And in his bush of grass I am
bound for the promised land I'm bound for the promised land Oh,
who will come and go with me? I'm bound for the promised land I hope that's true of every soul
in this room. If you look to and trust and believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, you're bound to be there. Hebrews chapter
10, I sought a message from the Lord,
from His Word, to begin this new year. But I thought, though this may
be the first year, the first message of the year, it might
be the last. It might be our last year. With the passing of one year
and the beginning of another, we ought to think back on what
has happened in our midst. We lost four saints last year,
a couple of them very suddenly. We lost a husband, father, a
couple of them, a mother, a missionary, a preacher, suddenly, very suddenly. We need to think about that now.
Don't forget that. Don't forget. This could be our
last year. This could be my last sermon. Cody preached his last message
and it could be the last one you hear. It makes it important,
doesn't it? Keep that in mind. It makes this the most important
thing that we can do. The one thing we need vital. This message is vital. Vital means life. Life and death. Life or death. Read verses 23
through 27 with me of Hebrews 10. Let us hold fast. hang on, lay hold of, and keep
holding to the profession of our faith, which is Christ, without
wavering, with no doubt, for He is faithful. Is that promised? And let us consider one another. I had planned to preach from
1 Peter 3 in our study, but it doesn't matter because all the
Word is the same. It all says the same thing. This
says the same thing that Peter said. Let us consider one another,
be considerate, courteous, think on things of others, to provoke
unto love, to urge to love the Lord. each other, and to good
works. This is a good work we're doing
here. This is a good thing. There's nothing better. There's nothing better than what
we're doing here. This is a good work. It doesn't get any better
than this. Not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting
urging, encouraging one another, and so much the more, so much
more as you see the day approaching. Four, if we sin willfully after
that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth
no more sacrifice for sins, but a fearful looking for a judgment
and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversary, the Lord's
adversary. Bible word, words of warning
here, words of promise. Every message should contain
both. All of God's Word equally full of both, 50-50. Words of
warning, lest we presume. Words of promise, lest we despair.
Words of warning that He could reprove and rebuke and correct
and instruct us, and words of promise that comfort and console
and encourage and build us up. We need both, don't we? We need
both. He said in verse 25, and this
is the text, the title, the subject, as you see the day approaching,
don't forsake the assembling of yourselves together as some
do, but exhorting Encouraging one another so much more, more
and more and more, more and more urgently. As you see the day approaching. I just talked about us losing
four saints last year. Who's next? Each of us ought to think, It
might mean that. Shouldn't it? Oh, that they were
wise and would consider this their latter end. Teach us to
number our day. What we're doing here is wisdom. That we might apply our hearts
to wisdom, to win Christ and be found in Him. Nothing else
matters. Oh my, what a morbid message. A man whom my wife and I like
very much. He's an educator, a very prosperous,
successful man. We've been in their home and
they've been in our home. He has lung cancer. He's died. Very obvious. And he sent out one of these Christmas
letters. And there wasn't one mention
of God, of Christ, in that letter. And I wrote him a letter. I had
to. Wrote him back urging him, urging
him to think about dying. Said some things about the Lord
Jesus Christ and included a message by my pastor on, let's talk about
dying. It's the thing that we ought
to be conversant with. The day approaching, the day
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the day of our Lord, the day of our
Lord, His coming, His return. I hope I see some smiles on some
faces when I talk about this, okay? This is the day of our
Lord's return. It's spoken of from the beginning
in every book. This is what this whole book
is about. All of the Old Testament is about someone's coming. And
then the Gospel is about, He's here. He's here. Who? God came
to this earth. Why did He come here? He shall
save His people from their sins. Good news. Isn't that what the
angels Hark the herald angels sing, and that way they cried
to three shepherds. They heard it. And the pitch
black night when everyone else was sleeping, the angel in heaven
erupted, and they heard this glorious message of glad tidings
unto you who is born this day, a Savior, a Savior from your
sins. God so loved you that He sent
His Son down here to die for your sins so that you don't have
to die. and forever go to be with the Lord. It's the day of
His first coming. The Old Testament speaks mostly
about that, His first coming. Some of it speaks of His second
coming. Daniel, we just read. We didn't read all of it. And
the others. But then the Gospel says here,
and then the epistles and the revelations say He's coming again.
The day of the Lord. The day of the Lord. That's what... The day of the Lord. Look at
2 Thessalonians 1 with me. 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. He tells us, exhorts us here
that there's so much more as you see that day approaching. Exhort one another. Do you know
the Lord? Are you prepared for His coming?
Do you look forward to His coming? 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. This is a dreadful day for some,
a dreadful day. A fearful day, Paul wrote, or
whoever wrote Hebrews. But for God's people. See people,
this is not a message, I don't have a message of doom and gloom
for God's people. It's like those in the ark, you
know. The Lord said, I'm going to destroy this world. It is
doom and gloom for the world. I don't have anything. I don't
preach peace, peace to the world when there is no peace. Our Lord
said when they say peace and safety, sudden destruction shall
come upon them. That's not what Noah preached.
But he did say, you get in this ark. You come to this ark. If
you're found in this ark on that day, I'm telling you, it's good
news. He's taken you out of here to
the promised land. Doom and gloom for the world.
His people? No. Life. Salvation. It's all good. 2 Thessalonians
1, verse 7. So you who are troubled. Man
that's born of woman is a few days and full of trouble. A few
days and full of trouble. Trouble with God. That's why
there's trouble. Right? Sin. All this trouble. You who are
troubled, rest with us. Where? Christ, our Sabbath, when
the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels
in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God. And
that obey not, believe not, bow to the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction
from the presence of the Lord, from the glory of His power.
But He's going to come when He shall come to be glorified as
saints and to be admired. Look, there
He is. Look, ye saints, the sight is
glorious. See the Son of God come down. Look! There He is. And the world that doesn't know
Him says they're going to weep and wail when they see Him whom
they had pierced. But God's people are going to
cry out and shout for joy unto Him that was pierced for
us. rest with us and are troubled
and persecuted, but believe. My, he's going to be admired
in that day among all them that believe, because our testimony
among you was believed. I believe him. I really do. Don't
you? May I? Barney used to say, preach for
a verdict. I want to see some affirmation here in your face. You do believe, don't you? He's coming. He's coming
for us. It's not gloom and doom, which
is wonderful for those who know the Lord Jesus Christ. A day
of great joy and gladness to those who know and love and look
for the Lord Jesus. It's the day of our redemption. Like slaves. Like jubilee. The year of jubilee. Everything
is going to be returned to us that we lost in Adam. Day of
Jubilee. It's the glorious liberty of
the sons of God who are bound by sin, who are bound by flesh,
who are bound in this world. Scripture, Isaiah 42 says, they're
in holes, they're in prison houses. Christ said, when He comes back,
I've come to declare liberty to the captives. The glorious
liberty of the sons of God. No more bound by flesh, by sin. Free at last. Only God's people
can truly say that in Christ. Free at last. Free at last. Thank
God Almighty through Jesus Christ. Free at last. It is the day of rejoicing. Sin
and sorrow and suffering will be over. Over. No more pain. No more suffering. No more tears. No more sin. No more death. My dad said that they're burying
the hundredth person, believer or saint, burying the hundredth
husband or wife or son or daughter, whoever it was, walking from
the grave. He said, I'll be so glad when we quit dying. There
is coming a day. Oh, that will be glorious. This is no message of doom and
gloom to those outside of Christ. That's the reason I say, I urge
you, which you cannot hear a more important message, come to Christ.
Now. Right now. There's no tomorrow. The day
of gladness, it's like the wedding day of His people, the wedding
day. A young bride-to-be, a young virgin is waiting for her marriage,
her wedding day. What do you reckon she's taken
up with? She is completely taken up with her wedding day. She
just can't wait until finally the day comes. Because she loves Him and she
wants to dwell with Him forever as one. I'm speaking of a mystery. I'm speaking of Christ and His
church. that He's coming back for His bride. He said, I go
to prepare our place, a place for you. And if I go, I'll come
again. If it were not so, I would have
told you. And His virgins, His people, His bride are waiting
on Him until they hear that blessed sound, the bridegroom cometh. And we go into the marriage supper
of the Lamb on the arm of the The Lamb, oh my. There's nothing
more glorious on this earth, nothing more happy, nothing more
joyous is there, nothing more everybody's at peace, even enemies
are at peace for a while around the bride and the groom. Well, all of us, all of us who know
and love the Lord Jesus Christ, it's our wedding day, gloom and
doom, oh no. It's deliverance day for a woman
with child. Look at John 16, the Gospel of
John, chapter 16. Our Lord said this, that the
salvation of His people and the glorification of His people when
He comes again is like a woman in travail. Our Lord travailed,
didn't He, on the cross to give birth to a people. Look at John
16. He said in verse 16, he said
to his disciples, he's talking to them and us, a little while
and you shall not see me. And again, a little while and
you shall see me. Because I go to the Father. And
said some of his disciples. And they were distraught, they
were troubled greatly because the Lord said he's leaving. He was their life. He really
was their life. And He said, I'm leaving. And
He kept telling them where He was going. He was going to the
cross to put away their sin. They didn't want to hear that.
Did they? They didn't want to hear that.
That's why He came. I started watching some Hollywood
movie on the resurrection the other day. I tell you not to
do it. And I just did it to see what it was about. And I turned
it off. They just don't know. They just
don't know. But His disciples, they were
distraught. And He kept telling them why
He came and what He was going to do. And then He would rise
victorious and go back to the throne. And then everything would
be according to His reign and His rule. I'm coming again. I'm
coming again. It's all according to purpose.
Purpose of God in Christ Jesus, which He purposed in Him before
the foundation of the world. It's all purpose, good, bad. All purpose, and it's all good. Now, you just wait. Our Lord
keeps saying, now you just wait. Now, wait. I'm leaving, but I'm
coming back. You just wait. You'll be like
those that wait for Me. Don't worry. Don't doubt, don't
fear. If it were not so, I would have
killed you. You can't lie. Do you hear me?
See, I'm coming back for you. They said, remember John 16?
We don't know where you're going. John 14. We don't know where
you're going. Show us the way. Show us the Father. I am the
Father. Isaiah 45, Isaiah said, Beware
of the God that hideth thyself. You ever feel like you can't
see Him? You feel like you need some token
of good. You need something. You feel
like He's hidden His face from you because you're sinfulness
or because of whatever. He said, I'm coming back. And look at verse 17. Some of
his disciples said, What is this? He saith unto us, A little while
ye shall not see me. And again, a little while. This
is a short time. And ye shall see me. Those three days were
the longest three days of their life, weren't they? Weren't they? You lose somebody
you love, the first 24 hours or two days or a week or whatever,
it's the longest day of your life. You know good and well they didn't
sleep for three nights. But the Lord kept telling them,
I'm coming back. I told you. I think that's the
first thing we're going to hear from Him. I told you. Didn't
I tell you? What is this, they say, a little
while? We cannot tell. Our Lord said He knew they were
desirous to ask Him and said unto Him, Do you inquire among
yourselves of that? I said, a little while, and you
shall not see me. And again, a little while, and you shall
see me. Verily, verily, I say unto you, that you shall weep
and lament, and the world shall rejoice. People, God's people,
weep and lament. Our Lord tells us to end the
lamentations, let your laughter be turned to sorrow. Finish. Go to the house of tears, the
house of mourning is better. Oh, blessed are they that mourn
over their sin. Blessed are they that mourn.
Blessed are those that hunger and thirst and persecute and
so on and so forth. Blessed are those that go through
trials and tribulations and troubles. Weeping endures for a night,
doesn't it? This dark, dark world that we live in, this dark time
that we live in, weeping endures for a night, doesn't it? But
listen, listen to the rest of it. Joy cometh in the morning. Our Lord said joy unspeakable. He said, the world rejoices now,
and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned unto
joy. Read on, read on. A woman when
she is in travail hath sorrow, because her hour has come. An
expectant woman has this child. And we went through this, and
some of you did. And you think during that labor and that pain
and that suffering, you have one desire, don't you? One desire
to deliver this child. You want a live child, don't
you? You want a healthy child, don't you? You want this baby
to be born. You want life. And you're in
this pain, this sorrow. Do you want to have life in Christ? If Christ has been formed in
you, you have this desire, this consuming desire to be like Christ,
to be found in Him, to win Christ, to be with Christ. You love Him
and you want to be like Him and you want to be delivered. You're
in labor and you're in sorrow and you're in pain because of
this flesh. It's like a new man. I've got
to get out! Let me out! Lord, help me! Deliver me!" Right? And then it happens. And then it happens. As soon as she's delivered, verse
21, of the child, she remembers, no more of the anguish, no more
pain, no more sorrow. While you're going through it, You'd think, will this ever be
over? And then when that new child comes forth, was it worth
it? Was he worth it, Mary? It will be worth it all. There's
an old song we used to sing in Dad and Mom. It will be worth
it all when we see Him. Is this ever going to end? Are
we ever going to be delivered? Yep. Right, son. Right, son. Did you hear me? Smile, would
you please? Lift up your heads. Your redemption draweth nigh.
Now, this is a new year, isn't it? Now is your redemption nearer
than it was when you first believed. It's like a wedding day. It's
like a deliverance day. It's like a homecoming. Homecoming. We're all called soldiers. By
the way, he tells us, David, wareth and tangleth not themselves
in the affairs of this life. We're called pilgrims and strangers.
We're passing through. This is not our home. Like a
soldier in a foreign land, that's not his home. But he's sent to
do battle, and we're warring out. We're in a battle here.
But this is not our home. We're not fighting for this country
per se, but we're fighting for the cause of Christ in defense
of the gospel, for our brethren, for our fellow soldiers, aren't
we? And we're fighting this good fight of faith. We're warring,
struggling within us. There's law, there's sin in our
members. There's an old song used to sing,
when Johnny comes marching home. Well, when Johnny Johnny is marching home. Hoorah! Hoorah! And one of these days,
he's going to march like Enoch right on into glory. Homecoming. He's back. He's home. He's here.
He's here. Can you imagine? Do you not see the signs of his
coming? Do you not see the signs? Our
Lord said to the Pharisees, He called them hypocrites. They
weren't looking for Him. They weren't looking for His
coming. He was standing right in front of them. They didn't
know Him. Had they been really looking
for Him and seeking Him, they would have known Him when He
came. He was standing right there. Had they loved Him, they would
have loved everything He said, hung on His every word, but they
hated what He said. And they wanted him dead. And
he said, you're a hypocrite. You're nothing but a hypocrite.
He said, you hypocrites, can you not discern the face of the
sky? Do you not see the times? No. Like the Egyptians, when
the children of Israel were in Egypt, God kept sending all those
plagues with the nine of them. Clear. And the Egyptians Didn't
see it as the hand of God. The wrath of God, Romans 1 says,
clearly revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness
of men, of them that hold the truth in unrighteousness, change
the glory of God, change the truth of God into a lie, worshiping
certain man rather than the Creator, who is God, blessed forever,
and on and on it goes. We gave them over, like our nation,
like this world, given over, and they're in blindness. darkness,
God has blinded their minds and they can't see clearly, though
the sun shines, day unto day others speak, night unto night
show of knowledge, the Son of Righteousness, the Son of God,
the Son. They're blind. But we see. I see. Don't you? Our Lord said, blessed
are your eyes, they see. Blessed are your ears, they hear. I told this man in the letter,
I said, dying people, what a sad thing that dying people don't
listen to the Son of God who said, I am The resurrection. I am the way and the truth and
the life. No man cometh unto the Father but me. He said, he
that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. He said,
he that hath the Son hath life. He that doesn't have the Son
doesn't have life. He said, man, don't listen to him. They don't
consult him. They consult man. They consult
the wisdom of man. How foolish. How sad, isn't it? How sad. But God hath blinded
their mind. But God hath revealed, flesh
and blood didn't reveal this to you, but our Father which
is in heaven. Oh, how blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-Jonah. Had not I chosen you, he said.
Oh, what blessed, how blessed people.
Do you not see the signs? Yes, we see the signs clearly.
And Paul wrote in 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Thessalonians, many, many
places. He said, brethren, you have no need that I should write
unto you about the signs of His coming, because throughout the
Scriptures you can see them. No man knows the day or the hour,
but you can see the signs. Do you not see the signs? Do you not feel the darkness?
Right before the Lord, delivered the children of Israel out of
Egypt. It says there was darkness over
all the land, so dark you could feel it. Don't you feel that? You look to this Isaiah He says,
He looked to the earth and all its dimness and darkness and
anguish. This world is a dark place. Do
you not feel the darkness? Do you not just feel it? But
it's light enough. Do you not see the cloud hanging
over? Do you not see the cloud of judgment
hanging over this world? Do you not see that? But people,
the clouds you so much dread. are filled with goodness and
shall break with blessings on your head." Come on, man. Do you not see the clouds forming? You know the Scripture says the
clouds are what? The dust of His feet. Our Lord said in Matthew 24,
when you see all these things happening, know these things.
Know this. You need to know this. See this. The sky is red in glory,
and you see this thing, the big tree, learn the parable we have.
He's near, he's at the door. And the clouds are the dust of
his feet. He's stirring himself, he's getting
ready to come. You hear the wind blowing? That's his robes rustling.
He's getting up off his throne. He's coming for us. I'm not trying
to be dramatic here. I'm telling you the truth. Our
Lord said this. This is what He said. Look. He said, you're not in darkness
as even as others. You're not asleep. Those that
sleep, sleep in the darkness. We're not asleep. He said, you'll
be like those that are waiting on their Lord when He comes. You'll be ready. Lift up your heads, He'll say.
Your redemption draweth nigh. It's not a message of gloom and
doom at all to God's people, it's a message of salvation,
huh? Now we'll see you smile. Okay,
good. When Peter preached at Pentecost,
what he preached was Christ crucified. He said, him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. The whole
book, the whole Bible, go back to Hebrews 10. This is our text. The whole book of Hebrews is
a summary of the Old Testament. You know that? It's the most
comprehensive book in the New Testament, the book of Hebrews.
It begins how it began. You know how it began? One way.
God. How did Genesis 1 begin? In the beginning, God. Well,
Hebrews 1 says God came to this earth, the express
image of God. God, the Creator, came to this earth, dwelt among us, came for His
people. The whole Bible is about the
Lord Jesus Christ from start to finish. It's about Him, the
author and the finisher of the faith. The Lord, our salvation. The Lord, the Savior of His people
who is to come. the woman's seed, the smitten
rock, the Passover lamb, our kindred redeemer, and so on and
so forth. The Lord Jesus Christ, who is
to come to save His people from their sin. This is not a message
of gloom and doom, it's a message of salvation. And the whole book
is about Him coming. And the whole book of Hebrews
is about that. And when Stephen got up, Stephen's message, to
all those Pharisees. He began from the beginning and
went all the way through and came to Christ and ended his
message. And they stoned him for saying it. Well, Hebrews
is all about the Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, come.
The Old Testament is about a priest, a tabernacle, and blood. Salvation is of the Jews. Salvation's
Hebrews. This is written to Hebrews. That's sons of Jacob. Now, he's
not a Jew, which is what I would, but Hebrew. And most of you in
here know that God hasn't changed. That we must have a high priest,
we must have a tabernacle, and we must have a sacrifice, right? These three things to come to
God. Only one man can go into the Holy of Holies, and they're
not going there without blood. And this is a place sanctioned
by, chosen by God for him to do this great work. And these
three are one, the Lord Jesus Christ. The tabernacle is you. The church, Zion, where he did
this work and who he did this work for. Right? Christ is the tabernacle, but
you are that tabernacle. And then he came, not with the
blood of bulls and goats, but with his own precious blood,
and went into the Holy of Holies with that blood after he died,
and offered it up on the mercy. His whole book is about that.
The whole book. People say, I don't know what
you're talking about. I'm not interested in that. God said, when I see the blood.
We teach our children this from a child. When I see the blood,
I'll pass over you. When I see the blood. Christ is our light. When I see
the blood, I'll pass over you. The whole book. Well, and he
did. He did that work. He laid down
his life. He shed his precious blood. He
established a righteousness. holiness for His people, make
them holy, unblameful, unreprovable in God's sight. You must be perfect
to be accepted. We're accepted in the Beloved.
And the Lord Jesus Christ, then, as a sin payment, God will not
clear the guilty. He will not, by no means, clear
the guilty. And He didn't do this for everybody,
but He did it for His people, for Hebrews, for the Jews, for
His people. And He laid down His life for
His people, and by that He accomplished our salvation. And He went back
to glory, and He said, I've got a purpose for you. Go
out in all the world and tell them what great things the Lord
has done for you. Until the day of your redemption, I'm coming
back for you. And all those I died for, all those the Father gave
me, I'm coming for. Receive unto myself that they
may be with me where I am. One big, happy, redeemed family. That's Hebrews in a nutshell.
So he says in verse 23, let us hold fast to the profession of
our faith without wavering. He's faithful, it promises. God
is not slack, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering
to us, to God's people. He's not willing that any of
them should perish. I'm so glad. None of them will perish. Our Lord said that. They shall
never perish, those given to Him by the Father. And he said,
let us consider one another. Oh my. Let us think on things
of others to provoke. Provoke. I don't know. I do know
why I use the word provoke. Because earlier he talked about
us provoking God. Provoking God. The day of provocation. They provoked Him. Provoked Him.
He said God was not late for me. They provoked Him. Provoked
Him. The day of provocation. And that's us. I read Daniel
to that. That's us. It's time we quit provoking.
to anger and start provoking to love. We're brethren. We're a bunch of sinners. We're
a bunch of no-good sinners. All of us, a bunch of no-good
sinners. We're brethren. We're just alike. I'm no better
than you. You're no better than me. We're
all a bunch of sinners that Jesus Christ had to lay down His life
for. That's the only reason we'll be in heaven. Now, he said, love
one another. Think about one another. Carry
your brother. Cain, that evil man, said, am
I my brother's keeper? Paul said, yes, you are. You
be your brother's keeper. You forgive him. You forget.
You be long-suffering just like I did, the Lord said. That was
the last thing he said before he left. This is my command.
To love one another. If not, the Father is not pleased. You've
provoked him. Provoke one another to love,
read on, to good works, this work, this work, to serve one
another, my love, serve one another. Not forsaking the assembly of
ourselves together as the manner of some of you, but exhorting
one another. So much more as you see the day
approaching. Not forsaking the assembly of
ourselves together. For if we sin willfully, verse
26, if we sin willfully, After we received the knowledge of
the truth, we were made of no more sacrifice for sin, but a
certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation,
which shall devour the adversary. And it went on to say, He that
despised Moses died without mercy. How much sore punishment shall
he be thought worthy who hath trodden underfoot the Son of
God, and counted the blood of the covenant whereof he was sanctified
an unholy thing, and despised the Spirit of grace. What's all
this mean? It's talking about apostasy.
It's talking about leaving Christ. It's talking about leaving the
gospel. It's talking about falling away finally. Departing. You know, you don't miss Christ.
You don't just miss Christ. You depart. You forsake. Our Lord, Paul said, he said,
Demas hath forsaken me. Why? The world. It's almost always
the case. The world. Somebody in the world.
Forsaken. He talks about willing. We do
this willingly. We do what we want to do. We
go where we want to go. We do what we want to do. Now
God's people are made willing in the day of His power. They
do this, they worship God by the will of God, by the choice
of God, by the sovereign electing grace and power of God, but He
makes them willing. This is what we want to do. I
am right now where I want to be. Aren't you? But the flesh
is weak. Spirit is willing, but the flesh
is weak. This is why the Scriptures keep
telling us. Give diligence. Watch. Be sober. You're not wrestling with blessing,
though. This forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, this apostasy,
begins this way. It always begins this way. It's
a gradual thing. It's never an immediate thing.
It's a gradual thing. It begins this way. Forsaking
the assembling. Forsaking. Forsaking. For something.
Choosing something else. There are unavoidable circumstances,
yes, and those are certainly excusable, but we go where we
want to go and do what we want to do willfully and with whom
we want to do it. Right? And our Lord said, and the manner
of some is. You know, this is a good habit. Manner means habit. This is a
good habit. There's some habits that need
to be formed, like brushing your teeth, or whatever. It may be some good habit. This,
you know, God's people, He makes them willing, and they come,
and it becomes habitual. It is their will, and it is their
habit. The Scripture says, Paul, as
his manner was, was always bound with God's people. It's a good
habit. It's a good manner. It needs to be developed. But some, as their manner is,
it becomes habitual, until they're gone. It's always good. I'm exhorting you right now.
Right now. Right now. He said, if we try to underfoot,
that's what it is to not want to come and hear the gospel.
That's what it is to not want to come and worship the Lord
Jesus Christ. It's to say, it's not worth my
time. And our Lord said, you won't
give my son an hour. That's what He said. You won't
give My Son an hour of your time, and you want to be with Me in
eternity? Do you enjoy this? Do you? I mean, do you? Don't. Do you? You know, if somebody doesn't
enjoy this now, they sure don't want to be in heaven. This is
all we're going to do. It's all we're going to do. What's
heaven like? Like this. Only better. Going to be a real preacher.
This is it. Going to be singing, worshiping,
shouting. And we were talking the other
day about singing and how we wish we could. Who was it? It
was Irene and John. We were talking about how we
wish we could just shout, you know, every now and then. Shout.
I said, do it, please, somebody. Do it. We're going to someday. And that's for those who love
it now. Those who look for His coming.
Those that wait. Those that want Him to come.
Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come. You love this, you're really
going to love it then. If you love these people, you're
never going to leave them. You're going to be perfect. They're
finally going to be able to dwell with you. And me, we're going
to dwell together in perfect harmony. We're all going to be
just like Jesus Christ. Won't that be wonderful? Who
would want to be anywhere else? Those that are not in Christ. Like Lot's wife. I kind of like Sodom. A lot of
us say, it dragged me out of this place. It begins gradually, forsaking
the assembly. How could you? Why would you?
For what? For who? Love doesn't forsake. If the saint, you know the saints
cannot fall away, the saints cannot fail, cannot fall, they
cannot. 1 John 5 talks about sin and
son's death. He said he that is born of God
sinneth not, he won't do it. He's talking about apostasy,
he's talking about falling away finally. The God's people cannot
do it, they cannot. Christ in them? They cannot bother. They will not. Why does He tell
us? Why is He warning us? Why does
He exhorting us? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? Huh? And the thing is, only those
that are alive will receive this. Those that are alive will receive
it. Those that are dead won't. Those that are asleep, sleep. Those
that are awake, sorry for sleeping. Why? Because we're sons. Because
He's the Father. And this promotes fear. You say,
the fear. Unite our hearts to fear Thy Name. Fear. By fear
of the Lord, men depart from evil. Fear of the Lord is clean. Fear. It promotes fear. It promotes
humility. Oh, humble yourselves under the
mighty hand of God. He'll exalt you in due time.
It promotes humility. It keeps us hungry and thirsty.
Oh, blessed are they that hunger. It's a sign of life to be hungry
and thirsty and to need this Gospel. If you ever quit needing
this Gospel, you'll forsake it. If it becomes old news rather
than always good news to you, you'll stop forsaking it. You'll
let it slip. It began over in Hebrews 4 when it said, don't
let this slip. In Hebrews 5, I think it was, it said, some
are dull of hearing. Dull of hearing. You don't hear
it anymore like you used to. Oh brethren. Keep us hungry. Keep us thirsty.
Keep us poor and needy. Blessed are the poor and the
needy. It keeps us, it brings, you know,
if we are backsliding it, we're bent toward. They have great
reproach on Christ, on this gospel, the world, the unbelieving world.
It encourages them and their unbelief. It's like, see, there
ain't nothing to that. You're not going to go worship
the Lord? See? It encourages them to continue their
unbelief. It promotes our Lord. telling us this to promote diligence,
give diligence. Let him that thinketh they stand,
take heed lest he... Paul said, this one thing I do,
I'm going to forget yesterday. Forget yesterday. I'm going to
press toward the prize, the mark of the prize of the high calling
of God in Christ. I want to lay hold. I want to
be apprehended for that. I want to apprehend that for
which I've been apprehended. That's why Paul said over and
over and over throughout Hebrew, let us hold fast, hold fast,
hold fast. If you're saved, it's because
He holds you. But do you know how proof He holds you? You will not let go of him. Like
Jacob. The Lord came and wrestled with
him, thank God. And how you know the Lord was
wrestling was Jacob said, I won't let you go. Will you also go
away, Peter, James, John? To whom? For what? For whom? Here am I. Well, that
person knows the Lord. And that's who he's coming for.
He's bribed. He's bribed. You ladies, you widows, you still
think about your husband. Is there a day goes by you don't
think about him? Is there? Never, is there? Not a day. If you're married to the Lord
Jesus Christ, you think about him. Sadly, there are days when
we don't think about him. Because we're a poor bride, you
know that? We're a poor wife. But He won't let it go on long
until you're thinking about Him. And you want to see Him. You
want to be with Him. You long for Him to come. Don't
you? Huh? He's coming. He's coming.
Now verse 37, a little while and He that shall come will come.
He will not tarry. What's he waiting on, Preacher? He waits to be gracious. As time goes by, this message
becomes so archaic, so old-fashioned, so ridiculous, so the world scoffs
and mocks. Where is the promise of His coming?
What's all this talk about men needing blood? That God is so
holy and righteous and man so bad? We don't believe. Nobody
believes that. That's what they said when Noah
was building that ark. That's what they said. And then
Noah and his family went in that ark. The Lord said, come. They were drawn in by him, okay?
And they went in that ark and for seven days, for seven days, they sat in that
ark while the sun was shining outside. The sun was shining
outside, and there they sat in that ark, and the whole world
going by, buying, selling, buying, selling, marrying, getting married,
planting, and they went by. Look at them. What fools. What utter idiots. What stupid
mountain people to believe that God is like that. Look at that.
But that door was open. That door was wide open. And
anybody, whosoever went, I just imagine Noah, I'm pretty sure
that Noah stood at the door like Olock and said, hey, come on. Oh, Noah. And then one day, this
gospel. What is my vision? Give me a
couple more minutes, alright? What do I see? What is my vision
for this world, for this church, for this generation? What is
my vision? What's my vision for this world? Prosperity? People,
it can't get any more prosperous. Can it? It can't get any more
prosperous. So what's got to happen? It's got to. It always has. Don't trust in Egypt. Egypt's
going down. The world, it couldn't get any
more prosperous. It couldn't get more prosperous
materially and couldn't be more corrupt spiritually. Couldn't
be more corrupt. Just like the days of Noah. Will
there be a revival? A great outpouring of God's Spirit?
What about the Jews and Romans 11? I don't know. I don't know.
I don't see. I don't. Some men think there's
going to be a great revival. I don't really see that. Our Lord said, when the Son of
Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? Revival, I don't know. I know this, the door is open.
The gospel is still being preached. The gospel is going out all over
the world. Our Lord said, when you see this, when the gospel
goes in all everywhere, the end's near. It's never been gone out
like it has now. What about this church, the church?
The church is doing fine. This church, will there be a
revival in our midst? I read Habakkuk 3 all the time.
I urge you to do so. Oh Lord, I've heard thy voice
and I was afraid. Oh Lord, revive us in the midst
of the year in wrath, remember mercy. I urge you to. Will the Lord
bring more sheep in here? Well, I don't know. I do know
this, the door is open. The gospel is still being preached
here. So I have great hope. I have great hope. Maybe I'm
just to be like the angel that, was it, Sardis who said, strengthen
the things that remain. Maybe that's it. That's what
I'm going to do. The gospel door is still open,
I'm hopeful. I know this, I know this, our
Lord said, he that hath, more will be given. Keep feeding it,
keep growing it, be it built up. Establish, strengthen, and
settle it. And he that hath not, be taken
away what he hath. Be taken away with the world
and be gone. Hold fast. Exhort one another. As you see the day approaching,
watch. You know what I'm hopeful for? I'm hopeful that there's
eight souls in here that's going to be saved. And I hope I'm one of them. I
hope you're one of them. I hope everybody in here is, and our
children, our grandchildren. But there was eight songs. Eight songs. Couldn't have heard a more vital
message than that. OK. Well, John, you come. Number
514. This is Jill Hogan's favorite song. 514. We're marching to
Zion. Stand with us.