It's a blessing to be here, isn't
it? Galatians 6, verse 17. From henceforth, let no man trouble
me. Now the Galatians had troubled
Paul continually. And he said, it's over. Count this over. From henceforth,
Let no man trouble me for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord
Jesus. Let no man trouble me anymore
by opposing my apostolic authority in what I say. And that's what
was going on with the churches of Galatia. They were opposing
what he said and he said I'm not trying to protect my turf.
I'm not trying to promote myself. I'm preaching the gospel of God.
I'm preaching that which is the truth, that which is not up for
debate. Turn with me to Galatians 1. Paul said, I marvel, and this
is where the trouble began. I marvel that you're so soon
removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. It was a different gospel than
the one Paul had preached unto them, which is not another, but
there'd be some that trouble you and would pervert, would
change the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we preached
unto you, let him be accursed. let him be damned. As we said
before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that which you've received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men? For
God. Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. It was not derived from any human
source. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. Now that's the authority of Paul's
message. It was given to him by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Now, if I'm preaching the gospel
of God, and let me emphasize that, if I'm preaching the gospel
of God, God's gospel, to not hear me is to not hear Christ. The Lord said, he that heareth
you And he wasn't speaking to the 12 apostles at that time. He was talking to the 70, the
preachers. He that heareth you, heareth me. And he that despiseth
you, despiseth me. Now this past Monday on our TV
program, I began it with these words, the baptism of John. Was
it from heaven? or of men. Was it divinely inspired or was
it man-made? And then I said to the audience,
or to the camera at any rate, you are going to hear a message
this morning that's either from God or men. And it would behoove you to find
out which. And the same is true tonight. Now Paul says, I have in my body
the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. From henceforth let no man trouble
me anymore. I have in my body the marks which
prove whose servant I am. And he's speaking of the scars
that he had received for preaching the gospel. Now, it's hard for
me to imagine this, but everywhere Paul went, he knew he was in
for a beating afterwards. Can you imagine that? Can you
imagine how I would feel if I knew when I'd come down from this
pulpit, I'd be tied to a pole and they'd pull out a cat of
nine tails and beat me 39 times? Or stone me? Or beat me with
rods? or all the indignities that he
suffered, being thrown into jail for preaching the gospel, having
his feet fast in stalks, knowing that every time he preached,
what was going to take place? He said, I know that bonds and
afflictions abide me. He was stoned at Lystra. He was
beaten and thrown into prison in Philippi. He was nearly pulled
to pieces by the crowd in Jerusalem and they said it's not fit for
such a one to live. Now that is what Paul experienced
in his preaching. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. Just back a couple of pages. Verse 23. Are they, these men
questioning me, are they ministers of Christ? I speak as a fool.
I'm more. In labors more abundant, in stripes
above measure, in prisons more frequent, in death soft. Of the
Jews, five times received I forty stripes, save one. Thrice was
I beaten with rods. Once was I stoned. Thrice I suffered
shipwreck. A night and a day have I been
in the deep. in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils
of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen, in perils by the
heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness
and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst,
in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." Now, these are the
things that he regularly went through in the preaching of the
gospel. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, or 2 Corinthians chapter
6. Verse 4, but in all things approving
ourselves as the ministers of God in much patience, in afflictions,
in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments,
in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings. He says these things
approve me as a minister of God. These things I'm experiencing
in preaching the gospel. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter
4. This is not some isolated passage of scripture. This was
his life. He says in verse 9 of 1 Corinthians chapter 4, For
I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were,
appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle unto
the world and to angels and to men. We're fools for Christ's
sake, but you're wise in Christ. We're weak, but you're strong.
You're honorable, but we are despised. Even into this present
hour, we both hunger and thirst, are naked and buffeted, mistreated,
and have no certain dwelling place." He didn't have a home
to go home to like you and I do. Now, what's this all about? What's this all about? Well,
turn with me back to Galatians. Verse 11, chapter 5. And this is why he bore in his
body the marks, the scars of where he was beaten for the sake
of Christ. Galatians chapter 5, verse 11. And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? And it's evident
that he suffered persecution, isn't it? He said, now, if I
preach circumcision, I wouldn't be being persecuted. You see,
if I was preaching circumcision, I would remove the offense from
the cross. Paul preached the pure, free,
sheer grace of God in Christ Jesus. And his refusal to preach
circumcision brought on persecution. Now, the preaching of Christ
alone will always anger the religious world. And here's why. When you
preach pure, free grace, you're saying everything that these
people are counting on for their acceptance before God is no good. It's all a bunch of vanity. It's
not real. God will not accept it. Therefore, he was stoned, he
was beaten with rods, he was whipped with a cat of nine tails,
and he had these scars in his body that eloquently declared
whose servant he was and what he stood for, didn't he? That's
what he's talking about when he says, I bear in my body the
marks of the Lord Jesus. Would you turn with me to John
chapter 15 for a moment? John the 15th chapter, these
are the words of the Lord Jesus to his disciples shortly before
his death. Verse 18, if the world hate you,
You know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of
the world, the world would love his own. But because you're not
of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore
the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they've kept
my saying, they'll keep yours also. But all these things will
they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him
that sent me. If I had not come and spoken
unto them, they'd not had sin. But now they have no cloak, no
covering for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth my
father also. If I had not done among them
the works which none other man did, they'd not had sin. But
now they have both seen and hated. both me and my father, but this
cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written
in their law, they hated me without a cause. They hated me freely. Now the world hates Christ. Now let me repeat that. The world
hates Jesus Christ. And you know, most folks that
hate him don't have any idea they hate him because they've
never heard the gospel. You don't really find out you
hate him until you find out who he is. Before then, you'll say,
oh, I love Jesus Christ. I'm a follower of Jesus Christ.
But when you find out who he is, that's when men begin to
say, that's not my Christ. That's not the Christ I worship.
I don't love that Christ. The world doesn't hate the false
Christ that they can control. but they hate the one in whose
hands they are that they can't control. Now as soon as the Lord
was born, what happened? Remember? Herod wanted him dead. And he had all the children in
that region that were two years and under put to death because
he wanted him dead who was born king of the Jews. His first public
message in Nazareth The sermon enraged the crowd so much. When they heard these things,
they were filled with wrath and rose up and thrust him out of
the city and led him to the brow of the hill wherein the city
was built that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing
through the midst went their way." Now picture this in your
paper, in your paper, in your mind. After he's finished preaching,
they grab him carry him up to the cliff, the top of the city,
to kill him. They were so infuriated by what
he said. In John chapter 7, verse 7, early
in his ministry, he no longer walked in Jewry because the Jews
sought to kill him. In John chapter 8, verse 58 and
59, he said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham
was, I am. And the Jews took up stones to
stone him. You see, that's a name that's
reserved for God and nobody else. In John chapter 10, verse 31,
he said, I and my father are one. Then the Jews took up stones
again to stone him. He said, many good works have
I shown you of my father. For which of these do you stone
me? And they said, for a good workstone we did not, but for
blasphemy. For thou being a man, makest
thyself God. They heard exactly what he was
saying. When he's finally crucified,
what is the accusation brought against him? Remember what was
written in Latin? In Hebrew and Greek. Latin, the
language of the intellectuals. Greek, the common language. Hebrew,
the language of the religious. Same message for everybody. This
is the accusation that was written. Jesus of Nazareth, King of the
Jews. Now, if I'm not being persecuted
for the gospel I'm preaching, I'm not preaching. gospel. Let me repeat that. If I am not
being persecuted for the gospel that I preach, I am not preaching
the gospel. Paul said all that will live
godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Did you hear the
word all? All that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution. Now, why do men hate the gospel?
Why do they hate Christ? It's a fact that they do. We've
seen this from his life. Why do men hate Christ and his
gospel? Well, you know, the answer to
that is really very easy because men are evil. That's it. Men are evil. Man's got to be very evil to
not love the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, if any man love not
the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha. I just read where the Lord said,
they hated me without a cause. And that word without a cause
is also translated freely. They hated me freely. They did what they wanted. to
do. Now, why do men hate the Lord
Jesus Christ and his gospel? Because the gospel takes away
all that they're hoping in. If you're hoping in your works
in any way, to any degree, the gospel says your hope's no good.
You won't be saved like that. And that's when men get upset.
Now, if you say, you know, I believe my way, you believe your way,
and we'll all end up at the same place, it's okay. But when you
say, you won't be saved believing that foolishness, that's when
men become enraged because you're taking away what they hope in. When men hear who He is, the
universal hiss is, we will not have this man to reign over us. And I love to think, you've got
no choice. He does reign over you. He's
your Lord. You see, He's the Lord both of
the dead and the living. He's the Lord of those who are
dead in sins, who hate Him. He's their Lord, they don't know
it, but He's in control of them. He's their Lord, and He's the
Lord of the living. Oh, we're so thankful for His
Lordship. Turn with me for a moment to
Acts chapter 5. Acts chapter 5. I hope this will
be our attitude. Now this does not mean we're
out looking for trouble, trying to stir up controversy and trying
to get people mad at us, but I want to be so faithful to the
gospel that men hate me for it. I don't want them to hate me
because of my bad actions or because I'm an arrogant jerk
or anything like that, but I want them to hate me for the gospel
I preach. And you do too. And look at this passage of scripture,
Acts chapter 5, verse 40. And to him they agreed, Acts
540, and to him they agreed. And when they had called the
apostles and beaten them, now Paul wasn't the only one who
was beaten for preaching the gospel, they were beaten at this
time. When they had called the apostles and beaten them, they
commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and
let them go. And they departed from the presence
of the council rejoicing. that they were counted worthy
to suffer shame for his name. And daily in the temple and in
every house they cease not, contrary to the command of the religious
leaders, they cease not to teach and to preach Jesus Christ. I bear in my body, Paul said,
the marks It's the stigmata is the word in the original. It's
where we get the word stigma from. You know what a stigma
is? I've got a stigma from preaching
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now it's interesting
that Catholic mystics have said that
they've had this thing where all of a sudden you're so devoted
that the marks of Christ appear in your hand and feet and this
kind of mystical stuff. No, that doesn't have anything
to do with what he's saying and that's weird. That's all you
can call it. If they want something like that,
that's strange. But the word stigmata, this is
the only time it's used in the New Testament. It was a mark
put on slaves. They cut them. And you've seen
maybe even people in fraternities and so on when they have these
things on their scars from cuts where they cut their arms to
show what fraternity or what organization they're in. But
what this was at this time, if you had a slave, you'd mark them.
And they'd have these scars and that would show he belongs to
me. It was a mark of ownership. Paul says, I bear in my body
the marks of whose slave I am. The marks of who owns me, who
my master is. Now, I dare say that nobody in
this room has any physical scars they've received for their defense
of the gospel, for their preaching of the gospel. Maybe you do.
I don't know anything about it. But I dare say no one has any
marks like Paul had. But every believer does have
The marks of divine ownership. You've got these marks. I've
got these marks. If he really is my master. Now for the big question, what
are they? How would we answer that from
the scriptures? You know, men can come up with
all kinds of marks. But I only want to look at what
the scripture calls the marks of his ownership. The marks of
a believer. Now, what are these marks of
Christ? Is it something that's seen on the outside? Yes. Yes. It'll be seen. But it's because
of something done on the inside. You see, it's not just behavioral.
People can change bad behavior without Christ. You can get tired. You can get
sick and tired of being sick and tired. And you can go to
a counselor to help you out. You can go to rehab to help you
out, to help get you out of the mess you're in. Many do it all
the time. You can become sick and tired
of being sick and tired, and you can turn your life around
without Jesus Christ having anything to do with it. So these marks
of Christ that I'm speaking of, they're really not behavioral,
although they will be seen in the life. What are the marks
of Christ? Now, the Bible answers this in
several ways, and the first thing that came to my mind is the Beatitudes. I talked about this a couple
of weeks ago, so I'm not going to preach on that because I dealt
with it real recently. But these are the marks of Christ.
If you belong to Christ, you really are poor in spirit. You
have nothing. You mourn over your sins. all the time. You're meek before
God. You believe that whatever He
sends your way is right. You hunger and thirst after righteousness. Now if you're hungry, it's because
your stomach's empty. And you can't satisfy that hunger.
There's nothing you can do to satisfy that hunger. It needs
to be brought to you. You hunger and thirst for righteousness. You say, oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith. You're merciful. Having experienced the free mercy
of God. You've got a pure heart. A new
heart. Giving you a regeneration. It
was not there before. And you're a peacemaker. You
preach the gospel of peace. And you're persecuted for righteousness
sake. His righteousness. Not because
of your righteous actions, but his righteousness. You're persecuted
for righteousness sake. Now every believer has the beatitudes. That's a description of what
a believer is. Another thing I thought of was the fruit of
the Spirit. It doesn't say the fruits of the Spirit, the fruit of the
Spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit,
you have the fruit of the Spirit. Now it's developed more in some
than others, there's no question about that. A newborn believer
doesn't have the development that one who's grown in grace
has, but every believer has love, joy, peace, long-suffering. gentleness, goodness, faith,
meekness, temperance. And I talked about that not too
long ago out of Galatians chapter 5, so I'm not going to spend
much time on that. But here's the other thing that came to
my mind, and I think this is so simple. Would you turn with
me to 1 Corinthians chapter 13? Now here are the marks of ownership. And if Christ owns you, you have
these marks. Now I want to go ahead The marks
are found in the last verse, but I'd like to go ahead and
read this entire chapter. Though I speak with the tongues
of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as a
sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the
gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge
and though I have all faith, that's talking about miracle
working faith, so that I could remove mountains and have not
charity, I'm nothing. And though I bestow all my goods
to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned and have
not charity, it profits me nothing. Charity suffers long and is kind. Charity envieth not. Charity
vaunteth not itself. It doesn't push itself. It's
not puffed up, proud, and conceited. It doesn't behave itself unseemly,
rude. It seeketh not her own. It's
not easily provoked, easily angered. It thinks no evil. That means
it keeps no records of wrongs. It rejoices not in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, covers with
silence all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things. Charity never fails. But where
there be prophecies, they shall fail or cease. Not that they'll
go wrong, they'll just cease. It's going to be gone. Whether
they be tongues that speak in other languages, they shall cease.
Whether they be knowledge, it shall vanish away, for we know
in part, we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect
is come, and you have that sitting in your lap right now, that which
is perfect, the Word of God, all these other things will not
be needed. I've often thought it would be pretty neat if I
could heal sick people and seems like it would help or if I could
speak in tongues or if I could make mountains move from one
place to the other and people saw it and maybe they'd listen
to me better. Evidently they wouldn't. Evidently it's not
needed. When that which is perfect is come, the word, the full canon
of scripture, when that which is perfect is come, that which
is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spake as
a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child, but when
I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through
a glass darkly. We see in an enigma. Isn't that
true? We see through a glass darkly.
We don't see anywhere near as clearly as we will one day. but
then face to face. Now I know in part, but then
shall I know even as also I am now known. And now abideth. These other things are going
to leave. These gifts, these prophecies,
these tongues, they're all going to leave. And they left after
the first century with the dying of the apostles. And now abideth. These are the three things that
remain These are the marks of ownership. This is what every
believer possesses. If you have one, you have all
three. You never have one or two. You have all three of these things. And now abideth faith, hope,
charity. These three. And the greatest
of these is charity. Faith. Now here is the mark of
God's elect. Here's the mark of him being
your master. Here's the mark of him being your owner. It's
always true in every believer. Faith. What must we do? that we might work the works
of God, they said in John 6, 29. And our Lord replied, this
is the work of God that you believe on him whom he hath sent. Now let me ask you two questions.
Do you believe the father sent him? Do you? Second question, do you believe
that he did what the Father sent him to do? What the Father sent him to do?
Opening pages of the New Testament, thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people from their sins. He said, I finished
the work that thou gavest me to do. We are relying, this is
what faith is, we're relying completely on Him who finished
the work. You burned all your bridges,
you had no plan B, the only hope that you have is that what He
did is everything in your salvation. Now that, my dear friends, is
faith. Romans 4, 5 describes you. To
him that worketh not, you see that you cannot be saved by your
works. To him that worketh not, but
believeth, on him that justifieth the ungodly." You believe yourself
to be ungodly. And you know the only way you
can be justified is if he justified you. And that's what he did on
Calvary's tree. Your sins were put away. His
righteousness given to you. And you stand before God absolutely
just. Faith is called the evidence
of things not seen. the substance of things hoped
for, the evidence of things not seen. Can you see your name written
in the Lamb's Book of Life? No. You don't have any physical
proof of your election that God chose you before time began.
Well, how do you know He did? You believe the gospel. Faith
is the evidence of things not seen. How do you know Christ
died for you? Somebody said, well, didn't he die for everybody?
No, you don't get that from the Bible. He died for a sheep. He
died for the elect. He died for those who believe.
Now, how can I believe that he died for me without being presumptuous? I'm relying on him, faith. Faith
is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen. The reason I believe he died for me is I'm relying on
him. I'm relying on Him completely
for everything in my salvation. Can you see your justification?
No, you can't see how you stand before God without guilt. But
how do you know you are? You believe the gospel. You're
relying on Christ as your justification before God. Can you see your
holy nature? Can you look within your heart and say, yep, holy
nature, I see it. No. How do you know you got it? Faith
in Christ. Faith is the evidence of things
not seen. By grace are ye saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves, it's
the gift of God. Therefore it's a faith that it
might be by grace to the end the promise might be sure to
all the seed. Faith. The just shall live by
what? By faith. Now abideth faith. This is the mark. This is the
divine mark of ownership. He said to those two blind men,
do you believe that I'm able to do this? Do you believe that he's able
to save you without any help from you? Beloved, that's what faith is.
Faith. And the next thing he mentions
is hope. Now abideth faith and hope. Now this is the mark of divine
ownership. Hope always has to do with the
future. It's a confident expectation
regarding the future. Now with regard to the future,
I have a confident expectation that when I stand before God,
I'm going to be justified. That He's going to say to me,
Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter thou into the
joy of thy Lord. And beloved, when I hear Him
say that, it won't be because I think I've done a good job.
You know, I read recently one of the reformers, I can't remember
what his name was, But he was dying and somebody said, you're
going to enter in to the reward for your labors. And he said,
no, I'm not. I'm going to enter in for the
reward of his labors. That's the gospel. And that's
my hope. My hope is that I'm going to
stand before God without guilt because what Christ did actually
makes me without guilt. And everything between now and
then, we know that all things, now here's my expectation with
regard to everything that happens from this moment on. And I, you
know, I'm glad I don't know what all is going to happen. I really
am. I mean, I don't want to know
about the bad things that are going to come my way. I don't
want to know that the trials I have. Matter of fact, I'd soon
get out of them. I would, and you would too. I'd rather not
be tried. But I know things are going to happen. They always
do. But I know that all things work together for good to them
that love God, to them who are thee called according to His
purpose. So I know that everything that's
going to happen between now and judgment day is going to work
together for my good. Now that's hope, isn't it? That's
hope. Well, how do you have a hope
like that? You know, the scripture actually says, always be ready
to give every man that asks you a reason for the hope that's
in you. Well, I can give you a reason
for the hope that's in me because all things work together for
good. to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate
to be conformed in the image of His Son, that He might be
the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom He did predestinate,
them He also called. Whom He called, them He also
justified. Whom He justified, them He also
glorified. That's why I don't have to worry
about Judgment Day. I'm already glorified in the
mind and purpose of God. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justified. Who
is he that can condemn? It's Christ that died, yea, rather
that's risen again, who's even at the right hand of God, who
also makes intercession for us. Now that's the reason for my
hope. That's the reason for my hope. That's the reason for every
believer's hope. Now abideth faith, hope, clarity. These three. Now, the charity. I like the way the translators
call charity. I think it's better than love.
Charity. Charity. Now, this charity or
love is not found in the natural man. Now, I'm thankful for the
love that a parent has to its child, the love between men and
women, love for the country, and all the different kind of
loves. I'm thankful for those things, but that's not what this
is talking about. He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God
is love. He that loveth is born of God. Everybody that is born
of God has this love, and here's what it is. I love God for who He is. Now,
I'm not talking about the strength of my love. I'm talking about
who He is. I love His sovereignty. I love the fact that He elected
who would be saved. It gives Him such glory. I love
Christ. effectual redemption for his
elect. I love regeneration by the Holy Spirit. I love God's
immutability, the fact that he never changes. I love his holiness.
I love his justice. I love all of his glorious attributes.
And if it were in my power to change him in any way, I wouldn't
do it. I love him just the way he is.
Now, with regard to any other human being, beginning right
here, I'd change plenty of things if I could. I love my wife dearly.
There's things I'd change about her, and I guarantee there's
a lot of things she'd change about me. And all of y'all feel that way
about your spouse. I've heard people say, I wouldn't change
him. You don't know me then. You would. You would. Ask Len. You
would. You would. But I wouldn't change
him. Love him just the way he is.
Love his son. Love his salvation. I love His Spirit, the author
of regeneration who directs me to Christ. I love His gospel. I love the truth. I've received
the love of the truth that I might be saved. I love the way God
saves. Listen, I'm not just spouting out doctrines that I've learned.
I love this. I love Christ. I love His gospel.
Charity. I love you. I really do. I love the brethren. I love men
who don't know Christ. I want them to know Christ. I
want them to come to bow the knee to Christ. I want them to
see Christ as everything in salvation. And it's a love that's not in
word or tongue, but in deed and in truth. Now what do I mean
by that? Lynn lives with me. Lynn knows whether or not I have
this love. She can see it. She knows. I
can fool about anybody else if I'm around them, you know, just
for a little while. But I'm talking about somebody
that knows you, lives with you. They know. They know. Now, why does he say the greatest
of these is love? Now, these are the three marks.
You have them if you're a believer, and you know you have them. You
do believe the gospel. You do have hope in Christ. You do love
the Lord, and you love his people. I mean, these are real. These
are marks that you can identify that you have. Now, I love the
way he says, the greatest of these is love. You see, one of
these days, my faith will be turned to sight, and I'll be
beholding the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. And my hope that
I'm going to be just like him is going to be changed into experience.
I'm going to be just like him. No more faith. No more hope. No longer needed. But I tell
you what will still be there. Love. Charity. Faith, hope, charity, these three. The greatest of these is charity. Let's pray. Lord, we ask in Christ's name
that you enable us to be bold and compassionate witnesses of
thy son, We ask that we might be like the apostles in rejoicing,
that we might be counted worthy to suffer shame for thy name.
Lord, we ask that we might have faith, hope, and charity. Bless this message for your glory
and for our good. In Christ's name we pray, amen.