Well, I've been so looking forward
to this morning. Pastor Larry Criss, pastor of
the Fairmont Grace Church in Sillicog, Alabama, has graciously
accepted my arm-twisting to come and preach to us. Larry's preaching
in a meeting in Crow, West Virginia, and I heard he was going to be
near, so I called. One of our dear friends sold
him out. I heard he was going to be near, so I called him.
Larry's got sons in Danville, and he's got a mother that lives
near Beckley. So I told him that any time you're
in our area, why don't you come preach to us? And so he has graciously
accepted our invitation to come. And Larry, you come and preach
the message God's laid on your heart. He didn't have to twist my arm
very much. I consider it an honor for any
of God's pastors, preachers, to ask me to come preach. And I don't know how long ago it's
been. I preached at 13th Street when Brother Henry was pastor
there. And that's the only other time that I preached in Ashland.
This is the second time. And Frank was telling me that
this used to be a kingdom hall. Man, I'm going to put that in
my diary. I'm preaching in a kingdom hall.
I wish some of them witnesses was here this morning to hear
the message. But Brother Frank Tate, your
pastor, was very kind to invite me. I ask that you pray for me,
that God would be pleased to bless the word to our hearts.
I'd like to begin the message by reading to you a verse of
a hymn that Brother Moose Parks wrote in 1996. He wrote it for the conference in Danville,
Kentucky, Grace Baptist Church, where I was attending at the
time. I was there for 20 years until the last four years I've
been pastor in Sylacauga, Alabama. But this was in 1996, and Moose
wrote this. It says, tell us not of self-salvation
through an act of man's free will. It will bring no consolation,
having heard we're hungry still. Oh, we long to see the glory
of our God in Jesus' face. Tell us now that blessed story
of his free and sovereign grace. Pray that God would be pleased
to allow that this hour. I asked your pastor to read this
passage in Exodus Chapter 15, it is such a vivid picture, isn't
it? Such a vivid account, recollection
in song of what had just taken place. The Lord had, by His power
and grace, brought those He had already redeemed through the
Red Sea. Look at the last two verses of
chapter 14, if you will. We read this. This sums up what
had just taken place. Thus, this is how it was. Thus the Lord saved Israel that
day out of the hand of the Egyptians. And Israel saw the Egyptians
dead upon the seashore. And Israel saw that great work,
that great work which the Lord did upon the Egyptians. And the
people feared the Lord and believed the Lord and His servant Moses. And the song that your pastor
read to us in chapter 15 was their response to such great
mercy, such great grace. God's mercy, pure mercy, unmerited favor upon
any sinner This one is going to try to preach to you. Anyone who has experienced the
mercy of God, the grace of God through the redemption that is
in Christ Jesus, that sinner must respond by singing the praises
of his God. by saying, to God be the glory. That one from whom he has received
all the grace deserves all the glory. This song that they sang
so much sounds like the song of Moses and of the lamb that
we read of in Revelation, does it not? They sing praises to
God. that he who hath loved us and
washed us in his own blood, to him be glory, both now and forever. Amen. Yes, the great work of
God's salvation includes redemption and calling. Look again, if you
will, at verse 13 of Exodus 15. Thou and thy mercy has brought
forth the people. Which people? which thou hast
redeemed, which thou hast redeemed. The same ones that night that
were in the houses on which the blood of that Passover lamb was
put, sprinkled, on the doorpost and on the lintel of every house. And you remember what God said?
Of course He did. When I see the blood, isn't that
comforting? When I see the blood, now I can
rest in that, Carter. That gives this sinner a good
hope. Oh, I'm so thankful God doesn't say, when I see anything
in you, Larry, not when I see your goodness, your merit, your
faith, your repentance. Oh, but when I see the blood
of my son that has washed your sins away, when I see the blood
of the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of all of his people,
I will pass over you. That's good news, is it not? Look again here at verse 11.
We'd like to Consider this as our text. In this song or this psalm of
praise, sung at the Red Sea that day, their response to God's
great mercy, it says here in verse 11, Who is like unto thee,
O Lord, among the gods? Who is like unto thee? Who is
like thee, glorious in holiness? Fearful in praises, doing wonders. Who is like our God? As Mike
sang earlier, hallelujah, what a savior. Oh, I pray that he
would be pleased to allow us to worship him this day and when
we leave here. That would be the song of our
hearts. Who is a God likened to our God? Oh, Lord, draw back
the curtain of memory now and then. Show me where you brought
me from. Remind me, because I have a tendency
to forget. There is in this evil nature
of mine a tendency to take your wondrous grace. the marvel of
your mercy to take it for granted. Oh God, don't allow that. Draw
back the curtain of memory now and then and show me where you
brought me from and where I could have been. Let me respond in
remembrance of your great mercy and grace to this sinner with
a song of praise unto our God who doeth all things well, who
worketh wonders. There is none like him. This song, the word means praise,
this song is a response, as we said, to God's great mercy. The subject is the wonders of
God's mercy And the title of our message is, Worth Singing
About. That's worth singing about. Moses
led the children of Israel in this song and it was worth singing
about. My soul, they said, look what
God's done. Look what God's done. Look how
mighty he is. How gracious he is. How holy
he is. how just he is, and how merciful
he has been to us. Oh, who is like unto our God,
fearful in praises, holiness, glorious, doing wonders. Indeed, that's worth singing
about. Let me read you, and I suspect,
I suspect, before I tell you who wrote this, just a few sentences,
you'll probably know. The title of it, this article,
was The Recovery of the Gospel, Recovery of the Gospel. And this
dear brother wrote, and I don't know when he wrote this, I suspect
some years ago, but he said, the most humbling and challenging
thing we face in this day, the great concern of our hearts And
I know it's this pastor's and mine and every other pastor. The great concern of our hearts
ought to be a recovery of the gospel of God's glory. Yes, indeed. I am convinced,
he went on to write, that what men today call the gospel is
not the gospel at all, but is the preaching of another gospel
Another Jesus. Brothers and sisters, that's
serious. That's serious. That what men call the gospel
today is not the gospel at all, but the preaching of another
gospel, another Jesus, and another spirit. Is there any wonder that
there's no marvel to that? Nothing to marvel about in that,
is there? Today's gospel emphasizes what
men should do for God rather than what God must do for men.
My friend, salvation is not something the preacher does for you. Salvation
is of the Lord. Brother Henry Mann wrote that,
as I said, I suspect, years ago. God's great work of salvation. requires a miracle. A miracle. And it's a wonder. It's a marvel. When God does
for sinners, typified by what he did for the children of Israel,
it included the sending up his son. We read in Hebrews chapter
2, because his brethren Imagine that. Because his brethren were
flesh and blood, speaking of our glorious Redeemer, he likewise
took part of the same. Now let's just pause there. Think
about that. Because his brethren were flesh
and blood, he likewise took hold of the same, that he in all things
might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God. He was made like unto his brethren. Paul said, Timothy, without controversy. We don't need to have a conference
to debate this. This is without controversy.
This is not up for debate. This is without controversy. Great, oh my soul, great is the
mystery of godliness. What do you mean, Paul? God was
manifest in the flesh. God Almighty became a man. A man. He was in the world and
the world was made by Him. The world was made by Him. In the beginning, He, God, created
the heaven and the earth. And that same God became man. My soul, no wonder Paul said,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. He was made flesh. And it behooved Him. We read again in Hebrews 2 that God was pleased in bringing
many sons to glory to make the captain, the captain, the commander-in-chief,
Mike, I'm not talking about that fella
in the White House. I'm talking about the commander-in-chief,
the captain of our salvation, King Jesus that was made flesh,
the God-man, that man who is himself God. It was necessary
that God make the captain of our salvation perfect through
suffering. He was made like his brethren,
flesh and blood. That baby in that stable in Bethlehem
that night, in the arms of that young mother, that baby, he doesn't
have a halo on his head. No, you look into that stable
and that little dark-skinned Jewish newborn male looks like
any other. My, so isn't that a mystery? But that's God. That's God in
the arms of that mother. And when you've considered that,
try on this. Not only was God made like His
brethren, flesh and blood, He was then made sin. He was then made sin. God made Him. Now a man can spit
in His face, They can mock Him. They can lacerate His back. They can crown Him with a crown
of thorns. Stick a reed in His hand and
bow before Him. Hail, King of the Jews! They
can do all that. Man can do that. We read in Luke
23, I think it is, that Pilate delivered Jesus to their will. To their will. And you've seen
what man's so-called free will did to God in the flesh. They
did it. But they could not do this. Many
hands were raised to wound him. None would interpose to save
him. But the awful stroke that found
him The stroke that made him cry out, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? That was the stroke, not that
man gave, but God himself gave. Justice. God made him to be sin. Man can't do that. Man can't
do that. God made him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the very righteousness
of God in him. That demands a response from
every redeemed sinner, does it not? Redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. One old hymn writer, and the
reason I quote him so much during, if you've heard me preach before,
you're aware of that. But the reason that I do is because,
Frank, I just find them so very helpful, these old hymns. They
express what I just find hard to express. And when I think that God, his
son not sparing, sent him to die, I just can't already take that
in. This little peewee brain of mine
just can't take that in. That on the cross, my burden
gladly bearing, he bled and died. The Son of God bled and died
to make something possible? No. He bled and died Attempting
something? No. No, no. Glory to His name,
no. He bled and died to take away
my sin. That's worth singing about. Glory to His name. That's worth
preaching. That's worth hearing. That's
worth living for. And that's worth dying for. Jesus
paid it all. All to Him I owe. He deserves
it. He's earned it. Last week, I
was going to say I was in Kentucky. I'm in Kentucky this morning.
But I was in Danville, as your pastor mentioned. I still have
two sons living there. And I preached last Tuesday night
at the Grace Baptist Church. But I stayed at my oldest son's
house. And while he and his wife worked,
I babysat my two granddaughters. Laura is, well, it's Laurel. I call her Laura all the time.
She told me, Pawpaw, my name is not Laura, it's Laurel. So
let me correct that. She's 10 years old. Her little
sister's just turned seven. And every time I noticed, Laurel
was taking my picture. I said, let me see that. Let
me see that camera. And I looked at it. Ooh, the
camera doesn't lie. I said, man, I need to go on
a diet. And Allison, Allie I call her,
was sitting over here and she looked at me, she said, Pawpaw,
what's a diet? I said, honey, your Pawpaw needs
to lose some weight, don't you think? She said, no Pawpaw, you're
perfect. She's my favorite. In Ezekiel 16, That deserted infant, you're
familiar with it, that was cast out into the field to die, that's
a picture of you and I by nature. And we read that none I pitied
thee, none I pitied thee, to do anything for you that needed
to be done, not one, none. None could or none would. When I passed by, our great God
speaking, that God that doeth wonders, that God that's glorious
in holiness, great in mercy, when I passed by thee and I saw
thee, from verse 6, Down to verse 12, 18 times the word I is used. I did this. I saw you. I came to you. I loved you. I spread my skirt over you. I decked you out. I washed you. I clothed you. And you know who
it's talking about? God Almighty. God did all that. You didn't do any of it. What
could you do? You're cast out to die. It was
all God's doing. And here in verse 14, I'll read
it to you. result of everything God did. And thy renown went forth among
the heathen for thy duty, for it was perfect. My granddaughter
said, Paul, Paul, you're perfect. Oh, but ain't Christ Jesus? For
it was perfect through my comeliness which I put upon thee, saith
the Lord. Oh, my soul, isn't that something? Perfect in Christ Jesus. Complete
atonement thou hast made. And to the utmost farthing paid,
whatever your people owed, how then can wrath on me take place
if sheltered in thy righteousness and sprinkled with thy blood?
If thou hast my discharge procured, and freely in my room endured,
the whole of wrath divine, payment God cannot twice demand, first
at my bleeding surety's hand, and then again at mine." My soul,
that sounds a little different, doesn't it? That marvel of God's
mercy, His grace, His great salvation experienced by every redeemed which makes them to sing such
songs as we've quoted. Oh my God, how great thou art,
then sings my soul, how great thou art. That sounds a little
different, doesn't it? From something like this. Remember
this stupid, me and Jesus got our own thing going. Me and Jesus, me first, me first. Me and Jesus got it all worked
out. That leaves a bad taste in my
mouth to even recite. What would allow anyone to sing
such a thing as that? This song at the Red Sea contains
not a single word about man's work, about man's contribution,
If the faith that I profess to have in God, if the God I profess
to believe in needs my help, Frank, if the Jesus I profess
to believe in needs my help, if he needed me to take the first
step, If he needed me to open up my heart, if he needed me
to do anything before he could do anything, then he and I both
are in trouble. If God needs my help, we're both
in trouble. No, God says, why do you pray
unto a God that cannot save? Why? Why? He said, look unto
me. And be ye safe, for I am God,
and there is none else, a just God and a Savior. Notice again
here in this song of praise at the Red Sea, verse 1. It says,
I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously. Child of God, he always does,
doesn't he? He always does. He always triumphs
gloriously. You remember in, you've heard
this expression, when people are talking about that other
Jesus that Henry mentioned in his article, they say, if God
had his way, you've heard that. Religious folks, you don't hear
it out of a drunk's mouth, you hear it out of religious folks'
mouth. If God had his way, if God had his way, God has triumphed gloriously. God has his way. God always has
his way. Who's going to stop God from
having his way? Moses, his hymn, his song of
praise comes to the conclusion with the same blessed word, the
Lord shall reign forever and forever. Look at verse 9 of the
psalm. Pharaoh says, the enemy says,
I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil, my lust
shall be satisfied upon them, I will draw my sword, my hand
shall destroy them. Oh my, what's God gonna do? What
do you reckon God's gonna do? This is what he did. There's
a speck of dust on my Bible. That's what God did. That's all
it took. I will, I will, I will. Thou didst blow with thy wind. That's all. And Pharaoh and his
mighty army, all of his horses, his chariots, they sank like
a rock in the Red Sea. Oh, great is our God, glorious
in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. You remember in Psalm 50, we
read the accusation that God laid against that generation,
that day of godless, Christless religion, just like ours. He said, you thought that I was
altogether like one of you. You thought God was like yourself. That's exactly the day that we
live in. This other Jesus, he's just like
me. He's my little buddy. Well, he's
like that spare tire I've got in my car out there. If I need
it, I'll use it. If I don't, I won't. This Jesus
of the day, he'll be a doormat into heaven. He'll be your far
escape out of hell. That's another Jesus. That's
an imposter. You remember when they asked
David, where is now your God, David? And David said, my God's
in the heavens doing whatsoever he hath to please. Where is your
God? Let's talk about your God, David said. He's got ears, but
he can't hear. He's got a mouth that does him
no good. He can't speak. Your God is like you that made
him. He's just like you. He can't
do anything, and that's the God most people worship today. Oh, the God that they sing about,
the God of Scripture, the true God, He does all the work in
saving sin. I'm glad that's true. He does
it all, and he does it all on the grounds of pure mercy. I'm so thankful that it's not
of him that willeth. I'm so thankful that it's not,
because men left alone will not. I'm glad that God makes his people
willing, did I quote that right? My people shall be willing. God
by His sweet, constraining, irresistible grace makes His people willing
to bow in the day of His power. If He didn't, no sinner ever
would. Aren't you glad He made you bow?
Aren't you glad His irresistible grace forced you to bow to His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ?" Paul said, mm, such knowledge
is just too wonderful. Didn't he? In Romans chapter
11, he said, of Him and through Him. And he had been writing
about the marvel of God's mercy. And he said, oh, my soul. of
him and through him and to him are all things to whom be glory
forever and ever. Let me ask you, does God still
have to perform a miracle to save a sinner? Does salvation
still require God's amazing grace and mercy? Are sinners still
dead in trespasses and sins in 2015? Have sinners evolved somewhere
out of that? Of course not. Of course not. Salvation still requires God's
mercy and grace. It still requires God doing like
we read of in Ezekiel, going to where the sinner is. It still
requires the great shepherd of the sheep to go out and find
his sheep. And when he finds them, that's
what we read in Luke 15, not if he finds them, when he finds
them, If you open up your heart, I'll..." Nope. When he finds
them, he reaches down with the mighty arm of his omnipotence,
and he picks them up out of the Maori clay, and he puts them
on his shoulders, and when he comes home, we read. Not if he
comes home, but when he comes home, rejoice with me. Well,
now wait a minute. Perhaps your rejoicing is a bit
premature. After all, you don't know if
that sinner will make it. Oh yeah, he'll make it. He'll
make it because he's on the shoulders of the captain of his salvation.
And the great shepherd of the sheep said, of all that the Father
giveth me, I should lose none, not one. That salvation requires
mercy and grace. It's a wonder, is it not? It's
a miracle. That being so, where is the wonder today? Where
is it? There are churches everywhere.
When I came around 64, or on 64 rather, I glanced over coming
through Huntington, I think I saw a sign of the church of what's
happening now. Churches everywhere. Preachers everywhere. Sinners
making decisions everywhere. Why do none of these so-called
converts ever respond like they did at the Red Sea? When they
saw this great work that God did for them, they experienced
it. They saw the ways part. They
saw the Red Sea part. And they walked across on dry
land. And they stood back in holy wonder,
in awe. at their great work which God
did. The other gospel, that other
salvation, that makes it dependent upon the sinner whether it will
be successful or not, it's no wonder that it doesn't produce
any wonder or awe. Why should it? Why should it? What is wonderful or marvelous
about walking forward? I've had folks tell me, well,
I went forward and accepted Jesus. I went forward. No, you went
backward. You went backward. You went away
from him. No, no, no. Salvation is all
of the Lord. It is heartbreaking. Here's the
answer to why there is no wonder. no bowing down, no singing, oh
my God, how great thou art. It's because they're believing
in another Jesus. And he doesn't demand nor deserve
such adoration or praise. Nothing is amazing, as I said,
about making a decision. Oh, but true salvation Real sinners,
real sinners. When's the last time you talked
to one, Pastor? I think Brother Scott Richardson used to say,
they're rare as hen's teeth. When's the last time you met
a dead dog, bankrupt, helpless, needy, God be merciful to me,
thee sinner. When's the last time you talked
to one? Oh, that God Almighty in this dark religious day would
make bare his holy arm and teach this world again who he is. The devil has pushed off and
has been for many years now. On our generation, our day, another
Jesus. He's been pushing him forward
and people just, heartbreaking. You remember when our Lord, for
the last time, walked with his disciples to Mount Olivet. And he's speaking to them, blessing
them, Telling them, don't depart from Jerusalem until you be filled
with power from on high. Acts chapter 1, you remember.
And while he's talking to them, while he's talking to them, he
begins to rise. He begins to ascend right in
front of them. And Peter and Andrew and James
and John I don't blame them, do you? I
don't blame them. Man, what kind of a man is this? And they're still just, and a
cloud receives him out of their sight. They can't see him anymore. Two angels shake him out of it. Ye men have got a leak. Why stand
ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus This same Jesus
that's taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like
manner as you have seen Him go. This same Jesus, He was taken
up. How high? How high was He taken
up? Well, so high that everything
else and everyone else is under His feet. so high that everything
is beneath him, so high that God says every knee shall bow
to my son and every tongue confess that he's the Lord. God had highly
exalted him. Set thou here my son on my right
hand until I make all your enemies your footstool. He was taken
up. and he has the reigns of the
universe in his mighty hands. That's the same Jesus that's
returning. The same mighty God. Is that the one you're trusting?
Is that the one? Or is it the one that says, folks
sing about me and Jesus got our own thing going? Oh no, that's
that deceiver, that's that imposter. The Lord Jesus Christ, He saves
to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him. He works wonders,
wonders of His mighty mercy and grace. Mighty needy sinners need
a mighty God and Savior, don't they? Don't they? In Mark's Gospel
chapter 1, The multitudes were wondering concerning John the
Baptist, if he were the Christ. And John says, no, I'm not the
Christ. I'm not the Christ. He said, there's one coming after
me mightier than I, mightier than I. Thank God that Jesus
Christ is mightier than I. who is like unto thee, O Lord,
among the gods, who is like unto thee, glorious in holiness, fearful
in praises, doing wonders." Doing wonders. Bartimaeus, what are you so joyful about? What do you feel with such wonder
and admiration about? And his answer would be, I once was blind, but now I see. I'm a beggar. I was a beggar. And every day, I'd find my way
to the same spot at the gate of Jericho. I'm blind and I'm
poor. I've got nothing to pay. And I would spend my whole day,
if I heard the footsteps of anyone coming by or them engaged in
conversation, could you help me? Could you help me? I can't
help myself. Would you have mercy? One day, he would tell us, I
heard what was obvious a multitude of people. I heard them. And I cried out,
what's all this about? What's happening? Because I'm
just sitting in darkness. I can't see anything. The light of the world's coming
by, but I was sitting in darkness. And they said, Jesus of Nazareth
is coming by, and Barnabas had heard of him. I'm talking about Barnabas, but in my mind and heart, I'm
thinking of another blind beggar named Larry Criss, who was in the same condition.
And Bartimaeus, upon hearing that, cried, Jesus, thou son
of David, have mercy on me. Have mercy on me. And you know
it. You're familiar with it. But oh my soul, look at this
wonder. Would you look at this wonder?
Look at this marvel. Brothers and sisters, this is
amazing. The Son of God is on His way
to obtain eternal redemption for us. He's on His way to bring
in the everlasting righteousness. He's on His way doing His Father's
will to make an end of transgression. And in route to doing so, he
hears the cry of one poor blind beggar, and we're told he stood
still. Glory to his name. That's marvelous. That's marvelous. He heard the
cry of this blind beggar being taught of the Father. Being stripped, being stripped,
God, pastor, got me lost. Got me lost. I was a hippie. I'm looking at a lot of young
people. Y'all had to go back in the books
and read about what that was. Just a lost mess, that's what
it was. Peace, peace. I didn't have no
peace. Just a lost, helpless hippie. And God stripped me. God stripped
me. He didn't leave me to my will.
My grandmother would say, Larry, you need Christ. You need the
Lord. I thought, well, my soul, Grandma, that's for old ladies
who can't do nothing else, like you. I'm young, I'm young. But
when God brought this haunted sinner down, oh, thank God, he
can strip you, can't he? And he brought me down. And I found myself sitting side
by side with Barnabas. been living in darkness all my
life. And I was just a beggar. And the Son of God came to where
I was. He came to where I was. Larry
Criss. Who's he? He came to where I
was. Son of David, have mercy on me. And he stood still. He heard
this sinner. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. You can make me see. And just like he did to Bartimaeus,
I will. Receive thy sight. Receive thy
sight. It's no wonder that old Newton
wrote, This is amazing grace. I once was lost, but now am found. I was blind, but now I see. That's just amazing. Receive thy sight, he said to
Bartimaeus, thy faith hath saved thee. And immediately he received
his sight and followed Jesus in the way. Followed him, glorifying
God. Can you see him now? Can you
picture that, picture that, brother and sister? He went from sitting
in the dust, blind, oh but now he arises,
he sees perfectly. He sees perfectly. He sees the
Son of God and he's following him now. He's been translated
out of darkness into the kingdom of God's own Son and he's following
Jesus and he's glorifying God. Boy, can you picture that? What's
he singing? What's he saying? Is it something
like this? Not have I gotten, but what I
received. Grace had bestowed it since I
had believed. Boasting excluded, pride I abased. I am only a sinner saved by grace. Bartimaeus, would you mind if
I walked with you? Could I put my arm in your arm and sing with you? This is my
story, that God be the glory. I'm only a sinner saved by grace. Let me wrap this up. What a joy
it must have been for Moses that day, standing on the other side of
the Red Sea. Bible commentators I've read,
they say, There were at least a million, think about that,
a million, possibly as many as three million that God had brought
through the Red Sea. Imagine that. There Moses stands. Look out there and there's horses
and chariots and spears and weapons and that great army perished. God didn't redeem them. He led
forth the people that he redeemed. And there Moses stands. And not
one, not one of the children of Israel have perished. That must have brought joy to
Moses' heart. And he said, fellas, we got to
sing a song. We got to sing, we got to give
God some glory for this. We got to praise our God in the
day, in that day, when King Jesus brings all of his chosen home
to glory. John said, I saw a multitude
that no man could number. Thousands and thousands and thousands
and hundreds of thousands and hundreds of thousands and hundreds
of thousands. They were redeemed with the precious
blood of the Lamb. And He'll have everyone He paid
for. Father, I will that they be with
me where I am, that they may behold my glory. He wills that
we be with Him. Who's going to hold us back?
John said, I saw a multitude that no man could number standing
before the throne of God. Clothed with white robes and
palms in their hands. Joyce Brown, Joyce and Carter
Brown, dear friends of mine, known them a long time. She told
me that I was her holler brother. Hollow. Holler. Because I was,
for many years, I lived up a holler, the last house in the holler.
When I'd go to the movies with my friends, and we'd see Frankenstein,
nothing like today. I mean, this is pretty tame,
but we'd walk home. It'd be after dark. They'd say,
and they all lived down in the camp, the coal camp, as it was
called. Our daddies all worked in the
mines, but I lived up in the holler. where we would part company. And they'd say, Larry, don't
let Frankenstein get you, or the werewolf, or whatever we
happened to see. Now I'm not scared of no werewolf. Down they go, and I start walking
up that hill. Man, I'm scared to death. A full moon. Oh, I heard the
werewolf. And man, I'd hear a leaf rustle
in the wind, and I'm picking them up. Next thing I know, I'm
rounding that last bend in the hollow, and there's our house.
The road comes to an end at our house. And there's that porch
light on. Mom's waiting on me. And I go
in, go upstairs to my room. I've used this illustration about
everywhere, but I'm not used to it here. This is the first
time I've preached. But mom would come up to tuck me, and she'd
throw up that old bedspread, and here you'd come floating
down. And I'd feel so safe and so secure,
I wasn't scared of anything anymore. I was home. End that day. When this sinner
stands before God Almighty, I'm going to stand there in the
perfect righteousness of the Son of God. Perfect. With His holy garments on, as
holy as God's own Son. That's worth singing about. God
bless you. Thank you for your attention.