Turn, if you will, to Romans
chapter 16. Romans chapter 16. As we've already mentioned, my,
my, another new year. 2017. I had to catch myself when
I was writing a check this morning. I almost put 2016. I imagine
I'll do that a few times in the next month or so. My, they go
by fast. James wrote, you're familiar
with the words, the Apostle James wrote, whereas you know not what
shall be on tomorrow, you don't know. For what is your life? It is even a vapor. The older
I get, the more I appreciate that, the more I realize that.
What is your life? It is even a vapor, a vapor. Did I really see it at all? A vapor, there it is, and it's
gone. That's our lives. It is even
a vapor that appears for a little time, just a little while, and
then vanishes away. We not only don't know what day
to day may bring, we don't know from one minute to the next what
may happen. Now we really don't think that
way, or probably live that way, but it's the truth nonetheless.
We don't know from one minute to the next what a day or a minute,
rather, might bring forth. I already mentioned earlier about
Pat. A couple weeks ago, or two weeks
ago from yesterday I think, her and Terry shopping, went to a
restaurant to enjoy a meal, She planned to be with us the next
day, enjoy another meal here that she did much to take care
of, and yet the next minute she finds herself on the wet floor
with a busted elbow and then from one hospital to the next
until they did surgery. We just don't know, as James
said, what a day may bring forth. I received a bulletin from New
Castle, Indiana, where Brother Bruce Crabtree pastors a week
or two ago, several weeks ago, and I sent this article to Pat. I want to share it with you.
From Isaiah 42, verse 16, it reads, I will lead them, this
is God, I will lead them in paths that they have not known. Well,
what should we do then? If God shall lead us in a path
that we know not, that we have not known, that we haven't traveled
yet, well, we find comfort in this. God knows the way we take. Our ways are not unknown to him. He leads his dear children along. I do not know, this man wrote.
This man, W.B. Henson or Hyson, I don't know
who that is. It doesn't matter. He wrote this
article. It says, I do not know what is around that next turn
in this winding trail of life. But I know this, whatever there
is around that corner, I shall have my hand in another's hand,
capital for another, in another's hand when I go and face it. And
if I feel a little bit disturbed, I shall move my finger around
in the palm of that hand till I find the scar. And then I shall
know. that Jesus Christ, who on the
cross was wounded for my sins, is not going to leave me no matter
what corner I go around on the winding road of life. Hold up
my goings in thy paths that my footsteps slip not." What a blessed
comfort as we enter another new year. One put it this way, Again,
you're familiar with this, but it's so true and so comforting
for a child of God. We all have to confess it. I
don't know what tomorrow holds, but, and oh what a blessed but
this is, we know who, and that's better than knowing what. You
could fill this building, oh my, you would fill many buildings
much larger than this with what I don't know, but I know Who? Who? And he knows all about the
what's. I know who holds tomorrow. Now let's read one verse here
beginning, or rather begin by reading one verse here in Romans
chapter 16, verse 24. Paul, in concluding his epistle,
writes, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. We could wish for nothing
better for one another in this new year than that. Oh, may the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ be with you all. That grace that Bobby just sang
about that we will find, we will find when needed is always sufficient. If you look at verse 20, here
in Romans 16, we would almost think that Paul would stop there. He says almost the same thing.
He says, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet
shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you. Amen. Amen. But then he doesn't
stop. He continues to write. It's almost
like he couldn't stop himself. He couldn't help himself. And
indeed, that was the case. When his theme is what it is,
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, where are you going to find a
stopping place, Louie? The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the God of all grace. Turn back, if you will, to chapter
1, you find that Paul began his epistle much in the same way
that he ended it. And indeed, if you look on the
margin for the reference of our text, you'll find that most of
Paul's epistles ended the way we read here in Romans chapter
16. But here in chapter 1, Paul says, by whom? and to whom that
he's referring to is the Lord Jesus Christ, who was declared
to be the Son of God with power by the resurrection of the dead,
whom is the sum and substance of the gospel. Christ is the
message. It's speaking of him when he
says, by whom we have received grace. Grace doesn't come from
anyone else. Grace doesn't come from anyone
else by whom we have received grace of apostleship for obedience
to the faith among all nations for his name. Among whom ye also
are the called of Jesus Christ to all that be in Rome, beloved
of God, not all called to be apostles, but by God's grace
called to be saints. Grace to you and peace from God
our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. William Gurnall, he wrote
a book entitled The Christian in Complete Armor, a rather famous
book, lived He lived many years ago. But I read a comment by
him. Although he was applying it to
another verse, I thought it would apply very well to our text.
He wrote, this is so sweet. That is the promise of God's
grace. What a sweet morsel to feast
upon. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is so sweet a morsel that
he is loath to eat it alone. And therefore he sends down the
dish. Can you picture sitting at a
table, enjoying a meal? That's the metaphor. And therefore
he sends down the dish even to the lower end of the table that
every godly person may taste with him of it. Indeed, if ye
have so tasted, you know, as Peter wrote, that the Lord is
gracious. Grace is a charming sound. Indeed, when Paul is expounding
on this theme, and did he ever expound on any other, but the
grace of God that is in Christ Jesus. I'm thinking now of that
time when he called for the elders of the churches of Ephesus to
meet him at Miletus as he journeyed toward Jerusalem. As he said
in his testimony to them, I don't know what things may befall me
there. I don't know what a day may bring
forth. I don't know what tomorrow holds. But he went on to tell
them that he knew who hailed tomorrow. I don't know what things
may befall me, he says in Acts 20, except I know this. I may
not be Pacific, but I know this is generally so, that the Holy
Spirit has witnessed to me that in every city that bonds and
afflictions abide me. Now you think about that. and
you're going there anyway. If you follow this on out in
the book of Acts, you'll find Paul no sooner arrives at Jerusalem
than he's arrested, it seems to me, in a matter of hours.
When he stands to preach the gospel, it causes an uproar and
he's arrested. But, none of these things move
me, he says, neither count I my life dear unto myself so that
I might finish my course with joy and the ministry. Paul, what
is the ministry? What is the duty of a preacher,
a pastor? What is their ministry? What
does God require? This is the ministry which I
have received of the Lord Jesus to testify the gospel of the
grace of God. That's it. That's it. And that's
what Paul did in this epistle in Romans 16. That's what he
did when he wrote to them. That's what he did when he preached
the gospel, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And that grace is in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Indeed, it is grace that makes
a believer. Did I mean to say that? Oh, yes,
I did. And it bears repeating. It's
grace that makes a believer. You've probably experienced this.
I've had people in conversation tell me, well, Larry, I've considered
my options. I've studied this doctrine and
that doctrine. I've looked into the teaching
of this church and that church, and after calculating all these
things, I've arrived at this, and I believe I'm a believer.
I believe I'm a Christian by doing that. Really, really. Flesh and blood have not revealed
this unto thee, Peter, but my Father which is in heaven. You're
not educated into being a believer. You can take this Bible, start
this new year and begin in Genesis 1 and read it all the way through. There is one popular evangelist
that is referred to as the walking Bible. He has memorized and he
can spew out vast portions of God's Word and he doesn't even
know the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not educated into
being a believer. No, it takes grace to make a
believer. Grace makes believers, Louie.
There was a time when I did not believe. There was a time when
I could not believe. Even when God in His grace came
to me. and brought me down low. Brought this sinner down. And I wanted to believe. I wanted
to believe. Oh, I tried to reach into old
Adam and pull faith up, but I couldn't do it because it wasn't there. It wasn't there. And God who
stripped me, God who showed me that I was lost, also did this. Brought me to Christ. from Sinai
to Christ, from the condemning voice of the law to the justifying
grace of Jesus Christ. And he opened my eyes. He dropped
in the precious gift of faith and I believed. I believed. He made me a believer. And that
same grace that makes believers enables us to never stop believing. You're going to curse this night?
You're telling me, though these other of my disciples will forsake
me, that you won't, that you're better than them, stronger than
them, love me more than them? Peter, before the sun rises in
the morning, you're going to curse and deny that you ever
knew me. And Peter was flabbergasted.
This cannot be. Cannot be. If I'm willing to
die with you, surely I won't deny you, Peter said. And our
Lord said, Oh, it'll be so, Peter. It'll be so. But... Oh, I love that. But our Lord
went on to say, I prayed for you. that your faith fail not. And even while Peter was standing
at the campfire of our Lord's enemies, denying and cursing
and calling down oaths from heaven upon his head to try to convince
them that there's no way he could be a disciple of Jesus Christ,
he never quit believing. He couldn't. He couldn't. because
our great high priest, our intercessor with God, said, I've prayed for
you that your faith fail not. And it didn't. Our text is a
blessed New Year's benediction, is it not? It would serve to
begin the year with and to end the year with. And every moment
in between, for a believer, God's grace will prove sufficient. Every child of God is a living
testimony of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. The title
of my message is, Grace Will Lead Us Home. And you recognize
that, I'm sure, from the third verse of old John Newton's famous
hymn. Through many dangers, toils and
snares, I have already come. It is grace that's brought us
safe thus far, and grace will lead us home. If it's God's grace, it will.
Home, to the Father's house, where our elder brother is, to
that place where he has prepared for all of his children, the
many mansions. His grace will lead us all the
way home, all the way. My Savior leads me. Matthew Henry
wrote in his diary at the close of a year and the beginning of
another, just let me share a portion of it with you. He wrote, and
the heading of his article is from Psalms 3115. My times are
in thy hand. God, my times are in thy hand. And he wrote, if this should
prove a year of affliction, a sorrowful year for me, I will fetch all
my supports and comforts from the Lord Jesus and stay myself
upon him. His everlasting consolations
and the good hope that I have in him through grace. And if
it should be my dying year, If it should be my dying year, then
my times are in the hand of the Lord Jesus. And with a humble
reliance upon his mediation, I would venture into the eternal
world looking for the blessed hope. Dying as well as living,
Jesus Christ will, I trust, be gain and advantage to me. Oh,
that the grace of God may be sufficient for me. to keep me
always in a humble sense of my own unworthiness, weakness, folly,
and infirmity, together with a humble dependence upon the
Lord Jesus Christ, both for righteousness and strength. Indeed, my times
are in thy hands." The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
Paul wrote, be with you all. Grace. Grace. Do we need anything
more than that? Do we need anything more? Is anything more important to
us than grace? It's not health. Oh, important
it is and thankful to have good health, but not as much as grace. Every child of God knows only
grace has made them to differ. I may differ in the sense that
they're a new creation. Differ in the sense that they've
been born from above. Differ in the sense that Jesus
Christ, the resurrection and the life, has raised them to
spiritual life. That difference. Only grace can
make us so. Grace saved us. Grace keeps us. And grace must bring us to glory,
or we'll never get there. That's just a fact. Grace gave
us life. And grace opened our eyes to
see Christ. That's exactly right. Grace opened
our eyes to see Christ. If not, we're still sitting in
darkness. We may be sitting here, but we're
still sitting in darkness if grace has not opened our eyes.
And grace alone must keep us from falling. Your pastor, apart
from the grace of God, if it would be withdrawn from me for
a moment, I would stand at the campfire of the Lord's enemies
and curse just like Peter did, except for the grace of God.
To our loved ones, Their greatest need is not more of this world,
but grace. Grace that doesn't offer to save. Grace that doesn't offer to save,
but grace that actually saves. We're talking about the true
grace of God that's in Christ Jesus. It doesn't need my help. It doesn't
beg for an entrance into my heart. It doesn't require that I take
the first step. It doesn't require that I raise
myself from the dead. Oh no, grace, all the works shall
crown from everlasting days. It lays in heaven the topmost
stone and well deserves the praise. There is absolutely no salvation
without real grace from the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what
Paul wished for. That's what he prayed for. That
they would have the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ more and
more bestowed upon them. Grace unmerited. Give me that. If God's grace is only attracted
to me by some merit it sees, that's not grace. And I'm a goner. No, I want unmerited grace. I want free grace. Free grace. And what I mean by that? Grace
that's not attracted by anything in me or repelled by anything
in me either. Grace that comes to me freely
and sovereignly, reigning and abounding over my sin. I'm no
match for my enemies, as Paul warned them. The God of all peace,
verse 20, the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet
shortly. I'm no match for Satan. And notice
what the text says. Not that you will bruise Satan
under your feet, God will bruise Satan under your feet. Is that
not what the promise was given in the Garden of Eden concerning
the seed of the woman? He shall bruise his head. And bless God, the captain of
our salvation has done just that. I'm no match for Satan or this
world. I'm no match for this world.
I know I'm not. I know, and I'm just telling
you the truth, being honest, and I suspect you're the same
way, I'm sure of it. Prone to wonder, Lord, I know
it. Prone to leave the God I love
apart from his grace. And perhaps the greatest enemy,
of my soul is not Satan or the world itself. Itself. Paul was not talking about the
world or Satan when he cried out as a believer, as an apostle
of many years, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me? The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
and that alone. I know this. that where sin abounded,
as Paul tells us in Romans 5 of this same epistle, that where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. That where sin reigned,
Paul wrote there, where sin reigned unto death, grace reigns. Don't you like that? Don't you
like the sound of that? Isn't that a sweet song in your
heart? Grace reigns. Grace abounds. Grace is victorious. Grace succeeds. It always does
because it's the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know what things we may
face as a church or as individuals, but I know this. that God works
all things together for our good, for those who love God, to those
who are thee called according to his purpose, because those
he called, thee called, he predestinated. Same ones. And the same ones
that he called and predestinated, he justified. And the same ones
that he does all that for, he'll bring to glory. My soul, Paul
said when writing that. I'm sure he had to quit dictating
his epistle and said, oh my soul, think about that. If God be for
us. And man, Paul had a lot of enemies. They didn't roll out the red
carpet when Paul came to town. Oh no, they called the authorities. It's not fit that that man should
live away with such a rebel from the earth. Paul said, though
all that be so, if God be for us, who shall be against us?
Who shall separate us from the love of God that's in Christ
Jesus? Nothing. Nothing. God give us
the same persuasion that the apostle had for that. Yes, I
don't know what tomorrow holds, but bless his name, I know who
holds tomorrow. Augustus Toplady. There's a good
article by him in your bulletin today. I believe it's a keeper.
But he also wrote this hymn. He wrote many hymns. He wrote,
the work which his goodness began, the arm of his strength will
complete. His promise is yea and amen and never was forfeited
yet. Things future nor things that
are now nor all things below or above can make him his purpose
forgo or sever my soul from his love. The best of our old hymns,
I'm sure you've noticed, the best of our old hymns are nothing
more than tributes testimonials to God's great grace. Amazing
grace. Grace greater than all my sin. For example, that hymn on page
256 of our hymn book, It Is Well With My Soul. I know you know
this story, but I think it's worth repeating briefly. The
man who wrote that hymn, Horatio Spatford, it was a testimony
when he wrote that hymn He was declaring, testifying the sufficiency
of God's amazing grace. When he wrote that, he wasn't
sitting in a recliner in an easy chair. Oh, no, in his living
room. Oh, no, no. Before he wrote that
hymn, he had sent his wife and four daughters on a ship from
Chicago to France. He planned to join them in a
few days. He didn't know what a day might
bring forth. En route, the ship on which his four daughters and
his wife sailed was hit by a British ship coming in the opposite direction,
and it sank in 12 minutes. His wife telegraphed him later
and said, saved alone. That's all it said. Saved alone. Four daughters drowned in the
sea. Spatford, shortly after that,
took a boat to be with his wife. And as the spot was pointed out
where the tragedy occurred, he sat down and wrote. Now this is a testimony to God's
grace. That's what it is. when peace like a river attendeth
my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot,
thou hast taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul."
Larry, how can you explain that? How could he do that? Was he
not hurting? Was his heart not breaking? Was
his heart not overwhelmed like the psalmist within him? How
can you explain that? There's only one explanation.
But he giveth, and he giveth, and he giveth more grace. No
other answer. Our greatest need is grace. And grace can meet our greatest
need to save with an everlasting salvation. Grace that can keep
me from falling. But that's not all. Jude said
not only that his grace is able to keep us from falling, but
to present us faultless. Think about that. You think about
that. Faultless? Faultless before the
presence, not the church, not by Baptist standard, but faultless
before God Almighty himself. Now, that's grace. And I'll tell
you this, man's will won't do that, or man's work or man's
worth. But God's grace does and has
and will. And it will continue to do so.
We refer to Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders in Acts
20 as he concluded that he said, and now, after telling them,
after he departed, there would be wolves come in and try to
devour the flock. He said, fellas, be alert, be
on your guard. He said, among your own selves,
some will rise up and try to do the same. But here is this
blessed word of encouragement. Paul said, but I commend you
to God. I commend you to God. I leave
you in God's hands and the word of his grace which is able to
build you up and give you an inheritance among all them that
are sanctified. Period. After that word in Acts
20 verse 32, there's a period. That's all she wrote. Nothing
more to say. Our grace, the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, is abounding. Aren't you glad it's so reigning?
There's been a few times in my life that I was happy to discover perhaps concerning a bill, a
utility, or an insurance policy, that I had a grace period, man. I was sweating, Louis, until
I read in the fine print, you got a grace period, you got 10
more days to get that payment in. Children of God, our grace
period is forever, is forever. And why do we expect that to
be so? Well, look. Look. Look where
grace comes from. Look at who has this glorious
grace that I've been talking about. It's the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, just stop right there and
feast upon Him. Look at Him. View Him. Consider Him from any angle you
desire. Look at Him as the sovereign
God. Look at Him as the substitute for His people. Look at Him as
the King of kings and Lord of lords. Look at Him as our elder
brother. Look at Him who was made like unto His brethren.
Look at Him in any way you want and you'll see an answer to why
His grace is sufficient. He's the channel, the only channel
that God sends His grace to needy sinners through. There is none
other. There's none other. He's that
rock from which We drink. He's the water of life. Jesus
Christ and none else. Grace doesn't come through a
church. You say, Larry, everybody knows that. I beg to differ.
No, they don't. No, they don't. Most religious
folks don't. Grace doesn't come because of
what you do, but what Christ did. Grace doesn't come through
a preacher or a priest. There's only one channel from
which God's grace flows and that's Jesus Christ. Again, Paul in
Romans 5, grace came through one man. Verse 15, through one
man, the Lord Jesus Christ, the God-man, the only mediator between
God and man. Let me read you a brief article again. entitled
Christ's Necessities. We read in Hebrews 1 that it
behooved him. It was necessary for him to be
made like unto his brethren. And with that in mind, Paul would
afterwards write, we don't have a high priest who cannot be touched
with the feeling of our infirmities. He was flesh of our flesh and
bone of our bones. He endured what we endured. He
hungered and he thirsted. He was forsaken. And knowing
that, Paul says, therefore, therefore seeing we have such a high priest
that can identify with us, can sympathize with us, Our brethren,
our elder brother, let us therefore come boldly to the throne of
grace. We're not coming to one who cannot feel, who cannot identify,
who does not sympathize with the needs of his people. Oh,
no. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace that
we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. And this man wrote, why was the
bread of life hungry, but that he might feed the hungry with
the bread of life? Why was rest itself weary? but to give the weary rest. Why
was the Prince of Peace in trouble, but that the troubled might have
peace? None but the image of God could
restore us to God's image. None but the Prince of Peace
could bring the God of peace and the peace of God to poor
sinners." And bless God, he does. John said, that He who was in the beginning
with God and was God, that Word, that eternal Word, John say,
was made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. The glory as the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and full of truth. Thomas Manton
wrote concerning the inexhaustible supply of the grace that's in
Christ Jesus. Listen to this. For these 6,000
years, God has been multiplying pardons, and yet free grace is
not tired. I like that. Christ undertook
to satisfy, and he had money enough to pay. It were folly
to think that an emperor's revenue would not pay a beggar's debt.
Mercy is an ocean, ever flowing and yet ever full. The saints
carry loads of experiences with them to heaven. Free grace can
show you large accounts and a long bill counseled by the blood of
Christ and stamped, paid in full. Satisfied. Satisfied. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.
And here's the last word in our text. Amen. Amen. That means verily. certain, sure, true, faithful. And in Revelation chapter 3,
Christ used that word and applied it to himself. I am the Amen. Paul in 2 Corinthians said, all
the promises of God are yea and Amen in Jesus Christ. Christ is all that. Certainty,
sure, truth, faithfulness, he's all that personified. My name
on the palms of his hands. Eternity will not erase. Impressed
on his heart it remains in marks of indelible grace. I am the
amen, Christ says. And the grace of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Paul wrote, be with you all. Amen. Brother Scott Richardson. who now realizes more than he
ever did when he wrote this article. Commenting on the verse from
Isaiah 3, it shall be well with the righteous. Say ye to the
righteous, it shall be well with them. It shall be well with them. Scott wrote in spiritual things,
all your temptations, all your darkness, all your wonderings
from God, God will overrule. It shall be well with you. There
shall never be a night, but that morning shall come. That's exactly
what God's word tells us. Weeping shall endure through
the night, but joy cometh in the morning. There shall never
be a night, but that morning shall come. There shall never
be a day of trouble, but a day of prosperity shall follow. There
shall never be an emptying, but there shall be a filling. There
shall never be a bringing down, but that he will raise you up
again. Let it be either darkness or
light, sorrow or grief, day or night, life or death, time or
eternity. It shall be well with the righteous. Amen. Amen. Yes, we don't know what tomorrow
holds, but we know who holds tomorrow. Let me wrap this up.
Turn with me, if you will, back to Isaiah chapter 46. Chapter
46. Verses 3 and 4. I appreciate
this a whole lot more than I did 10, 15, 20 years ago. All this
promise has more meaning, more comfort to me now than it did
not long ago. Hearken unto me, verse 3. Hearken
unto me, O house of Jacob and all the remnant of the house
of Israel. That's God's people. which are born by me from the
belly, which are carried from the womb. And even to your old
age I am He. I am the Lord, I change not.
Even to your old age I am He, and even to whore hairs will
I carry you. I have made and I will bear. Even I will carry and will deliver
you. I had an aunt, one of my mother's
sisters, that for the last, oh, I don't know, eight, ten years
of her life, was pretty much confined to her house. About
the only place she went was to the doctor. And she reminded
me of the lady that came to our Lord and anointed him with that
precious ointment. And the disciple said, why was
this wasted? This could have been sold. The
money should have been distributed to the poor. And he said, leave
her alone. Leave her alone. She had done what she could.
She had done what she could. She had anointed me for my burial. My aunt did what she could. She
told me one time, she said, Larry, I can't do much. I can't go anywhere. But she would put tracts, good
ones, good ones, not nonsense, but good tracts, gospel tracts,
In everything she mailed, in her bills, in her birthday cards,
everything she mailed. And I received a bunch of them.
And I want to share one with you. Again, as I said concerning
the reading just now in Isaiah 46, I appreciate this more than
when she sent it to me. She sent it to me in 1998. Not
growing old. Though our outward man perish,
yet the inward man is redewed day by day. They say that I am
growing old. I've heard them tell it times
untold, in language plain and bold, but I'm not growing old.
This frail old shell in which I dwell is growing old I know
full well, but I am not the shell. What if my hairs are turning
gray? Gray hairs are honorable, they say. What if my eyesight's
growing dim? I still concede to follow him
who sacrificed his life for me upon the cross of Calvary. What
should I care if time's old plow has left its furrows on my brow?
Another house not made with hands awaits me in the glory land.
What though I falter in my walk? What though my tongue refuse
to talk? I still can tread the narrow way, I still can watch
and praise and pray. My hearing may not be as keen
as in the past it may have been, still I can hear my Savior say
in whispers soft, this is the way. The outward man do what I can
to lengthen out this life's short span, shall perish and return
to dust as everything in nature must. The inward man the Scriptures
say is growing stronger every day, then how can I be growing
old when safe within my Savior's fold? Ere long my soul shall
fly away and leave this tenement of clay, this robe of flesh I'll
drop and rise to seize the everlasting prize. I'll meet you on the streets
of gold and prove that I'm not growing old. For we know, for we know, that
if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we
have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal
in the heavens. And until we go to that place,
may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.