Turn to Hebrews chapter 6, if
you would, please. We're talking in our Bible study. I closed
with a statement from Henry Mahan. He declared that, you know, if
you don't believe in your heart, fully believe, fully trust that
Jesus Christ has paid it all, that He has completely cleansed
all the sins of His people, that He has freed us from the bondage
of sin, We easily leave the door open for things as self-righteousness
to creep in, things as free will towards religions. Our Lord assures
us in His Word that when He hung on that cross, it is finished. I don't know
why I'm not in Hebrews yet, but it is finished. That's what he
tells us. The perfect blood of God Almighty did exactly what
it was purposed to do. That's where our assurance should
be. Do we walk differently? You know,
several folks, my good friend, a man I've worked with for many
years, Will Wilkins, some of you have met him. He knows John
Reeves. before Christ called me out of
darkness. He knows who John Reeves was.
We were talking a little bit about this over lunch with him
and his wife, Gigi. You know, John, you're kind of
the same, but there's something different about you. There's
something different about you. And I thought, as I was putting
together this message, I'm so thankful that he can't see my
heart. I'm so thankful that he can't
see what John Reeves sees. Because I don't think I've changed
at all. Other than the fact that now I believe where I didn't
believe before. To me, this flesh is the same
thing as it was before. We were talking about this in
Bible study. Do we desire to turn away from sin? Oh, absolutely
I do now. I didn't have that desire before,
so there's a difference. Maybe that's what he's talking
about. Whatever it is he's talking about, I'm glad I see the real
John Reeves in me and I hope you see the real you in you.
I hope you're not blinded by something you're doing. I hope
I'm not blinded by something I'm doing because we can be blinded
by our actions. I can tell you some pretty wild
things that John used to be and how the difference is that he's
not that anymore. But that doesn't do anything
but point to what I have done. To point the difference in me.
That doesn't do anything for you. The only thing that can
help you is to look and see what Christ has done for you. And
He assures us. Did you catch that word? Assures
us. that if we are in Him, if we
belong to Him, His blood accomplished what He went and shed it for.
Let us rest in that. Let us put our hope in that. I pray the Lord will help me
this morning to speak to you and that you may hear God's Word
and walk away this morning with a sure hope. Not just a Man,
am I sinned? Am I saved? Look what I do. Look what I think. Am I saved?
I want you to walk away with this sure hope that Christ has
paid it all. All to Him I owe. Don't measure
my salvation by what you see in this flesh. Don't measure
my salvation by what I do. Oh, wretched man that I am. Paul didn't say, oh, wretched
man that I was. He says, oh, wretched man that
I am right now. Our Lord gives us a hope, but
He gives it to us with a surety. It's not a hope in what you have
done. It's a hope in what His Son has done. It's a hope in
Christ Jesus. And I pray that He speaks to
your heart this day. and gives you that same hope.
Look here at verse 19 of Hebrews chapter 6. The 19th verse of
Hebrews chapter 6, we read these words, which hope we have as
an anchor to the soul. Now picture that for a moment.
We all know what an anchor is, right? You know, you drop an
anchor down in the water and it holds that boat just as fast
as can be. The winds may be blowing, the
waves may be doing this, but that boat's going to hang on
to where that anchor is holding on to the bottom. We have a hope
as an anchor to our soul. Both sure and steadfast. It doesn't waver. Christ Jesus does not change. Therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. He's a steadfast rock for our
anchor to hold on to. He's the anchor that holds us
onto that rock. An anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil. That very anchor that we have,
that very hope that is sure and steadfast is entered into within
the veil, the holiest of holies. That which anchors our souls
in this turbulent world is the blessed hope that we have in
Christ Jesus alone, causing us to look for mercy from our Lord
Jesus Christ unto eternal life, standing, as it were, upon the
tiptoe of faith. Isn't that what it is? Isn't
that where we put it all? We put it all in our faith in
Him? We talked about this last week, we talked about it the
week before, the subject of faith. It's a faith in Him. And it's
a faith from Him. A gift that He has given us to
believe Him. Here, God the Holy Spirit is
telling us that the hope is both sure and it's steadfast because
it's all together in one person. Hear that again, it's in one
person. If I have to do anything to add
to that, I've blown that hope, that surety right out the window.
Because I can't do anything as perfect as He did it. I can't
do anything perfect at all. Everything our Lord has done
was perfect and sure. And we can stand fast on that. He said it is finished, it is
finished. We are assured of the hope of
glory by Christ's entrance into glory. We cannot hold our Savior. When Christ went into the grave
with all of our sins... Let me back up just a moment
again. Did you ever notice that in the
Scripture of 2 Corinthians 5.15 where it says, He made Him to
be sin. Did you notice it didn't say
sins? God made His Son, He who knew no sin, to be sin for us. And we are assured of the hope
of glory by Christ's entrance into the glory, His risen from
the dead when He took all those sins into the grave, when He
became sin for us, and He took the sin of His people into the
grave and left it there. He arose from the grave and sat
on His throne as the forerunner, the forerunner of His people.
Look over verse 20 of that very same chapter. Hebrews chapter
6, verse 20. Whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus
made an eye-priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. Our
Lord, after His resurrection from the dead, the Lord Jesus
Christ, He ascended up into heaven and He entered into glory, not
for Himself, but for us. Not for us. He didn't sin. He
didn't have to go back to heaven for you and I, I mean for Himself.
He went back to heaven for you and I. Why? To make intercession
for us. That's what it's telling us there.
Whether for the forerunner as entered, even Jesus made a high
priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. He entered into
heaven as our forerunner. He took possession of it in our
name. And He appears in the presence
of God for us. That's what it says. Turn to
chapter 9 real quick and read with me verse 24. Hebrews chapter
9. Look at verse 24 if you would.
For Christ is not entered into the holy place made with hands,
which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself,
now to appear in the presence of God for us. For us. Our Redeemer's representation
of us in glory is so real, it's such a real representation, and
it so absolutely secures our entrance into glory with Him, already, right now, seated together
with Him in heavenly places. Isn't that what we read in Ephesians
chapter 2? Let me read it for you. But God,
who is rich in mercy, for His great love were with ye loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace are ye saved, and hath
raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. Our salvation is secure and assured
in Him. And it's assured to us because
He's sitting there right now assuring everything, making intercession
for us. The prayers and the preparations
of Christ for the future glory of His people assure us of the
hope of glory. Our Savior has gone to heaven
to prepare a place for us. In that we read in John 14, 2,
in my Father's house are many mansions, If it were not so,
I would have told you, I'd go to prepare a place for you."
Isn't that his word? He says, in my Father's house are many
mansions, abiding houses, places of wealth, places filled with
peace and joy and happiness. He says, if it were not so, I
would have told you. If heavenly glory were nothing
but a dream, if it were nothing but a dream, he would have told
us that. But no, he says, I'd go to prepare
a place for you. I go to prepare a place for you.
Yes, our all-glorious Savior has gone to heaven, the Father's
house, to prepare a place for us, His beloved friends. Folks,
heavenly glory is a kingdom prepared for us from the foundation of
the world. Christ was known as the Lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. Everything God has done from
the beginning to right now and to all the end is to save His
people. He has been preparing, preparing
the foundation before the foundation of the world in purpose and decree. He's prepared for us a Savior,
a Savior who would commit a sin-atoning death in our place. Yet doesn't
it not require something more? Did it not require something
more than just Christ going to the cross? Absolutely it did. Fresh preparation by His bodily
presence in heaven was also required. For Christ to make intercession
for His elect, the blood atonement had to be accepted. Christ laid
down His blood. He shed His blood for His people.
God had to accept that. He had to accept that as payment,
as satisfaction for what you and I deserve, His wrath. He shed all of His wrath upon
His Son. All of the wrath that you and
I earned was laid upon Him. But if Christ had not arose in
a kin, what proof would we have that God had accepted it? What
proof? Our Lord's resurrection was proof
of God's acceptance, and Christ is there now preparing a place
for chosen sinners. This is His particular business
right now in Heaven, making intercession for His people. Our High Priest
is making intercession to God the Father on our behalf, the
behalf of His elect, the behalf of His redeemed people. I've
redeemed them. They're mine. I've paid the price. That one has no sin left in him.
He's praying for the salvation of those who will yet to believe
on Him. Look over at chapter 7 of Hebrews.
Chapter 7, look with me at verses 19 and 20 through 25. of a better hope. See there?
There's that hope of surety. There's that sure hope, a better
hope. As sinners, we know there's nothing we can hope in in this
flesh. That's why we need a better hope. For the law made nothing
perfect but the bringing in of a better hope. By the which we
draw nigh unto God, and as much as not without an oath he was
made priest, For those priests, speaking of the priests of the
Old Testament, were made without an oath, but this was an oath
by him that said unto him, the Lord swear, and I will not repent,
thou art a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek. He's
praying also for the sins of his erring people, that they
might not be imputed to them. 1 John chapter 2, look at verses
1 through 2. My little children, these things
write I unto you, that ye sin not, for if any man sin, intercession
for his people. He prays for those that have
not yet been brought to believe. He prays for those who err in
their ways, the children of him that err in their ways, my little
children. These things I write unto you, that ye sin not. And
if any man sin, ye have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ
the righteous. And he is the propitiation for
our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the
whole world. And we know it's not the whole
world as far as all mankind. We know that according to God's
word, it's all of his elect. All of those who were chosen
throughout all time, throughout all the world. the whole elect,
the whole church of God. He's praying for the spiritual
unity of the church. Over in John 17, and I'll read
this for you, John chapter 17, we read this, and you know the
Lord's priestly prayer. He's praying to the Father. He
says, neither pray I for these alone, in verse 20, but for them
also which shall believe on me through their words, speaking
of those that he has left in the world, that they may be one
as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they may also
be one in us. So our Lord is praying for us
that we would be in Him, that we would be preserved in His
Son. He's praying for the preservation of His elect as we also read
in John chapter 17. Again, I'll read for you. It's
verse 15. It says, I pray not that thou shouldest take them
out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from evil. He's preserving
us. He prays to preserve you and
I. He's interceding for you and I. He must be in heaven. He couldn't do that if He was
still in the grave. This is our surety that God Himself
sits on His throne, making intercession for us. If we sin, we have an
advocate with the Father. Jesus Christ the Lord. He prays
for the eternal happiness of all of His saints in heaven.
Again, in John 17, we read in verse 24, Father, I will. that
they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am." Where
is he at? He's on his throne in heaven.
He's praying for our eternal life right there. That they may
be with him right where he's at. That they may behold my glory
which thou hast given me. When our place in heaven is perfectly
prepared for us, and we for it, Christ will come and take us
home to glory. Not a day sooner. not a day later. It says here in John 14 3, again
let me read for you, if I go and prepare a place for you,
I will come again. and receive you unto myself."
That's our Lord's promise to you and I. If He's going to go
and prepare a place for us, He'll come again and make sure we get
there. We were looking at Lot, who was dilly-dallying around
on our Friday night Bible study. We considered Lot. He was hanging
out, doing whatever, instead of what he was told to do. He
was told to get out of the city, and he didn't. The angels took
him by his hand and took him out of the city of Sodom. God
will not leave us to ourselves. He will take us. where he wants
us, prays for us. He prays that, if I go and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. Don Fortner wrote this,
he says, sickness is the voice of our beloved calling us home.
Death is the car that he sends to carry us home. Our departed
brothers and sisters in Christ, our friends, our companions in
the kingdom of God are already there at home. with Christ in
the Father's house. The hope of glory is born in
our souls by the effectual call of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle
Paul admonishes Timothy, he says, lay hold on eternal life. Look for it. Expect it. Anticipate it and believe that
he would enter into it in the last moment. The basis for his
admonition was this, he said in 1 Timothy 6.12, he says, whereunto
thou art also called, unto Christ. I didn't exercise
my free will. Christ gave me a new will. My
old will ran from God. Every child of God is brought
to know that the will that we come into this world with is
bound by sin. Therefore it can do nothing but
sin. Like Timothy, every believer has been called to an eternal
life of glory in Christ. Therefore we are exalted, we
are exhorted to walk worthy of God into His kingdom and glory. That's in 1 Thessalonians 2.12.
We are assured that the God of all grace, who has called us
unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, as we read in 1 Peter
5.10, will bring us home safely to glory at last. Those whom
He has called, He will also glorify. We are called to glory and we
shall enter into glory by the grace of God. He says, I will
therefore take the cup of salvation and call upon the name of the
Lord as long as I live. The hope of glory which we have
in Christ is a good and lively hope because we have the earnest
of the Spirit. Look over at 2 Corinthians 5. We have the earnest of the Spirit,
the down payment as you might say. In 2 Corinthians 5.5 we
read these words, Now he that hath wrought us, he that hath
prepared us, For the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given
unto us the earnest of the Spirit, the down payment of the Spirit.
He has sent the Spirit into our hearts. Let me read for you over
in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 14. It goes right along with
that, chapter 1 verse 14. This one whom we also trusted,
that ye heard the word of truth through the gospel of our salvation,
in whom also that ye believe were sealed with the Holy Spirit
of promise. This is the earnest of the Spirit,
the one who seals the promise of God in our hearts, the one
who gives us the surety of his word being true, which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of his glory. The Holy Spirit has
been given to us in regeneration as the down payment, the earnest.
It's our first installment of our inheritance of glory. We
are sealed by Him until the day of our full redemption, until
the day of our entrance into the everlasting glory. And as
surely as God has given us His Spirit, the earnest of it, of
our inheritance and regeneration, He will also give us the fullness
of our inheritance. He's not just going to give you
a little bit and say, never mind, you don't get the rest. We get
everything. He gave His only begotten Son
for us, folks. If He gave His only begotten
Son, how shall He not give us everything else? How shall we
not get the full inheritance? He's promised it to us. This
is our surety. This is our hope. Folks, this
is a hope that I need to hear about all the time, because as
I walk through this valley, the shadow of death, I've got these
sins of this flesh always before me. Lord, help me to look to
Him Let me put my hope in Him. Let me put my hope in where He
is right now, what He's done, who He is. It is this hope of
glory which we have in Christ that fills our hearts with desires
to glorify Him. Don't you want to glorify the
Lord? Don't you want to say, praise
the Lord for being merciful to me, a sinner, deserving your
wrath? Yet God, You have taken my wrath
upon Your Son. Isn't that worth saying glory
to God for? In Psalms 27-4 we read this,
it says, It is this tabernacle that we've grown in, earnestly
desiring to be clothed with the perfection of everlasting glory
in the presence of our Savior. We pray that this mortality might
be swallowed up and turned over to the life in Christ. As we
begin to understand and to grasp the glory that awaits us in heaven,
we desire to part more and more, don't we? You talk with Pastor
Gene, you talk with Brother Mike Loveless, maybe even some of
you here. Oh, how I wish the day was coming
soon when the Lord would take me out of this world. Take me
out of this world, Lord, so I could live the way I want to, praising
my Savior all the day long. Paul writes it to the Philippians
in chapter 1, verse 23. He says it this way. He says,
for I am in a strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart
and to be with Christ, which is far better. We choose rather
to be absent from the body, to be present with the Lord, than
to go on in this weak, sinful frame of flesh. Our hope of glory
is a matter of unquestionable fact, plainly revealed in Holy
Scripture, and as soon as we depart from this world, we shall
be with Christ in glory. To be absent from the body is
to be in the presence of our Lord. Those who die in Christ
are truly blessed of God from that moment, from the moment
of their death forever. John Gill wrote it this way,
he says, the angels stand around their dying beds waiting to do
their office. And as soon as the soul is separated
from the body, escorted through the regions of the air into heavenly
bliss. Lazarus, as soon as he died,
was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. We read that
in Luke 16. In Luke 23, the thief hanging on the cross next to
our Lord when he died, the Lord said, today you shall be with
me in paradise. Folks, all who have died in faith,
and there's a whole list of them there in Hebrews chapter 10,
all who have died in faith, who have died in trust, who have
died in belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just knowing about
the Lord Jesus Christ. Not just knowing of who He is,
but knowing Him as your personal Savior. Christ is my personal
Savior. He's my all in all. If He's not
your all in all, He's not God at all. Not to you, anyway. Those who have died in the faith
of God are now in heaven. And if we are born of God, if
we live by faith in Christ, as soon as we die, we shall be right
there with Him. My dear brother Bill is right
there with him now. Therefore, those who die in faith
die in happiness, knowing that they are... You know, I can just
about picture Bill's face. I can just about picture it.
You wonder if he smiled as he saw the gates of heaven opening
up and leaving the body and going? I don't know what it's like.
I like to imagine sometimes. I don't know what heaven is going
to be like, but I know that Christ will be there, so it doesn't
matter what anything else is. To be where Christ is, that's
heaven. We are confident that as God
has guided us in life, He will, at the end of life, receive us
up into glory. Psalm 73, 24, we read this, Thou
shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. There's a hymn that states these
words. It says, Say, sinner, will you meet me on Canaan's
happy shore? And then it answers this way,
it says, By the grace of God, I'll meet you on Canaan's happy
shore. Can any sinner in this world
be confident of such grace? Can I reasonably expect eternal
life and glory with the Son of God? Can I be certain that Christ
is in me, the hope of glory? Indeed, I can be. It is written, he that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ is born of God. Look with me, if you would, at
four quick verses. Let's begin at Romans, chapter
five. In Romans, chapter five, we begin at verse one. Therefore,
being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith into
this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in God. our hope of the
glory of God in our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. One more,
turn over to Ephesians chapter 1, and look with me at verse
17, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation and
the knowledge of Him, that eyes of your understanding, being
enlightened, of His calling, and what the
riches of His glory of His inheritance, and the saints." Now, turn over
another book over past Philippians to Colossians, and look at chapter
1, Colossians chapter 1, verse 27. To whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. One more, 1 Peter chapter
1, 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 18 through 21. 1 Peter chapter
1. Forasmuch as ye know that ye
were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from
your vain conversations, received by tradition from your fathers,
but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without
blemish and without spot. who verily was foreordained before
the foundation of the world, that was manifest in these last
times for you, who by him do believe in God, that raised him
up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope
might be in God." Now, look at the front of your bulletins if
you would. Hebrews chapter 10, we read in verses 21 through
22. And having a high priest, remember
we talked about that. Our hope. It's assured because
we have a high priest in heaven making intercession for us. That's
our assurance. It's not in something we do now
that's different than what we did before. It's in our Savior. Having a high priest over the
house of God. That's you and I. The church.
God's people. The congregation. 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. Is my assurance in anything of
this flesh? Does my walk with God give me
any hope? I pray that it does not. What? I pray that it does not. Why? You didn't want to see a
change in your life? God tells us, folks, don't let
your right hand, don't let your left hand know what your right
hand is doing. Did I get that backwards? I got that backwards,
yeah. Oh, well, you understand the point. He tells us not to
let the left know what the right is doing because the left will
start bragging about it real quick. This flesh is weak. It doesn't take much for John
to start putting his trust in something else. Thank God that
he doesn't lead me to that and he brings me back. I stumble
my toe and bring blood and scream and yell, and ouch, that hurts,
and crawl back to my Savior, of whom there is only trust in
Him. Does my walk with God give me any hope? I pray not. Philippians
3, 3, we read this, for we are the circumcision which worship
God in spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have no confidence
in the flesh. If your faith, if your assurance
lies only in Christ and what He has done, then you will sing
out the words to that song. Yes, by the grace of God, I will
meet you on the Canaan's happy shore. Amen.