Let's open our Bibles back to
Romans chapter 5. I've entitled the message this
morning, Christ died for who? Christ died for who? I chose
that title because it is utterly shocking to the natural man to
find out who Christ died for. And I chose that title too for
the objects of God's grace. Those who are objects of God's
grace enjoy constant reminders of this great blessing. Christ
died for who? Could it be that he died for
me? Christ did not die for the people that we think he should
die for. He didn't die for people that
we think might deserve salvation. Christ died for those who do
not deserve salvation in any way. And I'll tell you a good
place for us to start. We're going to start and end
right here. Christ died for his elect. That's a truth that we
unashamedly, boldly preach because that's the truth of God's word.
Election teaches us who God is and who we are. Election teaches
us God's sovereign. He must be sovereign. He saves
whom he will. But election also means this. God is gracious. God is loving. He's so gracious
and so loving, God chose sinners to save. When I talk about sinners,
I'm talking about the worst of the worst. God's so gracious,
He chose to save the worst of the worst. Election also means
that man is totally depraved. We are dead in sin, we're incapable
of doing anything to merit salvation. Election means that man is totally
dependent upon God to save us without any input from us. You
see how election puts both God and man in the proper light,
doesn't it? Now let me answer this objection of the natural
man, this great truth of God's electing love. Christ died only
for his elect. Election never keeps anyone from
being saved. Election never means that someone
is kept away from God, you know, like, well, I sure would like
to be saved, but I can't because I'm not one of the elect. No
one can ever make that statement. Election is the only way that
a door can be opened, a door of salvation can be opened for
a sinner. You and I can't be too bad or
too vile or too sinful to be saved. Christ died for sinners. He came to save sinners of whom
I'm cheating. But this is true. We can be too
good in our own eyes to be saved. So our Lord told us, I didn't
come to call the righteous. I didn't come to call those who
think they're righteous. I came to call sinners to repentance.
So the question for you and me is this. It's not, am I one of
God's elect? I don't need to try to find out
if I'm one of God's elect. This is what I need to find out.
This is the question we need answered. Am I a sinner? That's
the question for you and me. And this morning, I want us to
see who it is that Christ died for and what was the result of
his death for those people. Our text gives us four words
that describe the people that Christ died for. They're without
strength, they're ungodly, they're sinners, and they're enemies.
That's who Christ died for. What was the result of Christ's
death for those people? All right, here's the first word
that describes the people that Christ died for. They're without
strength. Verse 6, for when we were yet
without strength, in due time, at God's appointed time, Christ
died for the ungodly. Now, without strength, that word
means sick. That's the way that Isaiah describes
it. The whole head is sick. The whole
heart is faint. But now, don't get confused when
we talk about our heart being sick. Our natural heart's not
just sick, but there's some life left in it, so there's hope that
it'll recover to full strength. No, our natural heart is so sick
that we're already dead in sin. Look down here at verse 12. Wherefore,
as by one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. So death passed upon all men,
for that all have sinned. In Adam, all sinned, and we died
in Adam. So when we come into this world,
we come into it spiritually dead. We're already spiritually dead.
But this word without strength, it also means impotent. We're
powerless to do anything to produce spiritual life. We're dead in
sin. So we can't produce life. All
we can produce is more spiritual deadness through our sin. Now
this is the picture of us by nature. We're dead. We're a dead
corpse who's been left out in the sun, in the heat for a long
time. We've been dead for 6,000 years. By this time, we're rank, aren't
we? Stinking, rotting, dead in sin. We're repulsive, repulsive. You know, when someone finds
a dead body that's been left unattended for a while, ugh,
they cover their nose, they cover their mouth, they close their
eyes and turn away, Because the sight is repulsive. The sight
and the smell of that body is disgusting. That's what we are
by nature. Disgusting. Nobody wants to touch
that body. Nobody wants to smell it. Nobody
wants to look at it. We certainly wouldn't die for
such a disgusting thing that's so offensive to us. Now you magnify
that millions of times and you're going to start to get the idea
How offensive that we are to God. Oh, but here's the glorious truth
of God's salvation. Christ died for those who are
dead in sin, without strength. And the result of that death
is they live. They have perfect life. How'd
that happen? Because Christ, our substitute,
He took all the sickness away from His people and He took it
upon Himself. He took it into His own body
on the tree. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. And by His stripes, we're healed. Made perfectly whole. Christ
took our sin sickness and He traded us and gave us His life
and His health. And because Christ died for sinners,
sinners live. He died for dead sinners and
because of that they live. That's the result. Ephesians
2 verse 1. Christ died for the dead and
the result of that is he gave them life. Ephesians 2 verse
1. And you hath equipped you hath
he given life, who were dead in trespasses and sins, wherein
in time past you walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among whom also
we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind,
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But
God, oh, thank God for that phrase, but God. who's rich in mercy,
for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were
dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace,
you're saved. If Christ died for you, the result
of that is you have eternal life. You have spiritual life that's
real, that's glorious. It's the life of Christ in you.
Life that can never be lost, like Adam lost life. This life
in Christ can never be lost. Now what a miracle of the death
of Christ. The death of Christ gives life
to his people. There's life through death. So here's the question for us.
Are you without strength? Are you weak? Are you so weak
that you're weak because you're already dead in sins? Are you
without strength? Then my friend, trust in Christ. Trust in Christ. The Apostle
Paul said, when I'm weak, then am I strong. Why are you strong
when you're weak? Because when we realize our weakness,
we depend wholly on Christ. And when we depend upon Him,
then are we strong. When we depend upon Him, then
we're healed. The question for us is, are we
diseased? Are we sin sick so that we can't
heal ourselves? Are we? Then come to Christ. Look back in Luke chapter 9. Here is a verse that's so comforting. It gives such assurance, such
reason for the dead in sin, the sin sick, the disease to come
to Christ. Luke chapter 9 verse 11. And the people, when they knew
it, followed him and he received them. and spake unto them of
the kingdom of God and healed them that had need of healing. Do you have need of healing?
He healed them that had need of healing. You see, that's why
I said the question is not are we one of God's elect? Here's
the question. Are we a dead, diseased sinner? If you are, then you come to
Christ. You see, nobody ever came to
Christ because they knew they were one of God's elect. They
came to Christ because they're a dead, diseased sinner who needs
life. You'll find out soon enough you
came because He elected you. You'll find out soon enough you
came because He chose you. But you come to Christ because
you have a great need. Because you're dead in sin. You're
without strength. He'll heal you. That's the result
of His death for those who are without strength. Alright, the
second word. that describes the people that
Christ died for is ungodly. The apostle says in due time,
Christ died for the ungodly. Now ungodly, the word means wicked. Christ didn't die for good religious
people, did he? No, he died for the wicked. The
word ungodly, it means the opposite of God, the polar opposite of
God. Seven of advertises itself as the un-colon. They're trying
to, in their advertising, to try to tell people we're the
opposite of colon. You know, we're refreshing, we're
more healthy or whatever. We're the un-colon. Well, by
nature, you and I are the un-God. We're the opposite of God. We're
the opposite of who He is. We're the opposite of His nature
in every way. God is holy. We're unholy. God is righteous. We're unrighteous. God is love. We're hate. God is truth. We're liars. God is just. We're unjust. God
is life. We're dead. You see, it's not
just that we don't have anything to offer to God. But what we
are and everything that we have that we think we could offer
to God. Is offensive, it's repulsive to God because it's the opposite
of him. And the miracle of God's grace
is that he died for people who are the opposite of him. And
that's why I said Christ didn't die for the same kind of people
we die for or we think he should die for. You know, when we're
friends with someone, we're typically friends with people who are like
us, people that we've got things in common with. That's why we're
friends with them. That's who we love, people we've got something
in common with. Well, thank God he's not like
us. Nobody's like him. Who are you going to compare
him to? There's nobody like God. God sent his son to die for people
who are the ungod, who are the opposite of him. This is the
glorious attribute of who God is. And it's the only way a sinner
can have any hope of salvation. That God sent his son to die
for those who are the opposite of him. All meaning, every member
of Adam's race, we're all ungodly. All of us are the opposite of
him. But our problem is by nature we don't know it. We're dead
in sin, so we don't know anything. A dead man can't know or perceive
anything. We're all ungodly, we just don't
know it. But I'll tell you where our ungodliness is seen the most. It's not when we look down our
nose, those people who are, you know, heathen and whatever, like
the Jews look down their nose at the Samaritans, you know,
those people are ungodly. That's not where our ungodliness
is seen the most. Ungodliness in human beings is
seen most clearly in those people who have heard the truth. Ungodliness
is seen the most clearly in people who have heard Christ the Savior
preached, but refused to bow to him. They refuse to surrender. They refuse to come to Him. They
refuse to believe on Him. That's where our ungodliness
is seen most clearly. Now, suppose you saw a great
danger. Suppose you'd seen a dam holding,
a big, big dam holding back water. You saw that dam burst. And you
saw a giant wall of water just rushing down the valley. And
you went and told somebody, you better get out of here. In a
minute or two, this place is going to be destroyed. The dam
has burst, the water's coming. And suppose they just went, and
they didn't do anything. They'd be mocking you, wouldn't
they? I don't believe you. How do you
know they don't believe you? How do you know they're mocking
you? They don't run for high ground. I'm not changing anything
I'm doing because of you. How many times did you warn them?
After they sneered at you? How many times did you warn them?
Once? Twice? Maybe three times? I'd venture to say no more than
that, wouldn't we? We'd think. I'd think. They're mocking me? Then they're going to get what
they deserve. Aren't you glad God's not like
us? You who believe. How many times did you hear the
gospel before you heard? Huh? Come on. Now, how many times
did you hear the gospel before you believed? How many times
did you come to service, hear the gospel preached, and leave
unaffected? You may not have said it outwardly, but in your
heart you said, I'll not have that man reign over me. I don't
need him. I'll do it myself. I don't need him. How many times?
Before, by God's grace, You are. He kept sending you a messenger.
He kept sending you the word. He kept bringing you to hear
the gospel. Oh, aren't you thankful Christ died for the ungodly? That's not who we die for, is
it? But he died for the ungodly. And what's the result of Christ
dying for the ungodly? They're made what they're not.
They're made godly. Everyone Christ died for is going
to be born again. They're going to be given a new
nature in the new birth. Not when they're born again.
That old ungodly nature? Don't be disappointed. Don't
be dismayed when it's unchanged. Matter of fact, when you're born
again, you're going to think that that old nature got worse.
It didn't. It's just as dead as it ever
did. It's just now you've got eyes to see it. Now you see.
You're starting to see more of how awful he really is. That
old ungodly nature is not going to change. But God's going to
give you a new nature. And that new nature is a godly
nature. Peter said, when we're born again,
we're made partakers of the divine nature. That's how that nature
is a godly nature. It's the nature of Christ born
in us. What a miracle. What a miracle
of the death of Christ. When he died for the ungodly,
he made them godly. Now, here's the question. Are
you ungodly? Are you the opposite of God?
Are you the opposite of what God requires in every way? Then,
my friend, come to Christ. Come to Him. Christ died for
the ungodly. Don't try to clean yourself up
and make yourself better, make you more like God before you
come to Him. That's just an exercise in futility. It'll never happen.
Just come to God as you are. Come to Christ as you are. He
died for the ungodly to give them a new nature. Well, then
ask God to give you one. Ask him. Come to Christ. He's the only one who would,
and he's the only one who can do anything for the ungodly.
Christ died for the ungodly. All right, here's the third word.
The third word that describes the people Christ died for is
sinners. Now that certainly is not who
we die for, is it? Look at verse 7. For scarcely
for a righteous man will one die, yet perventure for a good
man some would even dare to die. Now here's this righteous man. He's a man who's morally strict. He's religious. Oh, he's self-righteous. And nobody would die for that
guy. I mean, he just thinks he's better
than everybody else. Nobody wants to be around that
person. You know, he's always judging
everybody. Now, he might not say it, you
know, out loud, but when you're around him, you know, you can
just see it in his eyes. He's judging everybody. He makes
you feel bad about yourself. You know, you're guilty and just,
you know, feel judged. You're not as good as this guy.
Nobody would want to die for that guy, you know, because most
people realize, most people can see through. This guy's a hypocrite. Nobody wants to die for somebody
like that. That's not who Christ died for, those who are righteous,
those who are self-righteous. Christ didn't die for those people
because those people don't need him. If you're righteous in your
own self, you don't have a need of Christ, do you? Which is what
our Lord said. He didn't come to call the righteous,
but sinners to repentance. Now, the other man is what Paul
calls a good man. That man is a kind He's honest. He's generous. Some people might
die for that fellow. He's been kind to him. We might
think, well, he's good for society. We might die for that man. When
push comes to shove, we probably wouldn't. We're too full of self.
But somebody might. But it wouldn't do that man,
that good man, that kind man, that honest man, it wouldn't
do him any good if we died for him. None whatsoever. Because
while we think he's a good man, there's none good to God. He
might be good to us, but in God's sight he's not good. And nothing
we could do in our death would put away his guilt or pay for
his sin. So Paul points out to us how
amazing it is that Christ would die for sinners. Not a righteous
man, not a good man, but there's a third class. Sinners. Sinners. Oh, Christ died for
sinners. Christ didn't die for the self-righteous.
He didn't die for the good moral people. In His amazing grace,
Christ died for sinners. Verse 8, But God commendeth His
love toward us, and that while we are yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Now, a sinner is someone who's
missed the mark, like they've shot an arrow and they just came
up way short. They've missed the mark. Sinners
have sinned. They missed the mark. They've
come short of the glory of God. They've come short of what God
requires. Even all of our what we call
good religious acts, they're nothing but sin and offensive
to God. And all of our sin is against
God. It's an affront to him. It's
not even like we tried and we came up short. No, it's open
rebellion. We mean to come up. We've come
up short on purpose. Because we hate God. We just
love sin. And that sin is against Almighty
God. Rebellion. Open rebellion in
His face. Yet Christ died for sinners. A sinner is someone who's transgressed
God's law. They're guilty. They're guilty
of breaking God's law. And that guilt makes God angry.
He's angry with the wicked every day. What an offense to God. Yet Christ died for sinners. That's not the kind of people
you and I would die for. You know, when someone breaks
the law in a heinous way, they murder in cold blood, cold blooded
hatred. They plot it out, they torture
and kill. You know, man's law says that
fellow ought to be put to death. You know, if he's not put to
death, we at least think he needs to be put out of our sight because
that fella is offensive to man. He's offensive to other sinful
men. But God is love. Love in a term, in a definition,
human man knows nothing about. God is love. And the way God
demonstrated his love is by showing his love to sinners. He sent
his son to die in the place of sinners. Now, what love? What love? Only God can love
like that. Only God could love a sinner. You see, we may as well quit
talking about our love for God. When we talk about this thing
of love, we may as well not even talk about our love for God.
Because it's not our love for God that brings or causes salvation,
is it? No, it's God's love for sinners.
that makes all the difference. Now, what does this mean that
Christ died in the place of sinners? Well, it means that Christ died
as a substitute for sinners. Christ took the sin of His people
and made it His. He took it into His own body
on the tree so that He became guilty of their sin. That's the
only way the Father could have killed Him in justice. The Father
didn't pretend like He was sin. No, He was made sin. And the
father in justice killed him. At Calvary, the father dealt
with our Lord Jesus Christ in absolute, pure, unadulterated
wrath against sin. There wasn't a hint of mercy
mixed in it. Because that's what his people
deserved. And Christ bore it all. He bore
all that wrath. He bore all that suffering. He
died that death. that his people deserve. Now,
what love, what mercy, what grace that Christ would die in the
place of sinners, those who sinned against him. As he hung there
on the cross, he prayed, Father, forgive them. These ones who
are torturing me, these ones who are spitting in my face,
these ones, Father, forgive them. What amazing grace that Christ
would take their sin. Some of those were forgiven.
They had to be. They had to be, didn't they Eric? He prayed for
them. He got what he prayed for. Some of those people were forgiven
because Christ took their sin and he suffered for it to put
it away. Christ died for sinners. Now
what's the result? Did Christ die for sinners to
make it possible? What's the result? The result
of Christ's death for sinners is they're saved, verse 9. Much more than being now justified
by His blood. We shall be saved, saved from
wrath through Him. You see, Christ did not come
to make salvation possible if anybody might decide to accept
it. Christ didn't come to try to save somebody, to try to put
their sin away, to try to, you know, be so pitiful that they
might come to Him. No, Christ died to save His people
from their sins. And that is just exactly what
He did. He put away the sin of His people. How did He do that? How did He
save them? How did He save His people from
wrath? Well, by saving them from sin. And we're not saved, God's
people, God's elect, those who believe, we're not saved from
hell. We're not saved from wrath per se. were saved from sin. And because Christ saved his
people from sin, because he took their sin away, the result of
that is they're saved from wrath. Christ took the sin of his people
and made it to not exist. Now there's nothing left to draw
the wrath of God upon his people. The sin draws wrath. And where
sin's gone, there's no more wrath. It's all been poured out on our
substitute. The blood of Christ has justified his people. You
remember, justified is not just as if I'd never sinned. No, the
blood of Christ makes it so that his people have never sinned.
He took the sin away. It's gone. So there's nothing
left to draw wrath from God. Christ was made sin so that his
people would be made the righteousness of God in him. So again, here's
my question. Are you a sinner? See, that's
the question. Are you a sinner? Is the only
plea you have before God is guilty as charged? Is that your plea?
If you don't have any hope left in anything you can do, you're
just guilty. Then come to Christ. If you're
a sinner, why wouldn't you? Christ died to save sinners. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners, of whom I am chief. What grace! Isn't that a miracle of God's
grace? Right, here's the fourth word
that describes the people that Christ died for. It's enemies. Verse 10. For if when we were
enemies, we are reconciled to God by the death of his son,
much more being reconciled, we should be saved by his life.
Now, by nature, you and I are the enemies of God. God didn't
make himself our enemy. That wasn't something God did.
Now, we made God our enemy by our sin and rebellion against
him. The moment we are conceived in our mother's womb, we receive
the nature of Adam. It's the only nature our father
can pass on to us. And from that moment, we are
enemies of God. That nature we received is enmity
against God. Look over a page or two of Romans
chapter eight. Verse 6, For to be carnally minded is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because
the carnal mind is enmity against God. For it's not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are
in the flesh cannot please God. See, it's impossible for us in
our nature to surrender to God. We've made war with God, but
it's impossible for our nature to make peace with God. I mean,
our nature doesn't even want to make peace with God. All our
nature does is hate God and want to keep making war on God. We
just want to make war on God's crown rights to do with me as
he pleases. This nature can never submit
to that. Yet in amazing grace, Christ died for his enemies,
his enemies. What did the death of Christ
accomplish for them? He made them friends. Look at
Colossians chapter 1. The death of Christ made peace
with God and made those enemies to become friends. That's what
to be reconciled is. They're made friends. Colossians
1 verse 20. and having made peace through
the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto
himself, by him I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, and you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in
the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Christ died for
his enemies. and He made them His friends. Now, if Christ died for us, it's
not just that we grudgingly surrender. We cease hostilities because
we ran out of ammo, we can't shoot no more, so we stack up
our arms because we've got no more bullets left. That's not
surrendering to Christ. God's elect have peace with God
through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. be washed in His blood, being
born again, makes us the friend of God. That's why there's peace. We're friends. Abraham is called
the friend of God, isn't he? Abraham's scripture says we're
justified. You're justified by faith. So
he's the friend of God. And you and I will be friends
of God if we're justified by the blood of Christ. Those enemies
are made friends, through the blood, the sacrifice of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now, can you be honest with yourself
for a minute? Can you admit that by nature you hate God? I'm not
talking about the idol of your imagination. Of course you love
him. You're the one who made him up.
I'm talking about God, the sovereign, holy God of the Bible. The only
way we can know who God is, is by who God tells us He is in
His Word. Do you hate that God? Can you
be honest with yourself and answer that question? By nature, do
you hate that God? By nature, does this message
of sovereign, particular grace, does it rub you wrong? Is Christ dying for His people?
The people that He chose? And not all of Adam's race? Does
that make you mad by nature? Then my friend, come to Christ. Come to Him and beg for peace
in Him. Ask Him to give you a new heart.
Ask Him to wash you in His blood and make you the friend of God.
Christ died for His enemies. Now the death of Christ is a
miracle. What a miracle that Christ could
die. and the miracle, who Christ died for. That's a miracle of
God's grace. I want you to listen to a few
other scriptures. We won't turn to them all, but just listen
to them. Listen to what scripture says, who Christ died for. Christ died for people who were
under the curse of the law. Galatians 3.13, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For
it's written, cursed is everyone that hangeth upon a tree. Christ
died for those who are under the curse. Now what was the result
of his death? Freedom from the curse. Romans
8 verse 1 says, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which
are in Christ Jesus. He delivered them from the curse.
He delivered them from death. There's no more curse. Christ
took it away. Next scripture says that Christ
died for the unjust. Well, what was the result of
Christ's death for the unjust? Justification. Reconciliation
with God. 1 Peter 3 verse 18. Christ also has once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.
The result of his death for the unjust is reconciliation. We've
been brought back to God. Then our Lord said in John 10
verse 15, that he laid down his life for his sheep. Now here
we're gonna end right back where we started. Christ laid down
his life for his sheep. You know good and well that's
talking about his elect. He's gonna lay down his life
for his elect, the sheep the father gave him. Well, what was
the result of that death? The death for his sheep. Well,
the Lord said, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice. There shall be one fold and one
shepherd. The result of Christ's death
for his sheep is not one of them can be lost. They're all going
to be brought together, one fold, one second. Now lads, I want
you to look at this from John chapter three. Scripture says Christ died for
whosoever. Now that ought to have perked
up the ears of every person in this room. Christ died for whosoever. That fits us all, that we're
all a whosoever. John three, verse 14. And as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be
lifted up. That whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God
sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that
the world through Him might be saved. Now I'm going right back
to where I started. the first thing I told you. The
question for you and me is not, am I one of God's elect? And
believe me, I spent years trying to find out. Don't repeat my
mistake. Don't try to find it out because you can't. You know,
I just spent years thinking, well, if I could just find out,
if I just, God just show me, if He'd just tell me I'm one
of His elect, then I'd come to Him. That's not why we come to
Christ. The issue for you and me is not,
am I one of the elect? The issue for you and me is are
we a whosoever? Are we without strength? Are
we ungodly? Are we sinners? Are we enemies
of God? Are we the unjust? Are we under the curse? That's
the question. Because that's the people that
Christ died for. It is my earnest, earnest plea
that the Lord be pleased to right now, right at this very moment,
Make us see ourselves as we are, so we'll run to Christ. Oh, God,
make it so. I hope that'll be a blessing
to you. I have enjoyed studying this passage of Scripture this
week so much. I told Jana, I said, I hope it's
not like you baseball fans. You heard about a pitcher warm
up in the bullpen. Boy, everything's great in the bullpen. He goes
out to the mound and it's gone. I said, I hope it's not. Oh,
Lord bless this. Oh, this is a message I need
to hear. I hope the Lord will bless that to His glory and our
good. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, how can we possibly
thank You for Your eternal mercy, grace, and love for Your people?
That You determined to save sinners. That You'd send Your Son to die
for those who are dead. Dead in sin. without any ability,
that you send your son to die for the ungodly, sinners who
live in open rebellion against you, sinners who are your enemies,
make war, just open war against your sovereign crown rights. Father, how we thank you that
you send your son to put away the sin of your people. to bring
us to God. You die just for the unjust that
you bring us to God. Oh, how we thank you. Father,
bless your word, we pray. Bless your word to your glory.
Let your people leave here rejoicing in the glorious salvation of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us leave here rejoicing in
the person of Christ our Savior. Let us leave here this morning,
Father, without any hope in ourselves. Show us who and what we are so
we have no hope in ourselves. So that we run to Christ to find
in Him everything we need and everything you require. Father,
we pray this not for our glory, but for your glory. Would you
get glory in saving sinners today? Would you get glory in calling
us to Christ this morning? For it's in His precious name
we pray and give thanks.