Your reading this morning is
once again in the 119th Psalm. If you'd like to read along with
us, it's in the book of Psalms, number 119. We'll be reading
verse 121 through 128. Psalms number 119, beginning at verse
121, I have done judgment and justice. Lead me not to mine
oppressors, Be surety for thy servant for
good. Let not the proud oppress me.
Mine eyes fail for thy salvation and for the word of thy righteousness.
Deal with thy servant according unto thy mercy and teach me thy
statutes. I am thy servant. Give me understanding
that I may know thy testimonies. It is time for thee, Lord, to
work. for they have made void thy law. Therefore, I love thy commandments
above gold, yea, above fine gold. Therefore, I esteem all thy precepts
concerning all things to be right, and I hate every false way. But today's subject that I'll
be preaching on, and it just amazes me what God does, it truly
is wonderful. Our Lord's name truly is wonderful.
It amazes me how he brings things together like this in a way that
I hadn't read this part of the Psalms today. I didn't read it
at any time during this week. I just knew that that 121 would
be the verse we're going to start at. And as I read this Psalm
right now, I want to point something out to you. Therefore, I esteem
all thy precepts concerning all things to be right. and I hate
every false way. Do you see the contrast in God's
Word there? Do you see that contrast? We're going to be looking at
that a little bit deeper when I bring you to the message. So keep that
in mind if you would. I'd like to ask you if you would
this morning, turn in your Bibles to 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. It is claimed by those who are
outside of this church and other bodies
that I know of. He's claimed that the ministers
of God, those that you and I both know,
Clay Curtis, one who'll be here next week, Kevin Thacker, Don
Fortner, Henry Mahan, Gene Harmon, And I can go on and list a whole
bunch more, you know that. You know who they are. Oh, you guys, you people, you
people who think you are the only ones, they call us the frozen
chosen. That makes them feel good to
say that. You think you're the only ones who know the Lord,
you know, you're the only ones who preach the truth. There's
no other churches out there. Well, I just mentioned off several
preachers, so you know I'm not standing here before you declaring
that this is the only place, right? Did that make common sense? But yet, for some reason, folks
outside of the church, of this church here at Rescue, will think
that's the only, you know, this is the only place that I declare
the truth of God being preached. I don't know why they think that,
but they do. They say that ministers of the
true gospel, myself included, we harp. Or in other words, we
spend too much time emphasizing. You know, there's so much more
deeper in God's Word that you can go into. And I've shared
this with you. This is not the same person,
but somebody once said that, John, all you do is flail around
on top of water. You don't dive deep into God's
Word. That was such a blessing. Brother Mike Loveless came up
to me after that message and he said, John, if that's what
it is to flail on top, you just keep it up. That's right. Bless
my heart to know God was blessing his. We spend too much time talking
on the subject of God's sovereignty. We spend too much time pointing
out the shortcomings of the religious world. Or at least that's how
they see it. All you ever do is say, this
church does that, that church does this, and this and that,
and that and this. You think you're so arrogant.
Do you know that's why people hated Don Ford? Because he was
bold in declaring the truth of God's word. That's why people hated Gene
Harmon. And I know those that do. because
he was bold in declaring the truth of God's word. And the
truth of God's word is not just who God is, but it's why we don't
deserve to be with him. Why we are not out in the world
trying to appease our guilty consciences. Because that's what
the world is doing. They come up with all kinds of
imagination, imaginary religions. And don't think Christian churches
don't do the same thing, because they do. I heard somebody say
that Catholics were Christians one time. Maybe they are, maybe they're
not. We spend way too much time pointing
out the shortcomings of other religions. We point out the deceitfulness
of man's religions. The contrast between the truths
of God's Word and unregenerate religions. There is some truth. in what
they say that we point our fingers at all these other places, all
these other religions. There is some truth to that,
we do. You see, there is a line between works and grace, isn't
there? A line that the great deceiver
who has been allowed to obscure, a line that the great majority
of the people who walk this earth will be on the wrong side of.
Great is the path to destruction, narrow, narrow. This is God's word, not mine.
Narrow. Narrow is the world to the Lord. A great majority of people who
walk this earth claiming to be righteous in their own works
shall go through that doormark death and be destroyed. And as
you and I who were once blind to the truths of God's Word,
we see that it is only by His grace, we see that we are not
right, that we have no right to be there. We see by His grace, I don't
know what I wrote there. We see that by His grace we deserve
to be right there with that great throng of people who will die
the eternal death. Here in Thessalonians chapter
2, God the Holy Ghost inspired His preacher to point out two
completely different points. You ask, John, you know I've
heard a lot of people say that too about this place of rescue.
I've heard that too. My family says the same thing. If it's good in God's Word, should
I not stand before you and declare it? Look with me at verses 1-4 of
2 Thessalonians. Did I say 2 Thessalonians? Chapter
2? Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering
unto him, I beseech you. This is Paul being inspired by
the Holy Spirit to declare unto the Thessalonians, to declare
unto them, I beseech, listen up, hear what God's word has
to say. By the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon
shaken in mind, or be troubled neither by spirit, nor by word,
nor by letter, as from us, is that the day of Christ is at
hand. Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day, that
day of our Lord's returning, shall not come, except there
come a falling away. And that man of sin be revealed,
the son of the perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself. That's God's word, folks. That's
our Lord telling us right there that there's a people who are
gonna raise themselves up. Man who's gonna raise himself
up above God. Let's go on. Shall we? Who opposes
and exalted himself above all that is called God or that is
worshiped so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself that he is God. That's the Lord's Word. You read
it with me, didn't you? This is what the Lord is saying.
This is what preachers of God's truth, men who were sent of God
to preach the truth, stand up and say. There are some people
going to hell who think they know God. And we could be right
there with them. If it wasn't for the mercy and
grace of my Lord and Savior, I'd be right there swinging the
bat with them. Oh yeah, look how good I am. Look at all the
good works that I do. Paul is warning you, he's warning
me. There will be a falling away
from the truths of God's word. The return of our great savior
will not come until the son of perdition has manifested himself
with the wicked heart and it is revealed. These ones who have
pulled this and exalted themselves above all that is God or that
is worship, so that he is God, sitteth in the temple of God,
showing himself to be God, declare the free will of mankind. That's exactly what that is.
Free willism. It's to say it's not God's decision,
it's mine. That's not what scripture says.
It is not of him that willeth. It's not of him that runneth.
Do you think it's something that you're doing? And the way you're
walking? I'm going to church every Sunday.
I've got to be saved. They say in essence that salvation
is up to you. That you must decide. They make
your decision above the blood of Christ. Above the will of
God. Look at verse 5 with me if you
would. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you, I told you
these things. Paul was not bashful. He's not
bashful to remind us. I'm not bashful to remind you.
It is not of you, but of God. But of God that showeth mercy. Salvation is not of man's works.
Listen to the words of Ephesians 2, verse 8 and 9. For by grace
are ye saved through faith. Did it say for by your works?
Did it say for by you making the decision? Did it say anything
for if you get baptized? No, it says for by grace. And
grace alone are you saved through faith, through believing in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever believeth in me. That
means believing in who He is. It means believing that He's
done it all. It means believing that when
He was on that cross, He said it is finished. It is finished! It's not of works lest any man
should boast. The religions of man declare salvation is of something
you must do. They say you must get baptized,
worship on a Saturday, say a prayer, come down to the front. Make
a decision. Won't you let Jesus in your heart?
Isn't that what they say? Have you not heard that? I have. I tell you this morning that
as one who by grace, by God's grace, by His love for me, By His grace, I have been given life to see
the glory of my Savior. Not the glory of John, the glory of my Savior. My Lord
is a jealous Lord, and He will not share His glory with another. He will not. My Savior, He took that old black heart,
that old black heart that would have never turned to Him, and
He turned it to flesh of His own. In the day of His love,
He made me willing, just as He does each and every one of His
children. Turn over to Colossians chapter
1, if you would. I want to walk the path of destruction
just as others do, just as it is declared in verses 6 through
12. Let me read that for you while
you're turning over to Colossians. And now you know what withholdeth
that he might be revealed in his time for the mystery of iniquity
doeth work, doth already work. Only he who now fled it will
let until he be taken out of the way. and then shall the wicked
be revealed from the Lord, and shall be consumed with the spirit
of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of
unrighteousness in them that perish, because they received
not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for
this cause, God shall send them a strong delusion. This is God's
word, folks. This isn't John's opinion. This
isn't the opinion of a minister standing before some group of
people. This is the word of God. And for this cause, God shall
send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie. that
they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but have
pleasure in unrighteousness. As children of light, we give
our Lord all the glory, every speck of it. I most definitely,
God help me to always, always get up here as long as anyone
will let me and harp, harp on the sovereignty of my
Lord. Help me to be bold to stand before
guests who come to visit us for the first time to declare, my
Lord is Lord. Not some wannabe, not some mite,
not some matey, but He is Lord of everything, including my spirit
and my will. As children of light, we give
our Lord all the glory, every speck of it, I love these verses
that we're gonna look at here in Colossians. These are just
so wonderful. Begin with me if you would, verse
12. Giving thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet. Now
listen again. Giving thanks unto the Father.
God the Father, this one who rules over everything. This sovereign
one who didn't leave us to ourselves, but came to us in the day of
his love, which hath made us meet. He's the one who made us. That means fit, meet, fit. Did you know, Roger, you're fit
to be with the Lord? Not by anything you've done. Amen. Christ Jesus, our Savior, huh?
God, the Father, thank you, full Lord, for making us meet to be
partakers of the inheritance of saints in light. Isn't that
what God's word says? See the contrast between what
we read a moment ago about those who have raised themselves up
to be above God? How did they raise themselves
up? By saying they have the power over God, whereas in the difference
here, we give thanks to the Father who has all power in heaven and
earth, which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints. Notice who it is that makes us
blessed of God. Rather than glory in something
that we have done, we glory in Him. Look at verse 13. Who hath delivered us? This very
one who has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of saints. He had delivered us from the power of darkness. And
we'll say it again. We who were once blind. We see that darkness now, don't
we? Oh, we didn't see it before. Why? Because we're blind. We're talking about the name
Wonderful. The Lord's name is Wonderful.
In Isaiah chapter 6 verse 9. No, the 9 verse here. We're talking
about that. What are the wonderful things
that our Lord did when He walked this earth? He gave the blind
sight. He healed the sick. Oh, the wonderful
things our Lord has done for you and I. The very one who has
delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us
into the kingdom of his dear son. We glory in his works. This is the good work that he
began in us, spoken of over in Ephesians chapter two, verse
10. It says, for we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus under
good works which God hath before ordained that we should walk
in them. That's His works. Did you know that you and I coming
here this morning is the work of Christ? Did you get up this
morning thinking, oh, I'm just going to go to church today?
I think I'll just go down there and hang out with the people. They're good people to hang out
with. Remember a time when the Lord didn't bring you to the
church? I do. Running about doing everything
John wanted to do. Aren't you thankful the Lord
brought us to church to hear His Word, to hear His truth? We are His workmanship. The people
of God were chosen from the foundation of the world as it says in Ephesians
chapter 1. Chosen to be translated into
His kingdom. His kingdom made pure by your
decision? No, no, pure by His works. Verse 14, Colossians 1, verse
14, in whom this very one, His dear Son, the one that we have
been translated into, the one who translated us into His kingdom
of His dear Son, in whom, His Son, we have redemption through
His blood, even the forgiveness of sin. Where's the glory going there,
folks? It's going to Him, isn't it?
Not only has He translated us into the kingdom of His dear
Son, He's provided redemption through His own blood, even the
forgiveness of sins. Folks, I never get tired of this.
My sins are washed away. I stand in the righteousness
of my substitute. He who knew no sin, He who never
sinned, was made to be my sin. I know at least four times where
I had to stop and think to myself this morning after I got up,
Lord, forgive me. Forgive me for my pride. Forgive me for my doubt. I struggle,
folks. I struggle deeply. I struggle with my own sin just
as everyone here does. And this One, this One who has
loved me from before the world was, redeemed, redeemed me through His blood,
even the forgiveness of sins. My sins are washed away. I stand
in His righteousness. Think about this for a minute,
will you? Some of you have children, right? I don't know what this is like
outside of what Christ has told us in his word, but could you
imagine a father that you love turning
his back on you? I pray none of you have had to
experience that. But if you have, you understand a slight little
bit about God the Father. turning his back on his son. Turning away from him. Can't
even look upon him. He turned his back on his son
because God the Father cannot look upon sin. And my Lord took
my sins as his own. My Lord who sinned not, not once,
not even a thought, He was the perfect, spotless Lamb of God.
He sacrificed Himself for my sin and for yours if you belong
to Him. That's what it means when the
Lord says, by grace are you saved. I'm saved because of who He is. Verses 15 through 22. This is who He is, folks. This is the one who redeemed
us through His blood. This is why you and I have assurance. Our assurance is not in us. We
have no confidence in this flesh. Our assurance is in our Savior.
And this is why, verse 15, who, speaking of Christ, is the image
of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. For by Him
were all things created. This is why our Lord can say
to us, I gave you my only begotten Son. Why would you think I wouldn't
give you everything else with it? We're inheritance. It's not an
inheritance like you have here on earth, folks. I've seen many
a times where they've even made movies of it, haven't they, about
somebody who got written out of the will? If you're part of the inheritance
of God, you are never gonna be written out of the will. Everything,
everything is ours. What have we got to worry about?
All the stuff going on in the world, nothing can hurt us. Well,
I mean, it can be painful, and I am a little bit fearful of
that. But even if it's painful to me, it's not going to last
long. The Lord will take me home. He'll take me home. For by Him
were all things created that are in heaven and in the earth
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities, or powers, all things. Isn't that what the
Word of God says right there? Is this John's interpretation
of Scriptures? No, it says all things were created
by Him and what? For Him. And He is before all things.
This is the sovereignty of our Lord. This is what I want to harp on
every time I have a chance to speak. I want to talk to you
about a God who deserves to be called God. The God that I heard
about for the first time sitting over here in this pew. A God
who deserves to be called God. One who truly is ruler over everything. Oh, I've heard men over all the
years say, oh yeah, he rules all the specks of dust. If you'll
just let him come into your heart. He is before all things, and
by Him all things consist. Verse 18, And He is the head
of the body, the church, who is the beginning and the firstborn
of the dead, that in all things He might have preeminence. Verse 19, For please the Father
that in Him, in the Son, the very One we just read about,
the very One who laid down His life and redeemed His people,
for it pleased the Father that in Him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto
Himself, by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth or things
in heaven, and you, here comes the grace of God,
Here comes the grace of our Lord. Here comes the contrast between
the one religious of the world and the true religion of God's
truth in Scripture. And you that were sometimes alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled
in the body of His flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and are approvable in His sight. Sometimes go read
the Song of Solomon. Chapter four, we read it Friday
night. That's the way the Lord sees
you and I. Hair, beautiful hair, beautiful
eyes, perfect lips. Everything about us is perfect,
as perfect as his son. I know we see Gomer, don't we? We look in the mirror and we
see Gomer. You know who Gomer is? Gomer is Hosea's wife. He
was told to go and marry a harlot. Go and marry a woman of Horeb,
a prostitute. That's a picture of our Savior.
He's married to us. You know, we're the bride of
Christ. And you that were sometimes alienated
in enemies in your own mind by wicked words, yet now hath he
reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present
you holy and unblameable and unapprovable in his sight. And
I want to look at Galatians chapter six for just a moment. The apostle Paul strongly rebuked
the people who turned aside from the gospel of Christ. And he
declared that those that do have other motives, they have other
reasons, they have other objections than the glory of God and for
your good. Are you in Galatians chapter
6? Read verse 12 with me, will you?
As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain
you to be circumcised. The Galatians had been worshiping
the Christ. the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus. And there are some who have come into the church and
said, no, wait a minute, you can do that, but you've also
got to be circumcised according to the law. Isn't that what they're doing
today? Isn't that what the churches
of the world are doing today? You can worship Jesus, but you
got to do this. Brother Mike Loveless would be
happy to share something with you that they were telling him
in the book of Seventh Day, or whatever they call it, Seventh
Day Adventist, right? Yeah. Oh, the works that they had him
doing! Whoo! They had no idea what grace is
all about. They were blind to the truths
of God's Word, as you and I were once before the Lord called us
out of darkness. And as many desire to make a
fair show in the flesh, that's what they wanted. They wanted
to show the world, see how good we are, look at all the good
works we do. We feed the poor once a year, Thanksgiving
Day. Apostle Paul strongly rebukes
these people who have turned aside from God's Gospel, the
Gospel of Christ, and he declared that those that do have other
motives, they have other reasons, they have other objections to
the glory of God and for your good. These are they that are
in the ministry for something else besides the glory of God.
They're in the ministry for something else but for your good. It causes
them to turn from the Gospel. their desires to make themselves
look better in the flesh, to bring themselves up. It causes
them to preach other things. Look at verse 12 of Galatians
chapter 6. We just did. Notice that he first says, he
says, they desire to make a fair show in the flesh. They desire
to be successful in the flesh. You know what success is in the
Christian church today? Look at all the people we have
in the pews. I look around, I see just a few. Our God says that there's only
a remnant, a remnant in Israel. I see a remnant. I see people
who come here every Sunday to hear this. Our Lord reigns. Our Lord is God. And he's merciful to me. That's what I want to hear. These ministers are in it for
something else. They're not in it for the glory
of God. Their desire is to be successful in the flesh. They
desire to impress people. Why would a man turn from true
gospel? Why would a man hear the truth?
I don't want to have that. I'd rather go do something else. Why would a man turn from the
substitutionary death of Christ? Why would a man turn from the
greater glory of God to preach something else? When Paul said
this, he said, I'll tell you why. because they desire to make
a fair show in the flesh. These guys who stand up on TV,
who have millions and millions of dollars, five jets to take
them wherever they want in the world. Lance Hiller once sat for a whole
hour listening to Joel Osteen do an interview, and not once
in that entire hour did he say what Christ did for him. Everything
he said in that entire hour. Joel Osteen had millions of people
watching that interview. And he didn't mention Christ
once. Do I condemn that man for what
he preaches? Absolutely. Do I condemn him
personally? May God have mercy on his soul,
as he did me. May God call him out of the darkness
that he walks in, as he did me. They desire to build impressive
followings. Oh, I've got a thousand people
twice on Sunday. And they want to impress other
people with their impressiveness. Our Lord Jesus said this, they
seek the honor that comes from men and not the honor that comes
from God. There is absolutely no reason,
no reason for a preacher or a church to count people. I fell into that once. I wondered
to myself. Many years back, Bill and I were
talking. Is the Lord drying up rescue?
All we have are old folks. No offense, Mike. All we have is old folks. We're
the young people, Lord. Is it drying up here? Is the
Lord done with us in rescue? And then he brings in a young
couple from Tahoe. Oh, or he brings in this young
man who spent some time working for serving his country. Oh, folks, our Lord's not done
yet. The sun come up this morning.
When he's done, the sun won't come up anymore. When he's done
calling all of his children out of darkness, it's over. We're
all going to heaven that belong to him. And the contrast to that is all
those who believe the lie and went through that doormark death. There'll be gnashing of teeth,
gnashing of teeth. Again, in verse 12, Paul says
this, and they constrain you to be circumcised. They constrain
you to be circumcised, to be baptized, or to come forward,
to sign up, or to make some kind of physical commitment. Right,
Mike? It's exactly what they did. And when he says, I'm not
doing this anymore because it's wrong, they came after him and
knocked on his door and threatened him and told him he was being
chastised and converted by the devil. Folks, coming to Christ is not
a physical move. Coming to Christ is a hard work.
Coming to Christ is not coming to the front of the church. Coming
to Christ is a personal, individual, heart committal to Jesus Christ
himself. It's the desire in your heart
to know more of him. It's the desire that He puts
in your heart to know more of His grace, to learn more, to
grow in the grace of our Savior and in the knowledge of Jesus
Christ. Not your grace, His grace. Paul wrote this in Romans chapter
10, he says, If thou shalt confess with thy mouth Jesus to be Lord
and believe in thine heart. That's what the Word says. in
thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt
be saved." That's what God's Word says. For with the heart
man believeth unto righteousness. Our Lord said this, He said,
My son, give me your heart, keep thy heart with all diligence.
Out of it are all the issues of life. In other words, the
sacrifices of God are a broken heart and a broken spirit. Our
Lord said this, The Lord is nigh unto them of a broken heart.
Coming to Christ is not a fleshly move. It is a spiritual commitment
to Christ Jesus of the heart. Why do you want to go to church
today, John? Because I love my Lord and my heart says I need
to be there. But let's not forget this, shall
we? Oh, I'm going to go long. All right, let me bring this
out on this and then we'll go to, I'll try to jump forward
some. Like Cain of old, let's not forget
this, like Cain of old, the natural man wants something to do, don't
they? What must I do to be saved? Don't tell me you don't ask that
question of yourself at times because that's the nature of
our flesh. That's what God says is in every
one of us. What must I do to be saved? You
know, trusting Jesus, that's a hard thing to do, isn't it?
You know what the offense of the
cross is? What is the offense about the
cross of Christ that so many say, I shall not follow that
man? The offense of the cross addresses that all men are sinners.
That's what made the leaders of Israel all angry. What do
you mean telling me I'm a sinner? I follow all the ordinances that
my religion tells me to. Paul thought something pretty
big of himself, didn't he, until the Lord took his feet out from
underneath him on that road. It declares that salvation is
a free gift And that offends men's pride. It presents full
and complete and effectual atonement through Christ, and that's a
direct opposition against man's efforts to save himself. This
gospel of substitution of the cross comes by revelation, not
by reasoning, and this offends man's wisdom. That's what the
offense of the cross is. The cross takes everything away
from you, and it puts it all in Christ's hands. These men who try to talk people
into getting circumcised. These very ones that is talked
about in the Old Testament. These very ones that I and other
ministers of the true gospel declare. They want you to get
circumcised. They want to preach to you laws
and rules and regulations. And as it says there in verse
13, for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the
law. They don't even do it themselves. They want to keep every law in
you, the laws that they cannot keep in themselves. Now look at verse 14, and I'll
bring this to a close. Look at verse 14. This is my
title for today. The glory of His cross. But God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me. and I unto the world."
What Paul is saying here is that I glory in our Lord's cross. I preach His cross. Paul is referring
to all that Jesus Christ did in the redemption of His people.
The cross on Calvary is but a topstone to God's building. Everything
that God did leading to the cross and everything that God did leading
from the cross has been fulfilled and completed in His cross. That's
the cross that we're talking about. Not that piece of wood
over in Israel, but the cross of Jesus, the glory of His cross. All the way through the Old Testament,
those pictures and promises and prophecies point to His cross,
His grace, His love for His people. Folks, there's a difference.
The question is, what do you glory in? A question that you
must ask yourself. If you belong to Christ, I can
tell you this, that if He died and shed His blood for you, you
will glory in Him. You will glory in His cross.
Does that mean you're going to stand up at some point and say,
you know, look what I did. I hit that golf ball right down
the middle of the fairway. Did you see that? Woo! That's
not what I'm talking about. Talking about my Savior gave
me the privilege to hit that golf ball off in the weeds so that I wouldn't take that
game and put it above what my Savior is. You will glory in His cross if
you belong to Him. It says in scripture, all that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. Is that not what it says?
All? All that the Father giveth me,
he says? Maybe? Might? No, shall come to me. You will glory in his cross,
for there is the only salvation for his elect. We glory in His
sovereign rule in all it is. We glory in Him giving life to
souls that were dead in trespasses and sin. We glory in the precious,
perfect blood that was shed on that cross, satisfying the justice
of God for us. We glory in His resurrection
from that cross, revealing the acceptance of God and His Son
in what He did and putting away our sins forever and ever, never
to be seen again. We glory in the throne of His
glory. In other words, as Moses lifted
up the serpent in the wilderness, we raise our Savior up before
all. Why are you, why do you have
so much hope? Why is your hope, where is your
hope at that gives you such a wonderful sight? even though we see all
the stuff that goes on in the world around us. Where's your
hope? Where are you getting it from?
Where's it coming from? My Lord, knowing that it's right
by Him. It's by His purpose. With glory
in His throne, just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, we raise our Savior up to the world to look to Him,
to look to Him on His throne of mercy. to look to Him on His
throne of grace. Isn't that what we read in 1
Corinthians 1, verse 29 and 31? That no flesh should glory in
His presence. That according as it is written,
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Amen?