Psalm 84, I'm reading verse 10. I want you to listen most carefully
to this message, and then I want you to consider it most prayerfully. The title of the message is,
The Importance of Public Worship. And the question I'm asking is
this, which is of the most importance, emphasis, most important, private
or public worship? I would wager 90 percent of you
said private worship. If you did, you're wrong. You're wrong. Now, in Psalm 84, verse 10, For a day in thy courts is better
than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God," and actually David is saying, I would
choose rather to sit on the doorsteps at the threshold of the house
of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. There's
a great deal of talk in these days. Now, I want you to listen
to me. Don't prejudice your mind against what I'm dealing with.
You'll be sorry if you do. There's a great deal of talk
in these days that goes something like this. I don't have to go
to church to be a Christian. That's 10 percent truth and 90
percent error. The second statement is this,
I can worship God as well at home as in the church. That's
10% truth, 90% error. The third statement is I can
get closer to God. I can get closer to God in walking
through the woods and looking at nature than I can at church.
10% truth, 90% error. Fourthly, I believe private personal
worship is more important and more profitable than public worship,
99 percent error, when you said more important. It's important,
but you said more important. I'm going to show you that. Now,
this has got to be said before I start. The record has to be
set straight. I'm aware of this. Unfortunately,
this is true. Sad to say. There's very little
worship in the average church. That's just sad. I've tried some
of them. I know what you're going through.
I know what people are going through out yonder that have
no place to worship. I just weep for them. My heart breaks for them, breaks
for them. There's very little worship in
the average church. Most churches today are social
circles. They're not God-honoring, gospel-preaching
fellowships. I know that. I realize that.
I realize that as much as any of you here. And I know, as Luther
Travis said, fun and games are the order of the day. Fun and
games. That's the order of the day.
Competition, Sunday school, contest, pie-throwing, tie-cutting, overall
wearing, celebration, Very little prayer and praise and preaching
and worship in the average church. I know these things are so. I'm
aware of them just as much as you are. And I'm aware that the
gospel of God's free grace is not being preached in most places. But what I'm saying is this,
where men gather to worship the living God, you remember Lydia
in Acts 16, she went where prayer was wont to be made. She went
down by the riverside. You don't have to go to a cathedral
or a tabernacle or a temple or even a church building. The church
is not a building anyway. Lydia went to the riverside,
but she went there where prayer was wont to be made. And I'm
saying that where men gather to worship the living God, to
worship God, not to raise money, not to build schools, not to
fight abortion, where they meet to worship God. to worship God,
where men gather to preach the gospel. Not preach about the
gospel, but preach the gospel. I hear so many of these programs
that say, help us preach the gospel all over the world, but
I've never heard one of them preach the gospel. I've heard
them use the term and talk about it, but never actually get down
to preaching the gospel, proclaiming it. I hear men talking about
the gospel, but I don't hear many defining the gospel. And
I know that's true, and I know where men gather, though, to
preach the gospel, to praise the Lord, where men gather to
fellowship and encourage one another, that's where a believer
must be. He must be. Not only must, but
he will be. And I'll tell you this, that's
where he delights to be. Now, I say this from experience.
I've been in the ministry since I was 21, that's 36 years. I've been somewhere in worship
services almost, almost every day for 36 years, almost, not
quite, but at least every Sunday and every Wednesday, and you
know how I'm at the countless meetings, I've been in services
I always look forward and delight to be in a worship service. I have not lost any of the zeal
or joy or happiness, and that's a good evidence to me that I
know Christ. And if that joy and zeal and
enthusiasm for the worship of the Lord ever dims, I have every
reason to believe I've missed Christ. I've missed Christ. Now, I know this is hard, but
it's so, and I'm going to give you six reasons why public worship,
the public identification with the people of God and public
praise and public worship and public thanksgiving and public
prayer is more important by far than private worship. Now, here
are six reasons. You can take them down. Here's
the first one. God is more glorified by public
worship than private acclaim. God is more glorified by public
worship, public declaration of his attributes, public celebration
of his attributes and character, much more glorified than some
fellow sitting over somewhere by himself glorifying God. He's
much more glorified. Turn with me to Psalm 96. Psalm
96. Listen to this, Psalm 96, beginning
with verse 1. Oh, sing unto the Lord a new
song. Sing unto the Lord, all the earth, everybody. Sing unto
the Lord, bless his name, show forth his salvation from day
to day, declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among
all the people. For the Lord is great and greatly
to be praised, he is to be feared above all gods. For the gods
of the nation are idols, but the Lord made the heavens, honoring
majesty before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary,
given to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, given to the Lord,
glory and strength, given to the Lord, the glory due his name."
That means everybody. Verse 10, "...say among the heathen
that the Lord reigneth, the world also shall be established, that
it shall not be moved. He shall judge the people righteously.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea
roar in the fulness of, let the field be joyful, and all that
is therein." That's what I'm saying, every
voice praise the Lord. Now one time Saul came back,
well, you can turn to this. In 1 Samuel 18, Saul came back
from war, and it says that the people ran out to meet them,
Saul and David. And it says here in 1 Samuel
18, verse 6, it came to pass as they returned. As it came,
when David returned from the slaughter of the Philistines,
that the women came out of all cities of Israel, singing and
dancing, to meet King Saul with tabrets, with joy, with instruments
of music. And they answered one another
as they played, and said, Saul hath slain his thousand, and
David his ten thousand." Now, if somebody had said that behind
the door, it wouldn't have created much stir. It wouldn't have had
much effect. Somebody whispered behind the
door, well, he's just an extremist, you know, he's just a fanatic,
he's just following David, he's one of David's cronies. But every
voice was lifted up. All the people on the streets
were saying, Saul has killed his thousand, but David, his
ten thousand, and it says Saul was very angry and displeased. It was publicly acknowledged.
Publicly acknowledged. Now turn to Matthew 10. Our Lord
Jesus Christ called for a public confession of our faith in him. In Matthew 10, verse 32, listen
to this, Matthew 10, verse 32, "...whosoever therefore shall
confess me before men." Well, I can confess the Lord at home.
I can, in my own quiet way and private way and personal way,
confess the Lord. Sure you can. But whosoever shall
confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father
which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me by
silence, deny me by refusing to be identified with those things
with which I'm identified before men, him will I also deny before
my Father which is in heaven." We're talking about identification.
That's what David is talking about in Psalm 40, if you'd like
to turn over there, identification. In Psalm 40, verses 9 and 10,
listen to David. He said, I have preached righteousness
in the great congregation, lo, I have not refrained my lips,
O Lord, you know. I have not hid thy righteousness
within my heart. And our Lord says, in that great
day every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that
Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. It's not just
a private acknowledgment. It's not just a private confession. I'm saying God is glorified by
private meditation and private devotion, of course. But God
is more glorified by public declaration. He's more glorified. You see
what I'm saying? He's more glorified. He's more to be praised with
every voice and with an identification with the people of God. He's
more glorified. Secondly, the reason public worship
is far to be chosen and preferred above private worship, we're
not doing away with private worship. I'm saying that God is glorified
in devotion and meditation and prayer, but he's more glorified
by a declaration and acknowledgement of every voice and a people blending
their hearts and voices together publicly in a praise of our Lord,
identified publicly. I'll tell you this, there are
a lot of people who will say things privately, they won't
say publicly. That's exactly right. What a
man will stand up and say at the danger of the loss of regard
and approval, you can pretty well rest he believes that. What
a man says privately, you can't always take stock in it. But
if he, like we used to say, put himself on the line. And that's
what we're talking about. God is more glorified by those
who put themselves on the line. I'm identified with this. I want
to go on record publicly as saying, I believe God. I'm walking with
God and with the people of God. That's what I'm saying. Whereas
when David came back and Saul came back, they could have whispered
behind the door, I prefer David. I believe David is the great
leader. But they said it publicly. And that's what caused the rift.
And I tell you, that's what causes the rift in this thing over the
gospel is when it's declared public. I know a lot of preachers,
and you do too, who will give credit to what we call free grace
privately, but they won't preach it. They won't preach it publicly. God is more glorified by public
declaration of our feelings and affections, much more glorified. There are people that will watch
me on television that won't come sit in this congregation and
be identified with the 13th Street Baptist Church. Is that worth
anything?" You say, well, they're listening to you. You've got to be identified,
my friend. You've got to be identified. That's it. That's the first thought.
Secondly, there is a greater manifestation of God's presence
in public worship. I was sitting here while you
all were singing, we read the scripture and the singing, Bob
led us in prayer. And there was a spirit of God
and a manifestation of his presence that I don't have in my private
worship. That's right. I read the Word
and it's blessed, and I study and I believe it's blessed and
I prepare. with the people of God to preach
and pray and praise him and sing these great hymns, I feel his
presence much more than I do in my study. And don't tell me
you don't. You've got a problem if you do. You've got something between
you and somebody else. That's the problem. You don't
like the preacher, you don't like the fellow across the aisle,
or you don't like this, that, or the other. You're hiding behind
the hypocrite, and you've missed God anyway. You've missed God
anyway. I've heard people say, this is
a cold church. I've never noticed the warmness. I tell you, if
you're already cold, you'll remain cold when you come here. Nobody
spoke to me. Did you speak to anybody? No use moving out of town, you'll
find the same thing you left, because you brought it here.
That's exactly right. Exactly right. The presence of
God is here. Now, we have the tabernacle as
an example. I know the tabernacle in the
wilderness. God manifested his presence.
How many times he talked about the tabernacle and the holy of
holies and the ark, and he said, I'll meet you there. I'll meet
you there. I'll meet you there. Now, it's
all the way through the word, I'll meet you there. We read
it Wednesday night, didn't we? God said, I'll meet you there. I'll
meet you there. There's a special manifestation
of his presence. In Matthew 18, verse 20, he said,
"...where two or three are met together in my name, I'll be
in their midst." Now, where one person calls on the name of God,
he's there. I know that. But why did he say,
where two or three are met together in my name for the purpose of
worship, I'll be in their midst? He specifically said that in
a very special way. God speaks to individuals, I
know that, privately through his Word. But he manifests his
greater glory in the assembly of believers. You see, Paul said
to the king, this wasn't done in a corner. God does not manifest
his greater glory in a corner. It's always out in the open,
his greater glory. I tell you this, if God's presence
comes among us, In refreshing and revival, it's not going to
touch one light in a back room. It's going to touch his people
where they are. He said to David, you're talking
about building me a house to dwell in? Well, the heavens won't
contain God. And if God manifests his power
and his presence, it's going to be in a public fashion. It's
not going to be done in a corner. Even our Lord Jesus Christ was
crucified publicly. And the Lord's table is not a
private worship service. Somebody said that about the
closest I come to really worshiping the Lord is when I come to the
table of the Lord. I feel his greater manifestation
of his presence and his power. and a revelation of his gospel,
how many of you would dare try to take the table of the Lord
individually? Would you? Of course you wouldn't.
Of course you wouldn't. That's for the family. And that's
when God's great, that's when the manifestation of his presence
is, is publicly. That's true. Let me show you
a few verses. Turn to Psalm 27 and listen to
David. And I'm referring so many times
to David because I just know David knew God. God sees a man
after his own heart. David knew God. In Psalm 27,
verse 4, one thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek
after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days
of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in
his temple. David, there's something here
that's more than just, and I know we enter our closets to pray,
we pray in secret, God rewards us openly. Don't desert the closet,
secret prayer, meditation, devotion. What I don't want you to do is
desert where God's greater glow is manifested, and that's public
worship, because that's where it's done. And David is something
about the temple, is something about the tabernacle, is something
about those things that are identified with God that David wants to
always be a part of, all the days of my life. Don't cut me
off! That's the reason I never could
understand this kicking folks out of the church, excommunicating
people from the family. How do you kick a son out of
the family? How do you do it? How do you disown your children?
God doesn't disown his children. I don't know where Baptists got
their little discipline committees, like the old Jews, you know,
excommunicating people from the family of God. Don't throw me
out. Don't do that. If one be overtaken
and the fault restored, don't throw the crippled one out. If
you had a child born to you who was retarded, would you throw
him out? If you had one born with cripple, would you throw
him out? Love him more than anybody else. Don't forsake the presence
of the Lord in his Word. Listen to David in verse 6 of
Psalm 27. And now shall my head be lifted
up above mine enemies round about me. Therefore will I offer in
his tabernacle sacrifices of shouting. Shouting, that's that
word. I will sing, yea, I'll sing praises
unto the Lord. Boy, I tell you, this man didn't
sit by himself in a room while the people of God were praising
the Lord. Look at Psalm 63. Psalm 63. Psalm 63, O God, verse
1, Thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee, my soul
thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and
thirsty land where no water is, to see Thy power and Thy glory
as I've seen Thee in the sanctuary. That's where I've seen you. That's
where I've seen your greater glory. That's where the Shekinah
glory of God was manifested, above the mercy seat. We don't
have, my friends, we don't have a corner on God. I'm a preacher
of the gospel, believe I've been saved by his grace, but I don't
have a corner on God. This is a family affair. This
is a family affair. I don't have a corner on God.
I don't take God with me where I go. God is with his people,
the hearts of his people. And we need to be identified
with it. I know these two things are positively so. Number one,
and that is, God is more glorified by public declaration and acclaim
and manifestation than he is by private. He's more glorified.
Secondly, there's a greater manifestation of his presence. He doesn't do
things in a corner. God doesn't do things privately
like he does them publicly. All the earth, sit up and take
notice. God Almighty is going to act. And then thirdly, now,
this is important, the revelation of Christ, the revelation of
Christ in his person and work was in the midst of the churches,
in the midst of the churches, turned to Revelation 1. Now,
this is called the revelation, in the Bible I've got here, it's
the revelation of St. John the Divine, but this is
the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's what the revelation is.
And when John saw him, now listen, in Revelation 1, verse 12, now
watch this, "...and I turned to see the voice that spake with
me, and being turned, I saw." I saw seven golden candlesticks,
and in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like to the
Son of Man." Who are the candlesticks? That's the seven churches. The
seven stars in his right hand are the ministers, and the seven
golden candlesticks are the churches. And where was Christ? In the
midst of the churches. That's where he was manifested,
in the midst of the churches. And listen how he manifested
himself. One likened to the Son of Man, clothed with a garment
down to the foot," that's his priestly garment, talked about
in Exodus 28, "...and girded about the pats with a golden
girdle. His head and hair were white
like wool," that's his eternity. white as snow, that's his Ancient
of Days. His eyes are the flame of fire,
that's his omniscient, nothing hid from his eyes. His feet like
undefined brass, that's his power, his great omnipotence, his might. As if they burned in a furnace,
his voice is the sound of many waters. All shall hear him, he
shall be heard. He had in his right hand seven
stars, That's his ministers. Out of his mouth, a sharp two-edged
sword. That's his word. His countenance
as the sun shining in its strength. That's the glory of God revealed
in the face of Christ Jesus. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet. But where did you see him, John? In the midst of the
churches. That's where I saw him. That's where Christ is manifested. And our Lord Jesus Christ said
he chose by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
Where is preaching done? In the churches. That's where
preaching is done. Publicly. You don't do a lot
of private preaching. You don't preach to yourself.
You publicly assemble for the preaching of the Word. Now here's
the fourth thing, quickly. There is more spiritual food
and profit in public worship. more spiritual food and profit,
turn to Psalm 73. Now, this is so. Psalm 73. If we apply ourselves, now, if
we've got some personal hang-ups, and we've got some hurt feelings,
and we've got some tied in knots over, people don't do things
like we want them done and all that, we don't get anything.
We're going to be hindered in our worship and hindered in our
understanding and hindered in our growth. But it's not because
the Word's not preached that we're hindered. The problem is
so many holes in the bucket, it won't hold a blessing. That's
the problem right there. But David said in Psalm 73, he
was troubled over a matter. In verse 16, he said, When I
thought to know this, it was too painful for me. until I went
to the sanctuary of God, and there I understood some things."
I went to the sanctuary and I understood some things. I was taught. All
right, turn to Ephesians 4. Let's see how the Lord teaches
in his Church. Ephesians 4, now listen. You
see, public worship provides good for ourselves and for others
through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God. Ephesians
4, verse 10. He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above the heavens, that he might fill
all things. And he gave some apostles and some prophets and
some evangelists and some pastors and teachers." Are these private
offices for private use? These are public offices. Where
would you expect to see a pastor and teacher in a congregation? Where would you expect to see
a prophet before people? Where would you expect to see
a missionary evangelist before people? Why did the Lord Jesus
raise up thee? For the perfecting, maturing
of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying
of the body of Christ, till they all come in the unity of the
faith, of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect or
mature man, unto the measure, the stature, the fullness of
Christ. That's the reason for public worship. It's instruction. And I could stand here and read
you so many, forsaking not the assembling of yourselves together.
And all these others, Colossians 3, listen to this, just turn
a page or two to Colossians 3, verse 15 and 16. Colossians 3, let the peace of
God rule in your heart, to which also you are called in one body,
and be thankful. And let the word of Christ dwell
in you richly in all wisdom, teaching, admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in
your heart to the Lord. David said, Come, let us magnify
our Lord together. How many times does he say that?
One of you all preached on that not long ago. Come, magnify the
Lord with me. I'm coming to the fifth thing
now. Let me give you these four just briefly. Number one, God
is more glorified in public worship. That's so. Number two, there's
a greater manifestation of his presence in public worship. When
our Lord rose from the dead, he did appear to Mary, but he
appeared to groups of people publicly. And the revelation
of Christ in the book of Revelation was in the midst of the Church
And also he raised up evangelists, prophets, pastors, teachers for
the perfecting of the saints. We are to encourage one another,
we are to teach one another, we are to grow together in grace.
Now here's the fifth one. Public worship is a security,
a security against apostasy. Now let me tell you something,
I'm talking not only from the word now, but experience. I've never
seen it fail. I've never seen it fail. The
man or the woman who deserts public worship, that is willing. I'm not talking about because
they don't have a place to hear the gospel. I'm talking about somebody
that leaves the public worship of the Lord and forsakes the
assembly of themselves with the people of God and deserts public
instruction always, without fail, grows cold, indifferent, worldly,
and will apostatize. Never seen it fail. Never, never,
never. I've never seen it fail. Paul
said, Demas hath forsaken us. He loved this world. Back to Ephesians 4, and that's
where I was reading a moment ago. Ephesians 4. Go back there a minute now. In verse 11, he said he gave
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, for your
growth to become in the knowledge of the faith." Or look at verse
14, "...that we be henceforth no more children tossed to and
fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the slight
of men, cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.
The first step toward shipwreck is to desert public worship,
because then you fall prey to Satan, to your own ideas, and
to men." I've never seen it fail. John
said they went out from us. If they had been of us, they
would have continued with us. But they went out from us, which
proves they never were of us. And I tell you this, and I warn
you, I warn everybody here, I've never seen it fail. The people
who are full of zeal and joy and happiness in the Lord, in
his word, study his word, are the people who worship God publicly.
And everybody I've ever known that quit the public worship,
that forsook the public worship, that left the public worship,
is cold, indifferent, and taken up with worldly things. They're
interested in worldly things only. You say, well, those people
here, I know that. But they're especially out there.
When they leave the worship of God, it's the first step towards
heresy and apostasy. Because they form their own spiritual
opinions. They become their own pastor.
They become their own brother. They become their own father.
They become their own leader. They become their own director.
And if they lead themselves, they'll perish. That's true. I've never seen it faked. And
you won't prove it wrong either, if you desert public worship.
Just so. And then the sixth reason is
this. In other words, I'm saying public worship is a deterrent
for coldness, indifference, and apostasy. It really is. Just
like coming to the table is a deterrent against dying. You've got to
eat. You've got to eat. No man is
an island. Love has got to be expressed,
it's got to be felt, it's got to be enjoyed. If it prays in
God, it's got to come out. If it steams in the kettle, it's
got to come out. It's got to have an outlet, and
when you hold it in, it will destroy you. Sixth, public worship
is most like heaven. In heaven, nothing is done privately. In heaven, nothing is done in
secret. The Lord is adored. The Lord
is praised before all. Listen to Revelation 5. Well,
turn to Hebrews 12 first. Hebrews 12, we're talking about
the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.
Listen to Hebrews 12, verse 22. It talks about, it talks about,
"...we have come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God,
unto heaven of Jerusalem, and in innumerable company of angels."
That's the way it describes God's people. Now, Revelation 5. Listen
to this. This is in glory. Revelation
5.11, and I walked down the street and there were all these little
cubbyholes where people were praising God, all these little
cubbyholes where they were reading their own version, you know,
international version and Berkeley version and King James version.
They were all, no sir, in Revelation 5.11, and I beheld and I heard
the voice of many angels round about the throne. And the beast,
and the elders, and the number of them were ten thousand, times
ten thousand, and thousands and thousands, saying with a loud
voice, Worthy is the Lamb." Revelation 7, verse 9, listen. After this,
Revelation 7, 9, I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which
no man could of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues stood before the throne, before the Lamb, clothed with
white robes and palms, and they had a unity of heart, and a unity
of spirit, and a unity of person, and they all cried with a loud
voice the same thing, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon
the throne and unto the Lamb." Wherever God's people are, I'm
going to meet with them. I'm going to be identified with
them. I'm going to praise God with them. I'm over-rejoicing
Christ with them because that is the occupation of the redeeming
glory. And I'll tell you, the fellow
that just cannot find anybody to worship with has missed Christ. The man that just cannot be happy
in the fellowship of the Saints and cannot find his place and
parcel as one of the believers, blending in as part of the body
of Christ to worship God with the people of God, recognizing
his own infirmities and afflictions and failures along with others,
and cannot lift his voice in that one grand and glorious objective
to praise God Almighty, doesn't know God Almighty. He's a self-centered,
egotistical rebel. That's just so. And what I told
you this morning, I know what I'm talking about. I know what
I'm talking about. Almighty God is glorified in
a much greater fashion when people are met together in his name.
Our Lord insisted upon it. He insisted upon a public confession. And as a greater manifestation
of his power and his presence, sometimes he speaks in a rebuking
fashion, sometimes he speaks in a reviving, refreshing fashion.
But if he speaks, he ain't going to whisper. He's going to speak
to be heard, not in a corner. And I do know that that's where
we are exhorted and encouraged and taught. God has raised up
prophets, evangelists, apostles, pastors, and teachers, and you
are not your own pastor any more than you are your own daddy.
That's just so. You can't be. You can't be. You're not your own authority.
God Almighty has always had authority in the Church. Obey them that
have the rule over thee, he said. Submit to them. They watch for
your souls as those that must give an account. And I know this,
the first step toward a cold, indifferent, dead heart is to
leave the worship of the Lord. Why don't you give it a try and
report to us in ten years? You'll find out. I'm telling
you the truth. You may not like it, but it's so. You leave the
worship of God, and you leave God. And that's the way it is
in Heaven. It's a multitude which no man
can number. I'm saying these things as plain
as I can say them, because I'm warning, sounding a warning. I've seen people do it. I've
seen them lead. Say, you ain't got a corner on
God. No, sir. I know that. But have they found
another place to worship? Then they just quit. And the
end of that is a branch severed, fit to be burned. It's dangerous. It's so dangerous. Come, let's
magnify the Lord together. Let's praise his name. Our Father,
how solemn, how solemn it is. It's not pleasant to warn, not
pleasant to rebuke or reprove, but we're taught to reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and patience. And the Word of
God is given for that purpose. It's breathed by the Holy Spirit,
not only to comfort us, but to correct us, not only to teach
us and inspire us and give us confidence, but to give us a
warning lest we be found in us an evil heart of unbelief. Make
this message especially blessed to us, and let us weigh it and
think about it and Look into the Word, be taught by thy Word.
Oh, for a greater manifestation of your presence and your power
and your glory in these days, O Lord, in these days, in these
days. We pray for Christ's sake. Amen.