Turn in your Bibles, if you would,
to the book of Acts chapter 16. I want to read one verse in Acts
chapter 16 to launch into what I call a heart opened. And I'll set the stage just a
little bit for you. Kathy and I were talking at the
breakfast table here last week. And she saw, I believe it was
an article, I think it was, or something, about Lydia, the seller
of purple. And something was triggered in
her thought about it, and so she brought that up. And I remember
my mom had used Lydia as an example of women who preach the gospel,
women who lead the church in prayer. My mom was a believer
that women should not be silent in the church, as the Scriptures
say. So we went to Acts 14, and we
looked it up, and we were reading about this. And I want you to
look here. Chapter 16. I want you to look
with me. Let's actually begin Let's begin with 12 to kind of
set the table here. And from thence to Philippi,
which is in the chief city of that part of Macedonia in a colony,
we were in that city abiding certain days, writes Paul. And
on the seventh day, we went out to the city by a riverside where
prayer was want. That means it was a custom. It
was a place outside of the city, next to the river, where people
would gather to pray, to be made, where prayer was want to be made.
And we sat down and spake unto the women which resorted there. There was a great deal of women
there. It doesn't say that that's all that was there, it just says
that there was a great deal. They resorted there. And then
verse 14, And a certain woman, one of the women, a certain particular
one, named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatria,
which worshipped God. So we see there's a woman, her
name is Lydia. Now, some say that Lydia is actually
a country that she might have been from. a woman from the country,
the land of Lydia, a seller of purple. So she wasn't a pauper. Purple was a very popular color. It was usually a sign of wealth.
And she was a seller of purple fabric or purple whatever they
were wearing of that day to display their wealth. of the city that she's from,
and which worship God, heard us, whose heart, and here's what
I want you to catch. I want you to grab a hold of
this. This is going to be a message for two types of people. That's
all there is in the world, folks. There's only two. We got all
different colors, all kinds of different nations, we speak in
all kinds of different tongues. There's only two types of people. There are those who God has saved
by His amazing, sovereign grace. And there are those that He hasn't. Oh, that's not fair. What kind of people are you?
That's just not fair at all. Let me tell you something, from
one of those who used to be them, who walked in this world as others
do, steeped in my own lust of the flesh, as one who once was
that and now sees the truth of what God's grace is in sending
His Son to this world to be my propitiation. I'm thankful. I'm beyond thankful. I can't even comprehend the depth
of what that is that the Lord would save a wretch like me. This is a message for them and
for us. Look at these last words. Whose
heart the Lord opened. Now look at the results of that.
We talked about this in our Bible study. The call. The power of His call. Whose heart the Lord opened,
and then here's the results, that she attended unto the things
which were spoken of Paul. Now I looked that up, and it's
talking about what Paul spoke, what were the words of Paul?
Well, I'll tell you what the words of Paul were. I wish to
know nothing of you save Christ and Him crucified. The world loves to have a man
stand before them and tell them how they should live. You need
to do this. You need to do that. When I was
brought before the congregation and rescue, and we talked about
me becoming the pastor when Mike Smith didn't work out for us. I made it very, very clear. My
job is not to tell you how to live. God's Word does that very,
very well and very, very clear. We come into this world, folks,
knowing the difference between good and evil. Some can try to
say that they don't, but they know. They know. We all know that when mom said
to us, did you eat one of those cookies? And when we lied, we
knew that it was wrong. Every one of us. When the Lord opens the heart
of one of His chosen people, and that's the difference. We
would be just like what we were before to this day if it wasn't
for the opening of our hearts. Opening of what? We'll get to
that in a moment. She attended unto the things which were spoken
of by Paul. This is a message to them who
have never heard. We read this in the Scriptures
earlier, but I want to repeat it. This is a message for them
who have never heard. Our Scriptures tell us this,
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. That means there's no possibility
that they won't. Well, now wait a minute, John.
I've called upon the name of the Lord. Have you? Have you
truly called upon the sovereign God of all creation? Have you
heard about the God who put you in your mother's womb? Have you
heard about the God that if He had not called you, you would
still be steeped in sins and degradation? Have you heard about
the God who chose a people from before the world was? Oh no,
that's not true. Yes it is! That's the God of
this book. The very one who was known as
the Lamb slain from when? Yesterday? No! From before the foundation of
the world. Well, I believe He saved the
whole world, but I don't believe He had a chosen people. Well,
you've never heard of, with the heart of Christ, you've never
heard of the true and living God. If your pastor is telling
you that your God is trying to save you, but can't until you
come down to the front to pray a prayer? And you know, there's
religions who do that. There's religions. I was speaking
to a couple last week. I don't think they're with us
again today. Kathy said we don't have any visitors. Good to have those of you who were there.
Good to have you there with us today. But I was speaking with
them about... Wow, my mind drew a blank. I guess I'm not supposed to share
that with you. Okay, we'll go on. And it goes on. Let me pick
up where I was again. In Romans 10, verse 13-15, And
how shall they believe in Him in whom they have not heard?
And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they
preach except they be sent. As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
God tidings of good things. God teaches His salvation cometh
by hearing of the preached word. What, you mean I'm just not going
to find it by sitting around reading my Bible? That's not
how the Lord tells us. Let me tell you what the Lord
tells us. In verse 17 of that very same chapter of Romans chapter
10, He says this, He says, So then faith cometh by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. So right after He tells us in
His Word, how are you going to call on Me if you've never heard
of Me? He says, faith cometh by hearing. So, can you go off
in the woods and read the book, the Bible, and learn? I'm going
to tell you something, the Pope, that new guy, the American Pope
that they have in Rome, he knows this book from cover
to cover, but he does not know God. How can you say that? Well, I'll
tell you I'd say that. He thinks that you can be saved
by going in a box and talking to another man. There's nowhere
in this book where it says anything like that. The Lord says you
must hear the Word of God. That's what that means. Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. Listen to
these words from 1 Corinthians 1, verse 21. For after that,
in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Well, you mean I can't just study?
No. Your wisdom is not going to teach
you to know God. In fact, just the opposite of
that, the Lord tells us, do not lean upon your own understanding.
Why? Because we don't know the ways
of God. That's why, folks. I don't care how much you know
of this world, you don't know the way of God unless He reveals
it through His Word. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30 says this,
But of Him, of God, are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. For those who have never heard
a message like this, I want to talk to you this morning about
a heart opened. For those who have heard these
messages before, and the Lord has opened your heart, oh, for
the grace to praise our Savior. I was talking with a brother
the other day, and he said, you know, since I've heard the Gospel
preached just a few years ago, I've just fallen in love with
that man in the Scriptures, the one who rules all that he has. The One who is 100% God and 100%
man. If you cut Him, He'd bleed. He
bled on the cross. For those who have never heard,
Christ Jesus, the Savior of His people, tells one Nicodemus that
he must be born again. One who is spiritually dead and
trespasses in sin must be quickened, as we read in Ephesians chapter
1. That word quickened means made
alive. It doesn't mean becoming alive.
It means being made alive. One who is spiritually dead and
trespasses must be quickened. And then when Nicodemus questioned
what was meant by that statement, the Lord told him this. Listen
to this. He says, the wind bloweth where it listeth, And thou hearest the sound thereof,
but cannotst tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth." And then
he says this, So is every one that is born of the Spirit. You've got to be born again,
folks. That old heart. Now remember, I'm talking to
those who may have never heard this before. These messages,
they go out all over the world. It's not just Rescue who's sitting
here listening this morning. We've got folks over in Kansas,
Colorado, Arizona, Utah. And then I think Kathy still
sent a CD up to Canada. I'm not sure about that, but
I think she's still sending a CD up to some guy in Canada. If you've never heard this before, men cannot save you. Only Jesus
Christ can. If you've never heard this kind
of message, may the Lord give you life this day, ears to hear
and a heart to believe. Secondly, this is a message for
us. This is a message for you and I, those who have heard the
Word and love to hear it again. Yeah, I've been sitting under
the ministry of God's ministers for 26 years now. I listened
to one of God's ministers this morning. If you weren't able
to be here for the Bible study, somewhere in the next week or
two, Dave Stoniker is going to be bringing Bible study starting
from the book of Titus. Oh, my goodness. Even a pastor
needs to be fed. Marvin, his dad, when we were
out there visiting him, when Kathy and I were on our vacation,
he started his conference off by this, Faith cometh by hearing. I need to hear. And he went and
sat down. And men preached. And he heard. Thank God we have this new technology
today where I can get up in the morning and listen to some guy
back east while I'm getting ready for church. Great message today. It's the same message I've been
hearing for 26 years. My God is gracious. He loves me so much that he sent
his only begotten son. He loves all of his people more
than we can comprehend. But aren't you thankful He gives
us a book to describe that love to us? To show us just a little
bit of light in the darkness that we once walked in? Have
you ever thought about how Paul walked in darkness? He was a
religious man. He sat under the best teachers of his time. He went to the best college.
Going to Yale or one of those other ones. He knew it all. He passed all the tests. He was
marking all the boxes. Here, take these letters and
go out and persecute those people who are taking away the power
of our church. All the group that's starting
to follow him now. Go out and persecute them. And
Paul went out thinking he was doing God a favor. And the Lord blinded him with
the brightness of His Son, the Lord Jesus, blinded Him, and
then shined the light in His heart that He could see the glory
of God in the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the us. The very ones that God loves
and gave His Son for. Listen to these words from Psalm
40, verse 5. This is the song, those of us
who have a heart for Him, Those of us who have fallen in love
with the very One who fell in love with us first. He fell in
love with us before the world began. That's His Word. Read Ephesians chapter 1. Listen to this, Proverbs 40 verse
5, Many, O Lord my God, this is the new song, This is the
song that John Reeves never sang until the Lord preached His Word
to my heart. Many, O Lord my God, are Thy
wonderful works which Thou hast done. Oh, I love to preach Christ. I love to tell you who love to
hear it how much the Lord loves me and how much He loves His
people. Oh, for the grace of God. great and wonderful works
which thou hast done, and thy thoughts, the very idea that
God Almighty thinks about us, we who are steeped in sin, we
who are covered from the top of our heads to the bottom of
our toes with sin, He thinks about us. The thoughts which
are to usward, it says. They cannot even be reckoned
up in order unto thee. If I would declare and speak
of them, they are more than can be numbered." Isn't that our
song? Isn't that the song of us who
know the Lord, who heard the story? We want to hear it again.
My pastor, Gene Harmon. When I talk
to Him on the phone Monday through Friday, it's the same thing. Oh, the wonders that the Lord
would love me. I could listen to it over and
over and over again. Romans 5, verse 8, we read these
words, and we praise the Lord for them, but God commendeth
His love towards us. in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. This woman, Lydia, whose heart
the Lord opened, sang a new song. She attended unto the things
which were spoken of by Paul. To the us who have been gifted
of God with a new heart, We attend to the things that are spoken
of by the prophets and the greatest prophet of all, Christ Jesus
the Lord. Let me just read a Scripture
for you that proves that. Let me just turn over to Hebrews
chapter 3 for a moment here and read it for you. Wherefore, holy
brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider, think about,
Grasp in your mind, ponder these wonderful things, the apostle,
there's our prophet, and high priest, not only is he our prophet,
our highest prophet, but he's our high priest, the very one
who makes intercession, the very one who goes into the holiest
of holies. That's where he's at right now, folks. Death could
not hold him. He's Lord of death. He's the
Lord of all. The devil is the Lord's dog. And the Lord has him on a chain. That's what Job is all about.
That's what the story of Job is all about right there, is
that God controls it all. Everything. Nothing happens outside
of our control. We were talking earlier. Are
you prepared for God to take your loved one through what He
must take them through for them to come to Him? Was I prepared for what I needed
to be put into? For what I needed to go through
that I would go to rescue one day to cry on my brother's shoulders
and instead hear the Word of God for the first time? I'm not
even going to share with you what I was going through. It
was terrible. Part of the worst part of my
life. But it was necessary. It was what God had for me to
open my heart that I would sing a new song. Oh, that the Lord would be opening
a heart today to us who have been gifted of
God with a new heart we attend unto the things spoken of by
the prophets." Look over at Ezekiel chapter 36, if you would. Ezekiel
chapter 36. In Ezekiel chapter 36, Beginning at verse 22 listen
to these words therefore say unto the house of Israel notice
first. It doesn't say say unto the world That it doesn't say unto the
world says say unto the house of Israel Folks Israel was the
chosen people of God The Lord used Israel now Don't get me
wrong. I'm not saying there's no other
none of God's people over there in Israel today, but the faith
of the Jews is not the faith of God's people. God's people love the Lord Jesus
Christ, the very one who came to this world, the Messiah that
the Jews are still looking for, the King that the Jews are still
waiting to come, the very one who came in the flesh that they
didn't even recognize. He told them when they asked
him, how long do you cause us to doubt? You folks who know
the Scriptures, you know what they said. How long do you cause
us to doubt? He goes, well, I told you who
I am. The miracles that I did, they prove who I am. The reason
you don't believe is because you're not my sheep. My sheep
hear my voice. We were just like that. We didn't
know we were God's sheep until He spoke to us through the preaching
of the Word. Until we heard for the first
time He's a God who rules over everything, including me. If He leaves me to me, I'm doomed. Ezekiel 36, verse 22, Therefore say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God." That's what God's preachers
do. They stand before people like
yourself and they say, thus saith the Lord God. Not thus saith
what John, not what saith this man or that man or Paul or Timotheus
or any, but thus saith the Lord. I do not this." This is God speaking
to His people, to those who He's given a new heart, those who
He's cut away the old stony heart and opened up a new heart to
love Him. He says, I do not this for your
sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake. It's not something you've done.
It's not something you can do. It's for My namesake. He comes
to His people and opens their heart through the preaching of
His Word because of His Son, the Lord Jesus. Get that through
our heads. I don't deserve it. I deserve
His wrath. I've earned the wrath of God.
I've earned damnation. I've earned condemnation, but
God Almighty has sent His Son and condemned Him for a people. Am I one of those? Do I believe? Mary didn't believe very strongly. Oh Lord, He stinketh. Don't remove that rock. He stinketh. And the Lord said
to her, if you would just believe. She might have believed a little
bit. That's John Reeves. I pray every day that I can someday
believe the way my pastor believes. Judy was in what they call a diabetic coma almost the other
day. Could you imagine your loved one? Their eyes are
rolled back. You can't see anything but white.
And you come in and you think, oh my gosh, she's gone. He called
911. But you know what he said to
me? This is exactly what the Lord
has for me today. I don't know that I could do
that. I don't know that I could do
that. I pray the day is coming when I can. Keep working on me,
Lord. Keep working on me. Let's go on, shall we? I do this for my But I do not
this for thy sakes, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have
profaned among the heathen." I'm a truck driver, folks, so
you can guess what kind of language John used to speak. I'm ashamed that it can even
slip out nowadays if I smash my thumb or do something stupid. I'm ashamed of that, but I can.
He says in verse 23, I will sanctify my great name. I will set it
apart. He'll make his name holy in my
new heart. He'll make his name stand up
in holiness. When he's opened my heart to
his word. I will sanctify my great name,
which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned
in the midst of them, and the heathen shall know that I am
the Lord, saith the Lord God, when I shall be sanctified in
you before their eyes. We talked about this the other
day, Mike and I. It just leaks out. I think he
was telling me about, Henry Mahan once said that about God in us. The Lord Jesus Christ who dwells
in our hearts. You can't help but let it leak
out. My kids know who the God is that
I worship. The almighty sovereign of all
that is. Before my wife was called out
of darkness, I said to her up there in the hills of Canada,
up in the ice fields, look what God has made. See how it just
leaked right out. It just leaks out. You can't
help it. For I will take you from among
the heathen, verse 24, and gather you out of all the countries,
and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle
clean water upon you." That's the gospel, folks. There's only
one clean water, and that is the gospel, the clean water,
the still waters of the Word of God. He'll sprinkle that clean
water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your filthiness. Oh, that's the gospel? That's
the good news to sinners. We're cleaned, but only in the
blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus. And you shall be cleaned from
all your filthiness and from all your idols. People think,
I used to think this very thing, the idols and idol was a carving. I didn't realize how much this,
right here, John Reeves. This is the worst idol of all
right here. The one that says, I. The one
that worships, I. I shall clean you from all your
idols. From all your idols will I cleanse
you in a new heart. Also, will I give you in a new
spirit. will I put within you, and I
will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will
give you a heart of flesh. And ye shall dwell in the land
that I gave to your fathers, and ye shall be my people, and
I will be your God." Isn't that good words? If you've never heard anything
like this, and you're sitting there for the first time hearing
about One who deserves to be called God. He's putting this in your heart
right now. You're my Lord. I never called
Him Lord before. Oh, I used the words, the Lord,
usually in a way that embarrasses me a great deal, being a truck
driver. But now, I call Him my Lord because of
Him. You, you folks right here in
San Diego, I'm here today because you call Him your Lord. You come together and worship
Him because He is your Lord, because He has made Himself your
Lord. You will be my people. and I
will be your God." To one who is hearing maybe for the first
time with ears of the heart, that new God-given heart, a quickened
heart, life where there was once death, the light of His glory
is shined, and they come willingly. That's what it says in Psalms
110, verse 3, Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
power. Not in the day that I made a
decision, Not in the day that I decided not to go after something. Not in the day that I just decided,
okay, I'm going to be a better person. No, but in the day of
His power, when He opens up the hearts of His people. Look over
at 2 Corinthians now, if you would, please. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. There was a certain woman. I'll
be there in 2 Corinthians in just a moment. I want to read
this verse 4 again. There was a certain woman named Lydia,
a seller of purple, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul. Here in 2 Corinthians
chapter 4, look at verse 1 if you would. Therefore seeing we
have this ministry, This is what the scriptures were declaring
about Lydia. It doesn't declare anything about
her preaching or leading anything. It just says she was there. It
was a place where it was a custom for people to gather and pray.
It doesn't even say who they're praying to. It does say, her
heart was opened of the Lord. Therefore, seeing we have this
ministry, This heart that has been opened to the Lord, as we
have received mercy, we faint not, but have renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty, not walking in the craftiness nor handling
the word of God deceitfully." I'm not afraid to tell you that
God doesn't love everybody. I remember a story about a pastor
who said, I can't preach that. If I preach that in my congregation,
I'll be kicked out in a moment's notice. Did you know Pastor Norm
Wells preached that before? Or said the same thing before
the Lord opened his ears or opened his eyes and gave him a new heart?
He'll tell you. He loves to tell you the story
about how, oh, it was all about what I could do and the good
person I could be, and then the Lord called me. He got fired
immediately. They kicked him out of his church
and said, you get out of here talking to us about a God who
doesn't love everybody. Renouncing the hidden things
of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness nor handling the Word
of God deceitfully, but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves
to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our
gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost. in whom the God
of this world," did you notice it's a little God, "...hath blinded
the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious
gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto
them. For we preach not ourselves,
but Christ Jesus the Lord." We're talking about this woman who
attended unto the things of Paul. This is a letter from Paul. Paul
wrote this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. We preach
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves, your
servants, for His sake, for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded
the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts." He's
opened the hearts of His people to give the light of the knowledge
of glory, of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ. Folks, Jesus Christ is God Almighty.
They are one. Two separate people, two separate
entities, but they are one in everything. They are one in everything. One in spirit, one in truth,
one in purpose. It was, I don't want to say easy,
that would be making up words of mine, but I could see how
willing Christ was to do His Father's will because He agreed
with it perfectly. When he asked, could you pass
this cup of being made sin, this cup of wrath that he was going
to receive upon himself for all of his people, when that cup
was ready to come to him, could you pass that on? Can I pass
that on? Nevertheless, thy will be done. One. One in purpose
and in deed. To those that the Lord has shined
the light of His Son in this new heart, we see nothing but
grace, nothing but the love of God for a chosen people. Oh, how God could love a person
like me. Because of His Son. That's good
news. Because of His Son. It says in
Revelation 5, verse 9, "...and they sang a new song." She sang
a new song. The Lord had opened her heart
and she attended unto the things which were spoken of by Paul. What did Paul speak of? What
we just read in 2 Corinthians. I want to bring nothing before
you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. In Psalms 40 verse 2 and 3 it
says this, it says, He brought me up also out of a horrible
pit, out of the miry clay, and He set my feet upon a rock, established
my goings, and He hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise
unto our God. Many shall see it, and fear,
and shall trust the Lord. You, brothers and sisters, to
you this book is about Him and the truth about Him. We attend
unto the things that we have heard from the prophets We attend
unto the truth that he became a man. Listen to Philippians
2, verses 5 through 8. Let this mind be in you, which
is also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God, but made of himself no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant. and was made in the
likeness of men. Being found in the fashion as
a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even
the death of the cross." My Savior became a servant. What harm would it be for me
to be just like my Savior? and be a servant. That's what
I want to be. That's my willingness to come
here to San Diego. That's my willingness to get
up and study and come before the folks here and rescue. It's
to be a servant to you. To preach the word because I
know like myself you need to hear it. Like Marvin Stoniker said, this
is my time to hear. At the end of this month, I have
four preachers coming to rescue to preach the gospel. My pastor
used to tell me, you know why I don't preach? Because I was
always, you know, you should preach a message, just one, even
a little one. I mean, people are coming from
all over the Bay Area to hear. Maybe they would come more if
they just heard who was preaching to me every Sunday. Come on,
just preach one and you'll know, John, this is my turn. Even Gene Harman didn't have
the, he was not electronically savvy. He didn't even like cell
phones. He didn't have the ability to
go online and listen to a message while he's getting ready for
church like I do on Sunday mornings. But this is my time to sit, and
I'm going to soak it all up. I give you guys, if you're going
to be there all the time in the world to visit with these men
that are coming, that I'm just going to sit like a sponge and
soak it all up. Our Lord says in Hebrews chapter
10, a body thou hast prepared, and I want to hear all about
that body. Turn over to Hebrews chapter
1 with me and we'll bring this to a close. Hebrews chapter 1,
and while you're turning there, a certain woman named Lydia,
seller of purple, whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended
unto the things which were spoken of Paul." Over here in Hebrews
chapter 1, we see the things that she attended to. Hebrews
1, beginning at verse 1, we read, God, who at sundry times and
in diverse manners spake in times past unto the fathers by the
prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son,
whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he hath
made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, in the
express image of his person, and upholding all things by his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins. sat down on the right hand of
the Majesty on high." Now turn over to chapter 9. Chapter 9. Verse 11. But Christ. You know, you could
say, but God right there, and it would be the same thing. I
love that phrase, but God. But Christ. being come in high
priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,
neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and
goats and ashes and a heifer sprinkling of the unclean sanctify
it to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood
of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without
spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the
living God? One more, if you would. Turn
over one page to the right. Chapter 10, verse 13. No, 12. But this man, Hebrews 10 verse
12, But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins
forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from henceforth
expecting till his enemies be made his footstool, for by one
offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Perfected! I know it's difficult. I get
up every day just like you do, and I look in the mirror and
I see this flesh. You know how God sees me? Wrapped
in the coat, in the blood, in the righteousness of His Son,
my Savior. And if He's opened your heart,
Even if you're hearing this for the first time today, if He's
opened your heart, that's good news every time we hear it. Amen.