Five Portraits of False Teachers - 8

We are continuing in the little book of Jude, one chapter, 25 verses.

The human author of which is the half brother of our Lord Jesus Christ. The ultimate author, of course, is the Holy Spirit of God who guided and guarded Jude as he wrote these words. Jude was apparently an evangelist in the early church and traveled from places to place and evidently therefore was a witness of the encroachment of imposters into the churches that he writes about in this little epistle. He really wanted to write a letter about salvation and the glories of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ, but instead was compelled to write an epistle of serious warning because of the danger of these intruders who were coming into the churches.

As Jude begins to introduce the infiltration of these imposters, at first it's hard to tell whether he's talking primarily about regular church members who come into churches through some other door than the Lord Jesus Christ climbing up, as it were, over the top of the wall into the sheepfold instead of coming in through the door. And as the epistle unfolds, it becomes clear that he's talking about that primarily. We see a little bit of that well in the introductory language.

We find evidence of that. And then as he's giving various warnings and illustrations, as he comes to the example of Balaam, we realize that Balaam was not just an ordinary something, follower, ordinary religious person. But he was in fact a prophet.

He spoke. He spoke to people and they listened to what he said and followed what he said and assumed that what he said was the word of God. And Balaam actually instructed the people of Moab in evil, told them how to utilize evil means in order to entice the people of Israel into immorality and idol worship, and thus to bring down upon them the judgment of God.

Almighty. And he did that because he was more interested in gaining monetary wealth out of his prophetic work than he was in proclaiming truth and exalting the God of heaven. That is not true and are especially therefore dangerous to the people of God. And so today we're coming to verses 12 and 13 in which we have what I've called five portraits of false teachers, five word pictures of what these people are like. And let me list them for you. They are number one, like hidden wreaths, reefs. Number two, rainless clouds. Number three, barren fruit trees. Number four, stormy waters.

Number five, wandering stars. Jude opens by telling us that they're like hidden wreaths. These are spots, he says, in your love feast while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. Spots in your love feast while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves.

And we'll do that as we work through all five of these. And in this first one, we are immediately confronted with a translation decision. My translation says they are spots in your love feasts. Some translations say they are blemishes in your love feasts.

But as I will show you the best, what I consider to be the best translation takes us in a little bit different direction. The Greek word actually means submerged rocks or sunken reefs. It was, I'm told, and I have to rely upon what others tell me who are far greater scholars than myself, to pass along to you that apparently was not until the fourth century that that word came to carry the idea of a blemish. And so it did not have that meaning at all in the first century when Jude was writing these words. Probably the translation of spots or blemishes is mightily influenced by the parallel passage in 2 Peter chapter 2.

And there we read words very similar to those in Jude. Peter says they perish in their own corruption and will receive the wages of unrighteousness as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. And then this, they are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you. Peter says they are spots and blemishes.

And no doubt they are. Peter says so. However, the words that Peter uses are not the same Greek words that we find in the book of Jude. And so though that is a parallel that might turn the translators in picking different possibilities, are they spots, are they rocks, and that Peter passage might turn them in the direction of spots, I think a careful examination of the history of this word leads us in the direction of rocks, sunken rocks, or submerged reefs. In other words, hidden reefs that will destroy ships that come into contact with them, particularly the wooden ships of the day in which Jude wrote.

And so they are hidden reefs, dangerous submerged rocks. That's how to translate that first phrase. But let's notice, secondly, the fellowship practice, which they are enjoyed, involved with. They are spots or hidden rocks in your love feasts. Now that comes up several times throughout the New Testament, this idea of a love feast, and that is unfamiliar language to most of us today. But it is obvious that the love feast was a communal meal practiced in the early church prior to the partaking of the Lord's table.

The two went together so closely that you could hardly separate one from the other. When the first century people of God gathered together to observe the Lord's table, they did it around what we would call a potluck supper or a fellowship meal, a covered dish supper where everybody brought their own food and everybody ate together. But we know that that practice was subject to corruption, and that's why Paul has to deal with it in 1 Corinthians chapter 11. People who brought their expensive food and only shared it among their friends and neighbors who brought similarly expensive food and ate it before the poor members of the church arrived and they were left out. So already that practice was creating problems, but nevertheless it was the practice of the early church. And I do think that that and other similar texts that tell us of the fellowship meals, which the early churches evidently enjoyed on a regular basis, should encourage us in that direction. That's a good thing. It's a good thing to eat together as Christians. It's a good thing to have fellowship meals as a church. Perhaps we don't do that often enough. I cannot say. The Bible doesn't tell us.

There are no instructions for how often that ought to be done. But there is this portrait that shows us that in the early church it was done often and regularly. And so in these love feasts, so-called, because they were to portray brotherly love, they are love feasts. Brotherhood is communicated. We are brothers together.

We eat together. We love one another in Christ. And here are these false teachers who enter right into these love feasts as if they belong, but they don't and they know they don't. But they are in your love feast while they feast with you without fear. We see their hardened hypocrisy without fear. They don't belong, but they pretend that they do. They portray that they do. They convince others that they do.

They have no qualms in doing so. They're not the slightest bit disturbed by the possibility that they're partaking of the Lord's table and misrepresenting themselves so hypocritically would bring any judgment down upon them. That's why Paul has that strong warning in First Corinthians 11 about those who abuse the Lord's table, how they bring upon themselves judgment. Some, he said, are sick among you and some have even died because of your misuse of the Lord's table. It is a serious matter. But these people enter right in without the slightest hesitation whatsoever because their motive is not to honor the Lord.

Far from it. Their motive is to serve themselves. They are blemishes or hidden rocks, submerged rocks in your love feast while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. Not, and some translations have it, shepherding only themselves. This idea of ministers, of pastors, of shepherds. But they are not shepherding the flock. They are not feeding the flock. They are shepherding themselves. They are feeding themselves. They are gaining material resources for themselves as they are misusing the flock.

That's the word picture. Well, the meaning, I think, as it applies to these imposters is pretty clear. Jude is talking about ministers who are dangerous to the flock. They're like submerged rocks to destroy the ships that come across them. They are ministers who are brazen imposters.

They are in your love feast without fear. They are bold. They are brazen.

They are audacious. They have no hesitation masquerading as teachers of God's word when, in fact, they're not even born again believers. They are ministers who are self-serving, caring only for themselves. And Jude says, you need to know that such people are among you and you need to be on guard. There are a number of similar warnings in the Old Testament. Let me read a couple of texts from the Book of Ezekiel, chapter 34, verse two.

Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, thus says the Lord God to the shepherds. Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves. Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?

Or verse eight, as I live, says the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey and my flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did my shepherd search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock. They are hidden reefs. Secondly, they are described as rainless clouds, another portrait of what these people are like.

They are spots or rocks in your love feast while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water carried about by the winds. Clouds without water carried about by the winds.

What is the word picture? Clouds that appear to be bringing rain. They look like it, creating anticipation for those who depend upon timely rains. In the land of Israel, rains didn't come at regular or irregular intervals, as we are accustomed to. They basically were two rainy seasons. They had to plan their agricultural work very carefully so that they planted at the right time to get the seasonal rains so that they could get a crop. But if the time for the seasonal rains came and the clouds came along but they didn't drop any rain and they blew away and there was no rain, then of course a whole growing season was lost.

The farmer was left in a desperate condition. And so these people that Jude is talking about are like clouds that appear to be bringing rain, creating anticipation for those who depend upon the rains but they blow away without delivering any water, dashing the expectations which they aroused. That's the picture. What's the meaning?

It's pretty obvious. Ministers who promise much but deliver little. We see that in many areas of our modern life. So many times we see advertisements for products on television or the internet or who knows where and they promise so much. And sometimes they deliver what they promise. Sometimes they only deliver a little bit of what they promise. Sometimes they deliver absolutely nothing of what they promise. It is an entire sham.

You have to be careful, don't you? You have to be wise to keep from being built by these very convincing promotions, commercials that will cite experts and will give testimonies of those who have been helped by these products and will even cite doctors and scientific evidence. You say, well, if a medical doctor endorses this, it's got to be good. It may be absolutely worthless, but it certainly sounds good, doesn't it? Or in the political realm.

Don't get me started. But isn't it true, though sad, that so often politicians promise the moon and deliver dirt, deliver not only nothing but many times worse than nothing? But Jude says that doesn't only happen outside the church. That's happening inside the church. That's happening by people who are considered to be ministers of God's word. They promise so much.

People look to them with expectation. Wow, this is the guy that's going to do it. This guy's got the ability to do it. Listen to how eloquently and how persuasively he speaks.

He's going to do it. They promise so much, but time goes on and nothing of spiritual validity takes place. It is clouds that blow away and don't leave a drop of water behind. Empty words of self-promotion. The Texans, I'm told, have a phrase that describes this pretty well. They say he's all hat and no cattle. He acts like a big rancher, you know? All hat and no cattle.

That's what these ministers are like, all hat and no cattle. They look good, they sound good, but they don't have any substance to them. They are many times verbose. They are impressive many times with their words. Boy, that person can talk. He's really got a gift of language, doesn't he?

Why? The words just flow. Aren't they wonderful? Aren't they beautiful? Aren't they amazing? The question is, are they true and are they producing spiritual fruit?

And that's the way they need to be evaluated. Ministers who promise much but deliver little, little substance, little truth, little spiritual fruit from what they seem to promise. Rainless clouds. Number three, barren fruit trees. The last part of verse 12. Late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots.

What is the picture? Autumn trees. Autumn has come. The time for harvest is past. The end of summer came. We're now moving into autumn.

Wait a minute. Where's the fruit that should have been produced some time ago and harvested from this fruit tree? It didn't come. Autumn trees without fruit. They produce no fruit. Twice dead or some translations say doubly dead. The Greek order actually puts that twice dead or doubly dead phrase first before the autumn trees. So it's something like twice dead autumn trees pulled up by the roots. The lack of fruit manifests a lack of life. They are dead.

That's the picture. What is the meaning? Well, very similar to the rainless clouds. They are trees that promise spiritual fruit because, in fact, they are fruit trees and they appear like they're going to produce fruit, but the time for production comes and nothing happens, like the fig tree that Jesus cursed. It didn't appear to be dead. It had leaves but no fruit, no fruit. For all practical purposes, for the purpose of producing figs, it was indeed dead. Promised spiritual fruit but delivered nothing and was, these false teachers are, therefore, totally dead. Their lack of fruit evidences their spiritual death. They are dead, twice dead.

They are dead, dead. Some have tried to figure out exactly what James is applying this twice dead idea to. Is he talking about the first death and then the second death? The condemnation into eternal damnation is referred to in the Bible as the second death. Is that what he's got in mind here when he calls them twice dead?

But I think not, though that is true, and he talks about that elsewhere, but I don't think that's what he's saying here. I think the fact that the doubly dead description comes before the term trees, autumn trees, I think it's simply saying they are dead, utterly, completely dead. They are not only dead, they are doubly dead. They're not only dead, they are dead, dead.

In other words, they're not merely damaged with possibility of repair if someone will come alongside and help repair them. They're not merely sick with the possibility of healing if someone will come along with the right healing skills. They are totally dead beyond human help.

The only possibility of reversing this is divine intervention. Otherwise, they are doomed because they are completely and totally dead, which is a good picture of what the Bible is talking about when it talks about the condition of unregenerate men and women in trespasses and sins. They are dead.

This helps to explain what we mean when we talk about the doctrine of total depravity, which does not mean that everyone or even anyone is as totally corrupt and wicked and sinful as it's possible to be. But what it means is that everyone, as we come from our first birth, as sons and daughters of Adam who fell in the garden, when we come into the world in that way, we are spiritually dead. We have no spiritual life. We have no spiritual interest. We have no spiritual desires.

We have no spiritual ability. We are dead dead, not just sick. We are dead dead, totally dead. What do we need? Resurrection. We need a God who is able to raise the dead. What do we need? We need the new birth. We need regeneration. We need God to come and do within us and for us that which we cannot do for ourselves. We can't limp along with our damaged condition and somehow strengthen ourselves by exercise and somehow bring this around to a better condition. Our condition is such that we are unable to do any of that. When we are dead, we depend totally upon the grace and power of God.

That's what these false teachers are like. Portrait number four, they are like stormy waves. Verse 13, raging waves of the sea foaming up their own shame.

The picture first and then the meaning. The picture is that of pounding ocean surf following a storm. If you go to the ocean, as probably nearly all of you do from time to time for vacation, and if you've ever been out on the beach after a storm, you get the picture.

Just think about what that's like. The wind is still blowing, the waves are surging, they're wild, they're untamed, and they are depositing all kinds of trash up on the beach, seaweed and sticks and all kinds of things that are in the sea and have been dredged up from the bottom of the sea and deposited upon the shore, all kinds of trash. The picture is that of foaming and casting up the waves of the sea, foaming and casting up trash on the shore. It reminds us of Isaiah 57, 20. And the wicked are like the troubled sea when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. That's what Jude is saying to describe these infiltrators who've come into churches and indeed come into pulpits, and that's what they are like. They are like pounding ocean surf following a storm, foaming and breaking on the shore wildly and casting up trash along the way. The meaning, therefore, as it applies to these false teachers is clear enough.

Jude is talking about ministers who are unsubdued by saving grace. They're wild like the ocean after a storm. They are stirring the landscape of churches with unsound doctrine and oftentimes trashy words and practices as well. In some cases, not in every case, but in some cases, they are guilty of crude language and off-color jokes and making light of sin. Did you know that's what some people like? That's what some people call for. That's considered very cool.

That's considered very acceptable. We've got trash-talking ministers in pulpits who claim to be ministers of the gospel, who claim to be evangelical ministers, and yet their mouths are full of innuendo and off-color comments of one kind and another. They are ministers who are lacking in good words and works but are abundant in evil words and works. Jude says, those are false teachers, not true teachers. Watch out for those. Don't listen to those. Do what you can to keep people like that out of the pulpits of your churches.

They'll do you damage, not good. And then one final picture, wandering stars, the last picture in verse 13. Wandering stars, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Wandering stars, some translations have it wandering planets, or one translation I saw had shooting stars, as various translators try to get at the bottom of exactly what Jude is talking about here. Well, in general, it's pretty clear he's talking about heavenly bodies that are not fixed.

They're not firmly anchored. Some think he's talking about meteors that blaze across the sky and then are soon gone, what we call shooting stars. Some think he may be talking about comets.

They move slowly, but they are wandering. They have no fixed orbit, at least that we can tell, from here on Earth. But more likely, he is actually talking about planets as distinct from the stars. And in Jude's day, most people didn't understand that the planets actually did have a fixed pathway, a fixed orbit, but that wasn't apparent. In looking at the heavenly sky in that day, you could see the stars that appeared to be fixed and unmoving, though in fact they are moving as well, but they appear that way, whereas the planets will move slowly, but nevertheless they just kind of wander through the sky. If any of you have astronomy as an interest, you know what I'm talking about. And that seems to be what Jude is portraying here.

Heavenly bodies that are not fixed, they're not firmly anchored, something like meteors or comets or planets that move through the sky without an obvious fixed path. And he tells us, furthermore, in this picture, as he goes on to describe the teachers that he has in mind, that they are assured of eternal punishment. He describes it as the blackness of darkness forever that has been reserved for them.

They're already consigned to that. It's just waiting the time when they shall be confined to this place of darkness and blackness forever. That's very close to the description of the punishment that awaits the fallen angels that Jude talked about earlier in the book. Remember verse 6? And the angels who did not keep their proper domain but left their own abode, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. Evidently, the sinning angels and the sinning imposters are going to suffer the same or at least a very similar fate.

Well, that's the picture. What's the meaning as applies to these intruders? Jude is talking about ministers who are unreliable guides. In Jude's day, ocean ships were navigated by the stars. They would always have navigators on board, one or more, who were skilled at being able to read the stars, and they could actually guide the ship and could locate things by their knowledge of the stars and the fixed pattern of the stars, the fixed position, I should say, of the stars.

They were dependent upon that, but they were skilled at that. They knew the heavenly bodies in a way that most of us don't pay close attention to anymore because now we've got other ways to navigate. We've got GPS. We've got other ways to navigate.

We don't need the stars. But in that day, the stars were dependent upon to be in the same place day after day so that you could navigate by them. But Jude says these are men who can't be counted on to stay in the same place. They're wandering all over the place. They are, in other words, unreliable guides. You can't navigate your Christian life by them. You can't navigate your church by them. You can't navigate truth by them.

They're not reliable for that purpose. But fear not, for they are headed for eternal damnation. They are going into the blackness of darkness forever. To summarize these two verses, I'm going to read six short statements out of the commentary by Michael Green. I have two commentaries by men named Green that I consult in the Jude series. One is Michael Green.

One is Jean Green, I believe. But here's what Michael Green says in describing these false teachers according to the five portraits we just saw. He says they are, quote, as dangerous as sunken rocks, as selfish as perverted shepherds, as useless as rainless clouds, as dead as barren trees, as dirty as the foaming sea, as damned as the fallen angels. And they are in our churches. Yes, they are in our pulpits.

That's pretty sobering. Let's look at several lessons that I think we can take from this passage. Number one, let's consider a lesson regarding church membership. Surely this should teach us the importance of carefulness in receiving members. The idea of just anybody walking down the aisle at the end of a service and saying, I'd like to become a member of this church is not a very good idea in the light of what Jude has told us here. They need to be scrutinized.

They need to be examined, don't they? I don't know how many invitations I've heard over the years where that was maybe the main point of the invitation. If you want to be saved, come, but what we really want is new members. If you want to join this church, come on down. So anybody can join the church. You can join the average church in America more easily than you can get into a country club. For a country club, you've got to have some money and standing. For a church, you don't need anything, but probably you do. You need some spiritual standing.

You need to demonstrate that in your life. So there should be carefulness in receiving members, and there should be watchfulness in caring for members. Just because a person had a good credible testimony when they came into membership is still not a guarantee that they are truly born again and in good spiritual health. They need to be gently shepherded. They need to be gently edified by the other members of the body. They need to be gently watched throughout their lifetime because it is impossible to have intruders to come into our membership. But this should also tell us about the inadequacy of all human procedures, and I think this text suggests some carefulness and some deliberation in the procedures we use to receive members. It also indicates that it doesn't matter how careful we are. There's no way, humanly speaking, that we can screen out all imposters, that we can detect all counterfeit professions of faith.

It's just not humanly possible. People like this are going to get into our churches. People like this are going to climb over the wall and come in some other way than through the door into the sheepfold. There's no way to eliminate all imposters, which means, therefore, that we probably have some imposters in our church membership.

I'd like to think not. They say, who are they? I don't know. They haven't revealed themselves yet. But from time to time, we've had to put some out of the church as they revealed their lack of fruit of the Spirit, the lack of the evidence of regeneration, and that became evident after a while, over time, how sad that is when that day comes.

But that means it's possible that there are yet some sitting here in this auditorium today who are members and good standing at Beacon Baptist Church but are unregenerate. And the question is, are you one of those? It's a serious question. It's a necessary question in the light of this text.

It's a sobering question. Moving from church membership, we move to the question of the selection of ministers. How do false teachers get into, not only into church membership, but into the pulpits of churches? How do they gain ministerial positions? Well, it depends.

It can vary in different ways. But if the main qualification for the pulpit is an educational qualification, then if they're smart enough to go through the program and acquire the necessary degree, then it wouldn't be that difficult to get into the pulpit, at least in some situations. If the primary qualification is some ecclesiastical qualification, which may include educational achievements as well as other things, and they pass that satisfactorily, then obviously it's possible to get into pulpits through that means. In fact, if anything is considered more important than true spiritual qualifications, that is evidence of godliness in one's life, and these didn't have any qualifications of godliness in their lives, did they?

They couldn't have produced that. And an understanding of and careful ability to carefully handle the word of truth, that's what's most important. The educational qualifications are good if they can help you to do that. Ecclesiastical qualifications are good if they can help you to do that.

But these are only secondary issues. The real main issue is, is this a person who evidences godliness? Is this a person who evidences knowledge of the Scriptures?

Is this a person who evidences the ability to be able to expound the Scriptures? Then that is qualification for ministry, and it's too easy for imposters to come in on less than spiritual qualifications. But, like church membership, so with selection of ministers, the best procedures will not eliminate all imposters. Jude doesn't say they might get in. He goes out for the possibility and keep them out. He says, oh, they're there.

They're already there in his day. And so, with the best of procedures, we cannot always make sure that everyone who becomes a member is truly regenerate. With the best of procedures, we cannot make sure that everyone who aspires to a ministerial position is qualified spiritually for that position. So, when it comes to the certification of ministers, what is it that makes them qualified? Not attractive personalities, not impressive speech in the fluency department, as helpful as that can be, but godly life and faithful handling of the word of God.

But that brings me now to one, well, I've got two more lessons before I close. And my next one is a reminder of the doctrine of the sovereignty of God and what that means in this situation. What it means is that God can accomplish his perfect plan using flawed human institutions and instruments because his plan is going forward perfectly. And he will build his church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it in spite of imposters, in spite of wolves in sheep's clothing, in spite of counterfeit members and counterfeit ministers in the pulpit. All of that going on with all of its dangers, and yet God overruling all of that and his sovereignty to build his church perfectly.

And one day, the bride of Christ is going to be presented to him without spot, without wrinkle, without any such thing. He's going to build his church in the midst of all of this chaos and defective operation. That ought to bring us great comfort. That ought to be a cause of great rejoicing.

And that ought to encourage us to continue on doing what we can to be involved in this work. But one final lesson from this, and that's what I've called the mysteries of hell. You notice how hell is described in this passage, the hell that these false teachers are going to. The blackness of darkness forever. Wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. Now, when it comes to hell, what is it like?

Is it fire? The Bible describes it that way. Is it blackness, darkness? The Bible describes it that way.

If it is fire and darkness, how do we understand how those two things can come together in one location? That's hard for us to imagine. Does that mean it's impossible?

No. I don't know enough about astronomy, but I have caught little descriptions from time to time of things out in the universe that seem to be totally black and yet also seem to generate a lot of heat. I may be wrong about that. But it's possible even, I suppose, in the world as we understand it. And it's certainly possible with God. He can create black fire if that's what he intends to do.

But it may be that what God wants us to understand is that these are also analogies, they're word pictures. Fire, that's unquenchable fire, is something that is awful to consider, being an unquenchable fire forever. Blackness that is so dark that you can't see your hand in front of your face like happened in Egypt during the plagues, that is unimaginable and that going on endlessly forever and forever and forever and forever. I cannot imagine a more awful punishment, a more hopeless situation without end. And the point is this, whatever hell is like, it's awful. Whatever hell is like, it is fearful. Whatever hell is like, it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God, a God who is justly pouring out righteous wrath upon unrepentant sinners.

It's a horrible thing to be caught up in that. And therefore, I urge you, I urge you two things. Number one, flee from the wrath to come. Make sure, make sure, make sure that you're not resting upon a counterfeit profession of faith. Make sure, dear friend, that you have evidence of the fruit of the Spirit, that you have evidence of a new birth, that you have evidence that you have been regenerated by the Spirit of God.

And if there's any question about that, what do I do? Go to Christ. Has he ever cast anyone out who came to him with a broken heart, with a concern, with repentance, with faith, with crying out and humility for help? Has he ever turned anyone away like that? No, never, never, never go to Christ, one who's able to save you from sin and from hell.

And secondly, you have been rescued from such an awful judgment. Warn others, warn others to flee from the wrath to come. You say they don't want to hear it. If you knew somebody was asleep in a house that was on fire and if you didn't do something, they would burn up because they're unaware of the danger.

Wouldn't you do what you could to rescue them, to get them out? If you know there are people who are spiritually dead, so they don't really understand their danger, they may even laugh and make light of it. I'm going to hell, but I don't care.

All my friends are there. That'll be a great time. No, not an everlasting fire, not an everlasting torment, not an everlasting double darkness that's darker than you have ever experienced in your life. You better deal with a righteous, holy God.

You better deal with your record of rebellious sin against Him. You better understand the only way of escape is to repent of your sins and to embrace the Lord Jesus Christ by faith. Come to the waters, whoever is thirsty. If you're thirsty, there's an invitation for you to come.

Drink from the fountain that never runs dry. Jesus, the living one, offers you mercy, life more abundant and boundless supply. Proclaim that message to your lost friends and neighbors and loved ones. And who knows what God may do to open their hearts to receive that truth? Well, we pray. Father, thank you for the truth of your word. Help us to respond to it in obedient faith. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.