Okay, this evening we're starting
our study through the book of Nehemiah, and we'll probably
look at most of the chapters, and maybe some of the chapters
we'll combine together in the book of Nehemiah. I'm entitling
the message from the words of this prayer we found here in
Nehemiah chapter 1, and I'm entitling the message from the words found
in verse 10. And these are the words that
caught my attention. Now these are thy servants and
thy people whom thou hast redeemed by thy great power and by thy
strong hand. Now isn't that the testimony
of every saint of God, every sinner saved by God's grace,
redeemed, and that word there means also delivered, delivered
by Thy great power, and His hand is not a weak hand, His hand
is the almighty hand of God. It is true, we are redeemed by
His power, not by our might, nor by our power, nor by our
will, but totally and completely We are redeemed by the power
of God, the purpose of God, the grace of God, and the will of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's your testimony, isn't
it? It's all of grace. Salvation is of the Lord. Paul
said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It's the power
of God unto salvation. It's not of him that willeth.
nor of him that runneth, but it's of God that shows mercy. We are redeemed, justified freely
by His grace through the redemption that is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
We are redeemed by the powerful blood atonement of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He bought us. He bought us with
His own blood. We are redeemed, as we read just
a moment ago, we are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. As of a lamb without blemish
and without spot that was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, before Adam ever sinned against God, the Lord Jesus Christ
stood in great power and He redeemed us with His own blood. Now, in the book of Nehemiah,
We find a continuing story of what we study in the book of
Ezra. There in the book of Ezra, we read about the rebuilding
of the temple of God. We also studied about the sacrifice
that was offered upon the altar of God as it was restored there. And we also read about public
worship around the sacrifice that was established and how
they observed the Passover and how they rejoiced around God's
mercy to sinners. There was a restoration in Ezra's
day of the temple, of the sacrifice, and of worship. There was a restoration
and reformation, but also we found that there was a revival
that took place in the time of Ezra. And my thought was this,
oh may God be pleased to do that again in our day within us. Revive us again. Surely He is
able. God has not changed. He is able. We read in Ephesians 3, now unto
him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think. Exceeding abundantly. That's
a lot, isn't it? exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to His power, His power that
worketh in us to the glory of our God. In the book of Nehemiah,
we see that Nehemiah was raised up by God to reconstruct a wall
around the city of Jerusalem for protection, protection of
the people of God. Nehemiah was a workman that needed
not to be ashamed. He was a ready workman to do
the will of God. And we see in Nehemiah, we see
in Nehemiah a type and picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, who
was the ready, willing, and able Savior, Son of God. As Nehemiah
was sent by King Artaxerxes we see in chapter 2, even so the
Lord Jesus Christ was sent by the will of God the Father to
accomplish our salvation. We see in Nehemiah a type and
picture of the Lord Jesus Christ surrounding us with established
walls of His grace, love, and mercy. David prayed this in Psalm
51, Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion, and build thou the
walls of Jerusalem. He's walled us around with His
grace, His power, His love. The Lord said, I will build my
church in the gates of hell, shall not prevail against it. Both Ezra and Nehemiah, think
about this, were chosen of God. favored of God, especially chosen
of God. They were chosen of God in that
eternal covenant of grace. Both Ezra and Nehemiah were chosen
of God, blessed of God. They were blessed in the Lord
Jesus Christ, just like we are. Blessed of God to carry out the
Lord's purpose. The Lord has a purpose, and He's
going to use instruments, weak and frail as they may be, He's
going to raise them up to do His purpose, and He's going to
use the frailty of our flesh to do it that He might get all
the honor and glory. But Ezra and Nehemiah, blessed
of God, chosen of God to carry out the Lord's purpose, neither
wore a crown as a king, They had no earthly crown, neither
conquered any country, neither were famed philosophers, but
both of them were chosen highly favored of God. Both were humbled
by the Lord's grace and made useful instrument to His eternal
purpose. May that be said of us. May the
Lord be pleased to use us for His glory. I remember years ago
hearing a story of a young man who approached Brother Barnard
and said, I pray the Lord may use me. And Brother Barnard said,
be careful what you ask for. He just might do it. And that's
true. That's true. I'm reminded of
the words of Isaiah when he saw the glory of the Lord. You remember
what he said? And the Lord asked that question, who will go for
us? Remember what He said? Here am I, send me. He makes His people willing to
serve Him. We don't serve Him out of bondage
or servitude, we serve Him out of love. He makes us willing
in the day of His power to serve Him. Now, with that brief introduction,
let's take a look at verse 1. The words of Nehemiah, the son
of Hakaliah, came to pass in the month Chislew in the twentieth
year, I was in Shushan the palace." Now that's in the dominion of
the kingdom of Babylon. Here we learn something about
Nehemiah. Some have speculated that he
was a priest of the tribe of Levi, but I don't think so. Most likely he was of the tribe
of Judah. Most likely he was a son of David,
turn over to chapter 2 and look at verse 3. And Nehemiah said
unto the king, let the king live forever. Why should not my countenance
be sad when the city, the place of my father's supplicars, lieth
waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire? I think
he was more likely of the tribe of Judah and a son of David. He was probably born in Babylonian
captivity, you remember they were there for 70 years, and
was raised up by the purpose of God to be a cupbearer in the
house of the king of Babylon and Assyria or the Xerxes. Nehemiah
in verse 11, he calls himself the king's cupbearer. He was the king's servant. Now,
Being a servant of the Most High God, a servant is a high title
in the Kingdom of God. To be known as a servant of the
Lord, that's a high title. Servants of the Most High God
declare the way of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
often called himself many times a servant of the Lord, a loving,
willing, bond-servant of the Lord. It says in Isaiah 42.1,
of the Lord Jesus Christ, behold my servant, my elect, and whom
my soul delighteth." The Lord Jesus Christ takes to himself
that title of a servant. You see why it's a special, special
title to be called the servant of the Lord. The servant of the
Lord, it says in Isaiah 42, 4, the servant of the Lord cannot
fail to complete all the will and purpose of God in accomplishing
our salvation. He said, I came to do the work
the Father had sent me. And then he said, it's finished.
The work is done. The Lord will have his people
in the place that he has purposed, ready to use them for his glory,
as Nehemiah lived in the palace of the king. and served the king,
maybe these 20 years he was a servant to the king. We don't know how
long he was the king's cupbearer, but he was a servant living in
the palace and in the time of God's purpose. 20 years. 20 years. The Lord God Almighty called
him to do his business, to use him for his purpose. It reminded
me You remember Moses was raised in the house of Pharaoh for how
many years? Forty years before the Lord called
him to serve Him and sent him to redeem Israel of old. Like Moses being in the house
of Pharaoh forty years, the Lord raised him up in due time for
His purpose And He was manifested in due time to be. Moses was
called the Deliverer. And of course, all of that is
a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord Jesus Christ, although
He was a lamb slain before the foundation of the world, in due
time, according to the time, according to the fullness of
the time, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman, made under
the law to redeem them that were under the law. Now look at verse
two and three of Nehemiah chapter one. And here we have the report
of Hanai. Hanai is called over in chapter
7. He was called a faithful man and one who feared God. Now,
let's read verse 2 and 3. And Hanai, one of the brethren,
came, he and certain men of Judah. And I asked them concerning the
Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity concerning
Jerusalem. And they said unto me, the remnant,
There is a remnant according to the election of grace. There
is a remnant that are left of the captivity. They are in a
province that is in Judah and they are in great affliction
and they are in reproach. The enemy we are going to see
in chapter 4, Sanballat again and Tobiah as they cause great
affliction to Ezra they did to Nehemiah as well. in great affliction
and reproach, the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates
thereof are burned with fire." You hear the rather sad report. Nehemiah, although Nehemiah was
in Babylon, his heart, his mind was on the Lord's people. He had a concern for their welfare. Isn't that true of all of God's
saints? We have concern for their welfare. I think about this hurricane
that came through the Caribbean and it had a dead end for St.
Croix. And I'm concerned about the welfare
of Brother Daniel, Brother Daniel Park, our missionary to the Caribbean
islands. And I hope that he's okay and
hope that he's doing okay, but we have a concern for the welfare
of God's people, don't we? We're concerned for them. Hananiah
gives this rather grim report. He says, the people of God are
in great affliction. The Lord's people, we know this,
are not immune from trouble in this life. We've all experienced
that, haven't we? Man that's born of woman, a few
days and full of trouble. You think being the Lord's people
and these people being set free from Babylonian captivity, going
back to reconstruct the temple, going back to reconstruct the
wall would have all blue skies and green lights. We'd get full
of pride if it was that way. But the Lord sends these afflictions
and trouble to teach us to lean upon Him and to trust Him. While trials do not produce faith,
they certainly reveal whether faith is real or phony. The people of God are oftentimes
found in great affliction. The Lord's people are not immune
from the troubles that we find in this life. Our Lord said this
in John 16, in me you shall have peace. These words I've spoken
unto you that in me you shall have peace. But in this world,
you're gonna have tribulation. Ah, but he said, be of good cheer.
I have overcome. I have overcome. That's our hope.
The apostle Paul in Acts chapter 14, he said to the saints there
that we through much tribulation. And he said this just after he
was stoned there in Lystra and drug out of the city by his heels
as a dead man. And he went right back into the
city and preached again. And then he said to the people
that we must, through much tribulation, enter into the kingdom of God. We have heartache and sorrow
and trouble in this life. And remember that. They come
from the hand of our Father, whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth,
and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth." And Hananiah said,
the walls of Jerusalem, ah, they're broken down. He said, the gates
of a city. You see, the walls and the gates
were security and protection for the people. And he said,
we're vulnerable to the enemy, to their attack. And it caused
Nehemiah great concern. So what does he do? Now he's
going to go to his king, Artaxerxes, and he's going to ask the king
for leave to go to Jerusalem to help the people of God. But
the first thing he does, he prays unto our God. And that should
always tell us whenever we have heartache or trouble or concern,
our first recourse of action is to call upon the name of the
Lord. Look at verse 4. Look at verse 4 down through
verse 11, we see the prayer of Nehemiah. And it came to pass,
when I heard these words, that I sat down and I wept. I wept. And I mourned certain
days. Not only did I weep, not only
did I mourn, but I fasted. I fasted. I forgot about eating. I was so concerned about the
people of God. And then he says, I prayed before
the God of heaven. He's the God of heaven and earth.
He's God of the whole earth. And I said, I beseech thee, O
Lord God of heaven, the great, I love this way he addresses
our great God, the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant
and mercy for them that love him and those that observe his
commandments. Nehemiah, like Ezra, when he
hears the true report, he calls upon God. It's always a good
and right thing to do to take our burdens to the Lord. Take
our burdens to the Lord. Charles Tyndale wrote that song. Take your burdens to the Lord
and leave them there. Leave them there. You see, praying
under our God is a great privilege that God has given us. The Apostle
Paul said, pray without ceasing and in everything give thanks. We're going to study later on
in Luke chapter 18, where the Lord said, men ought always to
pray. They ought always to pray. Pray without ceasing. And then
in 1 Peter 5, 7, we read this. He says, casting all your care
upon Him, for He careth for you. Let your supplications be made
known, Paul said. Let your requests be made known
unto God. Notice Nehemiah in verse 5, Nehemiah's
humble and reverent respect for the Lord our God. I beseech thee,
I beg thee, O Lord God of heaven, he's a God of heaven and earth,
the great and terrible God that keepeth covenant, he keepeth
mercy. His mercies are covenant mercies.
For them that love Him, we love Him only because He first loved
us. And those that observe or believe His words, notice His
humble and reverent respect for God. Great and terrible is our
God. The Lord said in Isaiah 45, I
am God, beside me there is no other. Notice the marginal reference
there in Deuteronomy 7.21, where Moses also uses those same words
describing God. He is a great and terrible God. Also, there's another reference
given there, Daniel 9. Verse 4, where Daniel in that
prayer, Daniel the servant of the Lord, he prays the same way. He dresses our great God the
same way. Listen to this verse. O Lord, great and dreadful, O
Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping covenant and mercy
to them that love Him, to do, and to them that keep His commandments.
You see, we draw nigh unto our God, and when we draw nigh unto
our God, and when we pray, we do so with reverent spirit, don't
we? With holy awe. And with a reverent
spirit and admiration of our great God. He's not our co-pilot
and buddy. He's our great God. He's the
eternal God. And we address Him as such, don't
we? He is great. In His person, glorious
in His person, Psalm 111 says, Holy and Reverend is His name. He's a great God. Anybody greater
than our God? He's a great God who has great
power, who has so great salvation for such as we are. I'm thankful
that He is the great and dreadful, terrible, and that word can also
be rendered, He's a tremendous God. He said, I am God, beside
me there is no other. And then Nehemiah draws nigh
with holy confidence. Not only with holy awe, but holy
confidence. He said, our great and terrible
God, He keepeth covenant. What does that tell us? God's
true to His word. He keeps His covenant. That is,
He keeps His word. He said, heaven and earth are
going to pass away. My word. He'll never pass away. He keeps
covenant and mercy for His covenant people, for them that love Him
and observe or believe His Word. Our God is a covenant God and
He calls upon the covenant character of our God. You remember it says
in Hebrews chapter 6, one thing that it is impossible for our
great God to do, He cannot change. We know that. I am the Lord,
I change not. And He cannot lie. It's impossible
for our God to lie. He's true to His covenant. He's
true to His Word. He has promised to have mercy
upon a multitude of sinners for Christ's sake. Turn to Nehemiah
9. Nehemiah chapter 9. And this is another prayer. Look
at verse 17. And He refused to obey, neither
were mindful of the wonders that thou didst among them, but they
hardened their necks in their rebellion, and appointed a captain
to return to their bondage, talking about what they did to Moses,
but thou art a God ready to pardon, gracious, merciful, slow to anger,
and of great kindness. And God did not even forsake
them, because He said, I will bless my people. I will keep
my people. He keepeth covenant and mercy. His mercies to us are covenant
mercies, and they're called certain and sure. Remember David said,
although it be not so with my house, God hath made with me
an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, And it is certain
and it is sure. In Isaiah 55, we read, "...incline
your ear and come unto me," the Lord said, "...here, and your
soul shall live, and I'll make an everlasting covenant with
you, even the sure mercies of David." God is determined to
bless all those in the greater David, the Lord Jesus Christ. We read about this covenant of
grace in Hebrews 13, now the God of peace, that brought again
from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep,
through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Aren't you glad that
His mercies are covenant mercies unto us? Christ is called the
surety of the everlasting covenant, by so much was He made the surety
of a better covenant, of a better testament. Now look at verse
6 and verse 7. Let thine ear now be attentive,
and thine eyes opened, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy
servant. Because He is a living God, He
is able to hear. which I pray before thee now,
I pray day and night, and I pray for the children of Israel, thy
servants, and confess their sins of the children of Israel, which
we have sinned against thee." Notice he includes himself, we
have sinned against thee. Both I and my father's house
have sinned. We have dealt very corruptly
against thee. and have not kept thy commandments,
nor thy statutes, nor thy judgments, which thou hast commanded thy
servant Moses." Here we see in verse 6 and 7, we see his confession
of his sin against God. And truly all the Lord's people,
when He convicts them of sin, of judgment, and righteousness,
He convicts us that we are sinners, and we confess that Unto the
Lord have mercy upon me, the sinner." All the Lord's people
own their sin that's against God. This is the only way to
approach Him. And as I often say, we approach
him as a mercy beggar. He said, come boldly unto the
throne of grace that you may obtain mercy and find grace to
help in time of need. Seeing we have a great high priest
that is passed into the heavens, he said, come boldly. Come boldly
as a mercy beggar. Very similar to the way Ezra
prayed. Don't turn them, I'll just read
it to you. Ezra 9 verse 6, he said, Oh my God, I am ashamed
and blushed to lift my face to Thee, my God, for our iniquities
are increased over our head, and our trespasses grown up into
the heaven. We are guilty of sin against
God. But that should not discourage
us. Anybody encourage us? Because
the Lord Jesus Christ came to save sinners. He came, not to
call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. The Lord Jesus
Christ died for the ungodly. We can say, with David against
thee, and thee only have I sinned. Now watch verse 8 and verse 9
in Nehemiah chapter 1. Now remember, you see verse 8? Remember. Remember, isn't that
what the thief said? Lord, that dying thief, Lord,
remember me when you come in to thy kingdom. Remember, I beseech
thee the word, thy word, the word that thou commandest thy
servant Moses, saying, Oh, if you transgress, I will scatter
you abroad. among the nations. But if ye
turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though there were
of you cast out unto the uttermost part of heaven, yet will I gather
thee from thence, and will bring them unto the place that I have
chosen to set my name there." Nehemiah remembers the unchanging
Word of the Lord that he gave to Moses that's recorded in Leviticus
26. The Lord promised Israel of old
cursings for their disobedience and blessings for their obedience. This is what the law of God holds
for, does it not? Cursing for disobedience, cursing
everyone that continues not, and all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. Punishment for sin, the
guilty must die, the guilty must be punished, but also blessings
for obedience. Now, what does all that teach
us? Well, this is exactly what the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is exactly what the
Lord has fulfilled for us. Yes, we have sinned against God. We have been disobedient unto
God, but the Lord Jesus Christ, our surety, He honored the law
of God for us. And because He honored the law
of God for us, as I often say, in precept and in penalty, He's
blessed us with all spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in
the Lord Jesus Christ. This is exactly what the Lord
Jesus Christ has fulfilled for us. We could not provide perfect
obedience to the law of God. The law of God was never given
to justify us. The law was given to condemn
us. But the Lord Jesus Christ has honored the law of God for
us, and He blesses us upon His faithful obedience, upon the
faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. You're looking at a sinner
who is completely honored and satisfied the holy law of God. in my substitute, the Lord Jesus
Christ. By one man's disobedience, many
were made sinners. So by the obedience of another,
shall many be made righteous? We're gonna study that in our
Bible study on Sunday morning. I'm thinking of another verse
over here in Don't Turn. Well, my mind is just completely
I had a verse on my mind and I was going to turn to it. Now
I can't remember what it was. Well, you'll have to forgive
me, but this is exactly what the gospel of Christ has fulfilled
for us. The wages of sin is death, but
the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He perfectly honored the law
of God for us, died to put away our sin. This brings us to God. Now here's the verse. If I just
look down in my notes here, I had it written down. Galatians 3.13,
got ahead of myself. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us, for it is written,
Cursed is everyone that hangeth upon the tree. The Lord Jesus
Christ has satisfied the law of God for us. And then I love
what it says right there in the next verses. Yet I'll gather
thee from thence, And I will bring them, I'll bring them unto
the place that I have chosen to set my name there. Now, don't turn, let me just
read this to you because you're familiar with this verse over
here in 1 Peter chapter 3. But I love that word, He brings
us to Himself, to that place that He has appointed, to that
place He has chosen. Now how does He bring us? Listen
to this verse, this is 1 Peter 3.18, For Christ also hath once
suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring
us to God. How are we going to be brought?
to that sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that satisfied the
holy justice of God, that He might bring us to God, being
put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. And then I'm thinking of another
verse over here in Hebrews chapter 2, where it said, "...it became
him for whom are all things, by whom are all things, in bringing
many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation
perfect through his suffering." You see, it's based upon the
faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing that a man is
not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of
Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. not by
the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall no
flesh be justified." Through His sacrifice and through His
obedience, the just for the unjust, He brings us to God. We can't
come any other way. He said, I'm the way, the truth,
the life. No man comes to the Father but by and through Me. He says, I'll bring them, and
then He says, I'll gather them. You see that? I'll gather them,
I'll bring them unto the place I've chosen. He gathers us, what's
that place? He gathers us to himself, to
himself. In Psalm 50 we read, gather my
saints together unto me, those that I've made a covenant with
me, gather them by sacrifice. And that's how he gathers us,
by the sacrifice. He'll call his people out, from
the east, north, south, west, and bring them to himself. Now, look at verse 10. Now these
are thy servants, thy people, whom thou hast, you've redeemed
by thy great power and by thy strong hand. I love to think
about the ability of the Lord to redeem. Now we have no ability
in our flesh, do we? No, no ability at all. I don't
have any more ability to obey the gospel than I do to obey
the law. We believe only according to
the working of His mighty power that He works in us. Now these
are thy servants and thy people. And it is true that national
and physical Israel are types and pictures of the true Israel
of God, the true elect of God. The Lord only has an eye upon
the elect of God whom He has chosen. It says that in Deuteronomy
7 verse 7 and 8, Behold what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us, that we should be called sons of God. God hath
from the beginning chosen us unto salvation. Those for whom
He has chosen unto salvation are those for whom He died, His
people. Call His name Jesus, He shall
save His people from their sin. Whom He redeemed by His great
power. Nothing but the blood of Christ
can put away our sin. The blood of Christ, God's Son,
cleanses us from all our sin. He obtained for us eternal redemption
with His own blood, in whom we have redemption through His blood,
the forgiveness of sin according to the will of God. He redeemed us and delivered
us by His... He's a strong-handed God. He's
not weak-handed. He's not weak-kneed. He's a strong
hand. Matter of fact, Nebuchadnezzar
was taught that lesson, wasn't he? And he said, God taught him
all the habitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he
doeth according to his will in the army of heaven and among
the habitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, none
can stop his hand, or say unto him, Lord God Almighty, what
doest thou? He delivered us by his strong
hand. Psalm 95 says, for He is our
God, we are His people, we are the people of His pasture and
the sheep of His hand. No one can pluck them out of
my Father's hand. He said, I and my Father are
one. Now, lastly, verse 11, O Lord,
I beseech Thee, I beg Thee, let now Thine ear be attentive to
the prayer of Thy servant. and to the prayer of thy servants
who desire, this is our desire, we desire to fear thy name. We
desire to worship the true and living God. Prosper, I pray thee,
thy servant this day. Grant him mercy in the sight
of this man. For I was the cup's, the king's
cupbearer, cupbearer, his last request. He says again, we are
thy servant. We desire to fear thy name. And believers, we desire to worship
the true and living God, and to do so in spirit and in truth. The Father seeketh such to worship
him in spirit and in truth. We are the true Israel of God,
which worship God in the spirit, that rejoice in Christ Jesus,
and have no confidence in the flesh. Now let me give you this
before I let you go. We desire to fear His name, and
then He says, we are your servants, prosper us. Prosper, I pray thee,
thy servant this day. Now if you look right across
the page, in Nehemiah chapter 2 verse 20, then answered I them,
and said unto them, this is Sanballat and Tobiah, who tried to shut
down the building of the wall, like they tried to shut down
the building of the temple, the God of heaven, see verse 20,
he will prosper us. The God of heaven will prosper
us, therefore we are, we, his servants, will arise and build,
but you have no portion, no rite, no memorial in Jerusalem, God
don't Prosper us. You have nothing. We have everything. He blessed us with all things
in Christ. Believers do prosper in the Lord.
We read about, my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches and glory through Christ Jesus. And then he says, Lord,
grant us mercy. We don't earn mercy or attain
unto mercy. We have mercy by the grant of
God. It's of His mercies that we are
not consumed. The only way we can prosper spiritually
in the sight of God Almighty is in the Lord Jesus Christ.
He's made us to prosper. The pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hand." I thought of a couple of scriptures. I'll
give them to you quickly. It said of Joseph when he was
in Egypt, remember, sold into slavery, but God raised him up. The Lord hath made, they said,
all that he did to prosper. And then it says in Psalm 1 of
the Lord Jesus Christ, Whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. God's people are prosperous people.
They're blessed above all people of the earth in Christ. And His
Word, His Word shall prosper. I pray thee, we desire to fear
thy name. And He's made us to prosper.
And Lord, grant mercy unto us. And do so in the sight of Almighty
God. Amen. May the Lord bless His
Word.