Look closely at verse 17. There
are three words in this text around which we will be giving
our outline this morning. And if children, then heirs. The first word is the word heirs. Heirs of God and joint heirs
with Christ. if so be that we suffer with
him." The second word is the word suffer. That we may be also
glorified together. The third and final word around
which we will be making our outline this morning is the word glorified. Now you notice in the next verses
how that he begins each verse. which is an expansion as well
as an explanation of what he has just stated in verse 17. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation
of the creature that ought to be creation rather than creature
was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him
who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature, or
rather creation, itself also shall be delivered from the bondage
of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
For we know that the whole creation groaneth and prevaileth in pain
together until now. And not only they, but ourselves
also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves
groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the
redemption of our body. For we are saved in, rather than
by, in hope, But hope that is saved is not hope, but hope that
is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth
he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see
not, then do we with patience wait for it? I want to review
just briefly two or three things that we gave in the study of
verse 16 last Sunday evening. in order we might make the proper
connection between our studies thus far and that which we shall
begin in the study of verse 17 this morning. I think we ought
to raise a question, and that question is this. How can we
distinguish between genuine and counterfeit experiences? We have been talking about genuine
Christian experiences in verses 14, 15, and 16. Now the question should be raised,
how can we distinguish between genuine and counterfeit experiences? We know according to 1 John chapter
4 verses 1 through 3 that we are to try the spirits to see
if they be of God. How does one try the spirits? We know that the devil seeks
to counterfeit everything that is experienced genuinely by one
who has been saved by God's grace. Now how are we going to make
the distinction between that which is genuine and that which
is only a mere counterfeit? Will you listen carefully because
I'm going to expand on this in a subsequent lesson in the near
future, but I'm not going to do it this morning. In fact,
I'm going to make a distinction between professors and possessors,
and I'll be bringing that message in the near future. This would
be a good place to do it. But we have been saying a whole
lot along this line, and I'll say just a few things this morning
that will make the proper connection between verse 16 and verse 17,
so I'll not go into it in detail. Number one, I'm giving you now
how that you can know the difference between that which is genuine
and that which is nothing but a counterfeit experience. Investigate
the antecedents of every experience. Number one, investigate the antecedents
of every experience. I'll illustrate that. Did the
spirit of bondage, of gain to fear, precede your spirit of
crying, Abba, Father? If there was not, first of all,
this spirit of fear, then you're saying Father does not mean a
thing. It's just that simple. Two, did
the spirit of adoption, whereby one cries Abba, Father, precede
the witnessing of the Holy Spirit with your spirit, verse 16? I'll repeat it again. Did the
spirit of adoption whereby you say, I'm a father, did that experience
precede the witnessing of the Holy Spirit with your spirit,
thus giving to you greater assurance of your relationship to God? Now, another one. Is the subjective
experience which you claim to have in harmony with objective
truth. Is your subjective experience
in harmony with objective truth? Another, does the experience
give one the idea that he has arrived? Beloved, I'm as leery
of an individual who thinks that he has had a true and definite
experience with God, and yet after having had that experience,
he's always running around and wanting to be an instructor. Wanting to be an instructor.
That is no sign of humility. Listen carefully. I'm giving
you what the book says. If so, the experience which that
person has had is a false experience. I'll give you the scripture for
that. A true experience with God is never blinded by the teaching
of Paul in 1 Corinthians 8-2, and the text says, he knoweth
nothing yet as he ought to know. He knoweth nothing yet as he
ought to know. There's so many religionists
today, and that's why I'm bitterly opposed to religion. The devil
is religious. I said the devil is religious.
I'm opposed to religion. I'm pro-Christian. I'm for Christianity. But there is as much difference
between religion and Christianity as there is between heaven and
hell, as there is between light and darkness, and I could go
on and on. These folks today who leave the
impression that they have arrived. They have arrived. Why, beloved,
they haven't even started. I said they haven't even started,
much less to have arrived. Now let's look at something else,
because all of this is dealt with in these verses. What does a person like? What
is palatable to his taste? If the experience is genuine,
the only thing that will satisfy his taste is the pure, unadulterated
Word of God. He is not looking for anything
that will tickle the flesh, but that which will feed the spiritual
nature. Ye are of God because ye hear
God's word. I have seen scores of religionists, and they're looking only for
that which will tickle the and every last religionist will accuse
the man of God who stands and gives a biblical exposition of
scripture and appeals, first of all, to the intellectual nature
of man, which must be appealed to. If that which is given does
not appeal to the flesh or to the emotional part of man, they
want no part of it. But, beloved, if the experience
is genuine, I say, the only thing that satisfies
me is is that which feeds the spiritual nature, which begins
with an understanding of biblical truth, which results in the emotional
nature being touched by what one hears and understands spiritually. And finally, we have the exercise
of one's will, and that comes last in the first. So the order
is intellectual to emotional and last the will. Anytime the
order is reversed, it is not a genuine experience. Now I gave you some things that
you need to know how to distinguish between that which is what? Genuine
and that which is nothing but a pure counterfeit. Now we're
looking this morning at verse 17. A great pact. And if truly, then heirs of God
and joint heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with
him, that we may be also glorified together. Now let's make the proper connection.
Thus far we have viewed, number one, our union with Jesus Christ. Verse 14, our union with Christ. I want you to see how Paul developed
this, and it's great to the Christians. To the spiritual mind, this is
what he wants, in order that he can have greater assurance,
and having greater assurance, He has more boldness in standing
up for the precious truths of God's word. So number one, we have viewed our union with
Christ, verse 14. Number two, we have looked into
our conviction of sin by the spirit of bondage against satan. I wish I had time this morning
to show you the difference between spiritual conviction and legal
conviction, but I'll have time to develop that. I'll get that
some of these times. So number two, we have seen in
verse 15 in the first part of the text. our conviction which
has been brought about in our heart by the spirit of bondage
against the fear. Number three, we have seen in
our studies thus far the spirit of abduction which gives to us
greater assurance, thus enabling us to cry Abba, Baba. So we have
seen union and conviction follows union, and the spirit of adoption
follows that. And now this morning we're looking
at the fourth step in the development of this great and grand subject. Now we're going to view our airship
with Christ. our airship with Christ. So we
go from union, to conviction, to adoption, and now to airship. Airship. There'd be no need for
me to talk to an individual about being an heir of God and a joint
heir with Jesus Christ if he didn't know about his union if
he'd never been divinely convicted and if he were not able to cry
Abba Pa. It would be useless. It would
be foolishness. It'd be like casting pearls before
swine to talk to him about being an heir of God and a joint heir
with Christ if he doesn't understand his union, if he doesn't know
what it is to be divinely convicted, and if he cannot pray Abba Pa. But now we're looking at heirship.
Heirship. And oh, what a subject. Our relationship
is that of children. Our position is that of son. The word son is in contrast with
the position under the law. And under the law there were
children. Under grace we are sons. We have a high position. And here we see the dignity of
our position as sons under grace. I'll have more to say about that
later. Position under grace is the state of privilege in its
widest extent. Please get that thought. What
did I say? I said position under growth
is the state of privilege in its widest extent. You and I in this life cannot
get beyond the dignity of sonship. Let me prove that. Now let's
go to Hebrew, where we've been teaching for several weeks. And actually what we're seeing
now is in harmony with an expansion of poems, that which we have
already looked at in Hebrews chapter 2, especially in verse
10. The Lord Jesus Christ is presented
as the captain of our salvation, leading many sons onto what? Globes. Globes. But can you rejoice in that?
David, the child of God, the individual who has a spiritual
nature, he rejoices in that. He doesn't have to have some
foot-soaping music to stir his flesh. This affects his mind,
and he has a spiritual mind. He understands spiritual food.
He knows he's united to Jesus Christ. He knows he's divinely
convicted. And he knows God is his father. We ought to
talk about being an heir. Here we see the widest extent
of his privilege, and that Jesus Christ, who is his savior, who
is the captain of his salvation, is bringing him. And brother,
I want you to know, everyone everyone for whom Christ died
will be brought faithfully to glory. He's bringing many times,
that's the dignity of our position, many times unto glory. I stated that we're going to
look at three words in verse 17, and around these three words
we'll give you our outline. First of all, let me read the
American Standard Version of this verse. For if children,
heirs also, heirs of God, and fellow heirs with Christ, if
indeed we suffer with him, in order that we may also be glorified
with him. Now you can see three words and
our message built around these three words. Actually, as we
develop this, we're going to cover all of the verses from
17 through 25. 17 through 25. But of course
I cannot deal with each text as I'm dealing with the 17th
verse. So we have number one, Christians
are fellow heirs with Christ. We are fellow heirs with Christ
because, of course, we're heirs of God. Heirs of God. Number two, Christians are fellow
sufferers with Christ. We are fellow sufferers with
Christ. And finally, Christians are fellow
heirs with Christ in glorification. So the order is, heirship and
then we suffer with Christ before we shall be glorified with him
in the kingdom. Let's take these one at a time.
Christians are fellow heirs with Christ. The believer's position
is one of dignity and glory. Dignity and glory. Filial heirship
with God assures joint heirship with Jesus Christ. I like what
Dr. Macbeth said in his little commentary
on Romans. Now, I've looked at many, many
men on this, but I like what he has said very much, and I
want to give a quotation. He said, and I quote, and notice
as I'm quoting, I'm going to emphasize, as I read this quotation,
I'm going to emphasize three words. And you'll be able to
see what I'm doing as I put emphasis on these three words. The character
of the title is divine. The certainty of the inheritance is in our
being joint heirs with Christ, and the quality of the profession
is heavenly." That's well stated. I'm not even going to try to
improve on that because I couldn't. I'll say it again, the character
of the child is divine, sons of God. And since we're sons of God,
we're heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. So here
we have the dignity of our position in Christ. Then the certainty of the inheritance
is in our being joint heirs with Christ. And the quality of the
procession is heavenly, heavenly. not earthly. This means that
the titles held by every Christian is as safe and secure as the
title of Jesus Christ himself. Believe me, that's assured us.
Do you have to have anything else other than the plain statement
of promise of God to really excite you? And if you do, you don't
understand the meaning of the spiritual life. One man said, this means that
the title held by every Christian is just as safe and secure as
the title of Christ. And can I lie to you? No title
can be broken with reference to any joint heir. No title can
be broken. My title to the inheritance is
as secure as the title that Jesus Christ holds. And don't forget,
what did we study back in Hebrews 1-2? He is the appointed heir
of all things. Now what does it mean Jesus Christ
is the appointed heir of all things? Jesus Christ, as God
absolutely considered, cannot be appointed to anything. He created all things. He upholds
all things. And how in the world could He,
as God absolutely considered, be appointed to anything? He
can't. He can't. What is the meaning, therefore,
of the statement that he is the appointed heir of all things?
He is the appointed heir of all things as the mediator, as the
son of man, as the son of God, as the divine human person. He's the appointed heir of all
things. And beloved, it is as a divine human person that he's
going to reign as king of kings and lord of lords. And we'll get into this. We'll
really get into it in the study of the kingdom. To be a joint heir is to be a
co-heir. Co-heir with Christ. And beloved,
that means something to me. I'm a co-heir with Jesus Christ. Do you see the dignity of the
position of sonship? God himself is his greatest gift. No one can deny that. The greatest
gift to you and me is the gift of God himself to you and me. But notice the text begins with
a filial relationship, heirs of God. The Father's affection
is followed by the Father's promise. So this filial relationship is
immediately followed by the promise of the Father. Now let's look at several things
here and connect you with this. The foundation of our airship
is not ordinary creation. I said it does not come about
by ordinary creation. In other words, it doesn't read
that if created, then air. But this foundation must be viewed
not in the sense of creation merely, but of recreation by
the Spirit of God in regeneration. We're talking about the filial
relationship. After the foundation of this
airship is not ordinary creation. Secondly, It is not by natural
descent. There were the Jews, you know,
who said, Abraham is our father. We are the seed of Abraham. But
Jesus Christ set them straight. In the eighth chapter of the
gospel, according to John, he said, if you are Abraham's spiritual
seed, this is what he meant, then you do what Abraham did.
And Abraham never thought to kill me. So, this heirship, the
foundation of which, is not by natural descent. Thirdly, it
is not by good work. I don't care how much a man might
do, that does not assure him that he'll be a joint heir with
Jesus Christ and the kingdom. So our inheritance is divinely
great. Is it divinely great? It surely
is. Are you listening? We're heirs
of comma, Hebrews 617. We're heirs of the grace of life,
1 Peter 3, 7. We're heirs of righteousness,
Hebrews 11, 7. We're heirs of eternal life,
that which is really life, Titus 3, 7. We're heirs of all things,
all things. First Corinthians 3.22 and Revelation
21.7. We're heirs of salvation, which
we've already studied. Hebrews 1.14. We're heirs of
the kingdom. James 2 and verse 5. We're not heirs except with Christ. Notice my emphasis on the preposition
with. Thus it is in and through Jesus
Christ that we become heirs. We've been accepted in the beloved.
It's through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ that we're accepted
in the beloved. And so we must consider the prepositions
in and through even before we even think about being heirs
with Christ. We have various accounts of our
future inheritance. It is an inheritance among them
that are sanctified. Acts 26 and verse 18. It is an inheritance of the saints
in life. Colossians 1 and verse 12. It
is an inheritance incorruptible and fated, not a way reserved
in heaven for us. First Peter chapter 1 and verse
4. Therefore, our inheritance is a reality. It is pure and
undefiled. It is insured to us who are the
children of God. It is enduring! And beloved,
last but not least, it surpasses the most vivid imagination that
we can ever have! You know, it is a sad thing,
and I've read a great deal of works like this, I said it's
a sad thing when these precious promises of God, that is the
promises of the future concerning the kingdom, are spiritualized
until they become indefinite and lose their designed meaning
at the very beginning. One man said, and this is a great
statement, to reconcile the inheriting with the spiritualistic view
of the kingdom is to reduce the kingdom itself to inheriting
the effect of it, to the effect of it, and not the inheriting
of the kingdom itself. My wife and I listened to a preacher,
I guess you could call him that. False, of course. I'll add that to it. That's an
adjective that must be added to it. So he said the kingdom
and the church are synonymous pairs. I don't believe a word of it. I don't believe a word of it.
I'm a subject of the church now, but I'm heir of the kingdom,
and I'm not in it yet. Neither are you. Now let's look at the second
point. Christians are full of sufferers with Christ. Oh, look
at what Paul does. Now here's something I don't
want you to ever forget. And every time you listen to
one of these cults on the radio or television, here's a way you
can distinguish between a cultist and one who is biblically corrupt. The cultist promises you everything
in this life, but he doesn't promise you anything in the life
to come. He promises you prosperity now. You give me some money and I'll
send you a call for something else. But they all, you know,
most of them, they want to promise you something now. Why, if you
give what I have for you, you won't be sick anymore. If you
need a job, you write to me and I'll get you a job. You'll be
wealthy. You'll be prosperous. You'll
have no worries anymore. Now what does Paul say? If we suffer with him, we shall
reign. Paul did not promise you, he
did not promise me, that we would reign now. This is not the time
for us to reign. Don't forget the irony of the
Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 4 verse 8 when he said to the
Corinthians who had been misled by some legalizers and others,
I would that God did reign that I might reign with you. Look at the top. This is a time
of suffering. We must go outside the camp bearing
the reproach of Jesus Christ. Now, beloved, do you know where
the suffering is going to come from? Will you follow me? Notice this, on the very edge
of the great inheritance which is promised by God in our text
lies what? Lies a wilderness of human suffering,
the suffering of the people of God for the cause of Jesus Christ
now. Does that sound like reigning? All right, believers suffer with
Christ. I know what I'm talking about. I haven't suffered as
some before me, but if the Lord tells His coming, I might in
the future, and you might too. I don't know what the Lord has
in store for us, but I know one thing, that grace of God is sufficient. When you think about this statement
made by Gabaliah, that gives to you the attitude, the idea,
and it's growing, it's mounting. It's going to cost you something
to stand up for the precious truths of God's Word. And that's
the real test. That's the real test. Now listen
to this. Believers suffer with Christ in the same cause. What is the cause? It is truth
and righteousness. Secondly, believers suffer with
Jesus Christ for the same end. What is it? The glory of God
and the good of his people. Thirdly, the people of God suffer
with Jesus Christ from the same enemies. And the enemies are,
number one, Satan himself. And number two, religious people. And number three, irreligious
people. But I'm here to tell you, your
greatest suffering will not come from the irreligious, but it
will come from the irreligious hypocrites. And I challenge you,
upon the authority of this book, lying here on this pulpit stand,
that that is exactly what the Word of God means. The greatest
persecution that the people of God have ever experienced has
always come from the religious and not the irreligious. They're alive, They'll do anything. They'll malign a person's character. You know, several years ago I
decided, by the grace of God, that I was where the Lord would
have me to be. I got disgusted going to these
Bible conferences. They were just little debates,
but you know a lot of people like to go to them and shout
off. And you know all these so-called Bible conferences, you know all
of them, Each fella wants to project his little pet to it.
And so it becomes just a debate. I agree with Arthur W. Pease
at this point, and yet I've had debates in the past, but I'm
not proud of it. I never had one yet that was not in the energy
of the flesh. Did you get what I said? They're
always in the energy of the flesh. When you start arguing with an
individual on the job or wherever, if he's not willing to sit down
and listen to the testimony of Scripture, if you just start
arguing with him, you're going to be in the flesh, and you know
you're in the flesh. Arthur W. Peete was absolutely
right when he said, the sacred things of God are too sacred
to debate about in the energy of the flesh. Well, I've come
to the place, if a person is willing to discuss things and
listen and investigate, fine. But if he gets in the energy
of the flesh, you're going to be in the energy of the flesh.
And if you get in the energy of the flesh, he's going to wind
up there. Of course, if he isn't saved,
he's just in the flesh, period. And if you're saved, then you're
going to act like you're in the energy of the flesh before it's
over with, whether you are or not. Do you follow me? But you're going to suffer persecution,
and suffering precedes the inheritance. This is a time of suffering.
So when you hear someone promise you everything under the sun
in this life, you can rest assured he's a cult. The Lord has not
promised you and me anything but suffering. I would like you to turn with
me to John 16 and look at the 33rd verse. He's going to give
us peace, however, in the midst of our suffering. John chapter
16 and the last verse of that chapter. Listen to what our Lord
said to his disciples on the very eve of what? His departure. John 16. Verse 33, These things I have
spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world
ye shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, I have
overcome the world. Now did Christ tell a lie? No, He told the truth. There
isn't anything for you and me now but tribulation, persecution,
suffering. Now let's look at the last portion.
I can give you the highlights of this. We'll have to expand
on the highlights later. So suffering precedes glory. Is that the biblical order? It
surely is the biblical order. I want to give a few things before
we get that far. Let me mention a few things here
that will help you. If you'll notice, in verses 18
through 23, the apostle talks about the creation being subject
to vanity, and then he talks about the bondage
of corruption. And finally, he talks about,
of course, the link of suffering between the Christians and the
world, and that, of course, is his Bibles. Let's observe, if
you will, please, three things in verses 18 through 22. They
are vanity, bondage, and suffering. First of all, he says, subject
to vanity. Subject to vanity means that
the whole creation was subjected to futility. Our all created
beings have had to submit to that which seems to be purposeless. I said which seems to be. That
is what appears from the redemptive work of Jesus Christ. Now when
you find individuals today who do not know the grace of God,
you can understand why they feel as they do about things. You
better leave it up. You only go around once, so you
better get the gusto as you're going around. Why? Because as far as they're concerned,
everything is what? Without a purpose. Why? They don't know grace. And I'll
tell you something, I don't blame the people who do not know the
grace of God. They better get all they can get, and they better
live it up for this reason. Why? Because they don't see any
purpose, and they can't see any purpose apart from the grace
of God. Don't expect them to, beloved.
It's wrong for you to expect anything different from them. So the word dynasty or futility
should be used. Now, I'd like to develop this
more, but I don't have time this morning, so we'll do that later. Notice it is not of its own will. So the creation being subjected
to futility is not of its own will. That doesn't mean that
creation itself has a will, beloved. That isn't what it means. It doesn't imply that the creation
possesses will. It is a statement by the Apostle
Paul to emphasize the fact that it was wholly on the account
of the will of God himself that the creation has been subjected
to futility. And the reason is not because
of any crime committed by creation, but because of the crime committed
by man. sins of decay and death. Everywhere you look in creation,
you see decay, you see death. Nature, therefore, is prevented
from manifesting its grandeur. You see, even creation itself
is groaning, waiting for something. What? the manifestation of the
sons of God, are the kingdom, if you please, the kingdom, now coming to the
last part, the glorification. So Christians are fellow heirs
with Christ in glorification. This glory refers to the glory
of the kingdom. Jesus Christ is king. He has
made us kings and priests. We're not reigning as kings now. And we'll not reign as kings
until Jesus Christ reigns as king of kings and lord of all. Notice the word liberty. The
word liberty is the opposite of the word bondage. So the present
bondage is no proof that there will be no absolute freedom in
the future. So the present bondage doesn't
mean that there will never be absolute freedom in the future.
When will that absolute freedom take place? When will it be experienced
in the kingdom? And then notice, perfect happiness. Even creation waits, waits, expecting,
long, groaning now, waiting for the adoption, the redemption
of what? The redemption of the human body.
So creation is waiting. and perfect
happiness will never be experienced according to the psalmist in
Psalm 1715 until we awake in the likeness of our Lord. Now let's see what the effects
of this are, and the effects are threefold. We have seen that
in this world there is vanity, bondage, and suffering. Secondly,
we have seen Paul's estimate of the world which is to come,
and in that world there will be glory, liberty, and perfect
happiness. Now, in closing, the effects
of Paul's estimate of both the present and the future are threefold. Number one, hope. Number two,
patience, and number three, earnest expectation or earnest desire. We'll look at these three for
a moment. Number one, hope. Hope refers to the absolute conviction
and assured expectation of the child of God. There are but two
alternatives in waiting for the future. One is hope, the other
is fear. that Christians have hope. You
and I must realize, Howard, that things are going to get worse
before they get better. Does that help you any? If you think things are bad now,
then you're wrong. Things are going to have to get
worse before they get better. So hope looks above and beyond
what is seen now and rejoices in anticipation of what shall
be, and it shall be because God promised it. That's hope. Secondly, patience. Patience
is native to hope. This is found in verse 25. It
is native to hope. We're saved in hope, not by hope. Hope produces patience, and patience
is the assurance in hope. So we're saved in hope. We're
saved from the guilt and defilement of sin now. But hope assures
us that salvation is to be viewed in a larger sense than that which
we experience now. We're groaning in faith now. But in hope we are assured that
there will be no groaning in glory. You know there's a program that
comes on every Saturday afternoon and his cliche is his introductory
statement. I'm giving you the word of God
that you might grow in grace and not groan in disgrace. Some
of you heard that program. Well the statement's all right.
That statement is all right. We are to grow in grace, and
not groan in disgrace. But beloved, the groaning takes
place now in our lives. For we consider the things that
we're suffering in this life, and this is the age of suffering.
But our groaning doesn't just stop with groaning. We have hope.
And we look beyond the groaning which is present, to the assurance
of the time will come when thou be no loner. Finally, earnest
desire or expectation. I like the word desire. Earnest
desire is seen in the earnest expectation of hope. Hope, he says, that is seen is
not hope. The believer's real profession
is not what he sees. Are you following me? Our real
possession is not what we see. If you think your real possession
is your home, your automobile, your bank account, the clothes
on your back, and with the glorious beloved, that is not the believer's
real possession. And yet, I'm afraid that too
many are living as though it were. If you think it's your
real profession and you go visit your doctor tomorrow and your
doctor says you have terminal cancer, I give you about two
months or three if the most to live. And then you'll go back
home. It won't make any difference
what your bank account is. It won't make any difference
how beautiful your home is. You look at the house, I'll tell
you what, when you look at the beautiful furniture or anything
else you might have, and I'm not saying these things are not
alright in their place, not at all. But what I'm saying is,
when you look at these things in the light of what the doctor
has just told you, that you have two or maybe three months at
the most to live, when you go back, I'll tell you that furniture
won't look near like it did before. When you look at that automobile,
it won't look anything like it did before you went to the doctor's
office. When you look at your bank account, it won't look anything
like it did before. Our real profession is not what
you and I see, but what awaits us in the kingdom. My beloved, anybody who can sit
through a service like this with an exposition of God's words
and go to sleep, I tell you the only reason you go to sleep is
because you don't have grace. I'm putting it down just like
it is, because you don't have grace. If there hasn't been something
in this to establish you, and to encourage you, and to strengthen
you, it's because you don't have grace. And you can't relate with
spiritual faith. That's how simple it is. I tell you, in the religious
community today, the priest is not supposed to talk like that.
You're supposed to flip up on people. You're supposed to twist
your arm. You're supposed to try to get
them in and get another nose to count for a report and another
nickel in the offering and all these things. The man of God
is concerned about giving truth and truth alone will, what? Accomplish God's eternal purpose.