chapter 4, Revelation chapter
4. We'd like to look at a couple
of things found in this chapter. It's such an enjoyable read. It's just fun to read it and
it's so inspiring and so honoring as we find that John, after he
had witnessed that glorious vision of the Lord in chapter 1, And
it's, there's some similarities in the wording, but there is
great similarities between that in the fifth chapter of the Song
of Solomon. As we go down through that list
and we see all the glorious aspects of our Lord Jesus Christ that
John got to witness. And then as it is carried out
in the second and third chapter, how he appeared to the different
churches. And then once again, we just
get to see a composite of the Lord Jesus Christ and all his
glory and splendor. And I just am refreshed every
time I read that and refreshed every time I read that song of
Solomon chapter five, as the daughters of Jerusalem asked
the bride, what is so important about your beloved." And that's
just a quick trip. I think Wayne down there at Central
Point mentioned Gene was down there and asked Gene if he had
preached twice while he was up there and he says, that's just
like saying sickum to a hunting hound. You know, so looking at
that just is such a delight. It's warming. It's just like
sitting in front of a fire in the wintertime. It's just warm.
It warms your soul to read about the Savior, the Lord Jesus. Now,
here in the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation, we find
that John has been taken from that first scene. And he is privileged,
as our brother Saul was, Saul of Tarsus, Paul, to view things
in heaven. Now I've read that again and
it's amazing that the Lord prevented him from sharing that vision
of what he saw in heaven. But he encouraged John to write
what he saw in heaven. Our God is sovereign in his revelations. And he is sovereign in what we
get to say about his revelations. Whatever he reveals, sometimes
what he shares is for us. And sometimes what he shares
is to be shared. Sometimes we just get to see
a light that causes us to warm. And that's just to see the Lord
Jesus in the scripture in a very special way. Fourth chapter,
after this, I look, John has went through, he's written those
letters, and he's been so diligent to write them just like God gave
them. And we know he did because the
Holy Spirit gave him the words to write. And they were recorded
in the book. And we get to enjoy them. But
he was diligent in writing those letters and making sure that
they were delivered to those seven churches. That was important. God intended for his word to
be delivered to those seven churches, and his servant John was diligent
in delivering those letters to the seven churches. Now, what
they did with them, we have little information. But that's not important. What we do with them. in our
generation, now that's important. What they did with them, we can't
change it one iota. What we do with them, and that's
valuable and that's important and it's our delight. to enjoy
the various messages of Christ in there, the various ways he
shared himself with those churches, the way he presented himself,
and then the encouragement and admonitions that he gave in there.
We realize it's only by the grace of God he'd ever stop anywhere
and share anything with anybody, just like that blind Bartimaeus,
the son stood still and visited with him, and he's now all new. After this, after these letters,
and behold a door was opened in heaven and the voice which
I heard was like a trumpet. Now this is the same trumpet
he heard earlier in this book as he's sitting there on the
Isle of Patmos. He is not there on vacation. He is there for preaching the
gospel. And he saw more in his exile
in this book than he had previously while in exile. Now he's in the
spirit on the Lord's day. And I was thinking about that,
uh, being in the spirit, and we're going to read that in just
a moment, but what is it to be in the spirit? What is it to
be in the Spirit? John was in the Spirit on the
Lord's day, and we're going to find out he's going to be in
the Spirit again. What is it? Well, we are confident
as we go into the Scriptures, we're confident that when God
blesses us with being in the Spirit, there is one thing that
we have in mind, and that is to glorify Christ. It is not
to glorify self and it is not to build self up, but it is to
glorify Christ and to glory in our Christ. That's what it is
to be in the spirit and to exalt God. We find that the prophets
of old, when they were in the Spirit, when John was in the
Spirit, when Paul was in the Spirit, when God's people are
in the Spirit, and that is every time we think about the Word
of God as He is presented and we're in the Spirit, we're going
to glorify Christ and we're going to exalt God. We're going to
see Him high and lifted up. We're not going to see Him as
the world presents Him. We're going to see Him as the
Word of God presents Him. We're going to see Him as the
preachers of old presents Him. And we're going to see that grace
is in salvation. When we're in the Spirit, we
have no time whatsoever for any of the theories about how men
are saved. We are confident in God's Word
when we're in the Spirit. God said it and His Spirit is
testifying about it, and we will be confident that it is grace
that saves His people. or by grace, or you say, we're
just confident in that. We just don't have any discussion
over that. And we also realize that when we're in the spirit
that Christ is all. He is all our hope. He is all
our peace. He is all our sanctification.
He is all and in all. He is all God ever gave, and
he is all that we need. And he's all. I'm just impressed
with what we read with regard to the Passover lamb that not
one bone was broken and when that relates to the Lord Jesus
Christ you must have him all or not at all. You must take
him in every one of his attributes. To shun one is to shun all. They
are bound together. You must have all or you will
not have any. Then we find When we're in the
spirit, we confess, I'm only a sinner saved by grace. When we're in the spirit, John's
in the spirit. Abel was in the spirit when he
offered that lamb and he's telling us without reservation, I am
need of a substitute. I am a sinner in need of a substitute
and this lamb typifies my only hope and my only substitute and
that's the lamb of God which takes away my sin. So we have
this in the spirit. So he says here in verse one,
I heard was a trumpet talking with me and we mentioned last
week. trumpet, the sound of a trumpet,
it gets our attention, gets our attention. And we don't have
time to try to think up arguments with God when we're being spoken
to. It's such a resounding, brilliant,
overwhelming word from God, we just are compliant. We comply
with his word. He said, there, come up hither,
and I'll show thee things which must take place after you wrote
those letters. We're not going to be speaking
altogether about things that are going to take place in the
future. We're going to be talking about
things that are present with a few things. The coming of Christ
the second time is in the book of Revelation. But other than
that, we need not to know the times nor the seasons. That's
what he told his disciples. They asked, he referred, and
then he also shares with us that only a very poor and adulterous
generation seek after signs. So we're not looking for signs,
we're looking for Christ coming the second time. We're not looking
for any buildings to be built and any sacrifices to be made
and any earthquakes to come and any fires and roars and rumors
of wars. That's just a commonplace thing
that happens in our world since the world began. You talk to
Abel, he met with war. His brother rose up against him
and slew him. There was wars and rumors of
wars in Abel's day, and it's here today, and that's not a
mark. It's just the way human nature
is, and it will be here until the end. In verse two, and immediately
I was in the spirit. I was praising God. I was lifted up. I was exalting my Savior. I was
thinking of him as my all in all. Let's just back up there
to John chapter, excuse me, Revelation chapter 1 verse 13. You can't
get away from this if you've seen it. John couldn't get away
from this. My goodness, he has seen the
Lord in his glory with words that are, with attributes that's difficult to
describe. They are just glorious. He can't
get away from this. This would put you in the spirit,
whether you're in the Lord's day or not. He said there, Revelation
chapter one, And it says, verse 12, and I turned to see the voice
that spake with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one likened to the Son of Man, clothed with
a garment down to the foot, and gird about the paps with a golden
girdle. Here is his high priest. And
you can't get away from this. Once you've seen it, you can't
get away from it. And you don't want to. You want
this. You want him. He's the answer to every issue. He's the comfort in every turmoil. He's the blessing in every day. Even in the night seasons, we
meditate upon him. And so John says, his head and
hairs were white like wool. Wise. Oh, he's our counselor. He's our counselor. And his eyes
were a flame of fire. Now that's not discouraging.
That's a joy. Boy, you can find him at night. He opens his eyes, you find him
at night. And he knows all. He knows we
have a high priest that can be touched with the feelings of
our infirmities, who in all ways was tempted as we are yet without
sin. Now that will float your boat. That's so good. He knows. Then he goes on to say here,
and his feet likened to fine brass as they burned in a furnace. His voice is the sound of many
waters. I'll never forget Brother Bob Coffey mentioning that verse
of scripture with regard to the three Hebrew children in the
burning fiery furnace. And he went right over here and
he says, he's been there with us. And he's been there in our
place. And he met judgment. He was in
a furnace, a furnace that God ordained he step into so he could
relieve every one of his children from sin. He was there. And he had a voice, the sound
of many waters, and he had in his right hand seven stars, and
out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. You that can
draw, sometime draw this, and you'll see a monstrosity if you
look at it in a literal sense. He had the word of God coming
out of his mouth. Every word that proceedeth from
the mouth of God. The word of God is important
to God. Word of God is valuable to God
and he imparts it to us and reveals his son in it. Now this is what
John has just seen and then he just heard these seven letters
and now can it get any better than this? And it did. He's caught up into
glory and what he sees is so describable about the glory of
God. Let's just go back to the fourth
chapter and see what he sees. He saw, verse two, a throne was
set in heaven. Now that's what you see when
you're in the Spirit on the Lord's day. a throne, a king, and one
sat on the throne, and he that sat was to look upon like Jasper
and Sardinestone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne.
in sight like unto an emerald. And I read another translation
that said it was a halo around the throne that looked like an
emerald. And it doesn't take us much to
go back to the Old Testament and find out why God left the
rainbow anyway. He had a covenant made. And this
is his promise. Every time we see it, he'll not
destroy the earth with water like he once did. That's his
promise. But here, and that's our verse
we're going to spend on tonight. There's three stones there. And
if you go over to the book of Exodus, you'll find all three
of those are on that breastplate of the high priest. But I look
at this and it delights me to see the number of ways that God
shares with us, that there is a father, there's a son, and
there's a Holy Ghost. And these three are equal. We're going to spend some time
on that tonight. Round about the throne, we're four and 20
elders. There were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats I saw
four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and
they had on their heads crowns of gold. Now that's just a wonderful
picture of the church. Saints in both old and new eras. and out of the throne proceeded
lightnings and thunderings and voices. Now that will catch your
eye too, won't it? It is not wicked and evil in
preparing for doomsday. This is the glory of almighty
God. It is the glory of God. I was
told this last summer that there had been more lightning strikes
in California recorded than any other time in history. And it
was because California got same-sex marriages. And I said, did you know that
lightning is required for us to exist on this earth? If it
didn't lighten, the oxygen supply would not be here. And when we start looking at
things like that, this is a sign God's judging this state, then
we have to be careful because when we fall down and hurt our
eye, what's God beating me for? So let's be careful. This thundering
and lightning is just an exaltation of God. It's just a crown of
glory. It's just a get your attention. Lift up your head. for your redemption
draweth nigh. Catch the voice of God. It's
so clear and plain. It's over every other voice that's
out there. It's the voice of a trumpet.
It's the voice of lightning and thunder. It's just another way
of saying God can get the attention of his people wherever they are,
in the deepest, darkest jungle of Chicago or out there in the
wilderness of New Guinea. He will, and he can get their
attention. He is able to get our attention,
and he speaks in such a way that he does that very thing. It's such a good reading. Go
on to chapter 5. That's so good, too. That's just
a good read through there about the glory of the Lord. And then
in chapter 6. Go on and read chapter 6, too. It's so good. Oh, to have one
open those seals up. My goodness. The Lion of the
tribe of Judah hath prevailed. What glory we find in this. It's
just nice to sit in his presence, because he can do anything, and
nothing thwarts him, and nothing stops him. And even when John
wept, he says, oh my goodness. It's over. Oh my. Lion of the tribe of Judah. We
doubt sometimes God's ability, but someone comes along and says,
oh my goodness, the Lion of the tribe of Judah have prevailed.
And we just secretly say, I knew it all along. God is so good. Let's go back
here to these three stones in verse three. And he that set
was to look upon like a jasper. It's a translucent rock. Now I don't understand all I
know about Jasper, but I do know this. These three stones speak
highly of our God. And then sardin. And there's
another word in here we're going to find a little bit later, sardis.
And then it's found, all of these are found in the Old Testament.
They're all found on that that breastplate of that high priest.
And two of these, the first one and the second one are the first
one in the rows of on there. And then the last one it says,
and there was a rainbow around the throne in light like an emerald
green. Now there's so much said in the
scriptures about the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
and this is just one other way of saying it. On the throne is
the Godhead. Now I don't understand the Trinity,
and it's not a word we're going to find in the Bible, but we're
going to find the principle of that word found in the Bible.
We're going to find three equal ones that are one. They're not
three gods. They're one God, and they present
themselves as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are equal in
every capacity, and yet they have three ministries to perform
on our behalf. We say this so easily, the Father
gave a gift before the world began. And we find the Lord Jesus
Christ saying that the father gave him a gift of people, all
that the father giveth me. And then we find that the son
laid down his life to redeem all that the father gave him
before the foundation of the world. And he promised to do
it. And we're going to see in the scriptures that it is presented
in such a way that he was the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Abel had a lamb, had a Redeemer,
had a Savior before he ever went to the cross because of the everlasting
covenant and then left to ourself. God could have chosen us and
the Son could have died for us but oh my goodness we need it
applied. We need to be quickened. We need to be regenerated. And the Holy Spirit in his infinite
power said, I will do that. I will find them. Now, turn with
me, if you would, over to the book of Matthew chapter 28. As
we think about the Trinity, we think about the Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit. They are the source of our eternal
life. They were all involved in the
raising of Christ. And they inspired the prophets
and the word of God. And we find that they're called,
all called God. And the Lord Jesus Christ, I
hear religious people say, he never said he was God. Then why
did they want to stone him? Because he said. For what good
work do you stone me? Not for a good work, but because
thou hast made yourself equal with God. Now, he didn't deny
it. He is God. Now, here in the book
of Matthew, we find something that you probably have heard
applied to you. I baptize you in the name of, let's
read that, Matthew chapter 28. Matthew chapter 20. And what
we are saying when we hear that, when we administer that, what
we're saying is we are absolutely eternally dependent upon the
Godhead for our salvation. We cannot leave one out and have
salvation. We must have all to be saved. They are equally important. Now
we spend our time on Jesus Christ because that's what God the Father
wants, and that's what God the Holy Spirit wants. God the Father
says, hear ye Him, and the Holy Spirit, when He comes, He will
testify of me. Now, they're not saying that
we're not as important. They're just saying we get our
glory when Christ is glorified. All right, Matthew chapter 28,
verse 19, we read these words, go ye therefore and teach all
nations, and then here is what we're to administer. Now I'm
like Paul. Paul said, I'm so thankful I
baptized none of you. Oh man, those who were baptized
by Paul, oh man. That was a spiritual experience. Look what he is now. He's such
a wonderful apostle. I'm so glad. He says, I'm glad
I didn't baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius and two or
three others I can't even remember. It wasn't important. He did it
because God called on him to do it, but he never kept tabs. It wasn't that important. Go
down to the Bible bookstore. I guess there's some left in
Portland. My favorite one closed. Go down there. You can buy books.
Preachers can keep track of how many they won to the Lord, and
how many they baptized, and how many rededicated their lives,
and how many, and all it is is a book of trash. Because the
Lord keeps our books. He's the one in charge of that.
And my goodness, when we get involved in that, oh, man, I
gave birth to a baby today. No, no, no, no, no. God gave
birth to a baby today. Now, look at this. Matthew 28, 19, baptizing them
in the name, oh, we got the three stones mentioned here that are
on the throne. Glorious, oh, beautiful, without
compare. Emerald and Jasper and Sardis
without compare. And every time we hear these
words, we are confessing and we are saying that everyone in
the Godhead was essential to my salvation. I cannot cut out
one, and they're all God, and they're all equal, and they all
have their part, their ministry on my behalf. Baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Now, there are people that took
that literal and says, okay, name of the father, and of the
son, and of the Holy Spirit, they call dunkards. They go down
three times. My goodness, if that is a saved person, it doesn't
hurt. I'm not gonna do it that way.
I'm not gonna be offended at it. If they're saved, then that's
what they wanna do. But, let's remember why these
of the Godhead, these glorious, Stones of my redemption were
necessary for me to ever call on God. My father chose me in
the covenant of grace before the foundation of the world,
and his son, my savior, the Lord Jesus, laid down his life, my
ransom, my redeemer, and my substitute. And there in time, The gospel
was brought to me in a pagan land, in a pagan city, central
point. God sent a gospel preacher so
this dumb preacher, this lost preacher could hear the gospel
and be saved. And oh, to hear, oh, in the name
of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Turn with me
if you would, if you would, to the book of John 14, John 14. We think about these three stones,
the glory of the throne. I just thought of a halo of emerald. We can't paint that picture. My brother, Ken, got him a new
camera. Oh, he's telling me about the
pictures he's taken, how grand they are. You know, the best
camera we can take and use, we still can't capture a good sundown. It looks almost like that. We
can't. We just cannot explain in words
that are in our language the glory of God on his throne. Our mouths are stopped. We are
hushed in his presence. We just can't put it into words. And here, the best for us is
the Holy Spirit says, well, let's just think of it as three beautiful
stones sitting on a throne. It's our Father, our Son, and
our Holy Spirit. Glory to be to God. Now, John chapter 14, John 14,
verse 26, we read this. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach
you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever
I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace
I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give
I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid. The Comforter. That word is periclete. We got three ladies that are
getting up and walking in the mornings, and they're walking
beside, visiting. That's what this comforter is.
Walks beside us. We visit about spiritual things,
and he teaches us all truth. And never is there a contradiction
in what he teaches us. And he gives us the grace to
sift out the bones when we read a book that isn't right. And he gives us the intelligence
to sift out the bones when we hear something that isn't right.
And Lord only knows, there's some places it's just all bone.
So you just stay away. But, you know, you read, Mike
was given some books and he's sharing them with us. If you
want to borrow one, go back there and borrow it, take it home,
read it, put it back. But even in that, Charles Spurgeon, he's
got those little bones that are in the fish. Just be careful. Sometimes there's a bone. It's
just one of those little ones that's in the fish. We don't
know why he said what he said. I'm not in, I don't know, because
he was in an era I'm not in. But we just, unless you're reading
the Word, just have your boning teeth on. But when it comes to
the Word of God, when it comes to our Savior, Just eat. We're not going to have to watch
for gristle or bone. It's our delight. He says our
comforter, our paragon, one that walks beside us constantly. And even when an oath comes out
of our mouth, he's still there. When we wake up and we're not
doing so well, he's still there. He does not depart. He is going
to be with his children all the way. He will not leave us nor
forsake us. He instructs us, just as he said,
he'll lead us into all truth. He'll not feed us bones. Oh, the glory that John saw. when he could reflect on the
truths that he saw in his Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and have
those things. What did Jesus tell his disciples?
Flesh and blood did not reveal this unto you, but my Father,
which is in heaven, the Holy Spirit, used by the Father to
reveal the glory of Christ to every one of his disciples. How
glorious. And in John 15, 26, John 15,
26, it says here, but when the Comforter is come, whom I will
send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which
proceedeth from the Father, When he is calm, he'll cause you to
speak in tongues. Oh, what's it say? He will testify
of me. That's the spirit's honored position. testify of the Savior to sinners,
to interpret the Savior for sinners, to introduce the Savior to sinners,
to walk beside us and instruct us about our Savior. And he does
that for sinners. He will, as it says there, he
will testify of me. That's his ministry. It'll not
be this garbage that we hear about. It'll not be lies. that we've heard about. He'll
not be mistruths, half-truths. He'll testify of the Lord Jesus,
testify of his Sonship, of his Godhead, testify as Redeemer
of his people, testify of the honor and glory that he paid
to the law so that we'll not stand in judgment of the law. He took it all and he loved it. It was his thought morning, noon,
and night. And even in the night seasons,
he honored that law. So what we could not do, he did. His holiness and his righteousness
is so perfect in all ways. And he honored the word of God
and honored the law that was given to Moses on Mount Sinai
and honored every aspect of it. Even that which was given to
him before the foundation of the world that we know nothing
about. He honored it. And his spirit
informs us all is well. He's honored the law. Justice
has been served. And now walk beside me. I'll walk beside you. And it's
not one of these give and takes. We're not dragging behind. He's
got a chain on us. He's got us hitched. He takes
us along. all right and then in first corinthians
13 would you turn there with me first corinthians 13 oh the glory of god in christ
jesus first corinthians 13 Use me second Corinthians 13. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
for second Corinthians 1314. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, of the jasper. The glory of the jasper. The
shine. The jewelry. Spiritually, we are decked with
the finest jewelry in the world. Gold chain on it. the most beautiful
stone. Spiritually, we are decked with
the finest jewelry in the world. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And here, Paul said, as he led
by the Holy Spirit, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God the Father, and the communion of the Holy Ghost
be with you all. Amen. Now I can't get around
that tree. That's big. That's a giant. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
I will not get that figured out in this life. And the love of
God, I'll not get that figured out in this life. And the communion
that the Holy Spirit has with sinners, I'll not get that figured
out in this life. John was caught up to heaven
and he saw a throne and on that throne were three glorious, honorable,
pleasant, delightful stones. The Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. All of their affection for all
of God's people and John got to see it and we get to see it. God in his glory. Father, Son,
and Holy Spirit. Now they are the source of our
eternal life. I've got three verses there and
three in another place. My time is getting out. Romans
chapter six, would you turn there with me? These three glorious
champions of salvation, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. These glorious
adornments that God gives to us, the glorious jewelry that
we're permitted to wear from our salvation, promised to us
in the covenant of grace. These beautiful stones that have
been honed to a brightness that's incomparable to anything that
we can see in this life. The emerald, the jasper, and
the sardis. God the Father, God the Son,
God the Holy Spirit. We are so dependent upon them. We need the Holy Spirit to understand
the Word of God. We need the Savior to be redeemed,
and we need the Father that would choose us before the world began,
or we'd be lost and bound for a devil's hell. We're in need,
and he's the supplier. All right, here, Book of Romans,
Romans chapter 6. Romans chapter 6. And verse 23,
it says, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God
is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is the source
of our eternal life. The gift of God is eternal life. Now, turn with me back to John
10. John 10. How glorious these stones are.
They are, oh, just stand in front of the mirror when you go home
and look at that spiritual jewelry that he has endowed us with,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And it says here, the wages of
sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through our
Lord Jesus Christ. Now look here, John, John chapter
10, verse 28. I give unto them eternal life.
This is the sun's comment. This is the sun's statement.
My goodness, these are stones that are so glorious. Nothing like them. You'll not
find anything like these on earth. These are hewn from the mountain
of God. It says there, I give unto them
eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man
pluck them out of my hand. Now, turn with me to Galatians
chapter six. Galatians chapter six, how glorious
it is that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are so intimately
involved in the salvation of all the elect. Not one is left
out, and all are dealt with by the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God
is eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. And I give unto
them eternal life. Now Galatians chapter six. Galatians
chapter six. What a beautiful sardis. What a beautiful emerald. What
a beautiful jasper. As we look to the scriptures
and see as God has provided all our needs. the Godhead. Galatians
chapter 6 verse 8 it says, For he that soweth to his flesh shall
of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit are in charge of our eternal life. Secure Secure. Now, turn with me to
1 Corinthians 6, verse 14. 1 Corinthians 6, verse 14. We notice this. These glorious
examples that John got to see, speaking of the three that bear
record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit,
and these three are one. That's what it says over there
in 1 John. But notice here in the book of 1 Corinthians 6, Verse 14, and God hath both raised up the
Lord and will also raise up us by his own power. The father
reached down that day, early the first day of the week, raised
up his son. I am well pleased. I am well
pleased. Now, turn with me, if you would,
over to the book of John, chapter 2. John, chapter 2. John, chapter 2, verse 19. Jesus answered and said unto
them, go ahead, destroy this temple. Go ahead, destroy this
temple. And in three days, I'll raise
it up." The son said, I'll raise myself up. The father says, I'll
raise my son up. Now, turn over to Galatians,
if you would. Oh, excuse me, 1 Peter. 1 Peter
chapter 3. 1 Peter chapter 3, we read the
emerald is involved. We saw the Jasper, we saw the
Sardis, now we're gonna see the Emerald is involved. The Holy
Spirit, 1 Peter 3, verse 18, for Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, that just for the unjust that he might bring us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit. Guess what? The Father, the Son,
and the Holy Spirit were all pleased with the work of the
Son. They all were pleased. The work was well done, and it
was finished. And so, as John is caught up,
what more glorious will he see than to see the throne, and on
the throne, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. in union
and communion, redeeming their people from their sins, and eternally
giving them eternal life. Now that's once saved, always
saved. I like what Brother Mahan said
about that. Someone says, do you believe in eternal security?
He says, depends on who saves you. If yourself, no. If the preacher,
no. If the priest, no. If someone
else, no. If your prayer, no. If your confession,
no. If God, yes. Yes. Yes. And there's a whole bunch
more, but we'll stop here.