If you take your Bibles and turn
back with me to Psalm 47. Psalm 47. We'll be looking at
verse 7 through verse 9. I've entitled this message, God's
Comforting Reign. God's Comforting Reign. The Scripture says, For God is
the King of all the earth, seeing you praises with understanding. God reigneth over the heathen.
God sitteth upon the throne of His holiness. The princes of
the people are gathered together, even the people of the God of
Abraham. For the shields of the earth
belong unto God. He is greatly exalted. God's comforting reign. Now my
purpose this morning, the purpose of the message this morning is
to give every believer in Christ, every one of you who have found
refuge in Christ, I want you to have as much comfort as God
the Holy Spirit will allow you to have. I want you to have as
much assurance that all is well with you. Say you to the righteous,
it shall be well with him. Say you, comfort ye, comfort
ye my people, saith the Lord. Speak comfortably unto Jerusalem,
why her warfare is accomplished. For the Lord hath received double
for all her iniquity, for all her sins. Comfort ye, my people. And there is nothing more comforting
than this. The God that saved us, the God
that loves us, the God that embraces us, the God that keeps us, listen,
He is King. And His dominion is all the earth. All the earth. There have been
some powerful kings that lived upon the face of the earth, but
you know what? Their dominion was limited. It had borders,
it had boundaries. God's kingdom has no boundaries. Everything belongs to Him. Everything is under His dominion. That's what the text said. For
God is King over all the earth. All that is in it, all things
done in it, all things that move in this world belong unto Him
and fall under His dominion. The Scripture tells us that...
I'm going to read this. You don't have to turn there
because we've got a long ways to go. It's over in Colossians. That's what it is. Colossians
1, verse 12. It says, "...giving thanks unto
the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of
darkness, translated us into the kingdom of His dear Son,
in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins." who is the image of the invisible
God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him were all things created,
which are in heaven and in earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created
by Him and for Him. And just in case you miss it,
He is before all things. It kind of does away with anybody
that says He's a created being. Jesus Christ is created. Now,
if He's before all things, then how could He possibly be created? No, He is before all things.
He created all things. And by Him, listen, all things
consist. Did the sun come up on time this
morning? Now, you could have checked your
weather channel and they would have told you exactly what time the sun rises.
You know why? Because He's King. It rises and
sets faithfully every day because He is King. He has dominion over
all things. Nothing moves in heaven or earth
but by His sovereign will and decree. He has purposed all things. He
has predestinated all things. Therefore, He has and will bring
all things to pass. Everything He purposed to do,
He is doing right now. Everything. There is nothing
outside of His control. Nothing. You are here this morning. You wanted to be here, didn't
you? But you are here because He purposed you to be here. That's
it. That's the only reason you made
it. That's the only reason you're hearing anything this morning.
He purposed it. And any God that doesn't do that
is not God. Any God that does not rule over
everything is not God. If there is one Adam outside
God's control, he is not God. He is rivaled. Everything belongs to Him. Everything
is under His dominion. And this is the shelter, this
is the culvert of every believer. This is the comfort of every
believer. As we travel through this world,
as we face trouble and difficulty on every corner, we are surrounded
by foes both within and without. And this is our solace. All things, all things are under
the dominion of God. All things are purposed by Him
and in His complete, absolute control. This is our comfort. He is a
covert from the storm and from the heat of the day. You see,
it was Isaiah, I think. Isaiah chapter 25. Isaiah chapter
25. I'll read this to you. Isaiah chapter 25. See if this
doesn't fit. Look at verse 4. For thou hast been a strength
to the poor. Are you poor? Are you a poor
sinner? A poor sinner in nothing at all?
He's a strength to the poor. He is a strength to the needy
in his distress. A refuge from the storm. A shadow
from the heat. when the blast of the terrible
ones is as a storm against the wall, He is our refuge. And this is our solace in this
refuge. Our refuge is King. Our refuge reigns. Now the first
thing I want you to know is this. He reigns supreme over the salvation
of men. He reigns supreme over the salvation
Man. In 2 Corinthians chapter 5, the
apostle says that he creates in us a new nature. He gives
us salvation. And this is what he says. He
gives us all things. All things pertaining to life
and godliness and salvation. He gives us these things. And
listen to what he says. And all things are of God. All our salvation
is of God. All of it. The Father, our Father,
chose us. A sovereign decree. I'll have
that one. I love that one. You're mine. A sovereign decree. Before eternity, before time
began, the Father chose us. He put us in Christ. Christ was
made to be our surety from before the foundation of the world.
Kick, if you will. This is the Scripture, for God
hath chosen us. He chose us according to His
mercy and grace. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. For what purpose? That we should be made holy and
without blame before Him. What was His motivation? In love.
It was love. It was love. In love having predestinated
us unto the adoption of children and the means by Jesus Christ. Everything was purposed of God.
You see how sovereign that is? For Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Is there unrighteousness with
God for that? Nope, not at all. How dare you say anything like
that? God chose us, put us in Christ,
and Christ, according to the will of God, became a man. He
purposed Him to become a man so that He might represent His
people who are made up of what? Men, mankind. He became one of
us so that He might represent us and offer an offering acceptable
to God. That's why Jesus came into the
world, to redeem us. And as He was in the world, He
lived a righteous life in the stead of His people. He died
on Calvary's tree for the sins of His people. And because of His victory, because
of His success, God raised that man, Jesus Christ, from the dead. And not just raised Him from
the dead. There were men that had been raised before. Lazarus
was raised. Other men had been raised from
the dead. But God did something with this man He did not do with
any other man. He exalted Him and sat Him down
on His own throne. On the throne of God, Jesus Christ
this morning sits. So as I read my text and it says,
for God is King of all, I know that's speaking of Christ. I
know that's speaking of Jesus Christ. He is King of all, because
God made Him to be both Lord and Christ. Lord and Christ. He justified His people. God set Him on the throne, and
now, Look back at your text. You can read this in your text
if you want to. Look at verse 4. He chose our
inheritance for us. What was our inheritance? All
spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ. That's our
inheritance. He chose it. Christ is our inheritance, isn't
He? Christ is our inheritance. Who is He? The Excellency of
Jacob. That's who He is. He's the excellency
of Jacob, whom He loved. And look what He did. He has
gone up. How has He gone up? He's gone up with a shout of
victory. That's what they do when they
win, isn't it? Don't you shout when you win?
That's exactly what they do. When a king came through and
he won a battle, boy, they had this big procession. And the
general, the man that won the battle, he would be lifted up. He'd be hoisted up above everybody.
They'd be throwing roses at him. They'd be shouting and singing.
They'd be clapping their hands. Oh, clap your hands, you people. Shout unto God. With what? A
voice of triumph. Why, Christ is victorious. Christ
is victorious, and He's gone up. He's gone up to sit on the
throne of God, and He is King. He is King. And therefore, what
did He do? He sent His Holy Spirit into
this world to save those He had redeemed. Christ came to save His people. Who are His people? They are
spiritual Israelites. They're all that God chose. Who
are they? I don't know. Do you? I know they're there
and I'm one of them. I'm so thankful. He sent His
Spirit to me and He sent Him to you. You believe the Gospel
of Christ? You believe on Jesus Christ?
That's a work of God. That's a manifestation of this
decree that He send forth His Spirit. And now, comes to us at the appointed
time through the means He has chosen preaching the gospel. This is the decree of the King
that by the foolishness of preaching, He should save them that believe.
Why preaching? Before I became a preacher, I
was an educator. Believe it or not, I was a teacher. I was a teacher. I went through
college and everything. Got a piece of paper that said
so. And they taught us that auditory learning is the least effective. You know that? The least effective. They want to tell us to use visual
effects. You know, slides and presentations
and videos and movies. Things like that, so people can
retain it. God said, no, I'm going to take
the weakest thing and make it the strongest. Preaching. Faith
cometh by what? Hearing. And hearing by a very
specific thing. Not just hearing anything. There
are a lot of preachers preaching a lot of things. But there's
only one thing that God sends His men to do. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Nothing else. You won't be saved
by hearing about you. You won't be saved by hearing
about how to do well in this world and how to be a good citizen.
You won't be saved hearing about government and politics. You
won't be saved by that. It's through the preaching of
the gospel. Isn't this the experience of everyone who is in Christ
this morning? Isn't this how He came to you?
It's amazing. We all had different In background,
we grew up at different times and different places, and yet
what? God came to us the same through the preaching of the
Word. And through the hearing of it,
the Spirit of God quickened us from the dead, and what is the
result of that? You believed. You see, faith is the evidence
of the new birth. That's the evidence. You believe.
Not just believe on anything. You believe on Christ. This one
I'm speaking of, this King, is that who you worship? Is that
who you bow to? Is that who you believe in, the
victorious Savior? Everything that I've just mentioned
about salvation, who's done it? Who did it? Who chose you? God did. Who redeemed you? God did. Who called you? God did. Who quickened you? God did. Who pardoned you? God
did. Who forgives you? God did. Don't
you see there's a pattern here? Salvation is of the Lord. One hundred percent of God. He does it all. If there's anyone
going to be saved, If you have your part, you'll die in your
sins and go to hell. You try to bring your measly
little offering up to God. Well, I was baptized. Go to hell. I ate the Lord's Supper. I did
the best I could. I tried. You're not righteous. Go to hell. Paul said, I desire to be found
only in the righteousness of Christ, having no righteousness
of my own. Is that your desire? Who did
that? Who made you to see that while
millions are still trusting in themselves? Who made you to see
it? Salvations of the Lord. Don't you see that He reigns
over salvation? Total, absolute sovereignty. Total dominion over salvation
in every part. Who is saved, how they're saved,
the means they're saved, when they're saved, the duration of
their salvation. It's all in His hands. Why? Our God is King. That's why. Our God is King and His dominion
is over all the earth. This is the greatest comfort
to God's people. And the same Lord who justified
us, the same Christ who loved us, the same Christ who gave
Himself for us, the same Spirit points us to Christ. He reigns
over, listen, all things. The One who chose you, the One
who redeemed you, the One who called you, the One who has kept
you, He is reigning over all things. All things. Over things in eternity and time.
Over the countless stars in space. Over all the seasons of this
planet and spins in its orbit on time. He is ruling and reigning.
But personally, I want you to see it, personally He reigns
over His people for this purpose. To give you eternal life. That is His purpose for you. That you have everlasting life. Jeremiah chapter 29 said this, I know my thoughts toward you. Sometimes we think we know God's
thoughts toward us. We look at our circumstance and
we say, He's killing. He's going to destroy me. He's
taken everything from me. He hates me. God says, no, I
know my thoughts towards you. Thoughts of peace and not of
evil. Listen, to give you an expected
end. The end is eternal life. That's the end of what He's determined
to give you. And all of the things that take
place in time are moving to that end. Everything. Whether you
understand it or you don't. Whether you can see it or you
can't. It doesn't matter. It is moving
toward your salvation. Listen, Jesus Himself, the King,
said this. It is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom. Me? He's pleased? Excuse me? Isn't that what our text says? He said He's going to put all
nations under our feet. You know when Joshua, he conquered,
just like God said, Joshua 10, I think it is, he conquered.
Just like God purposed he would. And after the conquest, he calls
all of the captains. He said, come here. And He had
all the kings laying down on their faces to the earth. And
He said, put your foot on the neck of these kings. And they
just walked by. They put their foot on the neck
of every one of those kings. To show what? Dominion. God promises He will put all
our enemies under our feet. Sin? What an enemy! Self? Is that not a foe? Satan? The world, all of them, have
been conquered by Christ. Every one of them. And He calls
us now and says, come here, look, see what I've done? Put your
foot on it. You know, we didn't do anything.
We didn't do anything. And yet, that's our inheritance.
That's what He's purposed to give you and expect it in. Conquest. Now consider. Consider this. We who were rebels. He does this
for people who were rebels. Haters of God. Paul says in Ephesians
2, we were children of wrath, even as others. You are rebels and haters of
God. But now what are you? You are willing subjects. Are you a willing subject? You
are a willing subject? We are willing servants of this
King. Now, our beloved Father, Christ
God is our beloved Father, and we are subjects as dear children. Not as slaves, but as children. Now why is that? Because He ordained
it. Because the King purposed it.
Because of His great love wherewith He loved us. John says not that
we love God, but that He first loved us and gave Himself for
us. This is the decree of the King.
You want to go to Psalm 110 and see the decree of the King? This is God's decree to His King,
Christ. He said, The Lord said unto my
Lord, Sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy
footstool. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of
Zion. Rule thou in the midst of thine
enemies. Isn't that what He's doing right
now? Ruling in the midst of His enemies. But something is strange here
in verse 3. Because we were the enemies of
God. He ruled in the midst of us. While we were without Christ,
we were aliens from Christ. Aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. Strangers to the covenant of promise. We didn't know God,
we didn't know Christ, and didn't care for Him. We hated God, despised
His Word. But what did God decree? He said
this, Thy people, What separates His people from the rest of them?
This fact right here. Thy people shall be willing. Now when are they going to be
willing? Because they're not born willing. You and I were
not born willing. We were willing in the day of
His power. You see how he speaks of salvation?
Salvation is not a decision. It's power. It's omnipotent power. God's going to save you. It takes
the power of God. It takes the work of God. Jesus
said that in John 6. I can't remember the verse. He
said this. This is the work of God. that you believe on Him
whom He has sent. It is the work of God to believe. Thy people shall be willing without
exception. I like that. Thy people, all
of them, every one of them, without exception, shall be willing in
the day of Thy power. Therefore, in time, by His eternal
love and counsel, He drew us to Christ. You know what the king said about
natural man? The king said this about natural
man. No man can come unto me. Now, Audrey and I, we banter
about this a lot. She said, Dad, can you get me
some water? And I come back and say, well,
yes, I can get you some water. That doesn't mean I'm going to,
but I can. And she says, okay, will you
get me some water? Okay, yes, I will. I'll get you
some water. Ability. Can. Yes, I can. He's talking about ability. No
man has the ability to come to Me. You cannot come to Me. No
man can. But there's an exception because
you came to Him, didn't you? Didn't you come to Him willingly
in the day of His power? Yes. Except. Divine exception. Except the Father which hath
sent Me draw thee. Draw him. Think believer of the
great power of God that gave you a new heart. That's the only reason you came.
It's the only reason you're willing right now. The only reason you're willing
right now and desire right now to be in Christ is because you
have a new nature that was not born when you came into this
world. It was created. Matter of fact, Paul said that
new nature is created after God. Created by God, but it's created
after God in true holiness. And it is in this nature we are
drawn to Christ. But I'll tell you what, what
about your flesh? How is it drawn? The word there means drag. That's
what it means, drag. When I was a child, my parents
dragged me to church. Oh my goodness, I can see it
in your children. I know the same spirit of your
children because I had it. This was torments to come to
church. It was horrible. They dragged
me. They made me come. And I was
unwilling to come, but they made me to come. But one day when God came to
me, when God gave me a new heart,
I was willing to come. You didn't have to make me anymore.
Matter of fact, I needed it. Now, does that mean that the
old man still is made willing? No, the old man is not willing
still. The old man kicks and spits at
every time you get up to come worship God. But don't worry.
He doesn't have dominion anymore. God put the new man in charge
of this. I'm willing. Therefore, we come. Because He made us willing. And
how was that that He made the new nature willing? Was it that
He dragged the new nature? No. The new nature is not dragged. It is drawn by Love. Love. What motivates you to come?
That's important. What moves you to come worship? What constrains you from sin?
That's important. We use all types of things to
try to constrain ourselves from sin. Right? We don't go here. We don't do this. We make laws.
We regulate ourselves. And we think somehow that's going
to constrain us. And then we're really just confounded
because it doesn't. If I didn't go there in the flesh,
I went there in my mind. I wanted to go. Otherwise, I
wouldn't have put the boundary there. But for believers, what constrains
you? It's the same thing that drew
you. It is the love of Christ that constraineth us from sin. If you want to be constrained
from sin, it must be by the love of Christ. And friends, that love is not
manifest easily in us. It comes through great sorrow,
great affliction, and great trouble. I didn't intend to preach this,
but go over there anyway. I don't even have it in my notes. I've
intended to preach it for a long time, but it's not been able
to. You want to be constrained from
sin. The love of Christ constrains us. But how does the love of
Christ work into our hearts? Because I want to love Him. I'm
like Peter. Lovest thou Me more than Me? Lord, You know I love
You. He asked Him three times, and
the third time He was grieved. Are you not grieved when the
Lord asks you that? Do you love Me? How much do you love Me? Confess. Very little. Very little. Do you want to grow
in love? And by growing in love, we are
constrained from sin. The love of Christ constrains
us. How does this love? Look in Romans chapter 5. The chain of salvation is mentioned
in the first two verses, but he said not only so. We're justified
by faith. We have peace with God through
Christ by whom we have access. That's great. Access to the throne. Not only so, but we glory in
what? Tribulation. Knowing that tribulation work
of patience. That word means endurance. It
doesn't mean quiet sitting, waiting, meditation. Job was patient,
but he was not silent, was he? Job complained a lot. So in tribulation,
God's people complain a lot. What is this doing? It's causing
us to exercise faith. Tribulation works with patience.
Patience, experience. Experience of what? That I have
no strength to overcome tribulation. That's what patience learns.
It learns this, that if I'm going to overcome anything, God has
to do it. And experience does what? It
yields hope. Confidence. Not in me, but in
God. And hope maketh not ashamed.
Listen, because the love of God is shed abroad in your heart.
You see where love comes from? Tribulation. That's how love
grows. That's how sin is constrained,
through tribulation and patience, experience and hope. God did not draw us by dragging
this new nature. He gave us love and affection.
He made the gospel effectual and He gave us hearts of affection. Love to Him. It was by His sovereign grace
that this gospel of Christ was made effectual to us. God had
opened our eyes and given us understanding of our sin. Isn't
that what He did? When God saves a man, He's going
to tell him about what? His sin. His sin. He's going
to expose you. God's never exposed you. If you're
alright with yourself, everything's going. I'm doing pretty good.
I'm alright. I'm not so bad. God's not talked
to you, has He? He's not come to you. God comes
to you, He exposes us of our sin, and He reveals the ruin
of our nature. You go over to Hosea chapter
2, you see that whore, Gomer. She's married to a godly man. And then she leaves him and goes
after her lover. She goes back to prostitution.
And after a time, she's all wasted. She's all used up. But all this
time, her husband's been laying food at her door. She thinks
it's her lover's, but it's her husband. I mean, she's all used
up. She says this. She said, you
know what? I'm just going to go back to my first husband.
He doesn't let it come that way. It doesn't go that easily. He hedges her way up with thorns.
He takes away all that he gave her. He strips her of everything
she's got until she has nothing left. Isn't this familiar? You who now believe, can you
not see you are Gomer? Yes, betrothed to Christ from
eternity, but in time, all we did was live in our hoardings.
God supplying our every need and yet not knowing it was Him.
Until the day of grace, when we were all used up. He hedged our way about with
thorns, You guys been in the woods? And you ever been hedged
in by thorns where every time you turn around, you can't get
nothing but stuck? That's what he does with sin. All of those
pleasures we once loved, they become a wall of thorns. And
we have no path. He says, I'm taking away her
path. There's no path to God. You find out that there's no
path that you're going to get to God by your works. All of
your sin become ashes in your mouth. And you say this, I'll
return to my first husband. I'll go back to religion. I'll go back to my first husband,
the law. What do you find there? You find
misery and sorrow and grief and anguish. Who's doing all this,
by the way? God. And this is what He says
in Hosea. He says this, Hosea chapter 2,
Verse 14 says, Therefore, behold, I will allure her. Isn't that
what He says when He drew us? He allured us into the wilderness. What's in the wilderness? Is there anybody in the wilderness?
No. He gets you alone. He strips you of everything.
He gets you alone. Isolates you. He said, I'll lure her and bring
her to the wilderness. Now notice what His design is.
To speak comfortably unto her. Listen to what the king's going
to give. He said, I will. Do you think He will? He said,
I will give her her vineyards from thence. Listen, the valley
of Achar for a door of hope. If you know your Scripture, when
they fought the battle of Jericho, the Lord won that battle. You
remember, God said, all this is Mine. I won the battle. It's
all Mine. Don't take anything. And old
Achan, you remember, he picked up that stuff. He robbed God.
Isn't that what Adam did? Robbed God. He robbed God of
His glory. God said, that's My fruit. Don't
take it. Don't eat it. It's Mine. And what did he do?
He robbed God. He said, I'll have my own way.
Just like Achan. You know what the wonderful thing
about this? It's beautiful. When Achan sinned, you know what
God said? God said, Israel sinned. When Achan sinned, the whole
nation sinned. That's why they couldn't win
the battle at that little town of Ai. You see, you can't win
against sin, death, and hell because what? Your Father sinned. And we all sinned in Adam. So
Achan's a type of Adam. But I want you to know this.
In that valley of Achar, God killed Achan. And you know what? Israel was free. Israel was free from the curse.
What a picture of Christ. He's a dual picture, isn't He?
Picture of Adam in the curse. Picture of Christ in His death.
And that's what this text says. He says He will give a valley
of Acre for what? A door of hope. Christ is a door
of hope. To whom? Sinners. This morning
I'm preaching. I hope I'm preaching to sinners.
I hope I'm preaching to sinners. This gospel is for sinners. Joseph
Hart wrote the hymn. He said, a sinner is a sacred
thing. Why? The Holy Ghost has made
him one. You're a sinner and you know
it. Who did that? The Holy Spirit. He did that. Made you to see your sin. And
then, thank God, He doesn't keep us there. He points us to Christ. And what do you do? What did
you do when you found out Christ was the victor? What Christ accomplished. Christ is triumphant in salvation. What did you do? You fled to
Him for refuge. And this morning, you're still
fleeing to Him. You're still coming to Him. You're
still bowing to Him. He's King. He's King. You heard the gospel of the cross
of Christ. and you fled to Him for refuge." It was the Lamb of God that was
slain to bear our sins away. God sent Him, God prepared Him,
God offered Him, God accepted Him. You know, you weren't saved when
you believed. You were. But your salvation
took place a lot further back than when you believed. Your
salvation was done when your king died in your stead. Now,
when you believed, you experienced it. You experienced what He had
already given you, what He had already purposed for you. And
then He drew us, He allured us, and we believed on Him. We're
like that man that the Lord healed who was born blind. He met him
in the temple and He said, Do you believe on the Son of God? And that man said, Who is He that I might believe? He said,
It's me. Without hesitation, that man
said, I believe. Then he said something else.
Lord, help my unbelief. You suppose the king answered
that request? When you pray that, do you suppose
he answers that request? You bet he does. You know why? He's king of your salvation. He's king of it. He purposed
it. He ordered it. He planned it. He brought it to pass. And listen
to this last thing. He will keep you. Why? Because He purposed to do
so. over in 1 Peter. Actually, let's
go ahead and I'm going to take you through this. Go to Ephesians
with me. Ephesians 1, real fast, and then we're going to go to
1 Peter. I want you to see that this is all purposed by the king.
The king has decreed this. From start to finish, it's all
of him. Ephesians 1. You see in verse
4, He chose us. According as He had chose us
in Christ before the foundation of the world, He purposed that
we should be holy. He predestinated that we should
be children. Verse 5, Not according to our marriage, but according
to the good pleasure of the will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, where He hath made us accepted in the beloved. When
did He do that? When He chose us, He made us
accepted. Now then look, in time what happened? In whom Christ,
We have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of His grace. You have now the accomplishment
of salvation. Verse 8, you have the revelation,
wherein He hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence,
having made known unto us the mystery of His will according
to good pleasure, which He hath purposed in Himself. So we see
salvation is all of the Lord from start to finish. and you
hath equickened who were dead in trespass sin." Chapter 2 and
verse 1. This is our experience, isn't
it? But listen to 1 Peter. Go to 1 Peter. Go to 1 Peter
chapter 1. Peter mentions all these things
here in his, "...the elect according to the foreknowledge of God the
Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience,
and sprinkling of the blood. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ according to His abundant mercy, which
He hath begotten us again, unto a living hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ of the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible,
undefiled, that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you." You get this? You can't taint
this inheritance. You can't mess it up. Because it has nothing to do
with you. You did nothing to obtain this. You did nothing to earn it. Therefore,
you can do nothing to contaminate it. It's incorruptible, undefiled. And so what's the result of this?
He said, who are kept? Joanne, you've been a believer
for a long time. How in the world have you endured? Why are you still here? I've
only been preaching to you for 13 years. There's been other
pastors who've been preaching a lot longer than that to you.
This same message. A lot of your family, they've
heard this since they were children and they've got tired of it after
a few years. They just get sick of hearing
the same thing. Why are you here? If you die in faith, Why is it? Who will get the glory for keeping
you? If I die in faith, who will get
the glory for all my salvation? Our King, who is over all the earth. Nothing. Nothing will stop him
from saving his people. Nothing. Now we should be able to lay
our heads down at night and sleep in peace. because nothing's happening outside
of his will. Nothing. Our God reigns. I pray the Lord will bless this.
I guess I'll get back to the other two points some other time.
I can only get through one. I hope it was sufficient. that
God himself gives you comfort, peace in your hearts as you go
out and face the world and the enemies that will assault your
soul and try to rob you of this peace. I was telling somebody the other
day, I've been preaching on my time God, and I joke about this,
my time and my messages seem to get longer. I can't get them
shorter. I've tried. Obviously, I've only
preached one point this morning, and I've tried. I just don't
want to leave. I don't want to leave this pulpit.
I don't want to leave you. And I'm thinking that's why my
messages are longer. Because out there is trouble. God keep you as you go out there.
And he will. He will. Our gracious Father
in heaven, King, sovereign ruler over all things,
we thank you that you have purposed to save your people. We thank you, Lord Jesus Christ,
for the victory that you have accomplished on
our behalf. We thank you for your spirit
that now comes and dwells in us and gives us the heart and
will and desire to believe and worship. We pray that you would
continue to give us faith and love and zeal for Christ. Give us rest and comfort in His
strength, in His power, in His love. I pray in Christ's name,
amen.