Thank you. Turn with me to Matthew 24. Matthew
24. Continuing our study through
the things that our Lord said in this chapter, verse 35, Matthew
24, verse 35, he said, heaven and earth shall pass away,
but my words shall not pass away. And I'm glad to hear that. I
am so glad to hear that. I am totally fine with outer
space and earth being gone forever. I'm completely fine with that.
If everything in space and everything in earth is gone forever, that's
fine. But I don't want to lose one
of his words. Not one of his words. John 17 says his words are sanctifying
words, setting apart words, purifying words. Titus 1 says his words are faithful
words. Hebrews 4 says His words are
quick, sharp, powerful, piercing, dividing, discerning words. And they are. James 1 says His
words are life-giving words. 1 Peter 1 says His words are
incorruptible words. These are incorruptible words. This entire book says these are
the very words of Jesus Christ Himself. He is the Word. He is
the Word. In the beginning was the Word. His name is the Word. In 1 John 1, the Apostle said,
we touched and we handled the Word of life Himself. The very
Word of life himself, Jesus Christ. He is the Word. In 2 Timothy
4, Paul told Timothy, preach the Word. Preach the Word. That's what we need. That's what
sinners on this earth need to gather to hear is the Word of
God. We don't need pageants and we
don't need, you know, help groups and we don't need all that stuff.
We need God's Word. That's what we need. Preach the
Word. Preach Christ. Preach the Word of Christ. Preach Christ in the Word of
Christ. He is the Word. He is the Word. Heaven and earth shall pass away. But the God of this universe,
Jesus Christ, is going nowhere. He's going nowhere. He and his
word will remain the same yesterday, today, and forever. And I'm so
glad to hear that. This will remain the same. This
will remain stable. This will remain true forever. Thank God. Amen. That means so be it. That's,
that's our desire. Turn with me to John six. John 6, let me just read a little
portion of scripture here to you. John 6, 51, our Lord said,
I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man
eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world. The Jews therefore strove among
themselves, saying, how can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you, except
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you
have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh and drinketh
my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last
day. For my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me and I
in him. As the living Father hath sent
me and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he
shall live by me. This is that bread which came
down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna
and are dead, he that eateth of this bread shall live forever.
These things said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Many
therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, this
is a hard saying, who can hear it? When Jesus knew in himself
that his disciples murmured at it, He said unto them, doth this
offend you? What and if you shall see the
son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak
unto you, they are spirit and they are life. But there are
some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray him. And
he said, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto
me except it were given unto him of my father. Now verse 66. From that time, many of his disciples
went back and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto
the 12, will you also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him,
Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life. And we believe and are sure that
thou art that Christ, the son of the living God. We believe
and are sure that your words are eternal and your words are
eternal life. We believe that, don't we? God's
people have been called to believe that. These are eternal words. Not one of these words will ever
pass away. I believe everything here is
going to pass away. I believe I'm going to pass away
in this body of flesh, not in my soul. But these words will never pass
away. These words are eternal. These
words are eternal life. This word is Christ. This word is the mind, the will,
the purpose of Christ. This word is ordered ensure. For all of eternity. Listen to
this little article that I. Stuck in the front of my Bible
almost 20 years ago. It's titled a good description
of the Bible. This is author unknown. I don't
know who wrote it. This book is the mind of God, the state
of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the
happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts
are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable,
unchangeable. Read it to be wise. Believe it
to be safe. Practice it to be godly. It contains
light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer
you. It is the traveler's map, the
pilgrim's staff, the pilot's compass, the soldier's sword,
in the Christian's character. Here, paradise is restored, heaven
opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand
subject, our good its design, and the glory of God its end.
It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, Prayerfully,
it is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. Follow its precepts and it will
lead you to Calvary, to the impetune, to a resurrected life in Christ,
yes, to glory itself for eternity. How true that is. How true that
is. This word is life to a child
of God. This word is life to a child
of God. And it's, I tell you things,
there's one verse of scripture that I've been telling you this
for 11 years, and it's still true. Every time I read it and
really read it, it's an epiphany to me. Every time I read it,
it's a light bulb moment. And it's Romans 8, 28. We know
that all things work together for good. We believe that. We forget that. But in our soul, God has caused
us to believe and know. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. And it's almost an epiphany to
me to think about the fact that Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear
because we forget about this word, this mine of wealth, this
book of comfort and happiness and direction and wisdom. I want to encourage all of us
to do something that is so contrary to the flesh. Read this book. It's so contrary to the flesh.
This has to be the most contrary thing to the flesh on earth.
TV guide? No problem. People magazine? Yep. This is so contrary to the
flesh. Read this. Heed this. Whenever problems arise, turn
to this. Turn to this. Follow this. This will feed our souls. This
will guide our path. This will be a lamp unto our
feet. This is the answer we're looking
for. This is the comfort we need.
This is the rock we can fall on. This is the light and the
life when darkness and death is just swallowing us up. Thank
God for this Word. Thank God for this Word. Thank
God for the stability and the eternality of this Word Himself. The Word Himself. Look with me
at Psalm 119. Psalm 119, David here speaks
on behalf of all of God's people. Verse 25, Psalm 119, verse 25,
David said, my soul cleaveth unto the dust. Quicken thou me according to
thy word. As your word said you would,
cry this with David, quicken me according to your word. Verse
41, let thy mercies come also unto me, O Lord, even thy salvation
according to thy word. I'm holding to the promise of
your word. Verse 49, remember the word unto
thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. Remember
your word, remember your promise. Verse 50, this is my comfort
in my affliction, for thy word hath quickened me. 76 says, Let, I pray thee, thy merciful
kindness be for my comfort according to thy word and to thy servant. Let your merciful kindness be
the thing that just comforts me and I dwell on. 81, my soul fainteth for thy
salvation. I hope in thy word. 89, forever, O Lord, thy word
is settled in heaven. 103, how sweet are thy words
unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth. 105, thy word
is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. 114, thou art my hiding place
and my shield. I hope in thy word. 116, uphold me according unto thy
word that I may live and let me not be ashamed of my hope. 130, the entrance of thy words giveth
light, it giveth understanding unto the simple. 133, order my
steps in thy word. and let not any iniquity have
dominion over me. 140, thy word is very pure, therefore
thy servant loveth it. 162, I rejoice at thy word. as one that findeth great spoil. And isn't that so? When the Lord
touches us with his word and blesses us with his word, there
is true rejoicing in his word. There's true treasure in his
word. 172, he said, my tongue shall
speak of thy word, for all thy commandments are righteousness.
This word is everything, everything a child of God needs. It doesn't
matter how wise or simple a man or a woman is. It doesn't matter
how rich or how poor. And this is so true. It doesn't
matter how wise or how simple a man or woman is. It doesn't
matter how rich or how poor. It doesn't matter how old or
how young. It doesn't matter how old or
how young. Turn with me to 2 Timothy 3. 2 Timothy 3, Paul told Timothy
in verse 14. 2 Timothy 3, 14, he said, but continue
thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured
of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. and that from a
child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. Our teachers are teaching our
children in these Sunday school classes. And do you know what
they're teaching them? The word of God, the word of
God. What do y'all have down there
for the children? We have the Word of God. We have the Word
of God. We have three classes. We have
a nursery, and we have three classes of different age groups
coming out of the nursery. We have the little, little class,
and then we have the little class, and then we have the not-so-little
class, of whom that class is here with us now. But Lauren
and Tracy rotate teaching the little, little class. And Lauren
was teaching, I don't know, a couple of weeks ago, or I don't know
exactly how long it was. But she was going through her
lesson, and she noticed that one of the kids was really locked
on. really paying attention, answering all the questions.
You know, just Lauren would ask a question and the kid would
just fire it off. And she was, you know, sitting there thinking,
this is great. I'm just, this is wonderful.
You know, it's making me so happy. About that time he leaned over
to the kid next to him and said, the answer to all the questions
is the Lord Jesus Christ. Just say the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's all you got to do. He's right. He's right. I wonder how many Sunday school
classes have kids that know that. The answer is always the Lord
Jesus Christ. We adults could really get a
hold of something if we could get a hold. The answer is always
the Lord Jesus Christ. That tells me our teacher was
asking some good questions. If the answer is the Lord Jesus
Christ, that's a good question. A couple of weeks ago, one of our
mothers who has a child in that same little, little class, they
were out somewhere or they were at home. I don't remember the
exact details, but the child was acting up and the mother
had to discipline the child and the mother told the child, you
know, this is what you've done and this is why you're going
to have to be disciplined. And that child said, I'm such
a sinner. She said, we're all just sinners,
aren't we? She said, I don't want to be
a sinner. Amen. That's right. That's exactly
right. Last Sunday morning, one from
our little class, not the little, little class, but the little
class, I was standing right up there in the hallway, And one
of them came up to me and said, I just want to say that I agree
with you. I said, you do? He said, yep. He said, all the kids at school
say that God loves everybody. But I keep telling them that
God doesn't love everybody. God only loves his chosen people.
And I said, well, you know, I agree with you. God does only love his chosen
people in the Lord Jesus Christ. Where are our children getting
all of this? The Word. The Word. These children know more than
the Pope knows. Now, I pray that one day our
Lord will cause it to be more than just a head knowledge. I
pray that one day our Lord will make it to be a heart conviction,
a saving conviction of God-given faith. And if he does give saving
faith to these children, it is going to come by way of hearing
this word. Faith comes by hearing and hearing
this word. When the Lord started moving
on every believer here, he moved by the word. That's what happened
to me. This word sunk into this heart
and it started affecting me and speaking to me. And he still moves on every one
of his children through his word. It's the word that started the
work of salvation. It's the word that performs and
continues the work of salvation. And it's going to be the word
of God that we who are saved will cling to for all eternity. It's going to be the word of
God. Heaven and earth shall pass away. But thank God his word
shall never pass away. The word he gave to us in the
beginning, he still gives that word to us right now. The word
he gave in the beginning, he's still giving it to us right now.
That promise from the beginning, that promise holds true right
now. What is it? What has he said to us? What
is his word to us? He said, I am God, beside me
there's none else. He said, I kill, I make alive,
I wound, Thank God I heal. He said, I'm a just God. But
he said, I'm a savior. He said, I will be merciful to
whom I will be merciful, and I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. He said, come unto me, all ye
that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. He said, if any man thirst, let
him come unto me and drink. the gracious words that have
proceeded out of his mouth. He said, I'm the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. He said,
I'm the resurrection and the life. He that believeth on me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth and
believeth in me shall never die. He said, let not your heart be
troubled. I'm going to prepare a place
for you in my father's house. And thank God in John 19, 30,
he said, it is finished. That place for my people is secured
forever. The sin is removed. The righteousness
is applied. Their eternal home is secured
forever. It is finished. Heaven and earth
shall pass away, but thank God those three words are going nowhere.
It is finished. In the blood of Jesus Christ,
it's finished. We're never going to stop clinging
to those words. Never. When we have been there
10,000 years, bright shining as the sun, we are still going
to be crying unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins
in his own blood. Worthy is the lamb that was slain. That's the word that we're clinging
to now, that's the word we will cling to forever. Thank God,
I'm just so thankful, so happy to hear that. The Apostle Paul
cried, comfort one another with these
words. Comfort one another with these
words. Let me close with this word from
1 Peter 1. Turn with me over to 1 Peter
1. We mentioned verse 23 just a
moment ago, but verse 24 says, all flesh is grass and all the
glory of man is the flower of grass. The grass withereth and
the flower thereof falleth away. but the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. Amen. Thank God. You're dismissed.