Houston Colonial Hills Conference 1995-03 Marks of a Spiritual Person

We're going to turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 3, and we're going to be thinking this afternoon about the marks of a spiritual person. It's Conference Saturday. It's afternoon.

You've just had a lovely meal. And some of you will be tempted to sleep, and I want to give you a real, I mean, sincerely, not a joke, if you feel like nodding off, please do, and don't worry about it. And wives, don't bruise your husbands if they do it.

I think there's nothing worse than fighting sleep in a meeting. I think it's better to just go ahead, have a few winks, and then enjoy the message. The Pope has spoken.

1 Corinthians chapter 3, and I'll just read the same nine verses again. And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people, but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food, for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able.

For you are still carnal, but where there are envy, strife, divisions among you, are you not carnal, and behaving like mere men? For when one says, I am a Paul, and another, I am a Paulist, are you not carnal? Who, then, is Paul? Who is a Paulist, but ministers, servants, to whom you believe? As the Lord gave to each one, I planted, a Paulist watered, but God gave the increase. So, then, neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. Now, he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

For we are God's fellow workers, you are God's field, you are God's building. In taking up this subject, I will not be speaking about what I am, but what I aspire to be. I think it's good to begin with that disclaimer, and if I use again the personal pronoun he, it refers equally to she.

I use it in a generic sense. Actually, in the history of the Christian church, I think it would be fair to say there are more spiritual women than there are men. I think that's fair to say, and I've known a lot of them.

I wish some of our young people, I'm speaking about our young people out in California, I wish that someone could know some of the godly men and women I have had the privilege of knowing. A woman who could recite all of the Psalms from memory, all of them, including the 119th, and I don't have to tell you she was a godly woman. Almost any experience in life that could arise, she'd have a verse of scripture that said it.

She would have. She'd have a verse of scripture that said it. She lived in the word of God.

People like that. People whose lives were other worldly. Almost as if they didn't belong here at all.

They were living in heaven long before they ever got to heaven, and they were living quiet lives of meditation before the Lord. We live such frantic lives, don't we? Such busy lives, but they knew what it was to meditate on the word of God, and they had a great appreciation of the Lord, and their motives were godly. We'll talk more about that as we go on.

Now, when you come to that word spiritual, I also want to issue a word of warning. The word spiritual and spirituality are bandied about a lot today by groups that aren't even Christian. For instance, that's a very popular word in the New Age movement.

Spiritual. Spiritual. Spirituality doesn't mean what we mean by it at all.

A lot of the cults use that word. Spiritual doesn't mean what we mean by it at all. So, just because you read in a paper magazine or hear the word spiritual doesn't mean that it's of God.

The truly spiritual person is one who walks under the control of the Holy Spirit of God and manifests the fruit of the Spirit in his life. That's what a spiritual person is. It's a man or woman who walks with an ungrieved Holy Spirit, and his life is occupied with spiritual realities rather than with the things of this world.

What are some of the marks of a spiritual person? It goes without saying, first of all, he has to be born again. He has to be born again. If any man has not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

How does this miraculous, supernatural, marvelous work take place in a person's life? Because it is that. It's a marvelous, miraculous, supernatural work of the Spirit of God. It takes place, first of all, when a person is awakened to his desperate need.

When by the Spirit of God he's convicted of his sin. Robert Murray McShane wrote, I once was a stranger to grace and to God. I knew not my danger, I felt not my load.

Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree, Jehovah said, Can you? Nothing to me. But then he says, when free grace awoke me with light from on high, then legal fear shook me. I trembled to die.

No refuge, no safety in self could I see. Jehovah said, Can you? My Savior must be. That's how it takes place in a person's life, and it's really wonderful.

So, the person is awakened to his desperate need. He's convicted of the fact that he is a sinner, and secondly, he abandons any hope of ever saving himself. He's given up any idea that by his good works or by his good character, he can contribute the least thing to his salvation.

That's a good step. And thirdly, by a definite act of faith, he receives the Lord Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior, believing that he died as his substitute on the cross at Calvary, and when he thus believes on the Lord Jesus Christ sincerely and from his heart, he's born again. We accept Jesus Christ as his only hope for heaven, born again by the grace of God.

Then after that, a spiritual person is a person who gives a high priority to the Word of God and to prayer. It would be hard to think of a spiritual person who doesn't do that. He gives a high priority to the Word of God and prayer.

I quoted that poem of Robert Murray McShane, and somebody says of him, He is the most Jesus-like man I ever met. And that's a tribute to a person, isn't it? Robert Murray McShane, incidentally, he died at the age of 29 in the full bloom of his ministry, left his stamp upon Scotland. His name is still fragrant in Scotland, and he died years ago.

But they said of him, He's the most Jesus-like man I ever met. He spent hours in daily communion with the Lord inside the veil, in rapturous praise and adoration, somebody said. He was bathed in Calvary's love.

He would come forth from God's presence to leave the fragrance of Christ as he went from house to house in visitation. What a wonderful thing to have said about you. He left the fragrance of Christ as he went from house to house.

That's a spiritual person. It's a person who makes people think of God and makes them think of the Lord Jesus Christ. Secondly, the mark of a spiritual person is he has a passionate desire to obey the Lord, to do the things that the Lord wants him to do.

And, you know, in that connection we should think of the most spiritual person who ever lived, and his name was Jesus. His name was Jesus. He did, I think this is marvelous, he did only the things that the Father gave him to do.

He says in John chapter 5, I cannot myself do nothing. What does that mean? I cannot my own self do nothing. Does that mean he wasn't omnipotent? Of course he was omnipotent, but it means that he was so yielded to the will of God the Father that he couldn't do anything in self-will.

That's wonderful, friends. Whatever he saw the Father do, he did all things. He only spoke the word.

Incidentally, that's wonderful. He said, I do always those things that please him. That's wonderful.

Well, dear friends, they argue, could Jesus have sinned? Well, to me that answers it conclusively. He could only do the things he saw the Father doing. If Jesus could have sinned, then the Father could have sinned.

And where are we, friends? We have no God and no Lord Jesus Christ. And he could only speak the words that the Father gave him to speak. He said that.

He could only speak the words the Father gave to speak. I think that explains a verse like that. Even the son doesn't know the time of his coming.

He didn't know it in the sense to tell us, because the Father had never revealed it to his servant, Jesus, to tell it to us. In that sense, he did not know it. The servant knows not what his master is doing.

So that's a wonderful thing. A spiritual person has a passionate desire to obey the Lord. And I've often said that working with young people, these are the young people that I know that make the best progress for the Lord.

Those who see it in the words, they say, that's what he says. That's what I'm going to do. I don't care what others do it or not.

That's what I'm going to do. And next, he's Christ-centered rather than self-centered. I think it's one of the great marks of a spiritual person.

He's Christ-centered rather than self-centered. And this is revealed very largely by his speech. By his speech, because out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.

His motto is, He must increase, I must decrease. Not I, but Christ, be honored, loved, exalted. Not I, but Christ, be seen, be known, be heard.

Not I, but Christ, in every look and action. Not I, but Christ, in every thought and word. He says, Oh, to be saved for myself, dear Lord.

Oh, to be lost in thee. Oh, that it may be no more I, but Christ that lives in me. This is so contrary to the current teaching in the evangelical world.

Self-esteem, dear friends. You can't love God if you don't love yourself first. Self, self, self, self.

Forget it. Forget it. It's not of God.

All of that teaching is not of God. A sanctified self is a poor substitute for a glorified Christ, I want to tell you. And the secret of victory in the Christian life is to be occupied with the Lord Jesus, not with self.

I thank God that years ago he taught me that in me, that is in my flesh, dwells no good thing. I've never looked for anything good in me, that is in my flesh, and I've never been disappointed. Because I store up all my goodness in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Oh, that it be no more I, but Christ that lives in me. This would make it so ridiculous when a prominent theologian to whom I'm afraid, some assembly Christian sends their money, says the great mistake of the reformers was that the theology was God-centered, not man-centered. Imagine, such heresy.

Huh? He has a crystal cathedral in California. Yeah, the great, the great mistake of the reformers was that their theology was God-centered instead of man-centered. He would say, isn't that marvelous? I never saw that in the Bible before.

You never saw it because it isn't there. People lack discernment. The more you get away from the Word of God, the more error will compound.

This is the authority. You have to test everything by the authority, don't you? Listen, if you don't go by this, it's human opinion, and one opinion's no better than any other, or no worse than any other either. A spiritual person is never happier than when he's praising the Lord, never happier than when he's worshiping the Lord.

This person is a real worshiper. Something has happened in his life. It's as if the Lord has rolled back a curtain, and he stands there before a Calvary's cross, and he looks up and sees the dying Redeemer, and he says to himself, well, I did all that to him, and he did all that for me, and his life can never be the same.

He has that transforming experience of seeing Christ on the cross, and he realizes with a new force, perhaps that he never had before, that it's his God who is dying for him. Now, some of you will have a problem with that. How can God die? I want to tell you, dear friends, the one who died on the cross of Calvary was God.

Was the Son of God dead? Is the Son of Man dead? It's God. Where do you get that? Well, you get it, for instance, in Acts chapter 20, where Paul is talking to the elders of Ephesus at Myrida, and he says, Shepherd the flock of God, which he purchased with his own blood. It's a very strong statement as to the deity of Christ, isn't it? Shepherd the flock of God, which he purchased with his own blood.

I know Darby tries to soften that. He says, with the blood of his own. I like to leave it the way it is.

Helps me in my worship. So, how can God die? Charles Wesley, in that lovely hymn, says, To this mystery all, the immortal dies. Who can explore his strange design? In vain the firstborn seraph tries to plumb the depths of love divine.

Amazing love! How can it be that thou, my God, should die for me? Now, our brethren, when they put that in our New Hymn book, they changed it to, Thou my Lord should die for me. Leave it the way he wrote it, right? Thou my God should die. Do you know any other religion where your God died for you? That's Christianity, dear friend.

Okay, well, how can God die? Who'd run the universe? The Lord Jesus is on earth at one moment running the universe, and then he dies, which just changes his location. He's in heaven running the universe, so it's no problem at all. But anyway, I think that the worshiper, the spiritual man, has a vision of this, and he can never, never be the same again.

His heart has been captured when he goes through the rest of his life worshiping. You've met people like this, haven't you? Really wonderful, wonderful to meet them. I often think of Jacob, and I, in some ways, I'd like to be like Jacob.

Not in his early life. In his early life, he was a shyster, he was a con man, he was a cheat, he was a supplanter, but I want to say that he went out worshiping. That's the way I'd like to go out too.

He went out leaning on the top of his staff worshiping. At least there was progress in his life, wasn't there? The spiritual man remains faithful to the Lord in spite of all the trials and difficulties of life. This is a wonderful thing.

It's a wonderful thing to see a person maybe going through the fire, and unmoved by it all, being true to the Lord. Polycarp, one of the great martyrs of the Christian church, he was threatened first with being thrown to the lions, and then if he didn't recant, he'd be thrown to the fire, I mean, burned at the stake. If he wouldn't renounce Christ, this was his punishment.

He said, these 86 years have I served my master, and he never did me any wrong. I cannot deny my Lord and Master now, and he endured the fire rejoicing that he was counted worthy to suffer for the namesake of the Lord Jesus Christ. Spiritual man.

Now, you and I don't have grace for that right now, but we're walking with the Lord. He'll give us grace the time ever came. The spiritual man is never satisfied with his own spiritual status.

Never satisfied. In fact, the more spiritual he is, the more he's conscious of his own utter worthlessness. That's a seeming contradiction, isn't it? But it's true.

The more spiritual a person is, the more he's conscious of his need for personal holiness and personal godliness. The closer you get to the Lord Jesus, the more you see yourself. He's not a good sight.

You know, here's a straight line, and I say, what's a crooked line? You say, well, anything that isn't straight. That's right. The Lord Jesus came into the world a straight line.

I stand before him, and I realize how crooked I am. The Lord Jesus is the light which coming into the world enlightens every man, or lightens every man. You come into my apartment, and you don't, if it's dark, you don't see the dust.

But boy, you turn on the light, you see plenty of it. Plenty of it. The Lord Jesus came into the world all with darkness, but he illuminated, he showed up every man for what he really is.

That's what makes us in a hurry to come to him. The spiritual man prays, Lord, make me as holy as it is possible for a person to be on this side of heaven. Good prayer for all of us.

So, the spiritual man grieves over the things that the world applauds. I'm struck more and more by, the fact that the world today is attacking every divine principle that we find in the word of God. Every one of them.

It's amazing. The institution of marriage, pre-marital sex, cohabitation outside of marriage, extramarital sex. Of course, it's accepted.

What else? So, the family under attack. Even some of the people of the world are acting aghast at what's happening to the family in our country and the terrible consequences. The headship of man under attack.

The obedience of children to their parents. Children can now, in some places, divorce their parents. How do you like that for a form of insanity? The authority of human government.

See, bumper stickers, what does it say? Question authority. Does everybody say something like that? Question authority. Open defiance of authority.

The sacredness of human life. Abortion. And if you do it with abortion, you can do it with anything.

The practice of justice. What a joke. The trial that had just taken place in Los Angeles.

Justice, isn't it justice? There's two kinds of justice in the United States, one of the defense lawyers said, one for people who are wealthy and one for people who are not wealthy. When I was in school, I heard Dean Pound of the law school, and he said, if you want law, go to law school. If you want justice, go to theological school.

Which was the suspicion, you don't get justice if you go to law school. And he was the dean of law school. The evil of habit-forming drugs and alcohol.

The spiritual man grieves over these things and turns them into prayer, you know, for this lost and bleeding world. The spiritual man mourns over anything that brings dishonor on the name of the Lord Jesus. We talked last night, was it last night or today, about the scandals that have taken place in the evangelical church.

He hasn't gloated over them. He said, these men are my brethren in Christ, you know. Think of the shame that it brings.

How the media, the newspapers, they love it. They love to pounce on stories like this. Breaks your heart.

The spiritual person is faithful to the meetings of the local fellowship. He doesn't allow other activities to interfere with his attendance and participation. When the doors are open, you can count on his being there.

Michael Faraday was a great English scientist. One day before a very illustrious audience, he was giving a lecture on the properties of magnetism, and it was such a tremendous lecture that he gave that at the end, the people, all the people, the nobility and everybody else in the auditorium, they rose and gave him a standing ovation. And when they sat down, one of the leaders rose up and proposed a motion of congratulations to Faraday.

And it was carried with renewed thunders of applause. But then they waited for Faraday to step forward. But he didn't step forward.

He wasn't found anywhere. He had left to go to the prayer meeting in his church, a church that never boasted more than 20 members. There's a man who had England at his feet in scientific circles, but he had his priorities straight.

He went to the prayer meeting, but there never was more than 20 members. Spiritual man holds a light grip on material things. He loves people rather than things, and he loves God rather than money.

It was rather shocking what the Lord Jesus taught. He said that everybody loves, either loves God and hates money, or loves money and hates God. Everybody.

It's kind of shocking, isn't it? I didn't say it. He said it. Either he will love the one and hate the other, or hate the one and love the other.

You cannot serve God and man. You say, what do you mean hate money? Is money all right? It's all right if you use it for the Lord, or use it for necessary purposes. I think David Livingston had the right idea.

He said, I'm determined to possess nothing except in relation to the kingdom of Christ. That's good. I'm determined to possess nothing except in relation to the kingdom of Christ.

I was telling our young people about George Brewer of Operation Mobilization. He had a brain that, he had a computer in there, and it translated everything into terms of human souls. Marvelous.

He said in our chapel that one day, he said, if I believed that 10 cents would buy 12 cracks, and 12 cracks could be used in the salvation of 12 souls, I wouldn't spend a nickel on a candy bar. He said that. They're revolutionary friends.

He came into my office one day. He was on his way out to Wheaton. He had a coat that looked like early Salvation Army, you know, on him, and had a suitcase, and it was filled with books.

I said, where are you going, George? He said, I'm going up to Wheaton to speak to the students. It was sub-zero weather in Oak Park, Illinois. So, I said, well, let me drive you up to the bus station so you won't have to wait out in the cold for the bus.

So, he jumped into the car with his suitcase, and when we got up there, the bus came in the back of a department store. So, I went around the block, and I couldn't find a parking space. The second time around, I started to go into a place where I paid parking space.

He said, don't go in there, Mr. McDonald. I said, why? He said, you'd have to pay it. I said, George, I said, I'm not going to let you stand out here in the cold waiting for a bus for Wheaton.

He said, drive around the block. I said, George, I've already been around the block. He said, drive around again.

He must have prayed all the way around, because when I got back to the bus stop, there was an empty parking space there for me. And when the bus came in, he grabbed his suitcase and got out of the car and left the door open long enough for this parking salvo. He said, if somebody told me there were $5,000 at the end of 10 city blocks, and I could have them by crawling on my hands and knees, he said, I'd crawl on my hands and knees, and I'd be thinking of souls all the way.

Then he left me to my thoughts. That's a spiritual man, you know, thinking of souls. Another day, he came.

He was really a disturber of my peace. He came into my room, and I had an enormous library at that time. I don't know how many walls it covered, you know.

And we were talking, and all of a sudden I saw him scanning all those books. And he said to me, Mr. McDonald, have you read all those books? I could feel the noose coming around my neck. I said, no, George, I haven't read all the books.

And then he said, do you know what's in all those books? I said, no, George, the noose was getting tighter. And I said, I don't know what's in all those books. Then he started to say something.

He sucked the words back into his mouth. I said, George, if you have something from the Lord to say to me, you say it. He said, Mr. McDonald, when I look at all those books, all I can think of is souls.

What did he mean? Was it wrong for me to have books? No. But he meant, you know, and I knew what he meant. He meant, if you read some of those books and you're never going to read them again, why don't you convert them into money for the work of God? Or if you're never going to read, I mean, you've got 34 writings, it makes you look scholarly, but have you ever read them? I said, no, frankly, I had never intended to either.

I knew what he meant. When I see all those books, all I think of is souls. A spiritual man holds a light grip on material things.

He loves people more than things. He practices separation from the world. He's conscious of his heavenly calling and dignity.

He studiously avoids being entangled in the affairs of this world. You know, in a generation past, we had hymn books that had an awful lot of hymns about pilgrimage and separation from the world. Don't look for them today.

They're not their friends. Here's one of them. O worldly pomp and glory, your charms are spread in vain.

I've heard a sweeter story. I've found a truer gain. Where Christ a place prepareth, there is my love to bode.

There shall I gaze on Jesus. There shall I dwell with God. It's wonderful, isn't it? Call from above in heavenly men by birth, who once were but the citizens of earth.

And he goes on to say, we don't seek a home here that gave him but a grave. You know, I quoted that in an assembly as recently as last week, and two young fellas came bracing up to me after this. Give us a word to them.

Never heard it before. That's right. They're all deleted from the hymn books.

The spiritual man looks at things from an otherworldly attitude. He appreciates the truth that he's seated with Christ in heavenly places. And that means he's up there looking down.

And dear friends, when you look down here from heavenly places, things in this earth look awfully small, don't they? You take off in a plane, you know, and the higher you go, the less the things of this earth. They don't seem very important after a while, do they? What does it mean to be seated with Christ in heavenly places? To give you a very detached view of things on the earth. Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

Look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely thin in the light of his glory and grace. I've often told the story of back in the war years where a young man came up to a godly Christian, a young Christian lad, came up to a godly Christian man and said with obvious delight, I heard that our bombers were over Germany again last night. And the man said, I didn't know the church of God had bombers.

Good. You see, he was living in a different level, wasn't he? He was living in a different plane from that fellow. That young, dear young guy, he was rejoicing over the slaughter of innocent women and children.

That old man said, I didn't know the church of God had bombers. He didn't mean to be sarcastic. He was just telling where he lived, that's all.

And that's a wonderful thing. The spiritual man estimates things by faith rather than by sight. I love to tell, I told this morning about Fred Elliott and how in his casket, they had his Bible like this.

I forgot to say they took it out before they closed the casket. Too precious a thing for that family to give up. But one time I was standing in La Grange, Illinois, the front of the chapel there, after the meeting, talking to Fred.

And we were having a good conversation. I mean, he was talking about spiritual things, of course. And right then, the California Zephyr went by on the railroad track.

It had two gigantic diesel engines, made a terrible roaring sound as it went by the train going through La Grange. And of course, conversation had to come to a halt when it was going through. After it had passed, Fred put his hand on my shoulder and he said, power brother, but nothing like the power that raised him from the dead.

I thought it was just a train. But he saw a spiritual lesson there. He translated from the natural to the spiritual.

I thought, boy, I wish I were like you, Fred. And Jesus was always doing that. He talked of wind and skies and waves and birds.

But he brought heaven and earth together. He brought heaven and earth together. Wonderful thing.

I counted dollars while God counted crosses. I counted gains while he counted losses. I counted my worth by the gain, by the things gained in store.

He sized me up by the scars that I wore. I coveted honors and sought for degrees. He wept as he counted the hours spent on my knees.

I never knew till one day by the grave how vain are the things we spend life to say. Spiritual outlook on life. The man of God, the spiritual man, the person whose roots are deep in God, has a passion for souls.

I told you about George and how he converted everything into souls. Passion for souls. Only like souls, he says, I see the folk there under, bound who should conquer, slaves who should be kings, hearing their one hope is an empty wonder, sadly contented with a show of things.

Then with a rush, the intolerable craving shivers throughout me like a trumpet call, oh, to save these, to perish for their saving, die for their life. He offered for them all a passion for souls. There's many verses in the I could wish myself a curse from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.

Some of you can explain that to me after, but this is what I'm concerned, to be a curse from Christ is to spend eternity in hell. You talk about passion for souls. He said, I could wish myself a curse from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh.

That leaves me weak. I think of when Corrie Ten Boom and her sister, Betsy, were in the concentration camp, and the terrible treatment they were getting, you know. One day, Betsy said to Corrie, Corrie, you know, when we get out of here, we've got to do something for these people.

And Corrie said, of course, of course. And Corrie was thinking about her fellow inmates there that were suffering so. That wasn't what Betsy was thinking about.

She was thinking about the guards that were inflicting all the cruel treatment upon her. She wanted to win them to the shepherd of love. And Corrie commented, I think this is so beautiful.

She said, I wondered not for the first time what sort of a person she was, this sister of mine. What kind of road she followed while I trudged beside her on the all too solid earth. Betsy was walking on a higher plane.

Mind you, I think Corrie walked on a pretty high plane, too. A spiritual person is willing to part with the dearest thing in life for Christ's sake. Abraham willing to part with Isaac for the sake of God.

A spiritual person is quick to repent and apologize for wrongs he's done to others. He knows how to say, I was wrong. I am sorry.

Please forgive me. In the early days, Dr. Ironside was living in Oakland. And one Sunday, he and his wife went across to San Francisco.

And I tell you, it was a full Sunday. It was a full Sunday. They had breaking of bread.

They had meetings. And he was speaking. And then they would have an open air.

And we had more than one open air meeting that day. And going back in the train at night, his wife said something to him. And he snapped back at her.

It was popular for a preacher in those days to have a case of nerves. And he was having a case of nerves. He snapped back at his wife.

And she said to him, why do you have to speak to me that way? Well, he said, dear, you know, it's been a rough day. And he started recounting the meetings he had, the breaking of bread and preaching service and the open air and hospital visitation. He said, do you realize I've had to speak six times today? She said, yes.

And I had to listen six times. And he broke at the foot of the cross. He had nothing more to say.

He said, dear, I'm sorry. And I just ask you to forgive me. He's a spiritual man.

It doesn't mean that you never make a mistake. It means when you make a mistake, you apologize and make the thing right again. And incidentally, the apology never has the words if or we in them.

If I have done something wrong. Lord, forgive us. I think I'm just going to close with this.

A spiritual Christian joyfully awaits the coming of the Lord. Although he's content to serve the Lord down here, he'd rather be with the Lord at home in heaven. He longs to enter the palace and see the king in his duty.

And his heart beats just a little faster when he reads in the newspaper, the magazine, things that indication that the coming of the Lord may be that much nearer. He's not afraid to die. We have a California highway patrolman in our assembly, and he said to me recently, one of the first things I noticed after I got saved is I was no longer afraid to die.

Every day he goes out and he's got a bullet proof or bullet resistant vest on him. He goes out to face death every day. He said one of the first things I noticed when I touched his face, I was no longer afraid to die.

Wonderful, isn't it? These are just a few of the marks of a spiritual person. I'm sure you've known some I aspire to be one and aspire that for all the people I know. Shall we pray? Lord, we thank you for creating in our hearts an appetite of thirst that no earthly stream can satisfy a hunger that must feed on Christ or die.

We pray, Lord, that you'll wean us more and more away from this world with all its chaudry litter. That we might be more and more occupied with the Lord Jesus Christ, and being occupied with him might become more like him. We pray as we go forth in this world that men might take knowledge of us that we've been with Jesus.

That people might say of us a Jesus-like person. We can take nothing higher than this. We ask it in the Savior's name.

Amen.