Genesis 15. We didn't even sing
a hymn, did we? Flipped my mind. We'll sing it
afterward. I have a good one. I think it probably goes better
with the message. It'll probably mean more to you
if we sing it afterward anyway. It's a tune by Fanny Crosby,
and the first line says, Thou my everlasting portion. So it'll
probably mean more to you after this message. Genesis 15 is a
wonderful, wonderful portion of Scripture. This first verse
I quoted quite a bit myself, and it's full to the brim with
glorious truth. We're going to see numerous pictures
of Christ here. We'll see prophecies. We'll see
there'll be comfort here for the believer in times of trial. Let's look at it. It says, After
these things, after these things, the word of the Lord came unto
Abram. After these things. Now, Abram
was growing old now. He was near ninety years old.
And having already gone through some tough trials as a believer,
Abram was called out, remember, at seventy-five years old, so
fifteen years or so had passed, and he had already gone through
some tough trials. And the Scripture says you must,
through much tribulation, enter the kingdom of heaven. You must. This is the lot of all believers,
to go through trials as Peter described it. It's like passing
through a fiery furnace. Trial of your faith in a fiery
trial. And he described it as a fiery
trial to burn off the dross. Trials should burn off useless
and frivolous things in the mind, in the heart, the life of a believer. They should. The trial should
rid a believer of unnecessary things and make him or make her
desire that one thing needfully. That's what trials are for. To
make a believer desire the one thing needfully and pass off
other things as what they are. Just temporary, trivial things. Right? That's what trials are
designed to do. To make a believer see what his
true portion is. His true portion. So the scripture
says to Abram, or about Abram, after these things. After some
tough trials. Is there more, Lord? There sure
are. Sure is. Some tough ones. You remember Genesis 22 where
it says, after these things. Says it again. The Lord appeared
to Abram and said, Now take your son. Is there more, Lord? There's more. Tough trials ahead. You must, and perhaps for us,
our toughest trials may be yet ahead of us in older, later years. Some of the things that happened
to Abram, he left his home and family. And that's a tough trial. Some of you have. Or at least
you've been persecuted by your home or by your family for your
stand for the gospel. That's a tough trial. Abram was
growing old. Old age is a trial. Your memory fails you. Your body
fails you. That's a tough trial. Old age.
Abram was childless. He was ninety years old and like
most people and would like to have children, he was unable
to. That's a tough trial, isn't it? Abram was living in expectation
of unfulfilled promises. He heard promises from God. God gave him promises. God who
cannot lie, but yet they weren't fulfilled yet. And he was living
in hopes of them. He was looking forward to them.
He hadn't got them yet. And that's a trial, isn't it? Abram was
disappointed by a loved one, by his brother Lot. He was disappointed
by him. Abram was a faithful and a true
friend to Lot and a provider for all of Lot's needs, and yet
he was forsaken by Lot. Well, that's a tough trial. Tough
trial. Abram was dwelling in tents.
He was an old man dwelling in the tents. That's got to be a
tough trial. He was still transitory and ninety
years old. You know that seemed like. I
bet you thought when I'm going to be able to settle down. Wouldn't
that be tough? Wouldn't that be tough? What
if Charles moved you around every five years or two years? That'd
be a tough trial wouldn't it? Charles, let's get us a house
and settle down. That's a tough trial, wasn't
it? Well, that's that. It was tough on Abram. You know it was.
He was a man. And the Scripture says, after
these things, after these tough trials, look what it said. The word of the Lord came unto
Abram. The word of the Lord. Now, as
I've said before, Genesis is the beginning. That's what the
word means. And you'll see first mention
You'll see things mentioned for the first time in the book of
Genesis. Well, this is the first time you read in the Bible, the
word of the Lord came. So after these trials, Abram's
consolation, Abram's comfort, Abram's instruction in the time
of this trial came in the form of what? The word of the Lord. And that's where we're going
to get ours too. We're not going to get it in people. We're not
going to get it in things. There's only one place we're
going to find comfort, consolation, instruction, direction, the will
of the Lord, and that's in the word of the Lord. The word of
the Lord. Abram was struggling. Abram was
going through some tough trials. After these things, the word
of the Lord came. And it comforted him. It comforted
him. It's the same for us. And look
what it says. It says, It came in a vision.
That's the first time the word vision is mentioned in Scripture.
Abram had a vision and it came in the form of the word of the
Lord. That's significant to stand. The vision was in the form of
the word of the Lord. That's how the Lord speaks. That's
how he shows himself. That's how he reveals himself.
Through the word. Not through some We know that
Abram is going to have a vision here, but wait till you see what
it is. It's a person. It's a person. And the form of
a promise, too. This vision comes in the form
of a promise. Look what the Lord says. Where the Lord came to
Abram in a vision saying, Fear not, Abram, I am. Don't be afraid. Look unto me. the word of the Lord that came
first came to Abram in his time of trial. Fear not, Abram. Again,
this is the first time this is mentioned. Fear not. A hundred
and eighty times afterward. A hundred and eighty times. Brother
Nyberg pointed that out to me, that the Lord, the commandment. You could call it a commandment.
The commandment the Lord issued more than any other was, fear
not. Fear not. Fear is really unbelief,
isn't it? Fear not. I am. I've already
promised you now. Quit being afraid. Fear not. I am. Fear not. Now, Abram was in great doubt
here. Some doubt, anyway. He was in doubt. He was in uncertainty.
He was in fear concerning his present situation. Now, if you
think back on what just happened, what we studied, He took three
hundred and eighteen men and went by night time and a surprise
attack upon several kings and a host of men and took them by
surprise and slaughtered a great many of them. Three hundred and
eighteen men. That sounds familiar doesn't it? Like Gideon and some
of them. But they slew them and they went
running and anyway Abram went back to where he came from And
yet don't you know that he might have thought there may be some
reprisals for this. Don't you know that that Abram
thought I'm going to I've made some real enemies. Look over
to Psalm three. Psalm three. This is a wonderful
song. Don't you know Abram was was
a little bit fearful. That maybe they were going to
come back on him. And you know, all believers,
the believers will have many enemies in his lifetime. Enemies
from without, enemies from within. We'll have many enemies. That's
what the Lord said. You shall be hated by all men. For my name's sake. But here's the consolation, believer. Psalm 3. Look at it with me,
for your own good. What a blessed promise here.
Lord, how are they increased to trouble me? Many are they
that rise up against me. Many there be which say of my
soul, there's no help for him in God, and they'd like for it
to be so. But thou, O Lord, art a shield
for me, a protector. Thou, O Lord, my glory, the lifter,
you lift up. Why art thou cast down within
me, O my soul? hope down and got your shield.
Again, this is the first time she'll the Lord calls himself
by the name she Abram. Fear not. I'm your shield. You're afraid of reprisals, Abram.
How do you think you took those men in the first place? How do
you think you did what you did in the first? How do you think
you got where you got? What do you? What is it? Who
is it that you owe? To whom do you owe all that you
are right now? The place you are, your sustenance,
your riches, everything about you, Abram. Huh? Did you, by
yourself, get this? By your own strength, by your
own ingenuity, by your own result? You are what you are, Abram,
by the grace of God, by my grace. Fear not, Abram. I've brought
you thus far. I'll take you all away. I'm your
shield. Don't be afraid of your enemies.
I am your shield. I'm your protector. Abram, I've
got a hedge about you. Nobody can touch you. I've got
a hedge about you. And if I would open the heavens
for you, Abram, you'd see that they that be for you are more
than they that be against you. I give my angels charge over
you, Abram. You're not going to stomp your
toe unless I say so. I am the shield and look at what
is next. The next thing you see the in the word I'm the shield
and I exceeding great rule. Exceeding great rule. Back up in Chapter fourteen you
remember when verse twenty one. You remember where the king of
Sodom let's read it king of Sodom and said Sodom said unto Abram
give me And this is after Abram rescued Lot and the king of Sodom
and all the spoils. King of Sodom said unto Abram,
give me the persons, give me the people. You take all the
goody, the booty, all the spoils, the goods to yourself. Abram
said to the king of Sodom. Now that would have been a temptation,
wouldn't it? I'm telling you that would probably
great riches. finest of horses and chariots
and what have you, clothing and gold and silver and home furnishings. Don't you know what this must
have been, this riches? That would have been a real temptation,
wouldn't it? Huh? Would it have been to you? Like
winning the lottery, John. Seriously. Well, look at what happened.
Abram said, no. I've lived up my hand under the
Lord the most high God possessor of the heaven and earth. In other
words he's saying it's him that I'm going to receive. I lift
out my hand. I'm living by faith in him. Read on. I won't take from a
thread even to a shoelatchet and that I will not take anything
that is thine lest thou should say I've made Abram rich. The
only thing I want is something to eat. Something to eat. What's my rightful due? Just
something to eat. Boy, I tell you, that's great
faith right there. There he is. That's great faith. Like Moses later on. Moses, remember
it said Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh. And esteem
the reproaches of Christ greater than all the treasures of Egypt.
Remember that? Where Moses learned that from?
From the father of the faithful, Abram. And Abram refused the
pleasures of sin for a season and rejected the world in its
favor. He refused to use the means and method of the world
for his sustenance. Rather, he chose to live by faith. And this is a particular instruction
to the church. that the church is not to live
by worldly means and methods. The church is not to carry the
ministry on by worldly means, lest we should say the world
made us rich. No, we operate, we live, we act
by faith. Don't we? And we receive what
we receive from the television ministry up in Kentucky that
my pastor has been on for How many years did he say the other
day? Thirty years now. Something like that. Never once,
not one single time have they ever asked for money for that
talent. And it cost a thousand dollars
a show. Four thousand dollars a month.
over $50,000 a year. They've never asked one dime
from any of the viewers. Now, in order for us to stay
on the air, would you please, would you like to help this ministry?
In order for us to stay on the air, you're going to have to
send us no even hint, not even any insinuations that it needed
money. No. Why? Because if God's in it,
God'll provide, right? That's His name, Jehovah Jireh. I am not exceeding great reward
and. So that's a particular instruction
to the church I believe we're not going to make sales we don't
want car washes we're not going to resort to worldly mean God's
going to take care of this church. Right I'm not going to get an
outside job. God's going to take care of this
church. If this is if he's in it he'll sustain it right. He
has thus far every reason to believe you continue to do so.
And. Look at it look at what it says
I am by exceeding great war. Remember the kinsman preached
on exceeding things exceeding what he says I am your exceeding
great reward. And no listen to that do you
know that in the scriptures The Lord never one time, never
one time uses the plural of reward. Never one time does the Lord
say rewards. Not one time. Never one time. Is that significant
to you? Never one time does the Lord
say believers are going to have rewards. Everyone. He says the believer is going
to have a reward. Singular. What is it what's going
to be. Him. Christ. I am. Abram the reward of faith
is the object of faith. See true faith. True faith not
looking for heaven anyway true faith is looking for him. He
is heaven. So the reward of true faith is
him. Paul said, Oh, that I might know
him. God says, OK. I'll reveal myself
to you. Paul says, Oh, that I might win
him. He says, OK. You've got me. Oh, that I might
win him, know him. Oh, that I may be found in him.
You got it. There you are. You got what you
asked for. Me. Me. You get me. Verse two, read on. So, Abram says, Here's what Abram
said. He prays, Lord God, what will
thou give me? See, and I go childless, and
the steward of my house is the Eleazar of Damascus. And Abram
continued and said, Behold, to me thou hast given no seed. And
lo, one born in my house is mine heir. Now, this is not an expression,
you think, upon first looking at this, you think, well, Didn't
it didn't Abram hear the Lord. Why did he say Lord what are
you going to give me. That's not what that's not what he's
saying here. That's not how Abram is asking here. This is Abram
is asking something in faith. Abram is asking God beseeching
God to honor his promise. This is great faith that Abram's
using here. Abram believed God. That's what
the scripture said. Abram believed God. Abraham expected
God to do what he said and give him seed. So what he's doing
here is what the old Puritans used to call arguing with God
according to his word. Now, do you understand what they
meant by arguing with God? It's not back-talking God. It's
not gainsayers. It's not arguing in the sense
that we You have a different opinion. What it means is you're
pleading the Lord's promises back to him. Lord, you said.
But, Lord, you said I'd have a seat. I don't have one yet.
See, he's using great faith there, Stan. Really. He is. It honors God. And you know,
this is what God is looking for in us. It honors God to plead his promises
with him. Lord, you said. It's not honoring the God that
keeps, oh, Lord, you're not going to do this. Surely you're not
going to do this. Oh, you're not going to say, I believe I'm
going to be lost. I'm going to be lost. That's not an honor, God. That's
just unbelief, isn't it? Isn't it? But it honors God,
Lord, I'm a sinner. I failed thee, and I know I'm
going to continue to fail thee. But you said, huh? You will never
leave me nor forsake me. All those that come unto God
by Christ, believe in you, said, Lord, that you'd save me and
keep me by your power. I ain't got any power. You said
you'd keep me by your power. I'm just resting. Honor that,
Lord, would you?" He'll honor that. See, that honors him. You see that? That honors him.
And this is what Abram's doing here. He is. The Lord has just
spoken to him. And he's not. He's and it's not
unbelief here is this is a great thing. Lord you said. Lord you
said that you must die seed and Lord I don't have a seed yet
I don't understand. And there's nothing wrong with
that. But what I want. You said. Now it could be and I thought
about it and I want you to turn real quickly over to Ezekiel
thirty six. Ezekiel 36. Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel
chapter 36. It could be that Abram hadn't
really sought the Lord for this like he should have. He took
it for granted. And how often do we do that?
Concerned in everything that we know the Lord is promised
as many things and he's promised as many things faithful. He called
you. He'll also do it. He had begun
a good work and he'll finish it. He's promised us many things
that I've called you. I'll keep and so forth. I will. I will. I will. And this is what
Ezekiel thirty six here says it says in verse. Twenty four. He said, I will
take you from the heathen and gather you out of all country.
We'll bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water
on you. I'll cleanse you. Verse 26, a
new heart will I give you. I will. Verse 27, I'll put my
spirit within you. I will. Verse 28, you shall dwell
in the land I gave you. You shall be, I will be your
God. Verse 28, I'll save you from all your illness. I will
call for the corn. I'll feed you. Increase it. Lay
no famine upon you. Verse thirty, I'll multiply the
fruit of the tree. Verse thirty-two, not for your
sakes, no. For my name's sake. I will, I
will, I will. Look down at verse thirty-six. Verse thirty-seven. Thus saith
the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by the house
of Israel to do it for them. You see that? There's prayer. God's promises. I will, I will.
This is what I'm going to do. But I will be inquired of to
do it. You're going to ask me to do
it. Why? Why? Lord, you're going to do
it. Why should, why do I need that? Because after you ask and
after I do it, after you've asked, you're going to, you're going
to, you're not going to take it for granted. Who did it? You're
going to acknowledge when I answer you after you ask me and I answer
you speedily and as Scripture says he will shall not the judge
of the earth avenge his elect though he bear with them. Yeah,
I say he will bend them speedily and after he answers you speedily
you'll give him all the glory. Not you won't attribute anything
to luck or chance or to yourself but you'll ask him for it and
he'll give it to you. It could be now that Abram hadn't
sought the Lord for this. Some time had gone by. Maybe
he'd taken it for granted. Huh? That happens, doesn't it?
That happens. And God ordains prayer. Prayer
is a means. God ordains prayer, and I'll
have you know and remember, importunate prayer. Like that widow. Prayer without ceasing. Not a
one-time thing. Lord save my child. and then
go on for a long time. That's not the way he does things. That's not the way he does things.
Verse 3, Abram said, or verse 4, And behold, the word, and
here it comes, Abram asked him again. Verse 4, back to the text,
Genesis 15, verse 4, And behold, here's what comes to him again,
the word of the Lord came right back to him. He prayed the word
of the Lord came to him and said this won't be your heir Abram.
Quit resorting to carnal reasoning. And oh he makes this terrible
mistake later doesn't he? He listens to his wife. Sorry
women. But he did. Instead of listening
to the Lord he listened to that woman. That sounds familiar too
doesn't it? Not to us I'm talking about
to Adam. Well, Abram, this is not going to be
your heir, this bondman, and neither will later on a bondwoman. This bondman, this servant's
not going to be your heir, neither will a bondwoman later on. No, it's going to be a freeborn
son, a miraculous son. a son of my choosing, a son of
my giving. Thy seed, Abram, thy seed, not
somebody else's. Thy seed. And verse five, and
he brought him forth abroad and said, and this has got to be,
well, it's all so significant. He brought him forth abroad and
said, look toward heaven. Don't look down, don't look within,
don't look at means, look toward heaven. Look under the hills
from Which cometh thou? And look toward heaven, and tell
the stars, if thou be able to know it. And he said unto him,
So shall thy seed. Look toward heaven, and thy seed.
That's got to be a prophecy there. Look to heaven, thy seed. So
shall thy seed be. Or in other words, that's where
the seed's coming from. Heaven. Seed's coming, that's where the
seed's coming, that's where the seed's going, that's where the
seed's coming from. That's where this and that's
how many. There's a lot there, isn't it? A lot. Look at verse
six. Oh, I love this verse. Don't
you love this verse? And he believed in the Lord and
he counted it to him for righteousness. He didn't, no, he hadn't done
anything yet. He just believed. And now, now
stay with me, OK? I've got to set this forth. If
we don't go any further than this verse, We've got the camp
there at this minute, all right? This is gospel right here. Gospel,
gospel, gospel. That's all you preach is gospel.
That's all there is. He believed in the Lord, and
the Lord counted it to him for righteousness. Believed what? Well, what did God just talk
about? The seed. Right, the seed. And over in Galatians 3, Paul
deals with this promise to Abram, and he says, and God spoke to
Abram and said, by seed, singular. And that seed, he said, in verse
16, Galatians 3, is Christ, the seed. This righteousness says
that it counted to him, or imputed, that's the same word, imputed,
Abram believed in the Lord, and the Lord imputed it to him for
righteous. Believed in who? The seed. Yes. Here we go again, saying,
Abram rejoiced to see Christ's day. He saw it and was glad.
He saw it and was glad. We saw that earlier on, how that
Abram must have seen, and in our study on Melchizedek Sunday
night, he had. bread and wine, and the priest
of the Lord, and all of that. He saw who the seed was. Without this faith, it's impossible
to please God. Faith in who? Faith in God. Faith
in God's Christ. Right? A lot of people claim
to believe in God. You believe in one God, you do
well. The devil's believing. You've
got to believe in God's seed, God's Son. That's justifying
faith. That's the only kind of justifying
faith there is. In the seed, the faith that saves,
that justifies, is faith which believes God concerning the promised
seed, Jesus Christ. That's the imputed righteousness. He is the righteousness of God.
Right? Right? OK. Faith, which justifies,
has to do directly with the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
So right after God said something about the seed, Abram believed.
And God imputed righteousness to him. You see that? It's as
clear as it can be to me. All right. Now quickly, let's
look at some types of Christ here. We have a couple more minutes.
All right. Very quickly. The Lord, and Abram said unto
him, well the Lord said unto Abram, I am the Lord that brought
thee out of the Ur of the Chaldees to give thee this land to inherit. He reminds Abram about who called
him and his shield and reward and so forth. And Abram said
again, verse 8, Lord God, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit
this land? And is he asking in unbelief
again? you're going to inherit. Here
is the inheritance. The inheritance is based upon
this. This is a sign I'll give you, proving to you that you're
going to inherit. You're going to be a joint heir
with me. What's the sign? A sacrifice. How do I know that God's making
me his son? How do I know that he's going
to give me all things, freely give me all things? Well, he
that spared not his own son, how shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? He said, You're going to inherit
the land. How will I know, Lord? I killed my son to save you and
take you there. That's how. You see that there,
John? Read on. Here's the sign. Take a heifer, three years old.
A young, strong bull. That's a picture of Christ in
his manhood and his strength. Three years. Three years old.
See a man wasn't considered a man in Jewish history until he was
thirty years old. How long did Christ live? Thirty
three years. Three year old man. Three years. A strong man. A three year. A
she-goat. What about that? A she-goat of
three years. Every one of these are three
years old by the way. A she-goat. Well that's Christ's sin offering
who gave birth to his church. And a ram of three years. That's
a male lamb is all a ram is. A ram of three years and if you
look it up in Levitical priest Levitical sacrifices the right
the ram was always a consecration offering of consecration sanctification. You see here justification sanctification. It says a turtle dove. A turtle
dove and a young pigeon. A turtle dove. What's significant
about a turtle dove? But Solomon says he has eyes
like doves. But you know, a turtle dove is
one of the most loyal of all creatures. Once they marry, or
once they mate, they'll never leave that mate. Even if that
mate, you know a mourning dove, before they get their name, even
if their mate ever dies, that mate will never marry another.
Never. They'll just sit out there and mourn over their mate. It's the
most loyal animal. Till death do they part. Christ
said, I'll never leave you, nor forsake you. He has eyes like
doves. What about a young pigeon? Well,
a pigeon is a—you don't find—pigeons don't fly as much as they do
earthbound. Pigeons are Both these birds
are heavenly creatures, aren't they? But the pigeon's an earthbound
bird, aren't they? Where will you find them? You'll
find them amongst men. Well, that's a picture of Christ,
too, isn't it? Oh, he's from the heavens, oh,
he's spirit, yet he dwelled among us. All right. And all the animals
were slain, every one of them were slain. He took them all
and divided them. Christ said, Take, eat, this
is my body which is broken for you. But his spirit wasn't divided. The birds he divided not. Verse
11, When the fowls came down upon the carcasses, Abram drove
them away. That's Abram's zeal for the truth. When all these
fowls came down to spoil the sacrifice, Abram said, Get out
of here. This is holy. Don't touch this. That's the zeal of a believer
for the gospel's sake, for the purity of Christ's sacrifice.
Oh, you don't, don't spoil the sacrifice. All these fouls, these
foul men. Verse 12. And when the sun was
going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. A deep sleep. And lo, a horror of great darkness
fell upon him. Now, I think this is a picture
of man being dead in sin. He must be brought out of darkness
into Christ's marvelous light. And he must, and how's he gonna,
how is he brought out of darkness? Listen carefully. It's a picture
of man being dead and in darkness. How is he brought out of darkness?
When he sees the seed. Look at the next line. Verse
13. The Lord said unto Abraham, Know
of a surety thy seed. Did you see it? Maybe you didn't
see it. Know of a surety thy seed. How is a man brought out of darkness
into his marvelous light? God has shined in our hearts
to give the light and the knowledge and the glory of God in thy surety,
the seed, the woman's seed. Oh, the surety, thy seed. And
here's some prophecies concerning the nation of Israel and concerning
all of God's people who are strangers and pilgrims on the earth. They
shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs. This is not
your place. This is not your Oh no, we look
like Abram for a city whose builder and maker is God. A stranger
in the land is not there. They shall serve them. You work
for unbelievers, don't you? Same thing. You work for unbelievers. They shall afflict them four
hundred years, or forty anyway. You're under affliction, trial
and affliction. Same thing with all believers.
But that nation whom they shall serve, I'll judge. God's going
to judge this land, isn't he? And afterward, shall they come
out with great substance. Verse fifteen, and thou shalt,
Abram, thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace. Thou shalt be buried
in a good old age. And this is a prophecy of who's
going to bring the people out. Verse sixteen, and the fourth
generation, I didn't write it down, but it was the fourth fourth
person, Moses and Aaron, were the fourth generation from April.
The fourth generation from April. And they shall come out. Verse
seventeen, And it came to pass that when the sun went down,
it was dark, and behold, a smoking furnace and a burning lamp passed
between that sacrifice. There's another picture of Christ,
isn't Christ who said he'd be in the burning furnace with us.
He'll be with us in that fiery furnace, and he is the light. Christ is that lamp, the light
under our burning lamp, the light of the world, right in the midst. And in the other verses are a
covenant concerning the land given to the people of Israel,
and maybe there's a type there of how believers shall inherit
the earth. We will not read the rest of
it. All right. I hope you got something
out of that. All right, Sherry, if you come
up, we'll sing that song now that I meant to sing. 328. 328. Written by
Fanny Crosby. And she must have had Genesis
15 in mind when she wrote it. All right? Let's sing. First and last verse. Am I everlasting
portion, more than friend or life to me? All along my pilgrim journey,
Savior Savior, let me walk with Thee Close to Thee, close to
Thee Close to Thee, close to Thee All along my pilgrim journey
Savior, let me walk with Thee Last verse Lead me through the
veil of shadow, carry all my sinful sin. In the gate of life eternal,
may I enter, Lord, with Thee. Close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee. Then the gate of life eternal,
may I enter long with Thee.