Back in Revelation chapter 14,
our text is going to be verse 13, in a moment, in a moment. What a blessed, blessed hope
for God's people, for the redeemed. But I want to begin my message
by relating a story that I read yesterday in Marvin Stoniker's
bulletin for today. It's one that I'm sure I shared
with you years ago here. It may ring a bell with you.
If you get Marvin's bulletin, you've already read it. It's
about Brother Scott Richardson, who pastored that church for
many, many years. I think he was there as long
as Henry was at 13th Street. But I want to read it to you.
It's called, Therefore Remember. Pastor Henry Mahan was visiting
Pastor Scott Richardson in Fairmont one night. And they took their
wives to a fancy restaurant in town. The restaurant was in a
renovated two-story house. They received a royal treatment
by the staff and enjoyed a very nice meal. As they were admiring
how the old home had been remodeled, Brother Scott said, over 50 years
ago, I lived in this house. He continued, growing up, we
were very, very poor. could not afford to take care
of me all the time. I was eight or nine years old.
So occasionally, Dad farmed me out. He would send me to live
with someone else. I would work for them for a place
to sleep and for food. He said my daddy made a chest
of drawers and gave it to the woman that owned this house to
pay for keeping me. I lived in the attic. I ran errands
for her to pay for my food. As Scott finished his story,
Henry said, Scott, when you were that little poor coal miner's
son living in that attic, did it ever enter your mind that
one day you would drive up here in a new Lincoln Continental,
be escorted to a table with this fine table setting, be served
this fine food, and have money in your pocket to pay for it?
And Scott said, it never entered my mind. Now, bear that in mind
and let me read you one verse of scripture from Isaiah chapter
64, verse 4. For since the beginning of the
world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, neither
had the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for
him that waiteth for him. I thought that story would be
a good introduction to the message. Here in Revelation chapter 14
verse 13, here are one of those prepared things that God has
reserved for His people. God's people, isn't it? Peter in 1 Peter chapter 1 says,
we have a reservation in heaven. Verse 13, and I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are the dead, Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord. Not just those who die,
but blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. Those who die
without Christ will be cursed forever. But blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord from henceforth. Yea, sayeth the Spirit,
that they may rest from their labors, and their works do follow
them. My soul, what a promise for every
child of God. every redeemed sinner, every
chosen sinner, as we just sang from the bulletin hymn. But also
know this, for every child of God living in this world, while
they're living in this world, they're going to suffer. I know
that. I know that. The reason I know that is not
because I have some kind of inside info about each of you, It's
not like a message I preached many years ago at a little church
in West Virginia. And after the message, this old
brother, much older than I was, just probably 31 or 2 years old,
he got me outside, John, as I was getting in my car. He was mad
as a hornet. I mean, he was fighting mad. And he said, I don't know who
you've been talking to. You've been talking to my wife
or somebody, but let me tell you and blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah. I haven't been talking to anybody. No, the Word of God
is sharp, powerful, cuts coming and going, doesn't it? So I don't
have an inside track on what you may be going through, but
I know this. The Bible tells me so. The Bible
tells us that, doesn't it? In the world you shall have tribulation,
the Lord says. That's a promise we don't like
to consider being a promise, but he said, in the world you
shall have tribulation. There's no two ways about it.
You're not of the world. If you were, the world would
embrace you. But I've chosen you out of the world. You've
taken up your cross. You're denying yourself. You're
following me. You rubbed the world the wrong
way. You're a testimony against them by the very profession of
your faith and the life and the walk that you live. Someone said,
there was only one Son of God without sin, but there was never
one without suffering. There's no such thing. Just show
me one example of an Old Testament believer who didn't suffer. Name
me one who didn't have trials, severe trials, heavy trials.
who didn't experience heartache. From Adam to Malachi, there's
not one. There's not one. David expressed
it and he speaks for all believers. Many, many are the afflictions
of the righteous. He didn't stop there, did he?
But, oh glorious but, but the Lord delivers him out of them
all. Show me one believer in the New
Testament who likewise didn't experience the same thing as
believers before them. Again, Christ says, These things
have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. Not so in the world. In the world
there'll be trouble. The words in Hebrews 11 can apply
to believers in every age. In every age. Listen to this. These all died in faith. not
having received the promises, but having seen them afar off.
That describes you today, doesn't it? Just like it did Abraham.
And were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed
that they were strangers and pilgrims on this earth. And thank
God that's so. Thank God this world is not our
home. Thank God we're just passing through. For they that say such
things declare plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if
they had been mindful of that country from whence they came
out, They might have had opportunity to have returned, like Lot's
wife, but now they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly,
wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he
hath prepared for them a city." Again, I emphasize, no matter
when a believer lived, no matter where they lived, they are still
in this world. And being in this world, they'll
have tribulation of one kind or another. and perhaps the greatest
trial for them, the greatest battle is the one in here. Oh
yeah, Christ said the world's going to hate you, but even greater
than that is this battle within my own heart. Oh, wretched man
that I am, Paul cried. Not that I used to be. No, no,
no. Paul didn't have that battle
before God saved him. He didn't have anyone to do battle
with, but, oh, now there's a new man and the old man. They can
never be at peace with one another. There'll never be a truce between
them. Oh, wretched man that I am. The children of light do not
live as those still in darkness. You remember what Paul wrote
in 1 Thessalonians 5? But ye, brethren, are not in
darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief, the
day of Christ's coming. Ye are all the children of light,
and the children of the day. We are not of the night, nor
of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as
do others, but let us watch and be sober. Be on your guard. For
they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken
are drunken in the night. But let us who are of the day
be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and for a
helmet the hope of salvation. For God had not appointed us
to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who
died for us that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together
with Him." Now I know, I am very much aware, I'm almost reminded
of this on a daily basis, that this religious world has no idea
about those things I just mentioned, those scriptures that I just
read. They have invented, they have brewed up, a so-called Christianity
that does not have any trials, any conflict, any battles without
or any battles within. And in order to excuse these
ever-growing multitudes of people, they call them carnal Christians. Now you know every time I hear
that expression, it just rubs me the wrong way, John. And you
know why? Because it's a dishonor to God
Almighty. It dishonors God Almighty. Because
that carnal Christian, and it's all around us, that teaching
is this. It means, we're told, that here
is a quitter that has accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior,
but they've never bowed to Him as Lord. In other words, they've
trotted up a church aisle and made a decision for Jesus, then
they just go out and just live like hell, like they've always
done, but they're saved. Just ask them. Just ask them.
And those who are responsible, those harlings, those preachers
that are responsible for producing such so-called carnal Christians,
that's the doctrine they use to cover their own tail. They're
saved. They don't act like it. They
don't talk like it. They don't live like it. They don't look
like it. But they're saved. They'll just lose some reward
in heaven. Hogwash. Hogwash. That's dishonoring to God. Is
it not? That's so dishonoring to God.
The Word of God says if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. He's been born from above. He's
not what he once was. And glory to God's name, he never
will be what he once was. He sets his heart and face toward
Zion. How much more, Paul asked in
Hebrews 9 and 14, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God,
purge your conscience? You mean to tell me somebody
can experience his glorious redemption? That God the Holy Spirit can
apply the fruit of redemption to a cult sinner and it make
no change whatsoever? You see why I say that's dishonoring
to God? How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your conscience
from dead works to serve the living God? And that's the reason you and
I know people, many of them our own family,
children, parents, brothers, sisters, neighbors, who have
no more interest in anything associated with God than that
tick monk running around out there. No interest in God himself,
no love for his son, no love for the Lord Jesus Christ, no
desire to meet with his people, to support his cause in any way,
not with their presence, not with their substance, nothing.
And yet, they tell you they're as sure for heaven as if they
were already there because they made a decision for Jesus, or
they got baptized, or maybe they learned five points of Calvinism.
No. Revelation 18. What I just described
to you is the religion of Babylon. Free will works religion. That's
what's described in 18 and 17. And this is what God says to
you and I. Verse 4 of Revelation 18, I heard
another voice from heaven saying, come out of her my people. Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins,
and that ye receive not of her plagues." There's only two religions
in this world. There's the religion, the pure
undefiled religion of Jesus Christ, and this world's religion, Babylon. Babylon. No matter what name
it may go by, Mormonism, Catholicism, Muslim, Buddhist, or Fundamentalism,
They all teach that salvation is not by the will of God, by
grace alone, through Christ alone, but by the will of man. It doesn't
matter whether they say a man must take the initiative, may
give different directions for doing so, may come to the preacher
at the front of the church or go to a priest and kneel down
in that little box and confess your sins. It's all the same.
It's all the same. And here's God's answer. I'm
not interested in what a Baptist preacher or a Catholic priest
has to say. Tell me what God's Word says. God's Word says salvation
is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God
Almighty that showeth mercy. And everybody that experiences
his amazing mercy bows down and says, not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us, but to thy name give glory for thy mercy and for thy
truth's sake. Wherefore? Again, 2 Corinthians
6, verses 17 and 18. Wherefore, come out from among
them. He's talking about this world's religion. And be ye separate,
saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will
receive you, and will be a father unto you, and ye shall be my
sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. Thank God His
people are a called out people, aren't they? They're a called
out people. There are separated people. God
separates them from the mass of humanity in election. Oh, we're bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, for he had from the beginning
chosen you to salvation. He didn't leave you in Babylon.
He brought you out. The same is true in redemption.
Oh, we were separated, those God chosen Eternal election,
Jesus Christ said, those are the ones I laid down my life
for. He's talking to those goats and
he said, you don't believe because you're not my sheep. My sheep
hear my voice. And I know them. And they follow
me. I love the sheep. And I laid down my life for the
sheep. And my sheep are never going to perish. You don't believe
because you're not my sheep. My sheep have been separated
in regeneration. In Regeneration, God the Holy
Spirit comes and gives life to those who were dead in trespasses
and sins. And they arise. They arise, Paul
says in Ephesians, to the walking newness of life. They're not
what they once were. The Bible, the Word of God, knows
nothing about a carnal Christian. That's a lie. That's just a scapegoat
for the multitudes that are being deceived. Everyone that's in
Christ is a new creature. There are no exceptions. There
are no exceptions. No cases where that is not so.
The book of God tells the truth about salvation and who gets
the glory done. And it is God, the triune God.
Brothers and sisters, let us pray that what we've seen happen
in so many places, so many churches, God won't allow it to happen
here. But for the grace of God, it will. I've got all of Spurgeon's
sermons, 63 volumes, I think it is, from the time he started
pastoring that little new park street and then moved into the
tabernacle that they had to build to accommodate the crowds. Spurgeon made this statement
one time to his congregation. He said, I think that after I'm
gone, I would like to be able to come back to see if the same
glorious gospel is still being preached But will you depart
from the faith like so many others have done? And sad to say, John,
that's exactly what happened. That's exactly what happened
in the, what do they call them, dust jackets on the volume. It has a little microchism of
the history that year of the Tabernacle. And they usually
have someone that gives testimony to how Spurgeon influenced their
life. I read one the other day and it was, I won't call this
man's name, he's an Armenian preacher. He preached at the
tabernacle and this is what they said. They responded to the altar
call he gave every night. You remember what Brother Don
told us one time, said to us one time when he was here years
ago? He said, I hope you know how blessed of God you are. that
Lord has been pleased to keep the witness of the gospel in
this place for so many years. Don said, that's unusual. That's
unusual. You remember him saying that?
Generation after generation, it doesn't happen very often.
Let's be thankful that God has done that and pray that he will
be pleased to do it and keep doing. I would rather see the
doors closed on this place forever than to hear a man stand up here
and butcher the gospel and tell lies on God. I'd rather see the
place shut down, and I believe you would, too. God calls us
to come out. By God's grace, we take up our
cross and we do that very thing we follow. These are they which
follow the land, we read, whithersoever he goeth. Yesterday, as I was
studying and preparing, Robin said, I'm going out. I need to
go out. And I said, well, honey, where
are you going? She said, I don't know. I said, well, how are you going
to know when you get there if you don't know where you're going?
But she ended up somewhere, because she was gone several hours. But
she found her way back home. The child of God, we know where
we're going. Again, in chapter 4, verse 1,
we read that Christ said to John, come up hither, and I will show
thee things that must be hereafter." These are must-be things, Billy.
These ain't might-be things or could-be things or shoulda, woulda,
coulda, no. These are must-be things, because
he that sits upon the throne says, I'm going to make them
come to pass. And this is one of them. I heard
a voice from heaven saying unto me, write, blessed are they which
die in the Lord from henceforth. Brothers and sisters in Christ,
Oh, don't we have something to look forward to? Something to look forward to.
In Deuteronomy chapter 8, this is what the Lord God said through
Moses to the children of Israel. When the Lord thy God bringeth
you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains
and depths that spring out of valleys and hills, a land of
wheat and barley and vines and fig trees, a land of oil and
olive and honey, a land wherein thou shalt eat bread without
scarceness. Thou shalt not lack anything
in it." And you know Canaan is a type of heaven. A land whose
stones are iron, and out of it whose hills thou mayest dig brass.
When thou hast eaten and are full, then shalt thou bless the
Lord thy God. for the good land which he hath
given thee." Hmm. We can do that now, can't we?
In the prospect of it. Calvin said on that passage,
he almost sits before their eyes in habitation full of wealth
and various advantages in order that they may worship God more
cheerfully. Oh, children of God, look up.
Look up. Our redemption draweth nigh. Christ says, let not your heart
be troubled. You believe in God, believe also
in me. In my father's house were many mansions. If that wasn't
true, I wouldn't be telling you this. I go to prepare a place
for you. And if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself that
where I am, there ye may be also. Therefore, we are always confident,
Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 5. knowing that while we are at
home in the body, we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by
faith, not by sight. We are confident, I say, and
willing rather to be absent from the body and to be present with
the Lord. If we could ask any of those
dear departed loved ones, oh my soul, how many, how many have
God called home from this place, other places, dear friends? Oh,
if we could ask any of them, Do you want to come back? My soul, no. They're absent from
the body. They're present with the Lord.
Last Sunday, after our service, I tried to greet everybody before
they left. I walked over to my good buddy
there, Les. I said, Les, how you doing? He
said, Larry, this disease, It's pretty rough. It's pretty rough. And Bobby said, yeah, it's been
a rough week for us, Larry. I didn't know what to say. I
put my hand on his shoulder and I said, Les, my friend, there's
a better day. There's a better day coming.
There's a better day coming. I heard a voice from heaven saying
unto me, write, blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from
henceforth. from henceforth, from the moment
of death, the moment after death, they enter into eternal rest. Yea, they rest from their labors. They rest from all labor. They've
entered into an everlasting rest. The writer in Hebrews 4 said,
there remaineth a rest for the people of God. Oh, a rest, uninterrupted
rest, perfect rest. Rest that never ends. Rest from
sin. Oh, think about that. Rest from
self. No more battle. No more battle.
Rest from this cold heart that offers to God that which costs
me nothing. If there is any labor in heaven,
it won't ever be tarson, will it? It won't be a chore, it'll
be a delight. To worship God with an unsinning
heart, that won't be a chore. To love Jesus Christ supremely
without a rival, without a distraction, oh, that rest will be welcome.
That'll be easy. When I'm traveling somewhere,
especially if it's several hundred miles away You're on the interstate,
Terry, you know this. Anybody that's traveled on the
interstate, we all have. It's just boring. It's just boring.
It all looks alike, 75, 64, 65. It all looks the same. I mean,
you catch yourself nodding off. It's just boring. Then you think,
man, I've got to get out of this car. And there's a sign, rest
stop. One mile ahead, rest stop. Good,
good. I'm going to pull in there and
take a rest. Oh, my soul, brothers and sisters,
on the road to glory, as we enter there, rest stop! Come unto me,
all ye that are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. There
remaineth a rest for the people of God, a rest from sin and sorrow
and sickness, bereavement, and no regrets. We talked about this
the other day, didn't we, Rob, in our devotional. I said, my
soul, We won't have any regrets in heaven. Well, I've got a bunch of them
now. I regret that I'm not a better pastor. I regret that I made
so many mistakes. I regret that I can't preach
a message that's not mixed up with pride. How am I coming across? lift them up to Christ and say,
Behold the Lamb of God. Don't even remember my name.
It'd be all right, but no, I can't do that. Oh, there's going to
be a rest from that. No regrets. Sweet, everlasting
rest. But you know what? There's something
better than that coming. When we read that John heard
a voice from heaven saying, Unto me write, Blessed are the dead
that die in the Lord. Oh, here's the icing on the cake.
If we die in the Lord, We die trusting Christ. We leave this
world believing on the Son of God. That means I'm with the
Lord. Oh, all these other things are
glorious, and I look forward to no sickness, no death, no
sorrow. Oh, but most of all, I'll see the Lord Jesus Christ.
No wonder Paul said, I'm willing rather to be absent from the
body and to be in purgatory. No, no. Absent from the body
and present with the Lord, I've got no sins that need purged.
Christ by himself already purged all my sins. What could be better
than the blessed truth of redemption? We love to sing, redeemed how
I love to proclaim it, redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. What
could be better than that? This, this, as the old patriarch
said, I know that my Redeemer liveth. Now we sing about redemption. But pretty soon I'm going to
see the one who redeemed me with his own precious blood. Yeah,
there's a better day coming. Job said, I know that my Redeemer
liveth, and he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my
flesh shall I see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my own eyes
shall behold. Wow. Wow. What could be better
than this great salvation, but seeing the great God and Savior
Himself." The very last thing. I thought about this a lot last
night. How would you describe that? How could you illustrate that?
But the very last thing a child of God does when he takes his
final breath here, here below, it'll hardly be realized, I believe,
Before he's awakening in the presence of Jesus Christ, the
pain of death, along with every other sorrow on earth, will be
gone. Will be gone. Me and John was
talking about our poor arthritic backs before service this morning. It'll all be gone. When a believer
excels, exhales here on earth for the last time, he'll be inhaling
the sweet air of eternal glory. I'm gone. Woo! Sorrow and sighing will all flee
away, and I'm in the presence of the King. One hymn writer
said this, I'm kind of homesick for a country to which I've never
been before. No sad news will there be spoken,
for time won't matter anymore. I'm looking now across the river
where my faith will end in sight. There are just a few more days
to labor, then I will take my heavenly flight. Isaiah 35 verse
10, and the ransom of the Lord shall return. and come to Zion
with songs of everlasting joy upon their heads. They shall
obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee
away. There's a better day coming.
I see the lights, I hear the singing, a brand new song of
joy divine. My soul rejoices just in knowing
that soon those pleasures will be mine. And I won't be making
a stop at some imaginary Purgatory. No, thank God. I'll see that
one who is the brightness of God's glory and the express image
of his person, who, upholding all things by the word of his
power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at
the right hand of the majesty on high. I'm going to see him.
Christ, who hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being
made a curse for us. I'm going to see him. and joining that song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book and to open the seals thereof,
for Thou was slain, and has redeemed us to God by Thy own blood. Yes, we shall see Him. In Isaiah chapter 33, here's
another verse, and we'll be drawn to a close. We had that one in
Revelation 14, here's one Much like it in Revelation 33, verse
17. Here's a promise from God to
His people, to His people in this world, to strangers and
pilgrims. Isaiah 33, 17. Oh, listen to
this. This is for you, child of God. Thine eyes shall see the king
and his beauty. They shall behold the land that
is very far off. That's a promise from God to
gladden the hearts of God's saints in this world of woe, because
there is a nobler, greater king spoken of here than Hezekiah.
Hezekiah is the historical figure, but the king spoken of here by
the Spirit of God is Christ, the King of kings and the Lord
of lords, the prince and monarch of the universe. His humiliation
is over. He's triumphed over all his enemies. And faith beholds the king in
his beauty, returning robed in glorious apparel of victory. He no longer wears the crown
of thorns. New upon his head are many crowns,
many crowns. We shall see the king in his
beauty. He's not waiting to be made king.
He's not waiting for someone to make him lord. He's king and
lord right now. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Whosoever shall call upon the
Lord Jesus Christ shall be saved. Any other concept of Jesus Christ,
anything less than this, is a lie. It's an imposter. That's another
Jesus. He warned us of that. Don't trust
him. Don't trust him. He cannot save. Oh, but King Jesus, King Jesus,
he's able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him,
even this sinner. Isaiah 45, you know this. God
speaks and he says, assemble yourselves and come, draw near
together, ye that are escaped of the nations. They have no
knowledge to set up the wood of their graven image, another
Jesus, and pray unto a God that cannot save. Tell ye, and bring
them near. Yea, let them take counsel together.
Let's see what they can do. Have they declared this from
ancient time? Who hath told it from the time? Have not I the
Lord, capital L-O-R-D, and there is no God beside me, a just God
and a Savior? There is none beside me. Look
unto me. Look unto me. The best thing
you can do when you look unto Jesus is just keep looking unto
Jesus. You can never get beyond that. And be ye saved, all the
ends of the earth, for I am the Lord, and there is none else.
In the Lord shall all Israel be justified, and shall glory. The head that once was crowned
with thorns is crowned with glory now. A royal diadem adorns the
mighty victor's brass. The highest place that heaven
affords is His by right, the King of kings and Lord of lords,
and heaven's eternal light. Yes, we shall see the King, the
Lord Jesus Christ in His beauty. The old Puritan Thomas Brooks
said, Christ is lovely. Christ is very lovely. Christ
is most lovely. Christ is always lovely. Christ
is altogether lovely. And we sing of our beloved. Yes,
he's altogether lovely. Revelation chapter 19, verse
12, concerning our Lord, our King, our mighty God and Savior,
we read on his head were many crowns. Christ Jesus wears the
crown of a conqueror. He's vanquished every enemy.
These are they which make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall
overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and king of kings. A prince who can never be defeated,
can never be overthrown. A master who has the hearts of
all his subjects. There are no rebels. There are
no rebels. They bow to him willingly. A
mighty intercessor who always prevails for us with the father.
A brother in adversity. A brother that sticketh closer
than any earthly brother. He's our forerunner, who's already
entered into heaven before God the Father, representing you
and I. His presence is a guarantee that
we'll join Him there. A God whose purpose is sure,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. We'll see Him in His
beauty. I'll begin the message by telling
you a story about two dear brothers, Brother Scott and Brother Henry. Let me close it the same way,
by using the illustration from Brother Don Fortner. He's a dear
friend, isn't he? A dear, dear friend. He's with
Henry, and Don, and oh, so many others. Walters. So many others. When I was in Danville, after
each service, as I was driving off the parking lot, I would
glance over to my left, and I saw Don's grave. And I thought to myself, I'll
be seeing you pretty soon, buddy. It won't be long. It won't be
long, because my life is just a vapor. And when a few more
days are come, I'm going to go away, but Wednesday I shall not
return. And we won't want to return. Last October, when Robin
and I were getting ready, we were already packed up and ready
to go out to Arkansas. They're preaching the conference
out there for Darwin Pruitt and those believers. That was the
night we had that terrible, terrible storm. I tell you what, if that
wasn't a tornado that came through the backyard, I don't want to
ever experience one. We didn't sleep all night long.
I was praying, Lord, don't let one of them big pipes fall down
on this house. And he didn't. But the next day,
we went out and surveyed the damage. And there was no power,
nothing. So we just loaded up and went
on to Arkansas. Hadn't slept a week. What is
that, a nine or 10 hour drive? And the next night, when Darwin
was Before Darvin called me up to preach, he said, really appreciate
Larry coming. And he mentioned something about
how things were at home and said, a lot of fellas might not have
came. And I got up and I said, no,
no, no, no. Why did I want to stay home, sitting in the dark,
cold, hungry? I've come out here, checked into
a nice hotel, being fed. Yeah, that wasn't a problem.
Why should a child of God be afraid to put off this sinful
flesh and leave this ungodly, Christ-rejecting world and go
home to be with their Redeemer, to be in the Father's house with
my big brother forever? Don's book, Going Home. I hope
many of you have it. A lot of people think it's the
best one he ever read. It's not very big. But in the
last chapter, in the last pages, And the last chapter is also
called Going Home. Don wrote as he began the chapter,
I hope that these thoughts make you think about heaven and the
things that await us there. May God the Holy Spirit give
us grace to set our hearts upon heaven where Christ sits on the
right hand of God. May our hearts be made to long
for those glorious mansions that are yonder provided for us by
Jesus Christ and little did he know or any of us know that in
two years from the time that book was published, Don would
be in hell, resting from his labors. And
he finished the chapter, the last chapter of the book this
way, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the three persons
of the blessed Trinity are each crying out, come up here to us
who are already here. and the joys of heaven, if they
had a tongue, would cry out, oh, come up here. And that sweet
and blessed face of the Lord Jesus Christ
cries out, come up here. Does not your soul cry out, oh,
yes, I want to go up there? Some of us down the road may
be in eternity before long. And that does not matter much.
For eternity is sweet if we go to heaven. I remember a word
in Job. My days are swifter than a post.
They flee away as ships. For a believer, death cuts all
cords that tie us to this world, but it makes the everlasting
knot that binds us to Christ. Death is our friend. Our death
will be our coronation day. Someone once said, death is Christ's
messenger to bring you home, sent to you either with a letter
of commendation to speed you on with a love letter in his
hand to make you shout for joy. Oh, therefore, let us love him
and long to be with him." And then he quotes what we already
read, Isaiah 35 and 10. And the ransom of the Lord shall
return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy shall
be upon their head. They shall obtain joy and gladness. I'm happy for them. And sorrow
and sighing shall flee away. And I saw a new heaven and a
new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth were passed
away, and there was no more sea. And I, John, saw the holy city,
New Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as
a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,
and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people.
And God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there
be any more pain, for the former things are passed away. And he
that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I'll make all things
new. And he said unto me, Write, for
these words are true and faithful. Amen. And daunted him with his
butt. And then he went to glory. 1
Corinthians 13, we read, for now we see through a glass darkly,
but then face to face, now in part, but then shall I know even
also as I am known. Another version puts it this
way. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but when we will see face
to face, then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part,
then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. Annie Crosby wrote so many good
hymns. I think it's on page 512 of our hymn book, but let me
finish this by just reading a few verses of that hymn. She wrote,
someday this silver cord will break, and I know more as now
shall seem, but all the joy when I shall wake within the palace
of the king. Someday when fades the golden
sun beneath the rosy tinned west, my blessed Lord will say, well
done, and I shall enter into rest. Some day till then I'll
watch and wait, my lamp all trimmed and burning bright, that when
my Savior opens the gate, my soul to Him may take its flight. Oh, goodbye mortality, Jesus
is mine, and I shall see We shall stand face to face and
tell the story saved by grace. We shall see him face to face
and tell the story saved by grace. Indeed, blessed are the dead
who die in the Lord. God bless you. God bless you.