Well, in the last four chapters we covered last week, after 11 chapters of Isaiah prophesying to Judah of judgments on Babylon, Assyria, Moab, all the nations around them, Isaiah then looked forward to the end of all things. Judgment's going to come on all those nations. Yet, one day people from Egypt and Assyria and Israel will all worship him together. Now, Isaiah was called by God. We never want to lose sight of this. He had a simple message, really, to call the people of Judah to trust in Him, to trust in Him alone. And he was called to reveal things about the promised Messiah. And those last four chapters we looked at last week, 24 through 27, are sometimes known as Isaiah's apocalypse because they contained revelation of the ultimate end of this earth. And in chapter 24, the Lord revealed through his prophet that one day the whole earth will be destroyed and the Lord will be victorious over all creation. So that's one. Two, Isaiah again confirmed that there will always be a remnant of God's grace. The pleasure-seeking good times in the city of man will one day be replaced by an ominous silence, instead of streets full of partying people, ignoring God, going from house to house. Every house is shut up. So Isaiah shows us that the city of man will be broken. That's a city apart from God that wants to govern itself without God. It'll be left desolate with no joy in it. And it's symbolized in Scripture by Babylon and before that by Babel. And the cause of all this destruction is what? Sin. Rebellion against God. Its transgression is heavy upon it, Isaiah wrote. And the city of man will fall, never to rise again. Now, I don't know if we've noticed, but the world doesn't believe this. The world thinks if the earth is in some danger, if we're in some danger, what is it? Think if we're doing it. No, it's not what we're doing to the planet. It's what God is going to do on the day He's already determined. The day's already been fixed. And in that day, a day of judgment, it's an eternal day. The glory of God will be revealed. The sun and the stars, Isaiah says, will pale in brightness to the glory of God. And Isaiah 25 was a song of praise. The goodness and the grace of God He extols. His name is exalted by Isaiah. Isaiah praises God's righteous judgment, His help for the helpless and needy. These things should become part of us to seek to be godlike. Isaiah praises God for His provision and protection. In 25.6 he prophesied of the great banquet of the Lord. You realize, oh, how many of these things are here in Isaiah? And so many of them just in chapters 24, 25, 26, and 27. But here's the great banquet, the marriage supper of the Lord. It'll be held, he says, at Mount Zion in the New Jerusalem, in the city of God. And there, as we just said, the glory of God will be unveiled. And what else did he tell us in this section? 25.8, he will swallow up death for all time. That didn't just show up in the New Testament. He will wipe tears away from all faces. Isaiah told us that. Isaiah told Judah that. He'll remove the reproach, the stain of sin on all his people. In the New Jerusalem, 26-1, will be total and eternal security. Strong walls, he calls it. Verse 2, only the righteous, and we later learn who are those cleansed by the blood of the Lamb, can enter. And verse 3 of chapter 26 is amazing. His people will be in perfect peace. Have any of us ever experienced perfect peace? Perfect peace, folks. 2619, Isaiah speaks of the resurrection of the body. Your dead will live, their corpses will rise. You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy. This section of Isaiah was so rich with promises of what lies ahead. And he ended chapter 27 by reference to the last trumpet, the ingathering, the blowing of the last trumpet, the same thing we see in 1 Thessalonians 4, 16 and 17, and in Revelation 11, 15, that last trumpet. And the lesson has been that worldliness, earthly mindedness, will kill a person's heart for God. If you want the stuff of this world too much, it'll kill your heart for God. That's what Isaiah has been telling us. He says you can't have both. And how do we do that? Well, we cover this fairly frequently. Prayer, scripture, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together. It's so important. Serving others. And like Abraham, all along, all the while looking toward the city whose builder and architect is God. So the question for us is, do we feel rich? Do we feel secure with God alone? Is God enough for us? And the answer should be yes. He wants the answer to be yes. So all of that was last week. And if you go back and read through those chapters, you'll see these wonderful, wonderful truths. Well, in chapter 28, we now enter a new section of the book of Isaiah, and it's going to go back to the history that we saw where we left off. at the end of chapter 23, in a sense. Now remember, Isaiah is not chronological. But this section will run from chapter 28 through chapter 35. And what we have here are a series of woes, six of them, followed by a salvation oracle. A woe at the beginning of chapter 28, then a salvation oracle. A woe in chapter 29, two of them in chapter 29. One in chapter 30, another woe in 31. And these are followed by salvation oracles, as they're called. And so he's showing us the contrast between the way of death and the way of life, the city of man and the city of God. And in these chapters, with all these promises here, what might be a reasonable question in an earthly sense to ask? God's promised all these things. What question might we be prompted to ask? Well, some might ask, can he deliver on these promises? And he will answer, I sure can. He's going to tell us directly in these chapters that he can and will deliver on every single promise in scripture and that we can trust him. Now the background in these chapters is again going to be the danger posed by Assyria. But instead of Ahaz's king, it's going to be Hezekiah. Now Hezekiah, remember, restored the worship of God. Restored the temple. He's on the throne. Sennacherib, who we've been talking about, will be ruling Assyria. Now neither of them are named in chapter 28. First in chapter 28, Isaiah is going to set forth some principles. And we'll find out that although he was basically a good king, Hezekiah did nevertheless attempt an alliance with Egypt against Assyria. And this would prove an ill-founded decision. And we're going to learn again that deliverance is only secured through the Lord. So these next eight chapters are addressed directly to and deal directly with Judah and Jerusalem, not these other nations, as we've seen. Chapter 28 begins with Isaiah looking north from Jerusalem to Ephraim. Now Ephraim is another name for what? Who was Ephraim? Ephraim was one of the sons of Joseph. He had two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim. And they each got a share. They each got an allotment in the land. So Joseph's sons got a double. The ten northern tribes came to be known as Ephraim in some cases. They came to be known in some cases as Samaria because their capital of the ten northern tribes was in Samaria. And of course it usually went by the name of Israel. Sometimes it was called Jacob. The southern kingdom, all really comprised only of Judah and what was left of Benjamin, was called Judah. So he's looking to Ephraim, the northern kingdom, and he sees their capital city, Samaria, the crown of the nation. It's situated, as we're going to read in a second, at the head of the fertile valley. It's ripe with gardens and groves and trees and vines and everything looks wonderful, even in this time. But Isaiah sees Samaria as a living metaphor for decadence, for comfort, for ease, things that would make it an easy target and easy pickings. for the murderous invaders from Assyria. And that's what happened in 722 BC. People turned the blessings and privilege of God into a drunken binge. See, we can have a lot of pleasurable things and they can very easily corrupt us. And that's what happened there. Some believe that this prophecy that we read here in 28 was given before 722 BC because of what we're gonna read here, but there are many divergent views on the date of the writing here. Some say it's before 722, some say it's around 701, and that Isaiah's looking back to Israel, the northern kingdom. But he's just going to use what happened in the northern kingdom to teach Judah the southern kingdom. So let's look at the first four verses. Woe to the proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim! and to the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is at the head of the fertile valley, of those who are overcome with wine. Behold, the LORD has a strong and mighty agent. As a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction, like a storm of mighty overflowing waters, He has cast it down to the earth with His hand. The proud crown of the drunkards of Ephraim is trodden underfoot. and the fading flower of its glorious beauty, which is at the head of the fertile valley, will be like the first ripe fig prior to summer, which one sees, and as soon as it is in his hand, it's gone, he swallows it." So Samaria or Israel or Ephraim is seen as a reveling drunkard here whose time is about to run out. And this pictures the northern kingdom, Israel, as Assyria is soon to destroy it in 722 BC. And look what we have here. There's woe. Isaiah speaks of the fading flower of its beauty. The Lord is a strong and mighty agent, a storm of hail, a tempest of destruction. He has cast it down to the earth with his hand. This is a picture in these four verses of defeat and destruction. And by the word crown here, and we sung about this, he means the wicked arrogance with which they were puffed up. They were blessed by God and they become proud. and that pride flowed from their riches. So these vices, or Calvin says, are almost always joined together because abundance and fullness very easily produce cruelty and pride. We love prosperity, but we're not that good at using it in moderation. Amos 4.1 calls them fat cows, Israel. The prophet calls them drunkards here because being intoxicated with their prosperity, as well as their alcohol, They were no fear. They thought they were beyond the reach of danger. And so they didn't need God. This is what happens. And this is contrasted with that which lies ahead for the faithful people of God. Look at the difference here in verses five and six. In that day, the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown. And a glorious diadem, that's a crown, to the remnant of his people. There's the remnant again. A spirit of justice for him who sits in judgment. A strength to those who repel the onslaught at the gate. You can see this kingdom as one that reflects what we read in the Sermon on the Mount. Peacemakers, those seeking righteousness, the merciful. So Isaiah now is turning to speak to Judah after this brief reference to Israel Among whom in Judah God will preserve a remnant for himself and the Lord himself will be their crown Look at the verse 5 the Lord of hosts will become a beautiful crown. We wear Christ as a crown 1st Corinthians 925 everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control they do it to receive a perishable wreath but we an imperishable one and look at first Peter at he's speaking to elders in the church, but Scripture applies this to all believers. I exhort the elders among you as your fellow elder, and witness of the sufferings of Christ, and as a partaker also of the glory that is to be revealed, shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily according to the will of God, not for sordid gain, but with eagerness. nor yet is lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive an unfading crown of glory." And you see the contrast between the crown here that is fading, as a fading flower. In that very day, when the drinks run out, and the lights dim, and all the false crowns roll out into the street, People turn to God, and they've had their fill of all of that, and it comes to nothing. When we come to the end of ourselves is when we reach out to God. And rarely do I hear anyone, if ever, a true convert, say they're disappointed in what they found when they came to God. Yeah, maybe we're disappointed in some of the things of this life, but not in Him. Not if we've truly come and have come to trust and believe in Him. One writer frames it well. Isaiah is telling them, you were not created for this tinsel. You were created for a greatness that comes from and is beyond this world. God is your crown of glory, not money, not booze, not any of these things. Don't be too proud to be adorned with God. And Isaiah has told the people of Judah to look up at that situation in Samaria and don't follow that path. But Judah has been following in that path. Now look at these talks about Judah here in verse 7. But these also reel with wine and stagger from strong drink. The priest and the prophet reel with strong drink. They're confused by wine. These are the religious leaders of the people. They reel while having visions. They totter when rendering judgment. For all the tables are full of filthy vomit. without a single clean place. This was the situation of the religious leadership in Jerusalem when Isaiah prophesied. He describes them as, for all tables are full of filthy vomit. He sees the priests and the prophets of that generation drunk with their own trendy wisdom. This is what happens when we set aside the word of God, think we're smarter than God. This is what the rationalists did in the 17th and 18th centuries. We don't need God. And Darwin, of course, gave them what they needed to put their little package together. God didn't create. We just got here. He sees them vomiting up their folly, and they will. And they mock Isaiah. No doubt the prophet intended to express by this term vomit, that there was nothing good in these people. Nothing good was left in Jerusalem. Foul drunkenness is the way he portrays it. Drunkenness also implies a loss of perspective, a loss of self-control, a distortion of values. People doing things that they wouldn't do if they were clear-minded. Derek Thomas says, we have such leaders in our own day who encourage us to go with our feelings rather than the law of God. This is why the churches have been corrupted by homosexual marriages, homosexual bishops and priests and preachers. They've rejected the law of God. And I just grieve for the people who sit in the pews at these places. because they've been taught as just a basic underpinning, God is not the sole authority. Verse 9, to whom would he teach knowledge? Now the he here is Isaiah. And to whom would he interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? This is the priest and the prophet speaking. Those just taken from the breast, for he says, speaking of Isaiah, order on order, order on order, line on line, line on line, a little here and a little there. Now I can tell you this is one of those times when I'm very glad to have some very good commentators, particularly those who can understand both the Hebrew and the Greek. Isaiah here is quoting the priests and the prophets, and he's repeating back to them their response to his message. So he preaches to them and they say, to whom would you teach knowledge? And to whom would you interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk, just children. You've got a simple message. They see his call to faith in God as childish, as simplistic, as beneath them. Does that sound familiar? This is what we have by all of the non-believing culture, the elite culture in this country right now. This is what Hollywood is. This is how the American media looks upon the church. Somebody actually put out a statement last night, I think it was a woman from MSNBC, that said after the president's State of the Union address, Church, family, country, honor, and mocked those things. Mocked them. That's what they're doing. These people are deriding and mocking Isaiah's teaching. And they do it in what sounds in Hebrew like a sing-song kind of baby talk. So in Hebrew this is Sovla Sov, Sovla Sov, Kovla Kov, Kovla Kov, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada, is what they're saying to him. They dismiss God's counsel through Isaiah. Not only they dismiss it, they deride it. They mock it. Like one politician said a few years ago, well, they're just all clutching to their guns, their God. This is not any different. from the culture that is trying to overtake America as a what was a largely Christian nation. Their question though for Isaiah is, do you actually think that we need you to be our teacher? Did Isaiah actually think these highly educated and sophisticated priests and prophets needed him to teach them? They're all caught up in their high-minded pursuit of the finer points. while Isaiah has been called by God to call them back to the simple truths of what? There's two truths that have been at work this whole time, really one truth with two parts. If you obey me, I will bless you. If you disobey me, I will curse you. That's the simple truth. For them, this is not sophisticated enough. Now, here's Luther. When I preach, I regard neither doctors nor magistrates, that's PhDs he's talking about, of whom I have above forty in my congregation. I have my eyes on the servant maids and on the children. And if the learned men are not well pleased with what they hear, well, the door is open. I would never be so bold as to make such a statement, but Luther was. So Isaiah says very well then, God will defend His word. Indeed, He will speak to this people through stammering lips and a foreign tongue. He who said to them, Hear is rest, give rest to the weary, and hear is repose, but they wouldn't listen. So the word of the Lord will be to them, order on order, order on order, line on line, he repeats it right back to them, so that they may go and stumble backward, be broken, snared, and taken captive. God will not be mocked. Isaiah repeats their words right back to these arrogant priests and prophets, so they can be stumbled backwards and broken and snared and taken captive. The Lord is going to continue to send this simple message, and it is the same simple message. Blessings for obedience, curses for disobedience. The Lord will continue to send the message, and He'll even send it, He says, in a foreign tongue. But the bottom line is, The word of God rejected is a word of condemnation. And Paul's going to quote from this very passage here in 1 Corinthians 14, 21. He says, In the law it is written by men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers, I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to me. Corinth's problem. Paul went and established this church, was there for some time, left there, and wrote two letters that we have to that church. And one of their problems was a childishness as to the things of God. Here's Jeremiah speaking at the time of Israel's exile. Behold, I am bringing a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel. It is an enduring nation, it's an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor can you understand what they say. And here we have fulfillment of these prophecies. What Isaiah is saying is the truth, and this is what we were talking about earlier. One person is sitting in the pew hearing the gospel and thinking, I never knew the Bible could be so rich. I never knew God had so much to say to me in Scripture. This is so meaningful. I can't wait till the next time we gather. The next person is sitting there saying, this is stupid. Doesn't the Bible have anything really profound to say? See, it's the same message, but the impact is different. And the reason has to do with God opening our hearts. But we have a responsibility to come and seek Him as well. So the question is, what are we hearing? Do we receive this word with joy? Does it move us to live according to what God says? Or, like some, are we annoyed by it? I don't think anybody here, nobody comes on a Wednesday night if they're annoyed by scripture. The leaders in Jerusalem rejected the Word of God. Their faith was going to be tested by an invasion from Assyria. They're going to fail the test. They're going to turn to godless nations for help. They're going to foolishly turn to Egypt. And we know about Egypt. They're the ones trying to get people to line up with them, and then they never show up. Isaiah will call their treaty with Egypt that really arises out of their unbelief. He's going to refer to this as a covenant with death. Their unbelief gives rise to treaties with godless nations. Covenant with death, a pact with Sheol. Make no mistake, the reprobate, all those who are condemned, seal their own fate by their unbelief. All sin arises from unbelief. Eve didn't take the fruit that was forbidden until she doubted God. until she questioned whether what God had said was true. So here's verse 14, 15. Therefore hear the word of the Lord, O scoffers. These people are scoffing at the word of God. Who rule this people who are in Jerusalem. These are the religious leaders. Because you have said we have made a covenant with death. I don't think they've actually said that. He's saying you may as well have. with Sheol, the realm of the dead, we have made a pact. The overwhelming scourge will not reach us when it passes by, for we have made falsehood our refuge. We have concealed ourselves with deception." That's what they had done. Judas rejected God. They made a covenant with death. Now, regardless of whether Isaiah is speaking of Egypt here or anyone else, that's not the issue. What matters is they're seeking and putting all of their reliance in something other than God. And they don't believe God. And remember how amazing it is to see Christ himself rejected and disbelieved as he stood before those Jewish religious leaders. Therefore, thus says the Lord God, behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a tested stone, a costly cornerstone for the foundation, firmly placed. Now this is Christ, of course. He who believes in it will not be disturbed. I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Then hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters will overflow the secret place. In the New Testament, this very verse is quoted by both Paul and Peter. And it's used of Christ. And Isaiah continues to remind the leaders in Judah of the promises of God and the certainty that everyone will be kept. I'm going to lay the foundation of my people, of my kingdom. It will be just. It will be righteous. It's going to be a righteous kingdom. And he's going to establish it through them and the Messiah he will send. This is Zion. This is the city of God. And we see these words from Psalm 118. You can see it in your Scripture sheet. The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. It's quoted again in Romans 9, verse 33. In 1 Peter 2, verse 6. All three times this very verse is quoted and in 1st Corinthians 3 11 Paul writes no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid which is Jesus Christ He's it and everything else is folly and their trust in any godless nation or kingdom for protection will prove Foolish remember he's talking to his people. These are the people he's called and chosen and This is all that's left of the sons of Jacob. And he has to say to them, verse 18, your covenant with death will be canceled and your pact with Sheol will not stand. When the overwhelming scourge passes through, then you become its trampling place. As often as it passes through, it will seize you. For morning after morning it will pass through. Anytime during the day and night. And it will be sheer terror to understand what it means. For them, understanding will be terror. For the bed is too short on which to stretch out and the blanket is too small to wrap oneself in. In other words, what he's saying here is their alliances will prove useless. Their unbelief, which is their pact with Sheol, really, their covenant with death, will lead to their demise. And the onslaught of the invader, he's going to use Assyria to destroy, not completely conquer, but cause great damage. The onslaught of the invader will be relentless. Morning after morning it will pass through. And they will realize at some point they've made a covenant and an alliance with terror. This may allude to an earthly alliance with Egypt against Assyria, but the larger point is alliance with worldliness and unbelief. People want to leave God aside and still have hope. I mean, that's what they want to do. And it's not possible. Our only hope is in Him through Christ. Verse 20, he talks about the bed that's too short, the blanket too small. They'd made their bed by whatever they trusted in, but it's inadequate to protect them because it's the Lord who's behind what's coming on them. See, there is no protection from the Lord. And it's the Lord who's using Assyria to come after first Samaria and later Judah. Trust in anyone other than God, though, offers as much rest as a bed that's too short, as much comfort as a blanket that's too small. And look at this. Terror alone will cause you to understand. In contrast, comfort and ease do not. They don't learn from comfort and ease. And he gives this example. He's going to show that the Lord, when he was supporting them and backing them in their military events, was very effective. The Lord will rise up as he did at Mount Perizim. He will be stirred up as in the Valley of Gibeon to do his task, his unusual task, and to work his work, his extraordinary work. Isaiah's thinking about two battles here in Israel's past. when God fought for them. Against the Philistines on Mount Perizim, which is recorded in 2 Samuel chapter 5, and I think I put them in your scripture sheet. Take those and you can look through those later. And another battle where he won for Israel against the Amorites in the days of Joshua. And so the Lord once engineered these triumphs of Joshua and David But for those who reject the Lord and his help, that same power that won those battles for them will now come upon them, even though they were his people. So he calls Judah to come to Jehovah, assuring them that if they don't, their destruction is certain. And now, verse 22, don't carry on a scoffer, stop it, or your fetters are going to be made stronger. It's kind of like one of those ropes where if you try to pull it to get yourself free, but the more you pull it, the tighter it gets on you. Well, that's what he's saying. If you carry on this way, your fetters are going to be made stronger. For I have heard, now look at these words, I have heard from the Lord God of hosts of decisive destruction on all the earth. Pretty clear. He reminds them, he called them scorners before, now they're scoffers, that their cunning, their jeers, their mockery is going to get them nowhere. Their cleverness will get them nowhere. Repent is the issue. And Calvin says, it is our duty to warn such people that their jeers and scorn will expose them to the sure vengeance of God. It's our duty. We don't want to upset people. We don't want to anger people. And I think there's a way to go about it. But it is our duty to tell people. You know why? Because they don't seem to know. They've been deceived into thinking it doesn't matter how they receive the Word of God or if they receive the Word of God. That's a big lie. He says all they're going to gain by their resistance is to draw themselves more firmly into the net. The message of destruction is from God himself. I have heard from the Lord God of hosts of this destruction. Well, Isaiah concludes the chapter speaking in this parable. Some say it's two parables, but it begins with the call of the preacher. Give ear and hear my voice. Listen and hear my words. Now, here's what he says. Does the farmer plow continually to plant seed? Does he continually turn and harrow the ground? Does he not level its surface and then sow dill and scatter cumin and plant wheat in rows, barley in its place, rye in its area? For God, he says, instructs and teaches him properly. Here's this farmer. And the farmer's smart enough to know that you can't just plow and plow and plow and expect any crops to grow. There's different parts of this operation. Plowing must turn into planting. And God has taught him these things. And the point he's going to teach us is that God knows that this endless upheaval and disruption in our lives would be pointless. So while he does break up the rock-hard soil of our hearts, And this may be very hard for us. He does it in order to plant new life there. He has a purpose. And so what we need to understand from this is that the activity of plowing and sowing is not an end in itself. We don't plow just to plow. We don't plow just to have the ground broken up. We don't just then put the seeds in just to have some ground with some seeds in it. No. The whole point is a bountiful harvest. That is a purpose to these things we're doing. And the same is true of God's calling of His people in His work of refining and sanctification. That's why we go through a lot of the tough times we go through. Now, in verses 27, 28, and 29, Isaiah looks at the farmer again. This time he notices the way that this simple farmer threshes and crushes his crops. Each crop requires a different approach. For dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is the cartwheel driven over the cumin. But dill is beaten out with a rod, cumin with a club. Grain for bread is crushed. Indeed, he does not continue to thresh it forever, because the wheel of his cart and horses eventually damage it. So he's got to stop. He doesn't thresh it any longer. This also comes from the Lord of hosts who has made his counsel wonderful and his wisdom great. What's he saying here? What's the point of these different plants? There's different ways to produce them once they're cut. He's talking about reaping and he's talking about each crop as being, what, gathered in a way that's appropriate to it. And the wrong method, would destroy the crop. If you use the method that you're supposed to use for grain with dill, you'll end up with no dill. The implication is that what will happen to each Christian, he works differently in each of us, but also what's going to happen in Samaria may not be exactly the same thing that's going to happen in Judah. And even a correct method must not be overused. But God works in each of us differently. We've all got a different experience. We've all got different trials. And we see that in this picture of this farmer. And God, by the way, is the one who taught the farmers how to do all these things. But he knows exactly how to work in each one of us. We have to trust him. Well, in the end, neither Samaria, nor Judah, nor anyone else is ever going to be able to honestly claim that the Lord has not made himself known in this world. Specifically in his creation. His ways are established in all the earth. And his call to humanity is clear. There's going to come an end of all the things of this world. And it's not going to come from some sort of carbon emissions. It's going to come because God has decided that's the day it ends. And He's already decided when that day is. And on top of that, each of us will come to our own end. In the end, the only question is going to be, did we, unlike these priests and prophets, and unlike those drunkards in Samaria, did we respond to the call of God? We've all heard the gospel. I believe he's worked in the heart of every one of you to change us so that we're now his children. He's called us through his son, and he's shown us the way of survival, not just in this world, but he's shown us the way of eternal life. We can never lose sight of this day by day, that there's no lasting value in anything but him. Father, we thank You for calling us to Yourself. We thank You for giving us understanding, for enlightening us, for giving us not only the knowledge of You as Creator, but the knowledge of You as our Savior, as our Redeemer, for giving us eyes to see the truth and ears to hear You. In Christ's name, Amen.