I'm going to read the first 19
verses of this chapter and hopefully by God's grace say a few things
about it. Lo, mine eye hath seen all this,
mine ear hath heard and understood it. What you know, the same do
I know also. I am not inferior unto you. Surely I will speak to the Almighty,
and I desire to reason with God. But ye are forgers of lies. You're
all physicians of no value. Oh, that you would all together
hold your peace, and it should be your wisdom. Hear now my reasoning,
and hearken to the pleadings of my lip. Will you speak wickedly
for God, talk deceitfully for Him? Will you accept His person? Will you contend for God? Is
it good that He should search you out as one man mocketh another? Do you so mock Him? He will surely
reprove you if you do secretly accept persons. Shall not His
excellency make you afraid and His dread fall upon you? Your
remembrances are like unto ashes, your bodies to bodies of clay. Hold your peace, let me alone,
that I may speak, and let come on me what will. Wherefore do
I take my flesh and my teeth, and put my life in mine hand?
Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. But I will maintain mine
own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation,
for an hypocrite shall not come before him. Hear diligently my
speech and my declaration with your ears. Behold, now I have
ordered my cause. I know that I shall be justified. Who is he that will plead with
me? For now, if I hold my tongue, I shall give up the ghost. You know, these men, Zophar,
Eliphaz, Bildad, all accused Job of being a wicked man, being
a very wicked, wicked man. You look back over here in chapter
11, just let me make a few, see what Zophar said. You know, but,
and Job, here's Job in chapter 13, he reproves them, and lets
them know that he knows God, that he knows God. And here's
Job, Job had been talking, and this is what Zophar said. Should
not the multitude of words be answered? Should not the multitude
of words be answered? Should a man full of talk be
justified? He said, Job, you're just talking
about things you don't know nothing about. Should thy lies make men
hold their peace? And when thou mockest, shall
moan men make thee ashamed? Calling Job a liar. They come
to the conclusion that Job, you remember in one place, I think
it's chapter seven, they accused him of all these children being
killed and slain because he had some awful, awful sin in his
life or God wouldn't have done him that way. And Job would not
admit to it, he would not admit to it. That's why Zophar said
here, he said there in verse four, he said, you say my doctrine's
pure and I'm clean in thine eyes. But oh, he goes on, look what
he says down there in verse 15. Here in chapter 11, for if thou
shalt lift up thy face without spot, yea, thou shalt be steadfast
and shall not fear. And then you'd be able to forget
your memory, your misery and remember it as his waters that
pass away. And so Job, and they go in and
Job is answering these men and all the things that they accused
him of. And Job, he reproves these people and he said, in
one place he called them and said, wisdom's gonna die with
you. You fellows are so smart. You know so much about God. You
know such about my life and what I've done and how wicked I am
and what God's punishing me because of my wickedness. He says, you
know, said, your wisdom's gonna die with you. When you die, everything
about God and everything's gonna go with it. And all the wisdom
of this world's gonna go with it. And then he really called
them physicians of no value. And he lets these people know
that I know God. I know God. Not some things about
God, I know God. And he also has seen God's dealings
with men in this world. How God deals with men. And he
doesn't treat men here on the basis of their character. God
does not treat men down there on the basis of their character.
No, no. You know how God deals with men
by His own sovereign choice and right. He deals with men as He
seemeth good in His sight. And that's the way He does all
of us. All of us. There's one old writer who said,
Judge not God by His providence in your life. Don't do that. Don't, excuse me, I meant to
say, don't judge God's love and kindness and grace towards you
by his providence. His providence may be hard against
you, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't love you and he's
not got his hand upon you. But there's some valuable, valuable
lessons for us to learn here, and I pray God will enable me
to say some things about it. And this is the first thing,
man ought to be able to think for himself in regards to God
and true religion. That's why Job said there in
verse one, he said, lo, my eyes seen all this, my ear hath heard
and understood everything you said. I've sat and watched you.
I've sat and watched you. And then he said in verse two,
what? You know, I know too, I know also. I'm not inferior unto you. And this is the thing, men want
to impose their thoughts in regards to God and men's relationship
based on what they see or what they say or what they do and
make their judgments upon men apart from what God's done something
for them. And men are not the same. Men
are not the same. Men don't have the same mental
abilities. Men don't have the same physical abilities. Men
don't have the same moral abilities. And I tell you, men, all these
things don't have anything to do in their relation to God.
God, in His sovereign mercy, has put all men on the same footing. The philosopher, with all of
his doctor's degree, when a man down here that just barely can
read his name and write his name, God says, you're both on the
same level. Nobody's in fear to the other
person when they're inside of God. And I bless His name for
that. You know, me and Bruce Crabtree
talk about that. Me and him, poor old boys with
just no education. And we wonder all the time, how
in the world would God give anybody to sit and listen to two old
dummies like us? But God does. And here's the
thing about it, I don't care who you are, what your character
is, how educated you are, or how uneducated, how rich or how
poor, a doctor, lawyer, it don't make any difference. God says,
you're all on the same level. I'm not inferior to you and you're
not better than I am. God put us all on the same footing. And I tell you, that's why you
don't get intimidated by men, and you don't get very impressed
by men, because you understand what they are apart from the
grace of God. And I do know this, that a man
can receive nothing unless it be given him from God. And the
natural man, he cannot receive the things of the Spirit of God,
and he can't know them because they're spiritual. And I tell
you what, and you know our knowledge of God, our knowledge of God
and our relation with God and our standing before God is not
based on anything about us or anything we've ever said, done,
our intellectual ability, our moral ability, anything about
us does not enter into our relationship with God only because Jesus Christ
our Lord made our standing perfect before Him. Huh? Our Lord said,
you know, our Lord said this, let no man deceive you. Let no
man deceive you. And that's why, look what he
said down here in verse, chapter 12, in verse 11. When Boaz, I
mean Zophar was talking about Job. He said, doeth not the ear try
words, and the mouth taste meat? Listen, we listen to what somebody's
gonna say. We taste whatever somebody's
gonna say. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Taste grace
and we listen with an ear. And look what he says here now.
Surely I would, verse three, surely I would speak to God for
myself. I would speak to the Almighty.
You're talking about a blessing. You're talking about a privilege,
glorious privilege to be able to, and he calls him the Almighty.
God Almighty. I'll speak, I'll speak, surely
I would speak to the Almighty. And what a glorious privilege
we have because speaking to God. We believe that He is. He is
personal and yet He's not far away. He's close to all who seek
Him in truth. Job said, I would speak to Him.
I would speak to Him. And oh my, before man, and here's
God said, I'll speak to the Almighty. Let me tell you three things.
Before a man will open his heart to someone, he has to believe
that the other has his deepest interest at heart. He has to
believe that everything about him has his deepest interest
at heart. And that's the way the Lord is. You know, and I'll
tell you what. And here's the thing about it,
when you open your heart to somebody, like God, you'll allow for that
person's weakest infirmities. You will not find fault with
his weakest infirmities. And I'll tell you all this, and
you'll also, if you open your heart to them, they will assist
you in your troubles and in your trials. I tell you, God gives
us assurance that He does all those things for us when we speak
to Him. Huh? We can open our heart to Him.
You know why? That He looks at all our infirmities,
don't see a thing. And when we're in troubles, He
comes and He's with us. Oh my, bless His name. And speaking
to God, speaking to God, that involves this idea that you're
entering into the holiest of holies. You remember when the
high priest He could only go into the holiest of holies once
a year, just once a year. That means go behind, you know,
when you come in, there was an entrance, it's 15 by 15, and
they went in there, and then there was a veil. There was a
brazen altar, and there was a golden altar, the altar of incense,
and when they got to that altar of incense, behind that altar
of incense was a veil, and behind that veil was that mercy seat.
And the high priest could only go behind that veil, and that's
called the holiest of holies. He could only go there behind
that veil once a year. Once a year. And he hadn't had
bread to go behind that veil. Well, I'm telling you something.
We go behind the veil every time we go to God. We don't have to wait for a priest.
We've got a high priest that's passed into the heavens. And
we can come into the holiest of holies anytime we come to
God, we go into the holiest of holies. Come into God's holy
presence right then and there. We're not waiting for somebody
to make us available to make us. We have to not stand in line. No, no. We're allowed to come. And I tell you, so oh my, he
said, you think I'm in fear? I'm not. Then look what he says
here. Oh my, talk about the wickedness
in religion. Oh, he shows us the wickedness
in religion. He said, but you're all forgers of lies. You're all
physicians of no value. What in the world is he talking
about? He's talking about these men and the things that they
said, you're forgers of lies. They were lying on God. They
was accusing God of something that he hadn't done. They was
accusing God of punishing Job for something he hadn't done.
They was accusing God of punishing Job because Job was wicked. They
was making God to be a respecter of persons. And they was making,
they was, they said, Job, there's something wrong with you. We're
all right. We know everything is about God, but you don't,
you are in bad shape. And Job said, oh, you're all
forgers of life. You're lying on God. And do you
know what lies are told on God every day? Can you imagine the
lies that are told on God every day? Every Sunday on God, do
you know what they say about the atonement? They say that
Christ died for everybody. They say that Jesus loves for
everybody. They say that the blood was shed
for everybody. They lie on the Lord Jesus Christ
and say, He stands in the front here waiting for you to come
and come into His presence. And I tell you, they say, come
up here and get on this altar. And they'll tell you that God
wants to save you, but He can't. He's got the power, but He's
got to wait on you and make you, let your heart decide what you
want to do. All forgers of lies. And I tell
you what, I'd rather do anything is lie on God. Lie on myself,
lie on you. Lie on the government, lie on
anybody, but don't lie on God. Don't make God to be less than
He is. I tell you, there's no way in
the world can we make God high enough, and there ain't no way
in the world we can make man low enough. And they got it just
backwards. Now they can't get man high enough,
and they can't get God low enough. Henry used to call him the peanut
God. Put him in a boxcar and he'd
roll around. And I tell you, that's what they
do. And then they lie on man. They start talking about how
good men are. Oh listen, God had made mothers
because he couldn't take care of everything. Oh my. I tell you what, it's just,
it's ridiculous. Oh my, the things that men say.
God loves you whether you like want Him or not. Well, I heard
one fella say one time. I heard Jimmy Swagger say one
time that, God, you're the one that's sovereign, not God. You're
the one that's got all the power. You gotta wait for God to do
something for you. You got the power, you gotta
let Him do this. I'll tell you what, I know this.
I know what power I've got. That much. That much. Do you see any space between
my fingers? I've used this before. If I had
a big piece of paper, I'd do it. One, two, three. Three zeroes. One, two, three. Six zeroes. One, two, three. Nine zeroes. What do you got? Nothing. Just zero. But now let
me tell you something. Just put one in front of that,
you got a lot. Well that's the way we are. I'm
looking at a bunch of zeroes and the only thing that makes
us worth anything is Christ. Put one, put one in front of
all them zeros. And Christ is the one who makes
all of us worth anything. Ain't that right? And you know,
here's the thing about it. That's not offensive to a believer.
But that's offensive to some people. Oh, religious lives can't heal
the soul. They said their physicians are
no value. No, listen, they can't heal the soul. They can't give
you a new heart. They can't, religious physicians
of no value can't give you any ability. They can't give you
strength because you're impotent. They can't give you life, these
physicians of no value. They're not like our Savior.
You know, He's called the physician. Our Lord Jesus Christ, He's our
great physician. He heals our heart. He heals
our souls. He heals our minds. He heals
our emotions. He heals our, He heals everything
about us. Oh my, and then look what he
said here now. In verse five, he said, these
people are an offense to God. Oh, that you would all together
hold your peace. If you'll just shut up, that's
what you need to do, shut up, shut up, shut up. Hold your peace. And he says,
you know that be to your wisdom. He said, if you fellows would
just be quiet, I'll show you that's your wisdom. Look with
me in Proverbs 17. Look in Proverbs 17. Look what it says over here. I want you to see this. You know,
if you're all together, hold your peace. Hold your peace. Don't come and offer the sacrifice
of a fool, is what Solomon said. But look what he said here in
Proverbs 17, 28. Here we go. Even a fool, when he holdeth
his peace, is counted wise. And he that shutteth his lips
is esteemed a man of understanding. And that's what Job said, you
fellas, you're physicians of no value, you're lying, you're
a liar, and you're the father of it. And he said, it'd be to
your wisdom just to shut up, just to hold your peace, just
to hold your peace. And I tell you, Eliphaz called
Job a fool, a simpleton. Over in Job chapter, yeah, chapter
five and verse two, look at that with me real quick. He called
him a fool, called him a simpleton. Look what he said there in verse
2 of chapter 5. This is Eliaphaz now. For wrath
kills the foolish man, and envy slayeth the silly one. And that's
what he called him. He called him a simpleton and
a fool. And I've seen the foolish taken
root, but certainly I cursed his habitation. So Job is going
back there, and that's what he called Job. Called him a fool,
a simpleton. And I tell you, there's a God
dishonoring zeal in religion. Look what he said down here in
verse 6. Hear now my reasonings. Job is reproving these men for
what they've said and what they've said about him and what they've
said about God. Hear now my reasoning. You fellows listen to me and
hearken to the pleadings of my lips. Listen to me. And then he goes
on to say, well, you gonna speak wickedly for God? Are you gonna
speak for God? Are you gonna charge God with
something that he's not guilty of? And they do that all the
way through the Bible. That's why God said, I raised
Pharaoh up. He said, I raised Pharaoh up for this one reason,
to show you my power. When Moses went and told Pharaoh,
said, God said, let my people go. He said, well, who is the
Lord that I should obey him? Who is he? And that's what they
sued. That's what Judas did. He spoke
wickedly for God. Demas and all of them. Are you
going to talk deceitfully for Him? Will you accept His person? That's what He's talking about.
Will you accept Him as He is? Will you contend for God? Do
you mean to tell me that God needs somebody to speak wickedly
for Him? And there's people that do. I know of two men, two men that
understood the gospel clearly, heard it and understood it clearly. And two men, and would go to
Sovereign Grace meetings, go to meetings like this, and go
to conferences, and they would say, and I've heard two of them
say, if I go home and preach what I've heard, And what I know
to be so, they'll get rid of me the first time I preach it. So what are they going to do?
They're going to go home and speak wickedly for God. Huh? Well, ain't that right?
What a wicked thing to say. And then you know what he goes
on here and says. Oh, will you accept this person? Oh, my. You know, and he says, talk deceitfully
before him. Men set forth their lies, believing
their honor in God. They talk deceitfully for him.
And I tell you that, you know, they go on and on about the love
of God. But there's a verse of scripture. Steve read it tonight in the
office, back in the study. You know, if the foundations
be destroyed, what will the righteous do? And the scripture says God
is angry with the wicked every day, and he hates the workers
of iniquity. Now, why would anybody get up
and just do nothing but harp that God is love, God is love,
God is love? And you know, and in the book
of Acts, the love of God's not mentioned the first time. All
they dealt with was Christ, Lord, Christ who died, Christ who was
buried, Christ who was risen again, Christ now sitting at
the right hand of God, and you're gonna have to deal with Him.
And oh my, they deal with the death of Christ in a very false
way. And they deal with the nature
of man. And they tell him he's got the
freedom to decide. Well, I'll tell you something.
You know where man made his decision? You know where man made his decision
at? In the Garden of Eden. Every one of us decided, no God
for me. And I tell you, had not God sent
His blessed Son into this world, and made him the substitute. God gave him a people. And I,
Lord Jesus Christ, said, Father, those that thou have given me,
I've lost none of them. Father, you gave me a people,
and he said, all that the Father giveth me, they're gonna come
to me. Every single one of them's gonna come to me. And I'm not
going to ask them if they've got the will to do it, I'm not
going to ask them if they've got the right to do it, I'm not
going to ask them if they want to make the choice to do it,
I'm not going to ask them if they've got the ability to do
it. He said, you know what I'm going to do in the day of my
power? I'm going to make every one of them willing. And every
one of them's gonna come. And when they come to me, you
know what I'm gonna do? I don't care who they are, and
I know that they're gonna sin, I know that they're weak, I know
that they're frail, I know that they ain't got no abilities,
I know that they're sin from the top of their head to the
sole of their feet, and then their flesh dwells no good thing.
But he said, I'll tell you what, I'll never, ever, ever, ever,
ever, ever cast them out. You say, you don't know what
I'm like, preacher. I do too. You don't know what I said, preacher,
I do too. You don't know how I act, preacher,
I do too. You can't turn your head for
the difference in us. That's why we come to need Christ. That's why we come to hear about
Christ. When you tell me about his death,
tell me that his death actually accomplished something. Tell
me his death satisfied God. Tell me his death put away sin. Tell me his death was actually,
the bread was actually satan's affection for the ones he shed
it for. I'll tell you, if he laid down
his life for every man, I'll guarantee you every man that
he laid his life down for will be saved. And who he didn't lay
down his life for, they're not gonna be saved. And if God waited on man to make
his decision, nobody, nobody would ever decide for God. And
you know what? Bless his holy name. God himself,
before the foundation of the world. I told you this morning,
he had a book. The book of decrees, the book
of will, the book of purpose. And he gave Christ in this eternal
covenant of grace, he gave him an elect people, he gave him
a people. He said, listen, I'm gonna give
you a multitude that no man can number. I'm gonna give you 10,000
times 10,000 of thousands. You know what the Lord God said?
He said, all you've got to do, bear their sin, die their death,
endure their wrath, fulfill the law in their ruling place, and
suffer their death. And I'll save every single one
of them. Oh, bless his name. If you're going to talk to me
about, if you're going to talk to the nature of man about me, you know this old pig runs around
and goes, run, run, run, run, run. Well, that's what, that's
the way man is. He's like, he's run, run, run,
run. He's born rude, gonna live rude,
gonna die rude, if God don't come and do something for him.
God's got the power, we ain't got any. God's got the rights,
we ain't got any. God's got the ability, we ain't
got any. God's got the choice, we don't have any. And I'm so
thankful for that. And that's why he said down here
then, he asked this question. In verse eight, will you accept
his person? Will you accept God's person?
Will you contend for God out of respect for His person? Do
you think you're going to accept God's person as He is out of
respect for His person? When you really are a physician
of no value, you oppose the truth. And so you're going to accept
His person and you're going to contend for Him. Does He need
our defense? Is He honored by such contentions
as you have that's contrary to His character? And look what
he said in verse nine. He said, is it good that he should
search you out? You know, you're trying to get
on the good side. You're gonna contend for God
and try to win his favor. Is it good that he should search
you out? Or as one man mocketh another, so do you. Oh, these
views are an insult to God. Do you mock him? You may not
know him, but he knows you. He searches you out. He searches
you out. He knows you, and I tell you
what, he won't mock or lie on you. And it's good that he searches
you out. Oh, my. Well. And then these views that these
men have, these forges of lives, these positions of no value,
speak wickedly for God, talk deceitfully of Him, or talk deceitfully
about Him. Oh my, some of the awfulest things
men say about Him. Oh my. He will surely, and you know
He's a, In verse 11, this is offensive
to the Lord's people. Shall not His excellency make
you afraid, and His dread fall upon you? Well, you know, when
you start considering God, who He really is, shouldn't that make you afraid?
Shouldn't His dread fall upon you? And that's what He goes
on to say. Your remembrances, you forget,
you know, you forget this, that you're like under ashes, your
bodies are bodies of clay. You're a child of the dust, and
you want to stand and contend with the Almighty? Try to win
His favor by misrepresenting Him? And I'll tell you in verse
13. Oh, listen. Hold your peace. Be silent that I may speak. And listen to what He says now. Let come on me what will. Let
come on me, what will? This is a heart truly, truly
taught by God. Hold your peace. Let me alone,
just let me alone. And I may speak. And then he
said, this is where he said, let come on me, what will? You fellas got this thing figured
out. You're speaking deceitfully for
God. You're lying on God. Speaking wicked things about
God. And he said, all that come on me, what will? And then, oh
my. And then look what he says in
verse 14. Wherefore do I take my flesh
and my teeth? Oh, this old flesh and all that
it is. And he said, oh my, my flesh. He said, my teeth are
just, I'm just, no, I just, Flesh is nothing, and I put my life,
oh God, they said, I put my life in your hand. Let come upon me
what my will. I take my life in my hand, willing
to die for what I know and what God has told me. Paul said, we
cannot but speak what we have seen and heard. He said, necessity
is laid upon me if I preach not the gospel. And I do know this,
that what we think about in literature, movies, politics, put it all
aside. But not what we know about God
and believe about Him. No, no. And look what he says
here in verse 15. This is what he says. He said, you fellas, he said,
God's gonna really get you, Job. And then Job said, listen, though
He slay me, though He slay me, He said, you know what I'm gonna
do? I'm gonna trust Him. And he said, whether He slays
me or not, but I'm gonna maintain my ways before Him. I'm gonna
maintain what He's taught me, what He's instructed me in, in
my relationship with Him, what Christ has done for me. I'm gonna
maintain what God's done for me right in His holy presence.
And Nick goes on and said, if he slays me, that's all right.
I'm gonna trust him. And look what he says in verse
16. He shall also be my, he's also my salvation. I don't have
no salvation apart from him. Oh my, I'll wait upon him. I have no salvation apart from
him. Living or dying, friends or foe,
friends or family or no family. He'll save me. It don't matter
what happens in my life, where I am or what I do, I'm gonna
trust him. That's what Job said. And look
what he says. He said, a hypocrite shall not
come before him. You know how many times our Lord
called the Pharisees and Sadducees and Herodians hypocrites? A hypocrite's
a play actor. That's what it means, play actor.
Play acting. And he said, a play actor's not
going to come before him. Job said, in regards to what
you say about me, I'm no hypocrite. And look what he said in verse
17. He said, hear diligently my speech
and my declaration with your ears. He had liberty. He had liberty. He had freedom
to speak about God. He had a clear conscience. And
so he could say, and I speak boldly, he said, I'll make a
declaration with my ears. And you know that's what the
gospel is. It's a declaration. It's not something to be debated.
It's not something to be argued about. Not something to be questioned
all the time. You know, we get up here, and
I make a declaration. I declare some things. And I tell you, Job said there
in verse 17, oh, that my declaration, hear my speech, I'm declaring
something here. I've got a clear conscience, and I'll listen with
your ears to what I've got to say. And then look what he said
now in verse 18. This is, this is really something
now. Behold now, I've ordered my cause. I've set my cause before
you. And you know what he says here?
I know that I shall be justified. What he's saying is, God shall
clear me. I've laid out before him who
knows. And what he's saying is, God
will acquit me, whether you all ever do or not. God will acquit
me. God will justify me. And I tell
you in verse 19, He was content to leave his cause with God.
He said, who is he that will plead with me? Who is he that'll
plead with me? Go before God and plead with
me. Oh, he was content to leave his cause with God. If you can
prove me wrong, that's what he's saying. If you can prove I'm
a hypocrite, do it, do it quickly. Because he said in verse, he
goes on to say, if I hold my tongue, And don't say what's
right. Don't say what's right about
God. And say what's right about you forgers of lies and you're
wicked speaking about God. He said all this. He said, if
I hold my tongue, I should die. I'll give up the ghost. But he
said, I'll submit my life, my all into God's hands. I'll submit
it into Him. And I tell you, forgers of lies,
physicians of no value, And I told enough lies on God.
Back when I was a fundamentalist, premillennialist, well, I never
was a premillennialist, never was, but when I was a fundamentalist,
a legalist, self-righteous, works religionist, when I first come
to Tennessee, they called me the holiest preacher. Oh my goodness,
man, I got on everything that moved,
riled, or wriggled. I was mean, oh, I was mean. Like
Moses, I got in the pulpit with the law, the Ten Commandments,
with a big old long stick and went to beating people. And God
taught me the gospel. God taught me that everything's
in Christ. And the greatest, greatest grief
that I've ever had in my heart is the lies I told on God. And
I said, Lord, forgive me. Lord, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. And if you ever let me ever speak
again, I'll preach, I'll preach the gospel of free grace in Christ. I'll preach you high and holy,
man low, low, low. And the only one can make the
difference is the Lord Jesus himself. He can touch God and
he can touch man. And he can reconcile them. Huh? He's the only one can. Bless
his name. Bless his name. Our Lord and our God, our blessed,
blessed Redeemer, our Savior, our Lord, our Master, Savior of our souls, the Keeper
of our lives, the preserver of our souls, our defense, our rock,
our hiding place. Oh Lord, we bless you and praise
you for such mercies and grace given us in Christ. Lord, never
let us forge a lie. Let me or none of us ever be
a physician of no value. Let what we say be healing. Let
it be comforting. Let us talk about the balm from
Gilead. Talk about the Savior who come.
And he healed. Oh, bless the Lord, oh my soul. For he healeth all thy diseases. Lord, we thank you for the great
healing of our souls. For our sin being put away. For
being made accepted in the beloved. God bless these dear saints who's
gathered out today. Oh Lord, these that are so faithful
to attend, so gracious to sit and listen week after week after
week. Lord, I thank you for them. Oh,
I thank you. Oh Lord, I thank you. And I ask
your blessings upon them and that you please preserve them
and cause our hearts to love you more Cause our lives to be
more subject to you, our hearts, minds, and wills. And we pray
for Fred, we pray for Joyce, that Lord, you'd keep your hand
on them, be merciful to them. And we ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen. Amen. Rock of Ages, Cleft of
Ages. Is that 126 or 127? Huh? 126. Let's stand together
and we'll sing this and you'd be at liberty to go. Rock of ages, cleft for me. Let me hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood From
thy wounded side which flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Save
from wrath and make me pure. Could my tears forever flow,
Could my zeal no longer know, Lord atone, Thou must save and
Thou alone. In my hand no price I bring,
Simply to Thy cross I cling. While I draw this fleeting breath,
when my eyes shall close in death, When I rise to worlds unknown,
and behold thee on thy throne, rock of ages, cleft for me, let
me hug thyself in thee.