Go back to Matthew 23 now. Matthew 23. I look out at this little flock and I see people whom I believe are
very Christlike, very humble. Tonight's message is on pride and humility, the need for humility. I start second-guessing myself,
but this is the Lord's Word, and we need it. We all need it. In that hymn, I forgot about
the line, it says, cleanse me from every sin, especially pride. But it says, take all my will,
my passion, self and pride. So let's hope that the Lord uses
this. Verse 1, the Lord spake, then
spake Jesus to the multitude and His disciples. He's speaking
to everyone. All of this applies to everyone,
but especially those who hear it. Most have ears to hear and
don't hear. But this is to His disciples
especially because He says, you have one Father, like the Sermon
on the Mount, remember, that this is the Lord speaking. And
He is the Word which Paul said is as a fire and a hammer and
a sword that pierces and divides and exposes. He's the light that
exposes all error, all darkness, all things that are naked and
open before His eyes. He is the Word incarnate and
He exposes everything and everyone. And those who love the light,
though, He said, come to the light to have their deeds exposed. We want Him to teach us, don't
we? Mindy and I have talked about this before, that while we love
to hear our Lord proclaimed and this is all we want to hear really,
however, we do want Him to tell us what to do. We want instructions,
don't we? Absolutely. And He teaches us.
And here He is talking about humility. Humility, where it's
found. And I need it. Again in here,
it starts up here and on down there. Everyone needs it. But
the Lord summed up after He said all He did here with verses 11
and 12, He that is greatest among you shall be your servant, and
whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, shall be brought
down. Whoever did. He that shall humble himself
shall be exalted, that is, be with Him in glory, be seated
with Him in heaven at His right hand. That's where I want to
be. He says, whoever humbles himself
will be exalted. So that's how he sums all this
up. The first thing he does is expose
religion and hypocrisy. In verse 5 he says, they do what
they do to be seen of men. Scripture says, the lust of the
eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. And one
man brought out one time how that the lust of the eyes sometimes
is how you want others to see you. You lust for them to see
you in a certain way. Our Lord said in Matthew 6, do
you remember when He said, that you do not your alms to be seen
of men. He says, take great heed. Be careful that what you're doing
is not to be seen of men. That's what hypocrites do. Verses
2 and 3, they talk. There are a lot of talks. Scribes and Pharisees sit in
Moses' seat. Oh, whatever they bid you observe,
that observe and do. But do not after their works,
for they say. And do not. They say. They say. You hear people quote them all
the time, don't you? They say. They say. They're sayers. Well, and they're
proud of their rules and proud of ruling over people. Verse
4, they bind heavy burdens, grievous to be borne, lay on men's shoulders,
but they won't move one of them with their fingers. Heavy burdens. I immediately thought of what
our Lord said in Matthew 11. He said, Come to me, all you
that labor and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest. He says,
take my yoke upon you. I am meek, lowly, humble in heart. You'll find rest for your soul.
My yoke is easy. It's not grievous. My burden
is light. His commandments are not grievous.
But not religion. Religion is grievous. Brother
John prayed and thanked the Lord tonight for this place that we're
here. No heavy burdens laid on anybody,
are they? No rules. No overbearing lords
over you, but just under shepherd to feed the sheep. 6, the pride
of place and position. They loved the uppermost rooms
at feasts and chief seats in the synagogue. Verse 7, the pride
of titles and recognition. They loved to be called rabbi
or reverend or doctor or bishop. I read a book, and I love the
man. He's an old Puritan, but he goes
by the title Archdeacon. Now think about that. Arch is
the highest, like the archangel. Deacon? A deacon serves tables. That's
why Paul set up deacons. Paul is the one who said, look
out men to wait on tables. Arch, deacon, think about that. Men are so foolish. They take
titles, high lofty titles Elihu, when preaching, oh, in the book
of Job, six chapters devoted to his preaching. Young Elihu.
He said, let me not give any flattering titles. If I do, he
said, my maker will take me away. Reverend, holy and reverend is
his name. His name. Doctor. He's the great
physician. Cardinal. He said in verse 8,
don't be called Rabbi, one is your master. Oh, aren't you glad? He's our master. Christ, oh,
what a good master He is. You're all brethren. Paul never
called himself anything but Paul. And Peter referred to him as
Brother Paul. Brother Paul, that's what I want
you to call me. That's what I'll call you. Verse
9. He says, call, O man, your father
upon the earth. He means spiritual father, that
is, papa. You know what the word pope is,
don't you? Papa, father, holy father. Men don't care what God's Word
says, do they? They don't care. Christ, the
Son of God said, don't call anybody Holy Father. You've got one Holy
Father. That's why the old writers thought
of Catholicism as the leading anti-Christ religion. And I agree
with them. I agree with them. One is your
Master, even Christ. Verse 10, he would be called
Master. One is your Master Christ. Now
verse 11 and 12, He that is greatest among you shall be your servant.
Christ before this, He already dealt with this, didn't He? The
disciples were arguing about who is greatest. And the Lord
said, I am as one among you, the servant. Remember when He
was washing feet? I didn't come to be ministered
unto, but to minister. So you do likewise. And then
verse 12, here's where we're going to stop. Whosoever shall
exalt himself shall be abased. Whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be amazed." I memorized this verse in Isaiah,
a young believer, because it impressed me so. Isaiah 23 says,
The Lord of hosts has purposed it. Whatever God purposes is
going to happen. The Lord of hosts has purposed
it. To stain the pride of all glory, any and all glory. Whoever glories in whatever they
glory in, God's going to bring them down. And to bring into
contempt all the honorables of the earth. Bring it into contempt. That which is highly esteemed
among men is what? An abomination to God. And he
says in Isaiah 2, he says, enter into the rock. Talking about
his people. Hide in the dust. for fear of
the Lord, for the glory of His majesty. The lofty looks of man
shall be humbled. The haughtiness of men shall
be bowed down. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day." The loftiness of man will be bowed down. The haughtiness
of men will be made low. The Lord alone shall be exalted
in that day. He said it twice. So, He said,
everyone that exalteth them. Everyone. Whosoever shall exalt
himself shall be a base brought down." No matter how high they
are, they're coming down. Every mountain shall be brought
down. You know, this is so vital that
if we don't deal with this, if we don't fight against pride,
it will kill us. It will damn us, or if we're
God's people, at least it will shame us and bring reproach upon
our Lord. It's so necessary because it's
so prevalent in our pride. Now, I listened to a man ten
years younger than me preach this today, and it was wonderful.
It was wonderful. It was you when you were fifty
years old. But it was just wonderful. And I thought, oh, I need this,
we need this. Because pride is so prevalent,
it's so natural, it's our nature. Pride are like weeds that grow. Weeds, you think you have them
eradicated, don't you? And they pop up the next year
more than ever. And they're impossible to eradicate
and so is pride. And pride takes thousands of
forms. This is exactly how you started
your message. Pride takes thousands of forms
and deceptions that cannot always be identified. It's in everyone. It's everywhere. Old, young,
male, female, ignorant, educated. It's in the world. It's in the
church. It's in the pulpit. It's in the pew. Pride. And if
we go over our lives and search our hearts, that song we just
sang, Search Me, O God, oh, we'll find lots of pride. In many ways,
we need to humble ourselves before God. Proverbs 6, go over there. This is how necessary it is that
we deal with this because Proverbs 6 says there are six things the
Lord hates. Seven are an abomination to Him.
Utterly detestable to God. You know what the first thing
is? The first thing that God hates, the worst thing that He
hates, He doesn't, before any horrible, unthinkable, wicked,
immoral acts, He says the first thing, look at it, verse 16,
these six things that the Lord hates, Yes, seven are an abomination
to him. Number one, a proud look. Martin says, haughty eyes. Look at me. I'm something. Most
hateful. He doesn't mention murder. He
doesn't mention robbery. He doesn't mention child abuse.
He says the first thing. Why is that? Because what do
we have that we have not received? Jeremiah said it, let not the
wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the strong man in his
strength, the beautiful person in their beauty, let not anyone
glory in anything because what do we have we have not received? And there are many forms of pride,
pride of race, Pride of grace, pride of face,
pride of place, and the worst thing of all, pride of grace. That's terrible, isn't it? You
know, the next chapter in Matthew, go back to our text, the next
chapter is 24, where the Lord deals with the end times, doesn't
He? How significant. Right before
he deals with the end times, he warns us of pride. And this
is what Paul said will be in the last days. He wrote Timothy. He said, This know that in the
last days perilous times shall come. And then he describes those
times, the very last of the last days. He describes those times
by saying that men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous,
boasters, proud, heady, high-minded. Pride is the principal thing
there. Pride is the most prevalent sin
in all of those things He said in the last day. What is it that
describes I generate this day more than anything else. Pride
in it. Self. Why is everybody taking
selfies? Ever thought about that? It's
not really funny. Not at all. Isn't that indicative
of the times we're in? Look at me. Surely everybody
wants to see me. Lovers of self. Lovers of sin. Last days. That's the most descriptive
thing of the last days. Pride. Boasters. Big talkers. Everybody's boasting about putting
on their harness. Who will never have one on, ever. You know that verse. Kelly knows
it. Some of you know it. Let not him boast that putteth
on his armor like him that taketh it off. Don't brag, don't boast. The
first sin in the universe was what? The first sin committed
by any creature was Lucifer. I will ascend. And it all started
with that. Adam and Eve, what brought this
planet down. Adam and Eve will be like God's
pride. Right. It's the root, the source
of all evil, all our troubles, all our troubles, all our pain,
all our pride. And humility, our true humility,
which we lack so much, will bring us happiness for us and others. Listen to this. Listen. Stay
with me, okay? We need this. If you don't think
you do, you need it worse than anybody in here. Pride goes by
many names and has many faces. Haughtiness. Haughtiness. Haughty. The look. Stars. Athletes. Models. Haughty. It's ugly. The ugliest thing. There he is. Arrogance. Arrogance. Impotence. Attitude. That's a famous, that's
a popular word today among young people especially. Attitude.
God hates attitude, hates it. Rudeness, contempt, cynicism,
pride's many aliases. They call it self-esteem. It's
just pride. Self-expression, pride. Self-confidence, pride. Self-appreciation. Pride. Pride. A proud man or a woman
is a miserable person and everyone around them is too. A proud man
or a woman is always critical of others, always critical of
others, always suspicious of others. A proud man or a woman
is always right and everybody else is wrong. If only other people could be
like me, the proud person said. when everything we have is given
to us. And ironically, pride is found in people that do very
little and have done nothing. The promise is, everyone that
exalteth him or herself shall be abased. Proverbs 16 says this. Go there. Proverbs 16. And we're
going to look at humility in just a minute. Proverbs 16, verse
5. This is written so much, so much,
because it's so prevalent, because it's so natural to us, and it's
a battle we will fight all our days by God's grace. Verse 5,
Proverbs 16, 5. Everyone that is proud in heart
is an abomination to the Lord, an abomination. Does God love
everybody? All these people that everyone
loves and esteems so highly, God says they're an abomination. And look down at verse 18. Pride goeth before destruction.
A haughty spirit before a fall. He said it's better to be of
a humble spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with
the proud, because they're coming down. Better to be down, way
down, because then you'll be lifted up. Because the higher
you are, the greater the fall. Humility. All right. Let's look
at humility. And as I said, I see much in
here, but we need more. My, my. What is it? What is humility? Where is it found? Well, like
pride. Pride is natural. And humility,
the Lord's got to give you a new nature. Got to give you a new
nature. You must be born again. That's
why the Lord said, you must be born again. You can't foster, you can't drum
up humility. You can't make yourself humble. Only if God gives you a new nature.
And it's got to come from the heart. It can't be faked. Forced
humility is pride. We used to be around a fellow,
didn't we, that when I was young, I was impressed with him. But
the older I got, the more disgusted I was with him. He
was so humble. Fake humility. Cannot fake it. It's not a show. Paul said that
one time. They have a show of humility.
Remember that? Will worship. All right, here
it is. Here's several things on humility.
What true humility is. True humility has low thoughts
of self and high thoughts of others. True humility has low
thoughts of yourself. That's humility. Even our Lord
said, I am meek and lowly. He said, take
this yoke on you and learn of Me. I am meek and lowly. You
will find rest for your soul. Meek and lowly. Lowly. If you
are lowly, nothing anyone can do or say can disturb you, can
bother you, can offend you, can trouble you if you are real low.
If you are too high, boy, you can take shots at you. Paul said,
in my flesh. And he meant this. In my flesh,
brother. No good time. And so he endured
all manner of insults. Yes, he did. You remember that
story when he was at Antioch? Not Antioch, but at Jerusalem,
where they had beaten him to a pulp. And his eyes were shut,
closed. He was bleeding all over. They
tried to kill him. And he was rescued by the centurion. And they were trying to pull
him out of the crowd. And he said, Hold, hold, hold.
He said, I want to talk to these people. Remember that? Paul said,
Wait a minute, wait a minute. I want to talk to them. He said,
Okay, speak. And he stood on those steps with
his eyes closed after the very people were beating on him. He
said, Men and women. Why? How could he do that? Because
he really did esteem himself less than the least not fit to
be called a disciple. He said, I was injurious, a persecutor,
a blasphemer. I don't deserve. He said, I'm
the chief of sinners. He wasn't just saying that. He
meant it. That's why he could take it.
He could take it. So if we're easily offended,
we don't really believe we're the chief of sinners. Job said, ìI know myself.î He
said, ìBehold, I am vile.î After the Lord brought him down, you
know what all it took to bring his pride down? It took a lot,
didnít it? John said, ìI must decrease.î
The Lord said, ìThereís never been a greater man born of woman
than John.î John said, ìI am nothing.î Where does that leave
me? Philippians 2. Go over there.
Philippians 2. Verse 2 says this. Philippians
2. Go over there. It says, Fulfill ye my joy. If there are any bowels and mercies.
Fulfill ye my joy that you be like mine, that having the same
love, of one accord, of one mind, that is, all think the same thoughts
about yourself, low thoughts. Let nothing be done through strife
or vainglory. That comes from pride. But in
lowliness of mind, you see that? Humility. Let each esteem other
better than themselves. Look not every man on his own
thing, but every man also on things of others. And hold that,
we're going to end this whole message with this chapter. Hold
that, brother. But you know humility and love
go together, don't they? Humility and love go together,
like pride and hate go together. Pride is more interested in self. Pride is more interested in self.
A proud man wants to talk about himself, not listen to you, but
talk about himself. A proud man or woman is not interested
in you, not interested in yours, only self. They won't ask you
about you, just waiting so they can hear about themselves. But
love now vaunteth not itself, talketh not about itself. You remember this dying to self? There are very few articles that
I have made copies of and put them, many of them, one article
for everybody to read. This is one of them. I put it
in front of my Bible. This is one of the best things
I've ever read. It's worthy to be read over and over and over
again. It goes right along with it. Things like this. Listen
to this. This is fantastic. We can learn
something about this. Our Lord said, if any man will
follow me, come after me, here's what you're going to have to
do. What's the first step? Somebody
tell him. Deny himself. Isn't that what
the Lord did? He gave Himself. He denied everything. He who was rich. He left everything
to come down here. Unspeakable came down here. Denied
Himself of all that He was due. Why? To give Himself. To who? Dying to self, when you're forgotten
or neglected or purposely said it not, and you don't hurt with
the insult, that's dying to self. When you're good as evil spoken
of, when your wishes are crossed, your opinions are ridiculed, you refuse to let anger rise
in your heart, you take it, you don't defend yourself, you take
it with patience, that's dying to self. Isn't that what the
Lord did? And everything they said about
Him was a lie. When you are content with anything, any food, any
raiment, any climate, any society, any solitude, any interruption
by the will of God, that's dying to sit. When you never care to
refer to yourself in conversation, never want commendation, When
you really do want to be unknown, that's dying to sell. When you
can see your brother prosper, have his or her needs met, and
rejoice with them in spirit, and feel no envy, or don't question
God because your needs are greater, that's dying to sell. When you
can receive correction and reproof, humbly submit inwardly as well
as outwardly, no rebellion, no resentment rising, that's dying to sell. Look on things of others. My, my. Humility has low thoughts of
self and high thoughts of others. Humility confesses our sins to
God. Confesses our sins to God, like
the prodigal when he came home. Here is a true repentant sinner. He was in the hog pen. That's where the Lord found every
one of us in the dung heap. And if you ever rise above that,
if you ever forget that's where you were, that's
the ugliest thing there is. That's the worst thing of all,
for a sinner to be brought out of the hog pen and to ever, ever
in his lifetime be lifted up with any pride. But here's what
the prodigal son, when he came crawling home, hoping, just hoping
and praying that he'd be received, wasn't worthy. If he had been
rejected, he thought, that's what I deserve. But he said,
Father, I have sinned against heaven, and I say, I'm not worthy,
I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy of the least. Isn't that what
Jacob said? I'm not worthy of the least of
thy favors. All the mercies you've shown
me, I'm not worthy. And buddy, when his father, I
showed him great grace. He was the most grateful man
on earth. What if that prodigal ever got
lifted up with pride? That's the worst sin of all.
You see, that's why the Lord hates it. We confess our sins
to God. We confess our faults to others.
True humility. True humility. acknowledges what
it is. I'm nothing. I'm nothing. James
said this, and even Peter said this, humble yourselves. How
can you humble yourself? Humble yourself in the sight
of the Lord. Well, I'm going to get to that
in just a minute. But, you know, the Lord hides
our sins and covers our sins. But if we ever get lifted up
with pride, He's going to expose us. And
that's what we deserve. That's what we deserve. He's
going to expose us. He knows us better than anybody.
So the thing to do, if you want your sins to be covered, is to
confess them to Him, forsake them, and don't ever bring anybody
else's up. Don't ever bring anybody else
to sin. Didn't the Lord say, if you forgive others, I'll forgive
you. If you don't, if you don't cover
their sins, I'll uncover yours. Come on. True humility. True humility is willing to be
rebuked. Proverbs 9. Go over there. Proverbs
chapter 9. Go over there real quickly. True humility is willing to be
rebuked and smitten. Proverbs 9. This is a wonderful
chapter. All of them are. Brother Marvin,
they're going through Proverbs right now. I said, Marvin, this
is going to take you ten years. Every verse deserves a message.
Proverbs 9, 8 says, Give instruction to a wise man, he'll be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he'll increase
in learning. Verse 7 says, He that reproveth
a scorner gets shame. My, my. That's not the one. David was one that said, Let
the righteous smite me. Smite me. It'll be a blessing. It won't break my head. It won't
break my head. I need it. Even true humility
is thankful for chastisement. You know whom the Lord loveth?
The chastened. The chastened. And this is how
He does it with His Word. Like this, we're receiving tonight.
True humility ascribes all it has and all it is to the grace
of God. Don't misspoke this scripture,
okay? Brother Don Bell corrected me
one time. We often say, I am what I am
by the grace of God. Oh no, don't begin with I am. It's by the grace of God I am
what I am. He says I am. By the grace of
God, Paul said, I am what I am. That's how it's written. By the
grace of God, I am what I am. It all begins with grace. Let's
quote it right. It begins and ends with grace.
When Zerubbabel lays a topstone on that temple, what's the cry
going to be? Grace. This whole thing is grace.
Saved you, elected you by grace. called you by His grace, bought
you with the precious blood of Christ, redeeming blood of Christ. That's a gift of God. Repentance
is a gift of God. Restraining grace, keeping grace,
bringing grace, constraining grace, it's all grace. And when
the capstone is laid to this thing of salvation, grace, everybody
is going to cry grace unto it. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. Know what I know. Have what I
have. So true humility ascribes all to the great... How can anybody
be proud of what's borrowed? Did you owe any money on your
house? Did anybody owe any money on
their house? How could you be proud of that
you don't even own? You're renting it. Car. Oh my. We got so much pride. He said, that my house is paid
for. Hold on now. Who paid for that house? Who
paid for that? Every dime you have received
all your life came from your Lord. Every dime. Everything we have, we've received.
By the grace of God, I am what I am, have what I have, know
what I know. How could we ever look down on
anyone else, be lifted up with pride? Pride is critical. Humility is compassionate. Pride says, well, you look at
that. What's wrong with them? Humility says, poor fellow, that's
me. I'm no better. Humility. It's beautiful. Pride is ugly. Pride is ugly. Beware of it in yourself. Beware
of it in others. Humility is grateful. If there's
no humility, there's no gratitude. Say this over and over again,
don't you? This gospel doesn't mean a thing
if someone is not grateful to God for everything. It doesn't mean a thing. If there's
no humility, there's no gratitude. No humility, the message won't
touch you. It won't touch you. It won't
touch you. I've heard all that before. The Lord may say, and I've heard
you for the last time. My, my. We're going to meet together
and we're going to talk about how the Lord came from heaven
to save a bunch of worms. Oh, my. We don't deserve to hear
it. We don't deserve to hear it.
Humility. Humility esteems all its own
righteousness as filthy rags. Anything never done, no good. Humility rejoices in others,
their successes, their gifts. Humility and love, as we say,
go together. Humility is forgiving, forbearing,
forgetting. Humility forgets because humility
wants its sins forgotten, as we say it. We bring them up. The Lord may bring up ours. Where
is humility found? Where is it found? of the Lord like everything else,
by the grace of God, by the grace of God from His Word, hearing
and seeing His holiness. You brought these things out.
Only when we see God's holiness, the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Only when we see His absolute
holiness will it humble us. When we see God's in heaven,
we're on the earth. We're nothing. Will our words
be fear? Only them. Job, you remember, said, I've
heard of you. Now I see you. Oh, I hate myself. He said, I'm
going to put my hand over my mouth. In whose sight? Humble yourselves in the sight.
We lose sight of who is beholding us when we get lifted up in pride. Humility has a true sense of
sin. When we get a true sense of sin, In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. Only then will we be humble. A sight of Christ will make us
humble. A sight of Christ crucified.
Ask Him. Our Lord said, Ask and you will
receive. James said that. Then he said, Humble yourselves
in the sight of the Lord. Ask. If any man lack wisdom,
this wisdom of humility, Ask. Ask. Lord, make me humble. Do
we pray that very often? It's our greatest need. Lord,
humble me. Humbleman. Ask, seek in His sight. Observing our Lord Jesus Christ.
And Philippians 2, I said we would end with that, and we will.
Philippians 2. Observing our Lord Jesus Christ ought to make
us humble. Ought to. His love, His kindness,
His compassion, His understanding. He understands our frame, doesn't
He? He's so merciful. He understands
our frame. He dwells with us according to
knowledge. like a husband ought to with
his wife. Never irritated, never upset, never ridiculed, never
short with, never... That's the Lord. He understands
us. Oh, give us understanding. We
ought to understand each other, shouldn't we? If we understand
anything of ourselves, We ought to understand each other. So
we ought to be very kind, very kind. If we're not, the Lord's
going to bring us down, bring us down. Philippians 2 and verse
4 says, Look not every man of his
own things, but every man of the things of others. Let this
mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant,
made in the likeness of men, the lowest, found in fashion
as a man, humbled himself, became obedient unto death, not for
good or righteous, but for sin, even the death of the cross.
So God is highly exalted in him. He that humbleth himself, the
Lord promised, shall be exalted. And our Lord did just that. And
so God exalted him, gave him a name above every name. So He says things like this, Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven
you. Followers of God, as dear children, walk in love as Christ
loved us and gave Himself an offering to God, the sweet-smelling
Savior. Because He that exalteth Himself
in any way, shape, form or fashion, God's going to bring them down.
He knows how. And if it's a believer, It's
a painful lesson. But he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. Stand with me. Our Lord, we do pray and we do
ask that You would indeed Give us humility, the beauty of humility,
the beauty of holiness. This is what humility is. Like
Christ. What did we say? We want to be
like Christ. What did He say? Take my yoke upon you. Learn
of me. I am meek and lowly in heart.
You will find rest in your soul. We have no rest. We have no peace.
We have no joy. We are upset easily because we
are too proud. Too proud. We lift it up. And
things and people offend us, but O Lord, if we're lowly, not
easily offended, not hurt, we receive what we deserve. O Lord,
make us humble people. Make us meek and lowly, submissive
people in subjection to Thee and to one another. Submit ourselves
one to another. Take things patiently like our
Lord. Oh, we deserve anything. This side of hell, Lord, is mercy. We deserve not the least of Your
favors, yet You've been so gracious to us. Lord, let us be gracious.
Make us like the Lord Jesus Christ is our great prayer. When we
preach Christ, we preach humility. When we preach humility, We preach
Christ. O Lord, show us the Lord Jesus
Christ and show us ourselves. In His name we have met here
tonight. Amen.