I never hear that song played
or sung that I do not think of an old gentleman who came here
to our conference several times by the name of Hillman Bernard
who used to sing that song and we especially like the last verse
of the song. Let others who will praise the
cross of the Christ The Christ of the cross is my theme. For
while we must cherish the old rugged cross, it's only Christ
who redeems. Remember it? Hillman Bernard. All right, now, I believe when
you leave here this morning, you who do know Christ in saving
faith, in genuine and sincere saving faith. I believe you're
going to leave here encouraged, encouraged as never before, with
more confidence and assurance of your interest in Christ than
ever before. I've examined my own preaching
carefully, and I fear that too often we preachers feel inclined
to do more of one thing than another. While the Word says, Reprove,
Rebuke, Exhort, it doesn't mean do that all the time. For in the book of Isaiah, God
told his prophet, Comfort my people. Comfort ye my people. And our
Lord comforted his wayward, weak, doubting disciples so often,
didn't he? He comforted them. He rarely
rebuked them. Occasionally he rebuked them,
but most of the time he was trying to help them, trying to comfort
them. He said, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. In my Father's house are many
mansions, if it were not so, I would have told you, I go to
prepare a place for you, for you. If I go and prepare a place
for you, I'll come again and receive you unto myself, you,
with all your fears and doubts and weaknesses and so forth. On another occasion, he said
to them, I'll never leave you. I'll never leave you. Peter did
his best to leave the Lord, but the Lord never left him. I'll
never leave you. I'll never forsake you. Lo, I'm
with you always, even to the end of the earth." Never leave
you. And he said again to them, because I live, you shall live. And he didn't add an if, he said
also. And here in our text, if you'll
open your Bibles to 2 Timothy 4, listen to the Apostle Paul. Now
this is interesting. And Paul speaks in confidence.
and assurance. Confidence and assurance. Here
in 2 Timothy 4, verse 6, Paul looks downward to the grave and
shows no fear. He says, I am now ready to be
offered. The time of my death, my departure,
is at hand. In other words, he's saying this,
I'm like a drink offering about to be poured out on the sacrifice
of my Lord, a thank offering. The time of my departure is at
hand. I'm like a ship that's pulled up to the shore, up to
the port. They've already finished loading it, and everybody's on
board, and the captain's in the conning tower, and the quartermaster's
in the booth, and the engines are started. And we're about
ready to cast off. That's what he's saying. About
ready to cast off. You know, death is a solemn thing,
especially when it's near at hand. And the grave is a chilling place,
especially when it's near at hand. And yet, here's a mortal
man, a son of Adam. He said, the chief of sinners.
who is looking right at death and right at the grave, which
will appear momentarily, I am about ready to depart." And he
does it without any fear. Without any fear. He said, I see it, and I'm not
afraid. So he looks downward to the grave with no fear, and
then he looks backward, backward to his life without any fear.
Look at the next verse. I fought a good fight. I fought
a good fight. This is like a soldier saying,
I gave it my best. I gave it my best. I fought a good fight. I believed
and therefore I spoke. That's all I can do. I gave it
my best. I was interested in an article
which appeared in the paper, I don't know whether it was today
or yesterday, about some scholarship offers to average students. All
the scholarships are offered to the wingdings, you know, the
geniuses. And here's some fellow offering
a scholarship to some plain old average everyday kids that make
B's and C's. That'd be pretty good, wouldn't
it? Because, you know, I think there
are a lot of parents who stifle their children, who frustrate
them, demanding A's. Some of us aren't A caliber.
You could count the A's I made on that hand. Of course, that
don't prove anything. I did my best. That's all you can expect is
doing what they can do with what they have to do with. If you're
going to dig a hole, you can give some fellow a backhoe, but
don't expect me to dig as deep a hole with a shovel. Isn't that
right? I said, I fought a good fight.
That's all I can do. And I finished my course. The
one laid out for me by God, the one predestinated and purposed
by God for me, I've walked that route, wouldn't change it. Wouldn't
change it because God ordained it. If I changed it anywhere,
in other words, my course that God plotted for me from all eternity,
if I altered it anywhere, I'd wind up somewhere else. Isn't
that right, Jim? If you make a turn, you're going
to wind up somewhere, but it wouldn't change a thing. I wouldn't
change a thing. I've walked the course he appointed
and laid out for me. I'm in sight of my goal, and
I've kept the faith, the faith. He's not the author of it, he
just kept the faith revealed to him. Christ is the author
of faith. I didn't invent this faith, but
I've held fast to that gospel of God's glory. I think like
Paul, I can say I've been preaching the gospel for thirty seven years,
and you can pick up a tape I preached in 1954, and it says the same
thing I'm saying this morning. Because it's just one faith,
and one Lord, and one baptism, and one gospel, and one Redeemer,
and one way of salvation. He said preachers ought to improve
over the years. You improve in the presentation
of it, you can't improve on the gospel. Learn it early and preach
it. Stay with it. I've kept the faith. I've kept the faith, I've not
added to nor taken away from that gospel of God's grace in
Christ. I seek not to please anybody.
Paul said, I don't know anybody after the flesh. I knew Christ
one time, I saw Him, but don't know Him that way any more. He
not only looks down to the grave without fear and looks back over
his life without regret. I finished the course He laid
out. I didn't plot this, I walked
it. I kept the faith. And he looks forward to that
day in verse eight, look at it without fear. He said, henceforth,
henceforth there is laid up for me. It's laid up. It's already
mine. It's deposited, Mike, in my name.
Laid up. You know what he's saying? He's
laid up for me. It's already mine. It's reserved. It's laid
up. It's set apart. It's set aside
for me. What? A crown of righteousness.
My righteousness, oh, under God you know better than that. Paul's
righteousness, he said, I'm left in the least of all the saints.
His righteousness, which he perfected, which he accomplished, the only
righteousness that can be laid up, because I'm not finished
yet. Like Scott said, I may rob a bank tomorrow. I may get along
pretty good up to now. But if God lets me go for one
second, then tell him what'll happen. So the only righteousness
that can be laid up and reserved is one that's already finished,
and that's Christ's righteousness. Now, he's laid it up for me,
and you know who's going to give it to me? The Lord, the righteous
judge. Not the compromising judge, the
austere, unbending, unflinching, uncompromising, holy God of heaven
is going to receive me robed in a righteousness. and accept
thee unto himself." Ooh-wee! Paul says, the great white throne,
the open books, the assembled world, the revealing of all secrets,
the listening, observing angels, the character of the righteous
God, eternal heaven and hell in the wings, Do not frighten
me. Do not frighten me, because I
see Christ, my Atonement, my Advocate, my Righteousness, and
my Salvation on that throne. And He will receive me, and not
only me, but all those who love His appearing. Now, from these
verses, I want to point out four things and deal with them very
positively and plainly and sincerely, I hope, in a helpful way for
me and for you. There are four things that I
want to deal with. Number one, according to the Word of God,
those who believe in Christ, not super-religionists, not just
elders, but babes in Christ. Those who believe in Christ may
have a strong assurance of their interest in Christ. Those who
believe. Secondly, now watch this. I believe
that a person may be truly saved, truly saved, and yet not have
full assurance. You see, the root is life. The flower is the product of
life. You can have the root and not
have any flowers. But you can't have a flower and
not have a root. So you can have life and not have the bloom of
assurance, even peace. See what I'm saying? But I guarantee you, if you have
a flower, you're going to have a root. I'd rather have the root
and no flower than a flower and no root, wouldn't you? Because
that flower is bound to be plastic. So thirdly, assurance of salvation
is a great benefit if you can derive at it, if you can have
assurance. It'll help you a great deal,
it really will. And fourthly, some reasons why we don't have
assurance. All right, let me start out with
the first one. According to the Word of God, those who believe
in Christ, those who believe in Christ, and I, well, I made
a profession. Don't forget that. I believe
in Christ. I believe Christ. Those who believe
Christ according to this Bible may have a strong assurance of
their interest in Christ. What does the Scripture say?
I tell our preachers, and I told them in the preacher's school,
and I repeat it all the time, what saith the Word of God? This
ought to be the first consideration when we deal with any subject.
What does the Bible say? What does the Word of God say?
It doesn't matter what our subject is, whatever our subject, If
assurance is not taught in the Bible, then let's skip on to
some other subject. But I say it's taught. Now, let
me give you some references. Just jot these down. Don't turn
to them. Job said this, Job 19, 25 and
26. He said, I know my Redeemer living.
And He's going to stand on this earth. And though after my skin,
worms destroy this body, yet I'm going to see the Lord. Not
another, I'm going to see the Lord. Job said that. Psalm 23,
David said, The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. And he said,
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. I
will. I shall. Isn't that right? Paul said, Who can lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemns? It's Christ that dies. And in
Romans 8, 38 and 39, He said, Nothing, not life, nor death,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor any other creature can separate me from the love
of God which is in Christ Jesus. I'm secure. And John said, we
know we've passed from death unto life. And he said, these
things, 1 John 5, 13, 1 John 3, 14, he said, these things
I write unto you that believe on the Son of God, that you may
know you have eternal life. Not these things I write unto
you that are preachers, or teachers, or deacons, or elders who've
been in the church for years, who've proven yourself. No, see,
you who believe. You who believe. Paul said, I
know whom I have believed. I am confident, persuaded, that
he is able to keep that which I have committed to him." Now,
I want you to turn to these. Isaiah 26. Isaiah 26. It is not often that we go to
Old Testament preachers and prophets from verses on assurance. But
let us go to Isaiah 26, verse 3. Isaiah 26, verse 3. in peace, perfect peace, whose
mind, thoughts, is stayed on thee, because he trusted in thee. Now Isaiah 32, turn there for
a moment, Isaiah 32, verse 17. Isaiah 32,
17, And the work of righteousness shall be peace, quietness of
spirit, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever.
Here's righteousness. Here's righteousness. The work
of righteousness is assurance. Now, a person may call assurance
presumption, but it cannot be wrong or presumptuous to believe
the Word of God. I like what the centurion said.
Turn to Matthew 8, verse 8. I want you to look at this. I
like what this man said. You talk about a man who rested
on the promise of God, rested in the Word of God, Matthew 8,
verse 8. Listen. Here was a man who had a servant
who was lying home sick, and he came to the Lord, and he said
in Matthew 8, verse 8, to send to him and said, Lord, I'm not
worthy. You should come under my roof. You just speak the Word,
and my servant will be healed. That's all I need, your Word.
Is that all you need? You know, most of us need our
feelings and our experiences, and all this man needed. He said,
Lord, you say he's well, I believe he's well. That's what I'm saying. Assurance is not found in ourselves,
it's found in Christ. Now watch this. Paul called himself
the chief of sinners, but he declared that Christ came to
save sinners. Paul had a deep sense of his
own corruption and guilt. He said, The things I would do,
I do them not. The things I would not do, I
do, O wretched man that I am. But Paul had a deeper sense of
God's grace, for he said, Where sin abounded, grace did much
more abound. And when he said, O wretched
man that I am, who shall deliver me? He said, I thank God Christ
shall deliver me. Every time he looked in, he looked
out. at something better and bigger. Paul knew he was a frail
man living in a frail tent, and he said, this tent's going to
be destroyed, but I have a building of God eternally in heaven. So whosoever believeth in Christ
shall never be ashamed. And according to this book, according
to this book, those who believe in Christ resting, believing
God's Word, not your feelings. Our feelings are influenced by
so many things. They're influenced by so many
things in us and around us. You can come on Sunday morning
and read the Word of God and feel so good and feel like you're
walking with God and in fellowship with God, and meet someone with
a sour expression, a sour disposition, a critical spirit, and they take
you right down with them. and you feel so unhappy and depressed
and, well, maybe I'm not saved after all, you know, or all of
these things. You're out there on the job.
I know some of you, I feel, I feel that I have such an advantage. I don't have to go to these offices
and factories and places where you work and work with the blasphemous,
profane, heathen, religious heathen you have to work with and listen
to the Tommy Rock you have to listen to. And that's bound to
have an effect on you. It's bound to have an effect
on you. You can't rub shoulders with
those people and listen to them without being affected by them
and influenced by them spiritually. And you can't let your assurance
rest on your surroundings or on your feelings or on your experiences
or on these. You've got to let it rest. God
said it, and I believe it. God said it. I believe God. Somebody starts pouting off,
I don't believe you, believe God. When our own hearts condemn
us, I don't believe you, heart, I believe God. When our own conscience
is upset, I don't believe you, conscience, I believe God. You see, the flesh fadeth and
falleth away, but the Word of God abideth forever. So I say
to you, if I... All right, here's the second
thing. However, I believe that a person may be truly saved,
truly born again, truly a child of God, and yet not enjoy full
assurance." Now, what's this? All of God's
people have faith in Christ, only in Christ. But all of God's
people do not have assurance of their interest in Christ.
All of them don't. In fact, John Newton struggled
with it. Yeah, while he wrote Amazing Grace, How Sweet the
Sound, he also wrote There's a Point I Long to Know, and often
it gives me anxious thought. Do I love the Lord at all? Am
I here, or am I not? They tell me John Owen wrestled
with self-righteousness on his deathbed. They bragged on him
so much he believed it, and he had a terrible time with it.
He said one time, someone asked him if he He was going to hear
John Bunyan preach, and they said, why would a man of your
gifts and ability and prestige and position go to hear a tinker,
a tinker, preach? What did he say, John? Oh, he
said, I'd give all my credentials and all my accomplishments if
I could preach Christ like that tinker. That's what he said,
if I could preach Christ like that tinker. You see, it's not
the strength of faith that saves, it's the truth of faith. It's
not the strength of faith, it's the existence of faith. We're
not saved by the quantity of our faith, we're saved by the
object of faith, Christ. My faith's not my Savior, Christ
is. It's not the strength of my faith
or the quantity of my faith, it's the object of my faith that
saves. He did it. He satisfied the Father. You see, a weak, frail, sickly
hand can put food in the mouth just as a strong hand can. But
the condition of the hand doesn't nourish the body. It's the food
that nourishes the body. I can reach out to Christ with
a trembling hand, a weak, frail hand, a reluctant, intimidated
hand. But it ain't the hand, it's Christ
that saves. Or I could go to Him with a full blast of strength
and confidence and... But it's still Christ. He saves
the weak and the strong. The weakest of faith will justify
the soul. If you can look to Christ, believingly,
trust in Him, believe in Him, you're saved. I promise you that. I don't care what anybody says.
If you can't. When Moses lifted up that brazen serpent, he said
one word, look. Look. I tell you, some looked
with a weak eye, but they looked. Some snapped to attention. All
they did was look. Suppose a man, I'm standing on
the bank of a river. I'm a very strong, say I am a
very strong person. And a fella falls in. And it's
a swift, rapid-flowing river. And as he comes down, I reach
out my hand and grab him. And I lock my hand around his
wrist and his hand around mine. Is he safe? Yes, sir. Depending
on my strength, he's safe. He may struggle, doubt. He may
think he's gonna drown. He may think he's gonna die.
But he's just as safe as he would be when I got him out here on
the lane. Just as safe. And I'll tell you this. When
will I have complete, full assurance when I'm standing in His presence?
But if I'm held by His hand, I'm just as safe right now as
I will be then. Just a matter of Him getting
me out of the river, and out of this trench, and out of this
whirl, and out of this cesspool I'm living in. But I'm holding
you. You hold His hand, I don't care if you're up to here in
this mess, you're safe. I don't care if you can barely
breathe out of one nostril. If He's holding you, you cannot
fall. Is that right? But if you hold on to the rock
of your profession, when it goes, you go. If you hold on to the
little twig of your experience, when it goes, you go. But if
you're held by His almighty hand, I'm saying you're just as safe
in the stream as you are on the lake, because the strength is
not in you, it's in Him. Does that make sense? It's so. You see, faith—watch this now,
this will help you—faith is that Poor, trembling, sick, frail
woman reaching for the hem of his garment. Now, that's faith.
That's faith. That poor, feeble, trembling
woman reaching for Christ's garment. That's faith. She believed, was
made whole. Assurance is Stephen standing
there before his murderer saying, throw your rocks. I see the Lord
Jesus on the right hand. Now, that's assurance. You see,
faith is that dying thief hanging on a cross. in a feeble voice,
saying, Lord, remember me. That's faith. Assurance is Job
sitting there in his poverty, deserted by everybody, scraping
his balls with a piece of glass, saying, I know my Redeemer lives. That's assurance. You see, faith
is Peter sinking beneath the waves of that As the clouds were
overhead and the wind was blowing and the waves were taking him
down, faith is, Lord save me or I'll perish. That's faith. But assurance is that same Peter
standing on Pentecost facing an irate mob and saying, you
murdered the Lord of glory and God's made him Lord in Christ.
That's assurance. Faith is that trembling voice,
Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief. Assurance is that strong
voice of Paul which says, who can lay anything to the charge
of God's will? When you speak of faith, you
speak of life, union, security. When you speak of assurance,
you're just speaking of privilege and peace. You don't have to have it. Because
faith is the root of the flower, assurance is only the bloom.
And you can't have life without the root, but you sure can have
the root without the flower. So don't feel that because you
don't have assurance, you don't have Christ. You don't come to
Christ by assurance, you come to Christ by faith. No matter
how weak and frail it may be. Now the third, assurance of salvation
is of great benefit. The reason I preach this message
is because I need assurance, and you do too. I need it. I need it. I need it. I need it. And this is the reason
why I need this confidence in Christ, this assurance. I need
Christ. If I have Him, I have everything.
But this assurance, first of all, it brings peace and rest. Uncertainty. Now listen to me.
Uncertainty in anything causes anxiety and fear. It may be your
job. If somebody here this morning
who's uncertain about your job, that keeps you pretty well tore
up, won't it? How am I going to pay my bills? You know, I
mean, we've got our home, we've got our car, we've got the children. Uncertainty about your health. Somebody here's got to go to
the doctor tomorrow, and you don't know whether that pain
is heart trouble or whether it's arthritis or what it is. You're
uncertain, you don't know. You're family, uncertainty. But
I tell you, uncertainty in matters of the soul is devastating. I need to know I have an interest
in Christ for my peace and my joy and my rest. I need to know,
I need to... I hope he's able to keep that
which I commit. No, I don't! I know. That gives the peace. That gives
the peace. Another thing is that assurance
helps us in our trials and afflictions. There's some trials and afflictions.
Well, you have them in everything, but there's some you just can't
make it without Christ. You just can't make it. You can't
make it. Turn to 2 Samuel 12. I want you
to look at this, 2 Samuel 12. You know, somebody asked me if
I thought infants, all children who died, went to be with the
Lord. And I said, well, yeah. I certainly do. The character
of my God lets me know that. Not without the blood of Christ.
You see, a child born in sin, but the blood of Christ that
redeems. If I didn't have any other scripture
in the Bible but this one right here, I know that every infant
was saved. You see, David wasn't just anybody. David is the only
man in the Bible I know God sent his man after his own heart.
That's the only man I know God ever said that about. He said
it twice about him in the scripture. And David spoke under divine
inspiration, and David knew God, Charlie. And when he says something,
I listen. If I believe a man really knows God, I'm going to
listen to him. And he had a son that died, an infant son that
died. In 2 Samuel 12, verse 20, verse 19, when David saw that
his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was
dead. Therefore David said to his servants, Is the child dead?
And they said, He's dead. David rose from the earth, washed,
bathed, shaved, anointed himself, put on cologne, changed his apparel,
put on his best suit, came into the house of God, said, Praise
God, from whom all blessings flow. Praise Him, all creatures
here below. Then he came to his own house,
and when he required, they said, Bread before, fix me something
to eat. Put the food on the table, boys, we're going to have a banquet.
And you talk about shaking folks up, now he flat did it. And his
servants said to him, What's going on here? What is this thing
you've done? while you did fast and weep for
the child while it was alive, while it was sick, while it was
alive. And when a child died, you rise and eat bread, put on
your best clothes. You must have lost your... You
got things backwards. But this religious world is backwards. Because they don't know God.
But David knew God. And he said, while that child
was alive, I fasted and wept. and prayed, and I said, Who can
tell God may be gracious and may let my boy live? I'm going
to pray and fast and weep before God. Now he's dead. Wherefore should I fast? Can
I bring him back? No, I can't bring him back. But
I can go to him. Where do you reckon David's praying
on going? I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Where
do you think he's talking about that boy is? in the house of
the Lord, where I'm going. There's a scripture. What in
the world can possess a man, when a child is dead, to arise
and wash his face and comb his hair and put on his best clothes
and go to church, and then come home and have a banquet with
his family? What in the world can possess
a man to do things like that? Faith in Christ. and knowing
that his baby was with the Lord. That's what assurance will do
for you. That's what it'll do for you. I don't say you all
can do that, or even I can do that, but I tell you this, the
more assurance you have, the more you can do that. The more
you believe God. And assurance will make a man
praise God and thank God in the most difficult circumstances.
Paul was in jail at midnight singing praises to God. Assurance
will support a believer in sickness and in death. That's what Paul
says in his text. He said, I'm not afraid to die.
To die is gain. Now, let me show you this. And I tell you, if you can read
this book, if you can set your mind and your affection on Christ
and look to Him, quit looking in here, quit looking to me,
Quit looking to yourself, trying to prove yourself. Don't keep
checking up on the title deed. It's yours. If you can look to Him, you can
get busy about other things. You can get busy in labors of
love and works of faith and helping other people. Suppose Ronnie and Mike here,
two good friends of mine, and I'm real rich. Filthy rich. And I give them both a farm.
Got a hundred acre farm for you and a hundred acre farm for you.
And it's yours. Now, move Kathy and you move
Trish out there on the farm and it's your farm. Now he believes
me. He believes me. And he and Kathy
and Michael Jesse and Chrissy Kay go out there and he gets
busy planting some grape harbors and some fruit trees. It's his
farm. And he plants these things and builds him a couple of barns
and works on them. But Ron doesn't quite believe
me. And every day he drives to Katnissburg to check the title
deed. Every day he gets up and says, I just don't know where
this farm is. I believe I'll run up to Katnissburg
and see if this deed is in my name. So he runs up to Katnissburg
and says, yeah, yes, sir. Next morning he wakes up again.
Well, I don't feel like this is mine, you know. She says,
you're going to do any work around here, so I'm going to check that
title deed one more time. And see what I've done now? He said
it, that sets it. That sets it. But in closing, you want me to
tell you our whole problem? I can tell you in one paragraph. The reason anybody here who believes
Christ, other than me and you, Any time you have a doubt, and
if you really believe Christ, and if you really believe this
gospel of Jesus, any time you have a doubt in your mind about
your interest in God, and your union with Christ, and your eternal
life, I'll tell you why. I know that salvation is of the
Lord. I know that. Charlie, you know that? I know
it is. Anybody who has any sense knows that. I know salvation
is of the Lord. I couldn't save a flea. God saved
me. I know that Christ is my righteousness. You know that? You know that,
John? I know it. I don't have a doubt about it.
I've got no righteousness. I can prove it to you. I know my redemption's Christ.
I know my sanctification's Christ. I know my acceptance with God's
Christ. But perhaps, and without even being fully aware of it, We entertain in our minds the
notion or the thought that justification, sanctification, redemption, and
acceptance with God, with a holy God, has something to do with
our works, either directly or indirectly. Ain't that the problem?
That's what it comes down to. What I did or didn't do. What
I'm doing or don't do. It just comes in the mind. We
know! That I'm not justified by faith
without the works of God. I know that, I've had that. But I keep fighting these bats
off, you know, that keep suggesting to me, yeah, God saves, but you
said this and you said that and you did this. If you've got to at least entertain
the least notion of thought, that anything you have done,
are doing, or ever will do, has anything to do with your acceptance
of God. Let me tell you, it just ain't so. It's Christ doing and dying,
totally. Anything you do is in response
to what He's done. We're redeemed by the blood of
Christ, clothed in His righteousness, and justified by His blood. That's right. Either great or small, nothing,
sinner, no. Jesus did it. He did it all a
long time ago. It is finished. Yes, indeed,
finished. Every jot. Sinner, this is all
you need. Tell me, is it not? Cast your
deadly doing down, down at Jesus' feet, and stand in Him, in Him
alone, in Him. I am gloriously complete. See
what I say? That's it, Ronnie. That's it. And all the struggles and strivings
and trials and misunderstandings that preachers and churches and
theologians have put people through, if they just shut them up to
Christ and get a good look at His wonderful face and keep looking. But every time you glance away,
you're going to have trouble. Trouble, because there's nowhere
to look, just like there's nowhere to go. Anything I look at, but
Christ is imperfect and discouraging.