Riches I heed not, though a man's
empty praise. I wish they were completely so
with me, don't you? I'm afraid it is not. But that
is our prayer then. Thou and thou only, first in
my heart. Thou, high king of heaven, my
treasure, thou art. That is so, but I would like
it more so. Luke 17, Luke chapter 17, the
Lord has been speaking to his disciples. And if that's you,
it's speaking to you, one of his disciples. One of his believers,
one of his children, he's chosen. And he's talking about his return,
his second coming. And he says in verse 24, there's
a lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven
and shineth under the other part under heaven. So shall also the
Son of Man be in his day. Every I shall see those who are
blinded now to his those who do not see him shall see. As he every year that has not
heard his voice every year that. She doesn't believe shall hear
shall hear that every knee that has not bowed shall bow shall
bow every time. that curses him shall confess
that he is Lord. Unwillingly, but they will confess
that he is Lord. How blessed are our ears. Right now, we hear. We see His
glory. We've heard His voice. We, by
His grace, bow the knee, bow our hearts. We do. In our tongues,
we fear His name and we confess that He's Lord, that He's Lord.
How blessed we are. Verse 25, He said, But first
he must suffer many things. Christ came to suffer. The whole
Old Testament speaks of Christ coming to suffer the just for
the unjust. A sin offered unto God, not man. He wasn't offered to man. He's
offered to God as a sacrifice, as a substitute for the sins
of God's people. Not every man, but God's people. He laid down his life for the
sheep. He was a ransom for the sheep. And he put away their
saying that he was rejected by most but some received. Why. Peter time appeared Jane John
Matthew Luke on and on and when many of them received him and
here Mary John early. And he received them. Why? Because
he chose them. They were born of God. Not of
the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but born of
God, begotten of God, chosen by God. Rejected of mother, but
received by son. And those who reject him that
he didn't accept, someday he's going to reject them. reject
them, but we're except. We're except in the blood verse
26 and following it says as it was in the days of Noah. So shall
it be also in the days of the son of man. They did eat they
drank they married wives. They were given in marriage until
the day that that Noah entered into the to the ark at the flood
came and and destroyed them all. Likewise, also, as it was in
the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they
sold, they planted, they built. The same day that Lot went out
of Sodom, and Lot didn't just go out of Sodom. How did Lot
get out of Sodom? The Lord laid hold of him. He was lingering. So the Lord,
being merciful, laid hold of him and brought him out of Sodom. Before that, he was outside talking
to the men, and it says of the men, the angels of God laid hold
of him and pulled him in the house. What's in the house? The
Lord is. And his people said, shut him
in. Shut the door. Shut the door on those people
outside and shut him in. So the Lord brought him out,
and the same day that he went out of Sodom, brought out by
the grace of God, the power of God, It rained fire and brimstone
from heaven and destroyed them all. As in the days of Noah and
Lot, everyone was doing what they always do, what they love
to do, what they live to do, what they live for, what they
love to do. And so shall it be when Christ
comes back. People will be doing what they
love to do, what they live for. What they live to do? What do
you live to do? What do you love to do? What
are you doing right now? Do you love this? Were you forced
to come here? You were made willing, weren't
you, to David's power. You love to do this. Like David
said, thy lovingkindness is better than life. So as in that day,
so shall it be the coming of the Son of Man. For most people,
life consists of food, drink, sex, houses, land, money, pleasure. That's life. That's it. To be blooded. And he said the
day that Lot was brought out, the day that Noah went, seven
days after Noah went into the ark, he destroyed them all. Everybody. Everybody. And everything was destroyed.
So Peter wrote to us, God's people, seeing then that all these things
shall be dissolved. What manner of persons ought
you to be in holy conversation and God is looking for and hastening
unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being
on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
the fervent heat and everything. We, God's people, as we write,
according to his promise, we look for a new heaven and new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such thing, be diligent, that ye be found of him in peace,
without spot, and blameless. How are you going to be found
in peace without spot and blameless? In Christ. You know that enough. Unto him that is able to present
us faultless before the presence of his God. That's how. He is
our peace. We read that in Ephesians too.
He is our peace. He is the spotless, blameless
Lamb of God who was our substitute. And God made him sin. and gave
us his right. That's how you know that we don't
take that for granted. So we say that's the Lord's coming
and people will be doing is what they always do. All right, and
he said in verse 31. In that day, he which shall be
upon the housetop and his stuff in the house, let him not come
down to take it away. He that is in the field, let
him likewise not return Now, this is a shortened version of
Matthew 24. Matthew 24 is the long version
of his coming, and he tells it and retells it. At first, he's
talking about the destruction of Jerusalem, which happened
in 70 AD. And in that, he talks about,
let them that be in Judea Flee to the mountains. Don't come
down to get your stuff. And what's that say about everything
we accumulate? What's the good Lord call it?
Stuff. What would a man give in exchange
for his soul? Stuff. What we call treasure, what we
think is treasure, will be tomorrow's garage sales. Stuff. If you don't
sell it, you'll send it to Goodwill. That's just a fact. That's what
he said. But he's talking about the destruction
of Jerusalem. And he said, woe unto them that
with child. The great tribulation such as
never been seen before, the persecution of the early church. OK, and
he tells him, don't turn back, don't go back to your stuff,
flee the man like he told Lot, flee the man. And the Lord destroyed
Sodom and destroyed Jerusalem. Well, he's coming back to destroy
the whole world. Now what we're going to turn
from him to step. Step. Is that worth losing our
soul? He said, what shall a man give
in exchange for his soul? I read years ago, they did a
survey of Olympic Catholics, and they interviewed 10 or 20
or so, and I asked each one of them, if you knew that by taking
steroids, performance enhancing drugs, if you knew you would
become so ill that you would die from it, and yet you would
get a gold medal, would you do it? And 9 out of 10 said yes. just to wear a little gold for
fame, for fortune, which is fleeting, which is that stuff, stuff. And then he says this, I said,
let him not return back. You know, many of the disciples
went back and followed no more. What did they go back to? Stuff. It's always the work. When people
leave, forsake God, Leave Christ, leave the gospel, it's always
for the world, always, always for the world. Don't return back. Verse 32, remember Lot's wife. She turned back. Oh, she turned
back. She is a monument to misery. She is a monument, an eternal
monument to apostasy. Someone who looked back, who
longed to go back, go back home, go back to her family, go back
to her possessions, go back to her friend. Her heart was in
Sodom. Sodom was in her heart. Now the Lord says, and I sent
you this scripture recently, keep thy heart with all diligence. Rather be it are the issues of
life. Keep thy heart. Speaking to God's people. I'm
talking to God's people who've been given a new heart. Okay? That's who he's talking to. In
that proverb, it's my son, my son, my son. This is God the
Father speaking to his children. He's not talking to the world.
He can't give your... He says, get my son, give me
thy heart. Arminian's false religion tells
that to everybody. Give God your heart. Give Jesus
your heart. That's not who he's talking to. He's talking to his
people. My son. This is the father talking
to his son. Give me thine heart. He gives
us a heart. He says now give your heart.
Devote your heart. Keep your heart fixed on me. Set your affection, like Paul
said to Colossians, Believer, set your affection, your heart,
on things above where Christ sits. My son, give me thine heart. It riches in praise. Set not
your heart on me. Sadly, tragically, As a monument
for us to all remember, Lot's wife, her heart was in Sodom,
and Sodom was in her heart. Now she was a wife of a just
and righteous man. That did her no good. Did it. That did her no good. She seemed to be out of Sodom,
didn't she? The short verse, we've looked at that one verse
in the whole message. She seemed to be out of Sodom.
The Lord was merciful to her and grabbed her by the hand and
brought her out. And she seemed to be, she was
almost escaped. Remember Lot's wife. We need
to be like Paul, the apostle. Listen to what he says. Listen
to him. Now, this is the apostle. And
he said this. He said, now, he said, what things
were gained to me used to be gained that I pursued, I count
loss for Christ. He said, doubtless, I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus,
my Lord, for whom I have suffered. The Lord says, any man come after
me, he must forsake him or be willing. He said, I'll count
it but done, that I may win Christ. A woman came up to me after,
I think I preached on this one time, came up to me, not any
of you ladies, but met me in the back and she said, you forgot
to mention You forgot to mention, what all we give up for Christ?
I said you make dung? I said that, dung, for pearls. You can give up anything. That's
what Paul said, I can give up anything. He said, I didn't lose
a thing, it's done. Whatever goes in the mouth won't
come out the grave. And everything else won't turn to that, is it?
Everything in this world is going to turn to dirt, dust, dung,
repute, garbage. Paul said, Oh, that I may win
Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness.
Now listen. He says that I might know him if by any means attained
unto the resurrection of the dead, not as though I had already
attained. That's what he said. But I follow after, he said.
it that I may apprehend that for which I am apprehended of
Jesus Christ. He said, Brother, I count not
myself to have apprehended, but this one thing I do, forget everything
in the past, everything and everyone. I'm not looking back, and I'm
reaching forth. He said, I'm present. The King
of God suffered in the Bibles, and the Bibles and to take it
by force. I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus, and let
us therefore as many be as be perfect, be thus mine. And if you're not, God will show
it to you. So let us be like Paul and forget,
not look back, but press forward. Remember Lot's wife. Now look
at verse 33. He says, whosoever shall seek
to save his life shall lose it. Whosoever shall seek to save
his life shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve
it. You know how many times the Lord says this? Quite a few. He says it once, we need to take
notice of it several times. Very serious, very serious. Whosoever
shall seek to Save his life, shall lose it. Whosoever shall
lose his life shall preserve it. Whosoever shall seek or strive
to save this life shall lose it. Most strive diligently. Most people give great diligence
to save or to maintain various things, the things of this life,
the riches of this life. We work a long time to get this
thing, and then we spend the rest of our time trying to keep
them, and the rest of our time worrying about losing them. And
then we're about to die, and then we spend that time worrying
about who we're going to give it to. And we're going to lose
everybody. Those that seek or strive to
save their youth. Boy, you can't keep that, can
you? You can make it up, you can do
whatever you want to do. It's fading rapidly. The glory of
the flower of the field fades. People seek and strive to keep
their health. You can't keep it. People seek and strive to
maintain friends and family and honor and fame. They're standing
with men. Listen to Psalm 103. I love this.
Psalm 103. It says, He says, As for man, his days
are as grass as the flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
So the wind passeth over it, it is gone, and the place thereof
shall know it no more. Most of us, if not all of us,
will be forgotten thirty days after our bodies are in the ground.
By most everyone but those who really did know us. Just a few,
just a few. will be forgotten. One time I
was driving home from somewhere and I saw this squirrel run out
in the road and a car in front of me ran over it. I feel sorry
for any animal like that. He died right there in front
of my eyes and there he lay. Next day I came back and he was
flat, flat. Next time I came back In about
a week, there was no trace of that squirrel. It's like it never
existed. And that's us. That's every one
of us. But, now listen to this. Psalm
103, verse 17. But the mercy of the Lord is
from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him and his
righteousness unto children's children. So such as keep his
covenant, you're going to lose everything else. But those that
lay hold of eternal life, those that remember his commandments
to do, the Lord has prepared his throne in the heavens, his
kingdom ruleth over all. Bless the Lord, bless the Lord,
bless the Lord. He'll remember us, won't he? He'll remember us. Well, whosoever
shall lose his life for Christ and the gospel sake, this doesn't,
the other three gospels all say this. Whosoever shall lose his
life for Christ's sake and the gospel shall preserve their life,
shall gain eternal life. Our Lord called it life more
abundant. Righteousness, peace, and joy
altogether. That's what we gain, righteousness. We leave a world of sin and filth. and sadness, and sorrow, and
death, but righteousness. A place where we're enrilled
in righteousness and peace. We leave a world of war, and
rumors of war, and trouble, and turmoil, and anger, and wrath,
and malice, and go to a land of peace forevermore. Would you
like to sound that? We leave a land of sorrows and
sadness, this veil of tears. We go to a place of joy. He says,
unspeakable, undescribable, indescribable, full of joy, joy, unspeakable
and full of glory. That's what it said. Life more
than true life. Look at Mark 10 very quickly,
Mark chapter 10. Our Lord says this many times
and we need to sit up and listen. Now this was right after the
rich young ruler came to him and the Lord said one thing you
lack sell everything give to the poor have treasure in heaven
come take up the cross the cross and follow me and he was sad
and left and went away he had great possession verse twenty
three so the Lord looked around the back. Oh he looked at me
right now he looked around the back see who was listening he
knew When the Lord looked round about, and he said unto his disciples,
they were listening. Everybody heard it. How hardly
shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of heaven. Everyone in this room has riches.
The person with the least possessions in here has more than most people
in our brothers in Mexico don't. If you have a car and a house
with electricity, you're rich. If you have more than food and
rain, you're rich. He said, how hardly should they
then have riches. Why? Because they're so deceitful.
Because it's what Satan uses. And it's what he's drawn so many
people away with. It doesn't take much. That's
where your treasure is in your heart. And he went on to say,
look at this, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye
of an eagle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Can a camel go through the eye
of an eagle? No. It's impossible. They were astonished
out of measure, the disciples out of measure, they all had
something. I said, Lord, then who then can be set? What's he
set? Looking upon them, he looks at
them, saying, with men it is impossible. Man, it's impossible. Man loves riches. Man loves this
world. Man's in the world, the world's
in him. God's got to do something. He's got to be born of God. He's
got to take the world out of him and someday take him out
of the world. With man, it's impossible, but
not with God. See, salvation's up to the Lord.
Nothing's impossible with God. It was Zacchaeus, wasn't it?
Rich. Rich. Through extortion and excess
and all that. Rich. And when the Lord came,
the Lord put him up true. On purpose. It came where he
was. Zacchaeus didn't see it. He couldn't
see it. He couldn't distinguish the Lord
from anybody in that crowd. But the Lord walked right up
to that tree and looked up at it and said, Zacchaeus, come
down. He gave the command. He didn't say, Zacchaeus, will
you let me into your heart? No, no, no, no. He said, Zacchaeus,
come down. I've come into your house. Why? You belong to me. What's the first thing Zacchaeus
said? He's rich. He lived for riches. He said,
half of my goods I'm going to give to everybody. And he did. As soon as he got home, he had
a big party for all his friends. He wanted them to hear the Lord.
Matthew did that. It's easier for a camel to go
through the eye of an eagle. It's impossible with men, but
not with God. Then Peter, verse 28, began to
say unto him, Lo, we have left all and have followed this. Why?
Why? Why? Did Peter say, hey, there's the
Lord, let's go follow him? Did he? No, he didn't know him.
The Lord came to Simon Peter, didn't he? And called him, Simon,
follow me. And he left all. And called him,
James, John, follow me. And they left their boats, their
net, and their families, their father, and went after Christ. Well, they did though, they left
off and followed him. And Jesus answered verse 29 and
said, Verily I say unto you, there's no man that hath left,
no man, there's people in this room that have left houses, land,
and family to go where the gospel is, or to serve God's people,
people right here in this room. And he said, There's no man that
hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother,
or wife, or children, or lands for my sake in the gospel, but
he shall receive a hundredfold right now in this time. Houses, brethren, sisters, mothers,
children, lands, with persecution. And in a world to come, eternal
life. You lose, you leave all that,
you get it back. But then you lose it again. But
what do you get? Abraham did that. The Lord called
Abraham out of the Ur of the Calvary. He left everything.
He was traveling in tents. And then Lot, he and Lot parted
company because of stuff. And Lot looked at Sodom. Oh,
that's what I want. He almost buried me. And Abraham
said, Lord, What do I get? I love saying that all the time.
I love saying that. Lord, what? He said, Abraham,
you get me. And with me, you're an heir of
the whole thing. Just wait. Just wait, Abraham.
You'll see. Sodom's going to perish. The
plain cities of the plain, it's all going to perish. The whole
world's going to perish. But all that the Father gives me,
I give unto them eternal life, they shall never perish. Never
perish. Go back to our text, Luke 17.
Everyone must forsake all if need be. Talking about God's
people. Choice. This is not a free will
choice. There is no such thing as free
will. No such thing. God's people, Psalm 110, verse
3, says that thy people shall be willing in the day of thy
hour. Not of him that willeth or him
that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy. Not of the will
of man, will of the flesh, but of God, born of God. That's plain. It's God that worketh in us,
Philippians 2, 13. It's God that worketh in us, both to will and
do of His good pleasure. How plain can it be? Man doesn't
have a free will, he's dead. We just read that. You have to
be quick in who were dead. What's dead now? Somebody tell
me what dead means. Dead. Dead, dead. Barney used to say
graveyard dead. Go down to the graveyard and
start hollering at somebody. Wag on them. Test them. They
won't respond. Call them. They won't come. They're
dead. But you have to be quick in the
name is power. Word is power. Like you did to
Lazarus. Lazarus came forth. Talking to
God's people. Talking to God's people. And
they're willing in the day of His power, they're willing to
leave everything and everyone. And they do, sometimes they do.
If they don't have to, they're willing to. Right? And really, they have no choice.
It's not a choice, really. It's just called lie detector. What would you... Tammy, can
I use you as an example? How much money could I give you
to forsake wrong? Anybody. What would it take for you to
forsake crime? I'll give you everything. Nothing. But people have left family friends
job. For the gospel of Christ. Many
have Hebrews Hebrews eleven with love love love this is a great
cloud of witnesses of people. Who. Scripture says, saw the
promises of power, all persuaded, embraced, confessed. They were
strangers, pilgrims, declared that they seek a country. And
if they'd been mindful of where they came from, they'd have gone
back. But verse 16 says, now they desire a better country,
and heavenly. And God's not ashamed to be called their God. He prepared
for them a city. Abraham offered up his son. Abraham, take your son, your
only son, your well-beloved son whom you love. He waited a hundred years for
that boy. He got another son named Isaiah,
Ishmael, didn't he? He loved that boy too. God said,
kick him out. What'd he do? What'd he do? He kicked him out. And he had
another boy waiting for him. He loved Isaac. He loved him,
didn't he? And God said, take him up on
a mountain and offer him as a burner. He gave no explanation. What
did he do? He rose up early. He took him
up there with a knife in his hand and would have killed his
own son. God said, now I know. He knew. God put that in him.
But it was a test. And it was a testimony to us,
wasn't it? Who would you choose? Over Christ. Who would you forsake Christ
for? Anybody? I knew a man. This was back in the 50s and
60s. He was a member of the church and a young believer at the time,
probably around his late 20s. He had a young wife and a young
son. His firstborn son. And the Lord
had revealed himself to him. He loved the Lord. He loved the
gospel. He loved God's people. He was
always in the worship circle. He still is. He's in his nineties
now. He still is. But one morning,
once, and his wife did not love the gospel. She didn't love the
Lord. She hated him. And one morning he got up to
go to the worship service Sunday morning. His wife was literally
standing in the doorway, blocking the door. And she said, you don't
have to go to church today. He said, if you go, I want you
to stay with me. She said, if you go, I won't be here when you get back.
I'm going to take our son. I won't be here when you come
back. And he said, I don't go to church
because I have to. I go to because I want to. He
says, today, I have to. I have to. You've made me choose
between you and my God. And he did. And he walked by
her, and she left. And he didn't see that son for
years. That's true, and that's happened
many times. In Hebrews 11, you know how many
people it talks about were accepted, not deliverance, but at trials
of mockings and scourging. I love this. Man, you know, she
loved this. By faith, Moses, verse 24, when
he came to years, when the Lord, like the prodigal, brought him
to himself and He was born again. He refused to be called the son
of Pharaoh's daughter. He chose, rather, to suffer affliction
with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for
a season. Why did he choose that? Because
God chose him. And he had no choice. It came down to a choice
between being Pharaoh's, the next Pharaoh, or with God's people
out in the wilderness. What did he choose? There was
no choice. with David he said I'm a king
rather than be a doorkeeper and ask. All right look at our text
now here's a here's a here's a picture of sovereign election
Luke Luke seventeen sovereign election of the birth. Of time. Look at it verse thirty
four I tell you in that night. There should be two men in one
bed, one taken, the other left. Two women should be grinding
together, one should be taken, the other left. Two men should
be in the field, one taken, the other left. This is sovereign
elections. Two in the bed. My brothers and
I used to sleep in the same bed. I have a brother, I only have
one left right now, physical, flesh and blood brother. The
Lord literally took one brother and a sister. I have one brother
left. We used to literally sleep in
the same bed. We had the same parents. We heard
the same gospel, Kelly. We heard the same gospel. We
sat in the same pew. We slept in the same bed. One
was taken and the other was left. Jacob and his son slept in the
same bed. Cain and Abel, right? One taken, the other left. Two
grinding. We call work the grind. Going
to the grind tomorrow. Everybody goes to work. Working
together, laboring together, grinding together. Both striving
to get ahead. Both working a job. Trying to
make a career out of it. Get a home, a family, life of
ease when it's all over. One taken out of that. want the
other man to do it, to continue in the ground. There was a man, one time somebody
asked him, a believer, asked him, what do you do for a living?
He said, well, Christ is my life. I'm a plumber to meet expenses.
What do you want to do for a living? Christ is my life. So one is taken out of that grind.
It's no longer a career. It's just a means to put bread
on the table. That's it. Taken out of that.
The Lord puts the world in people's heart, but then he takes it out
of his people and puts Christ in its place. And they live for
him. Then there's two in the field.
Two in the field, one taking the other left. The field is
always representing the church. Always. You've got to look at
this. Can I go a few minutes over? Yes. Genesis 24. Whether you want to or not. You're
going to be glad. Genesis 24. You're going to be
glad. This is wonderful. Two in the field. One taken.
Cain and Abel were out in the field. Fields always represented
the Word. Cain and Abel were out in the
field. And Abel and they were talking. And Cain didn't like
his religion. And he rose up and slew him.
And the Lord said, In this world you shall have tribulation. I
hate you. Brother, I've come to set people at variance one
against another. Brother against brother. Abel was taken out. Taken out
of the field. And he was let in. Put a mark
on him. The Lord put a mark on him. You know what the mark of
the beast is? That's the world. You know what the seal in the
forehead of God's people is? Faith. Christ. In our mind, the mind of Christ. Look, Genesis 24. This is good. So good. You know the story of
Abraham sending his servant, his old servant, to find a bride
for Isaac? Don't you love that? Want to
hear that? Well, look at this. So she, by the power and grace
of God, Rebecca, was made willing to follow this old man to go
to the son of promise, Isaac, who represents Christ. She was
made willing. She left her family. She left
everybody to go and marry a man she'd never seen before. That's
what God does for every single one of his chosen daughters in
Christ's life, right? They're made willing. So she's
coming to Isaac. Where is it? Verse 63. Isaac went out to meditate in
the field. He's out in the field. And don't
you love this? He lifted up his eyes and the
camels are coming. The camels are coming. Who? His bride. Rebekah lifted up her eyes, she
saw Isaac, she lined off the camel, and she said to the servant,
what man is that that walketh in the field to meet us? Who's
that standing in the field? He said, that's my master. Oh,
she said, amazing. Christ came down here and dwelt
among us, did a tabernacle among us. He came to this field looking
for his bride, find his bride. And we see him here. That's where
we meet him, isn't it? Well, look what happened. So
the servant told Isaac all things that he'd done, and Isaac brought
her, he took Rebekah, he brought her into his mother Sarah's tent
and took Rebekah. He took her. One taken, the other
left. She left her family, her home,
everything, and old Isaac took her in his house and she became
his wife. Rebecca would you go back. All right yeah. It's long enough to get to. What's
it worth. Every person is first thirty
seven and I had to wear a lot where they can. Where do you
take them to. Where can we find them? That's
what he was talking about, him taking his people out. Where?
Where'd you take them? He said, where soever the body
is, hither will the eagles be gathered together. Where the
body is, that's where you'll find the eagles. The Lord talks
about his people as mounting up on wings of eagles, where
the mother eagle stirreth up her nest, and her young fluttereth
over her young. Eagle is a bird of the air, you
know, flies up, soars above, giving wings. Revelation 12,
they're giving wings, two wings, the wings of eagles. That's the
word of God, the spirit of God. Fly above this, from worms to
eagles. Butterflies, they fly above this,
this world, soar, meet their God, their eagles. And that's
where the eagles, that's where you'll find them. You want to
find God's people? Where the body is. What's that? I took bread one day, and he
broke it. He said, take, this is my body. He said, except you eat my flesh
and drink my blood, you have no part in me. But he that does
has eternal life. What does Christ mean to you?
Is he not your food and drink? We started out by talking about
food and drink and all this stuff. Is not Christ your food and your
meat and your drink and your everything, your joy and rejoicing? Is he not? I see it on the faces
of so many of you. The illustration the Lord uses
is the young eagles devouring the prey. If you've ever seen
vultures, What is so hungry to get a body there and I just swarm
over and they're just all eating the same thing is all just ravenously
going after that. That's that's the picture the
Lord gives here and God's people. You can't keep them away. God's
true people, you can't keep them away. You know, hypocrites, Pharisees
are looking for excuses, but God's people, you can't keep
them away. People gave all those excuses for not going to the
wedding. You know, I've married me a wife, I've bought me some
land. Oh! But God's people, they're different. Putting these things aside, they're
hungry. Blessed are they that are hungry
on earth. Give me Christ or else I die. I've got to meet with
God's people where they're gathered. And it says this in 1 Chronicles,
it doesn't matter. But David, when he brought the
ark back to Israel, listen to this. You'll love it. He brought
the ark back to Israel. He gave Psalm 105 as a psalm
for the people. It says, Give unto the Lord.
Give unto the Lord the glory. Do His name. Oh, he said, Give
thanks unto the Lord. He's good. His mercy endureth
forever. And say this. Say this. Save
us, O God, of our salvation. And gather us to death. and deliver us from the heathen,
that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise."
And he ended by saying, blessed be the Lord God of Israel forever
and ever. And all the people said, Amen.