If You Are Willing

I'm going to read my text again,
Isaiah chapter 1, verse 18. Come now and let us reason together,
saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Now the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ is good news. It's good news to me for three
reasons. For many, but especially these
three. Number one, that God is willing
to forgive my sins and make me his child. Now you may take this
for granted, you may take for granted the mercy of the Lord,
but wise men do not. David said, when I consider the
heavens, the work of thy hands, what is man that thou art mindful
of him? Job said, how can man be clean
that's born of a woman? Behold, to the moon it shineth
not. The stars are not pure in God's sight. The heavens are
not clean in his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man that drinketh iniquity like the water. I'm amazed that
God should ever love me. so full of sin, so condemned,
so unclean. Are you amazed? The gospel of
Jesus Christ is good news to me. It's good news because God
is willing to forgive my sins and to make me His child. And
then secondly, the gospel of Jesus Christ is good news to
me because God requires nothing of me, absolutely nothing from
me, but faith. That's all. He says, if you be
willing, verse 19, if you be willing and obedient, you shall
eat the good of the land. If you rebel and refuse, you'll
be devoured with the sword. The Lord has spoken. He does
not require me to produce a righteousness, but to receive one. Now that's
so. He does not require me to save
myself, but to leave the work to Him. He does not require from
me a perfect walk. He requires a willing look and
a loving heart. That's all. That's good news. I can't produce a righteousness.
I cannot save myself. I cannot walk before God perfectly. I can walk with God, but not
before God perfectly. So he doesn't require me to produce
a righteousness, he tells me to receive one. That's all, receive
it. You've had birthdays, you've
received Christmas gifts. Someone comes to you because
they love you, because they appreciate you, because they want to do
it, because they're willing to do it, they've put forth an effort,
they've sacrificed, they've spent the money, they bring you a gift.
What do you do for it? You receive it. It's yours. You receive it. What contribution
do you make? You receive it. What effort do
you put forth? You receive it. To as many as
received Him, to them gave He the right, the privilege, to
be sons of God. That's good news. It's good news
because I can't produce it. And thirdly, it's good news to
me because God's willing to save the chief of sinners, even me,
even you. Though your sins be as scarlet,
there are no sins too severe for God to forgive. There are
no sinners too fallen for God to lift. There are no sinners
too far away for God to bring back. There are no deeds too
black for God to make white. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
though they be double-dyed, so dyed in the garment that you
destroy the garment and still wouldn't remove the red stain,
I'll make them white as snow." Now, our Lord tells us that in
His Word. Let's look at two or three scriptures. Romans 5. He
tells us that in His Word. Romans 5, verse Verse 6, when
we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. Verse 8, but God commended His
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Verse 10, for if when we were
enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son,
much more being reconciled we shall be saved by His life. Sinners
enemies Can it be expressed more plainly? Paul said this is a
sure saying this is a fateful saying it's worthy of your acceptation
Do what you will with it, but it's worthy That Christ Jesus
came into the world to save sinners of whom I'm cheap This is good news to me that
the Lord is willing to save me forgive my sins make me his child
I that our Lord is willing, and not only willing but able, and
He requires nothing from me but faith. And He's willing to save
and to forgive the chief of sinners. Now, most people don't believe
this. I want to show you something that you've never seen before.
And I've never seen this until just the other day. I don't believe
there's a person, there may be one or two, but you turn to Matthew
chapter one, Matthew the first chapter. Now, I said that the
Lord was willing to save the chief of sinners. You know, most of us believe
that that God is merciful to good
people, righteous people. Most of you here who have led
a sheltered, protected life, you take a little bit of pride
in that, huh? You look back, well, I've never
done this and I've never done, never took a drink of liquor,
I've never killed anybody, I've never done this, that and the
other. You take a little bit of pride in that, don't you?
Maybe you feel like, you know it's not so, but you feel like
deep in your innermost being that God just might take some
notice of that. God might, you know, after all,
God's just. Yeah, that's right. But I want
to show you something here. Our Lord tells us in his Word
that he'll forgive sinners. Sinners. And he shows it, he
reveals it in his genealogy. Now, in Matthew chapter 1, verse
1, the book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham. And then it traces the lineage
of Christ. Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat
Jacob, Jacob begat Judas and his brethren, Judas begat Perez
and Zarah of Tamar, and it goes on down to verse 15, verse 16,
and Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary. of whom was born Jesus,
who is called Christ. Did you ever notice that there
are only four women mentioned in this genealogy? I've noticed that there are some
women mentioned in it, but only four. It doesn't give the mothers
of any of these men except four, four mothers. It calls special
attention to these four mothers. Special attention. First of all,
in verse 3, Judas, this is Judah, tribe of Judah, from which came
the king. Judah begat twins, twin sons,
Phares and Zarah. And it names their mother. It
doesn't name other people's mothers. It doesn't name Isaac's mother. It doesn't name Jacob's mother.
They were specially important women, but it doesn't name them.
But it does name Tamar. Who was Tamar? It was his daughter-in-law. It was a sin of incest in the
family. Tamari was married to one of
Judah's sons, and he died. And he promised her that she
could have his other son, and he went back on his promise.
And she went out one day and rented a tent and sat in front
of it, dressed like a harlot, and fixed her hair like one.
He came by and went into her, and she conceived and bore children,
and these are the children in the line of Christ. Okay, then
it goes on down and it says, Salmon begat Boaz. You know who
Boaz was? Boaz was the great kinsman-redeemer
who redeemed Naomi and her daughter-in-law Ruth. You know who his mother
was? It was Rahab the harlot. That's
only two women so far, all the way through the genealogy of
Christ, that the Holy Spirit's been pleased to mention. One
of them was a fallen woman who went to extremes to get her way. The other was a harlot. She was
practicing in Jericho, one of the vilest of cities. And then
Boaz begat Obed of Ruth. Who was Ruth? She was a Moabite. a Moabitess. The sons of her
husband and Naomi's father left the land of Jerusalem, went down
to the land of the heathen. She was a heathen. Went down
to the land of the Moabites and took them daughters or took them
women to marry. She wasn't of the tribe of Israel,
she was a Moabitess. Then it comes on down to Jesse,
begat David. And David, how many sons did
David have? He had one named Solomon, and
you know who his mother was? Bathsheba. He stole her from
another man and had him killed so he could have her, and unto
her was born Solomon in the line. So here's what we're doing. Our
Lord, our High Priest, our Great King, the Lord Jesus Christ came
into this world, and He came through a kingly line. And what
the point that the Holy Spirit is making here is that Christ
came to save sinners. The angel said, Thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins.
He said, I didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to
repentance. Go learn what this means. The
world don't need a physician. You appear beautiful unto men,
but on the inside you're full of dead men's bones. I've come
to save sinners. I've come to call, not the righteous,
but sinners." He was called friend of sinners. And the Holy Spirit,
in emphasizing this, look down at verse 21, "...she shall bring
forth a son, and call his name Jesus. He shall save his people
from their sin." You don't have any? Then you're not one of his
people. And the Holy Spirit, in emphasizing this, goes back
and traces the house of David and the line of Christ clear
back to Abraham. And he says, "...Abraham, beget
begat Isaac, and Isaac begat Jacob, and Jacob begat Judah,
and Judah begat these twins, and oh, by the way, their mother
was Tamar. And then he goes on, names some
more, and he says, and Simon begat Boaz, oh, by the way, you
Pharisees, his mother was Rahab. And Boaz begat Obed, and oh,
by the way, His mother wasn't a Jew, she was a Moabitess. And
Jesse begat David, and David begat Solomon, and oh by the
way, you religious good folks earning your way to heaven, his
mother was Bathsheba. And he goes right on, doesn't
name another woman. The thing I've noticed, I've seen this,
had it marked in my Bible for a long time, that these women
were named, but the thing I never saw before, and I imagine that
you're guilty of the same thing. They're the only ones named.
That's what I'd never seen before, see. They were the only ones
named. Looks like, uh, looks like Sarah
had been in there somewhere, doesn't it? Or Rebecca, or Rachel,
or... The trophies of our Lord's grace
are sinners. I don't know what it'll take
to get that across to folks, but... All right, let's look
back at Isaiah 118. Now this blessed invitation of
our Lord, come now and let us reason together. Though your
sins be as scarlet, they'll be as white as snow. This invitation
to a conference is written to a people. who had greatly erred,
oh, how they had sinned. Look down at verse 2. He said,
they were an ungrateful people. Hear, O heavens, give ear, O
earth, the Lord has spoken. I've nourished and brought up
children. They've rebelled against me. They were an ungrateful people.
All we have is from the Lord. I don't know why it's so difficult. I do too. It's the depraved,
rotten heart of human nature. But we're so ungrateful. One
day our Lord healed ten lepers, and He sent them to show themselves
to the priest. And this is our lesson this morning,
the importance of the priesthood. He sent them to show themselves
to the priest, and they were healed. And one of them came
back to thank Him. And our Lord said, where are
the nine? Weren't there ten healed? Only one returned to thank Him.
That sunshine out there, God gave it. You sat at the table
this morning and ate breakfast. God gave it. We put on our clothes
and our shoes and we drive up here in our automobiles and we
come in this lovely building and God gave it. We reach out
and shake hands with a friend whom we love, a friend. Our children are here, our grandchildren.
God gave them. Every good gift and perfect gift
comes from God. But how ungrateful, how sorry
we are. Every bite we take, every breath
we draw, every step we walk is God-given. I don't know why it's
so difficult for us to be grateful, to praise God. He goes to verse
3 and he says, they're not only an ungrateful people, they're
lower than the beast, because even the ox knows his owner.
And the ash knows his master's crib, but my people, Israel,
they don't consider me. You know, people carelessly. You know, we use clichÃ©s that
are so foolish. I hear people say, he's dumb
as an ox. Well, the ox may be dumb, but
I'll tell you this, he does know his owner. That's what the Lord
said. And that's more than men know. He does know who his Lord
is. And he serves him. Huh? He serves
him. He comes after he eats in the
morning and puts his head down for his master to lay the yoke
on his neck. Do we do that? We buck God. We
fight his will. We're going to have our way.
We don't serve God. Next time somebody says that
man's dumb as an ox, you tell him, apologize to the ox. Man's
a whole lot more, a whole lot dumber than the ox. I hear people
say he's stupid as an ass. The ass knows who feeds him.
That's right. That's what it says here. The
ox knows his owner and the ass knows his master's crib. He knows
where he gets his food. He'll lick the hand of his master.
We curse ours. We use God's name in vain. We're
more stupid. There's no ass ever been stupid.
I've heard people say he's drunk as a dog. I've never seen a drunk
dog. I've seen some stupid men and women drunk, but I've never
seen a dog drunk. Never seen a drunk dog. One time
John Newton said, I've heard people say that man's half beast
and half devil. He said, I apologize to the beast.
Man's all devil. That's what he is. No beast. If he was a beast, he'd be minding
his master. You can kick a dog down the steps
and he'll lick your hand. Loves his master. Dumber than
the beast. Then verse 4 and 5 says, they've
departed from God. They're a sinful nation of people
laden with, heavy with iniquity, heavy with it. Corrupters, forsaken
the Lord, they've departed from the living God. In verse 5, he
says, judgment, I've sent judgment, but you just rebel more and more.
There's no use even judging you anymore. You know, there have been children
You punish them, and you correct them, and they keep rebelling.
You come to the place where there's no use correcting anymore, there's
no use punishing anymore. They just rebel more and more.
They're hopeless. It's hopeless. After a while,
you give up. That's what God is saying here.
Why should you be stricken? Why should you be punished? Why
should you be chastened? Why should you be afflicted?
You just revolt more and more. Why? Your whole head's sick.
That's your mentality. Your spiritual mentality is sick. Your heart, your affections,
they're all corrupted. In fact, he said, from the sole
of your feet. To the very top of your head,
to the top hair on your head, there is no spiritual soundness
or righteousness or true holiness or knowledge of God in you anywhere. Oh, he says in verse 11, you're
outwardly religious. Now watch this. Now don't misunderstand
the Scripture. God says you're outwardly religious.
I'm not denying your religion. Why, he says, to what purpose
is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? That's right. They were going through the motions.
They had temple worship on the Sabbath day. They had their special
holy days. They didn't have Christmas and
Easter like you do, but they had their holy days. They had
the Feast of the Firstfruits, and the Feast of the Tabernacles,
and the Feast of this, that, and the other, you know, and
the Passover. They had all these things. He said, you spread forth
your hands. They had a special way to pray.
We got a special way to cross ourselves, and a special way
to kneel, and a special way to go through all. They had all
that. They spread your hands in prayer. They burned the incense. He said, I see it. I smell it.
But it's a stench in my nostrils, God said. You have all, they
were outwardly religious. They were inwardly wicked. He said, you call me Lord with
your lips and your hearts are far from me. They kept up. They kept up all the outward
forms and ceremonies and holy days. Let me slip you a little
word here. Now you listen to this. This
is so. This is true. The farther a man departs from
God, the more outward forms of religion
he adopts. That's so. The less a man has
of internal spirituality, the more emphasis he places on the
externals of religion. I guarantee you that's so. Now
you stop and think about that. The farther a man is away from
God, The more attention he'll pay to the externals of religion,
special days, special services, special this and special that.
They're burning candles up there for those 51 men. I'm sorry about
those 51 men, but you'd never get me to stand out there and
burn a candle. Our cathedrals and churches are
getting more elaborate all the time. our elaborate buildings. Let me tell you something. The
religious ceremonies are getting more elaborate. We're roving
our choirs. The organist has a special program. She knows when to sit down. She
knows when to hit the first note. Do you know when the pastor stands,
when the musician stands, when to hit a certain note? People
know when to stand, when to kneel, when to bow, when to lift their
hands, when to do all these things. They know when to come down the
aisle with the candles. They know when all of this external,
the less spirituality. Now you listen to me. You wake
up one of these days and find out I'm telling you the truth.
The further a man is from the living relationship with a holy
God, the more the outward show he has to have. He's making up
for an emptiness in here with a farm and ceremony out here.
That's true. And that accounts for all this
stuff. You wonder what's going on? You wonder why the robes
and the processionals and all of the outward show, the special
days and special music and all these things, and touching the
head and laying on of the hands and going through all these motions?
You know what it is. If a man has a knowledge of Christ
and a relationship with Christ in his heart, he hears the voice
of God in the burns. He hears the voice of God in
the wind. He walks with God on the street. He doesn't need a
white sheet rolled down an aisle to walk home to remind him that
God is holy. He walks through the woods with
the living God. He doesn't need a candle to remind
him Christ is the light of the world. That light burns in his
soul. He doesn't need an organ playing
softly to make him feel good, make him feel religious, make
him feel the presence of God. He feels the presence of God
out in the wind, in the storm, in the lightning, in the fury
of the blast from heaven. God's there. This is my Father's
world. A man is conscious, a woman is
conscious that you have a spiritual need. And you know you don't
have it in your heart, so you try to get it with these outside
things, these impressions. I hate the term visual aids. And that's one of the most popular
terms in modern religion. Do with it what you want to.
I'm telling you the truth. Visual aids are an abomination
to God Almighty. That's what Israel did. They
had their visual aids. They worshipped calves and worshipped
even the brazen serpent. visual aids. We need heart aids
is what we need. But the less a man has in here,
and you sit there this morning and listen to me, if you have
to have, if you've got to go to the, why all these trips to
the Holy Land? In the first place, that land
is not holy. And God doesn't dwell over there
any more than he dwells here. And you have to go to those places
to meet God, to feel religious? You have to have this external,
this outward visual aids to bring you into communication with your
God? Your God's an idol. He's not Jehovah. That's what
Satan, Satan is so crafty, he's so subtle. Paul said, I'm scared
to death. He's going to take you away from
the simplicity of Christ. But the less a man has of God
in his heart, the more he has to add to the external. That's what these people are
doing. God says, I'm through with them. I don't want you bringing
any more vain oblations, your incenses and abomination, your
new moons and your Sabbaths and your holy days. Away with them!
Away with them. I issue an invitation. Come,
let us reason. Let us reason. Now, most men
and women want a religion that does not require them to think.
Did you know that? I have observed that the great
mass of mankind would rather just not be bothered. They don't
want to think. They want to play church on Sunday. They want to
come to church. They want to, where's my Bible,
honey? What's where you left it last
Sunday morning? You know, you put it up, well, there it is,
and brush it off, you know, and stick it under your arm, because
I've got a mark here and on time brought my Bible. I lose a point
if I don't carry it, so I stick it under my arm going to church,
you know. And I come and, you got the offering envelopes? Yeah,
here they are. Well, make out a check. Don't
want to, but do it anyhow, you know. That's one of our duties.
Got to mark that too. Got to be a tither. Preacher
says, I can't be saved if I don't tithe. So we go down and we sit
in the church, you know, and we give our offerings and open
our Bibles for the first time this week, you know, and we go
through the motions. That's the kind of religion that
we want in this day. What think ye of Christ? Whose
son is he? Well, they said he's the son
of David. Then Christ said, why did David call him Lord if he's
his son? You want to think that one through? How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? How can a holy God, immutable,
with all the attributes of righteousness and truth and justice, how can
he overlook sin and put it away? You want to figure that one out? How can man be born when he's
old? You want to work on that one? Nicodemus had a hard time
with that. Christ said you must be born
again. We run around loosely using that term born-again Christian.
You want to think about it a little while? What is the new birth?
What is regeneration? What is the righteousness with
which God says a man is blessed if he has it imputed unto him?
Let us reason. Be ready to give an answer. The
Apostle said to every man that asketh you a reason for the hope
that's in you. Let's reason. Come now, God says,
not tomorrow, boast not thyself of tomorrow. Tomorrow's sun may
never rise to bless thy long deluded sight. Even if it does,
God may not be calling tomorrow. Jesus of Nazareth is passing
by. There may be no call to them,
and now is the accepted time. Today is the day of salvation.
You know, Ecclesiastes 12.1 says, Remember thy Creator in the days
of thy youth, while the evil days come not, when we say we
have no pleasure in them. Old age has a way of dulling
the faculties. That's right. Old age has a way
of setting a person in tradition. setting him. It's old age like
concrete. You know, I poured a little concrete,
not a whole lot. I couldn't make my living at
it, I'll tell you that. But I poured enough to know this, you better
work it while you can. If you're going to do anything
with it, you better do it while it's pliable. And I'll tell you
this, that's what it, really please ask these twelve, remember
now thy creator and the days of thy youth while the evil days
come not when we say I don't have any pleasure in it. And
old age sets up, sets up tradition, sets up custom so hard you can't,
you just got to bust it out and start all over. Just bust it
out. Come now. And let us reason together. The invitations from
the Lord himself, saith the Lord. I want you to understand this.
The true minister of the gospel is not trying to recruit you
for the Baptist denomination. If he's trying to recruit you
for any denomination, he reveals he's not the minister of Christ.
The true minister of Christ is not trying to make you a statistic.
I despise these reports. They're an abomination. We don't even know, we shouldn't
even know, how many people are here this morning, or how many
people were baptized last year, or how many people were here
a year ago, or how many souls we wondered. Don't tell me how
many anything. You reveal one thing to me that
a person is not a person to you, he's a statistic. He's a number. You're making merchandise of
the souls of men. John Smith is more than number
13 that we baptize. He's a person. He's a son of
the living God. He's a child of the King. And a true minister of Christ
doesn't keep numbers. He doesn't keep records. A true
minister of Christ His one desire is that you know Christ, that
you come to a living relationship with him. And the true minister
of Christ is going to preach the gospel, and if God can be
glorified in your redemption and your enable of the Holy Spirit
to find an interest in Christ, it will thrill his soul. For
that's his one object and one goal. But he also knows this,
if God Almighty by his righteous judgment, brings you into judgment
and condemnation, he'll praise the Lord for that too. Come now and let us reason together. And the invitation is not to
a church or to a preacher or to an altar or to a priest, saith
the Lord. But if your ears refuse the language
of his grace, Your heart grows hard like stubborn sons of Adam's
fallen race. The Lord, in vengeance dressed,
will lift his hand and swear, You that despised my promised
rest shall have no portion there." Come, let's reason. Let's reason
together. Now secondly, quickly, and I'll
let you go in a minute, what's this conference all about? Come
now, let us reason together. Here's what it's all about. Though
your sins, though your sins, that's what it's all about, your
sins, my sins. The subject of this conference
is sin. I'd be a fool to deny them. He
said if any man say he hath not sin, he deceives himself. If any man say he hath no sin,
he makes God a liar. I'd be a fool to deny my sins,
original sin, my part in the fall, actual sins, secret sins
of which I am not even aware. Sins of even my so-called righteousness. And God says, what's the condition
of your sin? He says they're red like crimson.
They're scarlet, double-dyed, so dyed into the garment they
never wash out. And watch this. I can look out
over this congregation this morning. I see those red dresses. The black, the white, the blue,
the brown, the green. You can pretty well hide in a
crowd, but you can't hide in a crowd with a red dress on.
Huh? You can't do it. It's so obvious.
I like red. Don't misunderstand me. I'm not
telling you not to wear red. I'm simply saying he chose this
color. He said, it's so obvious it can't be hid. You needn't
underestimate or try to diminish it. It's right there. Hunters.
A deer hunter. You see him out there with a
color hat? He's got a red one. A red one. You see me? Here I
am. Here I am. I see you, God says. They're
red like crimson. They're scarlet. They're double-dyed.
Well, what shall we do about them? What shall we do about
it? There's not anything I can do
about it. Turn to Jeremiah 13. There's not anything I can do
about my sins. Jeremiah 13, listen to this.
What shall I do about them? He says, well, this double died. Can the, Jeremiah 13, 23, can
the Ethiopian change his skin? Can the leper change his spots?
That's how it died in the, Died in the wool, they say. That's
pretty deep. Died in the wool. And it's so died in the wool,
it can't be changed. Neither can you do good that
are accustomed to doing evil. Well, how can they be put away?
God can do it. He says, you come to me. You
come to me. Our Lord Jesus Christ came down
here into this world. He came down in human flesh.
born of a woman, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
us who were born under the law, that we might be made the righteousness
of God, sons of God, in Him. Christ came down here and took
our place and faced the law and obeyed it, imputing unto us a
perfect standing, a perfect righteousness. He went to the cross of Calvary
and there, outside the city walls of Jerusalem, they nailed Him
to a tree. And not only the wrath of Satan and the wrath of man,
but the wrath of the Father was so poured out upon him that the
Father turned his back. Christ cried, My God, why art
thou forsaken? He endured the wrath of God,
the judgment of God for my sins. All my sins were laid on him.
By his stripes I'm healed. And he was buried and rose again
and ascended to the right hand of the Father. And there he prays
for me and he intercedes for me. He's my mediator. And he enables the Father to
be just and justify the ungodly, to be righteous and show mercy
to sinners, to be true and yet reveal his love. God says come. Don't bring your
uniforms and your good deeds, and your candles, and your works,
and your theology, and your doctrine, and your heritage, and your background.
Let's reason together. You're guilty. You're sinners.
You have a need. Come, let us reason. Though your
sins be a scarlet, though they be dyed in the wool, though they
be double dyed, I'll make them white as snow. I'll so put them
away that I'll remember them no more. And the only way that can be
done The only way that even God can do that, the only way that
justice can be honored and the law of God satisfied and the
justice and righteousness of God satisfied is for somebody
to give us a perfect standing with God and to take our guilt
and our sins. That's a gift. It's a gift. It's through Christ the Lord.
And the way I receive it is freely, by grace, are you saved through
faith, and that knowledge says it's a gift of God. Our Father, let us call upon Thee with a
sincere heart. O Lord, deliver us from the outward
piety and show of righteousness, when we know within We're such
sinful creatures. And yet, though our sins are
from the heart, our love for Thee, our faith in Thee, our
dependence upon Thee, our trust is from the heart. For Thou hast
given us a new heart. We praise Thee, O Lord, that
Thou hast not passed us by, but brought us to love Christ and
depend upon Him and to rest in Him. Thou hast brought us into
a living fellowship, a living relationship, a vital personal
union with the living Lord. The natural man will not receive
this. It's foolishness to him. He can't discern it. He can't
understand it, O Lord. So give us Thy Spirit. And our
heroes this morning, these who are here, the young people, mothers
and dads, O Lord, give thy spirit of understanding, give eyes to
see, ears to hear, and heart to understand. The natural man
looks on the things of the flesh, thou lookest upon the heart.
Give us eyes to see Christ, ears to hear the mysteries of the
gospel made plain by the Holy Spirit, a heart to understand
thy righteousness and yet thy love, thy holiness and yet thy
mercy. Lord, make us students of the
Word, of Christ, that we may learn of him. Come, he said,
and learn of me. Take my yoke upon you. My yoke
is easy, my burden is light. Fill our hearts with love for
the Redeemer. Forgive our sins. Deliver us from despair and doubt,
despondence and fear. And these things that would draw
our eyes off of Christ and make our eyes look upon ourselves
and have confidence in this flesh. Let us look on Him and Him alone.
In His name we pray. Amen.

If You Are Willing

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