Please turn in your hymnals.
Hymn number 46. Let's stand together. We've seen hymn number 46, O
for a Thousand Tongues. a thousand times to sing my great
Redeemer's praise. The glories of my God and King,
the triumphs of His grace. My gracious Master and my God,
assist me to to spread through all the earth
abroad the honors of Thy name. Jesus, the name that charms our
fears, that bids our sorrows cease, is music in the sinners'
ears, is life and health and peace. of canceled sin, He sets the
prisoner free. His blood can make the foulest
fleet, His blood abandoned for me. Hear Him, ye deafest, praise
ye dumb, your loosened tongues employ. Ye blind, behold your
Savior come, and weep ye lame for joy. Glory to God, and praise and
love be ever, ever giv'n by saints below and saints above, the church
and Please be seated. Brother Kevin asked me to read
Genesis 25, the text that he's preaching from. I'm going to
read the first 11 verses of Genesis 25. Then again, Abraham took a wife,
and her name was Keturah. And she bare him, Zimran, and
Jokshan, and Midan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asherim,
and Latushim, and Liam. And the sons of Midian, Ephah
and Epher, and Hanak, and Abida, and Eldah, all these were the
children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he
had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines
which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from
Isaac his son, while he yet lived eastward into the east country.
And these are the days of the years of Abraham's life, which
he lived, and hundred, three score, and fifteen years. Then
Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old
man, and full of years, and was gathered to his people, and his
sons, Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah,
in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is
before Mamre. The field which Abraham purchased
of the sons of Heth, there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his
wife. And it came to pass, after the
death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac, and Isaac dwelt
by the well. Amen. Our father and our great God,
we thank you this morning for your holy word and for the revelation
of Jesus Christ by his spirit. Father, it did please thee, O
Lord, to hide these things from the wise and the prudent and
reveal them unto babes. Now, Father, we do thank thee,
O Lord, that that you have made us partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in Jesus Christ. And through His sacrifice, O
Lord, that Thou has made us a sweet-smelling savor in Christ, even as incense. Father, we thank Thee, O Lord,
that You have made us accepted in the Beloved. And now, Father, like Isaac,
Lord, give us grace today, Father, that we too may dwell and rest
by that well where the gospel is preached. O Lord, that we
may be seen by the ever-living one. O Lord, that we may worship
you in the spirit of truth and holiness, both now and forever. And now, Father, we do pray for
Brother Greg Elmquist in Florida and for the saints that are under
his care. We pray, oh Father, that you
would keep them as you promised, and oh Lord, that you would provide
for their every need. Oh Lord, we do also pray for
Fred Evans as he prepares messages in the coming weeks for our sakes. We pray, oh Father, for his traveling. Oh Lord, that you would put a
hedge round about him Father, we thank you, O Lord, for his
commitment to the gospel. And lastly, Father, I want to
continue to pray for Brother Paul Duenas. O Lord, in his sickness
and inflection, we pray, O Father, that you would strengthen him,
that you would comfort him. We pray also for his wife, Yvonne,
as she cares for him. And now, Father, we pray that through the declaration
of the gospel this morning, that thou, O Lord, would teach us,
comfort us, instruct us, and encourage us. Father, give us
a heart to receive it and to believe your word. And, O Lord,
give us a ready mind, O Lord, that we would bow to it. Now,
Father, hear our prayer today. Accept our praise and our worship
this day because of Christ, because of his works and merits. Amen. We turn to hymn number 294. Savior, like a shepherd lead
us. Number 294. Savior, like a shepherd lead
us, much we need Thy tender care, in Thy pleasant Jesus. We are. hear us when we Blessed Jesus, hear, oh hear
us when we pray. Thou hast promised to receive
us, poor and sinful though we be. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Early let us seek thy favor,
early let us seek thy will. Blessed Lord and only Savior,
with thy love our mothers filled. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus,
thou hast loved us, loved us still. All right, brethren, we'll turn
back to Genesis 25. Someone who's trying to serve
the Lord, it's always good to be supportive and not critical.
You know that? My brother Paul wrote that article
one time. Oh, I wish I could get a hold
of it. Five reasons not to be critical. You get a list of one,
two, three, and four. Oh, that got me. That was such
a blessing. How come it wasn't five, Paul? That's being critical,
isn't it? Genesis 25. Talis' message
is all unto Isaac. Why? Why? Verse 5 says, And Abraham
gave all he had unto Isaac. What a great picture of the Father
giving everything to Christ our Lord. How the Father does all
things because of his beloved son. How in Him, only in Him,
and through Him, only through Him, are all His children blessed. The whole world exists right
now to honor the Lord Jesus Christ, to give Him glory, and to serve
His children. You who believe, this whole world
is for you. You're not made for the world,
the world's made for you. and in the calling of his elect for
his glory for our good. We get a short genealogy here
in these first four verses. Abraham married again after Sarah's
death and they had children. Verse one says, then again Abraham
took a wife and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran
and Jokshan and Midan and Midan and Ishbak and Shua and Jokshan
begat Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Ashuram
and Leshchim and Lemuim, and the sons of Medan, Ephra, Ephur,
Hanok, Abida, and Eldah. All these were the children of
Keturah." That's a whole lot of children. He had Ishmael. Ishmael had to leave. He had
Isaac. Miraculously. And then now, he's had six more
children. And they've had children. It's
a lot of offspring. But there's only one true son.
There's a lot of children, but there's one only son, the promised
son that he loved, I'm getting ahead of myself, that he loved,
and that's Isaac. It says in verse five, and Abraham,
after listing all that, gave all that he had unto Isaac. Who gave it to Isaac? Who's that
father? Abraham. That was his dad, wasn't
it? Our heavenly father gave all
he hath to Christ his son, his only begotten. Abraham was very
wealthy, and all that he had, every bit of it, went to Isaac. How much did he have? A whole
bunch. Look back there in chapter 24, verse 34. Genesis 24, 34. Eliezer was speaking
to Rebekah, and he said in verse 34, I'm Abraham's servant. The
Lord hath blessed my master greatly, and he's become great. He's great. And he hath given him flocks,
and herds, and silver, and gold, and menservants, and maidservants,
and camels, and asses. And on top of all that, Sarah,
my master's wife, she bare a son to my master when she was old.
And unto him, unto this son, he hath given all that he had. He's given it all to him. That's
what Abraham did to Isaac. Who received all this inheritance?
When the man Abraham died, full ownership, full governance, full
authority over everything he had went to Isaac without repentance. We get that, don't we? This is
an imperfect picture because our eternal father can never
die. Yeah, I know. We're humans. We're on this earth.
Don't chew on the briars, right? When Abraham died, Isaac got
it all, and it was without repentance to the sole heir. Abraham didn't
come back and say, well, I changed my mind. I think I want that
pickup truck back. No, it's done. The work's finished. The transaction is complete.
It's all Isaac's, his sole heir. What words could describe or
what book could contain a list of what our heavenly father owns?
Just of what we see of his riches. We just looked at that in Psalm
24, didn't we? The earth is the Lord's and the
fullness thereof. The world and they that dwell
therein." That's just here. That's just the people here.
Whatever holds the stars and beyond the stars. You know how
much Neptune weighs? He does. It's his. He made it.
He owns it all. He controls it all. That's just
what we can see and comprehend. All the universe of whatever
is bigger than that, it's all his possession. But all blessings
are his. Not just tangible assets. That's
what mankind's worried about, right? What kind of assets are
you invested in? He owns all the blessings. And
we do. It's His to extend and to give
out. In Ephesians 1, 3, Paul wrote
to us, said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. That's something. That's a wealthy
father, isn't it? What was all that the Father
gave Christ? That's His sole heir. Isn't it? The firstborn
among many brethren. In John 3.35, the Father loveth
the Son and hath given all things into His hand. The Father loved
Christ, gave everything to Him. Our Heavenly Father has given
all to His Son's hands. In Romans 11.29, we read, For
the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. This
is predetermined before time began. It shall come to pass,
it has come to pass, and it will be forever glorified for it.
What was the Father rich in? He gave everything to Christ.
What did He have? We know stuff. He had power. Power. And He gave that to His Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ. It says, Let every soul be subject
unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God. The powers
that be are ordained of God. We know that, don't we? Lord
gave us that example in the California Highway Patrol. You drive up
down the road and you see a police officer clocking people. Remember
the Lord that controls all things. What a blessing. I'm thankful
for those policemen and firefighters and everything else. But our
Lord said, Matthew 28, He spake to them saying, All power is
given unto me in heaven and in earth. Power is given to me.
The Father is rich in power of life. And He's given all that
to His only begotten Son. He said, For as the Father raiseth
up the dead and quickeneth them, as the Father gives life, even
so the Son gives life to whom He will. He's got the power to
give life. For the Father judges no man
but hath committed all judgment to the Son. All judgment's His. All power's His. All authority's
His. All governance is His. The Father
gave it to Him. He's rich in the mercy to give
that life. God, who is rich in mercy for
his great love, wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead
in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. I speak not by commandment, Paul
said in 2 Corinthians, but by the occasion of forwardness of
others to prove the sincerity of your love. For you know that
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet
for your sakes he became poor. that ye through his poverty might
be rich. This one that all things were
given to, the creator of all, came to his creation, was made
like his creation. He was made a man and laid down
his life as a man for his people. He has the keys of death and
hell. We read in Revelation 1, I am He that liveth and was dead,
and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. And you and I, who've been put
in Christ, this sole heir, that's received everything, we're put
in Him, and He in us, Christ dwells in us, we're joint heirs
with Him. The Spirit itself beareth witness
with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then
heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that
we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. That's
a lot of riches, isn't it? That's a lot of riches. And we
get to tell people about that. Everything you see, anything
you've ever thought, any copyright you've ever heard of, it's the
Lord's. The Father, He owns it all. And He gave it all to His
Son, His sole heir. and we can be joint heirs with
Him. He's put us in His Son. Just as Abraham gave it all to
Isaac for his offspring because he knew the seed was coming through
Isaac, the Father gave it all to His Son for us. What love. Paul said, unto me who am less
than the least of all saints is this grace given that I should
preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.
Rich in mercy, rich in love, rich in long-suffering, to usward."
Paul said, that's a privilege. I got to tell people that. That
hoity-toity man steeped in religion gets to go tell Gentiles. He
said, what a privilege. What a privilege. All the riches
of mercy, grace, pardon, life, power, judgment, authority, it's
all given to the sole heir. Lord Jesus Christ and we're joint
heirs. Just like Rebecca, Isaac's wife, his flesh and bone. His
bride. It's all hers. If she went out
in the garage and took a chainsaw, that ain't considered stealing,
is it? If Kiermaid jumps in my car instead of her car and drives
home, I can't call the cops. It's hers. We're one, ain't we?
Just as Isaac received all of his father and gave it out as
he was pleased, so is Christ the source of all things. It's
from his hand we get his daily bread. It's from His hand we're
chasing. We're scourged. That doesn't
sound pleasant, does it? It's from His hand all grace
is given. If you're going to get it, you've
got to ask Him. If you need grace for today,
you're going to have to ask Him. He's the door, isn't He? If you're
going to have mercy, you're going to have to ask Him. Just as Joseph
was in charge of those storehouses in Egypt, the only place for
corn was You had to go through Joseph to get it. You're going
to have to go through the Lord Jesus Christ to receive life,
mercy, pardon, grace. And he doles that out as it pleases
him. You need grace, go to the one who oversees grace. Go to
the Son. Kiss him. Lest he be angry. He has it in
abundance. And that grace he has is all
sufficient. All sufficient. Go to him. Go
to him. Why did Abraham give it all to
Isaac? That Abraham gave Isaac. That the Lord gave this stuff.
Why? First off, that was the rightful son. I got four points
for you and I'll be quick. Isaac was the rightful son. He
was from Abraham's wife. Singular. Hagar, Keturah. They were called concubines.
Now Abraham may have called him a wife. We understand the context
of that. References here in our text, they were concubines. They
were paramours. Girlfriends, mistresses. That's what they
were. Sarah was the bride that God gave. That was the one the
Lord gave. And Isaac was the rightful son.
Christ is the rightful son. He's the son that was given,
just as Isaac was given. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. That's Him. And what happened to that one
that was God? It is God. For unto us a child's born. We
physically see a child being born. There wasn't a child here,
now there's a child here. But unto us, A son is given. He gave his only begotten son.
He gave him to us. He's the rightful son. Second,
he's the son according to promise. Isaac was. It says in Isaac,
shall thy seed be called? Singular. That's the one the
Lord's been talking about this whole time, since he was 75.
In his old age, he's old. He says, you're going to bear
fruit. His name's going to be Isaac. It's going to be with
Sarah. This is the one that was promised to Abraham. Christ was
the only begotten of the Father. His son, in whom he's well pleased,
he was a son according to promise of God, and he'll send the seed
of woman to crush the serpent's head on him. He's the one promised
for. He's the lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. This is what happened whenever
Eve, the Lord said, I'm going to send a seed through you and
it's going to crush that serpent's head. She had Cain. Believe in
God. She said, I got the man from
the Lord. She's wrong. She erred. This is the one promised
that Eve was looking for. Christ is the promised son. He's
the rightful son. He's the promised son and the
one from the power of the Lord. He's the one that came in the
Lord's power, not in man's doing. You get that? It's the Lord's
power that brought him, just as Isaac was. This was impossible.
Sarah's way too old. Menopause already took place.
This ain't humanly possible. The Lord had to come in miraculous
power and put life in her. Christ was born of a virgin.
The Holy Ghost came, and He has the DNA you and I have. He has
mitochondrial DNA of Eve. It's scientific for you, but
He's made like we are. But His Father was heavenly.
What a miracle that is. That's miraculous. Without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. He's the rightful son. That's
why Isaac got it all. That's why Christ got it all. It was promised. It had to go
to Isaac. Christ was promised to us. It
has to go to him. It's in power. The Lord made
Isaac out of what seems impossible. God Almighty the Godhead was
manifest in the body. Who can delve into those things?
And fourthly, Abraham gave everything to Isaac because he was a good
son to his father. He was an obedient son to his
father. He was a pleasure to his father. You get rode out of a wheel pretty
quick. Do you know that? If I leave that to them, fight
each other, or kill one another, or this one will kill himself,
or something bad's going to happen if I do this, but you don't get
it. I'll go to that one and leave it." Isaac was obedient. He was a good son. He was a pleasure. They went up Mount Moriah. Isaac
said, We got the wood, Father. We got the fire. You got a knife
strapped to your waist. What about the lamb? What about
the lamb? He was trained up well from his
youth, wasn't he? He wasn't raised in mysterious things and ghosts
and goblins. He was taught who God was, taught
who Christ was. And there's going up to sacrifice,
to worship. That's what sacrifice is, what worship is. I went up
there and he said, you got the wood, you got the fire, what
about the lamb? And Abraham said, my son, God
will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they both,
went both of them together. They went up together. Isaac
kept on walking. You talk about obedience. You talk about believing
God. And his father just told him what the Lord said. He believed
the Lord, believed his father. He went up that hill willfully.
He went up the hill in complete obedience to the Lord and to
his earthly father that the Lord put over him. And he didn't complain.
He didn't pitch a fit. Here's this grown teenager and
said, well, he's going to kill me. I'm the only thing left. All
right, daddy. And he laid down. and his father
bound him. There's a 115 year old man, 120
however old he was, and a 15 to 20 year old boy, strapping
young lad. He fist-fought him in the parking
lot. No, he didn't. He threw rocks
at him up on top of that mound. No, he was obedient. Why? Being found in fashion as a man,
Lord Jesus Christ humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross." The end. That's what we said.
Let this mind be in you. Ain't that right? Let us run our race
with joy. That's what we looked at the
last hour. How could Isaac do that? He knew the Lord. My Redeemer
could come to this filthy, sin-cursed earth and willfully lay down
His life for a wretch like me. You think I can get up and go
work in the morning? You think I can put up with somebody that's
a little hard to deal with? I think I'll be okay. That's what we
looked at. There's just so much here. Abraham's days was numbered. He had a lot of them. Ain't you
thankful we don't know how many days we have? What if we had a day
left? And we wanted to have a squabble
over whatever, parking spots or something. Is it worth it?
Well, I don't care about that. Your fence is on my property
line. Keep the fence. I don't care. I'm gonna go be
with the Lord today. What if we had 10 years left?
We might fight over our fence. We'd procrastinate just like
every other human being does, don't we? We'd put things off.
Well, I got time. I'm gonna go to the football
game one more time. Then I'll worship the Lord next time. Something's
gonna be more important than worshiping God. Wouldn't it? No one. And then the shame would come
with that. Let us run our race with joy.
A Hebrew writer said, Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight.
Isaac went up a hill. That's a good story for most
people. That's a picture of my Redeemer. We see Him. We see Christ and Him crucified.
Take all that weight you've got and lay it aside. And the sin
with Dutch so easily beset us. Let us run with patience the
race that's set before us. Put all that stuff out of the
way. run to Him, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him, endured
the cross obediently with joy." There ain't nothing worse than
seeing somebody that's submissive with their teeth gritted. I'll
do what you say. That's disgusting. I have enough
spine to fist-fight about it. If you stand for something, you'll
fall for anything. What's wrong with you?" But willful submission,
with the joy set before him, despising the shame, and has
sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Isaac sat
on his father's throne. He sat in the big chair at the
table after Abraham went home. He was a worthy son. Christ is
the worthy son. For Isaac to receive all his
earthly father had, he must be worthy. Christ was worthy. He
was the rightful heir, the promised son. He was made flesh like unto
his brethren by the power of God. He's made like us, and he's
worthy. He's worthy. That's the song
we'll sing. We'll turn over to Revelation
5. Revelation 5 verse 12, saying with a loud voice, here's
what we'll sing, worthy is the Lamb, capital L, worthy is the
Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom,
and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every
creature which is in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth,
and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I
saying, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto
him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and
ever. This one that was worthy of the
Father, you think he's worthy of our praises? He is. You think he's worried for us
to bow to? Oh, he is. He is, isn't he? Paul sums it
all up here in Colossians. Look over in Colossians 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 12. Colossians 1, 12 reads, giving
thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet made us fit
to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, whom
hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated
us into the kingdom of his dear Son, in whom we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, who's the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by him
were all things created that are in heaven, that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers. All things were created by Him
and for Him. He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things He might have the preeminence. For it pleased
the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And having
made peace through the blood of His cross, By him to reconcile
all things unto himself, by him I say whether they be things
in earth, things in heaven, and you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you, this one
that received all, that willingly laid down his life in obedience,
went to that cross, endured that shame, bore sin in his body on
the tree, He did all that in His flesh, through death, to
present you holy and unblameable and unapprovable in His sight.
What riches! That holy God we offended? Man takes that so lightly. We're
so callous to sin. That one we've offended? The
one I offended? Against Thee and Thee only have
I sinned. Now I can be presented in His presence, unblameable,
unreprovable, holy. Because of this worthy Son, this
powerful Son, this providential Son, the one that was promised.
And as joint heirs, what do we receive? Wasn't that enough? What shall we say to these things
if God be for us? Who can be against us? He that
spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? What life we've
been given, what understanding, what wisdom, what sanctification,
what holiness? Put a price tag on that, you
can find that at Goodwill. Because of His blood, He's given
us these all things. All these things. Being made
joint heirs with Him. And He feeds those little birds
that the first thing on it, they get one day at a time too. When
they wake up in the morning, what do they do? They sing to
the Lord because they're hungry. And they've got enough sense
to know where the worms come from. The Lord takes care of those sparrows.
Aren't we worth more than a couple sparrows? Won't He take care
of us? Back in our text here in Genesis
25. That's for his people. There's two kinds of people in
the world. Some of them is close to the
kingdom of God. They're near. Genesis 25, verse six says, but
unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had. Abraham gave
gifts. He gave him some gifts and sent
them away from his son, Isaac. while he yet lived eastward into
the east country. What kind of gifts did he give
those that were sent away? Doesn't the Lord make the sun
shine on the evil and the good? Doesn't the Lord make it rain
on the just and the unjust? Many times, the unjust have a
lot more carnal blessings than the just do. Isn't that right? Has that always been the case?
David said their eyes bug out with fatness. All their kids
show up Thanksgiving, sit down with them. They're not causing
trouble. They ain't trying to kill them.
Many times, worldly, it seems that the unjust are blessed more. But don't be fooled. That's not
our kingdom, is it? We don't war against flesh and
blood. We're not worried about the silver and gold of this earth.
That's all gonna burn up. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God. David said, Psalm 145, The Lord
is good to all. And he is, and his tender mercies
are over all his works. Those not given a heart of Christ,
those that aren't his seed, not put in him, not a promise, not
of his power, not of his doing, not of his worth, they'll be
cast away. They'll be cast away. That's
bleak. And that's not scratching the surface of what eternity
is. But what message could I have? Run to the one that's worthy.
Like Ishmael showed up at funeral. He just come to church, looked
good on a special holiday, didn't he, on a funeral. Run to him
now, Ishmael. I can go preach to him. Go beg
mercy of your father. Go beg to hear of God from him,
from his prophet. Run to him. Call on the air. Kiss the son lest he be angry.
That's what we're to do, isn't it? The Lord gave it all to his
son, just the same as Abraham gave it all to Isaac. And if
you want any bread, you want to borrow a hammer, you want
a tool from his shed, you're going to have to go to Isaac. Seek ye the Lord while he may
be found. Call on him while he is near.
Because this may be the last day. Today's the day of salvation,
isn't it? Call on him. Run to him. You'll
find he's faithful. All right. We'll look to his broken body
and his blood now. Brother Trevor and Mike, if you
all would, please come hand out the elements. Our God in heaven, thank you,
Lord, that you were made sin for us, Lord, to bring us out
of hell, Lord, and save irredeemable, wretched sinners, to give us
salvation, to show us mercy, to give us grace, to provide
us eternal life, Lord. Remind us of that, of you. Lord, teach us your way. Don't leave us to ourselves.
Keep us looking to you, Lord, in each hour. You are the one
thing needful. Lord, be with us. Be with those
brothers throughout this world who are in need of guidance and
comfort, Lord. Bring about your effectual purpose
in your trials that you send. Lord, in Christ's name, amen. Our gracious Heavenly Father,
Lord, how we thank you for this memorial, what our Lord has done
for those whom you have given unto him. Oh, how we thank you for his
body, which was broken for us. He who knew no sin took upon
himself the sin of all his sheep. He died in our place, in our
stead. He shed his blood for us that we might be cleansed.
Oh, Father, help us. Cause us to look to Christ. Cause
us to cast all our hope and all our concern on him. Oh, that
he might be lifted up. He might be honored among us. Oh, how we thank you, Lord. We
ask these things in his precious name. Paul rebuked the church at Corinth for how they were conducting
the Lord's table, and he gives them four simple verses, gave
them good instruction. He says, four, I have received
of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus,
the same night in which he was betrayed, he took bread, and
when he had given thanks, he'd break and said, take, eat, this
is my body, which is broken for you, this do in remembrance of
me." He said, after the same manner
also, he took the cup, and when he had supped, saying, this cup
is the New Testament in my body, this do ye, as oft as you drank
it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this
bread and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till
he come. Father, allow us to see our Lord's
death. Allow us to see what a perfect
sacrifice that was, how accepted it was, his worthiness,
his holiness, and the love and compassion unworthy
sinners that were at war with him. What grace, how gracious
you are. Lord, thank you for this day.
Allow us to serve you this day. Allow us to run our race that
you put in our hand today. Lord, be merciful and gracious
to us today and be with us and give us hearts that beg tomorrow
morning if you're so pleased to give us tomorrow. Thank you
for this hour. Be with those that you've sent
trials in. What a blessing that is to us,
Lord, to watch the love you put in your saints for one another
from afar. Give us that same heart. It's
in Christ's precious name we ask it. Amen. If you will, turn to hymn number
217. Stand with me as we use this clothing hymn. Jesus, thy
blood is righteous. Number 217. Set my blood in righteousness,
my beauty are my glorious dress. This flaming world's in these
array, with joy shall I lift up my head. O God, I've been in Thy great
name, For who unto my charge shall lay, Holy, absolved in
Thee. I am from sin and fear, From
guilt and shame, Lord, I believe thy precious blood, which at
the mercy seat of God forever doth for sinners laid before
me, before my soul was shed. Lord, I believe we're sinners
more than stands upon the ocean shore. Thou hast for all a ransom
paid, for all a full atonement paid. I hope the Lord is with you this
week. He said he's going to be to his people, and I asked him
anyway. I hope he's with me. Pray for me as you're able. Brethren,
pray for us. Paul wrote us a whole paragraph
or two. And I pray for you. So the Lord be with you. Amen.