So, we're going to go ahead and
get started a little bit early. Would you open your Bibles with
me to Psalm 115, please? Psalm 115. I thought about this Psalm in
relationship to both of those messages we heard this morning.
not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory
for thy mercy and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen
say, where now is their God? Our God is in the heavens. He
hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver
and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak
not. Eyes have they, but they see not. They have ears, but
they hear not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle not. Feet have they, but
they walk not. Neither speak they through their
throats. They're figments of men's imagination. They're idols. In fact, men worship themselves. They set themselves up on the
throne of God, according to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. make God's subject
to themselves. They that make them are like
unto them. So it was everyone that trusted in them. Oh, Israel,
trust thou in the Lord. He is their help and their shield.
Oh, house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and
their shield. Ye that fear the Lord, trust
in the Lord. He is their help and their shield. The Lord hath
been mindful of us. He will bless us. He will bless
the house of Israel. He will bless the house of Aaron
and all God's people said, amen, amen. Let's stand together. Tom's gonna come lead us in number
62. Crown him with many crowns, number
62. you. ? Crown Him with many crowns ?
? The Lamb upon His throne ? ? Hark how the heavenly anthems drown
? ? All music but its own ? ? Awake my soul and sing ? ? Of Him who
died for thee ? and hail Him as thy matchless King through
all eternity. Crown Him the Lord of love, behold
His hands and side, Moons yet visible above In beauty glorified
No angel in the sky Can fully bear that sight But downward
bends his wandering eye At mysteries so bright ? Crown Him the Lord
of life ? Who triumphed o'er the grave ? Who rose victorious
to the strife ? For those He came to save ? His glories now
we sing ? Who died and rose on high Who died eternal life to
bring, And lives that death may die. ? Crown him the Lord of
heaven ? One with the Father known ? One with the Spirit through
him given ? From yonder glorious throne ? To thee be endless praise
? For thou for us has died Be thou, O Lord, through endless
days adored and magnified. Please be seated. Let's change
over now to number 232. We'll sing number 232, When I
See the Blood, 232. Christ our Redeemer died on the
cross, died for the sinner, paid all his due. Sprinkle your soul
with the blood of the Lamb, and I will pass, will pass over you. When I see the blood, when I
see the blood, when I see the blood, I will pass, I will pass
over you. Chiefest of sinners, Jesus will
save. All he has promised, that he
will do. Wash in the fountain, open for
sin. And I will pass, will pass over
you. When I see the blood, When I
see the blood When I see the blood I will pass, I will pass
over you Judgment is coming, all will be there, each one receiving
justly his due. Hide in the saving, sin-cleansing
blood, and I will pass, will pass over you. When I see the
blood When I see the blood When I see the blood I will pass,
I will pass over you Oh, great compassion, oh, boundless
love, oh, loving kindness, faithful and true. Find peace and shelter
under the blood, and I will pass, will pass over you when I see
the blood. ? When I see the blood ? When
I see the blood ? I will pass, I will pass over you So thankful, that's the only
thing the Lord's looking for. Not when I see your commitment,
your dedication, your works, your will. No. When I see the
blood of my son, I'll pass by you. We had some special music. Is
that still on? No. No. OK. OK. John Chapman, where you at? Come on up. I feel like I just need to say
amen and let's go home after we heard this morning and you
people look full. But I'll try to give you a little
something here and try to keep it brief. Turn to Hebrews, Hebrews
chapter nine, Hebrews chapter nine. Verse 27-28, And as it is appointed unto men
once to die, but after this the judgment, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now statistically, one out of
every one person dies. That is a hundred percent statistic. It never fails. History proves
that all die. I have preached several funerals
over the year. People just will not quit dying. My pastor, Henry Mahan, said
to me one time while we were walking away from a friend's
grave, he looked at me and said, I can't wait till we quit dying,
when death shall be no more. Some time ago, I watched an interview
with a man that was on death row, and he was asked if he were
afraid. And he replied, I'm not really
afraid because it hasn't happened yet. That pretty much describes
this world. This world is on death row. It's
on death row. But because it hasn't happened
yet, they're not afraid, not afraid. We see people go about
their lives as if they were gonna live on this earth forever. I had a young man call me, this
has been a few months ago. He thought that he had leukemia
and he called me and talked to me about it and said, I've never
had, I've never had a fear to grip me like this. He said, I've never known anything
like this. And we talked, we talked a while. But you know,
we have a more sure word than that of the best doctors. We
have God's word on it. It shouldn't surprise me at all
if the doctors said to me, you've got two months. I said, well,
God told me that a long time ago. God told me a long time
ago. It's appointed. It's an appointment. God said, you shall die. There's
nothing more sure than death. It's appointed unto men what's
to die. You can eat healthy, you can exercise, you can do
what you wanna do, but you shall die. You go back and read Genesis,
they live 900 years and they died. Every one of them, they
died. Now, some of you may think this
is going to be depressing, especially after those two messages we heard
this morning. That depends on your relationship
to Jesus Christ. Turn over to Revelation chapter
21. Revelation chapter 21. Now, I'm going to read to you
a few verses. And every time I read something
depressing, you underline it. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, where the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,
and God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he
that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, you write,
write this down with these words are true and faithful. Now, is there anything depressing
about that? I didn't read anything. I didn't
see anything depressing in what I just read. And you know what
I just read to all you who believe the gospel.
I just read to you, your future. I just read the future. Coming
up here, I think I saw, there's a palm reading place down here?
Well, that's a money gimmick, you know that. But I tell you
what, I just read you the future. This is what we have coming.
Now, what's depressing about that? Nothing. But we need to
look at this. First of all, let's look at the
cause of death. Every time someone dies, a cause
of death is given. Heart attack or some disease. But I have never read one report
written in the newspaper that has given the real cause of death,
sin. They said he died of a heart
attack. No, he died of sin. Heart attack is the second cause.
The first cause of sin, that's the first cause. Sin is the root
cause of death. It's written in Romans 5.12,
wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world and death
by sin. And so death passed upon all
men for that all have sinned. Sin brought forth spiritual death.
We lost the life of God. And then it brought forth physical
death. It's written in the scriptures,
when sin is conceived, it bringeth forth death. There's no cure
on this earth for sin. There's no cure for sin, not
on this earth, not at all. The medical field is always trying,
they're always treating the symptoms, but never can find a cure. They
can't find a cure for sin. If they find a cure for a heart
attack, if we quit having heart attacks, it'll be something else.
Sin is the problem. Sin is the reason why we die.
Man tries to keep living longer, but no matter how long he lives,
sooner or later, he dies. Secondly, the reality of death.
No one is still alive on this earth since the beginning. No
one. They've all died. The newspapers,
again, is full of death. You pick up the obituaries, and
you read the year they were born, you read the year they die, and
someone said, that dash in the middle is your life. That's about
it, isn't it? It's that brief. It's like a
vapor. That's what James says. We are
fully aware that we too, we who believe the gospel, Unless the
Lord comes back, we have to die. We have to leave this life. We
have to leave this life. Now, depending on your relationship
to the Lord Jesus Christ, whether that'll be a good day or a bad
day. I was trying to find some notes
that I had preached years ago on a message, when is it a good
day to die? Simeon said, When he looked into
the face of the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, Lord, let thy servant
now depart in peace. I have seen thy salvation. That's
a good day to die. That's when it's a good day to
die, when you have seen in the face of Jesus Christ, all your
hope, all your salvation, all that you need to stand before
God. Brethren, that's a good day to die. Any day after that,
that's a good day to die. And then death, thirdly, is an
appointment. It's an appointment. You're not
going to die, you're not going to die accidentally. You might
die in an accident, but it will not be an accident that you die
at all. The sparrow doesn't even fall
to the ground without your heavenly father. Our times are in his
hands. Our days are like that of a hireling. We spend them. It's like you
go to work, you punch in. And then at the evening comes,
you punch out and go home. It's an appointment. And it's
an appointment made by God and God keeps his appointments. He
keeps his appointments. You remember the story in Genesis
40 of the chief baker and the butler. They had a dream and
Joseph told that baker, interpreted his dream. And he told him, he
said, in three days, in three days, you're gonna die. And you know what happened? In
three days, he was dead. God keeps his appointments. When
Adam fell, sin entered, death entered. The soul that sinneth,
scripture says, shall surely die. Has anyone here sinned? Well,
guess what you got to deal with. And then it says judgment, judgment. We do not die like animals. We
are responsible to God for every thought, every idle word, every
action, everything. We are responsible to God. Death
brings with it judgment or accountability. And the judge, the judge that
we will stand before is the one we've sinned against. That's
the one we've sinned against. He's the one that was despised
and rejected of men. Jesus Christ himself is the judge. Last night, I told you out of
Nahum in chapter one, in those first six verses, God was angry, spoke of his indignation,
his fury, he's jealous. And I told you that Jesus Christ, That's the God Jesus Christ dealt
with on Calvary's tree. That's the one Jesus Christ dealt
with, but also that one is Jesus Christ. He is that very God. What a mystery. This is over
our head, isn't it? This is over our head. I know
it is. I know it is. But the judge is
a just judge. And he'll do right. He'll give
everyone according to their deeds, no more, no less. It says in
Revelation 16, seven. And I heard another out of the
altar say, even so Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments. Aren't you glad that sentence
doesn't end with a period? I am so glad that verse 27 does
not end with a period. It ends with a colon. The good
news is now to come. Now the good news. The good news. Here we have hope in the midst
of death and judgment. So Christ, so Christ was once
offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him
shall he appear the second time without sin and to salvation.
We find in verse 28, hope, light, salvation, substitution. That's what we find. There is salvation from sin. That ought to make us just right.
Just that alone, that statement alone ought to thrill the life
out of us. There is salvation from sin.
death, curse of the law and the wrath to come. There's salvation
from this. And this salvation is found in
the very judge that we stand before. It's found in the very
judge we're gonna stand before. Jesus Christ, all judgment's
been committed to the son. He is the judge of the quick
and the dead. He's the judge. And if the judge
became my sin bearer, and bore my sins if he answered for them. And that being so, then I don't
have to. I don't have to. Justice, justice
is satisfied. Reconciliation is made. It's made. Death has no claim
on me now. Death has no claim. The judge
of all the earth is the salvation of sinners. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. Saved a wretch like me. For the
judge to take my place, become me, stand before his own law,
and suffer the penalty, and set me free. Wow. And note how effectual his
offering is, once. Once. They offered the blood
of bulls and goats day after day after day. Rivers of blood
flowed year after year after year. But when the Lamb of God
came, when He came and bore our sins
in His body on the tree, He was offered one time, once offered
to bear the sins of many, not many times, one time. That's
how effectual the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ is, just
one time. He got the job done. I'll tell
you why his blood, his blood could put away sin.
Because as Paul said in Acts 28, It's the blood of God. Paul called it the blood of God.
His blood. Now, who are these sinners for
whom Jesus Christ died? He died for a multitude of sinners
no man can number. He didn't die on the cross to
make salvation a possibility. He died on the cross to save
sinners. And it tells us here in this verse for whom he died unto them that look for him. Are you looking for him? Are
you looking for him that I can say with absolute confidence
he died for you? Are you looking for him? Now,
if you're not looking for him, I can't say that. I cannot say
that. But it says here, and unto them
that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto
salvation. It says in 1 Thessalonians chapter
one, verse nine and 10. For they themselves show of us
what manner of entering in we had unto you and how you turned
to God from idols to serve the living and true God and to wait,
to wait for his son from heaven. That's what we're waiting on.
We're waiting on Jesus Christ to come and get us. Henry told me, he said, I pray,
he said, John, I pray every night that I won't wake up here in
the morning. I will not wake up here in the
morning. I told my wife, I said, I sure hope someday I get to
that point to where I pray Lord, come quickly. And mean it. Mean
it. Lord, come quickly. Come quickly. Titus 2, 13, looking for that
blessed hope and the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Savior, Jesus Christ. Brethren, we have nothing to
fear in death now. It's appointed unto men once
to die, and after this, judgment. Everyone of God's elect died
in Christ at Calvary's tree. Actually, it's before the foundation
of the world. It was already taken care of. You know, when
Adam fell, it says that he heard the voice of God walking in the
garden. in the cool of the day. That
sounds like everything just under control. There's no lightning
and thunder and crashing. It's all under control. That
just amazes me. Adam fell. Adam rebelled against
God. And you would think that God
would come in with thunder and light and anger. But he doesn't. Here's what you
read. The voice of God, the voice of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ walking in the garden in the cool of
the days and Adam, where are you? Calm, because he already took
care of this matter. He took care of this matter before
anything was created. Before the first thing was created,
it was all settled. You and I just have to experience
it. But as far as God's concerned, it's over. It's already taken
care of. He's not falling apart. Oh, you've heard this before,
but Calvary's not a rescue attempt. It's not a rescue attempt. It's
the fulfilling of God's purpose that he had already settled before
the creation of the world. Paul said, for me to live is
Christ and to die is gain. It's gain. I wanna close. I wanna
close by reading to you out of 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians 15. In verse 51, Paul says, behold,
I would like to hear the paper rattle. That way I know you're there.
Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not all sleep. I like
the way he says that. He that believes in me shall
never die. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in
a moment in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, where
the trump shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,
and we shall be changed. You know, the scripture teaches,
tells us in Colossians, set your heart, your mind on things above,
where Christ sits at God's right hand. Set our mind on Christ,
this is what's coming. This is what's coming through
him, because of him. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law,
but thanks be to God which gives us the victory through Jesus,
our Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that good news? Was that a sad message? Was that
a depressing message? It all depends on your relationship
to Jesus Christ. That's what it depends on. All
right. Lord, make me to know my end
and the measure of my days, what it is that I may know how frail
I am. That's your heart's desire right
now, Lord. Cause me, and then David goes
on to say, and now, Lord, what wait I for? All my hope is in
thee. John, that was a blessing. My experience with dying people
has been the same as you. Folks don't think about death.
They deny it right up to the last minute. I mean to the last
minute. I've seen that in the last week. No thought of death until the
last minute of life. And then fear grips their hearts.
God's people think about dying all the time. I just think about
it all the time and rejoice in the thought of it. Let's pray together. Our merciful
Heavenly Father, we do ask that you would be pleased to remind
us often how frail we are and how few days we have here in
this world. And cause us, Lord, to find our
hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior, thy precious
Son. Thank you for his accomplished
work. Thank you, Lord, for the victory that he had over death
and over the grave. The strength of sin is the law. Lord, you've fulfilled the law,
conquered death, We thank you for the hope that you give us
through faith in thee. We ask now, Lord, that you would
cause us to reflect and remember and share in the things that
you've taught us. Bring us back here again safe
tomorrow. We pray it in Christ's name. Amen. Let's stand together, Brother
Tom. We're going to 352, number 352. Let's stand. Jesus, lover of my soul, let
me to thy bosom fly, while the nearer waters roll, while the
tempest still is high. Hide me, O my Savior, hide, till
the storm of life is past. Safe into the haven guide, O
receive my soul at last. Other refuge have I none, hangs
my helpless soul on thee. Levi, leave me not alone, still
support and comfort me. All my trust on thee is stayed. All my help from thee I bring. Cover my defenseless head with
the shadow of thy wing. Thou, O Christ, art all I want,
more than all in thee I find. Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
heal the sick, and lead the blind. Just and holy is thy name. I am all unrighteousness. False and full of sin I am. Thou art full of truth and grace. ? Plenteous grace with thee is
found ? ? Grace to cover all my sin ? ? Let the healing streams
abound ? ? Make and keep me pure within ? ? Thou of life, the
fountain art ? freely let me take of thee. Spring thou up within my heart,
rise to all eternity. Okay.