Our scripture reading tonight is from the gospel according to John chapter 6. John 6. We begin to read at verse 22 and read through verse 51. And I would encourage you to keep your Bible open after we finish this, that I may point out a bit of the context and some things about the text itself that will be much more helpful if you have it right open in front of you. John 6, beginning to read at verse 22, the day following, that is after Jesus did the miracle of feeding the 5,000, the day following when the people which stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was none other boat there save the one whereunto his disciples were entered, and that Jesus went not with his disciples into the boat, but that his disciples were gone away alone, Albeit, there came other boats from Tiberias, Nihon, to the place where they did eat bread. After that, the Lord had given thanks. When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither? Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. Then said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he has sent. They said therefore unto him, what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe thee? What dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Then said they unto him, Lord evermore, give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I am come down from heaven not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the sun and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves, "'No man can come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him, "'and I will raise him up at the last day. "'As it is written in the prophets, "'and they shall all be taught of God, "'every man therefore that hath heard "'and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. "'Not that any man hath seen the Father, "'save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father, Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. There we stop reading in this passage the word of God. The text for the sermon is verse 37. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Beloved in the Lord Jesus Christ, the verse we consider tonight contain words of the Savior that are beautiful, they're warm, they're comforting, some of the most beautiful words Jesus ever spoke to his people. Ironically, it is found in a situation of tension. And it becomes obvious as you read this and read to the end of the chapter, and I'll refer to it later, that there were many here who did not believe in Jesus. And clearly this is a point in his ministry where many will stop following him and only those who truly believed in him would continue to be his disciples. The context of this is the great miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, an amazing miracle that the children surely all remember. We read in verse 5, we read that a great multitude followed Jesus, a great multitude followed Him, out into the wilderness, no food, no drink, nothing out there, and that because they had seen His miracles. So that's why they are following Him. And then Jesus asked Philip in verse 5 of this chapter, we didn't read this, but Jesus saw the great multitude and said to Philip, whence shall we buy bread that these may eat? Philip points out there's no way we can do that. It would take 200 days worth of wages to buy enough bread to feed this multitude. And one of his disciples, Andrew, said in verse 9, there is a lad here which hath five barley loaves and two small fishes, but what are they among so many? Jesus, knowing exactly what he would do, told them all to sit down, and they numbered them about 5,000 men, and there were surely women and children among them as well. And then he took the five loaves, and again, these aren't loaves of bread, but little buns. that a boy took along with him, made out of barley and the two fish. And when he had given thanks to God for this, he began to break them up and distribute them to the disciples and they to the multitude until all of the 5,000 plus men, women, and children had had enough to eat. And then he said, go out and collect what is left over. And they brought back 12 baskets. full of food. The result is, verse 14, when these men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, this is of a truth, that prophet, that should come into the world. And they wanted to make Jesus their king right then and there. And that, of course, Jesus knew. In verse 15, Jesus perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king. He departed again into a mountain himself alone. He sent his disciples off. He told them, get into that ship. You go away. And he himself departed alone. Then, of course, is the miracle where Jesus walks on water to the disciples when they have a storm. And the next day, the multitude finds Jesus, and still desiring to make him their king, they come to him. Now, that's the discourse that we read, that exchange between those people who wanted to make Jesus king because they had been fed, And Jesus immediately goes to the heart of the matter in verse 26. Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled. He exhorts them, do not seek earthly bread. Seek the heavenly, seek the spiritual. And they, not really understanding, but wanting to be agreeable, said, Lord evermore, give us this bread. And then he says, I am the bread which came down from heaven. I am that bread. It's clear that they are not believing, even though they had seen the miracle which pointed to Jesus as the one who came down from heaven, they were not believing. He makes mention of that in verse 36, I say unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not. But this general unbelief that was confronting Jesus at that moment, he makes plain, will not prevent those who are believers from coming to him. And that's the text. That's the text. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. There are many today who reject Jesus, the Jesus of the scriptures, the heavenly bread that comes down from heaven, a Jesus that will make them rich, a Jesus that will fill their bellies. They will enthusiastically follow, but the one who comes down from heaven to save from sin, that they will not follow. But we must, we must, That's what we consider tonight as we prepare for the Lord's Supper next week, because there at the Lord's Supper, we truly come to Jesus. We truly come to Him to eat and to drink the spiritual food for our souls. And the text encourages it and says there's only one way you can come to Him, and that is by faith. Before we start the body of the sermon, yet here in the introduction, let me point out four things about the text that are a bit unusual or noteworthy. Some of them you can see in the English, some of them only from the original Greek. Four things. First of all, notice that it starts out with a plural. All that the Father giveth me. That's the whole body. All these people. But then it becomes particular in the middle of the verse when it says, him that cometh to me. So now it goes down to the individual and addresses each one of us individually. That in the first place, the plural, the body, and then drawing to the individual. Secondly, the father giveth, all that the father giveth. That's a very unusual expression. Not that the Father giving is unusual, but that it's in the present tense. Almost every time, we'll see that in the sermon, when Jesus speaks of the Father giving to him, it's in the past. All that the Father hath given me. You find that in verse 39. But here, almost uniquely in Scripture, you have the Father giving. It's a continuous activity of giving. All that the Father is giving me is the sense. So that in the second place, the plural and the singular, and then the idea of the Father giving, the Father giveth to me, the present tense. Third, Jesus uses two different verbs, both translated come. They both describe coming. But the first word, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, not a particularly well, it's not used that often, only 27 times in the New Testament. And almost always it refers to the second coming of Jesus, and therefore it emphasizes the arrival. When Jesus comes, his coming. And so you have that idea here, all that the Father giveth me shall arrive at me. They will get to me. That's the point. But then the second word for come is far more usual. That's over 600 times in the New Testament. Him that cometh to me, that's present tense too. That's the activity of coming, of moving in his direction. So the first word emphasizes the arrival, and the second emphasizes the process of drawing near. One more thing, and that is the end of the verse. I will in no wise cast out. That's very emphatic. The King James, I think, captures it well. But literally, Jesus is saying, I will not, never cast them out. It's that strong. Two negatives to emphasize that he will not cast them out. So with that in mind, let's consider the text under the theme, Coming to Jesus in Faith. Coming to Jesus in Faith. We'll notice, first of all, the act of coming. Secondly, the explanation for coming. And thirdly, the certainty of being received. Let's look at this idea of coming, kind of step back a little bit and look at it from a general point of view. This is not a natural act, but a profoundly spiritual act. Obviously, this is a figure of speech. You see that, right? When Jesus says, those who come to me, we know what that means in a physical way, to approach to someone, to draw near to them, Someone calls you up and says, may I come over to your house? And so they drive over and they come to the house to fellowship or to bring something to you. That's an illustration of what Jesus is talking about here. It's a figure of approaching and coming up to someone physically. But that's not what Jesus has in mind, obviously, because Jesus is in heaven. and no one on this earth can come to Jesus physically. That's impossible. So the idea of coming to him is a figure that expresses something about a spiritual activity of drawing near to Jesus. Over the years, Many errors have developed in connection with this idea of coming to Jesus, and it is generally taught in the church world even that this is an act of man by his free will coming to Jesus. Coming to Him is explained as accepting Jesus as one's Savior. That Jesus, for example, is standing at the door of your heart, knocking, wanting to come in, and now you must open your heart to let Him come in. Or that Jesus is standing with His arms outstretched, with pleading eyes and begging you if you will not please come to him and now it is up to you whether or not to come to him. This theology leads to the preaching of a well-meant offer of the gospel and an altar call that proclaims that Jesus has Salvation, He's giving you salvation to anybody and everybody who comes to Him. It's up to you. Salvation is available for all. That's all you need to do is raise your hand, come down to the front, accept Jesus, and you will be saved. That would make it all a natural act of man. That's not the Bible, and that's not this verse. Rather, this is a spiritual activity, first of all, that involves the heart. And it's the result of God's work of grace in the sinner, And the best way to see what Jesus means when he says, come to me, when he talks about coming to him, go back two verses to verse 35. And there you see a parallel that will help us understand what it means. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. And then he added, He that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. And when you take those two parallel statements, he that cometh, he that believeth, you see that coming to Jesus is believing in Jesus. It's an activity of faith. So that's generally, but now let's be a bit more specific about what this is to come to Jesus. Because you can distinguish different aspects of the activity of faith in coming to Jesus. In the first place, it involves repentance. Repentance. No one comes to Jesus who has not first seen his own sins. If you do not see your sins, you see no reason for Jesus. You don't need a Savior. You don't even see the need for salvation from sin. So someone who is coming to Jesus must first see his own sins. Recognize the horribleness of those sins. Recognize that they are an offense against God. Recognize that his own spiritual condition is one of absolute poverty. He has nothing in himself. He experiences spiritual hunger and thirst. This is the work of the Spirit. The Spirit who convicts a man that he is a sinner in need of salvation. The Spirit makes him to grieve over that sin. Man grieves and longs to be delivered from the guilt, to escape the dreadful reality of God's wrath against sin, and he desires to be filled with the spiritual food that only Jesus can provide. Coming to Jesus begins with repentance. Now, I'm not talking about someone who is an unbeliever. I'm talking about someone who has faith, the Spirit has given him faith, and that activity of faith repents, it repents. Secondly, it is a recognition that Jesus is the only and complete Savior, that He is Jehovah's salvation, that He is the Son of God who fully accomplished salvation, not a man who made salvation possible And now it's up to you to take the next step, and then salvation becomes a reality. No, but truly the complete Savior is Jesus. He is the true life-giving bread which came down from heaven. Without Him, there is only condemnation. and death. Faith is the knowledge of experience. The conviction, therefore, that Jesus died for me. That's what faith gives us. And the call of the gospel is therefore addressed to me. Come to Jesus, the only Savior. Repentance, recognizing Jesus as the only Savior, It would include then also a longing in the third place, a longing to be with Jesus. The love of God has been poured out into the heart of that believer and that love responds by loving God and it loves his son whom God has sent. And he beholds the beauty of Jesus and he loves him. The result is that he is drawn to Him. He wants to be with Jesus. He has repented of his sins. He has recognized the only hope of salvation is in Jesus. He longs to be with Him. Now in the fourth place, appropriation, taking hold of Jesus. That's what faith does. Because of that spirit in his heart, Working in him, that regenerated sinner dares to come with confidence. to ask forgiveness of Jesus for his sin, to request grace that he needs for his spiritual struggles. He desires with great longing to be fed and nourished by the spiritual bread, which is Jesus, and to have his spiritual thirst quenched by the Spirit of Jesus. He takes hold of this for himself. That's appropriation. Beautiful word found in our confessions. But understand, appropriation does not mean that here's an unsaved man who has to reach out there and get something that he doesn't have and pull it in, and now he has it. That's not appropriation. But appropriation is that a person recognizes what God has done, and out of the power of that work in him, he embraces it and says, it is for me. not only to others, but to me also is forgiveness of sins and everlasting life. Jesus is my Savior. That's appropriation. That is part of coming to Jesus. The exact manner of this coming varies as far as the initial coming. We all recognize that. Some have a drastic, sudden coming to Jesus. You think of the Apostle Paul. You think of the Philippian jailer. You think of the thief on the cross. But within the sphere of the covenant, those who are born and raised there, there generally isn't a day that we can say, that's the day, that's the day that I consciously, deliberately took hold of Jesus Christ who was working in me. For those in the sphere of the covenant, generally it is a more gradual coming to the consciousness of faith. gradual realization of what sin is as an offense against God, gradual realization of the great salvation that is found in Jesus alone, and then appropriating it ever more consciously as we come into our teenage years. But it's not improper to speak of this as a continual activity. The believer never tires of coming to Jesus. He hears Jesus' voice in the preaching of the gospel, expressing his love for his people and the forgiveness that he has earned. The believer seeks that. He enjoys Blessings that Jesus earned for him. The forgiveness of his sins are something he seeks daily, coming to Jesus for that forgiveness. The spiritual strength to fight temptation and his own sinful nature, he needs to go to Jesus. Dwelling with him in his word and by the spirit within him, dwelling with Jesus. and being fed and nourished with His blessings, the blessings of the cross. Of all that, the Lord's Supper is a sign and a seal. A sign and a seal of partaking of the blessings that Jesus earned on the cross. It points to the atoning death the broken bread, the poured outline, pointing to His suffering and death on the cross. Then we partake of that. That is consciously coming to Jesus. Absolutely. We come to Him through the preaching. We come to Him through the sacraments. We also come to Him, obviously, in prayer. coming to Jesus. That's the act of coming. Who come to him? They are identified as those that the Father giveth. And that really is the explanation for their coming. That's what we consider in the second place, the explanation of their coming. As noted earlier, the form of the expression, giveth, is a bit unusual. Very unusual, in fact, when it refers to the father giving something to the son. The idea is found very often, I noted, pointed out verse 39, this is the father's will, that which has sent me, that of all that he hath given me, I should lose nothing. But most of all, over and over, Jesus in his high priestly prayer in John 17, He's praying to his heavenly father. The night before he was crucified, he uses it over and over and over again, that expression. Verse two, as thou hast given him power over flesh that he should have eternal life, give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him. He would give life to as many as thou hast given him. Or verse six, I have manifest thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. Thine they were, and thou gavest them me. Or in verse 9, I pray for them, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me. Has given, always in the past, already given to him, is every expression here. Verse 12, While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name. Those that thou gavest me, past tense, I have kept, and none of them is lost. And finally, verse 24, Father, I will that they also whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am. These are clearly the elect of God given to Jesus already in eternity. in God's plan. Those chosen by God unto salvation in Jesus Christ. But as I said, only here it's used in the present tense. All that the Father giveth, or you could say really, all that the Father is giving me, is giving me. Now the form indicates the truth that all those whom the Father has given Him in eternity will come to Him, will in fact arrive at Him. That they will all be gathered out of all the nations and come to Jesus. And that all these will be with Him in heaven. But this view is the coming from the point of view of the gathering of the church throughout history. One by one, all those eternally chosen in God's plan, His election, predestination, all those given Him are born, they're regenerated, and they come to conscious faith. All of these must all of these shall arrive. They will come to Jesus. They absolutely will. The tremendous unbelief that Jesus was facing, the tremendous unbelief that is in the world around us, and that's been the norm, that the church of God is always but a small flock, That tremendous unbelief and opposition does not prevent any of those who are eternally chosen from coming to Jesus. All of them will come, absolutely everyone. They arrive at Him. For some, it is after a lifetime of disobedience and rebellion before they are converted by the Spirit. For some, it is a gradual consciousness raised within the church and taught the truths of Scripture and coming to conscious faith and embracing Him. But there's no question that every single one of them shall get to Him. They will arrive there. God will not ever elect someone. And then, in time, they live their whole life never believing, never coming to Him, so to speak, and they perish at death. That will not happen, all of them. that the Father gives, one by one, come to Jesus. Again, this is horribly misinterpreted as if God is the one that is offering salvation to everyone in the world and proclaiming that desire that everyone comes and some of them he manages to get to Jesus. He manages to convince them to come to Jesus. Jesus died for everyone and made salvation possible. Grace is universal. And now those who cooperate with the grace, they're the ones finally that the Father manages to give to Jesus. But of course, that's not the Bible. They have been eternally chosen unto salvation. The Scriptures are absolutely clear on this. Think of Romans chapter 8. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. And Amos already showed us what knowing means, when God knows something, because there in the book of Amos, God said, you Israel, alone have I known of all the nations of the earth, you I have known." God's knowledge is determinative. God's knowledge is a knowledge of love. And so in Romans when he says, for whom he did foreknow, he's talking about the fact that he determined their salvation because he loved them. This is Jesus' own words in John chapter 7, 10 rather. Marvelous chapter where he talks about himself being the good shepherd and having sheep. And remember what he said there in John 10, 26 and following. Ye believe not, he says to the unbelieving Pharisees, because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. And then notice, my Father which gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. God has chosen them in Jesus Christ unto eternal life. These are the ones given to him. And they manifest the fact that they were eternally given as God in this lifetime brings them to Jesus, one at a time. Election is the fountain out of which flow all the blessings of salvation, starting with faith. Everyone chosen unto everlasting life. God gives faith. And they shall come. They shall come. Man of himself cannot come to Jesus. Oh, it's easy to come to a Jesus that we consider to be just a nice man. or someone who can provide amazing earthly blessings, someone who can fill the belly and give luxurious clothes and homes, and John chapter 6 is evidence that, oh yes, people will follow that kind of a Jesus. But when Jesus identifies Himself as the Son of God, later in this chapter He says to them that they must partake of Him, They said in verse 60, this is a hard saying, who can hear it? In verse 66, from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. He's not talking about the 12, but all of those who were following him. Many rejected him at that point. Natural unbelieving man cannot come to Jesus. He has no will to do so. He has no ability to do that. He cannot come to Jesus any more than a dead body can hear someone calling him to come out of the casket and to come to him. There's no ability. He's dead. But the reality is it isn't just a matter of inability, but it's a willful disobedience. He refuses. Man is filled with hatred against God and hatred against his son. Man is not naturally drawn to Jesus. The sinner runs from God. Adam and Eve did already in the garden. They ran from God when they heard His voice. When Peter in the boat saw the miraculous catch of fish and realized that Jesus was the Son of God, he says, depart from me, I am a sinful man. That's the reaction of man. Man naturally runs away from God whether it is in hatred or in terror or both. But Jesus says, for all that, those given to him will come. They will come. And that's because their coming is exactly the work of God in them. God gives a new life that overcomes that depravity of the nature. This is a life of Jesus, a life that loves that which is holy, is drawn toward that which is holy. And add to that that the actual work of someone coming to Jesus is the work of God. That's evident from verse 44 of this very chapter when Jesus says, no man can come to me except the Father draw him. Draw him. We are drawn to Jesus by the Father. We're not pushed to Jesus by the Father. We're not coaxed to come to him with pleading We're not convinced to come to Him by logical arguments. We are drawn. That points to the mysterious and irresistible work of the Spirit. The irresistible grace of God draws someone to the Father, to the Son rather. Sovereign grace. and they come. They come by the power of that irresistible grace and spirit. God draws the sinner in such a way that that sinner wants to go. As I said, not pushed, not forced. He wants to be there. We sing of that. We will tonight. When thou saidst, seek ye my face, When God says that, the psalmist says, my willing heart replied, thy face, Lord, will I seek. God calls and the response is, I will seek thy face. It is impossible not to come. God has chosen each one eternally unto salvation, given each one to Jesus Christ in time, redeemed him in the blood of Jesus, and then by the power of the Spirit works in him such a way that he comes. He comes without question. They have the desire. They have the ability, they have the confidence of faith to come to Jesus. And that brings us up to the fact again, remember there's this all, but there's that singular, that right down to the individual, Him that cometh. Him that cometh. The applied command is, to us come to Jesus. Concerning the Lord's Supper, we must desire to come to that supper. It requires, of course, a careful examination of ourselves. In my life, how much am I seeking Jesus? How much am I coming to Him? And what in my life is clearly not coming to Him but shunning Him, going away from Him, all the sins of my life that are the very opposite of coming to Him. And then by the grace of God to turn away from that sin and to come to Jesus who revealed Himself as the God of our salvation, following the order of the catechism, seeing our misery, seeing our deliverance in the cross. How do we thank him but go to what we read tonight and the form for self-examination, seeing truly our sins, seeing the only hope of deliverance is in the cross, and then resolving to live that new and holy life. Faith, faith, holding to the promise, sees the sacrament then as a visual sign and seal of the work of Jesus. This is God's work in us. No man, said Jesus, will come to me. No man can, no man will, except the Father draw him, but every one that the Father has given will come to me. To this, he adds the beautiful promise, and him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. To cast out is to reject. It's to throw someone out of your presence. And as I said, Jesus is emphatic here with that double negative, I will not never. And when you say something like that, I will never do this. You are emphasizing the positive. If someone says, are you going to leave me? And you say, no, I will never leave you. It's emphasizing the fact, I will stay with you. And that's what Jesus is saying here. I will never cast them out. I will receive you. This is really quite amazing. Is there anything like this in all the world? In your experience? If you knew a man that was a wretched, miserable character who wallowed in iniquity and had sinned horribly against you and your family, and he comes to your house and he wants to come into your house, you would what? Welcome him in? Would you not reject him? And if he came into your house, would you not say, throw that man out of here? You would not have him sit down at the family table with your children. You wouldn't do that. And that, of course, is what we deserve from Jesus. It's true, the grace of God has worked amazing change in us. It has. The Spirit gives us a sorrow for sin, a genuine repentance. He fills our hearts with the love of God. And yet we're still sinners. Our sinful nature is so vile that it's prone to every evil. We're born rebels, we're avowed enemies of God, and our lives still reveal that in the sins that we commit. And Jesus does not turn a blind eye to sin. He does not. He is holy, he is righteous, and yet his promise is, I will not cast that person out who comes to me. He receives us in grace and mercy. He receives us as adopted children of God, as His younger brothers and sisters. His promise is grounded in God's eternal counsel. As He goes on to say, right after the text, He says, 4. Why will I never cast them out? Why? For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him that sent me. And this is the Father's will that has sent me, that of all them which He hath given me, I should lose nothing." Lose nothing. As we prepare, therefore, for the Lord's Supper next week, let us honestly see our own unworthiness, and then look to the cross for forgiveness and put aside as much as we can the besetting sins, that which pollutes our life, that which is not what it ought to be in a life that is godly, that is living unto Him, putting aside all enmity and all jealousy among ourselves, but then come to the table with confidence that we are coming to a beautiful Savior who says to everyone that comes, I will not cast you out. Amen. Let us pray. Father in heaven, We thank Thee again for our beautiful Savior. His faithfulness in the work that He did for us is amazing. His cross, His bearing of the wrath. Then that He is willing to receive, gladly receives those given Him. who would, in their own sinful nature, spit on Him, and who revile Him, and who sin against Him, yet, day by day, that He receives us. Truly, that's a wonder of grace. The Lord continue to draw us closer to Him and to Thee, and give us that assurance, too, that He will feed our souls unto everlasting life. This we pray in Jesus' name, Amen. We turn to Psalm 27. Psalm 27. Stanza one, Lord, hear me when I pray and answer me in grace. Oft as I hear thee say, come ye and seek my face, my heart and lips, their answers speak, thy face, Lord, will I seek. Stanzas one, two, and four. One, two, and four of Psalm 27b. I sing my praise to thee. ♪ Sing, Lord, we are singing of thy praise ♪ ♪ To father, mother, home, or state ♪ ♪ O Lord God, we will give thee praise ♪ With our Lord, our need, our fear, it shall soon be done. ♪ And bless the Lord he stays below ♪ ♪ Who in his praise he guides ♪ ♪ By all his creatures has his name ♪ ♪ The other than the Lord ♪ The Lord bless thee and keep thee. The Lord make his face to shine upon thee and be gracious unto thee. The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee and give thee peace. Amen. Dad!