We have been sharply criticized
on more than one occasion because they say we do not give
an invitation. I suppose if I've heard this
one time, I've heard it hundreds of times, why don't you give
an invitation? Why don't you give an invitation? Why don't you sing an invitation
hymn?" Well, my reply to that is this, and I want you to listen
carefully. We get tired of criticism, tired
of being rebuked by those who don't have all the facts. I do
not give an altar call. I do give an invitation. I don't
give an altar call. I see nothing at all to be gained
by coming to an altar. I never have, I do not now, and
I'm 56 years old, been in the ministry for 35 years, and I've
never seen anything eternal or spiritual to be gained by your
coming down to an altar. I see nothing to be gained. Now,
I see something to be gained by going to an altar. That altar
is Christ. I see something to be gained
by going to a mourner's bench, but that bench not in a public
place but in the heart. I see something to be gained
by falling on our face before God in confession, in prayer,
in submission. But I see nothing at all to be
gained by making a spectacle of yourself down at the front
of the church, by moaning and groaning and crying
and carrying on down in front of a bunch of people. There's
nothing they can do for you. They should be down there with
you, not just one of us down here, all of us down here. There's
not room for all of us down here. But I see nothing at all, nothing
spiritual, and I don't mean to hurt anyone's feelings. If that's
your culture and that's your background, that's the way you're
brought up, That's something I guess you'll have to personally
deal with. But I see nothing spiritual to
be gained by coming to an altar. I don't misquote that. There
is an altar, and that altar is Christ. There's a place of repentance,
there's a place of confession, there's a place of weeping before
God. If we confess our sins, He's
faithful and just to forgive us, but not to men. Sins are
not to be confessed before men. He said, when you say confess
your faults one to another, that's your faults, not your sins. We're
not to use one another's ears for garbage cans. Our hearts
are to be poured out before God. So I see nothing to be gained
by coming to an altar. I see nothing to be gained by
coming to the front of the church. There's no salvation in these
down here. There's nothing here but a table
and two chairs and a pulpit. and a fence up here. God doesn't
dwell at the front of the church. God dwells everywhere. And there's
nothing to be gained at all by coming to the front of the church.
Now I would suggest this. I would suggest when people unite
with our congregation, or any congregation, that they come
before the church and be introduced to the church. I like that very
much. If someone wishes to unite with
this church by letter or by statement or the watch care or whatever
these clichés that we use to receive members, if someone wishes
to identify with this congregation, I like for them to be introduced
to the congregation and stand here and for you to come by and
meet them and shake hands with them. Otherwise, a fellow and
his wife could join the church and nobody would know them. You
say, put me on the roll, I wish to join here. Well, you put you
on the roll, first thing you know in five years somebody will
come and say, we're glad to have you this morning, come back again.
They've done that before. People come up to different ones
and say, we're glad to have you. They say, I've been coming here
longer than you have. But it's good to have them come down and
introduce them to the congregation. I think that's wonderful. But
there's nothing spiritual to be gained by coming to the front.
I heard a preacher on television this morning, after he invited
everybody to the front, then he turned to the television audience
and said, now if you've accepted Jesus, write to me. What's the
point in writing to him? If you've accepted Jesus, write
to me. My friend, if you've received
Christ, you look to Him. Don't write to me. I've done
all I can do. I introduced you to Christ. I
told you about Christ, and that's between you and Him. Don't write
to me. But if you don't write to me,
I won't be able to tell everybody what I did. If you don't write
to me, I can't fill out the statistics and all the numbers and report
that we had one sold for every dollar and 38 cents that you
gave last year. There's nothing to be gained
without... I'm not making fun, but I am. It's ridiculous. When
we weigh what's going on in the name of God, in the name of religion,
it's disgusting. And we were sitting watching
two or three preachers this morning while I was studying and drinking
a cup of coffee, and Doris said, it's discouraging, isn't it?
I tell you it is. If it doesn't make you weep,
if it doesn't make you almost despair for our generation. I
sit and watch these fellows. And I'm not, really, there's
tears in my eyes for our generation, not for those crooks, but for
our generation. I feel sorry for this generation.
They're not hearing anything, not one thing. They're under
the judgment of God. There's nothing to be gained
by coming to me, nothing whatsoever. But now let me tell you something.
Listen to me. I'm going to be frank and honest with you. There's
much to be gained by coming to Christ. If you can lay hold upon
him, if you can embrace him, all who came to him, all who
sincerely came to him, all who out of a need came to him, believe
me, they received what they came for. And that's just so. All who came to Christ, they
came to his disciples and they finally went to the Lord and
said, they couldn't help us. Isn't that what they said? We
went to your disciples and they couldn't help us. And brother,
in the thing of justification and redemption and sanctification,
we can't help you. But he can. He can. So I want you to listen to the
message this morning on this subject, the gospel invitation.
And this is the only invitation a servant of Christ can give.
The only one. Now let's look at our text, verse
37 of John 7. This is the only gospel invitation. In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst,
let him come to me. Let him come to me. And out of
his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. Now to
understand this invitation, there are four things that must be
pointed out. And as I look at this, I sat
down yesterday and looked at it carefully, prayerfully. The
sheer beauty of it just grips my soul, almost renders me, if
you can believe it, speechless. The sheer beauty, the magnitude
of these words almost leave me speechless. Here, the last day.
that great day of the feast, he stood and looked over this
mob, this multitude, and he said, if any person, any person, all
of you are not going to do it, but any person who's thirsty,
let him come to me. Now, these four things have to
be remembered. First of all, the place where
it was stated, this place is important. the place where this
occurred. It was Jerusalem. Jerusalem. This was a capital of religion.
It was a capital, the stronghold of tradition. That's what this
country is right now. It's a stronghold of religion
and tradition. We're the Jerusalem of 1983,
United States of America. We got religion, we got religion. Somebody said when I was down
in Lexington last week that 200 churches in Lexington, 200 churches
in Lexington. That's recognized on the map,
incorporated, tax-exempt, I started to say unprofitable, Non-profit. Somebody said a non-profit institution
is non-P-R-O-P-H-E-T. They hadn't got any profits.
But non-profit institutes, over 200 of them. This is the capital.
Ceremonialism, ritualism. Jerusalem was the home of the
temple. It was the home of the priests.
It was the home of the theologians. It was a place where all the
transcriptions of the Word took place. This is where people came
to learn about God. That's the place. That's the
place. Now remember that. That's awfully important right
here. That's awfully important to this invitation where it took
place is Jerusalem. Our Lord wasn't down here in
the pub. He wasn't down here in the red
light district. He wasn't down here in a political
arena. He was standing on the steps
of the temple. recognized religion. He was standing
there on Solomon's porch. He was standing there in the
midst of a city that was a stronghold of a tradition, custom, ceremony,
ritual religion. Now the occasion. It was one
of the most solemn and important religious feasts the Jews celebrated. Now tonight from Leviticus 23,
we're going to talk about the feast just a little bit. It was
a Passover feast. the waving of the barley sheep,
the feast of the first fruits. This was the feast of the tabernacle.
You look back here at chapter 7 verse 1, listen to it. After these things Jesus walked
in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry, because the Jews
sought to kill him. Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles
was at hand. This was a special day. Jerusalem
not only was the capital and stronghold of religion, but this
was banner day in Jerusalem. This was a special feast. Jews
had journeyed, religious Jews had journeyed from every nation. to come to Jerusalem for this
special time. There were many sacrifices offered,
many prayers offered, many rituals observed. This was a special
time. It was the Feast of the Tabernacles.
They were there from everywhere. Now, not only was it at Jerusalem,
the religious stronghold, but it was at Jerusalem during Easter
or Christmas. See, that's our special time.
That's when everybody gets religious in America is Christmas and Easter,
you know. So this was Palm Sunday. This was Lent season. This was
a special time. That's when, all right, the time.
Now watch this. This is important. The time when
this occurred. It was the, emphatically says,
the last day. I don't know how many days, do
you know, Charlie, how many days the Feast of the Tabernacles,
three or four days, seven days, how many? Seven? This was the last day of a seven-day
Bible conference. This had been going on for a
long time. This Feast of the Tabernacles, this was the last
day. The ceremonies were over. The
sacrifices, the last sacrifice had been slain. The last lamb
had been roasted. Water from the pool of Siloam
had been dumped on the altar. The smoke was going up from the
altar because the fire was out. It was over. It was finished.
The fire was put out. Nothing to do now for all those
people. They had talked about this for
a year, going to Jerusalem, the Feast of the Tabernacle. They
had talked about it for months. They had planned and saved and
packed. Got everything together. They
were going up there. They were going to hear about
God. They were going up there and keep the tabernacle, feast
of the tabernacle. And now they just stood around
there and watched as the priest poured the water on the fire
of the altar and put it out. It's over. Time to go home. Nothing to do but go home. Nothing
to do but go home. Go home as empty as when they
came. It's a sad day. Go home as guilty
as when they came. You ever gone to church and come
home just as empty as when you went? Just as dead, just as guilty,
just as hopeless, just went there seeking God and found Him not.
Went there to hear a message about salvation, redemption and
heard it not. Went there to have your spirits
lifted and they lifted them not. So that's the way these people
were. They stood around and now it's time to go home. Nothing
to do but go home. Nothing to do but go home. Service is over.
The meeting's over. Just as empty as when they came,
just as guilty, just as hopeless. If a man came there seeking God,
he found him not. Seeking a message of hope, he
heard it not. Seeking peace, he found it not. Seeking life, he found it not.
It may have been from a feast just like this that the Ethiopian
eunuch was returning to his home. It may have been. And he went
there, he went all the way from Ethiopia to Jerusalem, all the
way, to learn about God. And here he is sitting in his
chariot on the way home after those days at the feast, and
he's reading the scripture, and Philip, he asked Philip, he said,
uh, I don't even know who he's talking about. They didn't tell
me up there. They didn't tell me. Who's he
talking about, himself or some other man? Who's the prophet
talking about? This man had been to the feast,
this man had been in Jerusalem, this man had been exposed to
the best of his day and learned nothing. Now he's going away
empty. All right, one other thing. This
invitation, this gospel invitation, it was given to Jerusalem, stronghold
of religion. Secondly, it was at the Feast
of Tabernacles, special religious celebration. It was when it was
all over. These people, like the woman
with the issue of blood, they'd spent all they had and got nothing. All they had and got nothing.
She had gone to everybody she knew to go to and he couldn't
help her. But thank God, here's the fourth thing, the speaker
stands, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. It's our sovereign Redeemer.
It's the Lord of glory who knows all, understands all, who sees
all. He knew their needs. He knew
their emptiness. He knew they were trying to get
to God through their ceremonies, and through their works, and
through their rituals, and they would never find God. He knew
their emptiness, their inability. He knew all those things. And
he stood there in front of them as they were packing up and leaving.
I can just imagine some of them already on the road, and others
getting the children together, putting the tent, folding the
tent up, and loading the camels and all. And he stood and cried, Thanks! Let him come to me. Let him come
to me." Oh, I tell you, if we could just
hear him speak like that to them. Baptism is so important in its
place, but the Lord's We meet here to read,
and it's important to read, it's important to pray, important
to worship. But I tell you, you can go through
all these motions and ceremonies and rituals and customs, and
you can do it, after you've done it so long, mechanically. You
can pray, actually, you who've done a lot of praying, can pray,
and when you get to the end of it, never having spoken to God
at all. And you know it, unfortunately.
Unfortunately. And that's where the condition
these people were in. They were going through the motions.
They were following a heritage. They were following a tradition.
They were following a prescribed way. They were following an accepted
way. They were following what they'd
always been taught. And our Lord interrupted that
thought process with this screaming voice at least one time, if any
man thirsts. Let him come to me." Now, I want
to break that down, this invitation into three parts. I think it
helps us to break it down. I don't want to make it mechanical,
but I do want to break it down so we can study it a little bit.
That's what's important. In the last day, he stood and
said, he said, first, if any man thirsts, that's a condition
supposed. That's a condition stated, if
any man thirsts. Now, here's what I'm telling
you. Jesus the Christ Jesus the Redeemer, Jesus the Lord, Jesus
the Mediator is only loved and valued and wanted where he's
needed. Now that's so important. I know
it's a very simple statement, but it's so important. Jesus
Christ the Lord, the Savior, the Sin Offering, the Redeemer
is only valued. He's only embraced where he's
needed. In other words, if we had an
atomic attack and this town was wiped out and some of us found
shelter here in this church, well, the food would be contaminated,
the water would be contaminated. We couldn't get anything out
here for a long time. Suppose that back here in the
refrigerator there was a jug of water, Bob, that somebody
had put away during one of your showers or receptions, a jug
of water and apple juice. And there were 10 or 12 of us
here. Do you know how that water would be valued? Now, there could
be $10,000 laying in there in that office desk, and it wouldn't
even be, we'd just use it to light a fire. There could be
clothes, the finest clothes. You say, well, let's run downtown
and get some clothes. The shops would be loaded with
clothes. You wouldn't even be interested. You'd say, Breccia,
what's that water? That's all we've got between
us and death. That water is our life. That
water is prized and valued and held to and watched and protected. Don't let anything happen to
the water. Well, that's what I'm saying. Christ Jesus is valued. You want to become obsessed with
Christ? You will when you see that he's the difference between
heaven and hell. He's the difference between life
and death. He's the difference between acceptance and condemnation. He is life. He is the water of
life. He is the bread of life. And
he's the only water and bread. He's only loved and valued where
he's needed. And that's the reason every invitation
in the Bible, every promise of Christ, every call of Christ
is based on a recognized need. He said, come unto me all ye
that labor in a heavy laden. I'll give you rest. He says,
come let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
I'll make them white as snow. In fact, he said, the well don't
need a physician. That jug of water would not even
be wanted as long as you could turn on the tap. No, sir. It's when the tap is not working. And when there's no source, you
can't find a source anywhere else but that one jug. That's
when it's valuable. And I'll tell you, when all other
avenues of escape are cut off, the way of life is precious.
When all other hope is dashed to pieces, Christ is precious.
When all other hope of acceptance is gone, Christ is precious. He said, I am the bread. If any
man hunger, let him eat. If any man hunger, there's always
a condition, suppose. And that's the reason he stood
on this last day of the feast. He didn't just stand and say,
come to me, come to me. Why? Well, if you're thirsty,
come to me. If you're thirsty, come to me. I'm the bread if any man hungry,
let him eat. I'm the water if any man thirst.
Now what is this thirst? What is this thirst? If any man
thirst, let him come to me. I believe it's this. Turn to
Psalm 42. I believe it's the thirst. that David felt in Psalm
42, this is the spiritual thirst, that David felt when he wrote
these words in Psalm 42, 1, as the heart, you know what a heart
is, H-A-R-T, it's a deer, it's a deer, out yonder in the wilderness,
as the thirsty deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth
my soul after thee, O God. That's it. Turn to Psalm 51.
I believe it's the thirst he felt here in Psalm 51, verse
1. Listen to it. Have mercy upon
me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of
thy tender mercies. O God, blot out my transgression. Wash me, wash me throughly from
mine iniquity. Cleanse me from my sin. It's
the thirst that David felt. I believe it's the thirst that
the Jews felt at Pentecost when they realized they had crucified
the Christ. They had crucified the Lord of
glory. That God had sent his son into
the world and they spat in his face. And they cried, men and
brethren, what are we going to do? What are we going to do? For I, the Lord, have slain."
What am I going to do? It's the impossible situation. It's the throw-up-my-hand situation. It's the absolute situation of
total inability. What am I going to do? That's
the third. It's the thirst of the publican
in the temple who would not so much as lift his eyes to heaven,
let alone... I see people in congregations,
a preacher gets happy and they all start... This publican wouldn't
do that. Lift up holy hands. That's what
that is, that's lifting up holy hands. He wouldn't even lift
up his eyes, he'd just smote on his breast. God be merciful. He felt a sawdust in his mouth
and a heaviness in his heart. It's the thirst that Luther felt,
groping in the darkness of pagan ritualism, climbing up those
stairs in St. Peter's Basilica when the Holy
Spirit spoke to him and said, the just shall live by faith. It's to see the guilt of my soul
and desire forgiveness. It's to feel the wrath and condemnation
of God and desire forgiveness. It's to see death approaching
and judgment awaiting and eternity out yonder. It's to know the
value of my soul and long for God's to speak peace to my soul. That's the thirst. You thirsty? Charles Spurgeon said this one
time, it's so important for a man to be convinced of sin because
it's not when we feel good, when we feel worthy, when we feel
holy that we take the first step toward God. It's when we're brought
low into the dust of our guilt and shame and filth. My sinner
friend, be not ashamed that you thirst for God's grace. Be not
ashamed that you're empty of any ability. Be not ashamed that
you're a guilty sinner. Just be thankful that you know
it. Lift up your head and cry for mercy." Huh? If any man thirsts,
the hymn writer said, come ye sinners, poor and needy, weak
and wounded, sick and sore, Jesus ready stands to save you, full
of pity, love, and power. Did he not say, if any man thirsts? Let not conscience make you linger. Don't a fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requires is
to feel your need of him. Come ye sinners poor and needy,
bruised and mangled by the fall, if you tarry till you're better,
you'll never come at all, never, never. Any man thirst? All right, look at the next line
quickly, the second thing. This is a condition stated, I
thirst, I thirst. Secondly, here's the remedy,
let him come to me. Now listen to me. No prophet
ever used those words, let him come to me. Moses said this,
Moses said to his father-in-law, come thou with us and we'll do
thee good. Come thou with us. Isaiah did
say, Come ye to the waters. Come and buy wine and milk without
price. Come to the waters. But Christ
said, Come to me. Me. Me. I'm going to keep saying
it to this generation. Christ said, Come to me. Not
to the preacher, not to the front, not to the altar. Christ said,
Come to me. I keep getting encouraged last
Sunday morning to People came up to me and said, we want to
be baptized and confess Christ. We've found mercy and grace in
Christ. We've looked to Him and we have
reason to believe that He's our Lord and Savior. We want to confess
Him. This morning, another person said, I'd like to be baptized
tonight. I'd like to confess my faith in Christ. You say,
if you don't invite people to the front, they won't come. Well,
maybe they won't. Maybe they'll get to Christ.
Maybe they won't. I'm encouraged to believe that
maybe if I get out of the way and get all my methods and means
out of the way, that sinner just might get to Christ. I really
believe that. Maybe the reason they're not
getting to Christ is they're getting to us first, or to the
front, or to some profession, and they stop short. Christ didn't
say, come to my preacher, come to my law, come to my church.
He said, you come to me. Isn't that what he said? If any
man thirst comes, we'll preach you what to do. Why don't you
turn to Christ? He's real. He's not a myth. He
doesn't need a representative. He's the representative. He's
our mediator. Oh, Lord, you be merciful to
me. Oh, Lord, let your blood be propitiation. I suggest this, strongly suggest
it, that we go down to our homes or wherever we wish to go and
get alone in our closets and fall on our faces before God.
This is something we've done so little of in this day. We've
got so many activities, we've got so many private secretaries,
we've got so many cardinals and bishops and preachers and evangelists
and missionaries that we talk to and gossip to and talk about
and get all involved in. Very seldom does anybody ever
lie prostrate alone before God and call on Him. And that's where
we're missing it. That's where we're missing. We
talk about my God is real. No, your preacher's real. Your
God's not real or you talk to it. I had a fellow say here one
time, let's get together and have a prayer meeting. I said,
why? He said, I hadn't prayed in two
days. Let's get together. Why do you have to get together
to pray? This is my objection to those bumper stickers that
says kids ought to be allowed to pray. Who's stopping them? Who's stopping them? Well, they've
outlawed prayer from the public school. You can't outlaw prayer.
Now, you may stop a ritual, you may stop a tradition, but you
ain't going to stop prayer, because prayer is from the heart to God.
Like a bunch of fellas sit down around a table in a restaurant
one day, and one of them started to eat, and the fella crossed
over and said, aren't you going to pray? He said, how do you know
I didn't? You know, we got our customs. We've been stamped out, molded
by religious leaders of the past, and we bear their image, not
the image of Christ. How do you know I didn't? There's
some people knowing how to pray. There's some people calling on
God. There's some people who are getting along with God. That's
what I would say. I would say, if you want to do
business with a king, why don't you go to him? He said this,
come boldly before the throne of grace. that you may find mercy
and grace to help in time of need. Seeing we have a great
high priest, let us come bold into the presence of God. I challenge
you. I challenge you. I challenge
you. Let's do away with some of our
ritualism and some of our custom and some of our traditions and
let's get alone with God. Let's get before the face of
our Lord. Let's get in our closet where God who sees in secret
will reward you openly. And let's do some talking to
the Lord. A little less talking to one another, a little more
talking to God. A little less comparing of notes, and a little
more seeking the truth. That's right. No preacher ever
used words like this. John the Baptist said, Behold
the Lamb of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ said, Look
to me. No law ever wooed men. The law
can only force men back and drive them away. By the law is the
knowledge of sin, but Christ said, come to me. He only, he only, let me tell
you this, he only can invite the hungry because he only is
the bread of life. He only can invite the thirsty
because He only is the water of life. He only can invite the
wounded because He said, I am the Lord that healeth thee. He
only can invite those in darkness because He's the only light.
He only can invite the weary because He's the only rest. And
He only can invite the guilty because He's the only sin offering. Let Him come to me. If any man thirsts, oh, I'm so
thirsty. I'm so weary of it all. I'm so
tired. I'm so sinful. Well, come to
me, Christ says. Come to me. Who are you? I am the one who has all authority
in heaven and earth. Oh, I tell you, turn to Matthew
28. Who are you? Who is this that invites? Who
is this that calls? Who is this that says, come to
me? Matthew 28. I'll tell you who
he is. Verse 18. And Jesus came and
spake unto them, saying, all authority, all authority is given
unto me in heaven and earth. Oh, that's the one I want to
see. Authority over Satan. Authority
over sin. authority over demons, authority
over even my own heart. I want to get to him. All authority. All authority. He said in John
17, turn over there, you've got to see this for yourself. I'm
not going to trust just quoting it. I want you to see it. In
John 17, verse 2, our Lord's praying to the Father. He said,
Thou hast given me him authority over All flesh. Oh, my, my. Think who it is who invites.
You thirsty? Come to me, because I have all
authority. I'm the creator in Christ. All
things were created by me and for me. I'm the incarnate Christ.
I was tempted in all points as you are. You'll never find anybody
who's so understanding. You'll never find anyone who
is so piteous. You'll never find anyone who
is so considerate. You'll never find anyone who's
so affectionate. He is the incarnate Christ. He's
the anointed Christ. The Heavenly Father said, that's
Him. That's my Son. That's Him. Hear Him. Hear Him. Will you hear Him? He said that
twice, my son. He's the crucified Christ. He's
got blood to cover. He's got a payment for every
debt. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the risen Christ. He has the
seal of God stamped on that pavement. Paid in full, risen for our justification. He's the exalted Christ. He's
seated in the position of authority. He's been given a name above
every name, every name, that is the name of Jesus, every voice
in heaven, earth, and hell, every creature in heaven, earth, and
hell, everything Roth said that rise or wriggles in heaven, earth,
or hell shall one day say, He's Lord. Yes, He is. He's Lord. All hail the power
of Jesus' name. Let angels prostrate fall, men
and devils prostrate fall, and bring forth the royal dodium
and crown him Lord by decree, by design, by death. Oh, that's
who he is. They didn't recognize him, do
you? He's Lord. And he says this, a promise. He said, you come to me. and
drink, and if you believe on me, as the scripture has said,
out of your innermost being, not only will you come to the
well, but you'll become a well. Not only will you come to the
life, but you'll become a living stone. Not only will you come
to the light, but you'll become yourself from within a light.
I'm the bread, eat of me and never hunger again. I'm the water,
drink of me, and never thirst again. I am the door. Come to me and
go in and out, in and out, in freedom and liberty as a son,
and never perish. I'm the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth on me will never die. Will never die. What is this coming? Well, it's
not physical. It's to believe on him. is to believe on him. And you know, his promise is
sure. Men make promises, but they can't
keep them. They can't keep them. But our
Lord can keep his. He can keep his, because he is
the life. If any man thirsts, let him come
to me, and out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,
abundant Abundant supply, it'll never dry up. It'll never dry
up. Our Father, we thank you for
your Word. Thank you for the blessed promise
of life in Christ Jesus. O Lord, by the power of your
Spirit, enable men to think on these things. We want this congregation to
seek Christ, to lay hold of Christ, to love Christ, to look to Christ,
to follow Christ, to find in Him all and in all, because He
is all. We must decrease, He must increase. We're nothing but voices, unimportant. God's able of the stones to make
children of Abraham. Keep our mouths shut, even the
stones will cry out, Glory, Hosanna to the King. But we want to cry,
because we want to be sons who honor the King. And make this
message to be effectual, according to your blessed will and for
your glory, in the name and for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we pray. Amen.