Now, if you would, open your
Bibles with me to the book of Habakkuk. As Brother Charlie
Payne used to say, you have the authorized version as page 1163,
right before the book of Zephaniah and right after the book of Nahum. I want to, this morning, take
a break from looking at some of the questions that have been
asked in Scripture that we've been going through. Because as
I was reading this week and looking for the next question that we
might look at, I read this passage and it was such a blessing to
my heart, I just determined I wanted to preach from it because I wanted
your heart to be blessed the same as mine was when I read
it. I've titled the message, If We've
Heard God Speak. If We Have Heard God Speak. In
verse 1, Habakkuk writes, a prayer of Habakkuk, the prophet, upon
Shigaonoth. The Lord, O Lord, I have heard
thy speech. Now Habakkuk says he's heard
God's speech. He's writing under the inspiration
of the Holy Spirit, so this is not just some odd thing that
he's heard. He has heard the Lord's speech. So that tells me it's possible
for a man or a woman to hear God's speech. I want to know
if I've heard God's speech or not. I want you to know. I don't want you to have to guess.
I want you to leave here this morning knowing if you have heard
God speak or not. And if we've heard God speak,
we'll have the same reaction that Habakkuk had here. So number
one, if we have heard God speak, we've heard him speak in the
gospel. He says there in verse two, O
Lord, I've heard thy speech and I was afraid. Look over Romans
chapter one. God has spoken to all men in
one way or another. God has spoken to all men. God
has spoken by his creation, by his acts of providence. God has
spoken so that we know God is Romans one verse 18 for the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth in unrighteousness. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them. It's manifest to them and in
them, for God hath showed it unto them. Now every human being
knows that God is. There's absolutely no excuse
for us not to know that God is. Creation tells us that. I mean,
you look at creation. You have to know somebody made
all this. Somebody with wisdom and power
made all of this. And if somebody says, I don't
believe that, you know, that God is, I'm an atheist. I don't
think that God is. They're just fooling themselves.
Look at verse 21. Because that which, because that
when they knew God or well, Look back up at verse 20. For the
invisible things of him from creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his
eternal power and Godhead. So they're without excuse. There
is no excuse for saying, I don't believe God is. Because that
when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were
thankful, but become vain in their imaginations. And their
foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise, They became
fools. They're just fooling themselves.
So all men know that God is, but now God speaks to his heart.
What we're talking about here in Habakkuk, God speaks to his
people in a special way, not just in creation, not just in
his acts of providence, but almighty God condescends to speak in the
ears and the hearts of his people so that they know him, so that
they believe him. Now you think what an amazing
statement that that is. How far does God have to condescend
so that we hear Him? So Him to come and speak to our
hearts. And He does that for His people.
Well, now how? God speaks to His people in a
special way, but how does He do it? Well, it's by His Son. Look at Hebrews chapter 1. Hebrews
chapter 1. Hebrews one verse one, God who
at sundry times and in diverse manners and different manners,
spake in time past and of the fathers by the prophets, hath
in these last days spoken unto us by his son, whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. God speaks
and he tells us who God is. He speaks to the hearts of his
people so that we hear and believe by revealing his son. to us.
God tells us who he is and how he saves sinners. God tells us
what he's like. He tells us about his character
by showing us his son. Here's why we always preach Christ. We don't get off on any other
subject, but preaching Christ. Because if I see Christ, I'm
going to see what true righteousness and true holiness really is. So if I see Christ and his holiness
and his righteousness, That's gonna show me my sinfulness and
my need of a Savior. If I see Christ, I'm gonna see
and have and understand the answer to Job's age-old question, how
is it possible God can be just and still justify a sinner like
me? How's that possible? Well, if I see Christ, His substitutionary
death, Him crucified for my sin, I'm gonna understand. That's
how God can be just. He poured out all of His wrath
for my sin on the substitute. so he can be merciful to me. If I see Christ, I'm gonna see
the glory of God. Oh, wouldn't you like to see
the glory of God? I'll tell you where you see it.
In the face of Jesus Christ. God's glory is how he can be
merciful to sinners like you and me. It's through the death
of his son. That's glory. If I see Christ,
I see the wisdom of God. Oh, God's the only one who could
find a ransom for my sin. He found the ransom and he provided
it. The ransom that will satisfy a holy God. If I see Christ,
I'll see the power of God. I have no more problem wondering
about the power of God. If I see Christ, it's the power
of God to put away sin by the sacrifice of his son. Only God
has the power to do that. See, the reason, if I see Christ,
the reason I see Him is Almighty God has been pleased to speak
to my heart and reveal Him to me. Now, God does not speak audibly
to His people. He did in time past speak audibly
to the fathers, didn't He? To the prophets. He spoke audibly
to Moses and to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob, but God doesn't speak
that way anymore. He speaks to His people by His
word. He speaks to his people through
his preachers, who preach his word, who preach nothing but
Christ. That's always been the way that God speaks to his people.
How in this world did Nineveh, that evil, wicked city, know
to repent and beg God for mercy? How do they know that? Jonah
came and preached to them. How did the Ethiopian eunuch,
he went down or up, whichever way he went, to Jerusalem for
the worship, And he came away empty. He came away with nothing.
Nobody told him anything. But he did obtain a scroll. The book of Isaiah, the prophet.
He was reading it and he didn't understand it. He was still just
as empty as ever was. How did that eunuch know to believe
Christ and want to confess him and believe his baptism? How
did he know that? Philip came and preached to him.
How did Lydia and that Philippian jailer, how did they ever know
to trust Christ? Paul came and preached to them.
He preached Christ to them. Why do any of us believe? Why
do we believe Christ? God sent us a preacher to preach
Christ. That's how. He speaks to his
people by the preaching of his word. Paul said that the Ephesians,
you know when they believed? After they heard the word of
truth, the gospel of their salvation. That's when we believe. Look
at first Corinthians chapter one. First Corinthians chapter one. Verse 21. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom, the world by its natural wisdom,
knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require
a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom, But we preach Christ
crucified under the Jews, a stumbling block under the Greeks foolishness,
but under them, which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now, Paul here talks
about Christ being the power of God. It's the power of God
to reach the heart. and to save. It's the power of
God to reach the heart and give faith. It's the power of God
to make the dead live. It's the power of God. And where
there's power, where there's the power of God in the heart,
that's going to be put into action. I want you to look over 1 Thessalonians
1. 1 Thessalonians 1, verse 4. If
Christ is in the heart, if God's put life and faith in the heart,
now that's gonna show up in our actions, isn't it? Verse 4. Knowing, brethren beloved, your
election of God. Here's how I know that. For our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner
of men we were among you for your sake, And ye became followers
of us and of the Lord, having received the word of much affliction,
with joy of the Holy Ghost, so that you were examples to all
that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded
out the word of the Lord, not only in Macedonia and Achaia,
but also in every place your faith to God were to spread abroad,
so that we need not to speak anything. For they themselves
show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how You
turn to God from idols to serve the true and living God. There's
repentance. Repentance we talked about in
the lesson this morning. You turn to God from idols to
serve the true and living God and to wait for his son from
heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered
us from the wrath to come. If I've heard God speak, if he's
spoken to my heart, that's going to be my reaction too. I want
to spread the gospel. I want to be faithful. Where
there's power, it's going to show up in somebody's life. But
it comes through preaching. You just can't over estimate
the importance of what we do here on Sundays and Wednesdays,
the preaching of Christ. This is how God speaks to his
people. This is how God saves his people
and feeds his people, teaches them and comforts them. It's
by the preaching of Christ. That's what Habakkuk says. He
said, I've heard thy speech. I've heard your speech. That
word speech means a report. I've heard your report. Now look
at first John chapter five. If God's going to speak to us,
if he has spoken to us, that's what we've heard. We've heard
his report, his report. First John five verse 11. And this is the record that God
have given to us eternal life. And this life is in his son. He that hath the son hath life,
and he that hath not the son of God hath not life. Now John says, this is the record. That word record means a testimony
or a report. Same thing Habakkuk was talking
about. I've heard your report. And the report of the gospel
is it's all in Christ. Eternal life is in God's Son. The Lord Jesus Christ in everybody. Everybody. I don't care who you
are. Everybody who believes on Him has eternal life. And if you don't believe, it's
because you have no life in you. If you believe Christ, it's because
God's spoken and put life in you. Now again, stop and think
about that for a minute. If you believe Christ, It's because
God put life in you. He spoke to you. He spoke in
power. And He put life in you. Now can you tell me why we're
not rejoicing and shouting for joy? If God's put life in us,
the only reason we believe on Christ is God's spoken to us. And He made us here. What a blessing. I mean, we should be the most
thankful people on earth that God's spoken to us and made us
hear Him. All right, number two, look back
in our text. If we've heard God speak, we're afraid. Habakkuk says, I've heard thy
speech, and I was afraid. That word afraid, it means to
fear. It means to dread. It means to
have awe and reverence. Anybody with any sense, I mean,
they got any sense at all. They're afraid of God's judgment.
That's why people are so afraid to die. They're afraid of God's
judgment. We're afraid because we know
what our sin deserves. We know what our unbelief and
our rebellion deserves. So we're afraid. And we ought
to be. We should dread standing before
God in judgment because we're guilty. We should stand in awe
of God's holiness and His power that makes it so that we cannot
stand before Him. We ought to be afraid of that.
That's just good common sense. That's not what Habakkuk is talking
about here. He's not talking about just good
common sense. This is a fear that only people who have heard
God speak have. Well, how do I know if God's
spoken to me? I mean, how do I know just to
have good common sense, I'm guilty, I'm afraid to stand before God
in myself, How do I know if I have common sense or if God's spoken
to me? Well, if God's spoken to us, we're going to have a
reverence of Him. A reverence. We will want to
fall at His feet and worship Him. Chris and I were talking
about this when we came in today about just being at Christ's
feet, just laying at His feet, just constantly begging for mercy.
You know why that is? God's spoken. and made it where
we want to be. Chris said that's the best place
we can be. Exactly right. But how do you
know that? God's spoken to you so that you
want to worship Him. I need to worship Him. I need to. I need to hear from
Him. I find joy in worshiping Him.
Now I'm still afraid. This thing of reverence doesn't
take away fear of God. I'm afraid. I'm afraid of God's
judgment. I'm afraid of God's judgment. But the difference
is, if God's spoken to my heart, here's what I'm afraid of. I'm
afraid of being found outside of Christ. That's what I'm afraid
of. I'm afraid not to trust Christ. I'm afraid to trust anything
other than Christ. I'm afraid. I'm afraid to look
anywhere but Christ. Now that's a godly fear. And
that's what the Apostle Paul feared. He said, oh, my desire. is to be found in Him. That's my desire, to be found
in Him. I'm afraid to be found outside of Him. I fear God finding
me anywhere but in Christ. Don't you? But if God finds me
in Christ, I've got nothing to be afraid of. Alright, number
three. If we've heard God speak, and
begged God to give us life. Verse 2, Habakkuk says, O Lord,
I have heard Thy speech and I was afraid. O Lord, revive Thy work
in the midst of the years. In the midst of the years, make
known. Now the Gospel tells me I'm dead
in sin. And boy, I understand that. When
the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to me, I see that. Boy, I'm dead
in sin. Like the Apostle Paul, I thought
I was alive once God showed me what the law says, and I died.
And once I understand, I'm dead in sin. I cannot do anything
to please God. I can't come to God. I'm dead. My only cry is, give me Christ,
or else I die. Lord, give me life in Christ. Reveal Christ, who is my life
to me. It's not just life. Give me Christ,
who is my life. And notice Habakkuk says here,
Lord, revive thy work. See, this thing is God's work. This thing of giving eternal
life, spiritual life, this is God's work. Salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is the work of God
alone. We can't do anything to get God
to give us life. We can't do anything to earn
life. This is the work of God alone. So if the Lord's spoken
to us, we're begging him to do what only he can do. Lord, give
me life. Only God has the power. Only
God has the mercy. Only God has the grace to give
dead sinners life. Lord, this thing of salvation
is all your work. It's your work. I see that. Would
you do that for me? Would you do that for me? Salvation is all the work of
the Godhead for the people that God loves. It's the work of the
Father in election when the Father chose a people to save because
He loved them. Because He loved them. Salvation
is the work of the Son in purchasing the salvation of His people,
in willingly being made sin for them, in willingly suffering
and dying and shed His blood to put away their sin. What could
possibly make Him do that? He loves His people. And salvation
is the work of God the Holy Spirit. He applies salvation by giving
life and faith in the hearts of God's people by the hearing
of the gospel. Now I don't know about you, I'll
just talk about me. I remember Growing up, my parents
would not allow us. I mean, we just never missed
a service. And to a little child, this is
just, oh, we got to go again. We got to go again. When my brother
Jonathan was just a little guy, he mysteriously got sick every
Wednesday and every Sunday morning. Every Sunday night, he got sick.
And I finally told him, dude. Just quit it. Because they're
going to make it go anyway. Just quit it. You're making everybody
miserable. You're making yourself miserable. Just quit. Because
we're going. And here's this kid full of rebellion. Just sitting
there thinking, how long can Henry just keep going on? When
is this thing going to be over? Now why would the Holy Spirit Move and give that dead rebel
life. The greatest mystery known to
man. Because he loved him. Because
Christ died for him and he must be given life because Christ
died the death that he deserved. Now that's the work of God. Lord, would you do that work
for me? I need you. I need you every Oh, would you
do that work for me? And listen, there's an urgency
to this thing. Habakkuk says it twice, in the midst of the
years. He doesn't mean just any time. He means right now. Right
now in the midst of the years. Somewhere in these years between
my birth and my death, Lord, would you please revive your
work and give me life? Now I know this. The Lord's going
to make Himself known to somebody. That's what Habakkuk says in
the midst of the years. Make known. Make known. Lord, don't just teach me doctrine. Don't just make me know doctrine.
Don't make me know the facts and figures of Scripture. Lord,
would You make Yourself known to me? Our Savior said eternal life
is to know Him. Lord, would You make me know
Your Son? I just know His name. But would
you make me know Him? Like a husband knows his wife,
would you give me union with Him so that I know Him? If I
know Him, I'm going to trust Him. If I know Him, I'm going
to have life. Now this is an amazing and a comforting truth.
Sinners can know God. Because just like speaking to
His people in amazing love, mercy, condescension, Almighty God lowers
himself so that his people know him. So this is the prayer of
everybody that has ever heard God speak. Lord, would you make
yourself known to me? I can't figure you out, but if
you make yourself known, you'll speak to me. I'll know you. I'll know you. Then fourth, this
is the thing that really brought me to this whole text in the
first place. If we've heard God speak, we beg for mercy. That's more than just knowing
religion and hearing the preacher speak, but if I've heard God
speak, I begged him for mercy. At the end of verse two, Habakkuk
says, in wrath, remember mercy. Lord, in the midst of your justice
and your wrath against my sin, in the midst of me on my mad
dash to hell to get the wrath that I deserve. Lord, would you
remember mercy? Isn't that pretty much really
what the thief on the cross said? Lord, would you remember me?
In the midst of this wrath. In the midst of me getting what
I deserve. Oh Lord, would you remember mercy? Now, if all you've
ever heard is the preacher, You're going to do something. Maybe
you'll do many things like Herod did. You might do many things.
But if all you've heard is the preacher, you'll be just like
Herod. You won't beg for mercy. But if you've heard from God,
now you're naturally going to beg for mercy because it's only
a plea. I mean, what else can a guilty
person plea but for mercy, for mercy? You'll naturally beg God
for mercy if he speaks to your heart. And if you've begged God
for mercy, you've received it from his hand. I promise you,
you have. And here's something else the
believer will pray. Lord, in the midst of trial,
our Lord promises in this life, you shall have tribulation. And
when we find ourselves in the midst of it, how often do we
pray, Lord, would you remember mercy? Now, I've told you this
many times. Trials are not God's wrath. against
our sin. He's already poured all of his
wrath on Christ our substitute. But trials sure feel like wrath
sometimes, don't they? They sure feel like it. Trials
can be correction, and correction certainly does feel like wrath,
even though it's not. A trial could just be the Lord
teaching us something. But those trials and those heartaches
that the Lord sends, they sure do make God's people beg for
mercy. Trials teach us it's good to
rely on Christ alone. And I go back to what I said
a minute ago, if you've begged for mercy, you've received it
from God's hand. You sure have. The cry of everyone
who has ever heard God speak is God be merciful to me, the
sinner. Be merciful to me. You know,
no one who knows God ever wants what we deserve. Well, it's not
like I'm saved by mercy, then God's going to bless me because
of what I do. No, sir. It's always because of mercy.
You know, whatever it is that the Lord's given you to do in
His service, whatever it is God's put to your hand to do today,
you do it. I mean, do it with everything
you've got, but don't ever want wages for it. Because the wages
of sin is death. Even our best service is sin,
right? What we do is never good enough.
What we want is mercy. Mercy. Look back at Psalm 25. This was David's plea. David,
the man after God's own heart, could never quit begging for
mercy. Psalm 25. Verse 6. Remember, O Lord, thy tender
mercies and thy loving kindnesses, for they have been ever of old.
Remember not the sins of my youth nor my transgressions. According
to thy mercy, remember thou me. For thy goodness sake, O Lord,
according to your mercy. And here's comfort. Here's comfort. For those who are begging God
for mercy, here's comfort. God's promised he will remember
mercy. That's what David asked him,
Lord, remember mercy. God's promised he will. Look
at Psalm 98. Psalm 98. Verse three. He hath remembered
his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the
ends of the earth have seen the salvation of the Lord. So what's
our reaction to the fact He hath remembered His mercy? Make a
joyful noise unto the Lord all the earth. Make a loud noise
and rejoice and sing praise. God hath remembered mercy. Look at Psalm 136. You know,
we might think, well, I see how in the Old Testament to the fathers
the Lord remembered His mercy. I look around this room and I
see people I esteem much more highly than I do myself. And
I think, well, I see God's mercy to them, but I'm just too low
down. God's going to forget me. I'm
too far away. Verse 23, Psalm 136. Who hath remembered us? in our lowest state. Why? For His mercy forever. God always remembers mercy because
His mercy is eternal. It's without beginning and without
ending. Hadn't God showed it to us over
and over and over and over again in our lives and more importantly
in Scripture? How many times, especially in
the Old Testament, do we read of Israel? They're going through
horrible times. The Lord will allow them to be
carried off into captivity because they've gone after idols and
these different things. And they're in bondage. They're
in captivity. They're so miserable. And God remembers His covenant.
He remembers His mercy. On Wednesday nights, we start
looking through the book of Exodus. In Exodus 2, verse 24, God heard
their groaning. Oh, the groaning of Israel in
bondage. The Egyptians were making their life so miserable and so
grievous. They couldn't even cry out. They
couldn't even put their sorrow and their heartache into words
anymore. They could just groan. And God remembered His covenant.
He remembered His covenant of mercy with Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob. God will never forget mercy for
His people. Never. Even at Calvary. in the midst of unmitigated wrath
that being poured out upon his son, the father still remembered
mercy. As the father poured out his
wrath upon his son. Do you know why he kept pouring
it out? The son cried, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken
me? Did one of my daughters cried that? I'd quit. Because I love him. I just, you know, I couldn't
do anything else. But not the father. My God, my God, why hast
thou forsaken me? Why did the father continue to
pour out wrath on his only begotten son? Because he remembered mercy
for his people. The only way he could show mercy
to you and me is if he finished pouring out that wrath upon his
son. He poured out all of His wrath
upon His darling Son, because His Son had been made sin. And He's gonna give His Son what
that sin deserves. So He can give you and me what
we don't deserve. Mercy, life, salvation, peace
with God. When it came time for the sacrifice
to be made, how many times did the Lord Jesus say, mine hour's
not yet come? Mine hour's not yet come. They could not take
Him because His hour was not yet come. Now the hour has come. And he went to the garden and
prayed, Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Not
as I will, but as thou will, but if it's possible. He sweat
great drops of blood. Blood started coming out of his
pores. He just thought he's gonna die right here, just at the thought
of being made sin. The angels came and ministered
to him to strengthen him, so he could go to the cross. Yet he agreed, willingly, to
be made sin. Why? Because in that wrath, He
remembered mercy. Mercy for His people. The only
way those people that He loved could have mercy is if He had
made sin for them. And then as He hung on the tree,
the Father pouring out His wrath upon His Son, those mockers going
around and say, oh, if you be the Son of God, come down from
the cross, we'll believe you now. All you got to do is come
down from the cross, we'll believe you. Why didn't He come down? If He'd come down from the cross,
all His suffering was over. If He called those legions of
angels to come and destroy this whole place, all His suffering
would be over. Why did He continue suffering?
Because in the midst of wrath, He remembered mercy. He remembered
mercy for His people. And He suffered so that they
could receive that mercy from His Father. Oh, have you ever heard anything
more amazing than that? That the Son of God would think
on the likes of you and me that way? So we can have mercy? Feel free to start rejoicing
anytime you want. I mean, what a thrilling, what
a thrill, a heart thrilling. If that thrills your heart, Almighty
God spoken to you. And then here's the last thing.
If we've heard God speak, God's given us faith in Christ. Skip down over here in the book
of Habakkuk to verse 17. Here's how Habakkuk
sums this thing up. Although the fig tree shall not
blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines, the labor of
the olive shall fail, and the field shall yield no meat, The
flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd
in the stalls. Yet I will rejoice in the Lord. I will join the God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength.
He will make my feet like hinds feet. He'll make me to walk upon
mine high places, to the chief singer on my stringed instruments.
This is faith. What Habakkuk describes here
is faith. Faith, trust Christ, to save
my soul. And my physical circumstances
really aren't any indication of that. By God's grace, I'm
still gonna trust Christ, even though all my physical comforts
are taken away. Faith also trusts the Lord to
provide. And by God's grace, I'm gonna
keep trusting God to provide, even though there's no physical
evidence he's getting ready to do it. I'm still going to trust
Christ. I don't know if this is the right
way to say it or not, but I'm especially going to trust Christ
when there's no physical evidence that I should do it. Still, I'm
going to trust Christ. When there's no harvest, I'm
still going to trust Christ. When the fig trees don't blossom,
I'm still going to trust God. The fig trees, they meant peace
and prosperity and health. When there's no fleshly peace,
there's no fleshly prosperity, there's no fleshly health, I'm
still gonna trust Christ. When there's no fruit in the
vines, I'm still gonna trust Christ. You know, the fruit of
the vine is wine. It's a symbol of joy and blessing
and happiness. When I don't have any reason,
physical, earthly reason for joy, I'm still gonna trust Christ
and find my joy in Him. when the olive trees don't produce
fruit. I'm still gonna trust Christ. The olives represent
peace, like the olive branch, they represent peace. If there's
no olives as a symbol, there's no peace. I'm having a time of
war, there's no peace in my heart, there's no peace around me. When
there's no peace in this earth and there's no peace in my life,
I'm still gonna trust Christ. Because he's my peace. Well,
what about when the fields, Yield no meat. What about when my flocks
all die? You know, the flocks, that's
a symbol of riches. And the fields, they yield no
meat. I've got nothing to eat. And
I've got no riches. All my plants died. My sheep died. What am
I going to do then? What about when I don't see any
fruit in the ministry? There's no evidence anybody's
believing. There's no evidence anybody's hearing. What am I
going to do? I'm going to trust Christ. He's
still calling out His people. He's saving His people. He's
teaching His people. He's comforting His people. He's
bringing His people home whether I see it or not. I'm still going
to trust Christ. You see, we don't trust Christ
because He gives us physical blessings. We trust Christ because
we're sinners and need a Savior. And He's the Savior of sinners. And boy, I find joy in that.
Don't you? I find joy in the God of my salvation. Even when there's no earthly
reason for joy. There's still joy in Christ. Yeah, this is serious, serious,
serious business. How I. Grieve over. unbelief, how I worry, I worry
about myself, I worry about you, I just, oh, this is serious business
that we hear God speak through the preaching of God. It's so
serious. Oh, it's serious. But let's never forget this. There's joy in this. It's the
only place real joy is found. I joy in the God of my salvation. And you do too, if you've heard
God speak. All right, I hope God bless that
to you. Let's bow together. Our Father, how we thank you
that you would condescend to speak to sinful men and women
of Adam's race. How we thank you for salvation
that's full and free in our Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you
for your love pity for sinners that would cause you to slaughter
your son so that you could be merciful to the likes of us. Father, I beg of you now that
you'd be pleased to speak to each heart here this morning.
Speak to our hearts, Father. Give us life and faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Cause us to be found falling
at your feet, begging for mercy. And Father, in the midst of the
years, Would you be pleased to show us mercy in the midst of
these years of wrath? Remember mercy, we pray. Father,
we ask this for your namesake, for the glory of your son. It's
in Christ's name. For his sake, we pray. Amen. All right, Sean.