I'm going to try to say some
things here this morning in regard to the latter part of that eighth
verse of the third chapter of the book of Nehemiah. And it
says, And they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall. I'll talk
to you just a little bit about the broad wall. Now, Jerusalem
of old. At the time of her, or at the
height of her glory, and the height of her might, and the
height of her power, and the height of her splendor, had a
broad wall around her. Jerusalem as a city had a massive
wall that encompassed the city. Now, this was for her defense,
security, and it was for her glory. this massive wall that
secured the people inside and warded off the people on the
outside. It was for the strength of the
people inside and for the glory of that holy city, Jerusalem. Now, Jerusalem is a type of the
Church of God. type of the church of the Lord
Jesus. I want to show you this morning
that around the church in which we belong to, there is or there
runs a broad wall, which is for our glory and our defense. First off, there is a separation
of the people of God from the world And that separation is
like unto that broad wall which surrounds the holy city of Jerusalem. Now, you know that when a man
becomes a Christian, he's still in the world. We're still here. We're on this planet Earth. We still rub shoulders with those
that hate God, those that make no pretense whatsoever of a religion
that would identify itself or blend with that which the Bible
teaches. We are engaged sometimes in conversation
with those who would blaspheme the name of our Lord, who we
profess to believe is our only hope and refuge and rock and
tower and hiding place. So when we become Christians,
we are still in the world. We're not, in a sense, part of
the world's government or the world's system, but we're still
in this world. Now, we were at one time an heir
of wrath. The Bible says that we were the
children of wrath, even as others. But now we're the children of
grace when we have been begotten. by the Spirit of God unto a heavenly
disposition. We have become the heirs of eternal
salvation. We have become the children of
grace. We are no longer the children of wrath. Now, being of a distinct
nature, it is required that you and I separate ourselves from
the rest of mankind even as our Lord did. There is a broad wall
of separation between the children of God and the ungodly of this
world. Since we have this distinctive
nature, since we have this title, children of God by faith in Christ
Jesus, it requires us to separate ourselves from mankind even as
our Lord Jesus Christ separated Himself from mankind. Now, the Bible says this, and
I think you'll find it in the Bible if you search long enough. It says that, referring to Him,
it says, Who was holy and harmless and undefiled and separate from
sinners. Now, I know you've heard that.
That's in the Bible. That's what it says about our Lord Jesus
Christ. holy and harmless and undefiled
and separate from sinners. Now, the Lord Jesus Christ, I
know, lended his presence on many occasions at various functions
that were not Christian in the aspect of them, such as Simon,
that religious hypocrite, gave a dinner one time, and the Lord
Jesus was there at this dinner. a dear saint of God Mary, bathed
his head with that ointment and prepared him for his burial.
And he told Simon, he said, since I've come to this place, you
have neither kissed me, you have neither bathed me, you haven't
done anything for me, but this woman hath not ceased to do these
things. Now the Lord Jesus Christ did
draw near unto sinners. He drew near or nigh unto sinners,
but not to the extent that He drew near unto their sins. In
that sense, our Savior was holy and separate and harmless and
undefiled and separate from sinners. Now, I say that you and I, as
the children of God, the children of grace, We need to. Not only need to, but we're required
to. We're commanded to. This is not
just, you know, when we talk about not being of the world,
that's not just fatherly advice. That's a command. We're requested
by the king himself to separate yourself from the world. Come
ye out from among her. He that is a friend of the world
is an enemy of God. I know those are, that's plain
deal in there, that's plain talk. And it deserves an answer. A man that's a friend of this
world is an enemy of God. So, God commands us to separate
ourselves from the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ separated
Himself from this world. Now, the Lord's church was separated
from this world in the eternal purpose of God. Before time ever
was, God chose unto himself a people that would comprise his church
and separated them unto himself in his eternal purpose. The Lord's
church was separated in his covenant and his decree. The Lord's church
was separated in the atonement. Our Lord is called in the Scripture,
the Savior of all men, especially of them that believe. Now, you
and I need to take care that we maintain a broad wall of separation
between us and the world. Now I'm not trying to say, or
I'm not saying that we need to adopt certain peculiarities of
dress, which I mentioned to you here some time ago. We need not
adopt peculiarities of dress in order to maintain a separation
from this world. Neither do we need to practice
a difference in our speech, that is, the these, the thines, and
the thous. Because you can be as thoroughly
worldly in one coat as you can another. And you can be thoroughly
vain and conceited with one style of speech as another. We need
to be separated from this world, but this will not separate us
from the world. Changing our mode of dress, changing
the style of our speech, or even changing the place that we live,
or even changing the place where we worship, that will not do
it. The Christian certainly should
be scrupulous more so than other men in their dealings with other
men. That's one way where we can maintain
a broad wall of separation, by maintaining an attitude of honesty
towards the men that we deal with. Honest, eight hours a day,
twenty-four hours a day. I notice I was up to the doctor's
office there at Berksville not too long ago, and I noticed on
the fence there, it says on that fence, it says, men who steal
from this company shall be prosecuted. For a long time, for as long
as I can remember, it's always been thought the thing to do,
if there's anything that you need, and the company that you work
for has it, take it. Because they expect you to, and
it's the custom. Now, that's been the thing that's
been accepted down through the years. But that's not true. That's a lie. That's not true.
They don't want you to take it. In fact, they say it's stealing,
and now they say if they catch a man, if they catch a man red-handed,
they're going to prosecute him. I don't suppose they'd put him
in jail, but they'll fire him. They'll fire him. His job will
be at stake. I think, brethren, we ought to be honest. I think
if we're honest, honest, I mean genuinely 100% honest in our
dealings with other men, that will, in a sense, maintain a
broad wall of separation between us and this world, be scrupulous
in our dealings with men. Do you know that years ago, statesmen
and historians have recorded a statement such as this, which
you do not hear quoted in the school books, you don't hear
it by the politicians, you don't hear it on the television, but
it goes like this. It says that a man's word is
his bond. A man's word is his bond. If
I give you my word, that ought to be sufficient. I ought not
to have to sign any papers, ought not to have to put my hand up
and swear, But I ought to be so honest and trustworthy, and
you know it, or I know it about you, that if I give you my word,
that's my bond. That's my bond. A man's word
is his bond. More so in the life of a Christian. Your word is your bond. If you
tell somebody something, see to it that you do it. If you
tell a man you'll be in a certain place at a certain time, see
that you be there. See that you be there or bust
a gut trying to get there. Or somehow get in touch with
him and tell him that you've been detained or you've been
providentially hindered and you can't get there. I don't care
who you're making this to, whether it's with a Christian man that
you're dealing with, or a Christian woman, or an ungodly person. I don't care if it's the worst
person in Marion County. If you make a deal with him,
keep your end of the bargain. Do it! Do it! Maintain, brethren,
integrity and honesty to the glory of God. As the Lord Jesus
Christ was separate and maintained a broad wall of separation from
this world, we must also maintain that broad wall of separation. And this is the means whereby
we do these things. And then, Christians should especially
be distinguished by their pleasures. Now, we ought to get our enjoyment
as Christians now, as the people of God. Who were what? Once the children of wrath. Once
we were on our way, on our way as fast as our little legs could
carry us, we were on our way to eternal destruction and separation
from God and throughout the eternities to come. But now, ye have been
brought nigh by the blood of Christ and we are the children
of grace. So you see, the children of grace should especially be
distinguished by their pleasures. We ought to get our enjoyment,
our enjoyment from associating with God Himself through the
Lord Jesus Christ by the unction and power of the Spirit of God,
we should get our enjoyment out of fellowship with God in Christ. And that comes in different ways.
That comes through the preaching of the Word. And if we get our
enjoyment out of fellowship with God, we dare not, we dare not,
we cannot, at the expense of a loss to the welfare of our
own soul, miss the services when the people of God meet. Because
this is our bread. This is our bread. The Word of
God, the Gospel of Grace is the children's bread. We can get
no enjoyment out of, that is, any permanent enjoyment out of
reading newspapers and magazines and watching television programs
and sport events and things of that nature, that's only a temporary
enjoyment. And we ought not to even be involved
with it to a degree. Our enjoyment ought to be from
fellowship with God in Christ and fellowship with God's people,
and our companions and association ought to be with God's people
and God's people alone. We ought to go a long ways with
one another, forbearing one another, be long-suffering toward one
another. rather than because we're the
children of God. We're the children of grace.
We're not the heirs of wrath anymore. Our companions are those
with common ties and common bonds. They are our companions. The
psalmist said, David said of old, he said, My companions are
those that fear Him. That ought to be our companions. And if we somehow adapt ourselves
to some of the things that I've mentioned here thus far, It will
somehow maintain that broad wall of separation between us and
the world. We are not of the world. We're
not of the world. Jesus Himself said, I pray not
for the world. I don't pray for... Jesus didn't
pray for the world. I don't pray for the world. I
pray for these that Thou hast given me out of this world. I pray for them. I don't pray
for this world. Our companions... I'm not talking
about... I'm not talking about... Now,
don't misunderstand me, anybody. I'm not saying that you're to
go to work tomorrow and turn your back on your fellow man
over there. That's not what I'm talking about. You've missed
the point if you think that's what I'm talking about. We are
to maintain a common courtesy to everybody. We're to speak
to every man, whether he speaks to us or not. Good morning to
you, sir. Good morning to you. How are
you? We are to be concerned about
them, but we're not to be identified with them. We can't be identified
with them in the sense of their sins. We must speak up. and let them know. And they will
know by our conversation. It's a sorry thing. I think that
some men and some women have made professions of faith twenty
years ago, or thirty years ago, fifty years ago, and those that
they work with do not know that they're children of God. I don't
believe they are children of God. I believe that if a man
becomes a child of God and knows anything at all about the grace
of God, it will leak out on him. Men will know it. Men will know
it. And you don't have to go around putting a lapel pin on
here with a question mark or saying, I am a Christian. You
don't have to put any bumper stickers on in order to advertise
who you are. They'll know it. They'll know
it. How will they know it? They'll know it by your conversation.
They'll know it by your godly conversation. They'll know it
by your companions. They'll know it by how you live,
how you talk, and who you walk with, and where you go. They'll
know about it. They'll know. Alright, our companions
are those with common ties and bonds, those that love the Lord
Jesus Christ. I don't care whether he's a Methodist,
a Baptist, a Presbyterian, if he loves the Lord Jesus, I'm
talking about sovereign grace. I'm talking about the grace of
God. If he understands the grace of
God, I don't care what his label is, I can fellowship with him.
If he understands who Christ is and what Christ did, if he
understands the gospel, I'm not saying there's many that do,
but I'm saying, brethren, just in order to not put any labels
on people, you know, and kind of put yourself off in a corner,
I know, I know what I'm talking about, common ties and bonds.
You'll not find many of them, but if you do, if you do, you
can fellowship with him. I don't care if he's black or
he's yellow, he's green, what color he is. If he's a believer
in the Lord Jesus Christ and he knows who Christ is and what
Christ did and who he did it for, If he knows, now listen,
put it this way, make this the rule. Here's a good rule, scriptural
rule. If a man can tell you how God can be just and justifier
of him that believeth in Jesus, you can call him brother. I don't
care who he is. I don't care if he's a blackest
spade in Firemont. If he can tell you how God can
be just and justifier of him that believes, if he can answer
that question, if he can tell you, you can call him brother.
Say, hello, brother. You see, brethren, what I'm trying
to say is that our companions are those with common ties and
bonds. You listen to me now. Pleasures
and pastimes give evidence of what your heart is and where
your heart is. If you can find pleasure in sin,
then in sin you live. And unless grace prevents, in
sin you'll die. The broad wall between the godly
and the ungodly should be most conspicuous in the spirit of
your mind. I mean this in regard to the
spirit of your mind. The ungodly man has only this
world to live for. He has no other treasure. This
is all he's got. This is all he's got. But you've
got more than that. You're an heir of grace. You're
a child of grace. And as John Mitchell reminded
us here the other day, The righteousness, the imputed righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ, which He gives to every man that comes
to Him, regardless of his mental or physical stature, He gives
him that imputed righteousness. Whether he's a man, whether he's
a boy, whether he's a woman, or whether he's a younger, there's
an equality in Jesus Christ. Did you know that? We are equal
in Christ. There is neither male nor female
in Christ. That is, in regard to our standing
before God, we have equally a righteousness which would satisfy the righteous
demands of heaven. Alright? You have that. But the ungodly
doesn't have it. All he has is this world, and
this is his treasure. And so he's trying to get as
much out of it as he can. Somehow I don't blame him. In
a sense, now I don't condone him in that, but in a sense,
if he's ignorant and willfully ignorant and blind to his destiny
and all of that, and just lives in an attitude of atheism and
agnosticism and skepticism and all the other isms, Well, then
he ought to get as much out of this world as he can, because
brethren, this is his treasure. This is all he's got. Because
when he dies, he'll not have any of it. It'll be all over
with then. It's all over with, you see.
There's going to come a time when there's not going to be
any more eating, or drinking, or putting on clothes, or taking
off clothes, or lying down, or getting up, or anything else. It's going to be all over with.
And when the bell rings, And when the time comes, man's treasure
and man's world and that which he holds on to and that which
he hoards up and that which he lives for is finished. And he has no more. He has no
treasure. Oh brethren, your treasure lies
not in the brief span of the existence of time. Oh no. We're the heirs of grace. We
have everything that God has. Everything that God has is ours. He gave us the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave us the very best. And
He gave us all that He had in Christ. There was nothing more
that God could give than Christ. And He gave us Christ. You talk
about the love of God. That's the love of God right
there. God gave Himself. God so loved us, He gave Himself. That's the love of God. He gave
Himself in our stead, in our place, and in our will. So you
see, that there ought to be a vast difference in the spirit of your
mind and the spirit of the mind of that fellow over there, makes
no pretense of any religion whatsoever. You and I are not to talk of
this world as if this world would last forever. We're not married
to it. Let's be divorced from it. Not
married to the world. Don't hoard it up as though you
had your heart set upon it. The Scriptures say, set not your
affection upon things of this world, but set your affections
upon things above, where Christ is. See? You have no nest here. You have
no nest in this world. You have no rest in this world. I'll tell you where your nest
is and where your rest is. Your nest is in the cedars of
God, in the hilltops of glory, and that's where your rest is.
It's not in this world. Don't hoard it up. Don't hoard
it up. Be separate from it. Maintain. Remember now that our Lord Jesus
Christ had a broad wall between Him and the ungodly. You read
of Him. You read of Him in the Bible
here. In particular, in the four Gospels, in Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, you just read of the life of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You read there and you'll find out how different He is from
the men of His time. He was different. There was a
vast difference between Jesus Christ and the men of His generation,
a marked difference. He was a stranger and a foreigner
in his own land. He drew near sinners, that is,
as near as he could draw near them and yet not be a part of
their ungodliness. In fact, the Scriptures say that
he went to his own city, the city of Nazareth, and he preached
one sermon to them. He preached one time in his own
city. And I draw some comfort from
this, I really do, as I get sometimes like, oh, Elijah, I get out there
in the juniper tree and the bushes and I think, well, there's nobody
but me and no recognition and no one cares and this and that.
The Lord Jesus Christ preached one time in his hometown, and
at the end of the sermon, you know what happened? They would
have thrust him down the hill headlong but he disappeared out
of their sight. One sermon he preached in his
hometown, they tried to kill him for it. Well, you see, when
he passed through the streets of the towns and cities and villages
that he frequented, he became the song of the drunkards, and
the wicked spake evil of him. They finally pushed him outside
the camp and finally nailed him to a tree. He was despised and
rejected of all men. I remember one time reading where
it says that they would have made him a king. They wanted
to make him a king if he would have joined the forces of the
world. If he would have joined in with
them in their system, they would have made him a king. They wanted
to make him a king. Hosanna! Hosanna!" they cried. We'll make you a king if you'll
join with us. But he wouldn't join with them.
All right, secondly now in regard to this broad wall. Now this
broad wall around Jerusalem indicates security and safety. Now when
the enemy came to attack the holy city of Jerusalem, They
counted the towers and the bulwarks and the places of defense in
the walls of that city. They looked them all over and
they marked them well. And because of the bulwarks and
the towers on that high wall, they forgot about attacking that
city. They said, we better flee from this city. And they left
the city and they wouldn't attack it. There was no people, now
you remember this, there was no nation or people that ever
overcome the people of God without the help of God. Naturally, they
were so strong and fortified, the enemies could not break through.
It was only God himself who turned them into captivity. Well, this broad wall around
Jerusalem indicates security and safety. Well, after the enemy
had seen the strength of the city, they changed their mind
and went to other places. Now the Christian, the child
of God, I don't care how old he is, I don't care if he's 12
or 10 or he's 8 or he's 28 or 68, if he's a child of God, he's
a brother or he's a sister. Not a reverend. People like to,
you know, it's Reverend so-and-so, Reverend, Reverend Richardson,
Reverend mayhem, reverend this, reverend that. There's no reverence. There's no reverence that I know
in this select company of God's people. We're all brethren. That's what the Bible says. For
you're all brethren. You all have common ties and
common bonds, and there is no elevated society in this select
society. We're all brethren and sisters
in Christ Jesus. Now the brethren and the sisters
are surrounded by a strong wall of God's power. God's power. If God be omnipotent, then God
or then Satan cannot defeat Him. Listen, if God's on my side,
whom do I have to fear? You just think about it. If God's
on my side, if God be for us, who can be against us? That's
the broad wall, you see, of security, the power of God. No one can
do you any harm unless God permits it, and if He permits it, bless
God, it'll be for your good. It'll be for His glory. Oh, I
feel sorry for these folks that have to go to the funeral home.
and don't know anything about the eternal purpose of God. Don't
know anything about God's omnipotency or God's sovereignty. No comfort. What comfort can they draw out
of their loved one laying there, stone cold dead in the market?
What comfort can the ungodly draw out of this when you tell
them? And most preachers that I know
of tell the ungodly that They say, now, well, I don't understand
it, and I don't think you understand it, but maybe it will drive a
source of comfort out of it. Whatever happens. God said, whatever
happens, happens for your good. This has happened for your good. These people that lives have
no meaning, no purpose, they look down and they say, my bone
of my bone, blood of my blood, flesh of my flesh is dead. How
can that be? How can that be for my good? This is my livelihood! This is
my source of hope and comfort and protection, and now he's
dead! How can that be for my good and
God's glory? I tell you, brethren, they don't
know anything about the eternal purpose of God, see. Oh, those
that are Christians are surrounded by the power and the might of
God Himself, and not one hair can be plucked from your head
but what God knows it and God permits it. You're surrounded. Oh, listen,
then there's the broad wall of God's love. Whom God loves, who shall curse
them? Old Balaam tried that, you know.
Oh, Balaam sought to curse the people of God, but in the end,
Balaam wound up by saying this, and this is all that he could
say. He said, They are blessed, yea, they shall be blessed. That's all he could say. He started
out to curse them, but he couldn't curse them. Those whom God loves,
nobody can curse. And those that God loves, Christ
died for. And He is their surety. and he's
their representative, and he ever lives for them. No one can
curse those that God loves. And then, brethren, God's law
is a wall around us. God's law. Sometimes we get a
little upset with the law of God, you know, especially those
that are involved in the grace of God, and we either go to one
side or go to the other side, and we can't seem to draw a happy
medium You know, we can't seem to get down in the middle of
the road on the law of God and the grace of God, but you can
get there if you want to. If you try hard enough, you can
get there. If you fool around, though, you go to one extreme
to the other, from this extreme to the other extreme. But listen,
God's law. God's law in a sense, and in
a true sense. is a broad wall around us, a
wall of protection. Why? Because the law of God and
the justice of God once threatened our very destruction. But if
Christ died for me, now the law and the justice of God demands
my salvation. You see? So, the law of God and
the justice of God are my friends now. They're not my enemies.
They're my friends because they demand. They've been satisfied. Justice has been honored. The
law has been satisfied and magnified because Christ satisfied justice,
magnified the law, fulfilled it, and kept it. Now, justice
and the law demands. that those for whom Christ died
be eternally saved. So they're my friends. So that's
a broad wall, you see, of power that surrounds every child of
God. If Christ died for me, it would
not be justice if I had to die also for myself. It wouldn't
be justice, would it? Certainly not. So you can see
thus far, then. That law and justice is a broad
wall that surrounds us and keeps us. If God has received the full
payment of the debt from the hand of the Lord Jesus Christ,
how can He demand the debt again? He's satisfied and we're secure. He can't demand it. He can't
demand it. The Lord Jesus Christ delivered. He delivered the full amount
of the debt that I owe, that you owe, Neil, and Bob, and Raymond,
and all you fellas. He delivered the full amount
of the debt that you owe to God. He delivered it to the hands
of God. And God accepted it, and God satisfied, and you're
secure. You're secure in Christ. Not
in yourself. Not in yourself. You're secure
in Christ. He makes you secure. And you'll never be unsecure.
No one will ever break in and steal you from God. The debt's
paid. The debt's paid. He took His
blood to heaven and laid it there. God honors that blood. How can
He demand this debt again? That wouldn't be justice, would
it? God's satisfied and we're secure. And then again, The immutability
of God also surrounds his people like a broad wall. God is immutable. That is, I am God. I change not. He's immutable. He's not capable
of changing. God doesn't change. You mean
if God loves someone back in the council halls of eternity,
than sometime here in what we call time in the space of... Time's only been about 10,000
years old. That's how... Time's about 10,000...
I know these guys say that... They find these footprints, you
know, footprints in the mud, and they've been compressed down,
you know, by vegetation and decay and all that, and they say they're
20 billion years old, and find dinosaurs and all that kind of
stuff that are billions and billions and millions of years old, that's
what they say. But I got news for you, I got
news for them, just about 10,000 years old, that's all they are.
That's how old we are, that's how old this earth is! About
10,000 years old. That's how old it is. I am God
and I change not. You mean to tell me that God
who chose in eternity past loved? He loved back yonder before time
ever was. And now He's going to come along
and change His mind? I made a mistake back there.
I appointed, I ordained, I chose one, but it didn't turn out right
here in time. And so my love's changed. Now my love's growing cold. Oh
no. Oh, no. God's ever set His seal
upon you? He loves you as much now as if
you was with Him for ten million years. God's love never changes. You change and I change. We go
up and down, but God's love never changes. Boy, that ought to help
you. That helps me. If I was a holy
roller, I'd shout hallelujah. I mean, I'd dance. That's right. God's love never changes. You
may be misunderstood in this life, and you may be pressed
down, and you may not get the proper recognition, and you may
this and you may that, but listen, if God loves you, what else counts?
What counts? Whatever makes the difference
if God loves you. I heard this fellow on the radio,
the television this morning, said, oh, sin for this. He said,
sin for this. What will happen in 1982? He
said, all the planets are going to be lined up in a row. He said,
sin for this booklet. He said, oh, it will help you.
He said, do you know? He said, it's in the Bible. It's
in the Bible. He said, they're all going to be lined up in 1982. And he said, did you know? He
said, hail, it's going to fall out of the sky. It's going to
weigh 42 pounds. Bless God, I want to be ahead
of them 42. 42 pound pieces of hail start
dropping. But I thought to myself when
he made up, I thought to myself, so what? What makes a difference? God loves me. What makes a difference? I don't care how many planets
have lined up in 1980. I don't care who's running the
world. I don't care about what's happening in the Middle East.
I'm not worried about the Russians. I'm not worried about the communist.
God loves me. He's on the throne. The king's
for me. If God's for me, who can be against
me? I'm not worried about that. People
just, oh boy, have you read about the economy? Well, where are
we going to get our bread at? We better store up some bread.
Well, David said, he said, I've lived for a long, long time.
And he said, I've never seen the righteous begging for bread. Yeah, I'm going to store up some
bread. Ah, boys, God's not dead, is He? Huh? He knows how to feed
the ravens and the young lions when they howl. He knows how
to feed His children. He'll feed you. Don't you worry about Him
not feeding you. Don't worry about Him not getting
you a suit of clothes. He'll get you all you need. All
you need, not all you want, but all you need. He always did. He always will. I'm the Lord,
Daryl. I change not. God doesn't change. You see,
the people of God are surrounded by the immutability of God Himself. I am the Lord. I change not. Listen, as long as God is the
same, He's the rock of our salvation, and He'll be our secure hiding
place, as long as God's God. Well, secondly now, the people
of God are safe for many reasons. Surrounded by the broad wall
of God's electing love, did God choose a people and then he'll
finally lose it? That's ridiculous, that's absurd,
don't even want to talk about it. Did God elect a people? Did God choose a people? Did
God look out upon the sea of humanity and time? Would time
ever want and make a choice? And then will He not see that
choice fulfilled? No. No. The broad wall of electing love. Does God choose them? And then
will He lose them? Did He ordain to eternal life? a countless number unto eternal
life, and then they shall finally perish." Now, Jesus said, nothing
or nobody shall pluck them out of My Father's hand, which gave
them Me. Because He said, I and My Father
are one. They ain't going to take them
away from Me. No, they're Mine. They're Mine. Never mind. Redeeming,
redeeming, electing love. Then did He engrave these names
on His own heart? Shall these names be blotted
out? No. Then there's the wall. I've got
to hurry. The wall of redeeming love. What about that? Did the
Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood in vain? Did He stand as a substitute
for those who will suffer for themselves? It will never happen. He did not stand in the place,
in the room, in the stead of one guilty sinner on Golgotha's
brow outside the camp, and then one of those for whom he died
will suffer for himself. No. You see, that's a wall that
surrounds us, a broad wall, insurmountable. Shall he not see the travail
of his soul and be satisfied? The Scripture says he will. Then
there is the broad wall which surrounds the saints of God,
and this wall here that I'm talking about is found in the work of
the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit of God. Does He, the Spirit,
begin a good work in us and then not finish it? He that hath begun
a good work, the Bible says, He shall complete it. He'll complete
it. Shall the Spirit of God start
a work and then be thwarted in His purpose? Is man stronger
than God? Certainly not. The Spirit of
God begins the work and the Spirit of God finishes the work. Listen,
does He give life? which afterwards dies out. The Bible says that we're dead
in trespasses and in sins. The Spirit of God comes along
and breathes in our soul life. Now, do you mean that sometime
here, maybe in the future, that that life that the Spirit of
God breathed in us is going to die out? That's eternal life. No, no. That's a broad wall that
surrounds us. Shall the power of hell or the
evil of your own nature and own flesh kill what God says is incorruptible? No, no. He said, I've given them
life and that life shall abide forever. The Holy Spirit of God
shall not be expelled out of our hearts. Now I just want to
close with one scripture here in John chapter 17. John chapter
17. Listen to this. This is the twelfth
verse. It says, While I was with them
in the world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou gavest
me I have kept." And here's what's precious now. And none of them
is lost. None of them is lost. Will he
bring home merely a remnant of his flock? Shall a portion of
them be lost? No. No, he'll bring them all
home. Every seat at the banquet hall
shall be filled. If he loses one soul, if the
Lord Jesus Christ loses one soul that leans on him, the integrity
of his crown, that's God's crown, is gone. Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? Huh? Oh, the broad wall. of power, redeeming love, electing
grace, the immutability of God that surrounds the child of God
ought to be a comfort to your heart this morning. Well, all right. We'll meet again
this evening.