Brother Billy Parker's going
to bring our message tonight, so let's give him our full attention
as he brings the Word of God to us. Brother Bill, you come,
if you will. Thank you, Brother. What a wonderful
blessing and a challenge it is to be in the book of 1 Peter.
It's made me a better Bible student. And it's just a challenge to
dig and mine in the Word of God, isn't it? It's just a challenge.
It's just a blessing and it's a responsibility, but it's a
challenge. And so we're going to be in 1 Peter chapter 2, as
Brother Pledger read, and verses 1 through 8. And let's look,
before we start, at verse 6, before we start talking about
all the verses, and we're going to look in the Old Testament
just for one verse, and time would not suffice to talk about
the three verses he's building this passage on. He has the Psalm
118 in mind, a beautiful psalm, and Isaiah 8, but here in verse
6, He's got Isaiah 28, 16 in mind here, and he says in verse
6, Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay
in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious. He that believeth
on him shall not be confounded. He that believeth on him shall
not be confounded." What a glorious verse is this. You know, he takes
this from Isaiah 28, so let's look at that right quick. Isaiah
28, and in verse 16, the Assyrians were coming, they were prophesied,
and they were coming as a scourge in judgment. And the people were
in idolatry, and they made a covenant with death, and they said that
that overflowing scourge will not pass over them, and in complete
idolatry. And Isaiah gives us verse 16,
Isaiah 28 and verse 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord
God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone, a tried
stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth
shall not make haste. He shall believe it shall not
make haste. And so in Isaiah's day, like
I say, the scourge of the Assyrian army was coming, and the Hebrew
word used in the original context here meant to run away in haste,
to make haste. The Greek version of the Old
Testament interprets this word to be put to shame, and it's
used also in Romans 9 and Romans 10 and many places in the Word
of God here in 1 Peter 2 and verse 6. He that believeth on
him shall not be confounded. He shall not be defeated or run
away in shame. And so, isn't that a wonderful
promise? And so I want to use that word
confounded. I want to use that he that believeth
on him shall not be confounded. He that believeth or trusteth
in the Lord shall not be confounded in four ways. First of all, we're
not confounded because of regeneration. We're not confounded because
of regeneration. And you know, God's grace is
the one who brings regeneration, doesn't it? So I want to emphasize
the grace of God here. We're not confounded because
of regeneration, the working of God's grace in our lives.
Look at verse 2 and verse 3 of our text. Again, go back to 1
Peter. As newborn babes desire the sincere
milk of the word, that she may grow thereby. If so be that ye
have tasted that the Lord is gracious." The Lord is gracious. God's grace is the jewel of chapter
one, isn't it? The jewel of chapter one that
shines through chapter one and continues here in chapter two.
For example, look at Philippians 1 and verse two. elect according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Wow, you know, what can you say
about that? Except that we've already taught
on that. But look, let's go and look at verse 10. Look at verse
10 about the grace of God. Of which salvation the prophets
have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that
would come to you. Now look down in verse number
13. Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope
to the end for the grace that is to be brought to you at the
revelation of Jesus Christ." So we see grace present. that
reaches back into the past and grace in the past and prophecies
in the past about the grace of God that was there and will be
there for us and grace in the future. So the grace of God is
all through this passage and it continues here. We can say
with a resounding amen tonight that believers here have tasted
that God is gracious. By grace are you saved through
faith, right? By grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God. who through
Him do believe in God. Look at 121. Look at this, who
through Him do believe in God. Isn't that a testimony of God's
grace? We're saved through faith and
that not of yourselves. He says it right here, through
Him you do believe in God. That faith doesn't come from
us, it comes from Him. And so the unmerited favor of
God is the grace of God giving us what we do not deserve while
withholding from us what we really do deserve, His wrath. Holding
His wrath from us and giving His mercy to us. And we know
these verses in Ephesians chapter one, but he says, election, predestination,
adoption, redemption to the praise of the glory of His grace whereby
he hath made us accepted in the beloved. You know, in Psalm 34,
the psalmist says, Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good.
Blessed is the man that trusts in him. And many commentaries
say that this is the verse that Peter has in mind. Oh, taste
and see that the Lord is good, in verse two, where he says,
newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. And he says that you have tasted that the Lord
is gracious, tasted that the Lord is good. Peter uses that
word for good, probably from Psalm 34, 8. But think of this. How do we know that the Lord
is good? How have we tasted of him when
we were running with all our might away from God? by the grace
of God. And so I'm glad tonight that
the translators used this word gracious. The grace of God that
bringeth salvation has appeared unto all men. And so Peter uses
this word gracious, grace of God, the goodness of God in Psalm
34.8. We were running away from God
and yet He turned us around by His grace. First of all, through
the new birth, in verse 2. First of all, through the new
birth. Look in chapter 2, in verse 2. As newborn babes, the
preaching of the Word came with power, the Spirit gave conviction
of sin, repentance, because the law of God fell hard upon us,
and the Spirit gave faith. And we trusted in God with that
faith along with a new birth and regeneration. It all came
at the same time, but it was the grace of God that brought
the new birth. You know, Nicodemus asked, how can a man be born
when he is old? Can he enter in a second time
into his mother's womb and be born? And the Lord said, the
Spirit blows where it wants to. And you hear the sound thereof,
and you know not where it's going, and you know not where it's coming
from, nor where it's going. So is everyone that's born of
the Spirit. You're born of the Spirit. It's the will of God
that you're born again. And so the apostles asked in
one passage in the Old Testament, I'm sorry, in the New Testament,
who then can be saved? And what did the Lord say? With
men, it's impossible, but with God, all things are possible.
You see, you must be born again, but how can you be born again?
It's the will of God and the Spirit of God. It's the blood
of Christ. It's the will of Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit when it comes upon a person and grants him
the new birth. So, another thing about the grace
of God and what the grace of God does is it gives us arms
in the fight. Now, we're in a war, and we see
this in verse 1, don't we? We're not only newborn babes
in Christ because of the grace of God, but we're given arms
in the fight, and that's how he starts out. But you see, I
wanted to get first things first. First is the grace of God, then
is the new birth, and then is arms in the fight. Isn't it? And so look in verse 1. Wherefore
laying aside all malice, and all guile, and all hypocrisies,
and envies, and all evil speakings. You know, this is a war, and
we know that in verse 11. Look in verse 11 and 12 over
here, where it says, dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and
pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the
soul. Having your conversation honest
among the Gentiles, that where they speak evil of you, speak
against you as evildoers, they may buy your good works, which
they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation." This
is a war. This is a war. Look in 1 verse
14. Look in 1 verse 14. As obedient
children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts
of your ignorance. And so what does he say here
in our passage here? We're for laying aside malice,
guile, hypocrisies, envies, and evil speakings. Malice is wicked
ill will, used 11 times in the Old Testament. Guile is deceit,
deliberate dishonesty. Hypocrisy is pretended piety
and love, as you well know. Envies, you know them, but they're
resentful discontents. Evil speakings are slanders,
meaning backbiting, lies, gossip. I would say that it would even
include saying the truth about someone to another person who
is not part of the problem nor part of the solution. It doesn't
matter if it's the truth. The truth is intended to hurt.
So that still, he says, put it away. Put away evil speakings. Put away evil speakings. So we're
given, by the grace of God, we're given a new birth. We come out,
we start fighting, right? We start fighting when we're
born again. We have arms in the fight. And the third thing that
we have here is the third part of God's grace working in us.
It gives us a thirst for the word of God. How do I know that?
Look here in verse two. As newborn babes desire the sincere
milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if so be you have
tasted that the Lord is gracious. This word for desire is elsewhere
used in the New Testament, longing after greatly. And Paul uses
it that way. Same word in Philippians chapter
one in verse eight, if you're jotting it down, but let me quote
it to you. It says, for God is my record. How greatly I long
after you. I long after you all in the bowels
or in the heart of Jesus Christ, with the heart of Jesus Christ,
I long after you. He says long after the sincere
milk of the word, long after it. Even though it's true that
elsewhere this idea of milk of the word is used of babes in
the sense of not in maturity, really the emphasis in this passage
right here is the sincere milk of the word. It's the sincere
milk of the word, not false doctrine. Not false doctrine, the true
doctrine of God's grace. Not making excuses, but studying
hard passages. And that's what I've had to do
with this one. Don't make excuses about, it's in the word of God.
Study it and come up with the answer. Don't try to make an
answer fit your doctrine, but mold your beliefs after the word
of God. You know, it's a long time, and
I've been told this, I can't remember this time, but it's
been a long time that I've always been told that you could go into
a Baptist church somewhere and you would hear the doctrines
of the total depravity of man. and of God's electing grace,
right, without merit, without looking at what man is going
to do. And you would hear those doctrines. You'd hear the doctrines
of the particular redemption of God, of Christ, particular
redemption of Christ and the effectual calling and perseverance. But it's not anymore. But, you
know, he says the sincere milk of the word. That means that
when you look at these words, the words of God, you're going
to see the doctrines of the sovereignty of God and the grace of God.
in these passages. And there's going to be some
hard doctrines. There's people that have just
wrestled and wrestled with Romans 9, and even the end of Romans
8, and Ephesians 1, and here in 1 Peter. And you've got to
study, and you've got to accept God is God, and man is not. You see, so God, this is my father's
world. And so, we see that it's the
true, sincere milk of the word. But I do like that baby illustration
though, you know, because I've got grandchildren, right? I've
got six grandchildren. The last one came, and he is,
what, maybe about three, four weeks old, Shelly? About four
weeks old. And we had him just on, what was it, Sunday, wasn't
it? We had him on Sunday for a little while. And he was, he
started moving around, you know, he started getting agitated,
moving back. He was hungry. And you could just touch his
face and he'd go towards it because he's thinking he's going to get
something to eat. And that's what he's talking about with
sincere milk of the word, that baby is going to desire and going
to long after with motivation, with vehement desire, with zeal,
with hunger after the word of God. And so, but I just, that's
brought out here as well. So I wanted to see that we have
the new birth through the grace of God, we have the fighting,
we start out fighting, we have arms in the fight, and we have
been given a thirst for the Word of God. That's that first part
which is regeneration. We'll not be confounded because
of the grace of God giving us regeneration. We shall also,
number two, not be confounded, not be confounded because of
our relationship, our relationship. Look in verse 4. To whom coming
as into a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of
God and precious. Disallowed indeed of men, but
chosen of God and precious. Let's look at three things here.
First of all, he's the living stone. He's our living foundation. He ever lives to make intercession
for us. He has us on his heart. John
5 says it. He has life in himself, and he
says, in another place, I am the resurrection, the life, and
I give unto them eternal life. He's the living stone. Now stone,
Peter's beginning to move into buildings, the idea of the building,
and we'll get into that. But he wants to emphasize here,
he's the living stone. He has eternal life in himself. And look what he says here. He
says, to whom coming, to whom coming. as unto a living stone."
To whom coming as unto a living stone is a relationship we have
with Him. It's a relationship that's an
ongoing relationship. The characteristic of our relationship
is that it is ongoing, active faith. I believed on the Lord
Jesus Christ one day, and I still come to Him putting my faith
and trust in Him, and I need Him every hour of every day. I need Him to work in my life.
I need fellowship with Him. I need to pray and I need to
confess my sins daily. I need Him every hour. Look at
the fallacy of decisional salvation in this verse right here. To
Him coming as unto a living stone. You know, decisional salvation
is just works because you've made a decision. It is such a
fallacy because many look at the death of Christ, the burial,
the resurrection of Christ, and the gospel in a static way, as
it's a concept that Christ died and I trusted Christ and that
was the end of it. That's not salvation. That's
not salvation. You don't go back to a decision
you made one day and then that settles it and then nothing else
happens after that. No, you continue to come to Him. Henry Mahan said it this way,
it's a continuous coming to Christ and a continual exercise of faith
in His love, in His grace, His blood, His intercession. We came
to Christ and we continue to come to Christ, looking unto
Jesus, the author and the finisher. of our faith. It's a continual
relationship. We will never be confounded because
He that hath begun a good work in us will carry it on to completion
in the day, until the day of Jesus Christ, to Him coming as
unto a living stone. Also, not only is He a living
stone, He is a precious elect stone, isn't he? He's the first
elect. He is the precious elect stone.
But look at this, disallowed indeed of men, disallowed indeed
of men, disallowed. Oh, now I don't want to, I want
to take this part first. The Jews sought righteousness
by the law. They did not see what the law was meant to show
them, and that was the impossibility of attaining righteousness through
the works of the law. The sacrificial system pointed
to Christ. Galatians says, the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we may be justified by faith. With the coming of Christ, it
says he came unto his own, his own did not receive him. You
know, they looked at the credentials of Messiah, and they cast him
aside, didn't they? He said, the works that I do,
that the Father gave me to finish, they testify of me. And he mentioned
a fourfold witness there. John had testified of him, the
works had testified of him, the voice of the Father testified
of him, and the Scriptures. He said, search the Scriptures,
that within them you know you have eternal life. They are they
that testify of me. And the Jews took that, the leaders,
the Sanhedrin, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, the leadership
of Israel, took all the credentials of Messiah, and they cast him
aside, and they said, we don't want him. Look at Acts chapter
4 verse 10 through 12. Acts chapter 4 and verse 10 through 12. Look what Peter says here. Be it known unto you all, and
to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Christ Jesus
of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is
the stone which was set at Nod of you builders, is become the
head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in
any other, for there is none other name under heaven given
among men. whereby we must be saved, whereby
we must be saved. And he's quoting from, it's the
other major passage that Peter builds this passage upon, is
he's quoting here, and also in Acts 4, in Psalm 118, Psalm 118,
which is just a marvelous, beautiful psalm, quoted, the verses in
Psalm 118 are quoted over 13 times in the New Testament. But
it's a psalm that preaches Christ, as all the psalms do. But what
is Peter saying in this passage in Acts? He's saying that, be
it known unto you all that by the name of Jesus Christ, whom
you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, that stone was
rejected in that way that it was rejected. They threw him
aside. They crucified him and did away with him, according
to them, because They had no value in Him. They couldn't see. The blindness of their hearts,
they couldn't see. And you know, this passage also
says, disallowed of men, which really it's a universal, isn't
it? It's a universal concept. Disallowed indeed of men. All
free will works-based religion throws Christ out. You see, because
the Word of God says salvation is by faith alone, through grace
alone in Christ alone. And there's no works. You know, it's not a decision,
it's a person, it's a person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
said this, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel, not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ
should be made of none effect for the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. But into us which are saved is
the power of God. Look at the contrast. He was
chosen of God. Peter calls him the precious
elect stone, but he says disallowed by men. But look at this. Look
at this, back in our text again in 1 Peter. I've got to depend
on my ribbons here. He says, to whom coming as into
a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God and
precious, chosen of God and precious. God's darling son, his first
elect, his beloved. You know where he says in Isaiah
42, you know, that's a verse that we all have marked. Behold,
my servant whom I uphold, mine elect in whom my soul delighted. I have put my Spirit upon him,
he shall bring forth judgment unto the Gentiles." He's precious
unto God. He's precious unto God, first
of all. And look at 2 Peter chapter 1. 2 Peter, the book of 2 Peter,
chapter 1 and verse 17. Peter talking about the Mount
of Transfiguration here in 2 Peter, and he says this in verse 17
of chapter 1. For he received from God the
Father honor and glory. When there came such a voice
to him from the excellent glory, this is my beloved son in whom
I am." Look at this, well pleased. He's a precious son. He's the
precious first elect of God. He said, sit thou at my right
hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. He said in Psalm
2, he said, ask of me and I will give thee the heathen for thy
inheritance and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession. So he is the precious. one of
God. He's a precious son of God. He's elect. He's the first elect.
Men disallowed him, didn't they? So we see, we see, first of all,
we see the grace of God in regeneration. And I want to say the first one
is regeneration. Second one was a relationship that we have with
that living stone, the relationship that we have and that living
stone. And thirdly, in verse five, look
in verse five again in our text, We shall never be confounded.
because of our foundation. First of all, that he's our high
priest. Number one, we're living stones,
he says. Look in verse five, look in verse five. He also has
living stones or lively stones are built up into a spiritual
house. You see here, he gets more into the building here,
the building trades and the idea of the temple in mind, a building
of God and the church of the living God, which is a greater,
the temple of God now. And also, ye also as lively stones
are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
We're all living stones made up a priestly house, living stones
We are predestined to be conformed to his image. He is the living
stone and we are living stones. A new creation is born within,
they call the new man. It's the new man is born within
us, we're born again. Hebrews says, for both he that
sanctifies and they who are sanctified are all of one, for which cause
he's not ashamed to call them brethren. They're all of one. See, we're made, we're living
stones because he is the living stone. And so we are the true
temple of God. He says that here, into a spiritual
house. I think, and I've read in the
commentaries that I've read, the Old Testament temple is in
view. We are the true temple of God, not built with hands,
built upon the chief cornerstone. Look back in Ephesians chapter
2. Ephesians chapter 2. And verse 19 through 22. Now, therefore, you are no more
strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints
and of the household of God, and are built upon the foundation
of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone in whom all the building fitly framed together
groweth up into a holy temple in the Lord. in whom also you
are builded together for a habitation of God through the Spirit. We're
priests of the Lord to offer up spiritual sacrifices. We see
in verse 9 back in our text, in verse 9 or a little bit further
than our text, look over in verse 9, we see that here that you're
a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a
peculiar people, that ye might show forth the praises of him
who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light." In
other places, it's not only praises, it's prayer in Revelation 8.
Also, it's offerings and service in other places of the Bible.
Doing and sharing is mentioned as offerings. And we don't have
time to go into this, but what I want to say is that we are
believer priests and we're called as priests to offer up praise
and spiritual offerings to God. And these offerings would be
nothing without our high priest. Without our high priest, that's
what I want to emphasize here. And so he says, these would be
nothing without a higher priest. Look what he says. We're offered, and let me read
the whole verse again, verse five. Y'all saw as lively stones
are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up
spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God. by Jesus Christ. Those are only acceptable to
God by Jesus Christ, our great High Priest. They would be nothing
without the working of our great High Priest, who by His blood
and His intercession makes them acceptable to God. In fact, the
whole basis of our ongoing security in Christ is because He's able
to save them to the uttermost that come to God by Him, seeing
that He ever liveth to make intercession for them. Praise the Lord. Our
great high priest, our great high priest, and that's in Hebrews
7, but we don't want to look there. But I think of his blood
that saves us from God's wrath, that washes away our sins. I
think of his righteousness that we're covered in that robe of
righteousness. I think of his intercession though,
moment by moment, his intercession before the throne of God. Oh,
we have a firm foundation. We have a firm foundation in
our high priest. Needless to say here, and I want
to bring this out here, Peter obviously declares that he is
not the foundation of the church. Obviously. He's not the foundation
of the church. Look in verse 6. Look in verse
6. Wherefore also it is contained
in Scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief cornerstone, elect
and precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded."
On him. He is the one laid in Sion. He is the foundation of the church.
He is the rock. And think about that. The many,
many scriptural times, the many times in Scripture that the rock
The rock of our salvation is used in the Old Testament and
so on all the way through in the foundation. And all these
passages that Peter is using here, time would not allow us
to do that tonight, to do a study on that. Hopefully one day I'll
be able to bring out another study on that. He's our foundation. Peter is not. The rock is Jesus
Christ. In Matthew 16, he said, upon
this rock, I will build my church. And that rock was the fact that
Peter said that Christ is the son of the living God. So that
rock is Christ. I don't want to say the rock
was the confession. I want to say the rock is Christ because
in the confession, Peter revealed, because of the Father had given
it to him, he said, flesh and blood didn't reveal it to you,
right? But my Father who is in heaven, he revealed it to him
that the rock is Christ, the foundation of the church is Christ.
And he said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And he said, upon this rock,
I'll build my church. Upon this rock, I'll build my
church. And so the gates of hell will not prevail against it,
because why? He's the sure foundation. We're
sure tonight that the church will be founded. It is founded. It will be called out. All of
the living stones will be called out. All of the believers will
be called out. All of His elect His sheep will
be called out because the gates of hell would not prevail against
it. And lastly here, lastly, the
number four, and this is in verse seven and eight, we're not confounded
because we've been given faith. We've been given faith. And with
that faith, we've been given new eyes. Look in verse seven
and verse eight. unto you therefore which believe
he's precious, but unto them which are disobedient, the stone
which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of
the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense, even to
them which stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto
also they were appointed." We're not confounded because we see
him as precious. We've been given faith. The Lord
has blessed us. By grace are you saved through
faith. We've been given faith to see
that he is precious. Look at the usage of precious
here in this passage. Look at precious in verse seven.
Look at precious in verse six. elect and precious, look in precious
in verse four, chosen of God and precious. Verse seven, verse
six, it goes back to the word gracious, doesn't it? It goes
back to the word gracious in verse three, because it's only
by the grace of God that we have been given new eyes to see him
as precious. It's the grace of God all through
this. Whosoever shall fall upon this stone, the Lord said, shall
be broken. but on whomsoever it shall fall,
it will grind him to powder. We fell upon this stone and we
were broken. In all the blindness and unbelief
and the deadness of sin that Satan had us captivated, God,
through his creative act of shining his light into darkness, has
shown into our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. When all of
a sudden we saw Jesus Christ as precious. We saw him high
and lifted up. We saw the glory of God in the
face of Jesus, in the bloody face of Jesus Christ, who shed
his blood for us. And he became precious to us
because we had new eyes through the new birth. Our blessed Savior
in our surety, our sacrifice, our substitute. We saw him as
our shepherd who was smitten for us. He's the captain of our
salvation. He is the God-man mediator, the
first elect, our redeemer, our righteousness. He is our altar,
our sacrifice, and our high priest. He's King of kings and Lord of
lords. King of kings, Lord of lords. Have you fallen upon Him
and were broken? Have you fallen upon Him and
were broken? Or are you disobedient? Did you not obey the gospel?
Disobedience means they haven't obeyed the gospel. John Gill
said this, infidelity or unbelief was the cause of their stumbling.
For as there are some whom God appointed and foreordained to
believe in Christ, on whom he has determined to bestow true
faith in him, and who have it as a pure gift in consequence
of such appointment, So there are others whom he has determined
to leave in their disobedience and infidelity, into which the
fall brought and concluded them, through which they stumble at
Christ and his word, and in consequence thereof, they justly perish.
What a sad condition. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shall be saved. He's never turned down someone
who has come to him in repentance and faith. And Henry Mahan said
it this way, and I'll close with this. The scripture says that
Pharaoh hardened his heart, but it also says that God hardened
Pharaoh's heart. The scripture says that wicked
men crucified Christ, but it says they did what God determined
before to be done. We can say that stumbling and
destruction is the appointed end of all those who reject Christ
the cornerstone. Or we can say that those who
willingly refuse Christ and stumble at his gospel of grace and substitution
were vessels of wrath from the beginning, Romans 9, 22 and 23. And we would be right on both
counts. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shall be saved. Thank you, brother.