In 134. Behold, I come. See there it's to the tune of
it came upon midnight clear. Behold, I come, our Savior said. The Savior promised long. It come to do Thy will, O God,
and thus our hope was born. Behold, the Virgin was conceived,
and born a Son of Flesh. His name is called Emmanuel. God dwells in human flesh. The angels led their high above
to see this mystery. The great, almighty, sovereign
God obeyed a feeble claim. Mortals beheld His lovely face,
the Father's only Son. How full of truth, how full of
grace Christ came to save His own. His Father's life of righteousness
and sin atoning death. Fulfill His Father's holy will
and satisfy His wrath. Our glad Hosannas, Prince of
Peace, Your glory shall proclaim. Enthroned in heaven, our eyes
are keen. We love to praise your name. All right. Turn now, if you would,
back to hymn number 69. I'm trying to remember how the
tune goes. I'm sorry guys. I tell you what, we'll skip that
one because I can't remember how that tune goes. Let's go
to hymn number 59. Hymn number 59, Hallelujah Christ
is Risen. The name of the Lord is a great
and high tower. We run to him trusting his infinite
power. Hallelujah, Christ is reigning. Praise Jehovah, our God. Sovereign Savior, we will praise
you. We trust you, our God. Our Savior, who died to atone
for our sins, is exalted on high and He sovereignly reigns. Hallelujah! Christ is reigning. Praise Jehovah, our God. Sovereign Savior, we will praise
You. We trust you, our God. Though tempted and tried, we
are not in despair. Our Savior is ruling, so why
should we fear? Hallelujah, Christ is reigning. Praise Jehovah, our God. Sovereign Savior, we will praise
you. We trust you, our God. Yes, Satan may roar, but he cannot
devour, for Jesus has broken the serpent's dread power. Hallelujah, Christ is reigning. Praise Jehovah, our God. Sovereign Savior, we will praise
you. We trust you, our God. God's sovereign decree and his
covenant shall stand. And all who trust Jesus are safe
in his hand. Hallelujah, Christ is reigning. Praise Jehovah our God. Sovereign Savior, we will praise
you. We trust you, our God. You know, there are some who
are saying that it isn't for a long time or until Christ comes,
then there's this supposed 1,000 year reign that Christ won't
be reigning until then. But that's not true. The Lord's
reigning now. Christ is seated at the right
hand of God or in the strong arm of God, ruling and reigning
over all things. right now as he also makes intercession
for us. We're not waiting for a day for
Christ to start reigning. He is already reigning now. Let's turn back to hymn number
42. Hymn 42. Here's my hope and consolation.
I talked about hope last week. I'll probably recap a little
bit about this week. In myself I have no merit, nothing
good have I to give. That of holy, just, and perfect,
God could ever let me live. Sin defiles my best performance,
Guilty, violent, ruined I am Yet my heart breaks in repentance
By God's grace I see the Lamb See the Lamb of God our Savior
Bearing all our sin and shame By eternal love and favor Jesus
died bearing our blame. Bruised and wounded and forsaken,
as our substitute he died. It is finished, sin's forgiven,
justice now is satisfied. Here's my hope and consolation,
Jesus died for sinners' sake. Trusting Him I have salvation
and the cup of blessing take. All is well, I cannot doubt it,
God who gave His Son for me. rules this world and all things
in it, for my good eternally. So I'll trust my God and Savior,
though my joy is mixed with pain. He is worthy, worthy ever, that
in me His peace should reign. Faith in such a great Redeemer
gives my soul a blessed calm. Christ is near, He's my protector. He will keep me from all harm. It's becoming one of my favorite
hymns out of this book. All right. How about now? Back
to hymn number 22. Hymn number 22. If anybody has a hymn after this,
we'll sing those. Hymn number 22. We'll sing this
to the tune, Tis So Sweet. Jesus only is my Savior. Jesus only will I praise. Trusting Him, I need no other. Trusting Him, I have all grace. Jesus is my God and Savior. Jesus saves me by His grace. Jesus only, Jesus only, Jesus
only will I praise. Jesus only represents me. He's the Lord, my righteousness. His obedience, perfect, holy,
is before my God, my dress. Jesus is my God and Savior. Jesus saves me by His grace. Jesus only, Jesus only, Jesus
only will I praise. Jesus only died at Calvary, bearing
all my guilt and sin. Precious blood he shed so freely
has atoned for all my sin. Jesus is my God and Savior. Jesus saves me by his grace. Jesus only. Jesus only, Jesus only will I
praise. Jesus only rules in heaven. Therefore me he intercedes. By his blood I am forgiven. And for me, his blood he pleads. Jesus is my God and Savior. Jesus saves me by his grace. Jesus only, Jesus only, Jesus
only will I praise. Jesus only, King of glory, soon
will come to call me home. I will see Him, Jesus only, when
I reach my heavenly home. Jesus is my God and Savior, Jesus
saves me by his grace. Jesus only. Jesus only. Jesus only is life. Praise be to God. Praise. All
right. Got, got instructed there. All
right. Does anybody have a song that
you'd like to sing? Any of the books? Number 37. Number 37 in this
booklet. Son of our grace, I will proclaim it.
In the name of Jesus. Wretched, lost, condemned, and
dying. Guilty, I deserve God's wrath. Long I fought against my master. Hell-bent I was, courting death. But the blood of Christ had bought
me the time which was in God in mercy sent his spirit
Blessed time of love and grace To reveal his son's great merit
As the sinner's substitute I saw Jesus bleeding, dying,
suffering as my substitute. Precious blood for sin's atonement,
justice could not ask for more. I heard Christ's cry, it is finished
And I could resist no more Thanks to God for intervening Grace
that broke my stubborn will Grace that would not let me perish. Grace that rescued me from hell. Sovereign grace, I will proclaim
it. Irresistible and free. Grace that chose me and redeemed
me. God by grace alone saved me. Sinner, now you've heard my story. Now I bid you trust my God. Christ, my all-sufficient Savior,
saves poor sinners by His blood. Amen. Anybody else have a song
they'd like to sing? Turn with me if you would. Turn with me. Turn with me if
you would to 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. Again, a message last week entitled
Comfort in His Coming. Speaking of the second coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ, can't think of anything else in these
times to remind the brethren in the fact that Jesus Christ
not only is in control, but he is coming. In these crazy days that we're
living in, these evil days that we're living in, these wicked
days that we're living in, it's good for us to know that this
isn't our final place. This isn't how it's gonna be
forever. Though we may have tribulation in this life for a little while,
and though we have to experience that and go through that and
live through that tribulation that the Bible speaks of, we
have a hope. And that hope lies beyond the
grave. It lies beyond this lifetime. And that hope lies in the Lord
Jesus Christ. And we spoke last week about
that very thing. We began reading in 1 Thessalonians
chapter 4 and verse 13, and I'll read through these passages again.
1 Thessalonians 4, 13, and I'll read down to chapter 5, verse
11. It says, but I would not have
you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep,
that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which
sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto
you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain
in the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep,
for the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of an archangel, with the trump of God, and the dead
in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the
Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Here it is, verse 18. Wherefore,
comfort one another with these words. You want to comfort a
brother and sister in Christ? Well, one of the ways you can
do that is to remind them that death is not the final resting
place for us, that those who have went to be with the Lord
already, that they will be raised again, and that we too will be
raised to be with Christ. But of the times and the seasons,
brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you, for ye yourselves
know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief
in the night. For when they shall say peace
and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them as travail upon
a woman with child, and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren,
are mine in darkness, and that that day should overtake you
as a thief. Ye are all the children of light
and the children of the day, and we are not of the night nor
of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as
others do, but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep,
sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in
the night. But let us who are of the day,
excuse me, second time, but let us who are of the day be sober,
putting on the breastplate of faith and love for a helmet,
the hope of salvation. For God has not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ. who died for us that whether
we wake or sleep, we should live together with him. Wherefore,
comfort yourselves, here it is again, speaking of comfort. Wherefore,
comfort yourselves together and edify one another, that word
edify means to build each other up, even as also ye do. Okay, so one of the things that
we use the second coming of the Lord for is encouragement to
build up the faith of our brothers and sisters in Christ and to
give them Comfort, why do we speak of the second coming or
the resurrection of Jesus Christ at funerals? Well, if it's a
funeral of a brother and sister in Christ, then we preach that
to comfort those that are there who are also brothers and sisters
in Christ. Whenever we preach, we preach
that Christ will be coming again. We know that our loved ones who
have died in the Lord, have, or as the Bible says here, have
gone to sleep in the Lord. We know that they will be raised
again, that that is not the final place. That's why the Bible tells
us there, and we talked about it last week in verse 13, that
we should not sorrow even as others which have no hope. Every
child of grace that has ever been born of God has been given
a living hope, has been given a hope, and that hope is grounded
in the fact that Jesus Christ himself has raised from the dead. You know, we see in the scriptures,
the Bible speaks of Christ's death, but it also speaks of
the importance of his resurrection, because if Christ be not raised
from the dead, then we don't have any hope. If Christ just
died, but wasn't brought back to life, then there is no power
over death. Christ died for our sins, which
was great. We needed that. We needed that
substitute to take our place in the wrath of God, but we also
need his resurrection. The resurrection is what gives
us hope that things is not final with us when we die, that whenever
we die, it just doesn't cease to exist, but that we have a
future hope that we will live again with him, that we will
be like him, made like him. The Bible says that he is the
first fruits, and we're gonna talk about that, I don't wanna
get ahead of myself. But we see here that we don't sorrow even
as others which have no hope, because we have been given that
hope, every child of grace. And that hope is not found upon
something that is something that we do, okay? I don't have an
assurance of my resurrection because I'm keeping God's law.
I don't have an assurance of my resurrection because I am
obedient to Christ or faithful to Christ. You know, the old
adage my grandpa used to say that I don't drink, I don't chew,
I don't go with the girls that do. You know, if I keep my, try
to keep myself from uncleanliness, which I can't keep myself from
uncleanliness, it will eventually surface again because I'm still
in this flesh. But if I try to keep myself in
a quote-unquote righteous living and everything, that still isn't
assurance for me that I am gonna be raised again. Because if I'm
truthful with myself, I fail each day. I fail to attain, as
we've spoken of in the past, the mark or the standard is Christ's
righteousness. I can't meet Christ's righteousness.
I fail every time I try to meet that. If I try to make Christ
righteousness, I always fall short. That's what sin is, falling
short of the glory of God. And so because I fail at that,
and if I'm looking to myself for assurance, I am always going
to be in turmoil because I will have no assurance based upon
my standard meeting His standard, okay? So if we look to the outer
things of our life, if we look to the things that are done by
us for assurance, we won't have hope. We'll have that hope-so
hope. But the Bible says, for the child
of grace, that we have an internal assurance that's given by the
Holy Spirit, that the Spirit bears witness with our spirit
that we are His. and that hope that we are His,
looks to the promises that He told us, that all of those that
are His, He will raise up. Look again with me, I'm gonna
reiterate this from last week, in John chapter six, verse 37,
where He said, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out, For I came
down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will which has sent
me, that all which He hath given me, that's every elect child
of God, all that He has given me, I should lose nothing. See, our hope isn't in what we
do. It isn't in our law-keeping or our righteousness of ourselves.
It's not about how good we are. It's not about how faithful we
are to church, although those things are very important. And
because of God's Spirit in us, we will desire and long to do
those things. Paul said, I long to do the things
that the law says, okay? That's written in my heart, and
I want to do those things, but I find that I continually fail
to be able to keep those things, which I want to do. So we don't
look to the outer, what do we do? We look to the promises given
to us, and the Holy Spirit attests to these things. It grasps us,
that's what faith, you know, faith says, faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Evidence
of things hoped for, the substance, I'm getting it all wrong, do
you know what I mean? It's, it's not gonna bother me that I got
that wrong. I need to get it in the right
order, brother. Let me get back to Hebrews chapter
11, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen, okay? So faith is the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. The fact
that we've been given faith to trust in Christ for all these
promises that he has given us, okay? And so we look at this
and we see the promise of Jesus and he says, for I came down
from not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me,
and this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that all
which He hath given me I should lose nothing." There's preachers
out there all over the place today preaching that Jesus died
for everyone and that all people are the children of God and that
there will be some that are going to be in hell who are God's children
who Christ has died for which makes Jesus' statement here a
lie. See, they don't trust the promises
of God. They don't look at the promises
of God. They have a zeal for God, but
not according to knowledge. They don't understand. In trying
to make their own righteousness, they have denied and they have
been ignorant of the righteousness which is of God. Verse 39, and
this is the Father's will which has sent me, that all of which
he hath given me I should lose nothing but should, here it is,
it's tied to the resurrection again, raise it up at the last
day. And this is the will of him that
sent me that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him
may have everlasting life and I will raise him up at the last
day. Verse 44, no man can come to
me except the Father which has sent me draw him. Here again,
we see that salvation and coming to Christ, conversion is not
something that we do in our own will and decision. It's something
that has to be done for us. We have to be given a life. And
then the gospel is preached to us. And with that spiritual understanding
now, we see these things which have been freely given to us.
And so we come to Christ. And whenever we come to Christ,
that was God drawing us by his irresistible grace. Whenever
he give us new life, he put a new heart in us and he caused us
to walk in his statutes. That's what this is talking about.
It's God's work in the believer, in the child of grace, in the
elect of God, who is the sinner that Christ has saved. He is
drawing him and he says, and I will raise him up at the last
day. So if you'll see the work of
Christ in, Resurrection is very important and whenever we see
that Christ raised from the dead and that he has promised that
each one of his elect will be raised at the last day, then
we can bank on that because as we read last week, that our hope
is found and grounded in the promises of God who cannot lie. By his oath, he has swore these
things. And so we find consolation in
that, brethren. We find consolation in that.
If you don't find consolation in that, then the Spirit of God
is not in you. The Spirit of God that is in
you will give you consolation in the fact that it's enough
that Jesus said it. It's enough that God has given
an oath to you that He is coming back to receive you to Himself,
to raise you again, And so that's why we don't sorrow as those
who have no hope. Why? For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. So we talked about that, about
those who are asleep and about the hope that we have in Christ
Jesus. But this morning, I'd like for
us to look at something here. Look at verse 14 again. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so also, which sleep in Jesus will
God bring with him. We see Jesus here as the first
one to rise from the dead. And because of that, we too are
given the promise to rise from the dead. Now, some are gonna
say, now wait a minute, there's been people that's been raised
from the dead already, you know, Lazarus and the young girl and
so forth. There's a difference that they
had and the raising of Christ from the dead and what will be
raised from the dead. They died and was raised back
to life. They died mortal and they was
raised mortal. They died in corruption and was
raised in corruption. See, they wasn't raised in new
life. They wasn't raised in a new body. They wasn't raised in that spiritual
body, which comes from heaven. See, whenever Christ raised from
the dead, the body that He had when He raised from the dead
was the body that He had in the glory that He had with the Father
before He came. Remember, Jesus prayed, Father,
restore unto me the glory that I had with You before. He was
restored to that glory that He had before. And John tells us
that that glory, we beheld His glory as of the only begotten
Son of God. When John spoke of the glory
of Jesus Christ, it spoke of him in his manly form, in his
manhood. It spoke of him as the begotten
of God in the flesh. God in the flesh was the glory
of Christ. And so Christ is saying, return
to me the glory that I had before And that is, I believe, that
glorious, eternal manhood of Jesus Christ. I believe that
that is that form that he had as Christ before he came down. If you remember also in John
6, he said that he is the bread that came down out of heaven,
okay? He said, I am the bread that
came down out of heaven. And a few verses later, he said
that this bread that he gives to you is his flesh. So he said
that his flesh came down from heaven. The Bible says that he
is the man who came down from heaven. Jesus had a pre-existence
before his birth in Bethlehem. But we've talked about that in
the past. That's also for another sermon. We don't need to talk
about it really right now. Get into that. You've heard me
say that before. I'm always glad to give light
of that whenever you would like to talk about that more. But
anyway, turn with me, if you would, back to 1 Corinthians
chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Another famous passage of Scripture
often preached at funerals, but also a place that gives us hope
and comfort in His second coming. Now we're talking about Christ
being raised and our tie, our promise given to us by God, that
if Christ is raised, we will be raised. 1 Corinthians 15,
start with me if you would at verse 12. It says, now if Christ
be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among
you that there is no resurrection of the dead? Now remember, the
Corinthian church had a lot of issues going on with it, okay?
And if you know the background of Corinth, Corinth was like
a hotbed of heathen, paganistic rituals and worship and all kinds
of idolatry that was going on in that Greek city. And as this church was brought
together and Paul preached to them, bestowed upon them the
gospel. Matter of fact, it was in the
same chapter, I believe, look back in verse two, by which also
you are saved if you keep in memory what I preach unto you,
unless you have believed in vain, for I delivered unto you, first
of all, that which also I received, how that Christ died for our
sins, according to the scriptures, that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day, according to the scripture, that
he rose again, according to that part of the gospel, okay? And
that he was seen of Cephas, then of the 12. After that, he was
seen of above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part
remain into this present, but some are fallen asleep. So here
we see that Paul says that this thing that I'm preaching to you,
this gospel that I've preached to you, that incorporates the
resurrection of Jesus Christ, I didn't come up with it on my
own. I received it from Jesus himself. Jesus is the one who taught this
to me, and I'm now telling it to you. And so now, somewhere
in this Corinthian church, there's been all kinds of problems that's
risen up. Problems over the gifts, problems over the Lord's Supper
and the ordinances, problems over letting sin rampant in the
church without dealing with it. I mean, all kinds of problems
And one of them is there were people in the church that said
that there is no resurrection of the dead. Now, if you'll remember,
among the Jews, there was a segment of people, and I believe it was
the Sadducees, maybe, I can't remember now, I'm getting a bit
mixed up, but it was the Sadducees who didn't believe that there
was a resurrection from the dead. The Pharisees did, the Sadducees
didn't. And so there was this, or the
Sanhedrin, among the Sanhedrin. And so there was this difference
of opinion on resurrection. But here we see in the Corinthian
church, Paul laid down to them that there is a resurrection.
But if somebody had come in and had began preaching and that
leaven began to leaven the whole lump, to where now it was an
issue and Paul was having to deal with that. And so he says,
now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say
some among you that there is no resurrection from the dead?
But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not
risen? So see, he's arguing the point
that if you're saying there's no such thing as the resurrection
of the dead, that everybody just dies and cease to exist, then
what about Christ? If that's true, then Christ didn't
rise from the dead. Verse 14, and if Christ be not
risen, then is our preaching in vain and your faith is also
vain. If Christ died and didn't rise
again, then there's nothing to preach about. There is no gospel.
There is no gospel if there is no resurrection. And that's what
Paul is arguing. He's saying if Christ died, then
Christ just died and the wrath of God snuffed him out and that's
it. that he wasn't, God wasn't satisfied
in that sacrifice. That the wrath of God overcame,
but the justice of God overcame. Christ took on the full wrath
of God and satisfied God. Thus, since God's justice was
satisfied, Christ could be raised from the dead. Why? Because Christ
wasn't a sinner. Christ never sinned. He took
on the penalty of our sin It was imputed to him. It was a
talent to him, and he never became a sinner. He never sinned. He
was not guilty of anything. Thus, he did not have any right
to die in and of himself. The only reason he did was because
he took upon our sin. And so, because he took on our
sin to the length that God's justice said enough, then God could raise Jesus from
the dead because our debt was paid. The debt that he promised
to pay was paid and thus Jesus was raised. And because Jesus
is raised, then all of us whose debt is now just as Jesus's,
zero. Jesus had zero debt to pay. That's why he was resurrected. The reason that we're resurrected
is because we have Zero debt, because Christ took it. Now that
doesn't mean that we're not sinners. We're sinners. We sin. We will
continue to sin until Christ comes back. But the guilt and
the penalty and the legality of our sin has been taken care
of in Christ. Thus, what's the big word that
we use? We have been... Y'all know it. Justified. We've been justified. And because we've been justified,
we have zero guilt. Therefore, since we have zero
guilt, God can raise us up at the last day. See, there's our
comfort, brethren. If we trust in Christ for our
salvation, we should trust in Christ for our resurrection.
If you're trusting and saying, hey, nobody can tell me that
I'm not saved, nobody can tell me that Christ didn't die for
me, then don't have the doubts whenever the deathbed comes,
or the loved one who is in Christ goes, now that doesn't mean,
again, we're not saddened and our hearts grieved and burdened
and we show forth sorrow, but not as we don't have any hope.
We have hope. Why? Because Christ died for
them. Christ died for us. And so we
see here, that the resurrection is something that if Christ died
and wasn't resurrected, then we have no hope. Because our
hope is in the fact that Christ did what he did, and it was pleasing
to God, satisfied his wrath, satisfied his justice, and thus
Christ was raised from the dead. It says, yea, we are found false
witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised
up Christ. whom He raised not up, if so
be that the dead rise not." So if somebody doesn't believe in
the resurrection of the dead, then all of our preaching has
been in vain, if that's true. And I'll tell you what, if that's
not true, that's horrible. I mean, just think of all the
years of preaching. I mean, I'm just thinking to
myself, Well, just since I've been here, I mean, I've preached
before, but a lot of that I count as dumb because I was preaching
a false gospel. But I'll just say since I've
been here, so 2007. So from 2007 until now, 13, 12,
13 years, preaching, and just think,
if all that's in vain, all the hours of studying, all the time
preparation, and all the work within the church, and all the
stuff that's being done, It was all for nothing if Christ be
not raised. If Christ be not raised, then
let's all go eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die. I mean, if Christ be not raised. But it says here, for if the dead rise not, then
is not Christ raised? And if Christ be not raised,
your faith is vain, ye are yet in your sins. Then they also
which are fallen asleep in Christ, they're perished. And then he says, this is verse
19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all
men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from
the dead and become the firstfruits of them that slept." Now notice
there what he says in verse 20. Christ has become the firstfruits
of them that slept. So that's why I say, if Christ
is the firstfruits, now if you remember, the firstfruits, that
was the first of the crops that came in. They were supposed to
be gathered together and given as an offering of God to God,
right? The firstfruits, that means He
was the first among many Okay, there's more harvest to come,
but he was the first of the harvest. And so if Christ is the first
fruits, then that means that there are more fruits to come. There again, that's a promise
that we have hope that Christ is gonna bring with us, bring
with himself those who have died and then us also. But because
he is the first for us, that means he was the first from the
dead. And again, as I said, others
were raised from the dead, but there must be something different
between them and Christ coming back from the dead. Them and
us coming back from the dead at the resurrection. Because
if what they did is what we're going to do at the resurrection,
then we don't have any hope because those people died again. Lazarus
raised from the dead, but guess what? Poor Lazarus had to die
again. He died again, okay? He experienced
that death again. But yet the Bible says that for
us, we will live again, that we will be raised. Look at verse 21, for since by
man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made
alive. All those who are in Christ Jesus
will be made alive. But every man in his order, Christ
the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ at his coming. Now, just a side note here. For as in Adam all die, so in
Christ shall all be made alive. but every man in his order, Christ
the firstfruits, afterwards, they that are Christ at his coming. When is the people of God gonna
be raised at the resurrection? At his coming, right? Yet there
are some that believe that some are gonna be resurrected here,
and then a time period's gonna pass, And then there'll be some
that'll be resurrected here. There'll be a resurrection here,
resurrection here. But it says here that all that
are prized will be raised at His coming. Now keep that in
mind because we will be speaking about His coming. It says, then
come at the end. So the resurrection is gonna
happen, and then what? The end. You remember last week
I was talking about the last day that Jesus in John 6 said,
I will raise them up at the last day. That means that there are
no more days after that, because that was the last one. Here it
says that they shall be raised up, then come the end. The end
of what? The end of time. The end of this
period that we're experiencing that God has created for his
purpose of glorifying himself in the redemption of a people
of his own. This time is done. And listen,
brother, it's coming. It's coming soon. Coming soon
and looking around at the things going on today. It's close. It's close. I believe that Jesus
could come any day. There'll be no more time after
that. Because then cometh the end. When he shall have delivered
up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put
down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign
till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy
that shall be destroyed is dead. And he hath put all things under
his feet. But when he saith all things
are put under him, It is manifest that he is accepted, which did
put all things under him. And when all things shall be
subdued unto him, then shall the son also himself be subject
unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all
in all. Else, what shall they do which
are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why
are they then baptized for the dead? Now, you kids might not
understand what he's talking about there, but there are some
people out there right now the Mormon faith, it's false faith,
but the Mormons believe that you can baptize people for those
who have died. So they'll have people up there
and they'll baptize them and they'll have, you know, like
say John Doe died an unbeliever. Well, they will baptize somebody
in the name of John Doe so that that person can be saved. So
they will be kept out of hell. Even though John Doe never did
trust Christ, they can baptize them. And I'm not an expert on
Mormon theology and religion. I do have some relatives who
are of that persuasion and just from things that I've heard and
read. But you cannot be baptized for the dead. Matter of fact,
I've heard it said that that Ancestry.com is actually a organization
that is a part of the Mormon, and I don't know if this is true
or not, this is just something I heard, but that that is a part
of the Mormon church and that they do that
to get all these names of people and they baptize for the dead. They baptize all these people
that have died in all these names. Cause if you, somewhere in their
doctrine, you know, you do so good and you become a God and
over your own planet somewhere. Anyway, if I got that wrong,
I apologize. I don't mean to misrepresent
anybody, but that's what I heard. He says, why do we stand in jeopardy
every hour? I protest by your rejoicing,
which I have in Christ Jesus, our Lord. I die daily. I, after
the manner of men, I have fought with beasts at Ephesus. What
advantage is it me if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink,
for tomorrow we die. Verse 33, be not deceived, evil
communications corrupt good manners. Away to righteousness and sin
not, for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your
shame. But some men will say, How are
the dead raised up? And with what body do they come?
Now, here's where I was getting into that Jesus, when he was
raised, had a different body, that whenever we are raised,
we'll have a different body. Well, we know it'll be a different
body. It'll be incorruptible, okay? It'll be immortal and incorruptible. but it'll be a glorified body.
What does that mean? We all say that all the time,
it'll be a glorified body. But what does that mean? Well,
we're talking about the body that Jesus had, that glorified
body that Jesus had before he came and that one that he took
up after he was resurrected. But it says here, but some men
say, how are the dead raised up and with what body do they
come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except
it die. And that which thou soweth, thou
soweth not that body that shall be, but bare grain it may chance
of wheat or some other grain, but God giveth the body as it
hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body." Okay, so
he's given to every seed his own body. Now that's not only in nature.
Remember, I've taught you guys this many times back in Genesis. This is a principle of scripture,
that every seed reproduces after its own kind. It has the life
of the seed in it. And we are born of Adam. We are
his seed in the flesh. We are his seed. In the spirit,
we are Christ if we are his. And that does not yet have the
body that has been prepared for it. Right now, we have that life
in treasures of clay or in jars of clay. We have that in these
old vessels. And God has adopted this body
for now, but yet we wait to with the adoption of sons, where we'll
adopt or be adopted into that body, which Christ has prepared
for us, that house that Christ has prepared for us. Okay? Verse 39, all flesh is
not the same flesh, but there is one kind of flesh of men,
another flesh of beast, another of fishes and another of birds.
There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial. But the
glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial
is another. There is one glory of the sun,
another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For
one star differeth from another star in glory. So also is the
resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption, it
is raised in incorruption. So our body will be sown in corruption,
That's what we have now, this sinful flesh. But whenever we
are raised, we are raised without sin, without corruption. It is
sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is
sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is
sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there
is a spiritual body. Okay, Jesus had a spiritual body,
but yet whenever he came down and was born of the Virgin, he
was born in a natural body. And then whenever that body died
and Christ was raised from the dead, he assumed back his spiritual
body. That's why he could appear here,
appear there. He could walk through walls and
appear in a closed room where people were praying. Okay, that's
why he could walk on the road to Emmaus with two disciples
and they didn't even recognize who he was. Okay, so we see that
there are two kinds of bodies, a natural body and a spiritual
body. And so it is written, the first man Adam was made a living
soul and the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. How be it
that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural and
afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthy, The second man, here it is, is the Lord from heaven. The second man is from heaven. Okay? Jesus was a man that came from
heaven, not from earth. If Jesus would have come from
Mary and gained his manhood, gained his identity as a man, from Mary, then he would have
been like Adam of the earth earthy. But the Bible says that the Holy
Spirit overcame Mary and Christ was conceived in her womb, but
that he didn't receive anything from her because he would have
been of the earth earthy. He was the man from heaven. That
heavenly man was conceived in Mary. She was the surrogate that
brought him forth. Now some may say, well, why does
that have to be? Well, it had to be for legality
purposes. Jesus came to be a representative
of us. And so he was born in a natural
body like us, because he was representing those in the natural. And so in the natural, he had
to come and die. Why? Because the spiritual body
can't die. It's eternal. He came in a natural body that
could die, that could experience thirst, that could experience
hunger, that could experience pain, that could experience weariness
and tired. But yet, don't be deceived, this
man came from heaven. This man came from heaven. It says, as is the earthy, such
are they also that are earthy, and as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image
of the earthy, which we have now, we shall also bear the image
of the heavenly. Okay, remember there is a natural
body and a spiritual body. Natural body is from the earth.
The spiritual body is from heaven. So as we have borne the image
of the earthy, we shall also, in the future, bear the image
of the heavenly. So we're gonna have a heavenly
body like Jesus's heavenly body. People wanna say we're gonna
be like him. How are we gonna be like him? Well, we're gonna be
like him in that way. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. Neither does corruption
inherit incorruption. So see, these bodies have to
change because the way that we are now, we cannot inherit those
things. He said, behold, I show you a
mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we
shall all be changed. In a moment, in the twinkling
of an eye, at the last trump, okay, there's not gonna be multiple
trumps, the last trump, that means there will be no more trumps
after this, and we're not talking about the president, okay? At the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put
on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. O
death, where is thy sting? O 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. Therefore, my beloved
brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work
of the Lord, for as much as ye know that your labor is not in
vain. So again, he's saying, comfort
yourselves with these things, knowing, continue on serving
the Lord, no matter how hard it looks, no matter what turmoil
is happening, no matter how many riots are going on out here with
all the stupidity that's happening in this world, all the political
correctness, all the racism junk, all the rioting and all the liberal
mess, all this conservative mess that people are trying to get
into. I mean, all this stuff, Don't let your mind and your
heart be dissettled about that. Continue. Steadfastly abounding
in the work of the Lord. Your work is not in vain. There
is hope beyond this. Look if you would in Acts chapter
26. Acts chapter 26. Look with me, if you would, Acts
26, 23. It says that Christ should suffer
and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead
and should show light unto the people and to the Gentiles. So here again, we see that Christ
rises first. And that is tied, that our hope
is tied to that. The fact that Christ rises first
and we will rise with Him at the end. Turn with me to Revelation
chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Look with
me if you would. Down in verse 5. It says, and
from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness and the first
begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth,
unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood. So here we see that Jesus is
the first begotten of the dead, or the word begotten means brought
forth. The first one brought forth from
the dead. And again, It has to be meaning
something else besides the first one to come back alive from the
dead because other people before Christ resurrected was brought
back to life. So it can't be meaning in that
way. It means in that spiritual body,
in that glorified body. He is the first to come back
from the dead, the firstfruits among many, and then we will
come with him. Look at verse seven. Behold,
he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, and
they also which pierced him, and all kindreds of earth shall
will because of him, even so, amen. And Jesus himself says,
I am the alpha, that means the beginning, or well, he even says
it, I'm the alpha and omega, the beginning and the ending.
Of course, we know in the Greek that the word alpha is the first
letter of the alphabet, omega is the last, Letter of the alphabet,
He is the beginning, He is the end. Okay? He is the one that
began everything. He is the one that ends everything. In all things. The Bible says,
for of Him and to Him and through Him, or excuse me, of Him and
through Him and to Him are all things forever. Amen. that He is the One who was the
beginning. He was, number one, as that spiritual
body that housed the Trinity, that flesh, that visible form
of God, He was the first, He was the beginning of the creation
of God. That body that God had prepared for Him, that was His,
and He was the first. And at the last, it will be His
body that everybody will be made like unto of His people. He is the last. His body will
be the last that we see. He is the first in the fact that
He created all things. All things were created by Him,
and all things were created for Him. And in the end, all things
that were created will be destroyed by Him, except for His people.
He will destroy all things. And what will He do? A new heaven
and a new earth will come down. Wherein dwells righteousness.
He says, I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the
end, saith the Lord, which is and was and which is to come. Verse 11, He says, I am the Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last. See, we have a hope, brethren. Jesus didn't just die. He is
the first. He is the last. He is the first
among those who have raised from the dead. He is gonna be the
one that we see at the very end when we are raised from the dead.
We have that hope. We have that hope. Turn back
with me, if you would, to 2 Thessalonians. We're just about done here. for
today. Verse 18 says, Wherefore, comfort
one another with these words. Comfort one another with these
words or exhort one another with these words. Verse 11 says, Wherefore, comfort
or exhort yourselves together and edify one another, even as
also ye do. This should be common talk among
ourselves. I was talking, y'all remember
Brother Igor? Called him the other day and
was visiting with him on my way home from work. And this became
the topic of our conversation. We were talking about other things,
but all of a sudden, we was talking about all this craziness that
was going on. And both of our minds and hearts just kind of
went to this. And I told him, I said, because
he brought it up first. He said, brother, I think we're
about to see the Lord come again. He said, I just really feel in
my heart. The thing is, he said, man, the Lord is beginning to
direct me in a way like he's never directed me before. He's
been giving me an understanding of God's word and opening up
the scriptures like he never has before. He said, I've seen
preachers all over the place that are false preachers that
you know, churches are going away and preachers are, you know,
giving up and things like that. But yet the true people of God
are staying firm and they're beginning to come to the forefront.
People are beginning to see that and coming out of false churches
and finding them. And he said, I believe that the
Lord is really beginning to separate the people and show who the true
church and the true people of God truly are and the true preachers
of God really are. And, uh, And he says, I truly
think that God is about, Christ is about to come again. And I
said, well, I believe that too, brother. I said, that's really
been on my heart. I'm telling you, matter of fact,
we've been preaching about that last week and gonna be preaching
again this week. And we talked for an hour about
the coming of the Lord, about Christ coming back. Me and brother
JC Fulton coming back from Texas a few weeks ago, same thing,
spent over an hour talking about Christ coming back again. You
know, that seems to be on the hearts. And as I talk with other
believers, that seems to be something on their heart. And I know there's
going to be scoffers out there that says, you know, you know,
that he, you know, that's been like that in every generation.
Well, that's true. It has been like that in every
generation. And Christ told us to be waiting with expectation
on his return to keep looking for his return. And so, because
they look at that, don't look at them as crazy, don't think
they're nuts, don't become a scoffer, and scoff at the children of
God who are looking with expectation for the coming of their Savior,
may not come in their lifetime, but they were told by Christ
to eagerly wait for His return, and that's what they're doing,
so don't knock them for that. It seems like we're living in
a day now like was happening back then. Now, if you remember,
there was a lot of persecution going on, especially with that
Jerusalem church, but among a lot of the churches, but specifically
with that Jerusalem church. And you remember that almost
every bit of this, if not all of the scriptures, was written
before the fall of Jerusalem. And so these people was experiencing
a heavy, heavy persecution, and they had heard Jesus teach these
things that he was coming back. And Peter wrote to these Jews
because there was a discomfort in their heart that the promise
that Jesus has made was not coming. But if you look with me at 2
Peter, and we're gonna close with these passages in 2 Peter,
because I want you to notice something here. One of the misquoted,
one of the misused verses in almost all Scripture besides
John 3.16 is here in 2 Peter 3.9. But I'm gonna start back up in
verse one and read down. Now, there's a lot of good stuff
before chapter three, but I'm gonna try to stay with what's
in chapter three here. Because the whole purpose, the
whole context of 2 Peter 3 and verse nine and 10 is the very
fact of Christ coming again. But yet people twist that to
make it say that God loves everybody and wants everybody saved, and
this is the proof text that God wants everybody to be saved.
But if we look at the context, that's not what it says, and
the whole purpose for 2 Peter 3, 9 is to give comfort about
his second coming. It says, this second epistle, beloved,
I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your pure minds
by way of remembrance. So he's saying, brethren, I'm
writing this letter to remind you of some things. Isn't that
what Paul told us to do, is to comfort each other or exhort
each other with these words? Or to exhort each other. How
do you exhort somebody? Or how do you remind each other? Well, you keep talking about
it. Whenever somebody starts getting
down and saying, oh man, this world is going to pot and just
going to hell in a handbasket. You know, the Democrats are doing
this and the Democrats are doing that, which is, you know, fine. We can discuss those things.
But again, if we are going into despair because of those things,
what do we need to do? We need to remind ourselves.
Exhort one another about what Christ has said about the last
days. There are going to be perilous
times. You're going to see tribulation. but don't worry, look up, your
redemption draws nigh. It says, this is the second epistle,
beloved, I now write unto you, in both which I stir up your
minds by way of remembrance, that ye may be mindful of the
words which was spoken before by the holy prophets and of the
commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, knowing
this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers
walking after their own lusts and saying, Where is the promise
of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
And there are people that are like that. Even people who profess
Jesus Christ are saying that now. They're saying, when somebody
starts talking about, hey, I believe this is Christ coming back, oh,
you believe in newspaper theology. There's a difference in being
expectant of Christ coming back and have a newspaper of theology.
I don't believe in newspaper eschatology or theology, eschatology. I don't believe that we ought
to look at the newspapers and start saying, oh, Jesus has come because
this does, because it has happened in every generation, okay? There has been these things in
every generation, but yet Christ still tells us to keep looking
to him, expecting him, okay? Knowing this first, that those
are coming in the last days, scoffers walking around, saying, where
is the promise of his coming? Since the fathers fell asleep,
all things continue as they were at the beginning of the creation.
For this they willingly are ignorant of. So people that talk like
that are ignorant. They're ignorant of the things
of God. That by the word of God, the heavens were of old and the
earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the
world that then was being overflowed with water perished. but the
heavens and the earth, which are now by the same word are
kept in store, reserved under fire against the day of judgment
and perdition of ungodly men. Just a side note there, global
warming is not gonna destroy this world, okay? Global cooling is not gonna destroy
this world. An asteroid is not gonna come
and hit this world and splatter it into a billion pieces, okay? Aliens are not gonna come and
abduct everybody on this world and take it over, okay? The Bible
says that the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the
same word, are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the
day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. So this whole
place is gonna be kept as it is in store for the coming judgment
of Christ. Whenever he comes back and judges
the quick and the dead, he will burn this place up with fire. It, the heavens that are now,
and all the wicked will be burned up and judged. But beloved, be
not ignorant of this one thing. That one day is with the Lord
as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. So God's not really concerned
about time, right? See, as far as eternity is concerned,
one day is nothing. But it also, according to eternity,
a thousand years really isn't nothing. Now think about it,
eternity, that doesn't have a beginning and it doesn't have an end. and
you take roughly what, six or seven thousand years, this earth
has been in existence, and you wedge that into eternity, there's
never been a beginning, there'll never be an ending in eternity.
Seven thousand years, just a speck. Just a speck. And God is in eternity. God lives in eternity. He is
eternal. He doesn't have a beginning or
an end. And so with Him, a day and a thousand years is just
nothing. Be not ignorant of this one thing.
Now, but I will say this. I think the reason that Peter
is saying that is the fact that even though the Lord said, I
am coming back soon, that didn't mean I'm coming back tomorrow
or at the end of the week. Okay. The Lord is not slack concerning
his promises. Also, I want to say the side
note, because I need to make these things clear. There is
a theology out there that is called Preterism. And they believe
that all the prophecies about the coming of Christ, except
for his actual physical return, all was wrapped up in the destruction
of Jerusalem in AD 70. And that these letters here,
is only for those people about AD 70. Now I will say this, I
lean to a partial predatorist view in the fact that I believe
that a lot of those things have already taken place and that
a lot of the things that's in Revelation is a cyclical thing
throughout every generation and then the end will come, we'll
all experience these things. But I do believe there are some
things that are future, that would be the second coming of
Jesus Christ, okay? And I do believe that things
are gonna wax worse and worse. I do believe that there's gonna
be a falling away. I believe those things are gonna
take place before the Lord comes again. Now, with that being said,
I believe that this is talking about the future return of Jesus
Christ, not that imminent return of Jesus Christ in AD 70, where
he destroyed Jerusalem, where he said, this generation will
not pass away until these things take place, okay? That generation
didn't pass away. They saw the destruction of Jerusalem,
the wiping out of the temple and the tabernacle and all of
Jerusalem and their house being left desolate and the Lord bringing
his glory down and taking up residence down in the New Testament
church. They saw the abomination of desolation. They
saw that, okay? This is not talking about that.
Why? Why do we know that? Because
it says this, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
as some men count slackness, but is long suffering towards
usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. So he's telling them the reason
the Lord has not come back, they were saying, where is his return?
Where is his return? Where is his return? The reason
he hasn't returned is because not all have repented yet. So here again, we see the context
here of Peter, 2 Peter 3, 9, is not that God loves everybody
and wants everybody to be saved. It's that God is not sending
his son back to bring everybody to himself until all have come
to repentance. There is a number of people that
Christ has died for, and all of them shall come to Him. He
shall not lose one of them, remember, but shall raise them up at the
last day. The total number of the elect. And here God says, He's not willing
that any of those should perish, but all of them come to repentance. So the Lord is not coming back
until all that number is in. till every one of his sheep had
been brought in to the fold. Verse 10, but the day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens
shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall
melt with fervent heat. The earth also and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. See brethren, at the coming
of the Lord, the day of the Lord, the last day, the last trump,
is all the same thing. It's when Christ comes, that's
the end. There's nothing that's gonna
happen for a thousand years, and then a little time of the
devil being loosened, and then the Lord's gonna come. No, when
he comes to resurrect anyone of the elect, it's gonna be at
the last day, it's gonna be all of them, and there's gonna be
a loud trump, a shout of the archangel, and it says here,
he's gonna come quickly, and the earth is gonna pass away
with a great noise, with fervent heat. He says, seeing then that
all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought
ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness? Looking for and
hastening unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with
fervent heat. Nevertheless, we, according to
his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth
righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that
ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in
peace without spot and blameless, and account that the long sufferings
of our Lord is salvation. Even as our beloved brother Paul
also, according to the wisdom given unto him, hath written
unto you, as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of
these things, in which are some things hard to be understood,
which they that are unlearned and unstable rest, as they do
with other scriptures, unto their own destructions. Yet therefore,
beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye
also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from
your own steadfastness, but grow in grace and in the knowledge
of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both
now and forever, amen. And so we see here that Peter
is telling them that the promise of Christ is what we need to
look at, and that those are the things that are to keep us, and
that his long-suffering, his waiting and not coming back,
is so that all would come to repentance. And so we are to
comfort each other with these very things. All right, brother,
does anybody have anything that you'd like to add to that or
any questions or anything that you'd like to ask? Like I said
last week, this is not a fairy tale. It's not just a pipe dream. It's not just a fantasy. It's
not even it's not a parable that the Lord has given us. This is
truly, truly a reality there is a day coming and like i said
you know i've been on this earth now for 47 years and uh i believe
that it is rapidly coming you know the bible says that the
knowledge of men will increase in these last days look at the
knowledge that we have gained over the last several years i
mean just right here i mean look at this this phone right here
i mean there's more technology in that right there than all
the computers in 1972 when I was born. You take every computer
that was in the world in 1972 and it probably doesn't have
the functionality as this phone does. I mean, we have seen exponentially
knowledge, but not only knowledge in worldly things, carnal things,
but we have seen knowledge in spiritual things, men that the
Lord has given to know the word of God and to preach the word
of God who is faithfully holding and standing their ground despite
all this junk that's going on and all these false churches
that are out there that are spouting all these false gospels. These
men are standing up. We're standing up for these,
the true gospel and the true churches. We're standing up for
the word of God and we're not just resting and letting things
go. We are being diligent to warn
the people of God and to exhort those to look to Christ. So, yes, I believe that this
is truly, truly a time when Jesus is coming soon and could be any
time. And what a glorious time that
will be. In fact, I was thinking on a
song this morning that one of the groups that I listen to sings,
it'll be joy when my Savior carries me home. And it will be a joy. It'll be a joy. It would be joy
for all God's people, but for those who are not His, it won't
be. And so we ought to be grateful for that. We ought to be thankful
and humbled by that for what grace has done for us. All right,
well, let's bow and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you
today again for your mercy and for your grace. Father, we thank
you for the life that you've given us in Christ. We thank
you for the hope that we have in Him, for the resurrection
of the dead, Lord. We are so grateful that this
isn't the end of our lot here in this world, that this body
of death and sin that we continue to carry, that is continually
perishing, Father, we are grateful that we have a body waiting for
us in heaven. You said that in your house,
you have many mansions. That word mansions or rooms or
bodies, we can look at those as bodies, possibly, that we
have new housings for this life that you've given us, this new
creation that you've given us in Christ Jesus. This treasure
that is found in this earthly jar will one day be housed in
its spiritual body. And so that which is on the inside
and that which is on the outside will be one. Father, we don't
even know how to understand that. We've never been able to comprehend
what it's going to be like to be without sin. But Father, we're
looking forward to that day. Father, Lord, I pray for all
your sheep that are scattered abroad. Lord, I pray that you
would bring harvesters in, that you might bring the preachers
of the gospel in to preach to them, that they might be converted
and brought in. Lord, we know that not one will
be lost. And so we pray for faithful preachers
of God's Word We pray for those who are in the church, Lord,
as they minister and share the gospel wherever they go. Lord,
we pray that those disciples will be made and that they will
be brought into the church, that they might serve and minister
among God's people, that they might be fed by God's word. Lord,
we pray that you might continue to work and minister in our church.
Help us, Father. We pray for other people that
you might bring them, that you might strengthen us, not only
in In service, but in fellowship and in love towards one another.
Father Lord, I pray for Sister Loretta this morning again. Not
been able to hear from her in several weeks now and. Father
Lord, I pray that you're keeping her and that you're ministering
to her. Father Lord, I pray that you might also bring back those
who have been members here before that have left on On reasons Lord outside of the
gospel. Lord, I pray that there be repentance
and that they might come and be reconciliation and Lord that
we might be able to fellowship and worship and serve side by
side once again. Father Lord again, we thank you
for Christ. We thank you for salvation. And
we have through him. The forgiveness of our sins. Thank you for this day that we've
had, and we ask that you'll be with us in this coming week.
You might keep us, you might give us safety, provisions. Lord, we pray for our country. We ask, Lord, that you would
heal this nation, if it be your will. We recognize your judgment
upon us as a nation, as a country. But Father, we're thankful that
you keep your people. But Lord, we pray, if it be your
will, that you would restore this country once again, to a
country that will honor God. But Father, Lord, we know that the
days are evil and that things are waxing worse and worse by
your purpose and by your plan. So keep us now in these times,
as you have promised. For it's in Jesus' name that
we pray, amen.