I'm doing one thing at a time,
let alone two or three. Turn with me, if you will, to
Job chapter 33. And when you found that text, find
1 Corinthians chapter 15. Job 33, 1 Corinthians 15. More than 250
years ago, Jonathan Edwards, who was the
third president at Princeton College, wrote a book, an excellent, excellent
book. He called it The History of Redemption. Now, I can't begin to preach
about the subject as well as Mr. Edwards wrote about it. I
recommend it to you reading. But I borrowed his title for
my message title this morning. As God will enable me, I want
to talk plainly to you from the scriptures about the history
of redemption. I want you to look at these two
texts. Redemption begins here in Job
chapter 33, where the Lord God speaks to us concerning his work
accomplished in the everlasting covenant of grace. Redemption
begins here. Job, as I've told you many times,
is probably the oldest book of inspiration. God in his providence
has given us the Word of God, not in chronological order, but
in a different order altogether, lumping the books together as
historic books, prophetic books, and so on. here is the oldest
book of inspiration and Job speaks to us concerning the oldest affair
of the universe and that is God's covenant of grace before ever
the worlds were made. Redemption begins here, Job 33
and verse 24, Then he is gracious unto him that and saith, deliver him from going
down to the pit, I have found a ransom. Now look at 1 Corinthians
15. Paul is speaking to us about
the end of the world, about the resurrection of the dead and
the final accomplishment of all things. And in verse 24, 1 Corinthians
15, redemption ends here. Then cometh the end. when he,
the Lord Jesus Christ, shall have delivered up the kingdom
to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule
and all authority and power. Redemption begins before time
began. And when redemption is done,
time shall be no more. And everything in between, is
designed by God to show us this wondrous work of redemption by
Christ Jesus. Now, obviously, I'm using the
word redemption in a very, very broad sense. We tend to think
of things in little small segments. We think of redemption as it
applies only to the work of Christ at Calvary, and that's a mistake.
Redemption is sometimes used in that regard, as a one-time
accomplishment of our redemption by the sacrifice of His self
at Calvary under the wrath of God as our substitute. But redemption
is commonly used in this very, very broad sense, taking in the
whole work of God's grace involved in the deliverance of His elect
from the ruin of the fall into the glorious liberty of the sons
of God in resurrection glory. This is the redemption spoken
of in the psalm we read earlier, Psalm 130. With Him is plenteous
redemption. With our God is plenteous redemption. We await the redemption of the
purchased possession. That is the final resurrection
of these bodies and the final recreation of God's universe,
a new heavens and a new earth. I'm using the word redemption
in this very, very broad sense. Everything that God does, or
if I need to use such a term, allows to be done. What God allows
to be done, God does. Everything that God does or allows
to be done, He does for the redemption of His people. If God will teach us that, if
God will seal that to our hearts, It'll make our pilgrimage through
this world much more joyful and much more comfortable. Everything
that God does or allows to be done, he does for the redemption
of his people. Everything is subservient to
God's purpose of grace and redemption. The psalmist said, I will cry
unto God most high. unto God that performeth all
things for me, for the redemption of my soul. Mr. Edwards, in his book, The History of Redemption, made
this keen observation. God's main work in providence
is redemption. The creation of heaven was in
order to work redemption. Even the angels were created
to be employed in this work. As to this lower world, it was
doubtless created to be a stage upon which this great and wonderful
work of redemption should be transacted. Everything in heaven,
everything in the earth, the earth itself, created by God
for the accomplishment of redemption and is ruled by God for that
purpose. Now the Scriptures teach us and
teach us plainly that God has a five-fold purpose in this great
work of redemption. Let me give it to you. First,
God is determined to put all His enemies under His feet. God is determined to put all
enemies under his feet. His goodness will at last be
triumphant. His sovereignty has arranged
all things so that Satan shall be confounded and the works of
Satan, all the works of Satan shall be utterly destroyed. Our God shall put all his enemies
under his feet. We do not presently see all things
under his feet, but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than
the angels, crowned with glory and honor, seated at the right
hand of the majesty on high. The earth is his footstool, and
he shall ultimately, publicly, utterly put all things under
his feet. I mean by that, the very slime
of the serpent, shall be erased from God's creation. Listen to
the scriptures. This, for this purpose, for this
purpose, the Son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Christ Jesus was born at Bethlehem
and died at Calvary, was buried and rose again and ascended on
high to destroy the works of the devil and he shall not fail. Number two, it is God's purpose
to completely retrieve his creation from the ruins of the fall. In
Acts chapter three, we read that he will send Jesus Christ, who
was before preached unto you, whom the heaven must receive
until the times of the restitution of all things which God has spoken
by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. All of God's creation will be
restored to Him from the ruins of the fall. Man's soul was ruined
by the fall. We sometimes think of man's ruin
and man's fall Still man is fearfully and wonderfully made. There's
no creature in the universe like man. Man's a remarkable, remarkable
creature. I am fearfully and wonderfully
made, David said. And certainly the fall of man
has marred the image of God in man, both morally and physically. But it's man's soul that was
ruined by the fall. The image of God in man ruined
in his soul. His nature corrupted. Man became
dead in sin. And it's God's design to restore
the souls of his chosen to life, to restore his elect completely
to the image of his son in whose image we were created. This he
does by two resurrections. They're spoken of in John chapter
5 as the resurrection, which is the first resurrection, the
new birth. That which we commonly call regeneration
or sanctification. Blessed and holy is he that hath
part in the first resurrection. And then there is the resurrection
of the body at the last day. Man's body was also ruined by
the fall. Our bodies became subject to
death. The design of God is to restore this body. Oh, what awaits
us when God shall deliver these bodies from mortality and make
our bodies like unto Christ glorious body. We bury our dead, that
is we bury those who die in the Lord, we bury their bodies. And
I suppose I always say this at some point, if not many times,
in connection with burying our friends. We lay this body to
rest in hope of the resurrection. Mark, that's not just a wishful
dream. That's a good hope. We lay these
bodies to rest in hope of the resurrection. Soon Christ will
come again and the dead will hear his voice and they that
are in the grave shall arise. Arise in the very complete, perfect
image of that man who is God, who now sits on the right hand
of the majesty on high. The world too. was ruined by
the fall, as effectively as if it had been reduced to chaos
again. But God's determined to create
a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. We, according to his promise,
look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness. Many, many years ago, Brother
Henry Mahan and I stopped at an overlook on the way to Cherokee,
North Carolina, at High Point in the Smoky Mountains. We just
stopped to, it was a beautiful day and the colors were brilliant,
third week of October. And we stopped at the overlook
at Clingman's Dome and visited for a little while. And as we
started back toward the cars, Brother Mahan said to me, he
said, Brother Fortner, this wouldn't be a bad place to live except
for sin. except for sin. And when God
makes all things new, oh, this is gonna be a good place to live.
A good place to live when God makes all things new. Satan shall
triumph nowhere. I repeat, the slime of the serpent's
trail shall be totally expunged from God's creation. The third
great design of God in the work of redemption. is to gather together
in one all things in Christ. Ephesians 1 10. In the last day,
before time is done, God will gather together all his elect,
elect angels and elect men as one in Jesus Christ our Lord. All the elect gathered from the
four corners of the earth and then gathered together with our
Redeemer in heavenly glory. And then fourth, God's purpose
is to perfect and complete the glory of his elect in Christ. Turn over to 2 Corinthians for
just a minute. 2 Corinthians chapter 2. I hope you enjoy thinking a lot
about heaven and eternity. And I have preached about it
a lot. I've written about it a little
bit, but I've got a confession to make. I don't know much about
it. I don't know much about it. There
are some things I know, but all those things, Jerry, that I know
are, Just a drop in a bucket, a drop in the ocean. I don't
know much about it. Listen to what Paul says here
in 2 Corinthians 2, 9. As it is written, I hath not
seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. He's revealed them to us by His
Spirit. I know the reality of them. But what those things are,
you stretch your mind as far as you can stretch it and think
about the glory of Christ, knowing Christ, the knowledge he will
give us of himself. that which we will learn in eternity,
our eternal estate, the blessedness of our heavenly hope, the immortality
of these bodies, the spiritual nature, which we will have in
heaven's glory, I have not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it
entered into the heart of man, the things which God's prepared
for them that love him. And then we're assured over and
over again, that in all this work of redemption, our Almighty
Jehovah, the triune God is determined to glorify himself. Three times
in the first 14 verses of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul writes by divine
inspiration and tells us that God has done all this great work. the work of election, covenant
grace and redemption, to the praise of his glory, the work
of substitution, to the praise of the glory of his grace, the
work of regeneration, to the praise of his glory. All that
God does shall redound to his glory. God will be glorified
in us and by us before wandering worlds in the last day. When
God gets done, He will spread us before wandering angels and
wandering devils and the wandering damned and display in us the exceeding
riches of His grace and His kindness toward us by Christ Jesus. In
other words, all shall forever be convinced of the great glory
of God in the saving of our souls, and we will glorify God in that
salvation, so that all the world shall give Him praise. Revelation
chapter five talks about the end of this thing. Those who've
been redeemed shall say, worthy is the Lamb, giving praise and
honor and glory and power and dominion and might. Every name
that is named, let it bow to Him. And then we're told in verse
13, and all creatures, All creatures will join in the song, worthy
is the lamb. To God be praise for everything. When God's done, everything shall
praise him. Surely the wrath of man shall
praise thee. The remainder of wrath wilt thou
restrain. The Lord has made all things for himself. Yea, even
the wicked for the day of evil. Now this is what transpires in
time to accomplish that ultimate end. The glory of God in the
redemption of his people. Let me give it to you in seven
events. You can write them down and I'll
be very brief. Nothing new, but everything wondrous. The history of redemption begins,
as I've already said, with our surety's covenant engagements
on our behalf. before the world began. The Apostle
Paul describes the preaching of the gospel as the declaration
of God's great mercy and grace, who has saved us and called us
with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus
before the world began. That passage, 2 Timothy 1, verse
9, as Paul instructs Timothy in what it is to preach the gospel,
he says, preaching the gospel involves the declaration of an
eternal salvation, a salvation accomplished, done, finished
in eternity. And that could only be done by
a covenant salvation. by a surety standing as our covenant. There was, before the world was
made, an election of grace. God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit and belief of the
truth. Election is a Bible term. Election is a delightful Bible
term. Election is a glorious gospel
Bible term. Election is a term with which
all who believe God ought to be as familiar as they are with
the definite article T-H-E or the indefinite article A. Election
ought to be spoken all the time by God's people. And it is certainly
spoken all the time from any faithful pulpit. The Bible teaches
election. Now, the difficulty with men
is they don't like it. And they don't like it for one
reason. That takes everything out of their hands. The only
reason men object to election is it declares that the election
is God's work. What man did you ever see who
objected to choosing his own car when he went to a car lot?
You go to a car lot and you go to the dealer and you say, I'd
like to have that green Chevrolet. He said, no, you can't have that
one today. We're gonna sell you the red Ford. Not hardly. That's my choice. That's my choice.
Men make choices all the time. They have no objection to election.
What men have objection to is God who does the electing. Men don't object to the doctrine
that the Bible teaches a choice. Men object to the doctrine that
says God makes the choice. God determines the choice. The
choice is His. He has mercy on whom he will
have mercy. He's gracious to whom he will
be gracious. The election of God's people
was made before the world began in covenant grace when God said
concerning his chosen, I will be their God and they shall be
my people. When God said concerning the
whole of Adam's race, Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated."
Well I don't like that. Take it up with God. That's the
way it is. That's the way it is. And when
God made this election of grace for those elect people, He made
a covenant with Esau. We are saved, Hebrews chapter
13 verse 20, by the blood of the everlasting covenant. The blood of Christ is the blood
of the everlasting covenant. It is the blood which was shed
in the covenant, the blood which was shed to seal the covenant,
and the blood that sprinkled to apply the covenant. So that
the blood of the covenant is the blood of Christ, the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. Our Lord Jesus stood
forth. before God the Father, God the
Son, and God the Holy Ghost. He who is the last Adam said,
I will go and I will redeem my people. I will shed my blood
and purchase them and make restitution for them. I will obey the law
for them and I will die for them. I will die in their place and
redeem them from their sins. And I will send my spirit and
call them and seal them and bring them home to heaven. And the
triune God trusted the son, trusted the surety. And when God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost struck hands in
covenant mercy, as the surety stood in our stead, the Lamb
was slain before the foundation of the world. The works were
finished from the foundation of the world. Now, I just have
to repeat this. I have to repeat it because I'm
afraid you'll forget it. Folks say, well, that's how God
sees things. However it is that God sees things. Jimmy, that's the way they really
are. You and I see through a glass darkly. We just have, we have
muddy vision. As God sees things, that's the
way they really are. We were redeemed with the blood
of Christ, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world in
covenant mercy. It is this covenant and only
this covenant that holds back the judgment of God from the
universe. Turn to 2 Peter chapter three.
2 Peter chapter three. I often hear people say, the end of the world has got
to be near because of all the sin. I've heard preachers say
if God doesn't Send judgment on this earth soon, he'll have
to give an apology to Sodom and Gomorrah. Men who don't understand
God's works. Why do you suppose that when
God said to Adam in the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely
die, Adam didn't die? But he did die. He died spiritually,
that's true, but he's still walking around on two feet. And Adam
is still walking around on this earth 6,000 years later. Here
we are, sons and daughters of Adam. Why didn't God destroy
Adam in the garden? With one clear, obvious reason. In Adam's loins was the seed
of all men. In Adam's loins, we all were,
including God's elect, the seed of Christ, the chosen of this
world. and they must be born of Adam's
seed, and scattered to the four corners of the earth, and they
must be saved by God's almighty grace. And the Lord God almighty
hasn't yet judged the world in the last great day, because the
last of his chosen hasn't yet been called. That's all, that's
all. I know people talk about common
grace and general mercy and such as that, but the fact is the
longer men and women live without Christ, the more they heat to
themselves coals of fire in the last day. The reason God doesn't
destroy this world is because he has a people whom he must
and shall save. Second Peter 3.9. The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness.
But his long-suffering, don't miss these next two words, to
usward. Not long-suffering to the world,
not long-suffering to all men, long-suffering to usward. What
does that mean? Not willing that any should perish. He didn't say not willing that
nobody in the world perish. If God wasn't willing that any
perish, none would perish. but he's not willing that any
of us to whom he is long-suffering should perish, but that all,
all his elect, all his redeemed should come to repentance. Well,
how do you know that's what it means? In verse 20, the apostle
tells us that the long-suffering of our God is salvation. I don't pay any attention to
folks who make predictions about the second coming. But I am confident
that I know exactly when Christ will come again. I know exactly
when he will come again. Bill Raleigh, when the last of
God's elect had been born into his kingdom. That's it. That's
it. He's long suffering to us, not
willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Number two, turn to Galatians chapter four, Galatians four. The second great event in the
history of redemption was the incarnation and birth of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter four, verse
four. When the fullness of time was come. Paul puts it another
way in Romans five, in due time, at the appointed time. When all
that God had purposed up to this point had been accomplished,
right there, when the fullness of time was come, God sent forth
his son, made of a woman, the woman's seed, made of a woman
without the aid of a man, conceived in the womb of the virgin without
the aid of a man. Shelby read something to me yesterday,
day before yesterday, I think it was. She read some fool, was
it Minnesota University? University of Minnesota. Defending
women's rights. It would have been wrong for
God to impregnate Mary without her consent. Fools won't go to any, they can't
go far enough to hang themselves. But when the fullness of time
was come, God sent forth His Son. He was already His Son from
eternity. He sent Him on an errand of mercy,
made of a woman, made under the law, made subject to the law,
made as a man who must fulfill the law. Made as a man who must
obey the law. Made as a man who must satisfy
the law. Made as a man who must bring
in everlasting righteousness. Why was he made under the law?
For this purpose, to redeem them that were under the law. To redeem
his people from the curse of the law. So that we might receive
the adoption of sons. We were already adopted in election. Chosen of God as his sons. And
then he sends forth the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying,
Abba, Father. Causing sinners to receive and
the wondrous experience of grace, the adoption of sons. How do
you explain that? How do you explain that? When a child is born, I guess
they still do this, I don't know. I wasn't in the delivery room
when our daughter was born and I wouldn't have been if I could
have been. That's just not my cup of tea. I wouldn't choose
that. So I don't know whether they
do this or not. But they used to take a baby out of the womb
and slap it on his butt so the baby would get a good breath
of air and squall and start to cry. And as soon as you heard
that baby cry, you knew everything's all right. It's life. It's life. When God sends the spirit of
grace into our hearts, we who struggled and struggled
and pleaded and wanted, oh, if I could just call God my father.
Oh, if I could just call God my father. And we beg for mercy. We do everything we think we
gotta do to get mercy. It's amazing. We'll do anything
to get mercy. And realize you can't get mercy
until you quit doing anything. And then suddenly, when you're
in utter despair, God sprinkles your heart with the blood of
Christ. God invades your soul with life. And you lift your heart to heaven.
Say, my father. And you call God your father. The baby breathes the prayer
of life. Not the prayer that gives life.
No, no, no, no, no, no. Whoever dreamed a baby got life
by squalling. No, no, no, no. It's the prayer
that identifies him as living. Now we lift our hearts to heaven
and say to God, I'm a father. What a delight, what a joy, what
a comfort to the heaven born soul to lift his heart to heaven
and call God our father because Christ came to give sinners life. Number three. The third great event in the
history of redemption was the triumph of Christ over the temptations
of Satan and over Satan himself. You read the accounts of our
Lord being tempted in the wilderness and we're told that Jesus was
led of the Spirit into the wilderness. We're told that the Spirit constrained
him to go into the wilderness, there to be tempted of the devil
after 40 days and 40 nights of fasting. And Satan tempted him. But the Lord Jesus foiled the
tempter. He foiled the tempter with the
Word of God and faith, faith, faith as a man who believed God. And then in Gethsemane, Satan
came again. I've tried many times to preach
about Gethsemane, but I recognize and acknowledge every time I
try to preach about Gethsemane, I don't really understand what
transpired there. But somehow or another, Satan
pressed our Savior's heart heavily with the anticipation of being
made sin, of his holy soul being made corrupt, of his purity being defiled,
of him who knew no sin being made sin, and he fell on his face before God with
broken heart. He sweats, dropping his blood
to the ground, and says, my father, oh, my father, if it be possible,
let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not my will, thy
will be done. And he braces himself up, and
he says, the hour has come. Father, glorify your name. And the Father said, I will glorify
it and will glorify it yet again. And the Lord Jesus, having again
foiled Satan, went to Calvary, where at last he crushed the
serpent's head. Calvary is the crushing of the
serpent's head. Calvary is the victory of the
Son of God over the devil. Calvary is that means by which
the Lord Jesus said, now is the judgment of this world. Now is
the prince of this world cast out. That word judgment in John
12 might be translated in many,
many ways. The crisis of this world, the
turning point, the crucial hour, the hinge of this world. Regina's,
I'm sorry, Jelena's mother went in the hospital to have surgery.
She called us after surgery Tuesday, I believe it was. And I think
her words were, Billy, the next 48 hours will be critical. That's
the crisis time. Everything hinges on this. If
she gets through the next 48 hours, we think she'll be all
right. This is the critical hinge of time, the critical hinge of
history. The world was made for the crucifixion
of Christ at Calvary, and everything in history turns on that, and
everything is the result of that. Now is the prince of this world
cast out. That's the fourth great event
in the history of redemption. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. By his satisfaction at Calvary,
we who are gods were redeemed from all sin and made the righteousness
of God in him because he satisfied the justice of God in our stead. Now, oh, if God will now give you
faith to trust him. Are you listening to me? If right
where you sit right this minute, this very second, if God will
enable you to believe his son, This atonement, this redemption,
this satisfaction, this righteousness is yours forever. Complete atonement
thou hast made, and to the utmost farthing paid whate'er thy people
owed. O me, God's wrath shall find
no place. I'm sheltered in thy righteousness
and ransomed by thy blood. If Christ has 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. The fifth great work of grace
in this work of redemption, in this unfolding drama of redemption,
is the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead. He
was delivered to the hands of justice and crucified upon the
cursed tree for our sins. Because our sin was made his
sin. The guiltless one became guilty.
The sinless one became the sinner. And he was delivered into the
hands of divine justice for our sins. And he was raised again
for our justification. Three days later, He comes out
of the tomb. He rose to life. He resuscitated
himself. He was raised by the spirit.
He was raised by his father. And he was seen of the disciples.
Numerous, numerous times seen of the disciples. And by his
resurrection from the dead, the Lord God proclaims the accomplishment
of redemption. He proclaims justice satisfied.
His resurrection is the proof of expiation, and His resurrection
is the assurance of our resurrection. Because I live, He said, you
shall live also. Because I live, be sure you understand
this, you too shall live. Turn back to the book of Job.
Again, that oldest book in the Bible, the oldest piece of inspiration. I spent a good bit of while Friday
evening talking to a preacher friend, a younger man, he's asking
me several questions. And I tried to convey to him
what I try to convey to other preachers, older and younger,
and try to convey to you. The believers in the Old Testament
were not a bunch of cavemen down with a box of rocks. Adam was
a brilliant man. Adam was created upright, brilliant. Oh my, what a brilliant man he
must have been. And he knew much. He understood. He understood what that prohibition
of eating the fruit of the tree of life meant. The tree of knowledge
of good and evil. He understood what it meant for
God to take those fig leaves off of him and slay an animal
and wrap him in the clothes of that animal. I know he did because
he taught his son Abel. He taught us unable. Those Old
Testament saints understood the pictures and types given in the
Old Testament. Yes, we recognize progressive
revelation in the book of God. The scriptures reveal the things
of God to us here a little, there a little, line upon line, precept
upon precept. But men and women who knew God
in the Old Testament, Mark, knew the same God you do, trusted
the same Redeemer you do, and had the same hope you had. Let's
see it. Job chapter 19. Listen to this
old, old, old saint. This man who lived a long, long
time ago, at least as early as the days of Abraham, maybe before
that. I know, verse 25, that my Redeemer
liveth. and that he shall stand at the
last 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 mine eyes shall behold, and not another,
though my reins be consumed within me. Even before this, we're told
in the book of Jude that Enoch the seventh from Adam, That man
who lived before the flood, Enoch, prophesied of the second coming
of our Redeemer. The saints of God worshipped
our Redeemer as our Redeemer and recognized the hope of the
resurrection by Him. The sixth great event in the
history of redemption was the ascension and exaltation of our
Lord Jesus. Enthroned as king, Lord over
all, with power over all flesh. Thou hast given him power over
all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. Many, many years ago, Brother
Darwin Pruitt, when he was still here, came back in the office
and he was one of the first men back there. He said, Brother
Don, I've been studying that second verse of John chapter
17, that word power, Does that mean might or authority? I suggest it, that's what it
means. Might and authority. He's the king. He has the authority
to give life to whom he will. He's the king who's God. He has
the power to give life to whom he will. Christ has all power. Christ rules the world to save
his people by the power of his grace. He makes intercession
for us according to the will of God. He saves whom he will. The greatest joy and the greatest
comfort my heart knows is this fact. He who loved me and gave himself
for me rules the universe totally as my representative and king. Everything's all right. My redeemer
is the king. Everything's all right. He who
loved me and gave himself for me is the king of glory. Now,
each of these glorious events in the history of redemption
points to another. They all point to one great consummating
event that is yet to take place. And here it is. Our Lord Jesus
shall come again in power and in great glory without sin unto
salvation. What a good word he gives us. Let not your heart be troubled.
You believe in God, believe also in me. in my father's house in
many mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. 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 you may
be also." When I get hold of a book and
I want to read it pretty quickly, I will generally read the preface
and then I'll skip all the way to the back and read the last
chapter. And if the book is well written,
those two things will tell me what to expect in the book. And
then having read the preface in the last chapter, I'll start
in chapter one and read the book. I can read pretty quickly and
I can keep up with things because I know how to start it. And I
know how it's going to end. And I've read this book. I read the preface, In the Beginning,
God. And I've read the last chapter.
And I'm here to tell you, everything's going to be all right. Everything's
gonna be all right. Our God does everything for the
redemption of his elect. And the last thing that shall
occur, Christ shall appear in his glory and receive you to
himself that where he is, there we may be also. Oh, God give
you grace to trust him. Amen.