Good morning. Turn in your Bible to Mark chapter
11. Mark chapter 11. My text will be taken from verse
27 down to verse 33 of Mark 11. And I'll get to that in just
a minute. But I could not come here without expressing my deep,
deep gratitude for all of you who have helped me and the brethren
there at Zebulon. The Lord in his good providence
sent us some rain back on May 9th this spring. five inches of rain, which brought
about eight and a half feet of water in the lower part of our
building, put six feet of water in the house. Needless to say,
there was much damage. Needless to say, there was much
work to be done. Needless to say, there was much
to be replaced. In the days following, the Lord
graciously sent another flood, a flood of help, a flood of love,
a flood of support with elbow grease, financial help. And I thank God for you. Many
of you sitting here contributed in so, so many, many ways. I found over the years being
among God's people, God's family. They not only believe grace and love the grace of God and
are determined to preach salvation by the grace of God, but you
know what? They are gracious, loving, caring
people. God has done that work of grace
in their heart, that love manifested, that love of God manifested in
their heart and it oozes out of them by His grace. This is love not in word only,
but in deed and in truth. Thank you. I thank God for you. Now to my text. Mark chapter
11. Let's read these verses together. And they come again to Jerusalem.
Now understand the Lord Jesus Christ is marching toward Calvary's
tree, marching his faith set like a flint. No one could deter
him. No one could stop him. And this,
he comes to his temple just on the eve of the cross. And they
come again to Jerusalem. And he was walking And as he
was walking in the temple, there come to him the chief priests,
the scribes, the elders. And they say unto him, they say
unto him, by what authority, and whose power are you acting,
and whose name do you come? Doest thou these things? And
who gave thee authority to act this way, to do these things?
The Lord answered, said unto them, I'll ask you one question,
and answer me, and I'll tell you by what authority I do these
things. Now here's the question, verse
30. The baptism of John, the message and ministry of John
the Baptist, was it from heaven? Was it of God? or of men, answer
me." Now look at verse 31. They reasoned with themselves,
saying, well, if we say from heaven, if we say it's of God,
he will say, well, why did you believe him? But if we shall say of men, they
feared the people. For all men counted John, for
all men counted John, that he was a prophet, a prophet indeed,
son of God. Now notice their answer. They answered, said unto the
master, unto the Lord. Well, you know, we don't know,
we can't tell. They claimed ignorance, didn't
they? We can't tell. Jesus answering saith unto them,
neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things. Now the title of the sermon this
morning is in the form of a question taken from verse 30. And here's
the title of the sermon. And I pray God will give me grace
to deliver it unto you this morning. The gospel, the gospel, is it
from heaven? or from men, the gospel. Is it of God or is it of men? This glorious salvation that
we read about in the word of God, this marvelous good news
of God saving mercy to guilty, undeserving sinners, is it of
God or is it of men? And the Lord answered gives this
sobering, sobering thought. And I want you to ponder this
over in your heart as the Lord says to these most self-righteous,
ignorant men, answer that question. Salvation, is it of the Lord
or is it of men? Salvation all of grace or is
it something left up for you to do, for you to accomplish? Let me go back and let's look
at verse 27 and following. We see the Lord of glory going
about the father's business, and they come again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the
temple, there come to him these religious rabble, these chief
priests and the scribes and the elders, and they dare question
God Almighty. God manifests in the flesh. He's
back in town, back in the temple. He's teaching and preaching the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Luke, when he writes of this
occasion, declares in Luke 20, as he taught the people in the
temple and preached the gospel unto them. You know our blessed
Lord was a preacher? He was a preacher of the gospel.
Turn back to Mark chapter 1. A preacher of the gospel. He
is that prophet that God promised that he would raise up to declare
the testimony of God. In Mark chapter 1, verse 14. Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching, what was he doing? Preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. saying the time is fulfilled,
the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe the gospel. In the same chapter, notice verse
38, and he said unto them, let us go into the next town that
I may preach there also, for therefore came I forth. And he preached in their synagogue
throughout all Galilee and cast out devils. The Lord Jesus Christ
was that preacher of God's gospel. Let us as believers, let us as
pastors and teachers and preachers of the gospel of God's grace,
God help us to make much of the preaching of the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That was the charge that Paul
gave young Timothy in those last words recorded in 2 Timothy 4. I charge you before God. And
the Lord Jesus Christ, the judge of the living and the dead, to
preach, preach, preach Christ. Preach Christ, in Him crucified.
You know, I found over the years, what two years I've been preaching,
You cannot wear that out. You cannot preach Him too high. You cannot preach man too low.
You cannot say too much of the Lord Jesus Christ. His people
never tire of hearing about Him. He is, oh He is, altogether lovely. To you who believe, He is precious. To you, who are complete in Christ,
found in Him, not having our own righteousness which is of
the law, but through the faithfulness of Christ through righteousness
which is of God by faith, to you who believe, Christ is all
and in all. God help us to keep on preaching
that message. God help us to stand firm, to
not back down. not compromise that message at
all but to keep preaching Christ. Now notice what's going to happen.
You plant your feet and you take a stand and with uncompromising
boldness declare this message of salvation accomplished by
Christ and in him. You'll experience the same thing
that the Lord Jesus did in this occasion. Notice They come upon
him while he was teaching and instructing sinners in the way
of salvation. These vultures of religion, these
predators of religion descend upon him like a pack of wild
dogs. Not to learn from him, the great
teacher, not to listen to him, but rather they came to silence
him. They came to put an end to his ministry. They came to
put an end to him. They came to kill him. They came
with malice in their heart. They came with hatred in their
heart. toward God, for the carnal mind is enmity against God. Notice just across the page,
when the Lord came to the temple and saw what was going on, they
were selling and making money and the Lord shook them up. And he taught saying, is it not
verse 17, is it not written, my house shall be called of all
nations a house of prayer, but you've made it a den of thieves.
The scribes and the chief priests heard it and sought how they
might destroy him, for they feared him, because all the people were
astonished at his doctrine. They came to put an end to him.
One time, it's recorded in Matthew 12, when the Lord healed that
man that had the withered hand, and he did so on the Sabbath
day, and his hand was restored, the Lord commanded him to stretch
forth the hand He did, and the Lord in a marvelous way healed
him. And this same religious crowd
got upset, and they went out and held counsel how they might
destroy him. Such is the malice in the heart
of a sinner until God overcomes him and conquers that heart.
Look at verse 28. And they say unto him, By what
authority do you do these things? Who gave you the authority, the
right? to do these things because they could not refute his doctrine
nor deny his miracles. So they sought to find some flaw
in his commission, his charge. By whose authority, whose name
do you do these things? That you drive out these in the
temple, that you claim yourself to be the Messiah. Where's your
diploma? Where's your credential? Why
do you do such things as you do? Where is your power, your
authority? And here's what they're saying.
Here's what they're insinuating. You could have no legitimate
ministry unless you're under our authority or act by our instructions. Such is organized religion in
our day. I tell you, you know, turn over
here to Acts chapter 4. Not many days after that, when
the Lord put away our sin by the sacrifice of Himself, when
God raised Him from the dead, ascended to glory, and He gave
that great commission to go preach the gospel to His apostles, to
every creature, and they did so. And as Peter and John were
in the temple, you remember that man sitting there begging, begging
for help, money, Peter said, I don't have any silver or gold,
but what I have, you're welcome to it. In the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, get up and walk. And he did. And this same religious
crowd got upset. Notice in Acts chapter 4, verse
5. And it came to pass on the morrow
that the rulers and elders and scribes and Annas the high priest
and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, as many as were the kindred of
the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when
they had set them in the midst, Peter and John, they asked, same thing, where's
your power? What power, by what power, by
what name have you done these things? I like this answer. Peter filled with the Holy Ghost
said unto them, you rulers of the people of Israel, if we this
day be examined of the good deed I like to read it this way, the
God deed done to this infinite helpless man, by what means he
is made whole, be it known unto you and to all the people of
Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you
crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this
man stand here before you complete, whole. This is the stone. which was said it not of you
builders which has become the head of the corner as David said
in Psalm 118 this is the Lord's doing and is marvelous in our
eyes neither is there salvation in any other for there is no
other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved now read on just one more two more verses and when they
saw the boldness of Peter and John I want this kind of boldness
and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. I want to be in that crowd. I
want to be ignorant like Paul, ignorant like Peter, ignorant
like John, and I want to be unlearned that way. They took knowledge
of them that they had been with Jesus. And beholding the man
which is healed standing, they could not say anything else.
Oh, I tell you, my friend, by what authority and by what
right do we go preach the gospel? I don't know how many times I've
been asked this question when we went to Pikeville, Kentucky
to pastor the church there in 1994. And often people in the
community would ask, well, what school did you go to? Where did
you get your credentials? Where'd you get your education?
Where'd you get your learning? Who called you? Who put you in
the ministry? Where'd you get your authority? Where did you
get your power? Right here. Thus saith the Lord. That's all we need. That's the
sword. The sword of the Spirit is the
Word of God. The Word of God is quick and
powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. God, take this word and
operate on our hearts. today. I tell you what, when
He operates on our heart with that precision instrument of
God's Word, He does a good work in us. It's a perfect work in us. Back
to the text. Let's read on again. Look at
verse 29. And Jesus answered and said unto
them, well, I ask you one question. And you answer me, and I'll tell
you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John,
was it from heaven or of men? The Lord wisely goes on the attack
and turns the table around and asks them this question, as he
did often. When the Pharisees on another
occasion came and asked him all sorts of questions about taxes,
you remember Matthew 22? About the resurrection from the
dead, about marriage, about issues of the law. He stopped their
nonsense with one powerful question. You remember? What think ye of
Christ? Whose son is he? What think ye
of Christ? You read on in the end of that
chapter, and he stopped their nonsense because it says they
dared not ask him another question. Look at verse 30. The baptism
of John, what about it? Is it from heaven? Is it of God
or men? The baptism and the message and
ministry of John the Baptist, we know from reading the record
of God, John didn't put himself in the ministry. God helped the
man who does. He'll butcher it. He'll butcher
the gospel, but God calls his Preachers God calls these vessels
empty dirty filthy and makes them new creatures in Christ
Jesus and send them with the word of truth Send them with
a message of Christ in him crucified Remember this same crowd had
sent the committee unto John To examine him we read about
it in John chapter 1. Who are you John? You remember
what he said? I'm a voice I'm God's voice in
the wilderness. Make straight the paths of the
Lord, as saith Isaiah. Had these Jews acknowledged John's
ministry, they must also acknowledge him as the Christ. For John identified
the Lord Jesus Christ as the Lamb, the Lamb of God. John, all his whole life, grew
up around that temple. Ceremony he saw lamb after lamb
after lamb Sacrificial lambs according to the law, but when
the Lord Jesus Christ came on the scene John identified that
lamb that was typified all through the Old Testament and John said
there is There's a lamb the whole lamb Taketh away our sin. Oh God give us eyes to behold
lamb John's own testimony was that he must increase and I must
decrease. Now notice verse 31, they reasoned
with themselves. Now that's not a good thing to
do. You always get in trouble. They
reasoned with themselves saying, and here the Lord gives us an
insight to their thinking, their heart, what these religious men
are or conniving. And they said, well, you know,
if we say from heaven, he will say, well, then why didn't you
receive John, believe John? But if we say of men, they feared
the people. You know what they were fearing?
They were fearing, it says over Luke 20, that the people would
stone them because they all considered John to be a prophet. And so
they answered and said, well, you know, we don't really know.
We can't tell. They claimed ignorance. And the
Lord said, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these
things. Now notice their answer. Cowardly
answer. A spineless answer. A gutless
answer. You know, we don't really know. They were forced to make a dishonorable
retreat and to pretend they were ignorant. The Lord replied to
them, well, neither do I tell you by what authority I do these
things. They did not deserve to be told, He just left them
in their darkness, nor did He need to tell them, for the work
which He did told them plainly. By what authority, by what power
did He act? Since no mere man could do these
miracles unless God be with him. And He is God, manifest in the
flesh. In a matter of a few days, they'll
find out by what authority, by what power that the blessed Redeemer
acts. They condemned him to death,
yet he walks out of the tomb, risen, the risen victorious and
conquering Lord of lords and King of kings, the judge of all
the earth, to whom these men must bow in submission. God is highly exalted to him.
Give him a name which is above every name, that at that name
every knee is going to bow, every tongue is going to confess that
he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. This is him with
whom we have to do. It says in Romans 1, he is declared
to be the son of God with power, with authority. according to
the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead. Matthew 28, our risen victorious
Lord declared, All power, all authority is given unto me in
heaven and earth. Therefore, go and preach this
gospel. We go with His power, His authority,
preaching the gospel of Christ. Revelation 118 declares, I am He that liveth.
Our Lord declares, and was dead, behold, I'm alive forevermore.
Amen. And I have the keys, the authority,
to hell and death. And that song that the redeemed
sang that Brother Fortner read a moment ago. Worthy is the lamb
that was slain to receive all power, honor, glory, and blessing,
blessing both now and forever. What do you say to that? Amen. I want him to have all authority,
all power, all sovereignty over all issues and all things. For of him and through him and
to him we read in the word of God, all things to whom be glory
both now and forever. And then it says again, Amen. Amen. Now that's my introduction. Now here's my message. I want to make application to
us in a personal way, I hope. Salvation, redemption, justification,
righteousness, sanctification, regeneration, is it of God or
is it of men? Answer that. It's of God. That's
right. It's of God. Salvation is of
the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, let's see what God says. Turn
to Romans chapter 1. Now this is going to be straightforward.
Meat and taters preaching. Straightforward. As the old country
boy said, let's shut right down to the cock. Romans chapter 1. Salvation, is it of God or is
it of men? You answer that. Don't reason
within yourself now, you answer that. Romans 1, verse 1, Paul,
a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God, plain it, which he'd promised afore by
the prophets in holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ.
The gospel of God is concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. who was
made of the seed of David, according to the flesh, and declared to
be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness,
by the resurrection from the dead." Turn to a couple more
scriptures with me. Find Galatians chapter 1. Galatians
chapter 1, verse 11. The apostle declares, I guarantee
you, I certify, this is a certified message, this is a certified
gospel. I certify, I guarantee, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. I didn't receive it, man, neither
I wasn't taught it, man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Three witnesses. Here it is again. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. So it's clearly established from
the word of God that the gospel is of God. This is a faithful
saying and worthy of all acceptation that the Lord Jesus Christ came
to save sinners. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2, verse
7. We were gentle among you, even
as a nurse that cherishes her children, so being affectionately
desirous of you, we were willing, we were willing to have imparted
unto you not the gospel of God only, but our own soul, because
you were dearer to us. For you remember, brethren, our
labor and travail, for laboring night and day, because we would
not be charitable unto any of you. We preached unto you the
gospel of God. That's clear, isn't it? It's
clear. Now let me give you these things
here. I've got four of them. Here's
the first one. Salvation. Is it of the Lord
or is it of man? The Word of God declares that
salvation of the righteous is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. It's of the Lord in its planning. Before Adam fell, the surety
stood as a lamb slain before the foundation of the world.
Salvation of the Lord in its planning. Salvation of the Lord
in its execution. It pleased God to bruise him.
It was not the work that men did at Calvary. That's our hope.
Not at all. It's what God was doing at the
cross. That's our hope. God laid on him the iniquity
of us all. God made him sin for us who knew
no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Salvation of the Lord in its
planning, in its execution, in its application. We are confident
of this very thing that God who has begun a good work in you,
He will finish it. He will perfect it. Salvation
of the Lord in its sustaining power were kept by the power
of God. Salvations of the Lord in his
ultimate perfection being predestinated to be conformed to the image
of his son Do you reason in yourself or you convinced in your heart
before the Lord that? Salvation is of him through him
and in him In him listen to this. This is the record that God has
given to us the eternal life and This life is in his son Salvation,
my friend, is in a person. The Lord Jesus Christ. Simeon
picked him up that day and said, Lord, let me die now. I've seen
thy salvation, thy Savior. Salvation's in Him. In Him. He that hath the Son hath life.
He that hath not the Son of God does not have life. Whatever
else you have. If you're not one with Christ
in that vital union joined to Him, you do not have life and
salvation. Salvation's in Him. No wonder
the Apostle said, oh, that I might win Christ and be found in Him. In Him. I want to be in Him. It's God who had saved us and
called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but
according to His own purpose and grace given to us in Christ
Jesus before the foundation of the world. Salvation, is it of
the Lord? Or is it of men? Answer that. It's of the Lord. Secondly, redemption
from all sin. Find 1 Peter. 1 Peter 1. Redemption from all sin. Is it of God? Through the Lord Jesus Christ?
Or is it some way dependent and determined by the sinner? Redemption
from all sin, and that's what I need. I don't need a partial
cleansing. I need a complete cleansing from
all my sins. And thank God the Word declares,
the blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us from all our
sin. Original sin, past sin, actual
sin, future sin, all sin dealt with in Christ Jesus. He put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. Redemption from all
sin, is it from the Lord? Is it of God? Or is it determined
by the sinner? Now, I'm not interested at all
in the opinions of men, for there are many. What does God say on
the issue? Here it is, 1 Peter, verse 18. For as much as you know this,
you were not redeemed with corruptible things. He gives a negative. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things. Silver and gold, forget money.
From your vain conversation, your vain conduct, forget your
morality. Received by tradition from your
father, forget your tradition, forget your ceremony. We're not
redeemed with corruptible things, but with the precious blood of Christ.
as of a Lamb without blemish and without spot, who was truly
foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you." Redemption from all sin is of
the Lord, isn't it? The blood of Jesus Christ does
indeed cleanse and keep on cleansing us from all sin. Over in Ephesians
1, it talks about in whom we have redemption. in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of sins, redemption through His
blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches of His
grace. Our great high priest did not
bring that typical animal sacrifice. He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained for us eternal redemption with His own
blood. He obtained it, and it is eternal,
and He gives that unto us. by his sovereign mercy. When
he by himself purged our sin, he sat down at the right hand
of God. Thirdly, justification before
Almighty God. Is it of God? through the glorious
righteousness and blood sacrifice of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus,
or is it accomplished by works, merits, deeds, and righteousness
of the creature? I know this. I'm not real smart,
but I know this. It can't be both. Justification,
my friend, is all of grace. I can make good on that. Find
Romans 3. By him all that believe are justified
from all things, which it could not be justified by the law of
Moses. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us. Romans 3. Justification, cleared
of all guilt before God. Is that of God or of men? Well, what does the book say?
Verse 23, Romans 3, For all have sinned that come short of the
glory of God, being justified freely by His grace. through
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth,
foreordained to be the propitiation, the satisfaction, the mercy seat,
through faith in His blood to declare His righteousness, for
the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance
and longsuffering of God, to declare, I say at this time,
His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of
them which believe. Oh, my soul. A couple more texts
here in Romans for just a moment. Find Romans 5, 9. God commended his love, verse
8 in Romans 5, 8. God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than being justified
by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. I've
got more. Look at Romans 4.25. I skipped
over this one, but we'll go back. Romans 4.25, who was delivered
for our offenses. The Lord Jesus Christ was delivered
for our offenses. He had no sin. He knew no sin.
He did no sin. He was delivered for our offenses
and was raised again. He bare our sin in his own body
on the tree and was raised again because he justified us. Therefore,
be justified. By faith, we have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Find Romans 8, turn over there.
Justification before Almighty God. Salvation, redemption, justification. It's of God, isn't it? Romans
8, verse 32. He that spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also
freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is He that condemneth? There
is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. It is Christ
that died, yea, rather than is risen again. Who is even at the
right hand of God? Who also makes intercession for
us? Now who's going to separate us
from that? In heaven, earth, or hell, no one, my friend. You
got it? You with me? I pray the Lord will convince
all of us, just not here, but in our heart. May God grip your
heart, may God grip your soul, and teach you these things. Lastly
is this, regeneration. Regeneration. Go back to 1 Peter
again. Regeneration. Being made a new
creature in Christ. Being brought from the grave
of spiritual death. Being delivered from the bondage
of the law. Having a new spiritual sinless
nature implanted within. Is it of God? Or is it of men? Salvation is of the Lord. This
regenerating work is a work of God. It is the effectual, irresistible,
powerful work of God the Holy Spirit wrought within you. It's not something you do. It's
something that God does in you. Salvation is a heart work. It's not something of man. It's
not something we merely learn. It's not mere intellectual knowledge
of doctrinal facts. It's the changing It's the changing
work of God. It's God doing that work of grace
in you you happy quicken who were dead in trespasses and in
sin First Peter did I tell you to turn there? Okay, first Peter
chapter 1 Let's consider this look verse 3. I'm saying that
regeneration is totally the work of God. He sovereignly quickens
whom He will, irresistibly and powerfully, with the means that
He has ordained. And at the preaching of the truth
of His own will begat He us with the word of truth. We're going
to see here in a minute. 1 Peter 1 verse 3, Blessed be
the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to
his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a living hope by
the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance
incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in
heaven for you. Same chapter, verse 23, being
born again. not of a corruptible seed, but
of an incorruptible by the word of God, which liveth and abideth
forever." Now find 2 Peter. 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter chapter 1 verse 3 here.
According as his divine power hath given unto us all things
that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him
that called us out of darkness to his marvelous light, to glory
and virtue, whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious
promises. What is that? It's a gospel.
That by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having
escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. We are new creatures in Christ
Jesus. Now, in closing, if you say these
things are of God, won't you believe Him? I trust
you do. Won't you bow to Him and own
Him publicly before men? You prayed that way in your prayer.
Lord, God, do a work of grace in the hearts of those who have
yet not believed the gospel. May God give you grace to bow
to Him and own Him publicly before men. You know, the Lord doesn't
have any private disciples. They stand publicly and declare
their allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how do we
do that? By confessing Christ in believer's
baptism. Or do you, like these religious
ignorant fools, say, well, you know, we can't really tell. We
don't know. My friend, it is not wise to
reason with yourself about these things to see if they be so.
They truly are so. Believe God. Believe His record. Believe His Word. Bow to Him. Bow to Him. I'll leave you with
these words. John Owen, Christ is the way. Men without Him are cane wanderers
groping in darkness. Christ is the truth. Men without
Him are living a lie. Christ is the life. Men without
Him are dead in trespasses and sin. Christ is the light. Without
Him, men are in total darkness. Christ is the true vine. Men
without Him are withered branches, twice dead, plucked up by the
roots. Christ is the rock. Men without
Him are carried away by the flood of His wrath. Christ is the alpha,
the omega, the beginning, the end. He who has not Christ hath
not the beginning of good nor the end of misery. With Christ
is endless hope. Without Him is hopeless end.
It's better not to be than to be without the Lord Jesus Christ. God give you grace to bow to
Christ and love Him and believe Him and receive Him. Thank you,
Pastor.