the
very first message I ever preached in this building. I remember
it. It was hot. It was August of
1988. It was hot. There was no air
conditioning in this building. There were only fans. And several
times I said, is anybody thirsty? And I didn't notice it, but somebody
told me about it afterwards. Tyler Kudum, who was like three
or four at that time, kept raising his hand every time I said, is
anybody thirsty? And I could fully understand
that because it was a day well suited to thirst. But what I'm asking you this
morning, is there anybody here who's spiritually thirsty? See, most people, think they
already have all they need spiritually. They don't want anything more
than what they already have. And therefore even offering what
the Lord sets forward is of no interest to them. They're already
full in their own estimation. But thank God there's some thirsty
people in this world. And it's those people that the
Lord is looking for. I say He's looking for them.
He's already found them. That's why they're thirsty. They wouldn't be thirsty if He
did not know who they were, where they were, and had He not already
done a work of grace in their hearts. But I don't know who
they are. I don't know where they are. But I can call upon people under
this particular characteristic that the Lord sets forth, and
I can say, is there any of you here thirsty? Come, come to the
waters. And you that have no money, anybody
here that's broke, spiritually speaking, you are broke. I've met some who are spiritually
poor. I've met some who are spiritually broke, but I'm saying in my preaching
of the gospel and talking about it at large, I run into people
that are spiritually poor, but it is really difficult to find
somebody who's spiritually broke. Pride gets in the way of people
admitting that. Who wants to say I've got nothing? I know that back in In the days
of my childhood, it was often said, it's no disgrace to be
poor. And that was most often said
by the poor. And I agree with them. It's no
disgrace to be poor unless your poverty has come upon you simply
because you're unwilling to do anything to remedy it. But everyone
seems to take a measure of shame in bankruptcy. You have to file
bankruptcy. I mean, your name ends up in
the paper because it's a legal condition and all legal proceedings,
they're in the paper. Bankrupt. Now, we have laws in
our country that protect even the bankrupt. You may be bankrupt,
but you'll be able to keep some of the stuff that you were unable
to pay for. And I'm not opposed to that. There's just, there's
not going to be any value in kicking someone out in the street
with absolutely nothing. But in these days, bankruptcy
was exactly that. You were bankrupt. You had nothing. Your land was taken from you.
Your house was taken from you. They might even take your family
from you and sell them into slavery to pay the debts. They might
even take you. and sell you into slavery. Bankrupt. You who have no money. Anybody here this morning spiritually
broke? I mean you actually believe you
have nothing that you could show to God that would move Him to
do you good. Well, I got my faith. Well, then
you're not bankrupt. Well, I've done the best I can.
Sorry, this invitation is not for you because you got something,
or at least you think you do. You're like that person who must
declare bankruptcy, but you say, well, at least I'm not leaving
my creditors holding the bag for as much as the next guy.
But that still means you got nothing. You still have more
liabilities than you have assets. And when you really look at it,
spiritually speaking, brother, we have no assets. Paul thought
he did. He talked about these things
as gain, his pedigree as a zealous Jew, as a Hebrew born of Hebrew
parents. concerning zeal, persecuting
the church of the strictest sect or denomination of the Jews.
He was a Pharisee. He had all of this and he considered
all those things to be an asset to him in his pursuit of the
blessings of God. But one day God met him and as
it were, pulled out his balance sheet and said, Saul, I got some news
for you. You're bankrupt. And Paul saw that all of those
things he had been putting in the assets column actually belonged
in the debit column. He said, that which I counted
gain, I counted loss. There's a lot of people that
will say, I don't have enough. I need some help. Well, if you
need some help, if your cup's half full and you just need God
to fill up the rest, I've got nothing for you. God's got nothing
for you. That old question about, is the
cup half full or half empty? With us, brethren, it's all empty. There is no half about it. We're
bankrupt. Nothing. But try to get a person
to really believe that. You know, even you and I who
have come to trust the Lord Jesus Christ will still wrestle with
that. When sin bears itself upon our
conscience, And we begin to wonder whether or not we know God or
have ever experienced His grace, there is a natural tendency in
us to look for something in us which might give us some hope
that really we do belong to God. And what is that? That's the
same old legalism, that's the same old self-righteousness that
keeps people from ever believing the gospel. Now, if we belong to God, even
though we might have that bent in us and even start in that
direction, God will say, no, no, don't go that way. You will find none of my mercy
in that direction. I've heard people say and heard
of people saying things like, well, at least I know my sin. I'm sorry. That's counterfeit
money in the bank of God. Knowing your sin is not going
to get you anything with God. And if you actually did say something
like, well, at least I know I'm a sinner, what it proves is,
in all likelihood, you don't understand what the Bible means
by a sinner. Because you would not boast in
your sinnerhood. You would realize that your...
It's gonna be a tongue twister, but hang on. You would realize
that your realization that you are a sinner is not a virtue. Imagine for a moment, a man stands
before a judge charged with murder. And I mean, the evidence is unmistakable. It is irrefutable. They've got
video and his face is right there. Can't deny it. Imagine if he
stood there and said, well, judge, I realize I'm a murderer. Would
the judge say, okay. then we'll just give you probation." No, the judge would say, well,
that's going to save us a lot of time. Guilty! Life in prison
without parole. Or death. Whatever. No, knowing your sinner is not
a virtue. I realize that no one ever comes
to God for salvation unless he realizes something of his sinfulness.
But God does not accept him because he recognizes his sinfulness. Oh, how hard it is to have no money and to come before God as nothing
more than a beggar. And a beggar who has no claim. A beggar who can say, I used
to be able to do work, but you know, I had an accident and I
lost my legs. I can't do anything more. Could
you help me now? No, we don't even have that. We have nothing more than blind
Bartimaeus had as he sat there near Jericho and the Lord passed
by. And Bartimaeus, he couldn't see
the Lord, but he could tell by what other people were saying,
this is the Lord. And he says, Jesus, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. And that cry of Bartimaeus, stopped the
Lord dead in his tracks. People try to get God's attention
by all kinds of things. There's one thing, and so far
as I know only one thing, that makes God stop, and that's the
cry of mercy. In that scene there around Jericho,
Our Lord is passing through and He is healing people. I mean,
He was a famous man by that time. Well known as a healer and you
can imagine how many people were clamoring around Him to be healed. And some more were clamoring
around Him to hear what He had to say. And so He's walking along
in the midst of this crowd and He's healing this one and healing
that one and teaching this and people are pressing in on Him.
And it's got to be a noisy situation. And yet in the midst of that
noise, our Lord heard a blind man who's way over here off the
side of the road, who said nothing more than, Jesus, thou son of
David, have mercy on me. And all the fancy religious questions
could not drown out that cry. Not all the people making their
claims as to why the Lord should heal them couldn't drown out
that one simple word upon the Lord's ears, mercy. David understood
this principle after his horrible sin with Bathsheba. He wrote a psalm of repentance. the very first word of that song
is mercy. In English it's have mercy because
we got to use that what they call an auxiliary verb but in
Hebrew it's just the word mercy. It's as though David is coming
before the Lord stricken with a sense of his guilt And he wants
this upon the Lord's mind before David says before he says anything
else It's like he's holding a sign in front of him even hiding behind
it and on that sign is this one word mercy Have mercy on me. Oh god David knew That his sin was so
great that nothing but mercy that comes in the measure of
the infinite God would do him any good. Bartimaeus, he knew that if he could attract
the Lord's merciful attention that all would be well. But you can't cry for mercy.
while at the same time telling the Lord all the reasons that
he ought to show mercy to you instead of somebody else. And so many people do that. They'll even make a righteousness
out of the fact that they only cry for mercy. No wonder Jeremiah
said, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately
wicked. Who can know it? There's only one who can find
out the human heart, and that is God. But by his word, and by that
I mean the gospel, according to the book of Hebrews chapter
four, It's a living thing, it's a sharp thing, it's a powerful
thing, and it is able to penetrate a person's heart and reveal to
him what he is. That's another reason people
don't like to hear the gospel. It leaves no shadows to hide
in, like the law does. It will come to the most upright,
virtuous person in the world, and it will pierce his or her
heart. reveal to that person that in
the sight of God there's none good, none righteous, none that
understand, none who seek. And they don't like that light. Bankrupt. But to the thirsty, and to the bankrupt, how merciful
the Lord is. What does he say? Come by. A thirsty man, and I mean a desert
thirsty man. We all get a little bit of thirst
during the day, but we just walk over to the kitchen sink or the
water fountain or whatever, take a few gulps of water and everything's
good. Have you ever been thirsty to the point that it impacted
your health. When I got sick in India, evidently
some of the misery I experienced was due to dehydration. I should
have learned to follow the example of the people that live there.
We'd been sightseeing the day before. And they always had a
bottle of water in their hands and they were drinking on it.
And they'd say, you want some water? No, I'm good. I was like the people that don't
come. No, I'm good. Because I didn't feel thirsty. I wasn't sweaty. I was sweating, but I wasn't
sweaty. Why? Dry heat. I didn't realize
what was happening to me. As we walked around there. The
Indian sun, we're only a thousand miles from the equator, and everything
seemed good. I was losing water and losing
it fast and didn't know it. When I went to the doctor the
next day, the first thing he gave me was a liter of saline
solution. It might even have glucose in
it, I can't remember. He didn't tell me, and if he had, I wouldn't
have understood what he was saying anyway. But I felt a whole lot
better just after that. But you know something? Even
up to that point, I never felt thirsty. I never felt any compulsion to
get a drink. But I needed one. In fact, I probably needed what
a drink would not accomplish, at least not quickly. Are you thirsty? Has God created within your heart,
within your mind, a longing for him? Not a longing for religion. We
got more than that than we know what to do with. This may sound strange, but one
of the best things that could happen in the United States of
America is for most churches to just go belly up. They are
a bane. They are an insult to Christ.
And I don't say that like I think I'm better. I'm just knowing
the truth and comparing that with what they're doing. It's
just they are leading people. Well, look down here. It says
in verse 7, let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his
thoughts. Do you think that he is referring
to those who are living their lives in abject corruption and
transgression? No. He's talking to those who
are like those he confronted in the days of his flesh, the
Pharisees. As the Bible says, and I refer to it so many times
because it's such an important concept for us to lay hold of,
there is a way that seems right unto a man, but the ends thereof
are death. And the most moral person in
the world is on that way. Our Lord said, broad is the way
that leads to destruction and many there be that find it. It's a broad road with many lanes.
You can find a lane for you on there. There's pagan lanes on
there. There's Baptist lanes. And I say Baptist lanes because
there's more than one kind of Baptist. There's even a sovereign grace
lane you can walk on and go to destruction. But there is a narrow
way, and it leads to life. And there's only a few that find
it. Only a few walking on it. It's
so narrow, you can't walk with any of your friends on it. The gate to that way is so narrow,
you can't fit through it with anything but yourself. I remember
Brother Maurice Montgomery talking about that narrow gate. He says,
you can't get through there with luggage. You cannot be carrying
along with you that which you intend to provide for yourself
along the way. He said, in fact, that gate is
so narrow you can't even get through it with your clothes
on. When Adam was made aware of his
sin, Adam and Eve, what did they do? They made clothes. And when
God would demonstrate to them His grace, what did He do? He
made other clothes, stripped them out of the clothes they
were wearing, and put them in other clothes, the clothes that
required the shedding of blood. And if you want to walk that
narrow path, you're going to have to go through a gate. that
will strip from you everything by which you formerly thought
you could hide your nakedness." Nakedness being a picture of
our sinfulness, our shame. Again, that's why folks don't
have much interest in the gospel. They'd be happy with it if they
could maintain their dignity as they laid hold of it. But
you can't do that. They'd be happy to have it if
they could earn some kind of crown by making their decision
for Jesus. No such thing. There are plenty of crowns on
the Broadway, plenty of awards, plenty of pats on the back. Plenty
of people cheering you on your way and telling you what a fine
fellow you are and that you're an example for others to follow.
There aren't any like that on the narrow way. If you walk the
narrow way, you'll have one companion, but he'll be the only companion
you need, and he'll be better than all the companions that
the world can bring. You will have the Lord Jesus
Christ as your companion. because he's the one that made
that way. In fact, he said, I am the way. Thirsty. The Lord Jesus said,
blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Who
are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness? Those who
realize they don't have any. We live in a world people who
are drunk and obese with their own righteousness and therefore
the gospel doesn't mean anything to them. They want to hear a
message about how this life is going to be improved because
they don't have everything in regard to this life that they
might want. And so they want to hear a message
how if they'll do this, that, and the other, God will enrich
them or God will give them power and influence in the world. And
that attracts them because that's what they want. They don't want
the thing which God is actually giving, which is righteousness. He gives it freely, but that's
the only price he'll accept for it. Nothing. Come, buy, and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without
money and without cost. How do you buy without money? Of course, in America, that's
pretty easy. They hand you a credit card, but then you're expected
to pay it back. And it traps a lot of people. Because they get that credit
card in their mind, and their covetousness flares up, and it
doesn't cost anything. I mean, it doesn't feel like
it's costing anything when you go down to the store and buy
that thing that you want. Because you hand them that piece
of plastic, or you stick it in the machine now. You don't have
to hand it to them anymore. And it says approved, and they
give you a receipt. And you take whatever it was
you bought and you go home and you start to use it and you start
to enjoy it. And everything seems wonderful until the end of the month. And lo and behold, even though
Walmart, or if you're of the wealthier sort, one of the finer
department stores, they've got no beef with you.
They're not going to show up at the door. But these are my... Why? Your credit card didn't
buy you something without money. All it did was change who you
owe it to. You know there's a lot of religion like that. A lot
of Christian religion like that. You're buying salvation with
a credit card. Because they get you all concerned
about hell and then they tell you that you can have it free
if you'll just Ask Jesus into your heart or whatever, and that's
the kind of religion I was brought up in. And you do that. The thing
is, once you've done that, all at once the bills start coming
due. Well, now you've got to do this. Now that you're a Christian,
you need to be given this amount of money to the church. And now
that you're a Christian, you need to be out there and witnessing
to so many people. All at once, there's a bill to
pay. Credit card Christianity. I'll
write an essay about it. credit card Christianity. Brethren,
God is not calling on us to buy his salvation with a credit card. He's saying buy it with no money. And there's only one way to buy
something with no money, and that's to buy it in the name
of someone who does have money. If there was someone wealthy
that loved you and you were in need of something, say you needed
some groceries, he could say, you go down to the grocery store
there, you get whatever you want, and when it comes time to pay
for it, you tell them, put that on the account of me. And if that person has the trust
of that grocery store, they'll do it. They'll write down, write it
on that person's account. And that's what we do when we,
as it were, buy God's blessing. We buy them in the name of Jesus
Christ. There's a wonderful picture of
that in the book of Philemon. Philemon was a believer and evidently
a leader within the church that met in his house. And he had
a slave named Onesimus. And Onesimus was tired of being
a slave so he ran away. And it was quite possible he
took some things with him when he did. Well that was a capital
offense under Roman law. But in God's providence Onesimus
ran into Paul. he, you know, Paul knew Philemon. Maybe he even knew Onesimus.
He may have recognized him, you know. Oh Onesimus! Where's Philemon? Caught. But Paul preached the gospel
to Onesimus, told him all about it again, and by the grace of
God, God saved Onesimus. And he knew he had to go back
home. He knew that a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ he had
to deal honestly and go back to his master. And so Paul sent
him back and he said this to Philemon, if he owes you anything
put it on my account. Now you say, well Paul didn't
have anything. You're right. But you know what? He could say that and because
he knew the regard that Philemon had for him. That Paul had preached
the gospel to him, and through the ministry of Paul, Philemon
had salvation. And so there was no debt that
could be laid to the charge of Paul that Philemon would not
ignore, as it were. that story the picture is this
Philemon is like the father like the judge and Paul is as Christ
and Onesimus well that's us and we've run away from our master
and we've stolen from him but in the providence of God
we met Christ and Christ extended his grace to us but he's going
to send us back to the father and he says to us you tell the
father If you owe anything, just put that on my account. And you know the Father does
that. Yeah, He did that. We read in Isaiah chapter 53,
the Lord has laid on Him, charged to His account, the iniquity
of us all, all us wandering sheep. we come before the Father, not digging into our spiritual
pockets, trying to find a little change, a little something we
can offer even though we know it's not enough, but no. We say, Oh God, in the name of
Jesus Christ, put away my sin. and grant to me the blessings
of the righteous. And the one who truly, who says
that from his heart, in all sincerity, the father says, sure, already
been done. That's why you're here. I laid your sins on my son before
I made the world. That's why he's called the lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. And I've arranged everything
to bring you to this point. And I have charged my son with
your sin and you have none. And I've charged you with his
righteousness. And with that righteousness,
you may purchase all the blessings do unto the righteous. Verse 2. Why spend money on what
is not bread? I love music. I like almost all
kinds of music. I like hymns. I like old hymns. I like contemporary hymns if
they're telling the truth. haven't any problem with churches
having an orchestra, a band, whatever. But I know this, there are a
lot of people spending their money for the religious show
that they get every Sunday. And that show is not bread. There are a lot of people spending
their money on the emotional high that they receive from going
to a church with a lot of people in it. Or if they're of another
mind, a church with very few people in it. Whatever it is
that makes them feel, quote, close to God. They're spending
their money on that. That's not bread. Feelings aren't bad, but they're
not bread. I said, I felt when I was going around those sites
there in India, I felt fine. I was enjoying myself. I liked
the people I was with. I liked the things I was seeing. But I was dying. I was spending my money but not
on that which I needed. Why spend your money on what's
not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? I got to feel
sorry for these folks who are deceived in these religions that,
you know, they get their weekly charge, but it does not satisfy them. In the midst of the service,
they feel good. But they go away thirsty as soon
as they leave. Why? It wasn't water. They go
away hungry. Why? It wasn't bread. It was a distraction. For a while
they were distracted from what thirst they might have. They
were distracted from their hunger pangs by religious entertainment. Listen, the Lord says, verse
2. Listen to me, all that we would listen to the Lord. I study this book. I think about
it. It's my job. Each week I'm expected
to stand up here and say something worth listening to. But how little I listen to the
Lord. I tell you wonderful things,
but how little, how little do I reach out and lay hold of those
wonderful things that I tell you about. So much flesh that makes us thirst
for things that are not water and make us hungry for things
that are not bread. we waste our time in pursuit
of them and spend our energy chasing after such things. Listen,
says the Lord. Listen to me. God grant that we can. Listen to me. Eat what is good and your soul will
delight in the richest affairs. not a crust of bread. I don't know who it was convinced
people that that hard, crusty bread that they serve sometimes
at restaurants is good. I think sometime a chef found
his bread had gone stale. He said, I've got to find a way
to get rid of this. I don't want to lose money on it. So he told somebody
this special. This is what uppity people eat. pawned it off on folks I guess
but you know we don't have to deal with that the richest affair
God gives that which men which humankind was made for fellowship
with him to be with him to be like him
that's what God gives what a feast Give ear, he says, verse 3, and
come to me. Hear me that your soul may live. What does that mean? We aren't
living. Not naturally. We're dead. No use to offer life to those
that are already living. He said, listen to me that you
might live. I will make an everlasting covenant
with you." Some churches are all wrapped
up in covenants, and covenants do occupy an important part within
the revelation of Scripture. But I'm not saved by a covenant.
I'm saved by the One who made the covenant. He did not say,
Let's you and me make a covenant. Let's you and me enter into a
deal. Says, you come to me. I'll make
a covenant with you. A one-sided covenant, a promise,
a declaration of what I will do. Not a declaration of what
you must do, but a declaration of what I will do. And here's
how he describes them. The faithful love promised to
David. You say, what's that got to do with salvation?
Do you know what God's faithful love to David, how it was expressed
in the covenant? David said, God has made with
me an everlasting covenant, steadfast and sure. And what was that covenant?
that there would be one of his ancestors sitting on the throne
forever. Well, there were times when there
wasn't any ancestor of David sitting on the throne in Jerusalem,
and right now there's no ancestor of David sitting on the throne
in Jerusalem, and I sincerely doubt there ever will be. But
there is an ancestor of David sitting on the throne of heaven,
and from there, He brings salvation to all his people. That's the
sure mercies, the steadfast love of David. Listen, he said, just
listen to me. Give ear that your soul may live
and I will give you a savior whom I have exalted to my right
hand. who is able to save to the uttermost
them that come to me by him. And you will have everything
that he deserves. Say, how great are the blessings
which we have? Paul called them the unsearchable
riches of Christ. What do you think Jesus Christ
is worthy of? That's what his people have. And that's the only way I know
how to describe it because it's too much for me to wrap my head
around. Come all you who are thirsty.
I hope there's somebody thirsty here. I hope there's some bankrupt
sinners. because for thirsty and bankrupt,
for desolate and forsaken, there is a Savior perfectly suited
to their need. God grant that we see ourselves
with such a need and are moved to call on such a Savior. Father,
help us Help us to lay hold of that which is beyond our reason. Give us life that we may live.
Make us thirsty that we may come. Make us bankrupt that we may
buy in the name of Christ. It's in his name we pray. Amen. I'm going to observe the Lord's
table. Scott and James, if you could
help out, I'd appreciate it. While they hand out the bread,
we will sing from the chorus book. Number eight from the chorus
book, see the table spread before you. And we'll remain seated.
See the spread And I'll sing all to peace of
His lovely blood. When that's broken is His body, Pushed with
eager as the flood. I know now His ugly body, And
I'll sing His precious blood. Jesus Receive me, atonement, and retrieve
us from the fall. Let us ne'er forget the promise Jesus made in love
again. With this hope and expectation,
we rejoice to keep this peace. Our Lord on the night that he
was betrayed took the bread and he broke it and he said this
is my body which is broken for you. We just read don't spend
your money on that which is not bread. He is the bread. Let us eat together in remembrance
of him. Now we'll stay in the course
books and turn to number 15 stricken smitten and afflicted number
15 in the course books and we will remain seated. Jesus Christ, my God and King,
Yes, my soul is His own. Jesus Christ, my God and King, All is spoken is the truth and
faith alone. you We sing and to sing there's the
open door. It's the moon, the lord's anointing, Son of man
and Son of God. Here we have a foundation, in the refuge of
the Lord. Christ, the Rock of our salvation,
Christ, the beam of which we boast, evermore proceed to be
sacrificed to Cancer Hill. Long shall we ever be confounded, It is written, without the shedding
of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. The knowledge of our
sins is bound to produce the shedding of tears, but the shedding
of tears will not put away sin. Only the shedding of blood He
said, the Lord said, it is the blood that makes atonement for
the soul. Our Lord took the cup and when
he blessed it, he said, this is the new covenant in my blood. Drink in remembrance of me. Our Lord Jesus. We come to you as those who are
thirsty and bankrupt, and we buy all things in your
name. And we realize that by buying
in your name, we have laid upon you a debt we could never pay, but a debt that you could pay
and did pay. We do not pretend to understand
how great that debt was. Only you know. Only the Father
knows. But even that which we can understand
of your sufferings causes us, on one hand, to weep that we could cause one so precious
as you to suffer. And yet it also causes us, Lord,
to rejoice because your suffering put away
the sins that the judge laid on you, our sins, our wickedness. Lord, keep us from spending our
money on that which is not bread, on that which does not satisfy.
Lord, satisfy us with Christ and nothing else. And make us
to be ever pursuing the very things, to lay hold of the very
things for which we were laid hold of by you and your grace. Honor yourself among us. It's
in the name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.