Now let's turn back to our text
in Luke chapter 2, if you will. While you're turning to the text,
I would like to ask you to join with me in prayer. Let's pray
for those who are sick tonight, committing them to our Father's
care and to His healing and to His comfort especially. Will you join with me while we
pray? Our merciful Lord, in the name which is above every
name, the name of our dear Master, our Lord Jesus Christ, we come
into Thy presence. We know in our hearts, Lord,
that our only entrance into the presence and into communion with
Thee is through His blood. It is by His grace. It is because
He loved us and gave Himself for us. It is not because of our merit
or righteousness, for we have none, but it's through the merit
and righteousness of our Master that we can call Thee our Father. Our hearts are especially burdened
tonight by those who suffer physically. And Lord, you taught us in your
word that what things soever we desire in our hearts, when
we pray and believe, they shall be done. And while we would not
want to complain against our good providence, or to find fault
with your eternal purposes. Yet, Lord, Thou knowest our hearts,
that we can say before Thee without fear of reprimand or censure
we don't understand. But it is not ours to understand
but to believe. It is not ours to question your
providence and your will, but to find in our hearts a willingness
to submit to your will, and to say honestly before thee and
before our brethren, the will of the Lord be done. And the judge of the earth will
always do right. So we pray in this time of need, your strength. We pray in this
time of trial, your comfort. We pray in this time of suffering,
relief from pain, agony and anguish. We pray that our faith shall
be strengthened. We know that you said in your
word, in this world you'll have tribulation, but be of good cheer. Our Lord has overcome this world.
And for all of us, the fashion of this world fadeth away. It's
a matter of time. And our hearts need to be set
on things above, not on things of this earth. May it please
thee by thy grace, O Lord, to take away our anxious care and
our foolish concern for this world and for all the things
that are of this world, and by your grace to set our affection on things above, where Christ
our Lord is our victory, where Christ who is our life one day
shall appear. and shall receive us all unto
himself, that where he is there we may be also. We pray for our beloved ones
who need special grace in this hour. We pray that you would supply
their needs according to your riches in glory through Christ
Jesus. Now set our hearts on The most
important thing now, the relationship with Christ and his word and
his promise of life eternal. Grant, O Lord, a lifting of our
spirits. Enable thy servant to preach
the gospel with clarity and power. Enable men to receive it with
a heart faith. unite our hearts together in
love for Christ and for one another. And what we pray for ourselves
in this hour, we ask for all of our children everywhere, most especially for those who
labor in the Word. We feel the responsibility and
burden of this office And we're not sufficient for
these things, but we have learned that our sufficiency is Christ. And our successes are his, our
failures are our own. But even success or failure accomplishes
thy divine will. Make us to be unto our hearers
a sweet savor of life unto life, Give us a ministry of reconciliation
and not condemnation. Grant these things for the glory
of him who loved us and gave himself for us, our beloved Master
and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. In his name we pray, amen. Now, Brother Jay read the portion
of scripture that I want us to look at this evening. In verse
21, it says, when eight days were accomplished for the circumcision
of the child, his name was called Jesus. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ
was made of a woman. Galatians 4, verse 4, tells us
that, that it pleased God to send His Son into this world
made of a woman, not of a human father. but made of a woman and
made under the law. Christ didn't come to destroy
the law. He came to fulfill it. He came to fulfill it in every
jot and tittle. He was circumcised because that
was required of every Jewish male. Every Jewish male must
be circumcised and he was brought to the temple to be presented
to the Lord. Look at verse 22. And when the
days of her purification Now, over in the book of Leviticus,
I'm going to read there in a few moments, when a woman gave birth
to a child, a certain amount of time was to pass, and then
she was to come to the temple of the Lord and bring the child
and present the child, especially if it's a firstborn son, is to
present it to the Lord. And she is to bring an offering,
a sacrifice. This explains why there were
so many buyers and sellers in the temple, when our Lord plaited
the whip and drove the money changers out of the temple, they
had so many sacrifices that they had to carry out. Every time
a woman gave birth to a child, after so many days, she was to
come to the temple and bring a lamb and sacrifice the lamb,
or if she couldn't afford a lamb, she was to bring two turtle doves. Well, people didn't have these
things. And so these fellows set up shop in the temple, and
they sold. sheep and goats and bullocks
and turtledoves and all these things and he just made it a
commercial affair well verse 22 said when the days of Mary's
purification according to the law of Moses was accomplished
and Christ our Lord was born under the law he was born under
the law not only to fulfill the types and ceremonies and sacrifices
which pictured him which typified him, but he was born unto the
Lord to fulfill it on our behalf, to give us a perfect righteousness
before the Father." The law must be honored, it must be upheld,
and it must be satisfied. They brought him to Jerusalem
to present him to the Lord, the firstborn son. As it is written
in the law of the Lord, every male that openeth the womb shall
be called holy to the Lord. And to offer a sacrifice according
to that which was said in the law of the Lord, a pair of turtledoves
or two young pigeons. Now let's turn over to the book
of Leviticus, chapter 12, verse 6 through 8. Now Mary and Joseph
were very poor. Our master is identified with
us not only in the flesh, but he's identified with us in our
poverty. He was born to very poor parents,
and Mary and Joseph could not afford a lamb. So they brought
two turtledoves. It says in Leviticus 12, verse
6, And when the days of her purifying are fulfilled for a son or for
a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a burnt
offering, and a young pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering
unto the door of the tabernacle of the congregation unto the
priest, who shall offer it before the Lord and make an atonement
for her, And she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood.
This is the law for her that hath born a male or a female. Now watch verse 8. If she be
not able, financially able, to bring a lamb, then she shall
bring two turtles, or two turtle doves, or two young pigeons,
the one for the burnt offering, the other for a sin offering,
and the priest shall make an atonement for her, and she shall
be clean. Now when Mary and Joseph came
to the temple to bring the child Jesus, to be presented to the
Lord and maybe to bring her two turtledoves as a purification
offering. There was a man dwelling in the
temple by the name of Simeon. The scripture says here in Luke
chapter 2 verse 25, And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon. Now, I've heard Simeon called
a priest. I've heard him called different things. We know very
little of Simeon. We know very little about him.
We know this about him. He was a just man. He was a devout
man. And we know this, he was waiting
expectantly for the consolation of Israel. He was waiting for
the Christ. He was waiting for the Messiah.
He was waiting for the coming of the Redeemer. And the Holy
Ghost was upon him, he was a man filled with the Spirit of God.
Now we know this about him, verse 26. And it was revealed unto
him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death, he would
not die, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. He would not die
until he had seen the Redeemer. I thought when I read that, is
this not true of all of God's elect? Turn if you will to John
chapter 17. Is this not true of all the elect? Will they not all get a saving
view of Christ before they leave this earth? The scripture says,
he that seeth the Son and believeth on him hath everlasting life.
Our Lord said, Abraham saw my day. I'm not talking about a
physical view of Christ. I'm not talking about a vision
of Christ. I'm talking about a faith glimpse
of Christ. I'm talking about a heart sight
of Christ. In John 17 verse 20, our Lord
said, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their work. And then back here in John
chapter 10, in the 10th chapter of John, reading verse 14 through
16, I am the good shepherd, I know my sheep, and am known of mine.
As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father. And I lay
down my life for the sheep, and other sheep I have, which are
not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall be one
fold, and one shepherd. Mine eyes have seen." Not these
eyes, but the eyes of faith. Someone said there are three
major events in the life of every believer. Everything else just
fits into place somewhere, but there are three major events
in the life of every believer. He's born, he sees Christ, and
he dies. He is born, he sees Christ. He sees Him with the eyes of
faith. He sees Him with the heart. He sees Him in saving, redeeming
faith, and then he dies. Now, all men are born and all
men die. But all men do not see Christ.
Some men are privileged by the grace of God to see Christ. Those
who are only born and die will curse the day they were born
and weep the day they die. Those who are born and see Christ
will rejoice even in their day of death. Now, let's go back
to our text. There was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon. He was a man who was waiting
for the consolation of Israel. The Holy Ghost was upon him.
And God had revealed to him by the Spirit that he would not
die until he had seen the Lord Christ. Now look at the next
verse. And he came by the Spirit into the temple at the same time
that Mary and Joseph brought in the young child. And when
the parents brought him in to do for him after the custom of
the law, this man Simeon went over and took him up tenderly
in his arms. It says there, he took him up
in his arms and he praised God. and he blessed God. He took him
up in his arms and he praised God. We have a million reasons
for which to praise God. One of the old hymn writers said
this, Oh for a heart to praise my God, a heart from sin set
free, a heart that always feels his blood so freely shed for
me. But my friends, a saving look
at Christ is the foundation of all true praise. Simeon had praised
the Lord before, but not like this day. A saving look at Christ
is the foundation of all true praise. Listen to this scripture,
Psalm 65, verse 4. Blessed is the man, happy is
the man, whom thou choosest, and cause it to approach unto
thee. that he may dwell in thy courts. Romans 4, 7. Blessed
is the man whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. And
as Simeon held that child in his arms and lifted his eyes
to heaven, he uttered these words, and this is my text tonight.
He said, Lord, now let this thy servant depart in peace according
to thy word. For mine eyes have seen thy salvation."
Two things happened when Simeon got this glimpse of Christ, the
consolation of Israel, the Messiah, the Redeemer. The first thing
was this, this saving view of Christ released him from the
cares and concerns of this world. I don't know anything about Simeon.
Like I said, I tried to find something about him, and nobody
seems to know anything about Simeon. Everybody preaches about
Simeon. The Word mentions him here, but
we have no knowledge of his family involvement. We know nothing
about his lifestyle. We know nothing about his acquaintances. We know nothing about his duties
in the temple. We know nothing about his background.
We just know this, that when he saw Christ, Everything else
faded into insignificance. This saving view of Christ took
away all of the care and concern which he had for this world. And the second thing that happened
was this. This saving view of Christ not only released him
from the cares and concerns of this world, but this saving view
of Christ took away from him the fear and dread of death. Listen to him again, Lord. He
recognized that the Father was the Lord, the sovereign Lord
of life and death. Lord, now let, now let all things
about your permission and your purpose, now let, allow me, allow
your servant, your bondslave, not the servant of men, but the
servant of God, allow your servant to depart We were talking in
the office this afternoon about death. Someone said, should a
believer desire death? This is difficult to handle.
It's very difficult. We talked about it a while. I
gave my personal opinion. I think there's several things
involved here. Number one is this. We know that death is decided
by God. The scripture says this, it says,
God has determined our days and the number of our months are
with him. And we don't ever want to be
found to reply against God's purpose or God's will. In other
words, my time on this earth is set. I want neither to bring that
up or move it back. What I'm supposed to feel, I'm
supposed to want God's will to be done. If it's soon, God's
will be done. If it's later, God's will be
done. We always talk about we don't want to get real old. We
don't want to die real young. We want to set the date according
to our own will. Well, here's the first thing
about a Christian desiring death. I believe we should desire it
when God wills it. That's the first thing. We desire
it when God wills it. Alright, here's the second thing.
I believe it's natural, and a lot of There's a lot of the natural
left in us. I believe it's natural for us
to have concern over what we don't know much about, over the
unknown. And we know very little about death. Nobody here has
experienced it, nobody here has talked to anybody that's experienced
it, or anybody's come back from death. And so, there's a certain
apprehension about the unknown. I know nothing about death. And
there's a certain apprehension which causes us to be a little
concerned about that time. That's just being honest. And
the third thing is this. I have tried, as I preach to
you, to be totally honest with you about our relationship with
God. We are to have assurance and
confidence in Christ. But I don't believe that we ought
to have any measure of presumption. And here's the thing about death.
If a man dies in Christ, it's gain, it's glory. But if a man dies outside of
Christ, it's condemnation and damnation. And there's got to be, even in
a person who believes the Word, who believes Christ, there's
got to be, when you come to this time of dying, now, we rest in
the Word, we rest in His promise, we rest in Christ, but there's
got to be that apprehension. How shall I fare in the judgment? How shall I fare in the judgment? And I have that apprehension.
I don't believe that anyone here has what we call infallible assurance. So there's an apprehension. Then
I'll tell you something else about should a believer desire
death. Now, I'm telling you several things about this. We're talking
about coming right down to dying now. We're not talking about
theory. We're not talking about what
ought to be and so forth. We're talking about what is.
What is. And here's the fourth thing.
And that is that we have responsibilities, and there's not anyone here tonight
who cannot say that you are concerned about the welfare of your wife
and children and friends in the event of your death. I want to
bow to the will of God. I want to die when the time comes
that He's set for my death. I want to be willing to go. I
want dying grace. And I want some confidence and
assurance that I'm going to be with Christ. But nevertheless,
we do leave weeping children, and we do leave weeping wives
and husbands, and we do leave those behind us. Paul said concerning
the church, he said, I have a desire to depart and be with Christ,
which is far better. But for you it's expedient that
I remain. So we have that care and that
concern. Now, can you come down to this? I say, yes, I desire
death. If I could take this whole church
right now and leave here, that's just being totally honest. If
I could take this whole congregation and walk out of here with Christ,
I'd say, honestly and truthfully, I desire to die. But I don't
think it's unspiritual. I don't think it's at all contrary
to faith for us to wish to walk with the Lord to see the fulfillment
of our days. You know, there are a lot of
promises in the scripture about long life. It said, honor your
father and mother that your days may be long upon the land which
the Lord thy God giveth thee. Should a Christian desire death?
Well, to be with Christ, yes. To be like Christ, yes. But my
friends, just to leave this earth and get away from our responsibilities,
no. But now Simeon, Simeon says here,
he says he'd seen Christ, he said, now let thy servant depart. Death is a departure, it's a
departure from this place to the place of his presence. And
then he says, let me depart in peace. According to thy word,
Simeon believed the word of God. But now here was the foundation
of this desire to depart. He says, for mine eyes have seen
thy salvation. A person certainly cannot say,
let me depart, if he cannot say, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. And the more we see of that great
salvation in Christ, the more comfort we will have in that
day of departure. I want to point out five things
that were suggested by Mr. Spurgeon in a message on this
subject entitled, Simeon's Swan Song. He gives five things about
this statement here, "...my eyes have seen thy salvation." Now,
here's the first one. And this will help us. This will
help us toward assurance. This will help us toward confidence.
And this will help us toward that comfort in Christ when this
day comes for us to depart from this earth. First of all, Christ
is salvation itself. Now, this is a vital point. I
want you to hear this. I was blessed tremendously by
this. Spurgeon said, I say that Christ
is more than a Savior. Christ is more than a Savior.
Christ is salvation itself. Moses said, He also hath become
my salvation. David said, The Lord is my light
and my salvation. Isaiah said, Behold, God is my
salvation. Now, it's well to see salvation,
as I said so many times, in the life, work, and death of Christ.
But my friends, the essence of salvation lies in the person.
Simeon took up that child in his arms, and notice what he
said. He took him up in his arms, and he lifted his eyes to God,
and he said, I have seen thy salvation. Christ had not even
matured to manhood. Christ Jesus had not walked this
earth, hadn't healed a soul, hadn't raised anybody from the
dead. He hadn't performed a miracle. He hadn't died on the cross.
He hadn't buried or been risen again. He had not ascended to
glory. Simeon was looking at an infant.
And he said, mine eyes have seen thy salvation. You see what I'm
saying? Everything about our Lord is
saving, that's true. All that Christ is and does is
vital to our redemption, but it's in his glorious person that
we have salvation. It is who he is that gives virtue
to what he's done. We're exhorted to come to Christ,
not to his law, not to his church, not to his doctrine, not even
to his cross. We sing songs like this and they're
really misleading. Kneel at the cross. Christ will
meet you there. We're not exhorted to kneel at
the cross. We're exhorted to believe in
Him. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. John
1.12 says, as many as received him, to them gave he the right,
the privilege, to become sons of God. So this thing of salvation
is not in a work, although the work is essential. This thing
of redemption and salvation is in a person. Christ himself is
salvation. He is salvation itself. And while we believe in his charityship,
while we believe in his righteousness, while we believe in his redemptive
work on the tree, in his burial and resurrection, our salvation
is in him. It's in Christ. All right? Secondly, not only is Christ
salvation itself, but Christ is the only salvation. Now, Simeon
had been in the temple. Watch this. He'd been about the
temple evidently a long time. I just imagine him being a very
old person. I don't know why, but I just
believe that he was an old person. And he had not found in this
temple anything or anyone to give him any confidence or any
peace or any assurance. Simeon was a just and devout
man, and yet nothing is mentioned here. He didn't say, Lord, now
let your servant depart in peace. I've seen your salvation, and
I've kept the law. I've seen your salvation, and
I've done what's right. I've seen your salvation, and
I've walked in morality and obedience. He didn't say that. He just said,
Lord, now let me depart. I've seen your salvation. Not
only was he a just and devout man, but he had been in the temple
for years and he had seen and taken part in all the sacrifices
and all the ordinances. How many lambs had he seen slain?
How many turtledoves? How many bullocks? How many days
of atonement? And yet none of these things
brought him to this position, I'm ready to go. He not only
had been around the ordinances and sacrifices, but he'd been
around the law, he'd been a student of the law, and he'd found no
peace in the law. He'd been exposed to all the
priests, the Pharisees, the scribes, but it was not until he saw Christ
that he exclaimed, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace,
I've seen your salvation. Christ is salvation itself, and
Christ is the only salvation. A man can have no peace except
in Christ. He can have no assurance or confidence
or comfort except in Christ. He can have no hope except in
Christ. Here's the third thing. Christ
is God's salvation. Notice what Simeon said. Mine
eyes have seen a little three-letter word. Look at it. Thy salvation. It's God's salvation. This is
not man's salvation. This is the prepared, predestinated,
purpose, plan, salvation of God himself. This is God's salvation. It's God's salvation in the eternal
covenant. It's God's salvation in the fulfillment
of every promise. It's God's salvation in the fulfillment
of every prophecy, every type, every symbol. God sent his son. And God looks upon the elect
in his righteous son. And God looks upon the believer
in his crucified son. And God looks upon the believer
in his resurrected and seated enthroned son. Fourthly, Christ
is salvation guaranteed. I said a moment ago that I'm
reluctant to be too dogmatic in reference to any man's state
spiritually, my own or yours. But I do know this. I do know
this. I received a few weeks ago a wedding invitation, and I was
reading the wedding invitation, and it said this, and the person
probably innocently made this mistake, but nevertheless, I
think it's a mistake. It started out this way, and
we're real religious in these matters, but it started out this
way knowing that we have found the will of God for our lives.
We want you to share this momentous occasion. You say, what's wrong
with that? Wouldn't it be better to say,
believing we found the will of God for our lives? I'm saying
this to every one of you. You know, the Bible is so clear
in this matter, even when the church comes to take the Lord's
table, it says, let a man examine himself and so let him eat. How
often does the scripture say, examine yourself whether you
be in the faith. Give diligence to make your calling
and election sure. If men like John Newton could
write words like this, "'Tis a point I long to know, oft it
gives me anxious thought, am I the Lord's or am I not?" If
they could write words like that. If the Apostle Paul says, I keep
my body and bring it under subjection, lest while preaching to others
I become a castaway. If men like that write words
like that, who are we in this day with so little evidence of
regeneration, so little evidence of godliness, so little evidence
of grace? Who are we to say, we know we're
saved? Well, while I'm reluctant to
be dogmatic in reference to any man or woman states spiritually,
I do know this, if any person be in Christ, he's a new creature. If he's in Christ. If he's in
Christ. There's no doubt about it. There's
plenty of doubt about us, but there's no doubt about him. Let
me show you that. Turn to the book of Romans. There's plenty
of doubt about us, but there's no doubt about him. In Romans
chapter 1, Romans chapter 5, verse 1, listen to this. Therefore,
being justified by faith, We have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ. If we're in Christ, we have peace.
If we're in Christ. But that's where it is. Turn
to Romans 8, verse 1. Romans 8, verse 1. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. To them who are
in Christ. Christ himself is salvation.
Christ himself is salvation. Christ is the only salvation.
Christ is God's salvation, promise, prophesied, purpose, predestined,
Christ is God's salvation. And fourthly, Christ is a guaranteed
salvation if you're in Christ, if I'm in Christ. If I'm not
in Christ, it doesn't matter what I have or what I know or
what I profess if I'm not in Christ, but He is salvation. And the whole thing is, am I
in Christ? That's the reason Paul said to
the early church, I prevail, I prevail till Christ be formed
in you. How dangerous it is to be formed
in the doctrine, or to be formed in the creed, or to be formed
in the motions of religion. When salvation is Christ. Look
at Romans 8.33. Who can lay anything to the charge
of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemns? It's Christ that dies. In verse
35 it says, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? And
He names all these things, and He says in verse 39, Nor Hyac,
nor Depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God. Where is it? It's in Christ.
It's in Christ. I turn to Isaiah 28. Let's look
at a scripture that I used the other night on television. Isaiah
28. What are you saying, preacher? I'm simply saying this. That
Simeon came into that temple, taught by God that he would not
die until he'd seen the Lord's Christ, the Savior. And he came
straight to Mary and Joseph and took that child, Jesus, in his
arms. and looked at him, the person
Christ. He wasn't looking at Christ on
the cross. He wasn't looking at Christ of
the miracles. He was looking at Christ. And
he said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace. I've seen your
salvation. Christ is salvation itself. It's him. It's Christ. That's the reason Abraham could
be saved before the cross, because he looked to Christ. The person. And he's not only salvation itself,
he's the only salvation. Other foundations can no man
lay than that which is laid, Christ Jesus. And he is a sure
Savior. Now look here at Isaiah 28, verse
15. And back here in verse 14, the
Lord God says, you say this to those people that rule in Jerusalem. They're the religious leaders.
You have said we have made a covenant with death. In other words, we're
not afraid to die. We don't dread death. We don't fear death. We're
not afraid to die. With hell are we at agreement?
We agree there's a place called hell. We know some people are
going there, but we're not worried about it. When the overflowing
scourge, that is God's judgment and wrath, shall pass through,
it won't come to us. We have a refuge, we have a hiding
place, but God says it's a refuge of lies and it's falsehood under
which you're hidden. But he says in verse 16, Behold,
thus saith the Lord, behold, I lay in Zion, there is a foundation. Whether I'm built on it is another
thing, but there is a foundation. And that foundation is a stone,
a rock that shall never be moved. It's durable and strong. It's
tried. Tried by the law, tried by the Pharisees, tried by Satan,
tried by the Father, a precious cone of stone, a sure foundation. And he that believeth shall not
make haste or shall not be put to shame. Now the last thing,
the last thing. Christ is the whole of salvation. Listen to this testimony again.
Simeon said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace. Mine
eyes have seen thy salvation. He didn't say, I've seen your
part, now help me do mine. I hear people talking all the
time, well, that's God's part in salvation. What's man's part
in salvation? Simeon said, Lord, I've seen
thy salvation. Not my part, or your part, or
Christ's part, or any part. All of salvation. Christ is the
whole salvation. He is salvation itself. He is
God's salvation. He is the only salvation. He
is salvation guaranteed if I'm in Christ. That's the reason
Paul cried out in Philippians 3, oh, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. That's where salvation is. It's
in Him. Or that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection. That's where resurrection is
in Christ. I'm the resurrection and the life. It's not in my
Calvinism. It's not in my creed. It's not
in my dedication. It's not in my service. It's
not in my morality. Salvation is a person. It's the
Lord Jesus and He's the whole of it. He's the essence of it,
the gist of it, and so I say frankly to you, as plainly as
I know how to speak it, my hope is built on nothing less than
Jesus' blood and His righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
brain, I wholly lean on Jesus' name. Seek ye first the kingdom
of God, and that kingdom is in Christ. He's the King and He's
the kingdom. He's the priest, and He's the
altar. He's the sacrifice, and He's the mercy seat. He's the
tabernacle, and He's all things contained in Him. Christ is salvation. If we have a hope, it'll be found
in Him, and only in Him. Our Father, honor Your Word. Bless the Word to our hearts.
This is a living word. This is a living message. This is good news. This is glad
tidings. We have nothing to bring. In
our hands, no price we bring. We have nothing to bring. Could
our tears forever flow? Could our zeal know respite? No. These for sin cannot atone. Christ must save and Christ alone. Oh, may I be found in Him. May every person in this congregation
be found in Christ. He is your salvation. Give us
a saving view of Christ. Give us a saving view of thy
blessed Son. And deliver us, Lord, from declaring
what we believe and bring us to declare whom we believe. May we be found in Him. trusting
Him, believing Him, loving Him, serving Him, and glorifying Him. For we pray it in His name. Amen.