Now we're opening our Bibles
to the Book of Matthew, and I'll begin this message in
Chapter 17. The title of this message is
called, The Master's Stern and Strong
Rebuke. The Master's Stern Rebuke. Back
in chapter 17, verse 24, and when they were come to Capernaum,
they that received tribute money came to Peter and said, does
not your master pay tribute? If you're not careful, you'll
mistranslate this and misinterpret it. These were not the publicans
or Roman tax collectors. got nothing to do with civil
tax at all. These men were the men about
the temple who collected tribute money for the tabernacle and
the temple. Every Jew over 20 years of age
was required to pay half a shekel a year for the service of the
tabernacle. Every Jew, this was part of the
Levitical law, turned to Exodus 30. Now, this is important. Exodus
chapter 30, if you will. Exodus 30, verse... Actually,
you read from verse 13 through 16. Exodus chapter 30. Now, this is important. See,
these... The priest and the people about
the temple collected tribute money from every Jew under the
Levitical law for the support and the service of the tabernacle.
And every Jew over 20 years of age was to pay half a shekel.
That's what we're talking about here. Verse 13. Verse 12 of Exodus
30. When thou takest the sum of the
children of Israel after their number, then shall they give
every man a ransom for his soul unto the Lord when thou numbers
them. that there be no plague among them when thou number'st
them. This they shall give every one that passeth among them that
are numbered, half a shekel. After the shekel of the sanctuary,
a shekel is twenty givers. Half a shekel shall be the offering
of the Lord. Every one that passeth among
them that are numbered from twenty years old and above shall give
an offering unto the Lord of half a shekel. The rich shall
not give more The poor shall not give less than half a shekel
when they give an offering unto the Lord to make an atonement
for their souls. And they shall take the atonement money of the
children of Israel and shall appoint it for the service of
the tabernacle of the congregation, that it may be a memorial unto
the children of Israel before the Lord to make an atonement
for your soul." All right, back to Matthew 17. Now, that was
what this was all about. Half a shekel under the law,
the Levitical law, was to be given by every Jew over 20 years
of age for the service of the tabernacle that was collected
every year. The rich shall give no more, the poor shall give
no less. Half a shekel, tribute money. And they came to Peter
and they said, does your master pay tribute money? Well, he immediately
said yes. He didn't ask the Lord. He didn't
inquire of the Lord, he just said yes. You know why he said
yes, Charles? His master kept the law, and he knew it. He knew
it. His master was circumcised when
he was eight days old. His master was taken to the temple
according to the Levitical law, according to the Jewish law for
the purification of his mother. When he was 12 years of age,
he was taken to Jerusalem. He kept the Passover. He gathered
his disciples. I tell you, every jot and tittle
of God's law was fulfilled by God's Son for our redemption.
He didn't come to destroy the law, but the law might be fulfilled.
He fulfilled every jot and tittle, every requirement of the law.
And that's the reason Peter, when they asked him, does he
pay tribute, he said, yes, just like that, you know. He didn't
even hesitate. And then he went in evidently to inquire of the
Lord, evidently to ask Him how He's going to fulfill this, you
know, what He's going to do. So he said, yes, verse 25, and he
came into the house and the Lord just didn't let him say anything. But the Lord Jesus Christ did
present to Peter his power and position and his true kingdom
as opposed to this tabernacle and temple and Judaism. And he
said when Peter came in, he said, what do you think, Simon? Of
whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute? In other
words, here's the king of a certain country. The king and his wife,
and he has three sons and three daughters. He's a king of a country. He says now, of whom does the
king take tribute? Does he collect from his sons?
Oh, no. No, the sons are supported by
the tribute money. He doesn't collect taxes of his
daughters, his son, his wife, nor of himself. The king doesn't
pay tribute money. He said, of whom does he collect
it? Of his children or strangers. And Peter said, of strangers.
In other words, of the subjects, folks that are not in the immediate
family. Then he said, the children are free. In other words, Christ
is implying or saying this, I'm the king. I'm the king. The only reason that this king
is paying tribute is because this king is assuming the place
of the stranger. He's taking the place of the
man that owes it. He said, I'm the king. The king and his children
are free from tribute. But, verse 27, notwithstanding,
lest we offend them. This is my kingdom, Christ said.
The tabernacle, the temple, the sacrifices, all these things.
I'm the king. I don't pay taxes. I don't pay
tribute. You get that through your head
first of all. But, notwithstanding, lest we offend them, lest we
give them some cause of offense, you go to the seat and you cast
the hook. You take up the first fish that
comes up, first one you catch, and you open that fish's mouth,
and you'll find the exact amount of money that is required for
you and me both. You'll find a shekel. You'll
find a piece of money that's equal to a shekel, half a shekel
for you and a half a shekel for me, and you go pay the tribute. When the Lord Jesus Christ, when
he told Peter this and when the disciples fulfilled this, I've
no doubt that this conversation and this miracle led to something,
because it says in verse 1 of chapter 18 at the same time,
this led to something. Our Lord had overwhelmed Peter
with his power and greatness and glory. I'm the king. You
don't come to the king for tribute or custom or taxes, the king
nor his children." And then he told Peter, but he said, we're
not going to offend these fellows. I have a kingdom they know not
of. My kingdom is not of this world. Nevertheless, not to offend
them, keep from offending them. You go down, and what a miracle,
and you just cast your hook into the sea, and you pull out a fish. And then you open that fish's
mouth, and in that fish's mouth is exactly the amount of money
that's required for you. Peter and the disciples, I know,
were overwhelmed with this miracle, and with the words of our Master,
and his reference to a kingdom, and this great miracle. On another
occasion, when Peter and the disciples had caught no fish,
and the Lord told them to cast the net over the side, and they
pulled out so many fish it'd break the net, Peter turned to
the Lord and said, just depart from me, I'm a sinful man. He
was so overwhelmed with that miracle. Well, think what this
one did to him. And it led these disciples to
a discussion. It led them to thinking about
the kingdom, thinking about the power and greatness of Christ,
His glory. Think of the glory. Think, if
He does these things just to pay tribute, just off the cuff
more or less, just as a sideline, think of that kingdom and its
glory and its riches and its beauty. and its power and position
and all that. And they got to thinking about
these things and they got to discussing among themselves this
question, who's going to be the greatest? Who's going to be the
greatest? Who's going to be next to the
Messiah in this kingdom? And they discussed this quite
fully because I want to show you in Mark 9, turn to Mark the
9th chapter. Mark the 9th chapter, verse 33,
listen to this. in Mark 9, 33. Now look at it.
And he came to Capernaum, and being in the house, he asked
them, what was it that you disputed among yourselves by the way?
What were you quarreling about? What were you disputing about?
And they held their peace. They didn't answer. For by the
way they had disputed among themselves, who would be the greatest? They
were embarrassed. They just didn't say anything.
But turn to another scripture, Luke chapter 9. See, this was
the disciples talked about this quite openly among themselves,
and they were interested in it. In Luke chapter 9, this is written
in Matthew, Mark, and Luke 9.46, then there arose a reasoning
among them which of them should be the greatest. Now, what were these men thinking
when they asked the question? Who is the greatest? Now just
exactly, our Lord had talked to them about His kingdom, His
glory, His greatness, His majesty, and the glory which is to come.
Now what was going through their minds and hearts that caused
them to enter into this type of discussion? Well, who's going
to be the greatest? Who's going to be the most recognized,
most powerful? Who's going to be next to the
Messiah? Well, I tell you what I believe. First of all, I believe
they were thinking about a kingdom of position and power and personal
glory. I believe they were thinking
about a kingdom according to their earthly standards. I believe
that's what they were thinking about. I believe that we're prone
in the flesh, instead of trying to set our affection on things
above and be elevated to the thoughts of God, we're trying
to bring God down here. We're trying to make God like
ourselves, and the Kingdom of God consists of what we understand
in the flesh. I believe these disciples were
thinking about a continuation of things as they are. Our Lord
said, I make all things new. Behold, I make all things new. And their thoughts about the
Kingdom of God and about the glory that is the Father, were
thoughts about the things that concern us right now, possessions,
position, power, personal satisfaction, luxury, glory, materialism. And these are the things they
thought about. Now here I think this was in their mind too, and
I'm thinking about thoughts I've contemplated. And I've discussed
and listened to people talk. When they thought of this kingdom
of power and position and personal glory and things continuing as
they are, they didn't doubt that they would be there. They didn't
question their part in it, they wanted to know what part they
were going to have in it. They wanted to know what power
they were going to enjoy. In other words, the thoughts
on their mind was not, am I going to be a part of that kingdom,
but what power will I have in that kingdom? What glory, what
reward will I have above others? That's what they were thinking
about. They were certain that they were part of it, as the
old Jews were certain that God was their Father. They told Jesus
Christ the Lord, God's our Father. We don't know about you, but
God's our Father. He overwhelmed them with His miracles and power.
It didn't shake them. It did not trouble them one bit.
We know we're part of the Kingdom of God. And the thing they were
thinking about is who's going to have the greatest position
and power. And this ambition, you know what
this ambition did? It caused a division among them. It caused a division. It caused
a sharp division among them. They disputed, they debated among
themselves about what position and power they were going to
have in this kingdom, who was going to be the greatest. And
little did they know this very reasoning, this very dispute
was a denial of the very kingdom that Christ was talking about. Because this debate and discussion
about their part in the kingdom revealed their selfishness. And
that's not a part of the kingdom. And it reveals their self-righteousness. And it revealed their covetousness. And it revealed their pride,
all of which are contrary to the kingdom. All of which are
contrary. And it revealed their total ignorance
of the Kingdom of God, their total, complete ignorance of
the Kingdom of God. They were discussing something
that was totally foreign to the way they were discussing it and
what they were discussing. So, what they did is they came
to the Lord to settle their differences. They came to Christ, verse 1
of chapter 18. So the disciples came to Jesus. This has been
going on in their minds, going on among themselves. So they
came directly to the master and they asked him the question,
verse 1 of chapter 18, who is the greatest in the kingdom of
heaven? Now, Lord, I want you to watch
this. He didn't enter into a long,
complicated discourse on the kingdom of heaven like one of
our preachers would have done. Nor did he start talking about
the 420 elders, nor the 144,000. He didn't explain those things,
and he didn't explain prophetical facts and events and the meaning
of discipleship. Oh, how simple! Our Lord presents
the Kingdom of God. This troubles me about not only
our preaching, but the whole concept of what religion and
preaching consist of, especially among the more learned theologians.
Our Lord simply called a child. You say, how old was the child?
Well, it wasn't an infant. I know the child was old enough
to come when he was called. He was old enough to come, verse
2. And Jesus called a child. And he set that child right in
the middle of these big, gruff men, these big adults, adults. mature audiences. I always get
amused at them advertising something for mature audiences. I think
sometimes the older we get, the more immature we get. I think
children are much more in spiritual matters mature than most adults.
But he called a child and set that child in the midst of these
mature adults. A little child, old enough to
come when he called. And he said, verse 3, listen,
and he said verily, Verily. In other words, you can take
this as a certain fact. Verily. You can bank on it. You
can depend on it. Verily. Verily. I say unto you, I, with the very
credit of God's throne, I say verily you can take this as fact
and truth. You can depend on it. I said
it. I said it to you. I said it to you. Accept. Accept. Accept. you be converted and
become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom
of God. You won't have to be concerned
about position, nor will you have to be concerned about power,
nor will you have to be concerned about rewards or recognition
or greatness. You won't even enter the kingdom
of God. Oh, what a stern rebuke. How
every one of us in this congregation, if this is for the twelve disciples,
how all of us ought to be alert and awake and aware of this stern
rebuke. This stern rebuke. In other words,
he's saying, point one, your concern and conflict is about
the wrong things. These disciples were over there
They'd followed Christ, been with Christ in religion, they'd
been in all the theological discussions with the Pharisees and the conflict
and the persecution, all this thing, and then they'd come running
to him and they said, you've been talking about the kingdom,
we've seen demonstrations of your power and greatness in the
kingdom, who's going to be greatest in the kingdom? Now today's religion is much
like this. We're taking for granted. We're
taking for granted. and we're presumptuous about
the vital issues, and then we're troubled about things that are
not the vital issues. For example, let me just give
you a few things that I think about. Satisfied that we're in the Bride
of Christ, we argue about who's going to be in there with us.
Huh? Isn't that right? We're totally
satisfied that we'll be in the wedding feast, we'll have on
the garment, we'll be in the bride, but here's our conflict,
who's going to be there with us? Now, that's the same thing
the disciples were arguing, who's going to be greatest? We're going
to be the greatest, but who's going to be greatest with us?
We're confident that we're in the church. We're confident we're
in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the true church. But
we debate about whether the church will go through the tribulation
or not. We assume that if it will, we will. If it won't, we
won't. But we are in the church. And whether his coming will be
premillennial, postmillennial, or millennial, we debate. Master,
when shall you come again? It's not for you to know the
times or the seasons. But we're confident we're in
it. Totally confident. And we're persuaded that we're
destined for great reward and luxurious mansions, and our debate
is over who's going to have the biggest mansion. We know we're
going to have one, but we want to know who's going to have the
biggest one. Who's going to live in the cabin? Who's going to live in
the mansion? I'm sure that I'll be in the kingdom of God, but
my mind is cluttered up with where it'll be and when it'll
be and planning our family reunions. We're all busy planning our family
reunions for glory. That's what the disciples were
doing. We're in the kingdom. Who's going to be the greatest?
Who's going to have the position and the power and the recognition? Our Lord Jesus Christ sternly
rebuked his disciples for this type of reasoning, this type
of thinking. And he brings them back to the main issue, to the
vital issue. And this is what he said. He
brought a little child and set that child in the midst of them.
And the first word he said was this, accept. Accept. Now, our Lord used that term
several times. First turn to John 3. John chapter
3. John the third chapter, verse
3. Will you turn over there a moment?
John 3, verse 3. He used this term, except, several
times. In John 3, verse 3, he says,
Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
except, except a man be born again. Except. He cannot see
the kingdom of God. Now Luke chapter 13, Luke 13,
verse 3, listen to this. Luke 13, 3. I tell you nay, but
except, except you repent, you shall all likewise perish. Except
you repent, personally repent. Repentance is a turning, it's
a conversion, it's a new being, a new person, a new thought,
a new attitude, except you repent, you perish. Now another, Matthew
5. Let's look at this one, Matthew
chapter 5. Matthew the 5th chapter, verse
20. Listen to the Master here. I say unto you, and these are
such critical things, such critical teachings, such critical rebuke.
I say unto you, verily I say unto you, except the man be born
again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God. I say unto you, except
you repent, you shall perish. I say unto you, that except your
righteousness, shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes
and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom of God."
Now, I want to illustrate that. And if you'll bear with me, I
want to do exactly what Christ did. These disciples were quibbling
and arguing and quarreling about their part and their position
and their power and their recognition in the kingdom of God. Oh, they
were certain they would be in it. They were confident they
would have a part. They were confident that the
place of position and power would be, that person would be from
among them. They just knew that. They didn't
have any qualms about it. They knew they were in it. They
knew they were a part of it. They just knew that greatness
and reward would be theirs, one of their, that circle out there.
And they came to Christ and they said, settle an issue for us.
Who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And
our Lord brought a child and put him right in the midst. Now,
could I do that? Would two of you little girls come up here?
Meg, you come up here with me, would you? Tara, I want to do
what Christ did, just as simply as he did it. All of these grown
folks, one of you sit right there and one of you sit in my chair.
All these grown folks, these professors of religion, these
powerful disciples, these great elders were all Right up in the
master's face, wondering who's going to be the greatest. And
this is what he did. And I think they were about the age of these
right here. That's my guess. They were old enough to come
when they were caught. And yet they weren't infants, and yet
they weren't pretty big folks. And this is what our masters
say. Except you, talking to me, to be changed and turned and
converted and brought down off your high horse. Like these little
children, you're not even going to enter the kingdom. You can
forget all your kingdom fantasies. You can forget them. You can
forget all your religious professions. You can forget all your doctrinal
positions. You can forget all your pride
and righteous, forget it. You're not even going to enter
the kingdom of God unless spiritually you become as a little child.
Now what about a child? Let me give you about four or
five things. A child belongs to some parent, this Jim's little
girl and this Cecil's little girl, born of them. Her name
is Thornberry, her name is Harris, named for their daddies. Born
of them, conceived of them, brought into the world by these fathers.
See what I'm saying? You see what I'm saying? So we
as children of God are born of God. We're God's children. God's
children by birth, God's children by adoption. Huh? We're God's
children. That's the first thing. Secondly,
a child, watch this now, is totally dependent upon the parent. These
little girls are not self-sufficient. Not in any way. They can't provide
their clothing, they can't provide their housing, they can't provide
their food. They are totally dependent, absolutely dependent
upon their parents. Totally, fully, completely dependent. They look to you for everything.
Everything. A child of God is born of God,
adopted into the family of God, and looked to God for everything.
He's my total source for everything I have. I have nothing. There's
no way I can sustain myself in the kingdom of God without my
Lord. He's the source of all my grace and mercy. I am sustained
by Him as my provider. I look to Him for all things.
Without Him, I can do nothing. Thirdly, these children, now
they may grow up into rebels, but right now, These children
are obedient to the word of their parents. That's right. The will
of the parent is the will of the child. Whatever daddy says
is it, isn't it? That's right. Whatever daddy
says is it. You don't question his word.
And a child of God doesn't question God's word. Whatever God says
is it. I hear people say, well, that
doesn't mean that. My daddy said it means it, doesn't it? It means
just what he said. Isn't that right? These children
are submissive to the word and will of their father. That's
right. They don't put a question mark
on the word of their father. They believe it. And a little
child, that's why UB converted and becomes a little child. I
don't understand everything my father says that child said,
but I know he said it and that's what I'm going to do. And that's
a child. All right? Fourthly, a child
has no possessions to flaunt. That's exactly right. How big
a car you got? You don't have a car, do you?
Daddy has one, but you don't. Bank account? No bonds or stocks? How many stocks and bonds you
got? They're just children. They don't have a bunch of possessions
to flaunt. Not at all. They're not lifted
up with the pride of their, I got a house bigger than your house.
I got a car bigger than your car. All these things. Those things don't enter children's
minds. They got a dolly and that's just about it. That's all they
care about. Just a dolly or a little few
things that their parents gave them. But they have no possession.
And neither one of them are president of the bank. Neither one of them
got a position to flaunt. Neither one of them. What grade
are you in? Third, what grade are you in? That's about all
the recognition they got, you know. They don't have any position.
They hadn't been promoted above this one, that one, or the other
in pride, you know. They're picturing the paper.
They got a promotion. They got this, that, and the
other. They got no positions to flaunt. This is our cup of
tea. This is us mature folks. We're selected up with who we
are and what we are and what we have and a little more education
than somebody else. A little more education. Paul
said, I'm less than the least of all the saints. I have nothing
to flaunt and nothing about which to brag. Tell you something else
about them. They don't have that self-righteousness
that causes them to judge and criticize other children. They
accept black or white. It doesn't matter to you, does
it? Indian children, black children, white children, it doesn't matter. Children with parents or without
parents. These children this Saturday,
they don't care. They don't pay any attention to those things,
you know. These children, they may have their differences, but
they'll be speaking the next day. They won't be like you mature
folks and not speak for a week or two. It's shame on you. What
position you can have in the Kingdom of God, you ain't going
to be in the Kingdom of God. What do you mean? What do you
mean the Kingdom of God? You tore down the whole concept
of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is love, joy,
and peace, and you don't have any of the three. Not any of
the three. You don't have love, you don't
have joy, and you don't have peace. You're filled with self-righteousness,
you're filled with enmity and hatred, and you're filled with
conflict and division. Christ said, he set these babies
in front of him and said, the kingdom of God, except something
happens to you supernaturally, something beyond human ability,
and you become like these children, you're not even going to enter
the kingdom of God. That's what he said, wasn't it?
So quit entertaining any fantasies about the kingdom of God, because
that's what they are, they're pure fantasies. They're purely
of human origin. They didn't originate with God
at all. Tell you, these children aren't tail-bearers either. It's
gossipers. Oh no, not these children. They
hadn't got into that yet. They're not interested in those
things. These children may have differences, but they forget
them and the parents carry them on. That's who carries them home
for them. They forget them. They love each
other. They may do something to one today, but tomorrow they'll
be out playing together, and the parents will be calling each
other on the phone, bawling each other out. Doesn't mature folks
do that? And children are all on a level. They're all on a
level, they're just children. You see what I'm saying? And
I didn't say this. Christ said this. And he said
it to his disciples, he said it to the very folks that ought
to have some understanding of the Kingdom of God, some concept
of the Kingdom of God. But our so-called churches today
are filled with division and strife and discord. And all these
things, people dread to come to church, some folks stay away,
some folks do this, that, and the other, they've got all this
conflict, and they're sitting around arguing about who's going
to be greatest in the kingdom of God, whether there's going
to be rewards in heaven, whether there's going to be a bride of
Christ. We're not going to be in the kingdom of God. We're
in another kingdom. We're out of our father, the
devil. He's a liar from the beginning, that's what we are. We're going
to have to be converted, folks. And I don't mean a profession
of faith. I don't mean a handshake. I don't
mean coming to a knowledge of the doctrines of grace. I mean
coming to a knowledge of the God of grace. The God of grace,
the God of love and mercy and grace and truth is our God. You see what I'm saying? We're
going to have to meet Him and become like Him and be converted. But we're not going to enter
the kingdom of God. His people are children. I'll
tell you something else before I close. Verse 5 and 6. I want
you to watch this. And whosoever shall receive one
of these little ones in my name. Now I just, I know this for a
fact. As I show love to this little
girl here, and it's sincere and genuine, she knows it. I'll tell
you somebody else knows it. Her daddy knows it. Her daddy
knows it. And if I receive her with love
and compassion, and this one right here, and her daddy knows
it, he loves me, and he thanks God for me. That's what Christ
said. You receive one of these little
ones. In other words, our Lord has some children, have been
broken, and have been humbled, and have been taught, and do
love him. They love him, and he loves them. They're his children,
and they're precious to him. And he says in verse 6, he says,
you receive them, verse 5, you receive me. You say, when did
we see you naked in prison, hungry, and came to you? And as much
as you did it, I'm talking about one of the least of these, these
little ones, you did it to me. But he said, verse 6, I'm going
to tell you something, whoso shall offend one of these little
ones. Now let me tell you something, if I hurt this little child,
I've hurt her daddy, and he's going to take up the argument.
And I wouldn't blame him. And if I hurt this little one,
I mean hurt her and grieve her, whether physically or emotionally,
her daddy's going to take up the case and I wouldn't blame
him. And all of you feel that way. Where your children are
concerned, you just, huh? I know. I know. I know. And let me tell you something.
Where God's children are concerned. Now he said it'd be better for
you that you tie a millstone around your neck and drown in
the nearest sea than to hurt one of my little ones. What a powerful truth, what a
stern rebuke. All these folks out there just,
it's arguing their religion. They've got more religion than
a dog's got fleas, you know. They just got religion, doctrine,
theology, all these things. And yet the Kingdom of God is
love, joy, and peace. Love, joy, and peace. And our disciples came and said,
which one of us is going to be the great? He didn't even answer. He just brought these little
children up, sat them right in the middle up. And he said, I
want to tell you something. And I'm talking about you, he
said, except you be converted. And Cecil, that's us preachers
and elders and Bob, Charlie, and that's us deacons, and that's
us longstanding members and all this sort of thing. That's you
young people. Except you be converted, turned, changed, reborn, something
happening inside, you're not going to enter the Kingdom of
God. Become as these little children. Whoso shall humble himself and
become as a little child, the same shall be greatest in the
Kingdom of God. But I'm telling you something,
he said. I've got some little ones, and this work's been done.
Whosoever receives them in my name, I'll receive him. But if
anybody offends one of them, I'm going to take up the quarrel."
And I'll tell you this, he said, when I take up the quarrel, it'd
be better for you. And they used to kill people
different ways, crucify them, do different things. And some
of them, they just put a millstone, an old ash stone they called
it, from the mill where they ground corn around his neck and
just push him off in the sea. And Christ said, it'd be better
for you, for you to have the ash stone tied around your neck
and kicked into the sea than to offend one of my children.
because I'm going to take up his argument. Let's bow in prayer. You girls can go back to your
seat if you want to. Thank you a lot for helping me. Our Father,
for all your mercies and grace, and for even being pleased to
instruct us in your kingdom, if you just let us perish in
our ignorance, if you just let us perish in our blindness and
darkness, it'd be right, it'd be just. Lord, you've been pleased
to sit us down patiently and kindly in a long-suffering manner
to tell us something that we need to know, we need to deal
with, we need to reckon with. You set this child in our midst
and you've got our attention. Lord, don't let us go away blind,
go away in darkness, and go away quarreling against your prophet.
But Lord, let us look a long time at this truth, a long time. And do for us what we can never
do, convert us, change us, turn us. Straighten out our thinking. Straighten out our spirit and
attitude. Do a work of grace in these old,
cold, sinful hearts. We ask for Christ's sake and
in His name. Amen.