If you would open your Bibles
again with me to Genesis chapter 18. The question I would like for
us to look at this morning is this one. Shall not the judge
of all the earth do right? We read earlier the story of
Abraham interceding for Sodom after the Lord had told him he
was going to go there to destroy the city. And as Abraham intercedes
for the city, he asked this question in verse 25. He says, that be
far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous
with the wicked, and that the righteous should be as the wicked,
that be far from thee. Shall not the judge of all the
earth do right? Now, as Abraham asked that question,
he already knows the answer to it. Of course, the judge of all
the earth will do right. The Lord is holy and just in
all his ways. He always does right. He never
does wrong. The Lord would never destroy
the righteous along with the wicked in that city. He would
never do that because that wouldn't be just. Now here's the thing
about everything that the Lord does. Whatever the Lord does
is right. It's right because he did it.
You know, it's not like, And when I say that, this is what
I mean. It's not like there's a list of wrong and a list of right
and Lord has to pick from the list of right. Whatever the Lord
does is right because he does it. Sometimes we understand and
see that it's right. Sometimes we don't. But whether
we understand it or not, whatever the Lord does is right. And there could be a lot of questions
of different situations that people would ask about. And I
can't really explain every situation, everything that happens in life. Things going on in the world
right now are so horrible and seemingly evil is what I would
call them. I can't explain how the Lord
doing that is right. I just know that it is. But I
want us to see this morning how the judge of all the earth does
right in three very critically important times. And the first
one is this. The judge of all the earth will
do right in the condemnation of unbelievers. Now the Lord
condemning sinners to hell, that's not something I like to think
about. It's not something that I like to talk about. It's so,
it's true, it's in God's word, so we do talk about it, but it's
not something I really like to dwell on. It's too overwhelmingly
awful for me really to think about. But whenever the Lord
does condemn someone to hell, every single time he does it,
he's just and right in doing it. No one in hell will ever
be able to argue against that. No one in hell will ever be able
to say, I don't belong here. Nobody condemned to hell will
ever be able to say the Lord did not deal truthfully and justly
with me. They'll never be able to say
that because everything God does is just. In Deuteronomy 32 verse
4, it says that God is a God of truth without iniquity. Just and right is he. Everything he does is just and
right. David said in Psalm 96 verse
13 that the Lord shall judge the world with righteousness. His judgment, his verdict is
always done in righteousness. It's always correct. If you look
at Romans chapter one, Paul deals with this in the opening chapter of his letter to the
church at Rome. Romans one verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who
hold the truth and unrighteousness because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them. God's manifested to them for
God has showed it under them for the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen being understood
by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead
so that they are without excuse. No son of Adam has any excuse
to. We don't have an excuse for not
knowing that God is. Creation tells us that. We know
that. There's no excuse for our sin against God. None whatsoever. There's no excuse for us not
believing God. Scripture says they are without excuse. Look
over a couple of pages at Romans 3, verse 19. Now we know that what things
have the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. Now, here's a guilty person standing
before the judge of all the earth. Everyone has to say he's just
in condemning the guilty. They're guilty. All the world
is guilty before him. Now, I want you to understand
that I'm not trying to defend God. I'm not trying to defend
God and say how he's just when he does these things. What I'm
showing you is this. Scripture says, that God's judgment
is always right. That's what scripture says. God
doesn't need to be defended in any way, not making any excuses.
Scripture says God's just and everything that he does, he's
just and right when he condemns the guilty. I can tell you one thing I think
about this. The Lord's not being unjust when he gives somebody
what they want. The Lord's not being unjust when
he gave the wicked exactly what they wanted. They didn't want
the righteousness of Christ. They want to do it to their own
selves. They didn't want the blood of Christ. They didn't
think they needed the blood of Christ to cleanse them from their
sin. They wanted to trust in their own works instead of trusting
in Christ. They wanted to trust the idol
that they made up, not trust Christ. They wanted a bunch of
ceremonies of religion that made them feel warm and fuzzy, but
they didn't want the preaching of Christ. That's too boring
for them. They refused to come to Christ.
And throughout their lifetime, not one time ever did they beg
for mercy or forgiveness of their sins. If they would have, God
would have forgiven them, but they didn't beg for mercy. They
didn't beg for forgiveness. They did not want God to interfere
with their will. And he didn't. He didn't. Well, cause he's not unjust then
is he? All the Lord did was leave them, leave them alone. leave
them to their own way. So in the end, when they appeared
before the judge of all the earth, they're guilty in their sin.
And what did the Lord say about himself? I will by no means clear
the guilty. Then their damnation is just
and right, isn't it? It's just and right. Nobody can
argue against that. And if you look at Romans chapter
nine, one of the greatest examples that we have in scripture of
this very thing is Pharaoh. Romans 9 verse 17. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I
might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared
throughout all the earth. God raised Pharaoh up to power. power over the most powerful
nation on earth at that time in unquestioned power, like you
and I really don't understand. I mean, he had nobody to answer
to. There's no checks, there's no
balances. I mean, this man had complete power over the mightiest
nation on earth. And you know why God raised that
wicked man up and put him in that position? God gave him that
power. God's the one who put him there. God put him there
so that the whole earth could see the Lord's power. Not Pharaoh's
power, the Lord's power. Oh, how powerful the Lord was
in destroying this man and his army. Now, at that time, you
know the story of the children of Israel and Egypt, and now
they're getting ready to come out of Egypt, and the Lord sent
Moses to Pharaoh, said, let my people go, and he sent the plagues,
and every time, Pharaoh would say, oh, just ask your God to
take away the plague, and I'll let you go. Took away the plague,
he didn't let the people go. The Lord's will was done and
all that. That was the Lord's will. But Pharaoh did just exactly
what he wanted to do, didn't he? He did exactly what he wanted
to do. And when he was destroyed, his
destruction was just, wasn't it? His destruction was just. He was condemned. Now let me
tell you this about condemnation. All punishment in hell is not
the same. Now, there are no degrees of
glory. There are no rewards in heaven. One in heaven is not going to
be better off than other people there. And the reason for that
is this. Everybody there is there by the
same merit, by the exact same merit. It's the merit of Christ.
They're not there by Christ's merit, plus the things that they
did for the church when they were on earth. They're there
by the merit of Christ alone. They're there by the righteousness
of Christ alone. And the reward is all exactly
the same. There are no degrees of heaven. But if you look back
at Matthew chapter 11, there are degrees of punishment in
hell. And that's God's justice. That's
the judge of all the earth doing right. There are degrees, different
degrees, different severities of punishment in hell. In Matthew chapter 11, verse
20, Then began he to upbraid the
cities where most of his mighty works were done, because they
repented not. Woe unto thee, Chorazin! Woe
unto thee, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works which
were done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would
have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you,
it shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of
judgment than for you. And thou, Capernaum, which art
exalted unto heaven, shall be brought down to hell. For if
the mighty works which had been done in thee had been done in
Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto
you that it should be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the
day of judgment than for thee. Now I would imagine all of us
think of Sodom as the worst place there was on earth. When you
think, I mean, it's the only place on earth that God destroyed
like he did. But that wicked place, you think
of it, The Lord said they would have repented if they had seen
the mighty works that the Lord Jesus Christ did as a man on
this earth. The miracles, if they'd seen
the miracles that he performed, they heard him preach the gospel.
Just like that big crowd, Eric, they'd heard that great message
that the Lord preached that Sermon on the Mount morning. If they'd
heard that Sermon on the Mount, they'd have repented. If they'd
heard that preaching, they would have repented. But Capernaum, who saw those
miracles, the people of Capernaum who heard that preaching, they
would not have repented. They did not repent. Sodom would
have. So our Lord says Sodom's punishment
will be less than Capernaum's. See, there are degrees of punishment
in hell. Some will receive greater punishment
because they sinned against greater light. See, all are guilty, aren't
they? All sons of Adam are guilty.
All sons of Adam are without excuse, but some have sinned
against greater light. Some have had a clear revelation
of Christ. They've had Christ preached to
them. They have God's word. They've sinned again, and they
still won't believe. They still won't repent. They still won't
come to Christ. They've sinned against greater light. So God
is just. The judge of all the earth is
just when he condemns those people. All sin will be punished exactly
as it deserves. No more, no less. Never more,
never less. And here is my advice to you
and me, given that all that is true, cry to God for mercy today. Cry to God for mercy right now. Right now. You know, that's not,
like I say, that's not something I like to think about. To think about people in hell,
it's just too sad to even think about. But our God's just when
he condemns like that. He's just. All right, here's
the second thing. The judge of all the earth will
do right in the salvation of his people. Now when the Lord
is pleased to reveal himself to his people and give them life
and give them faith in the new birth, the Lord's always right
in doing that. Here that poor leper came. Eric
said, one. One. Well, the Lord's right in calling
out that one, wasn't he? He was right in doing it. And when time
is no more, and that person stands before the judgment seat of Christ,
and the judge of all the earth says, you're innocent, you're
righteous, enter thou into the joy of the Lord. When the judge
of all the earth says that, he's right and just in doing it. See, he won't be doing a favor,
letting somebody walk into heaven. He won't be letting that person
enter those pearly gates with a wink and a nod. I was looking
over my notes this morning, and I thought, I wonder if some of
our young people know what a wink and a nod means. So I thought
I'd tell you. I'm going to use my nephew Gavin as an illustration.
A few weeks ago, we were at a family dinner, and Janet asked Gavin,
she said, how old do you think I am? Well, that's not fair,
is it? That was kind of a tough question. How old do you think
Aunt Janie is? And Gavin was like, oh, what am I going to
do? He didn't want to give the wrong
answer. He wanted to be careful here. Well, I was behind Janie,
and I kind of signed to him how old she was. And he said, 50. And she said, that's a good guess. She was very pleased with that
guess. And I went like this to Gavin,
winking a nod. We're not going to tell Aunt
Janie you had a little help. That's a wink and a nod. She still doesn't
know. Nobody tell her. The only reason I use this illustration,
she's in Lexington today. Nobody tell her. Don't tell her.
It's a wink and a nod. I gave my buddy a little help.
When the Lord tells a person in judgment,
you're innocent. You're righteous. Enter into
the kingdom prepared for you. It's not done with a wink and
a nod. He gives that judgment, that verdict, because he's right. The judge of all the earth, has
done right. You see, the way that God saves
sinners is so glorious that it's right in every aspect, in every
way you can think about the salvation of a sinner. It's right. That's the difference between
the gospel and false gospels. It's right when God saves sinners. Everything about it is right.
You think about an eternity when the Father elected a people.
He elected a people unto salvation, He elected to save them. He elected
them to be saved by His grace. They're not going to be saved
by works of righteousness, which they've done. But it's according
to God's mercy, God's grace, that they will be saved. Now, God saves those people.
He saves them by His grace. But when He saves them by His
grace, He doesn't change His character. He doesn't change
His righteous and just and holy character. When God saves the
people that He chose to save, He doesn't ignore the requirements
of his justice and the requirements of his holiness. No. When the
Lord said, I will by no means clear the guilty that applies
everywhere to every son of Adam. When the Lord saves his people
by his mercy, by his grace, he's still the righteous judge who
by no means has cleared the guilty. When the Lord saves his people
by his grace, Do you know he still fully punishes their sin? Their sin debt is fully paid.
They didn't do it. No, they didn't do it. But the
Lord made it right for him to be merciful to his people. He
made it so it's right for him to forgive the sin of his people
and still be just. And the way he does that is the
death of Christ, the sinner substitute. The father put his son to death. The father's the one. who killed
the son. The cross is an act of God. It
wasn't an act of Jews. It wasn't an act of the Romans.
It's an act of God. The father put his son to death as a sacrifice
for the sin of his people so that justice would be satisfied.
His own justice would be satisfied. The father didn't kill his son like he was guilty. He didn't
kill him even though he's not guilty. The father made his son
sin. for his people. The Lord Jesus
Christ never committed any sin, but the father made him guilty,
made him guilty of all of the sin of all of his people. See,
the judge of all the earth must do right. If he's going to put
him to death, it's got to be right to put him to death. He
made him guilty of the sin of his people so that it was right
for the father to put the son to death. And you want to know
how serious the father is when he says, I will by no means clear
the guilty. We made his son guilty of the
sin of his people. He did not clear the guilty.
He did not ignore it just because it was his son. The father put
a guilty man to death on the middle cross of Calvary street.
The father put him to death to satisfy his justice. Now the
sacrifice is complete transactions done. God's justice is satisfied
because the substitute died in the place of all of God's people.
So when it comes time for the Lord to save his people, when
it comes time for the judge of all the earth to say, you're
innocent, he's right in doing it, isn't he? See, he made them,
he made them innocent. He made them righteous. The father
chose to save them and he made it right for him to save them. Then in eternity, the father
loved the people. He set his love on the people. He chose
those people. He elected those people to save because he loved
them. In the fullness of time, the
sun came and he showed us how deep, how genuine the love of
God is for his people. He willingly suffered and died
so that the people the father chose to save could be with him
forever in glory. He willingly did that because
he loves his people. And I'm telling you, the father
must really love his people. I mean, you talk about a genuine
love. Look what he made his son suffer in order to save the people
that he loved. The Savior must really love his
people. Look what he willingly suffered to save him. See, God
loved a sinful people. How can a holy God love a sinful
people? Well, God made it right for him
to love those people, didn't he? He made them what he loves.
He made them the righteousness of God in his son. Then in order for us to be saved,
we must have faith in Christ. If you would be saved, you must
believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You must believe
him, you must trust your eternal soul to him and to him alone.
That's what scripture says. Without faith, it's impossible
to please him. God's not gonna be pleased with
you He's not going to be pleased with our works. God's only going
to be pleased with His Son. He can only be pleased with us
when we believe His Son. If we would be saved, we must
believe. But here's the problem. We can't produce faith. We can't
produce faith. We cannot make ourselves believe
on Christ. You know, if somebody puts that
on you like it's a work you can do, it's something that you can
do, they're preaching to you works, not grace. You must believe
on Christ, but I know you can't. I understand. I know you can't.
So God, the Holy Spirit comes and he gives all of his people
the gift of faith so that they believe on Christ and they can't
quit believing. They can't believe anything else.
That's because the Holy Spirit gave them the gift of faith.
The Lord gives his people faith in Christ so that it's right
for him to be pleased with them. See that? He made it right. He
gives them faith in Christ. In judgment, the Lord is going
to declare his people righteous. Enter ye righteous. That's what
he calls them. Now, at that time, the judge
of all the earth will do right. He's not going to be declaring
a bunch of sinful people righteous. He's not going to call them righteous,
even though that they're not. Though the judge of the earth
is going to do right. When he announces, when he declares
his people are righteous, he made it right for him to declare
them righteous because that's what he made them. He made them
righteous. He made them righteous by the
sacrifice of Christ. So here's some comfort for the
hearts of God's people. The judge of all the earth shall
do right. There's no reason for any believer
to fear death. The point of the man wants to
die and after that the judgment. We're all afraid to die because
we're afraid of judgment. There's no reason for a believer to ever
fear death or the judgment, never. You know why? The judge of all
the earth should be right. Nobody knows better than the
judge that you're righteous. because the judge himself made
you righteous. He'll never find you guilty after
he's the one made you righteous. Oh, the judge of all the earth
shall do right. He cannot condemn you. If Christ
was condemned in your place, if Christ died in your place,
you can never die the second death because that would be unjust. And the judge of all the earth
is going to be just. It would be unjust to punish two people
for the same sin, wouldn't it? If the father took your sin off
of you and put it on his son, it's not on you anymore. If the
son put your sin away by his precious blood, that sin is not
on you anymore. And the same justice that demanded
the death of Christ, the same justice that demands the condemnation
of the unbeliever in hell, that very same justice demands the
glorification of God's people in heaven. It demands it. Now
that's comfort to the hearts of God's people, isn't it? And
that makes us worship in awe and wonder how the Lord fully
and completely saves his people and he's right to do it. Well,
if he's right to do it, we can't lose it and it can't be taken
away from us. Isn't that good news? The judge of all the earth
shall do right when he saves his people from their sins. And
here's the third thing. The judge of all the earth always
does right in the way he orders the events of providence. And
that's such a comfort to the hearts of God's people to know
that everything that happens in this creation, everything
happens to me and mine, everything that happens in my small little
world, everything that happens, happens according to the direct
will of God. Do you know nothing can ever
happen to you except God willed it. Nothing can ever happen to
you that's outside of God's control or outside of his will. Because
nothing, if he didn't will it, it can't happen. If he wills
for something, he doesn't will for something to happen, it cannot
happen. You get that? So everything that
happens to us is the direct will of God. And if you believe Christ,
that's a comfort. It's a comfort to know Our God
cannot make a mistake. Something happens to me, it's
not a mistake. It's God doing right. Now that's doctrine. I would say everybody here knows. At least give some mental agreement. Yeah, that's why I believe. God's sovereign and everything
happens in this earth. But you know when we tend to
lose a little bit of comfort from knowing that truth? Is when the
Lord brings painful trials on us. And when Lord brings something
painful to us, physically, mentally, emotionally, whatever it is,
all we want is the pain of the trial to stop. That's all we
want. And we probably, you know, just
because of the way we are in this flesh, we tend to lose a
little of the comfort that we have knowing this painful thing
has happened to me. God's doing it just as much as
he did when he blessed me, when something, you know, I was happy
about. But even in a trial that, you know, scripture talks about
trials of being in a confined space, like it's just, you feel
like it's crushing you, you know, to death. Even in that, and we
do want the pain to stop. We do want it, whatever it is
in the trial, we want it to be over. But even in the midst of
it, it does comfort the hearts of God's people to remember the
same God who loved me in eternity, the same God who suffered and
died for me. Suffered and died in my place.
Died for my sin. The same God that came to me
and revealed Christ to me. That enabled me to hear the gospel
and believe it. The same God that moved and empowered
and caused me to be born again. The same God who continually
blesses the gospel to my heart so that I'm fed and I'm encouraged,
I grow in grace. That very same, that God did
all that. Is the very same God who sent this trial to me. Now
the Lord was right You know, everybody says, oh yeah, the
Lord's right and he blessed me like that. Well, then we got to say
he's right when he sends his trial my way too. Our God sent
that trial in love for our good the same way he did everything
else. Has to, because God can't change. Now the judge of all
the earth has done right in sending this trial my way. Mentally I
know that. Mentally I know God has not made
a mistake. He sent this trial for our good
and our learning. My good, my learning. And eventually
I'll see that. Eventually, not right off, but
eventually I'll see that. Let me give a few examples. Let's just, just you and me here,
let's be honest. In times of trial and trouble,
I won't necessarily say you pray harder, but do you pray more
sincerely? The Lord puts you in it. When Peter is singing
beneath the waves, you think he is praying sincerely? He said,
Lord, save me. I think that's honest. You know, we can honestly
say, pray a little more sincerely. And those times when you're praying
sincerely, sincerely seeking God, don't you find that the
Lord answers prayer? And don't you see how precious
that is? God heard me. He answered my prayer. That's
a good thing to learn, isn't it? God answers prayer. In times
of trial, trouble, I mean you're in it. Don't you find that you
read God's Word more often and a little more carefully than
you do at other times? Don't you come to the worship
service? I mean really seeking. Seeking a blessing from God's
Word for you. More than you do at other times.
I mean, you're not just coming on Sunday morning because that's
what I do. I mean, you come seeking a message from God. Something
to help you. And at that time, I mean, you're
seeking God. You're seeking a blessing from
God. You're seeking a Word from God. You're like that poor Canaanite
or the Syrophoenician woman. Just, Lord, Master, give me a
crumb from your table. Don't you find He always gives
it? Don't you find home? Boy, the gospel sure was a blessing
this morning. I feel like the Lord gave the
preacher a message just for me. I don't know about everybody
else, but that was for me. Well, that's a good thing the
Lord taught us, isn't it? He taught us how precious His
Word is. He taught us how valuable the
preaching of Christ is. Then in times of trial and trouble,
don't you find cry out to God, and you find God keeps his promise. See, it's something to know that,
something to know that. It's another to know it by experience.
That you cry out to God, and you find he gives you grace sufficient
to meet the trial. Just exactly like he promised,
my grace is sufficient for thee. And I find out God's grace is
just as sufficient for me as it was for the apostle Paul.
Now I'm not saying you cry to the Lord and He takes away the
trial. That He makes it quit hurting. I'm not saying that
at all. What I'm saying is this. God sends you grace to be able
to bear it. To be able to bear up in that trial. Like you couldn't
have without Him. He kept His promise to you. Wouldn't
it be a good thing to know by experience, God keeps His promise. God keeps His promise. Years
ago, there was a couple we went to church with. A bunch of us
did this at that time. We had little children. And they
had their little children. After the service was over, as
they were driving home, each child had to say one thing. Just
one. Just one thing that the preacher
said. Just one. And this family was driving home.
And little boy said, you don't have to ask me tonight. I preached
that night. I preached that night. He said,
you don't have to ask me tonight what Frank said. And they said,
what'd he say? He said, God always keeps his
promise. That was years ago. That child is a man now. He's
a believer. Now he's a little tyke, four
or five years old, however old he was. He got it. That's what
the Bible said. That's what the preacher said.
God keeps his promise. Now he knows it. That's a good thing to know.
God keeps his promise. Because the next time I'm in
a trial that's just a little bit deeper and just a little
bit darker and a little tighter squeeze, I'm going to remember
I can trust God. He's going to keep his promise
today just like he did yesterday. You know, it's a good thing to learn
that God's presence in the heart and his grace in the heart is
better than the removal of the physical trial. Now we want the
trial to end, I'm not saying, but until the Lord is pleased
to remove it, really it's more precious that he gives you grace to endure
it than it is when he removes the trial. It's more precious. Now, I know you don't understand
that unless you know the Lord, or unless you've been through
it. But if you're His, you're going to know it. You're going
to know it. And then last, let me give you
this. Just because you're in the valley, trial and trouble. You listen to me now. Because
you're going to wonder this. It doesn't mean the Lord stopped
loving you. And it does not mean that the Lord has forgotten about
you. When the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt, And
that bondage got bad, didn't it? They had to make bricks without
straws. And if their count of bricks
went down in a day, they were beaten for it. Soldiers came
in and just took all their boy babies and killed them one day.
Slicked their throat through them in the Nile to drown. Just
took their children, took that baby out of that mother's arms
and killed it. And they had no recourse. There was nobody to
appeal to. They had no rights. And they just cried. They just
cried. They cried to the Lord. Maybe
they just sat and cried. They sat and moaned. And I wouldn't
be surprised to find out that somebody wondered, has God forgotten
us? This has happened to me. This
is the most painful thing I can imagine happening to me. Does
the Lord even love me? This is so unjust that people
can do this to us. This is so unjust. Does the Lord
even see? So the Lord saw it, and He heard
their cries. You know what He was doing? He was just waiting for His set
time to deliver them. The Lord didn't say, well, I'm
going to let you see how long this goes, and when the people
start crying sincerely enough, then I'll send somebody to deliver
them. No, that's not what happened. The Lord was waiting for His
set time to deliver them. Years and years and years and
years, centuries prior to this, When there was one Hebrew, Abraham,
had no children. You know what the Lord told Abraham? Your descendants are gonna go
down to Egypt and they're gonna be there for 400 years and I'm gonna bring
them out. At 400 years, not one day more, God did what he told
Abraham he was gonna do. He brought them out with a mighty
arm, didn't he? And the same thing is true of
you and me and our tribes. For spiritual Israel, you cry
to the Lord, the Lord hears, he hears your cry. He sees, he
sees, he knows, and I can promise you this, he'll deliver us at
his set time. See, this thing didn't happen
by accident. It's not going to end by accident. The Lord's going
to deliver his people at his set time that he appointed before
time began. He's going to deliver his people.
And this is what we'll find. That moment of deliverance was
the best time. Not too soon and not too late. You know why? The judge of all
the earth shall do right. Dan, I can be content with that,
can't you? I can be content with that. I hope you can. I hope so. Let's bow together.
Our Father, how we thank you how you showed us the judge of
all the earth shall do right. How we thank you that you never
make a mistake. How we thank you for your love
and mercy to your people. That even through the troubles,
the valleys, the heartaches that you bring your people through,
ultimately to glory with thee. Father, how we thank you. Father,
give us some understanding your immenseness, your sovereignty,
all that we bow before the God of heaven and earth. And cause
us to worship. Cause us to trust. Cause us to
call out to your name. Let us see some of your redemptive
glory to your people. And cause us to rest in thee.
Fathers, we get ready to have a dinner together. We thank you
for this time. that we have together, fellowship,
and thank you for the food. And we thank you for these three
ladies that we celebrate. They're so precious to us and
important to this congregation. Father, I pray your richest blessing
upon them, upon each one of them. Lead and guide and direct and
be with them, we pray. All these things we ask in that
name which is above every name, the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, we're getting ready to have a church dinner to celebrate
the 20th birthdays of Kinsley and Maggie and the 80th birthday
for Mom. Now, 10 years ago, we had a,
you can do the math, 10 years ago, Mom was 70, we had a surprise
birthday party for Mom. Many of y'all came, we invited
the church, many of y'all came to that. But 10 years ago, Kinsley
and Maggie turned 10 And we didn't have this tradition of celebrating
zero birthdays. They missed it by just a couple
months, just a couple months. And Grogy, you've waited 10 years
to have your day. Now it's your day. So I hope
you enjoy it. I hope you find out it was worth
the wait. And I mean it when I thank God
for you. I thank God for you. So the men are going to set up
the tables. The ladies are going to get out some food and set
it out. I know we're going to have something
good to eat. And you know the drill, you watch now, when these
three go through line, then the rest of us can go too. All right,
Isaac, come lead us in our closing song.