Whose Son is He (1 Samuel 17)

… I read two short scriptures to you, the first in the Old Testament, in the first book of Samuel, chapter 17, verse 55, And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the house, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As I have so little of a king, I cannot tell. And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the Scripling is. And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse, the Bethlehemite. It came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was nipped with the soul of David. And Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Luke's Gospel, chapter 19, Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans. He was rich. And he sought to see Jesus, who he was. He could not for the press, because he was little of stature. He ran before and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and saw him, and said unto him, Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must abide at thy house. And he made haste, and came down, and received him joyfully. I want to take up the answers that the Scripture gives to the question that arises in both the passages of Scripture that I have read. One typical of Christ, and the other personal to Christ. These are but two instances in which this matter arises in the Scriptures. It's a question that is important to each one of us, and I hope that we shall get help from each other as we consider it. The seventeenth chapter of Samuel 1 is of course a favorite chapter with the boys, and even with the girls too. The triumph of David over Goliath has been with us from our childhood, and we have delighted with the wonderful victory that David won. When we visualize him going forth against the mighty giant, we perhaps have trembled as to what might become of him. But the Word assures us that the victory was in the hands of David. We are here tonight, beloved brethren, because of that victory. It typifies, of course, the victory of Christ, who went down into the valley of Elah, and dispossessed him who had the fear of death that was causing men to tremble. Men fear because of the sentence of death resting upon them, and no one able to deliver them. And we have rejoiced in the fact that Christ has won the victory, and we are here as a consequence of that victory. That is where I stopped for many years in relation to this wonderful chapter. A very good place to arrive at, the sense in one's soul of the completeness of the victory of Jesus over the power of Satan, the full deliverance of his people. And I hope that the younger boys and girls in the room tonight are already rejoicing in the fact that they know the Saviour who has triumphed over all the power of the enemy and has brought victory to them, has become their Saviour, their Lord. But later on in life one began to see that another question arose, and that question is as to how far we have understood who this person is that has won the victory. And at the end of the chapter the question is raised, not what has this young man done. We all rejoice in understanding and appreciating and knowing something of what Jesus has done. He's done so much for us, hasn't he? He's done what no one else could have done for us. But the further question arises as to how far we have apprehended the glory and majesty of the person who has done it. And so the question is raised at the end of this chapter, who is this young man, who is he? Not what has he done, but who is he? I would like that the Spirit of God might raise that question in their hearts, especially the young men and women tonight, as to how far they have been able to answer that question for themselves. Who is this blessed Saviour? Who is the one who has won the victory for us? You will notice that it was as they were speaking about who he was rather than what he had done that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David. As they were speaking, as David was speaking to Saul in relation to who he was in his person rather than what he had done in his victory, although he had in his hand the evidence of his victory, but he was not speaking about the soul whose head he had taken off and who he had completely defeated. He was speaking of who he was as the son. And it was as he thus spoke that the heart of Jonathan was knit with the heart of David. What a wonderful thing that is. Now, when we come to the New Testament, the Lord himself raised that question, you know, with those who loved him. And he would raise the question with you tonight, especially with the dear young people, the question that he raised with his disciples. Now carefully he led them up to the main point in his question. First he said, whom do men say that I am? And they answered, some say Jeremiah, some Elias, some John the Baptist, or that prophet. There was conjecture, there was supposition, there was uncertainty, there was a lack of definite knowledge. And if in general that question were put to men in the world today, they would be marked by this indifference and uncertainty and conjecture and supposition. But then the Lord goes on and he says, whom do ye say that I am? Now dear brethren, and especially the young, I would appeal to you tonight, that whilst this world is quite uncertain as to what answer they could give to that question, I wonder what you would say if the Lord, as I hope he will, may raise that question in your conscience and heart tonight. Whom do ye say that I am? And of course Peter, impetuous, sometimes in the wrong way, sometimes in the right way as he was here, he answers for the others and he says, thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. What a wonderful revelation that had been made by God the Father to Simon Peter in his responsible pathway here. Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, in his responsible pathway here. Flesh and blood hath not revealed unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And dear friends, I want to say to you tonight that you won't get a true appreciation of who Christ is from flesh and blood conditions. You must be in touch with what comes from heaven, with the revelation that God has given in his word. You must be in touch with the speaking of the Spirit as we were saying this afternoon. You must be in touch with what God is saying if you are to get a right appreciation of who this blessed person is. Peter had a right appreciation of him. He wasn't always maintained in the good of it. What one of us could say that we have always been maintained in the good of the life that God has given to us of his blessed Son, indeed we haven't. But the fact remains that the only source from which we can get a true appreciation of Christ is to be in touch with the words, the revelation, the record that has come from heaven in the word of God, indicted by the Spirit. I want to take you along with me if I can in relation to this question through one or two scriptures. And I hope the Lord will show the model progression in them and illumine our hearts in relation to each answer that is given so that we might take up each answer and be in the good of it for ourselves. I love to think of Zacchaeus. He hadn't been a very commendable person. He's what we should call in this day a quizling. He was hand in glove with the invading occupying power. And he wasn't liked because of that. He was what you might speak of as a fifth columnist if you like. He wasn't true to his national feelings. He was not a very nice sort of person in that respect. But there was one redeeming feature about Zacchaeus and it's a wonderful feature. And it shone out against the dark background of his position as a quizling, this wonderful desire that he had. He desired to see Jesus, who he was. He wanted to get the answer to this question, who is this person, this rabbi, this man who is moving through Judea and Galilee, doing all sorts of wonderful things. I've heard about him, but who is he? I would like to find out for myself. Who is he? And he went to a great deal of exertion to find out who he was. He found out who he was. He was the one who brought salvation to him and to his house. You know, the name Zacchaeus means purity. And in spite of the fact that he wasn't true to his name, God took account of that name. It says the pure in heart shall see God. And here's Zacchaeus, in spite of his actions, his name means purity. And deep down in this man's heart there was a desire to see who this blessed person was. And he found that he was the one and the one alone who could bring salvation to him. I want to ask you, have you had your eyes opened so far to know who Jesus is? To bring salvation to you, do you know the salvation that alone could be brought by Jesus? Our King cometh lowly, riding upon an ass, having salvation. He has brought salvation into this world. And all the problems and all the exercises and all the desires of Zacchaeus were met in the person of Jesus. He received him joyfully. That in itself could form a subject for a long address. The receiving of Jesus that is mentioned in the Gospels. And the word receiving is not just a casual assent. Not just going out and saying, well I agreed with what the preacher said tonight and that's that. No. The word really means received to hold. And indeed it is translated in Mark's Gospel in that way. It says of the Jews that they received to hold the traditions of men. And that's what persons are doing today. They are receiving to hold the traditions of men. Philosophy, vain deceit according to the traditions of men. They are receiving them and holding them fast. The word means to take to one's bosom. To really embrace it. To say I won't let it go. And that's exactly what men are doing today. They won't let these traditions go. They are holding them. Receiving them to hold. And they don't find salvation. They are dissatisfied. They are uncertain. They are full of fear. And here is a blessed man who has come having salvation. And it says of some that many have received him. To them gave you the power, the authority to become the children of God. To them that believe in his name. I wonder if everyone in this room tonight has received to hold. Taken to yourself. Holding it as being precious. The fact that Jesus is the Saviour. May I remind you of another instance, incident in scripture. Where the Lord Jesus took account of a poor man who was lying on his pallet. Crippled with palsy. And the Lord looked at him. And he said, Thy sins are forgiven thee. Thy sins are forgiven thee. And the Pharisees immediately raised the question, Who is this that forgiveth sins also? Ah beloved friends, we know the answer to that don't we? Who is this that forgiveth sins also? Is it not the precious Saviour? Is he not the one and the only one who is competent and willing and able? And righteously able to forgive your sins? This is one of the glories of Jesus. Indeed it is a unique glory of Jesus. That our glory is that Jesus will share with us. But this is a glory that he will never share with anyone. Neither is there salvation in any other. He will never share the glory of Saviourship with anyone at all. It's unique to Jesus. And what a blessed thing it is to be able to answer the question, Who is this that forgiveth sins? What would you say if someone asked you, Who is this that forgiveth sins? Would you be able to say from the very bottom of your heart, My Saviour, the Lord Jesus, The one who is precious to me, He is the one who forgives sins. Wonderful fact indeed to know Jesus as our Saviour, As the one who has forgiven us our sins. And if our sins have been forgiven us, I'm speaking on a very simple line of course, I don't apologise for that. If our sins have been forgiven us, They have been forgiven us for a specific reason. John in his epistle tells us, That our sins have been forgiven for his name's sake. Now there is a very peculiar connotation of that word in the Greek language. And it bears this interpretation, That our sins have been forgiven us, In order that we can show to men the banner and glory of his name, In our pathway here. You young people, You've had your sins forgiven you. Thank God for it. What a wonderful blessing it is to have our sins forgiven. You say it's an initial blessing, It is. But it's a wonderful blessing, And it's something you know that John was infusing over in the Revelation. At the very beginning you know, The one who washed us from our sins in his blood. And we shall never forget it through all eternity, Initial, elementary as it may be, We know the blessedness of the person, Not only what he has done, But the glory of the person who has done it. The saviour who has forgiven us our sins. And I speak especially to the young people in this, Although we all need it. He has forgiven you your sins, In order that you might hold the banner of the glory of his name, Before men in your school, In the hospital, In the classroom, In the workshop, In the office, In the home, Wherever you may be. There's a good deal of banner hoisting today, There are a good many sort of things and themes, Which are heralded forth on banners by people, And they're not ashamed to hold them up, Some of them are disgraceful, But they will associate themselves with it, They will say, That's our creed, That's what we're here for, That's what we want, That's what we're standing for. And my dear young friend, Your sins have been forgiven you, That you might hold a banner up for Christ, And that you might say, His name is what I'm standing for, This is the person that I'm associated with, I'm not ashamed of this cause, I'm not ashamed of the gospel, Again the Greek connotation is, I'm proud of the gospel, And to be able to stand up before men, Because our sins have been forgiven us, And say I know who's forgiven my sins, He's a glorious blessed person, And I'm not ashamed of him, And I'm going to hold his name up in the office, And I'm going to let people know, That I'm associated with this one, Whose name is Jesus, He's forgiven me my sins. Dear friends, is that true of us? Is that true of us? Let us all take the challenge to our hearts, I think of men, And the length to which they'll go, They'll queue all night, And stand there with their banners, Proclaiming the cause that they're wedded to, Oh what a wonderful thing it would be, I don't mean to actually hold a banner up in the street, And I'm not talking of that, But what a wonderful thing it would be, If every Christian in this town, In this country, Were to boldly associate themselves, With the glory that touches to the name of the one, Who's forgiven them their sins. What a testimony it would be, To men who will not read their bibles, But who will take account, Of a testimony, a personal testimony, Of the epistles of Christ, Known and read of all men. Who is it that forgives sins? Jesus. Listen, they shall call his name Jesus, For he, he shall save his people, From their sins. Neither is there salvation in any other, Oh you say you're preaching the gospel, Well it's a blessed thing to do, if I am. But we all need the gospel, We all need to be reminded, Of these so-called elementary truths, Which are profound, In their appeal to our hearts, And in their challenge to our hearts too. You remember the, One of whom we were speaking this afternoon, Saul of Tarsus, On the way to Damascus, When the light from heaven shone round about him, And a voice from heaven, Spoke to him, And he said, Who art thou, Lord? Who art thou, Lord? I am Jesus, he said, in their persecutors. I don't go into that, but, What I do want to press upon you is this, That here's another answer to the question, Who art thou, Lord? May I again appeal, Especially to the young people, Have you found out, That there is an additional glory, To the one who has forgiven you your sins? He has been made Lord and Christ. When Peter was speaking to Cornelius, In his house, You'll find, In his sermon, There is a little parenthesis. You young people, If you're interested, In the parenthesis of scripture, You will find there, Very, very wonderfully illuminating. Wonderful are the parenthesis of scripture. And there is a wonderful little bracket, Round four words, Five words, Five words with the understanding, Five words in power, He is Lord of all. That's what Peter pressed upon Cornelius, He is Lord of all. This blessed Saviour, Who has saved you, Is your Lord. He's the one who has a right to command you. Whether we live or whether we die, We are the Lord's. He's our Master. He's our Lord, He's our Commander, He's our Leader. He's the one from whom we should take direction. He's the one who can solve our problems, Yes indeed he does, He brings salvation in relation to them. But he is the one who has a right to direct our pathways. Have you young people thought of that? Have you really arrived at the fact, That this glorious person is not only your Saviour, But he is your Lord? He is the one to whom you owe allegiance. He isn't the one who is demanding it, In a dogmatic way. He's seeking to bring out in response to his love, The love of your heart. In which you will be able to say like, Sort of Tarsus, Lord, Lord, What will Thou have me to do? Lord, what will Thou have me to do? What a wonderful thing it is, To know Jesus as our Lord, And to refer everything to him. To get up in the morning, And let that word be first upon our lips, Lord, what will Thou have me to do? What are your directions for this day? Where should I go? To whom should I speak? How should I comport myself? What can I do to glorify Thy name? Or you say this is academic, it's not. It's a very, very practical matter, Dear brethren, dear young brethren. It's the way of real joy. You say, won't it involve a good deal of legality and bondage? Indeed it won't. There are no happier people in this world, Than those who are seeking to walk through this world, Day by day, in the acknowledgement of the fact, That they have discovered that their Saviour, As it came upon them, as Lord and Master. Have you noticed in the 13th of John, The way in which the Lord reverses the words of the disciples? They speak of him being their teacher and their Lord. But he puts it round the other way, He says, if I then were Lord and teacher, You know, we shall never make progress in the school of God, We shall never successfully matriculate in the college of heaven, Unless we are prepared to put the claims of the Lord, Before the teaching of the Lord. We must recognize the authority of the one who teaches us. We must recognize the authority of the one who brings these revelations to us. We must own his rights. And then he will delight to lead us further on, In the knowledge of the truth. Who is it that forgives sins? The Saviour. Who are they? The Lord. The one who has a claim, an irresistible claim, A unique claim, to my life and to my affections. I'll go further. In the 9th chapter of John, There is a man born blind. And he goes through a good deal of difficulty. He meets a man. A man called Jesus, he says. And then a little further on, he gets a bit more light into his heart, And he says, oh, he's a prophet, he's a prophet. His father and his mother disown him. They're afraid to speak. They say, you ask him himself, he's of age. The Pharisees come to him and they say, Who is this man that opened your eyes? Who is he? Oh, he says, a man called Jesus. He knew that much. And then a bit later on, as we said, he says he's a prophet. And they cast him out. Said he was a sinner. The man said, well, this is a strange thing, you know. A man has done what's never been done before. The foundation of the world opened the eyes of a man who had been born blind. We call him a sinner. And they threw him out. And the Lord heard that he was thrown out and he found him. Yes, he found him. It was one of his sheep that was going to be brought into the next chapter, the tenth chapter. He found him. A sheep that had been disowned and cast out. Persecuted, he found him. And he knew that this man had got certain light in his soul. He knew that he had called him Jesus and a prophet. But he puts a further question to him. He says, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? Who is he, Lord, he says, that I might believe? Who is he, Lord? Thou hast both seen him and it is he that speaketh with thee. And here the man gets a fresh revelation of the glory of the person of Christ. The one who has brought salvation, the one who has, our Lord, the one who has defeated all the power of Satan, yes. The one who is a prophet bringing to us the word of God, yes. But who is he? He is the Son of God, the Son of God. My friends, I wonder whether we really understand the implication of the glory of Christ as the Son of God. There is a uniqueness about it. God's blessed Son, God's only Son. The one who ever lived in the affections of the Father. The one who has come down to earth and is the Son, has made known to us the Father. No man knoweth the Son but the Father, and he to whom, no man knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the Son shall reveal him. We speak of God as our Father, and we rejoice in the fact that we know him, the Father of mercies, the Father of compassions, the Father of comfort, the Father of lights. We rejoice in the fact that we know God as our Father, the one who cares for us, the one who numbers the hairs of our head, the one to whom a falling sparrow is not unnoticed, the one of whom on earth we have need of. We know our God as our Father. Well my friend, it's only because the Son has been here and made him known to us. He's revealed the Father, not only as the one who cares for us in our circumstances, but as the one who opens to us all the bounty of heaven, and all the spiritual blessings that are under his hand from eternity, all made known to us and brought to us in the Son of his love, the Son of God. I wonder if we really know Jesus in that way, if we have apprehended the glory that attaches to him as the Son of God. I love the French version of John 3.16, Jean Fichini, God's unique Son. A beautiful word. There's nothing to come alongside him, so to speak. He has no peer, he's incomparable. This glorious, blessed person, the Son of God. The Son of God. Oh, if you go through the scriptures, and take account of what is said about the Son of God, in all his majesty, in all his glory, in all that has been committed to him, in all that he will yet bring in for the glory of God, and then over against it all there shines out this wonderful fact, that he's put his love upon us. And we can sigh with, Oh, the Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me. Not only the Saviour, not only the Lord, the same blessed person of course, but the one who is the Son of God, who ever dwelt in the bosom of the love of the Father, the one who has known eternal love from before the foundations of the world, he has come here, and he has set his love upon you, and upon me. Here in love with us has been made perfect. God sent his Son into the world, in order that we might know the depths of the love of his heart. The Son of God has come, created with the love of heaven. He's made it known, and he's made it available, to you, and to me. The Son of God who loved me, gave himself for me. Those are the last words that my dear old father said, before he died. The Son of God, he said, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I can see his beautiful countenance, and he went to heaven like that. I remember the story of an old brother, indeed I remember the old brother himself, although I never heard the story from his lips, but I knew the old brother. And when he was a young man, he used to repeat that verse in Galatians, The Son of God who loved me, gave himself for me. Wonderful to be able to say it like that. To know that the Son of God has set his love upon such a person as I am, each one of us. But he said, when I grew older, I used to say it like this, The Son of God who loved me, and gave himself for me. All the wonder of it, that such a glorious person as he, should give himself, in order that we might be brought into the enjoyment of all that is in the Father's heart for us. Is there any more? Just one more point. You remember, in the book of Genesis, when Abram was seeking a wife, a bride for Isaac, and a servant was sent to him, Rebekah was discovered. It's a wonderful story, isn't it? I'm trying to keep it on simple lines. She was in a comfortable home. She was able to speak of the abundance that there was in that home. Pogonder enough, she said, lodgings enough, everything's comfortable here, it's quite expensive, there's no restrictions. Nice, comfortable home, she said. And then the servant began to speak to her about Isaac, and about the glories of Isaac. And all the way along he's speaking about his master's son, and he is exulting, exulting before her gaze the glories of Isaac, the son of the Father. And they try to keep her back, you know. He said, are you prepared to go with me? And then they asked her, would thou go with this man? They wanted to stop at least ten days, that's a study in itself, the ten days of Scripture. But she said, into me not. I'm on a journey, I have a commission to fulfill, I must report to my master. And so they said to her, will thou go with this man? And immediately she said, I will go, I will go. I hope that has been the language of the young people, as of all of us in this room tonight. Prepare to go with this blessed man who has brought salvation for us, who has forgiven us our sins, who has become our Lord, who shines before us in the glory of the Son of God. Will thou go with this man? Will you commit yourselves to Christ? Will you leave everything else, so to speak, in your affections? We're not called upon to leave our homes, all of us, but to leave in our affections and to give Christ the first place. Will thou go with this man? Will you obey the pleadings of the Holy Spirit and give Christ the preeminent place in your heart? God has said that in all things he must have the preeminence, and rightfully sometimes we link that to the universe and say, yes, he'll have the preeminence in the universe, so he will, but he wants it in your heart and mine tonight. Will you give to Christ tonight the preeminent place that he is worthy of? And she did, and they went along the journey, and suddenly she sees someone coming along to meet them, and she says, who is this man that is coming to meet us? Oh, my friend, I trust I can say what I ought to say just at this point. Who is he? Our Saviour, our Lord, the Son of God. Oh, how we delight in all that that means to us. But beloved friends, he's the one who's coming to meet us. He's coming to meet us. Who is he? He's the coming Lord. He's the true heavenly man. He's the one who's waited long for his bride. He's coming to meet her. Who is he? Oh, listen to what the servant says. It is my master, he says, not my master's son now. All down the chapter he said my master's son, but he says it is my master. All the glory of the Father is focused upon the Son. All that the Father is, is seen in the Son. The love of the Father is seen in the love of the Son. The glory of the Father is manifested in the glory of the Son. The purpose of the Father is fulfilled in the Son. All that the Father is, all that he has said, all that he determines to do, is all wrapped up in the glory of the Son. And this, my friend, is the blessed person who's coming to meet you and me. Who is he? Who is this man that's coming to meet us? He's the greatest, most glorious person in the universe. In his person, God, coming down, not sending an archangel, but coming down himself, the Lord himself, shall descend from heaven with a shout, coming to meet you and meet me, and take us to be forever with the Lord. And so we close on this note. Oh, we know him as our Savior, do we not? Do we own him as our Lord? Do we recognize the glory of his person as the Son of God? And does our heart thrill as we contemplate like this blessed, glorious man? For he's still a man, he will ever be a man in heaven. He's taken manhood into glory, and he'll never cease to be a man. He is what he ever was from eternity over all. God bless him forever. For he's a glorious, blessed man. And he is the man who is coming to meet us. And we're going to be forever with him. We're never going to be separated from him. I'm not ever conjecturing as to what we shall do when we get to heaven. What shall we do in the world to come? Shall we be sent here, there, or... What will be our portion? What will be our service? What shall we do with the cities that are given to us if we deserve any? I don't enter into it at all. I'm content to read what I'm told by Paul in the Thessalonian epistle. So shall we ever be with the Lord. And whatever happens, and wherever we go, and whatever service is entrusted to us, we shall never, never again be separated from the blessed man who is coming to meet us. He's coming to meet us, dear friends. It might be tonight. He's coming soon. Lo, I come quickly, he says. There will be a moment in the history of the church, or how soon it might be, God grant that it might be, very, very soon indeed, when for the first time the whole church will speak in absolute unison with the speaking of the Spirit. Oh, what different speakings there are in the divided church today. How many words of men are, so to speak, beclouding the issues. Men insisting upon their own thoughts and their own ideas and their dogmatic creeds. But the moment is coming when all those divisions will have gone and the whole church will speak with one voice. And that voice will be in absolute consistency with the Spirit speaking. For the Spirit and the Bride will say, Come. And oh, how quickly it will respond. Lo, I come quickly. The man is coming to meet us. The man of Sica's world. The man who is our Saviour, our Lord. The one who in his person is the Son of God. The one who came lowly, riding upon an ass, bringing salvation. This blessed, glorious person is coming. And we're going to meet him in the air. And we're going to be forever with the Lord. Every question then will be resolved. No other person, no other glory will shine but him. One simple exercise in this very, very simple word is that our hearts might be open to answer these questions personally for ourselves. That we might be able to say we know the one who can forgive our sins. We know the one who has brought salvation to our circumstances. We know the one who is our Lord. We know something of the blessed man who is the Son of God in his person. And it is this same glorious person whom we know now in part. He's coming to meet us and we're going to know him as we're known. We're going to bask and revel in the sunshine of his uninterrupted love forever. And there's going to be an unceasing note of praise rise from every one of our hearts. As we contemplate the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let me close with this reference. It is the work of Christ, the precious blood of Christ, that gives me rest of conscience. It is the person of Christ that gives me rest of heart. Come unto me all ye that are laboured and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Who is the one who says that? I know my Lord the Son. The glory of the Son of God in all his blessedness shining out. Known only in its fullness to the Father. It's the one who invites us to come to him. Not only that we might have our consciences purged and our sins forgiven. But in the knowledge and understanding of who he is in his person. We might find satisfied hearts. He sang at the beginning of our meeting, Jesus of thee we now retire. And oh they're sufficient in Christ. Sufficient in Christ to satisfy the longings of every heart in this room. Some of you young people, if the Lord doesn't come, you might live 40 or 50, 60 years. But whatever comes to you in those years, let me tell you this from experience. That there's absolutely no circumstance that can ever arise in your heart. That cannot be filled with absolute joy, satisfaction and peace. In the knowledge of the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. May he bless this simple word to all our hearts. For his name's sake. …