Isaiah chapter 43. In verse 1 it says, But now thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee,
O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee, I have called
thee by thy name, thou art mine. How precious that is! And these people that belong
to the Lord, They are people of experience. Verse 2, When
thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee. The Lord
said, I will be with thee, and through the rivers they shall
not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. So these that have been redeemed,
that are called by name and belong to the Lord, They're people that
will have trial and difficulty, stress and many afflictions in
this life. But he said, I will be with thee
when you pass through the waters, the waters being a symbol of
the afflictions and trouble and trials that the people of God
have. He said, I will be with thee.
Isn't that a tremendous comfort? To have the Lord, the God of
heaven and earth, the God of creation, yea, even the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ to be with us. God with us. That's precious. And he said,
I'll be with you when you go through the rivers. They'll not
overflow you. Sometimes we think they're going
to. And we felt many a time that we were goners. But the Lord
said, I'll be with you and they shall not overflow thee. The
rivers of life, the difficulties of life will not get the best
of you. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior." The Lord Jesus Christ, coming
God in the flesh, is our Savior. Our Savior. Now it's wonderful
to belong to the Lord. Scripture says, The foundation
of God standeth sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them
that are his. And it's wonderful to belong
to the Lord and to know that He has chosen you and that He's
laid hold of you, and that He's going to keep you and protect
you, and that He alone is your Savior. Now, I want to skip down
here to verse 10. seeing that we've introduced
these people that belong to the Lord, people of experience, trial,
and test, but delivered people. He says, You are my witnesses,
saith the Lord. You are my witnesses, saith the
Lord, and my servant, whom I have chosen, that you may know and
believe me, and understand that I am he, Before me there was
no God formed, neither shall there be any after me. I, even
I, am the Lord, and besides thee there is no Savior. And then look at verse 21. He
said, This people have I formed for myself, they shall show forth
my praise. I wonder if we have forgotten
somewhat of the fact that the Lord is a God of purpose and
they laid hold of us and saved us on purpose in order that we
might be His witnesses and that we might show forth His praise. In verse 7 he says, Even everyone
that is called by my name, for I have created him, for my glory
I have formed him, yea, I have made him. The Lord has made his
people for his glory and there to be his witness. Look at what
he said there in verse 10. Let's think about that a little
bit. Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant who
I have chosen. First of all, you're a witness
of the things that you've heard, the things that you've experienced,
the things that you know about me, the fact that you know me,
that I am God. He said that you may know and
believe me. God's people are those who have
been blessed with the ability to believe God. It's no small
thing, my friend, to have been chosen of God, to have been chosen
from the foundation of the world, to have His love and affection
set upon you before you was even born. and that God in purpose,
holy purpose, set His affection on you and determined that you
would know and believe Him. That's no small thing. This world
is full of unbelievers. Unbelievers. What separates you
and them? It's the choice of God, my friend.
It's the fact that God, in holy purpose, before the foundation
of the world, said, You're mine. And He sent His Son, the Lord
Jesus Christ, to make purchase of that possession which He had
laid hold of in His counsel and purpose. so that you might believe
me. Never look upon believing as
being something that is just a trivial thing. My friend, the
only people that believe the report of the gospel are those
in whom the Lord has revealed His arm. It's those that God
has made special revelation of truth to their hearts. Now, I
realize that we've got lots and lots of people in our day and
time professing that they believe, that they believe. Oh, I think
of it often. But you know, the only people
that can believe are those that have received a special visit
from the Lord. Those who have been given faith.
Faith cometh. It's got to come. And it cannot
come from any source except the God of heaven and earth. So if
you believe, it's because God has given you faith, and it's
not something you worked up on your own. We know that people
think sometimes that, you know, we can talk people into believing,
but we cannot talk people into believing. Believing takes a
miracle. It's a miracle that anybody believes. We'll have a little more to say
about that in a few moments. But he said, but you may know
and believe me and understand that I am He. Oh, for a church
full of people that understands that God is God, that He's God
indeed. Well, my friend, we've said it
before that we got where we are by what we've heard. And if you
people believe that God is God, and that he's the sovereign of
the universe, and that he's boss of the universe, if you believe
that, truly believe it in your heart and soul. If you truly
are those that are witnesses of his lordship, and the fact
of his power and grace, my friend, it's because God has given you
this ability to understand. that ability to understand. We
look at people and we talk to them and we try to tell them,
you know, and all the church buildings in America almost are
dedicated to the proposition that you can teach a man to understand
who God is. But my friend, it cannot be done.
It cannot be done. The Lord said, He said, you are
my witnesses, my servant whom I have chosen that you may know
and believe me and understand that I am He. It all hinges on
whether or not God has laid hold of you or not. Whether God has
crossed your path. Whether God has been pleased
to make Himself known to your heart. It all depends upon that. You say, well, I'm trying to
teach my children to know the Lord. Go ahead. But you better
be praying the blessing of God upon it, because only the Lord
is able to reveal Himself, make Himself known. The only person
that can reveal you is you. The only person that can reveal
God is God Himself. You may reveal yourself partially,
But God has been pleased to reveal Himself through the person of
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And John said in 1 John, we know
that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding
that we might know Him that is true. And thank be unto God we're
in Him that is true. So He gives an understanding
that I am He. That I am He. I'm the first and
the last. I'm the beginning. I'm the Alpha
and the Omega, the beginning and the end. Before me, he says,
there was no God formed. There wasn't any God before me.
I am the eternal God. From everlasting to everlasting,
I am God. And he said, before me, there
was no God formed, neither shall there be any after me. This is
the God you must reckon with. He's the eternal God, there wasn't
any before Him, none after Him. It's this God that we must be
reconciled to through the person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you reconcile to God? This is the only God there is,
the only God there'll ever be. Do you reconcile to Him? You
say, I don't like the God of the Bible. Well, my friend, He's
the God the eternal God, and you must be reconciled to Him.
He's not going to be reconciled to you. The ways of the Lord
are not your ways. The heavens are higher than the
earth. The ways of the Lord are higher than our ways. Be reconciled
to God through the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks be unto God we
can be accepted by Him. He said, I, even I, am the Lord. Besides me there is no Savior.
So I even I am the Lord, I'm the Lord, I'm the Lord, I'm the
sovereign of the universe. Besides me, nobody's gonna be
saved. Can't be saved apart from doing
business with God. Being reconciled by the Spirit,
grace, love, mercy of God to the Lord through Jesus. I even
I am the Lord and besides me there's no Savior. I thought
a great deal on this business of being witnesses. That we're
witnesses. Witnesses to our God. You know, this is a theme that
goes all the way through the scriptures. That God's elect,
God's people, are his witnesses in whatever generation they live.
They're the ones that stand and witness to the fact that God
has touched them, that God has visited them, that God has revealed
himself in Christ, made himself known. They're the ones that
bear witness to the fact that there's no Savior besides Him.
They're the ones that stand on the sovereignty of God. And I
thought about the responsibility and the obligation of this little
body here in this city that we live in and the church dwells
in and how obligated we are to be his witnesses. And you know
sometimes we faint in heart at such an awesome responsibility. Is it true that God in this day
and time makes himself so known to some people that they can
actually witness that this God is God and that he is the only
Savior. A witness is one who accurately,
honestly relates to others that which he has heard with his own
ears, seen with his own eyes, and felt and experienced in his
own heart. Now that's what a witness is.
Can you say you're a witness for the Lord, for this God that's
been pictured here? He does not, that is a witness,
does not relate second-hand information. He declares only what he himself
knows to be true about this God. Do we know enough about this
God to say we're His witnesses? We are His witnesses. Well, I
thought a great deal about this, as I mentioned earlier, and I
do want, even in our closing years of life, I do want to show
forth the praise of the Lord. I do want to glorify God. I do
want that we would be able, as a people, to bear true witness
You know, we're looked upon, and I'm sure this is true, we're looked upon here as not
being the best advocates or the best
witnesses of the things which we have professed, that we're
not very good witnesses, and that we really maybe don't even
count as a people in the eyes of the religious folks in this
town. But I want to say this morning that I believe that the
people that have a right to be here in this city, the people
that have a right to hold forth in this city from week to week
and to open the book and to preach the book are those people like
ourselves, that God has been pleased to make known his saving
grace in the person of his Son, and that he's been pleased to
reveal who he is to them. I believe these are the people,
you are the people, that are to be his witnesses. Now brethren,
I know that in Acts chapter 1 and verse 8, well, I want to ask
you just to turn to Luke chapter 24 with me. Turn to Luke chapter
24. I know that on the day of Pentecost
there was great power that came down from heaven and said that
you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come
upon you and you shall be witnesses unto me. But here in Luke chapter 24,
I want to read a passage that was given to us by our Lord right
before His ascension into glory. And in verse 44, He said unto
them, These are the words which I spake unto you while I was
yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were
written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the
Psalms concerning me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them,
Thus it is written, and thus it behoove Christ to suffer,
and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance
and remission of sin should be preached in his name among all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these
things. And behold, I send the promise
of my Father upon you, but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem until
ye be endued with power from on high. Tarry in the city of
Jerusalem until ye be endued with power from on high. Why? Now the Lord has said, in verse
46, the Lord Jesus said, Thus it is written, and thus it behooved
Christ to suffer. The Lord Jesus had died on the
cross. He had been through the agonies
of Gethsemane and had went to Golgotha. And he had been raised
from the dead on the third day. And he said that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations,
beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these
things. You are witnesses of the suffering,
the agonies, the death of the Lord Jesus Christ and also your
witnesses of his resurrection. Now, I want us to think a little
bit about this awesome responsibility that we might be able to get
a word for ourselves and our hearts about this. Witnesses. He said you're witnesses of these
things. Now, We believe that Christ did
suffer. Don't we believe in his Gethsemane
sweat? Don't we believe in Gogolathus'
brow, the awful suffering to death of our Savior, pouring
out his soul into death? Beloved, when I think of the
death of the Lord Jesus Christ, there's a word that comes to
mind, and that is incredible. incredible. Now I want you to think with
me a little bit. The death of our Lord Jesus Christ
is incredible. Now by that I mean that it's
seeming too extraordinary to be possible. So extraordinary
it seems that it's impossible that Jesus Christ should die
for us. Think about it with me, that
heaven's best should come down here to this world and die for
the world's worst. Think about it. Is this not incredible? Now brethren, I want you to turn
with me, keep your finger here in Luke and turn over to Romans
chapter 5. This passage of scripture is
one that just simply sets this forth in a clearer light than
anything possibly, than any other scripture. But notice it here
in Romans chapter 5 and verse 6, we start there. For when we
were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. When we were without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die. Yet peradventure for a good man
some would even dare to die. Someone might die for a good
man. You might search the world over
and if you could convince a person that this man was going to die
and that he was such a good man, so honorable, that maybe someone
would step up and say, I'll die in his place. But look at this. Verse 8, But God commendeth his
love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. In other words, the Lord Jesus
Christ came and he died for us while we were yet sinners. There
wasn't anything good about us. But he died for sinners while
we were yet without strength. Christ died for the ungodly.
This is incredible. But we try to witness, do you
see what we try to do? We try to talk people into believing
that Christ died. It's so incredible that no one
could believe that this man, God-man, the eternal Son of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ, that he would come down here from heaven
and actually take upon himself our nature and our sin and die
for us. And we're trying to convince
people of that in the strength and energy of our intellect and
flesh. Now, beloved, it can't be done.
He can't be done. We are not serious and sober
people like we ought to be. Only the Church was told to go
into Jerusalem and they would be endued with power from on
high. There would be power given from on high. The Holy Spirit
would come and enable them to bear this witness. And then think
with me again. He said, not only did Christ
suffer, but He rose from the dead the third day. And there's
a word that comes to me about that, and that word is impossible. Impossible. Now tell me, did
you ever see anybody that had been resurrected from the dead?
Have you? No? I'm sure you haven't. Spiritually
speaking, we have Witnessed a few people that were raised from
the dead. Hallelujah. But we haven't met
anybody in the flesh that was raised from the dead. I say impossible. Now you try
to talk somebody into believing that Jesus Christ rose from the
dead. And if they say they believe
it, They're either one who has been visited by God by revelation,
Christ has been made known to their heart, or they're idiots. It is impossible to be raised
from the dead apart from the power and all-mightiness of God. Only God can raise the dead.
Only God can raise the dead, and that's the hope. Of all believers
who die in Christ is that God can and will raise the dead. But my friend, now we go to this
world and we say Christ died. It's incredible. We say that
he rose from the dead. Impossible. Now you believe it. They can't believe it. are unable to believe it. No
possibility they can believe it. They're not going to believe
it to the saving of their soul apart from revelation. It's got
to be the Spirit. The Holy Spirit has got to be
involved in this witnessing. You can't do it apart from the
Holy Spirit giving you the power and the ability to bear witness. Now we believe that the Holy
Spirit is the author of the new birth. And we believe that regeneration
is the work of the Holy Ghost. And we believe that when people
are saved, they are baptized by one spirit into one body,
that being the body of Christ. And we believe that no one can
be saved, serve God, or lay down his life in the cause of Christ
as his witness until a life-giving power of the Holy Spirit comes
upon them in regeneration. But I wonder, brethren, as we
think about this, are we attempting to bear a witness
in this city apart from the filling and power of the Holy Ghost.
I have been moved in my soul in the last few weeks and months
to think that we need the power of God upon our lives
and upon the preaching. It's not enough to have the intellectual
ability to stand up and to speak forth the things of God.
That's not enough in itself. There's a power that must be
present. The Holy Spirit of God must come
down upon us. I think sometimes that our profession
is empty. It's empty from the standpoint
that there's no unction, no power in it. I remember when I was a boy, a story that I heard talking about empty professions.
Let me illustrate it with this story. Back when I was a boy
at railroad crossings, they didn't have automatic signals at a lot
of railroad crossings, a few, but a fellow would go out, a
railroadman, And he would stand on a dark night with a lantern
and he would wave that lantern back and forth, back and forth
to warn people that the train was at the intersection. And
the story was that one dark night there was a railroadman who had
this responsibility upon him and so he stood out and waved
the lantern. and there was a car coming and
the car never stopped, it just kept coming till finally he had
to jump out of the way and the car ran out and the train hit
the driver, hit the car, killed the driver. And so at the coroner's
inquest, a little later, the fellow testified that he stood
there and he waved the lantern. And a couple of weeks later,
He confided to a friend of his, yes, he did wave the lantern,
but that he had no light in the lantern. The lantern was not
lit. The lantern was not lit. Now,
brethren, our witness to this generation, there's got to be
more to it than just waving the lantern. There's got to be more
to it. There's a power from God. There's
a power from heaven. I believe with all of my heart
that there is an anointing of the Holy Spirit upon a preacher,
upon a church that enables that church to speak with authority
and speak with power and enables that church to be able to testify
of the grace of God and it be effectual in the hearts of men
and women who hear it. Empty profession. Empty profession. Brother, sister, let us not be
guilty of that. May God deliver us from an empty
profession. Oh, like those ten wise virgins,
we need oil in the lamp. And we need to be able to light,
have a light. Now I wanted to just show you
that and impress upon your mind that it's not enough to stand
up and try to talk people into doing Believing or into believing,
man's got to believe the resurrection to be saved. He's got to believe
it. The scripture says that, 1 Corinthians 15, that Paul said,
I will deliver unto you the gospel. He said how that Christ died,
how that He was buried and God raised Him from the dead. And
he said, you're saved. This is the gospel by which you're
saved. By which you're saved. You've got to believe in the
resurrection. You've got to believe in it. How are you going to do
it unless there's a revelation of the Spirit of God comes into
your heart, into our hearts? I don't know how many of you
believe in the resurrection. I trust you all do, but I don't
know how many here do really believe in it. If you believe
in it, it's because God's revealed it to you, made it known to you.
Now, I want you to turn with me. Now you say, well, you mean we
can't do anything without the Holy Spirit coming upon us. I believe the Spirit of God comes
upon us. Jesus talked about us being about God giving the Holy Spirit
to them that ask Him. I've had enough experience in
54 years to know the difference between when the Spirit of God
is on you and when it's not, and when the power is in your
soul and when it isn't. I've had enough experience. I've
been in the pulpit alone many times, and I've been there a
few times when the power was there. But I want to show you a verse
out of John 5. Bear with me. In John 5 and verse
19. Jesus answered and said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Now you listen to these
next few words. The Son can do nothing of Himself. Now you say, what in the world
would such a statement like that mean? The Son can do nothing
of Himself. Now, if the Son can do nothing
of Himself, what about me and you? We can't
do anything of ourselves. Now listen to what else he said.
But what he seeth the Father do. Now brethren, We're not interested
in anything going on around here except what the Father is the
author of, what God is the author of. But do you think that God
is out of business? Has He hung a shingle on His
door saying, I'm no longer doing anything? No. I think that the
first part of Isaiah 43, they're talking about, bring my sons,
bring my sons and my daughters. God is calling out His elect.
God is calling out his people. That what he said, the son can
do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the father do, for what
things soever he doeth, these also doeth the son likewise. The son does what the father
is doing. And I believe that you and I can be involved in God's eternal
purpose. I think we are careless And I
think we need to examine ourselves as to whether or not we're really
in touch or not with heaven and what God would have to be accomplished
in our day and time. I would hope that God would fill
this place with his children, sons and daughters, people that
he'd reveal the truth to. It wouldn't bother me any at
all. I'd praise God for it. People that know the truth by
revelation. in their hearts. All right, now
there's another verse that I want to call to your attention and
it is over in the 20th chapter. The 20th chapter of, well first
let's turn to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1 and then
we'll go to the 20th chapter of John. Revelation chapter 1
in verse 5. Now, beloved, here is a picture
of the perfect witness, upon whom the Spirit came without
measure. Now, this is the true witness. Verse 5, And from Jesus Christ,
who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the
dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved
us and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made
us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory
and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. So our Lord Jesus Christ is the
faithful witness. But then turn back with me to
John 20 and look at verse 21. Verse 21 of John 20, Then said
Jesus to them again, His disciples, Peace be unto
you, as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you. Now what do you think about that?
Have you ever read that before? As the Father sent me, even so
send I you. I am the faithful witness and
the head of the covenant, and I came as the witness of God
to the world, saith the Lord Jesus. And as the Father sent
me, even so send I you. Even so send I you. But Janet,
look at the next verse. And when he had said this, he
breathed on them, And saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. Now what connection is there
between even so send I you and receiving
the Holy Ghost? Well brethren, there is a tremendous
connection. We can only operate in the power
of God, the power of the Spirit, the leading of the Spirit, the
Holy Spirit directing. The Holy Spirit enabling us to
have a word in season, to be able to speak that word. As my Father sent me, even so
send I you. That just got a hold of me and
gripped my heart this week. Many years ago when the church
in Indiana, New Testament Baptist Church in Indiana, we had a conference
about once a month. It was a fellowship meeting,
we called it. And preachers from Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and
a couple from Indiana would come, and we would go over to Ohio,
and then we'd go over to Illinois, and we'd go different places
wherever people wanted to hold this fellowship meeting. But
there was an old brother that came up from Cincinnati, Ohio,
and was there at our place, two or three different times. His
name was Brother Hewlin. And I'll never forget him because
he used red shoe polish on his hair. And he wore a big old bandana
around his neck to keep that red shoe polish from getting
on his shirt collar. But that fella could play the
piano and he could sing. And there was a song written
by Margaret Clarkson in 1944, by the name of So Sendayu. And
I don't know whether you ever heard that song or not, but he
would sing that song. And I tell you, he would just
lift the rafters. So Sendayu. And there's some
words in that song that have been a real blessing to
me as I looked over them this morning. Let me share just some
of them with you. Margaret Clarkson wrote this,
as I said, in 1944. So send I you to labor unrewarded,
to serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown, to bear rebuke, to suffer
scorn and scoffing. So send I you to toil for me
alone. So send I you to bind the bruised
and broken, or wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake, to
bear the burdens of a world a-weary. So send I you to suffer for my
sake. So send I you to loneliness and
longing, with heart a-hungering for the loved and known, forsaking
home and kindred, friend and dear one, So send I you to know
my love alone. So send I you to leave your life's
ambition, To die to dear desire, self-will resign, To labor long
and love where men revile you, So send I you to lose your life
in mine. So send I you to hearts made
hard by hatred, To eyes made blind because they will not see,
to spend, though it be blood, to spend and spare not, so send
I you to taste of Calvary. Now, beloved, I am not scared
off from seeking the Spirit of God and the power of God for
this church by the Charismatics. They don't have anything for
as I'm concerned. You're His witnesses. You're
the ones that have the understanding. You're the ones that have received
the revelation. You're the one to believe the
supernatural gospel of Jesus Christ. And I'm not going to
be scared off by the charismatics. Now, let me close with this statement. You know Paul said that he was
the debtor both to the Jew and the Greek, the barbarian, the
wise, the unwise. He said he was not ashamed of
the gospel for it was the power of God unto salvation to everyone
that believeth, unto the Jew first and also unto the Greek. It is the privilege, responsibility,
and honor of every believer to be a witness for Christ and his
generation. This is every believer's calling
in this world. Every true Christian, see if
you believe this, every true Christian is a missionary. Every
true believer is an evangelist. Every true follower of Christ
is a preacher. Every true child of God is his
witness. Now the Greek word for witness
is the one from which we get the word martyr. Christ's witnesses
are his martyrs, people who lay down their lives for Him and
His cause. Now that gives meaning, does
it not, to the words of the song that I read to you, So Send I
You. Christ's witnesses are His martyrs,
people who lay down their lives for His cause. My friend, I guess
that my purpose this morning in bringing this message is to
get you to rededicate yourself and submit yourself more fully
to an impossible task, to an impossible work, a work that
only this church can do if God be pleased to send down His Spirit.
I will beg for you that God will fill you with His Spirit, that
we'll be helped, that we'll be strengthened, that we'll have
the ability to go forward in the name of the Lord, and that
we'll truly be His witnesses, be able to testify. Somebody
needs to testify that God is God. Somebody needs to raise
their voice and testify that this God is the everlasting God,
the true God, the sovereign, the God of purpose and grace.
And I'll beg God for you. I beg God for myself. It's no
small thing to be a public preacher for 54 years and to have witnessed
a few times the Spirit of God doing something in the lives
of people, knowing it was the Lord. Knowing it was the Lord. Clear evidence. God's hand is
in the situation. God's hand is doing it. But I sure would like to see
it one more time. I'd like to see the Lord work
through His Word. Now, brethren, listen to me.
Sisters, listen to me. You know whether you're hard-hearted
or not. You know whether there's any warmth in your soul. You
know whether there's icicles in your soul or not. You know.
You know. Time to thaw out. Seek the Lord. Cry out to God. Call upon Him. We don't want anything except
what God does. But we want to see Him quicken
souls. We want to see God operate, move. We want to see His testimony
go forth. We're His witnesses. We're His
witnesses. Are you satisfied with the witness
you are? God help us. And always remember when we're
trying to Deal with people. The word incredible and the word
impossible. Remember it. And that'll make
you lean more heavily upon the Spirit of God, Aaron, when you
come in as poet. That you can't come in here just,
you know, having the words. But God's blessing must be on
you. Well, that was what was up on my heart this morning.
I hope that You'll be stirred somewhat by it and moved by it
to seek the Lord. To seek the Lord. Well, let's
have prayer. Father, thank You for this privilege
we've had this morning. We thank You, Lord, for Your
blessings that are real. We thank You for drawing near
to our hearts this morning. Thank You for the refreshment
of the Word. We ask that You will bless our
going forth and that our testimony will be one that will be useful,
and that we will be true witnesses, even as our Lord Jesus Christ.
We shall be faithful to Him. We thank you for the example
of our Lord Jesus, who came into this world and said that He did
not come to do His own will, but the will of Him that sent
Him. Help us to do likewise. Thank you again for your mercies,
Lord. Thank you for your goodness. Remember that one who's afflicted,
Lord, who is very afflicted and needs your help right now. Undertake
for that one. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.