We live in a day, sadly, when
people are taught to escape reality, escape responsibility for anything,
and they run to doctors and psychologists and analysts and psychiatrists
and get a pill or some medication to help them cope with life.
And I guess if that's the only way you can cope with it, that's
what you have to do. but I speak to you who are gods, and I ask
you, when trouble comes your way, when your heart is heavy,
when all is dark, and your troubles cause you to tremble with the
heaviness of the burdens you bear, where do you go for help? Where do you seek comfort? I
was in California, had more than one person this time asked me,
said, I need to talk to you for a while. I need some counsel.
And my response was, I'm sorry, I don't give any counsel except
from the pulpit. I don't counsel folks about things.
I'm not a psychiatrist, psychologist, or manipulator. I don't try to
be. It's not my business. I give my counsel from this place,
from the pulpit. Where do you go for comfort,
for help, for guidance, for strength? If you're wise, if you're wise,
you go to one book, the one book written specifically to give
you comfort, the word of God. This one right here. If you're
wise, if you're wise. Opening the pages of this blessed
book, we find exactly what we need. As we bow before our Father's
throne, seeking His mercy and His grace in the time of need. Turn with me, if you will, to
Romans chapter 15 and verse 4. Just hold your Bibles open right
here at this text. Romans 15 and verse 4. In this single verse, God the
Holy Ghost tells us plainly that this is specifically the reason
why the Holy Scriptures were written. Romans 15 verse 4. Whatsoever things were written
aforetime, were written for our learning that we, through patience
and comfort of the scriptures, might have hope. Now, when I
speak of the scriptures, I'm talking about the Bible, the
entire Word of God, the Old Testament and the New. You've heard folks
talk about, well, that was in the old Bible. There's no such
thing as the Old Bible. The Old Testament is not distinct
from the New. The Old Testament was given prior
to the New, but the New Testament is but the fulfilling or the
explanation of all things written in the Old Testament. In fact,
when Paul wrote this text, he didn't have any scriptures except
the Old Testament scriptures. The New Testament does not replace
the Old Testament, it completes it. We rejoice and give thanks
to God to know that the ceremonies and statutes of the Mosaic dispensation
are no longer in any way binding upon us. We are not under the
law because Christ has fulfilled it all. Christ is the end of
the law and we are not under the law but under grace. What
good news that is. But that doesn't mean the Old
Testament scriptures are irrelevant, not at all. In fact, it is more
relevant today than ever. It has the same authority, the
same comfort for us today as it did for David in his day.
And it is more precious today because we who believe now are
able to read the Old Testament scriptures in the light of the
new and understand them. Our text tells us and tells us
plainly that God's intention, God's purpose, God's design in
giving us the inspired volume of Holy Scripture is that we
might learn the way of life in Christ and enjoy the patience,
comfort, and hope of the scriptures. Read the text with me again.
Whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our
learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures
might have hope. My subject this morning is the
fourfold purpose of Holy Scripture. My outline is in the text. Why
was this book written? Paul tells us it was written
for our learning, to teach us patience, to give us comfort
that we might have hope. All right, here's the first thing.
The Word of God was written for our learning. And I'll spend
the bulk of my time here, because this is the foremost thing. The
Bible was not written simply that we might learn historic
facts, moral ethics, religious ceremonies, or doctrinal opinions. The Bible does not write about
history or science, but whenever it speaks of things historic
or scientific, the word of God speaks with absolute accuracy. This book, without question,
sets before us certain facts and principles of life, gospel
ordinances, doctrinal truth, and we cherish those things.
We count nothing in the word of God insignificant or irrelevant. But the intent of scripture is
far greater than that. Far more spiritual, far more
practical, far more beneficial than moralisms, doctrinal theory,
and religious ceremonies. The word of God has been given
to us that you and I might learn the way of life and salvation
in Christ. that we might know God, that
we might know God as He reveals Himself in His Son in the pages
of Holy Scripture, that we might have obtained eternal life by
Him. Now, hold your hands here and
let's look at some familiar texts of Scripture. Luke 24. I want
you to look at these. They're very familiar to this
congregation, but I want you to look at them. The purpose of God in giving
us this book is that we might know Christ. Everything in the
book points to, speaks about, and reveals the Son of God. Our
Lord Jesus, after the resurrection, is walking with two disciples
on the road to Emmaus, and he was hidden from them. That is,
they didn't recognize who he was. They didn't recognize him.
And they're talking with great sorrow about the fact that Christ
had been crucified at Jerusalem. Now, these were our Lord's disciples. I preach to folks, I've been
preaching to you for over 38 years, some of you. And I've
been preaching the gospel of God's grace longer than that,
but you preach to folks and after a while you think, does anybody
pay any attention to what I've said? Doesn't anybody, somebody
make a statement, you say, why didn't I hear it? Well, our Lord's
disciples had a better preacher, a much better preacher. He preached
to them for three and a half years. And he told them over
and over and over again, the son of man must go to Jerusalem,
be delivered to the hands of the Gentiles and be crucified
and slain and rise again the third day. And when it happened,
none of them paid any attention. None of them paid any attention.
These disciples are walking on the road to Emmaus. Oh, We're
so disappointed. Everything we hoped for is over.
What are we gonna do now? And the Lord Jesus, verse 27,
beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them
in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And their
hearts began to burn within them. Look at verse 44. And he said
unto them, these are the words which I spake unto you while
I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which
were written in the law of Moses and in the prophets and in the
Psalms concerning me. Moses in the law, the prophets,
in the prophets and in the historic books, and all the poetic books,
They speak of me, and I have come to fulfill these things. Then opened he their understanding
that they might understand the scriptures. You understand the
scriptures when you understand they speak of Christ. And if you don't understand that,
you don't understand the scriptures. And he said unto them, thus it
is written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer and to rise
from the dead the third day for this purpose, and that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. In the first chapter of John's
gospel, we read in verse 45, Philip findeth Nathanael. and
saith unto him, we have found him of whom Moses and the law
did write. Excuse me, Moses and the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.
You remember our Lord spoke to the Pharisees in John 5, 39,
and they loved the scriptures, they really did. They loved the
letter of scriptures. They loved the facts of scripture.
They memorized scripture. They quoted scripture and they
searched the scriptures. They searched the scriptures
to find out. Now, a man is required by law
to take his brother's wife if he dies and has no children and
raise up children to his brother. And suppose he does this, and
then next brother dies, next brother dies, and this woman's
had seven husbands, which one's she gonna be married to in the
resurrection? And they search the scriptures to find out. Well, that's important, we need
to know these things. That's how you entertain yourself with
the word of God on the way to hell. Our Lord said, search the
scriptures. For in them you think you have
eternal life, and they are they which testify of me. To him give
all the prophets witness that through his name, whosoever believeth
in him shall receive remission of sins. Now, turn to 1 Peter
chapter three, chapter one, rather, 1 Peter chapter one. You hear folks say, he preaches
from the Bible. Well, a fellow would have a tough
time persuading somebody that he was a preacher if he didn't,
wouldn't he? But he preaches from the Bible, he's gotta be
all right. He quotes the Bible all the time, he gotta be all
right. He's a Bible preacher. I hear that frequently. Mr. Graham died recently, and the
news commentators and former presidents said, bragged about
how that great man preached the gospel, preached the gospel to
more people than any man who's ever lived in history. Well,
he preached to more people than any man who ever lived in history,
but never once preached the gospel. He never once preached the gospel.
I defy you to find me where he ever did. Not once. If I had thought he had, I would
have joined the Billy Graham evangelistic team. He did more
than any religious fellow I know of. but he never preached the
gospel, but he preached the Bible, brother John, how can you say
that? To preach the Bible is to preach Jesus Christ crucified,
the accomplished redemption of God's Son. Let's see, 1 Peter
1, verse 23. Being born again, that is you
and I who believe God, we've been born again, not of corruptible
seed, but of incorruptible. by the word of God which liveth
and abideth forever. For all flesh is grass and all
the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth
and the flower thereof falleth away. But the word of the Lord
endureth forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. I have had a few fellas write
me up and rumor gets back, the yak about Fortner believes in
gospel regeneration. Somebody said, Fortner Mayhem
preached gospel regeneration. And I was asking about that.
Well, of course I do. Of course I do. There's no generation without
the gospel. This is the word which by the
gospel is preached unto you, and by this word you're born
again. God saves sinners through the
foolishness of preaching. The preaching of the gospel is
the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it.
This preaching, this preaching of the gospel, the preaching
of the book of God, is the declaration of the accomplished work of Jesus
Christ, the Son of God. Anything else is not preaching
the Word of God. God saves sinners by the proclamation
of gospel truth. Without the gospel, the heathen
are lost. And without the gospel, the religious
heathen in Baptist churches are still lost. Folks are saved by
the word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. All the book of God, all the
book of God, All the Book of God speaks of Jesus Christ, our
Redeemer. And it all speaks of salvation
by Christ, with Christ, in Christ, through Christ, His blood, His
righteousness, His grace, His power, that's all! That's the
whole message of Holy Scripture. Paul said, this is all the counsel
of God. I'm determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. In order for sinners
to be saved, we must be instructed in the gospel of Christ as it
is revealed in the book of God. That's my responsibility as a
preacher. to preach to you and to all men
everywhere repentance and remission of sins by Jesus Christ. Not just to tell you you must
repent and your sins must be remitted, but to tell you that
Jesus Christ has accomplished repentance. He has turned sinners
to God, reconciling God and sinners in his own person, and the remission
of sins accomplished by the blood of his cross. And this is granted
of God to everyone that believeth. Hearing those things of his own
will, begat he us with the word of truth. Are you saying, Pastor,
that the only way God saves sinners is by the preaching of the gospel?
No, I would not say that. I would never say that. God said
that. There's a huge difference. There's
a huge difference. Well, there are not many folks
who think like that. I know that. You know the whole
religious world thinks you're an idiot for saying that. I know
that. You know that isolates you from most folks who preach.
I'm fully aware of that. I've been that way all my life
as a preacher and God helped me up and stay that way. God
saves sinners by the preaching of the gospel. That's the reason
we support missionaries. We seek to establish churches.
That's the reason you send me around the world to preach the
gospel with every open door. Doesn't matter whether it's two
or three or several hundred. Wherever God opens the door,
we go preach the gospel in the full anticipation that God sends
his word to chosen redeemed sinners at the appointed time of love,
and begets them unto life eternal through the revealing of Jesus
Christ in them. This is eternal life, our Savior
said, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom Thou hast sent. And there is no eternal life
until you know the true God and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
And that comes by the preaching of the word. We come and tell
sinners how it is that God saves sinners by Jesus Christ. And
the scriptures make it clear. He does it by election. by predestination,
by redemption, by regeneration, by effectual calling, by preservation,
by resurrection, by glorification, and those are all things no man
can accomplish. Those are all things no man contributes
anything to. Those are all things that are
works of God alone. Salvation is of the Lord. That's
the message of scripture. All right, here's the second
thing. The scriptures were given that we might learn the way of
life and salvation in Christ. Second, the scriptures were written
to teach us patience. Patience. I expect we all need
a little help with that, don't we? Patience. Patience is that
calm, even temper. and unruffled spirit with which
believing men and women bear the evils of life. Patience is that calm, even temper
and unruffled spirit with which believing men and women bear
the evils of life. Patience is not, patience is
not a careless indolence, a stupid insensibility, a mechanical bravery,
a constitutional fortitude, or a daring stoutness of spirit
resulting from fatalism, philosophy, and pride. Rather, patience is
the gift of God, the fruit of the spirit, the outgrowth of
faith, the outgrowth of indwelling grace in God's elect. Grace wrought in them by the
power and gift of God the Holy Ghost. Patience is nourished
by heavenly truth, the scriptures. Patience is guided by the scriptures. The patience of the scriptures,
that patience taught, exemplified, and set before us in the scriptures,
involves many things and reaches in many directions. This is our
Lord's admonition to us. He said to his disciples, in
your patience, possess ye your souls. What does that mean? In your patience, Possess ye
your souls. You ladies sometimes have you,
you have oven mitts. I've actually put one on once.
I think Shelby's got one somewhere. And you use those things to reach
in the oven and get out something so hot it would just burn your
hands up if you get it. You take the oven mitts and grab
hold of it. And you hold it. This is what
our Lord says. In your patience, get hold of
yourself. In your patience possess ye your
souls. There's no reason for God's people to fret and pace the floor and
act crazy. I expect it from everybody else. I don't expect it from God's
people. Patience, you see, is faith's
willing resignation to the will of God. But pastor, you just
can't expect that from people. I can expect it from me. And I can be horribly disappointed
if it's not there. I can expect it from anybody
who believes God. Anybody. But this is just not
natural. I never suggested that it was.
Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine
own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths. I know you have difficulty and
you want somebody to tell you what to do. And I talk to you
because I want to help you. And my counsel is always the
same. And it seems simplistic. And when I give the counsel,
put my arm around a man's shoulders or around a woman's shoulders
who's hurting, and I say to them, this is God's will, trust the
Lord. He'll work this out for good
for you. And sometimes they look at me like, I just assumed you
hadn't said that. I know that! But I've gotta have something
else. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, in all your ways,
acknowledge him. And he might possibly direct
your paths. That is not what it said, is it? He shall direct
your paths. Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. Cast all your care on him, for
he careth for you. His shoulders are broad, cast
your care on him, he cares for you. You see, believers submit
to God in all things willingly. Not perfectly, but willingly. This is an essential aspect to
faith. I fully agree with Spurgeon when he made this statement.
The man who will not yield himself to the divine will and meekly
bear it, whatever it may be, is evidently rebellious against
God. That's what Job did, is it not? That's what Job did. He said, this is God's will.
I bow and worship him. God gave me those children. They're
his and God took them. Why shouldn't he? Why shouldn't he? God gave me
those friends and they're his. God took them. Why shouldn't
he? God gave me that wealth. It was his gold. He took it. Why shouldn't he? God gave me
a strong body. I was once a strong man and God
took it. It's his. Why shouldn't he? God
gave me so much delight in my household, and God took it. It's his. Why shouldn't it? Why
shouldn't it? In all this, Job sinned not,
nor charged God with folly, but he bowed his head in worship.
Eli had two sons. David, I expect Eli's two sons
were as dear to him as yours are to you. Don't you reckon?
The difference was his two sons were rebels. And the reason was
Eli didn't discipline them. It was his fault. And God killed
them both in one day. And God told him, it's your fault.
And Eli said, it is the Lord. Let him do what seemeth him good.
If we truly believe God, we will bow before him in patience. No matter what his providence
brings, he must bow us, but bow we will. That means Jerry Sadler,
he's gonna make you bow to his will, and you're gonna be happy
you did. He's gonna make you bow to his
will and you will be happy he did. Patience is a steady continuance
in faith and obedience to God. I don't know about you, but most
religious people you know, I suspect, have spasms of religion. Most
everybody has some religious notions and some religious experience
and they go to church now and then. And whenever things get
to going real good, they forget it. When things get going bad,
they start going to church again. Well, true faith is not a temporary
faith. True love is not spasmodic love. God's saints walk before him
in patient, obedient faith and love. Regardless of loss, regardless
of cost, regardless of consequence. Noah was a patient man. God sent
him out to preach the gospel. And he preached the gospel for
120 years. For 120 years. Boy, he must have
had a big congregation, preached for 120 years. He must have had
a big following. Randall, his sons and his daughter-in-laws,
that's all. Nobody else. Nobody else. But he preached for 120 years.
How come? Because God commanded him to
do so. Because this is God's purpose. Because this is God's will. And in the end, Noah and his
family went into the ark. Patience also has something to
do with bearing one another's burdens. I almost said putting up with,
that's the wrong word. That's the wrong word. It's bearing
one another's weaknesses, failures, their falls, their faults, their
infirmities. Not putting up with them. You
put up with something, you see a fellow out there trying to
pick up a big log, and you say, well, I'll watch him do that,
and I'll put up with that. That's not bearing it. Oh, he
can't get that by himself. I'll go help him. And you pick
it up with him. That's what it is to bear your
brother's burdens. His faults, his failures, his
inconsistencies, his weaknesses, sins. Here, let me help you carry
that. That loads too much for you,
Ricky. You need my help. Let me carry some. You walk along
with him and hold his hand and prop him up and help him along
the way. That's exactly the context in
which we have that. Look at verse one of Romans 15. We then that are strong ought
to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. Not to please ourselves. Why
are you doing that? Well, that's what I want to do. Why did you pack up and go over
there? Well, that's what I wanted to do. We'd be happier over there. I'd
be happier doing this. Why did you quit that job? Well,
I wasn't happy there. Where are you going to go to
work? I don't know where if I can find a job where I can do everything
the way I want to do it and get what I want and get off when
I want to get off. We live in a stupid generation that thinks
the world revolves around you. The world doesn't revolve around
you. We're here not to please ourselves, but to please our
brethren, to please his neighbor, for his good to edification.
For even as Christ pleased not himself, but as it is written,
the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me. And then Paul
says, for whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written
for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures,
might have hope. Be kind one to another, forgiving
one another. Patience. Patience, the Scripture
teaches you to bottle your tongue. Be kind, gracious. And patience
is simply waiting on God. Waiting on God. We try to work
things out. We try to get things resolved.
Best thing to do is just hang on and wait. Just hang on and
wait. When I was a boy, I used to go
to the mountains, visit my cousins, Spruce Pine, North Carolina.
My uncle had a pretty large chicken house. And I think he waited
for me to get there for the chicken house to get cleaned out. And
it was a big thing. He had hundreds of chickens,
carried them everywhere. And my two cousins, his boys and
I, got the job of cleaning that thing out in the summertime.
And it didn't take me but just the first time getting in it
to understand it's best to let it crust over. If you get in
there and start stirring before they've crust over, you just
can't take it. You just can't take it. Our tendency
is never to let anything crust over. We gotta stir it up. And
it always comes out smelling like the chicken house. What
ought you to do with things? Wait. Just wait. Wait on the Lord, be of good
courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on
the Lord. They that wait on the Lord shall
renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings
as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. If I believe God. If I believe God. Now the preacher's
talking to himself. You listen in if you want to.
If I believe God, Mark. I can wait on him with patience
and resignation. I can wait on him. Though the
vision tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come. It will
not tarry. Wait on the Lord. He'll fulfill
his word. God told David, said, David,
I will make you king over my people Israel. And time and time
again, something came up and somebody said, this is the time.
David, let's go get Saul this time. David said, no, I'll wait
on God. I'll wait on God. At his time,
he'll make me king over Israel. I won't have to do anything to
do it. Wait on the Lord. He'll do you good in all things.
Wait on the Lord. He will perform his work. He
will save his people. That means there's never need
for fear. Never need for you and I to fear
anything. Never a reason for any believer,
any church, any pastor, any preacher ever to compromise God's truth
and God's glory, never. Yeah, just wait, just wait. Never
a reason for fretfulness. Unease. Never a reason. The preacher don't have to have
trouble with that. I said I'm talking to your preacher now.
I'm talking to the pastor. Never a reason. Now, I get hanging
my head between my legs and beating myself. Don, stupid. Stupid. How insane. What business are you doing this? Wait on God. Never reason to
fret. Never reason to fear. Never. Third, the book of God
was written. God has given us his word that
we might enjoy the comfort of the scriptures. Now, get the
comfort and the patience is yours. Get the comfort and the patience
is yours. The book of God was written to
give us comfort. The fact is no one in this world
lives without trouble. If misery loves company, misery's
got a lot of people to love. We all have bitterness in our
cup. Much pain in our portion and
much sorrow in our situation. Man that is born of woman is
a few days and full of trouble. Man that is born of woman is
a few days and full of trouble. Now, I realize that death comes
to the old and young alike. At God's appointed time for each
of us, whether you die six months, or six years, or 60 years, or
100 years, death comes at God's appointed time. But our days on this earth, appointed
by God, are full of trouble. And then comes the end. And when
the end comes, Children of God, I want to help you now. I hope
you'll listen to me. I hope you'll listen to me. I
know pain comes, you miss folks, you agonize, your heart breaks. I can't imagine, I can't imagine
losing that lady and having life without her. I can't imagine
it. But when that time comes, when that time comes, there's
no reason for me to act like it's some strange thing and it
shouldn't have happened. and me pull my hair out, what's
left of it, and act like there's no God. There's no reason for
that. And when that time come for you,
no reason for that. No reason. Well, you don't understand. I
do understand. I do understand. We believe God. And one of these days, I'm gonna
lay in the bed, and I don't wanna eat, and I don't wanna drink,
and I don't wanna move. All I wanna do is die. That's
all right. That's all right. A dog's got
enough sense to do that. Why shouldn't a believer? If
you didn't keep your dogs penned up when they got old, you know
what they'd do? When they got time for them to die, they'd crawl
somewhere and die. You wouldn't have to bury them. You couldn't find them.
I've had many of them do it. Had many of them do it. A dog
can do it. Why not a believer? Why not a believer? We're leaving
this world. Let us leave with joy. We're
leaving this world, let us leave with peace. We're leaving this
world, let us leave with comfort. We know that if our earthly house
of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, a
house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. That ought to
give us comfort. We have comfort. Comfort in the
promises of God. Comfort in the character of God.
Comfort in God's covenant. Comfort in the redemptive work
of Christ. Comfort in the forgiveness of
sins. Comfort in the fact that God, the God of glory, is my
Father! He's my God. He's my God. This is the comfort of scripture.
This is the book of comfort. Whatever the trouble is, Whatever
it is that's breaking your heart, you're not gonna find it, answer
at the doctor's office, at the psychiatrist's house or office,
you're not gonna find it in a bottle, you're not gonna find it in a
needle, and you're not gonna find it in a pill. You'll find
it in this book. In this book. That's where it
is. And Mark and Donna, what you
been going through? David and Teresa, what y'all
been going through? I know the pain. Believe me,
I know the pain. But there's no reason not to
find comfort. You've got God, your Father,
Christ, your Savior, the Spirit, your Comforter. comforting you
by taking the things of Christ and showing them to you. Walk
with Him in faith. Walk with Him in faith and be
comforting. Our comfort is in the Scriptures. I know religious people When
they have trouble and they're afraid, you see them in the movies,
they'll be fixing to die, something fixing to happen in just the
last few minutes, and they'll grab their rosary bead and rub
their beads and say their Hail Marys, and folks who don't have
rosary beads will quote scriptures, and they'll quote the 23rd Psalm,
or they'll quote part of Romans 8, 28, and just repeating it
like a good luck charm. That's not the comfort of the
scriptures. The comfort of the scriptures is the message of
scripture. Comfort ye, comfort you my people. Tell them, just keep telling
my people, keep telling them their warfare is over. God's
not angry with them. Keep telling them their iniquity
is pardoned. God's forgiven your sin through
the blood of his Son. Keep telling them from the Lord's
hand you will receive double. for all your sins. He not only forgives sin, He
makes you righteous and makes you the heirs of eternal life,
heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Our Savior
said, in the world, you're gonna have trouble, just as sure as
sunshine. In the world, you'll have tribulation,
but be of good cheer, I've overcome the world. And he said, my peace
give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe God, believe also in me. In my father's house and
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. The
Lord Jesus, Mark Henson, left here 2,000 years ago to prepare
a place for me. I frankly don't have any idea
what all that includes. I'm sure a great deal more than
I've ever imagined. But this I know. When he has
finished the place he's preparing for me, he's going to come again. and receive me to himself, either
in his glorious second coming, or when he comes and snuffs breath
from my body and takes me to glory. And either way is just
fine. Either way is blessed. Either
way is delighted. I bring you to myself, that where
I am, there ye may be also. last thing. I'll preach on this
another day maybe. The Scriptures were given that
we might have hope, a good hope through grace. What hope? What hope? Soon, soon
we will be with Christ. And when we see Him, we'll be
like Him. For we shall see Him as He is.
No wonder the psalmist said, then shall I be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness. Yeah. Go home and keep your Bible
nearby. Keep one on your nightstand.
Keep one on your footstool. Keep one on your side table.
And every time you pick it up, look for Christ. Believe in Christ. Ask God to
teach you patience. Ask God for his comfort. Ask
God to cause you to to hope in His Word. Amen. Alright, let's turn to
number 2.