But if you would, open your Bibles
with me to Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews chapter 6. Let me tell
you what a joy it is to be with you again. See so many faces
of some longtime friends. I appreciate your faithfulness
to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ here in Lexington. Pray
the Lord bless us as we look at this passage of scripture
tonight. I've titled the message. Two impossibilities. Beginning
here in Hebrews 6 verse 4, the writer says, for it is impossible
for those who are once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly
gift and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost and have tasted
the good word of God and the powers of the world to come,
if they shall fall away to renew them again unto repentance, seeing
they crucified to themselves the Son of God afresh and put
him to an open shame. Now these verses do not teach
that it is possible for a person to lose their salvation. I know
many false prophets try to use these verses to frighten people
and keep them in line, you know, doing what they want them to
be doing, saying, if you don't do these things, you lose your
salvation. That's not what these verses
are teaching. These verses are teaching us two things that are
utterly impossible. Number one, it is impossible. for someone who believes on Christ
to lose their salvation. Impossibility. And number two,
it is impossible to be saved any other way other than through
faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I know someone may pretend they
may make a good show of believing on Christ and believing his gospel
for quite some time. And when those people ultimately
deny the gospel and they leave it, They're not an example of
a person losing their salvation. The Apostle John told us they
are an example of an unbeliever turning back to the flesh. If
they were of us, they would have stayed right there, he said.
The only reason they left is so they never were of us. So
here's the first thing I want us to see. It is impossible that
a believer fall away from Christ and lose their salvation. Now
look at these verses again, beginning in verse four. Let's look at
them line by line. And you'll see these verses can only be
describing a true believer, someone who God has saved. He says, for
it is impossible for those who were once enlightened to fall
away from Christ and to lose their salvation. Now, the only
people who are enlightened are people who God saves. God has
commanded the light to shine out of darkness and has shined
in their hearts to give them the light, to give them the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Well, if God
gives somebody light like that, they can't lose it. Look back
at Ephesians chapter 1. Ephesians, the first chapter, verse 17. That the God of our Lord Jesus
Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit
of wisdom and revelation and the knowledge of him, the eyes
of your understanding being enlightened. that ye may know what is the
hope of his calling, and what is the riches of the glory of
his inheritance of the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness
of his power to usward who believe according to the working of his
mighty power." Now, this is believers. God has given them Christ's delight. And once they have light, they
see. They see how God saves sinners. because they see Christ. They
see Him as our salvation. Once God gives somebody light,
they see. They can understand how the God
of glory can save a sinner like me and still be God, still be
holy, and still be just. It's through the sacrifice, through
the obedience, through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
once God gives somebody light like that, they can never lose
it. See, this isn't talking about
an unbeliever who only has a head knowledge of the gospel, because
the word he uses once here, that word doesn't mean just one time. It means once for all, once for
all. It means this never has to be
done again. The same word Peter used in 1
Peter 3, verse 18, for Christ also hath once suffered for sins. He just had to suffer for sins
one time, the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God.
That sacrifice never had to be offered again, did it? Because
once was enough. And that's what this verse is
saying. Whoever it is that Christ died for, they're saved. They
can never lose their salvation. It's impossible for them to lose
this light that God gives them. And here's the flip side of the
coin. It is just as impossible to be enlightened without Christ. We're in darkness. We are darkness
by nature. We can't give ourselves light.
We can't make ourselves light. We will remain in that darkness
until God enlightens us. Now, where does that leave you
and me? That leaves us crying, Lord, give me light. Lord, enlighten
me. I'm dependent upon you. Lord,
give me light. And if he gives us that light,
we'll never lose it. Now read on, verse four. It is
impossible for those who have tasted the heavenly gift to fall
away from Christ and to lose their salvation. This word tasted
means it's something that you've eaten. And now that you've eaten,
it's a part of you. You don't taste the heavenly
gift and spit it out. Now, if God gives you a taste
of the sweet grace, the sweet mercy that he has for sinners
in Christ, you're not going to spit it out. You're going to
eat it, and you're going to keep eating it, and you're going to
keep eating it, and you're going to keep eating it. This is something
that you've experienced. You've eaten it. It has become
part of you. Now, what exactly is this heavenly
gift the writer's talking about? He's speaking of Christ. Christ
is the unspeakable gift. Remember, our Lord sat one day
with that woman at the well. She came to that well at that
time of day because she thought nobody would be there. Nobody
in their right mind is going to be there in the heat of the
day. Oh, as she's walking towards that well, she sees a man sitting
there. Oh, no. She's going to have to
face somebody. She's so ashamed. And there he
sits and he starts talking to her. And he reveals to her the gift.
He said, oh, if you knew who you're talking to, you'd ask
him and he'd give you living water. And if you drink of this
water, you'll never thirst again. If you just get a taste of this
water, you'll never die. You'll never thirst again. This is the gift of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This heavenly gift is the gift
of salvation by God's grace in Christ Jesus. The apostle Peter
said, to whom coming? Oh, if you've drunk of Christ,
you're gonna keep coming to him over and over and over again. If so be you've tasted, he said,
that the Lord's gracious. If you've tasted his grace, you'll
keep coming. Look back at Romans chapter five. Romans, the fifth chapter, verse 17. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, much more, they which receive abundance of grace
know the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus
Christ. See, that's the gift. It's the
gift of salvation by God's grace. And if Christ has made you righteous,
You can never be made unrighteous. It is impossible to have this
righteousness and lose it. It's an impossibility. And the
flip side of the coin remembers this. It is also impossible to
have this union with Christ by your own decision. It's impossible
to have this righteousness by your own works. It's impossible. God is the one who must put us
in Christ. And if he does, we can never
be out of it. We never lose it. I read on verse
four, it's impossible for those who've been made partakers of
the Holy Ghost to fall away from Christ and to lose their salvation.
And what is it to be a partaker of the Holy Ghost? What means
that the Holy Ghost dwells in your heart by faith? The Apostle
Paul told us, 1 Corinthians 6, verse 19, that it is to be the
temple of God. You're the temple of God if the
Holy Ghost dwells in you. So to be a partaker of the Holy
Ghost means you have union with God the Holy Spirit. And that
union can never be broken. Now the word he uses, partaker,
means to be a sharer or a participant. Well, someone who is a sharer
of the Holy Ghost That's a saved person. That's a person that
God has saved. He put the Holy Spirit and given them the earnest
of the Spirit. He'd been put into the body of
Christ. Now, nobody who's been put into
the body of Christ can ever be put out of the body of Christ.
If that were possible, the body of Christ would be made. And
that's impossible because the body of Christ is perfect. To be a partaker, a sharer of
the Holy Ghost is to share in the gift of the Holy Ghost. Well,
what's the gift of the Holy Ghost? It's not to make people speak
in tongues and better work miracles and impress folks in the flesh.
This is the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost comes to
God's people and He reveals Christ to them. The Savior said He's
gonna take the things of mine and He's gonna show them to you.
He's gonna show them to you so you see them and you believe
them. He's gonna show you Christ so
that you come running to Him. This I promise you. You may have
heard of Christ many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many
times. But if God the Holy Spirit ever
shows you Christ, you're gonna come running. You're gonna come
running to Him. And all those that come to Him,
He will never cast out. You come to Him and you will
never be separated from Him again. But here's the flip side of this
coin. It is impossible to be a sharer of the Holy Ghost unless
God gives you the gift of salvation. You can't earn it. You can't be intelligent enough
to see it. You can't learn it. You can't
have it by learning all the right points of doctrine. The only
way we can have it is if God the Holy Spirit gives it to us
as a free gift. Now again, where does that leave
you and me? God, give me this gift. God,
give me the Spirit. Show me Christ. God, give it
to me. It leaves us totally dependent
on God, doesn't it? All right, here's the next thing,
verse four. It's impossible. for those who
have tasted the good word of God to fall away from Christ
and lose their salvation. Now here's the word tasted again.
It means to eat something so that it is part of you, to experience
what it says. Now the word of God is the Lord
Jesus Christ. He is the word. In the beginning
was the word. The word was with God, the word
was God. Christ is the incarnate word. And this written word,
you can't separate this written word from Christ. The only purpose,
the only purpose of this word is to reveal Christ to sinners.
God didn't write this book so you know how to live. I love
what your pastor says. You already know how to live.
You already know right from wrong. This book isn't written to tell
you how to live. It's not written to tell you
how to win friends and influence people. This book is written
for one purpose. to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the incarnate word. So to taste the word of God means
that you've eaten the word by flesh, or by faith. You've eaten
his flesh and you've drunk his blood so that he is part of you.
Now Christ dwells in you. You have union with Christ and
nothing can ever separate you from him so that you lose your
salvation. Now the writer here says believers
have tasted, they've tasted the good news of God's word. Now
that's the gospel. The gospel we preach is good
news for sinners. Oh, it's good news for sinners.
Yes, you're dead in sin. Yes, you're hopeless. Yes, you
are. But the good news of the gospel
is Christ is the friend of the friendless. He's the one who
come to help the helpless. And if you've ever tasted the
gospel, you won't eat anything else. If you've ever really tasted
the gospel so that it is part of you, you're not gonna be deceived
by a false gospel. You just won't eat it. You won't
have a taste for it. And Janet and I have two Yorkie
dogs. And I stress to you that they're
dogs because they don't know that they're dogs. And they don't
know they're dogs because Janet doesn't know that they're dogs.
And they are very spoiled creatures. And the one and only thing she
has not given in on with these dogs is she still buys them dry
dog food because it's cheaper and the vet tells her it's better
for their teeth. But there is, on occasion, they get sick, something
happens, you know, and they have to have wet dog food. And she
feeds them wet dog food until such time as they can eat the
dry dog food again. And she sets the dry dog food
out in front of them and they look at it. They look back up
to her, and she walks away, and they run over to her. That's
not what's supposed to be there. Once they've tasted the wet dog
food, it takes a long time to drive them back to the dry dog
food. By God's grace, if you've ever
tasted the gospel, you've ever tasted the sweetness of salvation
by God's grace, that you don't deserve it, The only thing you
deserve from God is justice. But He's given you mercy. He's
given you grace in His Son. That Almighty God, to not damn
you, condemned His Son in your place. That the Lord Jesus Christ,
the holy, perfect Son of God, took your sin away from you.
And He was made sin for you at Calvary. And He suffered the
full penalty of the law for that sin. that the father even turned
his back on his son for that sin. And he suffered and he died,
so you'll never die. He rose again for your justification. And then you came into this world
born dead in sin, just a rebel against God, and he sent his
spirit to you and gave you life, made it so you can't not believe
Christ. If you've ever tasted that, you're
not gonna be deceived by something else. Somebody tries to feed
you something else, you say, no, no, no. That's not it. Because God's giving you a taste
of the gospel. And if he has, you won't be able to be deceived
by something else. You won't eat it. So he goes
on in that vein, he says here in verse five, that it's impossible
for those who have tasted the powers of the world to come.
It's impossible for them to fall away from Christ and to lose
their salvation. Now, what are these powers of
the world to come? Well, they're all the miraculous
powers that makes a sinner fit to enter into glory, to inherit
glory. It's the power of Christ's obedience
to make His people righteous. Not make them like they're righteous,
not make them someday, but right now to make them righteous. It's
the power of the blood of Christ that cleanses us from all sin. It's the power of God's love
that would bring His people to glory. It's the power of faith
in Christ that joins us to Him. It's the power of the gospel.
It's the power of the resurrection of Christ. If you've ever tasted
this power, the power of the gospel, you can never lose the
salvation that God gave you. Can't do it. The gospel that
we preach is powerful enough to save you, and it's powerful
enough to keep you safe. One message, the same message
both saves the lost and feeds and comforts and strengthens
the oldest believer. Because this gospel is so powerful. And here's the flip side of that
coin. It's utterly impossible to be saved without hearing and
believing the gospel. It's an impossibility because
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. So it is impossible
for a believer to lose their salvation. So what is this falling
away that the writer speaks of in verse six? Well, what he's
talking about here is a hypothetical because it's impossible for the
believer to fall away from Christ. He's not talking about falling
into sin. You know, falling into open sin,
now, it's a shame. It's something we ought not do.
It's something we don't want to do. But falling into open
sin will not cause a believer to lose their salvation. Why
not? Because Christ has already cleansed
his people from all sin. God's already forgiven the sin
of his people through the sacrifice of his Son. And if you want some
examples of that, I'll give them to you. Noah got off the ark, which is
such a clear picture of Christ, got drunk and got naked for his
children. Abraham, the father of the faithful,
told Sarah, don't tell anybody you're my wife. Tell them you're
my sister. I'm afraid the king is gonna kill me. David, the
man after God's own heart. How many instances do we have
of Solomon? Solomon. This tells you about
human flesh. Other than our Lord Jesus Christ,
Solomon is the smartest man to ever live. And what did he do? Help his wives worship idols.
This fell into open sin. And not one of them lost their
salvation, did they? No, so this is not falling into
open sin. This falling is not falling into
doctrinal error. Peter fell into doctrinal error,
didn't he? Remember that time they had a
big old conference and here he was at a fellowship dinner eating
with the Gentiles and the Jews showed up from Jerusalem. And
Peter got up and went over and wouldn't sit with the Gentiles
anymore, sat with the Jews. And when Paul got there, next
time Paul saw him, Paul was stood him to the face. He said, Peter,
you're living like we're justified by works, not by faith. Peter, you've denied the very
truth of the gospel. You've fallen into doctrinal
error. But Peter didn't lose his salvation, did he? This falling
away is not even denying Christ. Poor old Peter, he did that too,
didn't he? But his faith didn't fail because
the Savior prayed for him. He didn't fall away from Christ
because the Lord would not let him go. The Lord brought him
back and used him mightily, didn't he? Yeah. You know, we gotta be careful.
Let's not look down our noses at these brethren that we've
just looked at. Because who among us has not fallen just like that? Every one of us have. We've all
fallen into sin. We've fallen into doubts and
fears. We've fallen into weakness and unbelief. But if you're a
believer, if you belong to God, you cannot fall away from Christ. And I'll show you that. Psalm
37. Psalm 37, verse 23, the steps of a good man are ordered
by the Lord. Now, who is the good man? Well,
that can only be the man or woman who's been made good, who's been
made righteous in Christ. That's the only way any of us
can be good. This is talking about a believer. The steps of
a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his
way. Though he fall, oh, he's gonna
fall, he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholdeth
him with his hand. See, no believer will ever, will
stumble and will fall, but no believer will ever fall away
from Christ, because Christ upholding him in his hand. He said, no
man can pluck them out of my hand. No, we'll be cast down,
but we'll never be destroyed. So this falling away is a hypothetical
thing that the writer is talking about. It's to fall away from
Christ and lose your salvation. And I say that's hypothetical
because it's impossible. It's never happened to anyone
anywhere, never. See, the writer, he's talking
about more than someone just leaving the gospel. We see that
happen many times. He's talking about someone losing
their salvation. Now, certainly, you know, if
somebody leaves the gospel and they never return to it, well,
I just don't have much confidence in their profession of faith.
But that's between them and the Lord. That's not my business. That's above my pay grade. The
writer here is telling us something that is vital, of vital importance
and comfort to our souls. He's talking about someone losing
their salvation in Christ, and it's impossible. It's utter impossibility. Because look what he says, and
here's why it's impossible. Verse 6, if they shall fall away,
why, it's impossible to renew them again under repentance.
Seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh and put
Him to open shame. See, now this is a hypothetical.
If somebody would fall away from Christ and lose their salvation,
well, it would be an utter impossibility to recover them, wouldn't it?
It would be impossible because there's no other sacrifice other
than the sacrifice of Christ. And remember we read that sacrifice
of Christ was offered once, wasn't it? Because that's all it took
to redeem his people forever. Christ was sacrificed once. by one offering. He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Well, if Christ sacrificed for
you, it's impossible for you to become unsanctified. He sanctified
you forever by one offering. If someone could fall away from
Christ and lose their salvation, it'd be impossible to recover
them because there isn't another righteousness other than the
righteousness of Christ. It would be impossible for them
to repent because there's no place else for them to turn other
than Christ. For a believer to lose their
salvation, many impossible things would have to happen. Christ
would have to be put to shame because He couldn't save somebody
He came to save. And Rich, that's impossible.
He saved everybody He came to save. For God to lose one, that He
chose unto salvation, God would have to stop being sovereign
because He didn't have the power to save those that He elected
unto salvation. Man's will would have to reign
supreme over God's will. God would have to abdicate the
throne, and brethren, that's not going to happen. No, God's
sovereign. Christ's blood would have to
quit being powerful enough to cleanse His people from their
sin, and that's impossible. For one of God's own, one of
His elect, to lose their salvation, Christ would have to begin a
good work in that center, but did not be able to finish it.
The Holy Spirit would have to depart from one of God's elect.
The call of the Holy Spirit would quit being effectual. It would
suddenly start being up to men whether they would decide to
accept Jesus or not, not up to the Spirit to irresistibly draw
them to Christ. And Christ would have to suddenly
quit interceding for one for whom he died. That's impossible. It's impossible. For a believer
to lose their salvation, grace alone would have to quit being
enough to save. Faith in Christ alone wouldn't
be enough. Christ alone wouldn't be enough. And that's impossible. For one
of God's elect to lose their salvation, Satan would have to
be victorious over Christ. And we know that's impossible,
don't we? Because scripture said at Calvary, Christ put Satan
out of business. He crushed his head. He crushed
his power. So it's impossible for that to
happen. And here's the next thing. It's
impossible for someone to lose their salvation in Christ because
God makes his people live. Look at verse 7. For the earth,
which drinketh in the rain, that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth
forth herbs meet for them, by whom it is dressed, receiveth
blessing from God. Now anything that lives grows,
and God's people live. An example that the writer uses
here is a farmer planting a field. Those plants grow. What happened
before those plants grow? Well, the farmer went out and
he worked the field. He prepared the ground. He sowed the seed
in the good ground, and God gave rain and sunshine. And that field
grew, produced a harvest, and the farmer received that blessing
happily. Well, here's the picture. God's
people grow. God gives them life, and they
grow. Now, God's the farmer. He's the one that prepares the
heart, makes the heart to be good ground. He's the one that
sends the seed, sends the preacher with his word, preaching the
word, sowing the seed. And that seed is sowed in good
ground. That ground's good because God made it good. And God gives
rain. He gives the water of life, Christ
the water of life. He gives Christ the light, the
sunshine. And those people receive a blessing.
They live and they grow because they're connected to Christ.
Look back at John 15. They grow. because they're connected
to Christ, inseparably connected to him. John 15, verse 1. I am the true vine, and my father
is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth
not fruit, he taketh away. And every branch that beareth
fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now
ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except
ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me, and I
in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me, ye
can do nothing." See, we live and we grow because we have union
with Christ. Well, someone that's joined to
Christ, it's impossible for them to be separated from Christ.
Because if you're joined to Christ, God has blessed you. And he'll
never take that blessing away. The only way you can lose that
blessing is for God to change. And that's not gonna happen,
because he never changes. All right, now here's the second
thing. We got that first thing? It's
impossible for someone who believes Christ to lose their salvation.
Now, if you saved yourself, you can lose it. But if God saved
you, you can never lose it. But here's the second thing.
It's impossible to be saved without faith in Christ, without this
union with Christ. If you're still there in John
15, look at verse 6. If a man abide not in me, he's
cast forth as a branch and is withered. And men gather them
and cast them into the fire, and they're burned. And the writer
to the Hebrews says the same thing in verse 8, back in our
text, Hebrews 6. But that which beareth thorns
and briars is rejected and is nigh unto cursing, whose end
is to be burned. Now the only end of someone outside
of Christ is damnation because they've rejected the only Savior. See, only Christ can remove the
curse of sin and that's what these thorns and thistles The
ground's cursed for Adam's sake, and it brings forth thorns and
thistles. Well, the only way for that curse
to be removed is for Christ to take it away. He's got to take
it away, and that's what he did for his people. He redeemed them
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for them. Well,
why did this field over here bring forth much fruit? Why did
that just be received with thanksgiving, and this field over here be full
of thorns and thistles? God's sovereign will. He didn't
take the curse away from this field. He did from this field,
but he didn't from that field. It's God's sovereign purpose. It is impossible to be saved. It's impossible for us to remove
that curse of the law unless Christ removes it for us. It's
impossible for us to be saved without faith in Christ. Look
at Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. It's impossible. for us to be saved by our works
without faith in Christ. Hebrews 11 verse 6, but without
faith, it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them
that diligently seek him. It's impossible to please God
without faith in Christ. It's impossible to be saved without
Christ, our sacrifice. It's impossible for us to be
saved by giving up sin. Now, I mean, just on the surface
of that, what sin have you ever given up? What sin have you ever
quit committing? To think it, to desire it, is
to commit it. Well, then we haven't given up
one sin, have we? Well, then it's impossible for us to be
saved by sacrificing, giving up sin, giving up something that's
enjoyable to us so we think God will be happy with us. Hebrews
10 verse 4, here's how we're saved. It's not possible that
the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sin. Oh, but
when Christ came, he brought a sacrifice that would put away
sin, the sacrifice of himself. Salvation is impossible by our
works of the law and our religious activity. You remember that rich
young ruler? Look here at Mark chapter 10,
that rich young ruler, He came to the Lord, and he went away
sorrowful. And the disciples were amazed. They were amazed. In verse 26,
Mark chapter 10, you know everything that, and I'm sure outwardly,
he did keep those things from his youth up. Wasn't good enough,
was it? It's impossible to be saved by
our religious activity. And verse 26 says, they were
astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, who then can
be saved? And Jesus looking upon them saith
with men, it is impossible. Oh, but thank God there's a comma
there, not a period. But with God, but not with God. For with God, all things are
possible. All the salvation of God's people,
not only is possible, but it is sure and certain to everyone
that God chose to save. I wanna close by asking you a
question. You know, in any group this size, there are those who
believe Christ and there are those who do not. And I wanna
ask you a question. If you don't trust Christ, why not? Why not? Are you going to find a better
Savior to trust than Him? Are you going to find a better
salvation than salvation in Christ by God's grace? Can you find
a better one? If you don't trust Christ to keep you, who will? If you don't trust Christ to
make intercession for you, who will? None. There's no other hope,
is there? Then quit your stubborn rebellion and come to Christ. Come to him. And don't get discouraged. I know that there are many false
professors out there. I know there are people who do
not believe the gospel. Matter of fact, most people don't
believe the gospel. But God's people do. God's people
do. And they cannot lose their salvation. Look at verse 9. We'll close.
I know most people don't believe the gospel. Most people are thorns
and thistles. But beloved, we're persuaded
better things of you. and things that accompany salvation,
though thus we speak. The writer here seems to be telling
us that you make your calling and election sure. We're going
to warn you. We'll keep warning you about the dangers of apostasy. We'll warn you about the dangers
of missing Christ. But we're persuaded better things
of you who believe. Because if you believe Christ,
you cannot, you cannot lose your salvation. And God give us the
grace to look to Him, look to Him. Let's bow in prayer. Father,
how we thank you for this, your word, the assurance of your word. that gives us sure hope, a sure
confidence, expectation of salvation in our Lord Jesus Christ. How
we thank you for a Savior who truly saves from sin, whose blood
cleanses his people from all sin and makes us accepted in
thy sight. How we thank you for your mercy
and your grace. Sinners like us couldn't be saved
any other way than by your mercy and your grace. Howie, thank
you for salvation that's sure and certain because of your electing
love. If you hadn't elected a people, we never would have chosen you.
Father, Howie, thank you. How we thank you for salvation
that is given as a gift to the Holy Spirit, that gives us faith
in Christ, to believe him. Because if you didn't give us
the gift to believe, we never could. Father, how we thank you. And we beg of you that you be
merciful to us. Let us leave here tonight believing
in, hoping in, and resting in Christ our Savior. It's in his
blessed name we pray and give thanks.