Thank you, Margaret. It's good to see you this morning. Before we begin, let's have a
word of prayer. Our Father, we thank you this
morning for another day that we can call upon you and know
and realize The privilege to be here is that which has been
given by you, by your eternal purpose and goodness and mercy. Lord, we ask you to bless the
services. Help us. We're needy people and we don't
have the ability. We have nothing to offer. Lord,
we come as beggars this morning. asking that you might be pleased
to feed us, to help us, for Christ's sake. Amen. Turn with me, if you would, to
Revelation 21. Revelation 21. I want to look
at verse 24 this morning. We're looking at the the heavenly
Jerusalem, the church as she is found in heaven. It's amazing when we consider that all these
things are being brought about in time, but this is all purposed by Almighty God. This has always been the end
result. God Almighty sees His people
as She is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Here we are sitting here this
morning in time. But I'll tell you this, the church
is seated with Christ right now in eternity. How can those things
be? Scripture says in verse 33 that
this city has no need of the sun or the moon. Verse 25, Lord willing, we'll
look at this next week, it says, there shall be no night there.
We don't even, we can't perceive how these things are. Look out this morning and there's
a sun shining outside. What the sun is to the earth
in all of its temporal existence The glory of God Almighty, the
Shekinah of the Lamb of God is said to be the light of that
eternal city. His glory. Well, today I'd like to just
consider three things in verse 24. Number one, I'd like to consider
among the sons of men, who is going to be found in heaven?
Number two, what are they going to do there?
And number three, what is their right to be in that city? All right? Verse 24, that's all
we're going to look at. Who's there? What are they doing? And what right do they have to
be there? Number one, who shall be found in heaven? The Scripture says, "...and the
nations of them which are saved." That's the first part of verse
24. Those nations, those of the same habit, that's
what it means, nations, the same nature, those from throughout the world,
the nations that have been obviously redeemed by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ out of every kindred and tribe and tongue
and people, a peculiar race of people that have been everlastingly
loved by Almighty God, chosen by the Father." Now, here's
one thing that we know for a fact. Those that are there, The Scripture says, "...the nations
of them which are saved." Who is God going to save? I'll tell you who He's going
to save. Those that He chose. Ephesians 1-4 clearly sets forth. that Almighty God has chosen
a people that He's going to show mercy to. Did He choose to show mercy to
everybody? No. He said, I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy. Second Thessalonians 2.13, that's
one of my favorite verses. That's not a good statement.
I know that, but I love that verse of Scripture. It's so clear.
We're bound to give thanks. Get a chance, look it up. We're
bound to give thanks to you, brethren, beloved of the Lord,
because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through
sanctification of the spirit and belief of the truth. Why would God be pleased to show
mercy to one, Romans 9, and leave another to Himself? Ephesians
1 says, because it pleased Him to do so. Does He have the right
to do that? Does the potter have the right to show mercy to one and leave
another to Himself? Yes, he does. The nations of them which are
saved delivered, preserved, all that God has purposed to
save. But I'd like to say something
this morning. We could sit here and talk about
the saved, and the Scripture clearly sets forth that the nations
of them which are saved This is the assurance that we have,
that all that the Father giveth me, John 6.37, shall come to
me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. There's
no doubt about who God's going to save. Leaving salvation in the hands
of a man who's dead is like telling a
corpse Get up and you can have life. You think, well, if he could
get up, he'd have life. That's right. Why doesn't the
corpse get up? He's dead. What's it going to
take for a corpse to have life? God's going to have to give him
life first. Then he'll react. What happens? Do we believe first and then
God saves us? Or does God give life first and
then we react? What does it take for a dead
man to react? You've got to have life. You
can't appeal to a corpse, to the saved. But I'd like to talk
for a minute about the one that saves. We can talk about the
saved. But let's talk about Him. who
is the Savior. Savior. Now you know that's a
particular name and character of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
this is His nature. Savior. He has two natures. The Savior. He is divine. He is human. And those two natures make up
what the Scripture refers to as the Christ, the Messiah. Peter said in John 6, 69, And
we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ. They look for one. They look
for the Messiah, the Son of the living God. God Almighty. that he could save, for God alone
can save a sinner. And man, that he might obey,
live, and die in the same nature that rebelled against God. Now,
this is what or who we refer to and set forth as the Savior. God, man, totally God, and totally
man. He obeyed God's law as man, and
as man established a righteousness and obedience before Almighty
God that is imputed or given to all those who believe, who shall
believe, who do believe. All that the Father gave Him
in eternal election He came into this world. The
Word was made flesh. A body prepared Him. And He walked
this earth, God and man. And as a man, He obeyed. As a man, He died
being made sin. And I'm not talking about that
sin was merely placed upon Him and it didn't have any effect
upon Him. That's a big controversy now.
And let me tell you something. If anyone tells you that the
Lord Jesus Christ had no personal association with our sin, the
wording of the word made, He hath made Him sin. It means created. produced. If He was not truly made sin,
made the guiltiness, if He truly didn't take your place and become
what you are, then you're not what He was. Now, it's going
to have to be one or the other. Now, what's it going to be? What
is it going to be? Now you say, he really made sin.
Well then, friend, there's a flip side to that. You're not truly
made the righteousness of God in him because there was not
substitution. If he was not made sin, then
God Almighty killed an innocent man. And God's not just if that's
the case. Be careful. Be careful. He came into this world, made
flesh. Brother Scott said, was he really
made flesh or was he just not, you know? He made water to be
wine. Was it really wine or just a
glass of water with a post-it note on it that says wine? You
look at that and you say, that's not really wine. That's water.
I know what wine looks like. That's not wine. Doesn't taste
like wine. That's water. He was made flesh. Was he really made flesh or was
it just kind of an appearance? He just was something else. He
just had flesh just stuck on him. Was he really made sin? Did he truly take your place?
Did he actually? become that which Almighty God
said He did and actually become what His people are that He might
die in their place. It had no effect on Him internally,
right? Paul said, I was crucified with
Him. All of God's people were in Him.
It had no effect on Him. A man died. under the judgment of Almighty
God. Why? Because He hath made him sin
and the Father forsook Him. Did the Father forsake Him who
was not made sin? Three days as a man He laid in
the tomb. As a man, God raised Him from
the dead, showing His acceptance of what He had done and thereby,
openly declaring our justification from the guilt of our sins. Justify. That means that your
guilt, if He died for you, is what justification means. That
your guilt is not imputed to you. It's not charged to you.
It doesn't mean that you haven't done it. It means He doesn't
charge you with the guilt of it. If we understand what these
words mean, They take on a whole lot more personal pleasure and
satisfaction for us. The Savior. He is the one of whom the saved
rejoice. He didn't try to save anybody. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people. You ever figure out who He is
and what He did and where He is now and for whom He died,
you will greatly rejoice. Isaiah 44, 21, 22, Remember these,
O Jacob and Israel, for thou art My servant. I formed thee.
Thou art My servant, O Israel. Thou shalt not be forgotten of
Me. I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions. As
a cloud thy sins return unto me, I have redeemed you." If the Lord Jesus Christ has
redeemed a people, now this is talking about Him. It says Israel,
you know this. It's not talking about that spot
of ground over there on the other side of the world. It's talking
about the spiritual Israel. If Christ has redeemed His people,
put away their guilt. paid their debt. They have no
debt. Now, He redeemed them. He atoned. He covered over. He paid the
guilt of. Their sins are cast as far as
the east is from the west. They have nothing to answer for.
He died for His people. I lay down my life for the sheep.
Now, if God sends one of them to hell, And Christ died for
them and paid. Is God just? You owe $1,000. The bank tells you, you got till
5 o'clock tomorrow to pay this. Put you in jail. I go down and
I pay your $1,000 for you. What does the bank have against
you now if I paid your debt? You say, well, if they come and
get me and put me in jail, I tell you what, they're not fair. Right. The Savior. The nations of them that are
saved, secondly, what do they do in there? Shall walk in the
light of it. They have the whole of their
conduct in the light and the glory of the Savior. Now right now, And we can kind
of understand this. We walk, believers walk by faith. All right, let me ask you this. You that believe, what are you
doing in this world now? You know, sometimes we'll ask,
what will we be doing in heaven? Well, what do you do now? Well,
we go about our daily responsibilities and we, you know, Scripture says we walk
by faith. That's what we're doing. Whatever
providentially the Lord has caused you to do. Now, we can understand this.
I understand we walk by faith. And this is another thing we're
doing concerning the Lord. We see through a glass darkly. Paul says we know in part and
prophesy in part. That is the portion or allotment
that God has allowed us to know. What do I preach? I was talking
to Brother Clay Curtis the other day and we were talking about
a particular passage of Scripture and both of us came to the conclusion
that we know in part. That is, that portion that God
has allowed us to know. How much do I know about what
we shall do there? How much do I know, how much
do you know about what we will do in heaven? Well, this is what
I know. We shall walk in the light of
it. Well, I looked up the word walk. I
wanted to know. I wanted to know what does the
word walk mean. Here's what it means. It means
to tread around, to walk according to ability, or to live. Well, how much of that What does
that mean? Well, let me tell you what else
I know. 1 John 3, 2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. But we know that when He shall
appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Now we're going to be alive.
I'll tell you this, we'll be more alive in our understanding,
and believers are alive now. I mean, I'm standing here, and
I know I can perceive there are some things that I know, but
there are some things I don't know about them. It doesn't yet
appear. But what I do know is that when
He shall appear to me, to you, in eternal and everlasting glory,
we're going to walk in the light and we're going to be like Him.
We'll see Him. I can tell you something that
I know. Right now, I don't have the ability,
I've told you this before, I don't have the ability to even have
an uninterrupted conversation with the Lord. It makes me sick at my stomach
and myself. I get so tired of myself. I would
want to talk. I'd want to talk to the Lord.
Believers pray. That's just as, you know. Do
you breathe? You say, well, sure I breathe.
Well, I'll tell you this. Believers pray. And that is just
as they pray. The Lord says, and when you pray,
But do you know I cannot have a conversation, and I find myself
as I attempt to talk to him, apologizing over and over, Lord,
I'm so sorry. Would you help me? In that day, without the presence
of sin, we'll walk in the light. There'll be no distractions.
It'll be continual fellowship, uninterrupted praise and worship. Scripture says we'll reign with
Him. I find myself thinking, Lord,
would You cause my heart to be more tender toward that? Help
me. And then lastly, what right do
they have to be in that city? The latter part of this Scripture
says, "...the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honor
into it." The kings of the earth, those who have been made kings
and priests unto God. Not earthly kings, not that,
but kings because we reign with Him who is the King of kings. and priests who offer the continual
sacrifice of praise through Him who loved us and gave Himself
for us." Now, just in closing, turn to Isaiah 61.10, just if
you want to get an idea of what our glory and honor is. This
is what it says, and the kings of the earth do bring their glory
and honor into it. Isaiah 61, 10. Here's our glory
and honor. Here's all of it right here. I will greatly rejoice in the
Lord. My soul shall be joyful in my God, for He hath clothed
me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered me with a robe
of righteousness as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments,
and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Here's all of my Here's all of
my dignity. Here's all of my honor. He clothed
me with His righteousness. His robe. What robe is that? The robe of righteousness that
He earned as a man. When He on this earth walked
before God Almighty His Father in absolute perfect obedience. The Father said of Him, this
is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Who was He well
pleased with? His beloved Son. His only begotten. The only one that ever came from
Him. The only begotten of the Father. And as a man, Gene, he walked
in perfect obedience and never thought one thought that was
disobedient. How do you know? The Father said,
this is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, and based
on His Word. He never in word, thought, or
deed disobeyed His Father. God Almighty is a just God. That's the righteousness. He
took that which he earned as a man and rode me. What right do I have to be there? You remember the parable of the
wedding feast? Father came in. There was a man
sitting there and didn't have a wedding garment on. He said,
Friend, what are you doing here? You don't have a wedding garment
on. Take him out. Throw him out. What glory! This is all of our
glory and value. Here it is right here. God wrote
our names in heaven. That's what the Lord told His
disciples. They said, you know what? Demons are in subjection
to us. He said, don't glory that demons
are in subjection, but you glory in this fact that your name is
written in heaven. You want to have something to
say this morning that prays in honor and glory unto Him that
God wrote your name in Christ, engraved them in the palms of
His hand, and looked upon us in Christ in everlasting love
and compassion and mercy, and made His Son the obedient servant
to be seen, that we might be made the righteousness of God
in Him. And now, speak of our glory and our honor, Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. If
you want to brag, I wouldn't brag that I've done something
for God, because I'm going to tell you something, that kind
of bragging right there, And the end result of that kind of
bragging is set forth in Matthew when
it says, Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, haven't we prophesied? We prophesied
in your name. We cast out demons in your name. All me and my and us and we and
stuff like that. And he'll say, I never knew you. If there's going to be any honor,
glory, and praise, Paul said, God forbid, God forbid that I
should glory, saving the cross, the accomplished redemption of
God's elect for His honor and glory and for our good. May the
Lord bless this message to our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.