We're dead alive and we are so
thankful and so grateful and we'll be eternally thankful for
what you've done for us. Pray that you'd be glorified
today Lord Jesus and magnified and lifted up high and mighty
and that our hearts and minds would be drawn away from the
world and the things of this world of the week that we went
through and the things that are swirling around out there that
our hearts and our minds would be set upon thee today. We love
you and give you all praise and glory. In Jesus' name, Amen. Turn if you would to Zachariah.
Zachariah. I've decided to bring the Christ
is series that we usually do on Sunday nights. We'll be doing
it in Sunday school now. And Lord willing, in Sunday school,
I mean on Sunday evenings, Lord willing, we'll start a study
on Song of Solomon. Song of Solomon, a wonderful
book. On Sunday nights, Lord willing. Zechariah, though, 13.1. And today's message is called,
Christ is our fountain. Christ is our fountain. Zechariah
13.1. The scriptures declare, in that
day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. In that
day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness." So
we see here in our text, we see here in our text, that there
is promised before us a fountain to be opened. A fountain to be
opened. And it's open for a specific
people. For the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
And it's for sin and uncleanness. Sin and uncleanness. Now the
fountain spoken of here is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ.
There's no doubt. It's none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the fountain opened in
that day. And beloved, the day is the gospel
day. The gospel day. That's what we're
in right now. We're in the gospel day. And
the fountain is opened. It's opened. And when our great
God and King, our Redeemer, was manifest upon this earth, being
a man, the man Christ Jesus, fully God and fully man, the
fountain was opened. The fountain was opened. One
commentator said this, the fountain was opened more and more after
his resurrection when the apostles went forth and preached the gospel
to all the world, where all the elect are scattered. God's people
are scattered all over the world. And remember this too, they're
scattered through ages too. That always fascinates me. God's
people are scattered all over the world, and they're scattered
all through the different ages of this world. It's wonderful. God always has had a people,
always had a people, and he always will until the end, until the
end. So the gospel goes forth to all
the world, where God's elect are scattered, are scattered.
And God the Holy Spirit moves, and he regenerates the lost sheep
of God through the preaching of the gospel. And the gospel
has one object. It has one object. Brother Marcus
and I were talking about this morning. One object. Faith has
one object. You ever hear people say, my
faith, my faith, my faith. Don't tell me about your faith,
tell me about the one you face in. Faith has one object, Christ. Christ in him alone. Christ in
him alone. He is the one object of our faith. And so the gospel goes forth,
being preached and proclaimed, and the Holy Spirit regenerates,
moves like the wind, and regenerates whomever he will. Now what was
the tidings they brought? Behold, a fountain opened. Behold,
a Redeemer. Behold, the Savior is the angel. Look at Luke chapter 2. Look
what the angel said, proclaimed in Luke chapter 2. Look at this.
This is marvelous. Luke chapter 2, verses 9 to 14.
And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory
of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
Verse 10. And the angel said unto them,
fear not. Remember what David told Mephibosheth? Fear not,
no fear. You're one of God's elect, fear
not, fear not. So here the angel said, fear
not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. And God's people, again, are
scattered all over the earth, aren't they? All over the earth.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior."
Note, beloved, He's born a Savior. We know from other texts He's
born a King. He's born a Savior and He's born a King, the scripture
says. Which is Christ the Lord. He's born Lord. born Lord and
this shall be a sign unto you you shall find the bay wrapped
in swaddling clothes lying in the manger and suddenly there
was with the angel a multitude of the heavily host praising
God and saying oh my glory to God in the highest and on earth
peace goodwill toward man my oh my now who is the fountain
open for look at our text back in Zechariah who is the fountain
open for scripture declares the house of David and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem." The house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
Now the Lord Jesus Christ again has his sheep scattered all through
the nations. But he came to the Jewish nation,
and he was born a Jew of the lineage of David. But this text
speaks of all his elect, beloved, all his elect, scattered through
all the nations, the true Israel of God. Turn, if you would, to
Acts chapter 3, the true Israel of God. Acts chapter 3, verses
22 to 26. And then put your finger in Acts
18. We'll look there too. Acts chapter
3 verses 22 to 26 in Acts 18. And in Acts 18 we'll be looking
at verse 5 and 6. Look at Acts 3 though, 22 to
26. For Moses truly said unto the
fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you
of your brethren, like unto me. Him shall ye hear in all things,
whatsoever he shall say unto you, and it shall come to pass
that every soul which shall not hear that prophet shall be destroyed
from among the people. My, yea, and all the prophets
from Samuel, and those that follow after, as many as have spoken,
have likewise foretold of these days. ye are the children of
the prophets and of the covenant which God made with our father
saying unto Abraham and in thy seed shall all the kindreds of
the earth be blessed unto you first God having raised up his
son Jesus sent him to bless you and turning away every one of
you from his iniquities and then turn over to Acts chapter 18
Acts chapter 18 Christ is his fountain He's found open to the
house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Acts 18 verses
5 and 6. The Lord has his people scattered
all through the nations. Acts 18 verse 5 and 6. And when
Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed
in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves,
look at that, they opposed themselves. My goodness, and blasphemed.
He shook his ram and said unto them, your blood be upon your
own heads. I am clean from henceforth. I
will go into the Gentiles. He has his people scattered all
through the nation's blood. And these are the ones spoken
of in our text, the house of David and the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. So the house of David and the
inhabitants of Jerusalem are God's elect, scattered far and
wide, beloved, scattered far and wide, here and there, all
upon the face of the earth. And it is among them that this
fountain is opened as God the Holy Spirit regenerates them
and reveals Christ to them through the preaching of the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, and this is something that
the world knows absolutely nothing of. Just remember how we were
before the Lord saved us. I didn't have a clue. I thought I knew some stuff. I knew nothing. And everything
I know now has been taught. It's been taught by God, by God. We can lay no claim to anything.
We can't boast in anything but Christ, who is the object of
our faith. Who is the fountain open for
us. And the world knows nothing of
it. Now what is the intent and design of the fountain which
is opened? Look at our scripture in Zechariah. It says this, in
that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. See, it's not open to everyone,
is it? But what's it open for, beloved? Oh, this will make sinners
thankful and praise our great Lord. It's for sin and uncleanness.
Now we know that our Savior was absolutely sinless, right? So that means that's for me.
And that's for you if you're a believer. Because all we are
is sin. This is a fountain open for sin
and uncleanness. What a Savior. What a Redeemer,
beloved. And this wonderful fountain This
wonderful fountain will wash away sin. Will wash away sin. And will make those who are unclean
by birth clean. Clean. It will cause us it will cleanse
us, it will cleanse us from the uncleanness of sin, which pollutes
and defiles our souls. Just as, you ever been working
outside? I used to work in a market garden
when I was younger. I know Bonnie did too. She'd mentioned that.
And sometimes I'd come home from the market garden. You grow vegetables.
And it was the market garden. I'd go up and work in the fields
all day. And I would come home and I had dirt under my fingernails. Dirt places you don't even know
you get dirt. Just covered in dirt and sweat. from the heat. And I was one of those crazy
guys that liked to wear a heavy, they always used to laugh at
me, I wore one of them heavy winter, not a winter, but you
know those checkered shirts you can wear in the wintertime? I'd
wear that in the summer in the fields. We'd have a good laugh
over that. So I come home just, Brother
John, you know what it's like, you work in the construction,
you come home and you just got this grime on you and you're
sweating. and you go in and you have a
shower, oh, and you're clean afterwards. Beloved, the blood
of Jesus Christ cleanses us from the grime and the pollution and
the uncleanness of our sin. Isn't that wonderful? That's
a picture we can all relate to. Clean. Whiter than snow, the
scriptures say. And we know in Michigan here,
when we get a fresh snowfall, you guys do too in New York?
You get a fresh, fresh snowfall, and nothing's hit it or anything?
It's just beautiful, pure, white. That's how clean we are in Christ,
beloved. Pure, clothed in the pure, spotless
righteousness of Christ. Oh my. Now we know we sin in
word and deed, and we sin while we're awake, and we sin while
we sleep in our dreams. And we are sinners. We know by
birth, nature, and choice. But there's a fountain, this
fountain spoken of in our text, in which we can be cleansed from
all our sins, washed clean. And how are we washed clean?
By the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. By His perfect,
spotless blood. Right? My precious blood. He's our fountain, beloved. And
rejoice. Now rejoice, beloved. Rejoice
when you think of the fullness. The fullness of the cleansing
of the fountain who is Christ. Like I said, whiter than snow. Come, let us reason together.
Though your sins be as scarlet, double-dye red, they shall be
whiter than snow. Oh, that's good news for sinners,
beloved. That's good news for sinners.
Oh, good news for sinners. And he is a fountain that's ever
full. Ever full. for the cleansing
of sins. And this fountain is full from
God's grace. And it is filled from the Father's
throne of grace. It's sent from the Father's throne
of grace. Christ is. God the Father sent
His Son to be a propitiation for my sins. For the sins of
all His people. My. And it's cleansing power,
think of this too. It's cleansing power is for you,
brother, and for you, brother, and for you, sister, and you,
sister, and you, brother. It's for every one of God's saints. Every one. Isn't that wonderful?
It's wonderful for every one of us. The Lord is full of righteousness. Now someone might ask, how can
it be? Well, because Scripture declares
this, for it pleased the Father that in Him, in Christ, should
all fullness dwell. Should all fullness dwell. The
Lord is full of righteousness, isn't He? Absolutely full of
righteousness. We're sinners and we desperately
need Christ because all our righteousness is like filthy rags. And the
Lord is full of merit also for justification. Because He lived
the perfect life as the sinner's substitute. And all that is counted
towards me. And towards you, if you believe.
Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that wonderful? What a
Savior. What a Redeemer, beloved. And you know, His work is perfect.
It's absolutely perfect. It doesn't need nothing added
to it. Nothing. And you know people who say they
save themselves are in a sense adding to the work of Christ.
We don't add to anything Christ does. I'm a sinner and I need
a Savior and Christ is my all in all. He's everything. He's
everything. His work is perfect. And do you
know that His merit is of infinite value? It's of infinite value. His life lived for us is of infinite
value. His death for us is of infinite
value. The shedding of His blood is
of infinite value for His people. Infinite. We can't even put a
price on it. My goodness. And it's sufficient. This fountain that is for sin
and uncleanness, this fountain, Christ, is sufficient to take
away all my sins. All of them. And praise God He
did it. And for all who believe on Him,
He died upon that cross. And that's why we say, Sinner,
flee to Christ. There's no other hope. There's
no other hope. May God make you willing to flee
to Him. And He is able to. He's able
to save everyone who comes to Him. We're proof of that, aren't
we, brother? He saved us. We're proof. And every one of
God's people are trophies. Trophies of His grace and proof.
Proof that He's able to save. He is able to save. My! What a Redeemer! What a Savior
we have! Hebrews says this, Wherefore
He is also able to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by Him, by Him, no other way, seeing He ever liveth to
make intercession for them. Hebrews 7.25. We who believe
are redeemed by Him, made righteous by Him, sanctified in Him. He's
our wisdom. He gives us strength. And He
alone, as Paul summed it up, is our all in all. He's everything.
He's everything. He's a fountain springing up
into eternal life for His people. Turn, if you will, to John chapter
4. John chapter 4. The lady at the well. She goes
to get water. She goes to get water. Little
did she know she has a divine appointment, beloved. She got
a divine appointment with God. With God incarnate in the flesh.
My goodness. John chapter 4. I love this portion
of Scripture. John chapter 4. Here we go. I love verse 4. He
must needs go through Samaria. But look what he says in verse
14. Let's go to 13. Jesus answered and said unto
her, whosoever drinketh this water shall thirst again. So
he's talking about the well that she's come to get water from.
And he said, whoever drinks of that well is going to be thirsty
again. And we know that. We have to,
through the day, get drinks of water, because we get thirsty.
We don't have a well where we just turn the tap on now. But
they had a well then. They had to put it down there
and haul water up and fill their pitchers. Well, we don't have
to do that anymore, but this is what they had to do. So whosoever
shall drink this water shall thirst again. But look at verse
14. But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him
shall never thirst. But the water that I shall give
him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting
life. Oh my goodness, beloved. Here's
a fountain. Here's a fountain that springs
up into everlasting life. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
a well. He's a well of water. And the
water will never dry up. Never dry. He's a well of water
for his people. My goodness. Now, in biblical
times, our text says back to our text, it says in that day,
there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and to
the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. In biblical
times, a fountain of water was useful for three things. We'll
look at three things that a fountain was useful for. Number one, quench
and thirst. Now we saw in John 4, 14, the
Lord said, who shall ever shall drink of the water that he gives
shall never thirst. But how thankful would think
of this? How thankful would the weary
traveler of biblical times when when traveling in the hot sun
and through a desert? How thankful would they be when
they came upon a fountain? When they came upon a well? How
thankful would they be? A fountain, remember too, sometimes
a fountain is like a spring. It's a spring, a lot of times
the fountain was where they had springs, and the water would
just bubble up. There used to be a fountain in
Canada we went to as a kid, and every time we drove by it, we
made sure we had our clean milk jugs, and we'd fill it up and
take that water home, and it filled out one of the mountains.
And it wasn't really a mountain, we called it one, but it wasn't
really one, but it was so cool. And so refreshing. It tasted
like no other water we had tasted. So imagine a weary traveler in
biblical times coming upon a fountain. Oh, just drink, just drink. If one was dying to thirst and
they came upon the fountain, they would say it saved my life.
Wouldn't they? They'd say it saved my life.
And so again, think of how the, think of this, how the Israelites
in the wilderness, They'd left Egypt and they were in the wilderness.
Think of how they felt when water poured forth from the rock. Think
of how they felt, beloved. That was a picture of Christ,
the water of life, the water of life. And we who are redeemed can say
that this fountain spoken of in Zechariah, being the Lord
Jesus Christ, we who are redeemed can say, oh, what a fountain
He is. Oh, what a thirst-quenching water
Christ is for our hungry souls. Is your soul thirsty for the
things of Christ? Oh, I pray that God would make
you thirst for the things of Christ. Do you thirst with peace? People in the world often thirst
for peace. The believer says, Christ is my peace. He's my hope. He's hope for the hopeless. He's
hope for the hopeless. Do you thirst for pardon of all
your sins? Do you thirst for that? Do you thirst for eternal life
or salvation, grace and strength to make it through this life?
The believer in Christ has all this and more. all this and more
in Christ who is our fountain. He's our fountain. The second
thing in biblical times that a fountain was useful for was
the washing away, for washing away filth. Now water cleanses,
doesn't it? Cleanses. It takes away filth. It makes our bodies clean. We
clean our clothes in water. We clean our dishes in water.
We clean our floors with water. Water cleanses blood. It makes
clean. And think of this, we could not
be clean without water. We couldn't be. In the fountain spoken of here
in our text, let's go back to our text in Zechariah 13 one.
In that day, there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. This fountain is also a fountain
for cleansing because sin defiles us, it defiles us. It stains
our souls. It makes us unclean. And we cannot
cleanse ourselves from the filth of sin. We can't. Now, there's a lot of people
out there trying, aren't there? But the believer says he comes
to the point or he or she that God's revealed to them, you're
a sinner and you can't make yourself clean. But there's one who can. It's
spoken of in our text. It's the fountain. It's Christ.
Who's a who's a fountain for sin and uncleanness and think
of this Think of this this fountain the Lord Jesus Christ. He's a
fountain that cleanses all our sins For sin and uncleanness He takes away our uncleanness
and again as I said earlier he makes us wider than stars And God the Father looks upon
the believer and sees us clothed in the perfect, spotless righteousness
of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? Undeserved, unmerited mercy. What a Savior. Christ cleanses
us also from the guilt of our sin. From the guilt of our sin. We're washed clean. How? By His precious blood. His precious
blood. He alone, think of this, He alone
satisfied God's justice. He did it all by Himself. He
alone made atonement for our sins. Christ alone. We did the sin and He does the
saving, right? Him alone. We're redeemed by
Christ's precious blood, by Him alone. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to His mercy. He saved us. He
saved us, beloved. He did it all. He's the one fountain. He made atonement for our sins
upon Calvary's cross, the sinless one. And then, turn if you would
to Hebrews 9.14, it says He purged our conscience. Well, He purged
us from all our sins. My! We don't have to wallow in
our... We ask for forgiveness and we
move on. Brother Marcus and I were talking, religion, man, they
find out that you're a sinner, which they all are too, and they
just... Work you over. Grace doesn't
do that, does it? Remember the Lord with Peter? Peter denied the Lord three times.
Sister Bonnie and Tim and I were talking about that. I was talking
about with Marcus there. Three times. How many times have
we denied the Lord? Three times so. Now religion,
they would just tar and feather him. The Lord says, Peter, do
you love me? Do you love me? Feed my lambs. Peter, do you love me? Oh my,
what love, what mercy. He didn't bring it up and say,
well Peter, you denied me three times and therefore, do you love
me? He's one of his sheep. He gave
his life for him. He cleansed him from all his
sins. Peter, do you love me? Yea, Lord. My goodness. Look at Hebrews
9, 14. How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? He purges our conscience. And
in turn, if you went to Titus 3, 4, I quoted part of it, but
I didn't finish the whole thing. Look at Titus 3, verses 4 and
5. I quoted 3. Or no, I quoted part of 5, but
look at this 3, 4, and 5. We have to look at this.
Titus chapter 3, verse 4 and 5. But after that the kindness
and love of God our Savior appeared, our Savior toward man appeared,
not by works of righteousness which we have done. Now that's
very, very plain and very clear, isn't it? But according to His
mercy, He saved us, how? By the washing of regeneration
and renewing of the Holy Ghost. Beloved, we have been washed
clean in the fountain of Christ's blood. washed clean, regenerated
by the Holy Spirit of God. The dead are made alive. The
dead spiritually are made alive. We're new creatures in Christ,
washed and sanctified, justified, redeemed in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and all by the power of the Holy Spirit of God.
Salvation is of the Lord. This is of the Lord in His planning
and in His execution. It's all of the Lord. It's all
of Him. And such were some of you, but
ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name
of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God." 1 Corinthians
6.11. Washed, sanctified, justified. This is what God's people are.
All by the power of the Holy Spirit of God and by the precious
blood of Christ. The third and last thing that
fountains were for useful for was for the water in the earth
and making it fruitful. Water in the earth and making
it fruitful. They used to have fountains for that purpose in
their gardens. To be ready in dry seasons to
fetch water. To fetch water. And to refresh
the plants. Christ is also our fountain.
And the Lord Himself is the fountain and the gardener of the church.
The church is His garden. His garden. And He waters it,
and He cares for it day and night. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
27. Isaiah 27, and then put your finger in Isaiah chapter 43. Isaiah 27, and then Isaiah 43. The Lord cares for His vineyard
day and night, for His garden day and night. Day and night. Look at Isaiah 27, verses 2 and
3. In that day, sing ye unto her
a vineyard of red wine. I, the Lord. Now let this sink
in to your heart, beloved. If you're one of his people,
let this sink in. I, the Lord, do keep it. The
Lord keeps us. He's the one who keeps us, beloved.
I will water it every moment. He cares for us. He watches over
us like plants, and He waters us, and He cares for us, and
He's the one who gives the increase. It's all by the power of the
Holy Spirit. I will water it every moment,
lest any hurt it. So He's a shield and defender.
Look at this. I will keep it, not just during
the day, night and day. Night and day. What a Savior. What a Redeemer is Jesus Christ
our Lord. He is a fountain for all His
people, and they are scattered all around the world and through
all the ages. And He gathers in His lost sheep,
just as a shepherd cares for his flock. And then He watches
over us like a gardener. Turn if you would to Isaiah 43.
Isaiah 43, the last scriptures we'll be looking at here. Isaiah
43, verses 1 to 11. We'll read a section here. And Christ alone is our fountain.
He is the one who's redeemed us. And oh, look at the words
in here. Look at this. Isaiah 43, verse
one. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee. God is the creator of everything,
whether people believe it or not. He is the one who created
all things. He created all things. Oh, Jacob,
and he and he that formed the Israel. Now he's speaking to
his people here. Fear not. There's those words
again. Fear not. Look at this. For I have. Look
at the imperatives here. I have redeemed thee. When did
he redeem us? On Calvary's cross. And I have
called thee by thy name. He calls us affectionately, doesn't
he? Every single one of his sheep
are called by him through the preaching of the gospel. The
Holy Spirit draws us and turns us to Christ and regenerates
us and we run to Christ. He's called us by name. Thou
art mine. Oh, precious words. God himself
says to his people, Thou art mine. Oh, we could just sit there,
couldn't we, beloved? What precious words for God's
people. Now think of this. Here we go.
We're going through life. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with thee. and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee, for I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Savior." He's not just our God, He's our Savior, beloved. And remember what the demons
said? You're the Holy One. They knew He was the Holy One
of God, beloved. They knew who He was. He says,
Here I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior.
I give Egypt for thy ransom. He raised up Pharaoh, and then
he crushed him. Ethiopia and Sebia for thee,
since thou... Now look at this. Brother John,
you're precious in the sight of the Lord. Look at what Scripture
says here. Since thou was precious in my sight, thou hast been honorable,
and I have loved thee. Therefore will I give men for
thee. and people for thy life. Fear not again, for I am with
thee. I will bring thy seed from the
east and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north,
give up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from
far and my daughters from the ends of the earth. God's people
are scattered all through this world, beloved. Even everyone
that is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory.
God's people are vessels of honor. Vessels of honor. I have formed
him, yea, I have made him. Bring forth the blind people
that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears. So there we are.
Let all the nations be gathered together, and let the people
be assembled. Who among them can declare this and show us
former things? Let them bring forth their witness
that they may be justified, or let them hear and say it is truth.
Ye are my witnesses, God's people. Ye are my witnesses, say the
Lord, and my servant, and this is whom I have chosen. that he
may know and believe me and understand that I am he before me, there
was no God form, neither shall there be after me. There's only
one God. I even I am the Lord. And beside
me, there is no Savior. That brings it right down, doesn't
it? There is no Savior outside of Christ. Absolutely none. There's no salvation in a church.
There's no salvation in any of these other false gods that are
out there. There's only salvation in Christ,
who is God Himself. And He is our God, beloved, and
He is our Savior. And praise His mighty name for
what He's done for us. Oh, He's a fountain. He's a fountain
open for sin and uncleanness. And God's people say, hallelujah,
praise His name. What a Savior we have. What a
Savior, let's go to the Lord. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank you for your mercy, mercy shown to us. Oh, that you reveal
Christ to us, who is a fountain for our sin and for the uncleanness
of our souls. And you have cleansed us by your
own precious blood, Lord Jesus. And we are just in absolute awe
of how magnificent you are. What a Savior, you're not just
our God, you're our Savior. You yourself left the glories
of heaven to die and to redeem your people from all their sins. Oh, Lord, may we may we just
leave here today rejoicing, rejoicing in what a savior we have. And
again, we love you, Lord, only because you first loved us. And
we pray in your name. Amen.