Any hymn written by a man or
a woman, for that matter, is just that, something written
by a man. The third verse says, "...not
a mite would I withhold." Well, I can't say that I've done that,
have you? But, I want that. to prove my love like that. So,
it's a hymn that aspires to that. Many hymns are like that, praying
to that end and singing to that end. Alright, Matthew 5. I love going through a book of
God's Word verse by verse because I know what I'm going to preach
next. My sermon tonight is not my sermon
at all. It's the Lord's Sermon, often
referred to as the Sermon on the Mount. If he preached this,
then it must be vital, mustn't it? It must be absolutely necessary. Verses 13 and 14, he says, He
is the salt of the earth. But if the salt have lost his
savor, wherewith, for what shall it be salted? What shall it salt? It is henceforth
good for nothing but to be cast out and be trodden underfoot
of men. Ye are the lights of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Now, we've already
seen that He is addressing His disciples. In verse 1, His disciples
came to Him as we do tonight. By hope, we come to Him to be
taught of Him. And He sat down and whoever came
to Him in sincerity, He taught them and they learned from Him.
And He's talking to His disciples because He calls them the salt
of the earth. He says, You're the salt of the
earth. He says, you are the light of the world. And he goes on
to say, you're heavenly father. And God is not every man's father. But he is the father of his adopted
people, his people whom he gave birth to. So he's speaking to
his people and he says, you are the salt of the earth. You are
the light of the world. Now, I know what you're thinking.
Because I think that way too. I sure don't feel like the salt
of the earth. I sure don't feel like the light of the world.
Do you? That convicts me when I read
that. I believe every believer is convicted when they hear that.
How am I? If I am salt, I've lost my savor. Anybody? I bet you everybody
in here feels that way. How do you think Peter and Andrew,
James and John, just three months removed from a fishing boat,
how do you think they felt? Salt of the earth? Light of the
world? Matthew, a publican, how do you
think he felt? Think he felt like the light
of the world? Every believer is convicted by
that. Now, what I want us to see is that though this does
have some application to the believer's character and conduct,
that's not the principal meaning here. Keep it in context, alright?
Look at verse 11 and 12. He just told them that blessed are you when men
shall revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil
against you falsely for my sake, for Christ's sake, for His glory
and honor, for the truth's sake, as it is in Him. Rejoice and
be glad, exceedingly glad, if you are persecuted, maligned,
lied on, For great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted
they the prophets which were before you, ye of the salt of
the earth." See, he said that right after talking about being
persecuted for the truth's sake. And all who preach, all who witness,
all who believe and tell others the truth will be hated and maligned
and persecuted for the truth's sake. And our Lord was sending
His disciples out into a corrupt world. And He says, you're the
salt. You're the salt of the earth. He's sending them into a world
in darkness. And He says, you're the light.
Why? Because you have the gospel.
He's talking about the gospel. He's talking about Himself here.
Christ is the salt here. We're going to see that in a
minute. If this is only talking about character and conduct,
and it is, but not principally, I fall way short. I fall way
short. You know Hebrews 11 that speaks
of the saints in the Old Testament and says that the world was not
worthy of them? You know that. Do you think Rahab
thought of herself? as being better than anybody
in this world. Do you think Jacob applied that
to himself? The world is not worthy of me.
Oh my, no, no, no. Nowhere in God's Word does it
say examine yourself to see if you've got the evidences. Examine yourself to see if you
stack up. It says examine yourself to see
if you be of the faith. of the faith. Let your speech be always with
grace, seasoned with salt. Do you remember that? That wasn't
too long ago. And then we looked at the light in Genesis 1. God
said, let there be light. Did you preach that Sunday? No.
We looked at Matthew 4 where He said, the people that sat
in darkness have seen a great light. Light has shone. What
is this salt and light? Well, Leviticus chapter 2, look
at that. And it's mentioned many times
in Scripture, many times. Our Lord quoted this verse. Verse
13, Leviticus 2, 13. Our Lord, and let me remind you
about Leviticus. Leviticus, every word in it is
the actual word of God Almighty. From the very first verse on,
it's God speaking. And here are his divine orders,
verse 13. Every oblation, or that is, sacrifice
of thy meat offering, shalt thou season with salt, neither shalt
thou suffer or be without the salt of the covenant of thy God,
to be lacking from thy meat offering. With all thine offerings thou
shalt offer salt." Do you remember that? Salt, salt, salt. And our Lord quoted that in Mark
chapter 9. Now, it says the salt of the
covenant. And with the exception of the
mention of Lot's wife being turned into salt, this is the first
mention of salt. What is the salt of the covenant?
Well, what covenant are we under? What covenant are we under? Grace. Now remember, if I ask you a
question, one word will suffice. One of two words. The covenant
of grace. Covenant of grace. That's the
covenant that we are under. How are we saved? How is anybody
saved? How has anybody ever been Saved by grace. By grace, you
say. By Christ. Saved by the grace
of God that's in Christ. You read that in Psalm 85, didn't
you? Mercy and truth are met together.
Righteousness and peace have kissed one another. That's Christ.
That's Christ. They're met together in Him.
Grace and truth came by the Lord Jesus Christ. We're saved by
grace. What does every sacrifice Every
type, every shadow in God's Word speak of Christ. Christ is all. Everything speaks
of Christ. Everything concerning salt speaks
of Christ. Grace. Okay? Listen to a few
things about salt. A few things about salt. Now,
salt is a God-made, God-given substance, is it not? Nothing
turns into salt. Salt is salt. God, in the beginning, when He
made everything, said, let there be salt, like He did let there
be fish and so forth. Alright? Salt is God-given. Salt is the gift of God, a necessary
thing. Necessary thing. is the gift
of God, isn't it? An unspeakable gift. Salt preserves
flesh. Flesh that without this salt
would be corrupt and filthy and stinking, wouldn't it? Our Lord
Jesus Christ is the salt of His people. It preserves us. It makes
us holy, unblameable, and unreprovable in God's sight. It gives life. Salt is savory. Salt is a savory
substance. Everything you put salt on is
made more flavorful. Once you get a taste for it,
and here's something about salt too, you're not born loving salt. It's really an acquired taste,
salt. You give a little child a pinch
of salt and they won't like it with it. Give them a teaspoon
of sugar, And they'll want more of it. And they'll be addicted
to it the rest of their lives. Some of you older folks used
to suck on what's called sugar teats, didn't you? I'm talking
to somebody really old. They'd fill a little thing full
of sugar and let a child suck on it. Anybody? I've heard of
that. I didn't make that up. But the
fact is, naturally speaking, we don't like salt. You'll like
salt. You'll like sugar. Syrup is a
sweet thing. Salt is a kind of repulsive,
biting nature. And the truth is repulsive to
us by nature. It's an acquired, or rather a
given taste. And the more you have it, the
more you want it. I remember a time when I didn't
use any salt. And then I began to use salt.
And it began to use too much salt. Until my doctor said, quit
using so much salt. Your blood pressure is going
up. But everything is better with salt, isn't it? And oh my,
what can we say about God's Word, how that once you see Christ
in it, it opens up everything to you. It's a sweet smelling
savor of Christ throughout the Word. Salt is a particular and
definite taste, isn't it? There's no mistaking salt for
sugar. No mistaking salt for pepper.
It's salt. It has its own distinct and particular
flavor. And there's no mistaking it.
Well, the gospel of God's sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ
has a particular and distinct sound to it that once you ever
taste it and hear it, it's very plain to you. Very plain. And
you can't go without it. You can't do without it. The
grace of Christ is no mistake in it. It's sure not this sugary,
sweet, syrupy stuff you hear today in the gospel. But the Lord says here, you're
the salt of the earth, doesn't it? All that applies to our Lord
Jesus Christ and His truth, but it says you're the salt of the
earth, doesn't it? Well, 1 John says, As he is, so are we in
this world. As he is, so are his people in
this world. Ye are the salt. Now, he's sure
not talking about us having any preserving influence on anybody.
Have you known anybody that you've been around that you have influenced
in any way in a really good way? Anybody? Can anybody say that? Can you? He's not talking about
that. Certainly not talking about that.
Do you know anybody who has observed you and started believing on
the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, he's sure not talking about
that. Not at all. You would look at some of the
saints in the Old Testament like Lot, and you'd wonder if he was a
believer. But he was. The Lord called him a righteous
man. David, at times, you'd look at him. David didn't see any
light in himself. All he saw was his sin ever before
him. But he's not talking about that,
principally speaking. But every believer, every saint,
the Church of God, is salt and light as we set forth the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ, as we lift up the Lord Jesus Christ,
as we speak of Him who is the preserving influence, Him who
is the light, as we speak of Him in this corrupt world. We are like salt in that we are
born of God. This is not born of the blood
or the will of the flesh or the will of man, but born of God.
Take no credit whatsoever for what we are or what we know or
what we do or whatever, by grace. And if somebody asks us, that's
all we can tell them. By the grace of God, I am what
I am. I'm a nothing, I'm a nobody. Salt is common, isn't it? Salt is really just a common
old substance. It's common everywhere. And we
would say that about ourselves, but God. God's people are born
of God, and they're peculiar. They're peculiar even to ourselves.
God's people are a paradox. And we don't rightly understand
ourselves, because we're two creatures, two natures in one. An old man that's corrupt through
and through, and a new man that's incorruptible and undefiled.
An old man that's mean as a snake that hasn't changed a bit, and
a new man that's kind and peculiar people. Peter said, you are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,
strange. Strange to the world. Strange
to themselves. They have strange doctrine. They have strange God. Peculiar
people. Preserving influence, like salt. As we declare the gospel, which
is the power of God and the salvation to all who come, all who hear,
all whom we speak to, if God is pleased to bring that person
to come and hear the gospel, That gospel will save their souls. Not us. We don't win anybody
to the Lord. We don't bring anybody to the
Lord in that sense. But we bring them to the gospel,
to hear the gospel, hoping and praying that the Lord Himself
will bring them to Himself. But in that sense, we are like
salt. And salt has a preserving influence
equality, God blesses whole nations for the gospel sake, for his
people's sake. He blessed Israel because they were his chosen
people. And he said, I gave Ethiopia and Egypt for you. I saved you but destroyed a nation
for your sake. And I have known cities that
have prospered and been blessed at times of great economic depression or whatever. But God's people there, church
there, and God blessed that place because His people were there.
I think of this little town, really, M.W. or Plagiam. Our men have worked there, haven't
they, for some time, even some of our ladies. Even in a down,
depressed economy when construction goes down to nothing, they keep
right on working. The church in Ashland, back when
all the steel mills were closing, Bethlehem Steel, all those great
big steel mills, Armco Steel in Ashland, Kentucky, employed
thousands of people. And we had, do you remember Tammy? There were dozens of people that
worked at Armco. None of them lost a job. That steel mill kept
right on. Why? Lucky? No. That salt, God preserved
that town because His people were there. Sodom did not our
Lord say, if I can find ten, I won't destroy that place. Didn't
it? I can find ten righteous people.
Now, this town is no different than Sodom. Is it? This town is no better than Sodom.
It has the same element in it that was in Sodom. It's just
hidden. It hasn't come out yet. It's
coming out, though, isn't it? It's coming out for all to see
what it is. And God ought to destroy this
place. He ought to destroy us. That's the reason we began. We
had nothing to do with being salt. Salt doesn't turn us. You
don't turn into salt. You're made salt by God. But God said, if I find ten righteous,
I won't destroy that city. If I can find ten righteous in
Rocky Mountain, Virginia, I won't destroy it. Well, bless God.
What's it mean to be righteous? What does it mean to be righteous?
I could ask every person in here, every believer in here, and tell
you without hesitation that to be righteous is to be found in
the Lord Jesus Christ. What did Brother Gary preach
on Sunday morning? Psalm 71. I'll speak of thy righteousness
and thine only. Thine only. All our righteousnesses
are filthy rags. But I'll make mention of thy
righteousness and thine only. God saves a whole nation and
a whole city for his people's sake. That's right. That's right. That's right. Ain't that right?
Gary says that, doesn't he? Dad says that. That's right.
Salt, as we say, is a definite, unmistakable thing. The faith of God's elect is unmistakable. When you talk to God's people,
you're the salt of the earth. When you talk to one of God's
people, it won't take you long to find out what they've done.
And you'll find out right away that it's peculiarly different
than everybody else. God's people do not talk about
themselves, about their church, about their works. Do they? Not one of them. They won't bring
it up. What do they talk about? The
Lord Jesus Christ. They give Him all the glory.
God's glory. Don't they? Absolutely. It won't take you
long when you talk to one of His people. I haven't talked
to Brother Mitch O'Pym on the phone very long because I found
out this is my kin. This is family. This is my brother.
He talks just like His speech is seasoned with grace, seasoned
with salt. Christ is the conversation of
His lips and His life. How much grace do you hear from
the mouths of this world, people of this world? Huh? Not much. What you hear mostly
is, and our Lord said their throats are like open sepulchers, aren't
they? Graves. And he said, their mouths
are full of cursing and bitterness. Not God's people. Sad to say,
we do have some of that, but not generally speaking. Our Lord didn't say you ought
to be the salt, although we ought to be. He said you are. You are
the salt. How much salt when speaking of
God's Sovereign grace, speaking of Christ, His glory, His work,
His person. How much of that do you hear
in religion today? And salt has this in it. You put salt on a wound and it
will sting. It has a bite to it. As we said, it's not sugary sweet,
sickeningly so. And that's religion today in
it. Go over to Mark chapter 9. Mark chapter 9. The truth is
not pleasant to the natural man, not palatable to the natural
man, and it stings. It's sharp when you hear it. When you first hear it, the truth
is sharp like salt. Mmm, ooh, that's salty. You ever
taste something and one time somebody Mom or Mindy one fixed
something they thought they put sugar in it, and they put salt
in it. Anybody ever done that? Sure you have. And took a big
old bite of it. Oh, man, salt! And that's the truth. When somebody
hears the truth, and in no uncertain terms, truth is not uncertain,
but certain. Oh, man, what are you saying?
You say God chose a select of the people? Hmm? Sure are. Look at Mark 9, verse
49. Verse 49. Everyone shall be salted
with fire. We looked at this not too long
ago. Everyone shall be salted with fire. What's that? God's
Word. He said, My Word is a fire. A fire. And everybody, everybody
is going to hear God's Word, going to hear what it says. Everybody. And God's holiness is fire. He said, Hebrews 10, and most
people have never heard these verses. Hebrews 10, 29, our God
is a consuming fire. How many people have heard that
verse? How many preachers are standing up and saying that to
our generation? Every troop preacher is. But
I venture to say, very few false preachers have ever quoted that. God's holiness. God is a consuming
fire. Outside of Christ, God is wrath
and judgment. Everyone will be salted with
fire. Both here and in the judgment. The gospel is fire. Remember
that? The gospel is fire. Christ said,
I'm come to kindle a fire on the earth. He said, I'm come
to bring fire on the earth. How many people have heard that?
He said, do you think I've come to bring peace on the earth?
I said, nay, rather a sword. What's that mean? You know what
that means. You know what it means when Christ
said, I'm come to bring fire, meaning I'm going to burn everything
up. I'm the burning bush. Christ is the burning wood, and
He burns up everything but Himself. All works shall be burned up
but His. That old silly saying, only one
life and soon we'll be past, and only what's done for Jesus
will last, hogwash. Only what's done by Jesus Christ
will last. God will burn up everything but
what Christ has done. We're not saved by our works,
but we're saved by Him. And this salt of fire is what
that is. Look, read on. It says, Every
sacrifice shall be salted with salt. It must be important, mustn't
it? Our Lord brings this up several times. He says, You're the salt
of the earth. This must be vital, it mustn't.
Everyone will be salted. Every sacrifice shall be salted
with salt. If it's a sacrifice, you bring
a sacrifice, it better have salt in it. May I use this illustration
at the risk of being familiar or clever? God loves salt with
all of His meat. Better not serve it without salt. Meaning? If we come before God
with anything, it better be of Christ. It better be speaking
of Christ. Or God won't accept it. Abel. Cain and Abel. Only two religions
in the world. I don't care what name they go
under. Only two religions. One is true and one is false.
One is salvation completely, 100% by Jesus Christ. Completely
by Him. The sovereign grace of God given
to an elect people in Jesus Christ before the world began. The other
is man's will, man's works, man's faith, man's everything. Only
one of them is true and only one will save. This one bites,
doesn't it? This one has a sting to the flesh,
doesn't it? This is an offense to the natural
man. Men like that. That's sweet.
Only one of them is true, and I'll tell you what's true. Christ
said, I'm the truth. I'm the weapon. I'm the weapon. Every sacrifice must be salted
with salt. Whatever you do, the songs you
sing, the prayers you pray, the messages you preach, everything
you do better point to Christ or God won't accept it. And it
will do no one any good. It will be stinking flesh, the
crane rotting flesh if it's not Christ, 100%. Read on. Salt is
good. But if the salt had lost his
saltness, wherewith shall ye season it? Have salt in yourselves,
and have peace one with another." When I read that, and go back
to Matthew 5, that leads us into the next thing he says there.
When he said, have peace one with another, why did he add
that? Well, in a world full of hate, Persecution in the church,
oh my, it's a place we need to find peace and be a peacemaker,
don't we? Blessed are the peacemakers. Though persecuted by the world,
this is a gentle and constant reminder to us that we've been
saved by grace and we need to show it because we've been shown
grace. Alright, Matthew 5, look at verse
13. He says, But if the salt hath
lost his savor, what good is it? It's good for nothing. I guess that's where we got that
old saying that he or she is good for nothing. Most of our
old slogans come from the Bible. He's a good for nothing. Well,
our Lord said that unless you are salt, if you've lost your
savor, you're good for nothing. Now, in context, remember, If
this church, if we as believers, do not continue to preach Christ,
we're good for nothing. We're just another social organization
like the rest of these religious places. Just another poor man's
country club where we're family oriented. This is for family.
We've got a ball team. Dad one time was going to the
bank to do some business. And the fellow there was so religious. And he was going on and on to
him about his church and about what all they were doing and
how this fellow said he had a ball team that he was head of. And
Ed said, what does basketball have to do with worshiping God? What does any of that have to
do with God? Nothing. And it's an abomination
to God. If we do not continue to do one
thing, we're good for nothing. Our Lord said, My house shall
be called a house of prayer. That's what this place is all
about. When you go in God's house, you need to find one thing going
on. Preaching the gospel, worshipping God in spirit and truth. Go to
the YMCA if you want to have fun. If you want to meet friends,
a family organization, go to the YMCA. They have wonderful
programs for the children. If you want your children to
know God, go where God is worshipped. Go where Christ is prayed. Right? That's what we're all about.
And each of us individually, as believers, we're good for
nothing. Unless we serve His cause, for
just one of a billion, three billion people on planet earth,
that God's going to burn it? Unless they somehow give His
Son to deal with it. Now, that's a fact. And he said,
you'll be trodden underfoot. The church, the so-called church
today, religion today is just absolutely a laughing stock to
our generation. They've made a mockery of God,
a mockery. People have absolutely total
contempt for what the Word of God goes, passes off as the Word
of God today. It's hard not to get angry. It's
just trodden underfoot. They cast pearls before swine. And they just trample all over
it. We don't do that. We're not going to do that. God's
people don't do that. Don't tell religious jokes. Don't
talk about God like He's a man. They're different. They're different. So this is
the principle way. and which God's people are different. And if we cease to declare the
truth, we're good for nothing. Good for nothing. Oh, I was going
to have you turn, but we've got to go on. Look at the next thing.
He says, "...Ye are the light of the world. A city that is
set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle
and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth
light unto all that are in the house." He's speaking of the
church. He's speaking of His people as
the light of the world. Now, I do want you to turn to
Isaiah 60. Very quickly, Isaiah 60. You're
the light. Now, is it our light that people
see? When our Lord said, let your
light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify
your Father which is in heaven. Does that mean? Is He saying
it? that when men look at you, they'll glorify God. Huh? No. What is your light? Christ is your light. If you have any light in you,
it's Christ. He's the light that lighteth
every man that cometh into the world. When they came to John,
he said, they said, who are you? He said, I'm not the Christ. I'm not the Christ. And he said,
I'm not that light. Our Lord called him a light.
And he said he bore witness of the light. And as the gospel,
the truth of Christ was in him, it shone forth. He shone forth. Christ shone
forth. Like the moon, our light is reflected light. The moon
has no light in itself. We've already looked at that,
haven't we, how the moon represents the church? The sun is the only
thing that gives light in the universe. Stars don't give light. They reflect light. You have
a light. Now, Isaiah 60 is all about the
church. This is wonderful. I've been
wanting to preach on this for long. Well, arise, shine, for
thy light is come. See that? The glory of the Lord
has risen upon you. You know, God, who caused the
light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts to
give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person
of Christ. It's not us. It's Him. It's Christ
in you. It's the truth as it is in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Read on. Verse 2, Behold, the
darkness shall cover the earth, gross darkness the people, but
the Lord shall arise upon thee, His glory shall be seen upon
thee, God's church, God's people speak
of His glory. And the Gentiles shall come to
thy light. You see that? It's not theirs,
though. It's Him. Kings to the brightness of thy
rising. Read on down here. Go on down
to see verse 14. Go down to verse 14. This is
wonderful. The sons of the afflicted shall
come bending the knee unto thee. Are they going to bow to the
church? No. They're going to come and worship the Lord. Our sons and our daughters, the
Lord is going to reveal Himself to them and they're going to
come and worship the same Lord. And all that despise thee shall
bow themselves down. There are people who hate the
gospel that are going to love it one day. Like you. Such were some of you. Read on. Verse 14. You will be called the city of
the Lord, the Zion of the Holy One of Israel. Verse 18, violence
shall no more be heard in thy land, wasted in thy borders,
but thou shalt call thy walls salvation, and thy gates pray. Read the rest of that in your
free time. And our Lord said back then in
our text that you give light to all the house. All the house. And the church of God can go
in any place where the gospel is preached and see light, see
light all the house. And maybe where, you know, the
word lighthouse is not in the scripture anywhere. I looked
it up, but a lot of places called themselves lighthouses. And I've
said it, that the church is a lighthouse. in a dark world. Maybe that's
where this comes from. But it is. It's a place that is set up in
a darkness in the night to keep people from being shipwrecked.
That's what the church serves at. God's people. Right? A lighthouse in a dark world.
Well, in closing, our Lord said, let your light so shine before
men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father
which is in heaven. Oh, how people love to use that
in reference to themselves. Let your little light shine,
you know. What they really mean is, sound the trumpet. Make your phylacteries broad,
your bumper stickers broad, your t-shirts. Adorn them with all
kinds of sayings so people can see what a good Christian you
are. That is not what the Lord Jesus Christ is talking about.
That's an abomination. That's glorifying yourself. Our Lord, there was a story over
in Matthew 26 of a woman who came to the Lord, a notorious
sinner. A notorious sinner, and she had
this box full of precious ointment, an alabaster box of precious
ointment. That was her life saving. She
was a poor woman, and this was all she had in this world. Perhaps
it was her, you know, dowry or whatever she was going to give
to her or inherited for her children or whatever. It was all she had
in this world. And when she heard, she was a notorious sinner, and
when she heard of the Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of sinners, her
only hope of salvation, she came in where he was sitting, and
it says she just busted that box. Those old boxes were sealed. And she broke that box open.
and that precious, expensive ointment. She took it and poured
all of it. All of it. All of her life savings. All that she had in this world
on the head of the Lord Jesus Christ. She said, I don't need
this, but I need you. She, as it were, laid her hands
on the scapegoat. He was her head, her covenant
head, her only hope, her salvation, her Lord, her Savior, her all
and end all. Her hope of heaven. And she cast
all her care on Him. You know what our Lord said about
her? He said, this woman, has wrought a good work. It's the only time you see it. She's done a good work. Good works have everything to
do with the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything. Everything. And so, in order for men to to
glorify God by seeing something in us. It's got to be concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn't it? It's got to be about Him,
or else we'll get to glory. We'll get to glory. Alright,
stand with me. Be of the salt and be of the
light. Our Lord and our God, we thank
You for Your Word. It is enlightening. salt and its savory. We, you
said, are unto God a sweet savor of Christ and them that are saved
and them that perish. You said that you always cause
us to triumph. When we preach Christ, we always
triumph. Salt will not lose its savor. It will go forth and do what
you send it to do. Lord, let Your people learn something
from this. Let us all learn. Let us all find something we
need in this. Find all we need in Christ. Thank
You for it. Apply it to our hearts and lives,
Lord. We do want to show forth Thy
glory. bear your image, but oh Lord,
may we speak of Thee and Thee only. May men forget the vessel
and look to the great pearl, the great pearl of the treasure.
And this church, Lord, make it a lighthouse in a dark world.
Let the gospel continue to go forth from this place. Bring
in people to hear the gospel, people looking for food and water
the bread of life. Bring them in here hungry and
thirsty and fill them, we pray, for Your glory and Your honor,
not for our sake, but Thy sake, O Lord. Bless the gospel preached
this Lord's Day. Bless it here. Bless Brother
Gabe. Bless the radio program Brother Mahan preaches as we
attempt to preach in a new area. Lord, bless it. Bless the preaching
All over we pray for Thy great name's sake. And it's in Christ's
name we've met here tonight for His glory. Amen.