And I'd like to invite you to turn back in the Bibles to Joshua chapter 23, which we read earlier, which you'll find on page 239.
239.
Famous last words have become something of an institution.
Sometimes they're tragic, sometimes they're humorous, sometimes a mixture of both, as in the case of General John Sedgwick,
who was apparently a Union commander in the American Civil War, and who was killed in battle in 1864,
and those who were with him recalled his famous last words as being,
they couldn't hit an elephant at that distance.
Apparently that is true.
Sometimes they're disparaging last words, like Karl Marx, who told his housekeeper, who was hovering at his bedside,
ready to write down his last words for posterity, that last words are for fools who haven't said enough.
But the last words, or the closing speeches of the Bible, have much more serious content and far deeper significance.
And if you think about it, there are lots of last words in the Bible.
The final speeches of Jacob, for example, blessing his twelve sons.
Moses, as he prepares the people to enter the Promised Land.
David, at the end of his long reign and life.
And especially, of course, the Lord Jesus himself.
His famous last words in John 13 to 17, what we often call the Upper Room Discourse.
They are all major features of Scripture.
And here we have Joshua's parting discourses.
In fact, at the end of the book of Joshua, there are three speeches that he makes.
Chapter 22, before our chapter, he says farewell to the two and a half tribes
who are going back across the Jordan to resettle in their allotted territories.
They've been helping with the conquest of Canaan.
They're now dispatched back home east of the Jordan.
And Joshua gives them parting words.
Chapter 24, after our chapter, the last chapter of the book,
is his address to the whole nation as he calls them to choose whom they're going to serve.
Whether it will be the Lord or other gods.
And that famous assertion of Joshua, as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
And here in between, chapter 23, is a chapter that gives his last words to the leaders,
the people who are responsible for the government of the nation,
the elders, the leaders, the judges, and officials.
As Joshua passes on the baton, he says,
I'm old and well advanced in years.
We know later in the book that he died at the age of 110.
And so we're probably about 20, 25 years from the time when they first crossed the Jordan
to enter the land.
And you know the book of Joshua is all about the conquest of the land from the fall of Jericho
and they marched around it seven times and the walls fell flat,
right the way through to the allocation of all the territory that God gave them in the land of Canaan.
And this chapter, at the end, is both a looking back and a looking forward.
I think it's appropriate for January.
We're here on the second Sunday, but we're still at the beginning of a new year.
January named after Janus, the god of paganism, who looked back and looked forward, the two-faced god.
Well, it's a good thing at the beginning of a year, isn't it, to look back in thanksgiving
and to renew our faith and commitment as we look forward in hope to what God has for us.
So I hope this will be an appropriate message, both for this time of the year
and also for our own minds and hearts as we think about the faithfulness of God.
So in verse 1, we get the scene set.
That long time refers to the period of the conquest.
And if you read the book, you'll find some very exciting stories of how God gave the land to his people.
The key to it all is there in those opening verses.
Have a look with me at verse 3.
You yourselves have seen everything the Lord your God has done to all these nations for your sake.
It was the Lord your God who fought for you.
So this is the story of the book.
That God has been in control of a whole situation.
That he has led the people under Joshua to accomplish his plans and purposes.
But supremely, God has been fulfilling his promises all the way through the story.
And now Joshua, near the end of his life, is concerned that the people who will follow him
will be as committed to this God and to his word, as trusting in him as he has been,
and as prepared to launch out in faith to see God work in their generation as Joshua has seen it in his own.
Now, there's a progression in the chapter which I think divides into three sections.
Verses 3 to 8, 9 to 13, and 14 to 16.
And the reason I say that is because you'll see if you look with me at the opening verse of each section
that there's a similarity in the way in which Joshua approaches it.
So verse 3 talks about everything the Lord has done for you, how the Lord has fought for you.
Verse 8 talks about the Lord has driven out before you great and powerful nations to this day.
And then verse 14, where Joshua talks about his own imminent departure.
But he says, you know that not one of all the good promises of the Lord your God has failed.
Every promise has been fulfilled.
Not one has failed.
Now, like many a good preacher after him, Joshua repeats his big idea three times.
In each of the paragraphs, this fantastic truth, this central assertion,
that everything that they are now experiencing, the lands that they have not themselves won,
but that God has given them as they've trusted him and experienced his power at work through them.
Everything that is theirs today is theirs because God has chosen them, God has promised,
and God has fulfilled his promises.
But he doesn't just repeat himself.
It begins by looking back, but as the speech goes on,
he becomes increasingly concerned about the present and about the future,
and particularly about warnings that he feels he needs to give
because it is as easy to lose the blessings as it has been to receive them by God's grace.
So I want to look at this Old Testament preacher's message to his generation.
And as we do that, I'm sure we'll find many parallels to us.
And as we see it coming to its fruition in the Lord Jesus,
we can find encouragement, yes, and challenge for the year that lies ahead of us.
Look with me firstly then at what I want to describe as what you have seen.
What you have seen.
That is verses 3 to 8.
And not surprisingly, at the end of this long and eventful life,
Joshua starts by looking back.
But he's not a nostalgia buff.
He's not looking back in self-indulgence.
He's not saying, oh, those were the days, weren't they?
What he's doing is reminding his audience of how dependent they are on God for everything that they have.
He calls upon the leaders to review their common experience of God's goodness,
to remember what God has done,
and the immense changes that they've witnessed in their lifetime,
and the daily benefits that they receive from the hands of the Lord.
Now that is always a sound spiritual instinct.
Not to forget all his benefits and blessings.
And as we start a new year, we should look back with thanksgiving.
We've been doing that in our worship this morning.
As we praise God for his faithfulness to us,
for the way in which he's led us,
some of us through particularly difficult circumstances in recent days,
some of us in particularly joyful ways.
We've all got a variety of experience,
but at the heart of it all,
there is the faithfulness of God to his word and to his promises.
And as we review that, and do not forget his benefits,
as we give thanks,
and discipline ourselves in our own personal times of devotion,
to recall the blessings of God,
that will generate our faith for the future.
We look back and see that all the blessings we now enjoy
have been God's gracious gift to us.
And that makes us realise how dependent we are on him
for every day of this new year,
every day of our lives,
for every breath that we breathe.
That's why the New Testament is always concerned
that godly people are thankful people.
You can tell how, in a sense,
what your spiritual health is like
in terms of how thankful you are to God.
How thankful you are that God is God.
That this is his character.
That he is faithful to all his promises,
that he is always carrying out
what he commits himself to do.
Thankful too for the circumstances of our lives,
for the overruling providence
by which he guides us and directs us
and opens doors for us and shuts other doors,
keeps us from dangers,
directs us in the way,
as every day we commit our way to him.
And we pray,
Lord,
today I want to submit myself
to your authority,
to your lordship.
There will be many, many things
that we can thank God for,
supremely,
that he sent his son,
the Lord Jesus,
to die on that cross in our place.
And that we have access
into his presence this morning.
We've been able to pray.
We know our sins have been forgiven.
We know that we go out
with the Holy Spirit within us
to change us from the inside out.
These are the great blessings
of being a Christian.
Be a thankful Christian.
And it's never too early to start.
I worked with a man called Lee Samuel,
who some of you may know
in my early years in ministry.
And Lee Samuel used to say
to his congregation,
if you want to be a gracious old lady,
be a gracious young lady.
And if you want to be a faithful old man,
be a faithful young man.
In other words,
you build every day of your life
a character,
an attitude.
You become who you are
because of practice.
And we can practice being faithful,
thankful,
rejoicing people
in all that the Lord has given us.
Now, in this context,
Joshua draws special attention
to what he calls the nations.
Back in verse 3,
you yourselves have seen
everything the Lord your God
has done to all these nations.
It's really a technical term
for anyone,
any nation,
that is outside the covenant
of God's grace.
And that means every nation
except Israel at this point
in Old Testament history.
Seven times in this chapter,
he refers to the nations.
Now, they have been,
of course,
opposing what God has been doing
in giving the land
to his people.
And many of those nations
have fought tooth and nail
against the conquest.
But as verse 4 tells us,
remember how I have allotted
as an inheritance
for your tribes
all the land of the nations
that remain,
and these are the nations
that I conquered.
The I is Joshua speaking,
but speaking as the agent of God,
that I have conquered
between the Jordan
and the Mediterranean.
And the Lord your God himself
will drive them out
of your way.
So here is the great blessings
that God has given.
Again and again,
the book has shown us
that it's God
who has granted Israel victory
as he promised.
And already the land
has been divided up
and allotted to the tribes
and to the family units,
including those parts of the land
which are still
unconquered at this point.
But looking back
to what has been accomplished
is a tremendous stimulus
to go on believing
for the future.
There's no shortage
of ability with God.
He's the one
who has driven them out
and will drive them out.
He will push them on
before you
and you will take possession
of their land
as the Lord your God
promised you.
Now we're in a very
different position of course.
We're not driving out tribes
from another land
or anything like that.
But as the people of God,
in a world where there is
hostility against the word of God
and the purposes of God,
in a world where people
very often turn their backs
upon God
when things get hard
and difficult,
we need to remind ourselves
as we look back
on what we have seen
that there is no shortage
of ability with God.
His name is the Lord
and whenever you see the Lord
in capital letters
in the Old Testament,
it's the covenant name of God,
Yahweh, Jehovah,
the I am who I am,
the unchanging,
100% dependable,
ever faithful God.
And what he has done,
he will continue to do.
Now when we get to the second part
of the chapter,
that's what he's saying
in verse 9.
If you look down at verse 9,
the Lord has driven out before you
great and powerful nations.
To this day,
no one has been able to
withstand you.
One of you raps a thousand
because the Lord your God
fights for you
just as he promised.
See how he takes them
back to the power
that is God's power.
It's so easy for us,
isn't it,
to bring God down
to our level.
For us to have effectively
a pocket-sized God
whom we do sincerely believe in
but whom we feel
that the pressures
and the problems
and the anti-Christian forces
that are at work
all the way through our culture,
they're really too big.
Too big for us to deal with.
And we sometimes tend to think
too big for God to deal with.
And we need to remember
that the promises of God
are what dictate
the purposes of God.
That God is committed
to building his church.
That he is committed
to bringing
an innumerable company
of men and women
from every tribe
and kindred and nation
out of the darkness
into the marvellous light
of Christ.
I went to preach
in a church
not too far from here
in West London
a few years ago,
probably three or four years ago.
And I was interviewed
about the Cornhill training course
and I shared a little bit
about the numbers
of students that we had
and the variety
of backgrounds they came from,
different nationalities
and so on.
And at the end
a gentleman came up to me
and he said,
I'm really surprised
by what you said
in the interview this morning.
So I said,
why?
And he said,
well,
to think that young people
who are apparently
quite able
and who could be
earning a good living
in various ways
will be giving themselves
to train for Christian ministry
which is such a defeated
and out of date thing.
I'm just amazed
that you would have
anybody who wanted to do it.
So I said to him,
how long have you been
coming to this church?
Oh, about 20 years.
You see,
it's so easy,
isn't it,
to get down
into the way
that the world thinks
that Christianity
is finished,
that it's had it,
that there's no real way
in which it could ever
impact our culture
and to take our judgment
from BDC2
or Channel 4
or the Sunday papers
or whatever it is
and to think
that Christianity
really has gone,
its day is over.
But what the world
is governed by
is the promises of God.
the faithfulness of God
who is the creator.
And if you put
the promises of God
against the
admittedly huge challenges
of the present situation,
then you begin to see
when you look back
and as you see
what God has done
in the past
and indeed what God
has done in our lives,
that of all these promises,
not one has failed.
Can you think of a promise
of God that he's not
been faithful to?
Of course not.
He's delivered us
in the blessing
of our conversion
from the world
and the flesh
and the devil.
He's given us
the knowledge
of sins forgiven.
He enables us
to grow in grace
and in godliness
of character.
We're all testimonies
of God's rich resources
and covenant commitment
to us,
his people.
But you know,
no faith is strong
if it isn't a growing faith.
No virtue is safe
if it is not
an enthusiastic virtue.
None of us is secure
if we are not
totally dependent
on God's grace
and mercy.
what you have seen
teaches us
that the world
is governed
by the word of God.
And the word
is the active expression
of the will
and purpose of God
that he carries out
through his son
and in the power
of his spirit.
Second thing
that he says,
not what you have seen
but what you must understand.
Come back with me
to verse 7.
Here,
he is commanding
the people
to be strong
and careful
to obey
the Lord's word.
And then in verse 7,
do not associate
with these nations
that remain among you.
Don't invoke
the names
of their gods
or swear by them.
You must not serve them
or bow down to them.
But you're to hold fast
to the Lord your God.
Now here is the danger.
We could call it
complacency.
A good proportion
of the land
has been taken.
But there is still
very much more
to be possessed.
If that's going to happen,
Joshua knows
that it will require
razor sharp clarity,
trusting the promises,
and wonderfully
renewed energy
from God
if they are going
to pursue
his purposes
and take over
the whole land.
And what they've seen
is that God
fights for his people
when his people
are active
and obedient
in doing his will.
He didn't do it
all for them.
They had to have
an army.
They had to have
battles.
Sometimes there was
no battle like Jericho.
Other times there were
battles in which
they had to fight.
But all the energy
and dynamic
for the victories
that they experienced
belonged to the Lord.
and those qualities
are available
as his people
continue to fight
the good fight.
But the danger is
that they will settle
for a comfortable
level of compromise
that doesn't inquire,
doesn't really require
such discipline
or sacrifice
or commitment.
And then the process
of verse 7
will take over.
And they will
gradually merge
with the pagan
nations that
remain in the land
mixing with
those people
beginning to
listen to the
to what they're
told about their
gods.
Worshipping those
gods more and
more because
they're much less
demanding than the
God of Israel.
They're much more
easily influenced
than the God of
truth and
righteousness.
And so they're
much more attractive
as a religious
option because
you can control
them.
Of course we know
that they're
actually lifeless
lumps of wood
and stone,
artifacts made
by the hands
of men.
But they're very
attractive because
this sort of
God is in your
pocket.
And the real
God isn't.
And so the
danger is acute.
And verses 12
and 13 over the
page warn them
in some detail,
sorry it's at the
bottom of the page,
warn them in some
detail about the
outcome of these
things.
If you turn away,
verse 12,
and ally yourselves
with the survivors
of these nations
that remain among
you, and if you
intermarry with
them and associate
with them, then
you may be sure
that the Lord your
God will no longer
drive out these
nations before you.
Instead they will
become snares and
traps for you,
whips on your back
and thorns in your
eyes, until you
perish from this
good land which
the Lord your God
has given you.
See here is the
danger, that this
sort of complacency
will lead them to
compromise, that
they will in the
end be indistinguishable
from the people
whom they're supposed
to be replacing.
And if that
happens, then God
who owns the land
will take it away
from them and they
will be dispossessed
by the God who
first gave it to
them.
Now that is a
very powerful
warning, isn't it?
This is what we've
got to understand,
that there is no
blessing that God
gives us which,
if we are unwilling
to respond in faith
and obedience, if we
treat it lightly and
compromise with the
forces of godless
evil around us,
there is no blessing
which is secure in
itself unless we are
positively related to
God day by day.
Now of course the
work of God is an
eternal work, he
saves us by his
grace, he calls us
as his people, he
makes us his own.
But our experience
of the blessings of
God are dependent
upon that faith
connection with him
that trusts him
and obeys him in
all the varied
circumstances of
life.
And the big danger
is that they will
lose out on what
they could enjoy
because somehow
they become more
like the nations
around them than
like the separate
people of God
that he has called
them to become.
You really don't
need me to apply
that.
We see around us
all sorts of
idolatry.
The messages that
impact our lives
every day are that
life is found in
this or that,
anything other
than God of
miracles.
And yes, here we
are on Sunday
morning, rightly
rehearsing our
faith in God,
rightly giving
ourselves at the
beginning of another
week to an hour
or so by which our
lives are set in
shape with God
and by which we
are able to
govern and direct
our lives for the
coming days.
But you know that
as soon as we leave
here, and particularly
tomorrow at work
and at school and
at college and in
the hospital or
wherever it is we
are, those messages
of the nations
around us will
bombard us again
and again and
again.
They will tell us
that what you
really need is to
look like this or
to own that or to
have this experience
or to be that sort
of person.
And again and
again as the
world and the
flesh and the
devil impinge
upon us, our
danger is that we
become complacent in
the blessings we
have and then we
begin to compromise
and we begin to
just drift a little
here and a little
there and before
we know where we
are, we are really
not very distinguishable
from the world
around us.
Idolatry is
powerful because it
is something we
think we can
control.
It's much easier
to follow the
idols of my heart
than to submit
that heart to the
true and living
God.
He will make
demands of me.
He will acquire
holiness in my
life.
He will not want
me to be making
those compromises.
And in his
mercy and his
love he cares
for us enough
not to let us
get away with
it.
So what Joshua
is saying to
these people is
true for all
covenant people in
the new as well
as in the old
covenant.
That while all
the blessings that
we enjoy are out
of God's pure
grace and because
of his mercy and
love to us and
he is an
everlasting father
and a God of
covenant mercy who
will never let us
go and never let
us down.
Nevertheless we
are not to be
complacent about
that.
If we want to
experience that in
our lives then we
must look out for
the tendency to
compromise.
We must look out
at those areas where
we are becoming much
more like the world
than like the Lord
Jesus.
And we must in our
need cling to him
and ask him for his
grace and help to
enable us to think
straight and then to
live straight in our
generation as the
people of the
living God.
The last thing that
he says is really
that, the future,
how you must live.
What you've seen,
everything you have
is God's good
gift to you and
that is true for us
in Christ and in the
gospel.
What you must
understand is that
God will never turn
his back upon his
promises.
But we can live as
it were out of sync
with God.
We can be Christians
who are Christian in
name but in
practice.
we're not actually
allowing God to
change us.
We're too easily
slipping into the
way that the world
reacts.
So what is the
counteractive to that?
The third thing he
tells us is how you
must live.
What you've seen,
what you must
understand, how you
must live.
And I'm thankful
that this practical
instruction is so
clear and applicable
to us.
Just have a look
with me at verse
six.
Be very strong,
be careful to
obey all that is
written in the book
of the Lord Moses
without turning aside
to the right or to
the left.
Now if you know
your Joshua, you'll
know that that's what
he was told in
chapter one, right at
the beginning of the
book.
To follow wholeheartedly
all that God had
revealed through
Moses in the first
five books of the
Bible.
The seedbed of the
whole Bible.
The context there
was the question as
to whether Joshua
would prove to be
a worthy leader
of Israel, a worthy
successor to Moses.
And now as his
wonderfully fruitful
and successful life
is reviewed at the
end, this could
really be a summary
of it all.
Indeed, when we
come to the very
last chapter, 24
and verse 29, we
find that the last
thing that we're
told about Joshua
is that he died
110 years old
as the servant
of the Lord.
That's his official
obituary, if you
like.
It's exactly the same
language as was used
of Moses.
Moses died, never
saw the promised land,
but he was taken by
God into his presence
as the servant of
the Lord.
And now Joshua, the
next generation, is
similarly given that
accolade.
He is the servant
of the Lord.
Because verse 6 has
been the motto of
his life.
Strength lies in
obedience to the
word of God,
without deviation.
The word of Jesus
given to us in the
New Testament, all
the instructions he
gave to his
disciples, all that
his spirit inspired
the apostles to
write as instructions
for our lives in
the epistles.
This is what leads
to the separation
from idolatry, which
will give to us a
Christian life that
is pleasing to God
and satisfying to
us.
Because only the
word of God can
break the hold of
the idols of our
hearts.
By revealing the
false and stimulating
the true, by
leading us to
trust God and then
to obey him because
we trust him, the
way to conquer our
idols, the way to
live lives that
count for God in
our generation, is
daily disciplined
obedience to the
word of God in
scripture.
If we trust him, we
will obey him.
If we don't obey
him, it's because we
don't really trust
him.
So we need to keep
those channels open,
the channels that
say, yes, I do
believe your word,
Lord, I know that
it's good and
perfect.
I know that my
sinful heart takes
me away from it so
often and I fail you
so frequently, but
today I'm coming
back to you and
asking you that that
living, enduring
word of God will
shape my thinking,
shape my living,
direct my actions.
And it's as the
word of God, in
all the scriptures
and supremely in
the living word, the
word made fresh, the
Lord Jesus rules in
our minds and
hearts, that we are
people who are
useful in God's
hands.
So that's the first
thing, how you must
live, you must allow
every word of God, he
says to his hearers, to
shape your responses.
But then it's more
than that, verse 8.
But you are to cling to
or hold fast to the
Lord your God as you
have until now.
That word cling is a
very strong adhesive
verb.
It's the Hebrew word
for glue really.
You are to be glued to
God, he says.
It was used of the
husband cleaving to
his wife and the two
become one flesh.
Now it speaks then of
a total commitment,
loyal devotion,
deep affection.
It's a verb that was
used in metal work of
two metals being
soldered together so
that they cannot be
separated.
Now he says that's
what your reaction to
God is to be like.
That is what the
Lord looks for from
his people.
To give ourselves to
him.
To cling to him.
And the very poignant
thing is that the
verb is used again in
verse 12.
Where it says if you
turn away and ally
yourselves.
Now that is exactly the
same verb as
translated in verse 8
as hold fast.
Exactly the same
verse.
If you turn away and
cling to the
survivors of the
nations.
Stick to them.
It's a really shocking
thought that isn't it?
That God's redeemed
people could go back
to paganism and be no
different from the
culture all around
them.
It's an almost
unthinkable idea and
yet which of us
doesn't know how
easily that drift can
happen in our lives.
So you've got to
remain stuck to God.
It's true in our
marriages.
Good marriages don't
just develop.
They need investment,
time, love, thought,
speech, actions.
They require commitment.
And true knowledge of
God doesn't just
happen.
You've got to invest
your time in it.
You've got to give
yourself to his word.
You've got to spend
time in his presence,
in prayer.
And as we cling to
the Lord, then those
things that would be
snares and traps and
whips and thorns in our
experience because we're
tempted to compromise,
will be removed as we
grow in our knowledge
and love of him.
No, don't cling to the
nations.
Don't get stuck to the
culture.
Cling to the Lord your
God.
Be very careful to obey.
You are to hold fast to
the Lord.
And lastly, perhaps the
greatest verse in the
whole chapter, verse 11.
So be very careful to
love the Lord your God.
See, that is the secret
of the baton being
passed in the next
generation.
Notice how intentional
it is.
Be very careful to love
the Lord your God.
Give your attention to
it, he says.
Make this the heart of
your living and your
discipleship.
Love the Lord your God.
We know elsewhere in
the Old Testament and
endorsed by the Lord
Jesus in the New, that
that takes everything we
have with all your
heart and soul and mind
and strength.
It is the first and
greatest commandment and
the second is like it.
Love your neighbour as
yourself.
On these hang all the
law and the prophets.
And this is the heart of
our faith.
It's the heart of our
relationship with God.
So as I close, I want to
encourage you to look on
this year 2012 as a year
of growing in your love
for God.
Now that doesn't mean just
warm feelings, though there
will be an emotional
aspect to it.
But it means the sort of
love that puts his
concerns first.
That says, what can I do
for him?
How can I serve him more?
How can I give to him
who gave so much for me?
For me that love finds its
focus in the Lord Jesus
himself.
We love him because he
first loved us.
And every time I look back
at the cross, every time I
see my own sinfulness and
my own need of his grace,
every time I remember how
he gave himself up there
for you and for me as he
conquered all our enemies,
sin and death and the
devil, when he fought for
us and achieved our
salvation on the cross of
Calvary.
And how through that we
have entered into the
rest of peace with God
and knowing that our sins
are forgiven and that our
lives are in his
safekeeping.
Every time I do that,
my heart is moved to love
him more.
It's so weak and faint.
Remember that hymn that
says, Lord, it is my chief
complaint that my love is
weak and faint.
Yet I do love you and adore.
Oh, for grace to love you
more.
And I want to ask you this
morning, do you really love
the Lord?
Do you love him?
Are you prepared to give your
life for him?
Are you prepared to follow
wherever he leads you?
Is your confidence not in
your record of what you've
done for him, but in his
record of what he's done
for you?
All that it means for him
to be the Lord.
That's what prompts from us
this response of love that
clings to him, that obeys
him, and that says, oh Lord
Jesus, I do want to be more
like you.
And I do want my life to be a
channel of love for you and
love for others.
If you love him, you'll
express it in praise and
worship.
You'll feel it in the
assurance of faith and deep
gratitude.
You'll want to speak well of
him wherever you go, whenever
you can.
You'll want to serve him, to
please him, to live for him.
Yes, even to suffer and to
die for him.
That's the challenge that
Joshua presents to the up
and coming generation.
And it's the challenge that
God continually presents to
all our hearts, whether we're
young or old, whether we're
new Christians or have been
on the road for many years.
It's the challenge we all
face.
As we look to the future,
are we going to be people who
because of what we've seen
and because of what we
understand, live lives that
obey the truth, cling to the
Lord and love him with
everything we have?
He'll give us the grace to do
it if we're prepared to plug
in to the supply.
Let's pray.