All right, let's look back in
Hosea, chapter 7, beginning there at verse 8, where Brother Joe
read to the end of this chapter. The prophecy of Hosea, God's
word to Israel, or sometimes called Ephraim, that's Israel,
God's word to this nation, this nation of sinful, rebellious,
unbelieving people, through the prophet Hosea and I've entitled
tonight's message in the form of a question and that question
is I want to pose to all of us to myself and to you as I believe
in some form or another Hosea is posing this question to the
people the nation Israel and that is this do we really know
death do we really know death. What I mean by that is this,
do we really understand the reality of death, the nature of death,
the reason that death is inevitable for all? Do we really understand
it? Do we really understand the reality of this, that all sin
deserves death? Now notice I didn't say in this
question, do we know we're going to die? Because, you know, everybody
knows that. Even the heathen know that. Even
the unbeliever, the atheist knows he's going to die. So that's
just knowing that we're going to die, whether now or later,
is not really an understanding of this issue of death. And then
notice I didn't say also, do you know the death angel? You
know, whenever I used to hear sermons on the Passover back
in Egypt, they would always talk about the death angel coming
through. Well, that was God coming through. That wasn't some appointed
angel named death. It wasn't the grim reaper coming
in a black robe with a sickle or anything like that. If that's
your view of death, you really don't know death. You understand
what I'm saying? Do we really understand death?
And here in this passage, the prophet Hosea uses three metaphors,
three symbolic things that describe the nation Israel, and it's as
if he's saying, let me introduce you to death. Let me introduce
you to the reality of it, the nature of it, the necessity of
it, the necessity of death. One old preacher made this statement
concerning his ministry. He said, every time I ascend
into the pulpit, I preach as a dying man to dying men. A dying man to dying men. And
the Bible warns us in so many ways about the issue of death.
It shows us how death came to be a reality. Like in the Garden
of Eden, when Adam, the representative of the whole human race, was
put under that covenant with God, that covenant of works,
that conditional covenant where God told him, he said, you can
eat of every tree of the garden except this one, the tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, that tree that represented God's
sovereign authority over Adam and the whole world, that tree
that represented God's sovereign right to determine good and evil. You see, good and evil is not
determined by our standard. It's determined by God. And that's
what Adam did when he rebelled against God. He wanted to be
as God. He wanted to determine his own
way. He said, I know the difference
between right and wrong. I don't know God. He declared his independence
from God. He disbelieved God. He dishonored
God. And you remember what the Lord
told him in Genesis 2, verse 17. He said, For in the day that
thou eatest thereof, Adam, thou shalt surely die. I don't know what went through
Adam's mind. I'm sure he had no real concept of death at that
time. He hadn't been introduced to
death yet. But that was a reality there. And the Bible tells us
in Romans chapter 5 and verse 12 about that situation relating
right back to Adam's fall into death. And you know, literally,
when you look at that in Genesis 2, 17, it would read literally
this way. For in the day that you eat thereof,
dying thou shalt die. In other words, the minute Adam
ate of that tree, disobeyed God, the process of death began. He didn't die physically immediately.
Adam lived to be over 900 years old. Read in Genesis chapter
5. But the process of physical death began. But he did die spiritually. Immediately. Spiritual death. He died legally. He came under
condemnation like a man on death row. That's what the human race
is in Adam, condemned in Adam, according to the covenant of
works. And Romans chapter 5 and verse 12 tells us this, it says,
Now what does that tell us about death? If we're going to know
death, we have to know that death is the result of sin. That's
the reason we die, because of sin. death by sin and it says and
so death passed upon all men for that all have sinned or literally
all sinned when Adam sinned he was our representative and so
his sin brought in death 1st Corinthians 15 and verse 56 says
this the sting of death is sin it's the reason we die because
of sin And it says the strength of sin is the law. The power
of sin, that's what that means, the strength of sin, the power
of sin to bring us into condemnation is the law of God which condemns
any and every person to whom sin is charged. Where sin is
imputed, death is the result. That's why David in Psalm 32
made this statement. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not, chargeth not. iniquity with sin that's why
our only hope of salvation is in Christ to whom the sins of
Christ's sheep were imputed charged to him so that God would not
impute them charge them account them to us and that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him Job said this he said
in Job 14 1 he said man that is born of woman is a few days
and full of trouble he cometh forth like a flower and and is
cut down. That's death. He also, he fleeth
also as a shadow and continueth not. We're continuing right now. There's going to come a time
when we continue not in this life. Psalm 144 and verse 4 says
man is like to vanity. That means useless. It means
worthless. His days are as a shadow that
passeth away. That's death. And then there's
judgment after death. Judgment after death. Do you
know that? You know the worst thing that
can happen to any of us is to be introduced to death when we
meet death. We need to know death before
we meet death. We need to prepare. We need to
be prepared. Because there is judgment after
death. Hebrews 9, 27 says, as it is appointed unto men once
to die, but that's not the end. After that is the judgment. Hosea is talking about judgment
to the nation Israel, and that judgment is certain. And I talked
about spiritual death. That's how we're born into this
world. We're born physically alive, obviously, but we're born
spiritually dead. That's why Paul wrote in Ephesians
chapter 2 and verse 1, When we're born again, he described it this
way, and you have, he quickened who were dead in trespasses and
sins. We're born in sin, born dead
spiritually. That's without the spiritual
abilities to come to Christ, to understand our praying, to
hear the Word of God, to know it and love it, receive it and
believe it. That's why we must be born again. Christ told Nicodemus,
you must be born again. Why? Because that which is born
of the flesh is flesh. That's death. That's what that
is. The body is dead, Romans chapter
8 tells us, because of sin. And then the scripture tells
us that, goes on in that same verse in Romans chapter 8, it
says the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, is life, gives life to his people
because of righteousness. So if I'm going to understand
the reality of death, then I want to know What's the remedy? That
I can live forever in the eternal bliss of God's glory. How is
that possible? Well, the Spirit is life because
of righteousness. Where am I going to find righteousness?
Well, the Scripture says, for as sin hath reigned unto death,
even so grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life
by Jesus Christ our Lord, Romans 5.21. So in other words, there's
only one hope for death, and that's in Christ. John said it
in 1 John 5, 12, it says, He that hath the Son hath life.
If you have Christ, you have life. And he that hath not the
Son hath not life. That's death. And then there's
eternal death. That's a sobering thought, isn't
it? Eternal death. Mark chapter 3
in verse 29, he spoke of those who blaspheme against the Holy
Spirit. That means to reject Christ. That's what that means.
That means to live a life without Christ. That's what that means. It doesn't mean to commit some
unpardonable sin. It means to live a life without
Christ. If you, listen, if you don't
have Christ, you cannot be pardoned of any sin. Not even one sin. If you don't
have Christ's blood washing you clean, if you don't stand before
God in His righteousness, you cannot be pardoned of any sin.
Without the shedding of blood, the scripture says, there is
no remission, no forgiveness of sin. Now whose blood is it
that we need? Christ's blood, the blood of
the Lamb of God. So mark it down. Don't be running
around here worrying about if you've committed something. If
you don't have Christ, you can't be pardoned of any sin. Mark that down. And so he says,
those who don't have Christ, they have neither forgiveness,
but they're in danger of eternal damnation. What is eternal damnation? I'll tell you. It's an unimaginable
thing. It's really, I guess, the best
way to describe it is to say eternal separation from God. That's a horrible thought to
you who know Christ. That's a really horrible thought
in it. Eternity without Christ. That's death. Eternal death.
John chapter 3 in verse 36. Listen to this. He that believeth
on the sun hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
That's eternal death. Revelation 2 in verse 11. He
that overcometh shall not be hurt in the second death. How
do we overcome death? Well, look over at 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. And here's how we overcome death.
All death. Even physical death. Now that
doesn't mean we're not going to die physically. We will. Because
this corruptible, see, must put on incorruption. But that's a
good thing. That's not a bad thing. Would you want to spend
eternity in this body? This corruptible must put on
incorruption. But he says in verse 55, this
is the last part of 1 Corinthians 15. And this whole chapter, as
you know, has been talking about the gospel, the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ. And it's been talking about the
resurrection of Christ, which ensures the glorious resurrection
of all his people. He's the first fruit and it says
in verse 55. Oh death. Where is thy sting?
Oh Grave, where is thy victory the sting of death is sin and
the strength of sin is the law But thanks be to God which giveth
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ Now, how did he
give us the victory now think about this? Let me introduce
This is all the death. How did he give us the victory
over the overseer? Oh Victory over the grave, victory
over death. Here it is, through the death
of Christ. You haven't really been introduced
to death until you understand the death of God in human flesh. Think about that. For His death
is our victory. His death is our life. Now, you
can fix yourself up and get religious all you want. You can get baptized
in the creek so many times the frogs know you by your first
name, but that's not going to conquer death, is it? That's
already been done. That's already been accomplished.
That's already been finished. He said it. It is finished. What
did he do in his death? He made an end of sin, the scripture
says. He finished the transgression.
That's the reason we have death, transgression and sin. He brought
in everlasting righteousness. The reason we die is by nature
we don't have righteousness, but he brought one in for his
people, and we have it in him. He's the Lord, our righteousness.
Now go back to Hosea 7. Now here's the issue now of this
thing called death. The state of Israel, called Ephraim
here, was like a man dying, like somebody dying, facing death,
but who does not know it. They don't take it to heart now
again. They knew they were gonna die I mean everybody knows that
but they don't take it to heart and They settle into a false
refuge of religion and self-righteousness Thinking that that's going to
take care of it and it said in this phrase here in verse 9 Talking
about strangers look at Hosea 7 9 Strangers have devoured his
strength. That's talking about the foreign
powers that are coming in to devour Israel's strength, their
military strength, all of their wealth, all of that, and he knoweth
it not. He doesn't know it. In other
words, we're going to see what's happening here. He goes to these
strangers for help, thinks it's helping him, thinks it's fine,
thinks, well, that's going to bolster us up. Now, we'll be
okay. No, they're devouring his strength. But look here, he says,
yea, gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth
it not. Now, what do you know about gray
hair? Well, it's something to be covered
up, huh? Gray hair means death. Isn't
that right? That's what's happening. That's
the process when the hair begins to turn gray. That's a proof
and an evidence and a testimony from God to you and me that death
is a reality. Here they are like a person looking
in the mirror and full of gray hair. But he just doesn't want
to admit it. He doesn't know it. He doesn't
know death. That's the issue. The scripture Deuteronomy chapter 32 in verse
29 in the reading of the law to Israel Moses set forth this
prayer this statement in a prayer Here's what he said. He said
oh that they were wise That they understood this that they would
consider their latter end The psalmist expressed it to
He said, Lord, make me to know mine end. You see, if you really
know death, you'll know your end, how you're going to finish
up. And he said, in the measure of my days, what it is that I
may know how frail I am, how weak, how sinful, how wretched
I am. Why? That doesn't sound like
the power of positive thinking. It's not supposed to. It's supposed
to drive a sinner to Christ for salvation. Psalm 90 in verse 12, so teach
us to number our days. I don't know how many days I've
got left, but I know they're numbered. God numbered them.
He's the one who determines that. So he says, teach us to number
our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. You see,
the only victory over death is in the God of all grace. The
psalmist wrote in Psalm 68 in verse 20, he that is our God
is the God of salvation, and unto God the Lord belong the
issues from death. From death. Think about it. Now let's look at these three
metaphors as we go through these passages briefly. Look at verse
8. He starts off, he says, Ephraim,
He hath mixed himself among the people. He'd made unholy alliances. The Assyrian army was about to
descend upon the northern kingdom and destroy them, and they were
threatening the southern kingdom, Judah. What did the people of
the northern kingdom do? Did they do what they should
have done, which is turn to the Lord for help? Cast themselves
at the mercy of God and cry, Lord, be merciful to us who are
sinners. Lord, we have no hope without
you. We have no power without you.
We have no wisdom without you. We have no strength without you.
Help, help, help. Lord God Almighty, according
to your promise, we don't deserve your help and we haven't earned
your help. We're a rebellious people. We're a sinful people. Is that what they did? No. They
ran to their conquerors and tried to make alliances because their
strength in armies and power and horses and chariots that's
why that's the way man by nature thinks it oh we can't save ourselves
we can't beat this army let's make friends with it that's an
unholy alliance we're never as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ
as the Church of the Living God the power the pillar and ground
of truth commanded or allowed to make unholy alliances with
unbelievers. He says, you come out from among
them. Separate yourselves from them. That's what the Lord says.
He made these unholy, they made these, this unholy alliance and
they fooled themselves into thinking that this is their refuge. But
it was a refuge of lies. It was a refuge of idolatry.
It was a refuge of self-righteousness. And so here's the first metaphor.
Here's the first symbol that God exposes then through the
prophet Isaiah. He said, Ephraim is a cake not
turned. That's the first one. A cake
not turned. Now what is a cake not turned?
Well, if you ladies put a cake in the oven and you don't turn
that cake, the cake that's supposed to be turned, in this kind of
oven that they used back then, which wasn't like what we have
today. What's gonna happen? The bottom's gonna get burned,
and the top's gonna be raw. You've got a half-baked cake,
and you know what that cake is good for? Nothing. Not good to
eat. Not good to look at. It's useless. And that's exactly what Ephraim
had made itself, a cake not turned. Neither, it's not fit for use. is like those whom Christ described
in Revelation. It was neither hot nor cold,
good for one thing. He said, I'll spew you out of
my mouth. They were a people of divided
loyalties, half-hearted religion. They tried to incorporate their
own idolatry in with the worship of the true God and it will not
mix. It's like a cake not turned. And so he goes on and he says
in verse 9, strangers, foreigners have devoured his strength They
thought the strangers were their strength. You see, that's man
by nature who doesn't know the reality of death. He thinks the
very thing that will give him strength and power and safety,
you see, he thinks that's his refuge, but that's the very thing
that's going to kill him. I see a lot of people today in
false religion who are doing their dead-level best to work
their way into God's favor, and they take safety and refuge in
that, but that's going to be the death of them. That's right. And it says, he knoweth it not.
That's man's problem. My people shall be destroyed
for lack of knowledge, he said. Yea, gray hairs are here and
there upon them, yet he knoweth it not. Now, gray hair can be
a sign of wisdom and honor and maturity. Proverbs 16, 31 says
this, it says, the hoary head, that's the gray head, is a crown
of glory. Now think about that. The gray head is a crown of glory,
but it goes on, if it be found in the way of righteousness.
Now what is the way of righteousness? I'll tell you exactly what it
is, the way of Christ and Him crucified and risen again. There's
no other way of righteousness that you can find on this earth
or in yourself. The way of righteousness is not
the way of man-made religion. The way of righteousness is not
the way of ceremony or even morality. Should we be moral people? Yes,
we should, but that's not the way of righteousness. Should
we be obedient? Yes, we should be obedient in every way, but
our obedience is not the way of righteousness. The way of
righteousness is Christ. That's it. I quoted it before,
Romans 521. The gift of God is eternal, or
as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through
righteousness unto eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Proverbs 20 and verse 29 says,
The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty or the
honor, literally, of old men is the gray hair. But don't forget
what he already said back in verse 31 of chapter 16, if it
be found in the way of righteousness. This gray head is a reminder
that the body is dead because of sin so that we can continually
know that the spirit is life because of righteousness and
the spirit drives us to Christ for righteousness. That's the
issue. And the reasons that spiritual
decay and death are imminent, and Israel doesn't know it, that's
the gray hairs, they know it not, is they've lost sight. They've lost the vision of what
it is to live spiritually for the glory of God in Christ. The
scripture defines that. Look at verse 10. It says, And
the pride of Israel testifieth to his face, that's self-righteousness
and pride, And they do not return to the Lord, their God, nor seek
Him for all this. Now there's proof that they don't
know death. They don't know the reality of
it. They don't know the real nature of it. They don't know
the final consequence of it. If you really know death, if
you know its reality, its nature, its issue, I'll tell you exactly
what you'll do. You'll turn to the Lord God,
the God of all grace. The God who saves sinners through
his son. The God who justifies the ungodly
through Jesus Christ. You'll seek him for all salvation,
for all righteousness, for all life, and for all glory, if you
know death. The scripture says where there
is no vision, the people perish. But he that keepeth the law,
happy is he. What is it to keep the law back in the old covenant?
is to obey God in admitting that we're sinners. They were sinners
who have no hope in themselves. And their only hope is in the
God of all grace through the promised Messiah. And the reasons
men lose this vision and this knowledge that Israel was missing
here is because they fail to read and heed the word of God.
That's the mirror that shows us great... You know, if you
go through life and you never look in a mirror, you may never know
you have gray hair. Well, here's the mirror right here. Here's
the x-ray machine. I like to say it like that. Here's
the MRI. Because it reads us to the heart, doesn't it? It
not only shows what's on the outside, but what's on the inside. It
shows us that this issue of sin is a heart problem. He mentions
that in just a moment here. But there's a lesson for us here.
You know, people, this pride, this thing about pride and self-righteousness
is the greatest enemy that we have. And it can be a pride in
a lot of areas. I think about people in our country
today. You know, we act like that the U.S. is going to last
forever, and that's our hope. I love our country. Listen, I'm
a patriot. I love our country, and I thank
God for our freedom. But I want to tell you something.
You're just fooling yourself if you think that this country
is your hope and safety against death. It's just not going to
happen. This world is on its way out. including this piece of real
estate here, too. People are making new heavens and a new
earth. Don't hold on to it too tightly. If you know death, you
won't. You understand what I'm saying?
What about our church here? What about us? Well, what did
we read earlier? Lord, teach us to number our
days. Turn over there to Psalm 90.
I want to show you something there. Look at Psalm 90. Listen to the context of that. what he's saying and what I'm
trying to say here is this we love the things that God has
given us that we can use to glorify him and honor him but the things
of this world are passing away and we need to realize it and
if you don't realize it let me introduce you to death let me
introduce you to this this thing called death and the reality
of it Look at Psalm 90, look at verse 12. He says, So teach
us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom. Return, O Lord, how long, and
let it repent thee concerning thy servants. O, satisfy us early
with thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Now,
where's our rejoicing and our gladness? In the mercy of God.
He says in verse 15, make us glad according to the days wherein
thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
These days here on this earth. We're in a wilderness, you see.
And he says, let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory
unto their children, and let the beauty of the Lord our God
be upon us, and establish thou the work of our hands upon us.
Yea, the work of our hands, establish thou it. Now that's not work
aimed at salvation. That's works aimed at glorifying
God. That's what he's talking about. What's that saying? Number our days so that we can
live here for the glory of God. Not find our peace and our hope
and our safety here. Look back at Hosea 7 now. The curse of ignorance here.
He's talking about that. The pride of Israel. fact that
their hope is their shame and their downfall the fact that
they don't understand the reality of death he said before this
back up in verse two he said they don't consider they don't
consider in their hearts that God remembers all their wickedness
all of this look at verse ten again in the pride of Israel
testify to his face and they didn't do not return to the Lord
their God nor seek him for all this Israel's pride was their
boasting of being the people of God Think of their history,
what God had done for them. They boasted in their circumcision.
They boasted in their law keeping. And the more guilty, they were
more guilty because they had more light, but they rejected
the light. And she was also prosperous in military and economic matters,
but they became proud and self-sufficient. There was no repentance, no faith. They wouldn't return to the Lord.
Look at verse 11. Now here's the second metaphor.
He says Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart. They call to Egypt. They go to
Assyria. A silly dove. Sometimes a dove
in the scriptures is used as a good symbol. It's a symbol
of the Holy Spirit. Remember when our Lord was baptized,
the Holy Spirit descended upon him in the form of a dove. Sometimes
it's a bird of peace. It symbolizes peace. The Lord
said, be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. That's a good
thing. But here, he's like a silly dove. What is a silly dove? It's
one that's not settled, not secure, but flitting around, looking
for a place to land, looking for peace, looking for safety.
Like a dove, reputed to be easily fooled and lured and easily captured. This is easy prey right here. Easy prey for the enemy. So Israel
had been enticed by Egypt and Assyria, who eventually trapped
them. They were like those who wanted
to return to the world. The folly of hoping in worldly
alliances instead of the Lord. All of these. The king of Israel,
he sought an alliance with Israel. The king of Judah, he sought
an alliance with them too, later on. But there's no hope there. And it says in verse 12, it says,
when they shall go, I will spread my net upon them. God's in control
now. His net's always upon. He said,
I will bring them down as the fowls of the heaven. I will chastise
them, that's their punishment, as their congregation hath heard. Here's God's sovereign providence
over Israel and even foreign powers. His sovereign judgment
against them for their sins. And their punishment will be
according to what they've heard. They heard lies. They believe
the lie, they embrace the lie, and they'll be punished by the
lie. You know, the scripture says, faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God, not by a lie. That's why he says,
take heed what you hear and how you hear. Look at verse 13. He
says, woe unto them, for they fled from me. In running to Egypt
and Assyria, they're fleeing from God. You can't love the
world and love Christ, too. You can't have peace in the world
and peace in Christ, too. He says, destruction unto them.
They're going to be a spoil for somebody. That's what that literally
means. Because they've transgressed against me, though I have redeemed
them. Now that's redemption by power there, not redemption by
blood. He brought them out of Egypt
by his power. And he says, yet they have spoken
lies against me. He says in verse 14, and they've
not cried unto me with their heart. They're religious now. Understand that. People by nature
are religious. And they had their idols. They did have their idols, but
they tried to mix their idols with worship of the true and
living God. That's that mixture, you see.
And it was all outward form, outward show. You see, grace
reaches the heart. Grace brings a sinner to true
repentance and godly sorrow, broken in a contrite heart. Grace
brings a sinner to Christ from the heart. With the heart, man
believeth under righteousness. Christ comes and takes our hearts,
and he gives us a new heart. And so he says, they have not
cried unto me with their heart. When they howled upon their beds,
they assembled themselves for corn and wine. They were going
to have a big party. They rebel against me. They're going to
celebrate their victory, celebrate their peace, their alliances.
And he says, that's all in rebellion. against me, reminds me of people's
religious ceremonies without Christ, without truth, without
heart. Verse 15, though I have bound
and strengthened their arms, yet do they imagine mischief
against me. That's talking about how God
had taken care of them, how God had blessed them with good things,
but they imagine mischief against him. God had delivered them,
protected them, fought for them, trained them, strengthened them,
but they planned evil against Him. And so look at verse 16. Now here's the third metaphor.
He says, they return, but not to the Most High. Literally what
that means, they returned, but not upward. They had a turnabout,
but it wasn't toward God. It was a repentance, but not
toward God. He says, they're like a deceitful
bow. That's like a bow and arrow.
And this, that word deceitful is like a treacherous bow. And
what it is, it's not going to hit what it aims at. Because
it's crooked, it's treacherous, it's deceitful. And he says,
their princes shall fall by the sword for the rage of their tongue,
their language and their speech. This shall be their derision
in the land of Egypt. like a deceitful bow that cannot
shoot straight. It always misses the mark. Always misses the mark. What
is it to miss the mark? Well, Scripture says it's to
sin. Romans 3, 23. For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Literally missing the mark. And
what he's saying here is that in all their efforts, in all
of their alliances, in all of their religions, In all of their
supposed obedience, they miss the mark. What is the mark? Well, in Romans 3, 23, it's the
glory of God. Where are you going to find the
glory of God? In Christ. Anything less than Christ and
Him crucified and risen again is missing the mark. Did you
know that? If you stand before God at judgment,
without Christ, no matter how good you tried to be here on
earth. I'm going to tell you something. You'll miss the mark.
You'll be like those in Matthew 7, 21 through 23. Lord, haven't we prophesied in
your name? Haven't we cast out demons? Haven't we done many wonderful
works? Now, as I've told you, you know,
in and of, there's nothing wrong with any of those things that
they said. I preached in his name. I haven't cast out demons,
and I don't know about the many wonderful works, but I want to
tell you something. If I had cast out a thousand
demons and done a million wonderful works, if that's my plea before
God at judgment, I will still have missed the mark. That's
what I'm telling. Because the only way that we're
going to hit the mark is to plead the blood and righteousness of
Christ. That's the only way you're going to hit the mark. Anything
else? I don't care what. You say, Lord,
I prayed to you, I wore, I've got, I wore out the knees and
all the pants in my closet. You still missed the mark. You
say, Lord, I've been baptized. You still missed the mark. Lord,
I've tithed all, everything that I, you still missed the mark.
The only way we're gonna hit the mark is to look to, believe
in, and rest in the Lord Jesus Christ for all salvation, all
life, all righteousness, and all glory. And if you do anything
less, in religion or whatever, you're shooting with a deceitful
bow. You're shooting with a treacherous
bow. And that arrow's going to come back and hit you, and you're
going to meet someone you've never met before, named death. You see what I'm saying? There's
come a time in which the Lord will judge this world in righteousness. by that man whom he hath ordained,
and that he hath given assurance unto all men, and that he hath
raised him from the dead. And my friend, he's the only
way that any of us who are sinners can hit the mark. And if we know
death, if we really know death, we'll run to him. We'll seek
him, and we'll rest in him whom to know is life eternal. All
right. What is the last verse? Hymn
number 299 will be our last hymn.