There are a few comments that
should be made before we try to translate or interpret these
first three verses of Romans 9. Now, both Jews and Gentiles have, by violating the law of
God, incurred divine wrath and divine displeasure. Both Jew
and Gentile all have sinned and come short of God's glory. All
we like sheep have gone astray, we've turned every one to his
own way. There is none that doeth good,
no not one, both Jew and Gentile. And secondly, both Jew and Gentile
are incapable of reinstating themselves in the divine favor
which they have lost, no doubt about that. All have sinned,
and no one is capable of reinstating himself in God's divine favor,
that's for sure. Thirdly, both Jew and Gentile
stand in desperate need of a righteousness which God Almighty will accept,
or with which God will be satisfied. We stand in need of a righteousness
which we don't have, which we can't produce, one which God
will accept. Now in the first chapters of
the book of Romans, Paul revealed or taught that righteousness,
the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God in Christ. That's what the first half of
the book of Romans is all about. We have sinned, we're incapable
of reinstating ourselves in divine favor, we're in desperate need
of help. And that help has been given.
That help has come. The substitute has been crucified. He has been slain. And the substitute,
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God's righteousness, has been
presented to Jews and Gentiles. Christ came into the world in
fulfillment of every Old Testament prophecy. in fulfillment of every
Old Testament type, and has for every believer accomplished divine
justification. It's in him. He has made unto
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It's all in Christ.
Now, you would think that this gift of righteousness which God
has given, you would think that it would be universally received,
both by Jew and Gentile. It's a free gift. It's given
freely by God, this gift of his mercy. And you'd think that everyone
who has no righteousness, who had a desperate need for righteousness,
would receive one which is free. But this gift of righteousness
is not universally received. I want you to listen carefully
to this. While the Jews were looking for a Messiah, they expected
that the benefits arising from the coming of that Messiah would
be threefold. This is what the Jew believed.
He believed that when his Messiah came, that it would bring to
Israel national prominence. national prominence. Secondly,
he believed that this Messiah would come and bring with him
divine favor to Israel, the favor of God. Thirdly, he believed
that when that Messiah came, that he would restore the glory
of the kingdom of David to Israel. They looked on the Messiah as
a Redeemer or a Savior, but not the type of Savior that Christ
was. They looked for him to save the Jewish nation. They were
nationalistic people. They expected national prominence. They expected that glory to be
restored to Israel, the glory of David's day. And they expected
favor from God conferred on all Jews. That's what they expected. And if not their exclusive possession, this blessing
would be participated in by the Gentiles only if the Gentiles
renounced Gentilism and became Jews. That's what they believed.
They believed that the Messiah was a Jewish Messiah, that he
would come and bring national prominence to Israel, that he
would come bringing divine favor upon Israel, that he would come
and restore the glory of the kingdom of David to Israel. And
this, if not the exclusive possession of the Jews, if the Gentiles
did participate, they'd only do so by identification with
the Jew and renouncing Gentilism and merging themselves into the
Holy Nation. With Christ King, the righteousness
of God presented to Jew and Gentile to be received by faith. He came
as a crucified Redeemer, he came as a sacrifice for sin, he came
as the Savior of Jew and Gentile, to be received not by identification
with the Jewish nation, but by faith in him. And what was the
result? Well, the Jews, with few exceptions,
refused to receive justification on those terms. No such, not
on those terms. and they were excluded and they
were severely punished by God for their last and greatest sin,
the rejection of the Messiah and the rejection of salvation
by grace through faith in a crucified Redeemer. He came unto his own
and his own received him not. We will not have this man, this
type of man, to reign over us. And the Gentiles, in great number,
believed the gospel. And without becoming Jews, they
were saved. And that was the state of things
when Paul wrote chapter 9. That's still the state of things.
The great body of believers are of Gentile origin. The Jewish
nation is still an unbelieving nation. They are a religious
nation. They are a nation that believes
in God. They are a nation that accepts
Old Testament scriptures and laws, but they are an unbelieving
nation. Judicially they are blinded.
It won't always be so. But we are at the present time
in the time of the Gentiles. And the issue between the Jew
and the Gentile in the Book of Romans is the same issue between
the Jew and the Gentile right now. How God saves sinners. That's the whole issue. how God
saves sinners. If Christ had come in the glory
of David's kingdom, they would have bowed at his feet. If Christ
had come restoring national prominence to Israel, they would have accepted
him. If Christ had come with divine favor earmarked for the
Jew alone by identification with the Jewish nation, they would
have accepted him. But he came as a sovereign Savior,
as a Redeemer of lost people, of every tribe, kindred, nation,
tongue unto heaven, to be believed and received by faith, a free
gift of God, divine justification intended for all mankind, not
for Jews as Jews or Gentiles as Gentiles, but a justification
that can only be received by faith. And the Jews rejected
it. They rejected it. And they were
under divine displeasure. And this is what was on Paul's
mind when he wrote chapter 9. He knew the Jews were not in
Christ, and therefore they were under condemnation. He knew the
Jews had rejected Christ, and Christ was now rejecting them.
He knew that the Jews had put Christ away, and he was about
to put them away. He knew that the wrath of God
to the uttermost was coming upon Israel. He knew that their eyes
were blinded, that they could not see. I think Paul believed
that God would do something for the Jews someday, as he wrote
in chapter 11. We'll get to that later. But
right now, when he wrote this, they were blinded, judicially
blinded, their hearts were hard. And the very things that were
designated by God to be a blessing to them had become stumbling
blocks to them. They had rejected their Messiah.
And that awful statement that they made, I know, rang in the
ear of the Apostle, Let his blood be on us and our children. And that's literally been fulfilled. And his blood is still on their
children. saying that it's not on us either, but it is on their
children. So Paul starts in verse 1 of
chapter 9, I say the truth in Christ. I lie not. My conscience also bearing me
witness in the Holy Ghost. I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart, for I could wish that myself were cursed
from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the
flesh. I'm not going to spend my time
tonight telling you all the different interpretations of these verses.
I've been reading them last night and today, And there's no reason
for me to take the time. I looked at a book I was reading
just this morning, and on this one portion right here, three
verses, I had about 50 or 60 pages, and most of it was talking
about the different interpretations of these verses. But I'm going
to give you what I believe the Holy Spirit has led me to teach
concerning what Paul is saying here. Here's what he's saying. I say the truth in Christ. I
lie not. This is a solemn vow. Paul said,
I speak the truth as a Christian. I speak the truth as one who
is in Christ Jesus. I speak the truth as one who
is indwelt by the Holy Ghost. I do not lie. The Holy Spirit
is my witness. I'm telling the truth. You'll
see in a few moments, Paul was not a swearing man. But you'll
see in a few moments why he makes these solemn vows, because we're
going to see in just a few moments. But he says, I have great heaviness
and continual sorrow in my heart, and this is the truth which I
say in Christ, and this is the reason I have that heaviness.
It's for my brethren. It's for Jewish people. It's
for this nation that has rejected their Messiah. It's for these
people who have rejected salvation by grace. It's for these people
who have crucified their Lord. I have great heaviness for them
and great sorrow for them. They are my kinsmen, they are
my brethren according to the flesh. They are my nation. I could wish to be separated
from Christ. I could wish to be separated
to destruction by Christ if it could mean the salvation of my
people." That's exactly what he's saying there. He's not saying,
at one time, I too wish that I separated from Christ. That's
not what he's saying. He's saying that I could wish
to take their place under the wrath of God, if it would mean
their salvation. Just because you and I don't
know what that means, that doesn't mean Paul didn't. Just because
you and I don't have that much grace, let's don't explain away
a man who did. Just because we don't have enough
compassion even for our own children to say to God, let me go to hell
in their place, that doesn't mean somebody else doesn't have
that kind of compassion. Paul did. And that's exactly
what he's saying here. He is saying that I would be
willing, if it could mean the salvation of my people, to be
separated from my Lord, whom I love. It's exactly, you can't
make it mean anything else. People try. They've tried in
all these books I've read to date. They can't wind up with
that. That's not what he's saying. He makes three things are important
here. Number one, his solemn vow. Here's
the reason he made that solemn vow, because of the startling
statement which he made. If he's going to say, I at one
time wished myself to be accursed from Christ, he wouldn't have
sweared to that, we all know that. We know he was injurious
and a blasphemer and a persecutor. No need to perceive that with
any kind of solemn vow. Believe me, brethren, I'm not
lying. He said, Believe me, I'm telling the truth and the Holy
Ghost. Believe me, the Holy Ghost is my witness. Believe me, he's
making this solemn vow and this solemn statement because he knows
he's coming out with a statement that's going to be hard to believe. That light is burning. I don't
need to precede that with any solemn vow. But if you're sitting
out there and you've lost your eyesight and you say, Preacher,
I'm not blind, it's dark in here, I say, Brethren, Brother, believe
me, God is my witness. The Holy Ghost in my heart, that
light is burning, you're blind. You see what I'm saying? And
Paul gives that solemn vow, I speak the truth as a Christian, I'm
not lying, the Holy Ghost is my witness. And notice the second
thing, the sincere affection. He was a happy man in Christ.
He was always talking about rejoicing the Lord, talked about being
a prisoner of Jesus Christ. He could sing and praise God
while his feet were shackled to a bunk. But when he turned
his attention to his brethren, he says, I have great heaviness
and my heart is broken. Only Christ could do that for
a man like Paul. Back years before this, before
he was converted, if somebody disagreed with him, he threw
them in jail. He didn't pray for them. Back before this, if
somebody disagreed with the Apostle Paul, he held the coats of people
while he stoned them to death. That's how much hatred he had
in his heart before God saved him. But after God saved him,
these very men who were stoning him, he prayed for them. He had
great heaviness and continual sorrow for them, and here is
the startling statement. If it would result in their salvation,
I'd take their place in hell. That's what Paul is saying. He
loved his people so much that he felt he could wish himself
a curse from Christ if it would bring their redemption. If his
being cast off from the Savior, could secure the salvation of
the Jews, he expresses his readiness to submit to this. Hard to understand? Our Lord Jesus Christ did that
very thing. He did that very thing. He was
made a curse for us. Our Lord Jesus Christ loved us
so much that he was separated from the Father. to secure our
redemption. Moses said the same thing. Turn
to Exodus, chapter 32. Nobody can misread this. Moses
was speaking directly to the Heavenly Father in Exodus 32,
verse 31, and he said, Lord, this people, in Exodus 32, verse
31, this people are seeing the great sin. They made them gods
of gold. And yet now, if thou wilt forgive
their sin, if you will forgive their sin, and if not, block
me, I pray thee, out of the book which thou hast written. Take
my name out of the Lamb's book of life." That's what he said. If you're going to destroy the people, Lord, destroy
me with them. Now, that's intercession, that's
prayer. Then verse 4 and 5, let's look
at this quickly. He talks about these people for
whom he felt this great devotion and affection, who are Israelites. They were the descendants of
Abraham. Abraham who had power with God,
Abraham who was a prince Abraham who prevailed, and Paul thought
how distressing it is to see people so favored, sons of Abraham,
separated from God, enemies of God, rebels under condemnation
who are Israelites. And theirs is the adoption, to
whom pertaineth the adoption. Now, this is not the adoption
which makes men joint heirs with Christ. Being a joint heir with
Christ is not a national privilege. But the adoption he's talking
about here is Israel was the son of God in the sense that
they were separated from idolatrous nations. I'll show you that in
Exodus 4. Turn to Exodus 4. This explains
this better than anything I could add or say. Exodus 4, verse 22,
listen to this. And God speaking to Moses in
Exodus 4, verse 22, And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus
saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn. National people. He talked about
that gang down in Egypt that he led out of Egypt and perished
in the wilderness, but he says, They are my son, Israel is my
son, to whom pertaineth the adoption. Thirdly, and to them pertains the glory. Verse 4, Paul said, These people
that are perishing, for whom I have great affection, they
are descendants of Abraham, they are Israelites. They are the
people who are the national people of God, owned by God as his son,
and to them belongs the glory." Now let me read a verse that
explains what he's talking about there, 1 Samuel 4. When he talks
about to whom to them belongs the glory, He's talking about
the presence of God in their midst. The cloud that led them
by day, the pillar of fire that led them by night, the tabernacle
that sat there in the middle of all the tribes, the ark that
was in the Holy of Holies, that's the glory of God. No other nation
had that. To them belonged the glory. In
verse 21 of 1 Samuel 4, and she named the Ichabod, saying the
glory is departed from Israel because the art of God was taken,
gone. The art is gone, the glory is
gone. And to Israel belong the glory,
the glory of God. And to them belong the covenants.
These are the promises and provisions of God made with Abraham. God
made a covenant with Abraham in reference to Israel as a nation.
He made a covenant with David in reference to Israel as a nation.
Those covenants have not been fulfilled yet, all of them. And
to them, the giving of the law. Now, turn to Deuteronomy. I want
you to read this. I have a blessing out of this.
Deuteronomy chapter 4. To them belongs the law, the
giving of the law belongs to Israel. In Deuteronomy 4, this
is an interesting portion of Scripture right here. Now listen.
In Deuteronomy 4, verse 32, it says, For ask now of the days
that are past, which were before thee, since the day that God
created man upon the earth, and ask from the one side of heaven
to the other, whether there hath been any such thing as this great
thing is. or hath been heard like it. What is it? Did ever people hear
the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as
thou hast heard and lived? Verse 36, Out of heaven he made
you, Israel, to hear his voice, that he might instruct you. And
upon earth he showed you his great fire. And you heard his
words out of the midst of the fire. You heard God's speech
at Sinai. And that's what he's talking
about. Paul is talking about the blessings these people have
had. They're Israelites, descendants
of Abraham and Jacob, to whom pertains adoption and the glory. God's art was in their midst,
and the covenant and the giving of the law. You ever heard of
anything like this? Before sin, a people who heard
God speak to them. And the service of God. What
are these services? The service of God is the service
of the tabernacle. God, other nations just would
seek after God. But to Israel, God gave the acceptable
way of approaching God. Turn to Hebrews 9, I'll show
you what this means. Hebrews 9, verse 1. God taught
Israel how to acceptably approach him. In Hebrews 9, verse 1, he
said, Then verily the first covenant, talking about the tabernacle
and all the sacrifices, had ordinances of divine service and a worldly
sanctuary. There was the tabernacle and
so forth. Divine service. And this belonged to Israel.
God taught them how to approach him through the sacrifice through
Christ as he ought to be approached. And to them belonged the promises. These were promises of protection.
These were promises of continual existence. These were promises
of the Messiah. And these were promises, some
of them, yet to be fulfilled. And read on. And whose are the
fathers? Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph,
Moses, David. What an honor for any nation
to have men like that! They all belonged to Ishmael. And Paul gives a still higher
honor, and of whom, as concerning the flesh, Christ came. Jesus Christ came into this world
through the Jewish nation, through Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and
Joseph and David. He was a Jew, the Messiah, the
Savior. Now look at this, and here is
one of the most distinct statements of our Lord's deity to be found
anywhere in the word of God. Look at it carefully. He's been
talking about these people, Jews, they were Israelites, and to
whom pertaineth the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the
giving of the law, the service of God, the promises, whose are
the Father, and here is the highest honor, and of whom as concerning
the flesh, Christ came. Who is Christ? He's
over all. He's God, blessed forever. That's who he is. God, blessed
forever. God became a man, and when he
became a man, he became a Jew. God became a man, and when he
became a man, he became an Israelite. That's what he said. That's one
of the reasons he has such great heaviness and continual sorrow,
and that's one of the things that makes their sin so great! Brethren, to sin against law
is bad. To sin against love is greater. To sin in ignorance is chargeable. To sin against light is so much
more terrible. And that's what he's saying.
That's what makes Israel's blindness so horrible. That's what makes
their condemnation so heavy, is because they sinned against
so much light. Now, verse 6. Not as though the
word of God had taken non-effect. Now, Paul is saying this. The
Jewish people are notwithstanding all these privileges under the
wrath of God. But that doesn't mean the divine
promise has failed. Turn to Romans 3, verses 2 and
3. That doesn't mean the divine promise has failed. God said,
Abraham, you're going to have to look at the stars, count them,
can't do it, Lord, that's how many seeds you'll have. Look
at the sands of the seashore, count them, can't do it, Lord,
that's how many people's seeds you'll have. I'm going to raise
up a Messiah from you, all nations will call you blessed. You'll
be a blessing to all nations. Here the Jews are blinded, the
Jews are cast off, the Jews are under condemnation, and God's
promised Abraham was a flop. Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no. Verse 2 of Romans 3. What prophet,
verse 1, what prophet hath the Jew, and so forth? Much every
way, chiefly because that unto them were committed the articles
of God. But what if some did not believe? Shall their unbelief
make the faith of God without effect, the promise of God without
effect?" And that's what he's saying in Romans 9, verse 6.
Not as though the word of God had taken non-effect. The word
of God is the promise of God. For they are not all Israel which
are of Israel. Are you with me? Paul is saying
this, God promised to Abraham a seed, a people. The descendants of Abraham rejected
their Messiah, turned their back on him. They've been cut off,
they've been judicially blinded. Then the promise of God is not
in effect. Oh, no. They're not all Israel which
are of Israel. That is, it's not everybody who
is a natural descendant of Abraham who makes up the true Israel
of God. That is, the people in national
Israel, the people of the tribe of Dan and Benjamin and Gad and
Reuben and Judah and all these tribes, This is not the true
Israel. That's what he's saying. This
is not the true Israel. The promise of God to Abraham
and his seed. Turn to Galatians 3.16. This
is interesting. In Galatians 3.16, this is a
very important verse of Scripture. Turn over there with me a minute.
Galatians 3.16. Now, to Abraham and his seed. where the promise is made, he
saith not unto seeds as of many, but as of one, and to thy seed,
which is Christ." So Abraham is the father of all who believe. That's who true Israel is, those
who believe. There is national Israel, I'm
not denying that. There are covenants and there
are promises made to them. their prophecies concerning them,
but that's not true Israel. They are not all Israel, true
Israel, God's Israel, Abraham's Israel, which are of national
Israel. Now, let's show that. Neither,
and this truth is illustrated in the case of Ishmael and Isaac,
neither because they are the seed of Abraham are they all
children. Ishmael was the son of Abraham,
But he said, in Isaac shall thy seed be called. All right, you
have Abraham here, and God puts the promise, or the covenant,
makes the promise to Abraham, the covenant with Abraham, and
to his seed. But here's Ishmael, he's ruled
out. In Isaac shall thy seed be called. So it's not all the seed of Abraham
that is the recipient of the promises to Abraham, it's in
Isaac shall thy seed be called. and then go on down to verse
10, and not only this, but when Rebekah had conceived by her
father Isaac. Verse 12, it was said to her,
The elder shall serve the younger, as it is written, Jacob hath
a love, but Esau hath a hatred. Here is Abraham, and the Jews
said, All descendants of Abraham have the promises of God. Paul
said, Oh no, Ishmael didn't. God's sovereign grace selected
Isaac. And more than that, Esau didn't. God's sovereign grace selected
Jacob. So it's not all who are the seed
of Abraham that are the recipients of the promises, but those who
are sovereignly called and redeemed by God and given that promise,
the Go back to verse 8, that is, they which are the children
of the flesh, now that's Esau, that's Ishmael, that's Isaac,
that's Jacob, all the children of the flesh, but they are not
the children of God. They are not true But the children
of the promise are counted for the seed. This shows that the
blessing was not given because a man was a descendant of Abraham,
but the blessing was in the promise of God. It was in the sovereign
purpose of God. It was in the sovereign will
of God, and that promise was in Isaac and in Jacob. And then the apostle carried
it farther, and he says, all of Isaac's seed was not in the
promise, but only the children of the promise. The Edomites,
descendants of Esau, were not in the promise, but the sons
of Jacob. Now the seed of Abraham is not
the children of the flesh, proven from these illustrations, but
the seed of Abraham is the believer who is set apart by divine grace. as a recipient of that mercy.
And verse 11 shows us that. For the children being not yet
born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God according to election might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth, it was said unto her, The elder shall serve
the younger. Now, listen to this. The Jews believed in direct opposition
to the scriptures. The Jews believed that the mercy
of God to them was founded on the merits of their ancestors.
They kept telling Christ, they said, we got Abraham to our father,
we have Moses. They believed that the mercy
of God to them was founded on the merits of their ancestors.
And because they were Jews and because they were descendants
of Abraham, God would bless them and God would not forsake them,
and Paul is laying low this proud imagination by showing them that
God did set aside some of the seed of Abraham. He set aside
Ishmael, and he set aside Esau, and he says the children in the
womb of Rebekah conceived at the same time by the same father,
neither having done any good or evil, but that God might give
as a sovereign right to give and a sovereign right to withhold
and a sovereign right to give and a sovereign right to withdraw
his favor as he sees fit those children being not yet born,
it was said to the mother. God's going to reverse the procedure.
and your youngest son is going to receive the blessing, and
your oldest son is going to be the leader of a bunch of rebels
called the Edomites. That's what God told them. We
as Christians, by profession, must not be drawn into this same
presumption that God Almighty's mercy is upon us because of our
ancestors. God Almighty's mercy is on us
because we are God Almighty's mercy is upon us because of our
work. God Almighty's mercy is upon
us because of our faithfulness to the services. God Almighty's
mercy is upon us because he will be merciful to whom he will be
merciful. That's what the Bible teaches.
Election is defined by these words. Look back in verse 11. He gives a definition of election.
the children being not yet born, neither having done any good
or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might
stand. Not of works, but of him that
calleth. That's election. The choice is
not founded on the works of the one chosen. The choice is not
because the one chosen deserves to be chosen. The choice is because
of him that calleth. The choice has its divine origin
in the divine will, and no reason can be given as to why Esau would
serve Jacob, except it seem good in his sight. And verse 15 gives the reason.
or he said to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy."
Now verse 14 declares, what shall we say then? What's going to
be your attitude toward this teaching? Are you going to say,
is there unrighteousness with God? Are you going to say there
is unrighteousness with God? John Brown made this comment
Is it unjust for God to choose one and pass by the other when
all deserve wrath, none deserve mercy? God leaves some to what
they deserve and gives others what they don't deserve. Is that
unjust? In verse 15, the Apostle Paul
quotes from Exodus 33.18. Let's turn over there a moment. Moses said, Lord, in verse 18
of Exodus 33, I beseech thee, show me thy glory. And this is the verse that Paul
is quoting. And God said to Moses, I will
make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the
name of the Lord before thee. and will be gracious to whom
I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show
mercy." Now this comment, and I close, God is determined to
allow justice to have its course with some, and God is determined
to show mercy through Christ to others. and his declaration,
his reason for doing that. Why any are pardoned is to be
found in his sovereign grace, for he says, I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I passed by, left in his rebellion, left in his sin. Why,
because I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And I
will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. These
terms are synonymous. There is no unrighteousness here.
John Brown says, God gave to some what no one deserves. God inflicted on the rest only
what they deserve. And he did it according to the
counsel of his own will. Our Father, we pray that Thou
would bless the word to our understanding. We stand in awe and fear. We stand before Thee with our
heads bowed and our hearts broken in reverence before Thy sovereign
throne. We know it's in Thy power to
make the leper clean. It's in Thy power to make the
blind to see. It is in thy power to make the
lame to walk. It is in thy power to make the
dead to live. It is not in us, O Lord. We are
recipients of a free gift. We do not earn it. Thy mercy to us is not because
of anything that thou hast seen in us or anything that we have
produced or shall ever produce. We are no better than any of
the sons of Adam. We're all on the dunghill. And
if thou hast left us in our sins and in our rebellion, it would
have been exactly what we deserved. But thy grace hath lifted us,
chosen us, made us an object of mercy. We confess that, and
we don't know why, except, Father, it seemed good in thy sight.
We pray that it may please thee to visit our friends in mercy,
and our children, call them unto thyself. We're not praying this
on the basis of any merit of our own. We don't deserve it
if we and our children perish in hell. It will be what we deserve. But we're not asking for justice,
we're asking for mercy. We're asking that thy merciful
hand shall be upon our loved ones and our friends as it has
been upon us. Call them unto thyself through
Jesus Christ our Lord. His is the glory and the praise
forever. And grant, O Lord, that we shall
not think that we deserve mercy because we praise him. or that
our friends and loved ones deserve mercy because we know from which
it comes. Deliver us from any thought of
personal glory. It's a free gift of thy love.
We know that. We confess that. You've been
merciful to us and compassionate with us. And we pray for them. We don't have the grace to say
with Moses, Blot me out of thy book. We dare not say that because
we don't feel it. We have not the compassion to
say with Paul, we'd be willing to go to hell if you'd save our
city. We wish we had this burden. Increase our burden. Increase
our concern. Give us the power of intercessory
prayer. Give us the power to preach the
gospel. Use the words of thy word from the lips of thy servant
to reveal Christ to the hearts of sinners. We pray for Christ's
sake and in His name. Amen.