I want to read again from the
fourth chapter of Genesis, beginning with verse three. And in process of time it came
to pass that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering
unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of
the firstlings of his flock, and that thereof and the Lord
had respect unto Abel and to his offering. Now there's no
reason for us to believe that this was the first sin offering
any more than we believe that Cain and Abel were the only children
born to Adam and Eve. Some people have the idea that
Adam and Eve had two children, two boys, Cain and Abel, And
then also they have the idea that this was the first sin offering
that was ever brought. Suddenly one day these boys,
after they were grown and after they had occupations, Cain was
a tiller of the ground, a farmer, and Abel was a shepherd. He had
a flock, and suddenly they decided to bring an offering unto the
Lord. Well, they were not the only children of Adam and Eve.
and this was not the first sin offering. If you'll turn over
to Genesis 5, verse 3, when it tells about the birth of the
third son mentioned in the Scriptures, his name was Seth, who was born
after Abel was slain, it says in Genesis 5, verse 3, And Adam
lived a hundred and thirty years. and begat a son in his own likeness
after his image and called his name Seth. Now, we have the impression
there that Adam and Eve came out of the garden. Of course,
they were full-grown, mature adults, and that they had a son
whose name was Cain, and then they had a son whose name was
Abel. A hundred and thirty years later, they had another son whose
name was Seth. Well, that's not true. It's not
true that that's the only children they had. It says down here in
verse 4, In the days of Adam, after he had begotten Seth, were
eight hundred years, and he begat sons and daughters. One reliable
commentator on the Scriptures says that when Seth was born,
Adam and Eve were 130 years old. Of course, Adam lived 930 years.
But when he was 130 years old, when Seth was born, that there were at least 32,000
descendants from Adam and Eve at that particular time. After
130 years, after they had left the Garden of Eden, there were
at least 32,000 descendants and possibly 100,000 descendants
by that time. When I was in England in 1968,
I visited the grave of several of the prominent church leaders
John Bunyan, John and Charles Wesley, Isaac Watts, a few others,
and I visited the grave of Mrs. Wesley, who was the mother of
John and Charles Wesley. Mrs. Wesley had 19 children in
her short lifetime. She had 19 children. Now, think about this. Eve, Adam
and Eve were 130 years old. live possibly 55 or 60 years,
and in the 25 or 30 years of her ability to bear children,
she bore 19. And that was in trying times,
under difficult circumstances. Adam and Eve were both perfect
of body, strong without disease or infirmities. In 130 years,
it's impossible for us to even estimate How many children were
born to this union? When I was in the Yucatan in
Mexico just two or three weeks ago, there was a young lady there,
25 years old, who already had nine children. So Eve was 130
years old when Seth was born. Only Cain and Abel and Seth are
mentioned, but it does say Adam and Eve had many children. Now you say, why are you saying
all this? Well, there's so much controversy
about Cain finding a wife. Cain married either his sister,
or he married a child born to the union of another brother
or another sister. Now, this thing of marrying relatives
even existed in the days of David the king, and on past David,
and it was especially prevalent in the days of Adam and Eve and
Cain and Abel. They were not the only children
born to Adam and Eve. The Bible, it's like over in
the New Testament, it says if everything that Christ said and
did, if everything was recorded, the world wouldn't contain the
books. And if we had a rundown of the
birth of every child born to Adam and Eve, and every marriage
that took place even shortly after they left the Garden of
Eden, and every child born to that union, This room wouldn't
contain the genealogies. This room wouldn't contain the
life story of 32,000 people in the first 130 years of Adam and
Eve's existence outside the Garden of Eden. So there's no reason
to suspect or even think or get in silly, foolish arguments about
where Cain got his wife. It's very obvious where Cain
got his wife. Is this the first sin offering?
This is not the first offering. I'm sure that these young men
knew the instructions of the Lord in regard to sin offerings. I'm sure that Adam and Eve had
brought many blood offerings unto the Lord, many sin offerings
since they left the Garden of Eden. These were grown young
men. It's hard to say just how old
they were at this time. They may have been 30, 40, 45
years of age. when this sin offering was brought.
And they'd been outside the Garden of Eden for many, many years,
a whole lifetime for some of us. And this was not the first
sin offering. They knew what to do. They had
been instructed how to approach the Lord. Now, Abel approached
the Lord in the right way. It says that Abel brought a lamb. Abel brought a lamb signifying
Christ, the Lamb of God. That's why he brought a lamb.
He brought a lamb because God had instructed them to bring
a lamb. And he approached the Lord through
the lamb, signifying Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, as John stood
on the banks of the River Jordan and pointed to Christ and said,
Behold, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
And everybody prior to this time brought a lamb. as a sacrifice
for sin, because it typified God's lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. And then Abel not only brought
a lamb as he had been instructed, but he brought a perfect lamb.
He brought the firstling of the flock. He brought the best lamb.
He picked out the one without spot and without blemish. He
went over the flock and got the very finest lamb he had, the
firstling of the flock, the spotless lamb, and he did that in order
that he might properly signify the sinlessness of Christ, our
lamb. Christ was without sin. He was
without spot. Abel didn't go out in the flock
and pick out a crippled lamb, or a useless lamb, or a mangy
lamb, or one that he couldn't use and didn't want. He picked
out the firstling of the flock, the best of the flock, the lamb
without spot or blemish, and brought that lamb as an offering,
signifying that Jesus Christ is a perfect, sinless, and holy
Savior. Another thing that Abel did,
according to God's instructions to his mother and father, Adam
and Eve, which were also passed on to Cain and Abel, he slew
that lamb. He killed the lamb, showing that
his sins deserved death. He brought that lamb as an offering.
He brought that lamb as a substitute. He brought that lamb and slew
it showing that his sins deserved death, and his sins were paid
for by the death of God's Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Abel
took that blood from the Lamb, the perfect Lamb, the slain Lamb,
and put that blood on an altar which he had constructed, which
he had built according to God's instructions, showing how the
blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, was put on the mercy seat
of glory as an offering for our sins. There was a meaning in
all this. It was done according to divine
instructions, and Abel followed those instructions. He felt his
guilt, he felt his sins, he felt his need to approach God, and
he came in the way that God told him to come. He brought a lamb,
he brought a perfect lamb, He slew that lamb, he put the blood
on the altar as a sin offering, and all of this typifies how
that God's Lamb, Jesus Christ, came to this earth, and while
here lived a sinless, spotless, holy life, and went to Calvary's
altar, and there his blood was shed, and there his blood was
taken as an offering for our sin. And it says here, that under
Abel and to his offering God had respect, or God received
the offering which Abel brought. Now then, let's look at Cain's
offering. Cain denied that he was a sinner, for he brought
no blood. He denied that he was a sinner,
for he brought no living substitute. Cain denied that his sins deserved
condemnation, for he slew not a lamb. There was no death involved,
there was no sacrifice involved, there was no blood involved,
and Cain approached God on the grounds of his personal worthiness,
for he brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the
Lord. He approached God on the grounds
of his personal worthiness, for he brought the product of his
own hands. He went out and plowed the field,
and he planted the seed, or the plants, and he cultivated it,
and he went about the process of reaping it, and then he brought
it unto the Lord, brought the product of his own hands, the
work of his own labor. And God refused his offering. It said under Cain, God had not
respect. God refused his offering. He refused to accept it. Now
turn to Matthew 7. And I thought while I was preparing
this message, what is an illustration of that for us today? Well, look
at Matthew 7, verse 22, just a moment. Matthew 7, 22. And
the Lord Jesus is talking here about the Day of Judgment. And
he says in Matthew 7.22, many will say to me in that day, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast
out devils, and in thy name have done many, we have done many
wonderful works. And God will not have respect
to this type of offering or this type of approach. It's based
on personal worthiness. It's based on the fruits and
works and deeds of our own hands, and then will I profess unto
them, I never knew you." So we look at the two offerings. Abel
brought the offering, the lamb, the perfect lamb. He slew that
lamb. He put the blood on the altar, and God had respect to
it. God received it. God accepted
it. Cain came and brought the fruit
of the field. the product of his own efforts.
He approached God on the basis of his personal worthiness. He brought no substitute, he
brought no blood, he denied that his sins deserved death and condemnation
because he brought no living sacrifice to be slain. And then
took place, then took place the first religious battle If you read with me in verse
8, and Cain talked with Abel his brother. And it came to pass
when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel his
brother and slew him. Now I hear people saying, why
can't religious people get along? Why can't religious people get
along? Here are two religious men. Here
are two men who are bringing an offering. Here are two men
who are seeking to worship. Here are two men going through
the ceremonies of religion. Here are two men who are coming
to approach God. And after they go through their
religious ceremony and their respective ways of trying to
approach God, they go out in the field and they begin to talk,
and one rises up against the other, and kills him. Now this
was the first religious battle. This was the first religious
conflict, and what was it over? It was over works or grace. It was over whether a man approaches
God through the blood or through his own personal worthiness. This religious battle, this first
murder, occurred when two men conflicted over whether a man
can approach God by the deeds which he himself has done, or
through the sacrifice and death and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it was over. The
first blood ever shed on this earth in anger, the first murder
ever committed was following a dispute over how can a man
approach God Almighty and be accepted. Abel said you approach
God through the blood. Abel said you approach God through
the sacrifice of Christ. Abel said you approach God through
the substitutionary work of another. King said, you approach God by
your own personal worthiness, by the works of your hands. And
King killed his brother. And my friends, that battle has
been going on since that day. That conflict has been going
on since that day. That battle has been raging over
that issue to this day. Let's see what God's Word says
about it. Turn to Leviticus, the book of Leviticus, chapter
17, verse 11. Now listen to this. In Leviticus 17, 11, the life
of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon
the altar to make an atonement for your souls. For it is the
blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Turn with me to
Ephesians, chapter 1. In Ephesians, the first chapter,
verse 7. Ephesians 1, verse 7. Listen
to the word of God here. In whom we have redemption through
His blood. the forgiveness of sins according
to the riches of His grace. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 22. Here's a familiar scripture,
and yet do we really know its meaning. In Hebrews 9, 22, the
last line says, "...without shedding of blood is no remission." Now
one other in Revelation, chapter 5. Revelation, the fifth chapter,
reading verse 9 and 10. Now here's the song of glory. Here's the song of those who
not only approached God rightly, but been accepted, redeemed,
and carried the glory. Now listen to them. And they
sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book.
and to open the seals thereof, for thou was slain, and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, tongue,
people, and nation." It doesn't matter whether a man's a Jew
or a Gentile, whether he's yellow, red, white, or black, whether
he's old or young. Out of every kindred, tongue,
people, and nation, thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood. It's the blood of Christ that
makes the sinner whole. Now, let's go back to our text
again. In Genesis 4, verse 10, I have two texts from
which I want to bring three or four points. God approached Cain after he
had slain his brother Abel. And said, Where is Abel thy brother?
And he said, I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? And
God said in verse 10, listen, What hast thou done? The voice
of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. God said, Abel's blood has a
message. Abel's blood has something to
say to me, God said. And Abel's blood has something
to say to you. Cain had slain his brother. His
brother's body was lying there on the ground and the blood had
gone from his head or wherever the wound was and seeped into
the ground. There was disdain upon the ground.
And God said, Cain, your brother's blood speaks. What does it say? Well, the first thing that Abel's
blood speaks about Abel's blood tells the truth about men and
women. Now you can say what you please
about influence over behavior. We talk about the way that people
are brought up influences them to certain types of behavior,
and it does contribute. A man would be a fool to deny
that. A person is brought up in a ghetto or brought up in
a rich home. A person is brought up in a country
of poverty or a country of plenty. And you can say what you please
about influence over behavior. We can talk about television
influencing our young people, and it does. A man be a fool
not to admit that. Talk about how that what the
president and what his cabinet has done influencing young people,
and we can talk about these things of of wars and nation rising
up against nation. We've been brought up in a bloody
era. We've had World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the battle
over Israel, people live with murder and kidnapping and all
these things, and they go out and do it likewise. But Cain
had never heard of a war. There'd never been a war. Cain
had never heard of a There'd never been a race riot. King
had never heard of a murder. There'd never been a murder.
King had never even heard of death. There hadn't been a death. Nothing but the animal that was
slain that was brought as an offering to the Lord. Now I know
all of these environmental influences we blame for our sins are not
the real cause. The hatred with which Cain slew
Abel didn't come from outside, it came from inside. That dead boy on the ground lying
there is not condemning the environmental influences. That dead boy lying
there on the ground and his blood is speaking against the evil
that was in his brother's heart. That's where it started. The
evil was in his heart. And here's another thing. You
say, what an awful thing for Cain to do. Cain rose up and
killed a man, and not only killed a man, but killed his brother.
Well, let me tell you something. Cain knew when he hit Abel that
there would be no officer to come and arrest him. There wasn't
an officer. And Cain knew perfectly well
that there would be no jury to convict him. And Cain knew perfectly
well there was no judge to sentence him. And Cain knew perfectly
well there was no jail to contain him. Now we know these things. We
talk about how good we are and how holy we are and how righteous
we are, but these bars, these fences about us, they hold down
the evil that's in you and me. They help contain this evil.
If there was no jail to contain you, and no judge to sentence
you, and no jury to convict you, and you knew perfectly well there
was no officer to arrest you, just exactly what kind of person
would you be? And here was King standing here,
and it was not environmental influences. There was no worry
or fear in his heart about ever having to give an account of
this deed. And that hatred and enmity and
anger and jealousy and covetousness which was born in here came out
and he killed his brother. That's the reason our Lord Jesus
Christ said in Matthew chapter 5, verse 21 and 22, that's the
reason he said, you've heard it said by them of old time,
thou shalt not kill, Perhaps the only thing keeping you from
killing somebody is you know you'll be arrested. Perhaps there's
no difference in you and Cain. Cain knew he wouldn't be arrested.
He knew he would not be tried. He knew he would not be convicted.
He knew he would not be punished. There's nobody to punish him.
And Christ said, you've heard it said, thou shalt not kill,
and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment.
I say unto you, whosoever is angry, with his brother without
a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. Whosoever shall
say to his brother Raker, vain fellow, shall be in danger of
the counsel. Whosoever shall be so angry that
he calls him a fool shall be in danger of hell fire." That's
where it all starts. That's where sin is born and
bred, and these influences actually, actually when it comes right
down to it, these influences contain sin. That's right. They contain sin
is there, rebellion is there, murder is there, all types of
evil is there. But the presence of the man in
the uniform, with a flashing light on top of his car, the
presence of the accountant who comes in and checks our books,
the presence of the penitentiaries and the jails, and the courtrooms
and the judges. That's what keeps us from killing
one another. In Matthew chapter 15, our Lord
said in verse 18, those things which come out of the mouth come
from the heart, and they defile the man. Out of the heart proceeds
evil thoughts and murders and adulteries and fornications and
thefts and false witnesses and blasphemies. I hear people say
we are the victim of our environment, we're the victim of our surroundings.
There may be a point there, I don't know, but this world was put
in good shape when God put man here. I think our environment's
a victim of humanity. I think we're the one that's
spoiling it and ruining it and making it rotten. It's not the
environment that's ruining us, it's the evil and wicked hearts
of men and women that ruin the environment. And you can take
a man out of the slums, and you can build him a new home. But
if you don't take the slum out of his heart, he'll turn that
new home into a slum. And that's where it all started,
and that's what the blood of Abel says from the ground. It
tells the truth about human beings. It tells the truth about men
and women. The rottenness, the corruption,
the defilement is in the heart. That's where it is. And if you
go through the Bible, you'll find under all circumstances
man has failed. Back when there was no sin, when
things were perfect in heaven, the angels rebelled against God
Almighty. And then God put a perfect man
and a perfect woman on a perfect earth, and the man turned it
into hell. And then God delivered, supernaturally
and unusually, a man and his wife and three sons and their
wives from a worldwide flood that destroyed all living things.
And the first thing the man did when he came off the ark was
plant a vineyard and make some moonshine, whisk and get drunk.
And God Almighty rescued about three million people from four
hundred years of slavery. He brought the children of Israel
out of Egypt in a miraculous manner and let them on dry ground
across the Red Sea. And when they got on the other
side, they built them a golden calf and took off their clothes
and had an idolatrous orgy out in the wilderness while God was
giving them the Ten Commandments. Take man under any circumstance,
under any type of environment, in any place, turn him loose
and he'll turn it into hell overnight. because the rottenness and corruption
is in here. And that's the reason Christ
said, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of
God. Take a man to heaven with hell
in his heart, and he'll turn heaven into hell. Take a man to hell with heaven
in his heart, he'll turn hell into heaven. What does the blood of Abel say?
Well, it speaks the truth about man. I'll tell you something
else it speaks. Let's look back at the text. I'm going to get
real personal here now with myself and with you. What does the blood
of Abel say? God says in verse 10, Thy brother's
blood crieth unto me from the ground. What does it say? Well, it says the truth about
man, tells the truth about man. Secondly, Abel's blood speaks
of a day of reckoning, a day of accounting, a day of dealing
with God. There may not be an officer to
arrest, there may not be a jury to try, there may not be a judge
to sentence, there may not be a jail to contain, but there's
a God in heaven to me." And he says, "...your brother's blood
cries unto me." I'm saying to every man and woman
in this nation who educates young people in sin, you may not pay
for it here, but you'll pay for it before God. A young man in
Lucasville Prison is there now, and he's there because his downward
path of self-destruction started when he was 14 years old, when
a male adult influenced him to try drugs. And from that moment,
according to his own testimony, he tried them, and they ruined
his life. and sent him into crime to pay
for his habit and to pay for his drug abuse. And now he's
in the penitentiary. And I say unto you that that
man who started that boy on the path of destruction, that boy's
blood cries to God. And you reckon God hears him?
And I'm saying this, I'm saying the whiskey dealers and the tavern
owners who have taken many a man's paycheck on his way home from
the mill, and caused the misery in that home and the misery among
those children, I'm saying that their blood cries unto God. And there may not be a jury to
convict, and there may not be a jail that will hold that type
of person, but every man who nails a license to sell booze
on his wall, God Almighty is going to deal with him. Your
brother's blood cries unto God. All who sell the souls of men
and women for thirty pieces of silver, God Almighty is going
to deal with them. And there are those who have
made their way on the misery of others. We talk about the
great confederacy. There wasn't anything great about
it. And those people who so little black children from their parents,
split up families, and worked those poor people in the fields
for nothing, mistreated them. Their blood cries to God, and
don't you ever forget God heard. And ever one of them is going
to meet a holy God in judgment. I promise you that. God said,
Cain, your brother's blood cries from the ground. And every blood,
every drop of blood of every black man and woman and child
that's ever been spilled on Southern soil during the days of misery,
oppression, and slavery is going to be answered to before God
Almighty. I promise you that. And I think about the rich who
work men all their lives for starvation wages and go to church
on Sunday and sing, Oh, How I Love Jesus. I remember back, it's
different nowadays, their wage controls and their prices set
and their minimum wages and their things like this and their labor
union. But I can remember when I was
a kid how that my dad worked and what my granddaddy worked
for is unbelievable. While the rich man on Knob Hill
enjoyed his riches and worked his labors for practically nothing,
and they didn't have enough food to eat or utilities in their
houses, God Almighty is going to deal with that man. That's
the reason the scripture says, How hardly shall they that are
rich enter the kingdom of heaven. You cannot make your way on the
blood, sweat, and tears of somebody else and not meet God and pay
for it. And I think about the doctors
so wealthy in this town. And I know men and women who
are on welfare, and who are on Social Security, and get less
than $200 a month, and they pay about a hundred of that for doctor
bills, and drug bills, and medicine bills. Their blood's going to
cry unto God. Rich lawyers, doctors, and professional
men who make their way on the misery of others are going to
meet God Almighty. There's no judge to set the rule,
and there's no jury to convict, and there's no jail to contain,
but there's a God in heaven. And I think about the crooked
salesman. Whether it's an automobile salesman,
or whether it's a utility, or whether it's an appliance salesman,
or whether it's a dictionary salesman, or a Bible salesman,
or whether it's an encyclopedia salesman, you cannot, you cannot
make your way on the misery and blood of somebody else without
God dealing with you. You're a crooked politician.
Thy brother's blood cries unto me, God said. There's some acts
of oppression that a jury can't deal with, and that a judge can't
sentence for, and that a jail can't open its doors and receive
crooked-hearted people, but there's a God in heaven. And I think
about the cruel husband who makes his wife's life such a miserable
existence. He makes her weep and suffer
and slave while he lives only for himself. Her blood cries
to God. Now think about the cruel parent
who neglects the little child. God says, your brother's blood
cries unto me. And God hears. God's got good
ears. And he hears, and he says the
books will be opened. and every secret deed shall be
brought to light, and everything spoken in the closet shall be
cried out in the open." And then I think about the preacher who
compromises the gospel. He knows the gospel. He knows
the gospel of grace. He compromises it to preach a
social, acceptable creed for popularity and for advantage. He's guilty of the blood of men
and women, and their blood cries from the deep recesses of hell
to a God who hears. He's a coward and he's covetous,
and he's selling the souls of his hearers. He's selling them.
He's making merchandise of the souls of men and women, and God
hears. God hears. Then I think about
the religious persecutors. They speak evil of things they
don't know anything about. They speak evil of things they
don't understand. They bring tears and heartaches
to the hearts of God's lambs. Do you think that God won't hear?
You sit at home and your little boy comes home from school and
some teacher has taken her frustrations out on your child and made him
come home crying. And you get angry, don't you?
I've gone through that too. Well, you think God's lambs,
when they go in the closet and they cry to God, why do people
say this about me? Why do they criticize things
they don't know anything about? Why do they hurt? Why do they
mock? Why do they ridicule? Don't you
know God hears that? And he said, your brother's blood
cries unto me from the ground. And Abel's blood says there's
a day of reckoning, there's a day of accounting. There's a day
when you can't hide behind, oh, how I love Jesus, and the old
rugged cause, and your deaconship, and your eldership, and your
pastoral job. You can't hide behind your phony
religion. God's going to bring out in the
open all of the hatred, and malice, and covetousness, and the misery
that you've laid out, and that you've dealt out from your bloody
hands, and God's going to deal with you. I'll tell you another thing that
the blood of Abel says, and I'm going to close. The blood on
the head, and he fell to earth, and Cain stood there stunned,
and he watched something he'd never seen before. He watched
the man die. He watched something he'd never
seen before. He watched human blood soak up,
soaked up by the ground. And in a few moments he felt
of his breath and he felt something he'd never felt before. He felt
a stiff, cold, lifeless body. Abel was dead. And Abel's blood says real loud
and clear to us today, this is the way of all flesh. One of
these days somebody will reach and touch me and I'll be cold
and dead. Abel's blood speaks, and it speaks
of man's guilt, and it speaks of man's condemnation, and it
speaks of man's death. But Paul said in Hebrews, the
blood of Christ speaks better things. What does the blood shed
on Calvary's cross have to say? Well, it speaks not of guilt,
but of God's grace. It speaks not of our unrighteousness,
but of His righteousness. First you talked about all the
sins and evils that is in men's hearts. What are we going to
do about it? Come to the fountain filled with blood drawn from
Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood lose
all these guilty stains. The blood of Christ is able to
wash the blackest sin white as snow. Though your sins be as
scarlet, I'll wash them as white as snow. His blood speaks of
grace. His blood speaks of forgiveness,
not of punishment, but of forgiveness. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their sins and trespasses unto
them. The blood of Christ speaks not
of death, but of life. King, thy brother's dead. The
Lord Jesus Christ came to Martha and Mary and said, Thy brother
shall rise again. The blood of Abel says, Dead,
dead! The blood of Christ says, Live. Our Father in Heaven, speak to
these deaf ears. Witness to these cold, dark hearts. Enlighten us, illuminate us,
make us to rise from spiritual graves and to live unto Thee,
receptive to Thy voice. We thank Thee for Thy Word. Make
it live in this hour. Let the blood of Christ speak
for us. We have nothing to say. We feel
like Job. Lord, I've heard of you by the
hearing of the ear, but now I see your righteousness. Now I see
your holiness. Now I see your sovereignty. And
I open not my mouth. I hate myself. Let the blood
of Christ speak for me. Let the blood of Christ speak
of righteousness and forgiveness and eternal life, for He alone
is my hope. He alone is my plea. Christ died for sinners. I pray
He died for me. In His name we ask it. Amen.