Before I forget, Tuesday night
church is canceled because our pastor is traveling. So just
wanted to get that out of the way. And of course, we'd like
to introduce and welcome Dave Edmondson from Bible Baptist
Church in Kentucky. I think everyone has met him,
but we're very thankful he's here. And if you do want that
good meal, you're going to have to come back to get that meal
because he missed the dinner last night, but for good reasons,
right? You had good excuse. So we'll
have to get you back maybe in the future and take you out for
dinner like we wanted to. And thanks Kevin and Amy. My
neighbors came, they have their own church, but they were very
nice and they came to hear the message this morning. So thank
you. And I'm thankful that you're my neighbor, Kevin. We've had
some very sweet discussions about the gospel. Thank you. So, all
right. So with that, um, Dave had asked
me to read Joshua two, one through 15. So I'm going to go ahead
and read that. Joshua 2, 1 through 15. And Joshua, the son of Nun, sent
out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying, Go view the
land, even Jericho. And they went, and they came
into an harlot's house named Rahab, and lodged there. And
it was told the king of Jericho, saying, Behold, there came men
in hither to-night of the children of Israel to search out the country.
And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying, Bring forth
the men that are come to thee, which are entered into thine
house, for they be come to search out all the country. And the
women took the two men and hid them, and said thus, there came
men unto me, but I wist not whence they were. And it came to pass
about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, that
the men went out. Whither the men went, I would
not pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them. But
she had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them
with the stalks of flax. which he had laid in order upon
the roof. And the men pursued after them
the way to Jordan unto the fords. And as soon as they which pursued
after them were gone out, they shut the gate. And before they
were laid down, she came up unto them upon the roof. And she said
unto the men, I know that the Lord hath given you the land
and that your terror is fallen upon us. and that all the inhabitants
of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the
Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when ye came
out of Egypt, and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites
that were on the other side of Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye
utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these
things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any
more courage in any man because of you. For the Lord your God,
he is God in heaven above and in earth beneath. Now, therefore,
I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have showed
you kindness, that you will also show kindness unto my father's
house and give me a true token, and that ye will save alive my
father and my mother and my brother and my sisters and all that they
have and deliver our lives from death. And the men answered her,
our life, for yours. If he utter not this our business
and it shall be when the Lord has given us the land that we
will deal kindly and truly with thee. Then she let them down
by a cord through the window for her house was upon the town
wall and she dwelt upon the wall. Let's pray. Our gracious and
heavenly merciful father, We thank you, Father, for allowing
us to assemble together as a small group. And Father, there is much
religion, but you allow us, Lord, to gather together to hear your
glorious gospel from week to week. And Father, will you remember
us this morning? For without your spirit with
us, Lord, it will be in vain that we meet. But Lord, will
you have mercy upon us and pour out your blessed spirit upon
us? that our hearts may be filled with your love, that we may once
again see your loving kindness towards sinners. And Father,
show unto us the Lord Jesus Christ that our eyes may be once again
turned unto unto thee. Father, remember Brother David
as he stands before us. Give him, Lord, the strength
and all that he stands in need of physically, but also remember
him in mercy. Lord, give him the words to speak
unto us and Lord, give him freedom as he declares the glorious gospel.
Our Lord Jesus Christ and Lord, give us ears to hear and remember
also our pastor, Pastor Eric, as he is traveling and preaching
in this day, bless him also and bring him home safely once again.
Father, remember those of us that are struggling with physical
ailments and difficulties, some that we cannot observe, but Lord,
Give them strength and health. You know perfectly what each
and every one needs. And Lord, also we think of our
loved ones. Will you call them out of nature's darkness? And
Lord, give them a hunger and a thirst after the Lord Jesus
Christ. Lord, you know exactly where
your sheep are. Will you call them out, Lord,
in this local community also? Use this local assembly, Lord,
as a pillar of the truth. And Father, remember us where
we stand in need of, whether it's financial needs or various
other needs, remember us, Lord. And we thank you again for your
full and free salvation, where there is nothing left to do.
Lord, you have done it all for your poor sheep. For Jesus' sake
alone, amen. Brother Dave, will you come and
preach us the gospel? Good morning, everyone. It's
good to see each of you. It's an honor and a privilege
to be here. Brother Eric called me several months ago and asked
me to come. And I've been anticipating coming. And I told he texted me this
morning. And he thanked me again for coming. And I told him it was an honor
and a privilege to stand in this pulpit. And it is. We don't just
trust anybody to preach I had a Gideon call me not long ago
and said, I'd like to schedule a date to come and preach for
you. And I said, I don't know who you are. It's serious business. We don't
just let men get up and talk because they claim to be preachers.
A preacher is a sin of God. A true preacher is. And I consider
it an honor and a privilege, as I said. It's good to see many
familiar faces here again. It's been Scott and I were talking.
It's been five years. Time sure flies by fast when
you're having fun, doesn't it? Five years. The older you get,
the faster it flies by. So I appreciate Brother Joe reading
that passage of scripture. I love the story of Rahab the
harlot. I'm of the same kind. The Lord saved her by his grace. Like Noah, Rahab found grace
in the eyes of the Lord. You know, Noah, God didn't find
grace in Noah's eyes. Noah found grace in the eyes
of the Lord. And so did I, and so do you,
if you're a child of God. Now these two spies, as Joe read,
came to this harlot's house. The Lord makes that very clear
and obvious in verse one that this was a harlot's house. God
never in the scripture tries to hide what his people are by
nature. She was a harlot. A lot of people
say, well, she was an innkeeper, first and foremost. She was a
harlot. The scripture doesn't say she
was an innkeeper. It was obviously obvious that she was. But she's
a harlot. God calls us what we are. And
the sooner we realize what we are by nature, the sooner we'll
see our need of a Savior. Now these two spies came to her
house. Let me ask you a question. Do you think that was by accident?
No. Nothing happens by accident. Everything happens on purpose.
God works all things after the counsel of His own will and purpose. And that's why Romans 8.28 says
that all things work together for the good of them that love
the Lord. who are be called according to what? His purpose. God's purpose. That's important. God had determined
on purpose to save this harlot from the foundation of the world
before she was ever born. Before she or any of us ever
done any good or evil that the purpose of God according to election
might stand. Now friends, election, that's
not a bad word. That's not a bad word. I know religion has made
it that. But it simply means God chose
who to save. And God called them by His grace
and He saved them. And one day soon He'll glorify
us in a body without sin. This harlot had already heard
many things. We see that in what she said
to the spies. I'm sure all the travelers who
stayed in this harlot's house had told her of the mighty God
of Israel. Rahab said there, I've heard
about your God. In Egypt, at the Red Sea, what
he did to those kings, Sihon and Og. And upon hearing of this
sovereign God, she asked for mercy. Oh, when God reveals to
you the God of the Bible, you'll do one of two things. You'll
run or you'll bow. May God enable us to bow. She
said, I've heard about your God. And upon hearing of this sovereign
God, she asked for mercy. And she didn't just ask mercy
for her. She asked it for her father, her mother, and all her
family. And the Lord gave it to her.
You see, a lot of times, we have not because we ask not. May God
enable us to ask for the things that we truly need according
to His will. Now, these two spies also, as
we saw, made a promise to Rahab. They made a covenant with her. And, you know, I've thought about
that so much. That promise was actually from
Joshua. Joshua, Jehovah's safe. Same
name as Jesus. Same name. They made this promise, and these
spies were just messengers. They had good news for this harlot. You see, God's promise to us
is in Joshua. It's in the Lord Jesus. Your pastor is one of those messengers
who proclaim this truth. And never forget that we're just
men. Don't put preachers up on a pedestal. We'll let you down
every time. We're just men. We're doing the best we can,
in the lack of a better way of saying it, to proclaim the glorious
gospel of something that's way over our heads. It's way over
our, God's ways of pathfinding now. Well, you know the rest
of the story of Rahab. She let the spies down from the
rooftop with a scarlet cord. That scarlet cord would also
be the same means of her and her household salvation. It was
the means that saved the spies, that delivered the spies, and
it was the very means that Joshua showed mercy upon her. She hung
that scarlet cord in the window. And what a picture that scarlet
cord is of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. What a beautiful
gospel story this is. Have you ever considered, though,
the gospel according to Rahab? I never saw this. I've studied
through the book of Joshua and taught there at our church seven,
eight years ago. And recently, after going through
numbers again, I thought it would be a good study to go through
it. And I'm so glad we did. I've
seen, isn't it amazing how when we go back to scripture and things
that we've looked at, we see something new every time. It's
just a wonderful thing. but the gospel according to Rahab,
and we find it here right where Jo left off in verse 16, Joshua
2, verse 16. Look what Rahab says here, and
notice the gospel language found in her words. Verse 16, and she
said unto them, the spies, get ye to the mountain, lest the
pursuers meet you and hide yourselves there three days. until the pursuers
be returned, and afterward may ye go your way." Now in these
words to the spies, Rahab gives us a beautiful representation
of what it is to be delivered from eternal death. You know,
that's what the gospel is. The gospel is a message of deliverance. And the first words out of Rahab's
mouth here are, get ye to the mountain. Get ye to the mountain. You know, as I read those words,
I couldn't help but to think about Mount Calvary. I couldn't
help but to think about Mount Zion. Oh my, that's where true
deliverance is found. Get ye to the mountain. Get ye
to the mountain. Get to Mount Calvary because
that's where our Lord Jesus hung in agony and suffering and pain
to put away the sins of his people. See friends, sin can't just be
forgiven. It's got to be dealt with. God
is too holy to excuse sin. Sin has to be dealt with, either
by you or a perfect sacrifice. Get ye to the mountain, get to
Mount Zion, where God has set his king on that holy hill. And
it's there that the Lord sits at the right hand of majesty
on high. By a glorious, a single glorious
act of substitution, Christ satisfied the demands of the law in our
place. He redeemed us, he justified
us, he made us righteous. Our righteousness filthy rag.
We have in Christ his perfect righteousness that was imputed
to us. And it was there on Calvary's
mountain that God was not only satisfied, but our just God and
Savior was also glorified. You see, God gets all the glory
in the matter of the salvation of sinners. We don't get any.
We didn't do anything. Just recipients of his mercy. If you don't get to the mountain,
the pursuers will find you and destroy you. Very clear to me
here that the pursuers here picture the law, the law of God. The law of God is a great pursuer. Religion today endeavors to bind
people to the law and under the law by claiming that a dead sinner
must somehow keep the law to be worthy of acceptance. How
are we going to do that? God says it must be perfect to
be accepted. You know, we've never done anything
perfect. We use that word pretty loosely. A child is born. I have
had grandchildren born. And what do we say? Oh, they're
just perfect. But they're not, are they? They
are in our eyes, maybe. We have a loose perception of
what perfect is. But this is God that says it's
got to be perfect to be accepted. And we cannot do what God's law
requires. That's why we're shut up to mercy.
That's why we must have mercy. God's law demands perfection.
The whole law must be kept perfectly, for if any offend in one point,
just one little thing, Guilty of the whole law, sin
must be punished in order for God to be a just God, who by
no means can clear the guilty. And God's holy justice demands
that sin must be punished on the one who offended God's justice,
that's you and I. Or it must be punished on a suitable
sacrifice, as I said a moment ago. And there's only one. There's
only one. The Lord Jesus Christ. Now the
law, this great pursuer, imputes or charges guilt for sin. You know, where there is no sin,
there's no reason or warrant for the law. Now follow me here
for a few minutes. That's what Paul meant in Romans
chapter five, verse 12, when he wrote, sin is not imputed
when there is no law. And he added in Galatians chapter
three, verse 19, wherefore then serveth the law? In other words,
what's the reason for the law? Why was the law given? And Paul
said this, it was added because of transgressions. Contrary to
what many today think, the law was not given to keep honest
people honest. Just like locked gates aren't
to keep honest people out. You don't have to worry about
an honest person breaking through your gate or your door. No, sir. It wasn't given to keep honest
people honest. It was given to assign blame
and guilt to the dishonest sinner. The law keeps no one from sinning. It doesn't. The law would not
exist if there was no sin. The law is not for the righteous
man. Let me read you what Paul wrote
to Timothy, 1 Timothy 1.8. But we know that the law is good
if a man use it lawfully. Knowing this, that the law is
not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient,
for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy, profane, for murderers
or fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for whoremongers,
for them that defile themselves with mankind, for man-stealers,
for liars, for perjured persons, if there be any other thing that
is contrary to sound doctrine. So called preachers today don't
understand that the unlawful of the use of the law does not
apply where no sin exists. I can't keep the law. I can't
satisfy God's holy justice, but my Lord and Savior did both and
he did it perfectly and because of his finished work. The believer
has no sin. Now, how literally can we take
that? Just as far as you can. No sin means no sin. And if you're
in the Lord Jesus Christ, you have no sin. But preacher, I
sin every day. Yes, we have a sin nature. Our spirit is worn against the
flesh. Flesh against the spirit. Paul
said, there's a war going on in my members. Yes. But in the
Lord Jesus Christ and in the eyes of God, we have no sin. Paul in 1 Corinthians said, The
sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But
thanks be to God which giveth us the victory through our Lord
Jesus Christ. It always comes back to the Lord
Jesus. Always. And you can't bind one
with the law who is perfect in Christ. No, sir. Because one
who is in Christ has no sin. Since the law was given to assign
blame and to charge sin, the law being the strength of sin,
the law becomes a relentless pursuer of the one who does not
keep it. And God's holy justice demands
it. If the Missouri State Police
are in hot pursuit of one who has broken the law, they may
pass by many others in a pursuit. Why, even on the way down here
yesterday, a state policeman, I don't know if it was Illinois
or Missouri. I don't remember where I was at. It's raining
too hard. But anyway, he passed me to chase someone else. Why? Because they're only after the
one who's guilty. Those that they pass in their
pursuit are not guilty of the crime. The police have no warrant
or reason to arrest those who have committed no crime. The
law pursues only the guilty and them alone. You see, the law
was never given to establish righteousness. I don't know why
folks think that's it. Well, if I keep the law, I can
somehow or another make myself acceptable before God. Let me
let you in on a little secret, which is not a secret. It's declared
in this Word. You can't do it. You can't do
it. You can't do it. But those who are in Christ are
blameless before the law. Now, did you notice also in verse
16 of our text that Rahab, what she said next to the spies, she
said, when you get to that mountain, hide. Hide. Hide yourselves. Rock of ages
left for me. Let me hide myself in thee. The only place to hide from God's
law is to hide in God himself. Did you hear me? The only way
to hide from God's law is to be found perfect in the Lord
Jesus Christ. David knew this. He wrote in
Psalm 17, eight, keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under
the shadow of thy wings. He said in Psalm 119, 114, thou
art my hiding place and my shield, I hope in thy word. Psalm 143,
9. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine
enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me,
hidden in the rock of ages. Thou art my hiding place. Thou
shalt preserve me from trouble. Thou shalt compass me about with
songs of deliverance. Oh, the gospel, my friends, declares
get ye to the mountain and hide in Christ. Get ye to the mountain
and hide in the Lord. Jesus Christ, for you're dead
and your life is hid with Christ in God. Isn't that something?
Rahab said, get you to the mountain. That's not all she said. She
said, and hide yourselves there three days. Three days. No doubt the words three days
speaks of the burial and resurrection of Christ. Christ rose from the
dead after three days. We were in Christ when He died.
If you're a believer, if you're a child of God, when Christ died,
you died with Him. When He was buried, you were
buried with Him. When He arose from the grave, you arose from
the grave with Him. And it's our being hid in Christ
that keeps the great pursuer off our trail. Now, I want you
to hold your place here in Joshua. We will come back to it. But
turn over to Romans chapter 6 with me. I want you to see this. in
your Bible, Romans chapter six, verse three. Romans six, verse three. Know ye not that so many of us
as were baptized into Christ were baptized into his death? And therefore we were buried
with him by baptism unto death, that like as Christ was raised
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should
walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness
of his resurrection, knowing this, that our old man," that's
what I was talking about a minute ago, that old sin nature. We
know that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin
might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed
from sin. freed from sin. Now, if we be
dead with Christ and believe, if we be dead with Christ, we
believe that we shall also live with him, knowing that Christ
being raised from the dead, dieth no more, death hath no dominion
over him. For in that he died, he died
unto sin once, but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. Likewise,
reckon ye also yourselves. to be dead indeed unto sin, but
alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. You know what
those verses are saying in just a few condensed words. Being
in Christ, we're dead to the law, we're dead to the pursuers,
and we're dead to sin. Everyone is dead in sin, but
not only the elect of God are dead to sin, only those found
in Christ that have died with him. Now look down at verse 14
here in Romans 6. Paul said, For sin shall not
have dominion over you, for you're not under the law, but under
grace. And when our Lord rose from the
grave, we were justified. Turn back a couple pages to Romans
chapter 4. Look at verse 20 here in Romans
chapter 4, speaking of Abraham. called the father of the faith.
Here in verse 20, Paul said, he staggered not at the promise
of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory
to God and being fully persuaded that what he, God had promised,
he, God, was able to perform. Do you believe that? Do we really
believe that? Sometimes I wonder. Sometimes
I wonder. Now I'm talking about myself.
Verse 22, and therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
It was charged to Abraham for righteousness. What was? Believing
God. Not believing there was a God,
not believing some things about God, but believing God. That's
what salvation is, believing what God says in this book. Taking
sides with God against ourselves. That's it. who was delivered,
verse 25, for our offenses and was raised again for our justification. You know what that word justification
means. It means being rendered innocent. I like that. Well, that's something a guilty
man alike rendered innocent. So beloved, when the pursuers
are in hot pursuit of the guilty, just pull over and let them pass.
They're not after you. Not after you. They're seeking
to blame you with sin, but they will not be able. Why? You don't
have any. You don't have any. That's the
most glorious news I've ever heard. That's what the gospel
is. Good news for sinners. Verse 22, back in our text, Joshua 2, verse
22. And they went, speaking of the
spies, and came into the mountain, And abode there three days, until
the pursuers were returned. And the pursuers," now look at
these words, "...sought them throughout all the way, but found
them not." Now that's the gospel of Christ right there. The wrath,
the judgment, and the justice of God has sought every sinner.
But to some, it'll be said, it sought them and found them not. Why? They're hid. They're hid
in the Rock of Ages. They're hid in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh my, your debt to the law was
paid on Calvary. They cannot charge you with anything. The pursuers have returned to
their place being satisfied. And the gospel is so simple.
I don't know why we make it so hard. It's so simple. Yet it's
impossible to believe without a divine revelation from God.
If God don't show it to you, I don't care how educated you
are, how bright you are, you'll never see it. God has to reveal
it to us. It's a simple message. What wonderful
liberty is found in the gospel that we preach and believe. Our
Lord said, I'm the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out. And find pasture. What liberty? What liberty is
in Christ? Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. We didn't make
ourselves free. Christ has made us free. And
be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage, the yoke of
the law. It's not for you. You had no
sin. The law was never given for people
to keep in order to be saved. The law was given to show men
and women their inability to keep it. To show them their need
of Christ. Go your way. Christ is the way. Look at verse 17 again. And the
men said unto her, We will be blameless of this thine oath
which thou hast made us swear. You remember what that oath was?
In verse 12, as Joe read, Rahab said, swear unto me by the Lord. Swear unto me by the Lord. All
the promises of God, friends, are yea and amen in Christ. Everything God does for us is
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Never forget that. God loves
us because he loves Christ and we're in him. God forgives us
because in Christ we're forgiven. It's for Christ's sake. Paul
said forgive others even as Christ has forgiven you, but that's
not always said. He said for Christ's sake. That's why we
forgive others for God is forgiven us. And here we see the gospel
of our salvation and what the spies told Rahab. Rahab preaches
to them for a little while, and then they preach to Rahab. Isn't
that what believers do when we get together? We start fellowshipping
around the gospel like you said you and your neighbor do. And
we just wind up preaching to one another. You know, he's given
all of us the ministry of reconciliation. You don't have to stand behind
the pulpit to preach. Preach to one another so many
times. Look at verse 18, I'll hurry. It says, Behold, when
you come into the land, thou shalt bind the line of scarlet
thread, when we shall come into the land, excuse me, thou shalt
bind this line of scarlet thread in the window, which thou didst
let us down by, and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother,
and thy brethren, and all thy father's household home unto
thee." Now look at this, verse 19. And it shall be that whosoever
shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, while
his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless. And
whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall
be on our head, if any man be upon him. To all who bind the
scarlet cord of Christ's blood upon the doorpost and lentils
of the windows of their heart, dear friends, God will pass over
them. That's what he promised. When
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. I was wondering, I like
to think about things like this. I like to put myself in the story. I wonder how many times Rahab
checked that scarlet cord in the window. I imagine every time
she walked through the house, she looked over and made sure
it was still hanging there. Don't you? I bet she single knotted
it, and she double knotted, and maybe even triple knotted it.
That ain't coming down. That's got to stay in the window.
Oh, my. Get into the house. Every father, mother, brother
that stays in the house, that stays in the ark, that gets into
the city of refuge shall be saved. Shall be saved. And the child
of God says with Rahab, according to the words of this gospel,
so be it. That's what the word amen means,
so be it. So be it. Now I suppose there
were probably many others that Rahab invited into her house. She warned them of the judgment
and invited them into their house that would not come. and they
didn't come because it was the house of the harlot. They would not come because of
whose house it was. You know, it was the same with
our Lord Jesus. Many would not come to Christ
because they saw him only as Joseph and Mary's son. Many would
not come to Christ because they saw him only as a son of a carpenter. Many in our Lord's day said,
can any good thing come out of Nazareth? On more than one occasion,
they said, well, you're not even 50 years old. How did you come
down from heaven? How did you see Abraham's day
and was glad? They didn't know who he was.
But the gospel message is, come and see. Come and see. That's
what Philip said to Nathanael. Nathanael said, can any good
thing come out of Nazareth? And he said, come and see. Come and see. That's what we
do when we invite folks to come hear the gospel. Come and see.
Come and see this God who's like no other God. The God of the
Bible. The one who does what he wills.
The one who purposes what he purposes. The one who thinks
it and it comes to pass. The one who purposes it and it
shall stay. For 120 years, Noah cried coming
to the ark. They thought Noah was a flaming
idiot. Until it began to rain. Until
it began to rain. And it was too late. Dear sinner,
get into the house on the wall. It cannot fall. It cannot fall. God's holding it up. Verse 23,
so the two men returned and descended from the mountain and passed
over and came to Joshua the son of Nun and told him all things
that befell them. And they said unto Joshua, as
you know means Jehovah saves, truly the Lord hath delivered
into our hands all the land, that being the land of promise.
For even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because
of us. The inhabitants of Canaan fainted,
the word melted there, that's what it means, because they'd
heard of Israel's Lord and God. And one day very soon, dear friends,
every sinner to whom God has been merciful will say, truly
the Lord hath delivered into our hands sin and self and Satan
and eternal death, and they do faint because of us. for we've
been perfectly conformed to the image of Christ. It's who we
stand in, who we're found in that makes that difference. Sinners
will either faint and melt for fear of his judgment, as most
of Jericho did, or they'll either faint, bow, submit, and forever
worship their Savior and substitute the Lord Jesus Christ. One or
two things happen. Well, you can be assured of this.
Rahab and her thought a great deal of Joshua. Joshua, what
do you think of Christ? That's the question of scripture,
really. When it all comes down to one thing, the question of
all questions is, what do you think of Christ? It's the only
thing that'll mean anything in the end. Stay in the house and
look to the crimson cord. The only shed blood that God
will pass over. Stay in Christ the ark, the only
place where the enlightened sinner can be delivered from the wrath
of God. Stay in the city of refuge and
be forever safe from the great pursuer of the law, the avenger
of blood, who's out to punish you for sin. Why? Because if
you're in Christ Jesus, you're free from the law of sin and
death. Free? Free, that's a great word. Your
sin cannot be punished on you and on your Savior. No. If it
was punished on Christ, it was put away in Christ, and you no
longer have any sin. I wish we could get a hold of
that. Oh, I'm starting to grab a little more of it every day.
In Christ, I have no sin. That's why we can't look within.
We've got to look to Him. Keep looking to Christ. Thank
you for your attention. Father in heaven, Lord, we thank
you for this time that you've ordained and given us. Lord,
I thank you for this group here who's been faithful to your gospel
now for several years. Lord, bless them. Bless their
pastor. Bless this work, Lord. We know
that the truth is being proclaimed here and that your word will
not return unto you void. It'll accomplish what you've
sent it to accomplish. Lord, we know that you're still
saving sinners. The sun came up this morning,
and we know that when you're done, when the last sheep is
brought home, you're going to wrap up the four corners of this
earth and this life as we know it and come again. Oh, gosh. Oh, God, make us ready. Enable us to trust in Christ
as we ought. It's in his name that we pray
and ask these things. Amen. Thank you for your attention.