Good morning. Our music provider
says battery low. It's just a warning. There is
no battery. So if it cuts out, sometimes
it says that before it goes crazy. So if it cuts out, we'll just
keep saying it. Anyway, good morning. Yeah, it's
a good battery. There's no battery in it. So
like I said, it's got a memory of its own. It used to have a
battery. It doesn't have a battery anymore because it quit working
20 years ago. But when it tells you Battery
power low and there's no battery installed could be fixing a malfunction. Anyway, well, good morning everyone. Let's open this morning's service
with hymn number 35, center in your soft back teminal, number
35 in the soft back, and let's all stand together. Let sinners saved by grace Their
songs to Jesus raise Our sins by blood He did erase And we
will sing His praise Our Savior gave us life And He has faithful
men Preserving us amid all strife, His daily grace we've seen. Though in our sin we lay, lost,
helpless, and defiled, God's love and grace had fixed the
day. We must be reconciled. He would not let us die. Though we despised his name,
Kept as the apple of his eye, His love remained the same. And though we wandered on in
sin from place to place, Our steps Christ ordered from His
throne, He saved us by His grace. Now though we're weak and frail,
and prone to every sin. Our Savior's grace and power
prevail, and we're secure in Him. Christ who chose us in love
and bought us with His blood reigns as our surety above, and
He will do us good. He will not leave His own. nor let his own leave him. Our Lord will bring us to his
throne to ever be with him. Please be seated. Good morning. The last line of
that hymn could be the theme for both messages this morning.
The Lord will bring us to His throne to ever be with Him. What hope we have in knowing
that the Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished our salvation. We're going to be looking at
Revelation chapter 21 this morning for our Bible study hour, if
you'd like to turn with me there in your Bibles. Revelation 21. Thank you for praying for us
last weekend in Montana. Felt like that our meeting there
was profitable and church seemed to be very encouraged and had
a good trip. Also, I got a call from Digna
yesterday. She has fallen again. She's not
injured. She's just black and blue all
over her face. I mean, that doesn't make sense,
but you understand what I mean. She didn't go to the hospital.
She didn't break anything. She bruised. And today's her
birthday. I want to encourage every single
one of you to give her a call today. If you don't have her
number, I can get it for you. But please give her a call and
encourage her. She knows you. If you don't know her well, she
knows you and she prays for you. And I know she'd be encouraged
to hear from you. All right, let's ask the Lord
to bless his word. Our merciful heavenly father,
we come before thy throne of grace in the name of thy dear
son, thanking you that we have acceptance in the beloved. Thanking
you, Lord, that you are pleased to bless your people when they
gather together to lift up thy dear son. We ask that you would
bless this service by your spirit, enable us to speak the truth,
enable us, Lord, to hear thy voice. We pray that Christ will
be exalted and that we would find ourselves trusting him for
all our salvation. We thank you for Digna. We pray,
Lord, that you would encourage her and comfort her. Pray that
you would continue to make her an encouragement to us and enable
her to come before thy throne. Lord, cause us to be mindful
of the brevity of life, for we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. You have your Bibles open to
Revelation, chapter 21, I guess it's safe to say that most people
believe in heaven. And most people believe that
they're going to go there. I want to know for sure. I don't
want to guess about it. I don't want to fear about it. I want to know for sure that
there is such a place and that I have hope in knowing that I'm
going to be there and I want you to have hope in knowing that
you're going to be there. It's amazing to me that out of
all that God has to say in his word, starting with Genesis chapter
1, that the Holy Spirit, in his infinite wisdom, summarizes the
Word of God, the entire canon of Scripture, with these two
chapters telling his children what they can expect, what they
can hope for, in being with him in glory. Oh, that the Lord would
cap our faith with such a hope. that he would cause us not to
make this world our home, that he would enable us to believe
these words, which he says are true and faithful. Look with me in verse five of
Revelation 21. And he that sat upon the throne
said, behold, Behold, oh, take notice, brethren. Behold, what
an amazing thing it is that he makes all things new. And these words are true, and
these words are faithful. Now we believe if you're a child
of God, if the Lord's given you the gift of faith, you know that
everything that God has written is true and faithful. But when
God pauses in order to say, these words are true and faithful,
he's just putting an emphasis on that particular portion of
his scripture to say to you, don't question what I'm saying
here. I know that these words are so
fantastic. that you might be tempted to
think that this is some wide-eyed visionary that's come up with
a dream and he's just writing things down in a fantasy world. Don't think that for a moment.
These words are true and these words are faithful. Rest the eternal security of
your soul on what's been said here. because this is our hope. This is our hope. This world, you ever play tetherball
when you were a kid? Who doesn't know what tetherball
is? Okay, everybody knows what tetherball is, so I don't have
to explain it. Isn't that kind of the way life is? You know, your flesh just gets
beat one way and then the other, and in the end of the day, it
just wraps around a pole and beats itself up against nothing.
You know, it's just, isn't that just the way this world is? That's the way it is. And then
every once in a while, you get a moment of reprieve when you
sail over the head of the opponent, and only to be smacked again
in an opposite direction. You know, that's just all this
world has to offer. This world is just like, it's
like tetherball. Our flesh is tethered to this
world. And our flesh will do everything
possible to try to find comfort and try to find its life in this
world. The proof of that will be found
when you get sick. When you get sick, you're going
to do everything in your power to heal your body. You'd go anywhere,
spend whatever you have to spend in order to prolong your life. Why? Because your body is tethered
to this world. It's the only hope it's got.
The natural man, it's all he's got. Faith isn't enough for him. He's got to have more. But the
spiritual man, The spiritual man, and that's who I want to
speak to this morning. That's who I'm praying the Spirit of
God will speak to. I'm not trying to speak to the
natural man. I've got nothing to tell you from the Word of
God, nothing to give you any reason to believe that your life
is going to be any better than it is now. I just don't. You listen to the
political campaigns. Our current president found something
that everybody else is going to use in the next political
campaign. You watch. Mark my words. Change. Change. Everybody's looking for
change. Everybody's looking for something
better. No one's satisfied with what
they've got. I can't give you any reason to
hope. that you're going to experience
any change in this world. Things are pretty much going
to be like they are. Your body's tethered to the pole of this
world and all you're going to do in your flesh is go round
and round. But oh child of God, if God's given you his spirit,
if he's given you a new nature, if he's given you eyes to see
beyond the physical world and most, well, nobody has that except
for the regenerated child of God. Nobody has it. You listen
to what's being preached in religion today and it's all about change. It's all about how to make your
life better in this world. There's no hope beyond that. God has summarized his word with
two chapters written to the spiritual man. And I'm hoping and praying
that the Lord will give us the spirit to see what he's saying
and to believe what he's saying, to deliver us from this world
that we are so desperately tethered to. John says, I saw a new heaven
and a new earth. Now when God says there's gonna
be change, you can be sure that there's gonna be change. When
the politicians say there's gonna be change, just figure it's gonna
be pretty much the same as it's always been. They're not gonna
change anything. Oh, they may tweak a little something
here or there, but everything's gonna go on pretty much the way
it is. God says there's going to be a new heaven and a new
earth. For the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away, gone, no longer. Oh, child of God, don't make
this world your home. Don't put your roots down too
deep. Don't invest all your resources in the things of this world.
God says it's all going to pass away. This is not a word of discouragement. This is not a prophet of doom. This is just the contrary. This is a message of hope. This
is God taking everything that he said and summarizing it for
his children to have hope beyond this world. For there shall be
no more sea. The scripture says the way of
the Lord is through the seas. The seas in the word of God are
used to illustrate the turbulence of this life. And he says, there's
no more sea. No more sea. The seas also represent
something else in the scripture. They represent separation. What
is it that separates one continent or one nation from another, one
people from another? It's those big seas that are
out there, isn't it? We talk about crossing the pond.
It's a whole lot bigger than a pond. And the Lord says, in
this new heaven and new earth, there's no more turbulence and
there's no more separation. Oh, Lord, that's what I long
for. That's what I long for. I've tasted of your grace. I've
seen glimpses of your glory. But there's still so much separation
between me and you. There's still so much that I
can't see. I can't experience. I can't rejoice
in. And I find no hope and no comfort
in this world. Here's your hope, child of God.
Here's your hope. This world is passing away. One day God's going to consume
it with fire. And there'll be a new heaven
and a new earth. And in that place, there'll be
no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city. Oh, let the Let the religionists
talk about that land over there as the holy land all they want.
There's nothing holy about that land. There's nothing holy about
that piece of earth over there called Palestine. The holiness
of God is only found and only seen in the New Jerusalem. The
New Jerusalem. You know what that's a reference
to, don't you? It's the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
it comes down from heaven. Why? Because it was birthed in
heaven. It was conceived in heaven. And it will be brought forth
into the new heaven, to new earth that God's gonna create for his
people. It's the city of peace. Coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I've performed several weddings
in my life, never seen an ugly bride. I just never have. I mean, she's always adorned
beautifully. And so it is with the bride of
Christ. Daniel said, comeliness was turned into corruption. When I saw him, I saw myself
for what I was. I recognized that everything
about me was sin. And then the Lord said, he made
him comely. So our comeliness now, our beauty,
our strength, that which adorns us before God is given to us. It is the righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ. It is the robe that he dresses
his bride with. This is the bride that was chosen
by God before the foundations of the world. This is the bride
for whom the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed as the lamb that was
slain before the foundations of the world. This is why we
see the New Jerusalem coming down from heaven. What we're
experiencing in time and space as we know it in this world is
only that which was purposed and ordained by God for all eternity. It can't be any other way. Oh,
here's the reality of all truth. It comes down from heaven. And
I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, behold, behold. Oh, again, when God says behold,
he's just saying, stand in amazement of this. There's nothing in this
world that would cause you to be amazed like this if the Lord
enables you to see it and to believe it. Behold! Behold the
tabernacle of God! Now the scripture says that the
Lord Jesus Christ is the Word, and the Word became flesh, and
He did what? He dwelt, He tabernacled among
us. And we beheld His glory as the
only begotten of the Father, the One who's full of grace,
the One who is Himself full of truth. He is the glory of God. And now He's saying, behold,
this tabernacle of God, We see it also in the Old Testament
tabernacle. And everything about that tabernacle
pointed to the Lord Jesus Christ. From the badger skin on the outside
of the tabernacle to the single door that entered into the tabernacle
to the washing of the labor and the sacrificial altar and the
holies of holies and the veil that separated that. Everything
in there, the showbread, everything, everything pointed to something
about the person and work of Christ in salvation. And now
he says this tabernacle of God is among men. He's come down
from heaven, he's brought his bride with him, and he will dwell
with them and they shall be his people and he shall be their
God. Notice that he makes us his people
before we are able to make him our God. That's the way it always
is. That's the way it always is.
They shall be his people. The only reason that we're able
to say that he is my God is because he first made us his people. We wouldn't love him if he had
not first loved us. We wouldn't believe had He not
caused us to come. This is not the wild vision of a wild-eyed
prophet. This is the Word of God. These
words are true and faithful. This is our hope. There's nothing
in this world. Oh, this is... And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. I hear people all the time. Heard
it again yesterday. Hear people all the time say,
speaking of one of their dead loved ones as if they were watching
them here in this world. Impossible. First of all, most
of those folks they refer to aren't with the Lord anyway.
There's no evidence that the people I hear talk about their
loved ones who are looking down at them from heaven ever had
any interest in the gospel. And apart from the Lord giving
you an interest in the gospel, there's no hope of salvation.
The second of all, those who are in glory would not be able
to remember anything in this world. They're certainly not
going to be looking down at this world and taking notice of anything
in this world. Why? Well, because they're consumed. They're consumed with the glory
of God in the person of their Savior. And anything that they
were able to remember or see in this world would cause them
to cry. It would cause them to cry. And
God says there's no tears in heaven. None whatsoever. He shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes and there shall be no death. No death in heaven. No, we're just dying men in this
flesh, tethered to this world, and that's all we are. There in heaven, when the corruptible
is made incorruptible, when the mortal is made immortal, when
this flesh is given new life in its resurrected body, there's
no death. No crying, no death, no sorrow,
no sorrow, no disappointments. Does this sound like a changed
world from the one in which you and I live? Neither shall there be any more
pain. This world is filled with pain. It's filled with sorrow. It's filled with heartache. It's
filled with disappointment. And it's all caused by sin. It's all caused by sin. Every
bit of it. Now, don't misunderstand me.
Don't try to draw a direct correlation between a specific sin in your
life and a specific trial and trouble that you're going through.
That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying that sin, the fall
of our father Adam was a whole lot worse than we think it was. And everything about this world
is suffering as a result of that. And all the pain and all the
sickness and all the sorrow that we have in this world. What makes
heaven heaven? There's no sin there. There's
no flesh there. There's no corruption there.
There's nothing but perfection. There's nothing but righteousness.
There's nothing but beauty. There's nothing but glory. Is
this your hope? Or are you like most folks, just
investing all of your time and all of your effort and all of
your energy and all of your resources in trying to get by and make
this life a little better? And he that sat upon the throne
said, here it is again, behold, behold, can you see it? You won't
see it with the natural eye. God's gonna have to give you
the eyes of faith to see this. Can you see it? Behold, I make
all things new. Everything's different. It's
not gonna be anything like. Man in his foolishness. Not only does he make God out
to be like he is himself, but he makes heaven to be nothing
more than an improved version of this world. He thinks he's
gonna be doing the things that he does in this world, but it's
gonna be a lot easier, it's gonna be a lot better, and he just
imagines an improved version of this life. God says, no, I make all things
new. Eye has not seen, nor has ear
heard, nor has it entered into the imagination of man the things
that I prepared for you. It's beyond your comprehension. Behold, I make all things new.
And these words, they're true. They're based on truth. The truth
of who, you see, the only way that you can have any hope In
this new heaven and new earth is to know the truth. To know
the truth. The Lord said if you know the
truth, the truth will set you free. The truth about who you
are. Who are you? Let me ask you this. Do you believe, this to be true
about yourself, that every, every thought that you have, every
thought is filled with sin? It's what God says. It's what
God says. Most folks don't think that.
I was talking to somebody the other day, and they said, well,
I know I make mistakes, but I ask God to forgive me. I said, you
are a mistake. And so am I. He thought, well, his sin was
just when he made mistakes. God says every imagination of
the heart is only evil and that continually. That's the condition
that we're in. That's the result of the fall. We can't even have a holy thought.
That's why faith is so necessary. It's the only hope we have, is
that the Lord would enable us to put all our hope and all our
trust in the only one who never had an impure thought. He never
had a thought that wasn't holy. He never did anything that wasn't
perfectly righteous. The only way I'm going to be
found in heaven is to be found in Him. That's the only way. Truth about who we are, truth
about who He is, and the truth about how it is that God's pleased
to save sinners. How is it? Well, it starts with
election. You can't have the gospel without
election. People say, well, you know, that's an in-house debate.
That's something we need just discussed among, you know. No,
no, no. There's no salvation apart from
God choosing a people. If he doesn't do all the choosing,
then we must conclude that we've got some virtue within ourselves
that enables us to make a good decision. We don't. We're dead. We're dead. A dead man can't choose. It starts with election and it
carries through redemption, doesn't it? The Lord Jesus Christ must
accomplish our redemption on Calvary's cross. He's gonna go
on to say, look at verse six. And he said unto me, it is done.
Here's the truth, it's done. I was talking to somebody just
this past week. I said, well, Trish and I were
talking, Trish had said, well, what did Jesus mean when he said
it is finished? And what did he say? He said,
well, that just meant for right then. It just meant for right
then. It just meant that he was finished
with his death on the cross. That's what he said. It's done. The difference between
the gospel of man's free will and the difference between the
gospel of God's free grace is the letters in E. N-E. You listen to what men are
telling you and they will tell you, you gotta do something.
And God says, oh no, it's done It's done. I'm the Alpha and
the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
I chose you before time began. I redeemed you 2,000 years ago. I regenerated you by the power
of the Spirit. I kept you in the faith, and
I'll present you faultless before the throne of God, and I'm going
to get all the glory. That's what heaven is. Heaven
is the Lord Jesus Christ getting all the glory and his people
rejoicing in his work. Hallelujah, Lord. You listen
to what men teach. And I hear Calvinist all the
time will say, well, yeah, yeah, election's true and limited atonement's
true and, you know, all these things, they'll go right down
through the list. We're dead in our trespass and
sins. We have to be chosen by God We
we have to be redeemed by Christ and it's all his work and then
you listen to them talk about sanctification Listen to them
talk about sanctification most of their messages could be titled
saved to serve Saved to serve They'll tout the doctrines of
grace, but then they'll conclude the message with the real thrust
of the gospel, and that is your obedience. And you wanna get
evidence of your salvation? You gotta prove it by how you
live. And so man, in the end, is turned back to himself. You're not gonna find any comfort
there. You look to your obedience. You look to the things you're
doing. I think it may have taken me
60 years to come to this conclusion, but when I consider, when I consider
the quality and the consistency of my love, I conclude that there's
only one thing in this world that I love all the time. I mean all the time. And it's
the same thing you love all the time. And it's the reason why
you loathe yourself. Because you are so much in love
with yourself. It's true, isn't it? It's true. Has God taught you that? The
world says, oh, you need to love yourself. The Lord shows you
what you are. You know you're desperately in
love with yourself. You wake up thinking about yourself.
You go to bed thinking about yourself. You are standing in
the very center of your own universe, and everything that you look
at and think about and see is interpreted by how it affects
you. Isn't that true? So don't look at your love for
Christ or your love for God's people or your love for the Word
of God as the evidence of your salvation. There's more evidence
in your salvation if you are able to know that you are head
over heels in love with yourself than if you try to look at your
love for God and for His Word and for His people to get hope
that you're saved. Do we love Christ? Yes. Do we love His Word? Do we love
His Gospel? Do we love His people? All the time? All the time? There's been times you've wanted
to strangle me. I know that's true of my wife. There's been... How can I say
I love Christ and that's the evidence of my salvation when
I'm so easily drawn from Him? but I'm never drawn to myself,
away from myself. It's like this flesh is tethered
to the pole eye. Isn't that the case? All right. Let's take a break. Thank you very much.