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[0:00] Take your Bibles and turn to the Old Testament book of Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 2. And we're going to read the entire chapter together.

[0:12] ! He will teach us his ways so that we may walk in his paths.

[0:47] The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

[1:02] Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.

[1:15] You have abandoned your people, the house of Jacob. They're full of superstitions from the east. They practice divination like the Philistines and clasp hands with pagans.

[1:28] Their land is full of silver and gold. There's no end to their treasures. Their land is full of horses. There's no end to their chariots. Their land is full of idols.

[1:40] They bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. So man will be brought low and mankind humbled.

[1:51] Do not forgive them. Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty. The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low.

[2:06] The Lord alone will be exalted in that day. The Lord Almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty, for all that is exalted, and they will be humbled.

[2:20] For all the cedars of Lebanon, tall and lofty, and all the oaks of Bashan, for all the towering mountains and all the high hills, for every lofty tower and every fortified wall, for every trading ship and every stately vessel, the arrogance of man will be brought low and the pride of men humbled.

[2:41] The Lord alone will be exalted in that day, and the idols will totally disappear. Men will flee to caves in the rocks and to holes in the ground from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to shake the earth.

[3:00] And that day men will throw away to the rodents and bats. Their idols of silver and idols of gold, which they made to worship. They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to shake the earth.

[3:21] Stop trusting in man who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he? Let's hear God's word preached.

[3:33] That last verse just says, cease for man. Don't trust him. Don't fear him. Just cease for man. What is he?

[3:44] He's just got some air in his nostrils. He's gone. Oh, but our God is the living God. He speaks and he shows mercy.

[3:57] We have just enjoyed another birthday as a nation. Pure mercy. Would you open to 1 Peter chapter 5.

[4:13] When Solomon, king of Israel, had finished building the temple of the Lord, the Lord appeared to him one night in a dream.

[4:25] and in that dream the Lord said these familiar words when I send a plague among my people if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and will seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land 2nd Chronicles 714 I've heard that preached many times as if it were written to the United States of America and I want to assure you that that is not the case it was written to the theocracy of Israel to the one nation out of all the nations of the world that God chose to fulfill a special purpose for him in the redemption of the world they were his people they were called by his name the United States has never been his people ever in this sense they have never been called by his name so we must not just take that verse and apply it as if it was written to us but having said that

[5:48] Proverbs 1434 does say righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people Israel United States of America that's a verse for any nation to hear America's sins are a disgrace to us and an offense to Almighty God and God now calls all people everywhere to repent because he has appointed a day when he will judge the world in righteousness by the man that he has appointed and he's given proof of it to all men by raising him from the dead so he's going to come again he's going the Lord Jesus is going to come and judge the world and in that day the wicked will be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God that is God's word and therefore this nation has every reason to humble ourselves and pray and seek his face we've been showing him our back we need to turn and seek his face in repentance to ask his forgiveness and it's not just the nation that has this humbling of themselves to do did you notice that's the first thing he calls let them humble themselves there's nothing more arrogant than sin we saw last week because sin is putting my mind and my thoughts above God's thoughts and my will and my pleasures above God's pleasures and will and it's setting really myself above God and so he takes it as absolute arrogance sin that puts self over God so it's not just the nation that has reason to humble themselves it's also the church of Jesus Christ the people of God who have been called by his name who were baptized into the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit it's a call for us to repent and you're open there to 1 Peter 5

[8:20] I want you to see that this is God's word to us as well 1 Peter 5 5 young men in the same way be submissive to those who are older all of you that's all of you me included all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble humble yourselves therefore under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time visitors today you've come in upon us in the midst of a study of four graces of the Christian life if we could have the overhead and we're stuck on the first of those humility simply because it is the foundational grace of all the other graces in the Christian life it's the soil the only kind of soil in which any grace will grow and so we've been on humility for about a month

[9:24] I trust next week we can go on to faith but humility is so important because it empties us and then prepares faith to receive from Jesus Christ so just say them with me we'd all read them together we're trying to memorize them and then to pray through them and pray them in and work them out say it with me humility the great emptier faith the great receiver love the great giver and hope the great motivator so again one more go round at humility this morning just a couple points of introduction from our text here in 1st Peter chapter 5 notice that though humility is a grace that God must work in our hearts by his spirit that's what a grace is yet it's also something we're commanded to do we're commanded to clothe ourselves with humility and to humble ourselves before the Lord that's no passive waiting well if humility is a grace

[10:36] God you're just going to have to do it no we're commanded to actively pursue this grace to humble ourselves to clothe ourselves with humility and then notice secondly that humility has both a man word and a God word application you see that we're to clothe ourselves with humility toward one another and then we're told to humble ourselves under God so true humility always works both ways if you're proud before God I'll assure you you will be proud before your fellow man and your fellow church members but if you're humble before God you will be humble before one another that's the way this grace works so pride then it's a stubborn sin haven't you found it to be so it sticks to us like our skin and Peter found it to be so you've read the gospels you know this is his his thoughts and the spirit guiding his mind and teaching us about humility and pride and he knows it's a stubborn sin and so he gives us help he gives us help in the form of two reasons to humble ourselves now last week we saw several reasons four namely why we ought to humble ourselves remember them first because God is the uncreated creator and we are his creatures so right away we ought to humble ourselves under his authority as our maker we saw secondly that because God is self-sufficient and we are totally dependent upon him we ought to humbly ask for his help and then we saw that because God is holy and we are sinful we ought to humbly seek his mercy and then fourthly because of the gospel

[12:37] God's way of salvation at every point it humbles man and exalts the living God so now here in verse 5 of 1st Peter 5 the command to humble ourselves is supported by two more reasons two more reasons notice them all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble that's quoted from the book of wisdom Proverbs chapter 3 which means that if we're wise we'll humble ourselves that's the way of wisdom it's only wise given these two things for us to humble ourselves so let's look at these two helps that they might spur us on to greater humility number one God opposes the proud those that are not humble and those few words summarize the universal testimony of scripture on this matter that God opposes the proud

[13:49] God hates proud pride Proverbs chapter 6 there are six things even seven that the Lord hates things that are an abomination to him and the very first is arrogant eyes that express an arrogant heart Proverbs 8 13 I hate pride and arrogance because pride strikes at the very heart of God God is king God is ruler of his universe and we say no he's not I'm my own king and and that's why God hates pride with such intensity he detests it as an abomination and therefore God opposes it God opposes it man sets himself against God so God sets himself against them that's the meaning of this word oppose it's a military term whereby God sets himself in military array against the proud so if you're going to be proud you're going to have

[14:57] God as your enemy your opponent and that's never good it's never good because to fight against the almighty is to fight a losing battle even Gamaliel the wisest teacher in Jerusalem knew that remember when the apostles were commanded not to preach in Jesus name anymore and they were threatened that they were going to kill him but they didn't know what to do with them they just kept preaching and they're all befuddled the rulers of the Jews and they're ready to kill him but Gamaliel speaks a word to them and he says man listen to me if this movement is of human origin it will fail stop these men you'll only find yourselves fighting against God Acts 5 39 and that's a losing proposition he didn't even need to say it it's a no win situation because God never loses

[15:58] Hannah knew it as well those who oppose the Lord will be shattered the Virgin Mary knew it he has performed mighty deeds with his arms he scattered those who are proud in their in most thoughts and he's brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble Nebuchadnezzar came to know this truth as well when he boasted of his great accomplishments he had built this great Babylonian kingdom and he goes out and looks at the city and says is this not the great Babylon that I have built by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty and he found that God in heaven and God set himself against Nebuchadnezzar he opposed him and he just did something he just ticked his mind and removed his sanity we're a sound mind did you ever think just a snap of the fingers he could remove your sanity he took away his kingdom his throne he put him out to pasture grazing with the cattle the dew of heaven settled upon him until he submitted himself and acknowledged that the

[17:27] Lord God is sovereign over all the nations and he gives them to whomever he chooses and when it was all over this pagan king confesses that Jehovah this about Jehovah those who walk in pride he is able to humble because when he opposes you you lose thank you Nebuchadnezzar we needed that in our Bibles I say we Christians needed that in our Bibles did you notice that Peter's giving us this help us believers that's who first Peter's written to and he's given us this help to be humble and he's reminding us that if we're going to be proud God will oppose us just look at the record pride brings God onto the battlefield as your enemy to oppose you Pharaoh was told Jehovah says let my people go Pharaoh says who's Jehovah that I should obey him I don't know him I'm not going to let!

[18:28] his people go plagues and he opposed him at the Red Sea and he shattered him King Herod so proud want to please the Jews okay we'll behead James there that's one way to get the pleasure of the people and their king let's do it again with Peter well he was unsuccessful in that wasn't he but sometime later he went and gave a speech to people who are dependent upon him for their food so how do you treat someone who you're dependent upon for your food well you you're really impressed by their speech aren't you and so that's this exactly what they were flattering him and they said this is the voice of a God and not of a man and immediately because

[19:29] Herod did not give praise to God an angel of the Lord struck him down and he was eaten by worms and died I want you to notice it was not because of what Herod did it's because of what he didn't do he didn't give praise to God he just sucked it in inhaled it you're right I am God not a man and God will not give his glory to another he will oppose the proud pride got Satan thrown out of heaven destined for hell without any chance of repentance pride got Adam and Eve thrown out of the garden of Eden as they exalted themselves over their maker's command to not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil pride invites a humbling from God himself so when man lifts himself up above

[20:32] God God is determined to bring him down did you see that in the scripture reading in Isaiah chapter two he just keeps repeating those things did you hear the repetition with which he makes this point of how determined God is to humble the pride of man you see something is radically wrong in our world things are out of order if we read our Bibles right we see that the proper order is for God alone to be exalted no one to share his glory he alone is God he alone is exalted!

[21:16] over all else and man is to humble himself under God that's the proper order of the universe but that's not the present condition of man is it man's out of place he refuses to humbly submit under God and he's put himself above God in his pride the wicked does not seek him they don't worship him they don't obey him they don't give him his due his praise no in all their thoughts there's no room for God his thoughts are consumed with self as pastor was just saying to us well God is ignored and forgotten his moral laws they trample them they despise God as a nobody who who cannot or will not ever enforce his laws and that's wrong that's what

[22:18] Isaiah is telling that's not right and God is determined to put things right verse 12 the Lord almighty has a day in store for all the proud and lofty for all that is exalted and they will be humbled a day in store yesterday was a special day on the calendar I suppose you might have had it circled and had plans written in for the day of what you were going to do your agenda for the day a day was set God has a day in store we don't know the day don't even know the hour but there is a day in store and his agenda for that day is to put the wrong right it's to exalt himself and to put man in his place beneath him man will be brought low in that day mankind will be humbled the eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled the

[23:19] Lord alone will be exalted in that day he repeats it as if man's not listening or doesn't care or doesn't believe it the Lord alone will be exalted in that day folks this world was not prepared for a little virus that was let loose what will this world do when the son of man returns in all his glory with all of his angels with him to judge the world in righteousness to gather his people into his barn and to burn the chaff and fire to humble those who would not humble themselves before him and to put them in their place to be humbled for all eternity in hell what will our world be like in that day proud sinners called from their graves to everlasting shame and contempt

[24:21] Daniel chapter 12 according to Jesus all who did not humble themselves will be humbled by God you know God is determined to have every tongue confess every knee bow the proudest atheist that denies God the most practical atheist that claims he believes in God but lives as if there is no God they will both bow the knee and they will both confess everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is God to the glory of God the Father our world's not ready for that sometimes it causes me to tremble to tremble to tremble and well it should that day is coming the Lord is coming and he's coming to humble the proud are you ready for that day oh pray for the lost around you tell them of a savior that they might be ready for that day will it be your joy to welcome the savior as you see him coming in his power and glory or will that be your everlasting dread and shame you see in that day they will run to the rocks they will run to the caves the holes in the ground but find no place to hide from dread of the

[25:51] Lord and the splendor of his majesty that phrase is repeated three times from the dread of the Lord and the splendor of his majesty I believe that's one of the most forgotten attributes about God his splendor his exaltedness his his his his farness above us his transcendence his his majesty and we treat him as a nobody he doesn't enforce his his moral command his laws nobody does and a day is coming when men will flee with dread horror in their hearts and find no place to go now there's one good reason why you should humble yourselves and again I just remind you Peter is writing to Christians and he doesn't say well we don't need that let's just go to the second point no we do need that we need to wake up to the reality of the splendor of his majesty and the wonder of belonging to him and humbling ourselves under him so that's a good reason to humble yourselves because

[27:08] God opposes the proud and who wants him as an enemy but there's another reason and this is the good news not only does God oppose the proud but he gives grace to the humble he gives grace to the humble he gives you mercy when you deserve to be crushed under his heel he gives you grace when you deserve his wrath you see this is the gospel did you know that God delights in humility his delight in humility is as great as his hatred of pride he's just as committed to exalting the humble as he is to humbling the exalt self exalted so consider with me in the second place God's love for the humble and humility and the high value he places upon it we see it throughout the scriptures again this is a summary of all that scriptures testify to that God gives grace to the humble so back to

[28:09] God God to God to God to turn their backs toward him and they're going their own way and now they're wanting to turn back to him and they're wondering what should we bring with us when we come back to God should we bring a whole bunch of oxen should we bring rivers of oil should we offer our firstborn son and God says through Micah no no no he has showed you oh man what is good and what does the Lord require of you does that question ever come home to you with power what does the Lord require of me it's an important question for anyone who's headed to the judgment seat to know what the judge requires and what does the Lord require well here's a summary to act justly to be fair to love mercy not revenge not equal get get tit for tat no loves mercy and to walk humbly with your

[29:17] God makes it into the summary of what God requires first of all to walk with God to walk with God is to live with God it's to live with him each step of our life is to be lived with him and it's to be lived humbling ourselves before him means humbling your mind under his word it means humbling your will under his will under his command under his providence not proudly going off without him going my own way walking without him but rather walking!

[29:54] with him walking with God humbly you see the premium God puts upon humility indeed to walk humbly with him is the key to walking humbly the key to walking with justice and mercy with each other is to walk humbly with God if I humble myself with God I will be fair and merciful in my dealings with men the Israelites tended to put their trust in the temple and the sacrifices and we even see it from the question what should we bring sacrifices at one point they just said the temple the temple the temple of the Lord God can't judge us we have the temple here in Jerusalem we're safe they trusted in the temple they trusted in the sacrifices they were superstitious in their trust in this holy box of the ark we can't be defeated because we have it with us and

[30:55] God confronts this through Isaiah in chapter 66 of Isaiah this is at the end of Isaiah we read chapter 2 now Isaiah 66 this is what the Lord says heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool so where is the house you will build for me how do you build a house for somebody where the heavens is a throne and the earth is just a footstool well you can't where will my resting place be is not my hand made all these things and so they came into being declares the I want to know what God esteems and holds valuable and high and I want to be that what does he esteem this is the one I esteem he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word interesting again isn't it how humility of heart is evidenced in the life is by trembling at his word does his word move you does it move you in the heart does it does it change the way you think and the way you want and the way you act you see the word of

[32:12] God moves the humble and contrite because we're humbling ourselves under it we recognize who's speaking to us here it's my maker my redeemer in Jesus Christ so while many around him dismiss God's word as irrelevant and couldn't care less the humble in spirit holds God's word with reverence and awe he cries order my steps in your word oh Lord I want to walk with you so order my steps in your steps!

[33:22] ! God holds high those that hold themselves low so he not only holds them high and esteems them but he makes them his very dwelling place his home Isaiah 57 15 this is what the high and lofty one says let's not forget who's talking to us that he is this one with the splendor of his majesty we saying he's my friend and brother even though he's a king a majestic king we never forget that even as we we speak of him as friend and brother and that's how he introduces himself this is what the high and lofty one says he lives forever whose name is holy I live in a high and holy place but also with him who is contrite in spirit and lowly in spirit and I dwell with him to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the humble you see it's the consideration of who he is and where he lives that should be enough to humble us he's high and holy none like him he lives in a high and holy place in the highest heaven where no sin can enter where there are sinless angels and the spirits of just men made perfect he's there but wonder of wonders he also lives with the lowly on earth he's drawn to the lowly so much so that he esteems them and their fellowship he enjoys it and he says

[34:59] I'm going to make that my home humility is like the door that that's thrown open it's the welcome for him to come and make the heart his home he loves it there he esteems it he lives with them and brings with him reviving grace for he gives grace to the humble and so he dwells in them to revive the spirit of the lowly to revive the heart of the contrite you know long and hard afflictions can leave the humble weary and fainting in spirit and so he comes with reviving and refreshing grace I will refresh the weary I will satisfy the faint what a wonder that this great God of highest heaven would occupy my lowly heart make it his home and bring with him all the grace that I need because he gives grace to the humble what is it that draws our exalted

[36:08] God to the lowly what's the pull what's the attraction what why is God attracted and esteeming and holding high humility what is it about humility well humility is the great emptier you see that's the man woman boy or girl who's found their place under God he delights in that a little girl who who knows her place in God's authority chain there's God and there's mom and dad and there she is she knows her place and he delights in that to find a man emptied of his pride and holding out the empty hands of faith to receive what he doesn't deserve that that's delightful to God I say it with reference but I believe it's an attraction in God but just as he has this visceral reaction to the proud that says okay you want to fight you have one he has this other visceral reaction that says there's a humble woman give her grace give her grace she's emptied of herself give her more give her more grace as

[37:30] James says so to see you humbly with the hands of faith looking up to him with expectation Lord please please the opportunities then weren't what they were now and so he lives on the mercies of people here's the commotion and asked what it was and they said well it's Jesus of Nazareth he's passing by and immediately he began shouting

[38:33] Jesus son of David have mercy on me and it only made him shout all the more son of David have mercy on me and it stopped Jesus in his tracks the humble empty hands held out crying for mercy stopped Jesus and he said call that man and they said he's calling for you he threw his robe down and ran to Jesus and

[39:33] Jesus says what would you have me do for you oh Lord that I might receive my sight go your faith has healed you he's attracted to humility he gives grace to humility he loves humility as much as he hates pride and that's still something that stops Jesus in his tracks he's the same today you say yeah but now he's got he's got the angels shouting their praises in his ears the people's commotion and noise didn't make him miss that one voice crying for mercy the one humble faith looking to him he heard it he saw it he still sees it still hears it still comes with grace in answer to it maybe you're lost in sin you've never come to Jesus for mercy and you've come to see

[40:35] I'm a sinner and I'm going to hell and I deserve to go to hell praise God he's emptying you you're emptying you that proud self righteousness I can I can make it myself I'm pretty good not what I used to be I'm doing better you're not empty yet you come with nothing good to say for yourself and the empty hands of faith oh have mercy you know he's ready this morning that cry will hit his ear in heaven beside the father on the throne that rules the universe he gives mercy cry to him for mercy he has it to give it's his appointed mediatorial job to give it and he's delighted to give it maybe it's not your need to be saved!

[41:22] maybe it's yeah strength you need perseverance you're pooped you're out of gas you you're weary well cry come empty cry it'll find its way into the ear of the Lord of Sabbath and he will answer the Lord of Sabaoth the Lord of hosts he answers that cry you know King David rejoiced in such a God says though the Lord is on high he looks upon the Lord he's always got an eye on the Lord always has an ear toward the lowly why because he has a heart for the lowly take advantage of that make use of such a savior call on him David was brought low wasn't he Psalm 51 committed adultery and murder he's as low as the bottom side of the snake's belly they used to say he's down he's he can't see anything good in himself and he but he sees that

[42:28] God what it is that God is after he's not saying okay let me find the ox you know many would be satisfied just go find the ox and let's shed a little blood and spill it on the altar and be gone David knows better he sees through he knows what God wants he says in verses 7 16 and 7 you do not delight in sacrifice or I would bring it you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings that's not what you're really after in all this sacrificial system no the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit a broken and contrite heart oh God you will not despise that's an understatement put it up with verse 16 that's what he delights in that's what he takes pleasure in a broken and a contrite heart he won't despise it he'll delight in it and he'll forgive the worst of sins as we come pleading mercy in Jesus name well many can tear their clothes

[43:29] God wants those who will tear their hearts you can be proud as you tear your clothes but the man who tears his heart is humble grace is what David needed grace is what he received grace is what I need grace is what I have received it's what you need it's what he has to give hallelujah what a savior he has a heart for the humble he's drawn so he does delight in humility even as he hates pride and that was seen in his own the way that he treated the way the father treated his own son his pastor made reference to in his prayer that Jesus the second person of the Godhead is all that God is he's all that the father is in terms of Godness and yet he didn't hang on to it as something to be held on to but came and humbled himself and became a man a servant man and was obedient like a good servant obedient to the extent of the hellish cross where he stood in for his people and he took all the wrath of God for us and therefore

[44:42] Paul says in verse 9 of Philippians 2 therefore because he did that God the father has highly exalted him and given him a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh Lord to the glory of God the father you see the father is so pleased with his humility that he exalts him to the highest heaven and that's the kind of humility we need to go down before the Lord and those who humble themselves he will lift up humble yourselves under God's mighty hand that he may lift you up in due time says Peter now here's something interesting humility is a grace that means that it's God's work in our hearts it's not something we have by nature we're proud by nature and so it must be taught and given by

[45:47] God and yet to the humble further grace is given because he gives grace to the humble so humility is both a grace received and the means for receiving more grace for he gives grace to the humble well how they get humble God made them humble God emptied them and brought them to that state and they just go on receiving more grace isn't that the picture that John gives us in chapter 1 of this word from eternity that became flesh and he said he's full of grace and from his fullness have all we received just once we were justified and that's it from his fullness have all we received grace upon grace like the waves of the sea they just keep splashing on my shore and your shore his fullness comes to our emptiness more grace so what happens when his grace hits us well that's a dangerous point isn't it because we can get proud of grace given you know the

[46:59] Corinthians were proud of the grace of their gifts weren't they they were boasting of their spiritual gifts they were pure gifts and they were boasting proud about him what do you have that you've not received who made you to differ from anyone else well if you have received why are you boasting as if you hadn't received them and so there's something dangerous about receiving grace will it will it further humble us or will it puff us up I would almost say that we put God in a predicament how it's not an easy thing to keep us humble and sometimes maybe to give us more grace and gifts and blessings would be to our detriment so God must learn how to bless us in a way that doesn't hurt us I say almost God's not in a predicament he has plenty of ways to keep us humble under his blessing that's what

[48:03] Paul said so to keep me Paul from becoming conceited because of all these surpassingly great revelations it was given to me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of Satan to torment me so God's I can heap blessing on Paul I'm going to put this thorn in his flesh he'll be able to handle all that blessing God has his ways he's even able to keep us humble under the avalanche of his grace where he just keeps giving and giving and the very giving to us humbles us and we say who am I you know that questions in our Bible several times it's a fitting thing for us to ask when God blesses who am I that he should even notice me much less visit me and bless me who am I that I should receive grace from him who am I that I should have such a king of grace to live in me and to bring with him all this grace for me who am I that a that a king should pray not my will but thine for the answer

[49:16] I may never know why he ever loved me so but to an old rugged cross he'd go for who am I and we're we're humbled aren't we that Jesus humbled himself to the cross folks if that doesn't humble you what will oh we got to get there often though don't we got to come back taste that humility in Jesus so there's two reasons two reasons to humble yourself God opposes the proud and humbles them and gives grace to the humble and exalts them which is to say God is the worst enemy you could ever have and he's the very best friend you could ever want which would you have him be to you you know he'll have you as his best he will be your best friend however you can he will be your best friend he wants you and if you don't receive him you'll have only yourself to blame oh come to him today come to me is his welcome come with your sin come with your need come humble hold out those hands and I'll fill them open your mouth wide and I will fill them say as we sing together our closing hymn oh great

[50:40] God of highest heaven occupy this lowly heart let's stand and make it our prayer let's pray together shall we blessed are those who learn to acclaim you who recognize who you are and give you the praise you are deserving of we confess we were blind and could not see glory in you that we should bow and offer up all that we are to you oh thank you that you came to us when we had nothing and you you humbled us and you gave us faith to receive the best of gifts the Lord Jesus and life in him new life now eternal life forever we've received grace upon grace it's all grace and so we thank you for another day to worship together to think upon our God send us on our way living in the mood of your greatness the greatness of your grace the way you esteem the humble oh make us such and keep us such that we might be not only the objects of your grace but the trophies of grace that would forever show that salvation is by grace alone in

[52:01]  Jesus Christ do it for your name's sake we pray in Jesus name amen amen Amen.