Two weeks ago, I told you we
would begin studying the parables. So tonight, I want us to begin
our studies here in Matthew chapter 5. Now, our Lord gave at least 37
parables that we know of, and He also gave many what are called
similitudes. Now a parable, if you don't know,
is a short story with a moral or a spiritual meaning to it. And a similitude is likened to
it, yet it's a shorter story, if you will. It's sort of a one-line
parable or a short parable, that which likens one thing to another,
taken from the word similar, similitude. So I want to begin
our studies with what appears to be the first of these similitudes
which the Lord gave and is found here in Matthew chapter 5 verse
13. Look at it with me. Matthew chapter
5 verse 13. The Lord Jesus Christ speaking
to his disciples. He says. And he's not speaking
to all men here, he's speaking to his disciples. He says, You
are the salt of the earth, but if the salt have lost his
savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is henceforth good
for nothing but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot of
men. Now, turn over to Mark, chapter
9. There are two slight variations of what our Lord is saying here.
There's one in Mark, chapter 9. Mark, chapter 9, beginning
with verse 49. Mark 9, verse 49. He says here, for everyone shall
be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with
salt. Now salt is good, but if the
salt have lost its saltness, wherewith will you season it?
What will you use it for? Have salt in yourselves and have
peace one with another. And in Luke 14, I'll read this,
you don't have to turn. He says in Luke 14, verse 34,
salt is good, but if the salt have lost its savor, wherewith
shall it be seasoned? Or what shall it be used for? It's neither fit for the land
nor yet for the dunghill, but men cast it out. He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear. Salt. Salt. Three mentions of
salt by the Holy Spirit here in the Word of God. Now, everything
that our Lord did and said was that the scriptures might be
fulfilled, first of all, primarily, that the scriptures might be
fulfilled. For God said in one place, He's magnified His Word
above all else. He's magnified His Word. But
above, thank God for His Word, and rightly so. This is the greatest
gift to mankind. And if we had eyes to see and
the understanding We could probably find the Old Testament verses
which contained every single subject that our Lord spoke upon
while he was on this earth. Every word that he uttered, if
we had eyes to see and the understanding, we could find something in the
Old Testament that he was referring to. He came to fulfill the scriptures,
all the prophecies concerning himself. For he said himself,
they are they which testify of me. That's the whole purpose
of the Word of God, to testify for the Son of God. And in Mark
chapter 9, our Lord quoted a verse of scripture from the Old Testament. Look over at Leviticus chapter
2. We're going to dwell here in Leviticus chapter 2 for a
moment. Leviticus chapter 2. Our Lord quoted this verse there
in Mark chapter 9, this thing of every sacrifice being salted
with salt. Look at Leviticus chapter 2, beginning with verse 12. Now,
this is the first mention of the word salt in the Bible. First mention. And that's important. Look at verse 12 of Leviticus
chapter 2. Now, as for the oblation of the
firstfruits, our Lord is giving instructions regarding the sacrifices
and the bringing of sacrifices to him, how they are to be prepared
and so forth. And he says, as for the oblation
or the preparation of the firstfruits, you shall offer them unto the
Lord, but they shall not be burnt on the altar for a sweet savor,
and every oblation of thy meat offering shalt thou season with
salt. Every meat offering shall be
seasoned with salt, neither shalt thou suffer the salt of the covenant
of thy God to be lacking from thy meat offering. With all thine
offerings thou shalt offer salt." Three times there our Lord mentions
salt in that verse. Now, our great and holy God of
heaven and earth is the God of exacting details, exact details. According to His infinite wisdom,
He gives attention to every detail in the carrying out of His immutable,
unchangeable purpose, especially concerning the atonement, or
that which is concerning so great a salvation, His Son. exacting
details, all those things pertaining to this great plan of salvation,
God makes certain of every single detail, even down to a pinch
of salt. You'll see the reason for that
here in a moment. He speaks three times of the absolute necessity
of having salt with the offering of meat, the meat offering of
the sacrifice, bringing the sacrifice before God. And I ask you this
question then, what is thought? What is thought? Well, it speaks
of many things, but chiefly, I want you to keep your place
here in Leviticus chapter 2. Keep your place there and turn
over to 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles chapter 13. 2 Chronicles chapter 13. He mentioned
there in Leviticus 2 verse 13, he said it's the thought of the
covenant. The salt of the covenant. So,
this salt that he's speaking of here, primarily, is the salt
of his covenant. This covenant that God has made. This covenant that God has made
Christ Lord, and he saves by his sovereign grace. That's what
this covenant is. Look at 2 Chronicles chapter
13, verse 5. 2 Chronicles 13, verse 5. This man stands up and he says,
Ought ye not to know? Ought ye not to know that the
Lord God of Israel gave the kingdom over Israel to David forever? Even to him and his sons by a
covenant of salt? Ought ye not to know? Ought we
not to know that God has made Jesus Christ Lord over all by
a covenant of his sovereign grace? That salvation is through his
sovereign grace and not by works which we have done? Ought we
not to know that? That's this covenant of salt.
It's a covenant of God's sovereign grace in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We're saved by a salted sacrifice. We're saved by the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ by the sovereign grace of God. That's
what this salt is speaking of, first of all. Sovereign grace. Sovereign grace. We don't come
to God with our works. We don't come with the fruit
or the labor of our own hands. That's a covenant of works. That's
the law covenant. We don't come with our works
before God. God won't accept it. He says, bring your offering
with salt. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that's not of yourself. It's
a gift of God. God won't accept our works. He'll
only accept the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ only. We've got to come pleading God's
grace in the broken body of the Lord Jesus Christ. That and that
only. We've got to come pleading the
sovereign grace and the sovereign grace in the covenant of God
in Christ. That's the only way God will
accept that. Secondly, this thought is speaking of faith. Faith. Scripture says without faith
it is impossible to please God. Faith. Now let me describe faith
very simply so that a little child can understand. Very simply,
Jennifer, you should be able to understand it. Faith is nothing
more than belief, trust, dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ for
your salvation. Nothing more. It's not looking
to anything we do, anything we are, anything we have done, anything
we will be. It's totally looking to the Lord
Jesus Christ, His person and His work, totally, for salvation. Nothing else. Look into him.
No one, no one could approach God back in these days. No one could approach God without
a sacrifice and that with salt. God, in Isaiah chapter one, it
says he became sick of their sacrifices. Do you remember that?
He said, your sacrifices, your offerings, your new moons, your
Sabbaths, all these holy days, I'm sick of them. They're a stench
in my nostril. Why? Well, because they were
brought out of duty and out of habit, it was a thing to do.
It's time to go to church, you know. I'll bring my offering.
I'll bring my sacrifice. And God became sick of it because
it wasn't brought with true faith toward the coming Messiah. And
God's sick of all this religion in the name of Christ. It's not
brought with faith in Christ. It's brought merely in name only.
People use the saying in Jesus' name. They use it out of habit,
out of duty, not really meaning anything by it, not really looking
to Christ for everything, for salvation. And no man cometh
unto the Father but by Jesus Christ and by real faith, heartfelt
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Know ye not your own self, how
the Christ dwells in you, except you be reprobate? God certainly
knows, doesn't he? Certainly not fooling him. Real
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just staying in the name
of Jesus. Christ stayed in the end times,
in the last days. that many will say unto him,
we did this and we did that, we did many wonderful works and
so forth in your name, in the name of Jesus. And he's going
to say to them, I never knew you. And in reality, they never
knew him either. They're worshiping another Jesus,
another Jesus. Note this about salt. Salt comes
totally from God. Salt is totally the gift of God. I spoke of salt being faith,
how the sacrifice has to be brought with faith in the covenant of
grace, of sovereign grace, and it has to be brought with true
heartfelt faith. Faith is the gift of God. We've
already quoted that. Totally from God. Salt significantly
comes from seed, doesn't it? Out of salt mines also. It comes
from the water and the ground. Our Lord was born of the Spirit.
He came forth from this earth. Salt. Salt is a blessed gift
of God. It's meant to be used with Thanksgiving. I love it. I love salt. I like to season my meat with
lots of salt. It's bad for me, I realize that. I realize what they're saying
concerning salt, but I like it. I'm going to use a little bit
of it to moderation, in moderation. But some people, I like my meat
with just salt on it. But some people like to put steak
sauce and all kind of garnishings and so forth on their meat. Not
me. Not me. I like just salt on it. And even
so, many people try to come to God with another Jesus, with
the works of their hand mixed with their works. They try to
come to God with a faith mixed with works. They try to come
to God with a faith embellished with their self-righteous seasonings.
But God won't accept it. Look here in verse 11 of Leviticus
chapter 2. Look at this. This is good. He
says, No meat offering which you shall bring unto the Lord
shall be made with leaven. You remember when our Lord warned
the people, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Beware of it. What is that? Self-righteousness. Self-righteousness. He didn't
come to call the righteous. He came to call sinners to repentance.
He said, beware, you beware of the self-righteous leaven of
the Pharisees. It's a stench in God's nostrils.
Self-righteousness. He'll not accept anything that
we have done, only what his Son has done. That's the only thing
God will accept. Only thing. No leaven, no works
of righteousness which we have done. It'll spoil the sacrifice.
It'll spoil that perfect work of Christ. It'll take away from
the glory of Christ if we offer up our little petty works to
God to make us acceptable. It'll spoil the glory of Christ.
It'll spoil the sacrifice. And look at this. This is good
here in verse eleven. And you shall burn no leaven
nor any honey. No honey in your offering. Don't
come to God with your silly, syrupy, religious sentiment. Still is earthy religious piety. Praise the Lord, brother. You
know, hallelujah. All of this. What is from feigned lips. The
Lord says, these people draw near unto me with their lips,
and their hearts are far from me. You can see right through
this, a spot on TV. Can't you through all of these,
these false prophets? We, I God love you, and so do
we. You can see right through that. It's honey, isn't it? Sugary,
a sugary gospel. It nauseates me. It certainly
nauseates God. He sees the heart. God looks
on the heart. He doesn't look on the outward
countenance. He looks on the heart. Just bring salt. Faith. Childlike faith. Look into Christ. Just thought on the sacrifice.
I want you to notice these things about salt. Several things concerning
salt. First of all, salt has preserving
power. Preserving power. The only way
you're going to keep one of these Virginia hams to any length of
time. One of these hams. You know what
a ham is? It's a pig's rump. Pardon my crudeness, but that's
what it is. A ham is a pig's rump, and the only way you're
going to preserve one of these hams is by salting it down. If
you didn't, it would rot and stink immediately. It would. Even so, the only way an old
spinner like you and me... God calls us worms, doesn't he?
Grasshoppers. That's us, isn't it? The only
way you're going to preserve an old sinner like me is through
the power of God's sovereign grace. The only way. We're kept
by the power of God. We read it over there in 1 Peter.
Kept totally by the power of God, not by our doings or anything
else. By the power of God. God's sovereign
grace. Without it, we're going to rot. We're going to stink. We're going
to perish eternally. And we stink anyway. We stink
all right, but salted with the blood of Christ, the righteousness
of Christ, we are unto God, the scripture says, a sweet-smelling
savor. A sweet-smelling savor. The covenant
of God's sovereign grace keeps us forever also. You can keep
one of those hands indefinitely. Christ said they'll never perish.
My sheep will never perish because they're kept by the sovereign
grace of God. Now that's salt. Well, secondly,
this salt has purifying power. Not only does it have preserving
power, but it has purifying power. You know, as soon as an animal
dies, its carcass, its body, the meat begins to corrupt, turns
brown very rapidly, doesn't it? But you add some salt to it,
and it'll drive away some of the impurities that are already
there. It'll make it fit, it'll make it fit for consumption,
for human consumption. Salt will. Even though the meat
may still look brown and ugly, like some bacon we get now, slab
bacon that you get around here. It looks brown, doesn't it? It
doesn't look any good. But that salt has purified it to some
degree. Purified it. Now you take an
old sinner. You take an old sinner who, who is dying from birth. The minute we're born, we're
dying, we're headed to the grave. And we're born sinners, corrupt,
in God's eyes. And we become more and more corrupt
as the years go by, as the days go by, more and more corrupt
with the years. But you salt him down, you salt her down with
the blood of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, and saving faith.
And though he looks like a sinner, in God's eyes he looks like Christ.
He looks like Christ. And he's fit to inhabit eternity. Yet the Scripture said he's made
meat. made meat for the Master's use.
The blood of Christ cleanses us from all our sin. Salt has
purifying power. Thirdly, not only is salt preserving
and purifying, but it also seasons things. It seasons our food well. It makes meat taste better, doesn't
it? It makes meat taste better. And
when God gives an old sinner the gift of faith, when God finally
shows Christ to an old sinner, a sinner who's in need of mercy.
When he finally sees Christ as all and in all, he will then
taste and see that the Lord is gracious. He'll see that Christ
is all at all. The sacrifice of Christ is the
sweetest thing he ever ran across. It's sweet. When God grants you
faith to believe in Him, to see Christ as He is, as your only
hope before Him, It'll season, it'll season everything. It'll
make life worth living. He is your life. Fourthly, salt,
a characteristic of salt, it creates thirst. Salt will create
thirst. And saving faith, it creates
a thirst, a hunger and a thirsting for Christ and his righteousness.
It makes one determined, like the apostle Paul, to win Christ
and be found in him. To drink of Christ, the water
of life, it'll make one say, more about Jesus would I know.
I've got to have more. I'll have another drink. Another
drink. Determined not to know anything
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You know, the gospel of God's
sovereign grace, it causes somebody to cry out, Lord, I believe.
I do believe. But I want more faith. I do have
faith in Christ, but I want more faith. It creates a thirst for
more faith in Christ. Lord, I believe. Help thou my
unbelief. Give me more faith. And fifthly,
salt. This is a characteristic about
salt. It has a burning or stinging effect to it. A burning stinging
effect. You put salt in a wound and it
will burn, it will sting. And if God in sovereign mercy
and grace creates faith in a wounded heart, it hurts at first, it
stings, it takes out all the impurities and so forth. But
it will both heal and it will set him on fire for God. Set him on fire for God. David
said the zeal of thine house has eaten me up. is salt within
my bones, Christ in my heart." The disciples said, did not our
hearts burn within us as he talked with us, as he reasoned to us
out of the scripture? And David said in another place,
my heart is inditing a good matter. It's boiling up, it's bubbling
up. It's inditing a good matter. I speak of things concerning
the king. You throw salt in the fire and it sparks and it pops
and crackles. Christ in the heart Oh, it'll
make you burst out in your heart, indicting a good matter when
you speak of things concerning the king. And this brings me,
you say, what's this got to do with the parable in Matthew 5?
Well, this brings me back to Matthew chapter 5. Look at it
with me. I said, salt has a burning effect
and that if God and mercy and grace creates faith in you, it'll
set you on fire for God. And look here in Matthew chapter
5, our Lord says, now you, are the salt of the earth. You are
the salt of the earth. How are we the salt of the earth?
How are believers considered salt? Well, as I said before,
salt has a preserving effect to it. Preserving effect to it. Let me read you this in Isaiah
chapter one. In Isaiah chapter 1, verse 9,
it says this, except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very
small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should
have been like Gomorrah. Why does this old world still
exist? Because God's got some more sheep. That's the only reason
this world still exists. Because He's still out there
looking for His last sheep. His last sheep may not be born
yet. So he's waiting, he's waiting, he's waiting, he's waiting on
that sheep. And I'm certain, I'm certain
of this, I've seen it first hand. I'm certain that God blesses
entire communities, entire cities, for the sake of his sheep. Ashland,
Kentucky is a prime example of it. When the steel mills all
over the United States have been going under, Armco Steel, it's
been held up there. Why? And even so, in this little
community, why are there so many jobs? Why? The economy seems
to be pretty good around here. Why? I see some sheep. God's
preserving it for the sheep's sake, for the elect's sake, for
that remnant that I read about. Except God had had a remnant,
according to the election of grace. We would have been a Sodom
and Gomorrah. God had no reason for God to
keep this thing going, is there? Nothing but iniquity. He saw
that the imagination of man's heart was evil continually from
his youth up. He ought to destroy it. He's
waiting on those sheep. Waiting on those sheep. He's
looking for them. He's out looking for them. Scripture says it.
The long-suffering of the Lord is salvation. The fact that the Lord is waiting
to be gracious. He's not waiting on us. He's
just waiting on His good time to reveal Himself to His sheep.
He's long-suffering to usward, Peter said, and to others. He's long-suffering to the people
of the goats of this world. He's long-suffering to them because
of the sheep. That's just it. That's just the way it is. Secondly,
how our belief is considered to be sought. First of all, in
a preserving influence over this earth. And secondly, we have
a seasoning effect, a seasoning to this earth. Believers make
this earth habitable. They do to me, anyway. Oh boy. Let me read this to you over
2 Corinthians. Well, turn with me to 2 Corinthians, chapter
2. 2 Corinthians, chapter 2. Believers, if it weren't for
God's people, what would this world be like? What good would
it be? 2 Corinthians, chapter 2, verse
15. He says, we are unto God a sweet
savor of Christ in them that are saved. A sweet savor of Christ
in them that are saved. Oh, how I enjoy the fellowship
of God's people. There's nothing, nothing on the
top side of this earth that I enjoy more. There's nothing. Houses,
lands, all these things, useful or something. But the fellowship
of the saints is truly sweet in it. And we need each other.
We need each other. We need each other to comfort
one another, to encourage one another, to build up one another
in this faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, to encourage, to strengthen.
David said this, he said, they that fear God will be glad when
they see me. I was glad when I saw this man
walk in. I was glad when I saw every one of you walk in this
door. They that fear God, those of like faith, those pilgrims,
strangers, sojourners in this earth, walking through this land,
have no continuing sitting here looking for a city whose builder
and maker is God, who are trusting in Christ, and other people that
have like faith. We're glad to see one another.
We're on the same journey together, on the same pilgrimage. We're
glad to see one another. Don't you enjoy meeting with
God's people? That's a mark. That's the mark
of discipleship, isn't it? Christ said, by this shall all
men know you're my disciples. You have love to one another.
And it's also said here in 2 Corinthians 2, look at verse 14. He says,
now thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in
Christ. And he makes manifest the savor
of his knowledge by us in every place. God maketh manifest the
savor of his knowledge by us in every place. Believers, foremost,
chiefly, are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, followers
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and they're sent out into all the
world to preach and to spread this gospel, the gospel of God's
sovereign grace, the gospel of the covenant of salt, of God's
sovereign grace and pride. And God has salted the world
with his people. He's not left himself without
a witness throughout the world. He's salted this earth with his
people. He's got a people of every tribe,
kindred, nation, and tongue under heaven. And he's got a witness
in every place. He's got one in Africa. He's
got them in England, Ireland. He's got them all over the world,
doesn't he? Mexico. And Christ said, back in the
text in Matthew chapter 5, he said, you know, this was in Mark
9, that he said this. He said, have salt in yourselves.
Have thought in yourself. The scripture says Christ in
you is the hope of eternal glory. He that hath the Son hath life. Not the he that hath the good
works. He that hath the Son. He that hath the Son representing
him before the Father. He that hath the Son abiding,
living and abiding in him and he in the Son, like a bottle
in smoke. He that hath the Son, real saving faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and him alone. He that hath the Son has life,
true life, and that person will be full of salt. That person
who has the Son, Christ abiding in him, is full of salt. And
he'll, of necessity, be salty. He'll be an old salt for the
Savior. A salt, an old salty fellow. You know, a man or a
woman who has Christ in their heart, who has the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ on their mind, They'll have their speech
seasoned with grace, seasoned with salt, always, ever speaking
of the Savior. You run across somebody on the
street and they profess to be a believer, and they start talking
about what they've done for Jesus, how many souls they want, and
this and that and the other, what they've given up for Him.
They start giving you their testimony and so forth. You have reason
to suspect that person. They're not talking about the
Savior. Their speech is not seasoned with grace, that is, what He
has done for us, not what we've done for Him. You run across
a true believer, his speech, though, is always seasoned with
grace. It's always, oh, what great things
God has done for us. Oh, how were you saved? God saved
me. God saved me. That's grace. You
ask somebody, how were you saved? And they say, well, I believed
on Jesus. That's worse. But somebody who really has Christ
in their heart and saving faith will have their speech always
of grace, seasoned with salt, the scripture says in Colossians
4. Lord will use you, will use your
testimony of God's sovereign grace, your testimony of the
gospel. Could be he'll use you as an instrument of life unto
somebody, a seed, planting that incorruptible seed in somebody's
heart. Look at Matthew 5 again. Turn back to the text, and I'm
just about to wrap it up. Matthew 5, look at verse 13. Christ, that you are the fault
of the earth. But, it's a big word right there. You are the salt of the earth,
but, listen very carefully, please. If the salt had lost his savor,
wherewith, or what, shall it be used to salt? Wherewith shall
it be salted? What's it going to be, what's
going to be salted by it? It is good, it is thenceforth,
when it's lost its savor, it is thenceforth good for nothing,
but to be cast out and to be trodden underfoot of men. Now what is this favor of salt? As I said before, it's grace.
It's grace. It's both in the message and
in the life. They're vitally connected. It's
grace in the message and in the life. in a mere professor or
a false preacher, a false prophet, if there's no favor or sound
of God's sovereign grace in their so-called gospel, it's no good
to anybody, is it? If there's no Christ, if there's
no blood atonement, if there's no effectual, sufficient, final,
finished atonement by the Lord Jesus Christ, if there's something
for you, left for you to do, it's no good to anybody, is it?
If there's no favor of sovereign grace in that man's message,
it's no good to anybody. And it'll be someday trodden
underfoot by the Son of God, won't it? All his enemies will
be made his footstool, the Scripture says. And foolish religion is
finally made a laughingstock by men. You see it going on all
the time, all these fellas falling, falling. Bakers and the Swaggarts
and so forth. Foolish. It's a laughingstock
of this generation. Why? Because it's a false gospel,
that's why. It's a false gospel. And if there's
no true saving grace through faith in a man's heart, he'll
lose his supposed, professed salvation. He'll lose it. Somebody that's been salted by
the sovereign grace of God never loses their salvation. They're
kept by the power of God. But a false professor, though,
will fall. In a true believer, that's speaking
of, you know, a professor, but in a true believer, to lose the
savor, listen to this, this is very convicting. If a true believer,
you're the salt of the earth, if the salt though have lost
his savor, what's it good for? Good for nothing. If the gospel
to a true believer loses its sweet savor, you're good for nothing. You
will be truly, you'll feel like an outcast, won't you? You know
what David, after David fell into gross sin with Bathsheba? He prayed, cast me not away from
your presence. Other places, he felt the sinfulness
of his heart and so forth. He cried out, O Lord, how long? Why hast thou forsaken me? And
if the gospel has lost its sweet savor in you, you'll feel worthless.
You're not good for anything. No good to anybody. No service.
I had that article in the Bulletin one week from Scott Richardson.
If you're not enjoying Christ yourself, in your heart, you
certainly can't minister to anybody else. If you're not really enjoying
Christ, if you don't really have Christ, truly know Christ, you're
not going to be able to testify of Him to anybody else, are you?
You can't tell about somebody you don't know. And in a preacher,
In a preacher, the man who strays from preaching Christ will lose
all of his usefulness. His message will have no savor
of life to anybody, will it? The man who's taken up with trivial
issues such as politics and this and that and the other, and leaves
off preaching the gospel, he leaves away to your matters such
as judgment, mercy, and faith, that man's ministry is good for
nobody, is it? Not good for anybody. No one. And in our lives, I said
that this grace, the losing of this favor, is not only in the message, but
it's also in the life, in our lives. If we fall into gross
sin or error, if we fall into a state of complacency or deadness,
spiritual deadness or dryness or coldness, we lose our zeal
for the gospel, we're good for nothing, good for nothing, good
to nobody. Job said this, he said, can that
which is unsavory be eaten without salt? and at the risk of sounding
like the world or some of these other people, this is nevertheless
true. Sometimes people don't hear what you're saying for seeing
what you're doing. That's just true. That's just
the way it is. Well, I hope God will salt us
with the gospel. If you've not yet been salted
with the gospel, that covenant of God's saving grace in Christ,
I hope that He will salt you, season you with saving faith
in Christ, not by works of righteousness, which we have done. It's according
to His mercy He has done that. I hope that's been of some benefit
to you. Stand with me and I'll dismiss this and pray. We are amazed at the complexity
of the exactness of your work, how deep and how perfect it is. Every word, every page works
together to show us that grand design of salvation and redemption
within Jesus Christ. How we marvel at your work. We earnestly ask you for eyes
to see it, ears to hear it, and a heart to believe in it. A heart
to look to the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone. And a life to
reflect that work in us. We thank you for this work. Apply
it to our hearts now and let us forget it. May we seen in
the rest of our, the rest of this week's talk of the award. I think across the room is bright,
and I see some. Here it is. you.