We read the psalm along with
verses in Ezekiel 34 already, so we'll just tell you our text
will be the last verse, the last verse here in the 23rd psalm. The title of my message is, All
My Days. All My Days. Surely, goodness
and mercy shall follow me all the days. All My Days. All the days of my life. and
I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." In Psalm 22,
the previous psalm, the theme is the suffering Savior. We read
there of the cross, the smitten shepherd. And then in Psalm 24,
following, is the psalm of the victorious shepherd that laid
down his life for the sheep. Lift up your heads, O ye gates,
And be ye left up ye everlasting doors, and the King of glory,
the King of glory, the Prince of Peace shall come in. Psalm 22, we hear the words,
Awake, O sword, against the shepherd, and against the man that is my
fellow, saith the Lord of hosts, smite the shepherd. That must come first. And then
in Psalm 23, we hear these dear words, of our Lord afterwards,
do they not echo in the psalm, I have told you that I am he,
if therefore you seek me, let my sheep go free, let these go
their way. There would never be green pastures
or still waters if it were not for the 22nd Psalm, what took
place there, what's prophesied there. It is only after we read,
my God, my God, why is thou forsaken me, that we come to this, the
Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my, there could never
be the one without the other. And we must, we must experience
and know the value, experimentally, when it is applied to our hearts
and conscience. By God, the Holy Spirit, we must
experience the value of his shed blood and see that sword awakened
against the shepherd before we can really and truly know the
sweetness and experience likewise what is spoken up here in the
23rd Psalm. The Lord is my shepherd. The one being redeemed by the
shepherd, by his precious blood, guarantees the other. being called
and kept and brought all the way home. The one is a promise
and guarantee of the other. It must be so. Surely it must
be so. Otherwise Christ died in vain,
and that's an absurdity that cannot be. Psalm 23 tells us
what takes place in between the two. Psalm 22, when the shepherd
is smitten, In Psalms 24, when he enters glory victorious, the
good, great, and chief shepherd can be spoken of by each of his
people. And are there any sweeter words
in the word of God to a believer personally than this? He's my
shepherd. John, he's my shepherd. He's
my shepherd in such a way as though I were the only sheep
he has. And that's true of every one
of his own. The words, you notice, are in the present tense. We'll
come to our text in the introduction, though, in verse 1. The words
are in the present tense. The Lord is. The Lord is. Not that he was my shepherd or
he used to be my shepherd. He is my shepherd. Present tense. He's always been my shepherd.
There's never been a time that he wasn't my shepherd. You mean
when I believed on him? No, no, way before that. My great
shepherd came to seek and to save that which was lost. He didn't come to save the righteous,
but sinners. And he was victorious in doing
so. He is my shepherd. whatever your
present circumstances are, whatever they are, whatever they might
be tomorrow, whatever they might be all the days of your life
as you make your pilgrimage to that celestial city, this will
always be true. There will never be a moment,
there'll never be a second, there'll never be a time where you can
say, the Lord is my shepherd, even when that time comes that
I'll walk through the valley of the shadow. He's still my
shepherd. Oh, I dare say, I dare say that
then we will most realize how much he is my shepherd. When
he takes me by the hand and leads me through the promised land.
When he walks with me through the valley of the shadow of death,
it's no wonder that the pilgrims would sing, O death, where is
thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? I'm in the hand
of my great shepherd. And he leads his dear children
along. And David doesn't say that the
Lord might be, or I hope that he's my shepherd. No, he speaks
with blessed and refreshing dogmatism. A lot of folks, especially religious
folks, don't like that. You can't know that. You can't
be sure. Well, I beg your pardon. I beg your pardon. I can be by
God's grace and upon the same foundation as sure as David himself
was. The Lord is my shepherd without
a doubt. And everything that follows in
the psalm, this blessed fact of the Lord being our shepherd,
everything that follows afterwards is built upon that foundation. Everything sprouts from that.
The Lord being my shepherd, then I have all these blessed promises
that flow from that glorious truth. The New Testament equivalent
of this verse might be this. Christ is all. Christ is all. And from that flows this certain
reality. You are complete in Him. You
are complete in Him. That's the equivalent, I think,
of the verse 1 of the 23rd Psalm. He is my shepherd, therefore,
him being my shepherd, the blessed consequence of that, the certain
fruit of that, the outcome of that is this. This must flow
from that glorious fountain. I shall not lack. I shall not
lack. If Christ is my shepherd, I shall
not want, I shall not like. And notice here, it's in the
future tense. I shall not. Not that I haven't,
but I shall not. I never will. One commentator
said this, come what may, if famine should devastate the land
or calamity destroy the city, I shall not like. Old age with
its feebleness shall not bring me any like, and even death with
its gloom shall not find me destitute. I have all things in a bound,
not because I have a good store of money in the bank, not because
I have skill and wit with which to make my own way and to win
my bread, but because the Lord is my shepherd. That's the reason. The wicked always have like want,
But the righteous never. A sinner's heart is far from
satisfaction. Now look at those all around.
Those celebrities are a good example. Oh, they have everything. Then why do they take their lives?
Why do they want more? If they have everything that's
supposed to bring satisfaction, why are they so discontented?
Oh no, God's people, God's people, the poorest of God's people,
they have that blessed blessed spirit that dwells in the palace
of contentment. He calls the Lord as my shepherd.
Paul in Hebrews 13 says, let your conversation, the way you
live, not just the way you talk, talk is cheap, but let your conversation,
the way you act and the way you react, the way you live, Be without
covetousness, and be content with such things as you have.
For he hath said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. My shepherd says that. Paul said
again, but my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches. Oh my, according to what? His riches. In glory by Christ
Jesus, I need a perfect righteousness. I need redemption. I need sanctification. I need wisdom. You know where
I'm going. And I have every one of those
in my great shepherd. Because God has made him, that
is Christ. Of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that gloryeth,
let him glory in the Lord. Who else would he glory in? God
not only provides the best robe, he puts it on us, doesn't he?
He just doesn't say, here is the robe of my son's perfect
righteousness and you can be clothed in it if you, if you
thus and thus and thus, oh no, no, no. God the Father says,
bring forth the best robe and put it on him. Put it on him. The perfect spotless robe of
Christ's immaculate righteousness. Look at our text, verse six. Two parts, two parts. And that's
how we'll consider it. Part one speaks of our journey
from here to heaven. And David says concerning that,
surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my
life. In the experience of all that
is past, the believer finds confidence, assurance for all that is to
come. Jesus is not only the Alpha,
he's the Omega. For of him and through him and
to him are all things to whom be glory forever and ever. And
that is exactly David's reasoning, is it not? And every believer
has the right, no, no, no, he has the duty He has the obligation
to do the same, to trust his God. I read, it might have been
in Don's bulletin or somebody else quoting Don, but he said,
it's so dishonoring for a believer to speak in such a way or act
in such a way that brings dishonor upon their Heavenly Father. He
said, who? That's a father. doesn't feel
remorse and sorrow if he's dishonored by his children, if they don't
trust him. Oh, how much dishonoring it is
to our Heavenly Father if his children don't trust him. David
says, because his goodness and mercy have followed me, I trust
that they always will. All the days of my life. Why
do you think so, David? Because they always have. They
always have. And the Lord, our God, changes
not. Goodness and mercy, all the streams
of mercy flowing from one fountain. Goodness and mercy flow from
one glorious, ever full, ever flowing, ever satisfying fountain. And John saw it. He showed me
a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding
out of the throne of God and of the land. There flows to every
needy sinner, pardoning mercy, protecting mercy, sustaining
mercy, and supplying mercy. You know, I have certain things, bills, insurance,
car insurance, life insurance, a few other things that are taken
out automatically a certain time every month. Before you agree
to that, they'll send you a statement and say, if there should be insufficient
funds for us to take this payment out, you're going to pay more.
Oh, when you come to the bank of grace, John, there's never
insufficient funds. There's never insufficient funds.
Oh no, his grace, his mercy is sufficient. David said, shall
follow me. as the water out of the rock
followed the children of Israel all during that wilderness journey.
So God's goodness and mercy follows us in all places and all conditions. We are never out like this. We are never out of the reach
of God's mercy. Prone to wonder, Lord I feel
it. prone to leave the God I love. That's not just the words of
a song. That's just fact. That's just truth. That's true
of every one of us. But even so, we are never out
of the reach of God's mercy. We can never wonder so far that
we're out of the reach of God's mercy. We can never sin so much
that we're out of the reach of God's mercy. The mercy of God
is continual. It will follow me all my life,
David says, even to the last. For those God loves, he loves
with an everlasting love. Having loved his own which were
in the world, we read of Christ, he loved them unto the end. And not only is God's mercy continual,
it's constant. Meaning it never changes. It's
always the same. All the days of my life, as the
day comes, we find God's mercy already there to meet us. When
we arise in the morning, we can never come before God's mercy.
God's mercy is always there to greet us. This is what we're
told in Lamentations 3. It is of the Lord's mercies that
we're not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are
new every morning. Great is Thy faithfulness, like
the manna that was given to the children of Israel again during
those 40 years. It was always there, always there,
until they entered the Promised Land. Oh, day by day, the manna
fell. overlearn this lesson well. I sometimes wonder if I've learned
it at all. And God's goodness and mercy
is not only continual and constant, it's certain. It's certain. Again, David says, surely, verily,
absolutely, it is as sure as the promise of the God of all
truth can make it. Goodness and mercy having followed
me all the days of my life on this earth, When that's ended,
I'll remove to that better land to dwell in the house, not built
with tans, in our father's house above, where there are many mansions,
and ones for me. Lord, his name, Larry. Are you
sure about that? Well, if Jesus Christ was telling
the truth, it is. If I'm one of his own, it is.
Because he said he's gone back to heaven for that purpose, to
prepare a mansion for us, to prepare a place for us in the
Father's house. I've heard preachers, and you
have too, in giving their invitation. Someone asked me, do you give
an invitation? When you preach, do you give
an invitation? I say the gospel is an invitation. The whole message
is an invitation. The invitation is not inviting
you to come up here after. No, no. The invitation is this. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved right now, this very moment, right
where you sit. Believe on him. Don't move your
feet. That accomplishes nothing except
to give you a false hope. But move your heart. May your
heart be moved by God and toward God. That's the invitation because
he delights to show mercy. And not only, as we say, is it
continual and constant, it's certain. Goodness and mercy shall
follow me all the days of my life. Matthew Henry said concerning
this verse, Psalm 23 and 6, with what I have, I am pleased much. Goodness and mercy. With what
I hope for, I am pleased much more that I would dwell in the
house of the Lord forever." All of this, the poor widow said. All of this. And Jesus Christ,
too, got no complaints. Got no complaints. God's goodness
and mercy will follow us until we enter that city that has no
need of the light, because the lamb is the light thereof. When
a child of God dies, He just moves from the church below to
the church above. David's reasoning is this, and
rightfully so. After so much mercy passed, will
God let me sink at last? No. No. Don't entertain the thought,
child of God. This journey begins, and let
me illustrate one of my, illustrate it rather by quoting a passage
from one of my favorite books, old John Bunyan, The Tinker,
when he sat in that jail in Bedford. Pilgrim's Progress. Now I saw
in my dream, Bunyan wrote, that the highway up which Christian
was to go was fenced on both sides with a wall, and the wall
was called salvation. Up this way, therefore, a burdened
Christian ran, but not without great difficulty because of the
heavy load on his back. He ran on thus until he came
to a place where there was a hill. And upon that hill stood a cross,
and a little below at the bottom was a sepulcher. And I saw in
my dream, just as Christian came up to the cross, the burden,
the burden fell off his shoulders. and the burden of my sin rolled
away. Do you remember, child of God?
Do you remember? Until he came up to the cross
and the burden fell off his back and began to tumble until it
came to the mouth of the sepulcher and it fell in and I saw it no
more. So he stood still for a while
to ponder and wonder for it was a very surprising thing to him
that at the sight of the cross that it should ease his burden.
He therefore looked and looked again until the tears flowed
down his cheek. And then Christian gave three
leaps for joy and went on his way singing. And this was his
song. Thus far did I come laden with
my sin, nor could anything ease the grief that I was in, until
I came here. What a place is this! This must
be the beginning of my bliss. For here the burden fell off
my back, and here the chain that bound me did crack. Blessed cross,
blessed sepulcher, blessed rather be the man who there was put
to shame for me. Down at the cross where my savior
died, downward for cleansing from sin I cried. There to my
heart was the blood applied. Glory to his name. Compare Bunyan's
song to another song, Exodus chapter 15, the song of the redeemed. After the children of Israel
are brought across the Red Sea, they sing this, Exodus 15 verse
13, thou and thy mercy has led forth the people which thou has
redeemed. Thou has guided them in thy strength
unto thy holy habitation. They will be led to Christ in
time. In time, in their time, their
lifetime, his sheep will be brought to him. They'll hear his voice
and they'll follow him. And not only that, they'll come
to him in eternity. They'll come to him now in saving
faith and repentance, being made new creatures in Christ, and
they'll be kept and brought to him in eternity. This is exactly
what he said. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Did you hear that? All that the
Father giveth me might, no, they shall come to me, and him that
cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. They'll come to me.
To who else are they going to go? Where else will sheep go? They belong to the shepherd,
and they'll come to him. In that same chapter that we
just read from, John 6, he went on to say, it is written in the
prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore
that have heard and have learned of the Father cometh unto me. He comes to me. If he doesn't
come to Christ, he doesn't know God. If he doesn't believe in
Jesus Christ, he doesn't know God. It makes no difference if
he can recite from Genesis to Revelation. If he doesn't know
Jesus Christ, he doesn't know God. It's just not possible.
No man comes unto the Father but by me. Our Lord went on to
say, and this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone
which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up again
at the last day. The last day. Oh, that would
be included in all the days, all my days. The last day. The
last day when we are redeemed body, soul, and spirit. The last
day before time shall be no more. The last day. The last day, then
there will be the last tear that we'll ever shed. The last heartache
that we'll ever suffer. The last sorrow, the last physical,
emotional, or mental pain of any kind. The last day we will
be looking through a glass darkly before we see Christ as he is
and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Again, Exodus 15, thou
and thy mercy has led forth the people which thou has redeemed. It's impossible for any redeemed
not to be called. That's just not possible. Mr. Hawker said, Robert Hawker, an
unapplied redemption is no redemption at all. That's right, Billy. An unapplied redemption is no
redemption at all. What good was the Passover lamb? Why bother to kill it? Why bother
to put its blood upon the doorpost of the houses of the Israelites
if they're not brought out of Egypt? Why bother? Oh, but it's not so. It's not
so. If the redeemed don't leave Egypt,
If they don't cross the Red Sea and finally enter the Promised
Land, what good is redemption? It was useless. It means that
Christ died in vain and that's impossible. Any redeemed and
called by grace and not brought to glory also is an impossibility. And that brings us to part two
of our message. And I will dwell in the house
of the Lord forever. Aren't you being a little presumptuous
there? I mean, I know you were a shepherd
in your father's house and God raised you up to be king, and
I know the story about Goliath and how you defeated that giant
in the name of the Lord, but to say after you've lived all
your days here you'll be in the house of the Lord forever, David,
isn't that a little presumptuous? No, not at all. Not at all. Believing God, who cannot lie,
is not presumptuous. It's called faith. Again, Exodus
15, thou hast guided them in thy strength unto thy holy habitation. In Joshua chapter 3, the time
comes for them to enter the promised land. And God instructs that
the priest take the ark of the covenant and step into the swelling
Jordan first. And when they did so, the river
dried up. and the children of Israel followed
them across. Joshua 3 and 4, yet there shall
be a space between you and it, about 2,000 cubits by measure. Come not into it, that is the
ark of the covenant, but follow, that ye may know the way by which
you must go, for ye have not passed this way before. You have
not passed this way before. I read one fellow while I was
preparing this message who made this statement. He said, how
truly may it be said of the pilgrim journeying through the wilderness
to his eternal home, as he stands upon the threshold of this untried
period of his existence, pondering the unknown and uncertain future,
you have not passed this way before. And I thought, well,
that's pretty good. Then I looked at it again, John.
I said, oh, wait, wait, wait a minute. Uncertain, yes, but
unknown? or rather unknown, yes, but not
uncertain. Not uncertain. Does David sound
uncertain when he says, though I walk through the valley of
the shadow of death, I will fear no evil? Does he seem to harbor
a doubt about that? For thou art with me. God give
me grace not to be anxious about the future because all my future,
God has already provided for. All my times are in his hands. Therefore take no thought saying,
what shall we eat? Or what shall we drink? Or wherewithal
shall we be clothed? But seek ye first the kingdom
of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be
added unto you. That eternal rest shall be realized,
and glory shall be revealed. This year, this year, child of
God, might be the year The jubilee year of your soul, the year of
your release. Isn't that a heart-stirring thought? This year might be the year that
I enter heaven. As old Newton said, it's grace
that's brought me safe thus far. Psalm 84, for the Lord our God
is a sun and a shield. The Lord will give grace and
glory. No good thing will he withhold from them that walk
uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the
man that trusteth in thee, and grace will lead me home. Joshua 3 again, verse 17. And
the priest that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood
firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan. And all the Israelites
passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean
over Jordan." I like that, don't you? Joshua 3 and 17. All the people passed clean over
Jordan. Again, let me refer as an illustration
to Bunyan's famous allegory. Pilgrim must pass over Jordan. No other way to the celestial
city must go through Jordan. There are some must-be things
concerning the salvation of God's people, aren't there? His glory,
God's glory is a must-be thing. Revelation chapter 4, verse 1,
after this, John writes, I looked, and behold, a door was opened
in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were
of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, And
I will show thee things which must be hereafter. Must be hereafter. For example, we must be changed. Flesh and blood cannot inherit
the kingdom of God, neither can corruption put on incorruption.
But corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has
put on incorruption, And this mortal hath put on immortality,
then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death
is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? They pass clean over unto the
other side. And this too is a must-be thing.
God's purpose must be fulfilled. It must be fulfilled. Isaiah
46. Remember the former things of
old, for I am God, and there is none else. I am God, and there
is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, my
counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure. That sounds like God. That sounds
like God. During the week days, if you
were visiting at the house, you would find it usually about 6.30
every evening. If we're able to, Robin and I
will stop, but we're doing the Watch Wheel of Fortune. And I'll
tell you what, that's some fierce competition. Fierce competition. And you know how the game goes,
trying to guess each puzzle as they put up one letter after
another. I'll blurt her out, or I may beat Robin. She'll say,
wait, wait, wait a minute. I was thinking it. I was thinking
it. And I'll say, well, I don't think
Mr. Sajak will allow that, and Mr.
Chris won't either. You've got to speak it. It's
not enough just to say, thank it. Oh, but not so concerning
our God. As he thinks it, so it is. As
he thinks it, so it's done. Listen, Isaiah 55, for my thoughts
are not your thoughts. Neither are your ways my ways,
saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my
thoughts higher than yours. So shall my word be that goeth
out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall
prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it. And this is a must-be
thing. Jesus Christ obtained eternal
redemption for us, therefore, because it pleased the Lord to
bruise him and put him to grief, when thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall, he shall, there's no question
about this, see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the
pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of
the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied by his knowledge,
shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their
iniquities. Again, while I was studying,
I read this story and I thought that would be a good illustration.
It went like this. There was a certain nobleman
that had a spacious garden and he left the care of that garden
into the hands of a faithful servant of his and it was this
servant's delight to work in that garden every day, to water
the plants, to stalk the wheat plants, to do everything necessary
to make it a paradise of flowers. And one morning, he arose early,
as he always did, looking forward to attending his master's flowers
and hoping to see if his favorite ones had blossomed and grown.
And when he went into the garden, to his surprise, he found one
of his choice's beauties broken at the stem. And he stood and
looked around, and he saw one after one was gone. Man, he was
upset. He was mad. So he went and asked
the other servants, who's responsible for this? Who took the flowers
out of the garden? And every one of them said, it
wasn't me. It wasn't me. We wouldn't do that. And then
one spoke up, and he said, well, this morning early, I saw the
master walking in the garden. And I saw him take one flower,
and then another, and then walk off. And then the servant attended
the garden and thought, well, then it's okay. It's okay. It's my master's garden. If he's
coming to the garden and was delighted with the flowers and
he took them, then all is well and the servant smiled. It's
all right if the master took them. Listen to the master. Father, I will also that all
those who thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they
may behold my glory." The Master comes and takes one and then
another and it's alright. It's alright. Because those He
takes, though we miss them, oh, we don't want to buy them because
they're with the Master. They're with the Master. David
says, so shall we ever be with the Lord." Again, Mr. Bunyan. Now, I further saw that
between the pilgrims and the gate of the Celestial City was
a river, but there was no bridge to go over, and the river was
very deep, and at the sight of this river, the pilgrims were
much stunned. But those who went with them
said, you must go through or you cannot come to the gate of
the city. The pilgrims then begin to despond
in their minds and look this way and that, but no way could
be found by which they might escape the river. Ah, but listen,
God speaks here in Isaiah 43. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, I have redeemed you. I have called you by name, you
are mine. When you pass through the waters,
I'll be with you. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire,
you'll not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon you."
You know, we can only see one side of a believer's death. I've been at the bedside of believers
who died, and so have you. And we can only witness the expiring
breath The vanishing light, the vapor being completely put away. The cold corpse. We can't see
the rising on the other side. The angel convoy. Heaven's gate
open. And Jesus Christ standing there
with arms open to welcome them home. We can't see that. But
that doesn't mean it's not so. While we look not at the things
which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, where the
things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not
seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly
house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building
of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. The pilgrims, I'm back to Mr.
Bunyan, the pilgrims approached the water and upon entering it,
Christian began to sink and he cried out to his good friend
Hopeful. He shouted, I'm sinking in deep waters, the billows are
rolling over my head, all his waves are washing over me. Then
Hopeful replied, take courage my brother, I feel the bottom. And it is firm. I feel the bottom. And it is
firm. Oh, Rock of Ages, cleft for me. Remember again Joshua? All the Israelites passed over.
They stood firm on dry ground until all the people were passed
clean over Jordan. Let me read, if you will, one
more time from Pilgrim's Progress. After they'd gone through the
river of death, now that city stood upon a hill, but the pilgrims
went up that way with ease, because they had these two shining ones
to lead them up by their hands. Also, they left their mortar
garments behind them in the river, for though they went in with
them, they came out without them. This robe of flesh I'll drop
and rise to seize the everlasting prize." The conversation they
had with the Shining Ones was about the splendor of that place.
They told the pilgrims that the beauty and the glory of it was
inexpressible. There, they said, is Mount Zion,
the heavenly city, the innumerable company of angels and the spirits
of just men made perfect. You are now going to the paradise
of God wherein you shall see the tree of life and eat of the
never-fading fruits. When you arrive there, you shall
have white robes given you, and you shall walk and talk with
the king every day. You shall walk and talk with
the king every day, even through all the days of eternity. There
you shall never again see such things as you saw when you were
in the lower region of the earth. namely sorrow and sickness and
affliction and death, for the former things are passed away.
And you will enjoy the perpetual sight and vision of the Holy
One, for there you shall see Him as He is. There also you
shall be clothed with glory and majesty, fit company for the
King of glory. When He shall come with trumpet
sound in the clouds, as upon the wings of the wind, you shall
come with Him And so shall we ever be with the Lord. And you
may go in and look upon your Redeemer's face with joy. And Dan Bunyan wrote, the heavenly
host gave a sweet shout saying, blessed are those who are called
to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Again, Exodus 15, that
other song, thou shalt bring them in and plant them. in the
mountain of thine inheritance, in the place, O Lord, which thou
hast made for thee to dwell in, in the sanctuary, O Lord, which
thy hands have established." Isaiah 35 and 10. And the ransom
of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting
joy upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness,
and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Shall flee away. Let me bring this to a close.
Isaiah chapter 51, 5 rather, verse 1. Listen to this. Hearken
to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the Lord, look unto
the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence
ye are digged. Jeremiah. The word which came to Jeremiah
from the Lord saying, arise and go down to the potter's house.
and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down
to the potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels.
Samuel Rutherford said, God has his tools for the stone he wishes
to place in his temple. The divine sculptor, our heavenly
father, with each successive stroke of the chisel, has this
great Indian view of bringing out his image in the soul. with truth and purity and kindness. And while not one stroke of that
chisel is unnecessary, he will not cease his work until the
spiritual marble has been fashioned so as to reach perfectly and
forever his own ideal, his son. Oh, look what the heavenly sculpture,
God, by these painful chiseling of the marble, which we are,
the rock from which we are hewn, look at the model he's making
us into, his son, his son. Chisel away, my father, chisel
away. This is exactly what Paul says
in Romans 8 and 28. And we know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them who are called
according to his purpose, for whom he did foreknow, he also
did predestinate to what? To be conformed to the image
of his son that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. And Peter wrote, he also, as
lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to
offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. I found this poem. It goes like
this. No sign that the marble was white
was only a block at best, but the artist with inward sight
looked further than all the rest and saw in the hard, rough stone
the loveliest statue, the sun shone on. So he set to work with
care and chiseled a form of grace, a figure divinely fair with a
tender, beautiful face. But the blows were hard and fast
that brought from the marble that work at last. So I think
that the believer's lives must bear God's chisel keen If the
spirit yearns and strives for the better life unseen, for men
are only blocks at best until the chiseling brings out all
the rest. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus in two good works. And being confident of this very
thing, that he which hath begun a good work on you will perform
it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ. And until that
day, when we shall see him as he is and be like him, God's
goodness and mercy will follow us all our days. God bless you.