Thank you, Jerry. Now let's turn to Psalm 119,
continue our studies here, both tonight and this following Wednesday,
and perhaps next week. As I said, I don't want us to
get bogged down in these series of messages. It's easy to do.
And this Psalm 119 appears at times to be repetitious, but
it's not. It is. It is repetitious. Because the scriptures say the
same thing over and over again, or speak of the same one. But
it's not redundant or repetitious in that it says the exact same
thing and that we should skip over it because we've already
heard it. No, there are depths of riches of wisdom and knowledge
that we haven't begun to fathom in every single word, every single
line. If we had the eyes to see it, we would rejoice in it all. Now, let's read our text tonight,
verses eighty-nine through ninety-six. Psalm 119, eighty-nine. Forever,
O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven. Put a big star beside
that verse. committed to memory, to your
heart. Thy faithfulness is unto all generations. Thou hast established
the earth, and it abideth. They, or that is the things of
the earth, his faithfulness, continue this day according to
thine ordinances. For all are thy Now unless thy law had been my
delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction. And I will never forget thy precepts,
for with them thou hast quickened me. I am thine, save me, for
I have sought thy precepts. The wicked have waited for me
to destroy me. but I will consider thy testimonies. I have seen in the end of all
perfection, but thy commandment is exceeding broad." Now, everyone in here has troubles
and trials that are peculiar to you. They are yours alone. Not that no one else has gone
through them, but at a particular time, you're going through a
particular trial that no one else is. And perhaps at the time,
you may not even be able to talk about it with anyone else, because
they would not understand. Now, I've often said that a trial
to me may not be a trial to you, and vice versa. The Lord sends
personal trials and afflictions to his people. He deals with
individuals in individual ways according to his wisdom concerning
each case, just like a wise parent deals with each child separately
and individually in the way he sees best, and the Lord does
that with all of his his children. So our trials, particular trouble
or affliction that we're going through right now or at other
times, seems to be a peculiar one to us. But the cure is always
the same. No matter what the trial and
affliction may be, the cure is always the same. People should
look for their comfort at the same source, the same place.
There's only one place to go. Only one place to turn. And Peter
said it best. He said, Lord, to whom shall
we go? You're the only ones that got
the words I need, the words of life, words of life that quicken
me. So God's word, God's word is
what we're speaking of here. If I had a text here, it would
be verse 92, verse 92. Unless thy law had been my delight,
I should then have perished in mine affliction." If I had a
text, that would be it. If I had a title, it would be
this, comfort in my affliction. Comfort in my affliction. And God's Word is the only source
of comfort for all of God's people. But more specifically, when we
talk about God's Word, more specifically, We talk about him who is the
incarnate word. We talk about him, we talk about
the gospel of Christ, which is the believer's only source of
real comfort in time of trouble and affliction. David knew this.
That's the reason he said there, unless thy law had been my delights,
I should then have perished in my troubles and my trials. And
David went through more than I believe any of us here will
ever go through. He wasn't saying here, now when
he says, thy law was my delight. He's not talking about the Ten
Commandments necessarily. The letter killeth. Remember
Paul said that. The letter killeth. The law condemns. But what he's talking about,
and consider with me here, that he's talking about all of the
merciful and gracious and faithful words and promises all the way
through God's law, the Pentateuch. It's a big word for the five
books of Moses. That's the only Bible that David
had, John. Five books of Moses. Got to be
some comfort there, doesn't it? David said that. Thy law, thy
word. God's commandment, God's faithful
words and promises. Everything he said, David says,
my delight. And unless they had been my delight,
unless I resorted to your word, I would have perished. I would
have been overcome with my affliction, my troubles, my trials. Now,
listen to these things that David gleaned from the Pentateuch,
just like us. David surely got his comfort
from the same place we do, Henry Sowell. You're a man after God's
own heart if you believe Christ, just like David. And you find
your comfort at the same place David did. You've got the same
book, same book. David probably went to Genesis
3.15 to comfort him about the coming seed, the woman's seed. He probably went and read of
the covenant with Abraham. Now that Abraham was taken from
idolatry, and just because Abraham believed God, he was counted
righteous. And David said, well, that doesn't
seem that difficult. You reckon God would count me
righteous just for believing him? That's what he did to Abraham,
and that's what he'll do for me. And he got comfort from that,
and God talking about having a people. from Abraham a seed,
that is, are the stars of heaven and the sands of the seashore.
And David said, Why not me? I know it's a remnant according
to the election, but it's a big remnant. Why not me? And he probably took great comfort
in going back through the life of Jacob, that old sinful, wretched
fellow. Yet God said, I have established
a covenant with Jacob. And he said, I am the Lord, I
change not, and the sons of Jacob will not be consumed. He said
that in Malachi, but he said that to Jacob in so many words,
didn't he? In the covenant. And David took comfort from that.
Well, if he'll have mercy on old Jacob, he'll have mercy on
old Matt. And he delighted in that, in
that thought. Exodus. David went to Exodus,
and he started reading about God's dealings with Israel. What
a sinful, rebellious people Israel was. And David thought, that's
me. But, God had mercy. Rich in mercy. Delight to show
mercy. Then he must show mercy on me.
Then he will. Surely. And he read about the
tabernacle. And he wrote about the tabernacle.
Many times. Especially Psalm 84. One of my
favorite psalms. How amiable are thy tabernacles,
O Lord of hosts. Talked about the sparrow finding
a home there. He was away from it for a while,
John, the tabernacle. He loved the house of God. He
loved to worship in the tabernacle of God's people. And when he
was away from it, he was longing to be back to it. He said, How
lovely is that tabernacle. I see Christ in that tabernacle.
He said, I'd rather just be a doorkeeper in that place than to dwell out
here in the tents of wickedness and riches. And he took comfort
from that tabernacle, the types and the pictures, these are the
things that we take delight in, right? The very thing. And Leviticus,
he went over there and studied the priesthood, looked into the
priesthood, the cleansing of a leper. And Leviticus 13, and
all through Leviticus, the cleansing of an old leper, how he was brought
before the priest, and he did nothing but stand there, and
the priest did everything for him. And David thought, that's
what I have to do. I have to stand there passive
while my great high priest, the Lord himself, does everything
for me. And all of his dealings with
the unclean, the scapegoat. You reckon David got any comfort
from that? Oh, surely he did. And there was always hope throughout
God's dealings with the children of Israel through Exodus and
Leviticus and Numbers and Deuteronomy. There was always hope. I don't
care what those people did. I don't care what they went through. There was always hope in their
God of hope. And David took hope in that. Numbers, God's long suffering,
his careful dealings with his people, how that he took care of all of Israel's
enemies before them, led the way for them, put everybody out
of the way that would hinder them. I'm getting to Canaan.
Deuteronomy, God's tender instructions and promises for all that would
inhabit fair Canaan. The promises of that prophet
who was to come. That prophet like unto Moses.
The cities of refuge. David thought, oh, I need to
get there. And he said, surely that's not
a place, but that's a person. Cities of refuge. So David said,
when my troubles were about to get to me, I resorted back to
God's law, His Word. And I got the light in it, and
it picked me back up again. I could go on. And this is my
greatest source of comfort, and my only source of comfort, and
yours as well. Look at this, verse 89. Forever,
O Lord, thy Word is settled in heaven. settled in heaven. Turn with
me to Job 19. I got a thrill out of seeing
this in light of that verse there. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. All of the promises of God to
sinners. I mean sinners, and that's who
they're to. They're not for the righteous,
You know what Christ said? I didn't come to call, to speak
to the righteous. He had words of judgment for
them, didn't he? You hypocrites, you snakes, you vipers. But sinners,
promises, comforts, tender, kind words of mercy, love, grace,
pardon, cleansing, eternal security, assurance, provisions, riches,
and all of these promises to sinners. vacillating, fluctuating,
up and down, cold, hot centers. All the promises of God are sure,
eternal as God himself, settled, fixed, certain, and sure. The Scripture says the gifts,
the gifts, that is all the gifts of salvation, the unsearchable
riches, the gifts of God that are in Christ, the blessings
of God, and the callings of God, the words of God, or without
repentance. He'll not take them back. Once
spoken, Terry, he said, I've said it, I've purposed it, I've
spoke it, I'll do it. I'll never take it back. Never. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled in heaven. And here in Job 19, Job 19, look
at verse 23 with me. Job said this. Job 19, verse
23. He said, oh, that my words were
now written, oh, that they were printed in a book, that they
were engraven with an iron pen and lead in the rock forever. He says, because I know that
my Redeemer liveth and that he shall stand at the latter day
upon the earth. Now back to the text. Forever,
O Lord, thy word is settled in heaven." Job said a long time
before this, Oh, that my words were graven with a pen of iron,
an iron pen and a lead in rock forever, because I know my Redeemer
lives. Well, Job got good news for you.
They are. They're graven with an iron pen,
and those iron pens are nails. An iron pen, and they're written
in a rock, in the palms of the hands and the feet of Christ
the Rock. With an iron pen and a rock,
and all of the promises of God are indelibly printed in the
heart, in the hands, in the feet, in the mind, in the One who is
the Word Himself. Indelibly printed in the Lord
Jesus Christ, who is an unmovable rock, an immovable rock The Word
of God is Christ Jesus the Lord, who is forever settled in heaven. Forever. I read all of the writers
on this, and I was just dismayed to find that none of them, none
of them referred to Christ on this verse. I couldn't believe
that. This is talking about the Lord Jesus Christ here. Forever,
O Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the Word, is seated at the right
hand of the Father in heaven, settled. And that's my hope.
That's my hope. My hope isn't just built on black
and white words written in the leafs of a book. My hope is built
on nothing less and Jesus' blood and His righteousness, and Him
that ever lives to make intercession for man, on the one who is at
the right hand of God. Not just a book, but in a person,
he said. There's a difference. A lot of
people claim to believe the book, you know, we preach the Bible.
Well, you don't preach the Bible unless you preach Christ. You
don't preach the Word unless you preach Christ, who is the
Word. And the word of God, Christ, is seated, established, enthroned
as the reigning, ruling King of heaven. Forever, O Lord, thy
word is settled in heaven." Christ. And all the promises of God are
in Christ, aren't they? And all the promises of God,
Paul said, are yea and amen. Amen means, so be it. I like
to hear that word every now and then. Amen. So be it. Thy faithfulness is unto all
generations. Thou hast established the earth,
and it abideth." Thy faithfulness. Where is God's faithfulness to
be found? In Christ. In Christ. Thy faithfulness.
Great is thy faithfulness, we just sung. Thy faithfulness is
unto all generations, that is, generation to generation, from
Adam to our generation has known something of the faithfulness
of God because of that woman's seed, because of Christ. Had not God promised the coming
Messiah, he would have wiped his thing out a long time ago.
But God is faithful to his word, to his promise that he would
send the Messiah. He said it, and he did it. And
just like he says to us, he's coming back again. And God's
faithfulness is in Christ and is far-reaching. It's unto all
generations and it's eternal. It's eternal and never fails. Never fails. His mercy endureth
forever. Forever. Unto all generations. Like I said, the first sinner,
Adam. I just kind of believe that Adam
was a saved man because of the Lord's preaching the gospel to
him. That's just my belief. People
are welcome to to disagree with me, but I just kind of believe
that God got the greatest. God showed mercy from the very
beginning to the first man. I just kind of believe that because
God is full of mercy. He delights to show mercy, and
God was going to show his mercy from the very outset. The first
sinner to the last. Right? The chief. Paul said,
this is a faithful saying. It's worthy of all acceptation.
That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom
I am the worst of the bunch, and he saved me. And Adam certainly
wasn't any greater a sinner than you or me, was he? Huh? Certainly
not. From the first to the last, God
shows mercy. Now, he says, thy faithfulness
is great. But mine is horrible. I'm so ashamed. You know, I'm
so ashamed that I can't say this with enough shame facing me.
But I am so ashamed and troubled by my weak and fluctuating faith. Hot and cold, up and down. How
about you? Up and down. That's the reason
I'm so thankful. that he abided faithfully, the
scripture says. He said that to young Timothy,
Paul did. He said, if we believe not, yet he abided faithfully. He can't deny himself. He can't
deny his word. I'm sure glad of that because
I deny him all the time. And if he says he'll not forsake
me, then I'll not be forsaken. And his word is fixed. It's fixed. And even the natural laws of
this universe. Look at verse 90 again. It says,
"...he established the earth, and it abideth." I'm glad God
is faithful in the natural laws of this world. The natural laws,
the order, the continuance of all things according to God's
faithfulness. The sun shines. It comes up every
day. I'm glad of that. The rain falls,
our crops grow. God is faithful in the natural
order of things to sustain life as we know it on this planet,
and it's all according to his faithfulness, his provisions
for us. He says in verse 91, These things
continue this day according to thine ordinances, for they are
all thy service. Everything in the universe is
under the sovereign dominion and direction and under the control
of and in the service of our Lord. Everything. Everything
takes their orders from Him. Everything and everyone. He said
in one place, For our comfort is not a sparrow that falls to
the ground, except that God ordains it. Right? And not a hair of
my head I need to remember that when I fret about it. God ordained
it. God ordained it for a purpose.
We ought to rejoice in it, right? Sure we should. I'm not joking
now. I'm telling the truth. God ordained it. And what do
you have that you have not received? Everything in the universe God
ordains, either by his divine direction or his permission.
And this is where we'll find all our comfort. All our comfort. In a sovereign, reigning, ruling,
all-wise, merciful, loving, tender, compassionate, gracious judge
of the earth. Or that is, ruler of all the
earth. Because I read where it says
the judge of the earth will do right. He never does wrong. Never does wrong. He'll always
do what's right. And I read in another place, Romans 8, 28,
where it says that he'll do good unto all them that love him.
Do good. Now, at the time that something
is taking place in our life, a trial, affliction, whatever
it may be, sorrow, sickness, bereavement, whatever it may
be, it may not appear to be good at the time. It may be very hurtful
to us temporarily. But you can count on it, based
upon that word, that promise that's forever certain and sure,
that it's for your eternal good. And like little children, we
just cannot see the forest with the trees, you know. We cannot
see the hand of God for these little light afflictions, Paul
calls them, that rise up. We cannot see the great things
that God has prepared for them that love Him. through these
afflictions and trials. He calls it, Pilate, going through
the fire, and they are fiery trials, but he says it's just
to melt away the dross. And what comes out is going to
be gold, pure gold. And I sure want to be rid of
the dross. I've got a lot of it. Verse 92, he says, Now unless
thy law had been my delight, I should then have perished in
mine affliction. Think on these things, Paul said.
Delight thyself in the sure mercies of the Son of David. Delight
thyself. Trust in God's Son, Jesus Christ,
and the Scriptures say you'll never perish. Did you hear me?
Trust in God's Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and you'll never
perish. Never. Never. That soul that on Jesus
hath leaned for repose I'll never, no never, no never forsake, never. He'll never perish, he said.
And when Christ says never, it's settled, right? I give unto them
eternal life and they'll never perish. And we need to say, it
is well with my soul. It is well. Sometimes we get
a full assurance upon hearing the gospel. Sometimes, right
now, I see some smiles on your faces. We get full assurance
from hearing the gospel. We believe right now. We believe,
we rejoice, we think to ourselves, like verse 93, we think, well,
I'll just never forget that. I'll never forget thy precepts.
Now, this is what you said in the beginning. This is what you
quickened me with from the beginning. How could I ever become faithless
again? How could I? It seems so certain and so sure.
That's what God says, and I believe God. He says it settles, and
why should I doubt? Why should I fear? Huh? How could I ever become unmoved
and cold to this gospel again? Huh? He says, with this gospel,
with these promises, you've quickened me. There's times when I feel
ready to ascend right into heaven. Oh, there's times I wish that
I had, because I'd get right back down in the hell again.
But there are times when I feel like Enoch, I'm ready, I'm just
going to walk right on. going to walk right into the
portals of glory right now. It's time. And he says in verse
ninety-four, because there's times you feel like, I'm thine. Thine is mine, mine is thine.
He's mine and I'm his. My beloved is mine. I'm thine,
but save me. I'm thine, save me. Save me. I have to keep saying,
I am thine, O Lord. I have heard thy voice, and it
told of your love divine. Let me read that to you. But
I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to
thee. Draw me nearer. Nearer, blessed
Lord, to the cross where thou hast died. Draw me nearer. Consecrate
me now to thy service, Lord. by the power of grace divine,
let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, not a fluctuating one,
a steadfast hope, in my will be lost in thine. There are depths
of love that I cannot know until I cross the narrow sea. There
are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace
with thee. So draw me nearer, nearer. Blessed Lord, I am thine, O Lord. I have heard thy voice. Save
me. I'm not my own. I'm bought with
a price. You shed your blood for me. You
said you did, for sinners. I'm a sinner. Save me. Please,
this is what is called by the old Puritans, suing for mercy,
arguing with God's promises. You promised, dear Lord, I'm
thine. Save me. I'm a sinner. You said you came
for sinners. Save me. Keep me. Hold me up
by your power. I know you will. You promised. How many of you parents could
turn that down if a child came to you? Mama, you going to take
me somewhere today where you promised you would? Oh, you want
to be a faithful parent, don't you? You promised. Mama, you
promised. Plead God's promises with him.
He said, He that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Lord, I come. Jesus, I come. I come. He said it. I'm going to hold him to it. I have sought thy precepts. I have sought them. How did I
seek them? Because he first sought me. Why
do I love him? Because he first loved me. Why
does anybody have an interest in the things of God? Why does
anybody look into the things of God? Because God looks to
them. God looks upon them with mercy and with favor in Christ. Save me, I have sought after
thy precepts by your grace. I have sought your gospel, your
word, your son. I believe Christ. Verse 95, the
wicked though. Lord, I am yours. Would you save
me? The wicked want. I believe he
is talking about the wicked want here. The wicked one is waiting
for me to destroy me. The wicked one and all of his
workers of iniquity. They're waiting for me. They
lay snares for me, don't they, John? Nets. They dug a pit for
me. We were talking about this the
other day. The people you work with are
trying to catch you. Trying to catch you up in a foul
word or a bad mood. something to compromise your
testimony. They're trying to catch you,
aren't they? They're watching you. They're watching you. They're waiting
for me. The devil, above all. Satan,
like a sifter of wheat. Satan that desired thee, Christ
said, to sift you like wheat. And there's times when you feel
like he's doing it. He's doing it, and I'm not holding
up. I'm being sifted. Christ said, like a roaring lion,
He seeks whom He may devour. And there's times when you feel
like you've got your head in His mouth, don't you? You call yourself a Christian.
I've got you now. That's when we need to resort
back to things like Romans 8, that Christ said, or the Scripture
says, Who seeth and condemneth? Like John 6, where Christ said
that no man is going to pluck you out of my Father's hand.
John 8, John 10. Christ said, they're mine, Satan,
you can't have them. I bought them with a price. And
there's times when we feel like he's got us, but Christ said,
no, I've got you. I've got you. I just let you
loose for a little while, but I've got a hold of you, and I'll
never leave you. I'll never forsake you. And that's
the testimony I need to consider. Verse 95, I'll consider your
testimonies concerning me, not mine concerning you. yours concerning
me." And that's our only hope and only comfort in affliction,
is to consider what God says concerning me, what he'll do
for me. Not what I must do, but what he'll do for me. His testimony
is concerning me. He said, I'll never leave thee
nor forsake thee. I've done all for thee. I've
done it all. Christ said it's finished. The
covenant mercy is in Christ. Now, David ends it up here by
saying in verse 96, I've seen an end of all perfection, or
that is, that which seemingly is perfect. This world, you know,
people in this world treat this planet, Mother Earth, they call
it, and they're trying their best to save it, trying their
best to make sure that it doesn't go down. But I'm here to tell
you. Or God's Word is here to tell
us that it's going down rapidly, fast. It's going down fast. I heard the other day where they're getting ready to launch
a bunch of satellites into orbit that will try to shoot down asteroids
and things that threaten our planet. asteroids or foreign objects
that could at some point in time come down and destroy this planet.
Well, that's foolishness. This thing's
going to burn up, and I believe it's already started from within,
from within. But I've seen an end of all things
that seem to be perfect. and continuance of all things
will end," David said. God's going to fold this thing
up, he said, like a vestment, like a coat. He's going to fold
it up and he's going to tell the angels from the four corners
of the earth to get it like a big sheet from each corner and start
folding it up and wrap it all up together like he did those
linen garments when he came out of the tomb. a new body, a spiritual body,
God's going to do that with this old one, like we looked at New
Year's night. He's going to fold up the earth,
the old one, and cast it into the fire and everybody that's
in it, and then create something new. Behold, I create a new heaven,
a new earth, and rejoice and joy in that which I create. But
God's commandment, consider this, His commandment is exceeding
broad. I've seen an end of all perfection,
or that which seems to be perfect. All of it is going to end, but
everything except God's commandment, God's decree. What is God's decree? Look with me to Psalm 2. I don't
want to quote this for you. I just want you to look at it
with me. Here is God's decree. He said in verse 96, His commandment,
singular, everything hinges upon God's one decree. One decree. Everything is upheld
by this one commandment. This one decree. Testimony of
God. It's one. It's singular. It's concerning one. One thing. One, one, one. He says here in
Psalm 2 verse 6, I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I'll
declare the decree, the commandment, This is it. The Lord has said
unto me, Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. And
that commandment, that decree, because God has set Christ on
the throne to be Lord over all, It says here in that verse of
our text, it's exceeding broad. The commandment is one, but it's
saying a lot. Because Christ is set on that
holy hill of Zion, because he's the Son of God who liveth and
abideth forever, because he's the Word of God who's forever
settled in heaven, The commandment of God is exceeding broad to
us. Everything that God has for us
is exceeding broad. Oh, the height, the depth, the
length, and the breadth of this commandment toward us. What it
means to us, this commandment, because God has set a man on
the throne. The commandment is broad, exceedingly
and abundantly rich, unsearchable riches, abundant blessings, unspeakable
joys, because man is at the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Therefore, I can come in and enjoy Well, it just can't even
talk about it. With God. Now, very briefly,
let's look back here at verse 92 to the end, and I want you
to consider these verses as being the words of Christ himself.
Look at it. We spoke of Christ. Now, I believe
Christ himself could speak in this vein. Verse 92, Unless your
law had been my delights, unless I delighted to do his will and
his testimony, unless it was my delight and my will to do
my Father's will from the very beginning, I would have perished
in my affliction. I would have perished. He said
that in the garden, didn't he? He said, I'm going to die right
here. But he took comfort from God's sure covenant and mercies. Verse 93, he said, I'll never
forget your precepts. Thank God he didn't, Terry. Thank
God he didn't, because I do. I do. But he doesn't. Concerning me, because with them
thou hast quickened me. According to God's will, according
to God's testimony, he sent Christ. He raised Christ up. Raised him
up, not only as a baby, but from the tomb. Because of his word,
he quickened Christ, and we're quickened together with him,
Paul said. Christ said, I'm dying. He said
it. I'm his son. Save me. Save me. If it be possible, let
this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but
your will be done. And he hung on the cross, he
said, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And God did
forsake him. God did, in a sense, damn him
on the cross, because that's what we deserve. But God saved
him. He said, You'll not suffer your
Holy One to suffer corruption, to stay in hell. But he quickened
it. Because why? Christ taught his
precepts. He sought to do his will, and
he did that. And it wasn't the will of God that he should perish.
Because it's not the will of God that any of us should perish
as believers in Christ. The wicked, verse 95, has waited
for me to destroy me. And they did, didn't they? Many
times they grabbed him, Henry, and would have cast him over
a cliff. I liked seeing the look on their faces when they grabbed
air. We've got him now. I thought
you hadn't. It wasn't his time yet. It wasn't
his time yet, and many times they waited for him to destroy
him, but it wasn't his time yet. But in God's good time, according
to the fullness of time, God sent his Son, made him the law,
made him a woman, made him the law to redeem them. They were
under the law, and in the fullness of time, God said, OK, men, I
deliver him to your wicked will. He's yours. Do what you will.
But they did what God determined for to be done. And they sought
to destroy him from the beginning, but he considered God's testimonies.
You see, he said, it must be fulfilled. Everything written
in the scriptures concerning Christ had to be fulfilled, right
down to the last jot and tittle, right down to the very words
he must utter from the cross. It must be fulfilled. And after
they were fulfilled, Christ said, it's over, it's finished. I've
fulfilled everything written in the book, everything. I've
seen, Christ said, I've seen an end of all perfection. How's
that? He was with the Father from the beginning. He saw it
all, known unto God are all his works from the beginning, and
all this was created by him anyway. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, the Word was God, and all things were
created by him. I've seen an end of all perfection
because I'm the one that created it, but thy commandment This
thing of salvation, this commandment of God for the saving of a people,
oh, it's exceeding broad and it's exceedingly eternal. And
Christ said that while he was here, there's a lot to do. While
there's 12 hours in a day, I've got to work. And there's a sense
in which Christ is still working. He's seated, yes, but he's interceding. He's watching over us. He's providing
for us. And someday, when he's wrapped
this thing up, when there's an end of all this that we consider
to be perfect, and that commandment is fulfilled concerning the salvation
of all of his people, And we're all going to rest, every one
of us, going to rest in eternal joys forever in the bosom of
the Son. All right, stand with me. Forever, O Lord, thy word is
settled, Christ the Word. Heavenly Father, all praise and
honor and glory be to the Lamb that was slain. unto him who
loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious blood.
Be all glory and all honor, days without end. Amen.