Right, go back to Romans chapter
8 with me, Romans chapter 8, which Brother Wesley read a portion
of, Romans 8. And read one verse with me again,
Romans 8 verse 20. Apostle Paul writes for the creature
Creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly or of its
own fault, but by reason of Him, God, who had subjected the same
in hope. And then he goes on to say, we
are saved by this hope. So that is subject. subject to
vanity and saved by hope. And what I hope that we will
see in this message from God's Word is, first of all, the utter
vanity, which means emptiness. utter vanity of everything that
has to do with this material world, the scriptures calls it
flesh, that it is hopeless, hopeless to try and find any real lasting
anything, joy, peace, happiness, contentment in any person, place,
or thing on the earth, that all is vanity. And then secondly,
what I hope we will see is that we will all see our only hope
is in God, in God's Word, God's Son. Now, he said in verse twenty,
the creature or the creation was made subject to vanity, according
to or by reason of him who did this according to his will. Would
you go back with me to the book of Ecclesiastes? Ecclesiastes,
right after Proverbs. Proverbs was also written by
this same man, Solomon. Solomon is the writer of whom
the Lord used to pen this. And he is called the wisest man
on earth at that time. For 4,000 years, he was the wisest
man until a greater than Solomon came, the one of whom Solomon
wrote. Well, Solomon was granted wisdom. You remember the story how he
asked the Lord, the Lord granted him whatever he wanted. And he asked for wisdom. So the
Lord gave him wisdom. Scripture says far above any
other. There was none like him before
or after, until, as we said, Christ came. He wrote 3,000 proverbs. Any one of which is marvelous
in its wisdom, isn't it? The Lord inspired him. He wrote
a thousand and five songs. Those of you who try to do a
little songwriting. And his weren't failures. They
were all wonderful songs. And it says that all the kings
of the earth, even the rulers, the leaders of the earth from
all over who themselves were somewhat wise, they came to hear
this man. That's how wise he was. The book
of Ecclesiastes is his life experience. Look at Ecclesiastes 1. He is
writing in this book of his life's experience. In verse 1, it began. Now, the title, as you'll note,
is Ecclesiastes or The Preacher. Not the king, which he was, but
the preacher. The words of the preacher capital
P. You see that son of David king. Small K. In Jerusalem he at that
time was king over the greatest kingdom on earth at that time
yet. He he put more emphasis on the
office of preaching than ruling the kingdom. See that? Wisely he did so, because his
little kingdom would end, wouldn't it? It would end. It would all
come to naught. And we see that in the scriptures
very clearly, how that little kingdom was just divided shortly
after Solomon, divided into little splinters, and it came to naught.
But words of the preacher, capital P. being the words of God that's
what preacher means a declarer one who sets forth the word of
God not his own opinion but simply. Thus saying. And he so he said
that in verse twelve I the preacher. Capital pay it magnifies his
office that was king small. And Paul, later on, wrote an
article in the Bulletin this morning about the brilliant man,
Paul the Apostle. He said, the world calls this,
what we are doing, foolishness. What the world calls foolishness,
this thing of preaching, a man standing up declaring God's Word
is called foolishness. And granted, there are many,
so very many, fools who are called preachers out there, and for
that reason I'm ashamed to be associated with these fellows. But what we are doing here is
not foolish, and it is not vain. As Moses said, these words are
not vain. This is not empty. In fact, it's
the only thing of any substance at all. The wisest man on earth,
Solomon, was a preacher. And then, as we said, some thousand
or so years later, another man walked this planet, Jesus of
Nazareth, the Christ, the son of the living God. And he said,
let us go into the next town to preach, for that's why I'm
sent, he said. God had one son, begotten son. And he was a pretty. Capital. So I the preacher he said the
words of the preacher and here are his first word. Verse two. His first words verse two. Vanity. All vanity say if the preacher
vanity of vanity he repeats it in case we didn't get it the
first time. All is vanity. Now, as we said, the word vanity
simply means empty. Empty means there's nothing in
it, nothing to it. If you're looking for something,
you won't find it. Empty. Whatever you look to find
in anything in this world, be it peace, joy, happiness, contentment,
you won't find it in anything. or anyone in this world it is
empty the word vanity means temporary the word vanity means temporary. Fleeting another word look this
up in Webster's dictionary fleeting fleeting means something that's
rapidly leaving. Rapidly fleeting. We read. Brother Mahan read in James chapter
four verse fourteen I believe it is. What is your life? But a vapor is here for a little
while, and like the morning fog, it's gone. Vanity, fleeting,
perishing. It won't last. It won't last. All perishes, doesn't it? Change and decay in all around
us. Fleeting, it won't last. The
word vanity also means unsatisfactory. unsatisfactory, there's nothing
and no one of which you may say after you've obtained it or them. Of which you may say, I have
found what I'm looking for, I need nothing more. Isn't that right? You see it all around you, you
know it from experience that there's nothing that completely
satisfied. This is why. It's never enough,
whatever it may be. Now, the Lord had Solomon write
his experience down and prove this experience through his life. And he writes, he writes of what
all he tried. If we were wise, we would read
it and not have to make the same mistakes that he did, that we
would learn from his experience. He wrote of mirth. If you read
this, you You know that he wrote of murk he said I tried murk
in other words laughter. I tried just you know don't worry
be happy. That's vanity. That's vanity
murk laughter pleasure he said I tried pleasure any and all
forms of pleasure I tried it it's not enough. I don't know
entertainment. Whatever it was that would entertain
the flesh, he said, I tried music. He tried music. He said, I've
gotten musicians. And I bet he came up with the
best musicians that there were on earth. Didn't that satisfy
me, he said. I don't know. I don't know. He tried farming, it says. He was a wine grower, a vintner
and a wine grower and a farmer and so for rural life, he tried
that the peaceful country life and he tried city life. He tried
riches. He said, I get me great riches,
swimming pools, vast mansions and so forth. He said, I tried
worldly wisdom and philosophy. I debated with all the philosophers
of the world. He said, I got them together
and we all debated thing. He said, when it was all over.
Look at chapter 12. Chapter twelve he ends as he
began. Look at chapter twelve he ends
this whole life experience with the same words which he began
in verse eight. He says vanity of vanity say
the preacher. Oh yes it doesn't matter what
it is it's empty it's temporary. and it's unsatisfactory. All
is empty. We cannot be filled with emptiness. Listen to what he said. He said,
all the rivers run into the sea, but the sea is not full. That
was one of his proverbs. What great wisdom there is in
that one line. All the rivers run into the sea,
but it's not full, is it? And so he said, all in this life
is full of labor, full of labor. Everyone is working so hard to
get what? He says the eye is not filled
or satisfied with seeing. He said the ear is not filled
with hearing. He said all the labor of man
is for his mouth, but the appetite is not filled. And he said, worse
than that, our Lord said this, it just goes out in the draft.
You lose whatever it is that you fill up with. You lose it. Look back at chapter one, he
said, I've seen it all. Solomon did. Many people say
that, been there, done that. Well, they haven't, but he had.
He did. He said, I've seen it all. Verse fourteen, I've seen all
the works that are done in the sun. He was king, he could say
this, he could go anywhere and have anything, do anything. He
said, behold, verse fourteen, all is vanity and vexation of
spirit. Vexation. Vexation. In one place over in
chapter two, he said, I hated life. He said, I hated life. Every
work, he said, is just vexation. He said, I hated all my labor
that I'd taken under the sun. Why? Because I'm going to leave
it to somebody else. Maybe a foolish son or somebody. And he did, didn't he? Rehoboam? Jeroboam. I get them mixed up.
Whichever one was his son. And he blew it. Blew it all in. So he said, it's all vexation
of spirit. And here's the thing. And here's
what he said. In conclusion, he said the reason
for all of this vanity is because everything and everyone dies. All die. So it's hopeless. hopeless to find any lasting
anything of lasting value. Satisfaction peace or joy or
contentment in things that die. Or is it hopeless. Go back to
our text now Romans 8. What should we do then give up
let's just lay down and die. You know, Paul wrote this in
1 Corinthians 15, didn't he? He said, if in this life only, he said, if, if our hope, we
have hope in Christ, we have hope in God, God's word. And
I'm giving my message away here. But he said, if, if all our hope
is in someone who's just dead. Jesus Christ, if he if he did
not rise from the grave, if that man was an imposter and they
put his body in the ground and it stayed there and never came
out. If our hope is in the greatest hopes perpetrated on the human
race called the Bible. And all of the if that's our
hope in this life and we placed all our future and everything
in this hope were of all men most miserable. He said, he said,
why don't we just eat and drink live life to its fullest because
tomorrow we die. He said. But then Paul went on to say. Christ is risen. We do have hope. Not a wish, a wish on a rabbit's
foot, you know, not just a mere desire for something. We have
no basis, but he said we do have hope, a sure hope, a good hope.
In Romans eight. Here in our text now, Solomon
went on to write in that book of Ecclesiastes, we went through
it verse by verse, do you remember? I don't know how many years ago
we went verse by verse through the book of Ecclesiastes and
for our young people's sake. to keep them from living in total
despair, you know, or keep them from thinking that this material
world or the things in it are evil in themselves. The Bible
doesn't teach that. Our Lord didn't say that. The
Lord said there's nothing, no thing unclean of itself. Our Lord said, God giveth us
richly all things to enjoy, just like a father with his children.
There's nothing evil in any thing. That's what the Lord said. And
Solomon, the Lord had him continue to write. He said, eat, drink,
then enjoy the labors of your hand. Then. Since the gift of
God, remember, though, he said, don't forget this. Who gave it
to you, the gift of God. He says, live joyfully with a
wife of your youth. Listen, he said, live joyfully
with a wife of your youth, all the days of the life of your
vanity. All your vain life, go ahead
and live it. But remember. It won't last. It won't last. So don't seek
any, don't place all your hopes in things that don't last. foolish
and. And you know our Lord didn't
our Lord is the one who instituted these things who gave the first
man he gave him a wife marriage is a good thing. It's a good
thing and marriage is honorable scripture says a good thing friends
are wonderful to have wonderful what would life be without grant
work is a good thing yes it is. These things are not worthless.
Scripture doesn't say these things are worthless, but vanity, empty,
doesn't say there are no value, doesn't say that, but simply
they're temporary and they won't satisfy. So he says, go ahead, enjoy these
things, but consider when it's all over. And Job wrote this
long before Solomon, the oldest book in this Bible, Job wrote
In the time of prosperity and the time of adversity, consider
that God had set the one against the other to this end, to this
purpose, to learn this lesson, that you'll find nothing after
you. When it's all over, there's nothing. And so the creature was made
subject to vanity. by reason of God and verse twenty
said, but. It's not hopeless. But God, verse
twenty, had subjected the same. In hope. And he went on to say, we are
saved by hope now in verse twenty four was saved by hope of this
thing of hope, the word hope means. a desire accompanied with
an expected in. That's what hope me hope means
you have a desire for something and you believe that you will
obtain it. You expect you hope you expect
you wait to obtain that which you earnestly desire. That's
what hope me and God has given us hope. Not in this life only,
Paul said, but hope of, and he wrote to Young Titus, he said,
God, he said, I'm a preacher. Paul said, I'm a preacher of
this gospel, which is our hope of eternal life. Eternal life, which God, that
cannot lie, had promised before the world began. God gave this
creature hope before it was ever hopeless, before the world began. Hope, Paul says, hope of eternal
life, the life of God. That's God is eternal. The life
of God, hope of life without end, without cessation, life
more abundant, no end of this. Scripture talks about, uh, uh,
Joy unspeakable and full of glory without end. Without end. Hope of eternal
life, which God promised and which Jesus Christ, who is our
hope, who is truth personified. He said, I'm the truth. He said. And all of our hope, and I'm
getting way ahead of myself now, but all of our hope. is in that
man who walked this planet. He said, he that liveth and believeth
in me shall never die. Now either he's the greatest
liar who ever lived or he's God. I believe he's God. don't you.
Not a god, the god, the son of God, the only begotten son of
God. And this hope that we have in
him, this hope of eternal life, scriptures calls it fullness
of joy, fullness, I mean real joy and satisfaction. fullness,
not emptiness, not a vain hope, but fullness of joy. Scripture
called it peace that no one will take from you, that nothing can
end. Peace, rest, in peace, eternal,
R-I-P, eternal rest, without end, fullness. Why? Because John, all fullness
is in him. He's not vain, nothing he ever
said was vain. And he put, he showed the other
vanity of everything that everyone had to say and ask him. They
came to him with every conceivable question. All the doctors and
lawyers and wise men of the day came to him and asked him this
question and that question, trying to trip him up, trying to prove
him wrong. And when it was all over, it
says they all left him and nobody asked him any more questions.
After he asked them a question which they could not answer concerning
himself. They couldn't answer and they
all left. So go back to Psalm 42 with Psalm
42. As I said, this message, I hope,
I hope it will be that you will say that our only hope is in
him and you, your hope will be strengthened. Psalm 42. Now I'm
speaking to those now who desire like Paul. Paul said, one thing
have I desired. David said that, didn't he? One
thing is needful and that's what I'll seek after. One thing have
I desired, Paul said, that I might know him. that I might win Christ
and be found in him. To those who desire like Paul,
to those who have this want, this need, this desire, this
hope. And we hope in God's mercy, we
hope for pardon, we hope for forgiveness of sin, we hope for
someday freedom from this bondage of corruption it talks about
here, from guilt, freedom from this world. For yourselves, you
hope for yourselves, you hope for your children. Don't you
want your children to have all of this, your friends and so
forth? There's hope. There's hope. David is the writer
of this song. David, who was Solomon's father,
where do you think Solomon got some of his wisdom? Where do
you think he got much of his wisdom? By observing his wise
father. What God said of David, God chose
David as his king of Israel. And he said, that's a man after
my own heart. So Solomon got much of his wisdom
from David and David was a man. David was a man like us. David
was a husband. David was a father. David was
a brother. David was a citizen in his, uh,
uh, in his country. David was living this life of
vanity like we are. His life of vanity and vexation. David dealt with his own inward
struggles with sin and so forth. David dealt with trouble after
trouble after trouble. He said, man that is born a woman
is a few days and full of trouble. David knew nothing but trouble. David was, his life was filled
with trial after trial, trials at home, his family, his wives,
his, his, his, in the, in the communities. He had money troubles. He was on the run. He was without
money, living in a cave. Trouble after trouble. David
feared for his life. He feared for the life of his
family. One time his whole family was taken captive. He feared for his future, the
future of his country. What if the economy collapses?
It did. David was up. David was down.
David was wise. David was a fool. David was upright. David was fallen. David was happy. David was sad. A man like us
live in this life of vanity. And throughout the Psalms, David
pours out his heart to God about his troubles. And thank God he
did write these things down. They're written for our learning.
And David said here in Psalm 42, look at verse three. He says,
my tears have been my meat day and night. What another place?
He said, I watered my pillow with my tear. Anybody been there?
What over the utter hopelessness and despair and trouble, sin,
the world And they're asking me, verse
three, where is your God? You believe in God, David? Where
is he now? Look at you. If God were God,
why would you be in this mess? And he said in verse four, when
I remember these things, where are you going to turn, David?
I pour out my soul in me. I've gone. And here is what he
said. I went with the multitude. I went with them to the house
of God. Sounds like Psalm 73, doesn't it? Yeah, I went. I was in trouble, so I went with
God's people to the house of God to look at the word of God
and with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that
kept the holy day. And here's what I concluded.
Why art thou cast down within me? O my soul, why art thou cast
down? Why are you disquieted and troubled
in me? Hope thou in God. Hope thou in God. In other words,
hope that God is God. Believe and place all your hope
in God, who is God. David said, My God. Isaiah said beside him, there
is none else. God is God. Hope now in God,
the sovereign God. There is no other, is there?
If he's God, capital G, he has to be sovereign by virtue or
by the very definition of the name. Means absolute absolute without rival controller of all
omnipotent. That's all powerful, reigning,
ruling, working, all things, all things. Here in this chapter
of Romans 8, he says, we know, now we know that all things work
together, don't they? Who's working? If they're working
together, someone has to be working. All things work together for
good to them that love God, who are the called according to his
infinite purpose. He who worketh all things after
the counsel of his own infinite will and purpose and design.
God is God, reigning, ruling, working all things according
to this infinite wisdom. I told you about that story of
David losing his family. There's a town called Ziklag.
He was on the run from his son Absalom. You're talking about
family trouble. His son wanted him dead. His
son wanted his kingdom. David took his family and ran,
and he ended up in a little town called Ziklag, a little country
town. Well, while David was out hunting or doing something, oh,
he was out to battle or whatever, He says the Philistines came
down and took all of his children, his wives, and took them captivity
and went away. And when David came home and
they burned all his earthly belongings up, they burned everything to
the ground and took everything he owned. And he came back to
Ziklag and he found everything he owned was gone. All his earthly
possessions, all his money, he had no money. Zero. No possessions that zero. No
family stand. No friends, man. It's all gone. What's he going to do? You know what scripture said. After he wept until he had no
more power to weep, scripture said. And all the people with
him, the men with him, they lost their families too. And says
they all wept until they had no more power to win. That's
human. But then it says David encouraged
himself in the Lord, his God. Who did this? The Philistines.
Yes, they were the means. But God did this. For reasons
known only to him, and he'd give if not an account of his matters
to any man. That's why he's God. He said God hath done this. for a reason, for a purpose.
And he's my next point. He's too good to do evil by his
people. It's got to be good, though I
don't see it, though I don't understand it. He encouraged
himself. Why did God do that? I don't
know right now. But, but, but, but, but, but. God's ways are past finding out,
Scripture says. Can a man by searching find out
God under perfection? No, if you could, he wouldn't
be God. You wouldn't. Our God is too good, Scripture
said. David encouraged himself. His
hope was in his God who did this. So he used me. God is good. Abraham
was worried about his nephew Lot down in Sodom. God said,
I'm going to destroy that place. Fairytale? No. But he came down
there and he was worried about his son and his friends there
and he said, here's what he said. Abraham said, shall not the judge
of the earth do right? Yes, every time. Because God
is righteous. God is just in all his way and
good. Scripture says he's good to all
who call on him. He's good to all. His tender
mercies, the psalmist said, are over all his works. His rain
falls on the unjust as well as the just. A man's out there plowing
his field, which God Almighty sent the rain, and grows his
crops, yet he doesn't give God a thought. Yet God keeps the
rain coming. Now hold him accountable for that. He's good. His tender mercies are over all
his work. He's good. He's a good God. He
says, I called, but you refused. So, he says to some in Proverbs,
there's going to be a day you call. And I refuse. But he's good. To all that call
on him, whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord. What's
that name? Jehovah. There's one God. Jesus Christ. Call on the name. God is good.
And here's why we hope in our God, because unlike this changing
world, He never changes. Oh, John Davis,
as you're enjoying this, happy as he that hath the God of Jacob
for his help. Because he said, I am the God
of Jacob, and therefore I change not. And so you're not concerned. You'll not be concerned. Whatever
I promised you, I'll do it. I don't change. God doesn't change.
Whatever he says is forever. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. Whatever he does, David wrote,
what God does shall be forever. Whatever he promises. Oh, the
Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men are.
Oh, no. Whatever he promises, it will
come to pass. It will. God is faithful. God is merciful. God is merciful. God is merciful. Scripture says,
listen to it. Listen to Scripture. It says
he delights to show mercy. He delights in it. Our greatest need, Kelly, says
God just loves to show it. Isn't that wonderful? He delights
to show it. He says he takes pleasure. and
them that fear him, and them that hope in his mercy. He takes
pleasure in them that hope in his mercy. I can do that. It says he doesn't take pleasure
in the legs of a man, the strength of a man, the wisdom of a man,
the works of a man, and so forth. He says he takes pleasure in
them that merely, the weak, the poor, the meek, that hope in
his mercy, that look to him for all things. He loves that. It
takes pleasure in it. Isn't that good news? It takes
pleasure, because we know it or not, we are helpless and hopeless
in ourselves. The longer I live, the less hope
I have in anything I know and do. Tell me, you who talk about hoping
in his mercy, when you first heard this Gospel, this gospel
of sovereign mercy. I will have mercy on whom I went. Sovereign mercy. You came with
your guilt. All your hope. All your hope
was in God's sovereign mercy. All your hope. Of forgiveness
of sins and and. The joy and peace and eternal
life was in God's sovereign mercy, wasn't it? Well, you haven't
changed. You're still a sinner. Still
in need of the same. And God hasn't changed you. So your hope hasn't changed,
has it? So keep your hope right there. Hope thou in God. We're still helpless. And he
still delights to show mercy. Well, how long does it last? How many times did David write
in Scripture, his mercy endures ever, he's rich in mercy, rich,
he has much of it. Our God, hope thou in God, our
God is a God of all grace, hope thou in his grace, by grace are
you saved. It'll be by the grace of God,
that means a gift, an absolute gift, bestowal, not a cooperative
effort. Not if you do this, God. No,
no, no, no. It's completely, 100% by grace. You're kept by grace. You'll
be restrained from evil by grace. You'll be constrained to good
by His grace. Faith is by grace. All of these
things are by grace. Everything is a gift of God.
And He's the God of all grace. And the Scripture said, just
give it. And give it. And give it more
grace. God of all great. So, if your
hope is in God, you've got a good hope through grace, through grace. It's a good hope. He's the God
of all great. Hope thou in God. The world hopes
in man, don't they? They really do. All their hopes
are in man, that man will somehow improve. A man wrote a song recently,
a man named John wrote a song that captured the world, waiting
on the world to change. It's a catchy little tune. I
caught myself singing it at the time. He's waiting on the world
to change for the better. He's got to wait a long time,
because it's not going to happen. The hopes are that man is going
to pull himself up out of the muck and the mire by his bootstrap.
That hope is in the basic goodness of man. That's a vain hope, isn't
it? Because this book says there's
none good, no, not one. He says there's not a just man
on the earth that doeth good and saith not one. A fellow before him, forty or so
years before that, named John. wrote a catchy little tune, I
catch myself singing that. He imagined that there was no
heaven. He was imagining there was no hell. He was imagining
there's no this, no that, people living in peace. It's not going
to happen. Jesus Christ said, as long as
this world exists, there'll be wars and rumors of war. Why? Because he said there's none
good but God. And Paul wrote God deliver us
from this present evil world. I'm thankful for medical strides
and technology and all that, but are we better off? Are we
really? That's a vain hope. Have hope
in God. The unchanging God. And as I
said, this is not a mere wish, and here's what we hope. Psalm
119. Psalm 119. I've got to hurry. Psalm 119. See, our hope is not just a wish. People have hope in this world.
Oh, I hope it turns out right, all right. I hope everything
turns out all right. I'm going here and going there. I sure
hope I get there. That's a wish, isn't it? That's
a mere wish. That's not our hope. See, our
hope is grounded on something. Our hope is based upon something.
All our hope is because God wrote a book. So how do you know. David wrote this well God wrote
through David Psalm 119 the whole chapter long long long long chapter
hundred and seventy six verses every verse. Every single verse
alludes to or speaks of the word of God. This is the psalm about
the Word of God. He wrote this book about this
book you have in your lap. That all our hope is found in
what God has written. Not opinions, not theories, not
this and that and the other, that changes. It all changes,
doesn't it? What is fact, man thinks is fact
today, he will completely renounce tomorrow. This book. This book began to
be written or penned dictation was taken thirty five hundred
years ago thirty five hundred years where the books were reading
today thirty five hundred years ago the last entry in this book
fifteen. Hope now in God. and hope in God's Word. Look
at David in Psalm 119, verse 49. He says, Lord, remember the
Word. Bring to mind, bring to memory,
call to my remembrance the Word unto thy servant, upon which
thou hast caused me to hope. We have hope because thus saith
the Lord. How firm of foundation these
saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word. What more can he say to you than
he hath said to you who to Jesus Christ for refuge have fled? There's nothing more needs to
be said. The hope of every believer, hope
in God, is because of God's word founded on God's word. Have we
not seen time and time again that this is indeed God's word? God doesn't prove himself to
anyone until he gives simple childlike faith. Once he gives
this simple childlike faith. Then he begins to prove himself
in this work. Have you not seen time and time
again God's word fulfilled. Everything men do and say is
already written. They're merely fulfilling exactly. The greatest example of all is
when Jesus Christ was put on that cross. It was as if someone
stood over to the side and said, it says here in Psalm 22, pluck
out his beard. It says over here that you're
to strip his clothes and divide them among one another. And Isaiah,
it says over here, it says if someone was over to the side
saying, now here's what we're supposed to do next. Why? Because the one hanging
there wrote the book. And though he was hanging there
seemingly in weakness and helplessness, he was controlling the whole
thing. He's called. the word make flesh. Isn't it marvelous? Remember, he said, bring this
to mind, thy word. When all is said and done about
me, bring your word back to my memory, and then I will scoff
and I will laugh at the foolishness of this world. Hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? That's what Paul wrote. We see
it clearly. Have you not seen? That all what
he said, all that God says in this book is true. Everything truly that he has
said. And you've experienced it, if
you've experienced it. Have you not felt its power?
You know, this is called the power of God. The old saying
is, the pen is mightier than the sword. Well, that's true.
David, who himself wrote, he said, thy word is like a sword,
and it's a pen, it's both. He's called the word of his power,
one word from God. Saul of Tarsus, that fellow who
was going around the world trying to put an end to this heresy,
this way that everybody was. Saul of Tarsus, you know, went
around the world and he was one of God's chosen. And so Jesus
Christ put him in the dust. And here's what he said, Saul,
it's hard to kick against this prison. David said the arrows of the
Lord are sharp, sharp. So, I'll never believe that. Yes, you will. The word of his
power is called it. The power that you felt. The
power that God used upon you. Someone said of you. Someone
said of me. He's hopeless. You'll never convince
him of anything. Well, who did? Is it hopeless with man? It's
impossible. Talk to you blue, use all the reasoning possible.
One word from God. That's right. One word. Have you not seen his promises
fulfilled? So, we hope in God. We hope in God's Word. Finally, and I need thirty more
minutes, but I'm not going to take it. Our hope is in God's
Son. As I said, as Scripture said,
the Son of God is come. This was the last verse that
he quoted on Wednesday night. We know that the Son of God is
come. Yes, the only image of God, the
only bodily manifestation of God, who is Spirit, walked this
planet. His name was Jesus of Nazareth, called the Christ.
he is come and given us an understanding that we might know him that is
true. We know him. How do you know he's a person
he has to reveal himself to you? How do you know anybody except
they revealed himself to you? If he's a person, then he has
to reveal himself to you. The woman at the well one time
said this. She said she was talking to the
man whom she knew was a prophet, Jesus. And she said, well, when
Messiah has come, when Messiah, she believed there was a Messiah,
a deliverer, a savior, one who knew all, that prophet of whom
Moses wrote. When he has come, we're waiting
on him. And when he has come, he'll tell
us all things. And Jesus Christ went. I met
him. You've just met him. He says
she dropped her water pot. She dropped everything and went
running. He's here. Philip said, Philip. He said, Lord, show us the Father. Show us God. One glimpse of God. Show us some great Great vision
of God. Show us the Father and we'll
be happy. He said, fill up. Have I been so long time with
you and yet you've not known me? He that hath seen me hath
seen the Father. We believe and are sure that
he is the Son of God who came. to put away sin by the sacrifice. That's our, that's our problem.
That's why this place is called an evil world. Old fashioned
as it sounds, that's the reason. It's inherited and he came to
do away with it, deliver from this bondage of corruption. He
came to redeem a people. He came to deliver them. He came
and he lived not just as an example, but as a substitute. He died
And yes, as a sin payment, his blood, his death, the soul that
sinned, he died. That's what he did. But he didn't
stay dead. He rose. And Scripture says he's
seated right now, reigning and ruling over this whole mess.
It looks like a mess to us. It's under control. Because we hope in God, we hope
in his word, which reveals this purpose, purpose of God. He's
bounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known
unto us the mystery of his will. What is that? To gather together
in one all things in his firstborn, first begotten, well-beloved
son in whom he's well pleased, that they all be just like him
and create a new heaven and a new earth. Fairytale? No. Bible,
God's Word. A new heaven, a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness. No sin. Everybody's just like
Jesus Christ. That's not a mere, I wish, I
hope. It's built on something, built on something. Listen to
this. I'll close with this verse. This is just wonderful. Would
you listen carefully? He said, God willing more abundantly
to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability, the unchangeableness
of his counsel, his purpose, confirmed it by an oath. Man does that, that I swear.
You swear? I swear that God confirmed it
by an oath, by two immutable things, in which it is impossible
for God to lie. Do you swear to tell the truth?
I am the truth. I cannot not tell the truth,
that by two immutable things we might have a strong consolation
who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope. Are you with me? I need to read
that again. Strong consolation. Wait, hold on. That's what consolation
means. who've laid hold upon the hope,
which hope we have as an anchor for the soul, steadfast and sure. Where is it? Within the veil.
Who is it? What's this hope? It's a person. Everything we hope is a person. A person. His name is Jesus Christ. He said, I am the way, the truth,
the life. Not vain. And it says, in him
dwells all fullness. Everything else is vain. In him,
all fullness. All fullness. Now we've got to sing, My Hope
is Built, on nothing less, don't we? What number is that, brother? 582. 582, an old hymn we've sung
for years, and perhaps it'll mean more now than ever. 582. Let's sing the first and third
verses. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. you All right. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. Thank you. you Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Thank you. you Thank you. you Thank you. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Thank you. I'm going to go ahead and close
the window. Okay. All right. Thank you.