Joseph Carroll emphasizes the necessity of approaching God with a true heart, highlighting that true worship is not merely a matter of words but a heartfelt commitment to God. He illustrates this through personal anecdotes and biblical examples, particularly focusing on Abraham's willingness to surrender his son Isaac as a testament to total devotion. Carroll stresses that a true heart encompasses the intellect, emotions, and will, and that only through the Holy Spirit can one achieve such a heart. He calls for believers to surrender completely to God, as this is foundational for effective worship and service. Ultimately, he reminds the congregation that God seeks those with true hearts to show His strength and blessings.

Heavenly Father, we rejoice in anticipation of what Thou wilt say this morning, because Thou art faithful. Even when we are not faithful, Thou art still faithful. But we thank Thee for the privilege of bearing Thy name, and the name of Thy Son, and trusting Thy Spirit to glorify Him as we wait upon Thee. And this we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen. I'm reading from the Word of God, in the Epistle to the Hebrews, chapter 10, verse 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest, by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which He hath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, His flesh, and having an high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for He is faithful that promised. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more, as you see the day approaching. During my first visit to Japan, I was invited to speak at a conference, which was quite close to Mount Fuji. I've heard a great deal about Mount Fuji, and I was looking forward to seeing the mighty mountain, this mountain which the Japanese worshipped. And as we were making our way to the conference grounds, the director of the mission spoke to me about Fuji, and he said, from our conference ground, you have possibly the best view of the mountain in the country, and the time to look and to behold the mountain is early in the morning. So I would advise you the first morning to be up early, and you will get an excellent view of Fuji. We arrived at the conference center, and there was a heavy mist, so we couldn't even begin to think of seeing anything of Fuji that afternoon. But the director assured me, well, in the morning, be up early, and you will see Fuji in all its beauty. So I was up very early the next morning, looked out the window, all I could see was mist. And all that day we still had the mist overshadowing the conference ground. No sign of Fuji. Fuji was there, but I could not behold Fuji. The second morning, I was up early again, still mist. So I said to my friend, Raleigh Reasoner, Raleigh, do you think this mist will evaporate? Do you think I will ever see Fuji? He said, now, be patient, be patient, Joe, possibly tomorrow. Well, the next morning, I was up early, mist, nothing. And I'd almost given up, but on the last morning of the conference, I rose, this time not so early, looked out my window, and there was this magnificent sight. This conical-shaped mountain, silhouetted. A magnificent sight, snow-capped. And then I knew why the Japanese worship this mountain. Magnificent. Fuji was always there, but I could not see the great sight because of the mist. The mist had to be taken away. God is always present when we worship Him. But you can desire to see Him in His glory, and in His beauty, and in His wonder, and never see Him. Why? Because there is a mist. The mist of an unsurrendered heart. For there is an acceptable approach to God. There is a way that we must approach Him. Acceptable. A certain princess of the royal family, Princess Margaret, once went to visit her grandmother, who was a very regal woman. She dashed into where grandmother was, and jumped up onto her lap, and grandmother promptly dumped her on the floor, and said, now come in as a princess should. So she came in, and curtsied, and received permission to sit on grandmother's lap. There is an acceptable approach to God. What is it? We read it this morning. Let us draw near with a true heart. Let us draw near with a true heart. This is the first condition of acceptable approach to God. For true worship. For worship is not a thing of the lips. We can honour God with our lips, but we worship Him with our hearts. So true worship is heart worship. In Matthew 15, 7, our Lord, in a very clear manner, revealed why those in Isaiah's day were hypocrites, or play-actors. He said, ye hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. What an indictment. They draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and they honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. What did they have? A confession without a commitment. A confession without a commitment. There must be the commitment, and there must be the commitment of the heart for acceptable worship. There must be a true heart. Now when the Scripture speaks about the heart, what is it saying to us? I want you to turn with me to the first three references to the heart in Scripture. In Genesis chapter 6 and verse 5. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart. So when we speak about the heart, we are speaking about the intellect. The thoughts of his heart. Then in verse 6, And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. It grieved him at his heart. So when we are speaking about the heart in Scripture, we are speaking about the intellect, and we are speaking about the emotions. For grief is an emotion. Then in Genesis chapter 8 and verse 21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake. God, the Lord, said in his heart, I will not. In other words, the heart is that centre within us where three things are perpetually being oriented. The intellect, the emotion, and the will. Henley Mole, the great scholar of the last century in this, has this to say about the heart. It is the organ of personality. It is the organ of personality. In other words, the intellect, the emotion, and the will. Man has and is a soul. What is he saying to us? It is the organ of personality. Man has and is a soul. So acceptable approach to God is to draw near with a true heart. Now, what is a true heart? We know what the heart is from Scripture. But what is a true heart? Because unless we understand the condition and meet it, we cannot acceptably approach God. We will not experience true worship. And therefore it is imperative that we understand a true heart. Let us turn again to a great scholar, Bishop Wes Scott, who wrote a classic on the Epistle to the Hebrews. And I want you to notice carefully what he says. And let me underline this fact again. If you do not have a true heart, your worship is not acceptable. Now, I'm not saying that you cannot come into the presence of God. You can. But you cannot worship in the way God desires you to worship. You will go through the motions, but that's all. And we have seen quite clearly from the Word of God that the first thing in worship is the prostration, is the falling down, is the submission, is the true heart. So it is absolutely imperative that we understand what is meant by a true heart. And that we have a true heart when we come to God in worship. Otherwise our worship is unacceptable. What does Wes Scott have to say about a true heart? He says it is a heart which expresses completely the devotion of the whole person to God. In other words, the intellect, the emotion, the will. The whole person. The devotion of the whole person to God. There is no divided allegiance. No reserve of feeling. Perfect self-surrender. Let me read it again. A heart which expresses completely the devotion of the whole person to God. There is no divided allegiance. No reserve of feeling. Perfect self-surrender. Beautiful definition. Another great scholar who has given us a classic on Hebrews is Adolf Saffer. And he has this to say. What is meant by a true heart? Only a whole heart is true. Only a whole heart is true. What does he mean by that? A heart that is wholly given up to God. A true heart is a heart that desires to be with God and to live unto Him. Now what does he mean by living unto God? Well, he means that you don't live unto yourself. You live unto God. Let me repeat that word. What is meant by a true heart? Only a whole heart is true. A true heart is a heart that desires to be with God and to live unto Him. Then finally another scholar who has given us a classic, possibly the classic, on the epistle to the Hebrews is Andrew Murray. And he has this to say about a true heart. In man's nature, the heart is the central power. As the heart is, so is the man. Our inmost being must in truth be yielded to him. It is only as the desire of the heart is fixed upon God, the whole heart seeking for God, giving its love and finding its joy in God, that a man can draw nigh to God. That's a strong word. How far removed from the easy believism and false concepts of our time. God has become what people call, and I hesitate to even state the word, a buddy. A buddy. No, he is God. He's not a buddy. He is a sovereign God. Let me read Murray again, it's very important. And it's true. And even as I read, you might think, what hope do I have for a true heart? If you seek for a true heart with all your heart, you will receive it. It's entirely your decision. God's callings are God's enablings. He lives in you by his spirit to meet his own demands. But without the enabling spirit, such a heart is impossible. Let me read Murray again. In man's nature, the heart is the central power. As the heart is, so is the man. This we know. Out of the heart are the issues of life. As the heart is, so is the man. Our inmost being must in truth be yielded to him. It is only as the desire of the heart is fixed upon God. Fixed upon God. Is your heart fixed upon God? Is God your girl? I recall two very devoted young women who were in full-time service to the Lord coming to me on one occasion. They'd traveled many miles for an interview. They had out their notebooks and they were ready to take notes. And I let them chat away for about 20 minutes. Then I asked them a simple question. I said, what is your goal in life? What is your goal? What are you really aiming at? What is your ultimate objective? And they both said, without hesitation, we want to establish this work in California that souls might be one for Christ. That's our ultimate goal. I said, is it? God must be your goal. He must establish it. And He will do it if He is first. He will do it. And if He doesn't do it, unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. God must be your goal. He must be your aim. He must be your all. He must be your life. Because what is eternal life? Knowing God. This is life eternal that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. That is eternal life. So we are dealing here with the very foundation of all else. A true heart. You say, well, can I fix the desire of my heart upon God? Can my whole heart seek for God? Giving its love and finding its joy in God? Can I do that? No. Not without the Spirit. But with the Spirit controlling, yes. Because that's the very life He will lead you into. Shall we turn to Genesis chapter 22, where we read of the great surrender of Abraham. And I want you to note very carefully what he surrendered. And it came to pass, after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, or test him, and said unto him, Abraham. And he said, Behold, here I am. Now whenever God tests a man, it's because he wants to bless him. And this test for Abraham is going to be a very severe test. If he passes it, the blessing is not only to be for Abraham, but for multitudes. So God is testing Abraham. And he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. Now I want you to observe that he did not say, Take Isaac and offer him there for a burnt offering. He didn't say that. He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of. What a test! What is he saying to Abraham? You must put Isaac to death. You must offer him as a burnt offering. You must slay your son. You must place him on an altar. Put him to death. Offer him as a burnt offering. Your son, your only son, whom you love. What a test! Now before Abraham can obey, he is going to have to surrender three things. The first thing he must surrender is his intellect, because this just does not make sense. It defies the understanding. Why, Abraham is the child of promise. He's the miracle child. All depends upon Isaac. You see, he's the miracle child. Now God says put him to death. Well, he'll raise him up. But why put him to death if he's going to raise him up? It doesn't add up. It doesn't make sense. So the first thing he must surrender is his intellect. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding is a command of God. It's a command we need before us during these days when we're apt to lean to our own understanding, apt to lean to what man can do by his trained intellect. Oh no, my friend, the intellect must be surrendered. It must be surrendered. That's the first thing. What next must he surrender? He must surrender his affection, his emotions. He loved Isaac, so he must surrender his emotions. And what next must he surrender? He must surrender his will. He must will to do the will of God in preference to his own will. In other words, what is God asking Abraham to do? To surrender his heart. To surrender his intellect, his emotion and his will in order that he might do the will of God. This is the test. Will he pass it? And this is the test for you. Will you pass it? That means death to what you want in order that you might have what God wants. If there was one thing that Abraham wanted, it was Isaac to be preserved. His son, his only son, whom he loved. Anything but that. Well, what did Abraham do? Did he call for his friends, call them together and say, now we must have a prayer meeting? I've got to seek the Lord about this. It's a big decision that I have to make. Oh no. What do you notice? He rose up early in the morning. Immediate, unquestioning, unhesitating obedience to the revealed will of God. He rose up early in the morning. And this is characteristic of Abraham. You will find at another time of great testing when he had to do something he never would have chosen himself to do. He rose up early in the morning. Immediate, unquestioning, unhesitating obedience to the revealed will of God. When God speaks, you don't have to pray, but you must obey. You can ask for grace, that is true, but you don't have to seek guidance. When did you surrender your heart to the Lord? When did you yield up yourself in totality to the Lord? Do you have a true heart? That's what God wants, that's what He must have. For what? He is seeking for worshippers who will worship Him in spirit and in truth, in reality. In other words, with a true heart. Let us draw near with a true heart. He rose up early in the morning and saddled his ass and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son and clad the wood for the burnt offering and rose up and went unto the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. Now, I want you to notice three things that should characterize all service. Abraham went in obedience to the revealed will of God. You don't choose your own service. You don't choose your own path. God speaks. God reveals to you what He desires you to do by His Spirit. The response must be obedience. Unquestioning, unhesitating obedience. Then you will notice next, he went to worship. And finally, he went in faith. Three things. He went in obedience. He went to worship. And he went in faith. Why? Because he said, I and the lad will go yonder and worship and come again to you. He's going to offer Him up, yes. But God will raise Him from the dead because God is true to His Word. What faith? Do you believe God's Word like that? That what He says is true even if it means raising this boy from the dead. So he went in obedience. He went to worship. And he went in faith. Verse six. And Abram took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it upon Isaac his son. And he took the fire in his hand and a knife and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abram his father and said, My father. And he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood. But where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son. God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering. So they went both of them together. And they came to the place which God had told him of. And Abram built an altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar upon the wood. They came to the place which God had told him of. And Abraham built an altar. He may have built it with trembling hands. He may have built it with tears streaming down his cheeks. But he built. He built it. And before you can acceptably worship God you're going to have to do the same thing. You're going to have to build an altar with your own hands. With the hands of your heart. But you're not going to lay Isaac on that altar. You're going to lay yourself on the altar to be a burnt offering. Wholly consumed for the glory of God. Abram built an altar. And when he'd completed it he laid the one he loved, his only son upon that altar. And Abram stretched forth his hand and took the knife to slay his son. The moment has arrived. The altar has been built. The offering has been bound. Now he raises the knife. And what happens? The angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven and said, Abraham, Abraham. And he said, Here am I. And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad neither do thou anything unto him. For now I know that thou fearest God seeing thou hast not withheld thy son thine only son from me. And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked and beheld behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abram went out and took the ram and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. And Abram called the name of that place Jehovah-Jireh as it is said to this day in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen. And the angel of the Lord called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time and said, By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord for because thou hast done this thing and hast not withheld thy son thine only son that in blessing I will bless thee and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is upon the sea shore and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed because thou hast obeyed my voice. Verse 16 By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord for because thou hast done this thing this thing What did he do? He surrendered himself. In the yielding up of his son he was yielding up himself. He had surrendered his heart. Because thou hast done this thing but Abraham had done many things. He'd left his home, he'd left his kindred he'd become a wanderer on the face of the earth he'd become a tent dweller he had done many things but all of those surrenders of the past were leading to this great surrender. Now is the test. Now is the great test. Because thou hast done this thing and what a blessing in thee shall all the nations of the earth be blessed It was he in bounds who said God is not wanting more men he needs better men. One man with a true heart and all the nations of the earth are blessed through him. But we don't hear a great deal about a true heart today. We don't hear a great deal of total submission to Jesus Christ as Lord. But this is foundational, this is essential. Whilst flying down to South America for conferences with a mission I was flying with the director of the mission and he said I was speaking to the president of a certain Bible college a well-known Bible college and I said to him you are not giving us the missionaries that once came from your Bible college. And he had a very simple answer. He said I am not receiving the same quality of students. Why? Because we have diluted God's requirements. We have become interested in statistics which is a secular concept. God desires a true heart. No man can be filled with the Spirit unless he has a true heart. No man can worship God acceptably unless he has a true heart. And no man can serve God effectively unless he has a true heart. But let that man yield to the Spirit of God as he works within him to bring him to that place of a true heart. And God can bless multitudes through him. D.L. Moody. We all know D.L. Moody. What was the key to his life? He once heard a man say the world has yet to see what God can do through a man wholly surrendered to him. Rather an extreme statement. God has had many men wholly surrendered to him. But Moody said by the grace of God I'll be that man. And we all know how God used D.L. Moody. Because he was brilliant, because he was gifted, because he was educated, because he was a man of essentially superlative gifts. No. But because he was a man with a perfect heart. The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of him whose heart is perfect toward him. It's not what I can do for God. It is what God will do for me and through me when I have a perfect heart. Or a whole heart. Or a true heart. He's waiting for such men. He's waiting for such women. And he'll use them. He wants to use them. But they're always in short supply. His eyes run throughout the whole earth. What is he seeking for? Men and women with true hearts. With perfect hearts. To show himself strong in the behalf of him whose heart is perfect toward him. Perfect heart is a true heart. A whole heart. When God finds such a man, God finds such a woman, he will show himself strong for them. It's not what you can do for God. It's what he waits to do for you and through you. Is your heart perfect toward God? When did you build the altar? When did you lay yourself on the altar? Intellect, emotion, will to be God's man. God's woman. I was present at a convention in England, a very famous convention, the Keswick Convention, in the early 1950s. And at that convention were a number of very we might say famous preachers, I don't like to use the word, but they were men of great note. And the man who gave the Bible readings that year was Dr. Graeme Scroggie. A man now in his 70s, a very sick man. He gave a series of messages on the book of Joshua. And of all those that ministered at that time, it was Scroggie that touched me most of all. It was his message, yes, but more than his message was the man himself. His intensity, his obvious love for Christ. His masterly grasp of the Scriptures. The consciousness of the Spirit of God speaking through the man. That is what impressed me. And at the conclusion of his final message he gave a word of personal testimony. When he was ministering in a city in Scotland, he was suddenly taken with illness. The illness persisted and he consulted his doctor concerning what he should do. A diagnosis was made and the doctor informed him that the only cure would be for him to cease from preaching. If he continued preaching, there was no cure. And Scroggie loved to preach. So he went along with the Lord and he sought the Lord and he was convinced that he should write to his good friend Grattan Ganesh in Ireland and ask him what to do. So this preacher with a great reputation Scroggie wrote to Grattan Ganesh. And back came a Spirit-directed letter from Ganesh. An unusual letter. He said, Scroggie, have you ever truly surrendered to Jesus Christ? Now what a question to ask a famous preacher. Well, it's a very important question to ask anybody. And Scroggie replied, I have in a general sort of a way. Back came another letter from Ganesh. Do it in a deliberate specific manner. And Scroggie went along with the Lord and as he waited upon the Lord, he realized that he had been living for his preaching and living to make a name for a preacher as a preacher. And it had grieved his Lord. And so in tears, he yielded himself in a deliberate specific manner to be God's man, not Scroggie's. And what was the happy result? Of course, he was healed. And went on to preach for many, many, many more years. When did you surrender to Jesus Christ? You might give the same answer as Scroggie. Well, I have surrendered in a general sort of a way. Well, do it in a deliberate specific manner. And do it once for all. If any man will come after me, let him what? Deny himself. Let him dethrone himself. Take up his cross daily. Follow me. Do it in a deliberate specific manner. F.B. Meyer, also one of the great Bible teachers of his day, greatly used, not only in England, but throughout the world. As a young man with a rising reputation, brilliant mind, greatly gifted, he went to a farewell meeting for a number of graduates of Cambridge University who were going out to China. They were called the Cambridge Seven. One of their number was a young man named Charlie Studd. Now, Studd was the number one sportsman in England. What do I mean by that? Well, he was the captain of the English cricket team, the English Eleven. And he is always the foremost sportsman in all England. And now, Studd was turning his back upon the world of sport and he was going out to China with a China Inland Mission. And that afternoon he gave his testimony. And as he testified to the grace of God and his yieldedness to his Lord, and now he had the privilege of going out to China, F. B. Meyer listened very intently. But it was not so much what he heard, but what he saw and what he felt. It was obvious that Studd was a man totally yielded to Jesus Christ. And the statement that Studd made perhaps sums up the whole man. He once said, If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him. Let me repeat that. If Jesus Christ be God and died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him. After the meeting, F. B. Meyer went to Studd and he said, It's quite obvious that you have something that I lack, something that I need. What is it? And Studd in his very forthright manner looked him squarely in the eyes and he said, Have you ever surrendered everything to Jesus Christ? And F. B. Meyer thought a moment and he said, Yes, I have. And a voice within him said, No, you haven't. He made his way home with a troubled heart. He went to his bedroom, fell to his knees and began to pray. And he tells us it seemed that when he was praying the Lord came to him and he said, Meyer, I want all the keys of your heart. And F. B. Meyer began to argue a little with the Lord. All the keys? Yes, Meyer, I want all the keys. Then Meyer deceitfully took a ring of keys and handed them over to the Lord. But you can't fool the Lord. There was one missing. And the Lord, Meyer tells us it seemed, took that ring of keys and he began to count them very carefully. And when he'd finished, he looked at Meyer and he said, There is one key missing. And if I am not Lord of all, I am not Lord at all. And he made as if he would leave the room. And Meyer cried out to him in his dilemma, Lord, don't leave. Don't leave. Why are you leaving? Back came the word, If I am not Lord of all, I am not Lord at all. He said, but Lord, it's just a very small key of a very small place in my heart. Back came the word, If I am not Lord of all, I am not Lord at all. And so Meyer surrendered that last key. And what happened? Filled with the Spirit, the man, surely with a perfect heart, was used to the blessing of countless multitudes. And even today, his magnificent books speak. He being dead yet speaketh that that was the crisis of his life. He had to build an altar. And he had to place Meyer upon the altar. Every key had to be surrendered. In the days of C.H. Spurgeon, there were other great preachers, and one of them was a man named Archibald Brown. But he was not always a great preacher. He was a gifted preacher, but not always great. And the Spirit of God began to work in his heart, and certain things began to take place in his life, which made him realize that God indeed was working in his heart. And one evening he was up in his study. He was rather disturbed. So disturbed, in fact, that when he got to the top of the stairs to make his way down stairs, he tripped and he fell. And when he gathered himself together at the bottom of the stairs, he realized God had spoken to him. And he said, Lord anything! Then came the word, not anything, everything. And that was what changed Brown. From just another good preacher to a great preacher. But these are preachers we are illustrating. And many of you are not preachers, but you are witnesses. But all need a true heart to worship God. And worship is the highest art of which man is capable of in the spiritual realm. That's the highest point you can reach, the worship of God. You may not want to preach, but surely you want to love the Lord with all your heart. In these days when we are all conscious, I believe, of the desperate need for revival. If you are a student of revival, you will know that possibly the purest of all revivals was that which took place amongst the Moravians. Under the leadership of Count Zinzendorf. What was the key to that great movement of God? When they had a prayer meeting that lasted for a century called the hourly intercession, when prayer was made hour after hour, 24 hours a day, for just over a hundred years. What was the key to it? The worship of the Lamb of God. This was the key. Over every Moravian pulpit was a slain Lamb. Zinzendorf was the man God used as the leader and as the example. But what was it that made Zinzendorf the man he became? As a young man he visited the art gallery in Düsseldorf, Germany. And there as he was viewing the various masterpieces, he was suddenly transfixed by one. And he looked at it and he kept on looking. And the curator of the art gallery noticed this young man as he made his rounds and he simply stood by that painting hour after hour. Until finally it came time to close the gallery and the young man was still there. And the curator went to him to put his hand on his shoulder and tell him he must leave. But he saw the tears streaming down his cheeks. And there in front of Zinzendorf was a magnificent painting of the crucified Christ. And there before that painting of the crucified Christ the Holy Spirit spoke. And Zinzendorf from that day had a broken heart. Ah my friend, a true heart is a broken heart. It's a heart broken from self and given to God. Shall we pray? Heavenly Father we know that you so loved the world that you gave your only begotten son. We know that he thy son offered up himself to thee for us. Give us grace to offer ourselves to him for his sake and for his glory. And this we pray in his precious name. Amen.