I want you to open your Bibles
with me to the book of Matthew. My subject this morning is how to approach Christ in order
to obtain mercy. How to approach Christ in order
to obtain mercy. In Matthew 8, verse 1, Matthew
8, verse 1, when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord,
if thou wilt Thou canst make me clean." And Jesus put forth his hand
and touched him, saying, I will be thou clean. And immediately,
immediately, his leprosy was cleansed. I'm not sure that the
number of times that truth appears in the scripture determines its
importance. I've heard preachers say, now
that's in the Bible four or five times, therefore it must be awfully
important. I'm not certain that the number
of times that a particular truth appears determines its importance. However, not only Matthew records
this story, but Mark records it and Luke records it. It truly,
let's say this, it occupies a very important place in the Scriptures.
It's recorded again and again and again. But I would say this,
I would say that the manner in which this man approached Christ,
our Lord, when our Lord came down from the mountain, here
was a leper, and all that the Word reveals, leper, unclean,
diseased, dying, dirty, filthy, a leper came and worshipped him,
fell at his feet, kneeled down, the scripture says, in other
places, and worshipped him and said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. I would say that the way in which
this man approached our Lord is an example to be followed
by every person who would seek his grace and his mercy. whatever
the need, whatever the reason. If you're here this morning and
you're a lost person, and your sins are very heavy, as Shirley
sang, ye who are weary of sin. If you're here this morning and
you're weary of sin, and you're heavy laden, and your sins are
very great on your soul, and your heart is burdened with your
sins, this is the way. Come to Christ. This is the way,
come to Christ, and this is the way to come to Christ. If you're
here this morning and you're a believer, but you're going
through great trial and great burdens, and I know some of you
have trials. I know some of you have very, very heavy hearts
today. And you are going through a time
of affliction and a time of great trial and great burden. You need
of comfort. your need of assurance, your
need of God's grace. This is perhaps the greatest
trial through which you've ever gone and the greatest burden
you've ever carried, isn't it? If you need help, come to Christ. Come to Christ. And this is the
way to come. Not deserving, not making God
obligated, but this is the way to come. I'm convinced of it.
And then some here this morning are sick. You've got disease
in your body. God is able to heal. I don't
want certain sects and cults to take away from me some of
the precious treasures of God's Word by misusing them. I turn
on my television, I see some fool who's making merchandise
of men and women and getting rich off Social Security checks
and money from poor widows by claiming the power to heal them,
touch your television, or pray this prayer with me and I guarantee
you God will heal you, and if he doesn't, it's because you
don't have faith. I don't want that man to rob me of the blessed
truth that my God healeth all thy diseases. He may be pleased
for me to be sick. God doesn't heal everybody or
nobody dies, but God heals some. And right here in this study
with our elders and deacons, we've anointed people with oil
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and seen them heal. And
we've anointed others and seen them die. But we bow to the will
of God. But our God can heal. And some
of you here this morning need healing. There's healing in His
wings. There's healing in His power. God is able. All healing is of
God. The Lord said, I kill and I make
a life. If you're healed, God heals you. If you die, God Almighty
wills for you to die. But you need that. Well, come
to Christ. Come to Christ. And this is the
way to come to Christ. And perhaps you're here and you're
unsettled and unsure about your interest in Christ. Now, I believe
in assurance, but all men do not have assurance. The Word
of God teaches that there were some who had confidence and assurance
and could say with David, the Lord is my shepherd. Or could
say with Job, I know my Redeemer liveth. Or with John, I know
I pass from death unto life. But I tell you, sometimes some
of us have to say with John Newton, it is a point I long to know. And oft it gives me anxious thought.
Do I love the Lord or no? Am I His or am I not? I don't
doubt His power to save. I doubt His love for sinners.
I don't doubt the sufficiency and efficacy of His blood. But I sure doubt this fellow.
And I know some of you do. But I'll tell you this, you're
full of doubts and fears regarding judgment and death and eternity
and your own interest in Christ. Come to Christ! Come to Christ,
and this is the way to come. All things are in Christ. God
Almighty has put everything in Christ. Everything that God has
for sinners is in Christ. And He's able. He's able, the
Word of God says, to perform all that He promised. He's able,
the Scripture says, to save to the uttermost them that come
to God by Him. He's able. He's able to keep
that which I've committed to Him against that day. He's able.
He's able to keep me from falling. He's able to present me faultless
before His presence with exceeding glory and exceeding joy. And
He's able, the Scripture says, to raise my vile body and make
it just like His glorious body. Come to Christ. That's where
everything is. It's not at the front of the
church, it's not at a mourner's bench, it's not in an altar,
it's not in an ordinance, it's not in the bread and the wine,
it's in Christ. Everything's in Christ. He says
to the guilty, thy sins be forgiven thee. He says to the lame, take
up your bed and walk. He says to the hungry, come and
dine, the table spread. He says to the weary, I'll give
you rest. He says to the thirsty, come
and drink. He says to the poor, all things
are yours. He says to the orphans, I go
to my father and your father. Our Lord says to the captive,
if the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed. He
says to the blind, look and live. He says to the helpless, my grace
is sufficient. And one day he'll say to the
dead, come forth. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and
all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the Lord,
O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Healeth all thy
diseases. He forgiveth all thine iniquities. He redeemeth thy life from destruction. He crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies. He satisfieth thy mouth with
good things. It's all in Christ. That's where
it is. Like the woman diseased for 12
years who had wasted everything she had on physicians and was
no better, only worse, said, if I can just get to Him. And
that's all you need to come to Christ. Well, brother man, how
did I come to Christ? Here I am. Here I am. I'm just like you. I'm just a
mortal. I'm not going to profess what
I don't have. I'm not going to claim what God's not given me.
I can't be like the modern religionists and put on a show and go around
saying, hallelujah, we'll praise the Lord, isn't God good, and
all that sort of thing. I'm just a human being. You talk
about everything's in Christ, that God Almighty and His eternal
purpose and eternal wisdom and for His eternal glory has bested
everything in the sun. and I'm weary and sick of sin,
I'm heavy laden, I'm hungry, and I'm thirsty, and I'm tired,
and I'm burdened, and I'm sick, and I'm afraid to die. How do
I come to Christ? How do I come to Christ? And
be realistic with me. Preachers are too phony, I know
that. They're play actors, most of them. They're throwing us a curve.
They're deceiving men. They're hucksters making merchandise
out of men's souls. They're prancing around on pulpits
seeking the praise of the flesh. They're carrying on a phony religion
with a phony smile and phony prayers. And you know it and
I know it. They're unreal. Religious people are unreal. I'm more miserable around these
overly pious, holier-than-thou religious folks. I'm more miserable
around them than I am around a drunk. That's a fact, Jay. They make me miserable. And here
I am preaching. You're talking to a man. You're
talking to a human being. You're talking to a woman. You're
talking to young people who live out there in a real world and
have real problems and real temptations and real trials. And they've
got to have a real foundation. They can't play. They want a
real refuge. They want to feel His presence
and feel His power, not just profess to have it. How do I
come to Christ? How do I, a human being, a real
man with a real need, I don't want to profess something and
wake up at the judgment and hear Christ say, I never knew you!
You imposter! You counterfeiter! You imitator! You're paying to faith, I never
knew you. Depart from me. I don't want
to hear that. Now brother, I'll talk plain
to you, and I'm not going to try to talk in the language of
somebody that's been dead 400 years. I'm going to talk in your
language. How did I come to Christ? There's no use putting on these
silly robes and acting like an overly pious rabbi where I'm
dug out of the same pit you're dug out of. I'll tell you how
to come to Christ in five words. Here they are right here in this
text. Look at these words. The first word's worship. Worship. Second word's Lord. The third
word is will. The fourth word is thou, and
the fifth word is clean. The first word is worship. And
behold, there came a leper and worshiped him. Now my friends,
God is to be worshipped. I don't care who you are, and
I don't care what your problem is, and I don't care what your
condition is, and I don't care what your age or the color of
your skin or your persuasion. God is to be worshipped. I read
a story the other day about a soldier who was dying, who'd been wounded
on the battlefield. He was taken to a field hospital,
and a chaplain came along, and he had his little book, you know,
and he stopped by the boy's bed, and he said, in what persuasion
are you of? The boy looked at him and said,
I'm persuaded neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities
can separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. I don't care what your persuasion
is, God's to be worshiped. Let everything that hath breath,
you got breath? Praise the Lord. Bow down and
worship the Lord is in his holy temple. Let all the earth worship
him. God's to be worshipped. I don't
care whether you're a leper or whether you're a priest. God's
to be worshipped. Holy and reverent is his name.
I can see old Abraham, he's left his home and he's taken Isaac,
the boy, 14, 15 years old, the love of his life, other than
his Lord. All of his hope in Isaac, an
old man, 110, 12, 15 years old, he takes that boy. God's told
him to take that boy to the mountain and sacrifice him on an altar
as a sin offering to God. And that mountain, what next
door? It was three days' journey. And Abraham had three days to
weep, and three days to be confused, and three days to wonder, and
three days to be heavy-hearted. He'd sit at night with a fire,
and Isaac would be sound asleep, and he'd just sit and look at
that boy, and then he'd look up to heaven. Not a word. God
had already given his orders. Not a word. And old Abraham,
heavy-hearted, baffled, confused, battling his fears and his doubts
and carrying his heavy trowel, got finally, he said, he looked
up and he saw the mountain. And he turned to the servants
with him and he said, you stay down here. The boy and I are
going up on the mountain to worship God. Oh, my friend, here's where you
start. And until you've learned this,
you needn't go any further. God is to be worshipped. Whatever
the circumstances, whatever the situation, God is to be worshipped. Whatever your condition, whatever
your need, God is to be worshipped. This boy started in the right
place. He worshipped God before he ever made his need known.
He accepted his condition and worshipped God. They come in
with all the bad news. The first one came in, you're
wiped out. Financially, you're dead. Another
one came in and said, your family's wiped out. You don't have a child
left, ten of them, dead. And the scripture says Job stripped,
broken-hearted, full of tears, fell down and worshiped God. There it is. You say, Preacher,
how do I come to Christ? Here's where you start, my friend.
God's to be worshipped. I don't care if you're full or
empty, God's to be worshipped. I don't care if you're well or
sick, God's to be worshipped. I don't care if you've got a
job or you're on unemployment, God's to be worshipped. I command
you in the name of Jesus Christ to fall down and worship God.
There's to be no argument before His throne. However, God is pleased
to deal with me. God is to be worshipped. I can't prepare you for what
the future holds, but I know who holds the future, and He's
to be worshipped. Every knee is to bow and every
tongue is to confess that He's the Lord, and He's to be worshipped. Thank God. In everything, give
thanks. This is the will of God for you.
Now, Brethren, we needn't approach this throne any other way. This
fellow got what he came for, but he came the right way. He
fell down in worship. He worshiped God. I'll praise
his mercy, but I'm going to learn to praise his justice, too. I'll
praise his grace. But I'm going to learn to praise
His holiness. Worship. All right, the second
word. Look at it. And he said, Lord. This man recognized
the absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ. The Master said, you
call me Lord. And you say, well, for so I am. This Bible doesn't know anything
about a doormat named Jesus. This Bible knows nothing of a
Savior who is not Lord. I beg your pardon. I hear people
talk about accepting Jesus as your Savior, and then later on,
if it's convenient and you feel so disposed, you make Him your
Lord. That's a lie. This Bible does not know anything
about one who will be a man's Savior and will not be his Lord. Jesus Christ is Lord. This Bible
knows nothing about a dead Reformer. It knows something about a living
Lord. This man fell down and worshiped
at the feet of Jesus Christ and called Him Lord. I'll tell you
what distresses me most about modern fundamentalism and Hollywood
evangelism and this present Jesus movement is the low esteem and
pitiful opinion which they have of Jesus Christ. He's not sweet
little Jesus boy. He's the Lord of glory. He's
not Jesus Christ superstar. He's the Lord of glory. And my
friend, you needn't come to him if you don't come to the right
him. Somebody says, let's get together around Jesus. Well,
Jesus who? Which one? Which one? When Eli heard of the judgment
of God against him and against his sons, Samuel was reluctant
to tell him. You needn't be reluctant to tell
a believer the truth. You needn't be reluctant. Tell
him the truth. I've had people say to me, well,
so-and-so is sick and the doctor said they can't live. Shall I
tell them? If they're a believer, you can tell them. You should
tell them. A believer ought to know everything
about himself. You know. To live is Christ,
to die is gain. If he's a believer, he has a
desire to be with Christ, which is far better. If he's a believer,
he is homesick. He's so weary and sick and tired
of the mess he's living in down here, he'd be glad to be taken
to glory. But anyway, Samuel told Eli,
he said, God's judgment's going to fall on your house, on your
sons. You know what that old man replied?
Well, it's the Lord. Let him do what he will. It's
the Lord. And that just tells you he does
what he will. Even in his saddest state, Even
in His greatest humiliation, even hanging naked on a cross,
His vision so marred that He didn't look like a man, even
bruised and forsaken of men and God, the thief on the cross looked
at Him and said, Lord! Now you think about that. Think about what a sight He had
of this mass of bloody flesh on a cross. And he looked at
him, and this man, enlightened by the Holy Spirit, taught of
God, having learned of the Father, called him, Lord! What think ye of Christ? Well, he's a preacher, he's a
valet that sits around up there and waits on me to ring the bell. He came down here to die, and
he's just hoping somebody will let him into their hearts. He's
just hoping somebody will do business with him. No, sir, I'm
sorry. You've got the wrong Savior.
Jesus Christ is Lord of lords and King of kings. He's absolutely
sovereign. He did what he came to do. And
the Scripture says that he sat down He sat down at the right
hand of God, expecting till his enemies become his footstool.
All right, how do I approach Christ? You worship Him. You
worship Him. You recognize His Lordship, His
sovereignty. Lord! He'll be merciful to whom He
will be merciful. I don't mind telling you that.
That's what God says. But you're not supposed to tell
the people everything. You're supposed to tell them
everything you know. You're supposed to keep back nothing profitable
to them. You're not to shun, to declare unto them the whole
counsel of God. Truth's never dangerous. Error's
dangerous. Withholding the truth is dangerous.
Covering the truth is dangerous. Protecting the truth is dangerous.
Taking the edge off the truth is dangerous. Never is it dangerous
to preach it, for ye shall know the truth, and the truth will
make you free. Our Lord's going to be merciful.
He'll be merciful to whom He will. He's going to be gracious,
but He's going to be gracious to whom He will. That brings
me to the next word, and that's the word will. Lord, he fell
down worshipping. Now he's worshipping whether
the Lord saves him or damns him. Whether the Lord shows mercy
or whether the Lord doesn't show mercy, this man's worshipping.
He's worthy to be worshipped. And he recognizes his Lordship
and he says, Lord, if you will. Now, I know, Brother Tim, that
the religious world has been arguing for centuries about this
thing called the will. They argue about free will, they
argue about man's will, they argue about whosoever will and
all the different wills, but you go on arguing and go on debating
and go on disputing, but brother, I know whose will is going to
be done. I don't have a doubt in my mind whether it's in salvation
or damnation, whether it's in riches or poverty, whether it's
in success or failure, whether it's in good health or bad health,
whether it's in life or death, He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. That's what Scripture says. Now, you can run around wasting
your time arguing about man's will pre-will, and whosoever
will, and all the other wills, but I'm going to preach His will.
Because you know, He taught me in His model prayer to pray,
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And I know this,
the Scripture says, of His own will begat He us with the Word
of truth. And one time He told Peter, He
said, now, I tell you, Peter, He said, He said, one of these
days they're going to kill you. They're going to take you where
you don't want to go, and they're going to crucify you upside down.
And you're going to die for what you believe. And Peter turned
and looked at John, the beloved disciple, and he said, what's
this fellow going to do? And Christ said, if I will that he
live till I come back, what's that to you? If I will. If I will. Thy will be done. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. It's not of Him that willeth,
nor of Him that runneth, it's of God that showeth mercy. The
Scripture says, as many as received Christ and believed on His name
were given the right to become sons of God who were born, not
of the will of man, not of the will of flesh, but born of God's
will. And that's what this man said.
He came, and you might as well face this. You say, how do I
come to Christ? I don't care if you're lost,
or sick, or tempted, or tried, or doubting, or weary, or whatever.
If you come to Christ, you'll come as a worshipper, you'll
come as a subject, and you'll come submissive to His will. His will. If you ask anything
according to my will. Now let's quit arguing about
man's will. And let's quit talking about
what man will and won't do. Man won't. I don't have trouble
with whosoever wills and whosoever won'ts. I have trouble with that.
If a man will, God made him willing. If a man will, he's welcome.
But Christ said, you will not. The essence of sin is I will.
Did you know that? The essence of sin, my friend,
we've got it confined to action. But real sin, this thing of sin
as a principle, sin as a nature, sin as a root. A man steals, and he doesn't
become a sinner when he steals. He steals because he's a sinner,
because the principle of stealing is his nature. His nature is
to steal. The root is to steal. A man who
hates and does bodily harm to another human being does it because
that hatred is his nature. In this nature, you go back to
the first sin that's ever recorded. That wasn't Adam's sin, that
was Lucifer's sin. The first sin was committed before
Adam was ever created. And it was the sin of the will.
Lucifer in Isaiah 14, five times he said, I will, I will, I will,
I will, I will be like God. I will exalt my throne above
the stars of God. I will ascend up into the highest
place. I will! God said, no, you won't. Now that's where sin, that's
the essence of sin, that's the foundation of sin. I will. You
know the essence of holiness? You know the very foundation
of holiness? Thy will be done. That's what our Lord prayed in
the garden. He said, Lord, Heavenly Father, thy will be done. And this is what God has to do
in bringing a sinner to Christ. He has to break his will. He
has to break him, break him. And it's a spiritual work. It's not just cutting off the
products of sin and the fruit of sin, the results of sin. God
has to give him a new nature, a new spirit, a new will, a new
principle. And that's the reason these folks
that are fighting Alcohol and fighting the red light districts
and fighting the movies and fighting something up and closing up these
places. You don't do any good to move a fellow out of the slum
so you can get the slum out of him. And if you get the slum
out of him, he'll make your slum a little heavier. You just start
the wrong place. People talk about, we've got
to change their environment. If God changes their heart, they'll
change their environment. A fella can lie out there in
the middle of bottles and sticks and stones and bricks and cans
and old tires and filth, and because he's filthy in his heart,
but God gives him a new heart, he'll rake his yard and he'll
cut his grass and he'll clean up his environment. He'll make
that place look like God dwells there, because God does. He dwells
in that man's heart. Sin is a principle. I will. And
so here this man comes and worships Christ, and he says, Lord, if
you will, here's where it all starts, with God's will. He doesn't
start with your will. I beg your pardon. I'm sorry.
And now you say, well, you're crossing the grain of everything
that's being preached today. I can't help it. I just can't
help it. I just know that this is where
it starts. If God will, then He can make me whole. I will. All right, look at the next word,
thou. Thou, if thou wilt, thou canst. This man recognized his
inability. He couldn't do it. His friends
couldn't do it. His associates couldn't do it.
He saw the inability of all flesh, and he saw the ability of Christ,
the power of Christ. Lord, if you will, you can. You can do it. You can make me
clean. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute,
fellow. Wait a minute, sinner. You see,
you are a sinner. You violated the law of God. And your conflicts with the law
of God, God won't change His law. Now, how can anybody give
an unrighteous man righteousness? Now wait a minute, you're sure
what you're saying is right? Lord, if you will, you can justify
me, you can make me righteous, you can make me holy, you can
bring me into the presence of God. You know what you're saying? Well, I know what he's saying.
How is Christ able to make me clean? When the issue is not
with man, it's with the law of God. when the issue is with the
justice of God. I'll tell you how, because, number
one, of who He is. He is the God-Man. He's perfect
God, very God of very God, and yet He came down here and was
made flesh, made in the likeness of sinful flesh, made of a woman,
made under the law, that He might redeem us. You see, God can't
suffer, and man can't satisfy, but the God-Man can both suffer
and satisfy. And our Lord Jesus Christ as
a man, as a representative, as a behold the man, yet behold
your King, your God. He was tried in all points as
we are, yet without sin. He met the law in every jot and
tittle, every dotting of the i and crossing of the t, every
law, the civil law, the family law, the federal law, the home
law, the moral law, the ceremonial law, every law found no fault
in Him. He perfectly obeyed it. Even
the Heavenly Father says, I'm pleased! And then he went to
the cross and bore justice and God's wrath against sin and the
hell that we deserve, the soul that sinneth shall die, he died!
He was buried. And as my representative, if
he will, he can because of who he is. He can. He can because of what he did.
He became sin for me, that I might become in Him righteousness,
the just. He died for the unjust, that
God might be just and justifier. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
reconciled us unto the Father. He can do it. Lord, if you will,
you can, because of who you are. And what you did, and watch this
now, he can because of where he is. He's already enthroned
and seated at the right hand of the Father. You know the reason
I believe a man can go to glory? It's because there's a man already
in glory. Isn't that what Herman said? You know the reason I believe
that a man who was born out of a woman's womb and sucked at
a mother's breast and walked on a dirty world, and sat and
ate bread, and wine at a table, and walked among sinners, and
bled, and wept, and sweated, and had calluses on his hands,
and dirt under his fingernails. Do you know how I believe that
a man can stand someday in the very presence of the Lord God
Almighty of heaven? Because a man done it. There's
a man in glory. And you know who that man is?
He's my representative. He's my Lord. And you know, He's
going to stay there because, Jay, He's been seated. He's not
a guest. He's not walking around outside.
He doesn't have access to just the garden. He's not in the guest
room. He's on the throne! And He's
seated! Accepted. And I'm accepted in
Him. So He will. But he can. He can. Now, don't go to the
priest down here. He can't. He can't. Don't go to your preacher. Don't
go to one of these professional soul winners. He's got all the
ABCs and the Roman Road and this, that, and that. He can't either.
He can give you a lot of mumbo-jumbo and a lot of recipes and all
these plans, but he can't. But my friend, if you can get
to Christ, If you can, if you can come like a leper and worship,
oh Lord God, Lord God, if you will, if you will, if it's in
your divine purpose, if it's in your, in your, in your will,
because of who you are and what you did and where you are, you
can. Look at the last word, make me
what? Make me healthy? No, that's not what I need. Make
me rich? That just messes me up. Make
me clean? That's what I need. I know that
more than anybody here. You can make me clean. You can
do it. I can't do it. I would, but I
cannot sing. I would, but I cannot pray. Satan
meets me when I try and he scares my soul away. I would, but I
cannot repent, though I endeavor oft. This stony heart cannot
relent unless Christ makes it so. I would, but I cannot love,
though wooed by love divine. No argument has power to move
a soul so vile as mine. I would, but I cannot rest in
God's most holy will. I know what He appoints is best,
but I murmur at it still. Oh, could I but believe everything
would easy be. I would, but I cannot, Lord.
My help must come from Thee. Make me clean. Do you really
know your need? Our need is inward and our need
is outward. Our need is now and forever summed
up in one word, clean. Clean. God doesn't need to make
me talented. God doesn't need to make me a
gifted man or a popular man. But Tim, I've got to be clean.
Now God's not going to do business with me. God's not going to have
me. He's not going to receive me. You might enjoy good health,
but you don't need it, but you do need to be clean. And I take
issue with these preachers today that are preaching the health
and wealth gospel. They're going around to people,
have you got troubles? Have you got needs? God will
meet your need. I've got one basic fundamental need. I'm a
sinner. That's what Jay was praying a
while ago. I need to be clean. And brother, let me tell you
something. I don't think this leper was aware of his rags.
I don't think he was aware. I don't think he was really aware
of the fact that he didn't have a chariot in which to ride. I
don't think he was greatly troubled that he didn't have a home in
which to live. I don't think that greatly troubled him. I
think one thing was uppermost on his mind. He was a leper.
A leper. He had a dirty, rotten, filthy
disease that kept him isolated from anybody. He had to run around
out yonder in the outskirts of town. And when he saw the shadow
of a man coming, he cried, I'm clean! Don't come near me! I'm
clean! Lord, you make me clean. That's
all I need. That's all I need. I don't need
the finest clothes, but I sure need a regenerated heart. I need
to think right, walk right, live right, love right. I need to
be made clean so that I can be a child of God. Who shall stand
in His presence? He that hath clean hands and
a pure heart. Lord, if you will, you can do
that for me. So you say, how do I come to
Christ? This is it. I can spell it here, King. He
worshiped Him. He recognized His Lordship. He
recognized His power. He recognized His need. And He
said, Lord, if you will, make me clean. Our Lord said, I will.
I will. The Lord is merciful to all who
call on Him. He's plenteous in mercy. He delights
to show mercy. He's not going to do business
with wise and prudent and smarty-lips. He's not going to do business
with those that want to argue with God and drive a bargain
with God. Lord, you heal me, and I'll do
so. So I'll serve you. You save me, and I'll serve you.
No way. We're not exchanging anything,
the Lord says. Salvation's a gift. A gift. You need it? Hungry, weary, empty-handed? Come, and He'll make you whole. I want us to sing in closing.