Amos chapter 8, verse 11. Behold, the days come, saith
the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine
of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the
Lord. My subject tonight, a famine
to be feared. Now, next week this church will
be 19 years old. It started, I believe, under
the Holy Spirit's leadership 19 years ago, September the 7th. It was the first time we met
together on the 7th of September on a Wednesday night. nineteen
years, and I want to publicly express my praise and my gratitude
to God for His mercy and for His grace to us. There are five
things that are especially on my mind tonight, the first of
which is this. God has revealed unto us the
gospel of His dear Son. Now I do not consider this lightly,
I'm not able to consider it as profoundly as I should, but I
thank God that he has revealed to us the gospel. I'm not here
to point out the errors of other religious groups, of other churches,
of other denominations, but the Holy Spirit has revealed unto
some of us that salvation is of the Lord. And this salvation
that is of the Lord is through the substitutionary work of his
dear Son. That salvation is not because
of anything that we have done for God, but because of what
he has done for us in Christ the Redeemer. And that salvation
is not an accident, that God works his grace in the heart
on purpose, that he calls out his people by his Spirit and
reveals unchangeably unto them his Son, and brings them to love
Christ, and to trust him, and to believe him, and to rest upon
him. Everybody doesn't know the gospel.
Paul said they'll come preaching another gospel, they'll come
preaching another Jesus, they'll come preaching another spirit.
But God has revealed unto us the gospel. There's not but one.
It's the saving gospel. It's the gospel of his sovereign
grace. It's the gospel of his sovereign
mercy, that God, who is a God of purpose, does all that he
does through his Son on purpose. And I'm grateful for that. The
second thing that is on my mind tonight as we close these nineteen
years is this. Some of you have come to a saving
knowledge of Christ. Your hearts have been broken.
at the feet of the Son of God. And like the harlot of old, there
you remain, a trophy of His grace. Your heart has been broken, your
spirit has been broken, you are contrite at the feet of Christ
in genuine repentance and saving faith. You love the Son of God.
Above all things, above all people, you love the Son of God, and
I'm grateful for that. I have seen lives changed, I've
seen hearts changed, I've seen homes changed, I've seen people
genuinely, in reality, permanently conformed to the image of Christ.
And that's no small thing. Then the third thing that is
upon my mind is this. God has given to this church,
to you and to the privilege of preaching this gospel, preaching
it on the radio. This church has preached the
gospel to more people than any church in the tri-state area,
because we have preached the gospel on the radio every day,
Monday through Friday, for almost twenty-two years. We have sent
the gospel out through a tape ministry that now reaches not
only over the United States, but in foreign countries. Missionaries in Africa have told
me how that they played our Sunday morning and Sunday night services
to their families as a means of family worship after they'd
been out to preach to the natives. Our missionaries in Mexico play
these tapes on their trips, in their trucks, going out to the
Pueblos to preach, and even the missionaries have told me that
they take the messages that are preached here and translate them
into Spanish and preach them to the people there. We have
sent the message of grace out by the printed page. We have
had Bible conferences every year since 1954. The influence of this Church
and its message reaches over this whole country. There are
people all over the United States who know the Thirteenth Street
Baptist Church and what it preaches and that for which it stands,
and this is no small thing. I believe that the Thirteenth
Street Baptist Church has a greater influence over America than any
other single Sovereign Grace Church in this country. and I'm grateful for that. God has given to us, in the fourth
place, an important part in the ministry of seven of the finest
missionaries in the world. I say without reservation and
without hesitation that Chris Robinson, whom we support in
Ireland, is the finest preacher of grace in the whole country
of Ireland. I've met nearly all of them in
a Bible conference there. I've talked to them, I've heard
some of them, and it is genuinely considered by men who know that
Chris Robinson is the outstanding missionary of Ireland, and God
has let us have his fellowship and have a part in his ministry.
No question but David Estrada is Spain's greatest preacher.
that Bill Clark is the most outstanding evangelist and missionary in
France, that David Ellis is a coming and growing minister of the gospel
in France, Montpelier, France, and these three men who are in
Mexico have no equal. And this church has opened its
heart and opened your hands to these men again and again and
again. In Matthew chapter 10, verse
41, our Lord said this, Matthew 10, 41, He that receiveth a prophet
in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. And
he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous
man shall receive a righteous man's reward. And whosoever shall
give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water
only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall
in no wise lose his reward. I am so grateful for the missionary
program that God has given to us, to this church, for the missionary
burden which you have and the zeal which you have and your
generosity in regard to these dear men and their families.
And they have struggles and trials of which we know nothing. We need to continue to hold them
up in prayer, but this is no small thing. I'm just touching
the high points now. In the fifth place, and finally,
as I thought about these nineteen years and what the Lord hath
done, He hath given us, God hath given us a fellowship of love. Gossip is unknown in this as
far as I can determine. I think I would know as pastor
if it existed. Grudges between the membership
is unknown in this church. Arguments and division, I believe
if such existed that I certainly would be aware of it, but I can
truthfully say before God tonight, God is my witness. I know nothing.
If it exists, it's well hid. I know nothing of any division
or strife or discord or arguments in this church. The members of
this church do not find fault with one another, but they weep
with those that weep, they rejoice with those who rejoice. Divisions
are not named among this congregation. I believe it can be said of this
church as a whole behold how they love one another. Now in all of this, I think every one of us who have
any spiritual understanding at all are led to say with Mephibosheth,
as we consider the gift of his grace in the knowledge of the
gospel, as we consider the gift of his
grace in the privilege of supporting the men that we support, as we
consider the responsibility and the wonderful privilege of being
ambassadors for Christ and bearing the good news, not only here
but in Judea, Samaria, to the uttermost parts of the earth,
as we consider this fellowship of sincere, warm, Christian love. I think in all of it we are led
to say with Mephibosheth O Lord, what is thy servant, that thou
shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? Or say with the Apostle Paul,
as he said to the Corinthians, Who maketh thee to differ? What
hast thou that thou didst not receive? It's all a gift, it
is not merited, it is not earned, it is not deserved, It is a gift
of God's free grace bestowed upon whom He pleases. And I think
we can also say with the Apostle Paul, God certainly in this case
has chosen the foolish things. God certainly in this case has
chosen to manifest His grace to the base, to the things which
are despised, yea, in their own eyes, to the things which are
not. And if God is able to accomplish
anything through this pastor and through these people, it
is certainly God who does it, because there's no material with
which to begin the task. And we can say also with the
Apostle Paul, who is Paul? Who is Apollos? We sow, we plant, we water, but
it's God who gives the increase. and without him we can do nothing. Then, preacher, is there nothing
to fear? Is there nothing to be concerned
about? Yes, there is. We know the gospel. God has given us a strong gospel-preaching,
gospel-believing God has raised up missionaries
and sent them here, and we have, under his leadership and by his
Spirit, been faithful to his call. And we have a fellowship
of love. Is there then nothing to fear? Yes, David spoke of it. Turn
to Psalms 51. There is something I don't know
whether the word fear is the right word or not. Concern, maybe
that's the word. Anxiety. Whatever it is, I have it. David
said in Psalm 51 verse 11, Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me." He was concerned about
it. Cast me not away from thy presence,
and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. Isaiah spoke about it. Turn to Isaiah 29. This is the
thing of which we don't care, men. We're not courting that
pleasure of men or the praise of men or the popularity of men. We're seeking God's presence
and God's faith and God's fellowship. But we fear. I think Paul talked
about this when he said, I come in fear and trembling. And Isaiah
wrote of it, Isaiah 29, verse 9. Listen to it. The Lord say
to yourselves and wonder, cry ye out and cry. They're but not
with wine. They stagger, but not with strong
drink. For the Lord hath poured out
upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes. The prophets and your rulers,
the seers, hath and the vision of all is become unto you as
the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that
is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee. And he said, I cannot.
I cannot. It's sealed. The Lord hath poured out upon
you the spirit of a deep sleep." Jeremiah lamented it, turned
to the lamentations. of Jeremiah. In the Lamentations
of Jeremiah, listen to what he writes in chapter 2, verse 9. In chapter 2, verse 9, it says,
Her gates are sunk into the ground. He hath destroyed and broken
her bars. Her king and her princes are
among the Gentiles. The law is no more. Her prophets
also find no vision, no message from the Lord. Open the book and read it to
us. I can't. It's sealed. Bring us a message
from the Lord. There isn't any. Micah wrote about it. Turn to
the little book of Micah. It says over here in Micah, chapter
3, verse 7. This is a frightening scripture
here, too. In Micah 3, verse 7, Then shall
the seers, that is, the wise men, be ashamed, and the diviners
confounded. Yea, they shall all cover their
lips, for there is no answer from God. The word of there is
from. There is no answer from God. And then in my text tonight,
Amos wrote about it. Listen to it. Amos 8, verse 11. Behold, the days come, and I fear this more than I fear
communism, more than I fear socialism, more than I fear Catholicism,
more than I fear any kind of ism in all the world, that I'll
send a famine in the land. Not a famine of bread. That wouldn't
hurt us too much. Not a thirst for water. but of
hearing the word of the Lord." No answer from God. No message
from God. What does this famine mean? It
may come to a nation, it may come to a city, it may come to
a church, it may come to an individual,
it may come to a minister, it may come to me. If there were
no possibility of it, I'd have no anxiety about it. I know something
about it. Number one, I know this famine
will mean this. It won't stop us from preaching,
but if a famine of the Word of God exists, religion goes on,
religion goes on. Nothing stops religion. People
keep on assembling and meeting and The first thing that happens
is ministers preach, but they preach without the power of God. From the pulpit goes forth cold,
dead, lifeless doctrine. And men preach to the head and
not to the heart, and our voices become the only voices that men
hear. They don't hear from God. They
only hear our monotonous, repetitious, lifeless, cold, argumentative
voices. And then secondly, when a famine
of the Word of God comes, whether to the church or to the individual,
the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's Supper are observed.
Nothing stops that. We go right on. But these sacred
and precious and solemn ordinances are observed without the presence
of the Lord. They become, like the temple
sacrifices, meaningless. They become, like the temple
sacrifices without Christ, just ceremonies, just rituals through
which we pass. And then Turn to Luke chapter
2. When a famine of the Word of
God exists, assemblies gather on the Lord's Day. Nothing keeps
them from getting together. If attendance begins to drop
off, we'll have some special day, and that'll bring them back
out again. But assemblies gather on the
Lord's Day, but Christ is not in their midst. and they go right
on without him, most of the time not knowing that he isn't there.
It says in Luke chapter 2 verse 43, And when they had fulfilled
the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in
Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they,
supposing him to have been in their company, went a day's journey,
and then they sought him among their kinfolks and acquaintance.
And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem,
seeking him. A day's journey. They traveled
without the Lord. A day's journey in the Bible
oftentimes refers to a whole life. Life is but a day's journey. And there are people who travel
through their entire lifetime supposing, supposing, supposing
that Christ is in their midst, and he's not there at all. Here
the family of the Lord, Joseph and Mary, traveled a whole day's
journey, and at the end of the journey they began to look for
him, and he hadn't been with them at all. They'd been traveling
without him. And this is what happens in the
famine of the Word of God. People go through the motions
of worship and the motions of church business, supposing that
the Lord is with them. He's not there at all. And then
the fourth thing that happens when there's a famine of the
Word of God, whether in a private life or whether in the church,
the Word of God is read, but with no application to the heart. What profit is there in caring
about a Bible if the words of that book are not applied to
my heart? What profit is there in reading
the Bible if the word is not made alive by the Spirit of God
to my understanding? Paul said in Romans 10, 10, "...with
the heart man believeth unto righteousness." With the heart
we believe unto righteousness. When a famine of the Word of
God exists, the Bible is read, and it's nothing but words, words,
words. There's no life. There's no application
to the heart. There's no stirring of the spirit.
There's no weeping of the eyes. There's no kindling of the fires
of consecration. There's no feeling of the presence
of God. It's just words. And then, when a famine exists,
The formality of prayer is kept up. It's too bad when there's
a famine that we cannot just fall on our faces before God
and weep, but we carry on the formality of prayer. But there's
no confession of sin, there's no pleading to God, There's no
pleading for his mercy and pleading for his grace. I want you to
listen to a prayer here in the Word of God. Listen to this as
I read something of this prayer. Lord God of Israel, there is
no God like Thee in heaven above or on earth beneath, who keepeth
covenant and mercy with our servants that walk before Thee with all
their hearts. Will God indeed dwell on the
earth? Behold, the heaven and heavens
of heaven cannot contain thee, how much less this house that
we have built. Yet hast thou respect unto the
prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God. To hearken unto the cry and to
the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day,
O God, that thine eyes may be opened toward this house day
and night, even toward this place of which thou hast said, My name
shall be there, that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which
thy servant shall make towards thee. And hearken thou to the
supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when
they pray toward this place. And hear thou in heaven, and,
Lord, when thou hearest forgive. Isn't that beautiful? But when
there's a famine of the Word of God, we have the formality
of prayer. We have the words, we have the repetitions, but
we don't have the Spirit. Now, my friends, there is no
necessary connection between the means of grace and grace. No necessary connection, I say. You can have the means without
grace, just like you can have clouds without rain. Well, I've
seen days when you go outside and it's so dark, and the clouds
are so heavy, and they're so low, and the ground is so dry
and parched and broken open, and the grass is burning and
brown and dying, and the vegetables are dying, and you look up and
say, it's going to rain, sure as the world. Those are rain
clouds. Yeah, those are rain clouds, but it may not rain.
And I've seen it pass right on over. And even so, we can have
all the means of grace, this Bible, the gospel of Jesus Christ,
a church, pews, altars, hymn books, organs, pianos, special
music. We can have all these things,
missionaries, Bible conferences, special speakers. We can have
all these means and have no grace, no rain, if God's not there. That's the
reason David said, O God, take not thy Holy Spirit from me. That's the reason Micah trembled
and said, There's no message from the Lord. That's the reason
Amos feared when he says, There's coming a day when there'll be
a famine, not of bread, not of thirst for water, but of hearing
the word of God. Now, how does this famine manifests
itself to the individual. Well, I'll tell you what I believe. First of all, we are in trouble. We are in
serious trouble. I am, you are. A famine is developing
when we begin to experience no benefit from the Word of God. Now, my friends, when the Word
of God ceases to convict me, and I don't mean a conviction
that is like the morning dew. I mean a conviction that remains,
and leads me to cry, I am not worthy to be an apostle. I am
less than the least of all the saints. I am the chief of sinners. A conviction that abides, and
a conviction that remains, and a conviction that constantly
strips me. When the Word of God ceases to
rebuke me, when the Word of God ceases to burn in my heart, when
the Word of God ceases to cause me to rejoice in Christ, when
the Word of God ceases to bring me afresh and anew to Calvary,
to lay myself there at the feet of Christ, to worship and adore
Him, to rejoice in Him, then the Holy Spirit is not speaking.
God always speaks through his word, and if the word of God
is not speaking to me, God's not speaking to me. And a man
or a woman or a young person is in real trouble when this
book brings no benefit to the heart. And then secondly, we are in
real trouble, serious trouble. A famine is developing when we
feel satisfied with our progress, when we begin to feel satisfied
with our knowledge. We've memorized a few scriptures,
we've learned a few doctrines, we've preached some sermons,
and we have arrived at a position in theology And we can sit back
with Israel and say, we're the Lord's people. God is our God. Brother Mahan is our pastor,
13th Street Baptist Church is our church. We're a missionary
church, we're a gospel preaching church, we believe the truth.
But the individual is not seeking, he is not studying, He is not
striving. He is not, as the violent, storming
the gates of the kingdom, because it's become a wearisome task.
The hunger and the thirst are gone. What more is there in John
3.16 for me? What more is there in Ephesians
chapter 1 for me? I believe predestination. I believe election. I believe
sovereignty. I believe God's on the throne. I'm not a hungering, panting
deer seeking the water brooks. I'm not a thirsty, broken sinner
seeking a word of comfort. I'm not anymore in need of mercy,
mercy, mercy at the back door of God's grave. I'm somebody. We're in trouble. We're in serious trouble. And
we are in trouble when we begin to criticize and define thought. We've got time on our hands.
We sit in judgment upon those who have not made the spiritual
progress which we have made. One time we were less than the
least of all the saints, but now we've assumed the seat of
judge. We judge men's principles, with
judge men's actions, with judge men's hides. And we're in serious trouble
when we can absent ourselves from the worship of God and the
hearing of God's Word without feeling a sense of dreadful,
terrible loss. Turn to Psalms 84, verse 10. Listen to a man who wrote the
Scriptures. Listen to a man who governed
in the kingdom of God. Listen to a man who was the sweet
psalmist of Israel. Listen to David as he cries in
Psalms 84.10, A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. I had rather be a doorkeeper
in the house of my God than to dwell in the tents of the wicked. When we come to the place when
a day in God's house is not the most precious, wonderful experience,
to hear His gospel, rejoice with His people, and firmly clasp
the hand of one who loves the confess our sins, and praise
his name, and rejoice in his mercy. When we come to the place
when that is not something to which we look forward more than
any other experience, we're in trouble. And there are a lot of people
in trouble tonight, a lot of them. We can be in a
famine and not know it. Because it's not a famine of
bread, it's not a famine of thirst. It's a time when there's no message
from God. It's a time when we go a day's
journey supposing him to be in our midst, and he's not there. My greatest conflict in preaching
is not to face a congregation. That doesn't bother me. standing
up before people since I was 13 years old. That doesn't bother
me. Reading publicly is no problem
with me. When I was 15 years old, I won
the oratorical contest in our high school in Birmingham, Alabama. That's no problem. But the thing I fear more than
anything this side of hell is to get up here without God's
and to try to pray and to try to preach and to try to read
God's Word and try to go through the motions of the ministry without
the Lord. Now, that's something I don't
want any part of. And I solemnly promise you that
if that day ever comes, I'll certainly help you find a new
preacher. And that's the thing I fear for
myself and fear for you. God, take not thy Holy Spirit
from me. I don't want to be in the midst
of a famine and not know it, do you? I don't want to go through
the motions. God killed more people in the
church than he ever did anywhere else, trying to carry on this
business of religion without the Spirit. And then, my friends, the famine
is complete when the Word of God becomes to us only a source
from which we prove our own salvation. I know I'm saved because it says
right here, the famine's complete. When we use the Bible, not as
a source of life, not as a source of communication with God, not
as a source of communion with God, not as a source of finding
His will, but we use the Bible as a source of controversy, an
argument to prove our point, or prove our doctrine, or even
prove our own salvation. God gave me what I deserve, He'd
send me to hell. You would you do? We're not to use this precious
blessed book as a foundation for argument and controversy
and on which to build some sort of religious program. We're to
use this blessed living book to find God. To find God. God speak to me in the day of
my trouble. I will call upon thee, O God,
answer me." Answer me. Well, how can this famine be
prevented? Well, let's go back to Psalm
51. Let's see how David handled it. I think he came face to face
with this problem. I don't know when this was. Some
people seem to think they do. Possibly they do. But I think
he gives us here So insight into how this famine can be prevented. First of all, I would give you
six things briefly. First of all, in verse 2 and
3, humbly confess our sins and our
unworthiness. Don't cover your sins and cover
your iniquity and cover your unworthiness. Confess it. David
says, verse 3, I acknowledge my transgressions. My sin is
ever before me. That's the thing to do. God resists
at the proud. A proud heart is like a brittle
stick. It's easily broken. but a broken
spirit will bend under the wind of God's wrath and under the
wind of God's judgment. And pride goeth before destruction,
and a haughty spirit before a terrible fall. And here this man of God,
King of all Israel, humbly cries out unto his God, I acknowledge
my transgression. My sin is ever before thee."
You can't go wrong there. If we confess our sin, He's faithful
and just to forgive us our sin. I confessed my sin yesterday.
You have more today, don't you? And your employment tomorrow
will be to confess your sin. And the higher you climb, the
more sins you'll see. And the nearer you get to the
light of God, the more sins you'll see. The more you know about
him, the more you know of yourself. And then secondly, to avoid this
famine, not only confess my sins, but justify God in his condemnation. He's right. If he withholds his
presence, then he's right to do it. A woman in Birmingham,
Alabama, was a member of the Church for years and years and
years. She worked in the WMU and the
GAs and the YWAs and the B2U and the Sunday school and the
choir and everything they had to offer, everywhere but at home.
And God smote her down with cancer, and she was lying on the bed.
A preacher came to see her, and she looked up at him, and she
said, Now this is the thanks I get for all I've done for God. Well, I tell you, if God sends
me to hell, He'll do what's right. Do you believe that? I do. If
God takes His Holy Spirit from me, that's all right. I deserve
it, but I don't want it. That's what David's doing here
in verse 4. He said, when you judge me." That's what
David said, perfectly clear. I'm never going to charge God
with folly. Job wouldn't. Scripture said when God permitted
Satan to take everything that man had, he did not charge God
with foolishness. I don't care what God does to
us, He's just in whatever He does. Do you believe that? I guarantee you, here's one way
to keep God's Spirit. You clear God if he's pleased
to take him away. Here's one way to keep God's
presence. You justify God if he's pleased to remove it. Here's
one way to receive mercy. You own the fact you don't deserve
it. And then the third thing, find
out where true holiness lies and abide. Psalm 51, 6. Look
here, Lord, thou desirest truth in the inward part. That's where
we've got to go to work. And in the hidden part thou shalt
make me to know wisdom, right spirit, right attitude, right
motive. Verse 10, creating me a clean
heart, O God, renew a right spirit within me." Verse 17, the sacrifices
of God are broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart, O God,
thou wilt not despise. We got to find out where God
works if we want to see God works. And then the fourth thing, look
to Christ and his blood alone. Verse 7, purge me with hyssop,
that's what he's talking about here, and I shall be clean. Wash me, wash me, Lord, and I
shall be whiter than the snow. Though your sins be as scarlet,
I'll make them as white as snow. And then in the fifth place,
use the means of grace. to confess Christ, to witness
and to praise him. Look at verse 12. Verse 13, Then
will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted
unto thee. Verse 15, Open thou my lips,
and my mouth shall show forth thy praise. I don't mean to be critical,
but as you were singing a moment ago, of course I had this message
on my heart and my mind when I came in here, prepared it today. But you didn't praise the Lord
too much, did you? Most of you didn't praise him
at all. But David says here, O Lord, open my lips, and my
mouth shall show forth thy praise. And then the last thing, above
all things, if we want to avoid a famine, if we want to avoid
these conditions that I have mentioned tonight, we're going
to have to acknowledge the source of all of our life and of our
salvation and the source of all grace. Now, you listen to David
here. I'm just going to check several verses, beginning at
verse 6. And beginning at verse 7, he's
talking to the Lord. You purge me with hyssop, and
I shall be clean. You wash me, and I'll be white. You make me to hear joy and gladness. O Lord, verse 10, you create
in me a clean heart. O God, you renew within me a
right spirit. O God, verse 11, you cast me
not away from your presence, and you take not your Holy Spirit
from me. O Lord, verse 12, you restore
unto me the joy of thy salvation, you uphold me with thy free spirit. I know 99% of the preaching that
you hear today says a few words about God and then begins to
talk to the sinner about doing something for the Lord. But this
man David knew that the source of all grace and the source of
all mercy is the throne of grace. Let's never forget that. We're
nothing but vessels and that is empty vessels. Oh Lord fill
them. We come here with empty hands. We come here with empty pockets. We come here, O God, seeking
a refreshing from above. We come here with nothing but
a thirst, quenched, with nothing but a hunger, satisfied. We don't
bring anything. He gives it all. He's the supplier
of our every need. Our Father, we pray for this
church. We pray for this pastor. We pray
for the elders of this church. We pray for the deacons. We pray
for every member of this church. Oh God, let every one of us,
deep in our heart, realize our own responsibility. Oh God, bring
not a famine to any individual. Most of all, not to this place,
the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep us in the dust. Break us, humble us. Oh Lord,
give us a broken spirit, a contrite heart. Crush us and bruise us
and bring us low in the dust at our feet. Humble us as we've
never been humble. Empty us as we've never been
emptied. Show us our total and complete dependence upon Thee
for all things. Shed abroad in our hearts abundantly
Thy precious love. Help us to love Thee with all
our hearts. And, O God, help us to love one
another. Make room in our hearts for every
child of the living God. Help us to love one another as
we love ourselves. Help us to put one another before
ourselves. Oh God, we pray for this assembly. We pray for this church. We want
so much to bring glory and honor and praise to the wonderful name
of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We want to be used of
Thee for His glory, not for our own. Whatever it takes to hide
us and to cover us and to put us in the background, do that.
But get glory to His matchless name. Use us to bless people
and to strengthen them in the faith. Revive thy work, O Lord,
in the midst of these days. We thank Thee for the years that
we've had together. We thank Thee for every trial.
We thank Thee for every heartache. We thank Thee for every time
of joy and refreshing. We thank Thee, O Lord, for every
mercy and every blessing. Thine is the glory, the Lord
has built the house. Now lead us in days to come,
most of all chiefly Do not leave us to ourselves. Let us not depend
upon and wait upon human wisdom, but let us look to the Holy Spirit
for his leadership. Bless the families and the children
and the moms and dads in this church. Make us one, complete,
united family in the Lord Jesus Christ. Save sinners. Bring our friends to the knowledge
of Christ. We thank Thee for those whom
Thou hast revealed, to whom Thou hast revealed Christ. Brought
them to love Him and to know Him and to rejoice in Him. Our Father, make this gospel
effectual to some more. If it please Thee, if it can
bring glory to Thy name. We ask it all in the name of
our Savior and for His praise. Amen.