Lord, Thou knowest what is going through the hearts and minds of Thy people. Lord, Thou knowest all that is within us.
Lord, Thou knowest how many are looking to Thee for a way—for Thy way. How we are looking to Thee to lead us out of confusion, out of darkness, out of puzzlement, doubt, and despair.
Oh, that we may follow Thee, that we may follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth. But, Lord, where art Thou going? What is the first step of Thy sheep? Make us hear Thy voice.
Thy sheep hear Thy voice. Thou goest before, and Thy sheep follow Thee. Oh, Lord, where dost Thou lead Thy sheep?
Lord, remove the veils from our hearts, that we may behold Thee with unveiled faith; that we may see Thy glory and hear Thy voice: “This is the way; walk ye in it.”
O Lord, we desire to follow Thee. We desire to go where Thou goest, to stay where Thou stayest. Lord, we do not care whether it is the mountain or the valley, whether it is prosperity or adversity, whether it is riches or destitution. Lord, we do not care about these things. Our whole desire is to follow the Lamb.
Oh, we want to please Thee, Lord. We want to be assured that we approve of Thee. Lord, we do not look for success; we look for Thy approval. Oh, Lord, a smile from Thy face is sufficient for us. It can wipe away all our tears.
Oh, Lord, Thou knowest the deep cry of our hearts. Lord, answer us tonight. Oh, answer us from heaven. Answer us with Thy voice, Lord, that we may not be mistaken anymore.
Thou knowest we are foolish. We are like foolish sheep. Thou knowest, Lord, unless Thou speakest with such clarity, we do not know.
Oh, Lord, have mercy upon us. Hear us, O Lord. Speak, Lord. Oh, Thou speak with such clarity that we cannot be mistaken.
Oh, Lord, we want Thee. We want Thy will. We want to please Thee. Lord, we want Thy will to be done. We want to see Thy glory. We want Thy kingdom to come. We want Thee to be highly exalted, O Christ, far above all.
Lord, we just prostrate ourselves in dust and ashes. Touch us, Lord, that we may stand up and walk. We ask in Thy precious name.
Will you please turn to the Book of Revelation, chapter 2, verse 7.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
To him that overcometh, to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.
Revelation 2:11:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.
Revelation 2:17:
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
To him that overcometh, to him will I give of the hidden manna;
and I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone a new name written,
which no one knoweth but he that receiveth it.
Revelation 2:26-29:
And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth My works unto the end,
to him will I give authority over the nations:
and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to shivers;
as I also have received of My Father:
and I will give him the morning star.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Revelation 3:5-6:
He that overcometh shall thus be arrayed in white garments;
and I will in no wise blot his name out of the book of life,
and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Revelation 3:12-13:
He that overcometh, him will I make a pillar in the temple of My God,
and he shall go out thence no more:
and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God,
the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from My God, and Mine own new name.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Revelation 3:21-22:
He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with Me in My throne,
as I also overcame, and sat down with My Father in His throne.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
We have mentioned during these nights that the burden of the Lord is the testimony of Jesus Christ. This is the one thing in which God is intensely and exclusively interested: the testimony of Jesus Christ.
What is the testimony of Jesus Christ? It is the declaration, the affirmation, of a fact, a truth, a reality. And we mentioned again and again: that fact is Jesus Christ; that truth is Jesus Christ; that reality is Jesus Christ.
It is the declaration of who He is—who Jesus is—and what He is. That constitutes the testimony of Jesus Christ.
This testimony is today entrusted to a new vessel, and that new vessel is the church. Because we are still in this flesh, therefore, so far as the responsibility of this testimony is concerned, you find it deposited and entrusted to the churches in many places.
That is the reason why John, as he turned back, saw the seven golden lampstands, with the Son of Man in the midst.
Now, brothers and sisters, as we mentioned before, it is natural for us, when we are interested in Christ and interested in the things of God, to become interested in God’s people.
If we are not interested in Christ, if we are not interested in the things of God, we will have absolutely no interest and no concern about the people of God. Who are they to us?
But as soon as we become interested in the testimony of Jesus, immediately we find ourselves very much concerned about the condition of God’s people. Why? Because God’s people are the vessel of the testimony of Jesus Christ.
And immediately disappointment comes. When you look at the churches, when you look at the people of God, what do you see?
But, brothers and sisters, God does not want us to take a first look at the condition of the church. This can be the second look, but not the first look.
The first look has to be directed toward the vessel of the testimony of Jesus as God has ordained it to be. In other words, we need first to see the heavenly vision and be caught with it before we are qualified to look at the situation of the churches.
We have to see what God sees eternally first, and then come to see things that are temporary. So, first of all, brothers and sisters, we need to look to the Lord to give us a vision of the Son of Man, a vision of our Lord Jesus.
We need to see how He is the First and the Last; He is the Living One; He became dead, and He is alive for evermore; and He holds in His right hand the keys of death and Hades.
We need to see a vision of our Lord Jesus much, much bigger than merely seeing Him as the Crucified One. That is big—oh, that is big. He is the Crucified One. Our salvation is accomplished by Him on the cross. Tremendous!
But, brothers and sisters, our vision of the Lord Jesus has to be enlarged. He is not only the One who became dead, but He is alive for evermore. He is the very purpose of God, the very center of everything, the sum of all things.
We need to have a vision of our Lord, and then we also need to have a vision of the vessel for the testimony of Jesus—what it ought to be, or what it is in the mind of God.
The purpose of God is a golden lampstand: pure gold, beaten work, exquisite in form, with cups, knops, and flowers. In other words, it is purely of Christ—of all the riches, the fullness, the beauty, and the glory of Christ. And this is what the church really is.
Now, after you have seen this, then the Lord will turn you again to earth and allow you to see what the actual condition of the church is today.
As you read the seven letters to the churches in Asia, aside from the letter to the church in Philadelphia—or perhaps you may add Smyrna—in general, as you read the seven letters to the churches, you find that they are far from what God has intended for them.
In other words, our Lord Jesus, as He looked at these seven churches, was trying to find Himself in them, trying to find His testimony in them. He had revealed Himself to them. They had His testimony, but—
Suppose the Lord Jesus should come tonight and walk among His churches. Will He recognize these churches? Can He find Himself in these churches? What will He find?
He will find lots of works, lots of activities, lots of knowledge, lots of good things—oh, no lack of all these things. And yet, where can He find Himself? What is it that is in the church that responds to Himself?
Too many substitutes, but there is not the reality.
How you find our Lord Jesus exhorting the seven churches to repent. Dear brothers and sisters, the people of God need to repent.
Not to repent because there is any lack of activity; not to repent because there is any deficiency in knowledge; not to repent because there is any lack in good works.
But to repent because, when the church is measured by the testimony of Jesus, it does not measure up. That is not natural.
But does the church hear the voice of repentance? Does the church really repent?
On the one hand, you find the Lord Jesus, in writing to these seven churches, first telling them who He is and what He is, showing them that He has not changed. He is still the same yesterday, today, and forever. As He revealed Himself to them before, so now He still is.
Then He tries to commend them for the good things that He can see, in order to encourage them. But He is not satisfied with all these things. He is looking for the testimony of Jesus in them.
And when He cannot find it, He says, “Repent. Oh, repent. If you do not repent, then you are forcing Me to remove the lampstand out of its place.”
Even though you may still exist on earth as an organization, the testimony is finished. The reality is gone. If you do not repent, “I will spew thee out of My mouth.” I will have nothing to do with you.
But does the church listen? Does the church hear? Does the church lay herself down in dust and ashes?
They have ears, but do not hear.
Because of that, at the end of each letter, the Lord has to do something different. After He has pointed out what is missing, after He has called them to repent and they do not, the Lord ends each letter with a call for overcomers.
“He that overcometh.” “He that overcometh.” “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.” In other words, there is the call for overcomers.
Now, dear brothers and sisters, the call for overcomers is not God’s original call. The call for overcomers is God’s remedial call, a secondary call. The call for overcomers is God’s strategic way of recovery.
If the church is normal—listen—if the church is what God has designed it to be, there is no need for the call of overcomers. The whole church is the overcoming church.
The Head is the Overcomer; the Body is the overcomer. But, brothers and sisters, because the church does not listen and does not respond, God has to take a new measure—an emergency measure, a strategic step—for the sake of obtaining what He desires for the church.
Brothers and sisters, there is one thing that weighs very heavily upon my heart. No question—I wonder: will the church ever be what God ordains it to be?
Will it ever be the golden lampstand, made of pure gold, beaten work, finished? Is it a dream, a beautiful dream, which, when you wake up, is so sweet that it makes you weep?
The Bible says:
Until we all attain unto the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,
unto a fullgrown man,
unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.
Will it ever be? Will the bride ever be ready for the Bridegroom? If the Bridegroom is delayed because the bride is not ready, when will the bride be ready?
It seems as if the bride is unready more and more. No hope.
Many years ago, I was really searching for an answer. I could not see. I could not see how God’s purpose could be fulfilled. Would there ever be a glorious church without spot or wrinkle that could be presented to Christ as His bride?
Forgive me to mention a brother. I talked with him. I asked him, “Can it ever be? Is there any hope? I do not see any possibility.”
Even though at that time I saw very little, even with the little I saw, it was hopeless. And now, after so many years, it is even more hopeless.
I remember our brother answered me very simply. He said, “Brother, this is to be fulfilled on the principle of the overcomers.”
Oh, how that comforted me.
Of course, the Lord’s heart is to see His church as a golden lampstand, upholding the testimony of Jesus. Of course, it is the heart desire of our Lord to see the whole church as a glorious church without spot or wrinkle, ready for the Bridegroom. Of course. There is no doubt about that.
But what if God’s people do not repent? What if God’s people are content with the present situation? What if God’s people’s ears are deaf? What if God’s people do not respond to the Lord’s call?
Will God’s purpose be defeated? Will there be no testimony of Jesus on this earth?
Oh, thank God, He has His way. It is the way of the overcomers.
God will call overcomers in the church to take the place and bear the testimony of Jesus when the church in general fails.
And you know, brothers and sisters, this is a very important principle in the Scripture concerning recovery. Again, I will emphasize: this is not God’s first call.
God’s first call has already gone out. And if the first call is obeyed, there needs to be no second call, as it were. As a matter of fact, the second call is the same as the first call. There is only one difference: it is more specific.
Now let me illustrate it. You remember where Abraham was: in Ur of the Chaldees.
The Lord of glory appeared to him and called him to go out of his native land, out of his kindred, and go to the place that God had chosen for him.
Now remember, this call came when Abraham was in Ur of the Chaldees. It is recorded in Acts 7. That is the first call.
Did Abraham obey? Yes and no. He responded to the call, but halfway.
It is true that he left Ur of the Chaldees, out of his native land. But he stopped at Haran, which is in the middle of Canaan and Chaldea.
True, he left his kindred, but some kindred came out with him: his father, Terah, and his nephew, Lot.
Many years passed in Haran. There was no appearing of God. There was no call of God anymore, until Terah died. Then God called him the second time, and that is recorded in Genesis 12.
The call that came to him the second time was when Abraham was in Haran, not in Ur of the Chaldees. If we are not careful, we may think that this is the call—the only call. But if you read the Bible carefully, you will find that this is actually the second call.
The call of God came to him and said, “Go out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house.” Specific. The same call, but it became more specific.
In other words, where you fail is where that call is specifically directed.
Dear brothers and sisters, the testimony of Jesus is a full testimony. That vision in Revelation 1 is a full vision. The declaration of Christ in chapter 1 is a complete declaration, and this full testimony of Jesus Christ is entrusted to the church.
But because the church has failed in bearing the testimony of Jesus, the Lord calls for overcomers. And when the call for overcomers comes, you find that it is very specific.
We will explain it more later on, but anyway, you find God has a way to fulfill and accomplish His purpose in spite of the failure. Thank God for that.
Let us use another illustration, which is familiar probably to most of us. You remember the children of Israel. They were God’s chosen people. The testimony of God was entrusted to them.
But they failed in the testimony. They broke the law. They worshiped idols.
They were supposed to bear the testimony of God to the world. But now, where was the testimony? They were worshiping foreign gods, foreign idols. They were no different from the rest of the world. Complete failure.
Because of that, the discipline of the Lord came upon the nation. The Jews were taken into captivity. The temple in Jerusalem was completely destroyed. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed.
The Jewish people were taken into Babylonian captivity. Physically speaking, there was no more testimony of God: no Jerusalem, no temple, no sacrifice, no people of the testimony. They were captives.
For that reason, you find in the Book of Daniel that God is called only “the God of heaven,” no longer “the God of heaven and earth.” There was no more testimony of God on earth. Finished.
But thank God, after seventy years, God began the work of recovery.
When God initiated this work of recovery, what did He do? He stirred the heart of King Cyrus of Persia. King Cyrus made a decree, a royal decree, and said that God had commanded him to make a proclamation: any of the Jewish people in captivity who would like to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God might do so.
Is that not sovereign?
Any of the Jewish people who were in captivity, who desired to go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple of God, could do so.
Dear brothers and sisters, probably we would think that during those seventy years of captivity in a foreign land, with no temple and no sacrifice, how could they live through those seventy years? Those seventy years must have been most miserable.
They must have been waiting day after day for an opportunity to return, for an opportunity to go back. Surely that was what they should have been doing. And if the proclamation should come, then everybody would rise up and go.
Not so. Not so.
Even though they were in captivity, during those seventy years in captivity, even though they had no Jerusalem, no temple, no sacrifice, and no testimony, they were slaves—but they learned to adapt themselves.
Adaptation is one of these things. On the one hand, it is one of the finest things that human beings have. If we cannot adapt, that would be terrible. It is a good thing physically speaking.
But adaptation, spiritually speaking, is our worst enemy.
During those seventy years, they learned to adapt themselves to their condition. They adapted so well. You just cannot imagine how well they had adapted themselves.
They began to build their houses. They began to have their trades. They began to accumulate wealth, and more so, they began to have synagogues.
You know, that is where the synagogue began. You do not find in the Bible the origin of synagogues, because the origin of the synagogue is not divine; it is human. It is a human way of adaptation—very clever, ingenious, the masterpiece of human cleverness.
There was no temple, but they were God’s people. Even though they had failed so terribly, they still professed themselves as God’s people. Now, God’s people must worship.
But there was no Jerusalem, where God had put His name. There was no temple where they could take their sacrifice. Now, what should they do?
“Let us have some substitute. No temple, but a synagogue is all right.”
You know what a synagogue is? A synagogue is a substitute for the temple.
They substituted it so well. You can have only one temple, but you can have numberless synagogues. If you go to the temple, you have to travel to Jerusalem; but now you do not need to travel. You can have a synagogue on your street. Is that not convenient?
According to Jewish tradition, if there are ten Jewish men of leisure, you can organize a synagogue. By ten Jewish men of leisure, it does not mean that they have no other work. It means that they are interested in so-called spiritual things and are willing to spend some time in them.
Then, if you have ten of that kind of men, you can have a synagogue. So, during the seventy years of Babylonian captivity, synagogues just sprang up everywhere in the land of captivity.
Oh, they said, “How convenient it is. We do not need to travel anymore. It is right next door.”
Oh, yes, it was not as complete as the temple, because there was no altar. There was no sacrifice, because you cannot sacrifice anywhere. You can sacrifice only in Jerusalem, in the temple.
There was no altar, and there was no sacrifice; but they could read the Book, they could sing the songs, and they could still pray.
It was not perfect, but it was better than nothing. And this second best so satisfied them that they lost the vision of the best.
After seventy years of captivity, the Jewish people—their conscience, as it were, was bribed by synagogues. They had become so adapted to the foreign situation.
When the call came, “Anyone who would like to go back to Jerusalem to build the house of God may go,” they heard, but they did not hear. There was no movement either.
“What? To go back to Jerusalem? There is nothing there—a ruined city surrounded by enemies. But here at least we have our own houses.”
“Go back to Jerusalem and start all over again? We have been rooted here quite well.”
“Go back to Jerusalem because we can rebuild a temple? If there were no synagogue, then it would be necessary. But we have the synagogue here. Why bother? Why not?”
And the result was that only a remnant of all the Jewish people who were taken into captivity—only a remnant of less than fifty thousand—were willing to be uprooted, face the dangers and the perils, and go back to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.
Dear brothers and sisters, when they came to Jerusalem, they were but a few in comparison with all the Jewish people at that time. They were just a remnant, but they came back.
The Spirit of God stirred their hearts. They were willing to let go of everything. They came to Jerusalem.
When they came to Jerusalem, the first thing they did was rebuild the altar. When they rebuilt the altar, they rebuilt it with twelve stones. Why? Because the Jewish nation is a nation of twelve tribes.
Even though only a remnant came back, yet they came back for the sake of the whole nation. They did not come back just for themselves.
Because the rest of the nation refused to respond to the call of God, they responded for the whole nation. Oh, they did not say, “We came back; we are much better than you are.” No.
When they built the altar, they did not build it with two stones, but with twelve stones. The whole nation was there before God in the persons of the remnant.
Now, brothers and sisters, this is a principle of recovery. Let me emphasize again: it is not the first principle of God’s work. It is the second principle, the principle of recovery.
You have that in the Old Testament. I am just using one illustration. When you come to the New Testament, to the church—oh, brothers and sisters—is not the church a new creation? Should it not be better than the earthly people of the Jewish nation?
As we come to the Lord, we are living stones, being built up together into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
A golden lampstand for the testimony of Jesus. Oh, brothers and sisters, this is for the whole church. This is for all God’s people. It is all-inclusive.
But what if the church is in captivity and refuses to come back?
I do not know, brothers and sisters, how you feel. If you see the condition of God’s people today with the eyes of God—that is to say, if you can see as God sees His people today—can you say that the whole church responds to the call of repentance?
Because of that, brothers and sisters, today the call for overcomers is out. When the rest of the church refuses to respond, God says, “Who has ears to hear and respond?”
Brothers and sisters, we are so content in the foreign land. We are strangers and sojourners, but we have sojourned here so long that we are adapted to it.
We have become rooted in this world. Even though it is not the best, we have learned to live with our situation.
Furthermore, are we not still very religious? Do we not still go to church on Sunday, at least? Do we not still have all these so-called Christian activities going on? Do we not have many good works, and so on, and so forth?
Brothers and sisters, do these substitutes really satisfy your heart? Is your conscience really bribed?
Oh, does the Spirit of God stir your heart? As I know—not because I am better than my brothers and sisters; no, I am worse—but I hear the call: “He that overcometh.”
Overcomes what? Why overcome? Because you are in a situation that is contrary to the testimony of Jesus. And that you have to overcome. That is the reason why the call is out.
Oh, he that overcomes—that is to say, overcome the situation and respond to the testimony of Jesus. Who is that? He has not changed. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
In every letter, you find the Lord announcing Himself. It is almost a repetition of what you see in Revelation 1, but it suits the special condition of each church. It becomes specific.
Some people ask this question: “What should we overcome in order to make us overcomers? Is there a standard? Is there, say, a list, so that we can check off one by one, and if we can check off every one of them, then we are overcomers?”
Dear brothers and sisters, thank God there is no such list.
According to the revelation of Jesus Christ, if you respond to the revelation of Jesus Christ and keep the testimony of Jesus, you are an overcomer.
To the church in Ephesus, the revelation of Jesus Christ is He who has the seven stars in His right hand and walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. That is His revelation.
In other words, He is here. He is here. He is present.
But to the church in Ephesus, He is not here. He is not here. The works go on, the labor goes on, the knowledge continues, and so on and so forth. But the first love is not there. He is knocking.
I wonder whether the church in Ephesus began to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In other words, it is reduced into a knowledge of good and evil, but not the tree of life.
I wonder if that is the hint, because to him that overcomes the Lord says that He will give him to eat of the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
How can we hold on to knowledge, to works, to good things, to reasoning, but the Lord is not here? There is no love. There is no love.
To the overcomers in the church in Ephesus, they are to overcome just one thing: the lack of first love.
Oh, if they repent and turn to the Lord, that first love will be restored. And whoever’s first love is restored is an overcomer.
For the church in Smyrna, there is the call for overcomers. But who are the overcomers? Those who are willing to suffer, even unto death, for the Lord’s sake. They are all overcomers.
Who are the overcomers in the church in Pergamum? Those who are separated from the world—the two-edged sword. Those who are not seeking to build a high tower in this world to be popular, but who are separated from the world according to the revelation that they receive.
Who are the overcomers in Thyatira? Those who hold on to the truth and refuse to know the so-called deep things of Satan.
Who are the overcomers in Sardis? Those who walk with the Lord in white garments—the garment of righteousness washed by the precious blood. In other words, to them it is not just an outward form, the form of godliness without the power thereof.
Who are the overcomers in Philadelphia? We say, “Well, Philadelphia: brotherly love. They keep the Word; they do not deny His name; they have a little power. They are all overcomers.”
But still, you find the call to overcome. Overcome what? “Hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown.” In other words, you may start well, but you may not continue.
Who are the overcomers in Laodicea? Those who overcome this lukewarmness, this so-called spiritual pride—those who have a living relationship with the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, there is no fixed standard for overcomers. In whatever situation you are, according to the revelation of Jesus Christ, that will be the measure for an overcomer.
Oh, thank God for that. If He should set a standard that everyone has to meet, then people who have been with the Lord for many years and have known the Lord for many years would, of course, have the advantage.
But for those who are newly saved, for those who know very little, how can they be overcomers?
Thank God, you can be an overcomer according to the revelation of Jesus Christ that has been given to you. To those who are given more, more is required.
He is the living God. Oh, brothers and sisters, who are the overcomers of the church? The overcomers of the church are all those who respond to the testimony of Jesus, who respond to the revelation of Jesus Christ, and in whom is the testimony of Jesus. These are the overcomers.
Why are they overcomers? They respond to the Lord, not just for themselves. They respond to the Lord for the whole church.
The remnant built an altar with twelve stones for the twelve tribes of Israel. Oh, brothers and sisters, how can the testimony of Jesus Christ be maintained when the church in general has failed?
How can God’s purpose concerning His church be fulfilled when God’s people—the majority of God’s people—are not responding to God?
There is a way. It is God’s way. Today, God is calling for overcomers.
When the church is normal, you do not have that call. But when the church is abnormal, the call for overcomers is out: “Who hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.”
Brothers and sisters, I do believe the Lord is calling His people.
You know, sometimes you wonder why. It is true that many have responded, but many more have not. If you have to wait until all have responded, how long? How long will you wait? Is there any hope?
Thank God. Thank God for the many who have responded to the call, given themselves to the Lord for the church.
As the Lord sees the overcomers, God’s purpose is done. It is done.
Of course, tonight we have just mentioned the principle of it. But if you read the Word of God more carefully, you will find this principle there all the way through the whole Bible.
It is God’s strategic way of recovery. So we are living in the end of the last days, and, brothers and sisters, oh, that God may be merciful to us, that we may not only be saved, but that we may be overcomers.
How can we overcome?
The only secret to being an overcomer is to see the Lord.
He is the First and the Last. He is the Living One. He became dead, and behold, He is alive. He has the keys of death and Hades.
Brothers and sisters, actually there is nothing we can do. We are as weak as all the others. Maybe we are weaker.
Because we are weaker, we cannot trust in ourselves. We look to the Lord.
As we look to the Lord, you find in every letter that the Lord is here, ready to fulfill the testimony in you—but by Him, not by us.
So, only as we look to the Lord, He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we may ask. Thank God, there is a way.
Let us pray just before the Lord.