Now, the Lord Jesus Christ tells us that eternal life, the worship of God, faith in
God, all the spiritual blessings that are given are more than
in the outward things men do. In Matthew 7.22, the Lord said,
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied
in thy name? And in thy name have cast out
devils. And in thy name done many wonderful works. And then
I will profess unto them, I never knew you. depart from me, ye that work
iniquity." That's what he describes that work as, as iniquity, because
he said, I never knew you. And then in John 17.1, he said,
it says, The Lord lifted up His eyes to
heaven and He said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify Thy Son
that Thy Son also may glorify Thee, as Thou hast given Him
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as
many as Thou hast given Him. And this is life eternal, that
they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
Thou hast sent. Eternal life is God knowing you. And it's you knowing God, with
nothing else in between to distract you. When God made Adam, there
was nothing between God and Adam. And when God gets finished saving
His people, there's going to be nothing between you and the
Lord Jesus Christ. You're going to see Him face
to face. Well, how do sinners come to
know God? How do we come to find that we're
complete in Christ? How do we come to adore Christ
alone? To be made a willing bondservant
to Christ alone? That's the very issue that Paul
is addressing in Acts 17 when he speaks to the Athenians. Now, let's look at it. Acts 17,
verse 22. Then Paul stood in the midst
of Mars Hill and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in
all things in everything. Ye are too superstitious, too
religious. For as I passed by and beheld
your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription to the
unknown God, whom therefore ye ignorantly worship." Wait a minute. He said they worship. That's an interesting word. There's
different words in the Hebrew and the Greek which are translated
worship. Sometimes you find it describing
the believer in the temple of the Lord. And sometimes you find
it describing idolaters like it is right here. Sometimes you
find it, the believer offering the very sacrifices of God which
God ordained. And sometimes it describes the
unbeliever in the temple of the Lord offering the very sacrifices
that God ordained. Sometimes you find it used of
the believer not even in the temple, but in the wilderness.
And sometimes you find it describing one that's at Christ's feet,
crying and worshiping Him. So what is worship? Where is
it found? Look at verse 24. God that made
the world and all things therein, seeing that He is Lord of heaven
and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Neither is worshipped
with men's hands, as if He needed anything, seeing He giveth to
all life and breath and all things." Now you see that word worship
right there? That's a different word from the word used in the
first instance. This word is therapeutic. Therapeuhu
is what it's called. It's the only place that this
word is used in Scripture. It's right here. And it means
to complete, to adore, and to serve. That's what it means.
Paul is saying here, God is not completed, He's not adored, and
He's not served with men's hands as if He needed anything, saying,
He giveth to all life and breath and all things. It's God who
completes a sinner in Christ. It's God who creates adoration
in the heart. It's God who causes the believer
to willingly serve Him. It's God who does this thing.
It's God who giveth. and if it can be found in the
temple as well as outside of the temple, if it can be found
in one who is sacrificing as well as one who is not sacrificing,
who is truly a believer, we know from Scripture is a true believer,
then it has to do with something more narrow than what's taking
place out here. Paul is declaring what we heard
Christ Jesus declare on the Sermon on the Mount. The happy are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. That's their happiness. They see God because God's purified
their heart. He's cleansed their conscience
from dead works to serve the living God. He's given them a
new heart and He purified them by faith in Christ. And the purged
in heart, they have singleness of heart. They have simplicity
of heart. It's a heart set on Christ alone. God knowing you and you knowing
God. God needs no aid. He needs no
images. He needs no strength of man or
man's hand to draw his people to worship Him, seeing He giveth
to all life and breath and all things. Now, Tonight we're going
to take the rest of this passage. We looked at those things last
time. But Paul continues to take away all reason for confidence
in ourselves. Look in verse 26. And hath made
of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face
of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed and
the bounds of their habitation. You see, the Athenians were not
only proud of their knowledge, their philosophy, Not only proud
of their temples, not only proud of their images, not only proud
of the service that they were engaged in, they were also proud
of their race. They boasted, some did, that
they sprang up out of the ground from Greece. That was part of
their philosophy. They considered themselves better
than those outside of that nation. And these were all devices that
they, along with those images and those things they made by
their hands, these were devices that they imagined in a depraved
and polluted heart. And so Paul says here, God hath
made all men, or made of one blood, all nations of men. All nations of men. All men are
of Adam. In that part of us which is the
product of Adam. We are spiritually dead. And that part of us will always
be so. That goes for an unbeliever and
a believer. In Romans 8.10, if Christ be
in you, the body is dead because of sin. It's dead because it's
connected to Adam. It's dead because it's the product
of Adam. It's dead because the corruption of Adam has flowed
into it. The spirit is life because of
righteousness. The life of the believer is the
hidden man of the heart. When Peter was talking to the
women about adorning themselves, he said, let it be the hidden
man of the heart in that which is not corruptible, a meek and
a quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.
It's a great price to have a meek and quiet spirit, to have this
hidden man of the heart. It's the most valuable of all
things for a believer outside of Christ, because it's how we
come into this union with Christ. He said, God made all nations
of men of this one blood to dwell on all the face of the earth.
So in Adam and all that, we cannot uplift ourselves above another
because we had a father or mother that believed, because we're
of one nation and not another nation, because we're one color
and not another color, because we're of one race and not another
race. We can't use those things to exalt ourselves because if
we follow them all back, go all the way back, we're going to
come to Adam. That's where we're going to come to. And in Adam,
all died. Next thing he says is, God hath
determined the times before appointed and the bounds of their habitation.
We've seen the various nations and the monarchies, as we've
studied Isaiah, that have risen up. And they lasted a little
while, and they disappeared. The Assyrians, they reigned for
a time, the time God had appointed. And when it was over, it came
to an end. Because God had appointed it,
come to an end. The Babylonian Empire lasted
until God's appointed time and then it ended. Moabites reigned
until God's appointed time and then it ended. And no matter
what sinners do to this earth, no matter what we do to this
earth, God has before appointed seed time and harvest. He's appointed
the seasons, summer, winter. He's appointed the cycle of the
day, day and night. And these things are going to
remain as long as He's appointed for this earth to remain. Genesis
8.22, he said, while the earth remaineth, seed time and harvest,
cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night, will
not cease. Will not cease. And likewise,
the times of a man's life are appointed by God. Job said, is
there not an appointed time to man upon earth? Are not his days
also like the days of a hireling? The days of a hireling, sort
of like what we would consider contract labor. You're hired
for a certain amount of time, and you work the job. When the
job's done, you're waiting for it. You know that's the appointed
end of it. He said, it's not man's days that way. They're
appointed by God. And He's appointed a time when
this earth shall be dissolved. And the Lord said, it's not for
you to know the times or the seasons which the Father hath
put in His own power. So he set the times before. He's appointed them, Paul said. Then he comes to this and he
says, and God has determined the bounds of the nations, the
bounds of their habitation and of all men's habitation. You
know, God determines the place where you're going to dwell.
Why were you born in America and you weren't born in Germany?
Or why were you born here and you weren't born in Africa? God
determined where you're going to dwell. God determined where
you're going to dwell. He set the bounds of habitation.
He set up how far up in class you'll go and how far down in
class you'll go. How much riches you'll have,
how much poverty you'll have. He determines how long you're
going to live in a certain place and when you'll move to another
place. He's determined the bounds of the habitation. Why doesn't
the sea go any further than it goes? God set its bounds. He
said it's bounds. If it overflows those bounds,
it's because God gave it license to go over those bounds. There's
three things you can be assured of. Three things. Our life will
come to an end. Our days are appointed. They're numbered. Our times are
determined in the counsel and decree of God how long we shall
live and when we shall die. Disease is the servant of God. Nature is the servant of God.
And the bounds that God has fixed no man shall pass. His counsels
are unalterable. Nothing comes to pass by chance.
We're not governed by the Stoic's blind fate and we're not governed
by the Epicurean's blind fortune. And that's what Paul's addressing
here. See now that I, even I am He and there's no God with me.
I kill and I make alive. I wound and I heal. Neither is
there any that can deliver out of my hand. That's God. That's
the true and living God. Now why are our times and our
bounds set by Him in this way? Why are the habitations of men
set by God in this way? What ought this to cause all
men to do? Look at verse 27. Their times
are appointed and habitations are set that they should seek
the Lord, if happily they might feel after Him and find Him,
though He be not far from every one of us. For in Him we live
and move and have our being, as certain also of your own poets
have said, Paul said, for we are also His offspring. God set
our times and our habitation for this end, that we should
seek the Lord. That's why He set the times and
the habitation that we should seek the Lord. It says merely,
feel after Him and find Him. Feel after Him and find Him.
He's not very far from every one of us. Now Paul is talking
to some Athenians, to some Greeks, and he's saying, he's not very
far from you, and he's not very far from me, Paul's saying, as
a Jew. He's not very far from those
who are Jews and those who are Gentiles. He's not very far from
the male and female. He's not very far from those
of this nation and those of that nation. Are you alive physically? It's
because in Him you live. Are you able to move about? It's
because in Him you move. Do you have a being? It's because in God you have
a being. So what's the point of the matter?
Why is Paul pointing this out to them? How does this bring
us to the point that we can't know God? How does this bring
us to the point that Paul is making here, that we need to
cast ourselves on the mercy of God? The reason is twofold. First
of all, the reason that sinners don't seek the Lord. The reason
that sinners don't seek the Lord, will not seek the Lord, don't
even feel after the Lord, is not because God's at a distance
from the sinner, but because the sinner hates God. He don't
have a desire to feel after Him, much less find Him. When we hear
the Lord Jesus say, no man can come unto Me except the Father,
draw him. We shouldn't yell unfair. We
shouldn't yell unfair. God is so near to every one of
us, Paul said. He's so near to every person. And yet, as it is written, there
is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. They're all gone out of the way. They're together become
unprofitable. There is none that doeth good.
No, not one. Sinners will imagine philosophies.
Sinners will build temples and images. Sinners will worship
our piety and service to God. Sinners will exalt ourselves
in pride of race, place, face, and grace. We'll attribute our
times and our habitation to luck or blind fortune. But there's
none that seeketh after God. Whose fault is it? It's ours. It's not God's fault. It's not
God's fault. But here's the second thing.
God has set the times and bounds of all men's habitation and all
the nations of the earth because the people whom He has chosen
to save in Christ Jesus are His portion and He will save them. Turn over with me to Deuteronomy
32. Deuteronomy chapter 32. As I have studied this, I tell
you, it's gotten more narrow and more narrow. And the more
narrow it gets, the smaller I get. And the smaller I get, the bigger
God gets. Now look at this, Deuteronomy
32. Now, in this case right here,
Moses is talking to the children of Israel. And God's telling
them what they're going to do beforehand. He's telling them
they're going to turn from Him. He's telling Moses, they're going
to turn from following Me. They've waxed fat. They're not
going to follow Me. But listen to what he says. Verse
6. Deuteronomy 32.6, Do ye thus
requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father
that hath bought thee? Hath He not made thee and established
thee? That's exactly what Paul is saying
in Acts 17. Now read here, Deuteronomy 32.7,
Remember the days of old. Now let's just think back a minute.
Consider the years of many generations. Consider generation after generation
after generation. Ask thy father. He'll show thee.
Ask your father before you. He'll show you. Thy elders. They'll tell you. When the Most
High divided to the nations their inheritance. Now listen. When He separated the sons of
Adam. Do you remember back there in
Genesis when they come out and the ark and they begin to come
out from Noah and they begin to to try to build a tower and
said, we'll be mighty, we'll make a name for ourselves, we'll
build a tower to heaven. We're going to arise and ascend
to the throne of God. And God smote them and scattered
them and confounded the language. He separated the sons of Adam. He divided to every man an inheritance
and set their bounds and set the bounds of their habitation.
confounded the language so that now they can't do it. They can't
unite. They just can't do it. They tried
to and tried to ever since and can't do it. It's set that they
can't do it. Why is it set that way? He set
the bounds of the people according to the number of the children
of Israel. When He came into the land of
Canaan, He set the bounds according to the number of the children
of Israel. He divided to every man an inheritance. But they hadn't got into Israel
yet. They're not in Israel yet. They're
not in Israel yet. And he says here, he set the
bounds of the people. Back there when he separated
the sons of Adam. He set the bounds of the people
according to the number of the children of Israel. Not that
nation Israel. According to the number of his
people. Why? For the Lord's portion is
his people. And Jacob is the lot of his inheritance. He found him in a desert land,
in the waste howling wilderness. He led him about. He instructed
him. He kept him as the apple of his
eye. As an eagle stirreth up her nest,
flutterth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them,
beareth them on her wings, so the Lord alone did lead him,
and there was no strange God with him. He made him ride on
the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase
of the fields. And he made him to suck honey
out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock, butter of
kind, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, and rams of the
breed of patient, and goats with the fat of kidneys of wheat.
And thou didst drink the pure blood of the grape. That's why
he separated and set the bounds of the nation, was for his people. Because they're his portion.
And he's gonna Gather them and watch over them and lead them
and he's gonna do it alone as the apple of his eye Look with
me over it Psalm 44 Psalm 44 In verse 1 We have heard with our ears,
O God, our fathers have told us what work thou didst in their
days in the times of old, how thou didst drive out the heathen
with thy hand, and plantest them, and how thou didst afflict the
people, and cast them out. For they got not the land in
possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm save
them, but thy right hand, and thy arm, and the light of thy
countenance, because thou hast a favor unto them." That's called
grace. Because you'd be gracious to
them. Thou art my King, O God. Command deliverances for Jacob. Do you see that? Command deliverances
for Jacob. Look over at Isaiah chapter 43.
Isaiah 43. Look at verse 1. But now thus saith the
Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I've called thee by thy
name. Thou art mine. When thou passest
through the waters, I'll be with thee. Through the rivers, they
shall not overflow thee. When thou walkest through the
fire, thou shalt not be burned. Neither shall the flame kindle
upon thee. Why not? For I am the Lord thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. Now look at this. I gave Egypt
for thy ransom. Ethiopia and Saba for thee. I gave nations. I set the bounds
and the habitations of nations for you. I did that for you, God said,
since thou was precious in my sight. Aren't you glad of that? Aren't you glad that you're precious
in His sight? I'm not precious in my own sight.
I'm not precious in your sight, but I'm precious in His sight.
And since thou was precious in my sight, thou has been honorable,
and I've loved thee. Therefore I'll give men for thee,
people for thy life. Fear not, for I'm with thee.
I'll bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from the
west. From where? From the nations. I've set the
bounds of their habitation, but I'm gonna gather you into my
nation. I'll say to the north, give up,
to the south, keep not back, bring my sons from far, my daughters
from the ends of the earth." What did the psalmist say? Command
deliverance for Jacob. He said, I'm going to say it
and it's going to happen. Even everyone that's called by
my name, he called them by name. He knows them that are his. He
called them by name. For I've created him for my glory.
I have formed him. Yeah, I've made him. You see
that? So, when you see how sovereign
God is, when you see how omniscient God is, when you see how omnipotent
God is, let us flee to God. When you see God just become
bigger and bigger and bigger, and you become smaller and smaller
and smaller, let us flee to Him and say, Lord, my times are in
Thy hands. deliver me from my enemies and
from those that persecute me. I can't be delivered any other
way. My times are in your hand, Lord. And that's the very application
Paul makes. Look now, verse back in our text,
Acts 17, 29. For as much then as we are the
offspring of God, We ought not to think that the Godhead is
like unto gold or silver or stone, graven by art and man's device. God creates. We're the created.
He's the potter. We're the clay. Every sinner
is at the mercy and grace of the triune God. He says verse 30 in the times
of this ignorance God winked at but now commandeth all men
everywhere to to repent Because Christ has come now Turn from
everything else and flee to him Paul said Remember what Paul
had to continually remind the brethren of in Colossae Beware
Beware, lest any man spoil you. How? Through philosophy, in vain
deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of men,
the beggarly elements. Don't let those things come between
you and Christ. He said, and not after Christ.
For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." What
did Paul just say right here? He said, we're the offspring
of God. We ought not to think that the
Godhead is like gold and silver. The Godhead is seen in Christ
the Lord. The fullness of the Godhead in a body. Come to God. Come to Him on no other grounds
than mercy and grace. That's the only grounds a sinner
can approach God on is mercy and grace. Everything that we
need, all things which the sinner needs are the gift of God in
the fullness of Christ. everything, justifying righteousness,
sanctifying holiness, remission of sin, the gift of faith, a
new heart wherein we worship God, strength to perform good
works, the new spirit wherein we're made complete and we adore
Christ and we're made willing bond servants to serve Christ,
strength to bear and suffer reproach in the name of Christ. Our preservation
to the end. Our final resurrection with a
right and a title to be in the very presence and glory of God. All of it is found by mercy and
grace and the fullness of everything that a sinner needs is in Christ
Jesus the Lord. God knowing you and you knowing
God. The true and living God. and
Jesus Christ whom he had sent. This is life eternal. This is
a heart matter. This is something God creates
in the heart that he has to do in the heart. He doesn't need
the aid of man. He doesn't need my aid. He doesn't
need your aid. Paul said it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. And as long as we're on the face
of this earth, as long as God has set the times and appointed
the bounds of our habitations, we're going to come to God through
the preaching of this Gospel. We're going to be corrected and
edified and rebuked and built up in this Gospel. But Paul turned
around and he said, but brethren, my preaching wasn't with enticing
words of man's wisdom so that your faith wouldn't stand in
in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. This is something
God has to do in the heart. And all this gift, all of this
gift, it's given by God in His unspeakable gift, Christ the
Lord. Paul spoke of this in Romans
11 and he said, thanks be unto God for His unspeakable gift.
Who's been His counselor? who's given to Him and so that
it needs to be recompensed to Him again. But He said, of God
and through Him and to Him are all things. All things to whom
be glory forever. God delights in mercy because
He delights in Christ Jesus His Son. But not in sacrifice. Not in our sacrifice. Not in
something we do. He don't delight in it. He delights
in mercy. The Lord said, go ye and learn
what that meaneth. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice.
I didn't come to call the righteous, but I came to call sinners. I
came to call folks who don't have anything, who need all things
given to them in Christ Jesus. Verse 31 in our text, he said,
"...because he hath appointed a day into which he will judge
the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained,
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath
raised him from the dead." Do you want to meet God and answer
to the holy justice of God based on some sacrifice you've made?
Look at the sacrifice of Christ. Look at the sacrifice of Christ
Jesus the Lord on Calvary's cross. That's the sacrifice God's pleased
with. He's not pleased with the sacrifice in me. He's not pleased
with the sacrifice in you. That's the sacrifice He's pleased
with. Are you ready to meet God and say that there's some sacrifice
that you have made wherein God should accept you? Do you want to stand in your
own righteousness? Do you want to stand before God
in some kind of righteousness that you call righteousness,
that you've worked out by something you've done? There's a day appointed by God
in which He'll judge the world in righteousness by Christ Jesus,
the Lord our righteousness. He said this in Isaiah 28. Isaiah
28, verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation,
a stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation. He that believeth shall not make
haste. Judgment also will I lay to the
line, and righteousness to the plummet. and the hail shall sweep
away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the
hiding place, and your covenant with death shall be disannulled,
and your agreement with hell shall not stand, when the overflowing
scourge shall pass through. Then you shall be trodden down
by it." How can I be sure God's gonna judge the world in righteousness?
Our text says, he's given assurance unto all, and that he hath raised
him from the dead. You know, to the believer, the
resurrection of Christ Jesus is a doctrine of great joy that
brings great joy to our heart because he was delivered for
our offenses and raised again for our justification. By his
obedience and his death, he made complete satisfaction to God
for us. And when God raised him from
the dead, God testifies to the believer that God's satisfied
with him. And he's satisfied with us in
him. He's satisfied. God is satisfied. If God is satisfied, what in
the world can I do? What can I do? Nothing. He's satisfied with Christ. He's
satisfied with Christ. Now, if you come and ask God
for mercy and grace, if you come to God with nothing in your hand,
if you come to God, nothing between you and Him, desiring only to
see Christ Jesus the Lord in spirit and in truth, God said,
I delight to show mercy to you. I delight in it. How could I be sure? You know,
but the unbeliever, he doesn't find joy in this, in the resurrection
of Christ. He doesn't find any joy in the
resurrection period. Look at the next verse, verse
32. When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and
others said, we'll hear thee again of this matter. They called
Paul beforehand, they called him a babbler, because he preached
Jesus Christ. And here they mocked him because
he said Christ is raised from the dead and all men are going
to be judged in righteousness by that man. And they mocked
him when he talked about the resurrection. You know, an unbeliever
mocks the resurrection. He mocks the doctrine of the
resurrection because if men are truly resurrected, it might just
be that Christ truly is resurrected. And if Christ is truly resurrected,
it might just be that I'm going to be judged in righteousness
by that man. God says, I give you full assurance
that it's so. Full assurance. I've raised him.
And you're going to be raised. And you're going to either stand
in Christ or you're going to stand on your own and answer
to God in that day. And the carnal heart of a man
is so much enmity, so much hates God, that the sinner would rather
imagine that when he dies, he just goes to nothingness rather
than to bow to God and ask mercy and grace, confess his sin. They said, we'll hear you again
of this matter. Consider the arrogancy in that
statement. They didn't ask Paul to go to
the synagogue and bring the Scriptures so they could see the Scriptures.
They had no desire to search the Scriptures whatsoever. They
didn't look into the Word of God to see if what Paul said
was so. They said, Paul, we'll hear you
again on this matter. You didn't convince us this time.
You're going to have to come up with a little better wisdom,
a little better logic, a little better reasoning. We'll hear
you again. Maybe next time you'll do a little better, fare a little
better in convincing us wise men. Now you consider how arrogant
that is. Would you hear God Almighty speak
and say to him, I'll hear you again to consider this matter.
That's what they were doing. That's exactly what they were
doing. Is that not what every sinner does when they hear the
gospel of Christ preached and they don't flee to Christ? Proud men don't dictate when
they'll give the King of heaven and earth another hearing. Look
at verse 33. So Paul departed from among them.
Look at chapter 18, verse 1. After these things, Paul departed
from Athens. The Lord moved Paul away, and
as far as we know, they never heard the gospel again. And these
men will be raised, and they'll stand before the thrice holy
God. And Paul will have Christ to
answer for him. And these men will stand on their
own and be judged by the righteousness
of Christ. But look at verse 34. Howbeit
certain men claimed unto him, and believed, among the which
was Dionysius the Arabicite, and a woman named Damaris, and
others with them. All men showed outward respect,
and they all heard Paul preach the gospel of Christ. All of
them did. But who worshipped Christ that
day? Who worshipped Christ that day? Certain men whom the Father
had everlastingly loved. Certain men whom Christ Jesus
the Lord made complete and for whom He made satisfaction before
God. Certain men in whom the Holy
Spirit purged and sprinkled with the blood of Christ and drew
them to the feet of Christ. They worshipped Him. They worshipped
Him. For those who hear this message
and don't trust Him, don't flee to Him. Don't turn from everything
else and flee to Christ alone. Repent and believe on Him. And
for those of you who trust Him, who have repented from all else
and fled to Him, repent and flee to Him. Keep on turning from
everything else and fleeing to Him. And don't stop. Don't stop. that sinner who can draw near
in spirit and in truth is one that God has cleansed and He's
drawn. And that sinner comes depending
upon our total completion to be in Christ, our renewing of
the inner man day by day so that we might adore Christ to be of
God in the heart, in spirit, in the new man God has created,
by the Holy Spirit, and in truth, in Christ the truth. We depend on Him. And that man
who comes in that way is a man whom God has cleansed and purged
and given boldness to come, or else he wouldn't come. Having
your heart purged Your conscience washed and your body is washed
in pure water. Draw near. And this is what Revelation 20
says, Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection. In this resurrection of Christ
Jesus. In this resurrection of that
new man being quickened together with Him. That first resurrection. On such the second death hath
no power. The first death when we leave
this earth, the second death is after the judgment of God.
That second death has no power on the man who takes part in
this first resurrection. No power over him. But they'll
be priests of God and of Christ and they'll reign with him forever
and ever. And herein is our love made perfect
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because
as He is, so are we in this world. Now, what's our prayer? What's
our prayer to God? This is what the psalmist said.
This is what the Lord God says through the psalmist. Offer unto
God thanksgiving. How? He don't say how. Offer unto
God thanksgiving and pay thy vows. That is, continue in the
covenant of peace unto the Most High. Everything I've got. Everything
I am. Everything I shall be, I owe
it all to Him. Pay your vow unto the Most High. Pay homage, obeisance, thanksgiving,
worship to the Most High. And call upon me in the day of
trouble, He said, and I'll deliver you. and thou shalt glorify me." By calling on Him. By calling
on Him. Thank Him. Attribute everything
to Him. Look nowhere else but to Him.
Call on Him. He said, I'll deliver you, and
you'll glorify me. God knowing you, and you knowing
God, Whether you're on a creek bank and you pour out your heart in
thanksgiving to God. Whether you're in the house of
the Lord and you pour out your heart in thanksgiving unto God.
Whether you're in a cave somewhere in the wilderness and you pour
out your heart in thanksgiving unto God. breaking open an alabaster box
of ointment and pouring it on His feet and washing His feet
with your tears and kissing His feet. Whether you're singing praises
unto Him, or whether you haven't even opened your mouth. Whether
you're offering spiritual sacrifices unto Him in the prescribed means
that He's ordained, or whether you're completely alone in your
closet. He said, this is worship. This
is eternal life. Nothing, absolutely nothing between
you and the living God and Jesus Christ who is all to you. Where's that at? It's in the
heart. Who gives it? God gives it to
all. He gives it to all. Amen.