Here in the eighth chapter of
the Book of Acts was what I suppose you'd call
a heathen man. He was in charge of the treasure
of the Queen of Ethiopia, but he had some spiritual or
religious interest, for he'd been to Jerusalem to worship.
and he had a copy of the Old Testament scriptures. Evidently he was not satisfied
with what he found in Jerusalem. On the way back from Jerusalem,
going home through the desert, he was reading the book of Isaiah,
studying, searching the scriptures. The Lord sent Philip, who was
a deacon in the church, to minister to this man and Philip joined
himself to the chariot, walking alongside the chariot. This man
was sitting up in the chariot reading Isaiah 53. He was reading
that passage of Scripture that talks about our Lord's crucifixion.
He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace
was upon him and by his stripes we are healed. Evidently he was
reading aloud. Anyway, Philip looked up at him
and he said, do you understand what you're reading? No, he said,
I don't, I really don't. But how can I, except somebody
instruct me, somebody show me. So Philip climbed up in the chariot
and sat down beside him. And he began at that same scripture,
and there could be no better scripture to preach the need
of man, the inability of man. The gift of God's love, God's
grace and mercy, and the gift of his Son. The substitutionary
work of the Son of God on Calvary, bearing our sins, our guilt. As Brother Brown prayed a moment
ago, he who knew no sin was made sin for us, identified with us,
became, as he said, one of us, numbered with the transgressors.
bore our guilt and filth and shame on that cross and died
in our place and in our stead. And evidently the eunuch was
made to rejoice in that. It thrilled him. And evidently
Philip also told him that people who believed on Christ and received
Christ followed him in believer's baptism. They publicly identified
themselves with the Savior. They publicly confessed their
faith and confidence in the Savior. They publicly identified themselves
with Him in His sufferings, and in His death, and in His burial,
and in His resurrection by faith. And so they came to a large body
of water as the caravan moved through the desert. Here was
an oasis evidently. Here was a body of water. And
the eunuch said, well, here's water. What doth hinder me from
being baptized? Now you listen to this statement.
In verse 37, Philip said, If thou believest, if thou believest
with thine heart, if thou believest with thine heart, those, or that,
is the condition, and the only condition. Not if you've grieved
long enough, if you've been convicted long enough, if you've suffered
long enough, if you've seen a vision, if you've had an experience,
if you've promised to hold out, if you've promised to join the
church, if you've promised to serve God the rest of your life,
if thou believest. If thou believest. Scripture
says, he that believeth on the Son of God hath life. This is
the record that God has given to us eternal life, and this
life is in His Son, and these things are written to you that
you might believe on the name of His Son. Turn with me to Mark,
chapter 9. Let me show you another illustration.
Mark, the ninth chapter. Beginning reading with verse
17. Mark 9, 17. And one of the multitude answered
and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my Son. which hath
a dumb spirit." Mark 9, 17. Here you have the disease. The
disease is there, the need is there, the trouble is there.
And wheresoever he taketh him, this dumb spirit, he tarreth
him, and he foameth and gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away.
There you have the disease. Some type, some form of convulsion
Evidently the boy couldn't speak, a dumb spirit, a spirit that
cast him about on the ground and he foamed at the mouth and
gnashed with his teeth, it gripped his whole being. The disease
is there. Now what's the next line? And
I speak to thy disciples that they should cast him out, and
they could not. There you have inability, human
inability demonstrated. Here's the disease, and here's
the human inability. I can't do anything about it.
I'm sure he'd had him to every position in the whole area, and
they couldn't do anything about it. And I took him to your disciples
and the church and the pastor and the priest. They couldn't
do anything about it. And our Lord answered and said,
O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long
shall I suffer you? Bring him to me. And they brought
him to Christ. And when he saw him straightway,
the Spirit tear him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming.
And he asked the Father, he said, how long is it ago since this
came upon him? How long has this disease been
upon him? And he said, since he was a child,
from birth, born in sin. That's us, born in iniquity.
The disease is there. It's been there a long time.
It's from birth. We were shaped in iniquity, conceived
in sin. And we've gone to the front of
the church, and the mourner's bench, and the baptismal waters,
and the sacraments, and the communion, and the law, and good works.
We've tried all these positions. We've tried all these human aids,
and human helps, and human recipes, and human plans, and none of
them have worked. The preacher couldn't heal me,
and the church couldn't heal me, and the sacraments couldn't
heal me, and the law couldn't heal me. Lord, bring him to you.
And oft times, the Father said, it cast him into the fire and
into the waters to destroy him. But if thou canst do anything,
have compassion on us and help us. And Jesus said, if thou canst
believe. Here's the disease. Here's the
human inability demonstrated. Here's the need and the concern,
and here's the master, the one who can do it, no question about
it. What stand between the boy and complete healing? What stand
between the boy and complete salvation? What stand between
the boy and complete deliverance? One thing. Faith. Can you believe? The Lord Jesus
didn't ask the father to give him all the money he had. He
didn't ask the father to sign a pledge card. He didn't ask
the father to dedicate his life to the ministry. He didn't ask
the father to vow that he would be a member of the church all
the days of his life. He said, can you believe? Can
you believe? That's what Philip said to the
Ethiopian eunuch. What does hinder me from being
baptized? What does hinder me from being
identified with Christ? What does hinder me from being
a child of God? What does hinder me from being
a part of the kingdom? Do you believe? Do you believe? And here the father stands there
and looks upon his boy wallowing on the ground, and evidently
biting his tongue or swallowing his tongue, and the foam running
down his face, and, Master, help him! Help him! You can do it!
I can't do it! The people, help him! Do you
believe? All things are possible to him
that believeth. Let me show you another one.
Turn to Mark, chapter 5. Mark, the fifth chapter. Let's
read beginning with verse 25, Mark 5, 25. What I'm saying to
you this morning is it all comes down to one thing. It all comes
down to one question. Do you believe? That's the very heart of it.
That's the very rock bottom of it. That is, as we say in today's
language, the nitty gritty of it. That's the very basis of
it. Do you believe? In Mark chapter 5 verse 25, and
a certain woman which had an issue of blood twelve years,
that's a long time, to hemorrhage and to bleed and to suffer. Twelve
years. Been a long time. It's a long
period of suffering. And she had suffered many things
of many physicians. She tried Dr. Reform and Dr. Orthodoxy and Dr. Law and Dr. Do the Best You Can and Dr. Sacrament. She tried all of them.
And she'd spent all she had. She'd spent her time, she'd spent
her money, she'd spent her effort, she'd spent everything, and wasn't
any better. Actually, she was worse. Brethren,
when you have a spiritual disease, and when you have a spiritual
darkness, and when you have a spiritual deadness, and when you're separated
from God, when you go to the wrong physician, you don't get
help, you get hurt. Well, it doesn't matter what
church we go to or what we hear, just so we're sincere, it does
matter, too. You can come off a lot worse
off, did you know that? A man with no refuge at all is
better off than a man who's got a false refuge and thinks he's
protected. And this woman was worse. She'd
tried all these quacks, all these phony positions, and she was
not better. Actually, they had hurt her.
They had hurt her. They had made her worse. Her
disease was worse. These human hands reaching in
upon this disease had actually made it worse. And when she heard
of Jesus, and that's how people come in contact with the Lord
Jesus Christ, they hear about him. Whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they call
on him in whom they've not believed, and how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? You're not going to have any
salvation without the preaching of the gospel. A man's got to
hear about Jesus. A man cannot trust an unrevealed
Christ. He cannot trust a Christ he doesn't
know, of whom he has not heard. And when she heard the gospel,
when she heard the good news, the glad tidings, she came in
the press behind him and just reached out and touched his garment.
For she said, this is faith, for she said, may touch but his
clothes I shall behold." And the scripture says straightway,
immediately, the fountain of her blood was dried up, and she
felt strength and power, as Christ said, power has gone out of me
into somebody. I felt it leave me, who touched
me. Look down at verse thirty-three. The woman, fearing and trembling,
and knowing what was done in her, some great miracle had been
performed, came and fell down before him and told him the truth.
She said, I touched you. And the Master said, Daughter,
thy faith hath made thee whole. That's all. Thy faith. The disease was there. It had
been there a long time. Human failure was evident. Human
failure, human failure had been demonstrated again and again
and again. They had tried, they had worked
on her, they hadn't helped her, they had made her worse. And
finally her faith brought her to the Master, and she reached
out. Reach out and touch the Lord.
You can't touch Him with these hands now, but you can touch
Him with the hand of faith. Reach out and touch the Lord
while He passes by. You'll find He's not too busy
to hear your hearts cry. He's passing by this moment your
need to supply. So whatever it is, reach out
and touch the Lord. The covenant of grace is just
that, it's grace. The gift of God's love is just
that, it's a gift. The gospel of mercy is just that,
it's mercy. But this grace and this gift
and this mercy can only be received by faith, no other way. the man who preaches the gospel
for fifty years and pastors the greatest church in the world
and sees multiplied thousands upon thousands of people come
to Christ under his ministry, or the thief on the cross who
in the dying hour or dying moment of his life reached out with
faith to touch Christ. The minister who brings by his
ministry through God's grace thousands to Christ gets into
the kingdom of God the same way that thief got in. By faith. By faith. There can be no vital
union with Christ except by faith. Take your Bibles and turn with
me first of all to the book of Galatians. Let me show you something
here. The importance of faith. Without
faith, no union with Christ. It says in Galatians 3 verse
24. The law was our schoolmaster
to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
But after faith is come, we're no longer under a schoolmaster,
for ye are all children of God by faith." By faith. By faith in Christ Jesus. Our Lord said life and resurrection
is by faith. He said to Mary and to Martha,
He that believeth on me, Though he were dead, yet shall he live."
One of these days they're going to put you and me in the grave.
Do you want out of that grave? Do you know how to get out of
that grave? Believe. That's right. Do you want to know how? You
say, I want to be one with Christ. I want to be vitally, intimately,
personally united with Christ. I want to partake of Christ's
glory and blessing. You get in Christ by faith. You
don't get in Christ by faithfulness to the church. You don't get
in Christ by faithfulness in giving. You don't get in Christ
by faithfulness in morality. You get in Christ Jesus by faith
in Him. Sanctifications by faith. They
are sanctified by faith. Salvation by faith. I am not
ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. We're justified by faith. The
scripture says, with the heart man believeth unto righteousness. You say, I want a perfect standing
before God. I want a perfect holiness before
God. I want a perfect record before
God. You know how to get it? By faith. Believe. Believe. The Spirit is received by faith.
Received either Spirit by the works of the law or by faith.
Perseverance is by faith. We're kept by the power of God
through faith. That's what the Galatians thought.
They thought what people think today, that you get in the kingdom
of God by believing on Jesus Christ, and then the rest of
the way is plug away, boy. Hold on for your dear life. Hope
that you keep the faith. Hope that you stay in the church.
We're kept by the power of God through faith. The crown of life
is by faith. Paul says, I've kept the faith,
therefore there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.
Without faith, it's impossible to please God. All right, let
me ask this question. What is faith? What is faith? I'm thoroughly convinced by these
illustrations I've given you this morning. The Ethiopian eunuch
riding along. I know the Spirit of God took
Philip and put him there. And if he brought him there,
he inspired his words. And he said to the Ethiopian
eunuch, if you believe. That's it. And I know my Lord
Jesus Christ, when he said to that centurion, that father of
the dumb child, and the wallowing, foaming child, when he said to
him, If you can believe, all things are possible to them that
believe. And he said to the woman who touched his garment, she
belonged to nobody's church, she had done, far as I know,
no good deeds. She came and touched Christ by
faith, and he said, Daughter, thy faith hath saved thee. It comes down to that one thing,
faith. And all the way through the Bible
I find that union with Christ, life, resurrection, sanctification,
salvation, justification, righteousness, the Holy Spirit, perseverance,
and the crown of life, all by faith. And faith alone, the only
condition is faith. The key that unlocks every door,
the key that admits me into God's very presence, the key that makes
me a child of God is faith. I've got to find out what it
is. All right, turn to Romans 10. Let's see what it is. Romans
10. Romans 10, 16 and 17. First of all, first of all, the
very first and chief characteristic of faith is that it rests entirely
and confidently on the Word of God. Now listen to it. Romans
10, 16. They have not all obeyed the
gospel, that's for sure, isn't it? Most of them haven't obeyed
the gospel, haven't received the gospel. For Isaiah said,
Lord, who hath believed our report? They don't believe it. They believe
their traditions. They believe their scientific
findings. They believe these things, but
they don't believe my report, my record. So then, this faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Isaiah said these people
haven't believed. You know why they haven't believed?
Because they haven't received our record, our report. This
is the record right here. This is my word. God said heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my word shall never pass away. Faith cometh by hearing. Faith
cometh by receiving. Faith cometh by believing. Faith
cometh by accepting His Word. There's no other way for faith
to come. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God and is profitable for doctrine, for correction, for
reproof, for instruction in the way of life. This is the record
right here. Faith, the very first The very
chief characteristic of faith is that it accepts completely
and wholly and entirely and confidently this Word right here, and believes
it. And believes it. Noah, living in a day when the
rain had never fallen, God watered the earth another way. Never
had rain. Never had been a flood. Never
had been a river overflow its banks. God came to Noah and said,
Noah, there's going to be a flood. My spirit shall not always strive
with man. His days shall be a hundred and
twenty years. Now you build an ark, and you'll save yourself
and your wife and your three sons and their wives. Your family
shall be saved. So Noah, being warned of God,
moved with fear and prepared an ark to the salvation of his
family. Upon what did Noah base his faith? Upon what was it built? What
was the foundation of it? God told him something, and he
believed. And that's the only evidence.
Christ said, No sign shall be given, only the sign of Jonah
and the fish. The Word of God. No sign shall
be given. No evidence shall be given. You're
going to believe the Word, or you're not going to believe at
all. Moses said, to Pharaoh and to
the people of Egypt. God's going to send a grievous
hail on this land, thus saith the Lord. God's going to rain
a grievous hail upon this land. Now, if you want your cattle
and your workmen to live through it, to survive, then you bring
them in and put them in a shelter, because it's going to come down
a hail that will kill and destroy and break everything it hits. Now the people who believed were
the people who received the report, the word of God. They brought
in their cattle and they brought in their people and they were
saved. But those who did not receive
it and those who did not believe it left them out and they died.
Faith is just that plain and just that simple. It is based
upon this book right here. It's not the visions I see. It's
not the feelings that I have. It's not the argument of or wisdom
of a man. Faith is based on this book right
here. He hath said so that we may boldly
say. He hath said I will never leave
thee nor forsake thee so we can boldly say the Lord is my shepherd. How do you know a preacher he
said so? Secondly, faith, the first characteristic of faith,
is that it rests confidently and entirely and completely on
this word right here. That's the evidence of faith,
that's the foundation of faith, that's the essence of faith,
that's the reason for faith. This book. And when you put a
question mark upon this book, your faith is smashed, your faith
is gone. The foundations swept away. Secondly,
faith has one object. Faith hath one object, he that
believeth on the Son. He that believeth on the Son.
Faith looks to Christ as very God of very God. Now, my friends,
I have no doubt whatsoever about the Deity of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is God incarnate. And my faith bows before the
throne of Jesus Christ just as readily as it bows before the
throne of God the Father. As far as I'm concerned, equal
glory and equal honor and equal praise is due unto Christ as
unto the Father. I have no trouble whatsoever.
My faith bows before Jesus Christ as God, very God of very God. who was in the beginning with
God, who was God, by whom all things were made. My faith looks
to Christ not only as God, but my faith beholds him as a man. It receives and believes his
virgin birth, his incarnation. It receives and believes him
to be the King of heaven who became a man, who robed himself
in the likeness of sinful flesh. who walked this earth in the
flesh, barefooted, for thirty-three and a half years, and endured
every temptation that we are called upon to endure, yet without
sin. My faith beholds his perfect
righteousness in the flesh. The God-man obeyed the law, obeyed
the Father with a perfect righteousness without flaw. My faith looks
upon him as the substitute, and here's the peak of the whole
message. The one on that cross is not a martyr, he's not an
example, he's not a superstar, he's the Lord of glory who died
to design death for design people at the design time. He was victorious. He knew where he came from, he
knew what he came to do, and he knew where he was going every
moment of the day. He was the king when he created
this world, he was the king when he was in the virgin's womb,
he was the king when he was walking the shores of Galilee, and he
was the king on that cross. He never ceased to be the king.
He was the king in the tomb, and he's the king at the right
hand of the Father. And faith that cannot look upon
Christ as God, as man, as a perfect righteousness, as a substitute,
and now as a high priest, is not faith at all. You say, where
do you learn all this about Christ? Right here. You don't learn it
walking through the woods, looking at the stars. You don't learn
it walking through the park, admiring the animals. You learn
it, that's the reason I said the very essence of faith and
foundation of faith is the Word of God. Faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. Here's where you learn it, right
here. And faith looks upon Christ as our High Priest who hath entered
into the Holy of Holies to obtain eternal redemption for us. That's the only faith that saves.
He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father that
sent him. No man can bypass Christ and
get to heaven. No man can bypass Christ and
get to glory. No man can bypass Christ and
get to the Father. Now watch it, and no man can
bypass the cross and get to Christ. There is no relationship with
the Father apart from the Son, and there is no relationship
with the Son apart from the cross. And people today can talk about
Jesus this, and Jesus that, and Jesus the example, and Jesus
the peacemaker, and Jesus the teacher. It's Christ the substitute
that saves. And you take out of the cross
its offense. You take out of the cross its
ransom. You take out of the cross its
payment for sin. You take out of the cross its
shame. And you take out of the cross its power. That's right. No way to heaven without going
to God. And there's no way to God without
going to the Son. And there's no way to the Son
without going to the cross. That's right. and ain't no way
getting to the cross without recognizing you're a sinner,
and human nature can't save you, and human instruments can't save
you, and human morality can't save you, and human organizations
can't save you, and you come as a helpless sinner in my hands,
no price I bring, simply to the cross of Christ I cling." I used
to wonder what old man Shelton meant when he said, If you miss
Holy Spirit conviction, you'll miss repentance, and if you miss
repentance, you'll miss faith, and if you miss faith, you'll
miss Christ, and if you miss Christ, you'll miss heaven. It
all starts back there as a broken, guilty, wretched, helpless sinner. You come to Christ of the cross,
and the Christ of the cross introduces you to the Heavenly Father. Now,
Romans 10, I want to show you something else. Faith, first
of all, here's the basis of it, right here, the Word of God. I believe because God says. Secondly,
faith's always in a person, always in a person. The Lord Jesus Christ,
it beholds him in all his office work, in all of his glory, in
his sacred person, in his work as substitute, as high priest.
Now then, but faith is a definite attitude of heart. and it's an
act of the will. It's an act of the will, and
nobody in here believes more than I do about who makes people
willing. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power, and I emphasize the power, whose power it is.
But now, did you ever notice the first part of that verse,
though? Thy people shall be willing. It takes thy power, but they're
willing. They are willing. What did What
did Philip say to that eunuch? If thou believest with all thine
heart. That's right, your heart. Your
heart. The Holy Spirit is not going
to believe for me. He enables me to believe. The Holy Spirit
is not going to confess Christ for me. He reveals Christ to
me. The Holy Spirit is not going
to walk on this earth for me. He's going to enable me to walk
on this earth. God gave Noah instructions about
the ark, and he built the ark, and there he was standing outside,
and the door was open. Here was the ark. God said, Noah,
come in. Come in. He didn't pick him up
with the hair of the head and put him in. He didn't get behind him
and drive him in. He said, come on in. And who
came in? Noah came in. Noah came in willingly. Noah came in because he wanted
to. Noah came in, and the people who stayed out stayed out because
they wanted to stay out. They didn't believe the ark,
they didn't believe the rain, they didn't believe God. Noah
did. And because he believed those things, he came in. And
it says here in Romans 10, look at it. Verse 9, "...if thou shalt
confess with whose mouth..." Let the preacher do it for you.
Let the Holy Spirit do it for you. Let the doctrine of election
do it for you. No, sir. "...if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth..." Jesus to be Lord, and shall believe in thine
heart, God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For
with the heart, his own heart, the heart given him by God, the
heart that's been operated on by the Holy Spirit, the heart
that is the new nature in grace, for with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation." Turn to, hold that right there, and turn to
Acts chapter 2. Now watch this. Peter preached
at Pentecost, and here were wicked sinners, guilty sinners, Christ-hating
sinners, Christ-crucifying sinners, and Peter preached to them. And
it says in verse 37, And when they heard this, when they heard
this, they were pricked in their hearts. Who did it? The Spirit
of God? And they said to Peter and to
the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
What shall we do? I'm guilty. What shall we do?"
And Peter said, repent, repent, and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ. Every one of you. Every one of
you. Confess Christ. Believe on Christ. Look to Christ. Receive Christ. Make a public identification
with Christ. Now let me show you something.
If a man is made a judge, this man that was recently made a
judge in town, Judge Iams resigned after 38 years, and they made
a new man the judge. They're going to bring him in
a public ceremony over which Judge Iams himself will officiate.
That man is going to be the judge. He'll raise his right hand, and
he'll promise publicly, in a public ceremony, to uphold the law. He's identifying himself with
that office, he's taking upon himself that responsibility,
and he's making a public declaration of what he intends to do. There
are young people here who are going to get married. They're
going to come down this aisle and stand before me, and I'm
going to read some vows. Do you promise this? Do you promise
that? And they're going to say before
God and these witnesses, I promise, I take these vows upon myself
I promise to be identified with this person. A degree is conferred
down here in the university, Marshall University, upon a man
who's been studying through the years. They're going to give
him a B.A. or a B.S. or a Ph.D. or some other degree,
and it's done in a public ceremony. That college confers upon that
man a degree, and that college identifies itself publicly with
that man. He's carrying our stamp of approval. They don't do it in secret, they
do it in public. A child is adopted in a family.
Somebody here has no children in your family, and you decide
to adopt a child. You go down to the adoption agency,
and they fill out some papers, and they stand you in front of
a judge. And you promise publicly, not
back in the closet, publicly that you'll take that child into
your home and you'll be a father and mother to that child and
that child will always be yours before the whole world. If you
buy a piece of ground, you're going to build a house, you buy
a piece of ground. They survey that piece of ground,
they write down the measurements and everything, and right down
here in the courthouse, you go down and pay a certain amount
of money, and that piece of ground is publicly and legally, on an
official document, turned over to you. You better not do it
in private either, because there may be a question on it later,
and you can't do it. It's got to be public. Now, in
all of these things, there's public identification, there's
a public declaration. We do it in all things. Yet people
expect me to believe that you can hear the glorious grand gospel
of redemption, how that Christ died for sinners and made us
by his death and by his resurrection and by his sacrifice. Children
of God adopted us into the family of God. We're now in the army
of the King. We're now part of the kingdom
of God. And we sneak in there without
any oath, without any vow, without any promise, without any public
declaration, without any committal. We're just members of Christ
out hunting rabbits in the backfield. You're full of baloney. Now,
you don't get into the kingdom of God that way. No sirree. Christ said, if thou shalt confess
me before men, I'll confess you before the Father which is in
heaven. Peter said to that bunch at Pentecost, repent and be baptized
right down here in this river, confessing before Caesar and
Pilate and Herod and all the rest of them that that Christ
who died on the cross is your King. If thou shalt believe in
thine heart and confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord, thou
shalt be saved. But you're not coming in any
other way. So faith, first of all. is based on this book. I believe the word of God. I
believe the witness of God. My faith, its object, its singular
object, its sole object, is Christ, God, man, substitute, high priest,
redeemer, king. And my faith is going out over
the airwaves. My identification with Christ
is going to be made public in that pool showing his death,
burial, and resurrection. I'm not going to bypass the cross.
I'm going to say to everybody, yes, I believe Christ is my King
and my Lord, but he's my King and my Lord. He became Lord by
his death. He became Lord by his death.
By his death, he purchased me. And I'm not bypassing it. I'm starting right where he's
supposed to start, at the cross, at the death, burial, and resurrection.
I want everybody to know I'm going to be identified with his
people, with his church. Sure, they have their spots,
they have their failures, but I do too. But Christ received
his sinful men. He's the friend of sinners. And
I'm going to be identified with them. I want the world to know.
Have you done that? It's a committal. Paul said, I know whom I have
believed. I am persuaded he's able to keep
that which I've committed to him against that day. Don, you lead us in a closing
hymn, and while we sing this closing hymn, if there's somebody
here who has heard this gospel and you wish to take this opportunity
to publicly identify yourself with Christ, present yourself
for baptism, membership in this church, we'll ask you to come
forward at this time. What number? Come, every soul, by sin oppressed,
live mercy with the Lord, and He will surely give you rest
by trusting in His Word. Only trust Him, only trust Him,
only trust Him now. He will save you, He will save
you, He will save you now. Come, live and work this holy
plant, and onward, glory go, to dwell in that careless joy. Where joys immortal flow Only
trust Him, only trust Him Only trust Him now He will save you,
He will save you He will save you now We have a man visiting with us
this morning I've known for a long, long, long time, Brother Clyde
Stevens. Clyde, will you dismiss us in
prayer, please, at this time?