Oh, would you suffer a sinner
whose heart overflows? One more time, preach Christ. I hope you will. The title of
the message this morning is, Why Men Don't Believe Christ.
I mentioned in a message a week or so ago, a couple of weeks
ago now, I suppose, that when the gospel is preached, there's
always a reaction. No one hears the gospel and leaves
unaffected. You either are blessed or you're
hardened, one or the other. You either believe or you do
not believe. That's what happened when the
Apostle Paul preached there in Acts 28. We read it to open the
service. Some believed and some did not. And the question I'd
like to answer this morning is, well, why not? Why don't men
believe Christ? And then conversely, why do men
believe Christ? God gives us an answer from his
word. Now if you look in John chapter 8 verse 46, which of
you convinces me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do
you not believe me? Now convinces, this word our
Lord uses means to convict or to prove wrong. Well, no one
can convict our Lord of sin. He's perfect. He's holy, did
no sin. He wasn't even acquainted with
any sin. So what he's saying is, if you can't convict my message
of grace with sin and error, then why don't you believe? If
you can't refute the message, if you can't prove it wrong,
the message I'm preaching, why don't you believe? If you can't
find doctrinal error, if what I'm saying does not contradict
God's word, then my message must be the truth. So why don't you
believe? If you can't find any fault with
Christ, this is my question to you. We can't find any fault
with Christ, why don't we believe Him? Why don't we rest in Him? Why don't we come to Him? And
the answer is in verse 47, because you're not of God. He that is
of God, heareth God's word. Ye therefore hear them not, because
you're not of God. You don't believe because you're
not of God. Now to be of God is to be born
of God. Just like a child is born of
his father. Men don't believe God because
they haven't been born again. That's why. If they haven't been
born again, they don't have ears that hear. So they can't hear.
They can't understand God's Word. They can't understand because
they can't hear and they don't have the mind of Christ. If they
were given the nature of Christ in the new birth, they'd have
the mind of Christ. They'd have ears that hear. They'd have eyes
that see and understand. But they've not been born again.
So it's impossible for them to understand. They're not of God
because they don't belong to God. God did not make them His
in divine election. That's why they're not of God.
Now scripture gives us several other reasons why men don't believe
God. And the first one is in John
chapter 3. We're going to go through several scriptures
this morning. I want you to see from God's
Word why men don't believe Christ. First, men don't believe Christ
because men are under the condemnation of God. John 3, verse 16. 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. He that believeth on him is not
condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because
he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
Men are under the condemnation of God by nature. Adam's sin
put us, all men, under the condemnation of God. God didn't have to do
anything. He didn't have to send his Son
into the world to condemn the world. Men are already condemned.
All God has to do to condemn a man is leave him alone. That's
all he's got to do. Because we're already under condemnation
in Adam. And notice here, we're not condemned
because we don't believe. We don't believe because we're
already condemned. That's why men don't believe
Christ. Second, men don't believe Christ because men hate the light
that exposes them for what they really are. Look at verse 19
of John 3. And this is the condemnation.
The lights come into the world and men love darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil. For every one that
doeth evil hates the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his
deeds should be reproved." Now men hate the light of Christ
because the light of Christ shows our total depravity. The light
of Christ shows our complete inability to save ourselves. So we run from the light because
we don't want to be seen for what we really are. And it's
the light of Christ. We don't see ourselves, who we
really are in the light of each other. We see ourselves as we
really are in the light of who Christ is. Then we see who we
really are. Well, if God doesn't do something
for us, our nature doesn't want that exposed. So we run from
the light because we hate the light by nature. Third, men don't
believe Christ because men are spiritually dead. John 3, verse
36. He that believeth on the Son
hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life. He's already dead. He won't see
life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Now again, we're not
dead because we don't believe. We don't believe because we're
already dead. And a dead man doesn't have any
ability. He doesn't have any ability to do anything. So if
we're spiritually dead, we don't have the ability to believe God.
Fourth, men don't believe Christ. Because by nature, Man does not
have the word of God in his heart. Look at John 5 verse 37. And the Father himself that hath
sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his
voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word
abiding in you. For whom he hath sent, him ye
believe not. Now you do search the scriptures.
For in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they
which testify of me. And ye will not come unto me,
that ye might have life." You won't come unto me, even though
you read God's Word. You read it physically, but you
don't believe it, because you don't have God's Word in your
heart. If you don't have God's Word
in your heart, you can't understand the Scriptures, Old Testament
or New Testament. Look at verse 45 here, John 5.
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There's one
that accuses you, even Moses, in whom you trust. For had you
believed Moses, you would have believed me. For Moses wrote
the law. No, Moses wrote me. Moses wrote
of Christ. The message of the Old Testament
prophets is the exact same message that we preach today. They're
just one message. It's the message of Christ. And
God's Word just has one message. It's Christ. And if God's Word
is not in your heart, you cannot believe. Men don't believe Christ
because they don't have God's Word in their heart, so they
can't understand Christ. They can't see Him and they can't
love Him because His Word's not in their heart. If His Word was
in their heart, they'd come to Him because they'd see Christ
in the Scriptures. When they read the Scriptures,
all they see is doctrine. I'm telling you, from this day
our Lord is speaking to these Pharisees to today, nothing's
changed. Men read the Scriptures and they
find doctrine. They're going to pound their
doctrine. They're going to argue doctrine. Doctrine, I mean, just
my word. Doctrine makes ugly people. I'm
telling you, that's what you see in our day. Or they see the
law. They see rules to live by. And
they don't see Christ. Brethren, the law in the Old
Testament is written to point us to Christ. Christ fulfilled
the law. Christ is the end of the law.
Christ is the goal of the law. The law is written to show us
Christ and to drive us to Christ. All the doctrine that we read
in Scripture is nothing unless you see Christ. You come to Him. You're not in love with doctrine
written on a piece of paper. You're in love with the person.
And if you're in love with the person, then all those truths
about Him are self-evident. It's just obvious, and that's
the difference between doctrine, words on paper, and God's Word
being in your heart. In your heart. If it's not in
your heart, you cannot believe. Fifth, men don't believe Christ
because men seek honor from men. They want honor from men. So
they will not seek honor that comes from God. Look at verse
44 of John 5. How can you believe, which receive
honor one of another, And seek not the honor that cometh from
God only. Now, you cannot please God and
man. I mean, just forget about that. You can't do it. Because
God and man have two totally different natures. You can't
please both of them anymore. You can go north and south at
the same time. It's impossible. And if you seek the honor and
praise that comes from men, the recognition of people in this
world, the love of the world, then you'll never seek the honor
that comes from God only. Because they're opposites. The
honor from men, that you receive from men, gives honor to the
flesh. Well, if you're going to receive
honor from God, the opposite's got to happen. The flesh must
be humbled. We've got to be absolutely put
down in the dirt. God will never use any man until
he humbles him. I was talking to Brother Donnie
Bell the other day. We were talking about preaching. He said, you know, you start
out preaching. He said, everyone loves it this way. He said, you start
out thinking you know everything. And God's not going to use you
until you learn you don't know nothing. Then God can use you. You've got to be humbled, which
is the opposite of this flesh. And if you look in John chapter
12, I'll show you an example of this. A frightening example
of this. John 12, verse 42. Nevertheless, among
the chief rulers also Many believed on him, but because of the Pharisees
they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the
synagogue. Why did they do that? For they loved the praise of
men more than the praise of God. Man by nature is far more concerned
about what men think of us than what God says. Sixth, men won't
believe Christ because the Lord doesn't know them. Look back
at John 6. and don't believe Christ because
God does not know them." Verse 63. It's the spirit that quickeneth.
The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
their spirit and their life. But there are some of you that
believe not. Why didn't they believe? For Jesus knew from
the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray
And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto
me, except it were given him of my father. They didn't believe
because the Lord doesn't know them. If the Lord knew them,
they'd know him because he would reveal himself to them. But no
one will believe ever until the Lord reveals himself to them
so that they see him with eyes of faith. That's why Isaiah said,
Who's believed our report? Who's going to believe this gospel?
Well, I'll tell you who's going to believe it. Those to whom
the arm of the Lord has been revealed. If the Lord reveals
Christ to your heart, you believe, and he does reveal himself to
everyone he knows, every one of them. And if you don't believe,
the only reason for it is God's left you alone. He doesn't know
you. In Matthew 7, verse 23, the Lord said in that great day
of judgment, He's going to say this to all those whose hope
is in their religious works. Those who plead to the Lord,
Lord, we've done many wonderful works in your name. We've cast
out devils. We've preached in your name. We've done all these
things in your name. Their hope is in their religious
works. And our Lord's going to tell them what? I never knew
you. I didn't know you. Depart from
me, ye that work iniquity. And our Lord knew who they were.
But he didn't know them in love. He didn't know them in the covenant
of grace. And no matter who you are, no
matter what you do, you're a worker of iniquity if Christ doesn't
know you. If he doesn't know you as his
own. So you won't believe him if the Lord does not know you.
Seventh, men don't believe Christ because they're not God's sheep.
Look at John 10. Verse 25, Jesus answered them, I told you
and you believe not. The works that I do in my father's
name, they bear witness of me, but you believe not because you're
not of my sheep as I said unto you. My sheep hear my voice and
I know them and they follow me. You're not following me because
you're not of my sheep. You don't know my name because you're not
one of my sheep. can't believe because they've
got the nature of a goat, not the nature of a sheep. An unbeliever
cannot believe, cannot do it because he's got a nature of
rebellion and unbelief. A person who does not believe
Christ simply reveals he's a goat because God only calls sheep. He never calls a goat. Eighth,
men don't believe Christ because by nature they can't believe
and they won't believe. They don't want to believe. Look
at John 12, verse 37. But though he done so many miracles
before them, yet they believed not on him, that the saying of
Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled which he spake. Lord, who hath
believed our report, and to whom hath the arm of the Lord been
revealed? They could not believe, because Isaiah said again, He
hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart, that they
should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart,
and be converted, and I should heal them. These men that our Lord is speaking
to, they saw the miracles. They saw all the witnesses, but
they didn't believe because they didn't want to believe. They
didn't want to believe that this was the Christ, because if He's
the Christ, They're going to have to scrap everything they
always used to believe. They're going to have to scrap
everything they used to trust in and trust in Him. They didn't
want to believe. They were somebody in their religion.
They didn't want to be nobody. And that's the only person God's
going to save is a nobody now. They didn't want to believe.
And they also couldn't believe because they cannot believe.
God has not given them the ability to believe. So they cannot believe.
Both, they can't believe and they don't want to believe. Look
in Acts chapter 19. Men don't believe Christ because
their heart is hard and cold and dead. Acts chapter 19 verse 8. And he went into the synagogue
and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and
persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when
thyvers were hardened and believed but spake evil of that way before
the multitude. He departed from them and separated
the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.
They did not believe because they were hardened and believed
not." Man's heart is dead and hard and cold. If you don't believe,
it's because you have a hard, cold, dead heart of unbelief. Look at Romans chapter 11. Men
don't believe Christ. because God has not had mercy
on them. Romans 11. For as ye in time
past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through
their unbelief, even so have these also now not believed that
through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath
concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon
all." Man does not believe Christ because God has not had mercy
on them. And it will be impossible for
anyone to believe until God has mercy on them. Next, men don't
believe Christ because they're blinded by Satan. 2 Corinthians
chapter 4. Their eyes are blinded by Satan.
2 Corinthians 4 verse 3 But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost, in whom the God of this world
hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light
of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should
shine unto them. Men don't believe because they
are not of God, they are of their father, the Men who don't believe
don't have the nature of God, they have the nature of Satan.
They're under the influence of Satan and the God of this world
has blinded their eyes so they cannot see. Next look at 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 8. Men
don't believe Christ because men love and believe a lie. They love a lie rather than the
truth. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 8. And then shall that wicked
be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his
mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all
power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they receive
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should
believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believe not
the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteousness." Men don't
believe Christ because they'd rather believe a lie. They hate
the truth and they love and enjoy the unrighteousness of the lie.
Man's nature has pleasure in believing the lie that says man's
not totally depraved. Now, well, man, he's kind of
bad, but he can straighten himself up enough to be saved if he really
wants to. He does sin, but he can choose to be saved. Now, that's a lie. That's an
unrighteous lie, but our flesh loves that lie, even though it's
unrighteous. Man's nature has pleasure in
the lie that says God's not sovereign. Our flesh has pleasure In the
lie, it says, no, you're not in God's hands to do with as
he pleases. God's in your hand. You have
to choose. You have to decide. Men have a free will. They can
choose life or death either way, whichever they choose, whichever
they want. Now, that's an unrighteous lie. But man has much more pleasure
in that unrighteous lie that reverses the truth and puts God
in our hands. But now scripture's playing.
We just read it. Everyone. who believes that lie
will be damned. That's an unrighteous lie because
they loved not the truth and they loved and believed a lie.
God's not going to save anyone through a lie. It will always
be through the truth. But if we love a lie, we cannot
believe. Last, men don't believe Christ
because they think God must be a liar. Look at 1 John chapter
5. God must be a liar. That's the
only reason we wouldn't believe him. 1 John 5, verse 10. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth not God hath
made God a liar, because he believeth not the record that God gave
of his Son. Now, the only reason someone
doesn't believe God is they think God's a liar. They think eternal
life can come some other way other than the only way God said
He'll save a sinner. Man, by nature, thinks that God's
a liar. We think God lied when He's told
us about our lost condition. When God's Word tells us about
our total depravity and our inability to save ourselves, our inability
to please God, man thinks, God's lying. I'm not that bad. Man
by nature thinks God's a liar when he tells us about himself.
They say, well, he must be lying. God won't damn me if I preach
in his name. God won't damn me if I do many wonderful works
in his name. If I'm reading my Bible and I'm
giving money to the church and giving money to the poor and
I'm attending church services, I'm a good, upstanding church
member, God's not going to damn somebody like that. Well, now,
the only reason you think that is you think God's a liar, because
God said he would. The only person not going to
be damned is the person that's in Christ. Now, somebody out
here is thinking, right, you just brought a real downer to
us this morning. I mean, this is a downer. I mean,
what a bummer. You got me depressed now. I can
just go home and sit in the dart box and be depressed. Well, I
grant you, an accurate description of man's nature is a downer.
It just is a depressing thought. But it's the truth nonetheless.
We've seen it from God's Word. There's no denying it. Well,
then where does that leave me then? Where does that leave you
then? This is our nature. Where does
it leave us? I'll tell you where it leaves us. It leaves us in
God's hand to do with as he will. The truth about nature is that
our nature is we cannot believe and we will not believe God.
The only way a sinner is going to have eternal life is if God
gives it to us as a free gift of his grace. So that leaves
us in one spot. At God's feet, in the dust, begging
Him for mercy. Begging Him. Lord, save me! I
can't do anything to save myself. Not one thing. Lord, if you don't
save me, I'll be damned. And I'll tell you this. You stay
right there. I mean, right there. I told the
folks up in New Jersey last week. Someone may be worried. God's
not going to save me. I've been all this time. He saved
another. He's not going to save me. What's
the use? I tell you, faith cometh by hearing. I told those folks, if that was
me, and it was at one time, I'd make it my business to be where
the Gospels preach every time the doors are open, and I'd beg
God for mercy. Maybe He'll show it. Our nature
leaves us with no hope. other than Christ. And if you
just feel depressed and without hope because you hear of your
nature described in scripture, I tell you good. I'm glad you
are because I've got good news for you. If you've got no hope,
you see no hope for yourself. If you see no hope anywhere except
in the Lord Jesus Christ, I've got good news because in Christ,
everything we just read is reversed. Turn all those reasons around,
why men don't believe Christ, and you'll see all the reasons
why men do believe Christ. If you believe Christ, it's because
God has set you free from condemnation. You have everlasting life, and
you shall not come into condemnation because you've already passed
from death unto life. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. If you believe Christ, you believe
because you're not afraid of the light. You love the light. God examines me in the spotlight
of His holiness and finds no sin in me. Now, that sounds backwards
because when I look in me, that's all I see is sin. But when God
looks at me in the spotlight of His holiness, He finds perfect
righteousness. Because Christ, my substitute,
took all my sin away. Took it all away. I'm glad God's
light shows everything. That way there wasn't one sin
missed. If there was one sin missed, Mike, I'd be damned.
I'm glad God's light shows everything. So that Christ took all my sin
away and gave me His righteousness. And when God sees me, thank God
He doesn't see me. He sees me in His Son. He sees
me in Christ. So I'm not afraid of God's holiness.
I'm not afraid of His light. Because in Christ, I have no
sin. If you believe Christ, you believe because God's given you
faith. And He's given you life. He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. You don't have life because
you believe. You didn't obtain life because
you decided to believe. No. You believe because you have
life. And you can't help it. Just like
you can't help but breathe. I mean, you try to hold your
breath, but eventually your body is just going to breathe. Because
you have life. You know, I remember trying and
trying and trying and trying. Trying to believe. Trying to
believe. Trying to believe. And I couldn't. No matter how hard I tried, I
couldn't believe. And when that believed, I couldn't
help it. Because I was born again. Given
life and faith. And now I can't help it. I believe
God. Because He gave me faith. He
gave me life. If you believe Christ, you believe
because God has put His Word in your heart. David said, Thy
Word have I hid in my heart, that I won't sin against Thee.
Jeremiah said one time, Jesus, I'm tired of this. I'm tired
of suffering. I'm the only one trying to tell
people the truth. I'm suffering for it. I'm just
going to keep my mouth shut. And I'm not going to preach anymore
because all it's doing is bringing me grief and heartache. But, Jeremiah said, his word
is in my heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones. I couldn't
keep my mouth shut because God's words in my heart. Look at Romans
chapter 10. Romans 10, verse 8. But what
sayeth it? The word is nigh thee, it's even
in thy mouth, and it's in thy heart. That is the word of faith
which we preach. When you hear Christ preached,
you believe. You know why you believe? Because
God has already put his word in your heart. And the gospel
message that you hear preached matches the word that God's put
in your heart. And you believe Christ. If you
believe Christ, you believe because you seek the honor that comes
from God first, more than anything man's got to offer. They don't
got anything you want. Nothing. Now, compared to Christ,
they don't. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God, His righteousness. All these other things will be
added to you. If you believe Christ, you believe. Get a hold
of your seat. Because the Lord knows you. He
knows you. He's always known you. He knew
you in eternal election. He knew you by name. Your name
was engraved upon His heart just like those stones we looked at
in the Sunday school lesson on the high priest's heart. He knew
you. He knew you when He went to Calvary's
tree and He took your sin. In His body on the tree. and
put it away with the sacrifice of Himself. He knew you when
He sent a preacher to you and He called you by name. It wasn't
an accident. He called you by name and you
became His. Job said, I'm going to see Him. I'm going to see Him. Whom I
shall see for myself with these eyes, Job said, and not another. He won't be a stranger to me.
Because He's already introduced Himself to me. And you won't
be a stranger to Him either. Because He's always known you.
If you believe Christ, you believe because you're one of God's sheep.
You can't help but believe. You can't help but eat in the
green pastures of His Word. Because God's given you the nature
of a sheep. And because you're a sheep, you
know the voice of the Good Shepherd. You hear His voice. You follow
Him. You don't follow somebody else. Not the voice of a stranger.
Because you know Him. And because Christ is the Good
Shepherd, He laid down His life for you. And you think about
that. You're a sheep. He laid down
His life for His sheep. And the Good Shepherd came where
you were. You were lost, going the wrong
way, couldn't find your way back to the Shepherd if you wanted
to. But He came where you were. And He didn't tell you, come
on, follow me. No. He put you on His shoulders. And He carried you every step
of the way. You're safe in the fold. Because
you're a sheep. That's why you believe Him. That's
why you love Him. If you believe Christ, you believe
because God's given you a new want to. You want to believe. Wayne, I want to believe what
God's Word says about me. I do. I love to hear how I'm
nothing. I'm just absolutely wretched. I can't do anything. Nothing
but sin. I want to believe that. I love
it and I want to believe it. Because the more I hear about
what I am by nature, the more I'll trust Christ. The more I'll
look to Him. I want to believe Christ is all
my salvation. I want to believe I have a good
hope through grace that's found in the Lord my Savior. I want
to believe. Lord, I believe. Help Thou my
non-believer. If you believe Christ, You believe
because you've been born again. You've been given a new heart,
a heart of flesh that God wrote His law upon. He left that old,
cold, dead, stony heart alone. Left it in you. He gave you a
heart of flesh. A heart that loves Him, that
looks to Him. If you believe Christ, you believe because God's
had mercy on you. You can't attribute your faith,
your salvation, you can't attribute one thing you have to anything
other than God's mercy. God's merciful. I'm here this
morning because God's merciful. That's the only reason. It's
a miracle of God's mercy and grace that I believe Christ.
If you believe Christ, you believe because God sets you free from
the power of Satan. He's given you eyes to see. Eyes
that the God of this world cannot blind. Eyes that see and look
to Christ. Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter
2. If you believe Christ, you believe because God's given you
a love of the truth. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 13. Now
there are some that have pleasure in unrighteousness, but we're
bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. Because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit
and belief of the truth. For until he calls you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you believe Christ, you believe and you love the truth. And you're
not in love with church, with the function or organization
of the church. You're not in love with a set
of doctrines. You're in love with the person. The Lord Jesus
Christ. And you rejoice. Salvation's
got nothing to do with me. It's all in Him. That makes me
rejoice. Does that make you rejoice? Well,
it does if God's given you love of the truth. If you believe
Christ, you know this. You know God's true. Let God
be true and every man a liar. Now, why don't you believe? Those of you here this morning,
who don't believe. Why don't you believe? You've
seen from God's Word why men don't believe. It's our nature.
It's who we are. But we've also seen from God's
Word why men believe. The only reason that a man or
woman will ever believe Christ is because of what God has done
for His people and in His people. If you don't believe Christ,
I believe what I do is I beg God to give me faith, give me
faith to believe. And don't just ask once and go
away and say, well, keep knocking, keep knocking, keep begging,
keep looking into the word, keep showing up when the gospel is
preached, keep asking. The only way he's ever going
to reveal himself to you is through this book, through the preaching
of his word. Salvation is of the Lord. And if God do a work of grace
in your heart, I promise you, you'll believe. You'll help it.
You'll believe. And it's all because of Him.
All because of Him. And we're thankful. Let's bow
in prayer. Our Father, how we thank Thee
for Your infinite love, Your miraculous work of grace, that
you would send your Son to save sinners of whom I'm chief. Father, we're so thankful. We
know we don't believe. We don't believe Christ. We don't
love Christ. We don't look to Christ. We cannot
call you our Father by anything that we've done. It's all because
of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. That He
would save us from our sins. Wash us in His precious blood. Give us His righteousness. Take our sin away and give us
His righteousness. It's entirely the work of God
alone. We know we didn't believe the
gospel because we're smart enough to believe. We are cold and dead
and filled with unbelief and wrath even as others. who's rich in mercy, gave us
faith to believe, called us to Yourself. And Father, we're thankful.
How thankful we are. And we beg of Thee that You continue
to be merciful. Would You continue in Your mercy
and Your grace to reveal Yourself to those here that don't know
You as yet. We beg mercy for their souls. Enable us to be
true to the Word, to preach the Gospel to them, to be patient,
as others in years past have been patient with us, to patiently,
faithfully preach the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, to
preach the Word to Him. And Father, we beg of Thee that
You'd bless it, that You'd bless Your Word, that You'd continue
to call out Your sheep in this area. We'd be so thankful. It's in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ we pray, and for the glory of His name. Amen.