Let life and breath come now
with praises before thee. and sound from his feet full
of bliss. Gladly, for I, we adore him."
Amen. Gladly, for I, for everything,
we adore them. Revelation chapter 21. This tonight will be our special
service for the year end and for the new year, because it
may not be tomorrow. It's unannounced. This was unannounced
and unplanned, because every gathering should be a special
one, a special service. Every one we ought to worship
and praise as if it be the last. Right? The coming of our Lord
is not going to be at an expected time. It's not going to be at
the end of the millennium. It's not going to be at 12 a.m. January 1st. I guarantee that.
I guarantee that. Why? Because that's when everybody
thinks. It's the time when you think not, he said. And his coming will be, when
will he come? He'll come when men don't expect
it, don't look for him. But he'll come for those who
are looking for him. And every time we meet together, we're
looking for him. That's why we meet. We're waiting,
we're watching. That's what this is all about. All right? And
it's not once a year, New Year's, Easter, Christmas, every time
God's people meet. All right, Revelation 21. Now,
notice in verse 1, he says, I saw, verse 2, and I, John, saw, verse
3, and I heard. I saw, I saw, I heard. He says this all the way through
here. I saw, I heard, I saw, I heard. Now, John was a man,
a human being like you and I, right? There wasn't anything
special about him, flesh and blood. John, this John, no different
than that John. No different than that John.
Not one bit different. No different than that John.
Just a man, all right? I saw a wondrous thing, a wondrous
one, and I heard it. Turn back to chapter 1 with me. John Barr Davis, do you want
to see and hear the same thing this John saw? John? Second John? First John? I do. I want to see and hear what this
John saw. Well, all right, look at it. Revelation 1, verse 9, "...I, John, who also
am your brother, See, I'm your brother and companion in tribulation. I'm a man, I'm your brother,
go through the same things you are, work the job, have family,
flesh and blood. And in the kingdom, I'm a believer. And in patience of Jesus Christ
waiting on him. I was in the isle, it was called
Petma. Or you, John, could say, I was in the seat next to the
isle in Central. For the word of God. I was there to hear the word
and for the testimony. That's the gospel. Why are you
here tonight? If you're here to hear the word,
you're here to hear the gospel, then maybe you'll see and hear
what John saw. Look at the next verse. I was
in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard a great voice, and
saw a great person. In the Spirit. How do you get
in the Spirit? Turn with me to Luke chapter 11. I was in the Spirit. And you
have to be in the Spirit to see and hear what John saw and heard,
because the Spirit is the one who shows you. It takes the things of Christ
and shows them unto you. Luke chapter 11. I want to hear
and I want to see what John saw and heard. I want it to be in the Spirit.
How? Luke 11, verse 9. He says, Ask and it shall be
given. Seek and you shall find. Knock
and it shall be opened. Everyone that asketh, receive
it. He that seeketh shall find it, to him that knocketh it shall
be opened." If a son asks bread to any of you that is a father,
we give him a stone. If he asks a fish for a fish,
we give him a serpent. If he asks an egg, we offer him
a scorpion. If you then, being evil, know
how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall
your Heavenly Father give? What? The Holy Spirit. to them that ask him. He that seeketh, search the scriptures
with me, seek to knock. He that knocketh, the Lord open
this to my understanding. Revelation 21, verse 1, I saw
a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away. There is no more sea. John said, I saw a new heaven
and a new earth. first were passed away. He'd take it away, the
first, and he might establish the second. That applies to the
gospel, doesn't it? He'll take it the way the law
will fulfill it, that he might establish grace. He'll take it
the way the first established the second. The gospel is established
forever, and that's the same thing with the new earth, which
shall be forever. He says here, I saw a new heaven.
Now, that's not talking about heaven where God dwells. You
remember Paul said, I knew a man who went to the third heaven.
Remember, that's where God dwelled. There's no need to change that.
I'm not talking about the heaven where God dwelled. You don't
change what's perfect. If you're talking about the heaven,
you're talking about the firmament, the sky immediately over the
earth, because the new one is not going to have a sun in it,
not going to have a moon in it, not going to have stars in it.
You don't need those lights. We've already read that, haven't
we? We don't need those lights. We need those lights. They'd
be like a candle compared to the light we're going to see
by them. We don't need the sun. That's
just a ball, a flaming ball. We don't need stars. Those are
dim, flickering, burnt out. Look over there with me. It's
in chapter 21 also, verse 23. The city had no need of the sun. neither of the moon to shine
in it, for what shines the glory of God did lighten it. And the
Lamb is the light there. Christ said, I'm the light, I'm
the sun, the sun of righteousness. Well, you need that ball of fire
when you look in his face, whose countenance shineth as the sun
in all its strength. Perfect light. You know, even
under the sunlight, you know there are shadows? Huh? Not many shadows. No shadows. No shadows whatsoever. No darkness. Perfect light. That struck me. You know, I love
light. I love natural light. I love
full light. I love sunlight. I'm not a lover
of darkness rather than light. I love light rather than darkness.
The world, which is in darkness and sin, can't wait for the sun
to go down so they can—I can't wait for the sun to come up.
Is that the way you are? I love light. The more light,
the better. The more light, the better. Someday we're going to
have perfect light. We're going to see Him. All right? Verse 2. saw the holy city, New Jerusalem,
coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband." The holy city, New Jerusalem, as a bride for
her husband. Is this a literal city? Yes,
it is. It's a city. It's not like anything
we know of as a city, because nobody's ever, I hath not seen. John saw it, and he said, well,
I'll describe it best I can. Paul did, and he said, well,
this thing is an unlawful letter. But it's described beginning
in verses 11 and 10 on the gates and the streets and so on. So it is a literal city, a literal
place, a beautiful and glorious place where God and his people
meet together. Look at verse 3. He said, I heard
a great voice out of heaven say, Behold, the tabernacle of God,
or that is, the dwelling place of God, is with men, and he will
dwell with them. and they shall be his people.
God himself shall be with them, and be their God." Now, David
said, he asked David, Where is your God? He said, He dwelleth
in the heavens. He is in the heavens, and he hath done whatsoever
he pleased. He also said, God dwelleth not
in buildings made with hands, for the heavens cannot contain
him, he said. But right here, he says, I'm
going to dwell with you." God. Behold now, he said, behold,
God's house is with men, with men. He who before, the scripture
said, dwelled in light, inaccessible. He said, now I'm going to dwell
with men, permanently, forever. We're going to dwell together.
and they'll be his people. Not angels, not cherubs and seraphs,
but us, human beings. God himself shall be with them. How can that be? God's the Spirit,
whom no man hath seen, nor can see, nor ever will see. Job said, My eyes are going to
see him. In my flesh, I'm going to see
God, he said. He said, I am. I am. I am. I am the Lord. That is my name. He'll dwell
with us. God. We're going to see God,
because Christ will dwell with us. Now, this city, this tabernacle,
dwelling place, not certain But this is apparently a place where
our Lord gathers all of his people. This New Jerusalem is apparently
a place where the Lord gathers all his people in special gatherings. OK? Special gatherings, as he
does now. Does he do that now in several
places? David said, now David was talking
about a tent, a brown tent. And he said, how amiable. He
said, that's a lovely place. How amiable are thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts, which thou hast buried. That's when David was
away from him. He said, oh, I'd love to be in
thy house. Well, God doesn't dwell in buildings. Well, David called his house,
and he said, it's a lovely place, and I just wish I was there.
A lovely place. Is this a lovely place to you?
Do you enjoy coming here? No, it's not the building. We don't come to see the building.
We don't come to see the trappings, the wood hay and the stubble.
But nevertheless, this is a place which God has chosen to put his
name there, to bring his people, to gather them at certain times
to worship the Lord. And he said, I'll be right there
in a minute. I'll be there, he said. You come. And I say this
is an amiable place. And when I go to Ashland, Kentucky,
I say, oh, this is an amiable tabernacle. I just love being
here. I go to Lexington, Kentucky.
Oh, this is a lovely place to be. Go to wherever. Crossfield, Tennessee. Oh, no
place I'd rather be. These places are spread out everywhere.
These amiable tabernacles are spread out all over the earth. I'm going to gather them up into
one place. Yeah, that's right. That's what
this is. This new Jerusalem is the place,
the gathering place. Because you say He's going to
make a new earth. He's going to make a new earth for
us to dwell on. You got that? The city, the earth. We'll stay in the city all day,
and we'll have an earth to enjoy, too. The city is the most beautiful
place, and the earth is much like the old one, with beauties
and wonders and enjoyments, except infinitely more beautiful and
enjoyable. And this city is indescribable. indescribable for the beauty
of it. You know, read for yourself sometimes
these things down there, but still, we have to see it for
ourselves. I told my wife the other day
that I would hate to live in a big city. I'd hate to live right in the
middle of a big city with all its chaos, confusion, corruption,
the pollution and all that, no sky, no trees, no animals, especially
if you've lived out in those open spaces, no sky, no trees,
no grass, no animals. Now, this city, though, it's
going to have all that in it. You just read over there, trees,
a river. There's going to be a city on
a river, a river city, a beautiful city, beautiful. This city is
a city to be desired. Now, look at verse 22 in Revelation
21. Verse 22, he said, I saw no temple
now, no temple. Jerusalem was a city, but there's
no temple in it. It's not going to be any church
house, so to speak, or building, a temple, a great elaborate temple.
Why? Verse 22. Why? The Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple. He's the place. We gather to
Him to worship, he said. Adam had no temple in the garden
to worship Him. All he had was a sky over him,
no roof over his head, but a sky. And he worshipped God, didn't
he? No temple. And besides the temple, you don't
need a building. Christ is our dwelling place.
You don't need furniture. He's the table of showbread.
He's the altar of incense. He's the brazen altar. He's the
ark. He's the mercy seat. He's all
the furniture anyway. We need all that again. We don't
need all that, Joe, that's just a shadow. We've got a substance
now. We've got the real thing. Christ is the temple. Look at
verse 23 and 24, "...the city had no need of the sun, neither
did the moon shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten
it. The Lamb is the light thereof, and the nations of them which
are saved shall walk in the light of it, kings of the earth, to
bring their glory and honor into it." King David, King Solomon,
and on and on. But you know, this city, it's
not like we're going to be cooped up. We're not going to be shut up. Have
you lived in a big city, grew up in the inner city where you
feel like you couldn't get out? All cooped up, not necessary.
Look at verse 25. The gates are not going to be
shut all day. Gates are wide open all day long. Not day and night, because there
is no night. It's all continual day there, but the gates are
going to be wide open, and listen to this, and we're going to go
in and out. Isn't that exactly what the Lord
said? He said they'll go in, go into
the city and see gold and pearls and precious stones, go out and
find pasture. Did anybody catch that? That's
what Christ said, they're going to go in and out and find pasture. We're going to go in and see
glory. We're going to go out and he's going to make us lie
down and drink that juice and preach to us, as it were, the
Sermon on the Mount. Christ went into Jerusalem in
the temple and preached, and oh, they saw wonders, because
he was the light of the world. He'd go out and sit on the hillside.
All right? City? Country. New Earth? City. Nothing wrong with this
city now. You live in the country, but
you're going to love this city. You're going to love this city.
All right, chapter 22. Look at verse 1. He showed me
a pure river, a water of life, clear as crystal. The water,
he said, is going to proceed out of the throne of God, out
of the Lamb. There's going to be a fountain of water, a river
of water from which to drink at all times. And you think that
water is good where you are. You know, when I go back to the
big city, Ashland, you know, 25, 30,000 people, big city.
It is to me now, it's like going to New York. No, Vicki, I mean,
you've seen the real thing. But when I go, it seems like
it's so, and I drink the water there, John, and it's chlorinated
and hyphenated and whatever they put in it, you know, all the
additives in it. Oh, man, it's awful, isn't it?
We think, ugh. Then we come home and drink this
well water. And it's so good. Well, this
water. Sweet water, such as we've never
drunk to the fullest, but we've tasted it. Have you tasted it? I said, you had better. He said, I'm the water of life,
didn't he? And we've tasted that the Lord is gracious, and we've
tasted him, and there's nothing like it. There's nothing like
this river, is there? Nothing like it. Give it to me.
I've got to have a drink of that. But we go thirsty sometimes,
don't we? Well, and he gives us just a taste, but not to the
fullest, but up there he's going to drink to the fullest. There
it is, drink, drink. drink. Always available. All right, back to chapter 21,
verse 4. And God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes. No more tears, only smiles. I've talked about how some of
you just, you know, some of these folks that smile all the time,
you know, just make you happy. Everybody's going to look that
way. Everybody's going to look that
way. Why? Everybody's going to be happy. No tears. No tears. Read on.
No more death. There should be no more death.
Not to humans. Not to animals. There's going
to be animals. Right? Wolves are going to lie
down with a lion. Lions are going to lie down with
a lion. There's going to be horses. Our Lord's going to be riding
one. No more death. Humans, animals,
life everlasting. We're going to see one animal
as it were slain. As it had been slain. As it had
been slain. That means it's just going to
have some scars on it. And no sorrow. You see, that's
how we're going to identify him. Neither sorrow, because there's
nothing there to be sad about. Not going to be anything to be
sad about. Eternal joy and gladness. Read on. And no more pain. No
more pain. Why? Because the former things
have passed away, he said. Former things have passed away.
What things? Things that cause pain. What
things cause pain? What things bring tears? What
things bring death? What thing causes great sorrow? My sin is ever before me. Christ said, no more sin. Did you hear what the Lord Jesus
said to me? They're all taken away. Your
sins are pardoned and you're free. They're all taken away. Former things passed away, cast
behind God's back. As far as the East is from the
West, so have I separated. They shall look for the iniquity
of Israel, and none will be found." I'm looking at somebody who's
laughing right now. Are you laughing now? He who laughs last, laughs
best. Laughs forever. He who laughs
last, laughs forever. No more tears, no more sorrow. If that didn't bring just a hint
of joy in your heart, maybe you haven't heard it. You see, sin
entered the first earth, and what did it bring? Death. God immediately killed an animal.
Adam saw it, that little lamb, death, the sheer, stark reality
of death, blood. Then Adam walked outside and
saw his son lay on the ground, sorrow. Oh, sorrow. My son, my boy, my
boy, my boy. And Adam started to hoe and that
ground blasted pale. Thorns, thistles, sunburn. No more. Why? God removed the sand. No
more sand. No more death, no more sorrow,
no more pain. It's all gone. Why? The sin's
gone, and it'll never come back. It'll never enter, and will not
defile. Why? God said so. See, God ordered
it the first time. God ordered it the first time.
Why? To show his greater glory. and to bring in our lasting righteousness,
to create a new earth wherein dwelleth this righteousness,
and sin shall not enter it any longer." No more pain, no more
death, no more pain, no more sorrow, no more crying, the former
things have passed away. Why, he that sits on the throne
said so. No sad memories. You know, memory
causes pain, doesn't it? You remember the story of the
rich man in hell? Abraham said, Son, remember, we're not going
to have a memory like that. Isaiah 65, 17 says, The former
things shall not be remembered, nor come to mind. If your mother's
not there, you won't be sad. You'll not remember your mother.
If she is there, you'll remember her. You say, I think you were
my mother on the earth, but now you're my sister, aren't you?
Good to see you. If your father's not there, you
won't remember him. If your son or daughter's not there, your
husband or wife's not there, you won't remember. No sadness. If they're there, you'll remember
them. You'll know them, even as you've been known. And you'll
be happy. I make all things new. Look at
verse 5. He said, He that sat upon the throne said, Behold,
I make all things new. New relationships, new everything,
everything brand new. These words And he said unto
me, Write, for these words are true and faithful." These words
are true, they're absolutely so. Why? Because he said them. He that is true said it, whatever
he says is true. Why? Because he said it. He is
true. It's absolutely so. It's not
fantasy. This is not fairytale. It's truth,
because Christ is truth, and Christ said so. These things
are true. And faithful means it's going
to happen. It's going to happen. As sure as I'm standing here,
he's going to stand here. He's going to walk this earth
again. As sure as I'm standing here, if I'm in Christ, I'm going
to stand there. Why? Because he said so. He never
lies. He's faithful. He's true and
faithful. It will most surely come. He
will most surely come. All right? Verse 6. And he said
unto me, It is done. I said, Wait a minute, Lord. What
do you mean it's done? It's done. Why? What are we talking about? Well,
whatever I said, it's done. It is done. Well, what's done,
Lord? What's done? Why, salvation's done. It's a done deal. What's done? Your inheritance
is done. I go to prepare a place for it, it's finished. I've got
it done. He's complete, and you're complete
in Him. You hear these fools all
the time saying, He's done all He can do, now it's up to you. Well, I heard him say, It's done.
They say, He's done all He can do, now you do. No, he says it's
done. I heard him say it three times
over in Isaiah 44. Listen to this. You don't have
to turn. Listen to this. Listen. If you're with me. Isaiah
44, 22, he says, I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions,
as a cloud thy sins, I have blotted them out. Return unto me, I have
redeemed thee. Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord
hath done it! It's done. I heard him say on
Calvary's tree, it's done. It's finished. It's between our salvation and
theirs. Theirs is two letters, D-O-B-B-B-B. Ours is four. D-O-B-B-B-B. You see, they've got a half-baked
religion. Ours is done. The bread of life
is done. Done, it's done. That's the difference
between us and them. Why? Because he said it, verse
6, I am, alpha. Well, in case of Aaron, because
he's the first and the last, because our salvation's in him.
He's complete, isn't it? And so if I'm in him, I'm complete.
He's seated, well, then I'm seated with him. He's righteous, well,
then I'm righteous, right? He's satisfied, well, then I'm
satisfied, God's satisfied with me. He's rescued and I'm rescued,
as he is, so are we. It's done. It's done. Because
he said, I am the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. And look at verse 6 again. He
says, I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of
the water of life freely. This fountain and this river
are one and the same. There is a fountain. He says, He that is a thirst. Now
look at that, He that is a thirst. And over in chapter 22, he says
it again, Let him that is a thirst, take the water of life freely. Thirst. We're going to stay thirsty. You know that? Now, this is a paradox. We're going to drink to the fullest,
but we're going to stay thirsty. It makes me thirsty
to think about it. This water leaves you thirsty, and I'll need a drink in just
a few more minutes. We're going to drink to the fullest
and be totally satisfied, yet be thirsty. This is the only
way I can illustrate this. There have been times, like at
Thanksgiving, that I wish I weighed about 400 pounds so I could just
eat and eat and eat, because I fill up too fast, you say. The food's so good, I don't want
to stop eating. You know what I mean? Give me
three more turkeys." You know, that's what I want. If I was
bigger, if I had the capacity, in other words, to take it all
in, will Christ somehow know that we're going to... When you
come here to this gospel, and I'm talking about it in spiritual
terms, when you come here to this gospel, don't you... This is
wonderful, but we don't have the capacity to take it all in,
to understand it fully. We get a little... We about lose
it. When we get a little glimpse
of glory, we lose it. Right? Somehow, and I can't even
describe it, but we're going to have the capacity to take
it all in. Everything takes. And we're going to stay thirsty.
Here's another illustration. You see, we're never going to
say, I've had enough, you know, that's good enough for the day.
No. More. Does that make sense? Here's
a good illustration. You see, I have sinful lusts
and desires now that I can't get rid of. Sinful lusts and desires are
with me ever before. I can't get rid of them, this
desire. But then spiritual things, Steve,
I don't have the desire for spiritual things all the time, like I want
to. The things that I would, I desire
not. The things that I would not,
I desire. Then all things move. No desire
for sin, total consuming desire. That's the best I can describe
it, thirst. More, Lord, more, more. It starts here. Are you thirsty
now? Is this meeting, is this, you
know, anybody got a drop on their tongue yet? It starts here, this
thirst. He that is a thirst, Christ said,
come unto me. take the water of life. All right,
I hope so, but he has to make you first. Verse 7, he that overcometh,
he says, shall inherit all things. He that overcometh. Who's going
to be in this city? He that overcometh. What does that mean? Does that
mean whoever tries the hardest? Whoever is a promise keeper,
whoever is faithful to the Lord, serves 1 John 5. If you are interested
in being there, turn to 1 John 5. This is to tell you who overcomes,
what it is it overcomes. 1 John 5, and this is what we
looked at Sunday morning, wasn't it? 1 John 5, verse 4, "...whatsoever
is born of God, rather whosoever." Peter said, "...seeing ye have
purified your souls, and obeying the truth, being born of God."
Not a corruptible seed, but an incorruptible, the Word of God,
which liveth and abideth forever. And this is the Word, which by
the gospel spake unto thee, born from above." He said, born from
above. Well, whosoever is born of God,
of the Word, of the gospel, overcometh the world. Now, what overcoming? The world. Why does he call it
overcoming? This world, all the obstacles
to overcome, all the opposition, this world is an enemy of God,
you see. or the enemies, the world, its
thoughts, its opinions, its ways that seem right to men, and if
it were possible, it would deceive you, the very elect. If it were
possible, you would be swayed by the thoughts and opinions,
by the new revelations that the world supposedly has, by its
ways and thoughts. But this is overcome, this overcomes
the world. It's the smiles and approvals. Everybody is completely consumed
with smiles and approvals of the world. That's peer pressure,
is what they call it. It doesn't stop when you're a
young person. It never ends. That's the reason people try
to keep up with the Joneses. It never ends. This is what I've become. But
you don't care where the world smiles at you. You don't care
where the world frowns at you. You don't care which way the
world is. You don't care what the world's thinking. You don't
care what the world's wearing. You don't care what the world
loves or hates. You don't care what the world
says about anything. Did you hear what they say? Don't
care. Tell me what he said. This is
what I've overcome. Look at verse 4. This is the
victory that overcometh the world, I think. What's our faith? It's not a theology, it's not
a concept, it's not a theory, it's not a principle, it's a
person. He's the Word, the truth, the way, that as the way seems
right, go that way, I got the way. He's the truth, the life,
the person. He is our faith. end of our faith,
the author and the finisher of our faith, the object of our
faith, the giver of our faith, the essence of our faith. Who is he that overcometh
the world? Verse 5, that he that believeth that Jesus is the Son
of God. And remember, you don't believe
because you decided to. You're not of the will of the
flesh. No free willers in heaven. No. Not of the will of the flesh,
not of the will of man, but born of God. free willers in heaven. I guarantee you that. John 1, 13, people in heaven, born of God. Who says, born of
God, believes not my will, but thy will. All right? And so this is it. It overcomes the world. Honestly,
people, do you care what the world is doing, and thinking,
and heading, and what the newspapers say? Do you worry about the weather? Do you worry about the news?
Do you worry about the stock market? Do you worry about our
president, the king's hands and heart to the Lord, like the rivers
and water he turned if it wasn't for every will? Raises up, casts
down. Good, bad, during the time of
the people of Israel, good king, bad king, good king, bad king,
good king, bad king, good king, bad king, bad king, bad king,
good king, bad king, bad king, bad king. We got a king. He always has been a king, always
will be a king. The government's on his shoulders, and of his
rule there'll be no one. That's what he said, I'm the
root, the offspring of David. In Revelation 21, here are the
people described that are not going to Verse 7, he says, he who overcometh
shall inherit all things. I'll be his God, he'll be my
Son. My Son. Right now he's giving us that
same spirit of adoption. We can call him Father. Verse
8 says, But, now listen, look at this now. This is very revealing
here. But the fearful. and unbelieving. These go together,
fearful and unbelieving. But fearful is not going to be
there. What does that mean, fearful?
Well, it's obvious it means those that fear man more than they
fear God. That's obvious. Nobody fears
man more than he fears God is going to be there. God's people
fear him, but his perfect love casts out our fear of being cast
out. And this fearful here means those
who never have any assurance whatsoever. Some people, I believe, think
that it's humility or meekness or whatever, to always be down
in the mouth and always, you know, I'm fearful for those people.
The Lord said, My peace I give unto you, my joy. Someone never has any joy in
the Lord, no hope of salvation. You understand that? Well, we all go through times,
we're hot and cold, fearful, believing, fearful, believing,
hot, cold, hot. We're not always fearful. Somebody
I see all the time is, oh, I don't know, I don't know, not going
to be there. That's not faith. That's not honoring to the Lord,
not honoring to him at all. He said, he commanded us to believe.
In 1 John 5, he said, this is my commandment, that you believe.
But what? But who's saying anything about
you? But God believes that I am just
as I am. But I'm a chief of sinners. That's
who came to say it. I said so, don't you hear me? Smile, God loves you. Huh? But the fearful, oh, I don't
know, I don't know. Then stare out. All right, then. Stay out. Is that hard? No, it's not hard.
He commands us to believe. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I'm going to prepare a place
for you, and I'm going to come again to receive you." Who? Him
that believeth! It doesn't say him that worketh,
him that willeth, him that keepeth it. I don't believe that. Well, Henry, I can do that. Weak
as it is, I'd trust him. Anybody with me? Oh, fearful. Our Lord kept saying,
why are you so fearful? Oh, you fearful. Oh, you fearful.
He kept commanding, fear not, fear not, fear not, didn't He?
He said that more than anything else. Fear not, fear not. But
the fearful, not the one who... So you see, why are we cast down at this
moment? I'm looking at the faces of people who are cast down.
I don't understand it. I don't understand it. I don't
understand, after all he said here, after all he promised to
a rotten old dirty dog-sinner who just says, I believe. I'm going to smile and I'm going
to laugh, and you go along being fearful. As a thief in heaven
There's work, there's nothing, never nothing. He's a right-handed
guy. The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day, and there may I, though bowed as
he, wash all my sins away. Fearful, unbelieving, not going
to do that, abominable. Now, these things, people, are
spiritual, abominable, Abominable? What's abominable to God? No
doubt sin is abominable. But God said that which is highly
esteemed among men is what? Abomination. This is religious
abomination. Whatever men believe and the
way they call truth, God says it's heresy. And the way they
call heresy, so I believe. See, God's thoughts are not their
thoughts. And they esteem it highly, the
religion today and all this religion of, you know, you've heard it.
They esteem it highly, that this is it, this is it, this is it.
God says, no, it's not, it's an abomination. And all these
religious leaders that everybody esteems so highly, you know,
isn't he wonderful? God says, I hate him. He's an
abomination, he's a worker of iniquity. I don't care how many
souls he won for Jesus, he's going to be cast out, binding
hand and foot, you worker of iniquity. Because you came in
your own name. Abominable. Murderers, is that talking about
literal murderers? No, there's a thief and a murderer
in heaven right now. Huh? David's in heaven. That thief on the cross, it says
he was a murderer too, John. He's in heaven. Like I said,
David had a man killed, cold blooded. He's in heaven. Who's his murderer? Murderer's
soul. He said, fear not, him will killeth
the body, and after that he can do no more unto you. Murderers
of men's souls. Whoremongers. What's that? Whoremongers.
No doubt. Those who live in the gutters
of sexual filth and all that, that's their whole life and all,
are going to die like they live. What does he call the great whore
in Revelation? What's called the great whore?
The false church, people read. That's the great whore. He talks
about them that go to her. That's who whoremongers are.
That's his pimps, his religious pimps, preaching pimps. Is that
too strong? They ought to call these buildings,
not churches, call them whorehouses. Is that too strong? That's what
God says. And it's the money, and they're
prostituting the truth. If you don't like it, they'll
lower the price. If you don't like the redemption,
they'll lower the price. If you don't like the truth,
they'll cut it down. What are you willing to pay? He says, and sorcerers, what
sorcerers? Sorcerers are those that conjure
things up, aren't they? Whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba,
whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba,
whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba,
whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba,
whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba,
whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba,
whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba,
whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba, whooba,
make up something. I've got something new here.
He made it up, conjured it up. Here's a new blessing. Oh, no,
no, here's a blessing. Oh, here's a curse. Uh-uh. Uh-uh. Christ made it up. Right,
Joe? Whoever conjures up whatever
doesn't come from this is a sorcerer. Read on. That's anybody that
worships anyone or anything other than God, other than Christ.
Anyone, anything. I don't care how slight it is. And many people in religion today
say they don't worship Mary, say they don't worship idols.
There was a girl one time, a Catholic, and I was in her home, and she
had a cross with a naked man hanging on it. And I was trying to talk to her.
I said, what would you do if I took that thing down and spit on it? Spit on that spit on it. My dad gave that to me. I idolized
her. And I idolized her. Right? worthless piece of wood. I don't care if an angel gave
it to you." Huh? God said, Worship the Lord thy
God, worship in spirit and in truth, not idols. Don't make
any greater than Him. Don't worship anybody either,
not Mary, not John, not Christopher. Christ! Him and him only, shall
thy worship. And anybody that does the slightest
bit of worship with anybody is an idolater. It's not going to
be just. So read on. not endure sound doctrine, that
after their own lusts they'll heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears, and turn away their ears from the truth."
What's the opposite of the truth? It's a lie. That's the teachers of it, that's
the believers of it. Is this all too hard? This is
what the Lord Jesus Christ said, and these are hard sayings, no
doubt. Who can hear them? Well, by His grace, I hear them.
And by His grace, I don't want to be one of them. I receive
the love of the truth. By His grace, I receive the love
of the truth, and not a lie. And those who receive not the
love of the truth, and everything I've said tonight is true. Why? That thing you said, I've just
said it. I'm just repeating what he said. truth, and everything else is a lie.
Everything but Christ is a lie. Any salvation as anything to
a man is a lie. And he said, I'll be their God.
I'll be with them forever, those who believe me. All right, we're going to take
the Lord's table now. Why don't you turn with me to
Luke chapter 22. The Lord gave, we were just talking
about idolatry, weren't we? And any of this hocus-pocus sorcery
that goes on in religion today, all the holy water, all the silver
chalices, all this wood, hay and stubble, are symbols of idolatry. All the robes, we don't have
to wear a fake robe, we've got a good one on, thank you. I don't have to wear a collar.
Not if God makes me a minister. All these signs and things, all
that, don't need that. Don't need symbols to worship
God. Just need the Word. We worship
Him in truth, not in symbols. But you know, the Lord did give
three symbols. to worship him by. Three things.
God knows our frame. He knows we're flesh. He knows that object lessons,
Vicki, object lessons make it easy for us to remember, right? That's the reason he spoke in
parables. He used earthly things to illustrate heavenly things
with people. We're flesh, right? Okay, well,
he gave three symbols to for us to worship Him and for us
to remember Him by. The first one is baptism. Now,
that's where you start. You believe this gospel. You
believe Christ. You trust Christ. You rest in
Him. This is the first place you go.
You baptize, you confess sin. What's baptism? It's an identification with Christ.
It's when you go down in that water and you're dead and buried
and raised again to walk in newness of life. You go down into Christ,
washed in his blood, come out without your sin. And a man does that to you. Somebody
else does it to you. Somebody else doesn't. Don't you? It erases you. And
that's a picture of what Christ did. He's the one. He said, I'm
crucified with our God, are you in here? Crucified with Christ.
Our God, are you raised again? Given life. Baptism. That's the
first symbol. Who believe and trust, really
believe and trust Christ, getting that walk. They're not ashamed. Christ said He was ashamed of
me, I'll be ashamed. They're not going to be there
either. Well, they'll say to him, I'll pray up, for I cherish
thou, get in, arise, and be baptized. Christ commands it. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth and is not
baptized, that's impossible. You can prove it. You believe
this crap, all right? And then, now that's first. Now,
who is this table for? This is for baptized believers.
That's the confession of faith. This is communion with Christ. You can't commune with him yet
in the faith, because there's no... He said, I stand at the
door and knock. Oh, it's the church. They open
up and I slept with them. But faith comes first, Jerry,
and confession comes first. And then there's this communion. Christ is not going to sit down
and commune with you unless you agree with him, unless you want
to hear us, all right? All right? And then this right
here, this is communion. This is the table. And there
are two elements there. There's an element water, bread,
wine. These three bear witness in the
earth. All right? The bread is Christ,
the bread of life. There's nothing, this is just,
this is just, this is just, right here. If you thought that, you missed
it. Right? It wasn't time. And this is no holy service,
per se. Worship in spirit. Well, when
you eat bread, you've got to have something to drink with
it, don't you? And if you're hungry, you both go together
with them, the hungry and the thirsty. Well, this is not the
Bible of Christ. Eating this will put away your
sins. You know the psalmist say that? That's idolatry. That's idolatry. Some would say that, no, no,
it's just bread. Nancy Clark made this bread. She's an old
sinner. Lives over on Diamond of Windsor
Court. Sounds like a queen, but she's
just a sinner. And she made this bread. All
right? Sinful hand made it. It's just
bread. It's just a symbol. And as you eat that bread, Christ
said, think of me. I'm the bread of life. Bread
is made much like Christ is made unto us, this bread. Bread, how
this bread was made, whether it's wheat or corn, bread. Corn,
except the corn of wheat or grain of corn fall into the ground
and die. Christ, Scripture says, He came
and was planted here. He was the tree of God's planting.
He became a root out of dry ground. A root out of dry ground, no
form or composition, just a man. plain bread. If you tasted this
one, it looks like just plain bread. But this one, this is
God's best manna, his manna. Well, Christ was planted in this
earth and grew up before God and men, and as the corn of wheat,
the stalk of wheat, grows up and begins to bear fruit, Christ
bore fruit in the glory of God as a man, glorified God in his
life of fruitful life. And you know, corn, as it matures,
it starts to hang down with the weight of the fruit. The weight
of our sin was laid on fire. The man of sorrow was playing
with the fruit. And God cut him down and took
the corn. And he said, this is my body.
He was bruised. wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquity. God laid on him iniquity ever
so. By his stripes we are healed. He said, this is my body broken
for you. But beat him to a pulp, just like he kneaded bread. Beat
him to a pulp.