Matthew 14. Thank you, Robin. Thank you, John. This is a good
place to be, isn't it? I've been meaning to prepare
the whole message on Psalm 122. I was glad when they said unto
us, let's go to the house of the Lord. But I just can't seem
to preach it. But I'm glad. I'm glad I'm here.
I'm glad we have this place, aren't you? It really is an oasis
in the wilderness. And Matthew 14, read verses 10
through 13 with me. Herod sent and beheaded John
in prison. His head was brought in a charger,
on a plate, given to the damsel, the daughter of his illegitimate
wife. She brought it to her mother.
And John's disciples came later and took up the body, a headless
body, buried it, and went and told
Jesus. And when Jesus heard, he departed
thence by ship into a desert place apart. When the people
had heard that, they followed him on foot out of the cities. Now, John was brutally murdered. Our Lord said there's no greater
man born of woman than John the Baptist. Preacher of the gospel,
the forerunner of Christ. Every day he preached Christ
to them. Multitudes came to hear Him preach
the truth, preach Christ. Baptized. Many were baptized
of Him. He had many disciples, many followers,
many people that loved to hear Him preach. He was a brother.
He was a friend. Our Lord commended Him highly,
didn't He? So what did you go out to see? More than a prophet, I tell you.
He was brutally murdered. He had his head cut off. Think about that. Who did that? That's horrible. We've never experienced anything
like that. I hope we never do. But one of our dear brethren,
Gabe or David Edmondson or somebody, what if we heard they took him
and brutally murdered him, cut his head off? And his church, like these disciples,
went and got his headless body went and buried it. Can you imagine
the shock? The sadness? The confusion? Why? Why? Our Lord Jesus Christ is
right there. Why? Why didn't He stop it? Hmm? How could this happen? It couldn't
have happened unless the Lord had willed it. Isn't that right?
As brutal as it was, as shocking as it was, as horrible as it
was, the Lord killed him in a very brutal way to show many things. To show us that man is an evil creature through and
through. Herod did it for sport. Well, my disciples were shocked.
They were sad. They were confused. Why? Why?
And they came and told the Lord. And I love Psalm 62a. It says, Trust in the Lord at
all times. In the midst of the worst, most
horrible, unthinkable time. Trust in the Lord at all times. Ye people, pour out your hearts
before Him. God is a refuge for us. Selah. That word Selah is twice
in Psalm 9. Stop and think about this now.
Trust in the Lord all the time. No matter what happens, it's
the Lord. We've been looking at that, haven't we? No matter
how bad it seems. No matter how brutal man is,
no matter how sinful man is, no matter how violent, no matter
how awful things may appear, it is the Lord. Trust in the
Lord at all times. It cannot happen unless He wills
it. And God, he said, pour out your
hearts for him. You're sad, you're confused,
you're troubled, you're confused, you ask why we do, we ask why. David, that time the Lord killed
Ezra when he touched that ark, you know, they were having a
good time bringing the ark in and brought it in wrong. And Ezra, maybe he meant well,
but he reached up and touched the ark and God killed him right
there on the spot. And David said, David was, he
was upset. Upset. So they told, disciples
told him, and look at verse 13, our Lord heard, and in another,
this is in all four gospels, in another gospel it says, he,
come ye apart yourselves into a desert place. He told them,
come with me. We're going into a desert place
apart. He went by ship and the people
heard and they followed him. The Lord took his sad, grieving,
confused brethren out of town, out of the multitudes. Are you with me? To a solitary
place where it's just him and them. And He comforted their hearts.
And He spoke peace to them. And He comforted them. He gave
them peace. He gave them hope. He gave them
answers. He didn't give an account of
His matter to God. He doesn't give an account of
His matters to everybody. But He speaks to His children.
He gives us an understanding. He took them into a solitary
place, a desert place apart. That's our subject tonight. I
hope you'll listen carefully. "...where He comforted and consoled
them and spoke to their hearts and gave them peace and gave
them hope." Now, the Lord Himself is the one to whom we go, is
He not? In all things, in all times of
need, always. David said this, "...be thou
my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort." And
He is, day or night, middle of the night. Early in the morning,
whenever you're sad or need comfort, need help. He's a very present
help in trouble. You can resort to your strong
habitation. Didn't Psalm 90 say, Lord, thou
hast been our dwelling place throughout all generations. He
that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall dwell
under the shadow of the Almighty continually. Listen to Psalm
91. I just quoted. part of it. I tell you to read it all the
time, 90 and 91. Listen to it. It says, He that
dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He's
my refuge, my fortress, my God. In Him will I trust. Surely He
shall deliver thee. From the snare of the fowler
and from the noisome pestilence, all the trouble you hear, He
shall cover thee with His feathers. Under His wings shalt thou trust.
His truth shall be thy shield and thy buckler. Give you strength and courage.
The Lord is our refuge. The Lord is our hiding place,
is He not? To whom we go for comfort and
go for help, isn't it? At all times. But thank God, He's given His
people a literal place that He's chosen to put His name, His glory, His
gospel, His truth there, here. A place He's promised to be where
two or three are gathered in that name. To comfort us, to
speak to us. It's His church. His church is
His habitation. He is our habitation. His church
is His. Do you hear me? In Him we live
and move and have our being. Well, God doesn't dwell in buildings
made with hands. Well, it says He dwells in His
church. Doesn't it? He's our dwelling place. We're
His. Mystery? Yes. But true, listen to Psalm
132. The Lord hath chosen Zion. He
hath desired it for His habitation. It's the church. Whenever you
hear Zion, It's the church, okay? Not that literal place over there
in Israel. No, no, no. They don't believe
in Jesus Christ. That's not Zion. Jerusalem. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.
That's the church. In Revelation, it talks about
the new Jerusalem, city of God coming down from heaven. What's
that? That's the church. Jerusalem over there is a war-torn
place and nobody in it believes Christ. He is not a Jew which
is one outwardly. He is a Jew which is one inwardly.
Circumcision is not of the flesh. It's of the Spirit. Not with
hands, but by the Spirit of God. I'm looking at a bunch of
Jews. Chosen. Circumcised in heart. God's true people. Where is His habitation? Where
He dwells? Psalm 76, his dwelling place
is in Zion. Psalm 87, the Lord loved the
gates of Zion more than all the dwelling places of Jacob. He
loves the gates. Proverbs said, blessed is a man
that watches thy gate and waits at thy door. I love that. Blessed is a man that watches
at thy gates and waits at thy door. Some of you are literally
standing by the door back there waiting. What a blessing, waiting
at the post of thy door, waiting for the doors to open. There
were blessed people back in the temple who were doorkeepers,
porters. That's what they did. They opened the door for people
to come in. What a high calling. What a blessed thing. Hi, Caleb. Hi, Joshua. Hello, Moses. This is God's temple. Psalm 26, 8, David says, I have
loved thy habitation, the house where thy honor dwelleth. I love
it. He was gone from it for a while,
and he said, oh, I envy the birds in the rapture. It's a desert place apart. As said, He is our dwelling place,
but we are His. You want to be with Christ where
He is? If you wanted to be with Jesus
Christ back when He was on the earth, where could you find Him?
If you find Peter, James, John, Matthew, Bartholomew, Mary, you'd
find Jesus Christ. If you're looking for them, you
find Him. Like the husband and the wife. They're one, right? Our Lord was rarely alone except
to pray to His Father, and when He was not alone, He was with
His disciples. Same with them. You want to find Christ, you
want to be where he is and go where his brethren is, where
his name is. You need to hear him. You need to hear from Christ.
You need to see his glory. You need some hope, need some
peace, need some comfort. You go to that place where his
name is found and you'll find a Levite, a preacher, raised
up by God to tell you the truth. Place of worship, house of worship,
where the substitute, the sacrifices, the burnt offerings are held
up before you and you can just eat to your heart's content.
Yeah, you eat with your heart. You can't have Christ without
them. You can't have Christ without
his church. You hear me? You can't have church without
Christ. No such thing. But you can't have Him without
them. Listen to this. Heaven is never going to be a
time you're going to be alone with our Lord. You hear me? There's never going to be a time
you're going to be alone with Him. There are too many people. It's going
to be a big congregation, isn't it? Sure it is. Our Lord speaks to each of us
individually when we come together like this as a group, don't we?
He speaks to us. And we need that. We need to feel like He's
speaking to us personally. When I preach, I don't know who
I was talking to. One of you sheep. I was saying, You're a good listener
and I love preaching to you because I feel like a face answer at
the face in the water. So the heart of man to the heart
of man, I said, and it's savor of life to life. I need a response. And I'm not preaching as one
that beat at the air. I'm not just practicing my preaching.
I'm talking to you, you, Mike. I want to know you're listening.
I want to know you're hearing this. Not for me, but from the
Lord. That's why I always say, are
you with me? I'm not here just to get my little sermon said.
I want you to be blessed. I want you to hear what these
sayings sink down in your ear and in your heart. And I want
to feed you. Because this is good for your
soul. This is nourishment for your soul. Heaven is a congregation that's
forever with the Lord. Everybody is there. And yet somehow
or another, we're going to feel like we're just... I don't know. It's a mystery. But you take
in this, when I'm preaching, I sure hope the Lord preaches. I believe He will. But when I'm
preaching, are there not times when you think, the Lord spoke
to me? I felt like he was speaking right
to me. Well, good. That's what I want. I've got two cats here and two
at home. You say, why? Don't go there. Sometimes I wish I never got
them. But anyway, I can make those two cats feel like I'm
talking to them personally. Ruth's pretty jealous of her
own daughter. And I'll talk to both of them,
one in this hand, one in this hand. Oh, yeah, I love you, sweet
thing. They think I'm talking to them,
not talking to the other one. That may not be a good illustration,
but nevertheless, the Lord can get a congregation of people
together, and you feel like He's talking to you personally. It's
just for you. Like this was just for you. And
that's good, and that means the Lord is speaking. So heaven is a congregation,
and so it is on earth. Isn't it better where two or
three are gathered? Isn't it better? Do you not get
more? I tell you, there are times, and
it has to be this way, because I'm seeking a message for you. I must be blessed by something
to be a blessing to you. I must be. And there are times
I'm sitting there and I'm just beside myself. I'm sitting that
far off the chairs thinking, this is a wonderful thinking.
I wish it was time right now. I wish people would just come
right now. But it's always better together.
I don't care how much joy and enjoyment I've gotten out of
preparing the food, it's always better when you eat it together.
And I always see something. That's the way it is. That's
the way the Lord has promised to bless. So wherever you want to find
Christ, that's where you'll find his people. He said this, where
the carcass is, that's where the eagles gather. Meaning, if
there's a dead carcass and we feast on his body and his blood,
But, you know, the birds, boy, they don't take long to find
that carcass, do they? Now that's where you'll find
those that love and feed on the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll find
them right there, all together. Listen to this. Ephesians 1.
You don't have to turn. And me, well, too. But listen to this. Ephesians
1. Paul wrote to the Church, the
saints of Ephesus or Rocky Mount, the faithful in Christ Jesus.
Grace to you, peace to you, blessed be God. Bless us with all spiritual
blessing. He's made known unto us the mystery
of his will according to his good pleasure which he purposed
in himself. What is it? What's his purpose?
that in the dispensation of the fullness of time, He's going
to gather together in one all His people in heaven and earth. That's His whole purpose. The
kingdom of God. Christ came preaching the kingdom
of God. Right here it is. On earth. And He's gathered us
together in it. Chosen. Found in Christ. Gathered together to do what?
They hear the gospel. He gathered us together. Listen
to this. Ephesians 2 says, When we were dead in sins, He quickened
us together with Christ by grace. He raised us up together, made
us sit together in heavenly places. Why heavenly places? This is a foretaste of glory
divine. This is a foretaste. If you enjoy
doing this now, you're going to be there then. If you don't,
you won't. This is a heavenly place. This
is a foretaste of what we're going to be doing throughout
eternity. To some people, that would be
just awful to think about. Not me. Can you say that? See, what is our problem now?
It's the flesh. It's sin. It's all these, the
fowl in the air. It's the thorns and everything
that wants to take these things from us. We're not wrestling
with flesh and blood. Spiritual wickedness in high
places. His main goal is to keep you from hearing the gospel. And these things keep us from
worshiping God as we would, as we should, don't they? Sometimes
if He hedges us about, oh, you men always pray. Hedges us about,
hedges us about. That means keep these things
from spoiling our worship time. Well, there's going to be a time
when nothing moves and nothing harms us. Listen to this, Ephesians 2,
it says, Now ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but ye are fellow
citizens of the saints of the household of God, built upon
the foundation of the apostles. That means a temple. Christ,
the chief cornerstone, in whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth up unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye
also are builded together for an habitation of God through
the Spirit." Here is his temple. This is it. This is that desert
place, apart. Okay. What does he mean, desert
place? Apart. You could stand up there
and preach it, couldn't you? You want to? No? Well, then I'll
do it. The Lord took his grieving disciples
into a desert place to part together with him. A desert place. Desert
means wilderness. Desert means a wasteland. You
remember Deuteronomy 32 where he says he found Jacob in a waste,
howling wilderness. Didn't it? What is this world
like to you? I've got an article going in
Sunday. I've got a bulletin Sunday. See, I'm doing this on purpose.
You're really going to appreciate the next bulletin. But one article
is about the world. Are you at home
here? Do you find your joy and rejoicing
here? Enjoy it, but how do you really
find this place? Is it a wonderful place or is
it a wilderness? It was a garden when the Lord
first made it. It was a garden, wasn't it? An
oasis. It was a paradise, wasn't it? What happened? Scent. Oh,
my. What about now? You can't go anywhere. Everything
is tainted with it. It's just full. The whole earth,
when God destroyed it before the floods, says, the whole earth
is corrupting my way. Everybody on earth. The imagination
of his thoughts on evil content. That's what God said. Can you
find any good anywhere? In all that you hear and see
all around? Can you? Where do you find any
good? Where do you hear any good? Where
do you see any good? In a desert place or park? I want you to nod your head.
Are you with me? This is a wilderness. It was
a garden. The Lord's people are in it,
but they're not of it. He's taken them out of it, apart. It's a desert, desolate, godless,
like Egypt. Egypt was a godless place. Oh,
they had gods all right, but they weren't the true and living
God. God hated their gods. Did you read with me Deuteronomy
12, the severity? Read Deuteronomy 13. Read Deuteronomy
13, everybody. And see what the Lord says about
those who would take you away from your God and say, come go
to church with us. Read it. No light matter. The truth is
not everywhere. But in the place that he's chosen
to put his name in. Revelation 12. Turn to Revelation
12. This is everywhere throughout
the Scripture, from beginning to the end. Revelation 12. Turn
there. Where did we start? Deuteronomy
12? Look at Revelation 12. This is something, if you haven't
read this in a while. Now, our Lord called this place
this present evil world, didn't He? Didn't He? Imagine what it
was like for him. He's not of this place. We can't. We can't imagine what
it was like for him to dwell in this place. He could read
everybody's thoughts. David said, save yourselves from
this untoward generation. As we noted in Deuteronomy 20
times, the place chosen for his chosen people, where he put his
name there to go and worship. Now, there's no holy place. This
building is not the church. This building is not a holy place.
There's no holy land. There's no holy things, and no
things holy. There are tabernacles where God's
people meet. We call them the church house.
People are the church where the Lord meets with his people in
the wilderness, in the in the world. Look at Revelation 12. This is the story of the church. Verse 1, there appeared a great
wonder in heaven, a woman clothed with sun, a moon under her feet,
upon her head a crown of twelve stars. That's the church. That
is not Mary. That's what Catholics believe.
That's Mary, the Virgin Mary. That is not Mary. That's the
church. All right? Now go down to verse
3. It says that there's a dragon,
a great red dragon, head, head, seven head, ten horn. Well, his
anger and his wrath was against this woman. Who's that? It's the church. He has persecuted
God's people from the very beginning. Look at verse 6. And the woman fled into the wilderness
where she hath a place prepared of God. that they should feed
her to the end. She had a place. And I preached
on this before. It says she was given, verse
14, two wings of a great eagle to fly into the wilderness to
her place. Fly above. Overcome this place, this world,
this desert place. Go to a place of peace and rest
where Christ is, where the gospel is, where she's nourished for
time and time and a half until it's all over. Bless God. Back in our text,
go back there. Now there's one Lord, one faith,
one temple. You're the temple of God. In
heaven, there's not going to be an actual temple. You know
that. Not going to be a temple. There's not going to be a sun.
Why? The Lamb is the light there.
But you're the temple. The temple's there. People keep talking about Christ
coming back to earth to rebuild the temple. Brothers and sisters,
that's not going to happen. Why would you do that? Start
sacrificing again. Some actually believe he's going
to start sacrificing again. Can you believe that? How ignorant
can you get? Well, he's given us an understanding.
We're not ignorant that we're the temple of God. He's been
building this temple all along. He said, my kingdom's
not of this world. So Matthew 14, look at this. I love this. Verse 13. He departed with his disciples
in a desert place apart. People heard. They followed him
on foot. My brothers and sisters, we do
too. We walk by faith, not by sight. Right? Followed him on
foot. We walk with God, not the world.
With Him. We walk. We walk. We are on this
journey with our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ. We look at
verse 14. And it says that he had compassion
on the multitude and he healed their sick. Down through verses
15 and following, he fed them all. He fed them all. Go with me to Psalm 107. You'll
love this. This goes perfectly with this.
Everything is such a prophecy of Christ's coming. So he healed
them and he fed them. And look at what Psalm 107 It says, Psalm 107 verse 1, O
give thanks unto the Lord, he is good, his mercy endureth forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed
from the hand of the enemy, and gathered them out of the lands,
from the east, from the west, from the north, from the south.
They wandered in a wilderness, solitary way and found no city
to dwell in, or hungry and thirsty, their soul fainted in. And then
they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. He delivered them out
of their distresses. He led them forth by the right
way that they might go to a city of habitation. Oh, that men would
praise the Lord for His goodness. This little oasis, this little
place in the wilderness is the goodness of God, isn't it? He satisfied the soul and filleth
the hungry soul. He says He healed them. Look
down at verse 17. Fools. That's all of us. That's
all of us. Fools because of our transgression,
because of our iniquities. Their soul abhorreth all manner
of meat, and they draw near the gates of death. Then they cry
unto the Lord in their trouble. He saveth them out of their distresses. How? Sent His Word and healed
them. delivered them from their destruction.
Oh, that man would praise the Lord for His goodness. His Word
is healing. There's a balm, and it's in Gilead. It's named as Gilead Baptist
Church. Gilead Grace. They said in Psalm 78, can God
furnish a table in the wilderness? Yes, He did. Smoked the rock, and it says
water gushed out. It said the streams overflowed. It said He rained down bread
from heaven. Man did eat angels' food. Psalm 78. It's our Lord that prepares the
table in the presence of our United. Thank God there is a
literal place where we can come and be fed and comforted and
strengthened, where we can come and hear and see Our Lord, through
the preaching of the gospel, where He heals us, where He feeds
us, aren't you thankful? Amen? Amen? We're flesh. The Lord knows that. Right? He became flesh and dwelt
among us. They needed somebody to actually
hold on to. To see. And He did. He came down in flesh. They needed a place. They needed
actual food. They needed a hand on their shoulder.
They needed to hear a voice, didn't they? We're flesh. So
He has given us a literal place to meet, and I'm so thankful
for it. Oh, that we were more thankful. In a dry and a desert
place, a dry and thirsty land where no water is. We can come
here. And like that rock that was smitten,
Christ crucified, it says, gushing out, gushing from the rock before
us. Lo, a spring of joy I see, gushing. Do I sometimes preach like I'm
gushing? My heart is welling up? That's
why I want you to be in here. I want you to get so much. Somebody
finally said, I can't take anymore. Like Irene's cooking. Irene,
I can't eat anymore. Our cups overflowing. There's a poor, sinful, worldly,
confused woman. Religious, but confused. Married
five times. Came to a well in Samaria. Somebody
sitting on that well waiting on her. She came there to fill up her
water pot again. Again, she'd done this all her
days. Come to this same well to fill up her water pot. To
fill up her water pot. To fill up her water pot. Buddy, she met the Lord
Jesus Christ and she dropped her water pot. She didn't get
any water from that well that day, but boy did she get water.
Filled her soul. And she ran home gushing. Gushing. From the water that
is Christ our Lord. Come see a man. That man she's
living with, get out of my house and come with me. You've got
to see this man here. This is the Christ. A desert
place. He had to go to Samaria. Outside
the camp. A desert place. A park. Does
this sound familiar? A desert place. A park. Familiar? People followed him on foot.
It says they went out of the cities. See that? Verse 13, they followed him out
of cities. That's what church means. I brought
that to your attention. It means called out. Come out
from among them. He's not found in modern religion.
He's not found in these big edifices. No, he's not. Ichabod's over
the door. Come out. This calling out, this
calling apart, I got a new watch and it's got
a timer on it, and I can't see it. 20, 34 minutes. Exodus 3, go
with me, okay? This goes way back. This calling
out goes way back. Back to the beginning, where
all of God's people were in Egypt, and all of them are coming where?
Out! I hope He calls you out, and
you. Exodus 3, verse 7, I've seen
the affliction of my people in Egypt. I've heard their cry.
I know their sorrow. I am come down to deliver them
out. Out of the hand of the Egyptians, out of the world, to bring them
up out of that land into a good land, large land flowing with
milk and honey. Hmm. Out. Look at verse 12. Verse 12, He said, Certainly
I'll be with thee. This shall be a token unto thee
that I have sent thee to Moses, their leader, their preacher,
when thou hast brought forth the people out. You're going
to come to this mountain. And you're going to serve God.
Mount Zion. Look at chapter 5. Chapter 5,
verse 1. You have it. Afterward, Moses
and Aaron went in to Pharaoh and said, Thus saith the Lord
God of Israel, let my people go. Why? That we may hold a feast
unto the Lord in the wilderness. We've got to go out of here to
worship. Because God's not in this place.
We've got to go out there where He's outside the camp to worship
Him in a desert place apart from this maddening crowd. Chapter 10. Keep going. Chapter
10. Keep going. Well, I hope we will. Keep going to this place. Verse 9. Moses said, Chapter
10, verse 9, Moses said to Pharaoh again, we will go. Pharaoh said,
who's going? He said, we, all of us, we're
all going to go. Our young with our old, our sons, our daughters,
our flocks, our herds. Will we go? For we must hold
a feast unto the Lord. We've got to go out there in
the wilderness and hold this feast. We're going to die if
we don't. You see that? Let me see what
the Lord has given me. Are you with me? Some of you
are. Hebrews 11, and I close. Let
me close with these. Hebrews 11. You know these verses. Oh, I love these verses. Every time I bring up Moses to
Mendes, she just gets excited. What Moses, the Lord did for
Moses. Hebrews 11. Look at verse 13. It's all of
God's people. They all died in faith, not having
received the promise, but they seen them afar off, persuaded
of, embraced them, confessed, were strangers and pilgrims on
earth. And they that say such things declare plainly they seek
a country. Truly, if they'd been mindful
and thought about, like Lot's wife, they'd have had opportunity
to return. But now they desire, verse 16,
a better country, a heavenly, where God's not ashamed to be
called their God. He hath prepared for them a city. This goes way back. It goes all
the way back to Abel, Noah, Enoch, Abraham. They all walked with
God. They all walked alone. They all walked out in the wilderness.
Moses, verse 20. For by faith Moses, when the
Lord spoke to him in the burning bush, came to hear, refused to
be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to
suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure
of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ, greater
riches than the treasures in Egypt. He said, I'd rather wander
out there in the wilderness for forty years than to spend the
rest of my days in this God-forsaken, idolatrous place called Egypt
with all its finery. I'd rather walk with one pair
of sandals than have my closet full of I'd rather be with God and people
in the wilderness than be with all these God-hating people in
the finest palaces in Egypt. How about you? And by faith he forsook Egypt. What's the next verse say? He
kept the Passover. I've got to go out to this place
and keep the Passover. I've got to go out there where
God's people are meeting, where Christ is preaching. I've got
to. I'm leaving. And I'm going out there with
God's people. Look at chapter 12, verse 1.
There's a great cloud of witnesses. So let's lay aside every weight
and the sin that so easily besets us. Let's run. Let's walk. Let's
walk, shall we, on foot to our Lord where He is. If you have
to walk, wouldn't it be worth it? Look at verse 22. You come to
Mount Zion, you have it, chapter 12, verse 22. You come to Mount
Zion, the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, an innumerable
company of angels. Angels around us? Yeah. Mystic, sweet communion with
those whose rest is won. To the General Assembly, verse
23, and Church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven,
to God the Judge of all, the spirits of just men made perfect,
to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, the blood of sprinkling,
speaketh better things. How does that sound to you? That's where you are right now. That's what he's talking about.
Right now, what we're doing right now. I'm going to go to church. No, you don't go to church. You
are the church. You go to where the church meets to be with the
church. I don't have to go to church
to work. Yes, you do. We read that, didn't we? Twenty times.
Yeah, you do. Why would you even say such a
thing? I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to those who say
that. They're not the church if they
can stand to be away. Can sheep stand to be where the
shepherd's not? Wherever the sheep are, that's
where the shepherd is. Where the shepherd is, that's where
the sheep are. That's just a fact. You overcome the world by the
blood of the Lamb. You've got to keep coming to
hear this blood of the Lamb, don't you? Or you're going to
be overcome and you're going to perish with the world. Don't go out
of the house where the blood is. Don't do it. Did the Lord
literally mean that when the people wrote? Did He literally
mean that? Did He? Do you mean that with Rahab?
Rahab, don't leave that house now. That scarlet line. Don't leave that house. If you
do, your blood is on your own head. Do you mean that? Literally. Don't be moved away from the
gospel. Don't let anybody or anything take you away from the
gospel. Or you'll perish. And lastly,
chapter 13. He knew I had to read this. Verse
13. Verse 12. Verse 12. Wherefore,
Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood,
suffered without the gate. Our Lord was crucified, not inside
Jerusalem, but where? Outside. They had no place for him when
he was born here, and they wanted him out of here when he died.
Didn't they? Same with God's people. Egypt
wants them out. Well, they do too. The sooner, the better. Right? And verse 13, So let us go forth,
therefore, unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. We
have here no continuing city. We seek one to come. Is that
you? Is that you? Oh, bless God. This little desert place apart.
Are there other places? They're not everywhere. You read
that with me. It's not everywhere. You can't
just go anywhere. No, no, no, no, no. They're not
everywhere. But he's got them, doesn't he?
Spring Lake, Madisonville. Few and far between, but they're
there. They're there. And what a blessing. Stand with me.