Hope your Bible is with me to
Luke chapter 22. It is a joy to be with you again. Just a few days ago, it seemed
like I was here. I appreciate the opportunity. You know, I've been where I'm
at for 29 years this month in March, 29 years. And I've learned some things in those
29 years and preaching and being around people. As you said, things
don't always seem as they appear. You know, when you face a congregation
of people, married people, grandparents, kids, newly married, You're facing people that has
troubles. Most of them have something going on in their lives. They've
got a sick child, having marital problems, financial problems,
health problems, things going on in their mind,
temptations that we don't know anything about. And all those
things that I've observed and seen, I've always resolved, by
the grace of God, to always try to have something to say to the
Lord's people when they gather out that they'll leave better
than what they was when they came. That they'll leave better. They'll leave strengthened. They'll
leave encouraged. They'll leave with some edification to their
heart and soul. And I certainly hope that that
will be the case tonight. Let's look here in verse 31.
Luke 22 and verse 31. I've titled my message this evening,
Will your faith fail? And the Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may shift you
as wheat. But I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I
am ready to go with thee both into prison and to death. And
he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this
day before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me. You know, we sang that song,
the wonderful Savior is Jesus, our Lord, a wonderful Savior
to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock, the shadows
of dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of his love and covers me there with his hand. That's what we
have here, a wonderful Savior is Jesus our Lord. What a wonderful
Savior. How precious is the name of Jesus
to a believer's ear. Soothes his sorrow, heals his
wounds, and drives away his fear. And that's what we have here,
our Lord Jesus Christ taking one of his dear saints, one of
his apostles, hiding him, protecting him, and preserving him in spite
of himself. in spite of himself. You know,
no wonder the whole hymn writer said, how firm a foundation ye
saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
And let's look here together at some of these verses and see
what we can get to maybe be a blessing to us. The Lord said, Simon,
Simon. You know, he didn't call him
Peter. He didn't call him The Rock until down in verse 34 and
told him that as The Rock, he was going to fall. As The Rock,
he was going to deny the Lord. But here he says, Simon, Simon. Simon, Simon. Repeated his name.
Now, some think that he repeated his name to stress what a danger
he was under. But that's not the way I understand
it. It's not the way I felt it when
I worked on this. There's a tenderness here. Oh,
Simon. You know, just a compassion,
almost a compassion going out to him. Simon, Simon. There's
a tenderness and a compassion. And now he says, Simon, Simon. And what we learn from this,
first thing we learn is, is that when our Lord said, Satan hath
desired to have you, that he may shift you as wheat. Here
we have our Lord telling us about a fearful enemy, an awful enemy
that we have. Satan, he said, Satan, capitalized
Satan, has desired to have you, an apostle, an elect one, chosen,
loved from all eternity, one for whom Christ died and shed
his blood for. Satan has desired to have you,
not just anybody, you, one of God's blessed elect. One of those
that Christ said was in the Lord's inner circle. He said He desired
to have you. And then when He got you, He
wants to sift you like His wheat. He wants to take that wheat up
and sift it. And hopefully the wheat will
be left and you'll be the chaff and the chaff will blow you away.
Now let me tell you something. They didn't know Satan was in
their midst. They didn't know Satan was working. They didn't
know he was there at all. He was near the flock and yet
they didn't see. It was like when the sons of
God, in Job chapter 1, when they gathered together to pray, Satan
himself appeared there, and they didn't have an idea that he was
in their presence when they prayed. That he come there in their presence
to pray when they was there. He was standing there, listening
at them, watching them, paying attention to what they said.
And, O beloved, and I is an enemy of our Lord and of His people.
He has called many things. And what an enemy he is, what
an awful, fearful enemy he is. I'm no match for him to go to
war. I'm not going to try to be a match for him. People talk
about, you know, I ain't afraid of the devil. Listen, I'm no
match for him. I'm no match for my own flesh,
much less for the devil. I'm no match for my wife, much
less the devil. But as an enemy of our Lord and
His people, he's called subtle, he's called crafty for his ability
to deceive. He deceived our mother Eve through
his subtlety, craftiness. And he's also called a lion for
his fierceness, his ferociousness, his aggression. He goes about
as a roaring, intimidating lion, seeking whom he may devour. In
another place, Paul said he's an angel of light. And that means,
beloved, that he comes as an angel of light to dazzle, to
impress. To make everybody think, what?
Oh my, here's an angel come down from heaven. He speaks like an
angel. He just dazzled. He just got
all kinds of light, got all kinds of gifts, got all kinds of ability.
And then he's also called an accuser of the brethren. When
he met with the sons of God there as they were praying, God says,
where'd you come from? Satan's to and fro on the face
of the earth. And he said, Have you considered
my servant Job? And he said, Oh no, I know about
Job. He said, Job don't fear you for
nothing. You know, there's some reason
he fears you. Because you've blessed him so
much. You give him all these cattle, all these houses, all
these children, all this land, all this wealth, and all you've
got to do is take it away from him and he'll cuss you in your
face. He don't care nothing about your holiness. He don't care
nothing about your righteousness. He don't care nothing about your
sovereignty. He don't care nothing about your
power. He don't care nothing about you at all. Only what you
can give him and what you can do for him. And I tell you what,
take it away from him and he'll cuss you to your face. See, he
is there accusing him. Old Job ain't nothing to him.
And how many times has he said that about you and me in the
very presence of God? Nothing to him. And, oh, beloved, he's only serving
you, worshiping you for himself, not for you. He is. And not only
is he called a lion and an angel and accuser of the brethren,
but look over in John chapter 8. He's called a murderer. He's
a murderer. And like what Rich read this
evening, you know, love. Love, one thing the devil cannot
counterfeit. He can counterfeit so many things,
but one thing he cannot counterfeit, he cannot counterfeit the love
of God. He cannot counterfeit the love
that a man who has been saved by the grace of God, who has
been taught by the Spirit of God, he cannot imitate the love
of the truth, the enjoyment of the truth, the delight in the
truth, the submission to the truth, the bowing down to the
truth, and renouncing yourself and saying, yes, God is true
and every man's a liar. He won't do that. He cannot imitate
the love of God. But look what he said here. Our
Lord said in verse 42. Jesus said unto them, speaking
to the scribes, the Pharisees, the Jews, if God were your father,
you would love me. For I proceeded forth and came
from God. Neither came I of myself, but
he sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Now they understood
the words. They didn't understand what he
meant. They didn't believe what he meant.
What's the problem of even because you cannot hear my word can't
understand it. Now watch it. You are of your father the devil.
And the lust of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from
the beginning. When did he murder? He murdered
our first parents. And when he murdered them, beloved,
and lied to them, he said he is a liar, and he abode not in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks
the lie, he speaks of his own. He is a liar and the father of
it. He came and convinced our first parents of a lie, that
God is not holy, that God will not punish sin, you will not
die. That God is not just, that He
will not know when the world, that He's just so merciful and
so loving and so gracious that He will not punish you when you
take of that fruit. And oh my, here's a line of murder. And I'll tell you something else
about Him. Just as quick as the seed is sown, He's the one who
comes to catch away that seed. Verse 1. Not only that, but while
we're sleeping and slumbering, he comes along so terse among
the weak. But, oh my, listen, beloved.
The world is a snare. The world is a snare. The political
world's a snare. The economic world's a snare.
Entertainment world's a snare. Social world's a snare. Intellectual
world's a snare. All this world out here, there's
so many snares that reaches and gets us and grabs us and holds
us and takes our time and takes our energy. And the flesh, this
old flesh is an awful, awful burden. Oh, wretched man that
I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I know that
in me, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. Oh, but beloved,
in spite of the world, in spite of the flesh, there's an enemy
that's worse than the world. There's an enemy that's worse
than the flesh, and that's Satan himself. And I'll tell you why
he's an enemy. Because he's invisible. You can't
see him. He has power. He's had 6,000
years' experience dealing with people like you and me. And he
was so arrogant and so audacious that he himself stood toe-to-toe
with the Lord Jesus Christ forty days and forty nights and tried
to tempt the Lord Jesus Christ Himself from the will of God.
That's how arrogant he is. And he overthrew our first parents.
He overthrew David with David. Just set a woman out there and
let him look at her. Nothing wrong with looking at a woman,
but it's wrong when you say, I'm going to take her to be mine.
And one sin led to another sin, and here he overthrew Peter. And oh, beloved, we have a promise.
God gave us this blessed promise. Look in Romans 16, just a moment.
You know, God gave us this wonderful promise. Resist the devil and
he'll flee from you. And here's another one. I love
this right here. Romans 16 and verse 20. You know, that's why the world,
the world, the less we have to do with it, the better off we
are. We get so taken up with the economy and politics and
education and so many things. There's so many different worlds
out there that can reach and get you and grab you. And oh my, I mean, it'll just
get its hands around your throat and just almost choke you to
death, you know. And it'll get you to where you're just about
to faint, about to give up. If God don't come, take it away
from your throat. I've seen it happen too many
times. And I know from experience. But oh, look what our Lord said
here in Romans 16, 20. And the God of peace shall bruise
Satan Shall bruise Satan, let you tread
on Satan under your feet. Under your feet. One of these
days, that very one who just, you know, if it wasn't for Christ,
one of these days God's going to put him down and all of his
children just walk up and put their foot on his neck. Oh, bless his holy name. You
know why we're going to get to do it? Because Christ's already
done it. Christ already done it. Now, but now look back over
in our text. The Lord said, Simon, Simon,
behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may shift his
weight. But, but, thank God for that little word, but. Great big doors swing on little
bitty hinges. But, but. Oh, watch it. I have prayed for thee. I prayed for you, that your faith
fell not." Oh, my soul, what a glorious, blessed, wonderful,
gracious truth, a blessed truth. Peter had an high priest. Peter had an intercessor. Peter
had someone to take up his case. Peter had someone that was for
him, even though he did not know anybody was against him. He said,
I prayed for you. He didn't say, your brethren
prayed for you. He didn't say, you prayed for yourself. He didn't
say, I called the church together and had them pray for you. He
said, I prayed for you. I was the one who done it. And
I prayed for you. And here, listen to this. I prayed
for you before the temptation ever came. But I knew Satan was
going to come after you. I mean, he was going to sift
you. I knew he was after you, desired to have you. But before
this temptation ever come, I prayed for you. And oh, listen, look
over in John 17.9. And ain't you so thankful for
this, that our Lord Jesus Christ... You know why I'm a believer today?
It's because Christ prayed for me before I ever believed. That's why, you know, He said,
I pray for them who shall believe on me through their words. And
I believe on God through the word that the apostles, priests,
and men came and preached to me. Christ took up our case and
our cause before we were. And whatever faces me tomorrow,
I, Lord Jesus Christ, just went before me and prayed for me and
took up my case and said, Father, give him strength. Father, give
him faith. Father, give him grace. Father,
give him everything he needs at the hour he needs it. And
that's before it ever happens. That's a fact. I know that just
as sure as I know my own name. Only thing that happens, I get
surprised, but Christ never surprised. John 17, 9. I prayed for you
before the temptation ever come. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are wine. Oh, now look down at verse 12.
Oh, my. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them. I kept them. I preserved them
in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, I
have kept. And none of them is lost." You
mean Simon Peter is not going to be lost? He's going to be
saved. He's going to be proud. He's going to be tempted. No,
he ain't going to. No, why? Because Christ said,
I'm not going to lose one of them. But the son of perdition.
And the only reason that was, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.
Now look down at verse 15. Now, this is a key right here.
I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world. You
know, Christ could save us and take us on to glory, but that's
not the way. I pray don't take them out of the world. They got
to be in the world. They got to work in the world.
They got to live in the world. But I do pray this, that you
should keep them from the evil. Keep them from that evil one.
You see, beloved, back over in our text, I prayed for you. The
only reason, the only reason Simon Peter did not fully, finally
fall away was because Christ prayed for him. Christ prayed
for him. That's the only reason. The only
reason why you and I don't fall away. You know, what was it John
Newton said, if a soul could fall away, I, my soul, would
fall a thousand times a day. I don't know about you all, but
I have no strength. People talk about, well, he's
got this weakness, that weakness. I don't have any strength. I'll
have his weaknesses. One fell a sword, Lord, watch
my blind side. All my sides are blind. All of
them are blind. I don't have no... I'm weak in
the back, I'm weak on my left and right, weak in the front,
weak from the top, everywhere. From the bottom? What am I going
to do if Christ don't pray for me? If Christ don't take up my
case, huh? And he promised he'd lose none.
Look again in John 6. This is, he promised that, you
know, this is why, this is why his faith wasn't going to fail.
This is why his faith, why he wasn't going to fall away. This
wasn't because, why he wasn't going to be lost. Our Lord said
in John 6, 37, all that the Father gives me shall come to me. They're going to come. We've
got some folks in our congregation, several folks that's coming,
been coming for a long time, never made a confession of faith.
But oh my, if they're Christ, they're coming. They're coming.
And Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. That means
that there's never no circumstances under which I will ever cast
them out. There's nothing they can say,
nothing they can do, no way they can act that'll make me throw
them away. If that was true, if there was
something you could say, something you could do, some way you could
act that would cause Christ to cast you away, then there's something
you could do, something you could say, some way you could act that
would cause Him to draw you to Him. Now, ain't that right? Now, watch this. For I came down
from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that
sent me. And this is the Father's will which He hath sent me. Now,
listen. That of all which we have given Me, I should lose
nothing, zero. I ain't going to lose everyone
that Father gave me. I'm not losing one of them. But should
raise it up again at the last day. Our Lord promised that He's
not going to lose. That's the reason His faith didn't
fail. He promised eternal life. He didn't promise that you'll
have life until you fall. He didn't promise you'd have
life until you sin. He didn't promise you'd have
life until you denied Me. He didn't promise that. He promised
eternal life. The life of God, the life of
Christ in your soul. He promised that one day they
would be with Him where He was and behold His glory. He promised,
He said, I'll never leave you and I'll never forsake you. And
He said, I prayed for you that your faith fail not. And beloved,
if faith fails, if faith fails, everything fails. Everything
fails. What have we got without faith?
What have we got without faith in Christ? What have we got without
Christ and being united to Him by faith? If faith fails, everything
fails. Our courage fails. Our love fails. Our hope fails. Our patience
fails. Our salvation fails. Everything fails. If faith, if
it's gone, all is gone. But our Lord said, I pray for
you. I pray for you. that your faith
fail not. No wonder we say Christ is precious
to them that believe. No wonder we say that faith is
precious. Christ is precious for giving
it to us. Christ is precious for praying for us. Christ is
precious to keep us and preserve us. And faith is precious because
God gave it to us for Christ's sake. And, beloved, our faith
won't fail. And I'll tell you why it won't.
Because Christ won't fail. If He fails, we're all going
to fail. But He won't fail. He sits now
at God's right hand. He appears now in the presence
of God for us. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. And then look what He tells Simon
Peter. I prayed for you. I prayed for you. And oh, thank
God, oh, bless Your name, Lord Jesus, for taking up our name.
Just like the high priest, when he put on his robes, he had the
names of the children of Israel on his breastplate, and he had
them on his shoulder. And our Lord Jesus Christ got his children's
heart. He said, I've written them on
the palms of my hands. Will a mother forsake her sucking
child? Can a mother forsake the son
of her womb? Yea, may they, but yet not I have written you, I'm
craving you on the palms of my hands. But look what a sure thing
here. And he says, But I pray for thee
that thy faith fail not, and when thou art converted, strengthen
thy brethren. When you're converted. He didn't
say if you're converted. I hope you'll be converted. I
think you'll be converted. But a sure thing, when you are
converted, Christ said, I'm going to turn you. You're going to
be converted. That's what conversion means.
It's just a turn. It's just turning from. How many times have we
been converted over the years? How many times have you been
converted? Well, Simon Peter needed a real conversion here.
He needed to be converted from self-confidence, self-reliance,
self-boasting, from pride, from presumption. Though he was an
apostle, though he was in the inner circle, Oh, my, every time
you find him, just almost every time you find him. He was arrogant
enough, but our Lord says that he must go up to Jerusalem and
suffer and die. Simon Peter laid hands on him
and said, Oh, Lord, suffer that to be. That's not going to happen
to you. He laid hands on him to stop him from that. Oh, my. Now, our Lord says when
you're converted, that's a sure thing. He's going to be converted.
There's not any danger of him not being converted. Now he's
going to fall. He is going to fall. He's going
to deny his master three times. He said, I tell thee, Peter,
the cock shall not crow, that rooster won't crow before daylight
in the morning till you've denied me three times. He's going to
be sifted. Satan's going to have him. Satan's
going to get him and Satan's going to lay hands on him. Satan's
going to sift him. Satan's going to take him and
chew him up and spit him out and cause him three times in
the presence of God's enemies to deny his master. Well, how
in the world is this going to do him any good? How's it going
to do the cause of Christ and his gospel any good to let an
apostle fall like this and deny his master three times? How's
this going to help? Well, I'll tell you, this is
why he needs converted. His conversion will be a glorious
display of the grace and faithfulness of Christ. Oh, he said, I'll
no wise cast you out. No wise cast you out. You see,
he could fall by himself, but he couldn't get up by himself.
A man can sin by himself, but he can't put away sin by himself.
And he could fall by himself, but he couldn't get up. And he
must be converted. He must be turned. Ain't that
what he said? He said, look in verse 33. He said, Lord, I'm ready to go with you both
into prison. If you go to prison, I'll go
with you. I'll go in there with you. I've been in prison and preached
several times. Visited people in prisons. And
just wisdom is bad enough. I don't want to go in there with
anybody. But our Lord said, He said, I'll go into prison with
you. I'm not only willing to go to prison, but I'm willing
to die. If you die, I'll die. I'll just
go to death with you. Do you reckon He meant that?
He was as convinced as there He breathed that He'd do that.
He was sure He'd do that. He had confidence, he looked
at himself and said, now boy, if anybody will stand with the
Lord, I will. If anybody can go to prison with
the Lord, I can. I walked on the water and I was
the only apostle that did. If anybody will go to death with
Him, I'll be able to do it. You know, I was with Him and
I saw Him transformed in my birth. face when I saw him turn into
a glisten like the sun. I heard the voice of God. But,
oh, he didn't know himself. He didn't know his inability.
He didn't know his weakness. He didn't know his frailty. He
didn't know how rotten his flesh was. He thought in his flesh,
well, something good. He had to be taught that in his
flesh no good things will. And the only way he could do
that is this. Oh, my. And oh, we say, Jeremiah
said, Turn us, O Lord, and we shall be turned. And how many
times have you said, Lord, turn me. Turn me from my self-righteousness. Turn me from my pride. Turn me
from trusting in myself. Turn me from my imitators. Turn
me from my maliciousness. Turn me from my hatred. Turn
me from my impatience. Turn me, O God, from everything
that's unlike You, and turn me to Christ. Oh, there's nothing
to me, God, and if You don't turn me, there'll never be nothing
to me. And oh, beloved, who better to
tell the bitterness of falling than one who has fallen? Who
better to tell his breath and the weakness of the flesh than
those who trusted in the flesh? Huh? Look here in verse 60. Look
where his conversion started. This almost makes me cry just
to read it, just to bring tears to my eyes, just to read it. In verse 60, Peter says, Man,
I know not what thou sayest. And immediately, while he yet
spake, that rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked
upon Peter. Can you imagine such a thing?
The Lord turning. He's standing there. He's bound.
He's got a bunch of men holding him. He's bound. And that rooster
crowed and he turned around and just turned his head and looked
at Simon Peter standing over there and just looked at him. Can you imagine his eyes looking
at you when you've done that? You've done just exactly what
he said you were going to do. He turned and looked at him.
And watch this, and Peter remembered the Word of the Lord. Oh Lord,
I've hid thy word in my heart that I might not sin against
you. Remember the word of Christ. Remember his word. And how he
had said before the cock crow, you'll deny me three times. And
this worse conversion started. And Peter went out and wept bitterly. Wept bitterly. He needed to weep
bitterly. He needed to weep bitterly. He
should have wept bitterly. Should have never got over weeping
bitterly. Denied his master three times. Denied the one who loved
him three times. Denied the one who shed his blood
for him three times. Who better to tell when he's
converted of the grace and the mercy and the forgiveness of
the power of Christ than one like Simon Peter? One who failed
so far and fell so far. Who better tell of Christ's faithfulness
than those who have been unfaithful? Do you remember? I don't know
how long I've been, but let me show you this in John 21. John
21. And, you know, you don't have
to do the things like Simon Peter did to feel your unfaithfulness,
to feel like you've denied the master. None of you have come
right out and said, you know, I don't know Christ. None of
you have ever done that like Simon Peter. I don't know that
man. I don't think any of you have ever done that. But in what
other ways have we denied Him? In what other ways have we failed
our Master? And yet, yet, He stays ever faithful and
prays for us. Look here in Luke 21, verse 4.
Now, they went back fishing. You remember where they went
fishing. And the morning was now come. Weeping may endure
for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. And when the morning
was now come, Jesus stood on the shore. But the disciples
knew not that it was Jesus. Oh, what a sad state we get in
to not know Christ when He is in our presence. Then the Lord
said unto them, Children, children, have you any meat? Got anything
to eat? No, we ain't got a thing. Not
a thing. And he said unto them, Cast the
net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. And
they cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it
for the multitude of the fishes. Therefore that disciple whom
Jesus loved, old John, said, Simon, said Peter, it's the Lord. It's the Lord. Only the Lord
can do this. Now when Simon Peter heard that
it was the Lord, He girded his fisher's coat unto him, he was
naked, and cast himself into the sea. You know why? Here's
a man who had denied Christ three times. Here's a man the devil
had sifted, but just as quick as he knew Christ was in reach,
he couldn't get to him fast enough. Huh? He didn't wait for the boat
to get there. He went to swimming. Now that's
what a believer does. That's the difference between
a believer and a hypocrite. When a believer falls, when a
believer's out in the world and he's out there on that old ship
and ain't got nothing, whenever he hears the voice of Christ,
whenever he hears his Master, he knows he's naked and he's
got to come. He's going to jump in. He's going to get to Christ
just as fast as he can get there. I don't care how I mean, you
know, the difference between us and hypocrite, a believer
and a hypocrite is the minute a believer falls, he immediately
turns to Christ. He don't say, well, I'm going
to come to Christ tomorrow. I mean, when he falls, immediately
he turns to the Lord. This moment he says, immediately
he turns to the Lord. He don't say, I'll wait till
I get myself better. I'll wait till I get stronger.
I'll wait till I get wiser. No. And when they got there,
there was fire. Where'd Christ get that fire
from? And there was fish on that fire. He took this old sorry
apostle, this old sorry preacher, and took him, and fed him, and
warned him, and met all of his needs. And you know, I can hear
Satan right now, and I can hear the world, I can hear a world
of people, self-righteous people, saying, now here you have an
apostle who denied you, and yet you love him. And you still use
him. You didn't throw him away. It's
because God takes the weak to confound the mighty. He takes
the foolish to confound the wise. And then let me close with this
down in verse 37. Here is why none for whom Christ
died will perish. Here in Luke 22, verse 37. For I say unto you, That this that is written must
be accomplished in me, in me, in my body, in my will, in my
soul. Must be accomplished. Everything
that's written must be accomplished in me. And this is what he's
talking about in Isaiah 53, 12. And he was reckoned among the
transgressors. All things are going to be accomplished.
Everything's going to be accomplished. Nothing's going to be left undone.
He shall not fail. He shall not be discouraged.
And then it says, and he was reckoned among the transgressors.
Now, I don't know if this is right or not. You can ask your
preacher later. But he said, I was numbered among the transgressors.
Most folks think that that's the two thieves on either side
of them on the cross. Peter was a transgressor. I was
a transgressor. And our Lord says, number me
among them. Number me with Simon Peter. take his sin, take his denial,
the reproaches of them that reproach thee, fell on me. And all the
reproaches that we had for God, all the reproaches we had for
Christ, number me among them. Number me. Here's a room full
of transgressors. Christ says, number me among
them. Set me in the midst of them. I'll identify with him
in such a wonderful way. And this also shows us his substitutionary
debt that not only was he numbered with him, but he bore our transgressions
away. And watch, for the things concerning
me have an end. They have a completeness. They
have a fulfillment. They have an end. And oh, beloved,
listen. It is finished. It is done. It's
going to be done. It's done. And I prayed for you
that your faith fell not. And I believe everyone of us
say, Lord Jesus, thank You. Lord Jesus, bless Your glorious
name. Lord Jesus, blessed be Your precious
person. That there You are with this
world at Your beck and call. All power is given unto You. And there is not a one. Not a
one whom you died for. Not a one whom you love. That
you don't pray for. That you don't preserve. That
you don't keep. That you don't uphold. Not a
single one. Not a single one. Not a sin you've
ever felt. Not a burden you've ever borne.
If Christ hasn't felt it and borne it already, blessed be
His glorious name. No one's like it. Amen.