Chapter 12, Paul tells us how
a believer will act. He tells us how a believer ought
to act in the congregation of our Lord. As I said, Chapter
12, I believe, is divided into three parts. If you want to,
you can take a ballpoint pen and divide this, because we're
going to study it in this way. Verses 1 and 2 are words of exhortation
to the individual believer, to you and to me. A word of instruction
about worship. A word of instruction about dedication. a word of instruction about consecration
to God. And that's what the first two
verses is all about. Worship, dedication, and consecration
to God. That's what verse 1 and 2, that's
the first section of chapter 12. Then the second section goes
from verse 3 through verse 8. And this deals with the different
gifts and the different abilities that God has given to you and
to me. All are essential to the congregation,
whatever gift you have, whatever gift I have. whatever talent,
whatever ability God has given to you and me, it is essential
to the church. And these gifts must be administered
in the right attitude and in the right spirit. It's not enough
just to be a preacher. It's not enough just to be a
deacon. It's not enough just to be a
Sunday school teacher. It's not enough just to rehearse
doctrine. It's not enough to tell people
what you know. It must be administered in the
right spirit and in the right attitude or God will not bless
it. Now that's what the second section
is all about. It's written to those who have,
as all of you have, gifts and talents and abilities and a place
in God's congregation. And the Apostle Paul in these
next few verses, 3 through 8, tells us how these gifts are
to be handled, how they are to be administered. Now, we're not
going to get to it tonight. The Lord willing, we'll deal
with it next Wednesday night. Verses 9 through 21 deals with
our general attitude. and our behavior toward one another.
That's what the next few verses, verses 9 through 21, deals with
our attitude toward one another, our behavior toward one another,
and also our behavior toward people who are not in the fellowship. As I said, this is one of the
most important chapters in the entire Bible for the believer.
because it's concerning daily behavior and daily walk and our
daily attitude. Now let's look at the first two
verses. The Apostle Paul in verse one
says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of Now, the amplified translation
gives it this way, I appeal to you, brethren. And I think that's
a good translation. I appeal to you, brethren, by
the mercies of God. Everything Paul says I'm about
to say to you, I appeal to you by the mercies of God. Now, whatever
I'm called upon to do, whatever I'm called upon to say, whatever
I'm called upon to give, is not through threats, it's not through
terror, it's not through fear. That's not how the Apostle Paul
is teaching in chapter 12. Not through terror and threats
and fear. If you don't do this, thus and
thus will happen. I've heard preachers talk about
if you don't tithe, God will take it out through the back
door in a coffin. Well, that's not the way the
Apostle Paul teaches. The Apostle Paul says, I beseech
you brethren, whatever I'm about to say, I beseech you, I appeal
to you by the mercies of God. It is the mercy of God that elected
you to salvation. It is the mercy of God that gave
Christ as your substitute. It is the mercy of God that called
you out of darkness into his light. It's the mercy of God
that didn't pass you by and leave you in your guilt to what you
deserve. It's the mercy of God that put
his love in your heart. It's the mercy of God that revealed
his grace to you. So I appeal to you, Paul says,
not on the basis of fear and terror and threats. I appeal
to you by the mercies of God. That's the way he writes all
of his epistles. Be you merciful as your Father
in heaven is merciful. Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another as God for Christ's sake forgave you.
I appeal to you, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you
what? That you present your bodies. That you present your bodies. Now this is not just the presenting
of the body in public worship. Some of the old Puritans, which
I read today, dealt with this as presenting the body in public
worship, though this ought to be. But without the heart, the
body engaged in public worship would be in vain, wouldn't it?
So it's not just presenting the body in public worship. And then
secondly, this is not just abstinence from gross sins done in the body,
though certainly it's included For these sins would dishonor
and defile the body which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
And this is not just fastings and watchings and special days
of mourning apart, though this certainly would be profitable
to every believer. When the apostles could not cast
out the demon which possessed the centurion's son, our Lord
said, This kind goeth forth by prayer and fasting. So it would
be good for us to present our bodies to times of watching and
fasting and praying and special days of mourning apart. But this
is what Paul's talking about here. Now listen to it. I appeal
to you brethren, by the mercies of God to you, in electing, in
calling, in redeeming, in revealing Christ to you. I appeal to you
that you present your body, meaning by that your whole being, not
just your fleshly body but your soul and all the powers of your
soul and all the faculties of your body at all times with all
readiness and willingness to the honor and service and glory
of God. I belong to God. You are not
your own, you are bought with a price, you belong to God. And
it's not just presenting your body on Sunday morning in the
morning worship service. It's not just presenting your
body during a certain week during the year to fast and spend in
special ceremony. but it is at all times with all
readiness and all willingness to the honor, service, and glory
of God to actually present myself to God as He is. I belong to
God. And I appeal to you by the mercies
of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. Your bodies, your soul, your
spirit, all the faculties of your being with all readiness
and willingness of mind to the honor and glory of God as a living
sacrifice. Now every one of the writers
that I read says this is a reference to the ceremony of sacrificing
when they brought a slain animal and put it on the altar, when
that animal was killed and that animal was presented on the altar
as a sacrifice to God. And we are to be presented willingly
with all readiness of mind unto the Lord as His, not as a dead
sacrifice and a dead offering, but a living sacrifice, a living
being. In other words, John Brown said
this, a living sacrifice, devote yourself to God, not merely in
external profession, I believe the doctrine, I believe the Bible,
I believe the gospel, but devote yourself to God in spirit and
truth. We are His by creation, we are
His by redemption, And there ought to be in our whole being
a readiness to be, or to do, or to suffer whatever he calls
on us to be, to do, or to suffer. I belong to God. I'm His. And I'm a living sacrifice. Read the next line. Holy, acceptable
under God. And somebody said, well, what
does the Lord want with me? I'm such a sinful person. My
thoughts are sinful. Too often my words are sinful.
Too often my walk is sinful. I can have no fellowship with
a holy God. How can I be a living sacrifice
wholly acceptable unto God? Now, Cain's sacrifice was not
acceptable. But Abel's sacrifice was acceptable. because it was the right sacrifice. And my sacrifice and your sacrifice
of our entire beings, of body and soul, as a living sacrifice
to God, will it be acceptable? Will it be holy? It certainly
will, because we are holy and acceptable unto God through the
mediation of his Son. We are holy and acceptable unto
God by the mediation and merit and mercy of His Son, by whom
our souls and our bodies, by whom our prayers and our praise,
by whom our service and our songs are acceptable. Without Christ
we'd be cast out as unclean. But when I come to God, weak
and unworthy, and present myself to him. I say, Here I am, Lord,
I belong to you. I am yours by creation, I am
yours by redemption. Take me, and whatever you want
me to be, or to say, or to do, or to suffer, I am willing. I
am a living sacrifice which is given to thee. God accepts me
as holy and acceptable in Christ and only in Christ. Now look
at the next line, which is your reasonable service. Now that's
more than just saying that's what you ought to do. Now the
word service, I picked up Robeson's word study recently, and the
word service in the Bible is descriptive of worship. Worship. I just substitute the word worship
there for service. Worship. And the word reasonable
signifies that which belongs to the mind, to the reason, to
the understanding. That's what reasonable is. Somebody
comes and tells you something, you say, well, that's reasonable.
That means that it sounds sensible. It sounds sensible. It has to
do with the mind, it has to do with the reason, it has to do
with the understanding. So here's what Paul is saying.
By the mercies of God in Christ, all of God's mercies are in Christ,
by the mercies of God through Christ, by the mercies of God
in Christ, by the mercies of God because of Christ, you come
and present your whole being, not just the shell, But the heart,
and the soul, and the mind, and the being, and your family, and
your plans, and your ambitions, you come and present yourself,
all of your living faculties, unto God through Christ as a
living sacrifice. This is true spiritual worship."
That's what he's saying. This is the true spiritual worship
of a rational man. Of a rational man. And anybody
else is insane. Anyone else who approaches God
in any other way, or brings to God any less than this, is not
reasonable. This is your reasonable worship. This is true spiritual worship. Now, that's what that verse means.
I appeal to you, brethren, by the mercies of God. I don't base
it on terror. You better come or you'll go
to hell. You better do right or you'll go to hell. You better
do this or you'll lose your reward. You better do this or you won't
have a mansion. No, sir, I appeal to you by the
mercies of God. In Christ, because of Christ,
through Christ, I appeal to you by the mercies of God, that you
intelligently and willingly, with a readiness of mind, present
yourself unto God as a living sacrifice. and this holy and
acceptable. God accepts you as justified
and faultless and holy. Don't stand back and put on a
false humility. You're not being accepted anywhere
except in Christ, but come and present yourself to him. This
is your true spiritual worship, and this is the worship of a
sensible man, a rational man. Now this next verse. Now, these
are loaded verses, this next verse, and be not conformed to
this world. Now, I'm going to say some things
here that will be a little touchy, but if I can touch me, I can
touch you. And I think you know I don't
preach down to anybody. I preach to myself as well as
to the people who are in the congregation. The word world
here, I hear people talk, I hear preachers talk about worldly
people, worldly people. There are a heap of preachers
who are worldly people. There are a whole lot of the
finest, most moral people in the churches who are worldly
people, who are conformed to the world, flat conformed to
the world. Now the word world here means
simply this. It's the present state of things. Right here. The present state
of things in this age. That's what the world means.
That's what this word world, be not conformed to this world. I'm talking about the world to
come. I'm not talking about the unseen world. It's talking about
this materialistic, physical, fleshly, carnal, God-hating,
lawless, hell-bound world in which we live. Now I'm talking
about this earth on which we live. He's talking about principles
and systems, and the word world here is the nature of things
as they are. The nature of mankind, it's the
opinions of this world. It's the temperament of this
world. It's the habits of this world. It's the sins, it's the aims,
it's the goal of this world. Now here's a man, here's a man
out in the gutter. If you've been to Chicago, some
of you have, there's a street up there called Skid Row. And
you walk down Skid Row and there are the dirtiest, souriest pieces
of humanity you've ever seen. They live for a drink. They live
for a game of cards. They live for a night of revelry. They live for those things. They're
worldly people. They conform to the temperaments. They conform to the opinions. They conform to the habits, they
conform to the nature, they conform to the aims and goals of this
world. But here is a man sitting in
the church, and he has a cultured background, and he has an education,
and he is a man who has one wife and some children, several friends,
member of the church, there every Sunday, stays out of the dens
of evil, never takes a drink, there sits another worldly man.
And he may be just as worldly as that man out there on Skid
Row, just as worldly according to this scripture right here,
in the sense that the word world is used right here. Now, stay
with me. Turn to 1 John 2. Both these men, whether the derelict
or whether the man in the church, both are worldly, both are conformed
to the world. Now, 1 John chapter 4, chapter
2, I beg your pardon, 1 John chapter 2, verses 15 through
17. Now listen to this. Love not
the world, neither the things that are in this world. If any
man loved the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
He's an unsaved man. There's no such thing as a worldly
Christian. No such thing. The love of God is not in him.
So you see, it can't be if a fellow goes to the picture show, for
the man to be saved and go to the picture show. It couldn't be playing a game
of cards, could it? Because you don't mean a man
going to hell playing a game of cards, do you? It can't be
these little things that you nitpick around here and say that
this is worldliness. That's not what he's talking
about here. Because it says if this man loves the world, he's
not saved. He doesn't even have God's love
in him. If he loves the world, if he's
conformed to the world, whatever the word world here means, whatever
he's talking about, it's impossible to have this attitude and be
saved. Now read on. For all that is in this world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life, is not of the Father. It's of this world. They're two
different kingdoms. They're moving in two different
directions. They're two different attitudes. They're two different
systems. They represent two different
leaders. One is God and one is the devil. And a man can't love
God and mammon, serve God and mammon. Read on. And this world is going to pass
away, and the lust thereof, that he that doeth the will of God
abideth forever. Now then, be not conformed to
this world, verse 2, chapter 12, but be ye transformed by
the renewing of your mind. Now we're getting down to what
we're talking about. How do I keep from being conformed
to the world? It's something that happens in
my mind. How am I transformed from the world system to God's
kingdom? It's something that happens in
my mind. It's a renewing of my mind. It's a changing of my mind. It's a regenerating of my mind.
It's a changing of my mind. Let the unsaved man forsake his
thoughts! His thoughts! Now John Brown
says this. The renewing of the mind is not
a physical operation. The mind is renewed and transformed
and becomes a nonconformist to this world when under the influence
of the Holy Ghost and the gospel of Jesus Christ, the truth is
received and understood and believed. That's when a renewing of the
mind takes place. That's when a man weaned from
the world. That's when a man begins to love
not the world. When the Holy Spirit has renewed
his mind, and under the influence of the Holy Ghost the truth is
understood and believed, it is by men being formed to a right
way of thinking that they are formed to a right way of feeling. When men are transformed to a
right way of thinking, then they are transformed to a right way
of acting with regard to this world. Now the worldly man thinks of
the treasures of the earth. That's loving the world, the
treasures of this earth. That's the world, that's the
opinions, that's the goal, that's the aim of worldly-minded people,
is treasures on this earth. Enjoying them, owning them, looking
at them, participating in them. The man who has been transformed
by the right thinking and by the Holy Ghost renewing of his
minds He doesn't see anything in these riches. He's interested
in the riches of glory. He's interested in the riches
of Christ. And these riches here just don't
fascinate him. And the performances of the worldly
crowd just don't enthrall him. And all of the gaudiness and
the glitter of this world doesn't interest him. His mind has been
renewed. That's right. The worldly man looks at things
seen and temporal. The man who has been renewed
in his mind by the Holy Ghost looks at things which are unseen.
Abraham was content to live in a tent. Why? He looked for a
city whose builder and maker was God. The Apostle Paul was
content to sit in a prison and talk about being a prisoner of
Jesus Christ and wish that everybody was just like him except for
the bonds that bound his hand to the bunk. The Apostle Paul
says, I have learned in whatsoever state I am to be content. Content
on bread and water? Content in a Roman dungeon? Content
in a damp, dark cell? Content? Yeah, he was content
because he wasn't looking at the things that were seen. He
was looking at some things that only can be seen without faith.
Love not the world. Be not conformed to the world.
The worldly man is self-centered, totally self-centered. totally
selfish. He's interested in his family,
he's interested in his family circle, he's interested in only
himself and that which affects him, influences him, or adds
to him in some way, not the believer. Be not conformed to this world.
That's the opinion of this world. Get out and get it for number
one. That's the world opinion. That's
what he's talking about when he says, don't be conformed to
this world. He's talking about don't be conformed to its opinions,
to its habits, to its goals, to its temperament. If a man
loves this style, this philosophy, he doesn't love God. He doesn't
know God. Because the believer is no longer
self-centered, his mind's been renewed. And he's Christ-centered. And he's interested not only
in himself, He's interested in all the people of God. He has
a Catholic spirit, a universal spirit, an unselfish spirit. The worldly man cares more for
the body, less for the soul. The worldly man seeks approval
of other natural men. The man with a renewed mind doesn't
like to have enemies. But he's not interested in pleasing
people, for he knows, as Paul found out, if I please men, I'm
not the servant of Christ. Brethren, this renewing of the
mind is learning, listen to it, this renewing of the mind by
which I am not conformed to this world, by which I am transformed
This renewing of the mind is learning by the aid of the Holy
Spirit to think and feel and act under the power of an unseen
world. And God's favor is my chief good,
and God's government is my guiding principle, and God's glory is
my chief goal. Now you can determine whether
or not you are a worldly person by your attitude toward the opinions
of this world. The opinions of this world govern
our styles. The opinion of this world governs
our conversation. The opinions of
this world governs our reading material. the standards of this
world, the temperament of this world, the habits of this world
system. God's people are a kingdom, God's
people are a family, God's people are a congregation. And they are separate from this
world. They're separate. They're different. They don't think like them. They
don't find delight in the things in which the world finds delight.
They just don't find delight in it. They find delight in things
to which this world is a total stranger. Now that's what that
verse means. That's exactly what it means.
And don't you be conformed. You know what it means to conform,
don't you? Do like everybody else. Think
like everybody else. Have as your goals the goals
of everybody else. Have as your opinions the opinions
of everybody else. Have as your aim the favor of everybody else.
Don't dare to be different now, be conformed. But you be not
conformed to this world, and the way to be transformed is
by the renewing of your mind. I can't do it for you or for
myself. It's got to be renewed by the
Holy Spirit. He's got to give us a new set
of values. A new set of values. And I don't
mean to be boastful, but I've got a new set of values. One
man said this, don't take this age as your fashion plate. Don't let this world that's going
to hell tell you how to live. And then notice the second part
quickly now of this chapter. For I say through the grace given
unto me to every man that's among you. That's women too, of course,
to every one of you. I say to every one of you, whether
in office or not in office, not to think of yourself more highly
than you ought to think. Don't glory in what you are.
Don't glory in what you have. Don't glory in what you know.
Don't glory in what you can do. There's nothing that's more foreign
to spirituality and to redeeming grace than a class system. That's totally foreign. A man
who digs ditches in the congregation of the righteous is as important
or more than a lawyer or a doctor or a professor. And there's something
wrong in the heart of anybody here who looks down on anyone
else. I don't care what their job is
or what their place of abode is or what their profession is.
There's something wrong in your heart. If you can't have just as much
love for and fellowship with the youngest believer in the
most menial occupation, you've missed Christ. That's so. Read on. I say to every one of
you, come down off your high horse. Not think of yourself
more highly than you ought to think. but to think soberly,
according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith."
Consider this, this is what Paul said, you consider this, that
what riches you have, God gave them to you. What knowledge you have, God
gave it to you. What ability you have, God gave
it to you. What light you have, God gave
it to you. We do not have all faith, and
we don't have all knowledge, we just have the measure of faith
that sovereign grace has given to us. And we have the measure
of mercy that sovereign grace has given to us, and we have
the measure of success that sovereign grace has given to us. Brethren, that's an important
verse. And over there in another part of God's Word. It says a
man comes in your congregation, has on a gold ring and fine clothes,
and you escort him down. We're glad to have Mr. So-and-so.
We're just so honored and delighted to have Mr. So-and-so. And you
shake his hand. Everybody makes sure that he's
welcome. And there comes in your place a man that's in rags, and
you don't give him the same welcome. And you gave that man something
wrong in your heart. Something wrong in your heart.
In fact, the apostle says, let the rich man find his own place,
and you escort the beggar down. That's right. Let not any of
you think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, because
God's dealt with you according to his own sovereignty. Whatever
faith and grace you have, he gave it to you. Which one of your children you
love the most? You separate you, you're silly.
You know you've got four, you love them all the same, that's
right. And I'll tell you, in the family of God, there's not
one child that's more important than the rest of them. Not a single one. Not a
single one. In verse 4 he says, For as we
have many members in one body, and all members are not the same,
don't have the same office. What's he saying here? He's saying,
he's comparing the congregation to a human body. He says a human
body has many members, and they're placed in that body, those members
are, in proportion to each other, for the good of the whole body.
The eye sees, but the eye doesn't hear. and the eye doesn't smell,
and the eye doesn't taste. The ear hears, but the ear doesn't
see, and the ear doesn't taste, and the ear doesn't smell. The
ear hears. Verse 5, so we, we, and he's
including himself, so we, being many, and many of us, but we're
one body in Christ, and everyone members one of another. So we
in this congregation are one body in Christ. And we're in
a union together, and we have gifts and abilities that differ,
but we serve the same purpose, and that's the glory of God and
the good of this church. That's why we're here. Charlie Payne preached Sunday
night, but he's of no more value to this church than the man who
came down and took up the offering. And he knows that, and I wouldn't
have said it if he didn't believe it, because it wouldn't have
hurt his feelings. And he's of no more value than the one who
sang the solo, or the one who played the piano, or the one
that sat there and listened to him. Or the one that gave the
dime in the little pink envelope. No more important. Not a bit
more in this world. Any more than my ear is more
important than my little finger. It's all a part of the body.
And then he goes on in verse 6 and he says, having then gifts
differing According to the grace that is given to us, whether
prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith."
Now, this is not talking about the extraordinary gifts such
as Samuel had or Agabus had, but this is the preaching of
the gospel which continues in the church. This is the preaching
of the gospel that goes on every Sunday and Wednesday night in
special meetings. This prophecy is the preaching,
it's a gift that continues in the church. Or ministry. This is service, such as deacons.
Not only deacons, but anybody here that ministers to the needs
and welfare. The ladies that keep the nursery.
Somebody had nursery duty, didn't they? I don't know whether they showed up or
not. The person that fixed the meal,
the person that opened their home to an out-of-town guest.
That's service. We don't do much of that anymore. Entertain other Christians and
make your home available for them. People that clean and make
our church presentable. Those who prepare meals during
the conference. Any ministering. That's what
he's talking about here. If your gift is preaching, preach! according to the proportion of
faith God gives you. If your gift is to minister to
someone, start ministering. Start easing a few burdens and
lifting a few weights and loads and giving a little comfort and
helping someone along the way. Giving somebody a call in the
morning to tell them how much you appreciate them. Writing
a letter to a friend. Minister, minister, minister. If that's your call, minister.
Or if your call is to teach, teach. Pastors and elders are
mainly the teachers met here. And there are some who are exhorted.
You know what exhorting is? You know what exhorting is? This
mainly falls to the pastor and to the elders, but this is the
duty of all believers. Turn to Hebrews 3. I'll show
you that. It's your duty as well as my
duty to exhort one another. In Hebrews 3, look at this verse
12. Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you, Hebrews
3.12, an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living
God, but exhort one another daily. Now how do you exhort one another?
You give a word of encouragement. You give a word of comfort. You
give a word of strength. You give a word of warning. You
read a verse of scripture. You tell what the Lord's done
for you. You tell someone you're praying for them. You ask someone
to pray for you. There are just so many ways that
you can exhort someone during the day. And he that exhorteth on exhortation. And then verse 8, he that giveth
Now this doesn't mean that some people are to give and others
are not to give, although some are enabled by God to give more,
but this refers to the way that we give our gifts and the way
we use the Church's money. Do it with simplicity. And you
know what that word means? That means do it without fanfare. Without fanfare. Without blowing
a trumpet. Without letting people know what
you're doing. And do it with liberality. Now,
candidly and boldly, that's exactly what that's saying. If God has
given to you the gift of the ability to give, do it liberally
and do it without fanfare. And then he that ruleth, who
is that? Well, that's the pastor. The
pastor has the rule of the church. That's the deacons and the elders.
They have a major responsibility. That's you fathers. at you husbands,
at you parents, we are to take our responsibilities seriously. We are to rule, it says, with
diligence. And it's the same word used over
there when it says, give diligence to make your salvation certain. And that's the way you are to
rule. You are to rule with diligence with dedication, with sincerity,
in love and kindness. And then mercy. Look at this
word here. It says, If your gift is mercy,
show it with cheerfulness. Now that's a gift that everybody
possesses. Exhorting is a gift all of you
possess and can possess. Giving, Ruling, all of us have
a responsibility. You mothers have a position of
ruling your children. There are certain areas of the
home where my wife, and I'm sure you, have charge. It's not my
leadership, it's her leadership. And we're to do it with diligence.
We're to dedicate ourselves, if it's the smallest task in
the kingdom of God, it's a worthy task. And we're to show mercy with
cheerfulness. I wonder if we've ever learned
anything about this right here. This is a gift John Brown says
that everybody ought to possess. And this mercy involves forgiveness. It involves kindness. It involves
understanding. It involves affection. It involves
a kind word. Don't be reluctant to exercise
these graces. Go out and look for an opportunity
to do it. Do it cheerfully. If he'll come
apologize, I'll forgive him. I hope he doesn't, so you'll
have to forgive him without it. That's right. I hope he doesn't. I hope he never apologizes, so
you'll have to forgive him anyway and show the Spirit of Christ.
That's what it says here. Mercy. Do it cheerfully. Do it
willingly. Somebody said one time, and I
looked at this a long time, and it hadn't been proven wrong yet,
love and forgiveness ought to flow as quickly and freely as
anger. Do you forgive as quickly as
you get upset? Well, that's what it ought to
be. Forgiveness ought to flow just as quickly, and love ought
to flow just as quickly and just as freely, just as cheerfully,
as this other flows so freely and so quickly in these all-natural
hearts. Be not conformed to this world. But be ye transformed because
you've had a renewing of the mind by the Holy Ghost. It showed
you some things you didn't see before. And the worldly man,
because he loves the world and its temper and its opinions and
its habits and its aims and its goals, he does it because his
mind hasn't been renewed. He still takes delight in those
things. David said, I'll be satisfied.
when I awake with his likeness. And until then, this world can
never satisfy me. Never. Our Father, we thank Thee
for the Word. When we look into it, we feel
so wretched, so We see our sins and our guilt
and our shame, and we cry, O God, make us what we ought to be.
Renew these minds and these thoughts. Teach us to love thee with all
our hearts.