The book of Ezra, chapter 9. I'll give you a minute to find it.
It's hard to find. Right after 2 Chronicles. Kings 1, 2 Chronicles, Ezra. I don't believe we could hear
a more important message, a more relevant message, a more pertinent
message for our day than this one. It's strange sometimes how messages
come. They always must be from God's
Word or else it's not a message from God. But I have been thinking
about that passage that speaks of Lot being vexed with a conversation
with the wicked. And I've quoted that once or
twice in the past couple of weeks. And that made me look at that
portion in Genesis 19, and if you run references, it will take
you to another passage, and then to another passage, and then
to another one, and I ended up in Israel. And I couldn't get
away from it. And so that's what we're going
to look at tonight. I believe, as I said, this is
so important. I believe we face great danger in this generation,
our children also, and so this is so vital. The story of the
children of Israel is the story of all of God's people. The children
of Israel were God's elect, with at least The nation was and some
of those people were His true spiritual people. God's elect. They were called saints. Saint is a good name for God's
people. That's what He calls them. One
of the best names that can be used referred to God's people. Saints means sanctified ones. That means set apart. Those that
have been set apart, separated by God, made to differ from the
rest, from other people. Saints set apart, consecrated. That's what sanctified means.
Set apart unto God to be holy for God's use, for God's glory. Preserved. Separated. The title of this message is
a separated people. separated people. I want to be
one of those, and I want you to be also, and our children.
Separated. Now, what does that mean? Look at Ezra 9, verse 1 says,
Now when these things were done, that is the orders for the house
of God and so forth, The princes, the rulers and leaders came to
me, that's Ezra speaking, saying the people of Israel and the
priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from
the people of the land. Now, separate means, as I said,
set apart. Set apart. Who or what is it
that separates God's people from the world? Well, I just answered
it. It is God which maketh us to
differ. It is God. Who maketh thee to
differ? The Scripture says it is God.
He said in Exodus 11 that they might know that the Lord doth
put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. Who maketh
us to differ? And what do we have that we have
not received? God's people have been chosen
in Christ by God, elect, according to the foreknowledge of God,
to be holy and without blame before Him in love. They've been
set apart by God, His choice. They've been set apart by Christ,
His blood. Like the children of Israel in
Egypt with the blood over their doorposts, God passed by, or
passed over them in mercy. Sparing them. Why? They were
sinners. The blood. When I see the blood.
They are set apart by the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit. Christ
in you. The hope of glory. Born of God. Separated from a God-hating,
God-forsaken world. Set apart by God to save. To spare. That's why. God's Word
separates. God's people. The word of truth. God's word separates a people
from a world that turns away their ears from the truth under
fables. A world that receives not the love of the truth, but
would rather believe a lie. But God's people are sanctified
by that truth, set apart by that truth, the truth about God. All
of God's people know who God is. All of God's people know
the truth about themselves, about man. All of God's people know
the truth about Christ, that he's their only Lord, only Savior,
only Messiah, only Mediator, only Redeemer, the only way,
the only truth, the only life, their only righteousness, their
only hope, their only salvation. All of God's people know that.
They've been set apart from the rest of the world who doesn't
know that. Christ said to the Father in His prayer in John
17, He said, I have given them thy Word, and the world hath
hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am
not of the world. He said, sanctify them through
thy truth. Set them apart from the world.
Thy Word is truth. One time, the disciples were
asking Him questions before He was about to leave. They were
all concerned. Remember? And Philip said, show
us the way. Christ said, I am the way. And
Thomas said, we don't know the way. And the Lord said, I am
the way. And who was it that said, Lord, how are you going
to manifest yourself to us and not to the world? And the Lord
said, in short, he said, the Word. The Word. It's going to set you apart.
It's going to make you a believer in a world full of unbelievers.
We're separated by God, set apart by God. We're separated by the
word of truth, sanctified, set apart from a world that doesn't
receive it, that hates it. We're separated by choice. Look at Ezra 6, Ezra chapter
6. Now, this started back here,
Ezra chapter 6. Do you know the story of and
the people that were in captivity, and how the Lord led a pagan
king named Cyrus. I believe Cyrus knew the Lord
eventually. I believe he did. I believe the
Lord, and he's a great type of Christ, Cyrus is, king of Persia. And the Lord led this man to
bring many of the Jews out of captivity that were in Babylon.
captives in Babylon as prophesied by Jeremiah and others. And Cyrus,
this king, made a decree that whoever wanted to go back to
Jerusalem and begin building the walls and building the temple
and to worship God and live there and worship God in peace could
do so. And boy, a lot of people took
him up on that. And Ezra was a scribe and old Zerubbabel built
the house and others. But look at Ezra 6, verse 21. Children of Israel, which were
come again out of captivity. Again, they had been taken captive
before. And they sinned against the Lord,
and the Lord gave them over, and they were captives again
and again. The children of Israel which were come again out of
captivity, and all such as had separated themselves unto them from the filthiness
of the heathen of the land." Why did they separate themselves?
Well, from the filthiness and heathen of the land to seek the
Lord God of Israel. And they did eat. They came and
partook of the sacrifice. Separated by choice. Those that
separated themselves. And I told you where this began,
how this began. Chosen by God. Whom He did foreknow,
He did predestinate. Whom He predestinated, He called.
Called by the Word of God. Set apart. Called out by the
Word of God. And justified, and they live,
they are justified by faith. James said, show me your faith
without your works, I'll show you mine by my work. Separated by choice. God's people
are made willing and it is God that worketh in them both the
will and the do of his good pleasure. But they choose to worship the
Lord because he chose them. Peter said this, save yourselves
from this untoward generation. Now, what do you mean, save yourself,
Peter? We can't save ourselves. Whatever that means, he said,
do it. Save yourself. Put yourself, put your children,
put all you're concerned about under the sound of the saving
message, the word of life, the gospel. And don't take them out
from under. Don't be out from under. Save yourself. Turn from
it. Paul wrote this. Paul said, Be
not unequally yoked together with unbelievers. Come out from
among them and be ye separate. Now the children of Israel, now
here's a story, go back to Ezra 9. The children of Israel serve
as a warning to us all. And we've had some happy news
the last few days, haven't we? Word of life, that's what we've
heard. We watched a young lady confess
Christ. It's just been a good time. I'm
glad of that because that will maybe temper the way that I bring
this message. It's a very sobering message,
a very solemn message, a message to warn us. And if that can be
done in a kind way, good. But the children of Israel serve
as a warning to us all. of what will befall us if we
fall in with this world, this God-forsaken world. If we fall
in with it, what will befall us? The children of Israel are
a good example of that, a bad example of that. Serve as a warning. Verse 1 says they had not separated
themselves from the people of the land. Verse 1 says, doing
according to their abomination. Now these were the professing
people of God. They were doing according to the abominations
of the people and so on and so forth. Canaanites, Egyptians
and so forth. Turn with me to Romans chapter
1. Romans 1. Let's just read this
again. I read it again today and just
stopped and considered everything that was said. And what a picture this is. 2nd Timothy
3, the last days, perilous times. This is a clear description of
the people then and now. These Egyptians and Hibites and
parasites, Jebusites, all of them. They were a godless, lawless
people of the world described here in Romans 1. Look at it. Verse 28. They did not like to
retain God in their knowledge. They were a people who prided
themselves in what they knew. They were a modern, civilized,
so-called, day generation. Verse 22 says they professed
themselves to be wise, but they were fools. Why? Because a fool
has said, no God. It's a fool who doesn't acknowledge
God in whom he lives and moves and has his being. God, verse
28, is not in all their thoughts. They did not like to retain God
in their knowledge, so God gave them over to a reprobate mind,
a mind void of judgment. That's what that meant. Without
good sense. Unable to, we're going to see
in a minute, confusion of face. To do those things which are
not convenient. That's a polite word, really,
for those things which are absolutely degrading and damning. Look at verse 29. It said they're
filled with all unrighteousness. Whatever wickedness they could
practice, they practiced it. They had no conscience of evil
at all. Fornication, be filled with fornication. People, the United States of
America is absolutely giving over to sex. I mean, it's absolutely giving
over, isn't it? Don't become used to this. Don't
become accustomed to it. Don't get caught up in it. Everything
you see and hear all around you is horrible. Fornication is sex
outside of marriage. God forbids it. God condemns
it. He says the consequences of it
can be very severe. There's no promise that someone
who breaks, as a matter of fact, God has promised that if you
do break this continually, you will suffer the consequences
of it. The diseases of the Egyptians were diseases that God put upon
them for having told this regarding his law. And this country has
given over to it. And it's acceptable. It's the
norm. Young people? Save yourselves from this untold
regeneration. Old people. Fornication. Wickedness. What's that? Anything and everything goes.
Covetousness. These people that the Israelites
began to with were materialistic people. All they thought about was things,
materialism. Now this is now, isn't it? Covetousness
is idolatry. What we worship is what we crave. Covetousness. Maliciousness.
Malicious. That do things for spite. Malicious
and mean. Mean. Read on. Full of envy. Very few selfless
people. Mostly envy and jealous. Murder. Murder predominates the television
and the novels and all of that, doesn't it? Murder. Debate. Arguers. Backtalkers. Gamesayers. Know-it-alls. Debate. Like nothing
better than to talk. Deceit. A bunch of liars. David said in his generation,
he said, I said in my haste all men are liars. Now, all men weren't
liars. David wasn't. Jonathan wasn't. There were others that weren't.
But he said, I look around me, it just looks like everybody's
a liar. Can't trust anybody. That's now, isn't it? Malignity. Malign people. Nothing like better than to bring
somebody's character down. Whisperers. Did you hear of them? Back biters. How are you doing,
brother? And then you turn around and
they turn on you. Haters of God. Despiteful. Proud. Boasters. Inventor of
evil things. Disobedient to parents. That
is unruly. Disobedient. Wild asses. Children. Without understanding.
Are you reading that with me? Verse 31. Covenant breakers. Contract, covenant, whatever.
It doesn't mean a thing. Without natural affection. Homosexuality. Women just killing their children.
Giving them up to strangers. Implacable. Unmerciful. Know
in the judgment of God that they which commit such things are
worthy of death. Not only do it, but they're proud
of it. Proud of it. Now, that was 2,000 years ago,
and there are now 300 million people on the face of the earth.
So this is multiplied 1,000 times, 10,000 times. And that's what
happened to the world when God looked and all he saw was the
thoughts of man's imagination was only evil continually. He
says, it repented me that I made man, I'm going to destroy him.
And the time is coming. Well, the sad part, and I go
back to our text, the sad part was that these professing believers,
the Israelites, were right in the middle of this. They were in the world, and they became like it. Our
Lord said of His disciples, to the Father, I pray not that thou
shouldest take them out of the world. but thou should keep them
from the evil." They are in the world, but they're not of the
world. One can live in the world. We
must. We don't have to be of it. We don't have to be like
it. Apparently, the children of Israel
became more and more insensitive to what was going on around them. Until they became immune to what
was going on around them. until finally they started these
God-haters and these people that before they had nothing in common
with whatsoever, they began marrying them. And that's what this whole story
is about. You go all the way through Ezra and Nehemiah and
you'll see this story. Verse 2 says, "...they have taken
of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, so that the
Holy Seed hath mingled themselves with the people of those lambs." Go with me to Nehemiah, chapter
13. Nehemiah 13. And I'm glad that some of our
young people, just a few of our young people are in here tonight.
I wish more were, but they're not. If there's one thing I've
heard my pastor warn us of more than anything else over the years,
as much as anything else, since I was a young boy and all of
my friends and all of the young people in the church, was this. Don't get involved with and don't
marry an unbeliever. or else evil communications corrupt
good manners. And rather than you influence
them, it's generally the other way around. Like these people. Solomon was gifted. And his wives
drew his heart away. And I've seen it many times,
that professing believers, male and female, get involved with
someone who does not know the Lord and love the gospel, and
before long, that person is no longer under the gospel. Of course,
that proves they never were of us. Nevertheless, the warning
is there. If one is of the Lord, may the
Lord have mercy. Sometimes he does, but usually
he doesn't. Usually it doesn't because of
this warning. Nehemiah 13 says they mingled
with the people of the world. They mingled the holy seed with
the people of the land. And their children that came
from them spake half in the speech of Ashdod and could not speak
in the Jewish language. According to the language of
each people, they didn't know God and didn't know anything
about God and didn't come to worship God. And they talked
like the world and acted like the world and they were of the
world for that reason. and no longer separate, but as
the Lord said, Ephraim was joined to his idols. Go back to Ezra
9 with me now. But now, Ezra, the true and faithful
preacher, the prophet, when he heard this, what was going on?
Verse 3. Look at it with me. Verses 3
and 4. When I heard this thing, I rent my garment and my mantle. and plucked off the hair of my
head and my beard, shaved his head and his beard, and sat down
astonished, amazed." Couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe
that this was going on. That God's people were in the
midst of death. But he wasn't alone. "...and
were assembled unto me, every one that trembled at the words
of the God of Israel." Our Lord one time said, "...to this man
will I look, to he that is poor and of a contrite heart, and
trembleth at my word." All I'm doing right now is reading God's
Word, making a few comments. You saw how clearly this applies
to our generation. This is now. This applies to
us. Now everybody here that trembles
Everyone who is assembled here together and trembles at the
Word of God, verse 4, because of the transgression of those
who have been carried away? I sat astonished, he said, till
the evening sacrifice. Everyone that trembled came to
hear Ezra. Ezra prayed for them. Everyone
that trembled assembled with Ezra to worship, to pray, to
entreat the Lord for His mercy upon them and for their children.
Is that why you're here? Is it? I mean, that's why we're
here. That's why we bring our children
against their young wills in hope that God will make them
willing and God will save them from this godless world. And we raise our children up
in the fear and the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Pray
that God will have mercy upon their soul. That's why we have
them here, isn't it? I didn't want to come when I
was young. I wanted to be out and mingle
with the people. But my parents faithfully brought me. God blessed
that, didn't He? God blessed that. I had a faithful
Ezra who warned me and warned all of us. God had mercy upon me, gave me
a woman that loved the Lord. In fact, she knew the Lord before
I did. I don't think she would have been interested in me at
all unless the Lord made me interested in Him. I know she wouldn't. And I thank God for that, having
mercy upon me and her through me. And I had a faithful Ezra who
warned and warned and warned, who prayed for us, that the Lord
have mercy on us. Verse 5 and 6, Ezra, at the evening
sacrifice, he says, I arose from my heaviness, and having rent
my garment and my mantle, I fell upon my knees and spread out
my hands unto the Lord my God, and I said, O my God, Now, here's a man who's saying
it from the depths of his heart, a prayer for mercy and salvation.
Oh, my God. When's the last time you've heard
that? We hear it every day by everyone
all over the land. How does it make you feel? I'm getting
tired of it. Aren't you? It's grieving me.
If you hear your children or anybody you love uttering that
name which is above every name, the only name given under heaven
whereby we must be saved, the only one who can save us, uttering
that name in such a blasphemous way, if you care for their soul,
you will say something. There was an old man I knew years
ago who He worked in a body shop at a Buick dealership. And he
heard some men doing just that, taking God's name in vain. After
a while, he could take no more. He went over right in the middle
of that group and said to them, fellas, if your souls are kept
out of hell, it will be by that very name which you are cursing
right now. He got a lot of that. God lauded
that. Oh, my God. Oh, my God, I am ashamed and blushed to lift up my face
to Thee, my God. For our iniquities are increased
over our head, and our trespass has grown up into the heaven. Israel prayed for Israel. It's
his nation, it's his people. This is a godly man, isn't it?
It's a man, a compassionate man. A man who had feelings, like
Paul. Remember Paul in Romans 9, Romans
10? He read it in Romans 10. Romans
9, he says, I have great heaviness and continual sorrow of my heart.
I can wish myself a curse for my kinsmen, my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the flesh, Israelite. And in Romans 10, he said, My
heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might
be saved. Now, I mean, the United States
of America is all but gone. It's all but gone. And every year, Every, that is,
election year, I pray, Lord, just restrain us. Just put somebody
in that will be a restraint upon this ungodly world for our children's
sake. Adults can handle it, you know.
Hope well, maybe, by God's grace. But I'm ashamed, aren't you?
We all ought to be ashamed. Ezra took his part with the people.
Ezra was a sinner. Ezra was a preacher. Ezra was
blameless by the end. Ezra was blameless. Yet he took
his part with these people. He hadn't maybe done it, but
he thought it. We're all guilty. Every mountain, guilty. And he
took the blame with the people. And what a picture of Christ
Ezra is here. Huh? Christ who was without sin. Christ who was holy, blameless,
separate from sinners. Separate. He was a friend of
sinners, but he was separate. He wasn't like them. Right? But Christ, that very Christ,
who was without sin, was made sin. Those Psalms, like Psalm
38, where he says, Loins are filled with a loathsome disease.
That's a Messianic song. What's Christ talking? He was
made sin. And it vexed his righteous soul. And he said, I'm ashamed. I'm ashamed. Ezra did. Verse 7. He said, Since
the days of our fathers, we've been a great trespass unto this
day. We've been sinners from the beginning. We're sons of
our father. Our iniquities, our kings and
priests, have been delivered in the hand of the kings of the
land. As I said, I believe our nation has been given over to
the God of this world, I really believe. This prince of the power
of the air, I believe, has totaled this nation in captivity, completely.
I'm convinced of it. And despoil, confusion of face. Religion is so confused in it.
So utterly, utterly confused. Natural man, modern civilized
society now calls evil good and good evil. Isaiah 59 says judgments
turn way backward. Backward. Totally backward. 180
degrees from what's right. What's wrong is 180 degrees.
What's right is 180 degrees. Judgments turn way backward,
Isaiah said. Equity has fallen in the streets.
And it cannot enter. People won't have it. And they
that depart from it are the prey. They're the ones people are after.
They're the ones people hate. The ones who just call God's
word the truth and just preach it and tell it what it says,
are called hate mongers, are called evil people. I'm out. Oh, Lord, I'm ashamed.
I'm ashamed. But now look at this. But now,
verse 8, for a little space, grace has been shown up. I started to name this message
and title this message, Grace for a Little Space. That is,
for a little while, a moment in time, a few days, grace has
been showed from our Lord. The Lord has been gracious to
us right here. I feel supremely blessed to be
right here, right now with you. Honestly. Not only to be in this
little town, which I think is a little bit behind the times,
which I think is real good, which has been spared from a great
deal of this mess, but more than that, to be out here on this
little hill, this little mountain, Mount Zion, in the midst of this
little brown tabernacle with the people that tremble at God's
Word and assemble together to entreat the Lord for His mercy. There really aren't many. There
are a lot of people drawn near with their lips when their hearts are far
from them. The Lord said, in a little space, just for a
little time, let's just last a little while. Grace has been showed us from
the Lord our God. Well, how does the Lord show
us grace? How has he shown us grace? Look at it. Verse 8. He's left us a remnant to escape.
You know what salvation is? It's escape. That's what Peter said. He said,
God has given us these exceeding precious promises that by them
we might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped
the corruption that is in the world through love. Escaped.
That's what he means by save yourself from this untoward journey.
Run to Christ. Run to the refuge. Run to where
the gospel is. Run as fast as you can. He that
believeth shall make haste. That's what that means. Shall
make haste. He that believeth shall not make haste. Meaning
to wait on the Lord. But when it comes to this thing
of hearing the gospel. Barbara, you tell me this all
the time. That you come here to get cleaned out. You come
here as an oasis. You come here, you run. Well,
you don't run here. But you get here. You've got to come here. You've
got to come. A little space. God has left
us a remnant to escape. A remnant. Look at this little
motley crew here. Look around you. Look at this
little crew. There isn't much of it. Not many wise men, not many mighty,
not many noble. But brethren, even at this present
time, they remain at the remnant according to the election of
Christ. A remnant. I'll hang with a remnant
any day, outside the camp, bearing his reproach. Won't you? He's
left us a remnant. That's how God's shown us grace.
Look at this. He's shown us grace for a little space by giving
us a nail in His holy place. You remember that message? A
nail in a sure place. A nail in His holy place. A nail. Brother Sam, when you had that
property of yours surveyed, What did they drive in the corners?
An iron spike. What they drove was a big old
iron spike. And it was recorded at the courthouse
that these lines had fallen under Samuel and Hannah Parks. Nailed. This is theirs. This is their
portion. And they drove these spikes,
and nobody is to remove it. And what is this nail in a sure
place that God has driven, that maintains our lot, that ensures
our portion, that no one can remove? written with a pen of
iron and a rock, or driven in a rock. What is this nail? Would
you like to guess? It is Christ. He is that nail on a sharp line.
And a nail that you can hang your soul on. That you can invest
and hang your family upon. He's given us, this little group,
a nail. A place where Christ is really
preached and Christ is really worshipped. It's a place you
can hang your eternal soul on and your family, your children,
and bring them here and rest, knowing that this is the message.
This is what God's going to use. Lord, we cast all our care upon Thee,
our nail, in a sure place, and it's a holy place. His holy blood. How has God given us grace for
a little space? Verse 8 says that our God may
lighten our eyes. Lighten our eyes. The Word of God, as we said,
it separates us, opens our eyes at first. Like that new birth,
you know, it gives eyes. I told the story of you, Hannah,
on Sunday. I was dying to tell the whole story. I was talking
about your birth, how that when you were born your eyes were
closed and then I began to speak to you and you opened those eyes.
Boy, it was love at first sight for me. But the eyes are open. Lighten our
eyes. See, the world is sleeping the
sleep of death in the enchanted ground. Remember the story? The Pilgrim? The Pilgrim of Progress? God
warned them, don't fall asleep in that enchanted ground. It's
a pleasant place and you'll think it's a nice place and you'll
just be at ease and you'll fall asleep. And you're in real trouble. The Word of God keeps our eyes
open to all that surrounds us to show us what it really is.
To keep us from falling for it. The Word of God opens our eyes
to the wolves, opens our eyes to sin, opens our eyes to the world and the riches that
are deceitful. The Word of God is the only thing
that will do that. Keep your eyes open. You know that? The
Word of God is the only thing that will give you 20-20 vision. Lord, lighten our eyes lest we
sleep the sleep of death. This is my prayer. Grace is shown
when he gives us, verse 8, a little reviving in our bondage. Now,
we have been freed, haven't we? Christ said sin shall not have
dominion over you. You're not under the law. You're
under grace. When the Son sets you free, you're free indeed.
Yes, we are free. The Lord's free people. He set us free, redeemed us.
And yet, There's a sense in which we're still in bondage to the
flesh. That's what the scripture says,
the flesh lusts against the spirit. We're in this tabernacle which
we cannot escape. Understand? We're in this body
of death. Paul said, I want deliverance.
I'm like a butterfly in a cocoon. Lord, I want out. Well, in time
you will. But for everything, there is
a time. Now you serve your purpose as
a worm. Oh Lord, I long to spread my
wings, fly into the face of the sun. Well, he gives us a little
reviving. And again, Barbara, this is why
we come here too. We feel enlightened, don't we?
We feel our burdens have been lifted. We feel that we're revived,
don't we? We feel refreshed. We feel revived.
We've come in here dead. The world deadens us. The world
makes our feet dirty. The world fills our minds with
trash. vexes us and we come in here
to get, clean me up, wash me, forgive me again, all over again. Lead me, put my feet back in
paths of righteousness for thy name's sake. Lord, revive me
in the midst of these years. Lord, loosen me. You know, we're
kind of like old Lazarus. Lazarus was alive, wasn't he,
when he came out of the grave? He was alive. What did he have
on him? Grave clothes. And we come here
to have these grave clothes unwrapped. Just another, just unwrap something
else. Free me. Because someday we're
going to be free forever. Lucy, let him go. Reviving. A little reviving.
So grace has been showed us for a little space there. Well, I
was going to go through all of this, but maybe we'll continue
it another time. But I'm so thankful, and this
is my prayer, that the Lord will continue to show us grace for
a little space. Grace unto us, our children,
our grandchildren. for His great namesake. So come
Thou with us, those of you who tremble at His Word. Those of
you who are ashamed and vexed, this is a good place to be. Okay,
stand with me. Our Lord, Your Word is so quick, so powerful. It speaks to this present day. It's today. It's the day of salvation. Thou art the great I am, so thy
word is always ever present. What applied to your people of
old applies to us now. What you spoke to them, you now
speak to us. What they were in the midst of,
we are now in the midst of. What they struggled with, we
struggle with. There's no temptation taking
us at such a common demand. God, we thank you. Oh, my God,
we thank you that thou hast, with the temptation, made a way
that we can escape and bear it. And this is the way. Christ is
the way. Lord, keep us and our children. looking to Thee. Lord, save us
and our children from this untoward generation. We need Thee now
more than ever, desperately. And this is our prayer and our
plea. Lord, forgive us of our sins. Order our steps according
to Thy Word and let no iniquity have dominion over us. Lord,
vex our souls with all that surrounds us. Let us not grow used to anything.
And the only way this will be is if we keep seeking Thy faith.
Lighten our eyes, Lord, by Thy Word. Lest we sleep the sleep
of death. It's in Christ's name we're met
here tonight. Pray these things. Amen. You're dismissed.