Is that Mary Turley back there? Bless your heart. And Helen? Those dear ladies, I was their
pastor many years ago. attended our services and worshipped
with us a long time. Moved to Beckley, Huntington,
and then Milton, Huntington, and Beckley. And everywhere that
she lived, she worshipped God with the people who loved Christ.
Her pastor, Earl Cochran. Earl, you've been with Earl a
good while, and he's a dear, dear friend. up in West Virginia,
near Beckley, West Virginia. Springs, I'm trying to think
of the name, but it's all right. But I'm so glad to see you, so
happy to see you. I'm going to preach a message
this morning entitled Sovereign Mercy. sovereign mercy. Paul said one time, the Apostle
Paul said, I'm a debtor. I'm a debtor both to the Greeks
and the barbarians. I'm a debtor to the wise and
the unwise. I'm a debtor to so many, many
people. And to all the great preachers
who have preached the gospel of God's redeeming grace, I'm
in debt to them. And there was one that has always
been a very special blessing to me, a man by the name of David
Brainerd. David Brainerd was born 288 years
ago, 1718. And he was a faithful missionary
to the Indians, the Indians in New York. New Jersey, Pennsylvania. Outstanding preacher, but not
for very long. God took him home when he was
29 years of age. God moves in mysterious ways,
his wonders to perform. But David Brangford was such
a faithful missionary to the Indians that Jonathan Edwards
sort of adopted him. Jonathan Edwards lived at that
time, and he sort of adopted David Brainerd. One reason, because
David was in love with his daughter, and they wanted them to marry,
but he died. And Jonathan Edwards took his
diary. David Brainerd kept the diary
all those years that he preached to the Indians in New York, New
Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Jonathan Edwards took that diary
and put it in print, and this is what he said about it. He
said, Jonathan Edwards' diary influenced more men to enter
the ministry and go to the mission field and preach to the heathen
than any other man. I was impressed with reading
his diary. And this is what he said, four
things he wrote in that diary that were a tremendous impression
upon me way back when I first learned the gospel of God's grace.
David Brainerd in his diary said, when God, when God revealed to
me four things through the scriptures and through the preaching of
faithful service of God, When God revealed to me four things,
I was completely convinced that salvation belonged to the Lord
and to Him only. Totally convinced salvation is
of the Lord and that I was totally shut up to His sovereign mercy. And these are the four statements.
If you want to jot them down, you can do so. I'll try to move
slowly and you can keep, you can write them down. First of
all, David Brainerd said, Almighty God requires perfect obedience. Almighty God requires perfect
obedience to his holy law. And he said, I could by no means
attain thereunto. I cannot keep God's holy love,
but God requires that I be obedient to His law in all things. Secondly,
Almighty God requires perfect faith. Not only perfect obedience,
but Almighty God requires perfect faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,
in our triune God, in His precious blood, And in his glorious gospel,
God requires faith. And he said, I had to reply,
Oh God, help my unbelief. And then thirdly, he said, I
saw, I saw this in the scriptures and in the preaching of faithful
men. I saw that faith is the gift
of God. God requires perfect obedience. Almighty God requires perfect
faith, and faith is not of the works of the flesh, it's the
gift of God. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourself, it is the what? The gift of God,
not of works, lest any man should boast. And not only that, he
said, God requires perfect faith, and God requires repentance.
God requires repentance, and it's the goodness of God that
leads us to repentance. It's not of ourselves. Faith
is not of ourselves, and repentance is not of ourselves. Repentance
is the gift of God too, for God's goodness leads you to repentance. Here's the fourth thing. I saw
that salvation belongs to God, and He could save me or damn
me. Salvation belongs to God. And
He could save me or damn me. He could save me or leave me
in my rebellion and in my sins. For He said to Moses, I will
be merciful to whom I will be merciful. I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. So then, it's not of Him that
willeth. It's not of Him that runneth.
It's of God. that showeth sovereign mercy. Oh, to grace, how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be. Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee. God requires perfect obedience, perfect faith,
And that face is a gift of God, not of works. And Almighty God
can save me or pass me by and leave me in my guilt. So I'm
going to speak on that subject this morning, sovereign mercy. Sovereign mercy. And ask three
questions. What is sovereign mercy? What is sovereign mercy? Well, turn, first of all, with
me to the book of II Timothy. If you want me to give you one
verse of Scripture that clearly and plainly declares sovereign
mercy of God, I'll give it to you in II Timothy, chapter 1,
verse 9. Just one verse of Scripture will
clearly define for us what sovereign mercy is. II Timothy chapter
1 verse 9. You have it? Listen to it. God
hath saved us, who hath saved us, and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, but according to his own
purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before
the world began. That's sovereign mercy. God has
saved us, called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose
in Christ Jesus, given us, given to us before the world began. But I'm going to turn to another
verse in II Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and give
you a little more about this sovereign mercy. What is sovereign
mercy? Well, in 2 Thessalonians chapter
2 verse 13, Paul said, But we're bound to give thanks always to
God for you. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you. Sovereign mercy always has to
do with praise to God, giving thanks to God. Anytime you find
sovereign mercy, you'll find thanksgiving to God, praise to
God. That's right. Every time the
subject of election is mentioned in the Bible, every time, it's
always connected with praise to God. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessing in heaven and places in Christ, according
as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world.
Bless God. Sovereign mercy always blesses
God. I want you to turn, keep your
hand there on the second Thessalonians, but turn to Matthew chapter 11. Matthew chapter 11 verse 25.
Listen to this, Matthew 11, verse 25. Sovereign mercy always has
to do with the praise of God. Matthew 11, verse 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank you. I thank you, O Father, Lord of
heaven and earth. Why? Because you've hid these
things. from the wise and prudent, and
you've revealed it to them. Even so, Father, so it seems
good in your sight. So it seems good. Tis not that
I did choose thee. Lord, that could not be. This
heart of mine would still refuse thee. But you've chosen me. Tis sovereign mercy chose me. And for thy rich grace I thirst,
disknowing that if I loved thee, you must have loved me first."
That's what sovereign mercy is. It praises God. Anytime you find
election or sovereignty or these blessed truths of God's grace,
it's always, thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Sovereign mercy not only has
to do with praising God, it has to do with the love of God. Listen to my text. Brethren,
we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. We didn't love Him. He loved
us. We love Him because He first loved us. Jeremiah said, The
Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved
you with an everlasting love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I've drawn thee." Sovereign mercy always has to do with the love
of God. Years ago, when I was in Arminian
circles, free will religion, people used to talk about the
gospel. The gospel is John 3.16. The
gospel in a nutshell was John 3.16. But I found out that really
the gospel is not in John 3.16. Let's turn over there and see.
Turn to John 3.16. Let's listen to this just a minute.
John 3.16. John 3. You got it? All right. For God so loved the world, he
gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him should
not perish, but have everlasting life. There's no blood there. There's no cross there. There's
no crash lifted up there. There's no sacrifice there. It's
the love of God. But go back to verse 14. There's
the gospel. John 3, 14, as Moses lifted up
the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted
up. There's the gospel. He must be
crucified. He must be slain. He must be
sacrificed. That's the remedy. Look at the
next verse, verse 15, and that's the result. That whosoever believeth
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. The remedy
is in John 3, 14, the Son lifted up. The results, John 3, 15,
that whosoever believeth on him hath everlasting life. Now the
reason, verse 16, for God so loved that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but
have everlasting life. There's the remedy, Christ lifted
up. There's the results, salvation.
And there's the reason. love of God. Not that we loved
Him. He loved us. Oh, my, my. Sovereign mercy has to do with
the love of God. Oh, love of God, how rich, how
pure, how measureless, how strong. It shall forevermore endure the
saints' and angels' song. I love that verse of that song
that says, Could we with ink the ocean fill? And were the
skies of parchment made, And every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade, To write the love of God above,
Would drain those oceans dry, Nor could the scroll contain
the whole, Nor stretch from sky to sky. Sovereign mercy has to
do with God's praise, Has to do with God's love. Now watch
this next line. in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2
verse 13. We're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, Brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath
from the beginning. Oh, sovereign mercy always has
to do with an eternal covenant. Something happened that God Almighty
purposed back in eternity. That's what He said. God hath
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth, known unto God are all
his works from the beginning. All his works. I used to ask
our young people in Bible school, always begin Bible school with
three questions. Three questions. First one is,
Did you choose God or did God choose you? Did you choose God or did He
choose you? Christ said you didn't choose me, I chose you. I was
preaching on television one morning and one of our little girls about,
I think Kathy was five or six years old, but she was sick and
her mother kept her home that day. And she would hear her mother
sitting there listening to my message on television. And I said, I asked that question.
I said, did you choose God or did he choose you? She said,
well, he chose me. Anybody knows that. I thought,
honey, anybody doesn't know that. It takes the grace of God to
reveal that to you. Did you choose God or did he
choose you? He chose me. When did he choose you? Wendy,
it tells you right here, He hath from the beginning chosen you
to salvation. Chose us in Christ before the
foundations of the world. The hymn writer said, Christ
be my first elect, God said, and then chose us in our heads.
Chosen in Christ before the foundations of the world. And here's the
third question. I said, did you choose God or
did He choose you? He chose us. When? Before the world began.
Why? Why? According to the good pleasure
of His own will. That's why. All right, let's
go to the next. We're bound to give thanks to
God always for you. Praise God. Beloved of the Lord. God loved us. God hath from the
beginning chosen us for salvation. And fourth, listen. through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. No man is going to be
saved without hearing the gospel and believing it. Write that
down. Write that down. He hath chosen
us to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth. Whosoever shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they call on of whom they have not heard.
And how shall they hear without a preacher?" When the Lord was
pleased to save the Ethiopian eunuch, God was pleased to save
him, but he had been up there to Jerusalem and didn't get anything. He had been up there three years
and listened to all those Pharisees and Sadducees, and he was on
his way home trying to read Isaiah 53. And God sent a preacher. He always sends a preacher. He
always sends somebody with the gospel. And Philip walked along
beside the chariot, and he listened to that man reading Isaiah 53. And he said, do you understand
what you're reading? He said, I cannot. I cannot, except some
man show me. He said, get up here and let's
read this together. You tell me. Is he talking about
himself or somebody else? And Philip got up and preached
to him. He began preaching Jesus Christ to himself. And he preached
Christ. I don't know how long they rode
in that chariot, but it was long enough for him to find out who
God is, who Christ is, and how Christ saves sinners. And he said, here's water. What
does it mean to be baptized? He said, if you believe. You've
heard the gospel. Do you believe it? He said, I
believe Jesus Christ, the Son of God. When God was pleased to save
Cornelius, Cornelius was a man who was seeking God, but didn't
know Christ, and God sent Peter down there to preach to him.
And when he heard the gospel, he believed it. Saul of Tarsus,
on the road to Damascus, he was stricken blind by a light greater
than the sun, fell on his face, The Lord spoke to him and said,
Sorrow, sorrow, why persecutest thou me? He said, Who are you?
How's a man going to be saved who doesn't know who Christ is?
How's a man going to be saved who doesn't know who Christ is
and what he did and why he did it and where he is now? Even
that Pharisee that had been wrapped up in religion all his life didn't
know who Christ was. Hated him. He said, what would
you have me do? The Lord said, go to the Damascus
one, to a street called Straight. That's a pretty good name for
a street if you're going to find the gospel there. A street called
Straight. And it'll be told you what you
must do. Isn't that what He said? You're not going to wake up and
find you're saved if you haven't heard the gospel of that one.
Lydia. Lydia was a widow woman. Her
husband was dead, and she's trying to make a living by selling purple.
But she did know that she's got to hear something from the Bible,
so she went down to where a bunch of women were having prayer meeting. They didn't have a synagogue
in that town. The town wasn't big enough. It
was an outpost for an army, a military post. And these women, a bunch
of them, got together beside the river, on the riverside,
to pray, to pray. And Paul found them. He was looking
for somebody who wanted to pray, somebody who wanted to see who
Christ is. So he went down there and Paul
preached to them. And listen, and while Paul preached
to her, the Scripture said, God opened her heart, that's sanctification
of the Spirit, and she attended to the things Paul said. That's
believing the truth. Write her down. You tell old
brother, you tell old brother man told you that, and I'm telling
the truth. You read this verse again. We're
bound to give thanks always, praise God, beloved of the Lord,
for you. because God happened to be getting
chosen you through sanctification of the Spirit, the Spirit of
God opening Lydia's heart and belief of the truth, the truth
that Paul preached. All right, back to my text. How
do I know I'm going to be elected? How do I know that I've received
sovereign mercy? Turn to 1 Thessalonians, chapter
1. Chapter 1. I'll give it to you
right here. Paul answers that flat out perfectly
as it could be answered. 1 Thessalonians, chapter 1, verse
4. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. How do I know I'm one of God's
elect? He's going to tell you. That's what Paul says. I know
you're God's elect. And I say this to you. I've known
all of you, most of you, for 20 years. I know you're one of
God's elect. You know how I know it? Well,
read the rest of the chapter. Because our gospel came to you,
not just in word only. It has to come in word, but not
word only. But also in power. in the sanctification
of God's Spirit, in the Holy Ghost, in much assurance, confidence,
as you know what manner of men we were among you for your sakes. Number two, verse six, I know
your election of God because our gospel, God sent it into
your heart, belief of the truth. And listen, and you became followers. You became followers of us, God's
preachers, and you became followers of the Lord. Having received
the word in much affliction, much tribulation, much heartache,
but with joy. With joy. Even our heartaches are tempered
with joy. Why? Because we know Him. We
love Him. We believe on Him. That's why.
That's why you're elected to God. And you became examples. You didn't just claim to believe
something, you believed it and acted on it. You were examples
to everybody around you, the people in Macedonia, Archaea. This dear lady I'm talking about
here tonight, she's moved to different places, but everywhere
she found the people of God to worship with them. That's right. You became examples. And listen,
verse 8, I'll tell you why I know you're God's elect, because from
you sounded out the Word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and
Archaea, but in every place your faith is spoken of and spread
about, so that I don't need to even talk about it. You're a
missionary, mind you. You send missionaries. You witness
to people. You witness where you work, where
you live. You don't tell people about the
Lord. That's the marks of people who
say, listen, verse 9, I know your election, for they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we have unto you, how that
you turn from idols, you turn to God from idols, you lay down
your idols, all of these rituals and all these other, you turn
to God from idols to serve the living God. And look at the next
verse. and to wait for His coming. That
sounds like one of the elect to me, doesn't it? That's what
Paul said. I know you, God's in there. Our
gospel came to you in power and the Holy Ghost. You followed
us and you followed the Lord. You followed the people of God.
You were examples. You put your money where your
mouth is. You didn't just claim faith, you believed God, and
you walked in faith. You were waiting on His coming. You know, Peter said this, give
diligence to make your calling and election sure. If you do
these things, you won't fall. Which comes first, calling or
election? Which comes first? With God,
election comes first. But with you calling us first. How do I know I'm one
of the elect? Because God called me. He called me by His Word. That's what it says a while ago
when I read from 1 Timothy. He called you. God has saved
us and called us. My granddaughter graduated from
high school. And she wasn't like her grandpa
I wasn't too good a student. But I was raised in the war years
and all we were getting ready for was to go to war, 1940. But anyway, she was a student,
a real brain. And they picked in her graduating
class of 400 young people, they picked the male student and the
female student out of the faculty to be the the number one student. They gave him a diamond ring
to the girl and something to the boy. But she didn't think
she stood a chance with that. There were other students there
that were just as equally sharp as she was. Anyway, it came time
to give the award to the young man, the number one male student. They called his name. young man
going to Notre Dame, I forget his name. But then, when it came
time for the top student, they called Carrie's name, Carrie
Coffey. Of course, we were stunned, we
were happy, but it was a powerful experience. She came home from
the graduation. Well, did you have any idea about
it? No, I did not believe I was going to get it. I did not. I
said, when did you find out that you had it? She said, when they
called my name. That's when you're going to find
out. When he by his word doesn't just give you a running common
day on Calvinism. Call of God in Christ Jesus. He called my name. That old boy
used to sit in Spurgeon's church. His mother told this. He'd sit
like this. One day she said to him, she
said, son, can't you hear Mr. Spurgeon? Yes, ma'am. Why do
you hold your hand behind your ear like an Well, Mrs. Spurgeon
says, when the Lord saves people, He calls their name, and I don't
want to miss it if He calls mine. Don't you miss it either? You're called by His Word. You're
called by His Word. My friends, let me tell you something.
The Bible does not say, Oh, everyone that's alack, come to the waters.
It says, Oh, everyone that's thirsty, come to the waters. You're not going to find out
your election until you find out your thirst. That's what
you read right at the end of your message this morning. Guilt before justification. The Bible does not say, come
unto me all ye elect, and I'll give you rest. It says, come
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. The Bible does not say, He that
selecteth hath life. It says, He that believeth on
the Son of God hath life. You've got to believe. And it's
not a hope, a hope, a hope. It's a genuine hope based on
expectation of who He is, what He did, why He did it, and where
He is now. Because The Bible does not say, who serveth
elected shall be saved. It says, who serveth shall call
on the name of the Lord shall be saved. The Bible does not say, blessed
are the elect, they shall be filled. It doesn't say that,
does it? Blessed are the elect, they shall
be filled. No, it says, blessed are they
that hunger and thirst for righteousness, they shall be filled. Write it down. It's just so. And my last question. What are
the effects of sovereign mercy? What are the effects of sovereign
mercy? Well, number one, it glorifies
God. A person who loves Christ glorifies
God. Of God are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. Secondly, sovereign mercy produces
joy. It produces joy. Blessed is the
man whom thou choosest and causest to approach unto thee, that he
may dwell in your courts and be satisfied with the goodness
of his house. Satisfied. Number three, sovereign
mercy promotes humility. Who makes it be different? Your
pastor dealt with this right here a moment ago. Who makes
you different? What do you have that you didn't receive? Now,
if you received it, why would you gloat over it? Sovereign
grace does not make a person proud. It brings them down, down,
down. Humbleness. Sovereign mercy will
give comfort in trials. Some of you have had plenty of
those trials. We've had a few of them ourselves.
But I'll tell you this, all things work together for good to them
who love God, who have been called according to His purpose. That's
all. Sovereign mercy gives you comfort
in the deepest heartache and the deepest trial. I visited
you one time when you were in your deepest trial, Mary, and
you found joy in the Lord. And you find it every time that
He gives you a heartache, He'll give you the balm of Gilead to
mend that heartache. Sovereign mercy produces assurance. People who love Christ are confident
of this one thing. that he who has begun a good
work will finish it in the day of Christ Jesus. Sovereign mercy will give comfort
in death. I celebrated my 80th birthday
yesterday. As I told one of the basketball
players, I'm in 10th overtime already. God said, free score
10. And I cleared that hurdle and
gone to number 80. But that's all right. Brother
Jack Shanks was preaching with me at a meeting last week, and
he said, everybody says, I want to live. I want to live. I want,
he said, I want to die. I want to go be with the Lord.
I've had enough of this. Just about enough. And the older
you get, the more enough you have of it, of all of it. Everything
is going on. God's sovereignty assures us
that our preaching is not in vain. Turn to Isaiah 55. Our preaching
is never in vain. Isaiah chapter 55. Listen to
this. Isaiah 55 verse 11. I love this business of preaching.
That's the reason I'm keeping on trying. I fumble and stumble
and mess up, but I'm still trying. I want to tell people who God
is and who Christ is. And here is Isaiah 55 verse 11. So shall my word be that goeth
forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void.
It shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper
in the things whereunto I set it. That's it. I won't tell you a story. I'll
tell you a story, and I've quit. And I'm not just talking to young
people, I'm talking to us old folks too. I preached on television starting
in 1974. And the Lord gave me an open
door to preach the gospel. And I don't remember what date
it was, but somewhere in the 80s. A preacher friend of mine
called me from Mississippi, Louisville, Mississippi. Louisville is what
they call it down there. And he said, Brother Henry, this
is Bob Mounts. I knew Bob real well. We'd held
some meetings together in different places. He said, Brother Henry,
why don't you do me a favor? I said, what is it, Bob? He said, my daddy is 75 years
old. Raised up in Mud Park, West Virginia,
Logan County. And this is what he said, my
dad was one of those crooked politicians from Logan County.
And he said, had all these offices and everything. Never had any
use for the gospel. But he said, you know something,
my dad is listening to you. He retired and moved to Huntington. And he's listening to you on
television. And I believe God's done something for him. 75 years
old. Would you go, my dad is in the
hospital, he's got cancer, would you go and visit with him? I
said, right away. So I went up to the hospital,
Cabell County Hospital, and he's in a private room there, and
the door was shut, and I kind of pushed the door open, and
Luther mounts. Luther was standing with his
back to me, looking out the window, tall, slim, gray-haired, 675
years old. And I kind of knocked on the
door, you know. He turned around, and I came walking in. This is
what he said, You're the last person in the world I expect
to see walk through that door. This is what a blessing this
is to see you. I've been listening to you on
television. I believe the Lord's done a work
of grace in my heart. And we sat down and talked for
a long time. And he turned to this scripture
he'd been reading in Matthew chapter 11. Chapter 11 of Matthew. I read it a while ago. I'll read
it again. And he'd been reading this scripture
here. And you know, I preceded that with this question. I said,
Brother Luther, he said, the Lord's done a work of grace in
my heart. And I said, well, why did God
wait so long? And that surprised to you that
God would wait so long for you, 75 years old, to save you? And
he said, I was reading this scripture just recently. Listen. Matthew
11, 25. At that time, Jesus answered
and said, I thank you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because
you hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them to babe, even so, father, even so, father, for so it seemed
good in your sight." He said, Brother Ed, wouldn't you say
that applies to me? It seemed good to God. It seemed
good to God. That's what Samuel said when
they told him his boys were going to die. Let it, it's the Lord,
let it seem, in other words, seem good to him, what seems
good to him. Well, I visited him in their
home, and he died in just a few, few months. And his wife called
me. Now remember, this, this is a
religious family, and they called me to preach his funeral in one
of those big funeral homes in Huntington. And everybody was
there because everybody knew Luther Mounts and Bob Mounts.
And I had to think of something. I had to deal with this thing,
you know. I didn't know anybody there.
My wife and I and Mrs. Mounts and Bob, the pastor. I said, well, all of you are
wondering why I'm here. Why Mrs. Mounts asked me. to
preach Mr. Mounce's funeral. I've only known
him about three months. You've known him all his life.
I said, I know a different Bob Mounce from the one you know.
I mean, Luther Mounce. I know a different Luther than
what you know. I'm going to tell you about what
I know about him. And I told him about Christ and
his relationship with Christ and how God saved him in the
latter part of his life. And we all stood. I had a word
of prayer, and they started walking out. Doris will back me up, and
not one soul said, thank you, how are you, what are you talking
about? Nobody spoke to me. They were
all religious, but they didn't, they wanted the old Luther. They
didn't want to hear about the new Luther. I want to tell people
about the new Luther, don't you? Oh, my. Even so, Father, so it seemed
good in thy sight to save us. Our Father, we thank you that it seemed good
in thy sight to call us by your grace and reveal the gospel to
us. Give us a blessed hope of redemption
in your Son, our Lord and Savior. Thank you for this congregation.
Thank you for this dear, dear pastor and his wife and family. We give thanks to the Lord, to
Thee for your goodness to us and giving us the gospel of our
Savior. And we pray that you continue
to bless us and our brethren everywhere who preach your word.
For Christ's sake, Amen. Let's stand and sing hymn number
17. We'll sing the first and last
verse of hymn number 17.