I love a good story, don't you?
I love to hear them, and I love to tell them. Back some years
ago, I discovered something on the radio when I'd drive late
at night trying to stay awake. I usually would drive all night
long, and around 1 or 2 o'clock in the morning, I found something
called CBS Mystery Theater. And if you think television or
movie theaters can be entertaining, I suggest you find an opportunity
to listen to CBS Mystery Theater. It'll keep you riveted on your
seat, far more interesting to listen to than it is to watch
television. A good story is a good story,
and it doesn't need a picture. It needs just being told well. This morning, I want to tell
you the greatest story ever told. That's my subject, the greatest
story ever told. You'll find it in Romans Chapter
3. This is truly the greatest story
you will ever hear, the most wonderful thing ever to be known. This story reveals the most wonderful,
the greatest blessing you can ever receive. But the story begins
with bad news, very bad news. I once heard a preacher say,
You've got to hear the bad news before you can hear the good
news. And that's so the good news begins with bad news. Look in verse 19, Romans chapter
three, verse 19. We know, we know this curse of
the law is addressed to fallen, guilty, lost, ruined, doomed,
damned sinners. We know that what things whoever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law. This curse
of the law is addressed to you and me, fallen men and women,
and we know that it's addressed to us. It says this, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world become guilty before
God. The purpose of God's law is to
stop our mouths and show us our guilt. You will never know the
grace of God until you know your guilt. The guilt of your sin,
the depravity of your heart, the corruption of your nature.
There is no knowledge of grace until you know your guilt. No
filling of your soul until you're empty. No giving of life until
you're barren. Turn back to Psalm 51. David
teaches us something about this in his confession of sin. David
defined this guilt when he was confronted by his sin by the
finger of God. He tells us what guilt is in
this Psalm of repentance. Psalm 51 verse 1. The psalmist
cries, have mercy upon me, O God. According to thy loving kindness,
according to the multitude of thy tender mercies, blot out
my transgressions. Wash me throughly from my iniquity. Cleanse me of my sin. Now in that one sentence, David
acknowledges all that the scriptures teach concerning sin belongs
to him. Let us do the same. Iniquity
is missing the mark, falling short of God's requirement, incapable
of doing what God says do, not doing what God commands. Inequity
is the word, iniquity. Transgression is another word. Transgression is like if you
had a fence here and the fence says keep out, you kick it over
and trample over the fence and walk where you will. Sin. Sin speaks of what we are. David
says, blood out my transgressions. Wash me from my iniquity. Cleanse
me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgression.
My sin. My sin is ever before me. Certainly,
he has in mind his sin with regard to Uriah the Hittite, but he
has much more in mind. My sin, what I am, what I am. Oh my God, my sin, what I am
is ever before me. Not just the things I've done. The horrid things I've done my
sin what I am is ever before me against thee The only have
I sinned and done this evil in thy sight That thou mightest
be justified when thou speakest and be clear when thou judgest
Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive
me First David tells us that our guilt is transgression We're
transgressors. We've broken God's law. Indeed,
in thought, in word, transgressors, trespassers. We have violated
God's law, disobeyed every command. And then David tells us that
each of us are personally sinful. Sin is a personal thing. Guilt is a personal thing. Acknowledge my transgressions
Lord forgive my sins Wash away my iniquity Guilt is personal
We live in an age when You're taught to avoid that Everybody
is taught to avoid Acknowledging their own guilt and that their
guilt is their own fault Let me say this as clearly as I can
possibly say it What you are? Cannot be blamed on anything
or anyone outside yourself But preacher you don't know how well
I was raised Yes, I do Yes, I do. I Was raised in a hellhole I
I don't I don't remember a pleasant day in my life growing up I don't
remember one till after God saved me. I'm sure there were some
around, but I don't remember one. Your environment, your mama,
your daddy, your bad circumstances have nothing to do with your
guilt. You are what you are because
this is what you choose to be and choose to do. But we're centered
because of Adam's transgression. I know that. We were born in
iniquity. We were shaped in iniquity. We
came forth from our mother's womb speaking lies. But you're
not going to hell because of Adam's transgression. You go
to hell because of your transgression, because of your guilt, your depravity,
your corruption, your way, your iniquity. Blot out my transgressions. Wash me from my iniquity. Cleanse
me from my sin. He didn't say, God, forgive me
of Adam's transgression. Wash me from Adam's sin. Cleanse
me from Adam's iniquity. He said, my iniquity, my transgression,
my sin. And until you own it, yours,
you will never confess it before God. Until you own it, yours,
you will never acknowledge it. You will only excuse it. Oh,
may God teach us to own our transgressions, our depravity, our corruption. And then thirdly, David tells
us that our iniquity, transgression and sin is against God. Watch what it says. Against thee
and thee only have I sinned and done this great evil in thy sight. Hear me now. Our sins, our crimes,
our offenses are against God only. Only. Oh, but David sinned against
Bathsheba. He did. He sinned against Uriah. He did. He sinned against Israel. He did. He sinned against his
own body. He did. And in everything he
did, he said, God, get out of my way. You've got no right to
be God. All sin is against God, against
God, not against Don, not against that Don and not against this
Don and not against you and not against you. Sin is against God,
against God. David says against the only have
I sinned. And he said, Lord, I acknowledge
this so as to confess that you're justified when you speak and
clear when you judge. Oh, Lord God, you're just when
you condemn me. You're just and righteous when
you judge me. I'm guilty. I'm a transgressor. My guilt is personal. My sin
is against you. I'm without excuse. If you damn
me, you're right. If you send me to hell, you're
right. If God sends you to hell, it's right. If God destroys you,
it's right. If God punishes your transgressions
in you, it's right. And the bad news just gets worse.
Therefore, therefore, verse 20. Because we are in this condition,
because we are sinners by nature, by birth and by practice. Therefore,
by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in
his sight. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. You can't be saved by what you
do. But the lens has been stressing
this over and over again in the morning classes. You can't be
saved by what you do. You've broken the law. You can't
repair it. You've broken the law. You can't
mend it. Your hands are corrupt. Your
hands are defiled. Your mind, your heart is corrupt
and defiled. These hands, I just washed them
before I stepped in here this morning. I just washed them.
But if I take these hands, and start to rub them on this white
shirt and continue to rub them. This white shirt with what looks
to be my clean hands will become soiled with the oil in my skin. When I pull it off, there's going
to be a ring around the collar here. And I took a bath before
I put it on. But I'm still dirty. I'm still dirty. And whatever
you touch with your hands, you corrupt. Oh, what a breaking, heartbreaking,
heartbreaking fact this is. I want, oh, I want to be a blessing
to everybody I influence. And there's never been a life
I've touched I didn't corrupt. You too. You too. How then do you think you're
going to save yourself by something you do? How do you think you're
going to save yourself by something you do? When the disciples heard
this, by the law shall no flesh be justified, they saw that rich
young ruler go away because he had much riches. And though he
had obeyed the law from his youth in his own mind, they said, who
then can be saved? And the Lord Jesus answered,
With men, it's impossible. If God leaves you to yourself,
you're going to hell. Oh, but bless God. Bless be his holy name forever.
With God, all things are possible. He can even save you. He can
even save you. Our Lord gave an example. the
Paul Bay and so well illustrated it last week over in Lexington. He said it's easier for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle than for a man who thinks he's
righteous to be saved, than it is for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of God. Now I know there are all kinds
of stories told about that needle's eye. Let me tell you exactly
what the Savior was saying. Here's a huge camel and here
is a needle. with an eye in it. And I can't
even see the eye, let alone get the thread through it. And it's
easier to shove that camel through this needle's eye than for a
rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. You who think yourselves
righteous, you can't get in. You can't get in. Push and push
and push all you will. You can't get yourself into the
kingdom of God. But with God, all things are
possible. Oh, this work of salvation is
God's work. He purposed it. He purchased
it. He performs it by his power.
And with him, salvation is sure. But the Romans 320 again, because
we're guilty, guilty before God. guilt and sin in our nature and
state, by observing the law, by doing good, we cannot be saved. We cannot be acquitted. We cannot
be declared not guilty. We cannot be made holy. We may
justify ourselves before men. Indeed, our Lord tells us we
do that all the time. You are they which justify yourselves
before men. But that which You approve of
and others approve of those things that men call good and righteous. Those things that men look at
and call holy. How often men will refer to other
men say, oh, he's such a holy man. He's such a holy man. Did you
ever hear him pray? Oh, he can pray so beautifully.
He's such a holy man. What you call holy, Skip Gladfelter,
God calls an abomination. What I call righteous, God calls
an abomination. That which impresses me, God
calls an abomination because God looks on the heart. God looks on the heart. For by the law is the knowledge
of sin. The law does nothing but reveal
sin, condemn sin, and pronounce guilt. You read the word of God
in his law, you read the commandments of God, be what the commandment
may. Whether it's thou shalt not have
any other gods before me, thou shalt not take the name of the
Lord thy God in vain, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill,
thou shalt not covet, thou shalt not commit adultery, whatever
the law commands. You read it, you broken it. The law simply identifies what
you are and what you do as sin and it only condemns. But look
at verse 21. Here's where the good news begins.
Here's where the greatest story ever told begins. But now the
righteousness of God without the law is manifested. being witnessed by the law and
the prophets. Did you hear that? Right now,
right now, this very hour, this moment, the righteousness of
God, the holiness of God, not God's character, not his attribute,
but that holiness, which God performs and God bestows that
holiness, which God performs and God gives is manifested. It's made obvious. But now. In Christ Jesus, there's grace
for the guilty. But now there's mercy for the
miserable. But now there's holiness for
the unholy. But now there's salvation for sinners. Salvation without
the law. But now the righteousness of
God is free. Free. It is manifested. Manifested. Manifested. What's
this? You see this right here? The
righteousness of God is as obvious as the nose on his face. It's
as obvious as the nose on your face. The only way you can miss
it is by shutting your eyes and stopping your ears and refusing
to hear what God says in his word. It is manifested, manifested
perfectly, clearly revealed with utmost clarity. Throughout the
scriptures, the words righteousness of God are always preceded with
this definite article. The it always refers not to God's
character, but to God's work. It is the work of God in the
person of our Lord Jesus Christ, fully accomplished by him. But
the lens of this morning was in John 17, verse four. Our Lord Jesus said, I finished
the work. Thou gavest me to perform. Then
we get in chapter 19 and verse 30, he says it is finished. Well,
which is true. Chapter 17, verse four, chapter
19, verse 30. Yes, both are true. Both are
true. When our Lord walked on this
earth in perfect righteousness, having fulfilled all obedience
as a man. to the full age of man for 33
years obeying God, he worked out a perfect righteousness as
a man which was finished and he said so when he came to Calvary
in John 17 and verse 4. And then when he had suffered
all the fury of God's wrath and justice as our substitute upon
Calvary's cursed tree, when he was made sin for us and punished
for our sins, he finished the law in satisfying divine justice. And this righteousness of God
is ours through the obedience of Christ unto death as our substitute,
and it's manifested. Manifested, the apostle says
here, by the law and the prophets. Our Lord Jesus says concerning
himself, if I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true. If I alone testify of myself,
my witness is not true. The law of God requires that
there be two or three witnesses, that every word may be established.
Our Lord said, the Father bears witness of me. My works bear
witness of me. John the Baptist bear witness
of me. And here the apostle says, the righteousness of God is made
indisputably clear by the law and the prophets. by all that
is written in the law and the prophets, by one man's disobedience. Look at chapter 19, Romans 5,
19. Romans 5, 19. As by the disobedience of one,
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. How important that statement
is. This righteousness of God, which
is wrought for us by the obedience of our Lord Jesus Christ, is
like the sin wrought for us by the disobedience of our father
Adam. And as we were made sinners by what Adam did, so we are made
righteous by what Christ did. All who were in Christ, or all
who were in Adam, disobeyed in Adam. He was our federal head
and he was our seminal head. That means he represented us
legally and he represented us as our father. As Levi paid tithes
in the loins of Abraham, so we sinned in our father Adam. And
our Lord Jesus Christ was both our federal head and our seminal
head. We were in him legally and we
were in him seminally. He is the woman's promised seed
and we are the woman's seed. He is that one who is life and
he gives that life to us so that we who are in him did what he
did, obeyed God when he obeyed, died when he died, were quickened
with him and sat down with him at the right hand of the majesty
on high in the heavens. This righteousness was manifested,
manifested. Given to us who believe it is
now unto all and upon all them that believe Do you believe? Do you believe him? Oh God help
you to believe Paul said sirs, I believe God How can I state this as it ought
to be stated Faith in Christ is not believing facts about
Christ. Faith in Christ is not believing
facts about God. No sir, no sir. The devil believes
every fact you do and he's in hell. Merle Hart, he knows everything
you know and he's in hell. You understand that? People say,
Well, if you come up here and go down the Romans road and say,
I'm a sinner, I know I'm a sinner. I did something wrong when I
was a boy. Jesus died for sinners and he rose again and sits right
hand to God to give life to sinners. Do you believe he can save you?
Well, yes. We'll say, say, I believe in Jesus and you're all right.
You're going to hell. If that's all you got, you're
going to hell. Somebody else comes along and says, oh, no,
no, no, no, no. what you have to believe, or
what we call the five points of Calvinism. There are lots
of folks who know the five points of Calvinism in hell. No, no. Faith in Christ is not what you
know, it's who you know. It's not what you believe, it's
who you believe. Abraham believed God. Now let
me tell you the background of that. Abraham believed God, and
it was counted to him for righteousness. Don Rene, God said to Abraham,
said, step out here and look up in the sky. He said, count
the stars for me, Abraham. Abraham said, well, I can't do
that. I can't count the stars. God said, your seed is going
to be more than the stars of heaven or the sand of the seashore. And the book says Abraham believed
God. And it was counted to him for
righteousness. Abraham believed God. He's called the friend of
God because he believed God. For there is no difference. We
read in verse 22. There's no difference. The word
of God says that time and time again, there's no difference.
Salvation is the same for everybody. It's by grace through faith in
Christ Jesus, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ
alone, God's work alone. And that's true for everyone.
Rich or poor, male or female, Jew or Gentile, bond or free,
it's the same for all. He's the God who alone saves. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Now look at verse 24. Here's
the result of believing. Being justified freely by His
grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. justified. What does that mean? Not guilty. We started the message off with
bad news. Guilty. The worst word a prisoner
can hear in the courtroom is guilty. But here. Paul describes
somebody being made not guilty. Not guilty. Not guilty in God's
sight. Not guilty before God. Oh, my
soul! How can I describe this? Not
guilty before God. Not guilty in your conscience
before God. Not guilty in the law before
God. Not guilty at the bar of God. Not guilty. We have said over
the years and I've said myself justified just as if I'd I'd
never seen. That's not it. That's not it.
That's to pretend I didn't say it to be justified. David is
to be not guilty. Not guilty. Let's see if I make
good on that. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 50.
Jeremiah chapter 50. I want you to turn and look at
it. Jeremiah 50. See if I can find it. Yes, verse
20. Verse 20. In those days, And in that time,
saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for. Here we are gathered before the
great white throne, the books are open, and God says, I'm looking
for Don Fortner's sins. I'm looking for Skip Gladfelter's
sins. The iniquity of my elect, my
Israel, shall be sought for. Now, what's the next line? You know the italicized words
are put there to make it read more smoothly. And there shall
be none. Sometimes I wish they'd have
written it without the italicized words, don't you? In those days
and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity of Israel shall
be sought for. And none! None! None! Don Fortner never sinned. Don
Fortner never transgressed. Don Fortner never committed iniquity.
Don Fortner never possessed a corrupt heart. None. None. How can that be? How can that
be? And the sins of Judah, they shall
not be found. For I will pardon them whom I
reserve. What is God's pardon? I don't suppose there's anybody
in this building who hasn't been at one time or another offended
by me, something I've said or something I did wrong. And I have made effort to apologize
when I'm aware of it. And you pardoned it. Here, you
still said. After all these years, you've
been putting up with me. And you forgive. But I'll tell
you something about your forgiveness in mind. You just can't get it
out of there, can you? I don't hold it against you,
but it's still there. I don't deal with you on the basis of
it. Still, I still remember. I just can't put it out of my
mind. I just can't put it out of my... I pretend it doesn't
exist, but it still exists. I recall once saying to a dear
friend of mine, I've said it a couple of times, one of the
Dearest friends I ever had where the Elmer Harold deacon at lookout
he he said I have a bad temper and I'm I'm at say anything but
but I get over it quick and I said brother Elmer on the problem
with that is when you pour scalding water on a fella you may get
over it in a hurry, but he still got scars and We just can't get
rid of it. We just can't you it's still
in your mind. It's still in your mind Not so
with God With Christ blood He put away
our sins. I have blotted out as a thick
cloud thy transgressions and will not remember thy sins. That's not guilty before God. Justified. Justified freely by
His grace through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. Now,
here's the very heart of the greatest story ever told. This
is the centerpiece. This is the heart of the story
being justified, sanctified, redeemed, made righteous freely
by his grace through the precious blood of Christ. He is that one whom God had set
forth a propitiation through faith in his blood. To declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness for the remission of sins that
are passed through the forbearance of God. To declare, I say at
this time, that he, his righteousness, that he might be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Everything in the Old
Testament scriptures, everything in the Old Testament
scriptures speaks of Christ and Him crucified. I say to preachers young and
old, I say to you who teach young and old, you who have been doing
it a long time, you who just begin to do it, don't even attempt
to expound any portion of Scripture until you see clearly how it
refers to Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This book was not
written to teach you morality. This book was not written to
teach you prophecy. This book was not written to
teach you church dogma. I met a preacher just the other
day, and first thing he handed me was a book about church stuff,
and it's the most important thing they've ever done. Well, if that's
the most important thing you've ever done, all you've made was
kindling for fire. This book was not written to
teach church dogma. This book was written to teach
a person. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And I don't mean by that you open a scripture up and say,
well, this is what this means to me. What it means to you don't
matter. This is how I see Christ here. That doesn't matter. How does
God reveal Christ here in His book? The whole book speaks of
Him. Abel brought a lamb. Christ the Lord. Abraham took
Isaac up from Mount Moriah. He said, my son, God will provide
himself a lamb for a burnt offering. Christ the Redeemer. You see
that? Noah in the ark suffers all the fury of God's wrath,
and yet Noah is not in any way touched by the waters or the
storm of God's wrath because the ark absorbed it all. That's
Christ crucified. Isaiah or Psalm 22, you read
the Psalm, and as you listen, You hear the Savior speak. But
David wrote the psalm, yes. And they were David's words.
But David wrote by inspiration. And as he wrote, he spoke as
the personification of God's Son, our Savior, suffering the
horror of God's wrath. And he cries, my God, my God. Why hast thou forsaken me? Isaiah
chapter 53 describes Christ crucified. You have pictures of our Redeemer
in the priesthood, in the tabernacle, all the things in the tabernacle
and priesthood, in all the sacrifices and ceremonies. But primarily,
the most dominant principle picture of our Savior given in the Old
Testament is of a lamb, that Paschal lamb. God said, you take
the lamb and offer him for me. Sprinkle the blood on the doorpost
and lintel and take the blood after that and sprinkle it on
the mercy seat our Lord God gives that Paschal lamb as a picture
of our Savior for Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us
the Lamb of God He is our Redeemer. I recall years ago. This has
been now Oh 36 37 years ago, but the mayhem was on television
in Ashton and There's a fellow listening to it. He'd been disturbed
about a lot of stuff, had various religious experiences, and was
me and said, I'm going to preach this morning on the Lamb of God. This fellow told his wife, he
said, I've been reading this Bible, and we've got to have
a lamb. We've got to have a lamb. We've got, for weeks, he'd been
saying, we've got to have a lamb. I don't know what he's talking about,
but we've got to have a lamb. Brother Bayhens, I'm going to preach
to you this morning on the Lamb of God. He said to his wife, Kathy, come
here. This man's going to tell us about that lamb. And God told
him about the lamb. You've got to have a lamb to
approach God and the lamb by whom you approach God is Jesus
Christ, our Lord, our Redeemer. All this was done to declare
God's righteousness in justifying sinners. This revelation of the
righteousness of God, this good news of the gospel of our Savior
is given to make clear that we make no contribution to this
business of salvation. Where is boasting then? Verse
27. It is excluded by what law? Of works? Not hardly. Nay, but by the law of faith. Faith says Christ is salvation. Law says do. Faith says done. Law says keep doing. Faith says
finished. Law says do some more. Faith
absolutely nullifies the possibility of salvation by works and says
there's no room for boasting. David just got through singing
that great hymn taken from 1 Corinthians 1. But of him, of God, Are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us wisdom, the word of revelation and the word
of knowledge in and by whom we know God and righteousness, the
very righteousness of God, so that we stand before God, not
guilty and sanctification, holiness, holiness. I was preaching at
a meditative Wednesday night, and I knew that the Spanish language
translates the word sanctification and holiness the same way. I
wish our English language did. It's exactly the same thing.
Sanctification is holiness. To be sanctified is to be holy,
perfectly holy before God. It shall be holy to be accepted.
It must be perfect to be accepted. Walk before me and be perfect,
God said, for I am the Lord your God. And here we are in Christ
Jesus made of God wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
to us. But Brother Don, you just got
through telling us what corrupt devils we are. Don't forget that. Don't forget that. But God's
made us new creatures in Christ. He puts a new nature in you so
that you're now made that holiness without which no man shall see
the Lord. And that holiness is your hope. It is Christ in you,
the hope of glory. All right. Now, let me give you
the conclusion to the story. Verse 28. Therefore, we conclude. These conclusions are just inevitable. We're justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. Brother Don, if salvation is
the way you've been describing it, then the only way any sinner
can ever be saved is by faith in Christ, and God has to give
that. That's what the book says. That's
what the book says. If right now you can believe
on God's Son, if right now you do believe on God's Son, it's
because God has made you a new creature in Christ. He has dropped
life in your soul, Christ in you, the hope of glory. This
is what the book says. He that believeth on the Son
of God shall have everlasting life. Jerry, that's not what
it says, is it? He that believeth on the Son of God hath everlasting
life. The faith is the fruit and the
evidence of the life. Faith alone, by faith alone,
without the works of the law were justified. Must conclude
this as well. God, the triune Jehovah, our
Lord Jesus Christ, is the only God and Savior there is. Is he
the God of the Jews only? Is he not also of the Gentiles?
Yes, of the Gentiles also, seeing it as one God which will justify
the circumcision by faith and the uncircumcision through faith.
And then thirdly, there's still this nagging, nagging problem,
this nagging problem. God says, love God. with all your heart,
soul, mind, and being. God says love your neighbor as
yourself. God says love God perfectly with no deviation ever. God says love David Peterson
like you love yourself perfectly. with no deviation ever. And I can't do that. And you
can't do that. Well, God won't set aside his
law. You're right. God never will
set aside his law. Do we then make void the law
through faith? God forbid. Oh, no. Oh, no. This is the only way
a sinner could ever keep God's law. By faith in Christ, we establish
the law. We bring God him who loved God
perfectly and loved his neighbor perfectly unto death. And God says, I'll take that.
I'll take that. That's the greatest story ever
told. Years ago, a young man left home,
back in the days when fellows would hop freight trains and
ride them. He left home and was gone for years. Hadn't written
home. Mother and daddy didn't have
any idea where he was. And after a while, he got to
feeling horrible about what he'd done. And he wrote his mother
a letter. He said, Mama, Certain Saturday,
I'll be on the freight train, comes by the front of the farmhouse
there, and I'd like to come home. I know I've broken your heart
and Daddy's heart, and I don't deserve to be received by you,
but I'd like to come home. And if it's all right for me
to come home, if you'll be standing out on the front porch with one
of Daddy's handkerchiefs and just wave it, I'll know it's
all right to get off the train, and I'll jump off, and I'll be
home. He caught the train. And he started
home. You can imagine the apprehension.
I've been there. You can imagine the apprehension.
And he's watching as the train rounds the bend, and he's looking
for that white handkerchief. And his mama had taken every
white thing she had in the house, sheets and pillowcases and Daddy's
long handle underwear everything she had in the house and hung
it on the porch and hung it on the line and she's standing on front
stoop just jumping up and down waving her hand. She said, welcome
home, son. Welcome home. That's the greatest
story ever told. Believe it. Oh, God, give us
grace to believe it. And let us leave this place and
go proclaim it everywhere. Amen.