In Hebrews 11, the Holy Spirit
has given us numerous examples of faith. In verses 33 and 34,
he shows us nine feats of faith, nine feats of faith by which
he explains to us, illustrates for us, and shows us what faith
is and encourages us to believe our God. It is not accidental
that that same spirit of inspiration declares in Galatians chapter
5, verses 22 and 23, that the fruit of the Spirit is ninefold. Here is the fruit of the Spirit
exemplified in acts of faith. Look at Hebrews 11, 32. Let's
begin there. What shall I say more? For time
would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Baruch, and of Samson,
and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets.
All right, now here's a text. Who through faith subdued kingdoms,
wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths
of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of
the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." Now understand
this, God help us to understand it. True faith in Christ is the
gift of God, the operation of his spirit upon us, for us, and
in us by the power of omnipotent grace. But faith is not a passive
thing. Faith is not merely something
God does for us, not merely something God puts in us like you'd put
a coin in a jar, but rather it is an active, living principle
of grace. It is something we exercise,
exercise deliberately, exercise with intention and with purpose. Let me see if I can illustrate
what I'm saying. The lungs that are in this chest are God's creation. They are God's gift. The air
that I breathe is God's air. It's God's gift. But if I would
live, I must breathe the air. God gives me the strength to
do it. Yes, sir. It is God by whom I breathe the
air. Yes, sir. But the air must be
breathed. It must be done, even though
in my own mind, there's not some decision that I logically make
to breathe the air, though sometimes I do. You get choked a little
bit, you'll try your dead-level best to get a little breath of
air. But still, there are determinations made within the mind, even subconsciously,
to believe, because breathing is an active principle, a living
thing. Even so, faith, the exercise
of faith, is as prominent and as vital to our lives in this
world as believing men and women, as is the beating of the hearts
in our chest or the breathing of our lungs. Without question,
all who are born of God err greatly in many things in many directions. We know that both by the revelation
of God in Holy Scripture and by painful, painful experience. I do not suggest and the scriptures
do not teach that faith is perfect, that faith is always strong,
that faith is always great. No, sir, we know better. But
this I do know, if you have faith even as a grain of mustard seed,
our Lord says, that ain't much. That ain't much. And I'm confident
that the more we grow in the grace and knowledge of our God
and the The more really we grow in faith, the more we recognize
how little our faith is. It ain't much. I would to God. I believe to him a tithe like
he's worthy of being believed. But if you have faith, even as
a grain of mustard seed, it's God's gift to you and God's operation
in you. And if you have faith, true faith
in Jesus Christ, if you trust Jesus Christ alone, as your only
Lord and Savior, if you trust the Christ of God, even as a
grain of mustard seed, the mountain of your sins is removed into
the sea of God's forgiveness. And our Lord says, nothing shall
be impossible to you. Nothing. Nothing shall be impossible
to you. Faith is the gift of God. It
is the heart's persuasion that God is true, the heart's persuasion
of the truth of God, Jesus Christ the Lord. It is produced in us
by omnipotent power, by sovereign, irresistible grace, and it is
sustained in us by that same grace. We continue in faith by
the same grace which gave us faith. We walk in faith by the
same gift and power which first created faith in us. Bob read
it just a little bit ago. It is the gift of God. Gift of
God who has before ordained that we should walk in good works.
And he who gave the faith, ordained that we walk in faith, will speak
to it that we do if he's given it. And this faith is divinely
activated. It is activated and energized
by our Savior who said, without me, you can do nothing. If we
turn to him, we must be turned by him. If we run after him,
he must first draw us. If we open to him and bid him
come in and sit down and sup with us, he himself must put
his hand in the door of our hearts and open the door. Elsewise,
we will never come to him. We will never run after him.
We will never open to him. And yet, this faith is active. We do turn to him. We do run
after him. We do open to him because he
graciously compels us to do so. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest. Oh, thank God for his causing. Larry, if we're his, he won't
leave us alone. He won't leave us alone. Blessed is the man
whom thou choosest and causes to approach unto thee. And this
faith grows and is increased by God. Everything depends on
Him. We grow in faith by the gift
of God's grace. Therefore, we pray, Lord, increase
our faith. I believe, help thou mine unbelief. And we grow in faith by the instruction
of God's word. He teaches us out of his holy
law, out of his word, out of his revelation. But the mere
instruction given by these lips won't cause you to grow in faith
unless God causes his word to find root in your heart and bring
forth fruit. We grow in faith by the discipline
of grace, a wise mother and wise father. Discipline their children. They don't let them run here
and there, do whatever they will. They insist the kids do what
they're told to do, what they're instructed to do. And they exercise
discipline to see to it so that the children will grow. Grow
up to be mature, responsible young men and women. And so our
Heavenly Father graciously and wisely disciplines us in this
thing of faith and grace. And we're disciplined in faith
so that we grow in faith by the exercise of God's providence.
Everything our Father does for us in this world, everything
he does with us and to us in this world, is to graciously
compel us to believe him. More and more, he breaks off
all the horsemen we would trust Him. More and more, He breaks
off all the chariots upon whom we would look. More and more,
He breaks away every crutch upon which we lean to make us trust
Him, to make us lean on Him, to make us look to Him. Faith, you see, is learning to
lean upon the arm of omnipotence. Our Lord said, nothing shall
be impossible to you. If you have faith, it's a grain
of mustard seed. Now, Bobby, how on earth can
that be true of you and me? As you read these things that
we shall look at this evening in Hebrews 11, 33 and 34, The
things that were done by men who believed God would make you
think faith must be an omnipotent thing. How else can you explain
these things? How else can you understand these
things? Faith must be an omnipotent thing. No, faith is not. But the object of faith is. Faith
leans upon the arm of omnipotence. And just as we lean on that mighty
arm, nothing shall be impossible to you. All right, let's look
at these nine things. We'll look at them briefly, and
I'm not going to bother you with trying to figure out the specific
details of the historic reference. So that's a kind of lazy way
of doing things. No, I've done the work. I'm not going to bother
you with trying to figure those things out and point them out
to you. because the Holy Spirit very carefully doesn't point
them out. In other words, we're not told
here by the Holy Spirit whether it was Joshua or David who subdued
kingdoms. He doesn't tell us whether it
was Samuel or David who worked righteousness, whether it was
Abraham or Joshua who obtained promises, whether it was Samson
or Daniel who stopped the mouths of lions. We're just told that
certain men did these things. And he does not give us the historic
background for a specific reason. It is because he is instructing
us in faith, not in sight. He's instructing us in spiritual
things, not in carnal things. And so he would elevate our minds,
he would lift our hearts, he would raise our thoughts above
the carnal to the spiritual, and teach us spiritual things
by these physical things accomplished through the gift of faith. by
these men who were called and gifted of God. All right, here's
the first story. There were some men who through
faith subdued kingdoms. The word subdued has the idea
of fighting to subdue, contending vigorously like soldiers on a
battlefield to take a piece of ground, or soldiers on a battlefield
to take a city. We're not told whether this refers
to Joshua subduing Canaan or David subduing the kingdoms that
surrounded Israel. The important point is this.
The kingdoms subdued were those kingdoms that stood between Israel
and God's promise. That's the important thing. Joshua
did not conquer any kingdom. He did not subdue any kingdom.
that did not stand in the way of and oppose Israel taking possession
of the land God gave them. David did not subdue any kingdom.
He did not conquer any kingdom that did not stand as an enemy
to God's people and would oppose them possessing the land God
gave them. The lesson is obvious then. The
Lord our God has given us a promise. He's promised us an inheritance
of everlasting salvation and glory in Christ Jesus. And there
are two great kingdoms constantly warring against it. Constantly
warring against it. And these we must subdue. We
must subdue. The first is that evil kingdom
within us called the flesh. Turn to 1 Corinthians 9 for a
moment. The Apostle Paul, in Romans 8,
13, made this statement. He said, if we live after the
flesh, or if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if
you through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, you shall
live. Here in 1 Corinthians 9, 27,
he said, I keep unto my body, and bring it into subjection. I beat it down. I beat it down. It's the language of one contesting
on a battlefield. I beat it down. I won't give
in to it. Lest that by any means when I
have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. Now I will
not, I refuse, I refuse to do so. I will not give you rules
and regulations by which to govern the affairs of your life Other
than gospel principles, I won't do it. I will not make rules
and regulations, make them a standard for godliness and a standard
for church membership. I will not impose upon you laws
that God does not impose. That is not my prerogative. It's
not my desire, and it's not my responsibility. No, sir. But
this I do say, we must subdue the flesh. We must say no to
the flesh. We must, by God's grace, looking
to Christ, constantly say no to that which is contrary to
everything revealed in the gospel of God's grace. We must deny
ungodliness. We must subdue the lust and passions
that are in us. Don't ever imagine they get better.
They don't. They just get worse. The passions
in you, David Burge, are just as vile, just as ugly, just as
strong as ever they were. And they will only get worse.
As you get older, that's the one thing about you that's going
to get stronger. The one thing about you. But what do you do?
You say no. No. We will not serve the flesh. We're the servants of God Almighty.
And then there is the evil kingdom of the world without us. Who
is this that cometh up out of the wilderness? That's where
we're going, Lindsay, out of this wilderness, out of it, out
of it. Oh, this dry desert land, if
we're here, we're going out of it. We're coming up out of this
wilderness to our God. Well, how on earth do we come
out of this horrid, horrid, horrid place called the world? Leaning on her beloved. And soon,
as we lean on his omnipotent arm, the God of peace shall crush
Satan under your heels. All right, let's look at the
next thing, wrought righteousness. I've looked at this carefully
today. The words in their strict sense refer to the exercise of
judicial righteousness. They refer to the enforcement
of law. Like Samuel coming and taking
the sword and hewing Agag in pieces. Like Joshua executing
the inhabitants and the king of Hazor. Like David executing
judgment and justice in Israel. Like Elijah executing the prophets
of Baal. It is the strict exercise and
execution of law. It is the establishing of justice. It is that which is described
in the scriptures as carrying out the sentence, or described
in courts of law as carrying out the sentence of the law.
Well, how on earth can this be said concerning us? In the context,
the passage is intended primarily to tell us that faith is that
by which the believer experimentally is justified before God. Now,
understand this. Our faith does not satisfy God's
justice. Our faith does not put away sin. Our faith does not redeem us.
Our faith does not give us acceptance with God, but experimentally
it does. How can you say that's necessary?
If we were justified when Christ died, justified in the land slain
from the foundation of the world, how can you say it's necessary
that we experimentally find this justification by faith? Israel
was given the land of promise before any of them were ever
born. God gave it to Abraham. Abraham possessed it and never
set foot in the place. He possessed it. How? Because
God gave it to him. And all his seed possessed the
land back yonder when God gave it to him. And yet they weren't
even born. And so the Lord commands them
to go in and take possession of the land experimentally and
exercise judgment and justice in the land as their leaders
were required and as their leaders did. So you and I, and we come
to God by faith. We exercise the execution of
judgment and justice upon ourselves, and we take side with God against
ourselves. And looking to Jesus Christ the
Lord, we are justified looking to him in whom all the law of
God is maintained, executed, satisfied, and ended for righteousness. And yet, certainly, this working
of righteousness also refers to the believer's behavior. our
way of life in this world. You see, God's people, all of
God's people, are many women who, believing God, live by the
right standard. And our standard doesn't change. Each of us, at various times,
we look at circumstances around us and we will comment to one
another. Shelby will often comment to
me or I'll comment to her. As we just see things. Man, how
things have changed. How things have changed. The
standard of a proper education changed a lot since you started
teaching school, hadn't it Bob? And you haven't been teaching near
as long, changed a lot since you started. How things have
changed. How laws have changed. How they've changed. Oh no, not
right. The only thing that ever changes
is wrong. This is right. And this is the standard by which
we live. Believers' lives are governed by what God says, not
by the Ten Commandments given at Sinai, but by the whole revelation
of God, including those Ten Commandments. The believer's life is regulated. This is the regulative principle,
as they would say, of our lives. We seek to mold our lives at
home, in business, in the church, in the community, in every detail
by this that God has given us in his word. All right, look
at the third thing. Obtained promises. Promises. Abraham, God Isaac, just like
God promised. Jacob got the birthright, just
like God promised. Moses brought Israel out of Egypt,
just like God promised. Joshua conquered Canaan, just
like God promised. Gideon defeated the Midianites,
just like God promised. David sat on the throne of Israel,
just like God promised. They all obtained what God had
promised, as we would say, against all odds. Who would ever have
imagined that old man Abraham would have had that bouncing
baby boy? Who would ever have imagined that Jacob, that scoundrel,
would have gotten the blessing when his father was determined
to give it to his brother? Who would ever have imagined
that Joshua would have conquered Canaan? That Moses would have
defeated Pharaoh? That Gideon would have defeated
the Midianites? Who would ever have imagined
that David, the youngest son of Jesse, would sit on the throne
of Israel when Saul was opposed to it and his own brothers were
opposed to it? Who would ever have imagined
it? It was against all odds. But God doesn't work by odds. And faith doesn't either. they
obtain the promises. So too, you and I shall obtain
every promise of God by faith. By faith, every promise. They are all yea and amen. I think I got hold of something
today. Reading that passage, all the promises of God in him
are yea and then Him ain't there. No possibility that it's going
to renege. No possibility that it's not going to be fulfilled.
No possibility that you who are in Him, that you who believe
Him, will not obtain the promise. What promises? All of them. All
of them. I'm not talking about carnal
material things to gratify your flesh. Oh no. No, no. I'm talking about something
that matters. The Lord God Almighty, before
the world began, promised me eternal life. Not just for a little while,
eternal life. And by faith I've obtained it.
In that life is included everything connected with life. Pardon,
forgiveness, justification, acceptance, everything. He has promised not
only that he will give me eternal life, but that he will keep me
in absolute security. When you talk about against all
odds, against all odds, me. You'll never perish because I'll
be with you. I'll hold you and I'll hold you
with the right hand of my righteousness. No weapon formed against you
is going to prosper. Not a doll shall bark against
God's Israel. Now, what's going to happen?
He has promised me eternal glory. I like to think about it. I like
to get you thinking about it. But I haven't yet begun to grasp
any idea of what heavenly glory is. But whatever it is, The Lord
God Almighty has promised it to his people in Christ, and
every believer will obtain it by faith. Now think of, oh, well,
we're going to charge the gates of heaven and take it by faith. Oh, no, no, no. No, you obtain
it by bowing down in humiliation at the foot of the crucified
Redeemer, and you get it all by faith, by faith. Stop the
mouths of lions. Samson did that, Daniel did that,
but Holy Spirit didn't tell us here who he was talking about.
That's because he's talking to us, and he's talking about us
particularly. Satan roars. Oh, how he roars. Peter tells us he is as a roaring
lion, stalking about the earth, seeking whom he may devour. But
faith stops his roaring. Faith stops his roaring. I'm getting ready to take a trip.
I carry some paraffin wax earplugs with me. It beats that stuff
you get to use when you're at the firing range. They mold to
my ear. I just push them in there. I
can't even hear Gene Harmon's noise. I just push them in there. Stops the roar. The reason for
taking them is because I sleep in a lot of places where there's,
I'm going to start up a diesel truck outside at 4 o'clock in
the morning just after I get in bed and I'm going to stop the
roar. I can't hear it. Would you stop Satan's roar?
Turn to Romans chapter 8. Look at verse 31. When Satan roars loud against
your soul, take up this which is revealed in the book, spoken
by a man like you, a sinner saved by grace. What shall we then
say to these things? If God be for us, Who should
be against us? Well, he purring now. If God be for us, who should
be against us? Nobody with any effect. Read
on. 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? Now what do you suppose God's
not going to give you? What do you suppose he's going
to withhold from you? He gave his son for you. Look at this
next one. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Oh, how my conscience berates
me when I turn my eyes within rather than looking to my Redeemer. Justly, might any man or woman
who knows me, berate me with the evil they've observed me
do. How justly. And how quickly Satan roars against
us and hurls every accusation imaginable at us. He brings things
to mind we didn't even know, wasn't even conscious existed,
but he stirs the lust of our hearts and would roar against
us. Well, who's going to lay anything, young or where it matters, in
the court of heaven against God's elect? Huh? It's God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Who's
going to bring us into condemnation? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
than has risen again, who's at the right hand of the Father,
who also makes intercession for us. Who shall separate us from
the love of God that's in Christ Jesus? Nobody and nothing in
heaven, nobody and nothing in earth, nobody and nothing in
hell. I ain't persuading. Nothing shall. I'll read the
next line. Quenched the violence of fire. Paul probably had in his mind
the three Hebrews who were cast into the fiery furnace. Probably. But since he doesn't say, we
don't need to worry about that. Because God's promise is to us.
This is what God said. When thou walkest through the
fire, through the fire, Bob Pruitt
must go, if you go to we must, through much tribulation, enter
into the kingdom of God. And if we're His, we walk through
the fire. Now try to get the picture. Yonder is Christ, and heaven,
and life, and glory. Here is a raging, violent fire
of furnish. Now I can go there, I can go
there, but if I'm going there, I've got to go through the fire. I've got to go through the fire.
Fires of adversity, fires of difficulty, fires of opposition,
fires of men raised, I've got to go through the fire if I go
yonder. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither
shall the flame kindle upon thee. The fiery darts of Satan will
do us no harm being quenched by the shield of faith. The fiery
trial by which God proves us in the furnace of affliction
shall only refine the gold which he's put within us. Our Lord
promises us nothing shall harm us. Look at 1 Peter chapter 3.
1 Peter 3. I believe it's Isaiah 3.10, the
Lord tells his prophet, says, say ye to the righteous, it shall
be well with the righteous. Peter takes up the same thing
here in 1 Peter 3, verse 12. The eyes of the Lord are over
the righteous. Oh, what consolation. Faith and Dudley, those two babies
with us under our watchful eye. And Shelby's eyes more watchful
than mine, but sometimes they get a little bruise or a little
nick or a little hurt even under her watchful eye. But let me
tell you something, nobody under Jehovah's watchful eye shall
ever hurt. I don't mean you won't feel any
hurt, I mean you won't be hurt. I don't mean you won't feel any
pain, I mean you won't be hurt. The eyes of the Lord are over
the righteous. His ears are open unto their
prayers. But the face of the Lord is against
them that do evil. And who is he that will harm
you, if you be followers of that which is good? Follow Christ,
who's going to harm you? All right, look, next slide.
Escape the edge of the sword. David escaped the edge of Saul's
sword. Elijah escaped the edge of Ahab's sword. Jeremiah escaped
the edge of the sword of the Jews who put him to death. There's
no question persecuted believers escaped the edge of the persecuted
sword by the grace of God. Believing God, even when beheaded,
they escape the edge of the sword because God Almighty takes that
which is intended to be the instrument of destruction and makes it the
instrument of life when he takes a believer out of this world
by the sword of a persecutor. But this line in our text, like
all those things written here and all those things written
in the book of God, was written for us and written about us.
Well, how on earth does this apply to Lindsay Campbell? Turn
to Hebrews chapter 4, I'll show you. Look at verse 12. The word of God is quick, powerful,
sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit. and of the joints and marrow,
and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. When
God the Holy Spirit takes this book and causes it to proceed
out of the mouth of the King of Kings and Lord of Lords directly
to your heart, it will lay bare your soul and bring you under
the sentence of death. and discern the thoughts and
intents of your heart, make you see what you are. And just as
sure as God the Holy Spirit sticks the sword in your heart, just
as sure as he does, he does so so that you'll escape the edge
of the sword of his justice. For he turns the eye of the convicted
sinner to Christ the Redeemer. And he comes to the throne of
grace through the merits of that great high priest described in
the following verses. And he seeks mercy and finds
grace to help in time of need. Look at the next line. Out of
weakness were made strong. In his weakest hour, Samson was
made strong. When Hezekiah lay on his deathbed,
out of weakness he was made strong and became the father of Josiah,
the progenitor of Christ, and so the instrument by whom the
Messiah came into the world. Can this apply to us? You know
it can. The text does not say when the
weak were made strong, does it? It says out of weakness were
made strong. On occasion, I have folks call
or write, some folks come to visit. I recall sitting on my
patio one day, this has been several years ago, a fellow came
and been listening to me on the radio. He sat down and he said,
he said, I just wanted to talk to you and I wanted to share
some things with you and wanted to learn some things. He said,
he said, after all, I believe the Lord's taught me a lot. And
I've become a real strong believer. And I said, I hope before you
leave here, you learn better than that. Strong? Oh, no. No, no. When a man thinks
he's strong, he's weaker than water. God keep me from presuming
that I have any strength at all. But when I'm weak, then Paul
said, I'm strong. When I can't do anything, and
I'm insufficient for anything, when I'm utterly useless, his
strength is made perfect in my weakness. And he declared, my
grace is sufficient for thee. Look at the next line, wax valiant
in fight. Now this could refer to any of
the folks described in this chapter. It could refer to any of the
judges or to David. any of those kings in Israel
or Judah who were valiant in war, to any of those mighty prophets
who refused to compromise the gospel and the glory of God.
But again, the purpose of the Holy Spirit here is to instruct
us in faith, to encourage us in faith. And this is what it's
telling us. Poor, weak, helpless, insignificant,
insufficient creatures like us, when walking in faith, are made
strong in Christ. made to wax valiant in the fight
of faith by his omnipotent grace. Faith just simply refuses to
be intimidated by opposition. Faith is undaunted by reason. Faith stubbornly refuses to give
way to cowardice. The kingdoms of the flesh and
of the world won't stop faith in her path. Roaring lions may
make us tremble, they often do, but they will be subdued. The
violence of fire will not prevent faith from following Christ.
The persecutor's sword will not cause faith to give in up. Weakness
will not cause faith to give up the fight. Oh no, faith waxes
most valiant when she's most weak. Look at this last thing.
Turn to flight. the armies of the aliens. Did
not Joshua put to flight Ai and the five kings of the Amorites?
Did not David put to flight the armies of the Philistines at
Baalperism, smiting them hip and thigh from Jeba to Gaza?
So it shall be with us. Turn to Exodus 15. This is Bobby Estes' favorite passage
of scripture, and it's one of mine too. Exodus 15. You who believe in Christ, we
who trust God's Son, we will put to flight all the armies
of the aliens, all our sins, Satan, the flesh, the world,
everything. Look here in Exodus 15 verse
11. Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto
thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. Our God does wonders all the
time, doing wonders. Thou stretchest out thy right
hand, the earth swallowed them up. Thou, when thy mercy has
led forth the people, the people which thou hast redeemed, thou
hast guided them by thy strength unto thy holy habitation. The people shall hear and be
afraid. Sorrow shall take hold on the
inhabitants of Palestine. Then the dukes of Edom shall
be amazed. The mighty men of Moab trembling
shall take hold upon them. All the inhabitants of Canaan
shall melt away. fear and dread shall fall upon
them all. By the greatness of thine arm
they shall be as still as a stone." How are your people going into
Canaan with Moab and Amorites and all these folks opposing
him? They shall be as still as a stone. Not an enemy shall open
his mouth. They shall be as still as a stone.
How on this earth is John Fortner going to cross from here into
glory? How on earth is John Fortner
going to breathe his last breath and walk into glory with all
his enemies opposing him? They shall be as still as a stone. My sins will have nothing to
say. My foes will have nothing to say. Satan will not even have
the thought of a roar in his throat. Look at it. They shall
be as still as a stone. Fear and dread shall fall upon
them by the greatness of thine arm. They shall be as still as
a stone till thy people pass over, O Lord, till thy people
pass over which thou hast purchased. Thou shalt bring them in and
plant them in the mountain of thine inheritance, in the place,
O Lord, which thou hast made for them to dwell in. in the
sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established. The Lord
shall reign forever and ever. Let me give you this now. Benjamin
Benham wrote a great deal, expresses well what I'm trying to preach
to you. He said, who shall condemn to endless flames the chosen
people of our God? Since in the book of life their
names are clearly written in Jesus' blood, he for the sins
of his elect has a complete atonement made, and justice never can expect
the same debt to twice be paid. Not tribulation, nakedness, the
famine, peril, or sword, not persecutions or distress can
separate from Christ the Lord. nor life, nor death, nor debt,
nor height, nor powers below, nor powers above, nor present
things, nor things to come, can change his purposes of love. His sovereign mercy knows no
end. His faithfulness shall still
endure, and those who on his word depend shall find his word
forever sure. Amen.