I will ask for your patience this morning. I don't know. This may go just a little bit long. I just have one verse I want to read, but I have three chapters here I want to look at this morning. Chapters 7, 8, and 9 of Ezekiel. But I just want to read this verse in chapter 9 of Ezekiel and verse 8.

And it came to pass, while they were slaying them, and I was left, that I fell upon my face, and cried, and said, O Lord God, wilt thou destroy all the residue of Israel, in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? While they were slaying them, I was left."

And he seemed to be amazed at that. And I want to see why, just later, that it was so with this prophet. A few years before this, Nebuchadnezzar had sent his army against Jerusalem, against Israel and against Judah, and carried many of them away captive. Jeremiah was there when they came. They let him go free, but they took Daniel. Shadweck, Meshach, and Abednego, and some others. And King Nebuchadnezzar sent another king, a Jewish king, over Jerusalem and Judah, but they killed him, rebelled.

And this time when he sent his army back, he sent them with fury. They ransacked the city, destroyed the city. They were so angry, the soldiers were so angry. Some of the women ate their children in the siege. Blood was running in the houses and soaking up on the ground. And Ezekiel was there. He saw this. And then he was carried away captive with thousands of more. They burnt the temple, tore down the walls of the city. Him and many, many Jews were settled on the river of Shabar. And this is the account that he gave in the ninth chapter.

It seemed like the Lord began to let him relive the slaughter of Israel, the slaughter of Judah, when they came in and had no pity upon the women and even the children. They slew all the men. Many of them were carried back. The skilled craftsmen were carried back. But they left the poor in the city as a reproach to this once great nation. It was a devastating, devastating time. And this is why he made this statement. While they were slain, I was left. But let me read the ninth chapter to you.

And I want you to get the sense that this prophet must have felt as this was going on. In chapter 9 and verse 1, he said, And he cried also in mine ears, the Lord cried in his ears, with a loud voice saying, Cause them that have charge over the city to draw near. even every man with his destroying weapon in his hand.

And behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth towards the north, and every man had a slaughter weapon in his hand. And one man among them was clothed in linen, with a rider's inkhorn by his side, and he went in and stood beside the brazen altar. And the glory of the God of Israel was gone up from the cherub, whereupon he was, to the threshold of the house. And he called to the man clothed in linen, which had the writer's ink-horn by his side.

And the Lord said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. And to the others he said in mine hearing, Go ye after him through the city, and smite. Let not your eye spare, neither have you pity. Slay utterly old and young, both maids and little children and women, but come not near any man upon whom the mark is the mark, and begin at my sanctuary. They began at the ancient men which were before the house. And he said unto them, Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain. Go ye forth. And they went forth, and slew in the city. And it came to pass, while they were slain them, that I was left. And I fell upon my face, and cried, O Lord God."

Can you almost get the sense of how he felt? Screams all around him. Blood flowing. The ground soaking up the blood from even the children and the women. And he waits. He's in the very reach of these men with a slaughter weapon in their hands. He's right in their direct view. And he's standing, no doubt, waiting for the sword to fall. And suddenly he realizes, I'm left. I'm left. Can you imagine what he must have felt? And all he knows to do is fall upon his face and worship and acknowledge that this is of the Lord. The slave is of the Lord. And his being left is of the Lord. What a wonderful thought this is. And I want to develop it just a little bit here in a minute.

But I want us to look here at what he said in verse 8 of this chapter. And what he had come to realize was this was not Nebuchadnezzar's army at all that brought this letter. God used them as the means, as instruments But he realizes this is God Himself that has did this. That's what he says in the last portion of verse 8. Will thou destroy all the residue of Israel in thy pouring out of thy fury upon Jerusalem? So he realizes here it's the Lord that has done this.

Now, I want us to go back to chapter 7. And I want us to look carefully at this chapter because it tells us about this judgment of the Lord. And he speaks to this prophet and he lets him know beforehand that judgment is coming. And I want you to just feel in your conscience how this prophet must have felt when the Lord spoke to him. and tells him that judgment is coming. No one believed him, but judgment was coming.

And notice the seriousness of it. And look in chapter 7. I want you to notice the Lord says to him in verse 1, the word of the Lord came unto me. It came with such power to this man. He couldn't escape the urgency of what the Lord said to him. And the first thing the Lord says to him was how close this judgment is.

I want you to just look at some of these verses. Look in verse 2. Also thou son of man, thus saith the Lord God unto the land of Israel. The end, the end is come upon the four corners of the earth. And he said in verse 3, Now is the end come upon thee, and I will send mine anger upon thee. And look in verse 5, Thus saith the Lord God, and that evil, even that only evil, is come. And verse 6, And that end is come, the end is come.

And he continues on there even in verse 12 and stresses to this prophet, how serious it is that the end of this nation, at least in this catastrophe, is coming. It's at hand. And don't we find this also in the New Testament? Everywhere in the New Testament we find language like this. Peter said the end of all things is at hand. And somebody might say, well, Bruce, it's been almost 2000 years ago since Peter made that statement. But when we consider time in the light of eternity, it's short. How do you measure time when we look at it in the light of eternity? The end is at hand.

James made this statement, the coming of the Lord draweth near. He said, even before the door. And Paul said, the night is for spent, the day is at hand. And the Lord Jesus is soon to be revealed with His mighty angels from heaven in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who know not God. He is coming to punish the ungodly, the unbelievers, and to save His people.

And when will that come? Soon. None of us know the day or the hour, but it's coming soon, isn't it? And somebody will say, Bruce, nobody believes that anymore. You believe it, don't you? I believe it. They didn't believe it in Ezekiel's day either, but it's coming. He said it's here. It's even at the door.

There's three things that the Lord told Ezekiel about this coming judgment. I want you to notice these three things here in the seventh chapter he told him. First of all, it's a just judgment. If Ezekiel had any doubts in his mind as to the justice of God in killing all of these people and destroying this city, the Lord was going to settle those doubts in his mind. And the first thing he tells Ezekiel here that this is going to be a just judgment, I want you to look in verse 3.

Now the end is come upon thee. And I will send my anger upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways. And he says the same thing in verse 8 and 9. Now will I shortly pour out my fury upon thee, and accomplish my anger upon thee, and I will judge thee according to thy ways. And he says it again in verse 9, according to thy ways and thy abominations will I judge thee. So it's going to be a just judgment. I heard a man on the video this week or last week that I was watching.

And he said one of the reasons that he despises Calvinism so much is because Calvinists believe that God just arbitrarily predestinated men to hell and there's nothing they can do about it. What an awful reproach on a just God. Why does God punish men? Why will God send men to hell? Because of their sins. Their own sins. I think one thing that will make hell, hell is a man knows he's there because of the sins that he has committed against God.

The rich man was reminded by Abraham, son, remember in your lifetime, it's according to your own ways, so it's a just judgment, isn't it? It's a just judgment and no one will have any reason to complain because they will suffer for their own sins. Some man asked me one time, do you believe men will suffer for Adam's sin? And I said, the sin of Adam, the consequences of that sin is great. It plunged us all into condemnation and ruin. But men will not suffer for Adam's sin. We'll suffer for our own sin if we're not saved from it. So he said, I'll judge you according to my own ways. And then the coming judgment would be no mixture of good and evil. Look what he said in verse 5. This is a very catching statement. Thus saith the Lord God, man evil, man only evil, behold, is come.

So many times the Lord judged this nation for its sins. Many times He'd send an army against them in the book of Judges, and they would kill so many of them. But He spared the nation. Sometimes sickness or a plague would come upon them, but the Lord would have mercy and remove the plague.

But he said it's going to be different when this judgment comes. It's going to be no mixture of good and evil, but it's all going to be evil. That's the dreadful thing about the judgment of God, isn't it? Here in this life, it's a mixture of Judgment and mercy. But sometimes I know we're sick. We're sick in our head, but our body's feeling good. We get an arm injured, but our legs are good. It's a mixture of blessings and judgment in this life.

But brothers and sisters, the judgment that's coming upon the ungodly, it will be all evil. It won't be any mixture of good and evil, but all will be evil. In hell and only men in hell know the absolute wrath of a just God. We don't know it. Nobody living knows that. Only the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross suffered evil with no mixture of any mercy. And those in hell that go there and suffer under God's awful judgment, it will not be a mixture of good and evil. There'll be no relief. There'll be no mercy there, no grace there, no light there. And that's the terrible thing about the wrath of God when it finally comes. But the third thing He told him about this judgment here, it was to manifest the character of God, the holy character of God.

Look at it again here in verse 4. And mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity. But I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thy abomination shall be in the midst of thee, and you shall know that I am the Lord. And he says the same thing in verse 9. You shall know that I am the Lord. When I bring this judgment, he said, you're going to know that it's from me.

I had a friend of mine who I was talking to one day, and he said, Bruce, I don't believe in eternal punishment anymore. And I said, well, why would you change your mind on that? You believed it for years. He said, well, I just can't believe that a God of love would punish anybody for all eternity. I can't believe a father of mercies could punish somebody for all eternity for their sins.

My friends, God is a God of love, but it's a love that redeems people from their sins and the wrath to come. God is the father of mercy, but it's the mercy that reaches out to a sinner with the blood of Immanuel in his hands to cleanse us from our sins. It's an awful thing to have a warped view or a one-sided view of God.

And God is going to reveal Himself in the whole of His character. He is a God of mercy. Look at His redeemed ones. He's a God of all grace. Look at sinners that He's populated heaven with. He's going to reveal all His saving attributes, but He's going to reveal those things in Him that we sometimes call evil too.

Is there fury in God? Is God capable of hating? That's a dreadful thought, isn't it? Some of us were talking last night about, does God have the capacity to hate? I think it's Psalms 5 that says, He hateth all workers of iniquity. God is a man's greatest friend, or he's his greatest enemy.

And He's purposed the day, and He said a day, and He's appointed a day in which He said, I'm going to reveal myself, and men are going to know me in all of my character, in my holiness, my mercy, my love, and my justice, and also my wrath. Here in chapter 8, I want us to look at this quickly. You can go back and read chapter 7, there is so much there. In chapter 8, the Lord gives this prophet a vision, literally takes him by the hair of the head and jerks him up in a vision and takes him to the temple in Jerusalem and sets him down there in the temple and shows him why his wrath is coming. and why he'll be devastated and why he'll destroy the city and most of the people in it. If this prophet had any doubt, this being a just judgment, the Lord is going to remove all this doubt in the eighth chapter.

I want you to look at it here. He brings him into the temple and sets him there in verse three and verse five. And look at this. And he put forth the form of thine hand, and tucked me by the lock of my head. And the Spirit lifted me up between earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate, that looketh towards the north, where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. And in verse five he said unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes, Now the way towards the north, so I lifted up mine eyes the way towards the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entrance."

When Ezekiel looked at the entrance that led to the altar of sacrifice, the first thing Ezekiel saw was this idol. was this image there right at the entrance where they entered in to offer the sacrifices. Many commentators think this was the idol that Ahaz, he was a king over Judah, a few years before this had sent up into Damascus and he saw an idol of the heathen and he He thought this was such a beautiful idol. He sent back to the priest and they made an idol just like this. And he set it here in the very gate that entered into the place of sacrifice. And he offered incense and he offered sacrifices upon this altar. And this is what Ezekiel saw here. And you'll notice, he said, it was at the entrance.

Now, that's important, isn't it? It was at the very entrance where you go in to offer the sacrifices to God, where the priest put the burnt offering for sin upon the altar. I made a statement last week that modern religion has not only broadened the door, but they now have eliminated the door altogether. And who is that door?

This is why this is so serious. This is why God said, look at the abominations, Ezekiel, that they've done. Look what's setting at the door. It's a heathen idol. And the Lord Jesus Christ said of himself, I am the door. Did he not? By me, if any man enter in, he shall be saved. See why this was so important?

The temple represented Jesus Christ. The doors represented Jesus Christ. The altar represented Jesus Christ. The sacrifice was Christ. Everything typified the Lord Jesus Christ. And the first thing he sees is this dumb idol set in at the very door, an entrance into all of this beautiful tops and shadows of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Several years ago, I don't know how many years ago this started, but it's been several years ago, when people started talking about make your decision for Christ. Remember that? The hour of decision. And if you'll make your decision for Jesus, you'll enter in. Remember that?

Accept Jesus as your personal Savior, and that'll get you life eternal. Pray the sinner's prayer. That's the door to life. That's the access to God's presence. Something you do, even your faith now, they made faith the door. Brothers and sisters, nothing is the door but this one glorious person, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the gate. He is the access unto God's grace. He is the access to salvation. He is salvation.

I am the way, he said, didn't he? I'm the way to the Father. Nobody comes to the Father but by me. I am the way of life. I'm the way of forgiveness. I am the way and I'm the truth. And everything apart from Him is a lie. It's deceitful. I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life, and everything apart from Jesus Christ is death, eternal death. He is the door.

So see why this was so important here. When the Lord showed him this vision of the temple and the very entrance into all these blessings that the temple contained, there is this dumb eyeball, and it made God jealous. And he said, my fury is going to burn.

I was watching, Mencini was watching, we like to watch Hallmark movies sometime, some of you do too. We were watching one the other night, it was exceptionally religious. Sometimes Hallmark will have a religious movie on, but this one was really, really religious. And they talked about God, and the God of love, and thankful for the hope that God had given them, and the relationship, and how God was there to help them. And the woman finally died, and they said, she's going to be with God. But there was one name that was absent, and that's Jesus Christ, the Son of God. He is the door, isn't He? And you eliminate him. And there is no smile from God. There is no favor. There is no salvation. There is no life. All is the fury of God and the dread and the wrath of God. Our God is a consuming fire.

Something else here in verse 6 and verse 12 quickly. And look at this in verses 6 through verse 12. He said, furthermore unto me, Son of man, see thou what they do, even the great abominations that the house of Israel commit of thee, that I should go far off from my sanctuary, but turn thee yet again, and I will show you greater abomination.

And he brought me to the door of the court, and when I looked, behold, a hole in the wall. And he said unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall. And when I had digged in the wall, behold, a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do there. So I went in and saw, and behold, every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel portrayed upon the wall round about.

And there stood before them seventy men of the ancients of the house of Israel, and in the midst of them stood Jeazaniah, the son of Shaphan, with every man his censer in his hand, and a thick cloud of incense went up. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what the ancients of the house of Israel do in the dark? Every man in the chambers of his imagery, for they say, The Lord saith not, and the Lord hath forsaken the earth."

You remember The first time we ever read about the 70 men was in Moses' day. And they went up with Moses on Mount Sinai. And they saw the face of God. God spake with these men face to face. And they fellowshiped with the living God, the Creator of all things. And He loved these 70 men. They loved him and feared him and walked in his truth. They set him up as judges in the land. Look how it had degenerated. Look at these 70 men. They are in the temple and they painted their idols, the creeping things, the abominable things, all over the walls.

But nobody knew it. This is the thing. It was done in the dark. Ezekiel didn't even know this was going on. I'm sure he was amazed at this. What is this that these ancient men are doing? These men that when we see them out in public, they seem so respectable.

And yet look what they're doing in the dark, in the secret chambers. If anybody ever tells you, brothers and sisters, that we're living in a Christian nation, Don't pay a bit of attention to them. I wonder, don't you ever wonder what's going on in the dark places? I'm talking about the dark places of the mega churches in the back offices, in the back rooms, in the dark places.

Seldom anymore a week goes by that we don't hear of some writer Or some of those men caught up in all kinds of perversion. And what is it that God sees that we don't see? We say sometimes, how can God wait in His judgment? Why does He keep being so patient? We don't know anything, do we? I was reading or listening to a gentleman, he's a very wise man, analyze his things.

He was talking about the Epstein files, and most of you probably by now know something about the Epstein files. And he was trying to analyze why they haven't released all of these files. And he said, this is what this man said. He said, if the world knew what these people have done, The perversion that they've been involved in. The slavery, maybe even murder. He said if this got out and the world saw what was done, and then if they saw who did it, who's involved in this? Leaders of nations. Somebody just told me that one of the leaders of Qadar just stepped down, or one of the nations over there. Prince Andrew stepped down. Remember him? Brothers and sisters, God is seeing this sin. He's seeing it where we can't see it. And when judgment comes, it'll be horrible. But it'll be a just judgment. It'll be an earned judgment. What is going on? You know the reason you and I come here.

And we read the Bible. We have prayer. And we sing hymns to our Lord in heaven. And we have no pictures around the walls. We don't have all of this silly stuff going on, entertaining the flesh. You know why? Because God is here. God is jealous of His worship. And we want to come here and worship in spirit and in truth, lest we be idolaters. We come here and ask the Lord to prepare our hearts, and we worship according to the dictates of His Word. And we lay aside everything else, don't we? God help us. God help anybody. If you're in these places where all of this silly stuff is going on, get out of it.

Because God is taking heed to it. God is exposing it. And that's what He's telling Ezekiel. Ezekiel, this is why my wrath is coming. This is why I'm going to pour out my fury. Even what these men are doing, these ancients doing in the dark. And something else quickly in verses 13 and 14. And he said unto me, Turn again, and I'll show you great abominations. And he brought me to the door of the gate of the Lord's house, which was towards the north. And behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz. They tell us this Tammuz was Adonis was his name.

He was a Greek god and Venus loved him. And a wall boar killed him, slaughtered him, and Venus wept for them. And all the Greeks got together, John Gill said, one time a year, and they had a national mourning for this dead god. And the women led the mourning, the weeping. And now it had got into the temple worship. Isn't that amazing? Here were these women weeping for this dumb Greek god that they said had died. Weeping because he had died. Brothers and sisters, God had a controversy with that. And it seemed to me the controversy was twofold. One, what they were doing. Bringing the heathen God and the worship of the heathen into His very temple. And number two, who was doing it?

Sometimes people get upset with us because we quote the scripture, it's a shame for a woman to preach. But the reason we hold so firmly to that is because God said it. He said it's a shame for a woman to get in the pulpit and take her text and begin to preach the gospel or attempt or profess it. It cannot happen. And God looks with disfavor upon it.

You ladies, bless your hearts, you have all the work that you can do. And you're such a blessing to the church. There are so many things God has called women to do. But one thing He's not called them to do, and that's preach. Never has and never will. And he looks upon it as abomination, what is said here. And the last thing we see here is verse 16 and 18.

Boy, he's telling Ezekiel the reason that is coming. And he said in verse 16, And he brought men to the inner court of the Lord's house, the Lord's house. Behold, a door of the temple of the Lord between the porch and the altar. were about five and twenty men with their backs towards the temple. And who is that temple? The Lord Jesus Christ. And they had their backs towards the Lord Jesus Christ, and their faces towards the east, and they worshipped the sun. And verse seventeen, Then he said unto me, Hast thou seen this? O thou son of man, is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they have committed abominations which they commit here and fill the land with violence? They turned their backs.

Is it a light thing to turn a man's back on the Lord Jesus Christ and count it nothing? Remember when Joel Osteen was interviewed by Larry King and he asked him if he Believed in the deity of Jesus Christ? Do you believe that Jesus Christ is God? And remember how lightly Joel Osteen just brushed that off? Oh, Larry, I don't get involved in such controversies. Light-hearted about it. Not serious about the person of Jesus Christ the Lord.

And that's why I said the judgment was coming. And it did in chapter 9. And we've seen it. We just read it, didn't we? It was coming because God was a jealous God. And He destroyed these wicked unbelievers, these idolaters. And while He was doing all of that, this prophet stood there and he said, I was spared. I was left. And he was amazed at that. Can we see maybe just a little bit why now? Why was I left?

Did you ever think of that, brothers and sisters? I wonder if while Ezekiel stood there and he saw all of this slaying of all of these ancient men and all of these idolaters there in the temple, I wonder if he thought to himself, why wasn't I there? What's the difference between me and them? Look what the ancients did. Look at their abomination.

Why wasn't I among them? Did you ever wonder that? When we were lost in sin, we were dead in our sins. Why didn't we blaspheme the Holy Spirit? Many have. What was it preserved, this prophet, the same thing that would preserve you? Grace preserved you before he called you, did it not?

I don't have the qualifications to be a mega pastor. I just don't. I'm just not made up for that. But I tell you one thing, I could have been deceiving myself and a whole lot more people. And the only reason I have it is that Jesus Christ has already stood as surety for me even when I was dead in my sin. Did you ever wonder why you were spared? Why am I spared?

There's only one scripture, brother. One scriptural answer for that. You're spared because the Son of God was not spared. God spared not His own Son. And if Jesus Christ had not stood up as a surety for us and undergone God's fury and His wrath, then you and I had fallen with everybody else. That's the only scriptural reason why God spared not His own Son. When we look back, when I look back on my Christian life, I've wondered why I've been spared. why I've been left. There have been times when I was right on the brink of falling. I didn't even know it at the time. Right on the brink of falling. A fall that others have had.

And I look back on it later and I thought to myself, why was I spared? Why? And I tremble to think about it. But the only scriptural reason that's given that the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is on the right hand of God making intercessions for me and making intercessions for you. Through many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come. How did I get through those snares? His grace. His grace. That's the only. Brothers and sisters, I can't attribute it to anything else.

Aren't you amazed that you've come this far? Everything that's against you, the world's against you, your own self against you, your own nature against you, Satan is against you. Sometimes even the providence of God seems to be against you. Aren't you amazed that when so many others you see around you, so many friends, And they've been cut down.

And yet you say to yourself, I'm left. And you're amazed. And what do you do? You just fall on your face. And you say, Lord, not unto me, but unto thy name. Give glory for thy mercy and thy truth. But it's looking back, isn't it? It's after you've seen the slain all around you. And that you're left. that it makes you amazed.

I remember when Christian and hopeful were in, they got themselves in Doubting Castle. If you've read the book of John Bunyan's book, Pilgrim's Progress, you'll remember this. They were in Doubting Castle and giant despair were beating them every day, almost beat them to death.

And finally, through the grace of God, they found a promise and opened the gate and got out. And it's when they got out up on the hill, they looked back, and just outside a doubting castle was the bones of men who never escaped. And tears filled their eyes. And they said, why did we escape when they didn't? And it's owing to one thing, isn't it?

God spurred not His Son. Justice has to be satisfied. God must pour out His fury upon sin. And He did. And He poured it out upon His dear and blessed Son upon the cross of Calvary. Remember when the Lord Jesus was in the garden of Gethsemane and He's sweating that blood just thinking about bearing the awful wrath of God for our sins.

And they come to get Him. And he said, who do you seek? And they said, Jesus, imagine. He said, I am. And they went back and fell on the ground. And he asked them again, who seek you? And they said, Jesus. He said, I am. And he says, if you seek me, you let these go.

You can't take me if you don't let these go. Isn't that the gospel? Why did you go free? Why is not the wrath of God upon you this morning? Because Jesus was taken in our place. And that is what amazes us, isn't it? I am spared this morning. I have hope this morning that God loves me, that God is my friend and heaven is my home. And the only hope I have is in this wonderful Redeemer that for my sake was not spared and therefore I am left. I'm left. Are you amazed at that? Are you amazed this morning that you're saved? Can you give a good scriptural answer as to why? Isn't it Jesus alone? It's Jesus alone. Oh, brothers and sisters, I look back on my Christian life.

I remember, I think it's one of the desert storms or when we went first time into Iraq. We were all watching it on TV and they fled out of the rack and there was trucks and buses and cars and clothes and bodies and tanks just scattered everywhere. It was a mess for mile after mile.

And I told somebody, there's my Christian life. There's the way I feel about my Christian life. Not my lost life, but my Christian life. It's been a mess. You feel that way sometimes? You say with the Apostle Paul, Oh, wretched man that I am. I'm in this body of death. Look at my stumbling. Look at my unbelief. Look at my fall into sin. What a mess I am.

I told a dear neighbor of mine one time, she never would confess that she was a sinner. And I kept talking to her, and seemingly the Lord hopefully opened her heart. And she told me one day, she said, I'm a sinner. And I said, a sinner has a great Savior. If you're a great sinner, you've got a great Savior. Ain't that wonderful? And when everybody else falls, you'll be left. When the judgment comes, and the angels bind the wicked hand and foot and cast them into the lake of fire, you'll be left.

And I think then, just as now, there's going to be a sense in which we'll stand there amazed. And we won't claim any merit, will we? We won't claim any faithfulness of our own. We won't say, well, it's because we endeared, it's because we had something nobody else did. We'll attribute it to one thing. And that's the Lamb of God upon His throne that still has the wounds in His side and the holes in His hands. That's why we'll be left. Bless His holy name. Oh, Father, thank you for such a great Savior. We've read about your awful judgments, and we know that you're a just God. You're a holy God.

You can't look upon any sin to justify it. If you look upon the sins of our hearts and you mark them against us, we could not stand. We're poor, poor, broken, needy sinners. Thank you for providing for us such a great Savior to love us and pour out His heart's blood for us to redeem us. Oh, Lord Jesus, help us. Give us grace to look to you. Look away from our guilt. Look away from our utter failures and our inabilities. and look to you alone. For it's only then that we can stand amazed that we're left.

We attribute all glory to you for it. Thank you for this, dear people. I pray you'll be merciful to those who are so sick and struggling with their health. Keep this, dear congregation. Don't let us fall. If we do, help us up. Reach forth your sovereign and gracious hand. Don't let us wallow in our self-pity. Help us to look outside of ourselves to you, our great Savior. It's in your name we pray. Amen.