Luke 9, verse 57. And the thing that troubles me
so greatly is that this is not the first time that a thing of
this nature has arisen. I've seen it over the past 30
or 35 years, and I'm sure I'll see more of it, but it's still
troublesome, so troublesome. I'm reading Luke 9, verse 57.
And it came to pass that as they went in the way, a certain man
said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the
air have nests, but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his
head. And he said unto another, Follow
me. But he said, Lord, suffer me
first. to go and bury my father. Jesus
said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead, but go thou and preach
the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord,
I will follow thee, but let me first go and bid them farewell,
which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man,
no man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, he is fit for
the kingdom of God. Now, the life of the believer
is not without trial, sorrow, and disappointment in ourselves
and in others. And one of the great disappointments,
one of the most difficult sorrows to bear is to see those who are
very dear to us and near to us and close to us who profess to
love Christ and to know Christ and to know his gospel and even
to participate in it, even to preach it. Give it up. Just give
it up and depart from following Christ. Now, please understand,
I'm not talking about following us. That's not what I'm saying,
Charlie. We don't have a corner on the
gospel. I'm not talking about following us, I'm talking about
following Christ. Following Christ and being true to his glory and
his gospel and his kingdom and his church. This is no new thing. Let me show you in the scripture
in 2 Timothy chapter 4. It's happened before. It happened
to the Apostle Paul, something he had to cope with almost continually. In 2 Timothy 4 verse 10, he said,
for Demas, Demas is mentioned several other times in the scripture,
being a companion of the Apostle Paul, the preacher of the gospel.
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world. And
this present world can include a job. You know, I see a lot
of people leaving the gospel to get a better job. I could
give you an incident right here of a couple in the church where
I preached last Sunday morning. They came down to the front after
I preached, stood there weeping, weeping. And he said, I've been
so dried up and so indifferent and so away from God for the
last two years. He left the gospel and moved
to Texas, way out yonder in San Antonio, Texas, to get a better
job teaching school. And when he left the gospel,
there's no church in San Antonio preaching the gospel of Christ.
When he left the gospel for the better job, that was his mistake. Why don't we leave our jobs for
a better gospel? It seems to me that would be
the thing to do. And it's not just having loved this present
world. You can love the world of influence.
People can be promoted into indifference. You can get a better job, or
you can get a better position, or a place of authority, and
all of these things, or follow an individual, or there are a
lot of things. This present world includes anything
that's not of Christ, that's not of the spiritual world. And
that's what Demas did. I don't know, he might have the
wrong crowd, he might have been promoted to a place of prominence
or influence or wealth or whatever, but he loved the world. Let me
show you another, 1 John 2, 19. 1 John 2, 19. It says here in 1 John 2, 19, they
went out from us, but they were not of us. If they had been of
us, they no doubt would have continued with us, but they went
out. That they might be made manifest, they were not all of
us. Now, I'm not going to turn to all these scriptures because
It'd take too long to preach the message, but you who are
taking notes might write down Hebrews 10, 38, in which Paul
talks about departing, departing from the living God. We are not
of those that depart. In 2 Peter 2, 20, when Peter
talked about the dog returning to his vomit and the hog to his
wallow, leaving Christ. So this is no new thing that
we encounter about people as the fellow says, shucking the
gospel for something else or someone else. It happened during
the earthly ministry of our Lord. Turn to John 6 and let me read
you this. It happened in the master's ministry
on this earth. It says in John 6, verse 65,
in John 6, 65, and Christ said, Therefore said I unto you, that
no man can come to me, except it were given him of my father.
From that time, from that statement, that doctrine, that truth, many
of his disciples went back. Went back. They went back and
walked no more with him. Our Lord was gracious to all
who came, but all didn't remain. So it's not that I don't expect
it. This sort of thing is expected because We're human beings. It's not that I don't expect
it. And it's not that I'm shocked by it. I had a preacher friend
in Alabama. I mentioned this to Doris the
other day. I thought, and she did too, if ever there was a
content and happy and blessed family, it was this
family. Several children. Suddenly, divorce. leave the gospel, out into the
world. Last time I saw one of the couples,
you didn't even recognize them. They were so changed, and countenance
and eyes and everything. Came to hear me preach for old
time's sake. But the joy, the countenance
of God was gone in a matter of two or three years. It's unbelievable. It's not that I'm shocked, because
it's happened many times. It'll happen again. We have no
confidence in the flesh, in the mind of yours or anybody else's.
Paul said that's a mark of a true believer. He worships God in
the Spirit, and he rejoices in Jesus Christ and has no confidence
in the flesh. So these things are happening,
and it's not that we don't expect it, nor are we shocked by it,
nor does it shake our faith in Christ. Somebody said, doesn't
that shake your faith in the gospel? No, it's not Christ leaving
them, it's them leaving Christ. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. I've never heard of the Lord
leaving one of his children. No, my confidence, it doesn't
shake my faith at all. I don't believe in men, I believe
in Christ. I don't follow men, I follow
Christ. And the sooner we lose our confidence in our flesh or
anybody else's flesh, the better off we're going to be. If this
preacher leaves this gospel, that doesn't make the gospel
untrue. It's true. Let God be true and every man
a liar, everybody in here. No, it does not shake my faith
nor confidence in the gospel of the sovereign Lord, but it
grieves me, and I know it grieves you. It grieves me for several
reasons. It grieves me, first of all,
for the person who leaves the only way of redemption. There's
only one way of redemption, and that's in Christ. I know that. One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
one God, one mediator between God and men. I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. You leave Christ, you leave the
way alive. It's impossible to restore anyone
to repentance who leaves Christ. That's where salvation is. It
grieves me for him. It grieves me for those who will
be affected. We don't live alone. We're not
an island. Other people are going to be
affected. They're going to be troubled. They're going to be
grieved. They're going to be hurt. And we've got to consider these
things. It grieves me for them. It grieves me for the gospel,
because it gives the enemies of Christ ammunition to laugh
about. It gives the enemies of Christ,
say, well, nothing to what they preach. You can watch the folks
and tell there's nothing to what they preach. That's what the
enemies of Christ say. You say, well, they're going
to find some excuse, but I don't want to be the excuse, do you?
I don't want to give the enemy an opportunity to laugh at my
Lord. But the thing also that I'm also
conscious of, turn to Hebrews 3, and I want to read three passages
here that are very vital to me and to you. Now listen carefully
to these. And as I bring this message,
I'm conscious of this fact. In Hebrews 3, verse 12, he talked
about Israel's unbelief and rebellion. He talked about their departure
from the faith, but he said in verse 12 of Hebrews 3, you take
heed, brethren, lest there be found in you an evil heart of
unbelief. sitting right here in this congregation,
or maybe standing here in this pulpit, is the next one who will
lead the gospel. I hope not, by God's grace, but
it's only by his grace we stand. Here's another scripture in 1
Corinthians 10, 5, and you need to turn to this and look at it.
Let's look at it carefully, and let us always look at it carefully,
in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 5. Now the Lord is talking about
Israel here. And he said in verse 5 of 1 Corinthians
10, with many of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown
in the wilderness. Now these things were for our
examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things as
they lusted. He's talking about the believers
here. In verse 7, neither be ye idolaters as were some of
them. As it is written, the people
sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let
us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in
one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ,
as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.
Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were
destroyed of the destroyer." Now, all of these things happen
unto them for examples, or examples, and they were written for our
admonition. upon whom the ends of the world
are come. Wherefore, let him that thinketh,
he standeth. Take heed, lest he follow." Not
me. Really? That's what Peter said.
I'll never deny the Lord. That's what Peter said. In fact,
he's the only one that said that. He's the only one that boasted
that he'd go to the death with Christ. And he's the one that
denied it. one other scripture in Galatians
6.1. And we need to take this attitude toward the dear brother
in question. And dear sister, in Galatians
6.1, he says, brethren, Galatians 6.1, brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, ye which are spiritual He which has some understanding
of the gospel, the grace of God. Restore him. It doesn't say isolate
him. It doesn't say bring your wrath
down upon him. It doesn't say exclude him. It
said restore him. And do it in the spirit of meekness
and humility. Why? Considering thyself, lest
thou also be tried in a similar manner. Now the question is what
happens? Our Lord said over here, if a
man looks back, and I'm asking this question, what happens?
A man or woman hears the gospel of Christ. And they seem to have
a work of conviction, as far as we can tell, a work of conversion
and a commitment to Christ. These people confess Christ,
are baptized, they join the church, they attend the services, some
for years and years and years. I had a preacher friend that
preached for years, I think 30 years, and then just threw it
all aside, just tossed it all aside and left the gospel. The man whom I assisted here
the first years of my ministry, the man who ordained me the gospel
ministry, the man who brought Brother Barnard to this town
the first time. He brought him here. The man
who supported me in my ministry and recommended my call to this
church left the gospel. Hadn't preached it in 20 years.
As far as I know, doesn't even go to church. Went into no hail
belief and charismatic movement and you just name it. So what happened? Man preaches
for years, attends church, one of the best givers in the church,
even preaches the doctrines, and I don't mean Arminianism,
I mean the five points of Calvinism, with tears streaming down his
face. Then something or someone comes
along, in the case of Demas, a representative of this W-O-R-L-D
world. It may be a pretty face or a
pretty car. It may be a pretty place or a
pretty offer. It may be anything that's attractive
to this flesh. Pride, the eyes, the flesh, anything. Honor, praise, something or someone
comes along And all of these things that they profess and
claim and cling to and preach are just cast aside as so much
garbage. What happens? What happens? Well, actually, I believe this.
If you'll turn to 1 John 2 one more time, this is what I believe.
And I sat and listened to this, or looked at this, I sat and
looked at this for a good while before I wrote it down. Now,
I was asking myself, what happens? What happens? And my answer is
this. Actually, what happened is answered
by what did not happen. That's what I believe. What did
not happen. John said in 1 John 2, 19, listen,
they went out from us. All right, that's what we're
talking about. They went out from us. They departed, and when
he says us, he's talking about the gospel, the things identified
with God. These are the things identified
with God. I'm not talking about the 13th
Street Baptist Church. There's churches everywhere all
over this country preaching the grace of God, and men preaching
the grace of God. But they went out from us, from
identification with Christ, from the gospel, from identification
with the things of God, But they were not of us. That's what John
said. That's the reason, he said. That's the only reason John gives.
They were not of us. They never were of us. Christ in the head is not Christ
in the heart. Now remember that, please. Christ
in the head is not Christ in the heart. You can have all the
doctrines systematized, categorized in your head and not know Christ
in your heart. I know that. That's what Peter
said to Simon Magus, your heart's not right. He didn't say, Simon
Magus, your head's not on straight. He said, your heart's not right.
And it's true that people who leave their wives and children
and reputations and character and position and place and hurt
everybody, it's true their heads aren't on right, but their hearts
are not right. That's where the problem is.
There's a difference in Christ in doctrine and Christ in spirit.
Christ in theology and Christ in experience. There's a difference
in having Christ in profession and having Christ enthroned.
Now that's where it is, Christ enthroned. Christ enthroned. They were not of us. He says,
as he goes on, verse 19, if they had ever been of us, in heart,
in spirit, not just their bodies in the congregation, but their
hearts in the gospel. If they had been of us, he said,
they would no doubt, he said, no doubt about it, have still
been with us. You know what he said? And that's
your answer. That is your answer. It's got to be the answer. The
person who looks to Christ with a saving glimpse looks to the
Redeemer, I'm talking about sees the Son, he that seeth the Son,
and I'm not talking about with these eyes of, I wouldn't have
a vision or a dream, wouldn't want one, I'd scare me to death
if I had one, wouldn't want one, wouldn't trust it. You can get
on certain drugs and have hallucinations and visions and dreams. I'm talking
about he that seeth the Son in the Word, he that seeth the Son
in the Gospel, He that seeth the Son in the record God hath
given, he that seeth the Son for who he is, and what he's
done, and why he did it, and where he is, he that seeth the
Son, look at the Christ, he sees everything in Christ. He sees
glory, and honor, and justification, and love, and fame, and family,
and peace, and rest, and everything in Christ. and all he needs and
all he desires and all he wants. I'm not saying the flesh doesn't
tremble and reach out and tempt it and try it and test it, but
ultimately, ultimately, all he desires for time and eternity
has been met and fulfilled in Christ. And while there is some
drawing and temptation of the flesh, and we'll always have
that because we've got human bodies and human eyes and human
needs, anybody likes good clothes. Anybody likes steak and French
fries and salad and eating high and living high and riding high
and wide and handsome and comfortable. Anybody likes attention and anybody
likes to have influence. Anybody likes to say they know
this one, that one, the other. Anyone likes to say, well, I'll
get it for you. Just mention my name. That's
fun. Somebody comes here and says, you know something? Yeah,
just mention my name. Anything you want. You know,
that appeals to the flesh, but ultimately, when it comes right
down to it, when it's decision time, when it's, as Barnard said,
choosing up sides time, when it's time to speak everything
he wants in Christ. Everything he desires and everything
he needs and there's no rival, never has been, is not now and
never will be for Christ. He's King. King. That's what
I'm talking about. And when folks come to these
decision times and when they come to these times of commitment
and Barnard says spitting on your hands and choosing up sides,
he said, I cast my lot with Christ. I have no choice. I have no choice. I have no choice but to believe
the word. A slave doesn't have a choice. He belongs to a master.
He's been bought and paid for. He doesn't have a choice. Someone
comes along this afternoon or tomorrow in the morning. I'm
sitting in there and walks in and says, President of the United
States wants you to be ambassador to Ireland. Pay you $100,000
a year and you call your own shots and go to Ireland. I don't
have any decision to make. I don't have any decision, Tom.
I belong to Christ. I'm not for sale. It doesn't
matter what comes along. And you might sit down and think,
well, buy Doris a sable coat, you know. She's got a charge
card for every store in town anyway, but she could have one
of the best ones in, you know, and we could pay it. You might
think along that line, but it comes down to decision time.
The decision's been made. You see what I'm saying, Tom?
The decision's been made. The transaction's been, I am
my Lord's and He is mine. And there's no choice, there's
no decision. That's what I'm saying. If there
had been offers, John said, there'd still be offers. There's no decision
to be made. You're not your own, you bought
and paid for. You don't have a decision. God
makes a decision. You don't have a choice where
the slave doesn't choose where he's going to serve, or where
he's going to live, or who he's going to be with. God made that
decision. That's what I'm saying. We don't
have a choice. And the fellow that thinks he does hasn't come
to know Christ yet. That's what John said. He hasn't
come to know Christ. He just thinks he knows Christ.
You see, Christ is Lord. That's the gateway to the kingdom
of God's Lordship, Christ. the Lordship of the Son of God.
Isaiah said, quoting the Lord, he said, look to me. And that
look involves a commitment. That's a look. That's looking
away from everything and everyone. Turn back to my text in Luke
chapter 9. Let's see if we can find something
here. And our Lord said, our Lord said, and he describes it
with a look. You say, what's wrong with a
look? Now, wait a minute. A look is more than just a look. A look
is more than simply a sight of the eye. But a look in this regard
is a state of the heart. In other words, look unto me
and be ye saved. And that look involves not just
a glance of the eye, not just a vision of the eye, but that
look contains an expression of the heart. This is the way I'm
going. I'm looking to Christ. Now, to
look back, denotes a problem in the heart. To look back denotes
the fact that something back there is more interesting than
what's out here. Something back there still has reins on you.
That's what Lot's wife, you remember when they said, get out of Sodom,
the angel said to Lot, get out and don't look back. And Lot's
wife, she was headed out with him, you know, but it says she
stopped and looked back. She looked back because her heart
never had left that place. Her heart never had left that
place. And here our Lord said in Luke
9, verse 62, Jesus said, No man having put his hand to the plow,
no man having laid hold of the gospel, no man having made some
sort of commitment, some sort of commitment in the
direction of Christ, and looks back, whatever it is that commands
his attention. He's not fit, and the word is
not, he's not equipped. He's not yet been made ready.
He's not fit. You know, he's not saying something
like, that ain't fit to eat. You know, like garbage, come
to the garbage can, there's some old molded meat, and you say,
that's not fit to eat. Well, that's not what the word
is here, totally, but it might be applicable there. But what
our Lord is saying, he is not outfitted nor equipped Nor is
he been made meet or sufficient for the kingdom of God." He's
not a subject of the kingdom of God. You see, God's subjects
are devoted. Our Lord's subjects are committed. And that's the reason he said,
count the cost. This is what I said in the bulletin.
May I remind you of the article which I had, and this came out
of, this was born of a lot of consideration here, not only
from the Scripture, I believe, but from my own experience. He
said, Paul said, whether you eat or drink or whatever you
do, do it for the glory of God. Now I said I wish we didn't have
to be continually reminded of this cheap end of every creature,
especially of every believer, but we do. We have so much ego,
so much flesh and self-interest left in us. that the glory of
God and the greater good of his church and his kingdom sometimes
gets shuffled to the side in our plans and actions. What I
want and what I desire to do and what I think is best for
me is not the issue at all. Well, I know what I want. That's
not the issue. I asked Walter Gruber one time
down in Mexico, and I'll tell you, that's a tough place to
live. Milton and David Pledge were riding down there in Tuxla
on this last trip. And right at night, coming back
from the service, and you know there's a lot of trouble down
there on the Guatemalan border right now. A lot of trouble.
A lot of guerrillas and state soldiers. And they pulled up,
and there was three men with rifles. on this side of the bridge. They waved them to stop. And
David told me they pulled up and stopped. And he walked up
there with that pistol, I mean, that rifle and said, get out
of the car. And these are 19-year-old boys. These are Mexican boys with Thompson
submachine guns and M1 rifles. And here's two gringos out in
the middle of nowhere in a $19,000 diesel truck with equipment. Nobody on the road from anywhere.
They said, get out. Milton opened the door and the
light came on. He said, cut that light out. Milton said, the light
comes on when the door is open. Don't get smart, gringo. Turn
the light out. I can't turn the light out. And
the poor boy couldn't understand, Dick, why the light wouldn't
go out. That calls for shooting sometimes. And Milton jumped
out of the truck and slammed the door. He said, open the door.
I said, if I open the door, the light's going to come on. How
do you reason with a man standing there with a gun on ready? And
he don't like anything. We don't know what these missionaries
go through, do we? And I said to Walter, I said,
are you happy in Mexico? Well, he said, happiness hasn't
got anything to do with it. I'm where God wants me. And that's
where I'm going to stay till I die. And that's it. I don't know whether we can get
that through our heads or not. But that's it. That's what I'm
trying to say here. What I want and what I desire
to do, well, my situation's not compatible. Well, who said it's
supposed to be? In the world you'll have tribulation.
And if you don't take up your cross and follow me, he said,
you can't enter the kingdom of God. But I have aspirations. Our aspirations are His glory.
And when they become anything more than that, we've got the
wrong aspirations and the wrong goal. And I'm talking about putting
up with what you put up with for the glory of God. And that
which ought to motivate us, and I listed these things in order,
I believe, of their importance. Number one, the glory of our
Lord. Number two, the honor of His name. Number three, the furtherance
of the gospel. Number four, the unity of the
Church. Number five, the well-being of our children and family. Fifth? Fifth. You ever believe that preacher?
I don't want to believe it. I know it. He that loveth father,
mother, brother, sister, husband, wife more than me is not worthy
of me. We're going to have to get in the proper order. I say,
in that order. You say, where do I fit in? Well,
we may as well face it, this is the cost that Christ set for
us to count. This is the life he tells us
to lose. I tried to explain this this
morning, didn't get anywhere, but I'm going to try it again
tonight. To know Christ, I jotted down four things. What is it
to know Christ? Well, first is to have God's
glory of redemption revealed to me in the face of Christ.
That's first. Secondly, is to find in my heart,
Eddie, what we were talking about, an approval of that glory and
that name, a love and appreciation and rejoicing in God as he is. Not as I want him to be, but
as he is. This is it. And I rejoice in
him, and he has my approval. Let God be God. And bow to him. Whatever he says, who are you
to reply against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why did you make me thus? Shall the clay
say to the potter, why did you make me thus? That's none of
your business. To set my affections on God, whatever he does with
me. That's what Eli said. They said,
God's going to kill your sons. Well, he said, it's the Lord.
Let him do what seemeth good to him. What seemeth good to
me is not the question. That's what I'm talking about.
That's to know God. And then thirdly, it's to feed upon, to
feed upon, daily to feed upon and find my satisfaction, peace,
and fulfillment in him. I'm not saying there won't be
other attractions and other temptations and other, like I said a while
ago, The things that appeal to this flake, but what I'm talking
about is to find my ultimate satisfaction, peace, and fulfillment
in him, in him. And then fourthly, to see the
emptiness and folly. This is the thing we see. We
see the emptiness and folly of looking anywhere else but to
Christ. Old Solomon tried it all, he said, I found out it's
vanity and vexation of spirit, ain't no use looking anywhere
else. He said, I tried wisdom, I tried glory, I tried honor,
I tried buildings, I tried wealth, I tried wine, I tried everything
and I found out it's all foolishness, foolishness. And that's what
we see, like the disciples said, well, Lord, to whom shall we
go? Now here's the last question, I'll I just know this, that where
God plows and plants the seed, fruit's coming up. Some a hundredfold,
some sixty, forty, twenty, whatever. But there's going to be fruit
if God plowed and planted. Where God strips, God clothes.
That's so, Cecil. When God calls a sinner, he comes.
When God reveals Christ, Christ is revealed. Now what a man does,
he can undo. What a man gives, he can lose.
That's exactly right. And what he gains can be taken
from him. But what God gives, what God
does... Let me ask you to turn to Ecclesiastes
a minute. This is a scripture you ought
to underscore. I ought to underscore. I don't mean you. I mean all
of us. Ecclesiastes, listen to this. Ecclesiastes, I'll have
to find it. It's chapter 3. Ecclesiastes 3. Verse 14, I know this, that whatsoever
God doeth, it will be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken from it. God doeth it that men should
fear before him. Somebody asked old B.B. Carwell
one time, I want you to listen to this and hear it for what
it is now, think about it. They said, Brother Carwell, can
a man lose his salvation? And Brother Carwell said, if he can, he can. If he can, he can. Yeah, if he
can, he can. What did he mean by that, Preacher?
If you can live and survive without Christ, then you can lose whatever
you've got. If you can make If you can be
happy without the fellowship of our Lord, if you can survive,
if you can prosper, if you can survive without Christ, you never
knew Christ. Because he is our life. That's
like asking me to survive after I die. If I have a heart attack
right now and fall dead, I'm not going to survive. My life's
gone. And I'll never make another move.
But if you and I, if I can, this living Lord, this glorious gospel,
this feast of life, this new nature, is Christ who is my life,
if I can survive without him, without his presence and his
blessings and his peace and his joy, then I never knew it. I never had that life. That's
just so, and that's where it all is. What happens when you
see this thing happens? And we stiffen our stiff neck
and uncircumcised of heart and ears, and when we hear the word
stiffen, I'm going to do my thing. Well, if you can survive without
God killing you, without God bringing you back, without God
laying you into the very dust of the ground and bringing you
back on your belly, if you can survive, then go on. You never
had Christ, because the most miserable man in the world is
a man out of fellowship with Christ. The most miserable man
in the world, the most uncomfortable man, the most unhappy man in
this world is a man who knows the Redeemer and is outside his
fellowship. He can't survive, just can't
survive. Our Father, we pray your blessings
upon what we've looked into tonight. We've looked into it because
we feel the importance of it. And we need not only to encourage
one another, but to warn and exhort one another. All of us
need to consider these things. You said in your word, Let him
that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall. And beware,
brethren, lest there be found in you an evil heart of unbelief.
Keep us and we'll be kept. Give us strength and we'll stand.
Turn our eyes on Christ and we'll never turn away. Enthrone Christ
in our hearts and lives and let us feed upon him and feast upon
him and love him above all things and we'll never leave him. Deliver
us out of our refuges of lies if we're hiding therein. And
establish our feet on that tried foundation. our Lord and Master,
and we pray for our brethren who are in trials and troubles
and difficulties. Speak to their hearts for your
glory, for the good of all concerned, and for the honor of your gospel,
for Christ's sake we pray, amen.