Now I want you to open your Bibles
with me to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter nine. Hebrews the ninth chapter. I'm not going to preach long
tonight, but I hope I preach effectively. Once again, the
gospel, which is Good news for the guilty. That's the title
of this message. Good news. Good news for the
guilty. In Hebrews 9, 11, it says, But
Christ being come, a high priest of good things to come. Those good things to come are
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Those good things
to come are justification, free and full pardon, salvation through
Him. Those are the good things to
come. Hope in life and hope in death and hope for eternity.
By a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands,
that is to say, not of this building, neither by the blood of goats
and calves, but by His own blood, He tabernacled among us. We're
talking about His body here now. He tabernacled among us, and
by his own blood he entered, he entered in once into the holy
place. Not the holy place made with
hands, which are figures of the truth, but into heaven itself,
into the holy place, having, past tense, having obtained,
purchased it, having obtained eternal redemption. for us. A man came to me last night and
he said, I heard that you preached up here in Piedmont, once saved,
always saved. He said, I'm not arguing. He
said, I'd like to have more information about what you believe. I said,
well, my friend, I knew where he was coming from. He's a good
friend. He attends the services there.
I said, my friend, I do not believe in the eternal redemption, security,
preservation, or perseverance of people who walk an aisle.
Those who walk an aisle can walk right back out. I do not believe in the security
or the eternal redemption or the eternal salvation and preservation
of people who join a church. Men join churches and quit later
on when they get weary of whatever they're weary of. But I said,
I do believe, and the Bible teaches, and it cannot be otherwise, that
the man to whom God gives a new heart, he'll never take it away. The man whom God makes his child,
he'll never disown him. That one who has been saved by
the grace of God. Now, you said, once in grace,
always in grace? Yes, in grace. God's grace. God's free and sovereign grace.
Always in grace. My sheep, hear my voice, I give
them eternal life and they'll never perish. Neither shall any
man pluck them out of my hand. My Father gave them me, and my
Father is greater than all, and nobody can take them out of my
Father's hand. Who can separate us from the
love of Christ? Can anything? Can anyone? Can
any creature? No, sir. But I'm not talking
about professors of religion, and this is not talking about
professors of religion. This is talking about an eternal
covenant people, given the Son by the Father, whom He redeemed
with His own blood. Shall He die in vain? Shall His
blood be shed in vain? Shall the one great high priest
go into the Holy of Holies with the names of spiritual Israel
on his breastplate and come out disappointed? No, sir. No, sir. He obtained what kind of redemption? Eternal redemption. Not temporary
redemption, eternal redemption. For us, for us, if the blood
of bulls and of goats, verse 13, the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling
the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, if under
these types and pictures and patterns there was a form of
cleansing, and a form of acceptance, and a form of washing, and a
form of sanctifying." Verse fourteen, "'How much more, my soul, my
God in heaven, how much more shall the blood of Christ We're not talking about the blood
of a martyr, we're talking about the blood of the Son of God.
How much more, if Moses' prayer is effectual, how much more of
the prayers of the Son of God? How much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit of God, offered himself
without spot to God, without spot? and an acceptable sacrifice
and sin-offering, how much more shall the blood of Christ purge
your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" We're
not talking about an attempt. We're talking about an atonement.
I'm tired of preachers preaching an attempt. Christ didn't attempt
anything. He atoned. We preach a redemption
that redeems. We preach a salvation that saves.
There's a couple here this morning, sat right over there where Al
and his wife are sitting. He's born in Jerusalem. Palestinian,
Arab, born in Jerusalem. Moved to this country 30 years
ago. Medical doctor, set up practice
up in Ohio, out in California first, then in Ohio. It felt like the Lord brought
him to a knowledge of his gospel. His wife was killed in an automobile
accident. He married again. He married
a lady who also is from Jerusalem. She'd been over here. She'd been
a citizen one year. Citizen of the United States.
And they started visiting different churches around in that area.
I had lunch with him. They told me all about this.
He said he visited different churches. Got so weary of it,
tired of it, just nothing being preached, nothing being said.
You know that, and I do too. You hear them. It's a shame. It's a disgrace. We've got religion
up to our necks, but not much gospel. And he said he came in
one morning at 9.30, and his wife was watching a television
preacher. And what was he said, Doris?
Turn it off. They're all just alike. She said,
this one's different. That's wonderful to be different.
This one's different. Sit down and listen to it. He
said, I sat down, and sure enough, it was different. It was the
Word. And he said we sat there every
Sunday. And he started writing to us,
sending checks, ordering tapes running. And talked to me on
the phone, wrote long letters. And they were here this morning.
I wish you could have met them. Lovely couple, loved the gospel. And they said, you are church,
you are pastor. We sat there and listened. Tape
it on video, get the tapes from y'all. It's different. And I
tell you this, God's sheep have an ear that can tell the difference. If you can't tell the difference,
you need a hearing ear. That man and woman, she said,
this is different. This is different. And I tell
you the difference, the difference is Christ. The difference is
a successful, effectual, sufficient atonement, a redemption that
redeems, a salvation that saves, an atonement that atones, a Savior
who is not disappointed, a God who's almighty. I wouldn't worship the God of
this generation. He's not worthy of worship. He
can't do anything anyway. He couldn't do anything to me
if I didn't worship Him. He can't save me unless I let Him. That's
what they tell me. He'd love to do it, but I'll
have to take the first step. Well, if I can take the first
step, I don't need Him. And verse 15 says, And for this
cause, He is the Mediator of the New Testament, the New Covenant.
He's the Mediator of the New Covenant. that by means of death,
for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first covenant,
they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."
Who? Those that are called. I'll tell you why he entered
that holy place. I'll tell you why he went there with his blood.
He's the mediator, He's the surety, He's the advocate, He's the intercessor
of that everlasting covenant, that new covenant, that by means
of death, His death, for the redemption of the transgressions,
for the cleansing of the transgressions, for the putting away of the transgressions,
not an attempt at it, for the effectual putting away of those
transgressions, all of them. All of Moses' sins, and Abraham's
sins, and David's sins, and Jacob's sins, and Isaiah's sins, and
your sins, and my sins, who are called, those are the ones that
are going to receive the promise of an eternal inheritance. Those
are the ones who are saved. Those are the called. The called
of Christ Jesus, whom he foreknew, foreordained, he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son. and whom he predestinated
to be conformed to the image of his Son, he calls them. That's
the effectual call. And they'll hear. He'll call,
they'll hear. My sheep will hear my voice.
They said, well, if you be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said,
I told you, but you didn't believe me. You don't believe me because
you're not of my sheep. My sheep hear. Those that are
called of God are called effectually on purpose, and they hear. And they hear the word, they
hear the gospel, they hear the truth that sets them free. They
hear Christ's voice speaking peace through His blood. He made
peace through the blood of His cross. And they hear it. Preachers aren't out trying to
get, the true preachers of God are not out trying to get volunteers
for the kingdom. They're out hunting sheep. They're
out here scouring the wilderness hunting sheep. And they're calling,
Christ, thou for sinners! Christ, thou for sinners! And
every sinner hears it. Christ, thou for the ungodly!
And every ungodly man hears it. Jesus gave his life to save his
own, and his own say, hey, that's good news. Oh, here's water! And his sheep have been given
a hearing ear. They've been given a seeing eye.
They've been given life to respond to life. They've given a heart
to love Him and a foot to follow Him. That they might, those that
are called, called of God, called of grace, called of His Spirit,
called for, look at verse 16, where a testament is. What's
a testament? A last will and testament. I
don't have one, I ain't got nothing to leave. But some of y'all got
one, hadn't you? Last will and testament. You
put out to whom it may concern, I the..." You know that legal
stuff. "...I the undersigned do bequeath
to my dear wife all of my worldly goods." You heard about that
fella that, he died. His wife, right after he died,
she bought one of those five-carat diamonds, great big diamonds.
Somebody said, where'd you get that big stone? Said, my husband
left $10,000 in his will to buy a stone in his memory. And there
it is. A last will and testament is
where you leave everything to somebody, but it's not in effect
till somebody dies. You see, if you made out a will,
left everything to Kathy and made me the whatever, executor
or something of the will. Well, I couldn't do anything
till you die. See what I'm talking about? And
that's what he's saying here, where a testament is, where a
covenant is, there's got to be a death of the testator. So when
Christ, verse 17, for a testament is a force after men are dead.
Otherwise, it's of no strength at all while the testator live.
Well, Christ in the surety has bequeathed are given everything
to us on His death. See, at His death, He purchased
it, made it possible and effectual, and it's ours. Now, here's the
problem. I got a letter, well, I got a
visit from a lawyer one time. I was sitting in there and studying,
and this lawyer came to see me. He had his briefcase and all
these official-looking papers and everything, you know, and
he introduced himself from Columbus, Ohio. I said, have a seat. He told me who he was. He said,
I'm here on business. I said, well, tell me your business. He said, a widow in Ohio has
died and made you her beneficiary. You're her, you know, left everything
to you, Jimmy Swigert, E.J. Daniels, and the Church of Christ.
That's an odd foursome, isn't it? That's the four horsemen. I said, what? He said, she was
pretty wealthy. She had AT&T stock, IBM stock,
and all this sort of thing. And made you and these three
fellas the sole heirs. She had no children. But, he
said, her family, brothers and sisters, are going to take you
to court. Because they're going to prove
she's incompetent. And I think she must have been,
you know. They said, he said, they're going
to take you to court. I said, they ain't going to take
me to court because I don't want nothing to do with it. I don't
want anything to do with that. I don't, don't intend to go to
court with anybody over anything like that. I said, just forget
it. I didn't know her. I didn't have
any contact with her. Don't know anything about it.
So let's wipe me out. Leave me off completely. He said,
you'll have to sign a paper. I signed the paper. I said, there
it is. I don't want any part of it. Don't want to go to court.
I said, that'll ruin my ministry in this town. If I go to court
trying to get some more widows, her mother was in a rest home
up there, you know, and they were going to fight it. And so
now, wait a minute, here's what point I'm making. She left a
will and left it to me and died, but I didn't get it. See what
I'm saying? Somebody overruled her. Somebody
contested. So what are we going to do about
this will of the Lord Jesus made? He died and left it all to me.
But you know what? He lives to enforce it. See what
I'm talking about? That widow couldn't do nothing,
Mike. She's in the grave. She had her ideas about what
she wanted to do with her estate and to whom she wanted to leave
it and put it down, and it didn't work out. But my Lord Jesus Christ
has left His his inheritance and everything in that covenant
of grace to every tall believer, and they're going to get it because
he arose from the grave and sits at the right hand of God to officiate
in this thing. I can't think of that word. He's
the executor, or whatever you call it, executive, is that it?
Of his own will. He'll carry it out. He'll be
sure that everybody that's in it gets what's coming to them.
And those that ain't in it gonna get what's coming to them, too.
All right, verse 18. Whereupon neither the first testament
was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every
precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood
of calves and goats and water and scarlet wool and hyssop and
sprinkled the book and all the... In other words, what the Lord
is saying, He's talking about the blood of Christ, the effectual,
atoning, cleansing, saving blood of Christ is effectual. For He
said, even under the law, even back in the Old Testament, Moses
and Aaron and the priests always took blood. There wasn't anything
sanctified without blood. And they put it on the book,
and they put it on the people, and verse 20, they said, This
is the blood of the testament, the covenant, which God has enjoined
unto you. Moreover, he sprinkled with blood
both the tabernacle and the vessels, and almost everything was, under
the law, was purged with blood. Almost everything was purged
with blood. There was blood everywhere. And
without the shedding of blood, there's no remission. There's no remission. A man may
just as well consider, and nobody would have considered it back
then. He may have just as well considered walking through the
holy place and throwing open the veil and walking into the
Holy of Holies right before the mercy seat, the Shekinah glory
of God. Without blood, he would have
been smitten, slain, and I'll tell you, To do that now is just
as foolhardy a trick. To try to come before God without
the blood of Christ, the effectual cleansing blood of Christ. Verse 23, it was therefore necessary
that the patterns of things in the heavens, the pictures of
what Christ is going to do. Christ is going to save a nation,
save a people. Out of every tribe, kindred,
nation, tongue, Christ is going to redeem His people. And all
this is patterns, and it was necessary The patterns of the
things in heaven should be purified with these, with blood, but the
heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices. Look over
here at verse 4 of chapter 10. It's not possible for the blood
of bulls and goats to take away sin. So sin is going to be taken
away. It's got to be purified and purged
and taken away with better sacrifices than lambs and heifers and turtledoves.
Verse 24, for Christ, is not entered into the holy place made
with hands, into the holy of holies, into the tabernacle of
the temple, which is nothing but a figure, a picture, a pattern
of the true holy of holies, but he's entered into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor yet that he
should offer himself often as the high priest entered into
the holy place every year with the blood of others. How long
has he been a high priest? Eternally, since the foundation
of the world. So if he entered into the holy
place, into glory, every year, what he would have often entered
in or suffered since the foundation of the world, that's how long
he's been our priest. That's how long he's been our
sacrifice. That's how long he's been our
lamb slain. But now once, in the end of the world, in the
latter days, hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, and after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that believe him,
and they believe him to the point of looking for him, waiting upon
him, shall he appear to them the second time without sin unto
salvation. Now, for the past several services,
I've tried to preach on some of the clearest, most prominent
texts in the Scriptures having to do with the redemptive work
of Christ. I brought a message on great
is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
You know the Scripture. I brought one on Wednesday night.
If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. I brought one
this morning Joe's testimony. I know my Redeemer living. But
tonight's text, I'll tell you, it just so grips me and so impresses
me that I can say this. If anybody here, honestly, sincerely,
can lay hold of these words in these last three verses, four
or five verses of Hebrews chapter 9, that person will, with understanding
enter in to the glorious mysteries of the gospel of Jesus Christ
and find peace with God. That's how important this scripture
is. I'm talking about here are given three appearances of Christ
for us. Three of them. Did you see them?
Look at verse 26. Verse 26, the latter part of
verse 26. It says, Now once in the end
of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice
of himself. He appears. Now, brethren, I'm
not saying that Jesus Christ is not always present. Somebody
said, well, the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost. Wasn't the Holy
Spirit already here? Yes, the Holy Spirit was already
here. By the Spirit of God, the Word was written. David prayed,
take not thy Holy Spirit from me. So when I say our Lord Jesus
Christ made three appearances, I'm not denying the fact that
He's omnipresent. And he's personally involved
in the affairs of this universe and his kingdom, but these are
special times of divine visitation for the glory of God to accomplish
his purpose and the redemption of his people. These are special
appearances. And there are three of them given
here. Now, the first one is verse 26. It says, Now in the end of
the world, verse 26, the last line, hath he appeared How did
he appear? Where did he appear? When did
he appear? He appeared from the virgin's womb, being the Son
of God, not being identified with Adam in his sin and fault. He was conceived by the Holy
Ghost. He is the Holy Son of God, and
he appeared in Bethlehem's manger. And he walked this earth for
thirty-three and a half years, bone of our bone, flesh of our
flesh, identified with us, and he went to the cross of Calvary,
bearing our sins, and he by himself, by himself, purged our sins,
put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself." Now look at the
words used here. But now once, one sacrifice, one atonement,
once in the end of the world, in the latter days, hath he He
appeared to put away sin. Now, sin's pretty hard to put
away. Do you know that? I know a lot of people kind of
say, well, confession's good for the soul. I just confess
my sins and feel better about it. Yeah, you may feel better,
but they're not put away. Sin's hard to put away. The Jewish
sacrifices couldn't put away sin. Rivers of blood. The deeds of the law will not
put away sin, the scripture says, but the deeds of the law shall
no flesh be justified. No form of suffering will put
away sin. Job suffered more than any man,
but Job didn't depend on his suffering to save him, he depended
on his Redeemer. Reformation won't put away sin,
the scripture says, we conclude a man is not justified by works
in the sight of God. Death won't put away sin. The
Bible says, he that dies unrighteous, let him be unrighteous still.
He that dies unjust, let him be unjust still. Hell won't put
away sin because the rich man cried to Father Abraham from
hell, and he was staying there. Only Christ can put away sin. And how did he do it? Watch this.
By the what of himself? By his precious love. No sin.
The love of God didn't put away sin. It's not by teaching that
he put away sin. It's not by example that he put
away sin. It says by the sacrifice of himself,
death. And I know in our day there's
a feeling, well, you know, don't preach a bloody religion. Don't
preach the cross, the blood. Folks don't
believe that anymore. Well, they may not. It may not,
but there's no salvation without the death of God's Son, without
the shedding of His blood. It says that over here in Romans
3. Turn over there, Romans 3, verse 25. Romans 3, 25. It's the same today as it was
in Egypt. God said, when I see the blood, I'll pass over you.
When I see the blood, whose blood? Christ's blood, the sacrifice
of Himself. Somebody said, you've got an
old-fashioned gospel. You've got a first-century gospel.
No, it goes back further than that. I've got a gospel as old
as God's Word. That's right. Lamb-slave of the
foundation of the world. It says here in Romans 3.25,
whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, a mercy seat,
a sin offering, through faith where? In his blood. in His blood
to declare His righteousness, His holiness, for the remission
of sins of the past, that is, the sins of Old Testament saints
as well as ours, through the longsuffering of God. Christ
is come as the propitiation through faith in His blood to declare,
I say at this time, God's righteousness, that God may be just and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus Christ. That's the only
way through blood, through death, through sacrifice, is the only
way God can be both just and justified. That's the only way.
He said in Isaiah 45, I'm a just God and a Savior. All right, let's look at the
second thing now in Hebrews 9. Now that's the Christ hath appeared
in this world. He was in this world, and the
world knew Him not. He came unto His own, His own
received Him not. The Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
of the Father, full of grace and truth. He lived, He died,
He shed His blood, He suffered, He was buried, He rose again.
Now, verse 24. Here's His second appearance.
Christ has not entered into the holy places made with hands,
which are figures of the true, but Christ has entered into heaven
itself. Right now, this moment, to appear. in the presence of God for us.
My dear friends, that second appearance, Christ appeared on
this earth and did a work in life and in death. He's gone
there to the right hand of God to effectually carry out that
work and those promises. He's there, first of all, as
our mediator. There's one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. He is there as our advocate who
pleads our cause and case. He is there seeing we have a
high priest at the right hand of God. Let us come boldly before
the throne of grace to receive mercy. And he's our intercessor. Now, somebody debated this some
time ago. I was reading an article and
they were debating whether Christ actually prays for us now. Well, I don't think that's important
to debate whether he prayed. He said to Peter, I've prayed
for you. And our Lord prayed for us here on the earth. In
John 17, his high priestly prayer, he said, I pray not for the world,
but for them which thou hast given me. But actually, if our
Lord never said a word on the right hand of God, his presence
there is our intercession. His presence is our advocacy. You see what I'm saying? His
very presence assures us of acceptance because we're in Him. You see,
this thing is representation, and this is what preachers don't
know and church members don't know today. It's just two men. It's two Adams. They're just
two men. In Adam we die, in Christ we're
made alive. By man came death, by man came
life. As we are born in the image of
the earthy, we bear the image of the heavenly. The first man
is of the earthy. The second man is whom? The Lord
from heaven. And as by one man's disobedience
the many were made sinners, by the obedience of the second Adam
the many shall be made righteous. God judged this whole world in
Adam. We fell in Adam. When Jesus Christ came, He came
with a covenant in His hand. He came with a people on His
high. And he came down here as a representative person, and
he walked this earth for the called. He walked this earth
for the coveted people, for the redeemed, and fulfilled all that
God required for them, and died and went to glory and sat down.
And they are in him and with him right now, seated with Christ
in the heavenly. Our forerunner has entered within
the veil and already occupied. It's just a matter of me leaving
here and going home. He's already staked the claim
in His name. You see what I'm saying? Now,
this is true. I know, boy, you'll go a long
ways up north or south before you hear that priest, but that's
so. That's what the Word of God teaches. Our Lord Jesus Christ
is a covenant relic. He's the priest of an everlasting
covenant. He's the forerunner. He's the
advocate, mediator. And he is seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high, and there's not one doubt about
who's coming to him. Not one doubt. Heaven is not
in suspense. Heaven is not in suspense. I
heard a fellow on the television, that logo, singing a song. It
made headlines in heaven when I got saved. That's a good song. Learn that, Mike. They didn't know about it. That's
right. I heard that. It made headlines
in heaven when I got saved. My friend, I don't like got saved
anyway. We are saved. We have been saved. We're being saved and our salvation
nears when we believe. But heaven was not taken by surprise
when you came to Christ. You came to Christ because heaven
had your name already written down. That's why you came to
Christ. God gave you the Son. That's
so. You see why that lady said this
one's different? That's different. But that's so. It's not just
His prayers for us, but His very presence on the right hand of
God that is our salvation. His very presence. That's so.
Here's the last one. I'll quit. Verse 28. So Christ
was once offered. Once offered. That's it. It's
done. The great transaction's done.
I am my Lord's and He's mine. Once offered to bear in Himself,
to bear in His body, to bear, actually carry the sins of many. Ten thousand times ten thousand
and thousands and thousands. A definite number for an indefinite
number. And unto them that look for Him,
unto whom? Not every church member. I hope everybody here, but maybe
not. Are you looking for him? Are
you waiting for him? Are you looking to him? Are you
trusting in him? And to them that look for him,
he's going to appear again. I love that word, appearing.
He's going to appear again. He appeared the first time to
put away sin. He appeared the second time for
us to intercede. He's going to appear again. He
said, if I go away, I'll come and receive you to myself. That
where I am, there you may be also. And those that look for
him, shall he appear the second time on this earth without sin. What does that mean, without
sin? That means that the mediator and our sin offering and advocate
who once bore our sins doesn't bear them anymore. He's without
sin. And those to whom He appears
are without sin. You don't have any sin if you're
in Christ. That's right, you don't have
any sin. Sin can't... Payment for sin, God's justice,
cannot twice demand. First at my bleeding shirt, His
hands, then again at mine. He's going to appear without
sin. The first time He came and bore our sin, paid the price. He's going to appear without
sin unto what? Unto salvation. And somebody
said this, unto a full and perfect salvation which he purposed,
which he purchased, and which by his Spirit he applied. And that full salvation is this,
that Satan and all evil shall be destroyed, death, the last
enemy, shall be destroyed, and every believer shall be raised
and made like his Lord. You see why I say that this is
not the sum and substance of it. He appeared to put away sin
with the sacrifice of himself. He appears as our intercessor,
our forerunner, our advocate at the right hand of God. And
to those who are looking for him, he'll appear again. Now
then, you ask, why don't you preach more on the second coming?
I do. I preach just about as much as
it needs to be preached. Because if you're not careful,
you'll be taken up with the coming and not the Christ who's coming.
If you're not careful, you'll be taken up with the events and
so forth, and not with the person who's coming. And that's the
one to whom we look. Whatever he does when he comes
will be fine, because we're in him. For the church goes through
the tribulation, it's immaterial. Whether they rebuild the temple
is immaterial. Whether anything else happens
in material, the thing that's important is He's coming back
and He's going to appear without sin under full salvation. Our Father, oh, how we thank
You for Your Word. How we thank You for every promise,
every precious promise, every precious promise. We have no
foundation without this Book. We have no understanding without
Your Word. And yet you've given us an understanding. We know we understand in part,
we preach in part, and we see through a glass dimly, but you've
given us an understanding. The Son of God has come and given
us an understanding of your righteousness and holiness and of your covenant
of mercy and of your sacrifice. You've given us an understanding,
and we're grateful, Lord. Open our eyes to more of the
light of the gospel. Reveal to us more and more of
the beauties of Christ and the glories of Christ and enable
us to grow in grace and in the knowledge of Christ. Ground us. Establish us. And teach us. Thank you for precious faith.
How weak is our faith. Oh, how weak is our faith. But
Lord, Thou knowest all things. Our confidence and hope is in
Thee. My hope is in Thee. And Thee alone. Christ, on Christ
the solid rock I stand. I know all of the ground is sinking,
saying, make this message effectual and a blessing to everybody here
according to your eternal will for the glory of your dear son.
Lead us to your sheep to preach the gospel and bring your sheep
to yourself. For Christ's sake we pray, amen.