Today, turn if you would to Revelation chapter 21. The book of Revelation. Second last chapter of the Bible. As I mentioned in the short sermon I preached, Alpha and Omega, the book of Revelation is all about Christ. It's actually called the revelation of Jesus Christ. So it shows us who he is. It magnifies Christ.

And look at this in Revelation chapter 21. We're gonna stand up or we're gonna read verses five to eight together. Now at the beginning of chapter 21, we're told that there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein we know dwells righteousness. And we're told that God shall wipe away all the tears from his people's eyes. There'll be no more sorrow or sickness or sadness. It's amazing. And he'll do this for his born again blood washed people. There'll be no more death. No more death. No more sorrow, no more crying, no more unbelief, no more sin. It's going to be glorious, beloved. It's going to be glorious. We will worship Christ in pure worship. It'll be absolutely amazing. And you know, it's all because He makes all things new.

Let's stand up and read Revelation 21 verses 5 to 8 together. And he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write, for these words are true and faithful. And he said unto me, it is done. I am alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

Beloved of God, we're going to look at these verses. And let us marvel at what we just read. Let us marvel at what we just read. This is a proclamation from our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And look in verse 5 again. And this talks about his sure return because when he comes back, he's going to make all things new. There'll be a new heaven and a new earth. Right? So this is not only speaking of him, but speaking of his second coming too. And it says this, behold, look at this.

Now, first of all, and he that sat on the throne, who sits on the throne? Christ does. If there's an earthly throne, what's the person called who sits on an earthly throne? A king. Ah. So right away we are presented with King Jesus. Now remember, he was king before he came. He was king while he was on this earth, and we see he's still king, isn't he?

Isn't it isn't it so comforting for we as believers to know that our eternal souls are in the hands of the king The king of the universe the king of everything The one who the scripture says by him all things consist He's got us in his hand My Let us rejoice. Let us rejoice.

He became a man, shed his blood for us, redeemed our eternal souls with his precious blood, and we're saved through his blood and righteousness. And where is he right now? He's sitting on the throne, isn't he? Now, King is in charge, isn't he? He's not begging people. You know a king can have mercy on whomever he pleases within his domain? Aren't you thankful he had mercy on us? My, oh my. A king doesn't have to have mercy on anyone. No. But if he chooses to have mercy on someone, he can, can't he?

what mercy Christ has had upon his people, a number that no man can number. And we're just in awe that we're part of that number, aren't we? We're in awe that as that old hymn says, he included me. My. So look at this, the first statement right off the bat. And he that sat upon the throne, he's king, he's sovereign. despite what people say, he's in charge. He's not up there wringing his hands, waiting for people to come to him. He saves his people. He's already saved us at Calvary's Cross. Now he regenerates us. He makes all things new to us.

Oh my, regeneration's an amazing thing, isn't it? And he said, you must be born again, right? The underlying Greek word for must there is necessary. It is necessary you be born again to see the kingdom of heaven. Absolutely necessary. And it's emphatic in the Greek. It doesn't say you must make a decision, does it? It doesn't say you must walk an aisle. It says you must be born again. You know, God can regenerate you and I just sitting in a seat. And he has. That's why we believers now cry, Abba, Father. Never used to call God my father before. I had a warped view of who God was, and I found out it wasn't the God of the Bible. My, this is the God of the Bible.

And he that sat upon the throne. What's he say? Behold. That's to get our attention. That's like, this is important. Behold, I make all things new. Notice that word, I. The king makes all things new. He who is on the throne makes all things new. And he said unto me, write, for these words are true and faithful. So marvel at our Lord Jesus Christ. When he returns, he will make all things new. He'll create a new heaven and a new earth. And again, we're told in the scriptures that therein will dwell righteousness. It'll be a people who are made righteous by Christ, sinless, living in a world that's not affected by the curse. Isn't that amazing? He makes all things new.

You know, the only thing we have to brag on this earth, and the only thing we have to brag on in heaven is Christ. Look what he's done. He makes all things new. We're proof of that. Do you know that? We were dead in trespasses and sins. What did he do? He made us alive in Christ. Behold, I make all things new. Don't we have new thoughts now? We're still plagued with our wicked thoughts, though. We have new motives now? We have new desires now? My. Now we desire to be with God's people. Now we desire to hear the Word preached. Now we desire to sing worship to Christ, the King. Isn't it incredible? Behold, our King says, I make all things new by His almighty power.

And do you know that in the new heaven and the new earth, only righteousness will dwell? No sin. We can't even fathom that. Do you know how beautiful the new earth is, will be, and the new heaven? With no curse. No more death, no more sorrow, no more sickness, no more pain, no more sin. My, we will have perfect fellowship with one another. Isn't that incredible? So the believer anticipates With an anxious heart, not anxious like frightened, but excited. With an excited heart, that great day when God makes his creation new. Do we not look forward to the new heaven and the new earth, beloved? Wherein dwelleth righteousness? Don't we look forward to a place where there be no more sin? We live in a world full of sin, and we're a bunch of sinners living in that world, aren't we? Could you imagine living in a place where there's no sin at all? Oh, my. That'd be heaven on earth, wouldn't it? Oh, my. And heaven's only heaven because Christ is there, right? My, oh, my. However, it must not be forgotten that the Son of God exercises his renewing power, his creative power in this day as well. The basis of our confidence regarding the new creation of heavenly glory is our experience of the new creation of grace in our hearts. We're born again by God's power. He's made all things new for us.

Remember what our Lord told Nicodemus? Nicodemus comes to the Lord at night, and he's a teacher in Israel. And actually, Brother Zane took us to a passage in Jeremiah that basically says, that God will give us a new heart, take out the stony, remember that verse talks about taking out the stony heart of our flesh, give us a new heart? In John, he's referencing that. He says, you're a master of the scriptures and you don't know what the scriptures say. You must be born again. Well, Jeremiah is talking about the new birth. And now we see, who does the new birth come from? It's from Christ. It's by his power.

So Charlie, the only one we get to boast in is Christ, don't we? Look what he's done. We're born again. We have faith now. My. Brother Tom, who was it kept you looking to Christ all through those days when you were in the service? Christ. By his keeping power. Kept you safe, brought you home. My, it's all the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all him.

But see, we can accept this by faith easily that he's going to make a new heaven and earth because he's regenerated us by his power. And the same power that regenerated us, the same power is going to make the heavens and the earth. In Revelation 21, look at in Revelation 21 verses 1 to 4, John saw the new heaven and the new earth that Christ will make. He will make it.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth were passed away and there was no more sea, no more division. Sea divides, doesn't it? No more division. Oh my. The sea divides North America from Africa, the continent of Africa. The sea divides England from all the other places. But there be no sea. There be no division. Oh, and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with man, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.

Look at that. Isn't that wonderful? There's not a doubt. God will get every one of his sheep. Why is that word shall there? Because he makes all things new. It's his work. Salvation is guaranteed for the elect of God. Isn't that amazing? Now we don't know who they are, so we preach the gospel to everyone, right? God does the saving but God's gonna get every one of the sheep that Christ died for God the Holy Spirit's gonna find him And he's gonna regenerate him and behold all things will become new for them, right? Oh, yeah

Mine I heard great voice of the heaven saying behold the tabernacle God is with man and and he will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death. If God says shall, it's going to happen, isn't it? No more death. And what comes with death? Sorrow. Sorrow. Pain. We're happy when a when a brother and sister go home to be with the Lord, but oh, how we long to be with them, to have them in our presence again. Right? We miss those. I can sit and talk to you about everyone I pastored here that's gone home to be with the Lord and tell you about them. They're very dear to me still. And I'm going to see them again. Oh, my. Brother Newell, Brother Richard and Sister Irene, my, gonna see them again. Brother Joel, gonna see them again. Because they died in faith, didn't they? God-given faith. And they looked to the Messiah, they looked to Christ, the only hope for sinners. And that's all we do. We just keep pointing people to Christ, don't we? Don't get caught up in all these other doctrines. Just look to Christ. Just look to Him.

And we know, you know, people often say, well, well, you preach, you believe that the elect, only the elect will save. Yeah, but I don't know who they are. And I find out when they profess Christ, right? Just like you do. And do we not rejoice? Oh, we rejoice with joy unspeakable in full glory, giving God all the glory and honor and praise.

And whatever this new creation is, he assures us that his work alone will be accomplished by his power, according to his purpose. And remember that this work of grace in our hearts, it arises from God's grace and mercy. We don't deserve it. It arises from his mercy and grace. His eternal mercy, his eternal love for his people is manifested. Manifested, number one, by the greatest death and the greatest life ever born, the greatest life ever lived, and then the greatest death ever died. when the Lord Jesus Christ gave himself. Remember, he gave himself for us. My, willingly. That's incredible, isn't it?

So what motivated him? The grace and mercy of God, the love of God towards his people, the everlasting love, the everlasting mercy, the everlasting grace of God. And marvel now as the Lord is making all things new for His elect right now. Right now. How? Well, by His saving, renewing, regenerating grace. Every time He saves a sinner, it's by His almighty grace. It's by His almighty mercy. He makes all things new for that sinner, doesn't He? I can say for this sinner, amen. He made all things new for me. Did he for you? My, oh my. And when he comes at the last day, he'll make all things new in God's creation. It'll be wonderful.

Look at verse 5 again. And he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. This is an announcement of God's grace. This is a proclamation of the grace of God. Behold, I make all things new. And it's made by He that sat upon the throne. It's made by the King of kings and the Lord of lords. It's made by He who is the God-man in glory. My. And with these words, the Lord Jesus Christ announces His great work of grace. Let us meditate upon these words, because it's incredible.

Look at this, he that sat upon the throne. Well, who is he? He's God. He's the Lord Jesus Christ, risen. My, he's the God-man mediator. He sat upon the throne, it's Christ himself, the great God-man, the exalted mediator, the redeemer of God's people. The king of his people. Is he not our king, beloved? Do we not gladly bow our knees to King Jesus? Oh my, he takes a rebel. and makes them bow, and we happily bow before our King, don't we? King Jesus. He sits upon the throne, beloved. That's our Savior. That's our Lord. That's our Redeemer. That's our God. Oh, isn't it wonderful? It's absolutely incredible. Oh my.

And he sat upon the throne. Think of this. He sat upon the throne of universal dominion before he even came to this world. He's king. Open, just take a look sometime in your own free time. At Isaiah 6, that's the Lord high and lifted up on his throne. And the angels, the seraphims, are bowing down before him, crying. They have to cover their eyes, crying, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty. That's our King. That's who saved us.

Lord, help my unbelief. Oh, my. My. When I get anxious and worried, I just need to look to Christ on His throne, don't I? We do, right? There He is. He's still there. Oh, problems can sometimes in our lives seem like mountains, huge mountains. You know what He does? He just levels them down to nothing, doesn't He? How many times has He done that for us in our lives? over and over and over again.

My, He that sat upon the throne, the universal dominion of God. And we see that now He sits on the throne as the Lamb of God. He sat on the throne as the Word of God. He was born King, and now He's still King. And He sits on the throne now as the Lamb of God. God's Passover lamb, the only savior of sinners, sits on the throne.

My, oh my. And he sits upon the throne right now as the Lamb of God, the God-man, upon the basis of his mediating accomplishments. He saved his people from their sins. He lived a perfect life that we never could. He fulfilled all righteousness in our room and place as our substitute. He redeemed us out from under the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. What a Savior. And He accomplished all this as the sinner's substitute. Dying before the law of God. The very law He gives, He fulfills. The very penalty that He proclaimed falls upon Him instead of us. The soul that sinneth, it must die. And Christ willingly gives his life for his people. And the unmitigated wrath of God, I'm telling you, it was poured out upon our King, beloved. And what's it say in our text? It is done. Oh, hallelujah. It's done. Oh, it's done. Our salvation's complete, beloved. That's our Savior sitting on that throne. That's the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ, sitting on that throne.

Why is he sitting down? Because his work of redemption is finished. The high priest in the temple never got to sit down. But here's the high priest, our high priest, God's high priest, sitting on the throne because the work's all finished. And He did it all. He saved His people from their sins. No wonder we say, praise ye the Lord. No wonder we say, hallelujah. What a Savior. What a Savior.

And you know, He sits upon the throne right now as an absolute monarch. You listen to some folks out there and God doesn't appear to be God, does he? It's because they're not looking to the true God. They have a God of their imagination who they can manipulate, and who's at their beck and call. But the God of the Bible, think of this, says, I make all things new. I can tell you, my salvation is wholly accomplished by Christ and Him alone. He did it all, from His regenerating power in my life, to giving me faith to believe on Him, and even when I'm not faithful, He still abides faithful. My What a king! What a savior!

Word that everyone would come to him. We say, come! Come! Take in the water of life freely. My. You know what stops people from coming to Christ? Pride. Self-righteousness. Right? We still got that in us, don't we? We still battle the flesh, don't we? But praise God, God doesn't count our iniquity. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord does not impute sin. A woman, too, right? Oh, my. There's our Saviour sitting upon the throne. His work of redemption's finished. He sits upon the throne as the absolute monarch over all, possessing total sovereignty. Total sovereignty. There's not a flea that doesn't jump on my dog without him knowing it. You know that? Isn't that amazing? I'll tell you what. He's absolutely sovereign. My. And you know what? He's absolutely sovereign without the slightest possibility of his throne being toppled or his decrees being nullified. That'll never happen. Never. So that means we're secure in Christ forever. That's wonderful. That's wonderful.

Now, why do we now desire to live a holy life? Now, why do we desire to live for Christ and not go out in the world there and go crazy? Because the love of God is in us now, and it constrains us. Can you imagine how we'd be without the constraining grace of God? My. I like what Brother Todd said one time, the only difference between me and someone in prison, and I can say this honestly, the worst prisoner in prison is the grace of God. Because all that stuff's in us by nature. It really is. But isn't it amazing that God makes all things new? That we're born again by his almighty power. Now we hate sin, don't we? Now we fight sin. Now we have a civil war within us. But praise God, you know who's the victor in all that? Christ. He overcame all that, didn't he? And when we're weak? Amen. He's strong, right? I'm weak a lot, are you? My, He's so strong. He's so mighty.

Listen to this. Remember the former things of old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there is none like me.

I was talking to my son this morning, and we were talking about paganism and all that, and I said, well, basically, you can wrap up all the religions in the world, and all paganism and all that is Antichrist. You didn't have an answer. That's what it is. All false religions are Antichrist, but they're against Christ. That's what Antichrist means. If you look up the word Antichrist, it's not talking about a man, it says against Christ in the Greek.

My. So there's only one true Religion in this world, isn't there? And that's salvation by grace alone through Christ alone. Everything else is just a lie. Because he tells us in Isaiah there, I am God and there is none like me. Declaring the end from the beginning. And from ancient times, the things that are not yet done. We saw that in the prophecies of Christ's birth, didn't we? when we looked at the Old Testament scriptures and we looked at the New Testament scriptures. And the gap between them were hundreds of years.

Declare in the end from the beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. No one is going to dethrone Christ. He's God. Nothing. Satan is just a created being. The fallen angels are created beings. At his beck and call. You listen to some people on religion and Satan's in control of everything. No he's not. He's like a junkyard dog on a leash.

Now I'm no match for him, I say this all the time, and I should say we're no match for him, right? But our elder brother crushed him at the cross. Yeah. He bruised the Lord's heel, that's talking of his humanity. But what did our Lord do? He crushed his head. Oh my.

my oh my behold the one who sits upon the throne is king that's our lord that's our savior jesus christ look at this he that sat upon the throne said behold he's saying give me your attention And what does he say? He makes all things new. Christ is the creator, the sustainer of all things in physical creation and in the new creation. And in our new birth. He's the alpha, the omega and everything in between, isn't he? That's the A to Z in the Greek and everything in between. And note that all things in the new creation are attributed to him. Look how the words say, I make all things new. That's the work of God, beloved. Whatever this new creation is, he assures us that it's his work alone. It's his work alone. It's all by his sovereign power. It's accomplished according to his purpose, and it's accomplished by his almighty power. And it arises from his grace and from his mercy.

If you're born again, God is showing us mercy, hasn't he? Great mercy, mercy unmeasurable. The Apostle Paul uses this language in 2 Corinthians when he says, if you want to turn there, we can. 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 5. 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17. If a man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. My, oh my. Is that in 1 Corinthians? My 2 Corinthians here says, Wherefore come out among them. No, I think it's first Corinthians beloved It is second Corinthians My my my notes are all messed up there Okay, look at that if any man be in Christ, how are we in Christ by the grace of God? What we're a new creature How are we a new creature by the power of he who said I make all things new I Isn't that wonderful, Brother Brian?

It's all the work of our great God and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's all His work. The new creation is accomplished by the merits of Christ's obedience and the power of God the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel of God's grace and mercy through Christ. And God gets all the glory because of it, doesn't He? He gets all the glory and all the honor and all the praise. Note, back in our text, the Lord Jesus Christ says, I make all things new. So that takes the emphasis off of us, doesn't it? In religion, the emphasis is in what can you do? Charlie, you went through that. Oh, how can you serve, and how can you do this, and how can you do that, and oh my. Gotta pray a prayer. But doesn't it, sister, say that God makes all things new?

Now, do we come to him? Oh, yeah, willingly, because we're made willing. See, he gets all the glory. He says, I make all things new. We don't make anything new. And you ever think of that? All the things that we make in this world come from materials that God provided? You can't make something out of nothing, can you? But God can. Look at my natural state. Nothing. Dead spiritually. No life spiritually. He makes us alive. Oh my! That's something to get excited about, isn't it? Behold! He says, I make all things new. That's the king saying that.

My, and the new covenant is the everlasting covenant of grace made between God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit before the world began. And in that covenant, the salvation of God's elect was secured by a covenant promise of the three persons of the Godhead, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And we're recipients, beloved, we're recipients, beneficiaries of that new covenant. all by the work of Christ in him alone. It's amazing. And the new nature created in the believer is by the power of God, the Holy Spirit. It's Christ in us, the hope of glory. The old nature remains with us, doesn't it? Oh yeah, we know that. The whole body of flesh still plagues us, doesn't it? But now we have a new nature in us that desires the things of Christ. You know, I never had a problem with sin till the Lord saved me. Isn't that true? Oh my. Now I hate it in myself. But this flesh, like Donny Bell says, oh the flesh, the flesh, the flesh. One day we will be rid of this flesh. Oh my. And marvel, marvel at the wonderful work of God.

God, the Lord Jesus Christ said, I'll send my spirit, the comforter. And he's the one who regenerates us. by His almighty power. And God no longer deals with us as slaves under the yoke of the law, beloved. Because we were in slavery to sin, weren't we? You know, take a look at that verse 8. This is where we were at one time. Revelation chapter 21. And now, we still struggle with these things. Oh, yeah. But by the grace and mercy of God, we're forgiven.

Look at this, though. But the fearful and unbelieving, that's where we were. And the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, that's where we were. So have their part in the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. So you ever think of this? We've experienced a second birth so that we'll never experience the second death. My. And that's all unbelieving folks being cast into hell forever. That's sobering, isn't it?

Remember Paul said, and such were some of you, but you're washed in the blood of Christ. Isn't that wonderful? All because of the one who sits upon the throne and says, behold, I make all things new. And the only difference between us and them in verse 8 is the grace of God in Christ. Who made you to differ? And what do you have that you didn't receive? Only God made us to differ.

We still struggle with sin, don't we? All the time. Oh yeah. But praise God it's forgiven. It's washed in the blood of Christ. And now we are the sons of God. Can you imagine anything more amazing than that? We're the sons of God. The daughters of God. Members of a new family now. Why do we have such kinship here? It's because the Holy Spirit has regenerated us and he's working amongst the group here. He's knit our hearts together, hasn't he, in love. We're family. We have our family in the flesh, but we're spiritual family. It's absolutely amazing.

So marvel, because the family of God, it's a large family, beloved. It's a number no man can number. It includes the whole church of God's elect. And you know, it's well supplied. with grace and mercy because God himself is our provider. He's our provider. And you know, he provides for every member of his family. No matter if our station in this life is rich or poor, God takes care of us. It's amazing.

And you know, our names are written in heaven in the Lamb's Book of Life. And you know, they've been there for maternity. I remember I used to hand out a track when I was an Armenian, and it said, now that you believe your name's written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Well, after I learned what the truth was, I don't hand those out anymore. Because I found out, can you imagine this, Brother Tom? Our name has been written in the Lamb's Book of Life for eternity. And I like what some, I think one old preacher said, it's written with indelible ink. It can't be erased. Oh, my! That'll make a Baptist shout, won't it? Oh, isn't it wonderful, isn't it? It's incredible.

You know, I just love preaching about our Savior, because He's absolutely wonderful. He's absolutely wonderful. My. And how do we come to God? Well, by faith in Christ. God-given faith. Trusting the merits of Christ. We trust in the merits of Christ. We trust in his work. We trust in the works of another, the God-man. Not another man, but the God-man. One who's fully God and fully man. We trust in his merits, his work. And we're accepted by God the Father in Christ. That's just remarkable all by itself, isn't it? That's remarkable. The Holy One, the one who no one can look upon without dying, has accepted sinners such as we in Christ.

Again, because we're clothed in His righteousness, which is all done by His works. He lived the perfect life that we never could, and it's counted to us. That's amazing, beloved. What love drove Christ to the cross. What love. And you know what? Brother Chris, Brother Exodus, our sins are purged. as far as the east is from the west. Brother Tom, if you went east and Charlie went west, you'd just keep going east and west. My, you'd forever be going east, and Tom forever going west, and you might see each other, hey, how's it going? But they never meet as far as east and west. Now, if he had said North and South, North and South meet, don't they? But not East and West. Oh, our sins are gone. Purged, how? By the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.

You know, I need to hear this all the time, do you? I need to hear this again and again and again. My! I need to hear about our wonderful Savior. I can't live without Him, can you? I'm thankful that He holds us in His hands. That's in the almighty hand of God. The one who sits, now think of this, the one who sits on the throne holds us in the hollow of His hand. You think you're ever going to lose one? Oh, never. Never. He says, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. Oh, it's glorious.

I'll tell you what. Christ is the only Savior of sinners. And when he saves a sinner, we praise his mighty name. Now let's read verse 5 again. And he that sat upon the throne said, behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, write for these words are true and faithful. Note in this verse the assurance of God's grace. These words are true and faithful, true and faithful. Have he made this marvelous declaration of his grace that he makes all things new? Now he says, these words are true and faithful.

Now, if you're a young believer who has just come to Christ, or if you are one who has been in Christ for many, many years, before God, all things are new. perpetually new, immediately new, eternally new. Isn't that wonderful? And the more we learn about Christ, the more we fall in love with our Savior. Our feelings will fluctuate. Young believer, older believer, our feelings will fluctuate, won't they? Oh, yeah. We can be up in the mountaintop and then in the valley one day. In the same day, in the same day. Our failings may be many, and our experience will often appear, as Brother Don said one time, to contradict God's work of grace and word of promise.

But the new creation does not depend upon you or me. Not at all. It wholly depends upon our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. And note here, these are truth. This is truth. For these words are true and what? Faithful. What comfort that can be for you and I, beloved. 2 Timothy 2.19 says this, Nevertheless, the foundation of God standeth sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his. Oh, he knows every one of his sheep. He purchased them with his blood. Think he'll ever forget us? Never. Never. And then, and let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. So we depart, we're still sinners, but we don't desire to live in sin like we used to live in. To swim in that. to drink it like water. We don't desire that anymore. Isn't that amazing? That's because God's made all things new within us. We're born again by His almighty hand and by His power.

So let we who are redeemed of the Lord rejoice. Our Lord God will never disown any of His born-again blood-washed saints, nor will He ever disinherit them. Never. nor will he ever cease to be gracious to them. Oh, how gracious God's been to us. Oh, my.

In Romans 4, 7, it says this, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven and whose sins are what? Covered. Covered. I mean wholly covered. How? By the blood of Christ. My you mean if I believe on Christ all my sins are forgiven. Oh, yeah That's why Paul said to that Philippian jailer He said what must I do to be saved and Paul said believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved Believe on Christ Listen to this again, I'll read Romans 4, 7 and 8. Saying, blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

You know why? You know why he won't impute sin to us? Because it was imputed to Christ. And he paid it all. He bore it all. He covered our sins with his precious blood. Oh my. Look at verse six. I love this in verse six. Look at this.

And there's a verse, first of all, in Ecclesiastics. You know, one cannot be born again by anything we do. One might ask, well, why? Because the new creation is God's work. It's God's work. See, there's been a thing that's occurred since actually way back around Finney. where you just bow your head and repeat this prayer. And I call that decisional regeneration. And there's a whole track on it. I didn't come up with that. It was a track written by a fella in Florida, and it's called Decisional Regeneration. So think of that. If you're bowing your head and you're repeating a prayer, where's the Holy Spirit's work? Right? We can't make ourselves new. And Brother Henry said, we won't know this side of eternity, the damage that Armenianism has done, free willism has done, without praying the prayer. Oh my. Giving people a thought of assurance when they're making two-fold child of hell.

So if the new birth happens, it happens because of God's work. It's God's work, God's power. And you know, it's forever. Nothing can be taken from it. Listen to this, Ecclesiastes 3.14. I know that whatsoever God doeth, it shall be forever. Oh, so if God saves us, it's forever. If we're born again, it's forever. See the fallacy of man saying they can lose their salvation? I was reading a little article this week, and it said, it said if people believe they can lose their salvation, then it was never a gift, number one. I never thought, I was like, wow, it was never a gift then. And there's something that they can do to get it back, which we know both of those are false. It is a gift of God, salvation. Not of works, lest any man should boast. And there's nothing we can do to get it. Nothing we can do to keep it. It's all Him. Why haven't we not, why have we not fallen away? Because God keeps us. I'll tell you what, in our natural flesh, we would be gone. Remember Donnie Bell, Gone Jesse? Hey, Chris and I were talking about that this week. Remember how Donnie used to say, well, that fellow's a gone Jesse. That's a guy that says, I gotcha, when you're gonna get in a fight. He says, I gotcha, I'm right with ya. And then the other group comes and he runs off. He's a gone Jesse. That's how we would be if it wasn't for the restraining grace of God. Isn't that amazing? He keeps us. He keeps us, beloved. It's amazing.

And look at this. I love this in verse six. This just blows my mind away. I just need to run these words in my head all the time. And he said unto me, it is done. Oh, my. Let's proclaim that to the world. Salvation's accomplished. It's done. There's nothing for anyone to do.

See, and because of our self-righteousness and our natural state and our pride, we get offended about that. Tom, you said that a long time ago when we were out for breakfast one time. You said that your preaching offends people because they got nothing to bring. Yeah, it does, doesn't it? There's nothing for us to bring to the table. We got our sin, but there's nothing, no good works we can bring, nothing to gain us merit and favor with God. It's all by God's grace. It's all by Christ's work. And what do we say? Praise ye the Lord.

Look at this, I love this. It is done. And then he makes this proclamation. Again, remember this is, we saw in that message on Alpha and Omega, four times he proclaims this in the book of Revelation. And here's one of them also. The first one is Revelation 1.8. And he said, I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto them that is the thirst of the fountain of life, fountain of water of life freely. Look at that. Freely given and freely received. Isn't that amazing?

But look at that word, those three words. It is done. It's done. Salvation's accomplished. The gospel of Christ is good news to sinners who can do nothing to save themselves because it declares the whole work of God's grace is done, accomplished, finished by the Lord Jesus Christ alone. The salvation of sinners is fully accomplished by Christ alone. My, oh my.

In Christ, according to God's everlasting purpose of grace, we were predestinated, called, justified, one day we'll be glorified, beloved. All in Christ. And this work was planned and purposed in eternity, took place in time, 2,000 years ago. And our Lord declares, it's done. It's finished.

Who finished it? The Alpha and the Omega. Who finished it? The king upon the throne. You read in history, I think it's hard to find any king that give his life for a bunch of peasants. Oh my, but you see,

We're heirs of our king
Heirs of glory and we didn't even know it
and our king gave his life for us
To save us from our sins
That's what he did

and he said look at this. I love again. I'm gonna say it again. It is done If something's done, can you add anything to it? Right No If you build something and you say, well, it's done, that usually means there's nothing else to do, is it? Oh, sinner friends, it's done. Salvation's accomplished. Just look to Christ and live. Look to Christ and live. That's all we saved sinners have done, by the grace and mercy of God, is look to Christ and live.

Scripture declares this, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the Son of God shall not see life, but the wrath of God abide on him. But listen to that, he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. If you believe on Christ, then you're a new creature in Christ. And I'm talking the true Christ of the Bible. My. If your faith is holy in Him, that's the fruit of His new creation in you. Ain't that wonderful? And the evidence of true saving faith is the evidence of election, redemption. It's evidence of those things. And calling. Because we never would have seeked God, would we? until you made us will in the day of his power. Oh, it's glorious.

Look at Revelation 21, 6 again. He said unto me, it is done. I am Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end, and I'll give unto him that is a thirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.

Look at, we see here the accomplisher of God's grace. Here it is. He's the accomplisher of grace. We're just receivers of mercy. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For by grace he is saved through faith, not in all yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus. Ain't that wonderful?

My That is it that according as it is written he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord so When he says I'm the Alpha and the Omega the beginning and you know what he's saying. He's saying salvation is of the Lord Period it's done Notice he says it is done and then he says I'm the Alpha and the Omega and There's the accomplisher of our salvation, beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ, glory to his name. Praise his mighty, mighty name.

My. Brother Brian, will you close us in prayer?