Revelation 15, verse three. The
last phrase of that verse of scripture. Thou king of saints,
thou king of saints. Verse one, it says, and I saw
another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, seven angels having
the seven last plagues in which is filled up the wrath of God.
And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire, and
them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his
image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name stand
on the sea of glass, having the harps of God. And they sing the
song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb,
saying, great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are thy ways, thou
King of Saints. Now we've looked at several aspects
of this verse, and we've kind of just dissected it, divided
it up, and looked at different phrases here. And the last phrase
that we'd like to look at connects the rest of them, and is connected
with the rest of them. The Song of Moses, the victory
of God over Egypt. And when we look at that spiritually,
we see Christ victorious over all the enemies of the church.
And the Song of the Lamb, he's victorious from his cross. It
was not a defeat. He went there willingly. No man forced him to go, but
the covenant of grace dictated that he go. And saying, great
and marvelous are thy works. The works of God have always
been great, and they've always been marvelous. They're beyond
human comprehension, from the creation of heaven and earth,
to all the critters that he created, all the grass of the field, and
all the trees that have been created. The very fruit that
he creates on those trees, great and marvelous are their works.
And yet each one of those parts of creation reflect to us some
spiritual application about our salvation. And truly great and
marvelous are all his works with regard to redemption and the
redemption plan and the redemption purpose. From the very set in
the beginning where God in covenant mercies determined together in
the Trinity to save a people for themselves, we just shout,
great and marvelous are thy works. And as he saved people, we mentioned
with regard to Abel. Abel was in heaven before there
was anybody in hell. Great and marvelous are thy works.
And the Lord is gracious to us. Now, we find this last phrase,
thou king of saints. Now, I firmly believe that these
verses are here to prepare us for the rest of the book. The
rest of the book is gonna share some real judgment by God. It's
gonna be spiritual judgment. It's gonna be spiritual judgment
upon people. And it's gonna be spiritual judgment
upon people who may be close to us. Maybe family, friends. It may be our neighbors. We don't
know. It is our privilege to pray for
them that God would be merciful to them and pluck them as brands
from the fire. We have that hope. We have that
hope. We can say God could save everyone
left in the world. Well, I mentioned that to an
Armenian preacher one time. He says, I don't think so. And
I says, I've got more confidence in God than you do then. God
could have determined to save everyone left in the world. Now,
he may not do that. It may not be his purpose. But
he could determine before the foundation of the world to save
everyone else in the world. Now, if he chooses not to, that's
his purpose. All right. Thou King of Saints. This verse
gives us one more realm of the Lord God Almighty's rule in His
sovereignty. One more realm. We have so much
mentioned in Scripture concerning the realms of God's sovereignty,
and there is no place in all of creation Spiritual, natural,
whatever it is, there is no place that God does not rule sovereignly. This is just one more view of
it. It is one more view of His realm. God Almighty rules over
in His sovereignty and He rules over His saints. And we're gonna
find out, we thank God for that. He rules his saints. He is king
of saints. He has rule over his church.
This is what he rules. He rules over his church in mercy
and grace. He is a benevolent benefactor. He is a benevolent despot, and
he rules over his people. He rules over his church. And
by these words, we are instructed about God's power over and control
of his children. And it is absolutely essential
that he have this kind of control over his children. We like to
have some control over our children when we're raising them. Once
in a while, they escape from us. Once in a while, they do
something we don't want them to do. Once in a while, they
go places we don't want them to do, or to go, or do things
that we don't want them to do. God's grace to his church is
of such that he reigns over them sovereignly for their benefit,
for his glory as well as the glory of the church. Now religion
allows God very little rule over the church. Have you ever thought how little
rule religion has when God rules over his church? we have entire
doctrines built on the lack of his rule over the church. Purgatory. Purgatory is God's inability
to rule over his church. So we're going to have to put
them through a purging effect. That's what that word comes from,
purging. Well, backsliding in this modern
context is almost as bad as purgatory. And religion is just filled with
backsliders. And if you have backsliders,
you got to have a revival meeting. And it is a modern concept. Now,
it doesn't mean that God has not sent revivals in the past,
but it was not there on purpose. It was there sovereignly given
by God. The preaching of the gospel brought
great revival. People were saved as a result
of preaching the gospel. They were not saved because they
had a protracted meeting. They're not saved because we're
going to have a meeting and we're going to have some preacher come
in and we're going to have a lot of time spent on it. The great
revivals in America and early days in America was as a result
of preaching God's free and sovereign grace. There was a lot of people
used to the nonsense and they heard the gospel for the first
time and God saved them for his glory and his praise and multitudes
were saved. Now there's a whole bunch of
that stuff if you read about it. It was just nothing more
than turning over a fig leaf. It was nothing more than turning
over a new life. It's nothing more than we see
today and the Bible speaks about that. Not everyone that says
Lord, Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. That's what
he said. Not everyone that goes through
the form, not everyone that joins the formality, not everyone that
says a few words, not everyone that repeats a short prayer.
These people, he said, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity,
for I never knew you. But there is a whole host of
people that the Lord Jesus Christ is king of saints over. They're holy ones. They've been
changed by the Holy Spirit, and we'll see as we look into the
scriptures. We find that there's a whole doctrine set around rededication. There's a whole doctrine set
around second blessing. There's a whole doctrine set
around deeper life movement. Well, you're saved, and now we
want you to get real spiritual, so we got to do something about
it. Well, that's not what we find in scripture. We never find
that in scripture. We find that it is a contraption. It is a creation. It is a figment
of man's imagination, but the scriptures tell us plainly that
the Lord is King of saints. And he has promised never to
let us go. He will never let his saints
go. Now turn with me, if you would, over to the book of John
chapter 10. John chapter 10 shares a wonderful
passage of scripture. And if you want to get into a
discussion with religious people, turn to John chapter 10 and read
this verse of scripture and just wait for their reaction. Because
people will say, I know what it says. And you can finish the
rest, but that's not what it means. And most of the time is,
I knew a man. I knew a man who was saved and
now he's no longer serving the Lord. Well, the verse of scripture,
the passage of scripture we want to look at, this verse is disregarded
as scripture most of the time. And it's disregarded as scriptural.
And tradition takes its place. I know a man, he's in purgatory.
I know a man, he's backslidden. I know a man, he rededicated
his life. I know a man, he went to revival
meeting. I know a man, he got his second
blessing. I know a man, he got into the deeper life movement
and things are better now. Well, the scriptures tell us
this, John chapter 10, and keep in mind, The Lord Jesus Christ
is thou King of Saints. He rules over the church and
he rules for our benefit and for our glory and for our deliverance
and for our presentation to the Father. He rules for that very
reason that we can be presented spotless. He rules for the very
reason that he has redeemed us from the hand of the fowler.
He's taken us out of the net, if you please. He has purposed
to rule over us in such a capacity that he will deliver every one
of his children spotless. Now, once in a while, we drag
our feet, but he is king of saints. Once in a while, we have our
eyes take off of him, but he is King of Saints, and he will
deliver every one of his children spotless to the throne of grace.
That is his promise, and the church depends on it. We know
the frailty of the flesh. We understand what Paul said,
in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. We understand that. So
we are absolutely dependent upon a king and a king of saints,
the Lord God Almighty, king of saints. We're dependent upon
him. John chapter 10, verse 25, the scriptures share this. Jesus
answered them, I told you and you believe not that the works
that I do in my father's name they bear witness of me. But
ye believe not because you're not of my sheep as I said unto
you. Now look at verse 27. Now you're
not of my sheep because you don't believe on me. Now how much do
you not have to believe what the Lord Jesus Christ said and
be an unbeliever? One word. Now we'll confess,
Lord, I believe, but help thou my unbelief. Make me to understand it better.
Make me to know it better. But look at this. My sheep hear
my voice. Now what this boils down to is
a lack of power designated to the Holy Spirit. If we think, if we practice,
if we believe in all of these man-made ideas and doctrines
and teachings, then we have very little confidence in God the
Holy Spirit. And God's children do not have
a lack of faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. We depend
on his power every day. To be identified, to be known
as the children of God. Now notice this verse. My sheep
hear my voice. And secondly, I know them. Now
that's number one, underline, take it to the bank. I know them.
My sheep know my voice. I know them. And what does it
say? And they follow me. And I give
unto them eternal life. Now everybody wants that verse
of scripture. We know what Whiskey Baptists
are. They only want to believe one-fifth. Everybody wants this. I give
unto them eternal life. But I know a man, and he was
saved. I know he was saved, but he's
not serving the Lord, so he's backslidden. And other religions
just say he's going to have to go to purgatory. We won't go
quite that far about it. We'll just get right up to the
edge of it. But the scriptures say, my sheep
hear my voice. and I know them, and they follow
me, and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father which
gave them me is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck
them out of my Father's hand. I and Father are one." The Lord
Jesus gave us such wonderful words to ponder. to consider,
to ruminate on, to think about, to digest. My sheep hear my voice
and I know them and they follow me. Now this is his word. Now there is a part of us that
has never, ever, ever, and never will ever stray from the word
of God, never stray from the hand of God, never stray from
the direction of God. It was given to us, implanted
to us, granted to us by the new birth. Now our old flesh is like
leprosy. It's dropping off. We drag it
along. It is not beautiful at all and
never shall be. You can't make it beautiful. But that one part, that part
given to us, granted to us by the Holy Spirit in regeneration
will never depart and will never leave the Lord Jesus Christ.
And he will bring this dead, vile flesh along with it. Now in his time, he'll give us
a new body. But he will never let his people
go off into a hundred years of backsliding. Never. Didn't do it with Israel. Even
in type, shadow, and picture, he didn't do that. And he'll
never allow that. Now, as we look at this, though,
we must pause for just a moment. We must think about something.
In John chapter 8, back up just a little bit in John chapter
8. John chapter 8 and verse 30, the scriptures tell us this.
John chapter 8, verse 30. It says here, as he spake these
words, many believed on him. Then said Jesus to those Jews
which believed on him, if you continue in my word, then are
you my disciples indeed, and you shall know the truth, and
the truth shall make you free. Now, that is one thing the Lord
Jesus said, I am king of saints. If you're mine, you will continue
in my word. Since you're mine, you will continue
in my word. Now, if you don't, you're not mine. That's as clear
as I can make it. If you don't, you're not mine.
If you do, since you do, you are mine. He has promised that
he will deliver every one of his children to the father. Promise. And they will not go
to the right hand or to the left. They will not fall out. They
will not give up. They will not quit. They will
be carried. He has promised that. He will
take every one of his children. As we read there in verse 30,
it says, they spake to many that believed on him. Now there's
a whole parcel of people that believed on him, that believed
on him like this is a bell and that's about it. There were some that were regenerated. Many believed on him and he gave
them these words. If you continue my word, then
are you my disciples indeed and you shall know the truth and
the truth shall make you free. It won't be laborious. It will
not be labor. I will not give you labor to
continue with me. It will be taken care of. If
it is laborious, if it is laborous, if it is labor to continue with
me, then you're not of my sheep. Now, John 15. John 15. Forgive me, Mike, for going back
over this. Just so good. Just so good. John
15, verse 4. The Lord said, I'm king of saints,
promise. King of saints. I rule over my
church. I will lose none. I will present
all spotless. And he has promised it. Now we
know, we see people, the same day that I made my profession
of faith, my brother made his profession of faith. Same day. And when the Lord shared with
me the gospel of his grace, when I'm 30, in my 30s, the first
thing out of my brother's mouth is, and I'm innocent, I didn't
say a word. He said, are you telling me that
since I asked Jesus into my heart, I'm not saved? I didn't say a
word. I said, I'm not the judge. I'm just telling you the Lord
saved me. The Lord saved me. Now, if that's
all he did, and I'm convinced that's all he did, or he'd love
the gospel. That's all he did. Some emotional
moment, he has Jesus into his heart, and Jesus doesn't want
his heart. He don't want anybody's heart.
It's black. He gives us a new heart. Give Jesus your heart. He doesn't want it. He'll give
us a new heart to love Him. All right, turn with me, if you
would, to Matthew 10. Matthew 10. Matthew chapter 10. Matthew chapter 10 and verse
22. Matthew 10 and verse 22. Now,
it's labor to endure. That Joshua doesn't have to do
a thing to go from his apartment where he lives down to the grocery
store. It's not labor. They put him
in a stroller, they carry him, whatever, and he's taken to the
grocery store. And it's not laborious, and he
likes it. And I said that to say this,
that's what God does with us. It is not labor. If it's labor,
it's not Christ. If it is trusting him, if it's
leaning on him, if it's having him, then it is him that's doing
the work. And that's what he said he would
do. I will. I am king of saints. I will take
care. I will take care. Now, notice
here, Matthew chapter 10, verse 22, the scripture saying, ye
shall be hated of all men for my namesake, but he that endures
to the end shall be saved. Now, it's not the endurance,
but those who make it to the end are saved. It's not our endurance. We're carried along. Okay, Josh,
if you make it over to the grocery store, you'll be fed. Well, they
do. They put him in a stroller. They
carry him over there. And sure enough, they bring back
the groceries. And that's the way the Lord does
it for us. He carries us along and brings back the groceries. It's not labor. He that endures
to the end. Those are God's people because
he puts the endurance in them, how he carries them. He doesn't
leave it to us, he leaves it to himself. I am king of saints,
I am the king of my realm, I'm the king of the church, and I
will make sure that everyone I died for will be presented
spotless, without exception. I will love them to the end. That's what he promised. That's
what he promised. We mentioned there in Matthew
Chapter 7, not everyone that says, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven, and that is the absolute truth. Not
everyone that joins a church, not everyone that goes through
some formality, not everyone that's baptized, not everyone
that takes the Lord's Supper, not everyone that says, Lord,
Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven. When it is Lord, it
will be Lord. It will be when that is from
God, it will recognize him as God. We'll not have to have this
discussion that so often goes on in religious world. Well,
you've done a great thing today. You've taken him as savior and
we hope someday you'll take him as Lord. And someday down the road, oh
yes, now I know him as Lord. My goodness, the term is always
Lord Jesus Christ. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe a sovereign king, a ruler,
a king of saints is he. In Luke, turn to Luke chapter
six if you would. Luke chapter six and verse 46.
Luke chapter 6, the Lord Jesus asked this question, why call
you me Lord? Why call you me Lord, Lord? Luke
chapter 6 and verse 46, the Lord Jesus is king of saints. He shares
with us in scripture that there will be those who got involved
just because someone else got involved, that did something
just because someone else did something, and this birth thing. I remember reading in Robert
Hawker, and if you have his dictionary, just look up regeneration. And
he mentions, I've read that before, but he mentions in there one
of the prelates, one of his leaders in the church said he always
looked at that as figurative, but if there is such a thing,
he knew nothing about it. Well, that's where a lot of people
are when it comes to that subject, regeneration, the new birth,
the God-giving life. I know nothing about it. Now,
I made my hand in the air and I bowed my head and I did all
that stuff. Luke chapter 6 and verse 46,
the scriptures share this. As the Lord Jesus shares with
regard to himself, Luke chapter 6 verse 46, and why call ye me
Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? Well, that just
includes, I have no use for your sovereignty. Why call you me
Lord, Lord then? I have no use for your word.
Why call you me Lord, Lord then? Well, I don't like this verse.
Why call ye me Lord, Lord then? And do not the things that I
say. This is the crux of the matter. My sheep hear my voice,
and I give unto them eternal life, and they shall follow me. Or I know them, excuse me. Then
I shall give unto them eternal life. My sheep hear my voice,
I know them, and they follow me. This is just a confessional. God's people spend a lot of time
confessing. Lord, you're right. Lord, yes,
you're right again. We don't argue with God. He is
king. He is lord. He's sovereign. He
is lord of saints. He is king of saints. He does
what he wills with his saints. And what he wills is to present
them spotless. That is his purpose. He said
that he will put his face, his image on us. That's what he does
to his children. I will put my image upon you.
I will press upon you myself. And that's what he does with
his word. He presses upon us. He presses upon us his purpose,
his will. And we go away saying, thank
you, Lord. I learned something about what
you did before the world began. And you did it on my behalf.
And you purposed that you'll present me spotless. And I know
I'm a worm and no man, but you're going to do that. and I can't
do it on myself. I realize if I'm going to endure
to the end, it's you that endures me to the end. I will be carried
by you, and it's not me. Takes the work out of it. You
rest under your vine, and our vine is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Why call you me Lord, Lord, and do not the things that I say?
Now, if you'll turn with me. Going back to Galatians now,
Galatians chapter four. Galatians chapter four shares
with us the purpose of God's grace. When he said, I am king
of saints, this is what he means. This is his word about it. This
is what he says about being king of saints. He has the kingship,
the sovereignty over the word that's preached. He has his sovereignty
over the spirit that's given. He has his sovereignty over the
creation of a new life. He has his sovereignty over the
life He has the sovereignty over the life being presented. He
has the sovereignty over pruning us. He has sovereignty over His
people and presenting them spotless. He has sovereignty over them
and saying, I've loved them to the end. I am sovereign over
every aspect and I will lose none of them. I have promised
it from the beginning and I will carry it out. And here in the
book of Galatians, the apostle Paul was used to write to these
people in the provinces of Galatia, a vast expanse and many people,
many churches were there. Churches of Galatia, it says,
assemblies where Paul had been and preached the gospel. And
he has this to say in Galatians chapter four and verse six. Galatians
chapter four, verse six, and because ye are sons. Because
you're children. Because you're children. Because
you're children in the covenant of grace. Because you're children
in the forethought of God. Because you're children in the
purpose. Why didn't our lines get made
extinct? Why did we get to where we were? Why wasn't our fathers murdered
or killed or drowned or killed in an accident or something way
back there? And our line is diverted. Why?
Because he had his children to bring into this world. He had
a covenant, an agreement with the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit that His children would be brought into this world.
And it tells us there in Galatians chapter 4 and verse 6, and because
you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts saying, have a father. You have a relationship with
God that you never had. He is now more than just God. He is your father. He is more
than just sovereign. He is sovereign over you. He
is king of saints. He rules over you completely
and totally. His word is precious to your
heart and to your ears. His way is precious. His desires
are precious. We say, oh Lord, I'm not what
I want to be. And I'm not what I'm going to
be, but I'm not what I used to be either. You're working out
your purpose. Here he said, because you're
sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts,
crying, Abba, Father, wherefore thou art no more a servant but
a son? And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ. What's he saying? I'm king of
saints. You're an heir of God through Christ. You cannot sin
so much that I'll put you away. We sin more than we want to,
and we know it. Turn with me, if you would, to
Ephesians chapter 1. Here it says he's sealed. God
has put his seal on us, his seal of approval. And besides that,
he's put the wax on us. He's impressed upon us. His image
in Ephesians 1, verse 13, it says, in whom ye also trusted,
after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. Boy, look at that, how much the
word was involved. The necessity of the word, the
gospel, the gospel of your salvation. Not this swill. not religious will, but the gospel,
the good news about a king, a king who rules, a king who rules in
his realm, a king who is sovereign in king over all things and king
over saints and king over salvation and king over endurance and king
over deliverance and king over wiping us up this is his kingship
in whom you also trusted after that you heard the word of truth
the gospel of your salvation whom also after that you believed
You are sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the
earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of His glory. He has put His down
payment." What is it? The indwelling of the Spirit,
not ever be removed. Now all those that say, Lord,
Lord, they don't have that. Oh, that's a big difference.
They have some confession of faith, but they don't have that.
They have some work, but they don't have that. This inside
work of God Almighty in the Spirit, whereby we cry, Abba, Father,
whereby we have trusted Him, we believed, we were sealed with
the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance,
the promise of our inheritance. He will not take his spirit from
us. It's his promise. I'm king of
saints and therefore I can set up my kingdom right inside of
you. In the book of Philippians, Paul,
again, was used by the Holy Spirit. Philippians 1, verse 6, king
of saints, being confident, it says, of this very thing. Paul
was used to write this letter to the Philippians. And what
great comfort it is to the church to hear him say, I am king of
saints. Thou art the Lord God Almighty.
Yes, you are. You rule and reign. But my goodness,
when you get down to this level, when you come down to this level
where we are and said, you're king of saints. My goodness,
that dropped from the nebula down to this earth. And it gets
real close. You're king of the church. You're king of people. You're
king over your people. Now notice here in Philippians
1, verse 6, being confident of this very thing, that he which
hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day
of Jesus Christ. When he begins it, he will continue
to perform it. It's not a lost art with God. He will continue to perform it. every day of our life. He is
continue performing it. We are, we've been saved. We
are being saved and we shall continue to be saved. It is his
continuous activity in us. He continues to be active in
us. He is not all this, uh, a theistic
evolution. Where'd that come from? Came
right out of the pulpit. God saved you. Now it's up to
you. Do the best you can. We'll pray for you. We'll pray
for you. And my goodness, if you do a few things, we can really
say you're getting along the way. But the Bible says, my sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. Being confident
of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you
will perform it, will finish it, In the day of Jesus Christ,
he will finish his work. He finished his work in six days.
Well, he spent more time than that on us, hasn't he? He's bringing
us along. More time than he spent on the
creation of heaven and earth does he spend on his people.
Every day he is spending on us, just as it says here. And then
would you look with me into the book of Philippians again, chapter
two. Philippians chapter two and verse
13. Oh, this is just a beautiful verse. I just trust this. I rely
on this. I depend on this. He's nailed
it to the wall. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Both to will and to do. Now if he didn't do that, our
will would not be in line. And if he didn't do that, we
wouldn't do it either. But it is will is being performed. And he has never willed to do
something that he didn't choose to do. And when it says he's not willing
that any should perish, read the rest of the verse, read the
rest of the passage. It says to us word. There will not be any of his
sheep lost. He's not willing. That's why this world is going
on as long as it has. Not willing that any of his sheep
should perish. What you say there, verse 13,
for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of
his good pleasure. It's not the preacher, it's not
the deacon, it's not some system, it's not some church, it's not
some ordinance. It is God. That's why we can
say, as it's recorded in the book of Revelation, chapter 15,
verse 3, he is king of saints. It's God that's working this
out. It's God that's performing this. God that's doing this.
We're the recipients, we're the beneficiaries of God's free and
sovereign grace. to us individually that we will
be delivered. Everyone that he has created
new life in will be delivered to his throne. Turn with me,
if you would, in John chapter 17 again. John 17 and verse 11. We read these words, the Lord
Jesus in his great high priestly prayer. The Holy Spirit's able. He's a whole lot more powerful
than most people give him credit for. And sometimes I just have
to pray, Lord, open my eyes so I can see that kind of power.
He is. He will continue. We talk about
perseverance of the saints. It's more than something to talk
about. It's scripture. The saints will endure to the
end. They will persevere to the end. They will come out at the
end. Why? He carried us all the way. He
is our king, and he will deliver his subjects. John chapter 17,
verse 11, and I know I am no more in the world, but these
are in the world, and I come to thee, holy father, keep through
thy own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may
be one as we are. Keep through thy own name. He's got a lot on the line. His
covenant is on the line. His purpose is on the line. His
eternal nature's on the line. His eternal love is on the line.
His eternal redemption is on the line. Keep through thy name. Romans chapter one, it says there,
excuse me, Romans chapter eight, verse one, there is therefore
now no condemnation. Turn there with me. Romans, we're
gonna look at a couple other verses in that eighth chapter,
but Romans chapter eight in verse one, It says here, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh but after the spirit. No condemnation to them that
are in Christ. He has done such a wonderful
work at the cross and a wonderful work in regeneration. that there
is no work left to do, and there is now no condemnation. Chapter 8, verse 29, the Lord
Jesus says this through the Apostle Paul, for whom he did, whom Christ
did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom
he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. All in past tense. The Lord has
promised to take care of every aspect of every need that we
ever had since the fall until this very day. And in so doing,
he can say, I have them glorified already. As much as Jesus Christ
was the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, are his saints
glorified in his presence today. It's just as sure. There's no
room to the right hand or to the left hand. And then going
back to John 13, if you would. John 13 in verse one. John 13
in verse one. The Lord Jesus knew why he came
and he knew what he was doing when he came. The Lord Jesus
knew what he was doing. Every step of the way, every
purpose that he had, every voice, everyone he met, every word he
spoke, every step he took, every disciple he called, everyone
he raised, everyone he healed, everyone was on a strict order
of business from the covenant of grace laid down before the
world was created. Everything he did now listen
to this in John chapter 13 and verse 1 now Before the feast
of the Passover when Jesus knew now that there's a lot of comment
when Jesus knew He knew all things from the beginning to the end.
He knew all things he knows all his children Knows them intimately
knows them by name Many of them are still out there rascals But
he knows. Jesus knew that his hour was
come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father. Now, he had no question as he
brings this subject up, as it's brought up about him, that there
would be any catastrophe. And it's been four days in the
grave. Or two days. Three days. Three nights. He knew. I'm going
to go back to the Father. It reads that with regard to
Abraham, he knew that if God required him to take the life
of his son, his son would come down off of that mountain. That's
what the word says. Abraham believed it. Well, the
son knew for a fact that when he went to the cross, he was
going to go back to the father. He would not have any trouble
overcoming sin for us, though it was immense and great. Where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound. He was able. Notice
that. Depart out of this world unto
the Father, having loved his own, which were in the world,
he loved them unto the end. Now he loved them unto the end
of all wrath would be poured out. He loved them until all
the law was fulfilled. I loved him to the end. No law
can raise its head against the Church. No wrath can raise its
head towards the church. No law. Every travail. God should see the travail of
his son's soul and be satisfied. He loved him till the very satisfaction
of the father and of the son and of the Holy Spirit. He didn't
stop short. They were all completely satisfied
when he said it is finished. He loved him to the end. He loved
them to the end of all justice. Justice needed to be poured out. We get just a little farther
here. We've read it in Revelation 2 and 3 about the saints in the
churches that they shall not see the second death. We get
just a little further and we'll see the second death, and not
any of his people will see the second death. Blessed and holy
is he that hath part in the first resurrection, regeneration. Blessed
and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, for
on such the second death hath no power. He loved them to the
end. of all suffering. He loved him
to the end of all time. He loved him to the end of all
justice. He loved him to the end of all
the law. He loved him to the end of all
wrath, all travail. He loved him to the end. And who did he love? His people.
Why? He's king of saints. He is the
king over all his children. And children, we cry, Abba, Father. And he'll love us to the end.
He'll love his church to the end of all time and for eternity. He loved us before the world
began, loved us in time, loved us after the world is over with.
He loved all his until the end. And so it says there, I loved
them until the end. He loved them until the end,
to the end of all, when he said it's finished. He said that because
he loved his people to the end. They were on his mind. He's not
on his mind, his people are on his mind. And then he can say,
all thou king of saints. Lord God Almighty, that's wonderful.
But that's who will judge this world. But the king of saints
will present his children spotless. Because of his blood, they'll
be presented spotless. Just as sure, just as sure as
he's sitting at the right hand of the Father. Will that happen?
Because you are sons, you're sealed with the Holy Spirit of
promise. Be confident of this very thing. He that begun a good work in
you will complete it to the end. God worketh in you both to will
and to do of his good pleasure. He keeps all his people through
his Father's name. He will save to the uttermost
all that come unto God by Jesus Christ. So he loved him to the
end. O thou King of saints. Now, as
we go through this book just a little further, we're gonna
see a bunch of wrath poured out. Oh my, storms of it. Spiritual. Now God can use the water, I
don't doubt that. He can use an oil well. He can
do anything he wants. But his real, his worst wrath
is spiritual wrath. That's his worst wrath. And he's
gonna pour out a whole bunch of it. And the church is standing
back saying, oh, Lord God Almighty, King of Saints. Lord God Almighty,
King of Saints. If it wasn't for that, I'd weep.
I'd weep at this point, I'd weep at that point, but you're a King
of Saints, Lord God Almighty, King of Saints. I trust you,
we trust you, the church trusts you in this. We bow before you
knowing you have every right in this world to do exactly what
you're doing. And if it wasn't for Christ,
I'd be in that place. having that wrath poured out
on me. Now when we see the wrath of God poured out on this world
like he's going to, he's done it, he's doing it, he always
does it, pours out his wrath, that's the wrath he poured out
on his son. And that's why his son said,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? All right, he loved
us to the end, all right.