And let's just look at verse
one, start, how amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts. Now here's the thirst I was talking
about. My soul longeth, my soul longeth,
yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my
flesh cry out for the living God. That's what I desire. And I come this morning before
you, a sinner saved by grace, just like you. No higher calling,
you know, not like St. Francis. I don't understand that
higher calling, what they're talking about over there. We're
just called. We're just called, redeemed,
we're quickened. But God, give us the thirst.
God, give us the Holy Spirit to initiate A heart that cries
out for the living God. And I'm not talking to the church
up the street, because I don't care about them. This is the
responsibility that the Lord has given me right here. You
all right here. My soul longs. So this is the
person who's writing this. This is the person who has seen
the grace of God and has seen and understands His sinfulness,
His iniquity, His vileness, His corruption. He goes on and he
says, verse 4, Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, so they
will still be praising thee. Okay, now we looked at last week
in Matthew 5 when it says, blessed are those who hunger and thirst,
that word blessed, it means gifted, it means happy, but it also means
grace. We're talking about someone who's
been graced by God. Blessed are they that dwell in
thy house. We're not talking about everybody,
because not everybody's blessed. Not everybody's chosen of God.
So we're speaking about those who have an understanding, who
have been graced by God, to understand the fact that they're even blessed.
That's why the whole beatitudes. Well, where do you see the gospel
there? The first word. And everyone, blessed, blessed,
blessed. That's grace. That's something that you can't
produce. That's something that you can't work for. That's something
that you can't earn. Faith is a gift of God. Believing
is a gift of God. Repentance, all these things
that people say you gotta do to be saved, no, salvation's
already happened. If you believe, if you repent,
if you have faith, it's already been given to you. For by grace
are you saved through faith. Faith, it's not of yourself.
It's a gift of God, lest any man should boast. We're his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus. Says it in Ephesians as well,
the passage I just quoted. So this is what we're looking
about. We're looking at those who are blessed. Those who are
blessed. Now, verse five. We're gonna look at verse, 6 and 7 specifically, but we're
looking at verse 5. Blessed is the man whose strength is in
thee, in whose heart are the ways of them. Who, this blessed
man, this blessed woman, this believer in the grace of God, who passing through the valley
of Baca, while they're passing, they try to make it a well. That's
important. The rain also fills the pools. They go from strength to strength.
Every one of them, in Zion, appeareth before God. Now we're going to
look specifically at a couple verses. We're going to look specifically
at verses 5 and 6. Blessed is the man whose strength
is in thee. in whose heart are the ways of
them." Now I'm going to read you the Amplified because it's
just a little bit vague. Listen to the Amplified. The
title of this message is On Our Way to Zion. Where do I get that? Well, you kind of get that in
verse 7, but listen to the Amplified version. happy or fortunate or to be envied
is the man whose strength is in you, in God, in whose heart
are the highways to Zion. What does that song say? We're
marching to Zion, beautiful, beautiful Zion, Zion, the city
of God. That's what we're doing here. Today is Sunday the 17th,
but we're marching. We're trying to make a little
headway And we're going to make headway whether we want to or
not because we're all heading to the grave, right? So we are
going to our destination, whether it's heaven or hell, we're moving
that way. But these particular people who are blessed, blessed,
happy, fortunate, to be envied or graced is that person whose
strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways designed. Hence our title, On Our Way to
Zion. Here in this psalm, we observe the difficult yet happy
state of the child of grace. These pilgrims, as always, have
been blessed or graced of God to sing the songs of grace in
the night, to hum the soft melodies of peace with our God, and to
enjoy the realized honey, says David in another place, out of
the rock. And our rock is Christ. He says
in the Amplified, passing through the valley of weeping. And that's
what that word means, B-A-C-A. It means weeping. Some margin readers say mulberry
trees and this and that, but it has the connotation of weeping. They're passing through this
valley on their way to Zion. They're passing through this
valley of weeping. Yet they make it a place of springs, or wells,
or more appropriately, cisterns. We used to have a cistern. We
know what that is. You have to get water from above
or you have somebody bring it in. A well, like Jacob's well,
you dig deep enough and you get water and it comes up from the
bottom. This situation is more like a cistern. But as we're
walking to Zion, as we're passing through this valley of weeping,
which that's the world. There's nothing in it for the
believer. They make it a place of springs.
The early rain also fills the pools with blessings, with more
grace. So we're going to look at that.
I'm going to keep this marginal reading beside me. So here's
the story. Here's the lesson in these two
verses. We as believers, we've been blessed. And again, I say
this because this is what people today, religious people today,
oh, the Lord has blessed me, like Bruce said last week. He
knew a guy that was doing very well, had several businesses,
was doing very well. The Lord has blessed me with
these businesses. He's made me profitable. Okay, then, however
many years later, it got all shut down. He said, I'd like
to go to that guy and ask him if he's still blessed. Because
people, especially religious people, tie blessings in with
things. And even though that isn't scripture,
that's not what our blessings. Ephesians, God has blessed us
with all spiritual blessings. If you understand the gospel,
you can be on welfare and still rejoice. Blessings, it's not
what this world, and this country is really bad about this, this
country is horrible about this. What we take for granted, talk
to Jean-Claude, our missionary to Africa, and see if those people
would want some of that. We have no idea, we have no clue
what, to an extent, what that's like down there. I don't want
to necessarily know what it's like, but I want to be thankful
and I want God to make me hungry because in this country, in this
town, whatever, it's very difficult because we have so much of everything.
Everything. But now remember, These are those
who have understood the Gospel. They've been blessed, okay? These
are they who realize our need of Him because He says in verse
5, blessed is the man whose strength is in Him, whose strength is
in the Lord, whose strength is in Thee. We realize we always
have need of Him because He's our strength. We acknowledge
we have no strength but that of sovereign, gracious, soul-redeeming
grace or strength. We own up to the truth and the
unerring word that He is everything and we are nothing. And as I
said so many times, that goes so perfectly together. When you
think you're something, what does the scripture say? When
a man thinks he's something, when he's nothing, he deceives himself
or she deceives herself. So that's our problem. We think
we got a little bit of financial means, or a little bit of this,
or things are eased, or whatever. Woe to them, says the Scriptures,
who are at ease in Zion. Woe. Because usually when you
don't have any trouble, we start wandering. But our strength is in Him, and
we understand that everything and nothing goes perfectly well
together. Matter of fact, he says that Bruce has been in John,
the Gospel of John. He says, without me, You can
do nothing. We don't understand that. Well,
I can do... I've got a little bit of something to add. I've
got... I can walk down this aisle. I can do this. I can do that.
Well, that's false religion. That's false religion, giving
the sinner something to do to think he can satisfy God. I thought
the scripture says we were dead in trespasses and sins. I haven't
been to a wake lately. But you go to the person in the
coffin, what can they do? We're dead, spiritually, in trespasses
and sins. So, this is what we are. This is what we are. But the
believer, as he's walking, as he's soul journeying through, whose heart are the highways,
who's in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As we're passing
through Zion, this next verse is the verse that really caught
my attention. Verse 6. while passing through the Valley
of Baking, or quite literally, the Valley of Weeping, the true
believer is troubled on every side. Not 365 days a year, because
we could handle that. But for the most part, the true
believer is troubled on every side. He's overmatched often
in trial. He's never at ease in this world.
Just when you think you can, and I know, believe me, I know
this, just when you think you can, you think you've got something
going on, and basically you cast your pearls before swine, and
they turn and they rend it on you, and you're like, this person
wasn't a believer. Why was I, she poured my heart
out. They don't understand, they may
be religious, but they don't understand the gospel of God's
free grace. Why did I pour my heart out? And I've done this
too often to admit They haven't done it in a long time, but you
get friends, you get close to somebody. They're not a believer,
you invite them to church. They've got their own church,
or they've got their own free will thought of how they can
worship God. They don't need to come to church. And then something
happens and they say, you know, well you bummed out, and you
pour your heart out. They can't help you. They don't
understand. They don't understand, one, we
ought to pour our heart out to God, but that's why we, this
is family, we're called family. of the children of grace. It's
just the way it is. We are never at ease in this
world. And actually the world, as he says in John 17, John 15,
14, all these places in the New Testament, obviously, were actually
hated for loving, trusting, and living for Christ, which is our
beloved. We have not been promised ease
or a life without issues. I quoted that passage from old
writer Jay Shedd, ships in the harbor are safe, but that's not
what ships are built for. That's not what ships are built
for. They're built to go out and take on the winds and the
waves and the beatings and the poundings. We know if we are
true to our calling in Christ Jesus that we will be slandered,
falsely accused, talked about, lied about, ridiculed, and endure
tribulation. because he says we're not above
our master. We're not above our master who
endured shame and death and even the death of the cross. This
is just, we could look at scriptures. You know it's in the scriptures.
You know what he says. He says, and Bruce has been there
in Bible class. They've hated me. He says they
will hate you because you're not of the world. We're in the
world, but we're not of the world. You don't think. Why? Because
you've been graced. Because you've been blessed.
You don't think the same way that a worldly does. You just
don't. And if you do, the Lord will
rebuke you and bring you back. But we're passing through the
valley of weeping. We're passing through the valley
of weeping. So what do you do? What do I do? You keep coming
here to hear the Gospel, keep coming, praying for one another,
keep encouraging one another, but what do you do? Well, it's
right here in our text, right here in our text. Verse 6, "...who
passing through the valley of weeping, make it a well." Oh, that's, I know what that
is, that's normative disappealism. That's the positive power of
thinking. The power of positive thinking.
No, it's not. Because that's not lasting. That's
just a slippery slope. That's what we're doing right
here. Every time we come here, every time those doors are open,
we're digging wells. We're digging systems. And you
do that for two reasons. One, you do it for yourself. Hear me out, you do it for yourself.
Passing through the valley of weeping, they make it a place
of springs, a place of sisters, a place of... You think when
Jacob dug that well, he dug it only for himself? He did for
himself because it was a parched, dry land. It's a valley of weeping.
So first thing we do is, what do we do here at Sovereign Grace
Church in Jackson? This is what we are doing here today, and
if the Lord gives us tomorrow, every time we gather together,
we're digging in the wells. We do so for ourselves. We preach
Christ. We listen to Christ being preached.
We fellowship. We pray. We gather together for
our own encouragement. growth and grace, and to be made
more like Christ. Now, to be made more like Christ,
that kind of puts a little bit more importance on gathering
together than just going to church. Go to church. It's because mama
and dad went to this church, so I got to go to this church.
No, better stay home, especially if the gospel is not being preached.
Just stay home. You're not doing your soul any good. You're not
digging anything other than your free will, free works, Free this,
free that, all these different things that are false. No, you're
digging damnation, you're working harder to dig damnation to yourselves. And as those who preach such
doctrines are making people as wiseful as the child of hell
says the scriptures themselves. But when you come, when we gather
together in this valley, we grow from different places, pass by
a bunch of churches, a bunch of places. But when we
gather together in this place, and there's other places throughout
the country, I could list a bunch of them, but we don't know of
any in this area. Truthfully, you hear a few things
here and there, but it's like, well, what comes of it? And again,
it's none of my business what goes on in different places.
But I know, if I'm preaching the gospel, if I'm preaching
the truth, every time we gather together, we're digging a little
bit deeper, we're digging a little more for the sister, to encourage
ourselves to be made more like Christ. Because we love Christ. He's our beloved. Psalms and
Psalms says He's altogether lovely. The world doesn't understand
that. I'm not going to go to the world to try to explain to them
my relationship with Christ. I'm going to go to them and demand
them and command them to come and hear the gospel, repent or
perish. I'm not going to invite them
or have an invitation or offering for anything, because there's
no such thing as an offering of grace in the Scriptures. That's
why these invitation systems are so bogus, because offering
is never once worded in the Scripture. Look it up in the Concordance,
that He offered to man anything. It says Christ offered Himself
up once, forever. So I'm not offering you anything.
I'm telling you, you believe this, or you repent, or you perish. Test of command in Scriptures.
I'm not going to tell you to go see a psychiatrist. I'm not
going to try to play around with your psyche and make you feel
good about yourself. No. I'm going to preach God,
high, holy, lifted up, and man as he is, a worthless worm in
the dust. Children, don't tell your teachers.
I've said this. They may put me on YouTube and
may try to embarrass me with this politically correct nonsense
that's going on, but I'm not going to back down. As long as
we have freedom in this country, to preach the truth, and they
have liberty to preach a lie, and they are. So as we're walking
through this valley, this harsh world that we live in, we're
going to just dig some cisterns. We're going
to dig some, oh, to see Christ lifted up, bleeding, dying, and
atoning for us daily, and resurrected, and now seated in the heavenlies.
But there's another reason why we dig, when we gather together,
we dig cisterns. Woe is that person who understands
the gospel, and this is scripture, woe is that person who has a
light, a candle, and tries to hide it. Woe is to that person
who has the gospel and doesn't invite others because this cistern,
it's like those wells and cisterns of the Old Testament, It's like
that woman at the well, that charlatan, that harlot, the scripture
says, says, go get your husband. I've had five husbands, right
you've said. But wasn't she at that well? Wasn't she free to
come and to take that water of life? So when we gather together,
we don't lock those doors. They're open. We put articles
in the paper. We invite people. We got, you
know, to times of our services. We go out to the highways and
byways and we compel them to come in. And if they come in,
fine. If they don't, we just heap coals
of fire upon their head. We're not playing games. But
how can they hear of whom they have not believed
and how can they believe in Him? How can they believe if they
haven't heard of the Gospel? If they haven't heard the truth?
We got pamphlets, we got business cards, or we got all these, hand
them out. Give them to people. They'll
probably throw them away. I gave them to a couple people
at work, and the guy, oh just keep after me, keep after me.
I got thinking, I guess if I was a real zealot for religion, I
would say, oh, you got to come. You got to come. I've invited
him. I see him. He keeps making excuses. And
I said, well, I keep hoping you'll be there. Well, I'm listening
to so-and-so on the radio. Probably next time I say, shut
the radio off. It's junk. You're not hearing the truth.
But you know, whatever. That's how you deal with those
things. So we do this for ourselves,
but we also secondly do it for others. Who digs a well or a
cistern in a parched area that does not also do it for
other weary and world afflicted travelers. This is not my gospel. This is
not our gospel. This is the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And so, all are welcome. He makes the distinction. I can't
see if you've got an E on your forehead. I don't even go there.
He makes the distinction. Why do we keep bringing our children?
Well, let's just leave the children at home. No, we hope and pray
one day, one day the Lord will enable them by the Holy Spirit
to get thirsty. And then they'll hear something.
And I know these children hear more than what we think, because
I remember years ago when I taught Bible class to the children,
And I would say some things, and months later they'd come
back and they would say it, and I'm like, wow, they're listening.
The children, even though they look like they're not, sometimes
they may pick up something. So you just keep bringing them.
Because we're not digging these cisterns not only for ourselves,
but we need growth and grace, and we need to be made more like
Christ, but for others. Who puts a candle under a bushel
basket anyway? Who covers the light of that
glorious gospel of the grace of God? It may be for our family. It may be for our children. It
may be for our friends or for the wayfaring stranger, is what
the Old Testament says. All may partake of this living
water freely. I'm not going to put any conditions
on that. He puts the conditions. He calls
them elect. He calls them remnant. I don't
know who they are. So we just invite them all in. We're commanded
to invite them all in. Well, God's sovereign. He's on the throne. But there's
more. Look at this. Passing through
the valley of weeping, they make it a place of springs. The early
rain also fills the pools with blessing. Now that's the Amplified.
Now the original says, who passing through the valley of Baca make
it well, the rain also fills the pools. Yeah, this is beautiful. Where does rain come from? Heaven. Can we produce it? Nope. Can we ask for it? Yep. But whether we ask for it or
whether we receive it, who gives it? All according to the good
pleasure of His will. God in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Grace. We started out with blessed. That was grace. And we're ending
with grace. Dig the system. Dig, dig, dig, dig. That's our
responsibility. Invite people to come in. Share
with your neighbor. Share with your friend. You know,
I don't know what to say. Just invite them. And that's
one good thing, as I said, about this country and this day and
age and preaching. Most people sit and listen. I've
had people sit and listen and look at ugly faces and mad and
mean. They listen to the whole thing.
They're accountable. They walk out. That's not my responsibility.
Invite them in. But if anything's going to happen,
it's not going to be because you asked them. It's not because
you loved them more than somebody else. It's not because you prayed
harder. It's going to be because God chose to reign for them. It always goes back to God's
grace. It always goes back to God's grace. Who passing through
the valley of Beca making well, the rain also filleth the pools.
You mean God's grace is sufficient to fill the pools? That word
well or cistern, it actually means literally to be satisfied. And
aren't we satisfied with Christ? I mean, aren't we truly satisfied?
Yet, if we cannot of ourselves bless anyone, even the best efforts
to establish a work or a church for sinners is nothing unless
it reigns from above. Unless the Spirit of grace lists
this way. He says, I can't. The Holy Spirit
lists it where it wills. We can't control Him. Well, I've
got the gospel, so God's got to bless. No, it's not that way.
Preach the gospel and leave it alone. I'm not trying to coerce
you. I'm not going to bend your arm.
I'm not going to browbeat you. I'm not going to tell you if
you don't give, if you don't do this. If God rains on you, you'll get
wet and you're going to be filled. The cup, how does that go? My
cup overflowed. Of course, we're talking about
God's grace. We're not talking about man-made religious stingy
grace. Oh, you've done something bad,
so God's gonna... No, God never punishes you. God
never punishes His children. He chastises His children, just
like you chastise your children. But punish? No, He punished His
Son. He laid on Him the iniquity of
us all, is what the Scripture says. Grace comes down to man
from above, not from within or below. And it says pools, pools,
that's plural, liberal blessings. Our cup, through God's good grace
in Christ, influenced by the Holy Spirit, overfloweth. Let's
just look at a few places. Turn to Acts 16. Acts chapter 16. And verse 25, these are people
who are walking through the valley of weeping. They're walking to
Zion. And at midnight, Paul and Silas
prayed. Where were they praying? They were in jail. And saying praise unto God, and
the prisoners heard them. Somebody else heard what they
were saying. How can you sing and you got those iron about
your feet and you're behind bars? I don't know, how could John
Bunyan write, other than the Bible, the greatest literary
work known to man, Pilgrim's Progress? He wrote it in jail.
How? Why? His pools were filled. His pools were filled. Job chapter
35, this is one of my favorites. Job chapter 35. Verse 10, Job 35 verse 10, Where
is God, my Maker, who gives songs in the night? Who gives songs in the night?
Is your night season, is it kind of tough right now? Is it kind
of difficult right now? Things happen that you don't
want to happen, wish they wouldn't happen? You're in the valley
of weeping. We expect too much of this world.
Don't expect anything from this world. Expect strength grace
and help from God, but he'll give you songs in the night Isaiah
35 Isaiah 35 and verse 7 And the parched ground shall
become a pool and and the thirsty land springs of water, and the
habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with
reeds and rushes. The parched ground shall become
a pool." That's become a pool. That's what David is saying.
That's exactly what David is saying. Blessed is the man whose
strength is in me, whose heart are the ways of them, who passing
through the valley of bacon, valley of weeping, make it a
well. The rain also fills the pools. As hard as this sojourn is, it
is a time well remembered in mercy. How many times have we
gone through something and it's like, I don't see the end of
it. And then the end comes and then we're like, the Lord taught
me some things and you don't forget it. And you remember it
well, the member of the mercy. His well, his cisterns, are as
the word indicates, a source of satisfaction. What the Hebrew,
a source of satisfaction. Only Christ can bless the means
of prayer, of fellowship, of gathering together to hear the
gospel. It's never the means themselves. He uses means, but
it's only God who can bless and grace us when we come. That's
why I ask God to give me grace and bless me to be hungry. To
be hungry. We just dig. Just dig. Just be
responsible. And ask our great Jehovah God
to fill the pools. to fill the pools. You know,
somebody may fall in. Somebody may be running. That little dead man. Uh-oh. You never know. Just dig. Just dig. Oh, would to God he
would fill the pools of free salvation in the person and work
of Jesus Christ in Jackson, in our neighborhood. in our families
and in our many acquaintances. We must invite, we must preach,
but we also must petition God to add the increase or else nothing
will happen. And that's one of my greatest
fears. Is God done using me? Is He done using this church?
What's going to happen? Be responsible. Every time I
get the opportunity, tell sinners saved or not, the only means
of salvation, the Lord Jesus Christ. You come here, and I
make no apologies about this, I've explained it to a few people,
most of them are not here anymore, but when you come here on Easter
Sunday, you're going to hear about Christ. When you come here
on Mother's Day, you're going to hear about Christ. You're
not going to hear some soft, heart-wrenching story about mom. That's not going to happen. When
you come here for Christmas, which Christmas is historically,
biblically probably in October, but in December, that's Catholicism.
So we do it on the 25th. When you come here, you're going
to hear about Christ. Woe is me. I do not preach Christ. That's why when we have our missionaries,
he comes, he tells about the work, but he tells about Christ. Because I want to make sure I
know what I'm supporting. I want to hear what he has to
say, and why he has to say it. So we invite, we preach, But
may we petition God to add the increase or nothing will happen.
Let others solve the mysteries of the universe. Right now people
are preaching about all sorts of stuff and their hearers are
dumber having listened to them. They're trying to solve the political
mess that this country is in. Or they're trying to solve abortion
or trying to solve all these other things that do have their
place but not behind the pulpit. We knew a family that was just
anti-abortion, anti-abortion. They come in here, you preach
about this? No, I don't preach about it.
Well, you're not. And then they started tying all these things
to the gospel. I said, no, it doesn't go to the gospel. If
you understand the gospel, you won't want an abortion. But to
go and to pick it and to do all these other things is nonsense.
And I said, it's nonsense. And that was about, in Melinda's
email, that's about the end of it. I said, no, it's nonsense.
Because what happened, and I've seen it, this person is so high
on abortion, Then they meet somebody else who's a flat-ranked Armenian,
doesn't know the Gospel from a hoot, but they're anti-abortion
too. All of a sudden this person who supposedly knows the Gospel,
they start calling him brother and sister in Christ. And they
say, how can you do that? Well, because they have the same
issues as I do in abortions. That's not the issue. I can't
emphasize enough, that is not the issue. It's like that illustration
I told you, that Henry told years and years ago. Here's the problem.
You go into a kitchen, and you see water on the floor. You look
up at the sink, and the sink is clogged, and the spigots are
turned on full blast. What preachers are doing today
is they go to get the mop, and they're mopping, and they're
mopping, and they're mopping. What the gospel does is walks over
and shuts off the spigots. It's the source. You cannot legislate. You cannot make bad good. only
Christ, new creatures, and we still have that old nature we
can deal with all the way until we die, until we're finally made
perfectly like Christ, when we see Him as He is. So let others
solve the mysteries of the universe. We will declare Christ and Him
crucified to a perishing generation. Just dig wells and ask God to
increase. It sounds easy, but it's, I mean,
we struggle and we wrestle and we get sidetracked and we live.
Life goes on. But may we not lose the fact,
may we not live life and not acknowledge and be thankful for
the giver of life. So, may the Lord bless the reading
and preaching of his word. We'll have a Lord's Supper and
then we'll have a meal. Thank you, sir. Let's take a break. Our Heavenly Father, we have
sure had a meal this morning. You said to come and eat and
come to drink You. Lord, we have heard about You
this morning and we come here and desire not to hear anything
else. You have done everything for us. You have provided us
our salvation. You've done something that we
cannot do. And You've drawn us unto Yourself through the Holy
Spirit. You have died for our sins and paid for our sins, and
there are no more. And there's something beyond
anything that we can even imagine that could be. Because we know
how we are in the flesh. We know what we think, what we
do, what we say, what we feel. And we think, how in the world
could you possibly take all that away? But we must believe the
Word. And we know the Word to be truth.
And we know the Word is all about you. And you've done all these
things for us. And what an honor, what a glorious... Words can't express the thankfulness
that you've included us in your plan of salvation. For whatever
reason, we know it's for your glory. But what a wonderful honor
to be a part of your salvation. And here you sit at the right
hand of God and you pray directly for us. sitting right there and
knowing what we need more than anything in the world. We pray
for so many things that we don't need, but you pray for what we
do need. And you take care of us, and
you provide for us, and you do everything that could possibly
be for us. What an amazing, amazing thing. Lord, we thank you that we have
a place to come to worship you. And Lord, we sound, I guess,
like we're bragging that we know the truth. But Lord, we believe
your word and we know in our heart that that's the truth and
we leave nothing out and we add nothing to it. And we know it's
about you and we know it's the truth. And we hear things, Lord,
and you make us sure that we know that that's not the truth
and you keep us from it. So, Lord, we are so thankful
that we have a place to come and hear the truth. We know,
Lord, that the way into salvation is so narrow because it's only
about You and nothing else. So Lord, thank You for being
merciful to us. Grace us with all Your love and
Your care. Provide all things that we need
that we live on this earth. And someday we'll see what this
is all about. So thank You, Lord. We pray in
Jesus' name, Amen. He said, Take eat, this is my
body. This is my blood of the New Testament
which is shed for many.