1 Peter, 1 Peter chapter 1. Notice in verse 1 how Peter begins
his epistle. He says, Peter, not Pope Peter,
no, but just Peter and an apostle of Jesus Christ to the strangers
scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and
Bithynia, scattered strangers in this world. This is true of
all God's people, no matter when they live or where they live. We're strangers and pilgrims
in this world. We're natives by our first birth,
all but by our second birth, we've been made citizens of that
heavenly country. And we look for a city as Abraham,
whose builder and maker is God. By grace, we are citizens of
that heavenly country. Verse 2 of 1 Peter chapter 1. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father. Yes, we're pilgrims and strangers. Oh, but God knows those that
are His. He chose them before the world
began. through sanctification of the spirit, until obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you,
and peace be multiplied. That's also true of all believers. That's why we're not of this
present evil world, as Christ told his disciples that same
night in which he was betrayed. You're not of the world, as I'm
not of the world. Why? Because I've chosen you
out. I've chosen you out of the world. We were elected by God the Father
and then called affectionately by God the Holy Spirit, Peter
tells us here in verse 2, and given the precious gift of faith. As we sang a moment ago, it was
at the cross, at the cross. where I first saw the light. God enabled me to see that which
I could never see by nature, that which my depraved heart
would not allow me to see. It required a miracle of his
opening my eyes and by grace giving me faith to do what? To
look to what? Oh, not what, but to who? To see him, the Lamb of God. And unto the blood of Jesus Christ
we read, O the blood of Christ. And then Peter reminds them of
this. Look down, if you will, at verse
18. Verse 18 of chapter 1. Peter
reminds them of this as well. For as much as you know. You know. He speaks of the price
of their redemption in verse 19. He tells them in verse 18
what it wasn't, what didn't redeem them, what could never redeem
them, what would never be sufficient to pay the ransom to a holy God
to accomplish their redemption, their release from the hands
of divine justice. He says, for as much as you know. What I'm telling you, Peter says,
is not new. It's not something that you're
not aware of. It's not something that you don't
know. But Peter says, you need reminded of it. And so do I. Don't you? So do I. In his second
epistle, Peter said, I think as long as I'm in this tabernacle,
as long as I'm alive, that it's me, it's proper, it's the right
thing to do for me to remind you of these things until I put
off this tabernacle, until I lay this body down even as the Lord
Jesus Christ had showed me. Just before I drove here this
morning, I was listening to a song by David Coleman on a CD. One of the songs is, Remind Me,
Dear Lord. Remind me. This is what Peter
does here. He reminds them what redeemed
them and what didn't. The one thing that was necessary,
the only thing that could redeem them and that which couldn't.
David said in that song, Lord, draw back the curtain of memory
now and then. Do you find that necessary? I
do. Don't you? Do you find that necessary,
Lord? Because being still in this flesh
with this downward tendency, I have a... might as well be honest. There
is a tendency in me to forget, to take for granted. Imagine
that. I mean, considering the price
of our redemption that Peter speaks of in verse 19, considering
what it cost to redeem me, considering the ransom price that alone could
satisfy a holy God, not by anything that I could do, as he says in
verse 18, oh, but by the precious blood of Christ, how can I take
that for granted? How could I ever forget that? Oh, but I do. But I do. Therefore, I needed reminded. Oh, Lord, as David sang, draw
back the curtain of memory now and then. and show me afresh,
remind me what you brought me from, where I was and where I
could have been and would have been except for this one reason,
but God, but grace. Old Peter says in verse 18, Forasmuch
as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, corruptible
things, perishable things as silver and gold. Silver and gold? Could that atone for sin? Could
silver and gold atone for sin? Could that appease the holy God? Could silver and gold, all the
silver and gold in the world, Could it do anything towards
satisfying divine justice? Could silver and gold set the
captive free? And of course, the answer is
no. Turn back, if you will, to the
book of Psalms, Psalm 49. What Peter says was true in his
day, was true in David's day. It's always been so. There's
always only been one ransom price for sin. There's never been two,
only one. That's why he's called the Lamb
of God, slain from the foundation of the world in Psalm 49 verse
6. They that trust in their wealth
and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches None of them,
none of them can by any means, no one, no
way, can redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for
him. He can't do it, for the redemption
of their soul is precious. and it ceases forever. The redemption
of an immortal soul is precious, and it takes something precious
to accomplish the redemption of that soul. And Peter tells
us in verse 19, it was the precious blood of Christ, that he should
live, verse 9, forever and see corruption. Look at verse 15
of this psalm. But God, there it is again, But God, nothing
I could do, nothing I could give, no works of my hands plays a
part in the redemption of my soul. I must be redeemed if saved. My sins must be put away or I
could never be reconciled to God. But nothing I do, ever have
done or ever can do, would ever accomplish that mighty work.
Oh, but God, but God will redeem my soul. Would you look at that? Isn't that good news, fellow
pilgrims? But God will. The God-man. He will. Not that he'll attempt
to do it. Not that he'll hope to do it.
Not that he'll do it if I add something to it. No, no, no.
It says, but God will. Whatever's necessary, whatever's
involved. Whatever it requires, the great
shepherd of the sheep says, in response to his father sending
him into this world, I come to do thy will, O my God. I will redeem my people from
their sins. Oh, does your heart not want
to sing? Hallelujah. What a savior. Back in 1 Peter, verse 18, and
then we'll come to our text in verse 19, the precious blood
of Christ. But Peter reminds them, you're
not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold. These
can never deliver you from your vain conversation. Your empty
life is what the word is. And of course, Peter speaks of
Judaism with all its religious show of self-righteousness. And that is like all Christless
religion. Empty. Meaningless. Oh, it may have much show, may
be dressed up, may have a lot of activity, but it's a Christless
religion. That's what Judaism was. And
Peter said, God delivered you from that. You remember when
on one occasion, the Pharisees and scribes were watching Christ
as always, trying to find something to accuse him of, Lester. You're
breaking the law, the only man that walked this earth that ever
kept God's law. But they said on one occasion,
why do your disciples transgress not the law of God, but the tradition
of the fathers? Tradition. because they didn't
wash their hands before they sat down to eat. And Mark tells
us that the Pharisees and the scribes washed their hands often. Often. Empty, Christless religion. Just to show. And our Lord says,
you make void the Word of God by your tradition. You lay aside
the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition. He spoke those words over 2,000
years ago, and does it not sound familiar? Does it not sound familiar? I can't tell you the number of
times I've had people say to me, well, we really don't have
scripture for what we do, but it's something we've always done. Our fathers did it. Their fathers
did it. It's steeped in tradition, but
there's no basis for it in the Word of God. As a matter of fact,
it's contrary to the Word of God. But the scribes and the
Pharisees... They claim that God not only
gave Moses the law written by the finger of God himself on
tables of stone, but there was vocal, verbal laws that he gave
Moses and it was passed on down to them and they became the traditions
of the fathers. Again, I ask you, does that not
sound familiar? The Church of Rome makes the
very same claim. They claim not only were the
apostles inspired to write what they did in God's Word, but there
were precepts that God spoke to them that are not written,
that are passed on down to the Church of Rome. Empty, Christless
religion. And the result is, it makes void
the Word of God. And you have a supreme example
of that and that man known before his conversion as Saul of Tarsus. Remember what he wrote? and testified
often, we find it in the book of Acts, but in Galatians he
said, I was exceedingly zealous of the tradition of my fathers. Not God's word, the tradition,
touch not, taste not, handle not, Christless religion. Paul said, I was gun-ho for that. I persecuted the Church of Christ
thinking that I did God's service, thought that I was pleasing God. Do you not see by that what religion
does? How it can so absolutely blind
a man to who God really is? and who they really are. The
very idea that a man could think that he could do anything to
satisfy divine justice, that anything he does could recommend
him to God is an indication of how blind he really is. It can't be done. It can't be
done. Paul said, I was exceedingly
zealous of the tradition of the fathers. What happened, Saul? What happened to you? Because
on down in the chapter he said that he began to preach the gospel. The gospel of God's grace, the
gospel of God's mercy, the gospel about a person, the Lord Jesus
Christ. In another place Paul said, I'm
determined to know nothing else. Let's just don't even consider
nothing else. Let's don't talk about anything else. Jesus Christ
is all. Paul, that's a complete about-face. Can you explain that to us? You
know what he said. Here's the explanation. But.
Remember? But when it pleased God. But. But grace. Grace personified. Grace experienced. Grace met face to face in the
person of Jesus Christ. But, and that brings us to verse
19, this is what redeemed you. Not what he spoke of in verse
18, but you were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. In answer to the question, How
was I redeemed? In answer to the question, how
can God be just and yet justify a sinner? You ever considered
that question? Have you ever considered that
question? Have you ever thought about that? Have you? Have you ever considered, asked
yourself, pondered that? How can a holy God that declares
himself, I will in no wise clear the guilty or pass by iniquity. That holy God who declares that
the soul that sinneth, it must die. You ever thought about Him? You ever given Him any serious
consideration? Or do you have a God that you're
comfortable with? A God that you've made up? Oh,
you've not whittled out a wooden idol, but in your mind, you have
a God that you're comfortable with. A God that doesn't hate
sin. A God that can't have His way.
A God that requires your works. That's not the God of Scripture.
And that God can't redeem. Oh, no. That's corruptible as
what Peter said in verse 18. Have you ever asked your question,
this question rather, how can I, how can I, knowing something
about what I am, how can I, somebody like me, Like me, like Larry
Criss. How can I, a sinner, everything
I do right now, at this very moment, is tainted with sin?
How can somebody like me, Lester, be justified before a holy God
like Him? Between Him and I, there is this
great gulf fixed. And there's nothing I can do
to span it. There's nothing I can do. Not
my prayers, not my preaching, not my giving. There's nothing
I can do to span that great gulf that can bring me near to God. How can I be just with Him? How can any fallen son of Adam
have a hope of acceptance before the holy Lord God? One hymn writer expressed it
like this. Death of mercy, death of mercy. Can there be mercy still reserved
for me? Can my God his wrath forbear
and me, the chief of sinners, spare? How? How can that be? How can he spare me, the chief
of sinners? And look again at verse 19, the
answer is there, but. Oh, thank God, but he's telling
us about the way. Oh, I hear God declare the same
God that said the soul that sinneth, it must die. Now I hear that
same God declaring, deliver his soul. I hear that same just and
holy God. and he's not changed his character
or changed his nature, that would be impossible. But that same
high and just and holy God now says, deliver his soul. Deliver
his soul, brother-in-law, from going down to the pit. Why? Why? How? How can God say that? How can God do that? For I found
a ransom. I found a ransom. There's a way. There's a way. You remember what Abraham said
to Isaac as they went up to Mount Moriah, obeying God's command
to sacrifice his son? Abraham's son said to him, Father,
here's the wood, here's the fire, but where is the offering? And
you remember what God said to him? The same thing we quoted
a moment ago. Deliver his soul from going down
to the pit. I found, God speaking, I found
the ransom. Abraham said, son, God will provide
himself a sacrifice. God will provide it. And he provided
the sacrifice, the ransom, in the person of his dear son. What can wash away my sins? God help me this morning. Help
me this morning. Because if He doesn't, I won't
do it. But when I take the wine to my
lips, help me to remember Him. Help me remember that I wasn't
redeemed with silver and gold, but with the precious blood,
the sin-atoning blood, the soul-cleansing blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And oh, may I sing from my heart,
realizing that again, what can wash away my sins? What can make
me whole again? What can do it? Nothing but the
blood of Jesus. That's the only answer in God's
Word. That's the only one that God
will accept. And hence, that's the only one
that will actually redeem. But with the precious blood of
Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. Oh, rejoice,
brothers and sisters in Christ. It's true. Nothing we do, have
done, or ever will do, will atone for sin. Oh, but the blood of
Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. No wonder he went on
to sing, O precious Kenneth. Precious is the flow. Precious
is the blood, the precious blood of Christ that makes me white
as snow. No other fount I know or want
to know or sing about or preach about or hear about other than
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. You're aware, sadly, that some
churches have taken out that word, blood. out of some of our
best old hens because they say that's crude, that's barbaric,
we've gotten beyond that. Oh no, no, no, no, no. Bless God, we thank him for the
blood, the precious blood of Christ. Two things here, precious
because of whose it is and precious because of what it does. Whose blood? The blood of Christ. the precious blood of Christ. I had a pretty good idea of what
the word precious would be, how it would be defined, but
just to be sure, accurate, I got a dictionary down and wrote down
a part of the definition. Precious, the dictionary said
of high price or value, highly esteemed, dear, beloved, And
He's all that, is He not? Is He not? Of high price and
value to God and to His redeemed. Look over in chapter 2, what
Peter writes. He's precious to God and us.
1 Peter 2 and verse 4. To whom coming? As unto a living
stone, disallowed indeed of men, but, but, Men said, we'll not
have this man rule over us, but he's still chosen of God and
precious. Ye also as lively stones are
built up a spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore, also,
it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion, this is
God speaking, Behold, I lay in Zion, a chief cornerstone, elect,
precious, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. He'll not be put to shame. Never. No, no, no. Unto you, therefore,
which believe, he is Precious. The word is the preciousness
itself. Not only precious, but the preciousness. And Peter tells us we were redeemed
with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Precious. Because He alone meets the holy
demands of God and the needs of sinful men. Only Christ does
that. Look what Peter says again in
chapter 2. Verse 22, who did no sin, and that can only be speaking
of one, only one, only one ever walked this earth who did no
sin, the Lord Jesus Christ, who did no sin, neither was gall
found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again,
When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to
Him that judgeth righteously. Committed himself to Him, his
Holy Father, whose will he came to do. He, we're told in our
text, was without blemish and without spot. Remember what God
said concerning the sacrifice? It must be perfect to be accepted. Perfect. Perfect. In thought, in word, in deed,
the sacrifice must be perfect. That is sinless. Sinless. Brothers and sisters, behold
your Redeemer. Sinless. He was so at birth. That holy thing born in thee,
Mary, that holy thing in your womb is sinless. In life, behold Him again, sinless. I do always those things that
please the Father. I've not come to destroy, but
to fulfill my Father's law. In life, as well as in birth,
and as our substitute. Behold the sacrifice upon the
cross, perfect, without blemish or without spot, perfect, sinless. In Exodus chapter 12, just before
God passed through the land of Egypt that night, He told Moses,
tell the children of Israel, each household to take a lamb
and set it aside Examine it. That's the Passover lamb. Make
sure, make sure, because when I see the blood in Passover Union,
it's going to be because that lamb has no blemish, no spot,
no defect. Brothers and sisters, isn't that
glorious? Oh, when He sees the Son, He sees me in the Son, the
blood of the sacrificed one, the blood of Christ God's Son
cleanses me from all my sin. That's why I'm accepted into
be loved. Oh, precious blood of the precious
Savior Jesus Christ. It answers the demands of God's
holy law and also it meets the needs of helpless sinners. Look again in chapter 3, verse
18. For Christ also had once suffered for sins, once. Once
was enough. The just for the unjust, that he might bring us
to God. that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. He did so that he might bring
us to God. that He might reconcile us to
God, that He might, by His life and death, on the behalf of His
people, as the substitute for His people, that He might enable
God to be both just and justified, that He might justifiably justify
every sinner that His Son represented. Thereby, He brings us to God,
perfectly accepted, Yes, one with Him, accepted in Him. He brought us to God when He
died, and He does so in time, does He not? Does He not? You remember the words of our
Great Shepherd? This sounds so far removed, the
exact opposite of the pitiful, defeated, imposter we hear about
today. No, no, no. The true Lord of
Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ by whose precious blood we've
been redeemed, He said, I bring them to God. He did so when He
put away their sins. He reconciled them to God. And
then in time, He said, all that the Father giveth me shall come
to me. They'll come to me. They'll hear
the voice of the great shepherd and they'll come to me and they'll
experience in their heart what I did for them at Calvary. I'll
make application of my precious blood to their soul. They'll
experience the peace that I made with God when I put away their
sin. They'll all come to me. Glory,
glory. What a Savior. And he said, they'll
come to me in eternity, Father. Father, I will. I will. That all you gave me, all for
whom I died, all that I'll call to myself by grace in time, will
be with me in eternity forever. I'll want them where I am, that
they may behold my glory. Dear dying lamb, it's with good
reason that that man wrote these words. Dear dying lamb, thy precious
blood shall never lose its power. It's true, I am a wretched man. Oh, not a wretched man that I
used to be. A wretched man that I am. Oh, but this is true too. Where
sin abounded, grace doth much more abound. Dear dying lamb,
thy precious blood shall never lose its power. It's always effectual. It always pleases God. It speaks
everlastingly. It speaks eternally. It speaks
once and for all divine satisfaction to the Holy God. The blood of
Christ cleanses us from all sin. She'll never lose its power till
all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more. This is what Moses led the children
of Israel in song about at the Red Sea. As they looked back,
Moses said, thou hast led forth the people, you brought forth
the people that you have redeemed. All those that the blood of the
lamb was shed for, that you passed over in Egypt, you brought them
across, you've led forth the people that you have redeemed. Paul, exhorting the elders of
the church of Ephesus, said, Take heed, as the overseers of
the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. Christ said, I came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give my life a ransom
for many. And it will be the boast of King
Jesus throughout eternity. Eternity won't exhaust our wonder,
our adoration of Him when He gathers all His chosen, all His
redeemed, all His ransomed, And there are a multitude that can't
be numbered. And he'll say, Father, I and
the children that you gave me, they're all here and I lost none. And we'll throw our crowns at
his feet and say, worthy is the lamb that was slain. He has redeemed
us with his own blood. Precious, precious blood. We see both his glorious accomplishments
by the death upon the cross. Satisfying God is the ransom
by which we are redeemed. Turn, if you will, back to Ephesians
chapter 5. Of course, this is the theme
throughout the Word of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ and his
accomplishment, his satisfaction to God on the behalf of his people. In Ephesians chapter 5, Paul
writes, exhorting believers. He says in verse 1, Be ye therefore
followers of God as dear children. Be ye followers of God. Really,
this is a unfortunate place to have a chapter break because
at verse 32 of chapter 4 he says, Be ye kind one to another and
tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's
sake hath forgiven you. Be ye therefore followers in
a light of God's forgiveness for Christ's sake. Be ye therefore
followers of God as dear children, and walk in love as Christ also
hath loved us. and hath given himself for us
an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor."
A sweet-smelling savor. Oh, God looks upon the sacrifice
of Christ and He says, satisfied. Satisfied. That's enough. Remember what we are by nature.
even dressed up in our best religious garb, even dressed up in a robe
of self-righteousness before God in mercy made us when he
stripped it from us. Filthy rags. All of our righteousnesses
are as filthy rags. God in Isaiah 1 said, I'm fed
up, fed up with your so-called worship, he told them. It's a
stench in my nostrils, away with it!" But then he looks upon Christ
and he said, a sweet savor. What an aroma! I'm satisfied. Do you remember when Noah came
forth from the ark after the waters had receded from the earth?
We're told in Genesis 8 that he offered sacrifices to God.
built an altar and offered sacrifices to God, and God said, it's a
sweet savor, a sweet smelling aroma. Those sacrifices were
pictures, types of Jesus Christ. And God says, I'm satisfied. I can demand no more. He's made a propitiation, a covering
that enables God to be just and justify the ungodly. And you
know what, brothers and sisters? When God says, oh, what a sweet
aroma, what a sweet-smelling fragrance pours forth from the
accomplishment of my son, we're in Him. We're in Him. And God says the same thing concerning
you and I. With His holy garments on, as
holy as God's own Son. Oh, yes. Precious as to whose
blood it is, and then last of all, precious as to what it does. And we can only read the verses.
Let's look at them together. Turn, if you will, to Romans,
first of all, chapter 5. Let's just read a few of these
before we close and observe the Lord's table. Romans, chapter
5. It speaks of what the precious
blood of Christ had accomplished on the behalf of his people.
Verse 9. Well, let's read verse 8 with
it. Romans 5, verses 8 and 9. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
Much more than being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved
from wrath through him. No question about it. No doubt
about it. Turn if you will to Ephesians
chapter 2. Another blessed verse that speaks of the accomplishments of our Lord's death. Ephesians
chapter 2. Verse 13, there's that word again. But now, but now, nothing can change that, brothers
and sisters. Once we're His, we're His forever.
But now in Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes were far off, are made
nigh by the blood of Christ. There's more merit in the blood
of Christ than there are demerits in all the sins of all his people. Oh, precious, precious blood.
Turn over a few pages to Galatians. Galatians chapter 1. And see
what Paul says concerning the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Galatians 1 verse 20. And having
made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile
all things unto himself, by him I say, whether they be things
in earth or things in heaven. And you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled,
how, in the body of his flesh through death, to present you
holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. So, what a sacrifice. What worth. What merit. How satisfying to a holy God
it must be. Look what it produces. The sacrifice
itself, himself, was without blemish and without spot. And
it makes all those for whom it was offered without blemish and
without spot before the holy God. And then look, if you will,
at a few passages in Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 9. Paul writes,
along this same blessed theme concerning the results of the
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Hebrews 9 verse 11, but Christ,
But Christ, being come a high priest of good things to come,
by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by his own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. The same chapter,
verse 24. For Christ is not entered into
the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the
true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence
of God for us, for us. Nor yet that he should offer
himself often as the high priest entereth into the holy place
every year with the blood of others. For then must he often
have suffered since the foundation of the world, but now once, once
in the end of the world, hath he appeared to put away sin by
the sacrifice of himself." Put away sin. The psalmist said,
mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Oh, the love that drew salvation's
plan. Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God
did span. at Calvary. Now turn back, if
you will, to our text and we'll wrap this up. In verse 20, Peter
says, Who verily was foreordained, that is Christ, before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you. For you. Oh yes, for you. That night that he instituted
the Lord's that night where they were observing the last Passover,
the last truly Passover. He said, with desire, have I
desired to eat this with you? And then while they were eating
the Passover, he took their bread and break it. and gave it to
them and said, take, eat. This is my body, which is broken
for you. For you. Likewise, he took the cup and
said, pass this among yourselves. Drink ye, all of you, from it. For this is my blood, which is
shed again, he said, for you. For you. Oh, may God make us
feel the wonder of that. For me. Two weeks ago we closed our evening
service by singing the hymn in our hymn book, Bless Me the Tie
That Binds. I've thought about that. Oh,
the tie that binds us is Jesus Christ himself, redeemed with
his precious blood. one body with one head, loved
the same, chosen, called, and again redeemed with his own precious
blood. And in a moment, we'll do what
the disciples did that night that we just spoke of when our
Lord said, take, this is shed for you. What's been done from
that night, it was first instituted by him who loved us and gave
himself for us until now. For over 2,000 years by God's
people, God's people I emphasize, believers all over the world, without show or fanfare, but
very simply, we remember Him when we take the bread and drink
the wine and do in remembrance of Him. He said, for as often
as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's
death till He come. Till He come. Then we'll not
need this to help us to remember Him. For then we shall see Him
as He is. And so shall we ever be with
the Lord. Amen.