Alright, if you will, turn to
the general epistle of John, 1 John. Lord willing, if He enables me,
we'll work through 1 John on Sunday mornings for a while,
as He gives it. But, 1 John. And just a small
portion about John, we've learned quite a bit of Paul as we went
through Galatians and as we are going through Rome. Small bits
of him keep coming out and that's a comfort to me. But John by
many is seen as a man in a plain robe with a rope around his waist
and a balding head. He don't have a tan, he's real
pale and soft skin, baby hands. John was a commercial fisherman.
He had scars. He had calluses on his hands.
He was a manly man. He was tough. And we're going
to see a theme through this book, 1 John. Believe on Christ and
love your brethren. Believe on Christ and love your
brethren. I hope you don't get tired of me telling you that
as we work through this book. And I hope I don't get tired
of telling it to you. But that's what we need to hear.
That's what we need, isn't it? If we believe on Him, we will
love our brethren. There's compassion in that strong, calloused man.
He gives us a salutation here. It's an introduction. It's so
easy in these books to read over those. This is just the intro. Don't pay much attention to it.
But boy, they're sweet. They're sweet. They're inspired
by the Holy Spirit. It's given to John to write these
things. Let's read it. 1 John 1 That which was from
the beginning which we have heard, which we
have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our
hands have handled of the word of life. For the life, the life
was manifested, and we have seen it. And bear witness and show
unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested
unto us. that which we have seen and heard
declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us. And truly, our fellowship is
with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ. And these
things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." Our brother
in Christ, the Apostle John, has a wonderful gospel message
here in the salutation. I always struggle with the title
of a message and I always struggle with the introduction. I want
to give you all something that will set the tone for the message,
that will set the tone for the text that we're looking at. I
struggle with those things. Normally the introduction is
the last thing I write in a message. But here's a great, great example. The Lord gave this to John to
write. What we see there, he was the
witness of Christ. John writes there in verse 1,
that which was from the beginning. That which was from the beginning.
What's he talking about? Robert Hawker had several pages
of notes on the word that. How precious that was. But what was from the beginning?
What is that? What's John talking about? A
better question is not what he was talking about, but who? Who
is John talking about? That's what that eunuch asked
Philip, wasn't it? Of whom does this prophet speak? Is he talking
about himself or is he talking about another? What'd Philip do? He said, move
over buddy. He hopped up in that chariot
and he preached Christ to them. He showed them. That's what this
book's about. Turn over to the book of John. The Gospel of John. Here's how John began that letter
of Christ in this world. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
Matthew showed us Christ as the King of the Jews. Mark showed
us Christ as a servant. Luke showed us Christ as the
Son of God. our son of man. And John shows us Christ is the
Son of God. There in John 1.1, in the beginning
was the Word, capital W, Christ. In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was
in the beginning with God and all things were made by Him.
And without Him was not anything that thing made that was made,
in Him was life. In Him was life, and the life
was the light of men. Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is
from everlasting. We cannot comprehend that. We
learn in math class about infinity. Center of the number line. That
centers anywhere on that number line. If it goes forever to forever. I about got kicked out of math
class for that one time. We can't comprehend these things.
Our brain can't touch it. Christ is from everlasting. There's
no beginning or end to Him. And He's the source of all physical
life. Birds were flying around my property
yesterday picking up my corn and my beans. Christ made those. They tweet, and those cats that
run around our house daily, Christ gave them life. Physical life.
And He's the source of all spiritual life. Source of all spiritual
life. This is who John's writing about
here in 1 John. That which was from the beginning.
Christ. Micah 5 says, Bethel, Bethlehem,
Ephratah. Though thou be little among thousands
of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is
to be ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from old,
from everlasting." That's speaking of Christ. He was born in Bethlehem. Turn over to Proverbs chapter
8. Proverbs 8. It may seem as if I'm driving
this point home pretty hard. that Christ is eternal, from
everlasting, He had no beginning, but I feel we need to be reminded
of this. I've heard people before ask, how could Christ save the
saints in the Old Testament? Adam, Abraham, Moses. How could
they be saved by Christ? Christ wasn't born for another
couple thousand years. How did that work? There's some confusion
in people. We need to see these things.
Here in Proverbs 8, verse 22, The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of His way. Did He have a beginning? When
was He talking about? Before His works of old, at the
beginning of His works, the Father's works. Verse 23, I was set up
from everlasting, from the beginning. Again, was this a start? Says
there, or ever the earth was. Not His beginning, but man's
beginning. We're trapped in this body and we're cursed with a
sense of time. We have a clock, we have a past,
we have a present, and we pray we have a future. But the Lord
doesn't live in those bounds. He didn't say, I was, I am, and
I'm going to be. He says, I am. We can't comprehend
that. Verse 24, when there were no
depths, I was brought forth when there were no fountains abounding
with water. nor the mountains were settled.
Before the hills was I brought forth, while as yet He had not
made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world. When He prepared the heavens,
I was there. When He set a compass upon the
face of the deep, when He established the clouds above, when He strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea His decree
that the waters should not pass His commandment, when He appointed
the foundations of the earth, Then I was by Him as one brought
up with Him. He was equal with Him. And I
was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him. Our Savior
was there from everlasting. He was the Father's delight from
everlasting. And that's who He's well-pleased
in now. Who He'll be well-pleased in in the future, won't He? And
He rejoices always before Him. Look there in verse 32. Now therefore,
Harken unto me, O ye children, for blessed are they that keep
my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise,
and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.
What is the man that believes on Christ? What does he have
in store? What's that blessing that he's blessed with if we
believe on him? Look in verse 35. For whoso findeth me, findeth
life. life, and shall obtain favor
of the Lord, of God the Father. Christ is from everlasting. He's
a source of life. He's a source of eternal life,
and He's the only way human beings can find favor in the eyes of
the Father. He said, in Him is who I'm well
pleased, hear ye Him. That's the only way the Father's
pleased. God Almighty, God the Father, is pleased only in His
Son, Christ. Now there in our text, And Paul
tells us clearly who he's speaking of. He's speaking of the Master.
And he goes on to say there in verse 1, 1 John 1. He says, "...that which was from
the beginning, which we have heard..." Now John was a witness
of Christ. He was an eyewitness. He heard
Christ's voice. He talked with the Savior person
to person. He talked to God Almighty and
He talked back. I can't imagine that. I wrote
that down. I set my study for 15 minutes.
It was kind of giggly. He talked to God and God talked
back to Him. He had conversation with Him
in the flesh. We'll have that. Our brothers
have that. But they heard which we have
heard. Peter wrote this, for we have
not followed cunningly devised fables." This isn't fairy tales
that we wrote. "...when we made known unto you
the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory, when there came such a voice to him
from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased." And this voice which came from heaven
we heard when we were with Him in the holy Mount." Peter was
recalling that Mount of Transfiguration when he was up there and the
Lord said, can't you stay awake with me for a little bit? Can't you pray? And Moses and Elijah come and
God the Father spoke from heaven in that effectual call. He said,
this is my Son in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him. Peter got
to hear the voice of God the Father from heaven. He spoke
again at Christ's baptism, but that was a general call. He said,
this is my son who I'm well pleased. He didn't say, hear ye him. If
he had said that, they'd have heard. But Peter is recalling that.
He audibly heard him speak. And there in 1 John 1, it says,
that which was from the beginning we've heard, which we have seen
with our eyes, which we have looked upon. These witnesses
saw Christ. They saw him walk on this earth,
and they saw him after he came out of that tomb. He was a witness
to them for 40 days. But they were witnesses. We go
to a court of law, and you call a witness. If you have an expert
witness in the medical field. He doesn't get up there and tell
you how to change oil in a car, does he? No, he tells you what he
saw, what he's there for. Only what he saw. If he tells
you more than what he saw, or he doesn't tell you the whole
truth, the judge throws out that witness. Doesn't count. They're
witnesses. But these witnesses, they saw
Christ on this earth. They saw Him on this earth for
a period of time after He'd come out of that tomb. In Acts 1-3
it says, "...to whom also He showed Himself alive after His
passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days,
and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God." Christ
witnessed to them. He'd seen it. He's from there.
Christ is seen in the pictures of the Old Testament. He was
seen while a man on this earth. He was seen after being raised
from the tomb. And we see Him through the eyes
of faith now. It says there, that which was from
the beginning, which we've heard, which we have seen with our eyes,
which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the
Word of Life. They touched Him. They touched
our Redeemer. John was resting his head on
Christ's bosom whenever Christ said, one of y'all is going to
betray Me. He was laid on Him. Hug Me. Turn over to John chapter
20. It's hard for you and I to believe
things. The Lord gives us grace to do that. But it's hard for
us to see things without wanting proof. I want to see stuff and
I was telling the kids the other day we was going for a hike and
my old job used to tell us it's called seal, stop, look, listen,
smell. You think you're going to find
something, I want to stop doing what I'm doing, I want to look
for it, I want to listen for it, I want to smell it, touch
it, whatever I can. I want to know if something's
there. That tends me to be that way. I seek a sign, don't I? Here's a saying of God that wanted
a sign. And that's the difference between
someone that Christ has died for and someone who hasn't. Look
here in John 20 verse 24. But Thomas, one of the twelve,
called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. And the
other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord.
They're witnessing to Thomas. But he said unto them, Except
I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and I put
my finger into the print of the nail, and thrust my hand into
his side where that spear went, I will not believe." Y'all say
Christ is risen from the dead, I want to see him. I want to
touch him. I want to put my finger where those nails were and I
want to touch his side. Verse 26, And after eight days, now
he wanted this for a while, didn't he? After eight days, again his
disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be
unto you. Then saith he to Thomas." Now
Thomas didn't say anything to the Lord. Christ spoke to Thomas. He came to Thomas. He perceived
Thomas. He approached him and said, reach
hither thy finger and behold my hands and reach hither thy
hand and thrust it into my side and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas said, the only way I'm
going to believe is if I touch him and I see it. And then Christ
came and he said, come here Thomas, feel here, touch here, grab my
side. Don't be faithless. Believe,
believe on me. Christ revealed Himself to Thomas.
Life was manifested to Thomas. What happened when the Lord convinced
Thomas? What happened when the Lord convinces us? When He comes
to us and proves to us who He is, shows us what He's accomplished. That's the marks of His accomplishments
on His arm and on His side. What do we say? We say with Thomas,
don't we? Look at verse 28. And Thomas answered and said
unto Him, My Lord and my God. We bow. And Jesus saith unto
him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.
Blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed. That's
me and you, brethren. We haven't physically seen him
with our eyes. We haven't physically touched him. We haven't audibly
heard his voice. That hasn't happened. An apostolic
era is over. We're not blessed with learning
from Christ in the flesh from him. But we have believed their
report. We believe Christ. We've been
given faith to believe Him and to witness Him. Witness what
He's done in our hearts. What He's done in the hearts
of our brethren. Alright, back to our text. 1 John 1. Christ
came and saved sinners. He was manifested. He manifested
Himself to sinners. John's writing of Christ. John's
His witness. He has seen Him, He has talked
to Him, He has touched Him. He knows our Master and He is
telling us about our Master. Christ is manifest, that means
He is revealed to the believer and the life in Christ is manifested
in the believer. He is revealed to us and He is
revealed in us. In 1 John 1-2. For the life, Christ, was manifested,
it was displayed, it came to fruition. And we have seen it
and bear witness and show unto you that eternal life which was
with the Father." That's where he came from. Christ was with
the Father and was manifested unto us. God, listen carefully
to me and don't Let me finish before you chop my head off.
I see a lot of people holding signs up. Now there's a whole
bunch of books out there. God's not dead. God's alive. God's not alive. He is life. I'm alive. You're alive. I got
chickens at the house. They're alive. They can die. They can perish. Christ is life. That's the source of it. If we
have it, it's His. But eternal life that's in Christ,
it's not only the quantity of it, it's the quality of it. It's not just how much there
is, it's what kind of life it is. Is it forever? Yes. Yeah, it is. But because Christ is from everlasting
to everlasting, that's why it's forever. But the quality of it
is because it is His life. He's the source of it. It was
His life that was given. That's why we received it. Made
holy. He said in John 14, I am the
way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto the Father
but my Me. He said, the thief cometh not,
but for to steal and to kill and to destroy, I am come that
they might have life, and they might have it more abundantly. John 10.10 is the one that says
they might have life more abundantly. I kept looking at that and I
couldn't get away from saying that Christ made His people more
aliver. He gave us life more abundantly.
Were you either alive or you dead? No, it's more abundant
in Him. We're more aliver in Christ. Because it's not just
living for eternity. Every soul is eternal. Everybody
that believes on Christ has an eternal soul and everyone that
hates God has an eternal soul. They'll be present forever. That'll happen. But He gave us
eternal life of perfection. Holiness. Living for Him in holiness. Worshipping Him in righteousness.
Those are things that we haven't seen. We can't imagine. Right
now, each believer, each person that trusts Christ solely for
all things, they are perfect. They are holy in the eyes of
God the Father. But we still are in His flesh.
That's the duality of man. We have an old nature and a new
nature. We still have sin with us. But
Christ will make us live eternally and keep us holy forever. I won't
just be made perfect. I won't have the ability to sin.
Anymore. Forever. Forever. Romans 5.20
says, Moreover, the law entered that the offense might abound,
but where sin abounded, grace did much more abound, that as
sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life. Where do we get that life from?
By Jesus Christ our Lord. How did He do that? Christ was
manifested in the flesh. He came physically, came to fruition
in the flesh. God became a man. And He satisfied
the justice of God for His elect people. That sword, when Adam
was kicked out of the garden, the Lord put a sword there between
him and a tree of life, didn't He? And a sword that faced in
every direction. I'll get you a pencil and a piece
of paper and try to draw that one. I don't know what that looks
like. But that sword faced in every
direction, and it represented God's righteous judgment. He
said, I will by no means clear the guilty. You ain't coming
back to this tree. You ain't having communion with
me. Mankind is dead to me. Get away from me. What did Christ
do when He came, when He manifested? He absorbed that sword, didn't
He? He satisfied it, satisfied that
judgment, and now we have access to the Father. We can come boldly
to that throne of grace because of what he did, what he accomplished.
We can approach that thrice holy God. That's a great mystery,
isn't it? Paul wrote to Timothy about these
things. He said, and without controversy, great is the mystery
of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. That's a great mystery. People
worry themselves to death about digging deeper in the Word and
trying to find a good message for the day. Find that message. Read this. That's deep. Deeper than the ocean. Deeper
than I can ever see. The cross of Jesus fulfilled
the judgment. He accomplished the barrier,
broke down the barrier between His sheep and the Father. That
means He reconciled us. We're made right with God again.
We can approach it. He not only justified us through
His work on the cross, but He gave us righteousness. We were
sanctified. We were set apart. We were made
holy. People can't make themselves holy. The cross said He did it. And I wouldn't dare anyone to
have the nerve to say they can do it themselves. Because you're
saying it to Him. You're not saying it to me or
anybody else. It says He sanctified us once for all. But He gave
that life to us, so we have eternal life forever, and it's a perfect
life. We sang that song, the water
and the blood from His wounded side which flowed, be of sin
the double cure, save from wrath and make me pure. What's that
mean? He bought us with that blood. We were redeemed, and
He made us pure. That water that flowed from His
side, it made us holy. John says here in verse 2, Christ
has been revealed to us and in us. We are witnesses of Him and
that is who we show unto you. We witness these things and that's
what I'm telling you. He told us nothing else. John had a saving
work performed in Him. Christ said, follow me, I'll
make you fishers of men. You know what He did? Took Him that,
threw Him down. Left Zebedee and took off walking, but He
followed Him. Straight way, didn't He? And He tells men and women
about it. That's what John told in the
whole Gospel of John. That's what he's telling here
in 1 John 1. He's telling us about Christ.
He doesn't tell about how he got off drugs. He doesn't tell
about how he stopped gambling, how he stopped drinking, how
he worked his way to God. No. He preaches Christ to him. Preaches Christ to him. Why does
he do that? There in verse 3. 1 John 1.3. we preach Christ to fellowship
with Christ select. It says, that which we have seen
and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship
with us. John said, I'm going to tell
you about who I've seen, who I've heard, and what Christ did
for me. That way, you can see, you can
hear, and you can feel Him. You can know Him. And that's
life. The Lord saves through that. He teaches them the truth
that they might have a new spirit. If Christ has been revealed in
me and He has been revealed in you, then we can have true fellowship. We're fellows in the same ship.
We have the same God. We have something in common,
don't we? Psalm 22, 22 says, I will declare
thy name unto my brethren. In the midst of the congregation
will I praise thee. There's a declaration and a praise.
There's doctrine. and there's fellowship, there's
truth, and there's spirit. Declaring Christ and praising
Him. The writer of the Acts said,
and they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and
in fellowship, and in the breaking of bread and in prayers. People
that are gathered together, the Lord gathers them, that believe
the true God, they rejoice together. They praise God together, they
observe ordinances together. They pray together, they fellowship
together. I pray, and this church prays, that the Lord calls His
people from this area, that He brings them to know Christ. And
when He does a work in the center like that, and He draws His people
out, and they have nothing to declare but Christ is all, we
can have true fellowship with them. I want to meet you. I want
to talk to you. I want to spend my life with
you. Sometimes people say, I don't need any more friends. Me neither. I don't want any more friends.
I don't need buddies. I need brothers and sisters.
I need fellowship. I need someone that can turn
my thoughts from myself to my Savior. This might remind me
of what Christ did. I need brethren that can rejoice
with me whenever the Lord does something in us and around us.
Praise the Lord with us. We need fellowship with our brethren.
And if Christ is all your hope, we have something in common.
And I want to fellowship with Him. If He's not, if you have
to do something, I don't need more friends. I've got enough
friends. But we preach the cross because
He is fellowship with the Father. Look there in verse 3. That which
we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may
have fellowship with us and truly our fellowship is with the Father.
Because of cross-finished work We now are reconciled with the
Father. Turn over a few pages to 1 John
5. 1 John 5. I can't get there. There we go. Verse 10, 1 John
5, 10. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself, He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of His Son. And this is the record, that
God hath given to us eternal life, and this life, this life
that He's given, this eternal quality and quantity, is in His
Son. If we have true life together
on this earth, true fellowship together, it's because God has
given us life and given us fellowship through Christ and in Christ. In verse 3 it says, we preach
Christ to have fellowship with Christ. 1 John 1 verse 3, "...that
which we have seen and heard declare unto you, that ye also
may have fellowship with us, and truly our fellowship was
with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus Christ." When a sinner
has been reconciled to the Father, he has true fellowship with the
saints of God, they want fellowship with Christ. We've been given
brothers and sisters, and we've been reconciled to the Father.
We no longer have that sin debt that doesn't weigh us. We're
not under bondage anymore. We want to have glory in the
one that gave it to us. We want to fellowship with that
one that did that work for us, don't we? Romans 6 says, Knowing this,
that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, and henceforth we should not serve sin. For
he that is dead is freed from sin. Now if we be dead with Christ,
we believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ,
being raised from the dead, dieth no more. Death hath no more dominion
over him. For that, in that he died, he
died unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.
Likewise, reckon ye selves also to be dead unto sin, but alive
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. What is fellowship
with Christ? It's being made one with Him.
Being made one with Christ. I wish I could enter into that.
I wish I could understand how one I've been made with the Lord.
He paid the penalty of sin for His people. I'm freed from sin. He rose from the grave. We're
freed from death. He lives. We have life. He is
in glory with the Father. I want to be in glory with the
Father. I want to know more of my Redeemer. I want to learn
of Him. What He accomplished. I want to see more pictures of
Him. Those pictures are in the Old Testament. I want to love
Him more. I want to worship Him properly. That day will come. But if we know Christ, have life
in Him, then we have true joy and it's full. Back to our text
here in 1 John. If we have fellowship, it's because
Christ came. We've been witnesses of Him.
Therefore, we have fellowship with the Father and with Christ.
And with our brethren, that Christ has revealed himself into them
also. And that is joyous. We have joy. Our warfare is accomplished.
We've been redeemed. We've been bought with a price.
And our Savior lives. And I live because He lives.
Those are good things, aren't they? That's joy. Look here in
1 John 1, 4. And these things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full. He says that our joy might be
full. We have some joy in this world, but it comes and goes. We have little babies, and they're
sweet and precious, and then they grow up, go away. We have
crops come in, we grow a garden, well, it's harvested. Buy a new
house, it's going to rot. Everything fades on this earth.
We have a little bit of joy here and there, a taste of it, but
it's all temporary. All goes away. The joy that's found in
Christ is full. It's not partial. It doesn't
fade, it doesn't blemish, it doesn't go away. That eternal
life in the Son, it produces everlasting joy. All the fruit
of the Spirit, it produces everlasting kindness, everlasting meekness,
eternal praise. We read this more in Isaiah 61,
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful
in my God. Why would we have joy in our
God? Isaiah continues, for he hath clothed me with the garments
of salvation, and he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness.
As a bridegroom, decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride
adorneth herself with jewels. My joy is because of what he's
done, not what I've done. But during hard times and trials,
we often feel like we have no fruit. We have this fellowship. We have reconciliation with the
Father. We have brethren we're giving that can live this life
with us, turn us to Christ. But many times, I don't feel
like I have any spiritual fruit. I don't feel like I have joy.
I don't feel like I have meekness. I sure don't have long-suffering. Turn over to Habakkuk 3. There's about four books left
in the Old Testament. Habakkuk 3, verse 17. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines. The labor of
the olives shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat. The
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd
in the stalls." That's just like Abraham staggering at those promises,
isn't it? Plural. We looked at last week. So many promises of God and providence
and creation and we stagger at. How's he going to feed us? He
takes his prophet out of the land right now. How's he going
to feed us? He'll raise up another one. But
we don't stagger after the promise that's Christ, do we? Look here
in verse 18. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. I pray that you have true joy.
True joy. I pray your joy is found in Christ. I pray that He's your life. He's
been manifested to you and in you. He's revealed to you. He's all
of our hope. He's all of our salvation. He's
all in all. And I pray the Lord make you
hear Him and see Him and touch Him, feel Him, and lay your head
on His bosom and rest that your joy may be full. And we'll have
fellowship, won't we? We'll rejoice together, praise
Him together. I hope that's a blessing to you. Let's pray together. Heavenly Father, we've come into
this house to worship You. Give us a heart for Christ. Allow
us to see He is our life. Lord, give us eyes to see Him
in faith. Give us ears to hear Him. He's been touched with the feeling
of our infirmities, Lord. How close He is to us. Allow
us to see that we're one with our Savior. It's not a pretend. It's not as if. It's effectual. He accomplished the work You
gave Him, Lord. Allow us to have boldness in this world to trust
You. Trust Your providence. Trust
Your power and ability. and to not look at things through
our eyes. Be with our brothers and sisters,
Lord, those that have illnesses that they'll struggle with for
a long time. Comfort them. Comfort their families, their
children. Give them an understanding of how you control things, how
you send the wind and the trials. Be with our brethren everywhere,
Lord. Be with our sister Shelby and that family and the congregation
in Danville. You've provided for them for
so many years, Lord. This is a wonderful opportunity
for You to show them that You'll continue to provide for them.
Allow us to encourage them to look for that, to look to You
for everything. In Christ's name that we ask
it, Amen.