the scripture reading this morning is from 2nd Chronicles chapter 33 and we read the verses 1 through 11 2nd Chronicles chapter 33 and we read the verses 1 through 11 and there we read God's holy word in 2nd Chronicles 33 Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign and he reigned 55 years in Jerusalem, but did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. For he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down, and he reared up altars for Baalim, and made groves, and worshipped all the hosts of heaven, and served them. Also he built altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said, In Jerusalem shall my name be forever. And he built altars for all the hosts of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. and he caused his children to pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom. Also he observed times and used enchantments and used witchcraft and dealt with the familiar spirit and with wizards. He wrought much evil in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to anger. And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, in this house and in Jerusalem which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel will I put my name forever Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers, so that they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses. So Manasseh made Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to err and to do worse than the heathen, whom the Lord had destroyed before the children of Israel. And the Lord spake to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. so far the reading of God's Holy Word, this portion is also the text for the sermon this morning. Beloved congregation, the God-fearing King Hezekiah has died. He had received 15 extra years to his life and to his joy. After three years, he and his wife received a baby boy. There was gladness. And they called him Manasseh. And Manasseh means to forget. That's why Joseph called his firstborn in Egypt also Manasseh, to forget. Because he said, the Lord has caused me to forget all the hardships and the trials I've gone through. and even to forget my father's house." Doesn't mean that Joseph had forgotten about Father Jacob, no, but the sorrow and the pain he had and homesickness, they were all removed because God had blessed Joseph tremendously. Manasseh means to forget. and so Hezekiah also gave this name to his son because the Lord had caused him to forget the disappointments and the trials they had gone through and when Manasseh was 12 years old Hezekiah died and Manasseh reigned in his stead but Manasseh was only 12 years old A 12-year-old boy having to rule and to reign over the kingdom that's far too young, that must have consequences. And we see this as we consider the rule of King Manasseh. And we take note of the ways of the Lord, the wickedness of Manasseh, and a warning to us. So Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign over the kingdom of Judah. This indeed is far too young. He is still a boy. Now if he would have had good counselors who would have given him good advice then it still could have worked out well. And even although Manasseh was young, if he would have feared the Lord from his youth on, and would have had true love to God already as a young man, and would have been convinced of the truth of God's revelation, then it still would have worked out well with Manasseh. We find an example of that in his own grandson, Josiah, who will later on also ascend the throne as a boy, but Josiah was only eight years old. But he feared the Lord. But we read of nothing of this in Manasseh. Manasseh didn't want to listen. He heard what Hezekiah, his father, had gone through, but he didn't care. He was indifferent. He lived for this life. He didn't want to hear of the great deeds of the Lord, of the deliverance from Sennacherib, from Assyria. He didn't want to hear about the sun going back 12 degrees. He didn't want to listen to Hezekiah's friend Isaiah. No, Manasseh wanted to do things his way. And we also do not read that he had good counselors. Then still matters could have turned out quite well. If we look at the history of the kingdom of Judah in those days, then it's clear that there has always been a liberal party there at the royal court. There were princes, Jewish nobility, and they disliked what they deemed to be the severity and the strictness of the Mosaic laws. We read of princes who influenced kings like later on clearly Zedekiah. He was influenced by this liberal anti-Jehovah lobby at the royal court. And there were always those who had been lenient towards the ceremonies of the heathen they saw value in idol worship because after all these heathen nations were also blessed with prosperity and with fertility and so we can learn from them we shouldn't be so snobbish as if we only have the truth we have to be open-minded and that's how they must have lobbied and influenced and this party had gained the upper hand during the rule of King Ahaz but they were clearly overpowered during the godly rule of Hezekiah and they must have hoped for a weak successor after Hezekiah and behold there comes Manasseh a boy of 12 years old And of course they manipulated him, and they corrupted him, and they influenced him. And of course King Hezekiah had raised Manasseh in the fear of the Lord, and later on Manasseh would remember the God of his father Hezekiah. But that's for another time. That's much later. What we know is that very soon after Manasseh gained the throne, he turned completely away from the upbringing of his father. We read in verse 2, he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. He admired the religions of the surrounding nations. He was raised with the understanding there is only one God. But Manasseh embraced other gods. And so we read in verse 3, he built again the high places which Hezekiah his father had broken down. And he reared up altars for Baalim. Baalim is the plural form for Baal. Baal was the god of fertility, and they used temple prostitution to gain the blessings, as they called, from Baals. And they made groves, and they worshipped all the hosts of heaven, stars, and sun, and moon, and he served them. And here we see congregation, that God-fearing parents can bring forth children who rebel against them that's possible and it happens we read it here what a sorrow it must have been for Hezekiah and what concerns he must have had and how he must have interceded and pleaded with the Lord for Manasseh for the salvation of Manasseh And that meant that the Lord would instruct Manasseh on how to rule the people and lead them in the ways of the Lord. But maybe Hezekiah knew that it's not going well with Manasseh. You know, even the Lord has to say, I raised up children and they rebelled against me. It's a very sad thing. when children of godly parents turn aside from the good ways in which they were brought up. And yet, when we receive children, we may not raise them in fear, afraid, and scared, but we must raise them in hope, in faith, in trust, that God will also be their God. It's essential in the upbringing of children that we give a godly example. You see, it's not only about instruction, what we say, and that's very important. We must instruct them in the ways of the Lord. We must expose them to the Word of God. as a young age, as young as possible. And also, the upbringing is not about mere instruction. It's also not about rules that children have to abide with. Rules are necessary. They are good. But the most important thing is that we as parents are a godly example to our children that our children may see in us that we love the Lord with everything we have. Children will note that and see that in you. They will not tell you, but they will see it. And that's the most important matter of raising children, to be an example of godliness to them. That's also the hardest. Because then we see our own heart inclined to all wickedness. And so there must be a continual prayer that our lives and hearts may be turned unto the Lord. A continual prayer for the outpouring of God's Spirit in our own heart and life. And so we are to raise our children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord. And we may do that in good hope. We may sow the seed of God's Word in their hearts, and we may trust and hope and pray and believe that that seed will germinate, that it will bring forth fruit, that God the Holy Spirit will water the seed of God's Word that we plant in their hearts. But let, therefore, God's Word have an important place in our lives and hearts, that we don't leave the house without reading the Word of God, that we take time to read the Word of God at supper table when the whole family should be together, and that we take time to read and also to discuss what we read, that we as parents ask our children if they have understood and ask them questions and solicit questions from them about what they heard and let there be godly conversations in our family setting and also let it be that after church on the Lord's day that we would speak together about what we heard that we would reflect it's good that the points of the sermon are recorded in the bulletin You can use that and ask to your children what they understood or what it means for us, what it meant for you personally. And so we lay the Word of God before them and in them. And at the same time let there be continual prayer, daily prayer for your children. that the Lord would work in their hearts and you may trust and believe that your prayers will be heard they will be answered you do not pray in vain it doesn't mean necessarily automatically that all children are saved but the Lord will hear your prayer and work with his word in their hearts and we have to remember in this all every person has his own responsibility we had our own responsibility and we still do our children also have their own responsibility but it's so true what we read in Proverbs 22 verse 6 train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old He will not depart from it. The words you hear in your youth, they stay with you. The Psalters you're now learning, boys and girls, for Sunday school, they will stay with you. The text you learn will be a part of you. And even when they are old, even if children depart from the ways of the Lord, what they heard in their upbringing will remain with them. It will even come back to them. We see that is going to happen to Manasseh. And so we may raise our children with trust and hope, knowing that the Lord often works through the generations. And there are many here who can testify of that. how the Lord blessed the godly upbringing and that children and grandchildren, great-grandchildren are under the Word and that you remember your grandparents who were also under the Word because the Lord plants forth His Church through the generations and that's why we may raise children with hope and trust even when you don't expect it anymore The Lord can still do miracles. Your prayers are not in vain. And the prayers of Hezekiah were not going to be in vain either. Even for Manasseh. But as I said, that's another sermon. We're not that far yet. For in the meantime, we see that what Manasseh did was horrific. He was the most wicked king that ever ruled over the kingdom of Judah. In later generations, the Lord would still refer to the wickedness that Manasseh did and that he caused Israel and Judah to sin. And so when we see this all, we know that nothing bypasses the guidance of God. The ways of the Lord are past finding out. The ways of the Lord are too high and too deep for us. Manasseh is fully responsible for what he did. It was his sin and his wickedness. And yet the Lord could have led things differently. But the Lord did not do that. the Lord could have given us a Christian government he is powerful to do so the ways of the Lord are past finding out that North Korea has for 75 years now a Stalinist cruel regime we don't understand that in Romania the Stalinist regime collapsed in 1989. Why one and not the other, we don't know. We must abide with God's guidance and providence. There are questions which are beyond what we understand. We must know that the Lord will be with his people under or in all circumstances. Also God's children in North Korea, the Lord does not forget them, certainly not They are precious in His sight, and lo, I am with you all the days until the end of the world." That's a promise of the Lord. And the Lord has also said that wickedness will abound, and you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. And it's already been foretold that wickedness would fill the earth and that the whole earth will follow antichrist we are being informed in advance but we may abide with the word of God knowing that he will be with his people under all circumstances also during the wicked reign of Manasseh when God's people must have cried to the Lord. And they had sorrow because of all this wickedness. And what we also do not understand in the ways of the Lord, that this king ruled 55 years. He is the longest ruling king of Judah. A wicked king who prolonged his rule for a very, very long time. Why did the Lord allow that? We are not the ones to ask that. We are the ones who must listen to His Word and obey His Word and cleave to Him, knowing He will never put us to shame. And how the Lord is pleased to rule that is His holy, pure, majestic prerogative. And even when Proverbs 10 says, the years of the wicked shall be shortened, and that we see here a wicked king who rules for a long time, we must realize that this is the rule, the years of the wicked shall be shortened. There are many examples of that, of wicked people who die a premature death, criminals, tyrants, but there are exceptions. And we may have the matters we do not understand, but we may believe that God restrains much wickedness, but that the Lord will not overthrow all wickedness as of yet. Why the Lord lets people continue on in their own foolishness? Why is it that the vast majority I believe around 95% of all the biologists claim that the human body is a result of a cosmic accident resulting from thousands of improbable random occurrences. So it's all by sheer luck. While that same human body, yes, your human body, has a heart that beats a hundred thousand times per day, pumping blood through eighty thousand miles of blood vessels, in your human body. That the human hand has over 652,000 nerve endings, your hand. And still people say it was just an accident. We know from the Word of God that God created man. And why is it that so many people believe that it all happened by chance. That's because we live in a world that lies in wickedness, and the Bible is very clear about that. That people always gravitate away from God and to wickedness. And we know that there's much injustice in this world. The Lord has foretold that this would happen. We can have our questions. But we are called not to ask the Lord, but to realize the heinousness of sin, and to realize that God keeps powers of evil in check. That we could have for 75 years freedom and prosperity. That's only by God's restraining hand. And that we are blessed to no end in our personal lives. and that we may know that the Lord is just, is righteous, that he will do justice, and that he will punish all iniquity, and that we are called to follow him in good days and difficult days, and we may know that he will never forsake those who hope upon him. And for the rest, we lay the questions about the ways of the Lord down at his footstool. trusting that he is righteous in all his ways and works. But in the meantime this Manasseh was very wicked. The following verses portray in detail the wickedness of this king. He engaged in heathen style of worship He reinstituted fertility worship. He worshipped sun, moon and stars. He even engaged in the horrors of child sacrifice and gave himself up to sorcery and black magic and witchcraft. Why did he do this all? Because it was all about me and myself. It's all about control. I want to control everything. That's the issue. Because pagan religion wants to control the gods. You can control the gods. You can coerce them. and manipulate them that they will bless you. The fertility worship is using my sexual capacity to manipulate the gods to grant fertility over the fields. In worshiping the stars I come to know what the future will be and then I can manipulate that. and make preparations to avoid something. In occultism, I want to gain secret knowledge, so I can also react to what's going to happen. And by sacrificing my child, I show that I'm going to the extreme in order to manipulate the gods. and to gain the favor I desire. It's all about me. Control. I. I manage my life. And that is exactly what modern man today is doing. I manage my life, my body. I do what I want to do. If I do not want to have my baby, I will have it aborted. If I think that I don't want to live any longer, then I can get medical assistance in ending my life. That's my right. And if someone wants to talk me out of it, I can accuse him. And he can go to jail for that. Because I am master of my own destiny. People read the horoscopes because they want to know what the future is. Witchcraft. Paganism. It's happening all around us. You see, when Christianity waters down and vanishes, something else comes in its place. Because we are, per definition, religious people. We want to have something to hope upon, to trust in. The communist hopes and trusts in the communist rules and the leaders of communism. They were adored. And what Manasseh does, he builds altars even in the house of the Lord. Of whom the Lord had said in Jerusalem, shall be my name forever. And this Manasseh, he rebuilt the high places his father Hezekiah had destroyed. The Lord said sacrifices should only be brought in Jerusalem, in the temple. The Lord wants to be worshipped according to his word and not according to our views. It counts also for us. People have built altars to the Lord throughout the land and there they wanted to sacrifice But the Lord had said no, only in Jerusalem. And Manasseh further committed idolatry as the kings of Israel had done. He even introduced heathen worship into the temple. He set up an image of the goddess Asherah in the temple of the Lord. And this image portrayed a naked female representing fertility to arouse immorality in the people who came in the temple. And Manasseh encouraged children's sacrifice. And so far this wicked king may have justified his actions by saying he was a mild, tolerant, easy-going monarch. gratify the inclination of large classes of his subjects. You can do as you please. But then his conduct took a darker tinge. For we read in 2 Kings 21 verse 16, Manasseh shed innocent blood very much till he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another. Beside his sin wherewith he made Judah to sin in doing that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. He shed much innocent blood. All who resisted him would be punished. The Jewish historian Josephus, who lived a bit later than the days of the Lord Jesus, in the first century, He wrote in his Jewish history that the prophet Isaiah was killed by King Manasseh and that the righteous ones among the Hebrews were savagely killed by Manasseh. We see clearly what sin leads to. It leads to more sin. Sin never stops. It only stops in hell. Deliberately going away from the Lord, violating His word, will lead to greater sin. Sin is a sliding scale. If you start watching pornography, you will want to watch it again. And then you need more gratification because you need stronger impulses. It's slavery. It gives no satisfaction. And it's sin. And it starts small, but it ends big. Marriages are destroyed. You will engage in other perversities. If you now lie to your mom and dad, you will lie later on in society. Because sin takes you prisoner, makes you a captive of sin. If you are busy with Facebook and social media, but you have little time, or really no time, for the Word of God, then you will be captivated by all that's promoted nowadays on Facebook, all the confusion, all the fear, all the deception, all the sins, and you're not at home in God's Word. Then you will have a warped view of reality. And fear will catch up to you. And uncertainty. And craving for things you shouldn't be craving for. Sin will lead to other sins. To a hardness of heart. To a lack of love. you become cold and indifferent to people around you even to loved ones you can't care less because it's all about you and all along you have no peace sin is horrendous and I and you are inclined to all manner of sin it's shocking It's terrible. It's wicked. And sad to say, in our country, in the English language, wicked is now used as something that's cool. Well, wicked is not cool. Wicked is doing the works of the evil one. And let's not adjust to that terminology. The wickedness of Manasseh brought misery and destruction. It's deadly. That's why sin is so bad. And this all is a warning to us because sin blinds a person. People are being deceived. A child molester in prison who was on death row who was converted, genuinely converted. He said, I deserve the death penalty and I want to be put to death for the crimes I have done. And it started when I was a boy in church and I looked at pornography. And I ended up as a child molester. the Lord Jesus saved me and washed me but now I want to be put to death and as far as I know that happened because sin has an awful power upon people you start to play with it such a nice lady so kind so understanding she's my secretary She understands me better than my wife. And before you know it, a raging fire, destroying. Why do people fall into extravagant sins? Why does it happen to ministers sometimes that they fall into extravagant sins? It's because ministers fail to keep a self-watch. because they fail to take time to be with the Lord and they become lax and lenient. Why is it that people fall into dreadful sins that they would never have thought they would ever commit? Because they drop their self-watch. A little fire, you can douse the flames. But if a little fire is tolerated, it grows, it becomes a wildfire. I don't know how I came to do it. Yeah, because the decisions you made prior to this were wrong. If you neglect God's Word, if you neglect the communion with the Lord, the quiet time with God, then you are prone to fall into terrible sins. If you are filled with pride and you're so enamored with yourself and with what you achieved, you are a prone prime candidate to fall into dreadful sins. The sins that Manasseh did were clearly forbidden in Leviticus 19 and 20. You can read exactly the same things he was doing are forbidden there. Manasseh must have known the scriptures. His father Hezekiah had raised him with the scriptures, but he obviously had no time to read the scriptures. In the books of Moses it said that the king had to have a copy of the Law of Moses and he had to read daily from it. Manasseh didn't do that. He never read God's Word. The sins of astrology, of worshipping the sun and moon and stars were clearly forbidden there. All idol worship was forbidden. Child sacrifice was downright forbidden. Sexual immorality was warned against. But all these sins were perpetrated by Manasseh. He was blinded by his own sin. He blinded himself by not wanting to listen to the Lord. And if we look at our day and age, we can be alarmed. The same sins are happening in our country today. People read the horoscopes I just said. They believe in sorcery. They believe in witchcraft. It's astounding. If you come to the children's section of big bookstores, you see rows of books. And they're all dealing about wizards and witches and weird things. Where are the normal children books? What is our generation being raised to believe and to do? And sexual perversity is promoted in the public school system because everyone can do what they want. People sacrifice their children through the horrors of abortion. It's horrific. We are in danger of getting used to it. But it's horrific. They are offering their children to the Moloch of sexuality. And Canada, shame on our dominion, has no abortion laws. Where are the leaders who have the power and the courage to stand up against these terrible sins. As long as the children are not yet born, we can kill them. And in those days, these days we're living in now, leading towards the end of October, witchcraft and evil are advertised. They think it's interesting, the dark realm, but it's deadly. But it's all about what I want to do. What I want to do, I can be gratified. If I want to be high on cannabis, our government has now said, sad to say, you can do it. Do as you like. Even if you become dopey, can't function anymore in society, do it. You can do what you want. If I'm eight months pregnant, then you know what I can still do if I want to. If I want to mutilate my body and change my gender, well, you can't change your gender. But then I can still do it, because I'm perfectly allowed. If I want to inscribe all kinds of tattoos on my body, I can do it. Everyone does it. Clearly forbidden in Leviticus 19. It's a heathen practice. The Maori's in New Zealand, they use lots of tattoos. It's a pagan custom not to be present in the Christian church. We are to be far from it. Our whole society is doing it. Because the norm is me. I do what I want. I can lie to my boss and tell him I'm not feeling well, I won't come to work today. It's commonly done. Marital infidelity. From one sin another sin comes. Oh, woe to us. The days of Manasseh are upon us. How we need to be watchful. The judgment is not coming. The judgment is already here now today. Romans 1 tells us what that judgment is, that God will deliver our people to their own lusts and to their own vile affections. That's the judgment, that men will leave the natural use of women, and that women burn in lust against what is natural. That's because God gives them up to their own vile affections. And it's promoted everywhere. The rainbow flag of all things, the rainbow, the sign of God's covenant, the rainbow flag is used everywhere to say, we promote this lifestyle. But it's sin. It violates. God's Word. This is already the judgment. It's happening before our eyes and we have our little cubicle in which we live and it's very good to have your own cubicle. But we must be alert and realize what's happening around us. And seek to be a light. And it's not only in Canada, it's in Holland too. It's in Germany. The whole European Union. When Hungary is giving some concerns, they don't want to instruct their children about gender change till they're 18. Then the whole EU stands on its hind legs. What are you doing? It's worldwide. The days of Manasseh have come upon our land and upon our world. It has come already. And then more judgments are to follow. we should realize these things. Because God wants also in our day to have a people who are devoted to Him. The Roman Empire had all these sins. Infanticide, sexual perversity, cruelty, social injustice. and the Roman Empire was broken up. But in that Roman Empire, there were Christians who stood firm. They were known for their loving marriages and for their well-ordered families. And they stood firm. They were a light in the world. And we are entering those days in which we have to live like the early Christians did, to stand firm upon God's Word because our society will also go under. It will end in final judgment. The Lord Jesus is making the final preparations for his return. Maybe you boys and girls will be there when the Lord Jesus returns to make an end of all wickedness. and to give just punishments upon the wicked, where will you be? Will you be standing with the Lord? Or will you be cast away in judgment? And so what we read here now in this chapter 33 of Chronicles, it's a warning for us. And what is needed for us that we be a separated people devoted to the Lord. You know what you need? Not willpower. I'm going to stand firm. No. You will fall. You need something else. You need the Holy Spirit to live in your heart. Otherwise, you will surely fall You need to be governed by God's Spirit and God's Word. We need to be uncovered to the reality that these heinous sins are deep down present in my and your heart. And who will deliver me from this slavery to sin? Who can deliver me and keep me from the seductions of the evil one? There's only one who can do that, the Lord Jesus Christ, through His Spirit. and he will give his people stamina and strength to resist and even be willing to pay the ultimate price because he is with them and they will be more than conquerors and will suffer no loss whatsoever and so we personally need to learn humility before God that we don't look down upon others because we are no better although we may not do the same sins but we have the same inclinations we bow down before the Lord confessing our wicked heart and looking to the Lord Jesus who came to save sinners from sin and from all the terrible consequences of sin and that he would come and live in our heart and then the cry is born Lord come into my heart that you don't want even to waste time on Facebook But you want to be in the Word of God. I hope, young people, that you go through a stage in your life where you have a hunger for the Word of God. Because when God's Spirit enters your heart, you gain a hunger for the Word of God, a hunger for His presence in your life. And you long for Him above everything else. And you know, I need a new heart and a new spirit. And there must be saved And so you look to Him. And so your eyes need to be opened for all the allurements of the devil, the deceit of sin. Because someone wrote a book on the agony of deceit. The whole world is being deceived. They think we're going to have a heyday and they will end up in outer darkness. And there their eyes will be opened, and there they will have to undergo the agony of being deceived. The world deceives you, and the devil deceives you, and the wicked will deceive you. Jesus Christ will never deceive you. It may not always be easy, but He will always be there. And the way you live now will determine the way you'll be in eternity. You young people, you know why I like catechism? Because you're special, you're precious. Yes, you're precious. Because the Lord works often in the hearts of young people. And the decisions you're now making will determine the way your life will end up. Because in your formative years, the trend is set. Therefore, you need a good counselor. And that's the Word of God. You won't understand everything, but you will understand much. And that Word will work in you as leaven. It will leaven your whole life. And that's why you can't postpone You can't say, later on I have time to repent. Later on will not come. Now, now is the time to be saved from all the pitfalls and from the deceit and from sin and going partially along with the sins of this world. No! Now the lines are being drawn Where will you be? It can only be with the Lord Jesus who picks sinners up from the dunghill and renews them with his love. When you know that, then only can you come out of college and university unscathed. If the Lord Jesus lives in your heart, then only can you come out of the workforce without being polluted. Then only can you live in this current culture knowing He will give you wisdom when you need it. He will give you words when you are in need of it. And He will guide your life and watch over you and you are in the palm of His hand and all your struggles and all your disappointments and all your failures, they take place in His hand. So you must be in his hand. You must be born again. And then you will not waste your life. And you will not waste your soul. You will not waste your marriage. Because his love governs you. His spirit enlightens you. And then you will not be a slave to your money. And then you will be an example to your family. Alas! Manasseh was not like this. He quickly submitted himself to the power of Assyria and finally there was some revolt that we don't know anything about and then he was taken off into exile. He was put in fetters that was chains, copper chains and he was carted off to Babylon. and there he was in prison and there was humanly speaking to be the prelude to eternal prison in hell but something was going to happen but that's for a following time Amen ever-blessed Lord we thank thee again for thy holy word because surely thy word sheds light upon our path upon our day and age upon the days in which we live which were unheard of since the days of paganism and so Lord we realize that the devil is going around and he is now clearly seducing the nations to revolt against God and against God's laws and this is the age in which thou has chosen us to live and there are many blessings in our day that we have all received but there are enormous temptations and so Lord we pray thee may we be thoroughly immersed in thy word And may thy word be our guide through life, and that we may look continually to thee, Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, be with us. Pour out thy grace upon us. Make a difference where there is really no difference. And save us, we pray. Grant us that faith to be devoted to thee. And to thy full entire word, Lord, deliver us from all evil, and turn us to thee, and we shall be turned. Be with us this day. Bring us back again this afternoon. For Jesus' sake, amen.