OK? Find him. 1 Corinthians, chapter
2, again. 1 Corinthians, chapter 2. Look at verse 9 with me again. 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2, 9. He is quoting Isaiah 64, verse
4, "...I hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him." Them that love him. There is
another verse that you're very familiar with. Romans 8 verse
28 says, For we know, and we know, that all things work together
for good to them that love God, who is called according to his
purpose. Them that love him. Things prepared for them that
love him. Things working together. for
them that love him, that love God. Ninety-nine out of a hundred
people, if you ask them if they love God, they would say yes.
Nobody would want to admit to being a heathen, out-and-out
heathen. Ninety-nine out of a hundred
people, if asked, would say they love God. It's not the God of the Bible
that people love and are talking about today. It's not the God
of the Bible at all. Back a few pages in Romans 8.
Now, you don't have to turn. Romans 8. You can be turning
to Psalm 115. Psalm 115. And keep your place
there in 1 Corinthians 2. But back a few pages in Romans
8, it says in verse 7, the natural man, the carnal mind, is enmity with God. Romans 8,
7 says the carnal mind, the natural man, is enmity with God. Or in our language, the natural
man, the average man, hates God. That's what the Bible says. hates
God. And we read there in 1 Corinthians
2, verse 14, that the natural man receiveth not the things
of God. Was it said they are to him,
the natural man? Foolishness. Foolishness. The natural man. Things of God. The natural man hates God. And the scripture says they're
foolishness, the things of God are foolishness to him. Receive
with them not. Isaiah 55, listen to this. Isaiah
55, God says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways
are not your ways. And he says, as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my thoughts higher than your
thoughts, and my ways higher than your way. God's thoughts and ways, natural
man. Then Psalm 50, there's a verse
in Psalm 50, verse 21, that God says, Thou thoughtest that I
was altogether such a one as thine self. In our language in
modern day, God says, You thought I was just like you, just like
man. But he says, I'll reprove, I'll
set these things in order, I'll reprove you. Psalm 115, listen
to this. Psalm 115, look at verses 1 through
8. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto
us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's
sake. And wherefore, why should the
heathen say, Where is now their God? And David says, Our God
is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. Their idols, he doesn't even
call them God. Their gods that they worship
are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths,
but they speak not. Eyes have they, but they see
not. They have ears, but they hear
not. Noses have they, but they smell
not. They have hands, but they handle
not. Feet have they, but they walk
not, neither speak they through their throat. And they that make
them are like unto them, dead. So is everyone that trusteth
in them." And that's an accurate description of the God men profess
to know and believe and love today, a God of their own making. It's a very common, very popular
little cliché in religion today, and virtually all of these preachers
use it. God has no hands but your hands,
and no feet but your feet. And God can't do anything unless
you let him. Isn't that common today? Doesn't
that sound like Psalm 115? That's a God who can't do anything.
He's an idol. That's not the God of the Bible. And I would say with David, and
so would all true God worshipers and lovers, they would say with
David, our God, he's in the heavens. He's not in my pocket to pull
out whenever I need. He's in the heavens seated. And
he hath done whatsoever not what man lets him. Not what man is
pleased to let him do. No, our God hath done whatsoever
he hath pleased. What he pleases. He hath done. Our God doeth according to his
will. Not man's. Not man's. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth,
and none can stay his what? Hand. My God has hands. Big hands. Matter of fact, everything's
in them. Not vice versa. He's not in ours. That's a little idle, isn't it?
A God that's in your hands to do with as you please. That's
a little idle, isn't it? A child can understand what I'm saying.
My God reigneth and ruleth over all. The God who is God reigneth. He's not waiting on anything.
He reigns. He's not hoping anything. He
rules, controlling. He's God. Beside Him, there's
no other God. And I ask you this morning as
we go into this thing, do you love this God? Do you love these
things, the things of God? We're going to talk about the
things of God. Things of God. What are we talking
about? Things of God. Do you love these things concerning
our God? Number one, if you're taking
notes, things of God. Things of God are number one,
His character. Now, I'm talking about lovers
of God. That's how I started this message
out. That God prepared some things
for them that love Him. That all things work together
for them that love Him. Who loves God? Well, tell me
about Him, and I'll tell you if I love Him. All right, here's
some things of God. Number one, His character. What's His character? What's
his character, things of God? What's his primary chief attribute
or character? What is it? What's his utmost
chief attribute, character? Describe God. Holy, that's right. We sang it, didn't we, Joe? Holy,
holy, holy. That's what the cherubims and
the seraphims and the angels and the multitude of heavenly
hosts are saying right now. As I speak right now, yes, right
now, it says they cry it day and night before his throne without
ceasing. The cherub, holy, holy, holy,
not love, but holy, holy, holy, holy. Our God is first and foremost
holy. And he loves only holy things,
holy people, holy things. Do you love that about God? Huh? That's his character. That's
his essential character. Holy. Holy. And one preacher
answered a newspaper article that we had written one time,
and in it I said, God's chief character is holiness. And this
fellow kind of answered it in one of his silly little articles. I knew who he was talking, referring
to, but the preacher said, everyone knows God is morally pure. And then he went on to talk about
the love of God. That fellow revealed his ignorance
of the holiness of God. It goes much deeper and higher
than moral purity. If you want to know the holiness
of God, I think it's Hebrews 10.29, isn't it? Hebrews 10.29,
our God is a what? Consuming fire. All right, you want to talk about
purity. You want to talk about purity.
Nothing purifies more than fire, doesn't it? Fire consumes. And God Almighty is called a
consuming fire. He is so—he's called light. God dwelleth in light. Moral
purity? Light, which no man can approach
unto. It says the sun doesn't even
shine to God. So, moral purity? We're talking
about something—we're talking about the grandeur of His person. the magnificence of his person. We're talking about the sheer, I didn't know words to describe,
his person. Pure. It goes much further than
that. Higher than that. Fire. Light. Light. Holy. God is holy. Holy. God is just. That's what he said
there in Isaiah, didn't he? I'm a just God. He doesn't say, I'm a Savior.
He doesn't say that first, does he? A just God. That's his character. Do you
like that about God? You love that about God, his
justice. He said, I will by no means clear the guilty. God must
punish sin. Do you love that about God's
character? And we're talking about lovers of God now. God
of the Bible. And he said, I'm just. I'm a
just God. I will by no means clear the
guilty. Do you love that about God? Let
me tell you something. He must spare a righteous man. He must. God is just. He will not punish
a righteous man. He must bear right, that's because
he's just. Do you like that about him? Do
you love that? I do. Why? Because I'm righteous inside. In Christ. Not in myself, guilty,
but Christ. But Christ hath died. Christ
died. Yea, rather, he's risen again.
who is even at the right hand of God, who also make an intercession
for me, and says, this man's righteous. So, just God says,
he's innocent. And many things, many things
convict me and many things would accuse me, but God says, no,
no condemnation. None. Who is he that condemneth? Nobody can, God said. God justified. You like that about God? That's
the God of the Bible. The God they're preaching today
loves you and Christ died for you, but it don't mean a thing.
You might go to hell after all. Even though Christ died, you
might end up in hell. That's no just God. Jerry, if
Christ Jesus, the Lord, died for me and paid for my sins,
they're paid for. I'm justified. It's just as if I'd never sinned.
I have no sin on me. If what these preachers say in
John, no, that Christ died for me, but I might go to hell anyway,
God is not just. If Christ paid for my sins, I
can't pay for them. Right? But God is just. You see that? We often think
of God's justice as something—as austerity and His unbendingness. No, that works on my behalf. That works together for my good. Just, he's just. God is sovereign. Now listen, you lovers of God,
I'm talking about your God here. You ought to love these things.
These are the things of God. Which the natural man says, what's
this all about? If I were to preach this message
in the average pulpit, there would be most people asleep or whatever, getting grit in their
teeth or something. But I'm talking to people that
love this God, and they love the mere mention of words like,
God is sovereign. Sovereign. I like that. Don't you like it?
I like that word. Sovereign. He reigns. Our God reigns. He created all. I like that. He's a creator.
I'm the creature. He owns me. He's sovereign. He owns me. He can do with his
own what he will. And knowing my owner, this old
ass and that dumb ox, knowing our owner, we know that he will
do good concerning me. Good. Perfect love casts out
fear. Perfect love. He owns me. I like it that way. I love God
being my owner and doing with me what he will. I love that. I will, Joe, I will have this
one reign over me. And that's only by his grace.
I'm made willing in this day of that same power. Sovereign,
God says, you will have me reign over you. And I bow and say,
oh, I will, I will. Will you take this God to reign
over you? I will. Sovereign. He reigns. He rules.
He controls. Will you have a God who controls
everything about you? You're not in control of any
of it? You ain't even the co-pilot? That you're lying in the back
in a luggage compartment? And He's driving this thing.
Is that your God? Do you love that about Him? I
do. I do. I can't drive this thing. I can't handle my life. I can't
steer my life in the right direction. Can you do that?" I tried, Henry,
didn't I? We tried, and we made shipwreck. I thought I had a hold of the
helm, and I ran around. But my captain took over. My captain came on board, and
he said, I'm up to hell. Go to the back, Swami. Mate,
scrub the deck. I'm in charge of the ship. Well,
he reigns, he rules over everything and everything and everyone concerning
all things. I love that. I love this God,
that God, the only God there is. He creates whom and what. for whatever reason he feels
like. I like that. He's too wise to
do wrong. He saves whom he will. He damns whom he will. That's
God. That's God. Do you love that
God? He saves whom he will, and he damns whom he will. He makes
vessels of honor fit for salvation. He makes vessels of wrath fit
for disruption, Romans 9. Do you love that God? Do you
love the God of Romans 9? I'm talking to God-lovers this
morning. God-lovers. Do you love that
God, if I were to ask an average person that? Do you love a God
who saves whom He will, who elects whom He will, and the rest He
discards like an old broken pot? and they would gnash their teeth
at me. That's not our God. Well, then
I'm not talking to them. I'm talking to God-lovers here,
God-lovers. Secondly, that's His character
and His ways, something of them. How about His Word? Listen to
me. God's Word. People say, John,
everybody loves the Bible. Don't they? Every preacher preaches
the Bible. What do y'all preach? We preach
the Bible. What do you believe? We believe the Bible. Don't they? Without exception. Everybody,
oh, I'm just trusting God's Word. What do you preach out of the
Bible? Let's listen to what the Bible
says about us. All right? We've heard what it
says about God, and we like that. God loves us. Let's hear what
this Bible, God's Word, says about man. All right? Isaiah
chapter 40. Turn over there. Isaiah 40. What God says about man. All
right? This is God's Word. God's Word. Isaiah 40. Look at this. Verses 5 and 6. The glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. The mouth of
the Lord has spoken it, the word of God, the voice. Here's the
word. The word of God says, cry. And Isaiah says, what shall I
cry? All right, here's the word of
God. He said, this is what you tell them. Tell them. This is
what you tell that Sunday morning crowd. A fine good Christian
folk. Tell them this, all flesh is
grass. Can't you see some old matronly
woman now who'd never, you know, sinned in her life, who'd always
gone to church all her life? Liquor had never touched her.
Sweet, sweet pips. Probably no man had either. Can't
you just hear, it's like, grass! All flesh is grass, all the good
and the—this is the Word of God about me. The goodness thereof
is as the flower of the field, the grass withered, the flower
faded." Look at verse 15 through 17. Behold, the nations are a
drop of a bucket. counted as a small dust of the
balance. He taketh up the islands as a
very little thing, not sufficient to burn, nor beasts thereof sufficient
for a burnt offering. All nations before him are nothing. They counted him less than that
vanity." Verse 22, it's he who said this. He, who's he? God, that sitteth upon the circle
of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grass. This is the Word of God concerning
man that everybody loves. The Word of God. God says, you're
grass. God says, you're a drop in the
bucket. God says, you're dust. God says, you're less than that
vanity. God says, less than nothing.
God says, grasshopper. In another place, I can read
innumerable ones to you. Worms. In another place it says, "...abominable
and filthy, that drinketh iniquity like the water." And he sums
it all up by saying, man is sin. The most detestable word out
of God's mouth concerning human beings is sin, full of sin. That's God's word. That's what
it said. That's God's Word. That's God's
Word. That's what He said. Does this
offend you? Huh? Oh, not God-lovers. What do they say? Well, there
was a woman that came to God manifest in the flesh one time.
Christ. A woman came to Him one time.
and said, Lord, heal my daughter. And Christ didn't answer. She said, Lord, heal my son or
my daughter. And he said, I'm not going to
give anything to dogs. You know what she said? This
woman loved this person. This woman highly esteemed this
person. This woman worshipped this person. Called him Lord. She knew him, who he was. You
know what she said? When he said, You're a dog. You know what she said? True, Lord. True. She didn't get offended. She
didn't get offended. She didn't run out there in a
huff. She fell at his feet. True, Lord. I'm your dog. I'll be your dog. I'll be his
dust. Won't you be his worm? Hey, Jacob,
will you be his worm? Because this is the next word
to worms. Fear not, my worm. Fear not. That's God's word concerning
the natural man receiveth this. Not what? The things of God. His character? Foolishness. God's not like that. God's not
that holy. God's not that high. And man
ain't that low. And know what the natural man
said? You know what God-lovers say? God is higher than that. God's more sovereign than we
can say. And man's lower than the lowest. He's lower than we
can put into words. That's what God-lovers say. God
said it, and that settles it. whether we believe it or not.
That's what God-lovers say. Here's some more things of God
that God-lovers love. They love his character. They
love his word. Even that, it exposes us. You know why? Because John is
a faithful saint. Christ came to save dust. He
said to Abraham, to dust, thou shalt return."
Where is he going to return, Abraham? To the God that made
him. His dust. Make gold dust out of him, Manson.
Make gold out of that dust. Here are some more things that
God-lovers love. They love his Christ. They love God's Christ. God's
Christ. God's Christ. Psalm 2, turn over there. They love God's Christ. Let's talk, let's worship, let's
extol and lift up God's Christ this morning. Ain't many people,
other people doing it. I can guarantee you that. There
wouldn't be a crowd around to hear them. The natural man, listen,
the religious world loves to talk about Jesus. The natural man in the religious
world loves to talk about a Jesus who wouldn't hurt a flea. And he can't save one either.
But he tried and failed. I guarantee you, nine out of
ten pulpits, these very things are coming out of the mouths
of the preachers. He tried and failed. that he wants to. Jesus wants
to save you and can't unless you let him. Jesus died for all, died for
all people, but his blood is ineffectual until you make it so by your
faith. You've got to make his blood
count for something. He's knocking at your heart's
door. This Jesus is knocking at your
heart's door, and He wants in. Won't you let Him in? There's
no handle on the outside, and it's raining. He's in the rain. He stood at my heart's door means
sunshine and rain. That's what the song says. He's
waiting. People, He's waiting. God is
waiting for you to let Him in and have His way. Won't you let
go? And that God, that's what they're saying. Won't
you? That ain't God's Christ. That's not God's Christ. No, no. That's not the God, the
God's Christ of Scripture. That's not Him. Listen, read
about it. What's God say about His Christ?
Look at Psalm 2. Look at it. You've got to read
the whole thing with me. Why do the heathen rage or tumultuously
assemble? You see them. Religion's all
the rage today and all this going on. The people imagine the vain
thing. Meditator, think about a vain
thing. Their religion's in vain. The
kings of the earth set themselves. Rulers take counsel together
against the Lord and against his anointed. All denominations,
all religions gather together to decry a sovereign God and
his sovereign grace and his sovereign Christ. They did it back then,
John. They do it now, don't they? They hated every prophet before
that came preaching a sovereign God, and they killed them all.
They hated the Christ when He came, who said, I'm from above,
you're from beneath. They killed Him. And the apostles
who said it, He's Lord God who made this thing Lord, and they
killed them too. And they're gathered together.
They'll join hands in one great ecumenical movement against who? This sovereign God and all those
who believe Him. And they'll hate you for my name's
sake." What sake? Whose, what name? Sovereign Christ. And they say, let's break this
little band up, verse 3. Let's break this little cult
up, cast away their cords from us. He that sitteth in the heavens
shall laugh. What's God doing? Huh? Wringing
his hands? Crying? Jesus weeps, the song
says, and loves us still. He ain't weeping, he's laughing! It's about like some great despot,
great ruler, some great monarch over a vast kingdom. in our king. And somebody tell
him the king then. Oh, Saddam or whoever, he's going
to get you. Who? Man doesn't like it that
you're God. Religion won't have it that you're
God. Religion won't have this Christ to reign over them. They won't. He does. Verse 5, Then he shall speak
unto them in his wrath, I have, verse 6, set my king. He is your Lord whether you let
him be or not. And you hear him laughing? Make
him Lord? I made him Lord before you were
dust. Before this planet was on and
around here that I put you on, he was Lord, and he was Lord
over that, and he helped me create it. What will you do with Jesus? What would you do with Jesus? He has the solar systems in His
hand, and the keys of heaven and death at His side. What would
you do with that? It's laughable, isn't it? That's
what God's doing right now. Oh, I'll declare the decree.
He says, Verse 8, what do you want, son? Ask of me. I'll give
you the heathen for your inheritance. Most parts of the earth, you
own them. What are you going to do with
them, son? Break them to pieces, if you will. A rod of iron. Justice. Dash them. They're yours. These vessels of clay, do it. Dash them, God says. They're yours. Dash them. Or save them. They're yours. Do you love this Jesus? This
is Jesus. This is God's Christ who reigned. God made him Lord. He reigns
over all. And we better be wise, hadn't
we? And be instructed from God's Word. Verse 11, serve the Lord
with fear, and rejoice with trembling. What we better do? We better
kiss the sun, lest he be what? So disappointed. Angry. Angry. You love that God? You love that Christ? We better. We better. I do. By His grace, I do. I love Him
that way. God's Christ came to save a particular
people. God's Christ Christ, the Scripture,
came to save a particular people. Scripture says, first of all,
call his name Jesus, he shall save. I like that Jesus. That's the one I love. That's
the one that means shall save. He shall save. God's Christ came
to save a particular people. He shall save his people. He
shall save his people. This Christ said, all the Father
giveth me shall come to me. He said, I laid down my life
for the sheep. Let's hear what God says about who Christ died
for. Right, Stan? It doesn't matter
what men are debating back and forth. It's what Christ said. Right? Who did you lay your life
down for? Christ. Who did you lay your life down
for? I lay down my life for the sheep. Who did you come for? Who are
you going to say? All the Father giveth me. Who you prayin' for, O intercessor,
O mediator, O great advocate? Who you prayin' for? I ain't
prayin' for the world. I pray not for the world, but
for those whom thou hast given me. They are thine, thine are
mine, thine are thine, thine are mine. And we're one. They're mine. The rest of them,
they're not of God. They're not my own. As I said,
he said, my sheep here are my boys. I know them. I know them,
and I know you're not my sheep," he said. Oh, boy, that's the Christ. That's
God's Christ. You love that Christ? Huh? That's
God's Christ. Christ is now seated on a throne,
reigning and ruling. Do you love these things concerning
God's Christ? Here's another thing concerning
God, things of God. His character, His Word, His
Christ, His Spirit. We sang that hymn. Holy, holy,
holy. It says God in three persons. Blessed Trinity. There's some
people who absolutely deny this. Don't they, Jeanette? They absolutely
refuse to believe that there are three persons of the Godhead.
They refuse it. Don't they? Refuse it. They don't believe
that. They don't believe Jesus is God.
They don't believe there's such a thing as the Holy Spirit as
being God. His Spirit. Look at the text
again. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 10. Look at it again. It says, God
hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Holy Spirit
searcheth all things, the deep things of God. What man knoweth
the things of a man, sayeth the Spirit of man which is in him.
Even so, the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God. Tell it. The Holy Spirit. The
Holy Spirit of God. Verse 13, and these things we
speak not in words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the
Holy Ghost teacheth. God's Spirit's going to have
to teach a man these things, isn't it? I can't stand up here and convince
anybody, or write an article in the paper and convince anybody.
And you can talk till you're blue in the face, and you won't
convince anybody. These people that deny there's a Holy Spirit,
who are they going to have to have revealing It's going to
have to be the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit's going to say,
I'm the Holy Spirit. These are foolishness to the
natural man, foolishness. How can God be three in one?
That's foolishness. No, it's not. It's glory. See, if God were, if I could
figure him out, he wouldn't be God, would he, Joe? He wouldn't be God. Verse 14,
look at this, it says, A natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God, of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness.
They already talked about God's Christ, didn't they? And John, that's what God's Spirit
does. That's what he does. You want
a Spirit-filled, want to be in a Spirit-filled meeting? And whoever is preaching the
most Christ, that's where the Holy Spirit is. And wherever
there's some people who are worshiping Christ, who are worshiping God
in spirit, rejoicing in Christ Jesus, and putting no confidence
in anything, any of this, that's where the Holy Spirit is. Those
are spirit-filled people. Yeah, but they ain't raising
their hands. Ain't nobody. Why do they got to raise their
hands? They're worshipping in spirit. God's not worshipping
with men's hands. Right? They're worshipping in spirit.
The heart! They're quietly sitting there as a man declares who God
is, and they're saying, yes. Aren't they? If it's a natural
man to receive it, not the things of the spirit of God. Spirit
is sovereign. He's as sovereign as God is.
He is God. as sovereign as Christ is. He
is God. He's the Spirit of Christ. The
Spirit is sovereign, bloweth where it listeth. I would never
advertise a meeting, Holy Ghost revival, at seven o'clock tonight. I like these weather forecasters.
Hath not God made foolish the meteorology of this world? It's going to rain. The sun just
shines so bright. Oh, it's going to be a pretty
day today. It'll come down cats and dogs. Why? What controls the weather? Oh,
we've got a great weather pattern coming through, and this is what
it's going to be for the next week. Man, you don't know what
it's going to be like the next seven minutes. Do they? Why? Wind. Only a fool, I read this to one
of the fellas in a magazine, a meteorologist some years ago,
he said, only a fool will try to forecast the weather, because
wind is what it all depends upon. And the scripture says in John
3 concerning Christ and those which are born of the Spirit,
the wind bloweth where it listeth. And thou canst not tell the sound
thereof. And so is every one that is born of the Spirit. And
some silly preacher, some fool preacher say, Oh, I see sister
so-and-so, she's under conviction. I can see she's crying. She's
a rebel. Bill Johnson over here, this
is one. He hasn't even seen Bill. Bill
hasn't cried on the outside, he is on the inside. Spirit's
moving over here, you're looking over there. It's as it should be. The Spirit
is sovereign. He's invincible. This Holy Spirit
is invincible. As many are led by the Spirit
of God are the sons of God. You cannot thwart God's Spirit.
But the preacher says you can grieve Him. He's talking to believers. He's talking to believers. Quenching
and quenching. Talking to believers. Unbelievers
can't thwart the Holy Spirit. He's invincible. Listen to this. It says in Ephesians 4, "...as
one Spirit, even as you are called, and as one hope of your calling."
Ephesians 4, 4, "...as one Spirit, and one calling, and one hope
of your calling." What's the hope of your calling, John? Is
it God hoping you'll call Him? Is that it? Is that your hope?
That God hope, is this talking about God hoping man will call
on Him? One hope of your calling? Now
call, won't you call? I will if God calls me. I will. If God calls me, that's my hope.
You want my hope? My hope is God called me. God
called me. And those He calls are gifts
and calling. or without repenting. He doesn't
take it back. Is my hope that I'll let God? No, no. No, no, no, no. My hope is that He will let me
in. He will let me in. Do you love
these things? Things of God? Talk about His
character, His person, His work, His Christ, His Spirit. Are you a God lover? Do you love
this God? Only one there is. But do you
love him? Well, now listen, okay? Just
for a few more minutes. Just three minutes. Four minutes? I'm going to try to describe
heaven in four minutes. But here's some things. It says
in verse nine that God has prepared some things for them that love
him. God-lovers. Nancy, you haven't
seen them. I hadn't either. We hadn't heard
about them. Paul came back. He went and saw
and heard, and Paul came back and he said, Brethren, I knew
a man who died and went to heaven. And he said, I can't say. I just can't say. As I heard things, you should
have heard, I heard him speak. Christ was preaching, and he... I'd blaspheme for trying. The things, and neither have
entered into the hearts If it had, if it were in our hearts,
these things right now, everybody here would be on the edge of
their seat. What is it? Here they are, the thing. OK,
OK. I'm waiting. Add in there into the heart.
This world has too much of this. Well, here are some things, OK?
I've often wanted to talk about these things. the unsearchable
riches of Christ, but the things of God. Well, number one, salvation. It says that God had prepared
for them that love him. What does he prepare? Salvation.
Salvation. God did it. He prepared it. He
purposed it. He prepared it. The word prepare
means forethought, doesn't it? Forethought. Previous preparation
or previous thought and arrangement. He thought it. God thought it.
God bought it and God brought it. He did it. That's one thing
we have seen now. One thing we have seen is that
God's the one who prepared this salvation. But I'm telling you,
I hadn't seen and you hadn't heard, neither have entered into
our hearts what salvation means. It's going to be pure mercy and
love and grace of God that we don't hear the cries of the unsaved. We're not going to hear them.
There'd be nothing that spoils that unbridled joy. But if we
could hear Him, we'd say, Oh, so great salvation. He saved
me. I could have been. He saved me. Oh, salvation is one thing. Number
two, a kingdom. What has God prepared for them
that love Him? A kingdom. A kingdom. Our Lord God's going to say someday,
Enter ye, enter thou, ye blessed of the Lord, into the kingdom
prepared for you before the foundation of the world. Kingdom. What's
this kingdom like? What's it like? Well, it's a
holy kingdom. The kingdom of holiness. There's
no sin in it. where you dwell is righteousness. Now, people, do you know what's
wrong with this one? With this world? You know what?
Every problem you have, everything wrong in this world
is because of what? Sin. God says he's going to have
a kingdom with no sin. holiness. You love Christ, who's
holy, his person is righteous, everybody there is going to be
like him. No, no, no sinners. You hate yourself, don't you?
You're not going to be there. You died. There's going to be
a new creature. Oh, he's Joe, but he ain't Joe. He ain't no common Joe anymore.
Joe's going to be like Christ. Going to be Joe Christ, not Joe
Parks. Heck, Joe's going to be just
like Christ. Joe said, that old man's not going to be there.
You mean that old fella that I've been fighting for years
ain't going to be there to plague me? You got anybody that's just
an arch enemy to you? He said, God get him out of my
life. He ain't gonna be there. Holy
people. Holy people, holy thing. Everything's holy. You like that? Huh? John, everything's bad,
but Nancy, you know how much we love this planet? Yes! It's God's creation. Good, isn't
it? How about roses? Don't you love roses? There's
gonna be roses there. But no thorns. And Nancy, you're
gonna be able to grab one of them. It's not gonna prick you. or anything. Everything's a cause
of sin. Sin. It's going to be a holy
kingdom. Holy. Holy. Holy. Nothing that maketh a lie. Glory. What is this? What's going to
be in this kingdom? Glory. And I'd be an absolute fool to
try to describe glory. Glory. Let's ask Sheba. Queen of Sheba. Sheba, what was
Solomon's kingdom like? She said, when the temple, when I saw Solomon, and he, glory, is what she said. It's
glorious. Glorious. That's all she could
say. Glorious. I tried to tell you,
I wouldn't tell a half of it. This is a kingdom of love. Don't
you love it when there's love? Don't you love love and not a
fight? Don't you love it when your house
is some peace? And there's a little bit of love.
You know what little bit of love that we experience here? Most
of it's hate. bitterness and anger and wrath,
when there's just a little bit of love, when your child is smiling
at you, actually smiling, or your wife, or your husband, or
there are pleasant words going on, there's a little bit of love
going around, Christ says, it's going to be nothing but that
there. Nothing but it! Love. And everybody's going to mean
it. And peace. Peace. I love when there's peace around
my house. Just peace. Nobody raising their voices.
Peace. Quiet. Don't you? There's going
to be peace in heaven. Peace. Peace. Joy. Our Lord says there's going to
be joy. Well, tell me about it. Speak on joy. Oh, it's unspeakable. Joy. Have you enjoyed some things
here? Let's talk about the gospel and
the things of God, and I think the time—let's wrap up every
time we've had together. Barbara, every time we've met
together and the sound of the gospel and the sound of the Word,
every message you've ever heard by every preacher you've ever
heard, every gospel meeting, rip it all up into one time.
All that joy that you've experienced, unbridled, joy. It makes shivers run out of joy. And you go out here thinking,
nothing's going to spoil this. And you think, am I touching
the ground? When you're joy, unspeakable. Describe it. What
happened this morning? I can't. It's unspeakable. I
had a good time. The scripture says that's what
happens, joy. And God's going to say, Some
of these are still pretty dirty. You know, think, God doesn't
want anybody to have a good time. That's what heaven's going to
be. God won't let anybody be there that's not going to have
a good time. Joy! Joy. Nothing but it. Never—may I coin
the phrase—never heard a discouraging word. And ain't no—sky is not
cloudy. All day. Enjoy life. You know, there's some things
about this life that I enjoy. Children, my wife, just friends,
and just this life. It's to a degree, there's some
things about it that's good. He said, you're going to have
it more abundantly. You're going to experience what
life is all about, what man was created. You're not only going
to enjoy people, and things, you're going to enjoy your God. I've got to go on. I can't talk
about that much, can I? I haven't seen here, haven't
heard. A new heaven and a new earth, and a new heaven and a
new earth, and God's going to create another earth. That's
what he said. Behold, enjoy and rejoice in
that which I create, Isaiah 65, 17. Behold, he says, I create
all things new, a new heaven and a new earth, and rejoice
in that which I created. Jerusalem, a joy, and I rejoice
in her people, a joy, joy, joy, joy, a new earth, a new earth. Henry, if you plow, if you're
going to plow out there and plant something, it'll all come up,
every seed, and you'll never break a sweat. Don't you enjoy
gardening when it's not too, you know? Ah, new heaven, new earth, yes,
new heaven, new earth, new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Now, this kingdom is prepared
for God-lovers. God-lovers, and I describe them.
It's not just anybody that wants to go to heaven. No, no, God-lovers. You see, if somebody that doesn't
love him now were there then, they wouldn't want to be there. God-worshippers. This kingdom,
this heaven, is for people who love to worship him now. Now. And that's what they're doing
most of their time. That's what they're doing most of their time. They're
worshiping now. Because if they don't enjoy it
now, John, think about it. If people don't enjoy worshiping
him now, and singing these hymns of praise now, and listening
to a fellow preacher now, what are they going to do if they
had to sit there for four million years, and all that's going on
is preaching and singing? My dad talked about a fellow
who died, and he'd never set foot in a church house. He didn't
care anything about God, the things of God. And the preacher,
as they always do, had him in heaven. They always do, you know. A preacher said, Old Bill's in
heaven. And my dad said, he sat there
and he heard and he thought, you know, if Bill's in heaven,
he'd be miserable. He'd be miserable. He wouldn't
want to be there. Because all they're doing is
worshipping. And there's a scripture in Revelation
22 that says, he that is unjust, let him be unjust still. He that
is filthy, he can be filthy, he'd be as filthy as hell will
make him. He that is righteous, oh, he's
going to be righteous still. He that is holy, that loves holiness,
they're going to get what they want. Holiness. They that enjoy worshiping God
now, they'll worship him perfectly then. Nancy loves singing songs. You got a song picked out, Joe?
What is it? 228. You love to sing these hymns. If God called
on you up there to stand up and sing solo, you'd jump up. Jeanette, and I speak as a fool,
I speak as a man, but if God called on you up there with a
perfect heart, as you have, and said, Jeanette, sing us a solo
saying. Of what great things your God
has done for you don't want to. Let me see. My faith is. All right to twenty eight the
same thing the first and third and the fourth and first third
and My faith is down the resting
place, out in divine store free. I trust the ever-living One, His word for me shall flee. I need no
other argument, I need no other plea. It is enough that Jesus died
and that He died for me. My heart is leaning on the word,
the rich word of God. Salvation by my Savior's name, salvation through His blood. I need no
other argument, I need no The. For me, His precious blood He
shed For me, His life He gave I need no other argument I need no other plea It is enough that Jesus
died and that He died for me Thank you dear Disney.