Good morning. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 442. 442. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Sing, O earth, His wonderful
love proclaim. Hail Him, hail Him, highest archangel
in glory, strength and honor. ? Give to his holy name ? Like
a shepherd ? Jesus will guard his children ? In his arms he
carries them all day long ? Praise him, praise him ? Tell of his
excellent greatness ? Praise him, praise him ? Ever in joyful
song ? Praise Him, praise Him ? Jesus, our blessed Redeemer
? For our sins He suffered and bled and died Be our rock, our
hope of eternal salvation Hail Him, hail Him, Jesus the crucified
Sound His praises, Jesus, who bore our sorrows Love unbounded,
wonderful, deep, and strong Praise Him, praise Him, tell of His
excellent greatness. Praise Him, praise Him, ever
in joyful song. Praise Him, praise Him, Jesus
our blessed Redeemer. Heavenly portals loud with hosannas
ring. Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever
and ever. Crown Him, crown Him, prophet
and priest and king. ? Christ is coming ? Over the
world victorious ? Power and glory ? Unto the Lord belong
? Praise Him, praise Him ? Tell of His excellent greatness ?
Praise Him, praise Him ? Ever in joyful song Be seated. We'll sing hymn number 224. 224. I know not why God's wondrous
grace to me he hath made known, nor why unworthy Christ in love
redeemed me for his own. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I know not how this saving faith
to me he did impart, nor how believing in his word brought
peace within my heart. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I know not how the Spirit moves,
convincing men of sin, revealing Jesus through the Word, creating
faith in Him. But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've committed
unto Him against the day. I know not what of good or ill
May be reserved for me Of weary ways or golden days Before his
face I see But I know whom I have believed
and am persuaded that He is able to keep their which I've committed
unto Him against that day. I know not when my Lord may come
at night or noonday fair. nor if I'll walk the vale with
him, or meet him in the air. But I know whom I have believed,
and am persuaded, that He is able to keep that which I've
committed unto Him against that day. If you have your Bibles with
you this morning, if you would, please turn with me to the book of John.
I'd like to read John chapter 10. John chapter 10. I was only going
to read a portion of this chapter, but I've decided we're going
to read the whole thing. John chapter 10. Verily, verily,
I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him that porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice, and he calleth his own sheep by name,
and leadeth them out, And when he put forth his own sheep, he
goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his
voice. And a stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice of
strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them, but they understood
not what things which he spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto
them again, verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the
sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.
I am the door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. The
thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf
coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth. And the wolf catcheth
them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is an hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which
are not of this fold, them also I must bring, and they shall
hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.
Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life,
that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself, I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. There was a division therefore
again among the Jews for these sayings, and many of them said,
he hath a devil and is mad. Why hear ye him? Others said,
these are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a devil
open the eyes of the blind? And it was at Jerusalem the feast
of the dedication, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the
temple in Solomon's porch. Then came the Jews round about
him and said unto him, how long dost thou make us to doubt? If
thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Jesus answered them, I told you,
and ye believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. But ye believe not, because ye
are not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any pluck them out of my hand. My father which gave them me
is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of
my father's hand. I and my father are one. Then
the Jews took up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered
them, many good works have I showed you from my father, for which
of those works do you stone me? The Jews answered him, saying,
For a good work we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, because
thou, being a man, makest thyself God. Jesus answered them, Is
it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them
gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot
be broken. Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and
sent into the world, thou blasphemest, because I said, I am the Son
of God. If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works that
you may know, and believe that the Father is in me, and I in
him. Therefore they sought again to
take him, but he escaped out of their hand, and he went away
again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized,
and there he abode. And many resorted unto him and
said, John did no miracle, but all things that John spake of
this man were true, and many believed on him there. Our most high and heavenly Father,
Lord God Almighty, we come into your holy presence once more
through your blessed son. We thank you for allowing us
to come to you. What an honor and a privilege
it is to come to you in prayer. Lord, thank you for this day.
We thank you for your holy word preserved for us. Lord, we thank
you for the men who you have sent to be Pastors, we thank
you for those who stand to proclaim the gospel, those who study the
word. Lord, we thank you for everything
that you have provided us in this life and everything you
have provided for us in eternity. For what an unspeakable blessing it is, Lord,
to have free salvation. free grace, abundant
mercies. Lord, we ask that you would give
us grace this day, send your Holy Spirit to be among us, cause
your word to go forth and prosper. Lord, we ask that you would cause
many here to believe on you. There are many who are not here
who are listening and watching, Lord. I ask that you would bless
the message to them as well. For those who listen later, meet
with them, Lord. I ask that thy word go forth
over us, not just this town and this state
and this nation, Lord, but all over the world. We've heard of
wonderful things. I ask that you would continue
to bless your word. Pray for Brother Cody as he stands
today. Bless his heart as he speaks, Lord, and ask that you
would bless his word to be your word. Bless it to our hearts. Lord, we pray for the many weak
and the weary, our dear brothers and sisters,
our family, our loved ones. Have mercy on them, Lord, if
it would please you. Lord, we ask again that you would
bless this service. For Christ's sake, amen. Let's all stand together as we
sing the hymn of the day in the bulletin. O what shall we do, our Saviour
to praise, so faithful and true? ? Abounding in grace ? So strong
to deliver ? So good to redeem ? The weakest believers ? Who
rest upon him ? How happy the man free the people who can. be joyful in thee. Their joy is to walk in the light
of his face, and sweetly to rest in his comfort and grace. Their daily delight shall be
in His name. They shall by His grace His righteousness
claim. This righteousness wearing and
cleansed by His blood they appear in the presence of God. Our Savior alone, the Lord let
us Be seated. We have Brother Cody Henson with
us this morning. I think everybody knows him. I assume everybody
knows him, because I've known him so long. If you don't know
him, he makes his way to us from Kingsport, Brother Gabe Stoniker's
where he attends, originally from Danville. How long have we known each other,
Cody? At least 15 years. If you know him, you know what
a blessing he is. And if you don't, I pray the Lord bless
his message this morning, that you would get to know him later. Brother, you come on. Good morning. You go ahead and turn with me
to our text. It'll be 1 Corinthians chapter 2. This past week, and really the
prior week as well, I've been thinking a lot about life and
death. And this verse is not our text,
but this verse has been heavily on my mind. It says, ye know
not what shall be on the morrow, for what is your life? It is
even a vapor that appeareth for a little time. and then vanisheth
away, what is your life? The longer I'm here, the more
I realize this. This life is short. So short. And we need The life
that our brother just read to us about in John 10. Our Lord
said, I'm come that they might have life and that they might
have it more abundantly. Spiritual life. This is physical
life. The only life we really know.
The only life we can really enter into in this flesh. This life
we're living, okay? It's physical life. We need spiritual
life. We need eternal life. We need
a life that will not end. This life is gonna end. Just
like a vapor. I don't really cook, but I've
seen some vapors come up on that stove. Just like that, gone. I want to acknowledge something
to you, OK? I work a job just like many of you. My job, I have
career pursuits. My career is not my life. I have
a lot of hobbies. I like to focus on taking care
of my health. That's not my life. Something
that I hear a lot of people say is their life, their family. I love my family dearly. I am
so thankful for the family God has given me, allowed me to be
a part of, but my family is not my life. What is our life? For the child
of God, the answer is simple, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
my life. And I pray he's your life too.
I'll quote a few scriptures to you. Paul said, I am crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Where do
you live, Paul? In Christ. And Christ lives in
me. And this life I'm living in this
flesh is by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and
gave himself for me. We acknowledge that in Christ
and in Christ alone, we live and move and have our being.
We know that apart from Christ, we have no life. No life outside
of him. In him is life. And the life
is the light of men. He is our life. And let me say
this too. Brother just read, I give unto
them eternal life. That's what our Lord said. When
he laid down his life for the sheep, he said, I give them eternal
life. Not only has he given us eternal
life, brethren, this is what I really want us to enter into,
he is our life. It's not just he's given us,
he is. He is, he is our life. Now, Pastor Donnie is at a memorial
service today. to remember a life, to celebrate
a life. Brother Joe Terrell, who I'd
say most of us, if not all of us, had a chance to hear preach
at least once, a dear brother. And I couldn't help but think,
when I come here, more often than not, when I come here, I
know of at least one dear saint within this congregation who
it seems may be about to leave this life. I've been coming here for several
years now and I know of many dear brethren here who were here
and they're not here anymore. Not because they quit coming,
because the Lord called them home. Many. I don't want to name
names out of, I know I'd be certain to leave at least one out. Let me recall to our minds what
the scriptures say about these brethren who've gone before us,
who've departed this life. I'll say a few things. They shall never die. That's
what our Lord said. Whosoever liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Never. They sleep. I love that one. I love sleep.
They sleep in the Lord Jesus. It's not a bad thing, is it? And though they're sleeping in
Him, our Lord has appeared unto them. And they're not dreaming. They
see Him. They have appeared with Him in
glory. Colossians 3. And right now,
they are seeing him as he is. They're beholding his face in
righteousness. They're satisfied. Here's why. Because they have awoken with
his very likeness. All of these are so good. They
look just like him. You all look pretty good to me.
Oh, imagine looking just like him. Imagine seeing him as he
is. In Romans 8, we read that he
hath conformed us to his image, just like him. You know, you'll
say, oh, that boy's a spitting image of his dad. He's made his
people look just like him. I love that. Now, for our message,
I want to try to, this is always a tall task, but this is especially
a tall task. I want to try for, give me 30, 35 minutes, I want
to try, Lord help us, to enter in to our brethren who have gone
before us, to enter into their eternal state of bliss. I pray
the Lord would let us do that. I tell you what, if he will,
I will be so encouraged, and I pray you would too. As we say goodbye to one another
here, when we lay down this body of flesh, let us not sorrow. I know it won't be long till
we come here and another brother or sister has gone to be with
our Lord. When that time comes, let us not sorrow as those which
have no hope, but let us rejoice and praise our God. Look here
in 1 Corinthians 2, verse 9. Wonderful verse. 1 Corinthians 2.9, Do you not love
that verse? I'm pretty sure I've heard Pastor
Gabe preach from that at least three or four times since I've
attended there. I've been there about eight years.
I love that verse so much. Now, I want to start this by
focusing on who's this for? You notice what it said at the
end of that verse? For them that love him. Them that love him. If there's a hard part to this
message, this will be it, okay? That's not everybody. That's
not everybody. I know everybody claims to love,
well, not everybody, you know what I mean. A lot of people
claim to love God. They claim to love Jesus. They
claim to love Jesus Christ, all right? But the fact of the matter
is, those that love him are few and far between. Everybody
loves the idea of God or a God. I know that. Professing Christians
love the idea of Jesus and, you know, He loves me and I love
Him. Got a good thing going and, you know, you've heard it. Perhaps
you used to believe it. Perhaps you still believe it. Hear what
God says. This is John 5.42. This is our
Lord talking to people who thought that they loved God. Okay? Religious
leaders. Here's what He said then. John
5.42 if you want to look for yourself. But I know you that
ye have not the love of God in you. John 5, 42. I know you that
you do not have the love of God in you. It doesn't make me happy
to say that, but God forbid I stand here and tell you anything other
than what God has said to us. Let God be true and every man
a liar, starting with me. We need to believe him, not what
some man has to say. Well, they're a preacher. Well,
all the more reason to be skeptical. I'm serious. You check what I
say with what God says. And if I'm not saying what God
says, don't believe a word I say. I could not be more serious.
Believe God. And if I'm saying what God said,
then you can believe me too. But believe him. We're gonna
look at some scripture today. Turn with me to 1 John chapter
four. 1 John chapter four. If we do not know God, I pray
God would today be pleased to make a liar out of us and reveal
the truth to us and cause us to believe him. Look here, 1
John 4, verse 20. 1 John 4, 20, if a man say, I love
God and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he that loveth
not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom
he hath not seen? Many people say just that. I
love God, but then they just hate everybody. They just hate
their brother. Well, God says we're lying. Say I love God, but then we just
hate our brother, hate our sister, hate our father, hate our mother.
We don't love God. No. He that loveth not knoweth
not God. God is love. The carnal mind,
God tells us, is enmity against God. This fleshly, carnal, sinful
mind that we're born with, and this wretched, vile heart that
we're born with, that we carry with us, is enmity, hatred towards
God. Again, that's what God says.
Take it or leave it. I pray he'll take it. I pray
he'll cause us to. Now, I don't have to look out
into the world. All I have to do is look within,
and I know it's true. I know it's true. I did not just wake up one day
and decide to love God. If that's what I think, then
I still just don't know. I still don't know. Well, who
loves God then? For whom did God prepare these
glorious, unspeakable things? Look right here in 1 John 4 verse
19. It says, we love him because he first loved us. Have you ever seen that? God loves me because I love Him.
No, we love Him. If we love Him, here's why. It's because, and it's only because,
He first loved us. You remember what the Lord told
Jeremiah? I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
because I love you, I drew you to myself. It started with Him, and it finished
with Him. And I promise you this, if God
has set his love upon you, you are going to love him, because
the love of Christ constraineth us. It moves us to love him in
return. God's love it, and you know, sometimes I hesitate when I'm
about to say something off the cuff. Growing up, I would just,
oh, I'd just be, Ooin' and gooin' over a pretty girl. In my heart
I'm sayin', oh I love you. It didn't get returned. That's not how God's love works.
If God loves you, you're gonna love him back. He's gonna see
to it. And I love to tell you that.
He's not tryin', he's not hopin'. You tried to win her heart and
you did. I'm happy for ya. God wins the heart of those whom
he set his love upon. I thought of Brother Joe Terrell. I believe he contributed some
of the words to this song. It's called Chosen in Jesus. Make sure I get it right here.
It says, "'Tis not that I did choose thee, for Lord, that could
not be. This heart would still refuse
thee, hadst thou not chosen me. My heart owns none before thee,
for thy rich grace I thirst." Now listen, this knowing, if
I have loved thee, thou must have loved me first. It wouldn't
be any other way. Look right here, 1 John 4, look
at verse 10. People love to boast about how they love God. 1 John
4.10, herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved
us. And because He loved us, here's
what He did. He sent His Son to be the propitiation for our
sins. Who loves God? Those whom God
first loved. Those for whom God sent his only
begotten son to die as their substitute, to be their savior.
That's who. Are we going to boast of our
love for him or his love for us? I love to tell the story
of the Lord Jesus and his love. There's no other story, no other
story worth telling. Those whom the Holy Ghost has shed the love
of God abroad in their heart. And that's what the Holy Ghost
will do. If God set his love on you, the Holy Spirit will
come and shed abroad that holy, perfect, pure love in your heart. And I pray he will. Turn with
me to a familiar text, Romans chapter 8. Should be just a few pages before
our text, Romans 8. Verse 28. Now again, remember,
we're looking at who's this promise for? Who did God prepare wonderful
things for? Those that love Him. Who loves
Him? Look here, Romans 8, 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God. Now who is that? Who loves God? What's it going
to say? To them that love God, to them who are thee called according
to His purpose. I'm telling you, I did not just
decide, oh, I'm gonna love God. Such a profession would manifest
I am a fool and I do not know God. If I love God, it's because I
was called according to His purpose. I am one of thee called. according
to His purpose, according to the election of grace, which
God hath purposed. I love this verse. Again, familiar
verse, 2 Timothy 1-9. Those whom God hath saved, He
hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according
to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which
was given us in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not when we decided to
turn over a new leaf, no. Before the world began, before
we were ever thought, we were in His thoughts. We were
on His mind. That's who loves God. That's
who this is for. Now, back to our text, 1 Corinthians
2, 9. But as it is written, I hath
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."
We can't, we, we try. I'm trying right now, but we,
we just can't even hardly begin to enter into what God has done
for us. I want to. I love getting the
opportunity to week after week. But it's like when Paul was caught
up into the third heaven, it says he was caught up into paradise.
It says he heard unspeakable. You think about that word. He
heard unspeakable words that were not lawful, not possible
for a man to utter. That's what we're talking about.
Words fail us to adequately tell the story, to adequately describe
just what our God has done for us. I have not seen. We see so
much, don't we? We see many things. But unless
God gives us eyes of faith, we can't see spiritual things.
We can't intervene. We have no knowledge, no discernment.
Look here in verse 14. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. Here's what we need. Look up
a few verses, verse 10. But God hath revealed them unto
us by his Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God, as fallen sons and daughters
of Adam. You and I desperately need God
to open our eyes that we may see. See what? See the truth? To be able to open this book,
to be able to sit in a church pew and hear preaching and discern
whether or not it's true, the truth, what you've heard about
God, is it true? What you've believed all your
life about yourself, is it true? about how God could possibly
accept me into his kingdom, how God, who is holy, could have
anything to do with me, who is a sinner, how we could be reconciled,
how we could be one. Again, in John 10, our brother
read it. I and my father are one, and no man's gonna pluck
then my sheep out of my father's hand. How he can make us to be
one with him. We're all just thieves and robbers. Now, if God has given us eyes
of faith, we've been blessed to see things that we otherwise
never could have seen, to know things that we otherwise never
could have known. We see, and this is only by God-given faith,
okay? This is only by something God
has done for us in spite of us. But by what God has done for
us, we see that all the scriptures declare Jesus Christ and Him
crucified Do you see that? Oh, if you don't see it, may
God open your eyes to see it. Open our eyes, Lord, that we
may see you. Open our eyes that we may see
all glory belongs to you. I was here, I think, three weeks
ago today, if my memory serves me right, and we looked at how
we are unworthy. Do we really believe that? Seriously,
I'm unworthy. And the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Lamb slain, the Lamb of God, He alone is worthy. Has God opened
your eyes to see that, to believe that? We see Him. We see the Lord Jesus,
Hebrews 2, made a little lower than the angels for the suffering
of death, crowned with glory and honor. Do you see Him having
tasted death for you, child of God? Do you see him as the captain
of your salvation? Do you see him having brought you, one of
his many sons, unto glory? See your hope? Like when our Lord took a few
of his disciples on that mount, do you see no man save the Lord
Jesus only? Do you fall down at his feet
sore afraid? Oh, Lord, have mercy on me. Turn with me to 1 Peter 1. This is what faith sees. It's what I pray God would cause
us to see, see Him. 1 Peter 1, verse 1. 1 Peter 1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia." Now look who he's writing to here. God's
elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through sanctification
of the Spirit unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Grace unto you and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead. to an inheritance incorruptible
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven
for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith unto
salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye
greatly rejoice though now for a season, if need be, ye are
in heaviness through manifold temptations. And that's our life.
That's our life right there. trials, temptations. Look what
it says, verse 7, that the trial of your faith being much more
precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. That's what's going to happen
for God's people. There's going to be a great appearing. We're
going to see our Lord Jesus Christ. Now here's why I turned here.
Look at verse 8. Whom having not seen, ye love. In whom though
now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable
and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, even the
salvation of your souls. We love him whom we have not
seen. But our end is sure. We're going
to see him. We're going to receive the salvation
of our souls. We're going to be with him. I love what Job
said, though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God. Does that give anybody something
to look forward to? Does that make you happy? Oh,
it makes me so happy. Now, I must acknowledge this
concerning the sight God has given me and hopefully us. I
see through a glass darkly. but I'm gonna see face-to-face."
That's what God said. That's his promise. Get back
in our text. I hath not seen nor ear heard. If we've seen the Lord Jesus
Christ by faith, it is because God has enabled us to hear Faith
cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. And remember
this, I think I preached on this a long time ago. The hearing
ear and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made, even both of them. The Lord enables us to hear,
the Lord enables us to see, causes us to believe, causes us to hear
his voice and follow him. Week after week, we're privileged
to come hear a man, our faithful pastor, tell us about our Lord
Jesus Christ week after week. I've had the privilege of that
my whole life. Now, I didn't really care for
a while, but oh, I'm so glad God in mercy caused me to hear.
Gave me that ear to hear him. But think about this. Right now,
we hear a man. You're sitting here hearing a
man. Hopefully we're hearing God through
his word, through a man whom he sent. But imagine what it's
going to be like to sit at our Lord's feet and hear only him,
directly. Think about that. I'm excited for however many
days I have left, but I can't wait. I can't, that's why this
is so glorious to me. I just can't imagine anything
greater. I really can't. Now please don't mistake me.
I don't want to leave here. I really don't. I love the life God has
given me. I love my family. But we would
do wise to consider our latter end. Scripture says that. We would do well to give it thought,
much thought. I thought of the Queen of Sheba.
You remember when she heard about Solomon and she thought, I got
to go see for myself. And she did. And this was her
confession. She said, the half was not told
me. You didn't even scratch the surface
to tell me about all his glory, about all his wisdom. That's
going to be the same for us. The half wasn't even told me.
Oh, Lord, you're Your fame and your prosperity
far exceeds everything I heard about you. I remember Brother
Don, before the Lord called him home, he said, I've not begun
to scratch the surface. I know it's true. I know it is. It's not begun to enter into
our heart just how glorious the things our Lord hath done for
us, just how Precious and wonderful and altogether lovely our Lord
is and will always be. We know we don't deserve God's
kindness to us. We don't. I know it's in spite
of me. It's for Christ's sake. It's
for His glory. I know it. I know it. We know we could never
repay God for His infinite, matchless goodness to us. Now, we'll praise
Him forever for it, but we could never get to the point where
it could be said, okay, well, now you're worthy. No, He alone
is worthy. He alone. I'll praise Him forever,
and that could never be enough to truly thank Him for what He's
done for me. we acknowledge that eternity
with Christ is far greater than we can imagine. But as it is written, I hath
not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. I still have a couple more scriptures
to turn to, if you will. Turn with me to Zephaniah chapter
1. For time's sake, I've just gotta read it when I get here.
If you're not there yet, just listen. Zephaniah 1, verse 7. Zephaniah 1, 7. Says, Hold thy peace at the presence
of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is at hand, for the
Lord hath prepared a sacrifice. He hath bid his guest, he prepared
a sacrifice. Do you need a sacrifice? God requires one. Sacrifice for
what? A sacrifice for our sin against
him. Praise God, the Lord hath prepared
a sacrifice. I don't have to make one. He
prepared one. God will provide himself a lamb
for sacrifice. He prepared, he provided himself
as the sacrifice for our sin. But this man, after he had offered
one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down on the right hand of
God from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool. For by one offering, that's all it took, one offering,
he hath, emphasis on that, he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. Amen. Praise, praise him, praise
him. Turn with me to John chapter
14. John 14. John 14, verse 1. And let me interject. If someone
is still sitting here thinking that somehow, some way, I have
to do something, that there's something that is not undone,
there's something yet to be completed that depends on me, hear the word of the Lord. Rest
in Him. Look here, John 14 verse 1, our
Lord speaking. Let not your heart be troubled.
Ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that
where I am, there ye may be also. There's nothing we have to do.
He prepared the sacrifice. He went to prepare a place for
us. It's not dependent on us accepting
him or deciding to have him. That's ridiculous. If I go to
prepare a place for you, I will come again and I will receive
you unto myself. That's something he said I'm
going to do. And when God says he's going to do something unlike
us, he does it. And none can stay his hand. None
can stop him. He's God. He hath done whatsoever
he hath pleased. We're just puny inhabitants of
this earth that God says are reputed as nothing. Oh, praise
God for what he hath done. He went to prepare a place for
us. How? You know how He came? He came
as a man. He came in the likeness, the
likeness of sinful flesh. He knew no sin. He came as the
sinner's substitute. He came and traded places with
us. That cross, we deserve to hang on that cross. Barabbas
deserved to hang on that cross. The Lord took a crown of thorns.
The only person that deserves a crown of thorns is every person
who ever lived other than the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet He
took that crown of thorns and gave us His crown of glory. He took that robe, mocking him
as king, when he is the only king. And he's given us his spotless
robe of righteousness. Talk about an unfair trade, my
soul. We have no idea. And yet that's
what he hath been pleased to do. He went and prepared for us a
city. A heavenly one. A better one.
Wherein dwelleth righteousness. No sin there. No night there.
Perfect peace and rest there. Unity. Because we're with him,
he's coming again to receive us unto himself that we may be
with him forever. I've never heard such good news
in all my life. You're not going to tell me something better than
that. There's nothing better. Pastor Don, he loved to tell a story
about, I really can't remember how the story goes, I just remember
after the kids were done eating dinner, their mom said, keep
your fork. They knew something better was coming. Dessert was
coming. You know, Brother Don was buried
with a fork in his hand. Because he knew something better
was coming. For those in Christ. I hath not
seen, ne'er hath not heard, it's not entered into our heart. Just
how better. You know, Paul said, I'm in a
strait betwixt two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ,
which is far better. But for the time now, it's more
needful for me to be here with you. Oh, brethren. I love this
verse, Matthew 25, 34. Now, I pray this has been a glorious
message to you. I'm just rejoicing to think that God would do anything
like that for someone like me. Now, let me reiterate this. When it comes to the things of
God, when it comes to hope of eternal life, it has nothing
to do with what we have done or with what we will ever do.
It all hinges on what God hath done. And that's how it's worded,
hath, all right? Here's what we've done. We've
sinned against God, our maker. We've loved ourselves and despised
the Savior. That's my story. That's what
I've done. There's no boasting there. But God, is that your hope? Here's what I've done. Here's
who I am. Here's all I'll ever be. But God, there's hope. There's hope there. And there's
hope nowhere else. Nowhere else. He hath poured
out his soul unto death. He hath done that. He hath redeemed
Jerusalem by Himself, by pouring out His own precious blood. He
hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath done that. I didn't sew my own righteousness
up, no. He robed me in Himself, the spotless
Lamb of God. He, I love this one, He hath
glorified thee. He said in John 17, praying to
his father, the glory you've given me, I've given them. That's amazing if we understand
that he won't give his glory to another. How do you explain
that? Because we're in him. If we're
in him, if we're one with him, what's his is ours. I am his
and he is mine. I want to close by reading you
the verse that our text is quoting, all right? It's Isaiah 64, verse
4. I'm going to read this and close. Isaiah 64, 4. Again, this is what 1 Corinthians
2 verse 9 is referencing. Isaiah 64 verse 4. For since the beginning of the
world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither
hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for
him that waiteth for him. If God has revealed his love
to us and in us, he's going to allow us and cause us to wait
for him. When we're burdened and overwhelmed
and our wits end to the point of despair, what do we do? Wait
on him. Pray for God to enable you to
wait on him. Keep looking to Him, whom having
not seen ye love, believe, you're hoping in, you're trusting in.
Wait on Him, brethren. May God enable us to wait on
Him. Amen. Let's have a word of prayer.
God, our great and heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your
word. It's so glorious. I pray that
this has been good news to us today. I pray that you would
cause us to bow to you right now and believe every word you've
recorded for us. Cause us to hope in the Lord
Jesus Christ and trust the precious promises that you've given us
in him. I pray for our dear brethren who are afflicted Lord, for those that will soon
be departing this life, to be united with our Savior forever. Lord, send your special graces
to them in this precious, yet difficult time, and be with the
families of those around them. Help us all to cling to Christ
and him alone. Bless this message. Bless this
meal that we're about to have together in our fellowship. For
Christ's sake, be with Pastor Donnie and bring him and Shirley
safely home. Guide us in all that we do. Be
glorified in all things. For Christ's sake, amen. Thank you, brother. Thank you,
Lord, for saving my soul. Thank you, Lord, for making me
whole. Thank you, Lord. There'll be no evening service
this evening. Lord will and our pastor will
be back and we'll meet again Wednesday at our normal time. Listen, we have 20 pizzas out
here. My wife just went out to help
carry them in. Hot and fresh. So there'll be plenty of pizza.
Stay and eat pizza. Take pizza home with you after
you've eaten all the pizza you can eat. You're dismissed.