Now turn to John chapter 6. Excuse me, let's try Matthew
chapter 6. Excuse me, let's try Mark chapter 6. Oh, it's going
to be a long morning. My goodness. I'm glad we can
laugh, because I'm embarrassed. Mark, it says Mark chapter 6. The title of this message is
John the Baptist murdered over the gospel. John murdered for
the gospel. Now you stay right here in Mark
chapter 6 for a moment. And my introduction is just a
little bit longer than normal, but I have four points to this
message. And I'll try to be brief here in the introduction. We
have before us the sad, very sad and gruesome story of one
of God's faithful servants, faithful servant of the Lord, being put
to death by the wicked designs of Herod and his wife Herodias. Someone said of this couple that Herod and Herodias was like the
Old Testament couple Ahab and Jezebel, how they sought the
life of Elijah to do him in. And I suppose that's so. What
they meant for evil toward John, and that's all their intention
was, was nothing but evil. What they meant for evil toward
John was intended for the eternal good of this faithful servant,
John. Preacher, how can you say that?
All things work together for good to them who love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose. Remember what
John said of his ministry when the Lord started his public ministry. John said this, that the Lord
Jesus Christ, He must increase, and I must decrease. John's ministry is now over,
and the Lord quickly takes him home to glory. I don't know how
long he stayed in prison, but not long. And the Lord took him
home. Was his life cut short? No. Was his ministry ended too soon?
No. No, sir. Man's days are determined of
the Lord. God took him home exactly the
time that he decreed to be so. Even in the blessed death of
our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, God determined the hour, the
place, and the circumstances of his death, and he decreed
it. You see, man's days are determined of God. Yours? and mine, John's,
and even the God-man mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ. The blessed
Savior said this, no man takes my life from me. You remember
many times they came to arrest him? And he simply walked right
through the crowd. No one could touch him till he
said, My hour is come. No man takes my life from me.
I have power to lay it down. I have power to take it again.
This commandment have I received of my Father. The Lord Jesus
Christ was delivered to be crucified by the determinate decree and
counsel of God. Yes, it says in Mark, excuse
me, Acts chapter 4, that wicked men did what they wanted to do,
but they did what God determined before to be done. The death
of the Lord Jesus Christ was not an accident. The death of
John, the beloved prophet of God, was not an accident. He died the appointed death at
the appointed time just as God decreed it. I thought about this. Remember the story of Joseph,
how his brothers sold him into slavery down in Egypt? Joseph
said this to his brothers later, but as for you, you thought evil
against me, and they did, but God meant it for good. The faithful
servant of the Lord, the Apostle Paul, his life was taken in the
same manner when he was executed in Rome for the gospel. He was
beheaded in Rome. When he preached the gospel in
Rome for two years, and when he preached his last sermon there
in Rome for two years in that special house that God provided
for him, receiving all that would come to him, and he declared
unto them the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. And when
he preached his last sermon, the executor came, and they took
him to the house of execution and murdered him. The Lord quickly took him home
to glory. And here is the testimony. Listen
to these words of the Apostle Paul. These are his last recorded
words before they took his life. Here's what he said, 2 Timothy
4. For I am ready to be offered the time of my departure. Well, Paul, where are you going?
I'm going home to glory. The time of my departure is at
hand. I've fought a good fight. I've
finished my course. I've kept the faith. Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord,
the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me
only, but unto all them that love His appearing." He wrote
this to the believers in Corinth. We are confident, and I say,
willing rather, Winning rather for the believer to be absent
from this body is to be present with the Lord. For me to live
is Christ to die, not punishment, not for the believer. To die
is gain. Gain. Now many believers down
through the centuries have died a martyr for the cause of God
and truth. They've sealed their testimony
with their own blood. There is a published book that
you can find on the internet or anywhere. You can do a Google
search on Fox's Book of Martyrs. Fox's Book of Martyrs. And you
can read many stories there about how believers down through the
centuries have given their life. Some of them were drowned. Some
of them were executed by having their head taken off. Some of
them, many of them were burned to the stake. You can read about
the story of William Tyndale. who was very instrumental in
putting the Scripture in language that we can use. He was executed
for the gospel in 1536. And as they tied him to the stake,
and as they put a rope around his neck, he was heard to cry
out, Open the king's eyes that he may see." And they tightened
that neck, that rope around his neck and strangled him to death
and set him on fire for the gospel. And you can read of many other
stories in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, how believers down through the
centuries, when some were brought to the stake to burn, All they
had to do is recant, deny the gospel. As one dear lady said
in that book, as they tied her and lit the fire, will you recant? She said, no, I didn't come here
today to deny my Lord. I came here as a testimony of
His grace and God took her home to glory. Now, here's my second
thought, still in the introduction. One of the things that grabbed
my attention in this story was the vast difference between Herod
and John. Now, what a vast difference!
One, a pagan God-hater, Herod, and the other, a blessed, loved,
servant, faithful servant of God Almighty. What a contrast! What a difference! Both were
born in sin. Both had a fallen, depraved nature.
Both were guilty before God. Both were fallen sons of Adam.
Herod was a notorious, wild and wicked man, left to himself to
act according to his own deceitful heart, his own deceitful lust,
and he asked it out. The wicked designs of his heart,
and God let him go. You know, even the wicked designs
of men, God uses that for His own purpose. That's right. Look at the contrast here with
John. John, even though by birth and by nature a sinner, guilty
before God, yet God made a difference. It says in the Scripture that
John was filled with the Spirit of God from the womb. John was
raised up to serve the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ said of
this faithful servant, He said this in Matthew 11, 11, Verily
I say unto you, among them that are born of woman, there hath
not risen a greater than John the Baptist." Herod even said
here in verse 20 in our text, Mark chapter 6, Herod feared
John knowing that he was a just man and holy and he kept him
safe and he heard him and he did many things. He did many
things and he heard him gladly. Even Herod had in a measure a
good opinion. of this faithful servant of God.
Now the question is this, that must be asked. How do you account
for such a difference? How do you account for such a
difference? Sovereign mercy. It's God who has made us to differ.
Now here's the scripture. 1 Corinthians 4, 7. We read, For whom maketh he to
differ from another? What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now if thou did receive it, why do you glory as if you
have earned it and didn't receive it as a gift? The Apostle Paul's
own testimony, he said, by the grace of God, I am what I am. Who made the difference between
Herod and John. It was God's sovereign election,
God's sovereign choice. One was made an object of God's
mercy, John, and one was left to grovel in his own wicked,
wicked heart and devices. My prayer is this, Lord, don't
leave me alone. Don't leave me alone. Don't leave
me alone. Who made us to differ? What was the difference between
Abel and Cain? You see this all the way through
the Scripture. What's the difference between
John and Herod? What's the difference between Abel and Cain? What's
the difference between Jacob and Esau? What's the difference
between Moses and Pharaoh? What's the difference between
Peter and Judas? Well, you might say, well, one
exercised his free will and believed and the other didn't. That's
what the false preacher says. What does God say? That's all
that matters. What does the Word of God teach?
It's not what men say. What does God say? That's all
that matters. Turn to Romans 9. Here's what
God says. Who makes you to differ? Sovereign
grace has made the difference. Romans chapter 9. Here we go. Look at verse 11. Here's two
twin boys, conceived at the same time, Same father, same mother,
born same time. Romans 9 verse 11, For the children
being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the
purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. It was said to her, The elder
shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. What? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. That's sovereign mercy. Read
on. What shall we say then? Well,
that's not fair. That's what the rebel says. What does God say? What do we
say? What shall we say? Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. Torrey said to Moses, all the
way back to Exodus 33, I will have mercy on whom I will have
mercy. And I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then, It's not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but it's God that shows mercy. Now we can turn to John chapter
1. Turn over there. Of his own will
beget he us with the word of truth. It's grace, sovereign
mercy, sovereign love that has made us to differ. John chapter 1. Look at verse
11. He came and He was owned. His
own received Him not. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He right, privilege, power, ability to become sons
of God, even to them that believe on His name." Now don't stop
there. There's not even a period there. It's a continuing thought. A
colon there. Not even a semicolon. Not a comma. Not a period. Which were born.
Not of blood. Not of the will of the flesh.
Not of the will of man. But of God. This is what the
Word of God teaches. Sovereign grace. Sovereign mercy. He will have mercy on whom He
will have mercy. So then, can we answer the question?
What made the difference? between Herod's wickedness and
John's faithful servant, faithful service to the Lord. It's grace
that has made us to differ, just as it is grace who was made a
difference, made them to differ in that day. Now, let's turn
back to the story. That's my introduction. Here's
the four things that I want. I think the message here for
me, to you, I ask God to give me a message. for you from this,
and here's the four things. The first thing we see is this,
verse 14 down through verse 16. Herod heard of him, and his name
was spread abroad, and he said that John the Baptist was risen
from the dead, and therefore might he work to show forth himself
in him. Others said, well, this is Elijah.
And others said, this is another prophet. But when Herod heard
Heard of the glory of Christ and heard of the miracles of
Christ. He said, if John, whom I beheaded, he had a guilty conscience,
he's risen from the dead. Here's the first point. Herod's
guilty conscience haunted him because of his wicked deeds. He's thinking, I'm guilty, I'm
guilty, I'm guilty. Herod, even though he was a godless
reprobate, His conscience troubled him greatly. He had enough remorse
in his conscience to torment him, but not enough to change
him or to convict him of his sin. Now here is my thought to
you. You have a conscience. You have
a conscience. Everybody has a conscience. The
dictionary gives this definition of a conscience. The sense of
what is right and wrong that governs somebody's thoughts and
actions, urging him or her to do right rather than wrong. Somehow in your conscience you
know when it's wrong, don't you? We have a conscience. Listen
to this scripture, Romans chapter 2. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you. For when the Gentiles, which
have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law,
These having not the law are a law unto themselves which show
the work of the law written in their heart and in their conscience." Even those over in the remotest
tribes, in the remotest areas of South America or Africa, they
know in their conscience it is wrong to murder someone. Now,
they don't have the law written, do they? But they have that written
on their conscience. Their conscience also bearing
witness in their thoughts to meanwhile accusing or else excusing
one another. A conscience written. A conscience
where the law is written on the heart. Fallen and sinful man,
as wicked as he is, and although his conscience is defiled by
sin, he still has that conscience. You have a conscience. Matthew
Henry, one old writer, said, A guilty conscience needs no
accuser or tormentor but itself. Doesn't a guilty conscience gnaw
on you and bother you and disturb you? A guilty conscience? This
is what caused Felix to tremble before Paul. when Paul preached
to him in Acts 24. Let me read this to you. When Paul preached of righteousness
and temperance and judgment, Felix trembled and answered,
Go thy way for this time. When I have a more convenient
season, I'll call for you. He was troubled in his conscience.
He knew he was guilty before God. How about King Agrippa? King Agrippa said this when Paul
preached to him. King Agrippa, believe us, Paul
said, King Agrippa, believe us, thou of the prophets, I know
that you believe. Then Agrippa said, you almost
persuaded me to be one of those followers of Christ. He had a
conscience. He was guilty. He knew he needed
a Savior. He knew he needed a Redeemer
to put away his sin. His conscience was crying out
in his heart, guilty! Guilty as charged. It says in Romans 128, some through
the hardness of their heart have been given over to a reprobate
mind, their conscience is seared with a hot iron. In 1 Timothy
4, we read this, Now the Spirit speaketh expressly in the latter
time. Now listen to this. Some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their
conscience seared with a hot iron. No remorse. Their conscience seared. Now
listen to me. The only thing that can purge
our conscience from dead works to serve the living God and speak
peace to our guilty conscience before God is the gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ. In the Lord Jesus Christ, God
has no charge on me. Those who are in Christ, there
is no condemnation to those who are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
The only thing that will quiet my guilty conscience before God
who is holy is the blood sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ that
puts away all my sin. My conscience is at peace with
God. It said it is well with my soul. It is well. Hebrews 9 says this, How much
more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit
offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? It is the blood of
Christ that cleanses us from all sin. Those who have a purged
conscience It says in 1 Thessalonians 1, 9, we turn to God from our
idols because our conscience has been purged by the blood
of Christ. We are made aware of our guilt.
We are made aware of the only remedy for my guilt and the only
one that can justify me before God is holy is the blood sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That clears my conscience. I
can sleep at night. God's not angry with me no more. The war is over. He says in Christ
Jesus now, justified. Reconciled. I'm at peace with
God. How? How can this sinner have
peace with God? Listen to the scripture. Therefore
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. This sinner's conscience is purged. I'm at peace with God and God's
at peace with me in Christ Jesus. Herod had a guilty conscience.
He was troubled. He was troubled. Second point
is this. What do we see from this story?
Here's a second point. Like John the Baptist, God's
servants, like John the Baptist, God's servants are courageous,
bold men. They tell the truth no matter
the consequences. When John, the faithful servant
of God, went into the court of Herod, and Herodias was sitting
there, and he pointed his finger at Herod and Herodias and said,
you're guilty! before God. You're not to have
your brother's wife. You're guilty. And Herodias and
Herod were angry. Maybe John just should have went
in there and said, you're okay, I'm okay, everybody's okay, let's
have a party. Can't we all just get along?
He said, you're guilty. You're guilty before God. Remember
what the prophet said, Isaiah 40, all flesh is grass, the word
of the Lord endures forever, behold your God, behold your
God. God's servants tell the truth,
as it says in verse 18 and 19, John said to Herod, it is not
right for you to have your brother's wife, therefore Herodias had
a quarrel against him and would have killed him, but she could
not get her hands around his neck at that time. John was a
faithful prophet of God. John's ministry was to declare
and announce the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. He said, Behold
the Lamb of God that takes away sin. When John had opportunity
to preach in the king's court, he faithfully reproved and rebuked
Herod for his sin against God. He didn't try to smooth it over.
He didn't try to look the other way. He said, pal, you're guilty. Guilty as charged. That's the
way all of us stand before God Almighty. Let every mouth be
stopped, Romans 3, 19 and 20. And what the law saith, it saith
to them that are under the law, let every mouth be stopped and
all the world become guilty, guilty before God. with the courage and boldness
of a lion, he exposes Herod publicly, regardless of the consequences. He knew, no doubt, if he told
the truth, it was going to cost him dearly. But he did not compromise. You remember the story of King
David, how he had taken, lusted after Bathsheba, And took her
to his wife. He was already married. Committed
adultery. And then sent out Uriah the Hittite,
Bathsheba's husband, and had him murdered in battle. Put old
Uriah the Hittite in the forefront of the battle. And then in the
heat of the battle, David said, you just draw back. And let Uriah
die. Murder and adultery. God sent
Nathan the prophet down to the house of David, God's servant,
and he told him that story about the man who had plenty of lambs,
and the man who had the one lamb, and how they took that one lamb
and killed that one lamb. And David said, I'm angry. I'm angry at that man who took
that one lamb. And that man who had all them
many lambs was let go. And Nathan stuck his finger in
the face of King David and said, David, you're the man. You're
guilty before God. You took that one man, had one
wife, like that farmer had that one lamb, and you took her. And
Nathan said, you're guilty before God. Guilty before God. Thou art the man. You see, God's
prophets can't compromise the truth. That's the point I'm making.
God help us. God help us if we do. God help
us to be servants like John and like Nathan, like the Apostle
Paul. Take an uncompromising stand
for the gospel of God's grace no matter the consequence. God's
servants are not compromisers of truth. They're declarers of
the truth. If we preach to please men, we're
not the servants of God. We've seen this all through our
study in the book of Acts. How many times the apostles were
commanded and beaten not to mention the name of the Lord Jesus Christ
upon punishment of death. And they went out everywhere,
publicly and privately, house to house and everywhere else,
declaring the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And they said this,
because we fear God, we don't fear men. I'm going to tell the
truth regardless of the consequences. God's servants are declarers
of the truth. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. We can't compromise. The glory
of God is at stake. The truth of God is at stake.
Here's the third point. Now, you get a hold of this now. Those who will not hear God's
servant and God's message often become resolved to discredit
God's servant and become open enemies of the gospel. That's
what happened in verse 19. Herodias had a quarrel against
him, an inward grudge, and would have killed him. Those who will
not hear God's servant and God's message often become resolved
to discredit God's servants and become an open enemy of the gospel. Our Lord said in Matthew 14, that Herod would have put him
to death right then, but he feared the multitude. He didn't fear
God, but he feared the multitude. This is what Herod and Herodias
planned to do. They were bent on ending John's
ministry by putting him in prison first and then taking his wife.
We must never be surprised when faithful servants of God are
demonized by those who hate God. Do you remember that scripture
from Romans 8? The carnal mind is enmity against
God. Proverbs 29 verse 1, He that
being often reproved and hardened his neck shall suddenly be destroyed
in that without remedy. Proverbs 29 verse 1, He that
being often reproved and hardened his neck shall be suddenly destroyed,
and that without remedy. No wonder the Lord Jesus Christ
warns us of these things. When He first sent out His disciples,
this was His warning. We read it last week in Matthew
10. In the beginning of their ministry He said, The disciple
is not above his master, nor the servant above his Lord. It
is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the
servant as the Lord. If they call the master of the
house Beelzebub, prince of devils, How much more shall they call
them of his household?" That's what he told them in the beginning
of his ministry. If they've called me the devil,
they'll call you the devil, and they'll give you the devil. In
the beginning of their ministry, that's what he said when he sent
them out. In the end of his ministry, in John chapter 15, before the
Lord Jesus Christ went to Calvary's cross to atone for the sin of
his covenant people, he said this in John 15. His last words
to them, same thing, if the world hates you, you know that it hated
me before it hated you. If you are of the world, the
world will love his own, but because you are not of the world,
I've chosen you out of the world, therefore they hate you. Remember the word that I said
unto you, the servant is not greater than his Lord. If they
persecuted me, they'll persecute you. If they kept my saying,
they'll keep yours. All these things will they do
unto you for my name's sake, because they do not know Him
who sent me. Now listen to me. It's no disgrace to a preacher
to be unpopular. to be disliked, to be evil spoken
of by religious centers. It's not a disgrace. It's not an honor for a preacher
to be applauded by the community he lives in. I don't seek the
favor of this religious community, not at all. I'm opposed to them
and they're opposed to me. Luke 6, 26, our Lord said, Woe
unto them when all men speak well of you. My dear pastor,
for over 25 years, Pastor Henry Mahan, very well-known preacher
in Ashland, Kentucky, for over 50 years, he labored preaching
this message of grace in Christ Jesus. For over 50 years. But he was the most disliked
preacher in the whole community. When the Lord taught me the gospel,
and I started searching for a place where the gospel was faithfully
preached, and I found out about the ministry of Pastor Mahan,
and went there and sat under his preaching for many years,
and still listen to him every day now. Oftentimes people will ask me,
well, where are you and your family going now? We're missing
you down there at church. Where are you going now? We found a preacher over here
that preaches God's grace over here at 13th Street Baptist Church,
and the next word out of their mouth was, oh, mayhem. We've heard of him. Why did the
religious community in those 50 years Why did they hate him so? Why
do they still hate him so? I'll tell you why. He exposed
their hypocrisy. He exposed their sham. He exposed their refuge of lies. He was bold enough to tell the
truth. You see, it's the truth that
sets sinners free. You can almost mark it down.
You remember what Paul said to those Galatians He said, at one
time you would have plucked out your eyes and would have given
them to me. But those Judaizers, those legalizers
who came preaching circumcision and works and deeds, they turned
you from the gospel. And then he said, am I your enemy? Because I tell you the truth.
I want you to consider that. you can almost mark it down as
a matter of certain fact. When a person turns against a
gospel preacher, the preacher of God's grace, though he may
not know how or why or when, that preacher has faithfully
preached the gospel of God's grace, And in doing so has pointed
out the point of rebellion in that sinner and he's angry. Just as Herodias, when John pointed
out and stuck his finger at the point of her rebellion in Herod
and Herodias, they both got angry. I've experienced this. I've seen
it happen. It may be A side issue? Most of the time,
it's the doctrinal issue. It may be a moral issue that's
exposed by the preaching of the gospel. It may be, more than
likely, a doctrinal issue, and they'll use some other flimsy
excuse. You know, that preacher's not
very nice. You see, they try to demonize the preacher and
discredit his message. because the preacher told the
truth and exposed their point of rebellion, and then they get
angry. And oftentimes God's servants
are the object of their anger, but in reality, when you shuck
right down to the cob, you know what the problem is? The anger
is against God. What was that old saying? If
you don't like the messenger boy, don't shoot him. He's just a messenger boy. This
is God's gospel. I'm sent to declare it. Will
you hear me? If God in mercy doesn't break
the rebellious heart, they will be hardened in their rebellion
and perish in their sin. Now take warning, my friend. You'll either bow to Christ at
the point of your rebellion. I don't know what it is. You'll
either bow to Christ at the point of your rebellion if you're an
unbeliever, Now if you're a believer, you don't have a point of rebellion.
You've bowed. You've surrendered. You've run up the white flag.
I'm guilty. You've run up the white flag.
I surrender. The battle's over. But if you're an unbeliever,
take heed. Take warning. You'll either bow
to Christ at the point of your rebellion or you'll perish in
your sin under the just wrath of God. The Lord Jesus Christ
demands total surrender. Total surrender. Say, I don't
like that. Your argument's not with me.
It's not with me. Your argument's with God if you've
got one. Nahum was told to dip in muddy
Jordan seven times or perish in his leprosy. He didn't like
that. Oh, muddy Jordan. You either
bow or you perish. Bow, believe, surrender to Christ
now. Beg for mercy. He that believeth
on the Son hath life. He that believeth not the Son,
the wrath of God abides on him. Lastly, I close on a high note. Our best days are yet to come.
Our best days are yet to come. Verse 27, verse 28, And immediately
the king sent an executioner and commanded his head to be
brought, and he went and beheaded him in prison, and brought his
head in his charger and gave it to the damsel, and the damsel
gave it to her mother. And when the disciples heard
of it, they came and took up his body and laid it in the tomb."
Our best days are yet to come. We must never expect or look
for good in this and from this ungodly world. This world is
not our home, we're just passing through. We, like Abraham, look
for a city which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God.
If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we're of all
men most miserable. Many of the Lord's servants have
given their lives for the gospel. The apostles were all imprisoned,
tortured, and cruelly murdered. Stephen was stoned to death.
The apostle Paul was executed for the gospel. Here's the point,
now quit. John's rest and his reward was
not in this life, but in another life on the other side of the
grave in paradise with the Lord. Notice it says they took up his
body and they buried his body. It doesn't say they buried John. The real John no one could bury. Whenever I tell or announce a
funeral of a loved one, friend. We often say the body of brother
so and so down here. We don't say he's down there.
If he's a believer, he's not there. The house has been vacated. Here is what the scripture teaches.
Romans 8.18 For I reckon that the suffering of this present
time not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us. 2 Corinthians 4.17 For our light affliction
which is but for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. 1 Corinthians 2.9 As it is written,
I have not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the
heart of man the thing which God hath prepared for them that
love him. Now you consider this. Where
is John today? Where is John today? Resting,
basking in the blessed bosom of the Savior, the Lord Jesus
Christ. Waiting for that resurrection morning. Beholding the Lord Jesus
Christ. Where is old Herod? John is resting
in the bosom of the Savior. Where is old Herod today? I believe
in the immortality of the soul. Where is Herod today? Writhing
in anguish in eternal condemnation. The rich man who died lifted
his eye up in torment. Being in torment. Well, I pray
the Lord will use this message to cause you to sell out and
surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ. God delights to show mercy to
sinners. And I'm going to take my place
before God Almighty, the throne of grace as a mercy beggar, and
I'm going to say, because He delights to show mercy, God have
mercy on me, the sinner. The sinner.