Okay, if you want to follow along
with me, 1 Peter chapter 1. Go back there, 1 Peter 1. The heading at the top of this
chapter says the first epistle general. That means it was not
written to a particular church in a particular place, but he
says in verse 1, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus,
Galatia, Cappadocia, and so forth. This includes us. This is written
to us. We are part of these scattered
strangers. Yes, we are. All of God's people
all over are an indirect result of the early Church being scattered
throughout the world by persecution, by God's purpose. There is much
said in the first twelve verses. Much said. Verse 13, though,
is our text, the title of this message. Verse 13, look at it
with me. He says, Wherefore, gird up the
loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace
that is to be brought unto you at the revelation or the revealing
of Jesus Christ. That's our text, gird up the
loins of your mind. And he says, wherefore? So we're
going to look at what he said up to this point. But he says,
gird up the loins of your mind. Back when this was written, everyone
used to wear long, flowing clothing, long, loose clothing, and it
was necessary to, whenever you had any activity to perform,
you had any work to do outside or just simply wanted to make,
wanted to run somewhere or whatever, if you had any real activity
to perform, you would have to gird up your clothing. You would have to, these long
robes, you would have to literally hitch them up, like we might
hitch up our pants, you know, and tie it up, tie it around
you with a girdle. That's what they wore back then. It was called a girdle. We call
it a belt now. It would hold it all up in place
so that you could do this work. Gather it up, in other words,
get a hold of your clothing and tie it up and we've got something
to do. So what he tells us now, spiritually
speaking, get a hold of your thoughts. Gather up your thoughts. The loins are the innermost person. The loins. Scripture speaks a
great deal about the loins, that being the depth of your person. Get a hold of your innermost
thoughts. Now, we have plenty of idle thoughts,
don't we? Too many. I mean, we think about
things and sit and ponder things that aren't worth thinking about.
Just this morning, sitting at my desk down there around 8 o'clock
or so, trying to prepare for this message, trying to enter
into this, what we're going to look at. All manner of just ridiculous
things were going through my mind. I mean, you know, the everyday
stuff that you think about. So this is fitting. I need to gather up the loins
of my mind. I need to gird up the loins of
my mind. What we are doing now, this morning,
what we are thinking about now, these things that we are looking
into, this is life and death. This is serious. This is very
serious. God will help us, help it to be more than just a sermon.
We'll see, this is life and death. Very serious. So we need to gather
up our thoughts, by God's help, get rid of this. Don't worry
about the stupid pot roast in the oven, or whatever, you're
cutting your grass, or whatever. What foolish, ridiculous thoughts
to be thinking about? These are eternal things, vital
things. That's what he said, gather up
your thoughts. Gird up the loins of your mind.
The next thing he says is be sober. Be sober. It doesn't mean not be drunk
on wine or whiskey or something like that. That's not sober he's
talking about. We can be inebriated, we can
be under the influence of, we can be made stupid by anything. not just alcohol, right? We are driven out of our wits
by many things. So he says be sober, don't be
inebriated, don't be intoxicated by things that intoxicate us
under the stupefying influence. Isn't it amazing, Sam, what things
just make us ignorant? The things that we become intoxicated
with. It's amazing. It's not worth
it. And he says, and hope to the
end. So he says, gird up the loins
of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that
is to be brought unto you at the revealing of that is when
Jesus Christ comes. Hope to the end for this. That
is, look forward to this. Anxiously await. This is what
you need to have your mind set upon. When Jesus Christ comes
to this planet. Now that's something worth thinking
about. That's something worth thinking about. Hope to the end.
It's called hope because he's not here yet and we hope he will
come. But it's a good hope. It's a sure hope because God
said he would and he can't lie. He's coming, just as surely as
I'm standing here. He'll stand at this latter day
on the earth. That's what Job said, didn't he? So he says, hope to the end for
this grace. And I wish I could describe for
us this grace that's to be brought to us. Grace means gift. The
gift, the unspeakable gift that's to be brought to us at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. What all this inheritance. You
know why I can't describe it? I haven't seen it. Paul came
back, the Apostle Paul who went there, and he said, I can't do
it. I can't tell you. There's nothing
to compare it to. The grace, the gift, unspeakable
gift. upon the appearing of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and it's all coming to the end. He says, hope to
the end. It's all coming to an end very shortly. Let me remind
you, folk, and remind me. It was three years ago that the
millennium came around. It's unbelievable, isn't it? Bam, bam, bam. Three years just
gone by. At that time, everybody was thinking
about the end, weren't they? Everybody, people that didn't
want to think about it, were thinking about it. Especially
computer people. We thought about it, we looked
into it, didn't we? I remember us dealing with the end, the
end times. And we looked at Matthew 24 where
the Lord said, as in the days of Noah, so shall the coming
of the Son of Man be, as in the days of Noah. Let me remind us. He said there, as in the days
of Noah, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving
marriage. Now, there's nothing wrong with
those things. The Lord ate and drank. The Lord attended a wedding. These are things God ordains
and we can enjoy. But what he's saying, they were
totally at ease, relaxed, doing these things, weren't giving
their thoughts to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
he says, in the days of Noah, they were eating and drinking,
marrying and giving in marriage, until the day, the very day,
that Noah entered into that ark. And knew not until the flood
came. There was no sign, no sign given,
that that flood was going to come. Just the Word of God. to
a preacher named Noah, right? There was no sign. A month ahead of time, hurricanes
and all. No, no, no. Until the day the
flood came, and they knew not, and it took them all away. And
our Lord said, at a time when you think not. Back during the Civil War, and
I'm sure it was this way in every war, When men or women are faced
every day with their own mortality, faced with the prospect of meeting
God that day, nearly every man, and even some women, feared for
their lives every day. So they thought about God. They
thought about the end. That's what people are thinking
about. It's a time of prosperity and ease, and everything's going
just fine is when you thank God. So our Lord said, at a time when
you think not, this is prime time for the Lord to retire right
now. Prosperity. Peace. Peace. When there is no peace, there
is no peace with God. So it's all coming to an end.
He said, let's hope to the end. And it's here. Christ himself said, I'm at the
door. He's right at the door. The eleventh
hour. No doubt. Things are clearly
seen. Read it for yourself. 2 Timothy
3. Alright, now he's talking to us as little children. In
verse 14, look at it. He's as little children, he said,
as obedient children. We all, every one of us, starting
with me, act like children. Taken up with toys. Don't we? Come on, are you with me? Every
one of us, start with me. I'm the chief defendant. We're
like little children. The things of this world are
really no more than toys. Isn't that right? The old saying, the only difference
between the men and the boys, what? Is the size of their toys.
That's exactly right. That's exactly right. Women trade
little doll babies for live ones, and they're just absolutely consumed
with Men trade toy trucks for big ones. And they're consumed
with them. Right? We're like little children. And so he's speaking to us as
little children. That's how we need to be spoken
to. Most of the time. Common to be taken up with toys,
carried about with foolishness, playing all the time. And so he says, come on, get
a hold of yourself here. Get a hold of your minds. Let's
think like an adult. Let's think about things that
are really worth thinking about. What do you say? That's what
he's saying. Get it up along to your mind. Be sober now. Don't
be taken up with things that aren't worth being taken up with.
Hope to the end. It's going to end. It's going
to end. Many sit right here. They're gone. They're gone. The
people we know and love, they're gone. They are gone. They're
never coming back again. Where are they? Well, that's
serious, isn't it? And we will be too. And death, as I said last week,
plays no favorites. It might be a very young person
here, it might be the oldest. We just don't know. Somebody. So let's get a hold of our minds,
huh? Think about things worth thinking
about. Get it up along to your mind. Let's be serious now. I'll be taking up with you so
much. And hope to the end. Now, who
will hope? Who does hope for the coming
of Christ? Everybody in here doesn't. Oh,
no. Certainly the world doesn't.
They don't want him to come. They're having fun right now.
They'd like it right here just fine. Thank you. Some do. Paul said, I'm ready to depart
and be with Christ, which is far better. Far better. Well, I'll tell you who does.
Let's go back to the beginning of this chapter. Back to the beginning. Verse 2, they're called the elect. Elect. I tell you who will be
interested in Christ is who God chooses to be interested in Christ.
Isn't that right, Ron? You and I wouldn't be here, buddy,
if He hadn't chosen us. No, sir. If it was left to my
choice, I'd have killed myself long before
now if it had been left up to me. I sure wouldn't be here.
No, I'd be on the creek bank somewhere. Guaranteed. Fishing.
Wouldn't. So would some of you. You'd be
somewhere, standing, be it Charlotte, waiting on the next race. Whatever. I had not God chosen. The elect
is not a doctrine to argue. God's people don't argue it.
Why would they? They argue for it because they
know had not God chosen us, we would never have chosen him.
Oh, blessed election of a sovereign God. Thank you, Lord, for choosing
me. Huh? Election. That's who is going
to be serious. That's who's going to hope to
the end. Yeah. Just a fact. according to the foreknowledge
of God. That word foreknowledge is not—it means love. It means love, forelove, according
to the forelove of God. How God set his love, his sovereign
love, on the likes of us. Now this is unbelievable, really,
for lack of a better way to put it. You ask the prodigal. When the
prodigal came home and the father threw his arms around that old
boy, that ungrateful rebel, threw his arms around him and
kissed him and said, Welcome home, son. What meant something
to him? He had all that stuff and he
wasted it. And God brought him to himself, brought him home
to himself, to the father. And just the Father's affection
and love for him is what just absolutely, he said, that's all
I need from here on out. You still love me, Dad? Well,
sure I do. Always did and always will. For love, not just a doctrine
to argue. God set his love on the likes
of some of us prodigals before the world began. That's who will
be interested, according to the foreknowledge of God, through
sanctification of spirit. Not just a doctrine. Sanctification means set apart.
How God sets you apart to know him. Not your brother, not your
sister, maybe not even your mom and dad, not your closest buddy. You've heard my story, but it's
all I've got to tell. I've got a brother right now,
only one living, I mean, on this earth. He and I grew up together, heard
the same message, same gospel, same parents, same lessons, same
everything. He has no interest whatsoever.
He denies the truth. He doesn't like it, he hates
this. I love it. Who makes the difference? It's called sanctification of
the spirit. Set apart. Jacob have I loved,
Esau have I hated. You, he said, God said, of all
people have I chosen. Not for your righteousness sake.
No, no, you're no different than the rest. But for my name's sake,
for my glory, for my purpose, I chose you. And I set you apart. I plucked you as a bran from
the burning," Amos said. Plucked as a bran from the burning.
Separated from the masses to be made a prince. Taken off
the dung heap and set among princes through sanctification of the
Spirit. Holy Spirit one day, through the preaching of the
gospel. Here two brothers sit, two sisters sit under the same
message. One's heart is broken, smitten
to see their need of Christ. Come to Him by faith. Repent
of their sins. Believe Him. Rejoice over the
mercy of God and the grace of God and the love of God and the
redemption that's in Christ. Rejoice over that with joy unspeakable. The other one sits there asleep.
one doesn't care, goes out of there totally unmoved, totally
untouched. What's the difference? Sanctification
of the Spirit. It's not just a doctrine. It's
salvation. Sanctification of the Spirit.
Read on. Through sanctification of the
Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Not just a doctrine. I wish I could really make this
real, but I can't. God took those no-good rebels,
like me, and sent his Only Begotten Beloved Son, left the throne
of glory, where he is the apple of his Father's eye and the adoration
of all in glory, left that, peace, harmony, love, joy, and came
down and live in a cesspool. called earth, of sin, where everything
around him nauseated his holy nature. Came down to this cesspool
of iniquity amongst people who didn't want him, who spit in
his face when he came, and so did we. That's what we did for
years when we didn't give a thought for the gospel. We did the same
thing. We spit in his face. We said,
go on back, we're not interested in you. And God takes his son on the
behalf of the likes of us and nails him to a tree, slit his
throat, and kill him, pour out his wrath and his judgment that
belonged to you and me on his lovely son who didn't deserve
any of it. He did it for us. It would be
like me taking my daughter and going to San Quentin and pulling
out the vilest man on death's row, and say, here, she's going
to take your place, and you're coming home with me, and I'm
going to adopt you, and you're going to be my son. And now,
Lord, hang my daughter, whom I love. And that's not even a
good illustration. That's what God did. I'll tell you who will be serious
about this. Those that realize a little of that, a little bit
of what Christ did, a little of the mercy and the grace and
the love of God, and that so great salvation and redemption
that Christ came to do for us, for lots of us. Brother Steven,
if I was God, I wouldn't have saved me. You know what? Would you? Know it yourself.
If I was God, I wouldn't have put up with Maria. Matter of
fact, if I was God, I wouldn't have put up with Adam. The first
man, let alone put up with this God-forsaken will for 7,000 years,
would you? Look what's going on. Men are
literally shaking their fist in the face of God Almighty.
Taunting, mocking, daring him to do something. They call it
death defying. People defy death every day. It's the thumb of their nose,
is it God? Now, if I was God, I wouldn't
have put up with this for a hundred years, let alone a thousand,
would you? I sure wouldn't save the likes of those that he saved. But God, it's not the way of
God, that's what it says in Isaiah 45. It's not God's way. I mean,
not man's way. God's thoughts are so much higher
than ours, his ways so unlike ours. It's mercy higher than
the heavens. My, my. So Peter says, grace
unto you. Verse 2, grace is unto you. It's
multiplying. It's multiplying. Every grace.
We need grace. We're sinners. We need a grace.
It's going to be grace to get us into glory. I mean, it's going
to be 100 percent grace. God's going to have to do everything
for us. to get us into glory, yes he
is, it's all of grace from start to finish. From the choosing,
to the calling, to the giving of the repentance and the faith,
to keeping in that faith, until the final glorification, it's
all of grace. And Old Zerubbabel is going to
lay the topstone with cries of grace unto it. And we're going
to say it sure was. It was all of grace, wasn't it? All of grace. And so he says, blessed be God, blessed be God, the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his abundant mercy. My margin
says much mercy, but we don't know half of it. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his abundant
mercy, begotten us That is, born again, begotten us again. We
were born the first time from our earthly parents, and we're
born from above, born of His Spirit, begotten us again into
a lively hope. Listen to it. A lively, that
is, a living hope. This thing is real for God's
people. I understand that for probably most religious people,
it's a fake. It's a fake thing. I understand
that. Our Lord said that about the
scribes and the Pharisees and the what? What do you call them?
Scribes, Pharisees, what? Hypocrites. That means you're
acting apart. God's people are not acting.
This thing's real. It's life. It really is. That's
the reason they act like real people. God's people don't act
like phony spiritual people. They act like real people. Real
sinners with real problems living in a real world with real temptations,
real trials, real trouble, but they got a real hope. This gospel's
a real gospel, because we've got a real God. He's not a hoaxing
God, he's a real God. This whole world says God wants
to be God. Why do you need a God who just
wants to be one? Why do you need a God who you're
just as powerful as, that you can, that he can't do things
like, I don't need a God like that, I'll be my own God, thank
you, and so men and women are. But not real people with real
problems and a real trouble in the world, they need a real God.
A God who kills, who makes alive, who wounds, who does—all things
are under his divine sovereign control. I want a God who is
God. You need a God like that. who
need a real Christ, somebody who really gets you to God, not
just a person to kind of help you along when you stumble. I
mean, somebody to pick you up and carry you all the way. That's
what he said, didn't he, Nancy? I've borne you from the cradle. I'll carry you to your holy hell. I'll carry you, Nancy, he said.
You need a God like that? At times when you're down on
your face and can't get up, you need somebody to carry you. Or
as Gladys Hodgson would say, carry it. Carry it. Blessed be God according
to His abundant mercy, a living hope. How do you know, preacher? I don't believe all this stuff
you're talking about. I don't believe it. Prove it! by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. That's what he said. He got a
living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. When it happened, when Christ
arose from that grave, they tried to cover it up. All his inmates. Roman government, soldiers, the
Pharisees, Jews. That's how wicked man is, brother
Stan. They knew he rose from that grave.
They knew he did, but they still wanted to cover it up. Unbelievable, isn't it, Darnell?
They wanted to cover it up. They still didn't want to believe
it. They knew it was so, but didn't want to believe it. Why?
Well, there were ramifications of it. That means everything
he said is true. That means he's God. And he was
seen, yes seen, by over 500 people at one time. Appeared, he stayed
on this planet for 40 days to make it beyond the shadow of
anybody's doubt that he actually walked out of that tomb. 500 people, one time saw him. And a hundred and some odd saw
him leave this planet on a cloud. And the angels said, he's coming
back, this same Jesus whom you've seen go, shall so come in like
manner. This is real. Paul said in 1
Corinthians 15, he said, if all we do is that today we live and
tomorrow we die and that's it, he said, let's eat, drink and
be merry. That's what Paul said. The whole 1 Corinthians 15 is
about that. Read it for yourself. He said,
if this is all there is, what are we doing in here? Why are
we wasting precious time? We don't have much of it. Why,
this is your day. If Jesus Christ didn't rise from
the grave, we'd all have been most miserable. We live a miserable
life. We got a hope in somebody whose
bones are over there in a grave somewhere. But he said, but now
he is risen. Yes, he is. He is who he said
he is. Things are exactly like he said
they are and will be. Yes, sir, he's true. And heaven
and earth will indeed pass away. Not one word he said, chow. We've
got a living hope. Are you with me? We've got a
living hope. It's all based on his resurrection. Everywhere Paul went, what was
his subject? The resurrection of Christ. Everywhere
he went. People didn't believe it. Men and women are forced every
day to acknowledge it if they should look at the calendar.
Their little initials, A.D. God has all men and women accountable
just by looking at the calendar. A.D., Anno Domini, in the year
of our Lord. You've got B.C. and you've got
A.D. He lives. In him we live and
move and have our being, and he can do with us as he pleases.
But God's people have a living and a hope, a good hope. Read
on, I've got to hurry. Read on. Verse 5 and verse 4. Here it is again, verse 4. We have an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that payeth not away, reserved in heaven. Now, these
aren't the idle dreams, the carnal, or the dreams of a carnal utopia
of some people that just don't like it here on earth. That's
what it is for a lot of people, you know that? People that are
just real poor and don't have much here, and they're hoping
for pie in the sky to mention, you know. And that's what it's
about. It isn't some figment of somebody's
imagination. It's true. and inheritance. Our Lord, Jesus Christ, is the
one that said this, I go to prepare a place for you in my Father's
house of many mansions. That's not like you think it
is. Nobody knows, really. what that
means. Nevertheless, he's the one that
said it. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were
not so, I would have told you. And I go to prepare a place for
you. Now where I am, you may be also. If I go away, I'll come
again and receive you to myself. But there you may be with me. It's so. And it's a whole lot
more than a pepper shaker. And that's about all I can say
about it. Incorruptible, undefiled, it won't fade away, won't lose
it. Whatever you inherit here, if
you live long enough, you'll lose it. You'll have to give
it somebody else. But this won't. Reserved in heaven
for you. Reserved in heaven for you who? Verse 5. Those who are kept by
the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. Who's this for? Those who are
kept by the power of God. Who's this for? Who's thinking
about it? Who's getting up the lungs of
the man? Who? Those who are kept by the power
of God. Those who are kept coming to
hear the gospel. This is the power of God. What
we're doing right now is the power of God. It's God who chose
you, the Holy Spirit who sanctified you, Christ who purchased you. Keeps you coming. You're kept
by the power of God. It's what keeps your mind and
heart, and it's what keeps you from being depressed all the
time. It's what keeps you from anxiety and the fears that we
talked about, that the world is absolutely consumed with.
He keeps you. How? You don't keep yourself. Psychiatrists don't keep you.
You're kept by the power of God. The gospel is the power of God,
Romans 1, 16. And through salvation, it's going
to keep every one of God's people until the day Christ comes. Yes,
sir. Not one of them are going to
fall into a state of depression, anxiety, and fear. Not one of
them is going to fall away. They're all going to be kept
by the power of God. And you know, if you know your
own weakness, you know he's going to have to be the one to keep
you. Huh? What keeps you coming here? The power of God. If it was left
up to you, you wouldn't. I wouldn't, people, I'm not...
I don't want to stand up here and tell you all the time. Matter
of fact, next month, I'm going on another vacation. Yes, I am,
I'm telling you now. And I'll just be honest with
you, I don't always want to go to church. I'm fresh and bold. I'd sit on the creek by myself.
But, bless God, most of the time, this is exactly where I want
to be. Yes, sir. Ninety-nine to ninety, five percent
of the time anyway, it's not even an option. It's not that
Bob's people had no choice. My wife and I were talking the
other day about, when we were just members of 13th Street,
how we never, it never crossed our minds we were going to go
in or we're not. Never crossed our minds, did it? We never thought,
well, I don't know if I'm going to worship. No, no. It's life, it is or isn't. But
that's not us. It's the power of God. Life-giving,
Christ-loving power of God. That's not in me. I used to think I was a whole
lot smarter than all this stuff. Ronnie, I remember telling a
friend of mine that I thought my dad was so ignorant. Everything he'd studied for 30-something
years, I could disprove it by some books I'd got a hold of.
I actually told one of my friends that. Oh, man. I think I was about eighteen
then, you know, I was real enlightened. Real enlightened. I'd come across
something eastern. Everything out east, you know,
is real spiritual. Where they eat dogs. Well, kept
by the power of God. Kept by the power of God. Through faith. Where does faith come from? You
see, this is an endless circle. It's all connected, kept by the
power of God. If you're one of God's elect,
he's going to keep you. By the gospel. You've got to
hear this gospel. It's like eating. If you don't
eat, you lose your appetite, you must be either real sick
or you're dead. No appetite, no life. Kept by
the power of God. That's the gospel. Through faith. Where's faith come from? Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. You see, it's a cycle. Hearing the word of God. The more you hear the word of
God, your faith is increased. And you need to hear it. And
you're kept by it. And you grow. And you're kept back. And trials
come along. We're going to get to it maybe. Trials come along. Tough trials
that reveal who really is the elect of God, sanctified by the
Spirit. Trials come along. There's only
one thing that will really keep you there. Ask a lady right now whose husband
is lying in a coma, waiting to die. Ask her what her hope is. What's her peace and comfort
and all that? How can you lose a man that you've
been married to that long and have such peace? There's only
one thing that'll keep you. One thing. Nothing else will. He said in verse 6, You greatly
rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you're in heaviness
through manifold various temptations, that is, trials. I like that
word, those three words in there, if need be. If need be. Though now, you've
got a hope, he said, a living hope. But right now, you may
be in severe trial, difficult trial, heart-wrenching trial. Trials that do leave you depressed
at times. Trials that do leave you sorrowful.
Difficult, tough trial. Now let me remind us, though.
Let me remind us who Peter was writing to. Every person that
he was writing to, every day was a struggle for their very
existence. Tammy, they feared for the lives
of their children every day. They were under attack daily. These were people who were on
the run from everybody, whose lives were in danger every day. We don't have that. We don't
fear that somebody's going to come in and kill us all. They did. So he called it, that's a heavy
trial, isn't it? Difficult trial. Difficult trial,
if need be. Who decides if it need be? Who decides? Why do things happen
as they do? All things work together for
good to them that love God, who are called according to his purpose. God decides if it need be. And if it be, it need be. Just take that home and chew
on it a little while, okay? God said it need be. And let
me remind you, everybody in glory right now who went through, Scripture
says those who went through tribulation, every one of them up there says,
thank you, Lord, for everything you sent our way. We didn't know
then, we do now. We know as we've been known.
But it needed to be. It needed to be. Well, he says
it's tough, it's like gold tried in the fire, but it's going to
be found, verse 7, it's going to be found under praise, honor,
and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. It's going to be
found. This faith that you're living on right now, live by
faith, is going to be found under praise. Praise, we haven't done it yet.
We just haven't done it yet. We try, we try, we try, we haven't
done it yet because we're not there yet. Jerry, one day we're
going to sin. I mean, we're going to sin. from
the bottom of our heart. They say good singing, Jeanette,
they say good singing is from the diaphragm, don't they? These
big baritone—you've got to be fat, I guess, to sing real good.
Fat ladies, they do all the good singing, you know. Ooh, I've
got a big diaphragm, yeah. Well, that's a good illustration.
Good singing is from the heart. Only good singing is from the
heart. Someday we're going to sing absolutely completely from
a heart that's absolutely just overjoyed and thrilled and you're
singing in the shower. Why is everybody singing in the
shower? You're happy, you're feeling good, you're just about
as happy as you can get. You're naked, and it's okay. Right? You're naked and it's okay, and
you have this warm water. You ever thank God for hot water? Need to. Every time you get in
it. So we're singing. Best singing
we ever do. Sometimes we wish gay, but we're
on a recording. From the heart, let's not foolishness,
from the heart we sing, no one. Someday this is going to be found
under praise. Faith's going to give way to
sight. Under hymn, we're going to sing
under hymn. We're really going to sing a
hymn. Under praise, honor, whose honor? Who's honoring? Everybody in glory, who are they
going to be honoring? Not the bride, like our silly
weddings now. Here she comes, here comes a
bride. Phew, been married twelve times. Here she comes again.
Dressed in white, isn't she pure? We're going to be singing under
the groom. Here comes our groom, all of
us. Hold it, she's married. And to him, his honor and his glory, he's going to
get it all. The preacher's not going to get
it, the soul reader's not going to get it, Mama ain't going to
get it for praying you through, Jesus Christ's going to get it
all. All the glory. Every one of them will realize
they're there because of Jesus Christ, period. And they're going
to be giving him all the glory. Huh? That's the difference now
between God's people and those that aren't. Yes, sir, and they
say it, and they look like it. Who's really getting the glory? You can tell. You can tell. Yes, you can. I've got to quit. He said these
things are things the prophets wanted to look into, the things
of Christ angels desire to look into. Right now, angels. How
am I? Those cherubs hung over that
mercy seat, those of you who know something about the Old
Testament, God put two angels over top of the mercy seat with
their wings touching, looking down at it. That's what that
means. Angels look down on this earth.
Here's the amazing thing. Angels look down on this earth
at worms, angels who are amazed that God would be so merciful
to such rebels that hate him. Angels look down upon worms to
whom all this is for, and they're not even interested. Hanging
over hell by a thread, under the wrath of God, and they don't
care. And angels are absolutely just appalled. Angels looked
down as man took God's Son and hung him on a tree and mutilated
his body. Angels looked down and said,
why isn't God sending us to wipe out the human race? Because God has a purpose. And
they didn't know it. They didn't know what it was.
Angels didn't know. They didn't know. Someday they
will, like us. They'll know. Oh, we see. We see. Wherefore? What is there worth thinking
about now? What's worth being intoxicated
with? Be sober. What do we hope for? Well, I'm looking forward to
retirement. That means you're going to die
soon, doesn't it? I don't know why everybody looks
forward to retirement. That means you're just dead in
a few years. Doesn't it? Hope to the end for that great grace that shall be brought
unto us at the appearing of Jesus Christ. That's something worth
thinking about and being intoxicated with. and hoping for.