Continuing to look here in the
book of Hebrews. Book of Hebrews, chapter eight.
Of course, we've been looking here in these this really from the beginning
of the book, but in this last couple of chapters especially,
speaking about the priestly work of Christ. He is our great high
priest. And I wanted to begin reading
there in verse 26 of chapter seven, and then we'll read chapter
eight. It says, for such an high priest,
speaking of Christ, became us, or was suited specifically for
us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens, who needeth not daily as those high
priests offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for
the people's. For this he did once when he
offered up himself, For the law maketh men high priests which
have infirmity, but the word of the oath which was since the
law maketh the son who is consecrated forevermore. Now of the things
which we have spoken, this is the sum. We have such an high
priest who is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty
in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true
tabernacle which the Lord pitched and not man. For every high priest
is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. Wherefore, it is
of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if
he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there
are priests that offer gifts according to the law, who serve
under the example and shadow of heavenly things. as Moses
was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle.
For see, saith he, that thou make all things according to
the pattern showed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained
a more excellent ministry, by how much more also is he the
mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better
promises. For if that first covenant had
been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the
second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days
come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt,
because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them
not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind, write them in their hearts, and I will be to them a people,
be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. And they shall
not teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying,
know the Lord, for all shall know me from the least to the
greatest. for I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities will I remember
no more. In that he saith, a new covenant
he hath made the first old, now that which decayeth and waxeth
old is ready to vanish away. Now of course this chapter begins
with the end, even as the book began with the end. You don't
usually read a book that's got the end at the beginning, but
you did in this one, because this is the sum of what he's
saying. This is the total thing. I mean,
if you want to know what the book of Hebrews is about, you
have to read the first verse, and you have to read the first
verse of chapter eight. And you'll know what this book
is about. It says, now of the things which we have spoken,
this is the sum. Now, we all know what a sum is. A sum is when you add things
up and the answer that you get at the end is the sum. So when
you add all the things in heaven and earth together, and you have
come to the conclusion and all the figures have been put together
and you have brought down to the bottom line and you wrote
the answer below the line, this is it, this is the sum. We have such a high priest who
is set on the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the
heavens. That's what the gospel is. The gospel is a declaration
of the fact that Christ is that great high priest. That Christ
is that one who has accomplished exactly what he set out to do.
Now we live in a day and age when you listen to what is generally
spoken of as what is purported to be the gospel. They don't
speak of Christ as being the high priest. And they'll talk
about the fact that the high priest made an offering. But
they will not, as a general rule, tell you what the scripture says,
and that is that he did what he set out to do, which was to
purchase eternal redemption for his people. He has not failed. No one for whom Christ has shed
his precious blood shall perish. The salvation of God's people
rests in Christ, not in them. You see, it's not in the power
of men to save themselves or to bring themselves into salvation,
but it is the mercy of God, as Brother Al has ably pointed out
this morning, it is the mercy of God that calls a man out of
darkness and into the light. And those whom he calls out of
the darkness and into the light are indeed those for whom he
has shed his precious blood. Now this is a glorious thing.
And this is a thing that makes men angry at the same time. Because if a man doesn't believe
himself to be a sinner, he'll be mad about that. Because he'll
think that somehow or other something he ought to get God's attention
and God ought to receive him on the basis of something that
he has done. But the scripture indicates very
plainly that the Lord receives men only on the basis of what
Christ has done in their behalf. And so our salvation, the sum
of our salvation is the sum that Paul speaks of right here. We
have a high priest. He is our salvation. And there
is none outside of that. He is a minister of the sanctuary. of the true tabernacle which
the Lord pitched and not man. Now men make a big deal out of
building churches as they call them. A lot of people call this
a church. They're wrong. This isn't a church. This building here, this is a
building in which the church meets. It's not the church. Now,
you know, we ride by and we say, well, there's a church, and there's
a church, and there's, well, that's actually not true. Because
the church is not a building made by hands. A church is the
building that God has made. And the Lord Jesus Christ is
a minister of that sanctuary of the true tabernacle which
the Lord pitched and not men. Men don't like to be told they're
insignificant because we think we're significant, do we not?
I mean, everybody wants to be important. Everybody wants to
be thought of highly. I mean, if you don't think so,
ride by the graveyard over there and you'll see all the markers
out there. Now, why are those markers out there? because men
don't want to be forgotten. They want to know, well, here
lies old so-and-so, you know, and whatnot. And that's okay. I mean, I'm not, you know, down
in that. It's okay if you want to put
a marker out on your grave, and that's okay. But all that, what
we need to know and understand is that there's really only one
who's worthy to be remembered. And that's the one we're speaking
about here this morning. Because he will be remembered.
As long as there is, as God lives, and he's eternal, the name of
Jesus Christ will be exalted. It will be magnified. Because
that's his purpose. And he would reveal himself to
men. in that fashion. He is a minister of the sanctuary
and the true tabernacle, not the tabernacle that Moses made. Remember, he's talking to the
Hebrews here. He said that wasn't the true
tabernacle, even later on when they built the temple. The Lord
dwelleth not in temples made with hands. I mean, that was
just a show. That was just a temporary thing.
I mean, it was a grand edifice, no doubt, by the design the Lord
gave to Solomon. I mean, as he told him what to
do. And he made it just like that, but it was not the temple
of the Lord. He's a minister of the sanctuary,
of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man.
Nothing that man has can in any way enhance God. Now people talk about doing things
for God. We're gonna do this for God.
Well, let me tell you something. You can't do anything for God. But we must hope that the Lord
will do something for us because we need him. He does not need
us. Now, you know, when I was young and growing up and I was
taught, you know, the Lord needs people to do this. He needs your
money. Now, that's still pretty strong
today. I mean, you go and listen to
these radio preachers and stuff and they'll tell you pretty quick,
the Lord needs your money. I mean, he'd probably have to
go out of business next week if you don't send in your money.
I mean, what's gonna happen? I mean, all these people's gonna
die and go to hell because you didn't fork over the dough. That's
a lie. There's never been a man who
has perished for whom Christ shed his precious blood. Whether
any man ever gave a dollar, or whatever, because God will save
his people. Because he's a minister of the
true sanctuary, of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched to not
man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices. That's the purpose of a priest.
I mean, we couldn't speak of Christ as being a priest if he
did not do exactly that, could we? I mean, he's a priest who
has done exactly what a priest is designed to do, what the Lord
designed priests to do, is to offer gifts and sacrifices whereof
it is of necessity that this man, speaking of Christ, have
something to offer. In other words, if he was gonna
be a priest, he had to have something to offer. For if he were on earth,
he should not be a priest. Now listen to that. The Lord
said Christ was not a priest after the order of Aaron. I mean,
if he'd have come trying to minister in the temple made with hands,
if he'd have come trying to minister under the covenant that Moses
had with the children of Israel where the tribe of Levi was the
priestly class, he couldn't have done it. Why? Because he wasn't born of the
house of Levi. He was born of the house of Judah.
For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that
there are priests that offer gifts according to the law. But
dear brethren, the law is not eternal. I'm speaking of the law that
given to Moses. Now the law of God, of course,
is eternal because it is the word of God. But I'm talking
about the law that, and what Paul's speaking about here, when
he's talking about the law, he's talking about the law given to
Moses because the Jews to whom he's writing here would have
understood what the law, that was that which was given to Moses,
the covenant of the law. He said that these priests offer
gifts according to the law. Christ didn't give gifts according
to the law. Now he fulfilled the law in his
jot and tittle, but his priesthood was not of the order of Aaron,
but it was of the order of Melchizedek as we have established and as
the book has established. who serve unto the example and
shadow of heavenly things. You see, every time that the
priest went into the Holy of Holies with the offering of the
blood of bulls and goats, he wasn't accomplishing anything.
Never one sin was ever expiated by any offering that any earthly
priest ever poured any drop of blood on the altar. Never a sin
was taken away by any of those things. The only purpose of the
year after year that the high priest went into the Holy of
Holies was to show that our great high priest has entered once
into the Holy of Holies in our behalf. And so it is that these
things, he said, they serve unto the example and shadow the pattern. That is an illustration of heavenly
things. The law was just an illustration.
The covenant of the law given to Moses was an illustration.
It was an example. It was a pattern that was set
forth. A shadow of heavenly things as
Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle.
For see saith he that thou make all things according to the pattern
shown to thee in the mount. Do what I said to do. This is
it. But now, see when he's speaking
about Christ, he said, but Christ, but now he, hath he obtained
a more excellent ministry? By how much more also is he the
mediator of a better covenant than that of Moses? Because he
didn't come as some under-shepherd with the command to do something
according to a pattern, but he came in his own power. You see, because he was a priest
after the order of Melchizedek, who had the power of an endless
life. And so the establishment of the mediatorship of Jesus
Christ is not upon something that is in the past. or something
that's done, some pattern that's laid down, but it is the actual
essence of that which he has accomplished for his people. What a glorious thing. All that
Moses could do was what he was told. Christ was the one doing
the telling. See, there's a big difference. Moses was not the boss. Moses
was a hireling. Christ was the one who said,
this is the way it will be. For if that first covenant had
been faultless. Now, you know, when we get to
talking about covenants, of course, men think of covenants as, You
know, I often heard it spoken of that the covenant, God entered
into a covenant and the men made an agreement with God. Well,
there was no agreement ever made other than what God said. God
said, you will do this. And the covenant was not established
upon a promise, but it was established, the first covenant, when we speak
about the first covenant, the first covenant's actually the
second covenant. Now this is very confusing. But
you see, the covenant under which we presently abide, the covenant
of Christ preceded the covenant of Moses. But for our understanding
and for that of the Jews it is necessary even as we speak about
the Old Testament and the New Testament. Now the New Testament
actually the message of the New Testament precedes the message
of the Old Testament but in time the Lord was pleased to give
this pattern first and then the reality second. And so it is
with the covenants. You see, the reality existed. The Lord had his people when? The scripture says that he chose
his people from before the foundation of the world. He didn't establish
the law given to Moses before the foundation of the world.
Now, the truth of God has never changed, but the covenant that
he made with Moses in the law that which he set forth, which
was he said, you will do this and live or you will disobey
this and die. Now that sounds like a pretty
good arrangement, doesn't it? I mean, people think that it's
a pretty good thing because they say, well, yeah, we'll do that.
In fact, most people think they do for the most part, don't they?
They think that's good enough. Well, you know, I've always tried
to do the right thing, they'll tell you. I believe in the Ten Commandments.
Well, you know, the devils believe in the Ten Commandments. They don't love them, they don't
care for them, and they certainly don't keep them in its jot and
tittle. And neither does any man you
ever met either, or woman. I don't want to leave the women
out when I say men. I don't mean to leave the women
out, but that's an encompassing figure, mankind. So this covenant, which he calls
the second covenant, that is that which came in time after
the covenant of Moses, that is the full revelation. See, it
didn't please the Lord to reveal the priesthood of Christ See,
Christ was a priest before he ever came into the world, because
he was ordained to be so. And he was, as Scripture says,
as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world.
He came into the world as a priest, and as a priest he did carry
out in time that sacrifice of his own self unto God. But, so he comes here, And it
says the first covenant, if the first covenant had been faultless,
then no place should have been sought for the second. So speaking
about the covenant of law in Moses as being the first covenant,
he said if that had been without fault, if this was sufficient,
if it could have done the job, then there wouldn't have been
a need for a second one, would there? I mean, if it was good
enough that we say, well, here's the Ten Commandments, do this
and live, if that could have accomplished the task of causing
men to live, then wouldn't have been any need for the second
one, would there? But guess what? The law was weak. What he says later on, says the
law was weak in the flesh. That's what he says to the Romans. And so because the law is weak
in the flesh, because see the law depends, if you say to a
man, do this and live, And he says, man, that's great. And
the children of Israel did, didn't they? They said, man, we'll abide
by this. This is good. But we can't wait. We're gonna earn heaven. In fact,
there was a rich young ruler that came to the Lord, and he
said, Lord, I've done all that. What was the problem? He didn't
know what the law said. See, he thought that he had done
these things. The Pharisees said, we've done
the law. We're keeping the law. The Lord pointed out to them
that they happened because he said, if you have looked upon
a woman with lust in your heart, you've already committed adultery
with her. Now that, you see, the thought
is not the same as doing something. That'd be wrong to say the thought,
but as far as the law is concerned, the thought of sin is the same
as sin. Men don't like to hear about that. Oh, well, I haven't
ever robbed a bank. You have at least thought about
from time to time how you could maybe manipulate things and get
some money from somebody or something that wasn't yours. I mean, you
have thought about those things, have you not? Why'd you think
about them? Because there's sin in your heart.
See, a man who has no sin in his heart, he'd never think about
robbing somebody, would he? I mean, you think the Lord Jesus
Christ ever thought about robbing somebody or killing somebody?
No. He had no sin in his heart, neither
was guile found in his mouth. And he's that one who's accepted
before the Father. But all those who are tainted
with sin are not. Doesn't matter the degree, you
know. And so that's where men fall
into their troubles with the law, is they think the law somehow
grades by degree. Just like we thought when we
were in school, if everybody did bad on the test, we wanted
the teacher to grade it on the curve. You know, because I mean,
everybody did bad, so it just makes sense that everybody shouldn't
be, you know, condemned, I mean, to make a bad grade. We all,
I mean, we need to make, you know, make it kind of change
the standard. But there is no changing of the
standard with God, what he says he will do. And so it was that
the original covenant says here, was established or the second
covenant was established upon better promises. Well, what is
the better promise? The better promise is that Jesus
Christ said, I will pay your sin debt. I will save you. I will give you a new heart.
That's what he goes on to say, is it not? Finding fault with
him, he said, behold, the days will come. See, the Lord already
had this in store. He already told Jeremiah many
years before. He said, this is what I'm going
to do because the law is not good, is not good enough. And so you need something more
than the law. He said, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Now, they are not all Israel which are of Israel. Now a lot
of people get confused about this and they think of Israel
as being some carnal nation that's over in the Mideast and the people
that's over there and the Jewish people and all of that sort of
thing. Now there are some of the Jews who are of Israel. But
they are not all who are of the Jewish race, religion, which
are the children of God. They're not the promised people
of God. The promised people of God are
those to whom the better covenant was given. And how was the better
covenant given? It was given because it was in
Jesus Christ. He didn't say, if you will do
this, I'll do this. Now that's kind of, again, the
way that, see, men want to take an Old Testament principle and
apply it to the gospel. They say, well, if you'll do
this, if you'll believe, God will save you. Come on down here,
sign this card, you believed, join up. And so if you'll do
that, God will do this. But that's not what the promise
is. See, the promise doesn't depend on you. Because if it did, it wouldn't
be a promise, would it? Because if it depends on you
to do something and you can't do it, guess what? You don't
get it, that ain't a promise. No, the promise is sure because
the promise is in Christ. And Christ said, I will save
my people. I will pour out my blood in their
behalf. I will pray for them. Father,
I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for those whom thou hast given me out of the world. Thine they
were, and thou hast given them to me. That's what he prayed
in the 17th chapter of John. And so it is. He said, I will
make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the
house of Judah, which is established upon better promises, not according
to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when
I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt,
because they continued not in my covenant. The Lord said, if
you do this, you'll live. And guess what they did? They
didn't do it. They didn't keep it. They broke
it. And so what happened? Because
it was a covenant built on a condition, then it says here, the Lord meant
the condition. They didn't keep it. He said,
in the day thou, to Adam, he said, in the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. What'd he do? He ate it. He told
the nation of Israel, don't do these things. He said, because
in the day that you do these things, you will die. They continue, not in my covenant,
and I kept the covenant. The Lord kept the covenant. They
didn't keep the covenant. The Lord kept the covenant. And
what did He say? He said, you're gonna die. See,
the Lord disregarded them. That's what it says. I regarded
them not. I cast them off. Now I don't
know how much plainer that can be in the scripture about concerning
the covenant of Moses. The Lord said, I disregarded
them. So if any man would come to the
Lord on the basis of the covenant of Moses, he is coming under
a covenant that the Lord said he has disregarded. For this is the covenant that
I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith
the Lord. I will put my laws into their
mind, write them in their hearts. And I will be to them a God,
and they shall be to me a people. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother. saying, know the
Lord for all shall know me from the least to the greatest for
I will be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins and their iniquities
will I remember no more. Now tell me where in that covenant
that he establishes there and he sets forth, is there any conditions? It's an unconditional covenant.
Because it rests in Christ. Because Christ is the covenant.
He is the covenant. If you want to know where the
new covenant is, it's Christ. Because He is our High Priest.
And the Lord said, I'll put their laws into their mind and write
them in their hearts. Is that not what He said to Nicodemus? Nicodemus, except a man be born
again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. You see, that's the work
of God, to cause a man to be born again, and that's what he's
describing right here. What does it mean to be born
again? Well, it's right here. After those days, I will put
my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts. See, we don't have to be constantly
told, don't steal, don't lie. Don't dishonor God. That's not
like the sword of Damocles hanging over our head. But he said, I'll write them
in their hearts. He'll teach us who he is. I will be to them a God, and
they will be to me a people if they'll do these things. But
wait a minute, that wasn't in there, was it? It says, I will
be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. Why? Because the promise rests in
Christ. He's our hope, brethren. I mean,
we have nothing outside of Him. It's not about, well, wait a
minute, there's gotta be something for men to do. You ever have
people tell you that? You might be thinking that. Well,
it's gotta be something for men to do. Well, tell me what it
is. Because Christ has done it all. He satisfied the claims
of the law that were against us that we could not in any fashion
bring to bear anything before Almighty God. What did we have
to offer? I mean, the old publican in the
temple, he made the greatest offering that's ever been made.
He said, oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner. And the Lord,
did he not say, that with this man will I abide, he that has
a broken and a contrite heart. Now how does a man get a broken
and contrite heart? Can you teach him to have one?
Can you scare him enough to have one? You know, whenever I was
growing up, they used to have preachers come in and, buddy,
they would preach hell hot and heaven high, and like Brother
Jay Wimberly used to say, make your shirt tail run up down your
back like a window shade. You know, and people would get
all worked up, you know, and they'd be scared, oh, they're
gonna go into hell and all this kind of stuff. And next week,
they'd already forgot about that. Why? Because the law of God was
never written in their heart. Because when a man's convinced
that he's a sinner, he does not forget that. You might be convinced that you
have sinned and forget it. See, I might point out some sin
to you and you say, yeah, I did that. And you might be kind of
contrite and sorry for it. But you know when the Spirit
of God works in a man's heart and convinces him that he is
a sinner, he doesn't forget that. He can't forget it because he
knows that's what he is. And the Lord writes his law in
his heart and he will be to them a God and they shall be to him
a people. And they shall not teach every
man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
Lord. For all shall know me from the least to the greatest. You
see, the work of God is to teach his people. He said, My sheep
hear my voice. I know them, and they follow
me. You can't teach a man to follow Christ. Now, you can teach
a man what the Word of God says about following Christ, but you
can't teach a man to follow Christ. Only the Spirit of God can do
that, can lead a man to say, you know, that is true, I want
to be found faithful. unto the Lord. I don't want to
be off out here numbered with the offscouring of the earth.
Lord, deliver me from that. I want to be known and numbered
among thy people. See, only the Lord can do that
for a man. I can't do it. For I will be merciful to their
unrighteousness. See, he doesn't sugarcoat it,
does he? He didn't say, you know, they
didn't mean to do some of the things he did, so I'm gonna show
mercy to them. No, he said, I'll be merciful
to their unrighteousness. He said, you are a wicked bunch
of people, but he said, I will be merciful to you because I
love you. Oh, what a glorious thing. And
their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now why will he remember them
no more? Did he just forget it? Say, ah,
well, boys will be boys. We'll just wipe the slate clean. No. See, a sin debt is that which
has to be paid. It has to be paid. And Christ
paid that debt. That's what it means when it
says here that every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and
sacrifices. Christ has offered the gift of
himself, the sacrifice of his blood before the altar of God
in the behalf of his people. And he is our great high priest.
And his offering is received of the Father because it's a
righteous offering. For he had no sin, neither was
guile found in his mouth. But he gave himself in our behalf. Their iniquity is what I remember
no more. That seems almost impossible. You know, when we come before
the Lord, see, here's an amazing thing. The work of the Spirit
of God in a man is to convince him of sin, righteousness, and
judgment. But the work of the gospel is to remind him by that
same spirit who brings him in a place of contrition before
the Lord that there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. And you see, this is a constant
work of the spirit of God. He brings us down and he brings
us up. The world can't understand that.
See, I mean, You take religion, oh man, we're just gonna be on
top of the world all the time. We're jumping around, hooping
and hollering, and we're getting rich and everything. My movies
are getting all these blessings and stuff from God because we're
faithful and we're earning our way along and God's looking at
us and saying, oh man, everything's great because of what you're
doing. None of that's true. God's merciful to our unrighteousness,
and he remembers our sins no more. And it's not because of
anything we did, but it's because of what Christ did. Now that's
an amazing thing, dear brethren. How that we know we're sinners,
but yet we know we're righteous. Isn't that amazing? And the greatest
blessings that God bestows on a man is when he can clearly
see Christ and know that our sins, he remembers them no more. But it is a necessary work, dear
brethren, as long as we're in the flesh, to be reminded that
we are sinners. Because it's when we see ourselves
to be sinners that the work that Christ did in our behalf appears
so glorious. You know, if a man absolutely
believes he's not, doesn't have any sin, he can't rejoice in
the glory of Christ, can he? Because the glory of Christ is
in his sinlessness. In total contrast to us, we're
not, we are not of ourselves holy men. but we are made holy
in Christ. Oh, what a glorious thing. In
that he saith a new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now
that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.
Pretty straightforward, is it not? I mean, it's, brethren,
Christ has established himself in the earth as the new covenant
of God. and we live because he lives.
And he writes his laws in the hearts of his people. And how
do his people, like you was talking about Samuel there a moment ago,
the Lord called, I mean the Lord calls his people before they
ever hear, does he not? I mean, when he called Lazarus,
I mean, the call went out first. Lazarus wasn't laying there in
the tomb awake, and he said, oh, what is that I hear? No, you see, the Lord made him
alive. And the Lord calls unto his people,
even as he did Samuel, and it is even as Eli told Samuel that
it's the Lord. The gospel comes. and tells God's
people, how shall they hear without the gospel? I mean, it
is the purpose of the gospel to inform sinners of what Christ
has done. And that's good news to a man
that the Spirit of God has broken his heart and brought him to
a place where he knows himself to be a sinner. And he'll rejoice. as he sees Christ high and lifted
up. And so how does a man know he's been called of God? Because he desires Christ. It's
impossible for a man to desire the way of Christ, to desire
Christ himself apart from being born again. That's the work of
God in a man, to give him hunger and thirst after righteousness,
the desire to walk in his way. Oh, that he might work in us
such a work, because it is his promise that he would remember
our sins no more. And we preach the gospel, and
we say to men, come unto me, even as he did. Come unto me,
all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. See, the gospel is not an offer.
The gospel is a command. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them, and they follow me. When the Lord said to Zacchaeus,
Zacchaeus, come down out of that tree. I'm going to your house. You think Zacchaeus said, well,
you know, Lord, let me think on this a minute. No. He was ready to go. Why? Because
the Lord changed his heart. Same way with Samuel. Samuel
didn't know that was the Lord calling him. But when it was
brought to his awareness, he said, speak, Lord, for thy servant
heareth. Oh, that the Lord might give
us such a mind today.