thousand sacred sweets before
we reach the heavenly field and walk the golden streets. A thousand
sacred sweets. You know what that means? I think
you do. At the church where we hear of the Lord Jesus Christ,
a thousand sacred sweets, morsels, Alright, 1 John chapter 1. 1
John chapter 1. Read with me verses 1 through
4. 1 John 1, 1 through 4. And Sunday's message, Lord willing,
will be on confession and forgiveness. Saving that for Sunday morning. I'm interested in that, aren't
you? Verses 1 through 4, that which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which
we have looked upon in our hands of handle of the word of life,
for the life was manifested and we have seen 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. 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. Life, fellowship, and joy in
Christ our light. This will be very simple, K-I-S-S. Two points, two questions. What
is life? What is life? And secondly, do
I have this life? What is life? Do I have this
life? Do you have this life? Interested?
You may know. In 1 John, 22 times, I believe,
or 23, he says, we may know. Hereby ye may know. And we know. And we know. We can know. Yes,
we can. John is declaring and writing
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we looked at that Sunday.
I had such a good time. Did you? That. He, in trying to, there I go
again. But in essence, John was trying
to describe the indescribable. He wasn't trying to declare Him
who we haven't seen, who cannot be declared or described or compared
to anyone or anything. But John is writing of Christ
and he says that. And he calls him, verse 1, the
word of life. And verse 2, he says, the life,
that eternal life. The life, that eternal life. So the life or true life has
everything to do with Christ. That's what he's talking about.
He's talking about Christ, isn't he? Or rather, who? Christ said
of himself, I am the way, the truth, and the life. 1 John 5, 12. I am already very
glad we started studying that. But 1 John 5, 12 says, He that
hath the Son hath life. He that hath not the Son, Hath
not life. If you don't have Christ, no
matter what you have, you can't call it life. It's death. Right? You've heard it said,
and maybe you've said it. I've said this before. Now this
is living. You ever said that? You're sitting
on a in a chair on the ocean. Kelly and I one time were sitting
on the banks of the Atlantic Ocean, and we sat there for like
eight hours watching the tip of a fishing pole, waiting on it to do that. And
we both said wrongly, boy, this is living. Well, that's ridiculous. It's a pipe dream, it's a soap
bubble, it's not living. You've heard it said about someone
who has all the comforts of this life and all the luxuries of
this life, he's living the good life. Those are all wrong statements,
aren't they? He that hath the Son hath life. And here it says, the life, that
life. Eternal life. Real life. And you've heard it said so many
times. If it dies, it's not life. Whatever it is, if it perishes
and decays, it's not life. If you lose it, it's not life. It's dead. It's dying. So look
at Luke chapter 12 with me. Our Lord told this parable, Luke
chapter 12, of a man who whom the Lord gave great substance
to. And he was a fool. He was a fool
because he, as it were, had all these eggs in one basket. Luke
chapter 12, you know this story. Our Lord is the one who told
this. Verse 13, you have it? Luke 12,
13. One of the companies said unto him, Speak to my brother
that he divide inheritance with me." In other words, we've got
an inheritance coming and my brother, he's not divvying it
out. Tell him to give me my part. Well, you'll waste it too. But
our Lord said, man, who made me a judge or a divider over
you? I didn't come for that reason,
He said. He said unto them, take heed and beware of covetousness
for a man's life. consisteth not in the abundance
of the things which he possesseth." Another place our Lord said,
kingdom of God or life, eternal life is not in meat and drink,
but is in righteousness and peace and joy of the Holy Ghost. That's what the life is all about. That's what eternal life is all
about. That's what the kingdom is all about. You have any interest
in that? Give you a clue already if you
have this life, that's what you're interested in, those things.
A land wherein dwelleth righteousness. Sound good to you? Few people want to leave this
earth, this earth full of sin and corruption and material things.
Few people want to leave it. Why? They're dead and trespassing
sin. Who wants to leave it? Those
that have this life. Read on. He spake a parable,
verse 16, unto them saying, the ground of a certain rich man
brought forth plentifully. He thought within himself, saying,
what shall I do because I have no room where to bestow my fruit?
He said, this will I do. Notice, I will, I will. I will pull down my barns and
build greater, and there will I bestow all my fruits and my
goods. You know, man doesn't own anything. We don't own anything. The earth is Lord's and the fullness
thereof. I will say, he said, to my soul,
soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine
ease. Eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, thou fool,
this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall
those things be which thou hast provided? So is he, for that
is a fool, that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich
toward God." Rich in faith. What is life? What is life? Go back to the text. The life
spoken of here is spiritual life in Christ, in God. Eternal life. Eternal certainly means it lasts
forever. But it means much more than that.
It's the quality of it. As I said, if something dies,
then if that thing is your life, your life dies with it. But if
Christ is your life, you can never lose that life. In fact,
it gets better, better. This life, eternal life is hid,
your life is hid with Christ in God. These things are hidden
from the wise and prudent, revealed unto me. There's plant life,
there's animal life, and then there's the spiritual life. I
looked at the forms of life in the dictionary. Didn't mention
spiritual life. Didn't mention it. They don't
believe in it. They don't believe in it. Our
Lord said this. I give unto them. Now this life
is not something that you acquire or you work toward or you can
get. You can't get life. You're given
life. Christ said, I give unto them eternal life. And this life
He gives, He said, they'll never perish. It's eternal. He that
liveth, our Lord said, and believeth on Me. That's who believeth on
Him. If you live. He that liveth and
believeth on the Son hath life. He that liveth and believeth
on me shall never perish. Shall not die. Isn't that what
he said? Do you believe that? That's what
he asked Martha and Mary at Lazarus' tomb. They said, Lord, I know
that my brother shall rise in the resurrection. He said, I am the resurrection. Your brother's
not dead. He that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die." Do you believe that? This is the life. This is true life. The eternal
life. It's from God. 2 Timothy over here. 2 Timothy
chapter 1. I'm going to have you turn to
several scriptures, but you'll be glad you did. 2 Timothy 1
verse 7. You have it? This is what Don
Bell said the Lord used to give him life. These verses. These very verses. He was a false
preacher. A Pentecostal false preacher. And he heard these words preached
and he read them and it just opened his blind eyes and gave
him a new heart. Verse 7, God has not given us
a spirit of fear. What do we fear? Then Hebrews
said, we're all our lifetime subject to fear of death, this
bondage, this fear of death. All men and women and young people
in this life, the thing they fear the most is losing this
life, death. But the Son of God has come to
deliver us from that bondage, that fear of death. In fact,
He gives us A hope where we actually look forward to it. Paul said,
I have a desire to depart and be with the Lord. I'm ready to
go, he said. He said, I die daily. Well, he said in verse 7, he's
given us a spirit of fear and power and of love and of a sound
mind. And be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God, who hath saved us and called us with an holy
calling, not according to our word, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began, but is now made manifest, revealed. by the appearing
of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death and
brought life and immortality to light through the gospel."
Would you like to read that again? Oh, my. This light, the light,
that eternal light is from God, in God, by Christ, in Christ.
And this is not a how-to, and this is not an explanation of
it, but a declaration of it. Him. Our Lord, Nicodemus, was
a religious man, a Pharisee. He knew the scriptures, the letter
of it. He could quote it, but he didn't know God. He knew about
God, he thought. He knew something about the Scripture,
but he didn't know the living and true God. He didn't know
Christ, who is life. He was dead. And he came to Christ
to talk doctrine. And our Lord simply, plainly
just said on the hand, you must be born again. You must be born
again. God must give you life. You'll
know. Then, you'll understand. If you
have it, you have it. Or rather, Him. He that hath
the Son hath life. When Nicodemus came and wanted
to argue or just question or talk to this master, this teacher,
later on, when he saw Christ crucified, later on, when he
saw Him hanging on a tree, this is life. And that bloodshed,
And I believe that's when the Lord saved Nicodemus. After that,
he came begging the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now he's not
just a teacher, not just a rabbi, but he's his life, his Lord,
his Savior, his redemption, his blood atonement, his sin offering,
his substitute, his all. Now he knows. He's been born
again. He that hath the Son hath life.
And it comes by this Word that I'm preaching right now. The
Word of Life, the Gospel. It's preached, it's a mystery.
It's preached somehow, miraculously, the Spirit of God. And we don't
know who and when, but God does. Our Lord told that to Nicodemus.
He said, the Spirit bloweth where it lifteth. Cannot tell the sound
thereof. So is everyone that's born of
the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God takes this very Word,
mysteriously, miraculously, this Word that speaks of Christ, crucify,
and takes this Word, and if somebody's dead, and He, in His time, by
His power, plants it in their heart, because that's out of
the heart of the issue, with the heart man belief, not the
head, not the head, but in the heart, and plants this in the
heart, and that person They believe. They believe. They have life. They have life. New life. Life
of God in man. Spiritual life. Alright? Do I
have it? Do you have it? Has God given
me this life? How could I know? How could I
know? 1 John 5. 1 John 5. I quoted it to you
and I want you to read it with me. As I said 22 times, John
says, we know and you know. Hereby we may know. And I love
this verse. Oh, how I love this verse. Verse
20. We know that the Son of God has come and hath given us an
understanding that we may know Him that is true. And we are
in Him that is true, even in His Son, Jesus Christ. This is
the true God and eternal life. What a book this is. You see how it begins and ends?
That's eternal life. The life, as a matter of fact.
It ends it with the same thing. This is the subject. Life. Alright? Do you want to know if you have
this life? The life of God? The life of pride? In our text,
verse 3, it says in verse 3 of chapter 1, that which we have
seen and heard declare we unto you. This is how it begins. Faith cometh by what? Hearing. This life... I'm speaking things
too wonderful for me. I know they're so, but this word,
this seed is planted in the ear. And one time our Lord said to
His disciples, let these sayings sink down deep in your ears. Got to go from here to here. Faith cometh by hearing. That
which we have seen and heard, declare we unto you." How shall
they hear without a preacher? How shall they preach except
to be seen? We preach the gospel. It says, that which we have seen
and heard, that is Christ and Him crucified. We declare unto
you, we preach unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us. Fellowship. Here's a key word.
to knowing whether or not you have this life. Fellowship. He said, and truly,
our fellowship, or true fellowship, what this is all about, what
this life is, is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. All right? Do I have this? We
just sang it. I hope you meant it. What a fellowship. What a joy tonight. Alright? Fellowship. We just looked at
Philippians. Go back there. Philippians. Paul
speaks of this fellowship. I'd already forgotten this, and
I'm certain you have. Philippians 1. Look at this.
Philippians 1. We're going to look at 1, 2,
and 3. The chapters. Philippians 1, verse 5. He said,
I thank God, verse 5, for your fellowship in the gospel. From
the first day until now, I'm confident that God's got a good
work in you. He's given you life. Why? Because
we have this fellowship. Where? In the gospel. In the gospel. Look at chapter
2, verse 1. If there be any consolation.
Where? In Christ. If there comfort of
love. Who's love? He is. If any fellowship
of the Spirit. Fellowship of the Spirit. He
talks about fellowship of the Gospel, fellowship of the Spirit.
Alright, what does the Spirit of God do? What is His work?
What does the Spirit of God do? He takes the things of Christ
and shows them unto you. Alright, chapter 3, verse 10.
Paul said, Oh that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His sufferings to enter into. the sufferings
of Christ. Fourteen times in the New Testament,
fellowship is spoken of. It speaks of the fellowship of
His Son, the fellowship of the mystery, the fellowship of the
Gospel, the fellowship of the Spirit, the fellowship of His
suffering. Simply put, if you're in Christ,
if you have this life, It's manifested, it's clearly revealed by this
fellowship. The word means communion, common
union, common bond, common love, common longing, common conversation,
common thing. What is it? It ain't a what,
it's who. The Gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. If this life is in you, then you love His Word. You love
His Gospel. You love to hear of Christ. You
love what we're doing right now. This is the fellowship of the
mystery. Because it's a mystery to most.
But God has revealed unto us this mystery. He's made known
unto us this mystery. It's a mystery to most. I sat
as a preacher's kid on the front row and heard You know, message
after message after message after message, and I found no joy in
that. I had no fellowship with everyone
else that was laughing and saying amen. I couldn't wait to get
out. Okay? It was like torture to
me. Until God created mine. Right now, I have this fellowship. Of what? The gospel. If this life is in you, you have
this fellowship, this joy and rejoicing in crying. You rejoice
in crying. You rejoice in hearing crying.
You never get tired of hearing it. It's like, alright, Mindy
and I had a daughter together, okay? We love her. She's our
only begotten, well-beloved daughter. Do we ever tire of talking about
her? Do we ever tire of seeing her? Hearing her voice? Do we?
She's in us, we in her. We love her, don't we? If Christ
is in you and you're in Christ, you love to hear about crying.
You love to talk about crying. Why does religion want other
things? Why does religion talk about other things? Why do they
have to bribe people with other things? They don't have this
life. They don't have this life. They're quickly tired. They want
other things. But God's people know Christ
is all. Christ is all. Christ our life. And if Christ is really all to
you, Christ is all you want to hear. He's all you need. He's all you want. He's all you
long for. Do you have this life? If you don't, one of these days
you're going to get tired of this and you're going to go somewhere
else. But if Christ is in you, you'll never tire. It's a fellowship. It's fellowship. And this word
fellowship, the Lord chose that word, put it in the English language.
English language is the language the gospel is preached more than
any other. More people hear the gospel in
the English language than any other language, right? And the
Lord chose this word fellowship. What a good word that is. Paul
said, oh, that I might win Christ to be found in Him. Like Noah and his family were
found in the ark. I wear this out. That was in
the same ship. I love it. I never get tired
of hearing it. Do you ever get tired of hearing the story of
Noah and his ark? Do you know how many people have heard that
and yet don't know that that's talking about Jesus Christ? Do
you remember the first time that you heard that and you found
out it was Christ? Everybody has said this when
they found out that the Old Testament types speak of Christ. I didn't
know that. It's exciting. Life. It's a savor of life to life
and death to death. Death to death. Those are dead
in trespass and sin or dead religion or dead doctrine, dead works.
Tell me what I can do. But no, those are in Christ.
Tell me what He's done. Talk to me about Him. Show me
Him. Do you have this life? Alright,
fellows in the ship. I want to use that analogy again. Fellows in the ship. I've been
in a ship before with other men. And it quickly became apparent
who wanted to be in that ship and who didn't. Land lovers, they can't take much of it. They
get sick of it, literally. But the fellows in a ship, I
love to read the old stories of sailors and ships, ever since
I was a boy, that's what I read. And I read all I could get my
hands on, I still do. But fellas in the ship, do you
know back in the old days, well, life pretty much revolved around
ships. Ship, everything. Everybody knew
something about ships. Because most settlements and
civilization was where? On the coast, until we went out
exploring the west and so forth. England, Ireland, Scotland, what
is it? Surrounded by water. Ships everywhere. Going here
and there. Solomon, the lion. Ships, ships,
ships. David, ships. They're on the
coast. Ships, all about ships. Everybody knew something about
ships. Everybody at some time was on a ship and knew something
about it. All right? Back then in those
olden days when they were at war, to get men to put in those ships
to fight these battles, you know what they'd do? They would ask
for volunteers, but they wouldn't get very many. So what they had
was press gangs. They had press gangs. They had
these men that would go out under orders of the captain and grab
hold, lay hold of you. You're coming with us. No, I
ain't. Yes, you are. And they'd slap
you in irons, and they would bring you and haul you against
your will and put you in the ship. All right? This is a good illustration.
All right? God saves his people, puts them
in Christ against their will with their full consent. I just
read one of my favorites of this young boy that was pressed The
press gang came and got him, took him away from his home and
his family. He was so distraught, he was so troubled, oh, I don't
want to leave my home and family. They put him in the ship with
all the men and he felt like a fish out of water, so to speak.
They put him in the ship. You know, after a while, he got
to loving it. And he grew up to be Admiral
Horatio Hornblower. That's the story. He was pressed
into, he was laid hold of, he was apprehended, and he was put
in the ship. You're going to war, you're going
to battle, you're with us. The captain has sent us for you.
Isn't that a good picture of salvation? We don't want to end
Christ. I didn't want to end this fellowship.
Thank God. He sent a press guy, a preacher,
and apprehended me. He said, you've been chosen.
You're elect. You're coming with us. And then He gives you love. Oh, thank God I'm in the ship. Like those animals. Did those
animals come of their free will? Did any animal come of its own
power and free will? No. Who brought them? Noah. Noah went out and got them all.
And brought them in the ship. Of God. Are you in Christ? Who of God is made unto us what?
All things. All right? The ship. When men
are in a ship, they live in that ship. They move in that ship. They have their being in that
ship. They can't do anything. They're in the ship. That's a
good illustration. They're protected. by the ship. They're provided for by the ship. Their salvation, if the ship
goes down, they go down. If the ship floats, they float. If the ship reaches the destination,
they do. Their life is the ship. Christ
is our supply. His fellow ship. Fellows in the
ship. The ship. And they tell me, that sailors
love ships more than their wives. You've read some stories. The
old sailors, you know, they would come home on leave or whatever
and go see their wives and children and all that. And after a while,
they couldn't wait to get back on that ship. The ship was their life. That's
a good illustration. Our Lord said, if any man loved
father, mother, husband, wife, son or daughter more than me,
don't have this fellowship. He that forsaketh not all he
hath. Who would you trade for this
fellowship? What would you trade? What would
you give in exchange for this blessed fellowship? Would you
rather win the lottery or win pride? As I said, landlubbers don't
know anything about that. Landlubbers and those that love
this world. That's what our Lord said. He that loveth his life shall
lose it. But if Christ is your light, I know a little bit about that,
don't you? Now, I'm trying to give some comfort to the one
who has just the least bit of that, okay? This desire, this life. Alright, verse 4 says in our
text, 1 John 1 verse 4, I don't know which clock to look at.
That one hadn't moved. I've only been preaching five
minutes. Look at that. First John 1, 4. And he says,
our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.
Christ was with Him in the beginning. I was going to have you read
Proverbs 8. You remember? He says, I was with Him in the
beginning. I was daily His delight. There was an old black preacher
one time preaching this message. Preaching and I think it was,
I forget who the preacher was that walked in the back late. Some preacher came in and sat
down and who was he? I forget. But this black preacher
was preaching and he saw this and he said, man, where was God
before the world was made? The man said, I don't know. He
said, where was God before He made man? I don't know. Where
was God before that? He said, I'll tell you where
He was. He was in His glory. He was in His glory. What were
the Father and Son doing? No material things. Before the
angels? Before creation? Before anything
that was, is? What were they doing? Enjoying
each other. I was daily His delight. Like
one that you love, you don't need much of anything but them.
You love their company, right? Do you love to hear about Christ? Do you love this fellowship with
the believers? Oh, he said in verse 4 of our
text, he said, these things write we unto you that your joy may
be full. These things we write unto you
that your joy may be full. See, we have up and down. Psalm
107, this describes it, doesn't it? Fellows in the ship. We have
ups and downs. We're joyful, we're sad. We're
happy, we're sad. We have peace, we're troubled. Storms and calms. This is life. This is the fellowship that we
have in Christ. Psalm 107 verse 23 says, they
that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters,
Oh, we could preach on this, couldn't we? These see the works
of the Lord. Speaking of Christ, who is the
sea, who is the ship, great waters are His mercy, His grace, His
wonders, His works. These see the works of the Lord,
the Lord Jesus Christ, His wonders in the deep. You've really got
to go through some deep waters to see His great grace, don't
you? He commanded. He's the one that
does this. He sends these storms, the storms of life. He raises
the stormy wind. Don't we sing that song? Every
stormy wind that blows. There is a calm, a sure retreat,
a fellowship. He raises the stormy wind, verse
25, which lifteth up the waves thereof. We think we're going
to perish like the disciples. They run to the Lord. They mount
up to heaven, up, they go down to the depths. The soul is melted
because of trouble. Reel to and fro, stagger like
a drunken man. They're at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the Lord in
their trouble. You see, they all go through
this. Every one of them. Everybody. Everybody in Christ. All His people go through these
deep, dark waters and trials and troubles and tribulations
and storms of life. All of them go through it. Why?
Why? So they'll call on the Lord. And He bringeth them out of their
distresses. Verse 29, He makes the storm a calm. How'd you get through that, the
Lord? He calmed me. I didn't think I'd ever be calmed
again. You ever gone through something and thought, I'm just
so distraught, so upset. It's just the awfulest thing
that could ever happen to you. And you thought at the time,
I'm not going to make it. You make it, the storm calms.
You think I'll never be happy again. He does. Their waves are still. Verse
30, then they are glad because they be quiet. He bringeth them
unto their desired haven. What's that? In Christ. Didn't David say one thing about
desired? The church, you know, where we hear
of Christ, our ship, the fellowship is a haven of rest and a place
where we come, all of us fellows in the ship. Oh, He brings us
to our desired haven. And he will someday. All these
storms will be over. He'll be over and we will be
with him. I was going to have you turn.
Well, turn. John 17 and close it. John 17. John 17. Do you have this life?
Do you have these struggles? Do you have these storms? Do
you have these desires? This fellowship? This joy? Do
you find joy? Him, do you rejoice in the Lord
Jesus Christ? Do you really worship God and
rejoice in Christ and have no confidence in the place? Really? Do you enjoy the gospel? There
was a time when I didn't enjoy the gospel. And honestly, I can
tell you, when God's Spirit helps me, there's nothing I enjoy more. Not always, I'm not lying, I'm
not, you know, putting on a front here. At times I hear messages
and don't get a blessing. Others do. But sometimes I think,
I'm ready to die. Just take me now. You? Oh, that's
life. Didn't have it before. Do you rejoice in the Lord that
your God reigns? Most people don't want Him to
reign. You have this fellowship, this common union Fellow sinners? Feel like the chief of sinners?
Do you? Feel like you don't belong in the kingdom of God? Feel like
you're the worst person in here? Huh? Welcome to the ship. You
know, a lot of the fellows they pressed in were criminals. You
know who they got for those ships? Criminals! And buddy, after they served,
they were free. John 17, this is what our Lord said here. Oh,
where do we stop? Where do we begin? Stop. Stop. Stop. Verse 8, our Lord said,
I have given them words which thou hast given Me. He said,
He gave eternal life to as many as God had given Him. This is
life eternal to know God and the true Christ. I have given
them the Word. Words of life. They believe Me.
They believe Me. Didn't Simon Peter say that?
That's the words of life. I'm not going anywhere. Will
you go away? No, I can't. He has life. Verse 10, O mine, O thine, O
thine, O mine, I am glorified in them. He said in verse 20,
And neither pray I for these alone, for them also which shall
believe on me through their word. That's me. Christ was talking
about me. I believe. Through their Word.
We're listening to John declare Christ unto us. I believe, John.
Look at verse 21, that they all may be one, as Thou, Father,
art in me, and I in Thee. They all may be one in us. The
world, that is, a people out of every tribe, nation, may believe
that Thou hast sent me. The glory which thou gavest me,
I've given them. Brethren, I've beheld His glory.
Have you? A little bit, but I have. As of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and joy. Have you not? Have you seen the
light of the knowledge of the glory of God? Not much, but I've
seen it. That's life. That they may be one, even as
we are one. 23, I in them, Thou in me, that
they may be perfect in one. That the world may know that
Thou has sent me, has loved them as Thou has loved me. Father,
I will that they also whom Thou has given me be with me where
I am." Where is He now? Where was He then? Where is He
now? In His glory. That they may behold
His glory. Is He glorious to you? Is this
gospel glorious to you? Can you say with the songwriter,
with the hymn writer, oh, that will be. When I, by His grace,
I shall look on His face, that will be glory for me. Stand with me. Our Lord, thank You for the Word
of life, that life, the life that was manifested and declared
unto us, true life, the Son of God, God manifest in the flesh,
how we thank You that You've given us an understanding that
we might know Him that is true and we're in Him that is true.
This is the true life. Thank You, Lord, for Your Gospel.
Thank You for this life, giving life to Your people. But, again,
we ask You that if it could please They and be according to Your
will that You would give this life to some who have it not. give you all the honor and glory.
Oh, that they might have this fellowship with you and with
thy son and with us. And that their joy might have
this fullness of joy. In Christ, in His name we pray. Amen.