If you would turn with me again
tonight to Joshua, and it's here in chapter 3 that Joshua and
the people of Israel come to the shores of Jordan to pass
over into the land of promise. Verse 1 says, And Joshua arose
early in the morning, And they removed from Shittim and came
to Jordan, he and all the children of Israel, and lodged there before
they passed over." I suppose that every one of us has heard
the phrase, crossing Jordan. There's a television show called
that, but that's not. What this is referring to, crossing
Jordan, the phrase is often said in reference to the death of
a believer. When a child of God leaves behind
the oppression and the bondage of sin, they're said to pass
over into the land of promise, into heaven's eternal glory. The dying is crossing Jordan
over into heaven's glory. Yet the wonderful news, the gospel
is, that the child of God doesn't have to wait until their physical
death to pass over Jordan. True life, eternal life, begins
the moment that a sinner believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. The
minute we believe, the minute we trust in Christ to put away
our sin, we've crossed Jordan. So crossing Jordan pitches the
debt of the child of God to sin and to self. And when they trust
in Christ, their Joshua is their substitute and their savior. They've already entered into
heaven's glory in one sense of the word. Our study tonight has
to do with new beginnings. I've thought a lot about that
term lately, new beginnings. And these new beginnings begin
immediately upon trusting in Christ. Now this passage of scripture
The forest tonight teaches us that Christ is the only way to
enjoy these new beginnings. That's no new message for us,
is it? We endeavor every time we stand to preach, whether it's
me, Jean, Larry, or a visiting preacher, to exalt Christ. That's
the only way that any of us can have life. May the Lord be pleased
to enable me tonight to show you something of this new beginning. Now, careful study reveals that
Israel's crossing Jordan to this new beginning took place on the
first month of the Jewish year. Matter of fact, if you look at
Joshua chapter four, verse 19, it says, and the people came
up out of Jordan on the 10th day of the first month and encamped
in Gilgal in the east border of Jericho. The people of Israel
found themselves in a new land with a new beginning, and it
seems appropriate to me that it was the first month of a new
year. Hundreds of years, these folks
were in Egyptian bondage. Now you think about that. I was
reading today, I've always thought 400, 430 years. Some commentators
say that it was, they were only actually in bondage 200 years. That's long enough. Two years
would be long enough. But hundreds of years, they were
in Egyptian bondage. And for 40 years, because of
their unbelief, they wandered in the wilderness. Can you imagine
40 years? Do you know who a new beginning
will mean something to? It'll mean something to one who's
been in prison or in bondage or in a wilderness journey. That's who it'll mean something
to. A new beginning? It meant something to the nation
of Israel. And it means something to the chosen and enlightened
sinner. Why? Because the Lord's shown us our
sin and our bondage in sin. And now we have a new beginning.
The nation of Israel was in bondage to Egypt and the people of God
were in bondage to sin. Now let me show you that. Stick
your marker here in Joshua 3 and turn to Romans chapter 7 with
me. I want to look beginning in verse
14. Romans 7 verse 14, if you would
please. For we know that the law is spiritual,
but I am carnal, sold under sin. For that which I do, I allow
not, and for what I would, that do I not, but what I hate, that
do I. Does that sound familiar? If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that
it's good. Now then, it is no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. People who deny that man
has two natures have not read this verse. They say, oh, no,
man doesn't have two natures. Well, I believe this pretty much
confirms that he does. It's no more I that do it, who
is it then? It's sin that dwelleth in me. It's that old man within. He
talked in another place about that war that goes on in the
members of our body. And then he says in verse 18,
that very familiar passage of scripture, for I know that in
me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing, for to will is
present with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not,
for the good that I would, I do not, but the evil, which I would
not, that I do. Now, if I do that, I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me." Oh,
we're sold under sin. What great bondage sin has over
us. Like Joseph, we were sold into
bondage. His brother sold him to the Midianites. The Midianites sold him into
Egypt and to Potiphar's house. And our father, Adam, sold us
under sin. But we can't blame it all on
him. We, in and of ourselves, have committed sin against thee
and thee only, David said, have I sinned? That you might be right,
that you might be justified when you speak against me. is justified
in speaking against us because we're guilty. And then in verse
21 here, Paul continues and he says, I find in a law that when
I would do good, evil is present with me for I delight in the
law of God after the inward man. But I see another law in my members,
warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity. That word simply means made captive,
put in bondage to the law of sin, which is in my members.
And then Paul confesses what every true child of God confesses. Oh, wretched man, oh, wretched
woman that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death.
Now we have to be delivered to be made free. We cannot deliver
ourselves. We cannot make ourselves free. So who must deliver us? Well, the same one that delivered
Israel, the same one, the same God almighty. And he did so in
the person of Jesus Christ. And then Paul in verse 25 says,
I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's who delivers
us. He's the only one that can. So
then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with
the flesh, the law of sin. Now, in these verses, we just
read a great deal about the law of God. In verse 16, Paul said,
I consent unto the law that it's good. Verse 21, he wrote, I find
in a law that when I would do good, evil's present with me.
You see, the law was given, we've said this many times, I know
you know it, but the law was given to reveal the sin within
us. It was never given for us to keep to be saved. It was given
to show us our inability of keeping it. And boy, it does that, doesn't
it? It sure does. And then you add
on top of that that God requires us to keep the law perfectly.
In every point, he that offends in one point is guilty of the
whole law. And all a man or a woman can do, a child of God can do
when they read that is go, woe is me. Thank God through the
Lord Jesus Christ. As Paul said there, I thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. That's the only way that I can
keep the law. That's the only way that the
law can not charge me with my sin. In verse 22, Paul said,
I delight in the law of God after the inward man, referring to
that new man, that spiritual man, that born again man within. And then in verse 23, excuse
me, Paul added, but I see another law in my members warring against
the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin, which is in my members. And with Paul, every believing
sinner concludes O wretched men and women that we are. The law
teaches us some things. That's what it was meant to do.
The law teaches us that the wages of sin is death. The law shows
us that the soul that sins, it shall die. The law of God reveals
our sin. The law of God reveals the punishment
of sin. But hear me when I tell you that
Joshua chapter 3 is about a new beginning. A new beginning, a
crossing over Jordan into newness of life. As we mentioned in the
first couple of Joshua studies, Moses was now dead. We know that
Moses, pictures the law, Moses representing the law, had served
his purpose. Moses had no place in the new
beginning. And neither does the law of God.
It doesn't have any place in this new beginning. Moses could
not enter into the land of promise. God said, no, you're not going
to enter. Moses had no place in this new
life. Now God's people are going to
be led by Joshua. I love to think about that. Joshua,
Jesus, Jehovah saves. Now many Jewish historians teach
And I don't know, there are folks smarter than me, and I think
sometimes these commentators were just making a stab at it. But many Jewish historians teach
that when Moses died, the cloud that guided the people by day
and the fiery pillar by night was removed. Man, I would say
that's probably correct. These pillars of cloud and fire
represented the presence of God. And it was God's presence in
those pillars that determined Israel's movement and the direction
that they went. But God's presence hadn't left
them because now they have Joshua. And God is with Joshua. And God
is with the Lord Jesus Christ, our Joshua. What a picture of
Christ Joshua is. Moses, the law, will not lead
God's people into the land of promise, into this new beginning,
into this newness of life, but Joshua will. Joshua will. Now the Old Testament books of
Moses, we've mentioned this many times, but they testify of Christ
and they point men and women, sinners, to him who is promised. And that's what Paul meant when
he wrote, wherefore the law, which is pictured by Moses, was
our schoolmaster, as I referred to a minute ago, to bring us
unto Christ. that we might be justified by
faith, by believing in the Lord Jesus. But after that faith has
come, we're no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of
God. How? By faith in Jesus Christ. Now Joshua, Jesus, Jehovah says,
will lead God's people into this newness of life. And it's here
in Joshua 3 that we see him rejoice in this new beginning. Every
fallen sinner Everyone must be given this new beginning in order
to have life eternal. Now, back in Joshua 3, if you
would, I want you to look at verse 2. Joshua 3, verse 2. And it came to pass after three
days that the officers went through the host. Went through the host
of the people. Verse 3, and they, being the officers, commanded
the people, saying, when you see the ark of the covenant of
the Lord your God and the priests, the Levites bearing it, then
you shall remove from your place and go after it." Now, this is
the second time that Joshua sent the officers among the people.
The first time was to assure them that the people of Israel
that they would pass over Jordan, and they would possess the land.
Look back at chapter 1, verse 10. Chapter 1, verse 10. It says, Then Joshua commanded
Notice that word again. He commanded the officers of
the people saying, pass through the host and command the people
saying, prepare ye vittles for within three days you shall pass
over this Jordan to go in to possess the land. There's no
ifs, ands, and buts about it. You're gonna pass over? and you're
gonna inherit this land. And he says, which the Lord your
God giveth you to possess it. That's good confidence that they're
going to, because God gave it to them. Hello? That's good reason
for us to not doubt about our redemption, isn't it? God has
given it to us. It's ours in Christ. Christ cannot
fail. Christ accomplished that which
God sent him to do. Christ finished the work that
you and I could not do. And so therefore, we can have
great confidence in this new beginning. And I have to point
this out. Did you notice that this was
no invitation? It was a command. You know, in
Acts chapter 16, Paul and Silas did not say, we invite you to
believe on the Lord Jesus. And if you do, you shall be saved.
But it's up to you whether you do or not. That's not what he
said at all, was it? We hear a lot of that today.
After all, everyone has a free will and has a free choice in
the matter of their salvation. You have the choice to accept
the invitation or reject it. Paul and Silas said, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And friends,
that's not an invitation. That's a command. That's a promise. And that is also a warning. If
you believe, you'll be saved. If you don't believe, you'll
perish in your sin. Well, preacher, if you believe
that, then why do you even preach? I've had people ask me that.
Why do you even preach if that's what you believe? If God is going
to say who He's going to save, then why do you even preach?
What difference does your preaching make? I'm glad you asked. Let
me tell you, God commands his servants to preach the gospel
to every creature, to every single one. Now, I don't know who the
elect of God are. And neither does Gene, neither
does any other preacher. I don't know who God's elect
are. For if I did, I suppose that then I could, I only preach
to them. But I don't, so I preach to all
who will hear." So that's a pretty simple answer and really a pretty
ignorant question. Joshua commanded the officers.
The officers commanded the people. And in these verses, the officers
are a very good picture of preachers. And what is the message of these
officers? What's the message of these preachers?
Look at it again, Joshua 3, verse 3. And they commanded the people,
saying, this is the gospel, brothers and sisters, when you see the
ark of the covenant of the Lord your God and the priest, the
Levites bearing it, then you shall remove from your place
and go after it. That's the gospel. The command
is simple. The command is singular. When
you see the ark, go after it. Well, the Ark of the Covenant
pictures the Lord Jesus. We saw that in our study of Exodus
and when we studied the tabernacle, that the Ark of the Covenant
and everything in it pictured Christ. So that's talking about
Christ. When you see Christ, go after
Him. Go after Him. Remove from your
place and go after Him. Can the message be more plain
than that? The officers did not command the people to go after
the ark until they saw it. It didn't say, well just keep
moving and maybe you'll see it. No. They commanded the people
to go after the ark when they saw it. Big difference. Big difference
there. You can't go after something
you can't and don't see. The people surrounded the ark
before this command was given, but they didn't see the ark.
You know why? Because it was hidden behind the veil. It was
in their midst, but they didn't see it. Before, when the people
moved, the ark did not go before them to follow. It went in the
midst of them. Up until this time, up until
this new beginning, they followed the cloud. But now comes new
instruction. Now comes a new beginning. When you see the ark, go after
it. Isn't that the gospel command?
When you see Christ, go after Him? No sinner can or will follow
an unrevealed Christ. Now that's just the truth. We've
said it so many times, and to the Lord is pleased to show a
man or woman their sin, their inability, their incapableness
of doing anything that God would accept. When He shows them that
they are nothing, they can do nothing, they have nothing to
offer, it's then that God instills His Spirit in their heart and
shows them a great need. Those who have great need, they're
the ones that go see a physician, aren't they? Those that are well
have no need of a physician, but those that are sick do. And
when God shows a sinner that they're sick, that they're diseased
with a loathsome disease called sin, like leprosy, that just
eats a man or a woman alive from the inside. That's what sin does.
They'll never see their need of a Savior. In John chapter
4, the Lord Jesus told that woman at the well, He said, If thou
knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith unto thee,
Give me to drink, you would ask me, You'd ask Me, and I would
give you the living water. Living water. And when God reveals
Jesus Christ as a gift to a sinner, God won't invite and plead and
beg the sinner to let Him save them. They'll ask God to graciously
do so. Oh Lord, give me a drink of that
living water. I need a drink of that living
water. They'll beg God to give them Christ, who is the living
water. Isn't that the way it was with
you? Sure it was. And this again is the proof of
God's electing grace. The command of Joshua and the
officers was not if you see the ark, but when you see the ark.
And they saw it when God intended for them to see it, in this new
beginning, before it actually. You see, election guarantees
seen. No sinner sees Christ nor can
come to Christ except, the Lord Jesus said, God the Father who
sent the Lord Jesus, draw them and cause them to see. No man
can come, no man has the ability to come, except Unless the Father
which sent Christ draw them with His mercy and His grace. Aren't
you glad the Lord drawed you? Oh, I'm so thankful the Lord
drawed me. I didn't deserve to be drawn. I didn't deserve to
be able to come to Him. But He enabled me and He gave
me the grace to come. He allowed me to come. And this
again is the proof of God's elect in grace. That's exactly what
our Lord said in Matthew 11, 27. He said, All things are delivered
unto Me of My Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the
Father, and neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son,
and He to Whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. This is God's
doing. God does the saving. We do the
sinning. We can take credit for that.
Salvation is at God's discretion. Is it not? How can anybody read
this book and disagree with that? Salvation is according to the
Lord's mercy. Salvation is by the grace of
God alone. Salvation comes by the revelation
of God. He was pleased to reveal His
Son in me. Pleased to. It pleased the Lord
to make you His people. Salvation is by the election
of God's grace. God's people don't argue with
that. They know they would have never come if God hadn't ordained
it before the world ever was. Election guarantees that chosen
sinners would trust in Christ. Election is unto salvation. Seeing
Christ is salvation. Who is God revealed to? Well,
our Lord said, to whomsoever the Son reveals Him. And it's
here that we also see the path in which we must go to inherit
eternal life and glory in heaven that God has promised. When you
see Christ, Follow Him. That's the way. He's the way,
He's the truth, and He's the life. He's the only way to the
Father. There's only one mediator between
God and men, the man Christ Jesus. There's no other way to get to
God but by Him. If any man cometh to the Father,
no man cometh to the Father but by Me, He said. So when you see
Christ, follow Him. He's the entrance into the land
of promise. It's in a look, it's in seeing,
and it's seeing Christ. And this seeing is by faith,
and the proof is the one who sees follows Christ. If you see Him, you'll follow
Him. If you truly see Him. The Lord Jesus said, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them. Is that all? And they follow
me. That's the way. They follow me.
John 10, 27. God's got to make us hear. God's
got to make us to know. God has to make us to follow.
Sounds to me like salvations of the Lord. Now note well the
description of the ark here in Joshua 3, verse 3. It's the ark
of the covenant of the Lord. Now that word Lord there means
Jehovah. You're God, it's the Ark of the
Covenant of the Lord Jehovah, you're God. Faith sees and follows
the Christ of the covenant. All that the elect are, all that
the elect will be, shall be, along with all they possess,
now listen, are conditioned upon this eternal covenant, this promise
accomplished and officially made valid by the Lord Jesus Christ
and His finished work. Everything that God does for
His people is through this covenant. The elect are saved in and by
and through this covenant. This is God's covenant for the
salvation of His people and it's established with Christ His Son
from the foundation of the world. Everything that God has done
for us and will do for us has been by covenant. Now we don't
go after Christ on an impulse or an inclination. You know,
I didn't just wake up one day and say, you know, I think I'm,
as I've told you many times, my mother used to say, I think
I'm just going to straighten up and fly right. And I'm going to start
going to church. And I have done that. And a lot
of people have. To no avail. To no avail. We don't just go after Christ
on impulse. We go after Christ when we see
Him, when God reveals Him to us, when God shows us that we
have need of a substitute, a sacrifice, and a Savior. Israel was to go
after the ark of the Lord. That's Christ. That's Christ.
And when they saw the ark of the Lord their God, did you notice
here the manner in which the object of faith is carried? And
this also provides a very ample picture of the preacher of the
gospel as well as the object of our faith. The ark is carried
on the shoulders of the priest and the Levite. That's a good
picture of what preachers do when they preach the gospel.
We lift Christ up and all believers are preached unto God which offer
up spiritual sacrifices which are said to be acceptable to
God. We carry the gospel and it's
only seen as we do. No one is, I said a minute ago,
trusting an unrevealed Christ. And God has used the means of
preaching to save those that believe. So how shall they hear
without a preacher? And how will they preach unless
God sends them? You see, that's the ordained
means that God uses. We carry the gospel. And even
though the children of Israel are told to go after the ark,
they're told in verse 4 not to get too close. Did you see that? Verse 4. Yet there shall be a
space between you and it, speaking of the ark of the covenant, about
2,000 cubits by measure. Come not near unto it, that you
may know the way by which you must go. For ye have not passed
this way heretofore." Now, I know that seems to be strange language
when you first look at it. Israel was told to put about
2,000 Cubits. Best I can tell, that's about
a half mile. About a half mile between themselves
and the ark. And he says, not to come near
it. You know, that made me immediately
think about what God through Moses told the people of Israel
on Mount Sinai. He said, don't come near the
mountain of God. Don't touch it. You'll die if you do. You see the warning at Mount
Sinai was a warning of death, but that's not what we have here.
The words given by Joshua here are not a threat of death, but
they're a promise of life. Did you notice that in verse
four? Don't come near so you, now look at this, may know the
way of which you must go. What a picture of the believer's
faith this is. We see through a glass darkly
and our Lord dwells in a light wherein to no man can approach. And we see the Lord Jesus as
it were afar off. Why? Because of such a distance,
and the ark resting upon the shoulders of the priest, when
those folks lifted up their eyes above the crowd, all they could
see was the ark. You think about that. Colossians
3, 1-3 says, if you be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above. where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things
of the earth. For you are dead and your life
is hid with Christ in God. As those people, as the people
of God, we cannot look at the ground. We can't just follow
the crowd. We've got to look above all that.
And as we do, we lift up our eyes and we see the ark. Faithful
looks to Christ alone. It does. We look to Christ alone. With hope and expectation, we
look to Him. Now at such a distance, you couldn't
see the ark unless you were specifically looking at it or looking for
it. You know, squint your eyes and go, is that the ark? But
if you knew what you was looking for, you could say, that's the
ark. Maybe a half mile away, but that's
the ark. That's the ark. You know what
you're looking for. Every single time we open the
Scriptures and we look, we should be looking for Christ. Every
single time. Old Testament or new, it doesn't
matter. We're looking for Christ. There's no Moses. No cloud. No pillar of fire. There's just
the ark on the shoulders of the priest. And this ark is what
you must see and what you must follow to get to the Promised
Land. It's this ark that you must see
and must follow to have this new beginning. You've not passed
this way heretofore. Verse four. This is a new living
way. This is a new beginning. And
that's why the Lord Jesus told Nicodemus, you must be born again. You cannot enter into your mother's
womb a second time. That's what Nicodemus asked.
How can I be born again? I'm a grown man. How am I going
to enter back into my mother's womb? This is not talking about
a physical beginning. This is talking about a spiritual
beginning. This is not a reformation, but
a new birth. Some of the folks there in Nixa
came out of a Reformed church and they were telling me just
how strict and how in bondage they were to what these Reformed
taught. This is a new beginning. This
is about freedom from bondage. We can't be reformed to perfection. We need a new creation. We must
become new creatures in Christ. That's what Paul said in 2 Corinthians
5.17. Therefore, if any man, and that
means woman too, be in Christ, he's a new creature, Old things
are passed away. All your sin is gone. It's put
away. It's passed away. And all things
have become new. You know what that means? A new
beginning. A new beginning. And all things
are of God who hath reconciled us unto Himself by Jesus Christ. Like Israel, we were born in
bondage, sold under sin. We've got to have a spiritual
birth. into newness of life. Paul said
in Galatians 6.15, for in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth
anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. New creature,
we gotta be born again. We gotta be made new in Christ. And in verse five, Joshua said
unto the people, sanctify yourselves. For tomorrow the Lord will do
wonders among you." Now, when Joshua here says, sanctify yourself,
what he means is to put everything aside but the view of the ark. Put everything else aside. All of it. Put it aside. Don't be distracted by the cares
of this world. Well, that's near impossible,
isn't it? Don't do it. Put it aside. The Lord is going
to do wonders among you, and you don't want to miss them by
these worldly distractions. Keep your eyes on Christ. Keep
your eyes on Him. Oh Lord, help us to keep our
eyes on Christ. Now look at verse 6. I think
this very well explains the new beginning. And Joshua spake unto
the priest saying, take up the ark of the covenant and pass
over before the people. And they took up the ark of the
covenant and went before the people. Now what's the spiritual
application to all this? Well, this new beginning is for
the believer. How can the lost sinner have
this new beginning? And that's a good question. I
don't assume that everyone here tonight knows the Lord Jesus
Christ, that they've put their trust in Him. So how can a lost
sinner, we're all sinners, some saved, some lost, but how can
a lost sinner have this new beginning? Oh, that God may be pleased to
show you who are yet without Christ. What is it to take up
the Ark of the Covenant? What is it to take up Christ?
Well, our Lord said in John 3, verse 14, He said, and as Moses
lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of
Man must be lifted up. Now you know what He was referring
to over there in Numbers where the serpents bit the people and
poison permeated their bodies and they're dying left and right.
And Moses made a serpent of brass and he put it up on a pole and
he held it up. And all that looked to that serpent
on the pole lived. The message of the gospel is
look and live. Do you see Christ lifted up and
going before you? That's what it'll take. That's
what it is to take up Christ. It's to see Him. It's to follow
Him. It's to trust Him. It's to believe
Him. He's already traversed this road
to the land of promise. It's where He's always resided.
If you follow Him, you're sure to get there. He knows the way. He is the way. Do you see Christ
high and lifted up? That's the question. That's why
we preach Him. This is the Christ that I'm endeavoring
to lift up to you tonight. As a preacher of the gospel,
I lift Christ up so that you may see Him and that you may
follow Him. No sinner will ever be saved
apart from looking to Christ, seeing Him, and following Him. May God enable you to do so.
If you've seen Christ, then keep looking to Him. If you see the
Lord Jesus, keep following Him. Keep going after Him. I love
there where Paul said, to whom coming. You know what that means? It means we're still coming.
We don't just come once. And it sure ain't down an aisle
and making a profession and joining the church and jumping in the
water. No, it's coming to Him every day for grace and more
grace and more grace and more mercy. Lord, help me. Lord, save
me. We keep coming. To whom? Coming.
We're still coming. We never stop coming. We never
stop following Him. Never. After all, the Lord Jesus
did say, let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God,
believe also in me. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. And he said, I go to prepare
a place for you. To who? Those whose hearts are
not troubled. Those that are looking to Him
and Him alone. Those who believe in God and believe also in Him.
That's who He's talking about. I go prepare a place for you.
And if I go prepare a place for you, I'll come again. He's coming
again. Now I know folks have gotten
a bit callous to that, you know. Certain ignorant men, you know,
make predictions when the Lord's coming back, and when He don't
come back, you know, other men just go, see, there ain't nothing
to this. The Scripture's very clear. No man knows the day or
the hour. So why in the world are we listening
to these kooks anyway? We just keep coming, and we keep
following, and we keep looking for Him. He said, and if I go
prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive you unto
myself. I don't know that I've ever been
able to rejoice in the death of a believer any more than I
did Bruce, Danny Cavanaugh. And you know, I think I'll catch
myself sometimes now thinking about him and the things that
we talked about. And I just say to myself, oh,
Bruce, I wish I could experience what you're experiencing right
now. Same with Larry. Same with him. I think about
that all the time. Oh, Larry, I wish I could see
what you're seeing. I wish I could hear what you're
hearing. My, my. Because the Lord said where I
am, there you may be also. I go to prepare a place for you.
And where I am, that's where you're going to be. And that's
what makes heaven heaven. Not streets of gold and pearly
gates and mansions bright. No, no. Christ. Christ is heaven
to me. Is there any thought more comforting
than that? Our Lord promises, I go prepare
a place for you. Oh, this is personal. This is
personal. And if I go prepare a place for
you, and He does, you can be assured that He's going to come
again and receive you unto Himself. That's something to look forward
to. And this, dear friends, is what makes heaven heaven. And
that's what makes this such a glorious new beginning. It's in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. Oh, may we look to Him and Him
alone.