Reminded us that young people do have a
tendency to forget, and it's true.
A young man came to the place in
life where he had to put his mother
into a retirement home, and after she was
there a week, he went and visited her,
and he wanted to make sure that she
was still quite mentally alert, and he said
to her, what is my name?
She said, you just sit down and think
a while, and it'll come to you.
I'd like to echo what Brother Sam said,
expressing thanks for all who have made this
conference what it has been.
Of course, he didn't mention CMML, and we'd
like to add the brothers and sisters of
CMML to that list, wouldn't we?
And we wouldn't want the conference to end
without expressing our deep thanks, and also the
fact that we have come to love you
all very, very much, and it's hard leaving.
We're going to turn again tonight to Luke
chapter 9, and read that last paragraph or
so, the cost of discipleship, beginning in verse
57.
57, through the end of the chapter.
Now, it happened as they journeyed on the
road that someone said to him, Lord, I
will follow you wherever you go.
And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes,
and birds of the air have nests, but
the Son of Man has nowhere to lay
his head.
Then he said to another, follow me.
But he said, Lord, let me first go
and bury my father.
Jesus said to him, let the dead bury
their own dead, but you go and preach
the kingdom of God.
And another also said, Lord, I will follow
you, but let me first go and bid
them farewell, who are at my house.
But Jesus said to him, no one, having
put his hand to the plow, and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
We've been trying to see how the various
paragraphs in this chapter fitted together.
The Lord has sent the disciples out on
a missionary journey, and they're still learning by
the incidents that occur.
And what would they learn from this?
First of all, I don't think this is
directed at the disciples.
They had already answered the call of God,
hadn't they?
They had already forsaken all to follow the
Lord Jesus.
It seems to me what the Lord is
saying to them in this incident is, don't
forget, when you go and preach the kingdom,
and serve me, there's going to be a
considerable fallout.
Many will aspire, but few will attain.
And it's really good that the Lord laid
that foundation.
We could become very discouraged if we didn't
know that, if we didn't have the parable
of the four soils in Matthew chapter 13.
Four different kinds of soil, and only one
soil bore fruit.
And we see that in life, don't we,
as we evangelize, as we see people professing
faith in Christ.
But the highway is littered with carcasses along
the way.
Those who have started well, it seems, but
didn't finish.
And so, here you have three men coming
to a face-to-face encounter with the
Lord Jesus, and look at the results.
Someone has called them Mr. Too Quick, Mr.
Too Slow, and Mr. Too Easy.
The first one, on his own, said, Lord,
I will follow you wherever you go.
He pictures to us shallow emotionalism.
Shallow emotionalism.
I will follow you wherever you go, Jesus
said.
Really?
Are you willing to be homeless?
Do you know what the cost may involve?
Foxes have and birds of the air have
nest, but the son of man has not
where to lay his head.
That's the last you ever hear of that
fellow.
In the second case, the Lord Jesus called
him to follow.
Follow me, he said, Lord, first let me
go and bury my father.
Jesus said, let the dead bury their dead,
but go thou and preach the kingdom of
God.
Now, there's a question as to whether the
man's father had died, or whether he wanted
to go home and wait till he died.
And, of course, I believe it's the second,
don't you?
I think he wanted to wait and go
home until his father died, and see that
his father got a decent burial, which in
Bible land was very, very important.
Notice the word, me first.
Let me first.
And, of course, that really encapulates the whole
error of his position.
Let me first go and bury my father.
Jesus said to him, look, there are certain
things that the unsaved can do just as
well as saved people.
Let them do it.
You be indispensable for the kingdom of God.
You do what other people can't do.
Don't let your life be taken up with
the trivia of this world.
Let the dead bury their dead, but you
go and preach the kingdom of God.
The third also wanted to get on the
bandwagon, as it were, but he wanted first
to go and bid them farewell, which are
at home.
I don't think that was just a quick
goodbye.
I think it was a ceremonial goodbye that
might last, a ritual goodbye that might last
over a prolonged period of time.
And Jesus said, no man, having put his
hand to the plow and looking back, is
fit for the kingdom of God.
If the first represents shallow emotionalism, the second
speaks to us of indecision, and the third
of undue attachment to family ties.
The first was held back by the love
of comfort, wasn't he?
The second by a wrong priority, and the
third by tender earthly ties.
And as you know, we're called to plow
a straight furrow, a straight, solitary furrow for
the Lord.
We put our hand to the plow, and
Jesus said, as far as service in the
realm is concerned, no man, having put his
hand to the plow and looking back, is
fit for the kingdom.
I think that means fit for service in
the kingdom.
No wonder the poet said, keep me from
turning back.
The handles of my plow with tears are
wet, the shears with rust are spoiled, and
yet, and yet, my God, my God, keep
me from turning back.
So that's the word of the Lord to
us tonight.
Go on, go on.
There's all eternity to rest in, and far
too few are on the active service list.
No labor for the Lord is risky to
invest in, and nothing will make up should
his well-done zealot.
We don't know what happened to these three
men.
They fade into oblivion, but I can tell
you something about them.
They never found a better Christ to follow.
But I believe the call of Christ comes
to every man, every woman, every boy, every
girl, and they don't have to respond.
The human will is involved there, but if
they say no, they'll never find a better
Christ to follow.
Now, I'd like to think with you tonight
about the Lord Jesus, and the Lord Jesus
is our master and our service for him.
There's no master like the Lord Jesus.
No one in all the universe quite like
him, and no servant is more privileged than
the one who serves the Lord Christ, the
highest of honors.
No service is more noble, no service is
more rewarding, no service is more glorious, and
yet there are thousands of Christian homes where
children are raised under the sound of the
word of God, and yet where the work
of God is never held before them as
a desirable way to spend their lives.
They're taught to make a name for themselves
in the community, to be somebody great in
the world, but I say again, the work
of the Lord is not held before them
as a desirable way in which to spend
their lives.
Let us think tonight of what the Lord
Jesus has done for us, what our master
has done for us.
He didn't cross an ocean as some of
you have done.
He crossed a universe to come to where
we were.
He held the highest place above, adored by
all the sons of flame, yet such his
self-denying love he laid aside his crown
and came to seek the law.
At the cost of heavenly rank and earthly
fame, he sought me, blessed be his name.
He was the prototype of all true missionaries,
wasn't he?
The blessed Lord Jesus.
He turned his back on all the glories
of heaven, the privileges, the palace, the pleasure,
and the position.
He emptied himself.
He didn't empty himself of his person.
You can't empty yourself of your person.
He emptied himself of his position in heaven.
That's the only sense in which he did
empty himself.
He came to us, and who were we?
We were a race of heathens.
We were a race of pagans.
We were a race of infidels, rebels, and
enemies.
Let us never forget that as we work
in third world countries, that we too were
part of the mission tale.
Easy to become consumed with conceit and think
that we are the people and wisdom will
die with us, but he came to where
we were, lost in sin and degradation to
seek and to save us.
He was born in a barn.
He never slept on a mattress, never had
hot and cold water, running water, never had
refrigeration, never had air conditioning, never had the
comforts which we take for granted in our
society today.
He endured insults, hostility, physical and verbal abuse,
and rejection.
He knew what sorrow was.
The man of sorrows and acquainted with grief,
and finally he died on a cross of
shame to redeem us.
He purchased us with his own precious blood.
We have been purchased.
We belong to him by purchase.
That means if we take our lives and
do with them what we want to do
with them, we're thiefs because we take we're
taking something that doesn't belong to us.
We are his body, soul, and spirit.
Just think of it.
To make us his bond servants, he gave
his life.
And now we are his servants, but what
do we have to offer him?
We're just ordinary people, not many wise after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.
God has chosen the foolish things of this
world, the weak, the base, the things that
are not, in a very real sense we're
God's five-ranked army of fools.
What a resume!
And he's willing to take us and to
use us.
What has made the difference but because he's
given us a vision?
As the poet has said, I've seen a
vision, and for self I cannot live.
Life is worse than worthless unless all I
give.
When we stand before Calvary and see him
dying there for us, what can we say
but, O Christ, thy bleeding hands and feet,
thy sacrifice for me, each wound, each tear,
demands my life, a sacrifice for thee.
Were the whole realm of nature mine, that
were an offering far too small.
Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul,
my life, my all.
What he said was right, wasn't he?
When he said, if Jesus Christ be God
and die for me, then no sacrifice can
be too great for me to make for
him.
I'm impressed every time I go to David
Livingston's home in Scotland and see that dedication.
On one side of the plaque it says,
the love of Christ constrains me, and Paul,
the love of Christ compels me, David Livingston.
Vowing at his feet, Christ's feet, all we
can say is thou hast bled and died
for me, henceforth I will live for thee.
Let's think for a minute about the service
of the Lord Jesus Christ.
First of all, he prepares the service for
us ahead of time, for we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath aforeordained that we should walk
in them.
The work has already been planned, the blueprint
has already been prepared, and our responsibility is
to be so in touch with the Lord
that we can discern the blueprint and walk
on in obedience to his will.
But he does more than that, he does
more than the blueprint, he puts the will
in us to do it.
I think that's beautiful.
It is God who worketh in you, both
to will and to do.
It is God who worketh in you, both
to will, and what that really means to
me is that, okay, here's the will of
God, and I'm obedient to the will.
I want to do his will.
What does he do?
He comes and he takes control of my
intellect, and my emotions, and my will, and
he molds them, and he forms them so
that I really want to do the things
that he wants me to do.
God doesn't drag reluctant people into his service,
does he?
He takes people who are volunteers, and he
works on them.
I say again, he works on their intellect,
and their emotions, and their will, so that
when he finally reveals his will, he says,
Praise the Lord, that's exactly what I wanted,
although that might not have been true two
months before, and certainly wasn't true before we
were saved.
But he not only works in us to
will, he works in us to do.
He not only creates the will in us
to do it, but he gives us the
power to do it, the strength to do
it.
He works in us to do for his
good pleasure.
By the Spirit of God, we are able
to do the, to think the unthinkable, to
dare the incredible, and to do the impossible.
And he doesn't stop there.
Wonder of wonders, in his service, he supplies
everything that's needed to carry on the service.
There never was a master like the Lord
Jesus.
He provides for whatever he orders.
God is able to make all grace abound
towards you, that you, having all sufficiency in
all things, may abound unto every good work.
Remarkable, isn't it?
That verse says to me that God's work
will never lack God's supply.
God is able to make all grace abound
to you, that you, always having all sufficiency
in all things, may abound unto every good
work.
And then, in spite of the fact that
it's all of him, he rewards us for
doing it.
That's wonderful, isn't it?
He makes the blueprint, creates the will in
us to do it, gives us the ability
to do it, supplies the need for everything
that we might need in doing it, and
then we do it, he rewards us.
And it's all of him.
We look back and we say, could God
be the glory?
It certainly wasn't us, it was God.
You know, how different he is from the
average employer.
His service is perfect freedom.
We don't come to Friday and say, thank
God it's Friday.
That's what the world says.
Chain of restaurants, I saw one in Grand
Rapids, that's the name of the restaurant.
Thank God it's Friday.
I never said that.
Friday comes, I'm looking forward to the Lord's
Day.
There's always something good to be looking forward
to.
And, you know, there's something else wonderful about
the Lord Jesus that isn't true of other
employers.
He doesn't give up on when we fail.
That's a good thing he doesn't.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah
the second time.
Am I ever glad that verse is in
the Bible?
As far as salvation is concerned, there's no
second chance.
You die without Christ, your faith is sealed.
But I tell you, as far as service
is concerned, there is a second chance.
The word of the Lord came to Jonah
the second time, and just because a person
has failed doesn't mean that God is through
with him.
Now, that isn't true in the world.
Some time ago, the USS Enterprise, the aircraft
carrier, returned to Alameda, right near us, from
nine months in the western Pacific.
Before they come under the golden gate, I
think it's before they come under the golden
gate, a civilian pilot goes on board to
guide the ship through into the dock.
As they were within, I think, two thousand
feet of the pier, the ship went onto
a sandbar.
Now, that captain was a great captain, and
much loved by the men, but his career
was finished.
They shunted him off to a training facility
somewhere.
He would never become a Rear Admiral.
One mistake, and that man had given his
life for the Navy.
I mean, he had worked his way up
through the ranks, he was now a captain,
and the greatly-to-be-desired next step
was Rear Admiral.
Never get it.
A big one mistake.
The British Navy was on maneuvers once, and
they were performing a rather intricate turn, and
the captain of one of the ships kind
of goofed, and he nearly collided with one
of the other ships, and the Admiral saw
it, and he radioed to the captain, and
he said, Captain, what are your intentions?
The captain radioed back, Sir, I intend to
buy a farm.
It was through.
His career was finished.
I'm glad we don't have a master like
that.
Secular employers pay according to justice sometimes.
The Lord Jesus pays according to grace, and
grace is better than justice.
I think this is vividly brought out for
us in Matthew 20 verses 1 through 16,
the parable of the workers in the vineyard.
The master there acted according to the workers'
needs, not according to human greed.
I'm so glad I work for the Lord
Jesus Christ.
He acted according to favor, not merit.
It reminds us of what Mark Twain said.
He said, Heaven goes by favor, not by
merit.
If it went by merit, you would stay
out, and your dog would go in.
Something to think about, isn't it?
Mark Twain was no believer, but many a
truth has been spoken between false sheep.
Our master gives us a tremendous sense of
fulfillment in our service for him.
He saves us from spending our lives on
trivia.
I'm so glad that the passion in my
life isn't studying sediments in Chesapeake Bay, aren't
you?
Or the mating habits of Wyoming antelopes?
Or the bacteriological content of cotton t-shirts?
I'm glad.
I'll tell you, I'm thankful to the Lord
day by day that we're able to give
men the answers to their questions.
We are.
I find a tremendous sense of fulfillment.
The question of origin comes along.
We have the answer here in the Word
of God.
The question of providence comes along.
You know, why?
Why disease, poverty, oppression, crop failures, hurricanes, barrenness,
drought, mental illness, death?
Why all of these?
It's right here in the Word.
We can sit down and talk with people
and give them the satisfactory answer from the
Word of God.
Questions concerning sin and salvation and future events.
Wonderful, isn't it?
A sense of fulfillment in a work like
that.
And our master provides perfect security.
Perfect security.
My God shall supply all your needs according
to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
Seek ye first the kingdom of God and
his righteousness and all these things shall be
added unto you.
All needed food and clothing.
I'll tell you, no one leads such a
worry-free life as the one who serves
Jesus Christ with a passion.
Isn't that right?
No one leads such a worry-free life.
And beyond that, we know that we are
immortal till our work is done.
In the medical workshop today, we're talking about
AIDS.
And we all developed, in a sense, a
deep neurosis.
But we're going to be here till our
work is done.
And when it's done, he'll call us home,
or he'll come himself and take us home.
I like to remember that unlike earthly employers,
hmm, the Lord doesn't give us the golden
handshake when we've exhausted our strength, when we've
exhausted our potential, when we're burned out and
we're spent.
He's a great master.
Does this mean that we don't have problems
and trials and difficulties along the way?
No, of course it doesn't mean that.
He never promised that.
But it does mean that there's a balm
in Gilead.
There's a beauty for ashes.
And no matter what the circumstance may be
that we go through in life and in
our service for him, there's encouragement and consolation.
I'm sure that some of you at times
face loneliness.
Well, does the Lord Jesus have a loneliness?
Yes.
What a privilege, what a privilege to share
that experience that the Lord Jesus had as
a man here on earth.
In Mark chapter 10 and verse 32, we
read that as they were on the road
going to Jerusalem, Jesus was out ahead of
them.
Just think of that.
They're going, he's going to the cross.
You'd think his legs, humanly speaking, would be
leaden.
They weren't.
He was out ahead of the disciples.
I want to tell you, it was lonely
at the whore there.
You know why?
Because he had outstripped his fellows in zeal
for God.
They couldn't hold a candle to him.
Do we know something about sorrow in our
service?
Yes.
But he was a man of sorrows, as
we've already reminded ourselves.
And he comes to us and he says,
well, we things may endure for a night,
but joy comes in the morning.
Tremendous persecutions come to us.
What do we do?
We hear him say, you have not yet
resisted unto blood.
To resist unto blood in that context means
to die for the cause of Christ.
No matter what we're called to go through
in the way of persecution, we can still
hear him say that to us.
You have not yet resisted unto blood.
And the implication is, I did.
You haven't followed me all the way yet.
We're hurt when we're rejected, aren't we?
But we can always hear him tell us
that it's he, he's the one who is
being rejected, not us.
We're there as his representative.
I'm sure on the mission field you often
come across selfishness, but it's wonderful to be
able to find in the selfishness of others
an opportunity to identify ourselves afresh with the
Lord as the servant of all.
Sometimes we're tempted in the Christian life and
in service for the Lord to find fault
with our fellow workers.
And what does he say to us?
He says, what is that to thee?
Follow thou me.
And he may be saying that to some
of us here at the conference.
In fact, there may be somebody here at
the conference who really rubs you the wrong
way, and yet in his own way, in
her own way, doing the work for God.
What is that to thee?
Follow thou me.
No matter how severe the pressure that we're
called to go through in the service of
the Lord, we can know that God is
faithful, who will not allow us to be
tempted above what we're able, and will with
the temptation provide a way of escape that
we might be able to bear it.
Now, let's talk about the reward, and there
are several aspects to this subject.
For instance, Paul says, no reward for me
for preaching the gospel.
I have to preach the gospel.
Woe is me if I don't preach the
gospel.
But I think we sense that in our
own lives, don't we?
There's a divine compulsion there that causes us
to go forth, and we can't claim any
credit for that.
So Paul said, well, the only reward for
me will be I'll make it without charge.
He wouldn't have made a very good TV
evangelist, would he?
But that's what he said.
He said, my reward will be in making
the gospel without charge to those who hear
it.
In a very real sense, the work of
the Lord is its own reward.
I was out in New Zealand a few
years ago, and there's a Christian brother there
who has, I think it's called an agrodome
or something like that, and they bring sheep
in, and they bring in the sheepdogs, and
afterwards they take us out into sort of
a ranch there, and they show us the
sheepdogs at work.
And you know, he said, you don't have
to reward those dogs.
All you have to do is let them
do the work.
That's their reward.
They just love to do the work.
I said, oh, that's the way I find
it in the work of the Lord.
You don't have to reward me for doing
it.
The work is its own reward.
Somebody said, so it was with Paul.
He cared for only one thing, and that
was to be loyal to Christ, to have
his smile.
To him more than to any other man,
Christ's work was wages, and Christ's smile was
heaven.
But there are other rewards, too.
The Lord Jesus says that the reward for
faithful service is more service.
That's interesting, isn't it?
For faithful work is a wider scope of
work.
For instance, the man who gained five talents
was given rulership over many things.
The man who had earned ten miners was
given authority over ten cities.
The reward of faithful work is more work.
Maybe you're saying, I couldn't take any more.
He gives the strength to do it.
Also, the Lord promised that those who forsake
houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, and
land for his sake would receive what?
A hundredfold.
And I'm telling you, if we opened this
up to testimony tonight, you'd hear it.
And you'd hear that that hundredfold is no
exaggeration, 10,000%.
True, absolutely true.
And in the coming day, what a reward
it will be to approach the gates of
glory and have a committee there.
Paul said that would be a reward for
him.
What is our joy and crown of rejoicing
are not even ye, the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
That, to him, would be a great reward.
This reminds me of a poem by Rachel
Lindsay, and it's entitled General William Booth Enters
into Heaven.
I don't know if you've ever read it
or not.
I don't suppose Rachel Lindsay was a Christian.
His theology is defective here.
He has these folks reached by the Salvation
Army right at the gates of glory, and
they're still slum dwellers.
But once they step over, they're transformed.
So please, please attribute his lack of theology
to poetic license.
But the poem is good.
Booth led boldly with his big bass drum.
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
The saint smiled gravely, and they said, He's
come.
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
Walking, lepers followed rank on rank.
Lurching bravos from the ditches dank, drabs from
the alleyways, and drug scenes pale.
Minds still passion-ridden, soul-powers frail.
Vermin-eaten saints, with lowly breasts, unwashed legions
with the ways of death.
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
Every slum had sent its half a score
the round world over.
Booth had asked for more.
Every banner that the wide world flies, bloomed
with glory and transcendent dyes.
Big-voiced lasses made their banjos bang.
Trance fanatical, they shrieked and sang.
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
Hallelujah, it was queer to see.
Bull-necked convicts with that land made free.
Loons with trumpets blowed a blare, blare, blare,
on, on, upward through the golden air.
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
Booth died blind, and still by faith he
trod.
Eyes still dazzled by the ways of God.
Booth led boldly, and he looked the chief.
Eagle countenance in sharp relief.
Beard a flying air of high command, unabated
in that holy land.
This is nice.
Jesus came out from the courthouse door, stretched
his hands above the passing poor.
Booth saw not, but led his queer ones
there, round and round the mighty courthouse square.
Then in an instant all that bleary view
marched on spotless, clad in raiment new.
The lame were straightened, withered limbs uncurled, and
blind eyes opened on a new sweet world.
Drabs and vixens in a flash-made whole.
Gone was the weasel head, the snout, the
jowl.
Sages and sybils now, and atheists clean, rulers
of empires and of forests clean.
And when Booth halted by the curb for
prayer, he saw his master through the flag
-filled air.
Christ came gently with a robe and crown
for Booth the soldier, while the throng knelt
down.
He saw King Jesus.
They were face to face, and he knelt
a-weeping in that holy place.
Are you washed in the blood of the
Lamb?
General William Booth enters heaven.
Yes, there are rewards on earth, and there
will be rewards in eternity.
The crown to lay adoringly at his feet.
The words from his own lips, Well done,
good and faithful servant, enter thou into the
joy of the Lord.
What shall we say to all these things?
We say, He's worthy of all that I
am, of all that I possess.
He's the greatest of all masters.
I love my master.
I will not go out free.
I think Handley Mould said it very well
in that beautiful hymn, My glorious victor, Prince
Divine, Clasp these surrendered hands in thine.
At length thy will is all my own.
Glad vassal of a Savior's throne, My master,
lead me to the door.
Pierce this now willing ear once more.
Thy bonds are freedom.
Let me stay with thee to toil, endure,
obey.
Yes, ear and hands, and thought and will,
use all in thy dear slavery still.
Self-weary liberties I cast beneath thy feet.
There, keep them fast.
Isn't that beautiful?
Self-weary liberties I cast beneath thy feet.
There, keep them fast.
Tread them still down, and then I know
these hands shall with thy gifts overflow, and
pierced in ears shall hear the tone which
tells me thou and I are one.
I don't know how you feel at the
close of this conference, but I feel it
would be tremendously fitting that I, perhaps we,
should rededicate ourselves to the Lord.
And I think in order to do that,
I'm going to ask you, if you wish
to, to stand.
You don't have to.
While we pray, would you like to stand
just for a prayer of rededication to the
Lord Jesus?
Thank you.
Shall we pray?
Lord Jesus, we acknowledge tonight that you are
the best of all masters.
We love you for all you are, for
all you have done for us.
Lord Jesus, we have all committed our lives
to you for salvation, for the salvation of
our souls.
We can never thank you enough for redemption
through your blood, the forgiveness of sin.
And Lord Jesus, we have committed ourselves to
you for service.
We would not be here if it were
not true.
We could do nothing less after all you've
done for us.
We have laid our lives on the altar
of sacrifice.
But you know, Lord, how the sacrifice often
seeks to crawl off the altar.
Our love has its ups and downs.
Our zeal has a way of abating.
Everything seems routine, Lord.
We go through the motions mechanically.
Our prayer life is often a farce rather
than a force.
And when the cross rises before us, there's
a pathway ahead.
We seek escape routes.
We seek back doors.
And so we come, Lord Jesus Christ, to
rededicate ourselves to you afresh tonight.
We would put our ear to the door
once again and say, I love my master.
I will not go out free.
Revive our flagging spirits, Lord.
Rekindle the fire on the altar of our
hearts.
Send us forth with renewed zeal to serve
you until that wonderful day when we see
you face to face.
From subtle love of softening things, from easy
choices, weakenings.
Not this way are spirits fortified.
Not this way went the crucified.
From all that dims thy calvary, O Lamb
of God, deliver me.
Give me the love that leads the way,
the faith that nothing can dismay, the hope
no disappointment tire, the passion that will burn
as fire.
Help me not think to be a clod.
Make me thy fuel.
Flame of God, we ask it in your
worthy and precious name.
Amen.
You may be seated.