The righteous also shall hold on
his way. He's talking about a particular
type of people here when he says this, it's the righteous. And
only the righteous is who he's talking about. And everybody
who's been made righteous knows where their righteousness comes
from. They know that God gave it to them, Christ brought it
out for them, and He clothed them in His own righteousness.
And they're going a certain way. They're going in a direction.
And as they go that way, It says while he's traveling, he's holding
his way. Holding his way. And not only
is he righteous holding his way, holding right to the line. He's
a stranger and he's a pilgrim, that's why he's traveling. You
know that Hebrews 11, 13 says this, that they all died in faith.
These all died in faith. Not one of them received the
promises they saw way, way, way, way, way off. But those promises
that they saw, thousands of years down the way, millennia down
the way, hundreds of years down the way, before Christ ever come,
Abraham saw them afar off. And he was persuaded of them,
and they embraced him. And they died believing that.
And when they did that, they confessed, I'm a stranger in
a pilgrim here. I'm looking for a city whose
builder and maker is God. And I know the more we know of
the truths of the gospel, the more comfort and assurance that
we have. Paul said in Romans 15.4, he says this, he says,
all things that are written aforetime were written for our learning,
for our instruction, for our admonition. That we through patience
and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Might have hope. And I tell you, I know this about
the Lord's people. I'm convinced of this as I am
and who my name is. That everybody that God's made
righteous is going to hold his way. He's going to hold his way. Look what he says there in verse
9. The righteous also shall hold on his way. He must hold on his
way. He knows there ain't no if he
holds his way. And if he holds his way, or if
he holds his way, or but if he'll hold his way. No if, ands, or
buts in this verse. It's a statement of fact. The
righteous shall hold on his way. You know the scriptures teaches
that we have been saved, we are being saved, and we shall be
saved. Paul said, I thank God who has
saved me, delivered me from so great a debt. I thank God that
He does deliver me and yet I put my trust in Him who shall yet
deliver me. And our salvation is nearer than
when we believed. Look over here in Matthew 24
with me just a moment. Matthew 24. I want you to See this, you know we're in the
last days, there's no doubt about that. The last days started when
Christ came, but here we're at in the last times. And look here
with me in Matthew 24 and 11, talking about why the believer
will hold on, the righteous will hold on his way. And he said
here, many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many.
And I tell you what, you turn on the television anywhere, Listen
to anybody. And I mean it's one false prophet
after another asking for money. They got multitudes and multitudes
following them. There's churches that have 12
to 15 to 25,000 church members in them. Take up millions of
dollars every week. And wouldn't know the gospel,
wouldn't know Christ if they met Him in the middle of the
road. And it says this, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity,
because sin and lawlessness shall abound, the love of many shall
wax cold. They'll see all this going on
and they'll just say, well, what's the use? What's the purpose? And our love will get colder
and colder and colder. And he says, well, we're going
against the stream. But now listen to what he said.
But he that shall endure unto the end, endure the false prophets,
Endure that abounding iniquity. Endure that coldness. Endure
everything that God sends your way, but he that shall endure
unto the end, that's the one that'll be saved. Ain't that
what he says? And I'll tell you what, that's
why we have been and we are being saved. Now the righteous is going
to hold his way. And I'll tell you why I know
he's going to hold his way because of what God says about him and
how God describes him in his word. You know how God describes
his people in his word? First thing he describes a man,
he describes him as a traveler. As a traveler. He's got two roads.
There's two roads in the scripture. Broad road. You know where that
leads? That leads to destruction. Many,
many, many go in that. And then there's a straight gate
and a narrow way. And he says, few there be that
find it. And so you see, we're either
on the straight and narrow or we're on the broad way. And that's
why he said we're compared to those, beloved, who are traveling.
And let me show, look in Isaiah. I just thought of this this evening
when I was going over my notes. Isaiah 35. You'll enjoy this. Isaiah 35. Compared to a traveler. We're
traveling. That's why he said having your feet shod with the
preparation of the gospel of peace. You've got to have shoes
on if you're going to travel in God's way. And he shod just
with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Look what he said here
in Isaiah 35 and verse 8. And the highway shall be there,
and a way. And it shall be called the way
of holiness. The unclean is not going to go over. Remember, it's
the righteous that's going to hold his way. The unclean shall
not pass over it, but it shall be for those, the wayfaring men.
Though a fool won't slip and stick in this thing and come
into this thing some other way. A fool can't even get in there. That's what he said. It's for
those, the wayfaring men. Now listen to what he said in
verse 9. No lion shall be there. No ravenous beast shall go up
there on. It shall not be found there, but the redeemed shall
walk right there. On this highway, on this way. All right, now I'm going to give
you another one. Not only is he pictured as a runner or a
traveler, but he's also pictured as a runner. He says, let us
run with patience. The race is set before us. And
if you're going to run a race, you've got to be patient. And
you've got to pace yourself and go on and on and on and on. And you keep Job here. Well,
you don't have to keep Job because I've done used it as my text.
But look over in 1 Corinthians 9. I'll show you two things here. We're runners. Runners. And look what Paul said about
runners here. In verse 24. Run with patience, the race is
set before you. If you get in a hurry, you all
know the story of the tortoise and the hare. That rabbit is
going to just wear that tortoise out. If you get way ahead of
it and sit down, next thing you know the tortoise is beat. That's
why he kept on, keepin' on, keepin' on, keepin' on, keepin' on. And
that's what happens with folks, they just spurt and go. Spurt
and go. But if you just stick with it,
stay with it. That's why he said, let us run
with patience. The race. And it's a race. It's
a race. It's a race against the selves,
against the flesh, against the world. Against sin. against this wretched man that
lives in us? It's a race, and we're trying
to outrun. Oh my, there's all kinds. The
old one old hymn writer says, the hellhounds get around you,
beat and bark at you. There's always a runner. Look
what Paul said here in 1 Corinthians 9.24. Know you not that they
which run in a race, run all. You got to run the whole race
now. Know ye not that they which run a race run the whole race?
But one receives the prize, so run that ye may obtain. And every
man that striveth for mastery is tempered in all things. Now
they do it, the world does it to obtain a corruptible crown,
but we are corruptible, incorruptible. I therefore so run. Not as uncertainty. I know why I'm running this race.
I know, that's why he said, I fought a good fight. What did I do?
I finished my course. Got to the end of it. There's
always a road when you get there, you're going to get to the end
of it. And this road is runners will get to the end of the road.
And then not only is he pictured as a runner, God says they're
like runners. But he says, excuse me, they're boxers, they're fighters.
Look what he said down in verse 26 again. As boxers, as people
who fight, so fight I, not as one that beats the air. I'm not
shadow boxing. We war not against flesh and
blood, but against principalities and powers in the air. We don't
ward the weapons of our warfare not carnal, but mighty through
God. And anyway, I keep unto my body
and bring it into subjection, lest that by any means, and oh,
this is serious business here, this is what Paul says, I keep
unto my body and bring it into subjection, lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, that I myself should
not end up finishing the fight and should not cross the finish
line. That's why Paul said, I'll press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of Christ Jesus. I'm going to keep
on keeping on. That's what he's saying. And
then he's called a soldier. He's called a warrior. I remember
writing a preacher years and years ago. Well, not too many
years ago. He was just starting to preach.
And I wrote him, and I said, this is the verse of scripture
I wrote him, out of 2 Timothy 3, 2. Endure hardness as a good
soldier of Jesus Christ. And if any of you all ever been
in the army, or been in the Marines, or been in any other service,
and you ever been in a combat or situation like that, I mean,
you'll endure hardness. And I said, now you're going
to have to endure hard speeches, hard looks, hard feelings, hard
study, Everything about the ministry is hard. And I said, you endured
as a good soldier of Christ. And that's why Paul said, let's
endure hardness. We love all the hard things that
come our way. We have hard thoughts, we have
hard feelings. And all the things that's hard,
I say it is hard to fight against. And that's why Paul said, I fought
a good fight. Now why did he fight a good fight
for? Because he's a soldier. He fought a good fight, and he
kept the faith, and he finished the course. I want you to see
another verse. I looked this up today. I want
you to see this. You know where Ecclesiastes is
at? Ecclesiastes is right before the book of Proverbs. Right before the book of Proverbs.
Chapter 8. Look what he says here about
being a soldier. Soldier, warrior. That's why
you know one place says that his sword cleaved to his hand
just like his hand and his sword was one. But look what it said
here in verse 8 of Ecclesiastes 8. There is no man that hath
power over the spirit to retain the spirit, neither hath he power
in the day of death. And there is no discharge in
that war. Ecclesiastes 8.8, there is no
discharge in that war. You want out? No discharge. You can go AWOL, you can desert.
But you don't get no discharge. You know, you're in a battle.
Oh my, I don't know, listen. I sure would like my discharge.
Nope, you ain't getting one. I've had enough of this. You
ain't going to get no discharge. You're not going to get your
walking papers. You may get off the battlefield. You may desert
the battle. I remember Henry Mann, a fella
got up one time and was giving him a rough way to go and there's
on a porch and he stood up and started saying something to him
and put his finger right in his chest and said, sit down. He
said, you quit the war. You got out of the battle. So
don't be telling me nothing. He said, you quit. You got out
of it. And then you going to tell me?
That's what he said. That's what he told him. He said, you quit the
war. You got out of the battle. So just sit down and shut up. He sat down, but he didn't lay
that down. But I tell you what, it'd be
like somebody deserting from running off and hiding. Then
come back and tell you how to fight the battle. Somebody deserted and right in
the middle of the battle, they run and hide. They got in a ditch
and let everybody else fight and die and then they get up
and said, Oh boys listen, if y'all did what I told you, we'd
have won this thing without any problem. And that's why, beloved,
there ain't no discharge in this war. I thank God there was a
discharge from the Marines, but God ain't gonna give me no discharge. You know where we're gonna get
our discharge? When we leave this world. No
discharge. And I'll tell you what else our
Lord describes us as. He describes us as scholars,
as disciples. And where do we go to school
at? Where do we become disciples
at? Where do we learn at? Mary has chosen that good part. She sat down at the feet of our
Lord Jesus Christ. We learn in the school of Christ.
We learn at the feet of Christ. We learn from the gospel of Christ.
We learn from the things of Christ. We learn from what the scriptures
teach us. And that's why he says you must
so learn Christ. He told Paul, he said, you all
do this anger and malice and that. He said, you've not learned
Christ as you have been taught by Him. Christ has His own disciples
and He teaches them. And how many times, he asked
his disciples, did you not yet understand what I just told you?
And how many times do we think, oh, wouldn't we all understand
what He says to us? And we'll get something and it's
done. But I tell you, beloved, we're going to still Ain't he
a good teacher? Ain't he a faithful teacher?
Ain't he a patient teacher? Ain't he a wonderful teacher
that is hard and is dull-headed and is hard-headed as we are? And sometimes as dull as we are,
he don't get mad at us and break the pencil over our head. He
just goes on and lets us sit there and then he starts to teach
us. He don't get upset at us if we
miss a class. You don't get upset at us if
we miss something that was said or done. You know what He does? He just starts over, starts teaching
you again. He's going to teach you. And
oh, He's called also a builder. Our Lord calls us His builders.
That's why He's going to hold His way. He's an active person.
There's two builders in the scripture. wise and foolish, the wise man
he dig deep and built his foundation on a rock and the foolish built
his on a sand and our Lord Jesus Christ he said this he says no
man Until to build a building, don't first set down and count
the cost to see whether he has enough to finish or not. Unless
he starts and he can't finish and everybody says, boy, what
a fool. What a fool. And that's what he tells us.
You count the cost. And we count the cost. Is Christ
worth it? The world? Would you rather have
Christ or the world? Would you rather have Christ
yourself? And that's what he says. He says, you know, we tended
to cost. What about what? I give Christ
and I lose my sin. I give Christ and I lose my debt. I give Christ and I lose my self-righteousness. I give Christ and I don't lose
anything. And then he calls us tree bearing
fruits. And bless his name, fruit and
fruit ain't been harvested yet. And he's gonna harvest it. And
the righteous have to hold on his way because God says he will.
And listen here, let me tell you this too about him. He must
hold his way, he has to hold his way. Because if he didn't
persevere, if he didn't persevere, if he didn't hold on his way,
You just consider what it'd be like if he didn't. If you're
holding your own, you're holding your own way, you're righteous
and you're holding your way, just suppose for a minute that
you didn't hold on your way and you didn't persevere, what in
the world would happen? What would happen? You just imagine
this is what it'd be like. Imagine a man Going back to death
from life. Imagine a man going back to darkness
after he's been in the light. Imagine a man going back from
his righteousness back into sin. Imagine a man leaving Christ
and going back into the bondage of sin. Imagine a man leaving
his liberty and freedom that he has in Christ and going back
into bondage. It would be like Lazarus saying,
I want to go back to the tomb. I want to lay there four days,
stinging in ferocity. That's what it would be like.
Then Paul said, I'm just tired of being a Christian. I'm tired
of being a believer. I'm going to go back to being
a Pharisee and start hailing men and women to Jail again.
Now that's what it's about. Can you imagine anybody doing
that? Huh? Impossible! It's impossible for
anyone who doesn't persevere to ever enter into glory. You
see, heaven is for the spirit of just men made perfect. And
it's absolutely foolish to suppose someone who can get into heaven
that's going in the opposite direction. And you remember when Jephthah
He is fighting them and he said to the Lord, you defeat Ammon
for me, you defeat Ammon for me and you help me when you give
me the victory over Ammon and I tell you the first person I
see when I get home I will offer it as a birth sacrifice to you God gave him the victory he was
going to his house and here comes his daughter the apple of his
eye walking out the door And you know what he said? He
said, I've lifted my hand to God, and I cannot go back. I heard Scott Richardson preach
on that one time. He went for 15 different directions,
I cannot go back. I've lifted my hand to God, and
I cannot go back. It's going to cost you your daughter,
you know that? I've lifted my hand to God, and
I cannot go back. It's going to cost me my friend.
I've lifted my hand to God, and I cannot go back. Go across your family members
in relationship, I've lifted my hand to God and I ain't going back. And oh, I've opened my
mouth. And the scriptures are plain, make it so plain. About people who just make professions
and supposed believers and they don't hold their way. Our Lord
Jesus says this, a man having put his hand to the plow and
looking back is not fit for the kid. And he says, remember Lot's
wife? Remember Lot's wife? She got out of Sodom. She left
Sodom with Lot. But God said, don't you look
back. And that's why I said, if they
had the opportunity to have gone back, they would have went back.
But there was nothing for him to go to. And he said, remember
what's life? She was on her way out of there,
leaving Sodom, going to go be with her husband. And she catched
one whistle on her back, said, Oh my, I'm leaving my home, leaving
my kids, leaving my babies, leaving my son-in-laws and my daughters.
Oh, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? God turned
her into a pill of salt, just like that. Huh? Remember that? And our Lord says, You salt to
the earth, but if the salt has lost its flavor, you know what's
fit for it? Put it under man's feet and just
walk on it. Walk on it. And you remember what Peter said.
He said, It'd been better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than once they've known it, to depart from it.
It'll be like the true saying of a dog turning back to his
vomit and a sow to her wand in the mire. You imagine what would
happen if I turned back on Christ. Or Obie did. Or Bruce did. Or Larry did after
all these years. Or Steve. Or Darren. Darryl back
there. It was just, you can't conceive
of it. And that's why I said, you know,
and we do pay attention to these things. And like the seven churches
in Revelation, the promise wasn't given to those as given to those
that overcome it. It's not the person who begins
the fight. It's not the person who proclaims war. It's not the
person who takes the first steps, but him that overcomes it. And
oh my, only people who know anything about overcoming are the people
that's overcoming. And we've all, all of us at one
time or another in our lives have known those who seem to
be just like shining lights for a while. We had such hope for
them. They went out with us, but they
were not of us. For if they were of us, they
no doubt would have continued with us. But they went out from
us. What a horrible thing to have
to profess and then fall away. Mary's got a... she was showing
me this fella the other day and I said, is that so and so? She said, yeah it is. And I said,
boy it sure don't look like him much and of course you know he's
aged like the rest of us. But this particular person pastored
a church, preached in his church several times, years and years
ago. Scott, Don, Henry. Well, the family lived with him
one time, he took off with the woman's wife, with the man's
wife. Left, took off with the woman.
Now he's on his third or fourth wife. Working out in the world. Should have never made a profession.
Should have never made a profession. And how many have done that?
Baby, you know who I'm talking about. Talking to yourself about something
else? Alright, you can tell me one way or another. But you know
if a man gets to the top of the ladder, falls all the way down,
he'll get hurt. But if he just gets on the front,
first row of the thoughts, he ain't going to bother him too
much. And that's why the righteous is going to hold on his way.
He must. He must. If you consider the
nature of the case and just if he did, if he did. Now let me
hurry, I don't want to hold you up much. He must hold us all
on his way because even though it's extremely difficult, extremely
difficult. Our Lord said in Acts 14.22,
it's through much tribulation that we enter the kingdom of
God. Our Lord says, you know, in the world, you're going to
have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. And I tell you, I remember one
time, I preached that verse, Acts 14, 22. That is, through
much tribulation that we enter into the kingdom of God. And
I said in the same service, you know that there's another king,
even one Jesus Christ, and he's not a coming king, he reigns
right now. And the particular place I was preaching, they believed
that there wasn't going to be a tribulation until after the
church was gone, then there's going to be a seven year tribulation
period. So there wasn't no tribulation going on in our lives now. Didn't
have no tribulation. And that Jesus wasn't king now,
he wasn't going to be king until he was thrown back in Jerusalem.
And I got to preaching that and the preacher got so mad, oh he
got so mad he couldn't understand himself. And I said, man if this
ain't tribulation now, and if the devil ain't turn loose now,
I don't want to be here when God turns him loose. But you
know that would put too much tribulation. And you just imagine
what it would be like. If the Lord gave us milk and
honey all the time, if we dwelt in nothing but fatness and happiness
and contentment and joy and everything went right all the time, we wouldn't
be worth shooting. So that's why He has to, that's
why He has to, that old hymn we sang, He has to keep us cleaving
and believing. He has to keep working on us
all the time to believe, and to wean us, and to teach us,
and to bring us. And that's why no matter what
happens, the righteous is going to hold on His way. And the way
itself, the way that you call the righteous, you hold on His
way, the way itself makes it difficult. The road sometimes
is very, very rough. You ever been on a road so rough
that you just couldn't hardly make it over it? Some of you
all been on some rough roads in your life, ain't you? Back
in the day before they started even black top and tar chip of
these roads, when you get them washboards in and you go boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
boom Makes us think. Often times it's uphill. Often
times it's across deep rivers. Sometimes it's through desert,
desert places. Sometimes it's through the wild,
howling wilderness. Sometimes it's right through
the burning desert. Sometimes it's in the dead, cold
of winter. The way it takes us. But no matter
where it takes us, the righteous is going to hold whether it's
uphill, Through a river, around a bend, through the woods, down
a hill, through the briars, through the brush, it don't make no difference
to them, they're going to hold their way. That's why He says,
the Lord knows the way that I take. And when He's tied me, I'll come
forth as gold. Oh, I'll come forth as gold.
He says, yea, when you go through the river, I'll be with you.
And the road is long. This way, this way, the righteous
is long. How long is it? Life long. There ain't no exits. There ain't
no place to get off. Ain't no place to get off. No
exits on this. We get on a road, we'll say,
boy, let's get off at the next exit. We need to do this at the
next exit. But on this road right here, There's no end to it until
you get to the end of it. There ain't no exits off of it.
No way to get off. And I'll tell you something else,
this road, this way, is contrary to fallen nature. It's absolutely
contrary to our nature. You know why? We like to go by
sight, like to go by feelings, like to go by what we can touch,
taste, and handle. But that's not the way it is.
We walk by faith, not by sight. Oh, if we went by sight, none
of us would hold on very long. That's why Paul says, you know,
we're not of them that draw back unto perdition, but believe to
the saving of the soul. And only God can make a man,
only God can make a man persevere, hold, and divine. Let me tell
you what hold on means. The righteous shall hold on his
way. The Hebrew means this, hold on with strength, Hold toughly. Hold on with the teeth. It means
that you resolve to never let go and to ever go on. It's like
Jacob said in the middle of the night, I ain't gonna let you
go. I'm not gonna let you go. That's
what it means. I ain't gonna let you go. I'm
not gonna let you go. And let me tell you something,
beloved. And we, if you can't run, walk. If you can't walk, then
crawl on your hands and your knees. And if you can't crawl,
just stand real, real still. The salvation of the Lord, it'll
come. It'll come. You know, in the Marines, we'd
go marching. Go out on the parade deck and
they'd march us. And as you know how it is, and they'd march you
and then all of a sudden you'd be marching. And you'd get somewhere
and then all of a sudden they'd say, mark time! And you'd just
keep on marching, but you ain't going nowhere. Just marking time. They'd go left base, right base,
down base, but mark time. Just stand there. Just doing
that. Going by taking a step forward,
backward, or nothing. And when all you can do is mark
time, just mark it. Eventually you'll move again.
Eventually they'll say forward march. Or fall out, they'll say after
you do that, fall out. It'll happen. It'll happen. And
I tell you what, the way is difficult because of the flesh. O our natures,
all of us got different temperaments, melancholy, despondent, sin within,
sin without. And often times we cry with this
heavy burden like Paul did, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver
me from this body of death? I know that in me and my flesh
there was no good thing. And the way is not only he holds
on to it because it's difficult, Because of the flesh, because
of the world, so much, so much commercialism, so much materialism
in this world. And sometimes we get caught up
in that. God help us and save us from it. It's like Samson,
he put his head in Delilah's lap, one time too many. And let
me tell you something, in closing, I'll tell you this, it's absolutely
guaranteed, guaranteed, that the righteous shall hold his
way. Guaranteed that he will. How do you know it is? Because
God said he will. He which hath begun a good work
in you, what's he going to do? He going to start it and walk
off and leave it alone? No, he shall perform it until
the day of Jesus Christ. Now God, in Jeremiah 32, He says,
I will never depart from them to do them good. And then I'll
put my fear in their hearts and they will never depart from me
either. And that's what He said, my Lord
said, I'll give them eternal life and they shall never what?
Perish. And then nobody's going to pluck
them out of my hand. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I'll keep him, and
I'll raise him up at the last day. God says that. And if the righteous didn't hold
his way, the eternal purpose of God would be defeated. He
said, For whom he did foreknow, and they also did predestinate.
And if they knew somebody and purposed them to go on this way,
and then not let them finish? Oh, it don't even make good sense.
And if he didn't, it's guaranteed because if he didn't, the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ would be in vain and the blood that
he shed if we didn't hold on our way. Do you reckon his blood
don't have the power to keep us in the way? To keep us pure
and sanctified and on the way? You see, we're married to him.
We're members of his body, bone of his bone and flesh of his
flesh. And perseverance is guaranteed.
But not to everybody. You know who is guaranteed to?
The righteous. And let me close in Revelations
22. Look in Revelations 22. In perseverance. I love perseverance. And that's what makes You know, we know that if God
saves a man, salvation is of the Lord. If God saves a man,
he is going to be saved eternally. He is saved eternally to eternity.
And what makes this so distasteful to some people is because there
are so many people that have made professions. Made professions
to believe the sovereign grace of God. Made professions to believe
in the eternal security of the believer. Make professions that
yes, if predestination ain't right, then nothing's right.
If this ain't the truth, there ain't no truth. But it's not
doctrine that saves us, it's Christ that saves us. And that's the thing. They think
if we can just believe a certain amount of truth, we'll be okay.
We've got to believe Him who is the truth. And perseverance
is guaranteed, but not to everybody. Look what he said here in verse
11, Revelation 22. This is the way it's going to
be when it comes to the final day. And when you leave this
world one by one by one by one by one, he that is unjust, let
him be unjust still. Dying ain't going to make you
change your being what you are. And he which is filthy, let him
be filthy still. And he that's righteous, When
he dies, he's going to be righteous too. And he that's holy, let
him be holy still. Oh man, nothing's going to change
that. And look what our Lord said, And behold, I come quickly,
I mean I'm on my way, and my reward is with me. What is it? To give to every man according
to his work, as his work shall be. Now, let me ask you, what's
your work? What's possible to reward you
for what work you've done? What do you say you've done?
I trusted Him and His work. So that's going to be my reward.
That's going to be my... You know, There's only been one
person that worked their way to heaven. That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. And He's going to reward every man according to His Word.
Now, listen to me. I'm trusting His Word. So if
I'm going to get rewarded, I've not been rewarded. It's you.
I've not been rewarded. Our Father, in the gracious holy
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Thank you for allowing me and
giving me the strength tonight. Oh, I thank you for it. Pray
you bless it to the hearts of your dear people. Lord, I know
they've heard this so many times and I have. But oh Lord, I need
it. Need to be reminded. God bless it. Use these dear
people. Use us as a congregation. for
the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord and
the gospel of his free and sovereign grace never compromise but always
be faithful pray for one another love one another support one
another we ask these things in Christ's name amen amen Turn
to 268. Just take a couple of verses
of this. Stand with me while we do this.
268. Everybody ought to know this one by heart. 268. Can He say, and to you, He has
said, to you? Can you do it? Jesus has raised the number four. And through my revival thy memory
shall live. Thy praise, O Lord Jesus, shall
be my supply. May I only desire Thy cross to
consume, And I long to be consumed. God's spoken, Lord Jesus has
agreed, God, I wish that you loved me. Oh, bless his name. His love
has a soul of heaven. Should you ever disdain, I'll
make sure that you'll never know pain.