I try with deliberate effort,
I try with serious concentration, I try to think about facts that
most people seek to avoid. I have just one life to live
and oh how short that life is. how short it has already been,
and how short until its end now. Knowing that fact, I pray God
give me grace to live every day as though it were my last. Give me grace to live every day
as though it were my last. I recognize that when this life
is over, I have a judgment before which I must stand, the judgment
bar of God Almighty, the judgment seat of Christ, the great white
throne judgment, a judgment from which all men shall be sentenced
either to everlasting fire or everlasting bliss by justice. If you go to hell, you'll go
to hell because justice demands it, because God has found sin upon
you. If you go to heaven, you'll go
to heaven because justice demands it, because you have no sin. Payment has been made for your
sin. Righteousness has been brought
in and you're perfectly righteous. That satisfaction for sin, that
righteousness is Christ alone. When judgment is over, eternity. Oh, how long eternity. eternity. I read again this morning
the parable our Lord gave of the rich man and Lazarus. Oh, how long, how long the torments
of the damned, how long eternity. In the light of those things,
I recognize that the only hope of my soul is God's Grace. And that's my subject this morning.
Grace. God's grace. Free grace. Super abounding. Much more abounding
grace. Our text is Romans chapter 5,
verses 20 and 21. Grace. Romans 5, verse 20. that the offense might abound. The law was given to stir up,
aggravate, and make you know your sin. The law was given that
the offense might abound. Not that men might do more sin,
but that you might know your sin. The law was given to stir
up your guilt within you. But where sin abounded, Where
sin abounded, where sin abounded, grace did much more abound. Aren't you thankful? Where sin
abounded, grace did much more abound. And here's the reason. That as sin hath reigned unto
death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal
life by Jesus Christ, our Lord. Now let me begin this message
by making five statements. First, understand that the only
source of grace, the only fountain of grace is God, our triune God,
the Lord God, Jehovah, the almighty, omnipotent God. He alone is the
source of grace. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Christ Jesus. All grace flows to sinners from
God alone. God, before the world began,
purposed in Himself To save a multitude of sinners, no man could number,
chose them, and for those sinners made a covenant with his Son
called a covenant of grace and peace. And our Lord Jesus, God's
Son, stood as surety of the covenant from everlasting. so that God,
in great grace, chose sinners and made a covenant by which
grace is made sure to those sinners through the merits of Jesus Christ,
His Son, our surety. Here's the second thing. The
only medium of grace, the only channel of grace, the only means
by which grace comes to sinners is the mediation of God's own
Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. There is one mediator between
God and men, the man, Christ Jesus. Grace does not come through
family. I deliberately read 2 Chronicles
33 and a portion of 32 to show you that point. Grace does not come through family. Manasseh had a godly father and
he began to reign when he was 12 years old and did nothing
but evil worse than the heathen whom the Lord had cast out of
the land. Manasseh was humbled by the hand of God and brought
to life in faith in Christ Jesus and then the Lord took him and
his son reigned in his stead And he did evil in the sight
of the Lord. His son just 12 years old. You'd think a 12-year-old boy
would surely at least attempt to emulate his daddy. But he
immediately turned again to idolatry. And God killed Ammon. And then
raised up Josiah. Josiah, an 8-year-old boy who
only did right in the sight of God as king of Judah. God's grace
doesn't come through bloodlines. Now you've heard that, you young
people here, all of your lives. I've been preaching it to you
all your lives. You men and women have heard
it continually, continually, incessantly. Grace doesn't run
in bloodlines, but somehow we still think it does. Because
you were born in a house where God is worshiped. Because your
daddy serves God, or your daddy's a preacher, or your daddy's a
missionary, because your mother's a godly woman, that doesn't mean
grace is yours. Grace comes through Jesus Christ
alone. It doesn't come by some priest
sloshing a little water on your face, or some pretentious, idolatrous
man pretending to absolve you of your sins. It doesn't come
by baptism or by the ordinances of the gospel. The folks call
those sacraments means of grace. What blasphemy. What blasphemy. These are not sacraments. We
take the Lord's table, we baptize folks in the name of our Redeemer
as ordinances of divine worship. But you can be baptized and baptized
and re-baptized and re-baptized and re-baptized and never know
God. Baptism doesn't bring grace.
Eating a little bread, drinking a little bit of wine doesn't
bring grace. Church membership doesn't bring grace. Grace doesn't
come by any means except Jesus Christ, the God-man mediator,
that one who alone is the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption of his people. Here's the third thing. The only
one who can bestow grace upon you is God. Only God the Spirit bestows grace
upon guilty sinners. He is called the Spirit of grace
and supplication in Zechariah 12. What a wonderful description
of him. Why does God speak of him as
the spirit of grace and supplication? Because if God pours out his
spirit on you, you will supplicate him for his grace. If God pours
out his spirit upon you, giving you life, you will seek him for
his grace. If God pours out his spirit on
you, you will entreat him and he will be entreated of you.
It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth It is the
spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. One reason
we never employ and deliberately never employ and with dogged
determination refuse to employ the tricks of religion to get
folks to make a profession of faith. I know how to persuade people
to make a profession. I know how to scare folks into
religion. I know how to persuade people
that they ought to join the church and say, I believe in Jesus.
But that won't do you any good. It's only damning to do so. It's the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing. You will never know God. You will never live before God
except God the Holy Spirit give you life and faith in Christ. It is He who gives life. It is He who opens blind eyes. It is He who unstops deaf ears. It is He who causes the lame
to walk to the Savior and gives the hand of faith by which to
embrace the Savior. But without Him, you will never
have life or light or salvation. Salvation comes to sinners only
by the bestowment of God, the Holy Spirit, given to all who
are chosen of God, for whom God made a covenant of grace, who
are redeemed by His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Fourth, the
gospel of God is the message of grace, pure, free, sovereign,
eternal, immutable grace, irresistible grace, indestructible grace. It's called the gospel of the
grace of God. To the self-righteous religionist,
the declaration of God's free grace is a stumbling block. It just trips him up. Our Lord
describes for us in Romans chapter 9, How that he himself is a stumbling
block to the self-righteous religionist Christ the rock of foundation
Which God is laid in Zion the foundation upon which we are
built by God's grace Christ blood Christ righteousness Christ atonement
Christ intercession Christ power Christ grace Christ alone. He's
our foundation He's a stumbling block over which folks trip up
and go to hell because of their supposed righteousness. Christ
is a stumbling block. Free grace is a stumbling block
to you who think yourselves good. This is what keeps you from God.
This is what keeps you from God. Now listen to me. Listen to me. You who are yet without faith
in Christ, here's the reason why. I know the reason. I know
the reason. You're too good to be saved by
grace. You keep thinking you can do
something for God. You keep thinking you need to
do something. You need to do something. I know
we cover it up lots of ways. We cover it up with a pretense
of great sorrow for sin and I'm not sorry enough. We cover it
up with a great desire for repentance. I haven't repented enough. We
cover it up with all kinds of excuses. But here's the reason. You don't trust Christ. You think
you're too good for Him. You don't need a Savior. You
don't need a Redeemer. You don't need another's righteousness. You don't need another's atonement.
You can make atonement for yourself. You can do righteousness for
yourself. Oh, it'd be nice to have Jesus on the side. It'd
be nice to have Him as a crutch to lean on. It'd be nice to have
him as a cane to walk on with, but not one to trust alone. The grace of God, the gospel
of the grace of God is an offense to men for this reason alone. It shuts you up to God. It shuts you up to Christ. It shuts you up to Jesus Christ
as the only hope for your soul. The gospel declares that sinners
are saved by grace alone and can never be saved but by the
grace of God. The gospel declares that apart
from Christ, God's unspeakable gift, you will never know God's
salvation, God's grace, but rather you will go on hopelessness,
in helplessness, without God, without Christ, lost in this
world irretrievably damned without Him. The gospel addresses everybody
the same way. The gospel addresses all men
as sinners. Just sinners. depraved, guilty,
condemned, perishing. It puts everybody on the same
level. The gospel makes plain that which
men cannot abide, that the most pure moralist is in the same
condition as the most vile profligates, the most zealous religionist,
Is no better off than the most profane harlot or infidel. Everybody is in the same shape. Without Christ, without grace,
all are lost. The gospel addresses every descendant
of Adam as a fallen, polluted, hell-bent, hell-deserving sinner. Utterly incapable of making any
change in his ruined condition. Now you can change the way you
live. You can do that. You can quit cussing and chewing
and acting mean and quit smoking tobacco and quit smoking pot
and quit taking drugs and quit getting drunk and quit all the
stuff that religion has you quit. And you ought to quit. Quit all of it. And just, oh,
he's such a good boy. He's such a good boy. He's such
a fine fella. Oh, what a fine man he's become.
What a fine lady she's become. And everybody brag on you, and
it won't make any difference. You haven't changed yourself
at all. You haven't changed your condition at all. Man can make
many changes in himself, but he can't give himself life, and
he can't give himself faith. You're shut up entirely to grace. Grace that is fifthly. Irresistible. Irresistible. What's that mean? It means exactly what you think
it means. It means you can't resist it. It's irresistible. You mean, Brother Don, God saves
sinners whether they want to be saved or not? No. No, He doesn't
do that. I mean, He makes you want to. He doesn't save sinners against
their will. He gives them a new will. He gives them a new will. He conquers their will. As He
did Manasseh, He humbles them, forces them to the ground, and
causes them to look to Him. George Bishop made this statement
about grace. Let me read it to you. I've given
it to you before, but it's very good. He said, Grace is a provision
for men who are so fallen that they cannot lift the axe of justice,
so corrupt that they cannot change their own nature, so averse to
God that they cannot turn to Him, so blind that they cannot
see Him, so deaf that they cannot hear Him, and so dead that He
must Himself open their graves and lift them into resurrection. That's what grace does. Grace
opens the grave and raises the dead. Grace gives life to dead
sinners. Superabounding grace. Our only
hope of salvation and eternal life is the grace of God freely
bestowed on sinners through Christ, the sinner's substitute. And
let me briefly show you three things with regard to grace.
And we'll come back to this portion of scripture again. The Lord
will it. First, Let me show you a little bit about the character
of grace. I've already hinted at it somewhat.
All the religious world talks about grace. I've never met,
I've never met anyone, I'm sure there's such people who exist,
but I've never met anyone who professed religion of any kind
who would refuse to acknowledge that grace has got something
to do with salvation. In fact, I've never met anyone who professed
to be Christian who denied that we're saved by grace. Everybody
says that. Everybody says that. You go across
the street, down the road, behind us, over that way, wherever you
find the Baptist church, everybody says we're saved by grace. But
what they mean by grace is not what this book teaches about
grace. You see, most people have the idea that grace is a tender,
earnest, compassionate desire in God to save you. And no more. A tender, earnest,
compassionate desire in God to save you. So that He does everything
He can to save you. He sacrificed His Son to save
you. He gives His Spirit to save you.
He draws you by His Spirit. But that's all He can do. The
rest is up to you. You must make your decision. You must believe. You must be
baptized. You must take the first step
and God will do all the rest. All of that is just works. All of that is just idolatry. That's the kind of idols Manasseh
set up in both the houses of both the courts of the Lord's
house. They're called will. And the apostle calls it will
worship. It's called antichrist. It is
called man being set up in the house of God and worshiped as
God. That's not grace. Grace that
depends on you is not grace, it's works. Grace that must first
be moved by you is not grace, it's works. Grace doesn't involve
you, except as its object. All right, what is the character
of God's grace then? God's grace is an attribute of
God, but God's grace is more than that. That grace by which
we are saved is not just God's attribute of being gracious,
of delighting in mercy. That grace by which we are saved
is the operation of God. It is the operation of God. An
act of God. A work of God. By grace are you
saved. You understand that? Grace is
the operation of God. The work of God for you, upon
you, and in you in Christ Jesus the Lord. This grace is placed
in Bible terms in complete opposition to works, worthiness, merit,
and man's will. In Bible terms, grace comes to
sinners completely unmerited and unsought. But pastor, a man must seek the
Lord. Yes, you must, but you won't. I was found of them that sought
me not. I was found of them that sought
me not. But pastor, man must believe.
Yes, you must, but you won't. But pastor, man must come to
Christ. Yes, you must, but you won't.
Until He comes to you, you won't come to Him. Until He gives you
life, you won't believe Him. Until He seeks you, you won't
seek Him. Grace comes to sinners. undesired,
unasked, unwanted, unmerited, freely by God's mighty operation. Now, when the Scriptures speak
of grace, you notice how often Paul says, you're saved by grace.
He turns right around and said, now, just in case you didn't
understand that, not of works. Your works didn't have anything
to do with it. Let me show you a few things about God's grace
as a percentage of Scripture. Turn to Romans chapter 8. Let's
look at some real familiar Scripture. All God's work of grace, all
his works of grace were finished before the foundation of the
world. Finished from the foundation of the world. Hebrews chapter
4. All the works were finished from the foundation of the world.
I've tried to say this to you so many ways. God is not like
us. God is not like us. Our thoughts are not His thoughts. Our ways are not His ways. Now that means indescribably
more than I can express. But it certainly means this.
However it is that we think and act and work, however it is that
we're motivated, however it is we do things, God doesn't do
them that way. You see, God is infinite, incomprehensible, eternal
spirit. We're creatures of time and of
matter who have souls created by God. God's not like us. We think, and some of us think
a little slower than others, and some of you think a little
faster than others, but we all think in processes. We have this
thought. And this thought builds on that
thought, and that thought builds on that thought, and we come
to a conclusion because of the things we thought. Not God. Not
God. We do things in order. In order
to build the building, we have to lay a foundation. And then
we erect the building on the foundation, and then we put the
roof on the building. Not God. Not God. God's eternal. No past. No present. No future. Everything now. God's
eternal. and that which God does in time,
God did in eternity with finality, never to be altered or changed.
Let's see it, Romans chapter 8, verse 28. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are the
called according to his purpose. That doesn't mean everything's
going to turn out all right. I know what that means. Something goes wrong and you
have a bad accident and things all messed up, you say, well,
it'll turn out all right. It'll be all right. That's not
what that means. That's not what that means. That's luck. That's fate. That's idolatry.
That's not what that means. Well, we know everything has
a good purpose. That's not what it means. That's not what it
means. All things work together. by the manipulative hand of God. You mean God manipulates men?
Yes, he does. He sure does. He causes you to
think what he intends for you to think. God manipulates everything
exactly as he will in his providence. All things are worked together
for good, for good, only for good to them that love God. Well, who loves God? to them
who are thee called. Those who love God are the ones
who have been called by God. He creates love for Him in you. He creates love for Him in you,
giving you a new heart and a new birth. To them who are thee called,
and this working of everything together for good to them that
love God, to them who are they called, is according to His purpose. Ah, now we're getting somewhere.
Now we're getting, what's his purpose? For whom he did foreknow,
those whom he loved and accepted and approved of in Christ before
the world was, he also did predestinate. Predestinate. What a good word. Predestinate. Oh, that's such
a hard doctrine. Oh, if you ever get in on it,
you'll think otherwise. To be conformed to the image of his
son. that he, the Lord Jesus, might
be made manifest as the firstborn among many brethren. Verse 30,
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom
he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he
also glorified. God hath saved us and called
us within holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began." Well, Brother Don, if that's the case,
reading that just like it says in Scripture, we were named the
sons of God, and we were justified, and we were glorified, and we
were saved before ever the world was made. That is how it sounds,
isn't it? Is that how it reads to you?
I'll give you a little secret. Now, this is very deep theology. This is deep theology. Most theologians
can't get it. I want you to get it. I want
you to get it. When you read this book, whatever you think
it means the first time you read it, that's just about exactly
what it means. That's just about exactly what
it means. Well, how can that be? God's eternal. God's eternal. Now that's enough. Christ is
the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And we were accepted
of God, blessed of God, saved by God in the Lamb from eternity. Now that which goes on in time
is that which we experience in grace. but the works were finished
from the foundation of the world. The grace of God is not only
eternal, it's free. That means it's unconditional,
without condition, without qualification. It's free. It's free. Something that's free has no
strings attached, no qualifications, No condition. Free. Free. What
do you have to do to get grace? You messed it up. Do was the
wrong word. Grace is free. Absolutely free. No condition. No qualification.
When I preach, you've got to be careful. You just can't do
that. People take that the wrong way.
I know that. I know that. But just because some fool takes
a piece of rope and hangs himself, that's no reason to quit making
rope. Grace is free. Absolutely free! Unconditional! If it's free and unconditional,
that means, Don Renner, you can't do anything to get it. And that's
only half the story. You can't do anything to lose
it. Wondrous grace! Free grace. God's free grace is sovereign. absolutely sovereign. Why do you folks always talk
about sovereign grace? We're fixing to have a sovereign
grace conference. People who talk about us in other places
refer to our churches as sovereign grace churches. They talk about
the sovereign grace movement. And they put tags on things because
they don't have any idea what they're talking about. But why
do we use the word sovereign to describe grace? Because folks
don't seem to get the idea that you can't talk about grace and
deny sovereignty. It's impossible. If you deny sovereignty, you
deny grace. Sovereignty goes hand in hand
with grace. What do you mean by sovereign? Let's put it in God's words.
Turn to Romans chapter 9. Romans chapter 9. Let's see what
God says. The Bible speaks about our God
who sits upon a throne and is called the throne of grace. And
the Bible speaks about God's sovereign grace. This is what
we're talking about. Now, look here in Romans 9, verse
11. We'll just put it in God's words. The children, being not yet born,
neither having done any good or evil, That's pretty plain,
isn't it? Now, why is this written here? Why did he put it here? That
the purpose of God according to election might stand, not
of works, but of him that calleth. Now, that defines what he's talking
about, doesn't it? He's talking about election. Might as well,
this is talking about Israel. This is talking about service
to God. This is talking about those people
in the Old Testament. He's talking about election.
He said, I'm saying this so that you'll understand. The purpose
of God, according to election, stands not of works, but of him
that calleth. Now watch verse 12. It was said
unto her, the elder shall serve the younger. As it is written,
Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated. Oh, that's so hard
to understand. There's nothing hard to understand
about that. If I said that, you'd understand it. If you said that,
I'd understand it. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Larry and Carol were eating with
us at one of the meetings one time. We were at a Mexican restaurant.
And when I ordered my Mexican food, it came with guacamole. And I said, I don't want any.
Carol said, if you don't want it, close to it. She understands
what I mean when I say I hate guacamole. You should understand
that. I don't want it near me. I don't
want it near me. That's not hard to understand.
And when I say I love mashed potatoes and gravy, heap them
on. You understand exactly what I'm talking about. And that's
just talking about mundane things. Things that don't really matter.
Jacob, have I loved? God said. Esau, have I hated? God said. How come? What shall
we say then? That's not right. Is there unrighteousness
with God? God forbid. For he saith to Moses,
I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion
on whom I will have compassion. That's what it means. For God's
grace to be exercised is for God to exercise sovereignty. He gives grace to whom he wills. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. For as Scripture saith unto Pharaoh,
even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might
show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout
all the earth. Therefore hath he mercy on whom
he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth. God's grace is sovereign. He goes on in this chapter to
tell us about those upon whom he has mercy and those whom he
hardens. Vessels of wrath fitted for destruction. Vessels of wrath fitted by their
own hard hearts and rebelling against God for destruction so
that they fill up the measure of iniquity until at last God
casts them into hell in vessels of mercy. Now listen to the difference
in language. Afore prepared to glory. God's grace is irresistible grace. Sovereign grace. And this grace
is distinguishing. The Lord God spoke to Moses just
before he brought Israel out of the land of Egypt on the night
of Passover. And he said, I give you this
word of promise. Against any of the children of Israel shall
not a dog move his tongue against man or beast. What's that mean? A dog not even going to bark
at you. A dog not even going to bark at your cattle or your
sheep. A dog will not move its tongue against man or beast.
No harm going to come to you. No harm going to come to you.
You remember how he describes his covenant in Hosea 2? He said,
Hosea speaking to Gomer, God speaking to his bride. He said,
I want to bring you to me. I want to lure you to me. I want
to speak comfortably to you. And I tell you what I'm going to
do. I'm going to make a covenant with you. With the beast of the
field and the fowls of the air and the creeping things that
creep upon the earth. What? God made a covenant with me with
fire ants and alligators and rattlesnakes? With eagles and
vultures and buzzards and crows and ravens and sparrows? With worms and maggots and fleas,
God made a covenant for me with every beast of the field, every
fowl of the air, every creeping thing in the earth, with all
the demons of hell, and with Satan. And this is what he said,
don't you touch him. Touch not my anointed. Do him
no harm. No evil shall befall thee. Now
watch this. that you may know how the Lord
doth put a difference between the Egyptians and Israel. You're here worshipping God rather
than down the road in the prison. You're here worshipping God rather
than in the whorehouse around the corner. You're here worshipping
God rather than dealing dope on the streets. You're here worshipping
God rather than in the dunch hung over from a drunk last night.
You're here worshipping God rather than chasing somebody else's
wife or somebody else's husband. You're here worshiping God because
God put a difference between you and the Egyptians. That's
all. That's all. Who maketh thee to
differ? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? And if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory
as if thou hadst not received it? I've got to move on and wrap
this up quickly. I had a lot of things to say,
but the works of grace, everything involved in bringing the sinner
from the gates of hell into the gates of glory, everything
involved by grace, by grace you're saved. Of him are ye in Christ
Jesus. who of God has made unto us wisdom,
and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. Everything that's
involved in this matter of sin being put away, pardoned, forgiven,
of sinners being accepted of God, whether you're talking about
righteousness and justification, or righteousness and sanctification,
or resurrection glory, and everything between death and eternal glory,
everything is God's work. He raises the dead. We believe Him, we trust Him,
yes, yes, we believe Him. We come to Christ, yes, yes we
come, we seek the Lord, yes we do, but only by God's work. And almost as if to prove it,
and I say almost with a degree of reverence, or
reluctance. Because I'm sure this is one
of the reasons. As if to prove it, that all this
is God's work, He causes us constantly to experience the necessity of
Him working in us. Someone asked me about faith
this week, and I referred him to Peter. Oh, Peter, Peter, Peter. What a fine specimen he was. And I'm not speaking facetiously.
I'd like to be half the man Peter was. Just half the man Peter
was. But the Lord said to Peter, before
the rooster crows in the morning twice, you're going to deny me
three times. And Peter said, not me. And the
Lord said, well, watch this, and you'll find out. And Peter
denied the Lord, and he denied him again, and he heard that
rooster crow. I can almost know what went through
his mind. I've been there. I won't do that
again. The Lord warned me about this.
I won't do that again. No, no. That's not going to happen
again. I've made up my mind now. That's
not going to happen again. But except God sustained him,
he had no ability to resist temptation from any direction, even from
something as simple as the question of a little girl. So it is with you. and me. We're believers. We walk by faith. You understand that. And I'll
tell you something else you understand. I promise you, every one of you
who knows God understands this. We only believe God when he shuts
us up to himself and we have to. We worship God But we worship
him only when he graciously draws us and we run after him. We pray,
but we pray only when he graciously puts prayer in our hearts and
forces the issue. Is there anyone here who's experienced
otherwise? That's just fact. So we bow before
God and lift our hearts to heaven and say, by the grace of God,
I am what I am. Now, I promised to talk to you
a little bit about trophies of grace. Let me give you just one. I've been talking about Manasseh. Look up here. My name is Jacob. God chose me. Christ redeemed
me. And I spent my life running from
God, full of tricks and deceit. Every craft is in the world up
my sleeve. Until one day, the angel of the
Lord met me. His name is Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, the angel of the covenant. And by his spirit,
he began to wrestle with me. Not I with him, he with me. He
wrestled me to the ground. And I kept resisting. And he
wrestled me to the ground, and I kept fighting. And he wrestled
me to the ground, and I kept saying, no! And at last, he broke
my leg, and I couldn't get up. And all I could do was hold on
to him. And he said, let me go. And I
said, I can't let you go until I get what only you can give.
Christ. He said, what's your name? I
said, my name is sinner, tricky, deceitful, cunning, crafty, rebel
against God. And he said, no more. He said,
from now on, your name is Israel. For as a prince you have power
with God and you have prevailed. What? Prevailed? How on earth did I prevail with
Him when He prevailed with me? Oh, Son of God, will you by your
Spirit continue to prevail over us and in us Will you today prevail
in the hearts of poor lost sinners who cannot and will not bow to
you? Oh God, make them bow for Christ's
sake. Amen.