I sometimes hear people urging
people to give their lives to the Lord, to start serving the
Lord, to dedicate themselves to the Lord. And all that is
well and good, but there's something that must be done before you
can lay it all on the altar to the Lord. You must be reconciled
to God by faith in Christ. God will not receive anything
from you or from me, except first we're reconciled to God by faith
in his son. Turn with me, if you will, to
Matthew chapter 5. Matthew chapter 5. Verse 21. This is pretty near the beginning
of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. He has just declared, except
your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no way enter into the kingdom of
God. Verse 21. You have heard that
it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill. Whosoever
shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say unto
you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall
be in danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother, Raca shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever
shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. Therefore,
if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest
that thy brother hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before
the altar, and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother,
and then come and offer thy agree with thine adversary quickly,
whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary
deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the
officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily I say unto thee,
thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the
utmost farthing. Now there are three things in
this text to which I call your attention, and this is the title
of my message. The altar, the adversary, the
agreement. First, let me talk to you a little
bit about the altar. Our Lord here speaks of an altar.
Obviously, he has in his mind's eye, and in reference to these
disciples, the altar that stood in the temple. Since the fall
of our father Adam, God never allowed men to approach him,
never allowed men to come to him, never allowed men to worship
him, but by an altar and the sacrifice of blood. In the old
days, the patriarchs from Adam to Moses, the people of God built
altars, altars of stone upon which they offered sacrifice
to God. Whenever men drew near to God, whether it was offering
praise or to seek his mercy, they built an altar and offered
sacrifice of blood, even in those earliest days. Even back in the
beginning when Cain and Abel came to worship, Abel understood
as a believer and believing men in those earliest days understood
you can't come to God without a blood sacrifice such as God
himself requires and God himself provides. They understood that
God's justice could only be satisfied for sin by blood, even the blood
of God's own son, the Redeemer, who must come into the world.
Then when God called Moses up to the Mount Sinai and gave him
his law, speaking to him face to face, God said, build me one
altar, one altar, one altar. Now the prophets of God from
time to time by special divine decree built altars to God. But God said, build me one altar.
At this one altar, This one altar in one place set by God was the
only way men could come to God and worship him. It was an altar
set in the tabernacle first and later set in the temple at Jerusalem. This was the only altar of sacrifice
by which men might approach the Lord God. As the typical legal
dispensation set forth, so it is now, there is but one altar
by which sinners come to God. That altar is Christ Jesus, the
Lord. Hold your hands here in Matthew
5, or you can just put a mark there. We'll be back in a little
while. And turn to Hebrews chapter 13. Hebrews chapter 13. The altar of sacrifice in the
tabernacle and in the temple was typical of our Lord Jesus,
his person, his work, and his merit. Typical of him as our
substitute before God. This is what the Holy Ghost tells
us in Hebrews 13 verse 10. We have an altar, just one, whereof
they have no right to eat which serve the tabernacle. The apostle
is writing here to the Hebrew believers who had been and were
continually being enticed to mix with the worship of God,
the old covenant ceremonial worship that was given to the Jews by
Moses at Mount Sinai. And he says, we have an altar. That altar is Christ the Lord. He's in glory. Those who serve
at the earthly altar cannot eat of this altar. And those who
eat at this altar do not have an earthly altar. The only access
there is to God for sinners is Jesus Christ, the Lord. He's
our altar, and our altar is in heaven. We can't come to God
without a mediator, without an altar, without a sacrifice. Now
turn back to the book of Exodus, if you will. Exodus chapter 28. Before we can ever come to God
and be accepted of him, We must bring an acceptable offering
or an acceptable service to God. Before we can bring an acceptable
offering or acceptable service to God, there must be shedding
of blood for the removal of our sin, for the removal of our guilt
and reconciliation to God by faith in his son. Now, this altar
is given in the Old Testament back here in the book of Exodus.
Let's start at chapter 20, Exodus chapter 20. The altar that God
requires is given just after God gave his law to Moses. In
this gospel day, we have no physical altars of any kind. I can't stress
this sufficiently. In this gospel day, we have no
physical altars of any kind. Some folks think that the Table
where we have the Lord's table is an altar. It's never referred
to such in scripture. It's just table where we set
the bread and wine and we observe the Lord's table and remember
our Savior. Some folks speak of their heart as an altar. God
never speaks of the heart in such a way. Some folks talk about
a family altar. It's good to worship God with
your family. but don't have an altar in your house. We don't
have any physical altars. Folks talk about the various
things having altars, talk about having an altar in the church,
like the papists have their altar. No, we have no physical altar. You can't worship God at a physical
altar. You can't worship God at a physical
altar and worship God in spirit and in truth. We worship God
at the altar, Christ Jesus, our Lord. This altar is that which
God Almighty has given and God Almighty accepts our sacrifices
by him. Now look at it next to this 20
and verse 23. You shall not make with me gods
of silver, neither shall you make unto you gods of gold, an
altar of earth. Now the clear implication is
to make an altar of any other kind than that which God prescribes
from the material God himself provides is to make gods for
yourself. God says an altar of earth shalt
thou make unto me and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings and
thy peace offerings, thy sheep and thine oxen in all places
where I record my name. I will come unto thee, and I
will bless thee. And if thou wilt make me an altar
of stone, thou shalt not build of hewn stone, for if thou lift
up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it. Neither shalt thou
go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered
thereon. Christ is our altar of earth. He is our altar of stone, our
altar of God's making. We do not lift up our tool on
God's altar. I don't know how to express this
with sufficiently strong dogmatism. We do not lift up our tool on
God's altar. If you do, God will send you
to hell. We dare not lift up our tool
on God's altar if you do God will send you to hell What's
that mean in the old testament? God gave laws He gave specific
laws. He forbade that a man's hand
touch his own his his mercy seat He forbade that a man's hand
touch the ark of the covenant if you did you're going to be
put to death Nobody but God's priest could touch you When Elza
reached out to steady the ark, when he reached out to steady
the ark, God killed him. Why? Because that ark represented
Jesus Christ and God's salvation by him. You put your hand on
it, God will kill you. You contribute something to God's
salvation, attempt to add something to the sacrifice of Christ, God
will kill you. There is no Acceptance with God
by anything you do but only judgment death and condemnation Christ
is our altar. We come to God trusting him Worshiping
him in spirit and in truth having no confidence in the flesh The
type of the altar was certainly fulfilled in our Redeemer and
look at chapter 27 of Exodus Exodus 27 Listen to God's description of
the altar. Remember, Moses made this altar by the pattern showed
him in the mount. The pattern being Christ himself.
Thou shalt make an altar of shittum wood, five cubits long, five
cubits broad. The altar shall be four square,
and the height thereof shall be three cubits. And thou shalt
make horns, the horns of it upon the four corners thereof. His
horn shall be of the same, and thou shalt overlay it with brass,
and thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and shovels,
and his basins, and his fresh hooks, and his firepans. All
the vessels thereof shalt thou make of brass. Now the altar
pictured our Lord in its usefulness. The altar typified our Redeemer
in its usefulness. A man brings his gift to God.
And his gift adds nothing to the altar. The altar sanctified
the gift, not the other way around. The altar made the gift acceptable,
not the other way around. You come to God and bring whatever
you bring to God, whether it's praise, songs of praise, prayer,
intercessions, whatever you bring to God, you bring it to God,
and it's acceptable by Christ Jesus the Lord. That's what Peter
tells us in 1 Peter 2, verse 5. We offer God prayers and sacrifices
of our lives, praise to God, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ
the Lord. There was just one altar for
all the people. All the children of Israel came
to God by this one altar, this one altar for all sins, one altar
for all sacrifices. And so it is today. There is
but one altar by which we come to God. And that one altar bore
all the violent wrath of God when our savior sacrificed himself
for us. The altar was a place of refuge
for the guilty. You remember a fellow by the
name of Adonijah and another by the name of Joab. When they
feared for their lives, they fled to the temple and took hold
on the horns of the altar. They took hold on the horns of
the altar. Slain they were though they took
hold on the horns of the altar But they understood that the
altar was a place of refuge and they hoped for mercy Fleeing
to the horns of the altar that you must do lay hold of Jesus
Christ Lay hold of the Son of God believe on the Son of God. I just read a brief biographical
sketch of Medley, Samuel Medley, I believe it was. I can't remember
his first name. I think it was Samuel. Anyway, he said, if I
die, I will die at the cross. No one ever died there. Many
died at the horns of the altar, but nobody dies at the feet of
Christ. Nobody perishes laying hold of
the Lord Jesus. He is the altar of sacrifice
our place of refuge He says I even I am he that blotteth out by
transgression for mine own sake and will not remember my sins
Lay hold of him plead his mercy. He says put me in remembrance
Put me in remembrance. He declares I brought out your
sins. I'll not remember your transgressions
He's now come to me and put me in remembrance of what I've said
Let us plead together Declare thou that thou mayest be justified
The altar was typical of our lord not only in its use but
also in its position when you came to the tabernacle When a
man worshiping god came to the tabernacle The first thing he
saw was that altar. Later when a man came to the
temple, that magnificent structure, the first thing he saw was that
altar. The altar was in the place of
preeminence because everything depended on what went on at that
altar. Everything hinged on the sacrifice
and the altar. So it is with our Redeemer. Christ
is preeminent in all things. All fullness dwells in him. In
order to approach God, we must come to him by the altar. You
can't go into the holy of holies. You can't go into the place where
mercy is found. You can't go into the place where
God's glory is revealed. You can't go into the place where
God said, I'll meet with sinners. You can't go into that place
where God shows the light of his glory and his countenance
and acceptance, except by the sacrifice, the blood offered
at the altar. You can't go any other way. Let
us then come to God. He is able, our Savior, to save
to the uttermost all who come to God by Him. As we attempt
to live in this world, God give us grace to live ever with the
altar of sacrifice, ever with our crucified Redeemer before
our heart's eyes. Every relationship of life is
affected by this altar. and ought to be determined by
it. Every relationship of life is affected by this altar and
ought to be determined by it. That's what you were talking
about a little bit earlier, Frank. Every relationship, every relationship
is affected by Christ our Redeemer and ought to be determined by
our relationship and commitment to and faith in our Redeemer. The altar, we're told, was four
square. In Christ Jesus, we see that which is stable, that which
is firm, full square. In him is all the fullness of
God's love, all the fullness of God's covenant, all the fullness
of God's grace. He is the stability of all things. It is he, Jesus Christ, the same
yesterday, today, and forever, that holds everything together.
There were no steps going up to the altar, no possibility
of approaching God by steps of our own works. There are no steps
of preparation before you can come to the altar. I just wrote an article, it'll
be in the bulletin next week. Thirty years ago, I sat in the
living room of a young man, a young preacher, I'd known for a long
time, known him since he was a boy, and he had come up with
a rather novel idea. He had the idea that somehow,
before you can be saved, you've got to arrive at a certain level
of knowledge. And he kept pressing it. He even
wrote that the apostles were all lost until after the resurrection
because they had not yet arrived to this level of knowledge. And
after some conversation, I scooted up real close to him, looked
him right in the eye, just like I'm looking at Bob Duff right
now, and I said, that's a damning form of works. It's works as
much as if you told a fellow he must be circumcised. Whatever
you put between Christ and the sinner is works. Will you hear
me, you who are without Christ? There are no preparations. no
prerequisites, no conditions for you to meet before you can
come to God. You come to Christ just as I
am, without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. That's all. That's all. And the
Lord God promises to receive sinners who come to Christ with
nothing, no preparation, nothing to bring, no goodness, no, no
feelings, no emotions, just come to Christ, trusting him. And
when the priest approached the altar, he came up on a slope
so that his nakedness was not seen. We come to God by faith
in Christ Jesus, just by faith in his son with no works, no
feelings, no preparations, no knowledge, nothing to bring him. We come to God believing his
son. And as you come to God believing his son, God himself sees no
nakedness. God himself sees no nakedness. Nakedness, of course, referring
to shame and sin. God says, come to my altar, not
on steps, but come by Christ Jesus, the Lord, by faith and
worship me through him. And your nakedness is completely
covered. The altar was completely covered
with blood. Sin cannot be put away any other
way. Justice cannot be satisfied any
other way. The materials of this altar,
it was made of shidom wood, an enduring wood, speaking of our
Lord's humanity. It was made with shidom wood
overlaid with brass, brass representing his Godhead, the shidom wood
and the brass speaking of his perfect sufficiency and everlasting
sufficiency as our Savior. Remember too. Everything involved
in the ceremonial Levitical services of the Old Testament typified
our Savior. There was fire continually burning
on the altar, fire which consumed the sacrifice offered upon it. That was typical of our Savior,
typical of his everlasting eternal love for us, his zeal for God's
glory, his purifying God's elect by his blood, his unfailing intercession
for us. And he being the sacrifice offered
upon God's altar where all other sacrifices were consumed by the
fire This sacrifice consumed the fire He consumed the fire
of God's holy wrath now back here Matthew chapter 5 Go back
to our text again As we read these words of our
Savior He's telling us how we must and can come to God's altar. Christ is the altar, the only
one, but how can I come to him? There's an adversary spoken of
in our text, an adversary who must be dealt with. If I am to
come to God upon his altar and find acceptance with him, I've
got to deal with this adversary. I'm a needy sinner and I need
to come to God's altar for forgiveness. And the only way I can offer
my gifts of praise and thanksgiving to my God upon this altar is
by coming to him, dealing with this adversary. Our Lord Jesus
Christ tells us in verse 21, down through verse 26, what it
requires. But look at verse 23. Particularly
note the word opening the verse, therefore. It points us back
to what our Lord has just stated. It refers to God's requirements.
God requires perfect righteousness. God requires perfect righteousness. And then he describes our guilt.
Look at verse 20. I say unto you that except your
righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of
heaven. You've got to be perfect. You've
got to be perfect. And then he describes our utter
inability to have anything like perfection in ourselves. You
have heard that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt
not kill. Well, I'm pretty good. I never
have murdered anybody yet. Whosoever shall kill shall be
in danger of judgment. But I say unto you that whosoever
is angry with his brother without a cause. Uh-oh. That's another story. That reaches
beyond the outward act. That reaches to the heart. Whosoever
shall be angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger
of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother, Raka, shall be in danger of the council. But whosoever
shall say thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire. Now do
hold your hands here this time in turn over 1 Corinthians. 1
Corinthians chapter 3. The word that is translated fool
here is not the same word that's commonly used in scripture for
fool. You find the word fool in the scripture many, many times.
But this word is a word from which we get our word moron.
It's only used here in Matthew chapter five and here in first
Corinthians chapter three. The only two times it's used
in the Bible. Look what our Lord says in first Corinthians chapter
three, verse 18. Here the Holy Spirit tells us
that Christ is the only foundation God has laid, the foundation
upon which we must be built. Then in verse 18 we read, let
no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth
to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may
be wise. This is more than just what we
commonly refer to by the word moron. It's not just stupid,
ignorant, senseless, but rather a godless, reprobate moron, a
godless, reprobate fool. If we will be spiritually wise,
we must take our place as godless, reprobate fools before him. We must acknowledge what we are
before him. Back here in Matthew 5, verse
23. Therefore, if thou bring thy
gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother
hath ought against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar,
and go thy way, first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come
and offer thy gift. Now, without question, grace
does what law can't do. Grace actually causes people
to love each other. Grace actually causes people
to be gracious, kind, forgiving. Grace actually causes people
to put aside differences and find a way to get along and walk
together in peace. But this is not what this text
is talking about. Our words here may properly be
applied to the necessity of brotherly love, but that's not what he's
teaching in this text. Our Savior is, in this entire
chapter, showing us the demands of God's holy law and our complete
inability to meet with those demands. First, he speaks of
an offended brother. The brother we've offended above
all others is Christ himself. God our Savior. He is the brother
with whom we've been angry without a cause. Unbelief is despising
him, saying to him, Raka, thou fool. Unbelief is despising him saying
to him raka thou fool The first thing the Holy Spirit does when
it comes in saving mercy to the sinner is to convince the sinner
of sin Because what did the Savior say? They believe not on me He
convinces us of sin because they believe not on me saying to him
continually raka thou fool thou fool Are you sure? Let's see. First Corinthians chapter 1.
First Corinthians chapter 1. He that believeth not God hath
made him a liar, because he believes not the record God gave of his
son. Now listen to what it says. First Corinthians chapter 1 verse
18. The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but it does for a saint is the power of God. To the unbeliever,
The preaching of the cross is just foolishness. To the unbeliever,
Christ crucified is just foolishness. To the unbeliever, the sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus at Calvary is nothing but foolishness. There's
no coming to God until we are reconciled to God by faith in
his son. Now understand this, understand
this. Reconciliation, as it's described in scripture, is altogether
one-sided. It's altogether one-sided. The
Lord Jesus didn't have to be reconciled to us. God didn't
have to be reconciled to us. He loved us with an everlasting
love. He accepted us in the beloved before the world began. But always
in scripture, it speaks of us being reconciled to God. God
reconciled his elect through the world by the sacrifice of
his son. Judicially, by atonement, he
reconciled us to himself. And now we are given the word
of reconciliation, calling upon sinners, calling upon you who
have thus far looked the Savior in the eye and said you're a
fool. And I call on you to be reconciled to God. Quit fighting
God. Quit fighting God. Cease your
enmity against God. The Lord Jesus is our only God
and Savior, our only atonement for sin, our only righteousness,
our only redemption. Once we're reconciled to Him,
our brother, once we trust Him alone for acceptance with God,
then we may come to God and bring Him our sacrifices. Come to God and bring Him your
songs of prayer. I was listening as Cody in the
office read the scriptures and led us in prayer, as Bob out
here read the scriptures and led us in prayer, listening as
Brother Lindsey led us in our congregational singing, joining
the singing, listening as Ruth sang that great, great hymn. How on earth can God accept such
stuff? How can God accept it? Would
you like to stand up here now and tell me in this congregation
everything going on in your mind during the midst of all that? Would you like to stand up here
and just tell me in this congregation all the thoughts that went through
your heart while you were hearing the word read or reading it?
While you were hearing one lead us in prayer or praying? While
you were leading the singing while we were singing? I wouldn't want to stand here
and tell you all that goes all through my mind while I'm standing
here preaching. No, no. But God accepts our praise. God accepts our sacrifice. God accepts our service. God accepts our work. God accepts our lives by Jesus
Christ the Redeemer. You leave your gift here at the
altar, and come be reconciled to your brother, and God will
accept your gift, not otherwise. Now, the text speaks of an adversary. Look at verse 25. Agree with
that adversary quickly. Agree with that adversary quickly
whilst thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary
deliver thee to the judge And the judge deliver thee to the
officer, and thou be cast into prison. Agree with Christ now
while it is today. I've been listening to the messages
you heard while I was in England. Great messages they were. Hear me. Oh God, help you to
hear me now. You who are yet without faith
in Christ, there is an urgency about this matter of faith. There
is an urgency about this matter of faith. You must believe on
the Son of God. You must trust the Lord Jesus.
You must bow to Christ. You must surrender to the Redeemer
and do it today. Today. Today. today because the Redeemer may
soon shut you up in the prison, the prison of everlasting damnation,
and there's no escape. Read what he says. Read what
he says. I'm just reading his word. Agree with your adversary
quickly, right now, whilst thou art in the way with him. lest
at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge
deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into
prison. Verily I say unto thee, thou shalt by no means come out
thence, till thou hast paid the utmost farthing. In verse 24, our Lord says, first
be reconciled to your brother. In verse 25, he says, agree with
your adversary. Our brother, and our adversary
in this passage are the same person. These words simply can't
be applied to a mere earthly adversary. The fact is, if you
have an adversary, an adversary who has ought against you, And
our Lord chose his words purposefully. He didn't say if you remember
that you have ought against your adversary. That's not what he
said. He said if you remember your adversary has ought against
you, your adversary has a reason to be upset with you. There's
no way under the shining sun you can be reconciled to the
adversary or the adversary reconciled to you. These verses have been
a cause of great concern and trouble for many sensitive souls
simply because of a lack of understanding. Really, they're full of consolation,
joy, and peace. The passage is not talking about
us suing one another for mercy. That's not what it's talking
about. That's not what it's talking about. Our Lord is telling us
how we can and must, as fools, as ignorant, godless sinners
in danger of hellfire, sued for mercy at the throne of grace.
Yes, our adversary the devil seeks to destroy us, and many
are in league with him as adversaries to our souls. It is good as much
as possible for us to live peaceably with all men, even our adversaries,
but it's utterly impossible for us to agree with the adversary
or persuade the adversary to agree with us. An adversary is
not always one who is intent on destroying. Listen to this. Our Lord declares in Exodus 23,
I will be an adversary to thine adversaries. Christ our brother,
the sinner's friend, is an adversary for us against those who oppose
us. But there comes a time. There
comes a time in the life experience of every chosen redeemed sinner
when the Lord appears as your adversary. Read the second chapter
of Lamentations. There comes a time when the Lord
stands as an adversary with his bow bent like an enemy who pulls
out his fury like fire and terrifies us so that we see him and we
cry out, Joshua, art thou for us or against us? In that hour
of sorrow, the needy soul is sweetly forced by omnipotent
grace to cry out in the depths of his soul for an advocate with
God. Oh, that one might plead for
a man with God as a man pleaded for his friend. Or that I might
have some more Job said. To plead for me with God as another
man pleads for his friend. Christ is that daysman. Christ
is that advocate. That one who himself stands as
one opposed to us is the very one who intercedes for us. Now,
the scriptures speak here of an agreement. Be reconciled to
thy brother. Agree with an adversary quickly. Agree with an adversary quickly. What on earth is he talking about?
How can you be in agreement with him who stands with his bow bent
and his flaming arrows hurling at your soul? How can you possibly
be in agreement with him? Being reconciled to God is neither more nor less than
taking sides with God against yourself. Take sides with God against yourself. Line up on God's side, like David
did, that thou mayest be just when thou speakest and be clear
when thou judgest. Take sides with God and agree
with the Redeemer about yourself, your sin, your guilt, your desert. It's not easy, Lindsay, for me
to look you in the eye and your children and mine in the eye
and say you deserve to go to hell. That's painful. But it's a heapsight easier than
looking God in the eye and saying I deserve to go to hell and meet
it. To agree with the adversary is
to take sides with him. Take sides with him with regard
to yourself. Take sides with him with regard
to himself, who he is and what he's done. His rights as God,
his rights as Lord, his rights as Redeemer. Take sides with
him and agree with all he says about righteousness, satisfaction,
salvation, and grace. Christ is our peace. This man, Micah said, shall be
the peace. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus. But to those who live and die
in enmity against God, Christ will soon come to you
and deliver you into the hands of the judge. And Christ the
great judge shall send his angels to execute his wrath against
his enemies, and the prison and to which they will cast you is
the outer darkness called the lake of fire and hell from which
you will never be released. Let us therefore come boldly
to the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace
to help in time of need. You see, the throne of grace
Is itself the mercy seat on which our advocate is seated in glory
Come now to god on his throne through faith in jesus christ
being reconciled to god by faith in his son David put it this
way And I take david's words for
my own And rejoice that I can I will rush Mine hands in innocency. These hands, dripping with blood,
these hands, defiled, corrupt, these hands, with which I've
wrought evil all my life, these hands, I will wash them in innocency. In innocency. in the precious
blood of God's dear son. So will I compass thine altar,
O Lord. Come to God by faith in Christ
Jesus and compass his altar in the perfection of his righteousness
in utter innocence. Innocence. Innocence. Down in there, that's one of
the sweetest things in the universe. Innocence. Innocence before God. Innocence. So that God has no
ought against me. So that God has no reason to
be angry with me. Innocent through the person of
his dear son. Oh, may God give you faith now
to wash your hands in innocence, say, in the blood of his son
and compass his altar, accepted in Christ the Lord. Amen.