A text will be verses 44 and
45 of John chapter 6. One verse of the song Bobby just
sang said, come to Christ, O come today. The Father, Son, and Spirit
say, Christ is all. And I pray, I pray that God will
bring some this morning. I pray that God will bring us
all this morning, believers, and unbelievers to his son. That we who are saved, as brother
John prayed, give us a fresh appreciation of Christ and that
he is all. And to you who have never come
to him, I pray that God will be pleased to bring you to the
footstool of His gracious Son, who delights to show mercy. But
also know this, as the text will tell us, as Christ tells us plainly
here, that you won't come, you can't come, unless God the Father
does something for you. That's very plain in these words
in John chapter 6. And we'll consider the verses
in their context in a moment. But let's start just by reading
these two verses. Verse 44. Our Lord Jesus speaking,
and He says, No man can come to Me except the Father which
hath sent Me draw him. And I will raise him up at the
last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that
hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me." Who
were these people that our Lord was speaking these words to?
That He said as plainly as words can express anything, He tells
them. No man, not only those to whom
he spoke, but he includes any man, every man. No man can come
to me. But who exactly were these people
that he spoke to on this occasion? Look back at verse 24 in John
6. Look what they had done. And when the people, these people
that our Lord spoke to, when the people therefore saw that
Jesus was not there, where he had fed the multitude, neither
his disciples. They also took shipping and came
to Capernaum seeking for Jesus." Look, if you will, at verse 10. Go back just a little further.
This speaks of that multitude of which a great many apparently
followed Christ across the sea. But those who had been a partaker
of the miracle, they had seen it, they had experienced it.
They saw him taking a few fish and bread and feeding 5,000 men
besides women and children. Verse 10, and Jesus said, make
the men to sit down. Now there was much grass in the
place, so the men sat down and numbered about 5,000. Look at verse 14. After they
had experienced this miracle, after they had been fed, verse
14 tells us their reaction. Then those men, when they had
seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is of a truth, that
prophet that should come into the world. It's a pretty good
testimony, isn't it? Now look down at verse 25. This
gives us an idea of the context of the verses that we take as
our text. But in verse 25, they crossed
the sea, looking for Jesus. In verse 25, and when they had
found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him,
Rabbi, Master, Teacher, when camest thou hither? It looks good, doesn't it? What
these men did looks good. But notice in our text, and even
prior to that in this chapter, our Lord, strangely it may seem,
He doesn't commend them. He doesn't compliment them. Mr. Spurgeon said, often our Lord's
words to folks when he was here on earth seem rather strange. We would expect him to say something
else. But to these men who had crossed
the sea, who came searching for him, who wanted to make him king,
he said, no man can come to me. Didn't commend him at all, did
he? And you know why? In John chapter
2, there were people who, on another occasion, expressed faith
in Christ. And we read there, but the Lord
did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and
He knew what was in men. He knew. The like here in John
chapter 6. Look at verse 26. In response
to their question after finding him, Rabbi, when camest thou
hither, look what our Lord says. Jesus answered them and said,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not because you saw
the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were
filled. You're hungry again. You want
to be fed again. That's the reason you followed
me." He knew what was in man. Verse 27, then he says, "...labor
not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth
unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto
you. For Him hath God the Father sealed." They had followed Him
physically. but that they hadn't followed
him spiritually. And soon they prove it. Soon
they prove it. When he spoke about himself being
the bread of life, the bread that came down from heaven, they
begin to murmur. They begin to complain. The day
before they said, we ought to make him king. Now they said,
who does he think he is? Look at verse 41. The Jews then
murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down
from heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus,
the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? Well, certainly
they knew his mother Mary, and thought they knew his father,
but they didn't, because his father was God. and they didn't
know God the Father at all. Again in verse 52, when our Lord
tells them what was required in really coming to Him in a
spiritual sense, in a saving way, again they murmur. Didn't
have a clue. Then the Jews therefore strove
among themselves saying, how can this man give us his flesh
to eat? They murmured at that as well. And the real reason is this,
verse 64. But there are some of you, this
is our Lord Jesus again speaking, but there are some of you that
believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray Him. And they soon proved that as
well, that in reality, regardless of what they did, sacrificed,
professed, in reality, they knew Him not. In reality, they hadn't
really believed and they prove it. Look at verse 66. From that
time, after those hard sayings of our Lord, that's what they
called them. From that time, many of His disciples
went back, many who had professed faith in Him, went back and walked
no more with him. Isn't that a sad picture? Isn't
it? They turned their backs, deliberately
turned their backs on the Son of God and walk away. They turned their back on the
only mediator between God and man. They walk away from the
only Savior this world will ever know. Or didn't know, I should
say. The only one that God sent into
this world. Jesus. He. Emphasize He. And He alone shall save His people
from their sins. Nobody else will. Nobody else
can. He said, I'm the way. No man
comes to God. No man comes to God in the way
of mercy, in the way of grace, in the way of glory. No man comes
to God for salvation now or in glory hereafter except they come
to Me. There's no other way to approach
God. And these men, this majority, They turn their back on the only
one who is the way and walk no more with him. And that prompts
this question. As he watches them go away, so
many, looked good for a time, at least outwardly, but our Lord
knew their hearts. He wasn't surprised by the fact
that they went away. But now as they go, He turns
to the 12 that remain, only 12. And He asked them in verse 67,
will you also go away? Do you want to follow them? Do
you want to join the crowd? And look at Peter's answer. Look
at Peter's answer. Peter, I don't know that he was
voted to be the spokesman for the Twelve, but he usually took
that place anyway, didn't he? Sometimes he wished he hadn't.
But in verse 68, then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall
we go? He speaks for them all, he thinks
he does, but our Lord corrects him. There was one that didn't
really believe, even among the twelve. Then Simon Peter answered
him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe. We believe. What a miracle. We believe. Even though all those don't. Even though they turn their back
on you and go away. It doesn't change my mind. It doesn't affect me. I believe and we are sure that
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God, regardless
of what the majority does. What a blessing. Peter says,
Lord, where else are we going to go? We've got nobody else
to go to. Thou. No one else has the words
of eternal life. Thou. Nobody else is the Christ,
the Messiah, the sent one that God sent into this world. Nobody
else is. And we're convinced of that.
We're sure of that. We don't have any doubt about
that. My question is, how did Peter
and the other ten know that? What had happened to them? What
had they experienced that the many that turned their back and
walked away from our Lord hadn't? What made them to differ? I mean, isn't the majority usually
right? Wrong. Wrong. Oh, what a glaring proof of that
here. The majority walked away. And our Lord tells us the reason. The reason why Peter said, we've
got nowhere else to go. It's difficult, somewhat difficult,
not to pause there and pitch tent. Child of God, hear the
words of your Savior when He says, Blessed are your eyes for they
see, and your ears for they hear. God's done something for you. Had He not, you'd have been in
the crowd, turning your back upon Him and walking away. And He tells us why Peter and
ten of the twelve, eleven including Peter, professed faith in Him. in our text. And while the many
didn't, no man can come to man except, except. And remember,
He was speaking to people who had seen Him, literally seen
Him, seen Him in the flesh, looked upon the Son of God, looked upon
the word made flesh, looked at that one who himself was God
and man. And they had followed him for
a time. They searched for him until they
found him. They professed faith in him.
And to those, he says, you haven't really come. You haven't really
come to me. I think that's Something to think
about. Think about that. What they saw,
what they'd experienced. They watched Him as He break
the bread and fishes. And from His hand, it was just
multiplied and multiplied. He gave to the disciples, disciples
to the multitude, and they were all filled. They were all filled. What a miracle. They had witnessed
that. They had been a partaker of that.
And our Lord said, you haven't come to me. Multitudes are told
more than that. They're guaranteed. They're guaranteed. I experienced that they have
come to Christ who have done much less than these many did. We have been told in our generation
for years, by those who say they speak for
God, that we've come to Christ if
we've only repeated a prayer, done much less than these people
our Lord spoke to did, simply repeated a prayer, walked forward,
accepted a few vague facts about the historical Jesus, made a
decision, and told, you've come to Christ. Or have accepted the truth. I mean, the truth according to
God's Word. The Gospel. I believe the Gospel. I've accepted it. It's true. I'm convinced of it intellectually.
In the head, I'm sure of it. But it's never affected my heart.
To such as these, our Lord will say, depart from me. I never knew
you. Matthew 7, you know it well.
In that day, our Lord said, Not a few deceived moonies, not a
nut like Jim Jones, but many shall stand before me in that
day and say, Lord, did we not do many wonderful things in your
name? And then, isn't that a staggering thought, then? Can you imagine
the horror that will grip their heart when then they hear Him
say, I never knew you. Depart from me. You never came
to me really. You never came to me savingly
on earth. Now depart from me forever into
everlasting fire." Notice again our Lord's response
to Peter's answer in verse 70 and 71. We learn that not even
an apostle Not even one of only twelve can really come to Him
savingly unless God Almighty performs a miracle. When Peter
said, we, he included Judas. And I doubt that Peter and the
others understood our Lord's answer. But he said, have not
I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil? Not even the twelve of you. All
believe. He spake of Judas Iscariot, the
son of Simon, for he it was that should betray him, being one
of the twelve." But notice in verse 44 again, look at it again
with me. Our Lord says, no man can come
to me except, except, Thank God there are exceptions. Grace makes exceptions. God the Father, our Lord says
plainly, has made exceptions. Yes, the multitude will turn
their back and leave. Because no man can come to me
except the Father which has sent me draw him. And he does. All that have heard, all that
have learned, come to me. What a glorious, glorious exception. The title of my message is, The
Exception That God Makes. Man makes exceptions for himself
by taking on one form of religion or another. And the result is
always the same. As we read in verse 66, from
that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more
with him. And you know why? Because of
what our Lord said in verse 63. It is the spirit that quickeneth
the flesh. The flesh profits nothing. The
flesh can follow Him literally. The flesh can sacrifice in their
search. The flesh can make a profession. But Christ says, the flesh profiteth
nothing. Oh, but to those to whom God
has bestowed the revelation of His Son, to those that God has
made an exception, Christ says, they come to Me. They come to
Me. And they will never perish. Never perish. Are you interested
in that? Are you interested in that? What
really coming to Christ is, I wonder, is anyone, and perhaps you've
been in the multitude, perhaps you've tried to Make an exception
yourself. You've done things. You've done
what you've been instructed to do. I've been there. I know where
you are. But it didn't bring me to Christ.
It brought me to religion. It brought me to a decision.
It brought me to a false hope where I would still be except
for the God of glory. Reach down. Reach down and open
my blinded eyes that I could behold the way, the truth, and
the light, all singular, Jesus Christ Himself. Are you interested
in that? The first verse of one of the
hymns we sometimes sing, And my Savior says, I am not skilled
to understand what God hath willed, what God hath planned. I only
know that His right hand is one who is my Savior. Oh, that's the knowledge I want,
don't you? Oh, that I might know Him. Nothing
else matters. God make that our song today. Mr. Newton, you perhaps have
heard John Newton, the old slave trader, that was saved by God's amazing
grace when he had grown old, nearly blind. He said, my memory's
almost gone. I don't remember things like
I used to." But he went on to say, there are, however, two
things I still remember. I'm a great sinner, but He's
a great Savior. Nothing else matters. Nothing
else matters. Let's consider several things,
looking at verses 44 and 45, and we'll be brief on each. First,
there's the teacher, God the Father. Those that He teaches,
not everybody, but there are exceptions. The lesson, what
is it that God teaches in bringing a man to Christ? What is it they
must learn? And the result, every time when
you're in the school of God's grace, nobody flunks out. Every time. Christ says, they
cometh unto me. Every time. First the teacher. God the Father, our Lord says.
He makes the exception. No man can come to me except
the Father which hath sent me draw him. And only he can. This is something that requires
nothing less than God to perform. Now think about that. This coming
to Christ savingly requires a miracle. It's a great work. That's why
it requires God to do it. Man can't do it. And God doesn't
do unnecessary things. I don't tell you to read the
Book of Mormon, don't waste your time. But if you ever have, if
you ever have, you'll notice in that fairy tale that God supposedly
works miracle after miracle on behalf of the Mormons, Joe Smith
and others, poor deceived folks. But the miracles make no sense
at all, Lord. They serve no purpose. They serve
no purpose. God does something miraculous
supposedly, but it serves no purpose whatsoever. God doesn't
waste Himself that way. No, when God does something,
it's because it's necessary. God doesn't involve Himself in
unnecessary things. And before a sinner can savingly
come to Jesus Christ, God's got to do something that that sinner
cannot do for himself. He says so plainly, no man can
except creation. Who else could do that? In the
beginning, Who else could? It required God Almighty. And
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ requires God Almighty to do something
in the sinner that the sinner cannot do. And if God doesn't
do it, He cannot come to Christ. Look what our Lord says in verse
29. When they had found Him and said, what can we do? What must
we do that we might work the works of God? And look what our
Lord says. This is the work of God. It's
not your work, it's God's work. That ye believe on Him whom He
hath sent. Turn it, if you will, back to
Luke's Gospel, chapter 10. Luke chapter 10. Here again our
Lord speaks as He always did, plainly. In Luke chapter 10,
look what we read at verse 21. Seventy disciples had been sent
out by our Lord. They preached the gospel, they
cast out demons, they healed the sick, and they come back
rejoicing. They're just overjoyed. And look
what our Lord says to them in verse 21. In that hour, Jesus
rejoiced in spirit. He told them rather to rejoice
in verse 20 because their names are written in heaven. And our
Lord rejoiced Himself and says, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, that Thou has hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and has revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered
to me of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son is but the
Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and He to whom the
Son will reveal Him." Look, if you will, in chapter 18, verse
26. A rich young man had, like the
multitude in John 6, had sought out our Lord, had searched for
Him and found Him, the rich young ruler. And when he had found
Him, he came to Him and did what few would do, bowed down before
Him, bowed down before Him, and called Him good master. Isn't
that an impressive picture? What must I do to inherit? He
had the notion of a rich man, didn't he? Concerning spiritual
things that he could inherit, that he could do something to
inherit eternal life. This is the occasion that our
Lord spoke these words. When our Lord tested him and
put his finger on the young man's sore spot, his riches, the young
man said, oh, that's too much. I can't do that, sell all that
I have? No, no. Can't do that. So like the multitude,
he turns and walks away. And our Lord said, how hard is
it for those who have riches to enter into the kingdom of
God? Easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle.
And the disciples, they had observed all this. They were impressed
with this young man. Outwardly, looks good. And when our Lord said this concerning
him, The disciples were amazed in verse 26, they that heard
it said, who then can be saved? Who can be saved? You want to
know the answer to that question? Who then can be saved? Ask the average preacher today.
And they'll say, oh that's easy as pie. There's nothing to it. I mean, we've got this thing
worked down to a little simple formula. Accept, believe, and
confess. That's it. And if you're not
under enough conviction to pray, I'll help you pray. I'll put
the words in your mouth. Just repeat after me. It's simple. It's easy. Look at our Lord's answer. Look
what he says. Who are we going to believe?
Who can be saved? And he said, the things which
are impossible, impossible with men, are possible with God. Exactly what he said in our text.
No man can come to me except God the Father drawing. If coming to Christ were as simple
as ABC, Making a decision or learning your creed, it wouldn't
take God at all. We can all do that by ourself.
We don't need God to perform any kind of miracle to do that. Like these folks that our Lord
was speaking to. They had seen more, sacrificed
more than most people do today. And our Lord told them that it
all added up to zero. The flesh profiteth nothing. I thought of this last night
while I tried to sleep, that I will, whoever was going
to be here, I thought each of you, each of you, I'm going to
meet you before the bar of God, Terry Hope. I'm going to stand before the bar of God with you.
I know that. And give an account of what I
preached. No wonder Paul said, who's sufficient
for these things? But I'll tell you this, I know,
I'm convinced by God that I'm telling you the truth. I better
be I was talking to Don a while back. He said he went to the
hospital to visit someone that he had preached to when he pastored
in West Virginia. And the man was dying. He was
getting ready to step out of this life into eternity. He was
getting ready to face God Almighty. And Don went into his hospital
room And said, well, my friend, is it well with your soul? And
he said, Pastor, if you've told me the truth, it is. If you've told me the truth,
it is. Larry, are you trying to discourage us? Yes. Yes, I am. I want to discourage
you from trusting in yourself, from believing a lie, from being
one of the many who did, and Christ says, depart from me,
I never knew you. I want to discourage you from
everything but this. Faith in Christ. God-given faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to discourage you from
trusting in anything you've ever done. anything and everything
you've ever done that you think recommends you is a foundation
for acceptance before the Holy God. I want you to throw it all
away. Throw it all down and stomp on
it and fall before the Lord Jesus Christ and say, Lord, if you
will, you can make me clean. And I know, and I know, according
to His own Word, He'll say, in gracious mercy, I will. All that's learned of the Father,
He says, comes unto Me. And those that come to Him, I
will in no wise cast out. That night, just before He was
arrested, He prayed, Father, of all those You have given Me,
I've lost none. You've given Me power over all
flesh. that I should give eternal life to as many as you've given
me. And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the
only true God in Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." That's
what I want. That's what I want for myself.
That's what I want for you. When the majority walked away,
Peter said, Lord, to whom shall we go? I don't want to join them. I don't want to go where they're
going. I don't care what they're going back to. I don't want to
go with them. I'm going to stay with you. I'm going to stay with
you. Why did Peter do that? Because
he had been drawn, as our Lord said, by God to Christ Himself. Draw me, draw me, the rite of
Solomon's song says, and I'll run after thee. The prophet said,
the Lord of old hath appeared to me saying, I have loved thee
with an everlasting love, therefore with cords of love have I drawn
thee. That's what he speaks of in our
text, this miracle of God Almighty bringing a sinner by the omnipotent
arm of His grace to Jesus Christ Himself. That's the only way
he can truly come, savingly come. It has the idea of drawing water
from a well. Now, you don't go to a well with
a bucket. and stand there and ask the water
to jump out of the well into the bucket? No. Time to call
for some kind of help, if you ever do that. And when our Lord
speaks of the Father's drawing, He's speaking of what men can't
do for themselves. He's speaking of God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, to shine into our hearts, to
give the glorious knowledge of Jesus Christ Himself. This is
what he speaks of, taught of God. Those who are taught. The Father teaches His chosen
children. This is an evidence of their
sonship. Look at verse 36 of John chapter
6. Look what our Lord says here. Speaking to this multitude that
would soon turn away, He says in verse 36, but I said unto
you that ye also have seen me, and believe not. All, all, all
that the Father gives me shall come to me. He gave them to me
in eternity, and he'll draw them to me in time. They'll all hear
my voice. And him that cometh unto me,
do you hear this? Him that cometh unto me I will
in no wise cast out. Many of you, perhaps most of
you, are receiving Mr. Fortner's daily readings on the
internet. He's sending them out. April 20th, he was on 1 Kings
chapter 20, and his text was, Thy servant was busy here and
there. Busy here and there. And Don
used as an illustration of that a man who lived, I think, in
the 17th century named Hugo Gradius, if that's how you pronounce the
name, it's not important. But he was a poet, a philosopher,
he was a theologian. He wrote commentaries on the
Word of God. A lot of people consider him
very good commentaries. When he lay dying, this is what
he said, I've wasted my life. I've wasted my life in laboring
for nothing. I would give all my learning
and honor for the faith of a one that he knew, a poor man named
John Urich, that truly knew God. He said, I would give everything
if I knew God. In Ecclesiastes, Solomon said,
he asked the question, As a man enters this world naked and he
accumulates riches, but then he leaves the world the same
way he came in, naked. He can't take anything of his
riches. And he asked this question, what profit has he that has labored
for the wind? Labored for the wind. That's
what our Lord asked, didn't He? What shall it profit a man if
he should gain the whole world and lose his own soul? What does
the Lord? Thirdly, the lesson our Lord
speaks of, the learning, the being taught by God. What does
God, by His Spirit and His Word preached, teach sinners? Two things. Initially, two things. Until we learn this, nothing
else really matters. He teaches me my need. He teaches me I'm a sinner. He teaches me that I'm lost. I'm the sinner. He teaches us
the lesson. that the publican learned in
Luke 18. God, have mercy on me, I'm the
sinner. The proud Pharisee never learned
that. That's why he stood and said,
I'm not like other men. I'm special. I'm the exception. But he wasn't the exception that
God made. He was a self-made man. Oh, but
the publican, the Lord of glory looked down. Isn't this wonderful child of
God? The Lord of Glory looks down and says to every child
of God what He said concerning that publican, that man's going
home justified. He's not going to a big house
like the Pharisee. He doesn't have riches like the
Pharisee. He's despised, not looked up
to like the Pharisee, but God Almighty says, He's justified
in the sight of God. That's worth more than all the
riches that this world can ever bestow. I remember several years
ago, I was watching a program on TV, a documentary, and it
was about Mr. Newton's hymn, Amazing Grace. And I thought, this will be interesting.
And in a way it was. But it was about an hour long.
And all they talked about, Joe, was the historical setting of the hymn, when it
was written. And the different tunes that it had been sung to.
And the different translations, different languages that it had
been translated to. And of course, I shouldn't be
surprised, but they didn't say anything, they didn't know anything
about the amazing grace that that old sinner wrote to him
about in the first place. Not a clue about that. What else
matters? Brother Paul Mayhem visited one
of his dying members in the hospital. And he went into the room and
sat down. Sister so and so, how are you today? And she said,
I'm sorry, do I know you? Sis, I've been your pastor for
20 years. I'm sorry, I don't know you.
He said, well maybe you've heard of my father, Henry. Henry Mayhem. And she said, I'm sorry. Her
memory is gone. I don't know him either. And Paul said, well, I just wanted
to come by and speak to you about Jesus Christ. And her eyes lit up. And she
said, oh, I know him. I know him. And then shortly, she went out
to be with him forever. Another verse of that hymn. My
Savior says, I take him at his word indeed. Christ died for
sinners, this I read. For in my heart, in my heart
I find a need for him to be my Savior. Last of all, the sure
result of God's drawing, God's teaching, making us to hear and
learn, Christ says, everyone that has learned of the Father
cometh unto me. Oh, blessed outcome. Blessed,
amazing grace. All those that come to Christ,
they can sing it as well with my soul. Well with my soul. I hope that you know that I'm
not interested in making you a Calvinist. I'm not interested
in convincing you, talking you out of free will to free grace. I'm not interested in making
you a Calvinist instead of an Arminian. No. Because I know
Calvinist five-pointers cannot know Christ just as easily as
an Arminian. No. My desire is this, that you
come to Him who said, I am the door. I am the door. By me, if any man, do you hear
that? If any man enters in, he shall
be saved. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. No man comes to the Father except
by me. That's what I want. That's what
I want. Oh, that I might know Him. That
I might know Him. Nothing else matters. The only
true God and Jesus Christ that He did sin. This is life eternal. William Huntington, an old preacher
of years gone by. I think I printed this in the one of our bulletins some months
ago, I think. But he said he was too poor to
buy a degree. And he wasn't smart enough to
earn a degree, a DD, or I heard of a fellow whose name was Twiddle,
and he got a degree and they called him Dr. Twiddley DD. But
anyway, Mr. Huntington said, I can't Buy
one, I can't earn one. So he would sign his name William
Huntington SS. William Huntington, sinner saved. That's worth more than all the
degrees this world can bestow, isn't it? I've been reminded
here in the last few weeks that we've entered that time of the
year where a lot of young people, young men and young women are
graduating from high school. About every other day, I'm getting
something out of the mailbox to let me know from two granddaughters,
a niece, a nephew. I think that's the first time
I've ever heard from him. But that's OK. I was the same
way. I can already remember my graduation. It was 1970. But
it's an exciting time, a blessed time. And I'm proud of them.
But my prayer for them is that they'll be taught what no earthly
teacher can give them. That they'll be taught what our
Lord spoke of here, taught of God, and come to Christ. That they'll be robed, not in
a cap and gown, but in the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ. that like the prodigal son, they'll
experience the father putting the ring of reconciliation upon
their finger and saying, bring out the best row. They're lost,
but now they're found. They were dead, but they're alive
again. I want them to receive not just
a diploma, but have an interest in that covenant of grace, brother-in-law,
that when that sweet singer and King of Israel laid on His deathbed,
looking back on his checkered life, he could say, although
my house be not so with God yet, he's made an exception yet, he
has made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things
and sure, this is all my salvation. And when life is over, when life
is over, to be able to walk off this stage of time, this brief
stage of time, into heaven forever, forever, and be with the Lord. May God make us exceptions by
His grace and bring us to Jesus Christ. God bless you.