Thank you. That is one of the most convicting
songs, hymns, in our book to me. But like our Lord's words
here to His disciples about denying Him and confessing Him and fearing
man and so forth. Very, very convicting. But I
need conviction. Don't you? I need chastening. If you don't get it, I'm not
one of His children. I need strong reproofs and rebukes. Strong. And I need the comfort,
too. I need the warnings. I need the
promises. I need them both. Thankfully,
the Lord gives them both here. Go back to Matthew 10. Matthew
10. Christ is speaking to his disciples.
Not just the twelve. Luke gives the account. And it
says that 70, those 70 that our Lord called were there also.
But it's not just them either. It's to us. It's to all His disciples,
all who follow the Lamb, as we saw. All who are disciples of
the Lord Jesus Christ who are called to go out into the world.
He said of all God's people, you're the light of the world.
You're the salt of the earth. I'm going to send you out into
the world. Remember when Christ prayed, he said, Father, I pray
not for these only, but all of them, those that shall believe
through their word. I pray not that you should take
them out of the world, but keep them from it, the evil. And he
sends all of his people, all believers. This is primarily
to believers, and I hope the Lord will use it for everyone. The Lord speaks of a sword. The Lord speaks of a cross. The Lord speaks of a reward.
The sword, the cross, and the reward. He was speaking to men
who knew Him. Men whom He revealed Himself
to. They wouldn't have known Him
if He hadn't come to them. If He hadn't chosen them and
revealed Himself to them. They knew Him. They loved Him.
They loved Him. They worshipped Him. They left
everything for Him. That's why, because the Lord
chose them, and they did. Yet, they're just men, and they're
fearful, and they're unlearned, and they're weak, and they're
helpless, and they're sinful, and they're defiled. And the
Lord, like the Father that He is, teaches them. He teaches them and teaches us.
And He tells them many things. And He warns them, He says in
verse 22, you shall be hated of all for My name's sake. His name is His honor. His name
is His glory. His name is who He is. His name
is what He did. And they were going to go out preaching,
as do we, declaring who God really is. In no uncertain term, but
giving a certain sound. Telling, declaring boldly and
loudly who God really is. Not trying to be God. He is God. Christ didn't come to try to
save. He came and He saved His people.
Christ is not a would-be Savior. He's a successful Savior. And
His namesake. That's who He is. That's what
He did. He said, You're going to be hated for My namesake, My honor,
My glory. Over in Korea right now, there's
a division. There's rumors of war between
North and South Korea. And you know what it's over?
It's over that I wrote his name, Kim Young, that leader that the
North says is the supreme ruler and they love him and they bow
to him and they think he's hung the moon, so to speak. That he's
everything to them. And the South says, we hate him.
We despise him. We won't bow to him. So they're
like this. They're ready to annihilate one
another. Well, you know what? You know the battle between God
and man is just that. And the battle between the people
of the world and God's people is just that. There's a lion
drawn in the sand by a sword. And the question is, who's on
the Lord's side? Who's in this for the glory of
God? Who really believes God and who
doesn't? Who's on the Lord's side? Here's the question of
all questions. And this is what our Lord asked
the Pharisees and everyone that asked Him all sorts of questions.
After he answered them and they could ask him no more questions,
he said, now here's the question. What think ye of Christ? And that's the question that
God poses to this whole universe, this whole world. He knows the
answer. He knows who's on His side because
He chose Him. He revealed Himself to Him. But
that's the question. What think ye of Christ? It's this thing of salvation.
Who does the saving? Who gets the glory? Who's on
whose side? Our Lord said, You will be hated.
You will be hated. Scripture says this, If any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him go to hell. And he will. He will. God's going to send
everybody to hell. that doesn't bow to and worship
and glorify His Son. That's why He made this universe
to the praise of the glory of His Son. Like the sun in the
sky, the universe revolves around it. Christ is the Son of Righteousness. Let everything He says that hath
breath praise Him and worship Him. I'll destroy you. Kiss the Son,
lest he be angry." That's the issue, isn't it? That's the issue.
And our Lord said, You will be hated by all men for My name's
sake. And you know, when Christ reveals
Himself to a person, that person loves Him. That person really
does worship the Lord. That person really does love
His honor and His glory. And they're zealous for His name.
They're zealous for His glory. They really are. David said this. It was a man after God's own
heart. David who knew the Lord Jesus Christ. David said, Lord,
he said, how long shall the adversary reproach and the enemy blaspheme
your name? David said, I can't take it anymore. He grew weary of hearing his
Lord's name taken in vain. What about you? He said, Lord,
they blaspheme your name. He said that two or three times.
And how much does the Scripture speak of the name of the Lord?
Those that fear His name. Those that make mention that
His name is exalted. This is how you know who is on
the Lord's side. And if you are zealous for His
name, The world who blasphemes it is going to hate you. You've
changed sides. Or rather, the Lord has put you
on the right side, His side. And the Lord spoke of a sword
here in our text of Matthew 10. He said, and you know, I wonder
who's heard this verse. I wonder how many people have
read this verse. How many so-called Christians today have read these
verses? We have. We're blessed, aren't we? We've
read them many times. But he said in verse 34, think
not that I am come to send peace on earth. I came not to send
peace, but a sword. I came to set a man at barrens.
I came to divide. He said, I came to separate fathers
and sons, mothers and daughters. How many people have read that?
What would they think of it if they did? Not a piece, but a
sword. I am come. Not to unite families,
not to draw them closer together, but to divide. And he said, a man's enemies,
when I come in, will be in his own house. It's amazing, isn't it? Now the
Lord, listen carefully, the Lord did not come to make enemies. The Lord did not come to make
enemies with one another. The Lord did not come to make
enemies, but He came to reconcile those who are His enemies. You don't understand that. He
came to reconcile, that is, make friendly those who were his enemies. He's not the enemy. That's why
he came. He's not the enemy. Man's the
enemy. Man's the enemy of God. The carnal
mind is enmity against God. Man's his own worst enemy. We
are our own worst enemy. And we'll bite and devour one
another because of this enmity that's in us. Why is there so
much war between races? Why can't black and white people
get along? Why can't Mexicans and black people get along? Why
can't North Korea and South Korea get along? Why can't China and
Vietnam? Why can't people get along? Why
can't they get along? Why can't there be peace in the
world? Why can't the world change? Let's change the world. You know,
like John Lennon said, let's give peace a chance. It doesn't stand a chance in
this world full of God-hating people, this world full of people
who are of their father the devil, who are led captive by the God
of this world, who is enmity against God, who hates God, who
hates peace, who hates holiness, who hates the truth, who hates
these things. And this hatred is in the minds
and the hearts of everybody by nature. We're full of hate. God
hates one another and will kill one another if God doesn't change
us. God doesn't do something for them. God doesn't have mercy
on them. We'll kill it. We'll wipe ourselves out if God doesn't do something. And the Scripture says, you were
children of wrath, even as others. Every person in there, beginning
with me, was children of wrath, even as others. You, He said,
were enemies in your own mind by wicked word. You were enemies
of God. You were enemies. But now, God has reconciled you
to Himself. As Scott said, God has made you
stack your guns, drop your sword, bow your knee, and realize, I
was an enemy. I should have been slain, but
He slew my Lord and stand. My, my. Behold what manner of
love the Father must show us, even while we were yet enemies." When the Lord reveals Himself
to a person, puts Christ in that person, they hated Christ. Christ
said, they hated Me. How could they hate the altogether
lovely Son of God? How could anybody hate the altogether
lovely Son of God, full of mercy and peace and gentle and harmless
and kind? Every good thing, they're full
of goodness. How could anybody hate Him? Well,
they all did. See, that's proof right there. True holiness came into this
world, and man hates holiness. Man hates it. Because he exposed their sin.
Our sin exposes it. Oh, but thank God, He reveals
to us our sin. And like He said, those that
want to do the truth, those that want to know the truth about
themselves, they come to the light that their deeds might
be made benefit. Show me. David said, Lord, search
me. See if there be any wicked way
in me. Create in me a clean heart. Renew within me a right spirit.
Cast me not away from Your presence. Make me a friend of yours like
Abraham. Reconcile me." So, we're all born that way in
the world. And when the Lord reveals Himself
to His people, and He puts Christ in them, He puts a Christ-like
person in them, then they're not of the world. And if you
were of the world, the world would love your own. But because
you're not, as I'm not, He said, they're going to hate you. He
says, don't marvel if they do. They hated me. But I'm just trying
to tell them the truth. I know. Christ couldn't lie. Your greatest friend has wanted
to tell you the truth. Absolute truth. Even if it cost
him. So he said, you'll become hated.
And the reason being is because they're goats and they're sheep.
They're sons of Satan and they're sons of God. All the way back
in Genesis 3, verse 15, you remember what it said there? The Lord
said to Satan, because you've done this, I'm going to put you
on your belly. And he said in verse 15, he said,
I'm going to make enmity between your seed And her seed. So there's a seed of Satan, and
there's a seed of the woman. A seed of Christ. And he said,
it's going to be him and them. Now, who's the enemy? Christ? No. God's people? No. If it wasn't for them, God would
have destroyed this place a long time ago. They're the friend. But the world's not our friend. And Christ said, I'm come to
send a sword, a variance, a sword of variance. You know what that
sword is? It says in Hebrews 4, let me
read it to you, it said that the Word of God is quick and
powerful and sharper, quick meaning life-giving, full of life, sharper
than any two-edged sword. And it will pierce. To dividing
asunder soul and spirit, Christ said, I've come to separate joints
of marrow. Those who were bone of bone and
flesh of flesh, I've come to separate them. Now, if He doesn't do this, if
He doesn't separate us from the world, if He doesn't separate
us from our sin, if He doesn't separate us, we're going to perish.
So this separation is salvation for His people. It leaves us not alone, but separates
us. That's what sanctification means,
set apart. And what does it is the Word
of God, and more specifically, God's Word is the Word of Truth.
This is what separates, the Word of Truth. The Word of Truth,
who the true God is. to the true Godhead, like the
brethren. The brethren, all of you, really have spoken to those
that you know and love, and neighbors and workers and so forth. The truth, it's the truth. You
know it's the truth, don't you? And you speak the truth to them,
and it divides them. You may have once been their
brother and sister or friend or whatever, and once the truth
is brought up, it brings division then. And that word is, the truth
is, who God is, who God really is. God's people are concerned
with that. The world doesn't care. We're
concerned with who God is, what He did, aren't we? Our salvation
depends on who God is. And God's glory, it's all about
His glory, and so are we. So God's people are about His
glory. And this sword of division is about who the true God is,
the truth of man. The truth of Christ. Christ said,
I'm the truth. And divides and separates. And
the sword, listen to me, the sword is a weapon. It's first
a weapon of offense. It's an offensive weapon. What
does the scripture say about the cross? It's the offense of
the cross. The truth is an offense to man. The Word of God is an offense
to man. Who God is and what Christ is
is an offense to religious man. But he needs offended. He needs
killed. This rebellious man, like Satan,
this free will man, needs killed. Sworn. He said, I killed. And
I make a lie, too, as you saw. We need first to be killed. No,
we need to be wounded. And then we need to be healed.
And then the Word of God comes. And this is the first thing it
does. It offends a person. Barnard used to say to young
preachers, he said, preach for a verdict. He said, preach in
such a way. Preach it so clear and so plain. Use great plainness of speech
so that men will either get mad or sad or glad. But let there
be no mistake about Who you're preaching, what you're saying,
an offense, a sword, a weapon of offense. Listen, the gospel
offends man's sense of his own sovereignty. The gospel, the
truth of God reigning and ruling, offends man's supposed sovereignty. Man thinks he's a free moral
agent. He's none of the three. He's
not free. He's not moral. Dead creature is what it is.
Dead sinner. And the Scriptures all the way
through from start to finish declares God reigns. God rules
over all. God in whose hands our breath
is. All our way. Who does as He will. That offends
man's supposed free will and so forth. Sovereign mercy. The
Gospel that says God is holy. God will by no means clear the
guilty. God must punish sin. God hates sin, loves righteousness,
and hates sin. Man is nothing but sin. Nothing
but sin. And God will punish sin. God
hateth all workers of iniquity. And the only hope for a sinner
before this holy God is that God will show them mercy. That God will, of His own free
will, that God of His own choice, will choose to show mercy. They
don't deserve it. They deserve wrath, but God in
his great mercy will show mercy. To whom he will show mercy. Mercy
is, of definition, sovereign. And that offends man's sense
of his own worth. Man doesn't think he needs mercy.
Man thinks God owes him a pat on the back or something. Oh
no, it's of the Lord's mercies that we're not concerned. That
offends me. The gospel, the truth of God's
sovereign grace, that by the grace of God we are what we are.
That we have what we have. That we know what we know. That
we can do what we can do. That everything we are and have
and ever will have and ever do is by the grace of God. Every
good and perfect gift comes down. Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom. Let not the strong man in his strength. The beautiful
woman in her beauty. The holy man or religious man
in his righteousness. He that glorieth must glory in
the Lord. Because we all received it from the Lord. Everything's
from the Lord. That offends man's sense of his
own ability and independence. I'm a self-made man, we like
to think. Yes, you sure are. Look what
you've made of yourself. The gospel of God's sovereign
choice and God's sovereign election, that God chooses whom He will. That depends on man's free will
or man's rights. Men think everybody deserves
a chance to be saved. No, they don't. Did you? Think about yourself. Did you
deserve a chance to be saved? What did the prodigal deserve
from the Father? What do rebels deserve? Judgment. Condemnation. But God. Sovereign election. Chose a people. It's a wonder. It's a mercy.
It's a miracle. It's a great grace that God chose
anybody. Jacob, you know, Esau may have
gotten mad that, you know, God loved Jacob, not himself, but
Jacob just amazed all his days that God loved him. He couldn't
understand why God would love him. Choose him, not over Esau. God's, the truth of God's sovereign
Holy Spirit. His Holy Spirit's sovereign.
Like the wind bloweth where he listeth. That offends man's free will. The truth of God's righteousness
imputed, charged to, imputed, righteous. Now, here's a publican,
even a better illustrator. Here's a thief who's never done
one good thing, never said one good word, never in his life
done anything but sin. a murderer, a robber, a worthless,
no-good, hell-deserving sinner hanging there. He deserves to
go to hell. Everybody knows it. He knows
it. And with a word, Jesus Christ said, righteous, holy, unblameable and unreprovable
in God's sight. He's going to go to heaven with
me. That offends self-righteous people. It doesn't offend sinners, does
it? The gospel is an offense. The gospel of sovereign revelation
that God must reveal the truth. We won't know it. We won't understand
it. We won't receive it. Man can receive nothing except
it be given him from above. The gospel of mercy received,
of grace received, of the truth revealed. Not figured out, but
revealed. Not come to a knowledge of the
doctrine of, but revealed miraculously, amazingly revealed to you. That
offends man's wisdom. He thinks he can figure it out.
He's full of confusion is what he is. That's all. Full of confusion. He doesn't have a clue until
God reveals the truth. That's offensive. And the point
is, who's getting the glory? And then the sword is a defensive
weapon. And we're set for the defense
of the gospel. The only thing we use to defend the arguments
and blasphemy of the world is, Thus saith the Lord. We don't
use the wisdom of this world. We don't argue with men according
to the wisdom of this world, but we do speak wisdom in a mystery,
the wisdom of God. And here's what we say, and it
will answer all charges, all arguments, the Word of the Lord,
just like our Lord did. Just use the Word as a defense. And our Lord said this sword
will separate like circumcision. Flesh, it will separate. Useless
flesh. Flesh and blood, it will separate.
It's the sword of circumcision. And that's what he does to our
heart with the Word, with Christ in us. Now look at verse 38.
At 37, the Lord said, He that loveth father or mother more
than Me is not worthy of Me. You see, what this is all about
is, that our Lord is speaking of here, is not defending doctrine,
but Christ. It's not a love for doctrine,
but it's a love for Him, His person. It's His glory and honor. Just like a woman would rise
up in defense of her husband who someone is degrading or dishonoring. Like Proverbs 31, the honorable
woman, the virtuous woman. Her husband's known in the streets
and she rises up and calls him blessed and speaking His glory
and His honor. That's how you know. That's how
you know the bride of Christ. They're not interested in her.
She's not interested in herself. She's not going about talking
about herself. She doesn't want people to see herself. You can
call her what you will. Yeah, call her a harlot. Go ahead,
call her you have a harlot. She won't deny it, but you better
not say anything about my wife. Huh? Yeah, call me what you will.
You can't say anything bad enough, but you watch what you say about
my husband. That's how you know. They love
me, Christ said. They love me. People who love
the church will soon fall out of love with the church. That
is an organization. You know, if you love Christ,
you love His people. You can't not do one not of the
other. But those people who love an
organization, they'll fall out of love with it. Those who love
a doctrine or denomination, they'll fall out of love with that. They'll
fall in love with something else. But those who love Christ, this
love is forever. And nothing and no one can separate
them from that love. That's how you know. Kelly, that's
how you know. This is the sword of barren.
He that loveth me. And you know how? And it's such
a miracle that a person will love Christ more than their own
flesh and blood. That's how miraculous it is.
That's how supernatural it is. It's spiritual. It's something,
man, you can't produce it. It's not something you do. It's
something that's done to you. God sheds abroad the love of
God in your heart. What's the love of God? It's
love for His Son. He loves His Son more than anyone
and anything. Why? He's altogether lovely. And God puts this love in the
hearts of His people for Christ, and they're like a bride that
just lives for Him. Yes! Sorry bride, sorry wife,
we're sorry we're unfaithful, but we do love you. Like Peter
said, I've denied you, I've denied you, but Lord, you know I love
you. You know I love you. Why? Because you put it there.
I didn't have it before. I have it now. Until you took
that sword out and said, don't anybody come near my Lord. And
the Lord commended him for it. He didn't rebuke him. He said,
just put up your sword. I could call 144,000 angels right
now. But you did well in defending
me, son. You're going to be called later
on to stand before a crowd, but right now, I've got to go to
the cross. Put your sword down. You know, this is the dividing
line. What think ye of Christ? Who are you in love with? Whose
glory is it? And this is how it's proven.
Any man Christ said loved anybody more than me. Say what you will, but you're
not mine. Well, that ought to cause us
to examine ourselves. Know ye not your own selves how
that Christ is in you, the love of Christ, except you be reprobate. Oh, Lord. That's why we say with
John Newton, Lord, if I have not loved thee before, let me
begin today. Because if any man doesn't love
him, God doesn't love him. It's going to be all over. And
when that happens, there will come a cross. A cross. Our Lord said in verse 38, He
that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me. And we've
looked at this so many times. And you know the cross is not,
you know, everybody talks about, I've got my cross to bear. And
they're talking about their troubles and so forth that they endure.
That's not what the Lord is speaking of. And He did say you must through
much tribulation enter the kingdom of heaven. Trials and tribulations
and so forth. But the cross that the Lord hung
on, the reason they hung the Lord on the cross, the reason
the Lord was crucified was for the truth's sake. They hated
Him and what He said and they put Him on a cross. We will not
have you reign over us. We're going to put you on a cross
and kill you. And when we take up the cross,
we take up the cross of Christ and Him crucified, the truth
as it is in the Lord Jesus Christ. We dare not glory in anything
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we are
crucified and the world is crucified up. We take up the cross, who
Christ is and what He did on that cross before this world.
that denies Him, that trods underfoot the blood of Christ. And we take
up the cross and say, this is man's only hope. This is the
truth of who God is, holy. This is the truth of what man
is, a rebel that hates God. This is the truth of what salvation
is, the mercy of God, the grace of God that's in Christ. The
blood of Jesus Christ is the only hope for a sinner. That's
man's only hope. Not what he does, but what Christ
did on that cross. We take up that cross and say
everything is of no value, worthless. If salvation comes by the law,
Christ died in vain. But by the deeds of the law,
no man will be justified before God. But everybody will be justified
one way. That's by Christ and Him crucified.
Everything else is vanity, religious vanity, unless it's all about
Christ and Him crucified. And we take up that cross in
the world, the religious world, and say, like they did about
Him, we won't have that. We like our righteousness. We
like our goodness. We like our will. We won't have
that. And if it were lawful, they'd
kill you too. They did. Put a lot of people
on the cross. They put Peter on the cross.
And that's the cross. That's the cross. Not our troubles
and trials, but it's the message of Christ crucified. And so when you wield that sword,
which is Christ, which is the truth, you wield that sword,
which is Christ, who He is and what He did. There'll be a cross
for you. Our Lord said, they hated me,
they'll hate you. The Lord said, for which good
work do you stumble? Why are you trying to kill him? Not a good work. But you're a
man, and you make yourself God. And all we're trying to do is
like that woman at the well, go around saying, come see a
man. He's not this God. This is the Christ. And our Lord said, they'll kill
you. Put you on the cross. Take it up. If you don't, He
that finds his life, verse 39, will lose it. Find your place
in this world. Find your niche. Find the reputation
of the world, the friendship of the world. It's the enemy
of God. But, buddy, he that will be the
enemy of the world and lose his life for Christ's sake, lay down
his life, who doesn't care about anymore or anything more than
Christ, you're going to find it. You're going to find it. You're going to find life. You're
going to find that. Like the blind
man in John 9. Remember, the Lord opened his
eyes somewhat and he began to talk about the Lord and they
began to hate him. The Lord just opened his eyes,
you know, and he began to say This is of God. How can a man
do this if he's not of God? I didn't do this. He did it to
me. And they began to hate him for it. Why? His eyes opened.
Well, they said, You're a sinner. And they said, We're kicking
you out of church. And they did. Kicked him out. Blackballed him.
Excommunicated him. And everybody forsook him. He
lost everybody. He's standing alone. You know
what happened? The Lord Himself came up to him. It revealed Himself to them.
It said, you don't need to worry. You don't need to be in their
crowd. All you need is Me. That brings me to the next thing.
A reward. A reward. The reward. Look at verse 42. He that receiveth you, receiveth
Me. And he that receiveth Me, receiveth
him that sent me. He that receiveth a prophet in
the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet's reward. He that receiveth
a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive
a righteous man's reward. He that receiveth you receiveth
me, Christ said. He sent these disciples out,
and they were still men, and they were still sinful men, and
they still had their own personalities. They did. And they sent them
out, but buddy, they were sent. They were God's men. And they
were a gift. If you'd ask them, they'd say,
if you'd ask Peter, are you God's gift to people? Are you kidding
me? Let's talk about John. I think
John is. If you'd ask John, John would
say, me? Oh, what Bartholomew is. Now,
he's a good preacher. Bartholomew, he's a gifted man.
Oh, the Lord sent him. What a wonderful man. Bartholomew,
you God's gifted man. I'm worse than that. I'm less
than that. I'm not fit to be called a disciple.
Matthew, I'm a publican. Don't talk about me. But they
were. All of them. To a man. Gift. A gift. And our Lord said, He
said, if they receive you, they'll receive me. If they hear from me, they will
hear through you. And they're not going to hear you, they're
not going to hear from me. Oh my, my, my. Let me receive a prophet. In
the name of a prophet, receive a prophet's reward. A righteous
man, a believer. Every believer. There were 70
men. They weren't just apostles, but they were just 70 others
sent out to preach. If the world won't hear you,
they won't hear from God. You're in His witness. And He says they'll receive a
reward. You notice, and I quit with you,
you notice it says reward, singular. Singular, not plural. When it
speaks of what God's people receive in the end, what they receive
in glory, it's always singular. Reward. Not rewards. Reward. One thing. Everybody gets one
thing. Needful. All the people of God
get one thing needful. One thing. Everything is wrapped
up in one thing. All we need, all the happiness,
all the peace, all the joy, all the righteousness, wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption. It's all wrapped up in one person. He says, you get him. He said
to Abraham, Abram was distraught. He's still traveling in tents
and Sarah's distraught. And Sarah said, when are you
going to build me a nice home, Abraham? I'm tired of traveling
around in tents. Would you build me something?
Abraham said, honey, you know we're just strangers and pilgrims
here. We're looking for a city. God
said we're going to dwell in tents all the days of our life,
but we're looking for A city whose builder's maker is God. And she said, oh, I want a place
to settle down. Oh, we're going to be, soon.
And then he peeled to the Lord, Lord, we've left everything. Here we are traveling a hundred
and some years old. What are we going to get? Peter said that too. Lord, we've
left everything and followed you. What are we going to get? Well, Abram, I've given the people
in Sodom, I've given them Sodom. Abram, I've given the people
in the city of the plains, I've given them the well-watered plains,
seemingly the paradise, the finest place to live, wonderful climate,
the best that this world has. I've given them this world. Abram,
you get me. Done enough? Because what they've
got is all going to perish. Fade away. And they're going
to perish with it. Statement? He that liveth and
believeth in me will never perish. Can you believe that? And your
eyes haven't seen, and you walk by faith. Not by sight. But your
eyes haven't seen and your ears haven't heard, neither have entered
into your heart right now. You wouldn't be asking that.
But it hasn't entered into your heart the things that I have
prepared for them that love me. Now, you just wait. The former
things will not be remembered or come to mind for the glory
which shall be revealed to you. You're going to say, why did
I want dung? Why did I fret and fuss about
garbage? Look at who I have. And all this
stuff that goes with it. I am your reward. It's like,
again, like a woman getting married, you know. She's coming down that
aisle. And if she has her eyes on his dowry, if she has her
eyes on his riches, that wasn't our case, was it, Mindy? Mindy
had more money saved up than I did. She bought her dryer,
washer and dryer and everything. And you know what I was blowing
my money on? Her! You went out to eat and,
you know, I'm courting her. Blew it off. No, it's not your
fault. I should have been saving. Should
have been saving. A ring, a diamond. Anyway, she
had more money. She didn't marry me for the money.
That's for sure. Her looks. The bride of Christ. The bride
eyes not her garment, but her dear bridegroom's face. She's
coming down that aisle, and we're going to come down that aisle
someday with our eyes fixed on Him. Can you believe it? Can you believe that He said,
I will? Can you believe when asked if
He accepts me, He said, I do. Can you believe that He had this
forlorn woman like me? This ugly-eyed black woman, this
mole-bite woman, can you believe that our great Boaz chose me
over all these maidens out there? Can you believe it? That's what this is all about,
you see. Fall in love with Him. And if you have to live in a
trailer park, it's okay. For a while, you love Him, right? You're just happy to be with
Him. I am your reward. Is that good
enough? Oh, my, yes, more than enough. Okay, let's stand, let's sing
and stand in number, I forgot. You got the number, John? 411.
411? 411. Okay, 411. Let's all stand. You need stamps on this.