In that passage we read earlier
in Exodus chapter 3, the Lord God appeared to Moses and Moses
said, I will turn aside to see this great sight, why the bush
is not burnt. And when he did, the Lord made
a revelation of himself to Moses. He said, I am the God of thy
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. What's revealed in those words?
What did God intend to teach Moses and to teach us by that
revelation? There are several things that
are obvious. First, the Lord God declared, I am the God. There is none other. all that
are called gods other than he who is Jehovah our God, the God
of the living, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of
life and of death, the God of universal dominion, the God of
grace, and the God of judgment. All others who are called gods
are but idols, and we will sing his praise before the gods. We will worship and adore him
and proclaim his name before the gods. He alone is the God. Then the Lord said to Moses,
I am the God of thy father. Oh, what a blessed privilege
God reminds Moses of here. Your father worshipped me. and I was his God. I'm the God
of your father. I was then and I am now. What a great privilege is bestowed
upon you who are raised in the homes of men and women who believe
God, worship God, and serve God. Moses, daddy, was a Levite. Moses' daddy was of the priestly
tribe of Israel. He and his mother believed God,
and they trained Moses in the nurture and admonition of the
Lord. Though he was raised as Pharaoh's
son, God arranged it for him to be raised by his own mama.
She was treated as his nurse by Pharaoh's daughter. But she
knew and Moses knew that she was his mother. And this son
of Levi was his father. And they trained him and taught
him as a boy the things of God and the worship of God. And Moses
never forgot it. I don't know when God was pleased
to save Moses. But we're told plainly in the
scriptures that when Moses rose up and slew the Egyptian, he
left Egypt by faith and he chose to suffer affliction with the
children of God rather than enjoy the pleasures of sin, the riches
of Egypt for a season. This man, Moses, being taught
of his parents, the worship of God, the knowledge of God, the
faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, was himself an heir of God's
grace. Oh, may God do for you who sat
here all these years under the sound of the gospel what he did
for Moses. May he be pleased to give you
life and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then third, the Lord
identified himself as the God of Abraham. What a statement
that is. Abraham was the imminent reminder
of covenant mercy. Abraham was the imminent reminder
of God's covenant with Israel. The imminent reminder that God
has a chosen people, a chosen people whom he has blessed, to
whom he will grant his mercy no matter what. A chosen people
he will bring into a land typified by Canaan. into the land flowing
with milk and honey, the land of heavenly glory and bliss,
the land of mercy and grace forever, that land which is Emmanuel's
land, heaven itself. Abraham stood imminently in the
mind of these Israelites and in the mind of Moses as an example
of God's covenant faithfulness. The Lord was saying to Moses
when he said, I'm the God of Abraham, he said, Moses, You
can count on me. You can trust me. You can believe
me. I'm the faithful God of Abraham. The God of your father. And then
fourth, he said to Moses, I'm the God of Isaac. Isaac. When I think about Isaac, the
first thing I think about is sacrifice. First thing I think
about, God commanded Abraham to take his son Isaac, his only
son, whom he dearly loved, with him to a mount that he would
show him in three days. He said, now I want you to sacrifice
your son to me. And Abraham and Isaac went up
together. They arose early in the morning
and went up together to the place that God had appointed. Picturing,
of course, our great Jehovah, God, the father and God, the
son arose early in the morning of eternity. And they went up
together through the ages of time to that place ordained before
the world was where God would sacrifice his son. As Isaac carried
the wood and the fire up to the sacrifice, to the place of sacrifice,
he said, Father, we had the fire for a burnt offering. We got
the wood to burn. But where is the lamb? We didn't bring a sacrifice with
us. And Abraham said, my son, God will provide himself a lamb
for a burnt offering. And Isaac pictured that lamb,
that substitute, our Lord Jesus Christ, who carried the fire
and the wood of the sacrifice himself, and who bear our sins
in his own body upon the tree, and died in our stead under the
wrath and curse of God when he was made sin for us. And thus
portrays God's great name, Jehovah Jireh. the Lord will provide. He who sees our need, meets our
need. He who sees our need, provides
our need. He who gave his son, who delivered
him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give
us all things? His name is Jehovah Jireh. And then the Lord said to Moses,
I'm the God of Jacob. I am the God, the God of your
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of the
covenant, the God of redemption, and the God of Jacob, the God
of all grace. Jacob have I loved. Jacob, imminently the example
of God's grace, Jacob. loved of God, chosen of God,
preserved by God, called by God, saved by God, all together without
any reason in himself, Jacob. God is still this God. He is the God, the God of our
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob. The God who keeps the covenant,
the God who redeems and saves his people, the God who has grace
upon poor, needy sinners who can do nothing for himself. Oh,
God, our Father, will you this day by your spirit make yourself
known to sinners in this place? Will God, will God, our Father,
will you be pleased today to call out these dead ones we bring
before you in life and faith in our Redeemer. Those things,
it seems to me, are obvious. But in Luke chapter 20, you don't
need to turn there. This is how I got started working
on this today. I was writing up the lesson on
children of the resurrection in Luke 20. You remember the
Sadducees came to the Lord Jesus and they They thought they had
hatched a clever way they could trap him in their words. They
didn't believe in the resurrection. They were, like most religious
people, they used the Bible, used the word of God, used the
scriptures as a cloak for their ungodliness, and they quoted
the scriptures and referred to the scriptures and studied the
scriptures and got doctor's degrees and studied the scriptures. And
if you had a television program, they'd be the fellows on TV to
talk about scriptures anytime something came up. The Sadducees,
however, didn't believe a frazzling thing. They didn't believe in
heaven. They didn't believe in hell,
they didn't believe in the soul, they didn't believe in the resurrection,
they didn't believe in life after death. The Sadducees were liberals,
and they came like the Pharisees and the Herodians had done before
them, and the lawyers, and thought they could catch the Lord in
his words. And the Pharisees' tricks didn't
work, and the Herodians' tricks didn't work, Others, folks who came, the lawyers
who came trying to catch the master didn't work, but the Sadducees,
they were smart. When men think they're smarter
than God, you can mark it down, they're fools. But they thought
they were smart, and they thought they could get the Lord trapped
in their words and find an excuse to justify killing him. And so
they proposed something from the law. They came with the book
and said, Master, Isn't that wonderful? Oh, they were so respectful
to the Lord. No, they were hissing devils.
They said, Master, Master, pretending to reverence Him. Moses in the
law tells us that if a man marries a woman and he dies and they
have no children, then the wife is going to marry his brother
and raise up children to the dead. Yes, that's right. That's what Moses and the Law
said. Well, there was one who married a wife and he died. They
didn't have any children. And his brother married her and
he died and they didn't have any children. And his brother
married her and he died and they didn't have any children. And
his brother married her and they died and he didn't have any children.
Seven of them. Seven of them. You got more chance
of winning the lottery than that happening. Not even a possibility
of it. But folks who like to fuss religion
and debate religion like to question and argue from points of ridiculous
things. And they said, whose wife will
she be in the resurrection? As if to pretend they really
did believe there was going to be a resurrection. And the Lord
Jesus refused to answer them. He refused to answer them. That's
a good practice. That's a good practice. When
folks want to argue about things that are obvious, just ignore
them. When folks want to argue about the things of God, just
ignore them. I'm not suggesting you not minister
to folks, witness to them. By all means, do. By all means,
do. But when folks come and want
to argue the scriptures, you lower the Word of God to the
standard of your intellect and reason to argue with them about
it. Just declare truth and leave
it be. Leave it be. The Lord ignored
them and he seized the opportunity to teach his disciples something
about Exodus chapter 3 verse 6. He said, this is proof of
the resurrection. Here's the proof of the resurrection.
Fellas, do you remember when God appeared to Moses on the
mount, in the burning bush. And Moses turned aside to see
this great sight, what was going on, what was to be revealed here. And God spoke to Moses out of
the bush. He knew what he was talking about.
He is the God who spoke to Moses out of the bush. He said, do
you remember what he said? He said, I am the God of thy
father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. I'm not the God of the dead,
but of the living. I'm the God of the living. You
mean Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are living? You mean Moses' daddy
is living? Yeah. I'm not the God of the
dead, but the God of the living. And then he tells us that we
who believe him are counted worthy of resurrection glory and names
us, Larry, Children of the Resurrection. Children of the Resurrection. Children of the Resurrection. Did you get hold of that? Children
of the Resurrection. You and I who believe are heirs
of God and joint heirs with Christ and as such are children of the
resurrection. If you know God, you shall live
with him forever in resurrection glory. Now this is not some religious
sentiment to soothe your mind in the midst of fears. This is
not some child's play, not some fool's dream. This is a matter
of fact verified in our Redeemer himself and verified in the history
written in this book that none can deny of his resurrection
and his performance of the resurrection. We shall rise from the dead. there is coming a day of resurrection,
a resurrection of the dead, a resurrection of the righteous and of the wicked. The righteous shall be raised
in the glory of Christ, raised to inherit eternal life with
Jesus Christ, raised from the dead to live forever in the bliss
of glory because it is their right to do so, they've been
made righteous in Christ. made righteous in Christ, just
as he was made sin and punished for sin. We in him have been
made the righteousness of God and shall be rewarded for righteousness. And there will also be a resurrection
of the wicked, a resurrection of the damned, a resurrection
to judgment and to damnation. And the wicked shall stand before
our God and Savior at the great white throne and shall be judged. Every man according to his works
out of the books, the record books of heaven, where God who
remembers everything has marked your sins. And for your sins,
you shall be rewarded justly. Just that. God will throw you
into hell. And as you go kicking and screaming
into hell, you will be forced to bow before his throne and
scream, Amen, God's right. God's right. Now you can fuss
and curse all you want to between here and there. But before God
casts you into hell, you're going to bow down before the throne
of Jesus Christ and acknowledge that he is right to send you
to hell. I urge you then, I bid you then
trust the Lord Jesus. Oh God help you now. Flee to
Christ. Believe on the son of God. If
indeed you believe him, life eternal is yours. God's given
it to you. God's wrought it in you. Oh God
help you then to believe. If you believe not, you shall be raised to everlasting
damnation. Raised to everlasting damnation. To torment forever. And the righteous
will say amen and worship God. And there'll be no weeping for
you. No sorrow for you. These preachers you hear who
talk about tears in heaven over the multitudes
of the damned, that's sentimental, emotional slop and nonsense.
It's nonsense. We weep for you now, but there
won't be any weeping then. We plead with you now, but there
won't be any pleading then. We beg God to have mercy on you
now, but there'll be no begging then. Those days are over when
this day is over. There shall be a resurrection
of the just and of the unjust. A resurrection of the righteous
and of the wicked. A resurrection of the living
and of the dead. Some raised to a wedding and
glory. Others raised to damnation and
gloom. Prepare to meet your God. We
who believe live in hope of the resurrection. Turn to John chapter
20. We live in hope of the resurrection
because we trust Christ. Who says, I am the resurrection
and the life. He that liveth and believeth
on me shall never die. We live in hope of the resurrection. If in this life only we have
hope in Christ, Paul said, we're of all men most miserable. Now,
that does not mean that If there were no such thing as resurrection,
if this were not really true, then we would really prefer not
to live in obedience to God and submission to his will. It doesn't
mean that if there were no resurrection, the righteous would really suffer
because we missed out on all the good times in this world.
Folks talk like that and betray something about themselves. No,
no, no, no. Well, what does it mean? If in
this life only we have hope in Christ, we're of all men most
miserable. The most shocking, horrid thought
I can entertain in my mind is the possibility of no resurrection. Imagine what it'd be like to
die like a dog, never enjoy the presence of Christ,
the embrace of Christ, the glory of Christ, the knowledge of Christ
that only heavenly glory can bring. If this is all the hope
we have, this delusion that men call it, if this resurrection,
this hope of the resurrection is just a vain delusion, then
the most miserable creatures on God's earth are you and I
who believe God and live in hope of the resurrection. But that's
not going to happen. That's not going to happen. Oh,
no. We are members of his body. He's the head. He rose from the
dead. And his resurrection is an indisputable
fact of history. I mean, you've got to go some
stretch to disprove the resurrection. because it's demonstrated with
such clarity by him being verified at one time seen by more than
500 men. At one time, on eight different
occasions, he showed himself the risen Lord and each one verified
by those who saw it. And yet folks will tell us, no,
it's not so. It's not so. You might as well tell me that
Abraham Lincoln and George Washington never lived. No, no, he rose
from the dead. And if he rose, his member shall
rise. If he rose, not one member of
his body shall perish, else the body would be maimed. He rose
from the dead, and as we have borne the image of the first
Adam, so we must bear the image of the last. As we have borne
the image of the earthly Adam, so we must bear the image of
the heavenly Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ. We shall rise from the
dead. It's called the blessed hope.
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, people these days talk about various stages of the second
coming. I was reading something the other
day, working on one of my messages, and a fellow said, this is the
secret stage, the first stage of the Lord's threefold second
coming. I went back and I thought, Let me see if I read that right.
This is the first stage of the Lord's threefold second coming.
And I read it a third time. And that's what the fellow said.
Folks think there's going to be some kind of a secret rapture
going to take place, you know, the Lord's going to come and
everybody's all excited about that. You're going to be a secret
rapture, and they're going to take folks out who are good enough
to get out. And then there are going to be
seven years of great tribulation, and God's going to get everything
fixed up over in Israel so those Jews will accept Him. And the
Lord's going to come again in the second part of His second
coming. And then He's going to take everybody out, and there's
going to be a new crevice, a new earth created, going to be 1,000
years of folks living in Palestine in watermelons big as your house,
and string beans long as your arm, and all that nonsense. And
then the Lord is going to come in the third phase of his second
coming. That's going to be the end of it. You know, the scriptures
never talk about that nonsense. Nowhere. No, nothing talks about
the Lord coming in a secret rapture. That's just not in the book.
That's just not in the book. He's coming in the it's called
the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior. when
he calls out those that are asleep in Christ, and then those that
lie and remain until the coming of the Lord, and then those that
are called up in judgment, and the Lord will make all things
new, and we shall forever be with the Lord. How do we know
these things shall come to pass? Yonder sits a man on the throne
of God in my flesh, and I sit there with him. Dave
Coleman, the book says we were quickened together with Christ. Raised up with him. We were raised
up when he was raised up representatively. And we were raised up with him
in the blessed experience of the new birth. Blessed and holy
are they that have part in the first resurrection. The first
resurrection. The first resurrection. David,
if you have experienced the new birth, you've been raised from
the dead. On such, the second death hath
no power. The second death, eternal damnation,
has no claim on you, no power on you, not if you've been raised
up from the dead quickened together with Christ. And being raised
from the dead in the new birth, the day will soon come when we
shall be raised with our Savior in resurrection glory. These
bodies, these bodies are going to the grave. They're going to
the grave. Now, I want to help you as I
had been helped and I hope to be helped. No more to look on
that grave as a thing to be shunned or feared or hidden from. That
seemed to be pushed out of the way. I don't want to think about
that. Oh, I want to think about that.
I want to think about that. I think about it a lot. I think
about it a lot. Oh, I want to think about it.
I want to think about it. My wife, like most folks, I hate
the thought of being parted from her. She hates the thought of
being parted from me, and we're reluctant about going buying
grape plots or arranging for those things. I don't want my
daughter and son-in-law have to take care of it. I want to do it. I don't
want to do it. Oh, this is not something to
be dreaded. This is not something to be dreaded. Our Lord Jesus
came out of the tomb. And his empty tomb is proof of
his resurrection. And he left us some things in
the tomb. to make the tomb comfortable for us. Let's look at it. John
chapter 20. John chapter 20. The first day of the week cometh
Mary Magdalene early when it was yet dark unto the sepulcher
and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulcher. Then she
runneth and cometh to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom
Jesus loved. and saith unto them, they've
taken away the Lord out of the tomb, out of the sepulchre, and
we know not where they've laid him. Peter therefore went forth
and the other disciple and came to the sepulchre. So they ran
both together and the other disciple did outrun Peter and came first
to the sepulchre. And he stooping down and looking
in saw the linen clothes lying, yet he went not in. Then come
a Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre,
and seeth the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about
his head, not lined with the linen clothes, but wrapped together
in a place by itself. Then went in also that other
disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw and
believed. For as yet they knew not the
scripture, that he must rise again from the dead. John and Peter hear the news
from Mary Magdalene. They take off running out to
the tomb. And John got there first, and
he stoops down, and he looks in, and he sees the linen clothes,
the grave clothes, those things they wrapped a master's body
in, Moldy shroud with some kind of a heavenly imprint on it.
Some kind of a ghostly imprint. Isn't it amazing what intellectuals
will fall for and show themselves foolish? Let's study the sacred
shroud. Maybe we found it now. Oh, this
might be it. If you find it, burn it. What's
nonsense? That's nonsense. No, not some
kind of a moldy shroud where a body had decayed and laid there. We've got an image of somebody
that's supposed to look like Jesus on it. That's nothing but
idolatry and superstition. But John went in, or looked in,
and he saw the grave clothes laying there, neatly folded,
neatly folded. Peter comes running behind him.
He ran in there, and he saw those grave clothes, and then Laying
at the head, he saw the napkin, the handkerchief. They wrapped
around the master's face, just neatly folded, just like this. Picked it up, took the thing, folded it up. I get done at dinner. I don't always do it when it's
just us there. Try to, but somebody else is
there. I never want my napkin up thrown on the table. Pick
it up. I'm done with it now. Fold it,
lay it right back down where it was. Not in any hurry. I've enjoyed myself. That was
very good. The Jews, you know, had this
concoction. They hired folks to testify that,
they hired these soldiers to testify that somebody came while
they were sleeping and stole the body of the Lord. And Martha,
I mean Mary, initially thought that's what had happened. She
said, they're taking away the Lord. She didn't notice the grave
clothes and the handkerchief neatly folded. If somebody had
stolen the body, I don't think they'd have taken time to unwrap
it and lay the grave clothes down and fold them up and the
napkin, fold it up and lay it there. No, no. But they were
laid there by the master himself as if to say, now I'm gone, just
like I told you I would be. And here's the proof. Here lie
the napkin and the grave clothes. Our Lord Jesus really did die
in our stead. He really was made sin for us. He really did suffer the wrath
of God as our substitute. He really did satisfy divine
justice. He really was buried in the tomb. He really did rise again because
our justification was accomplished. And now, believing him, we receive
the benefits of all his finished work as our substitute. Believing
him, we receive the atonement, receive the forgiveness of sins. But what is it then that our
Lord has left us here to be of comfort to us? First, We're told
in the scriptures that when Nicodemus and Joseph of Arimathea came
to prepare our Lord's body for the burial, Nicodemus, or Joseph
rather, brought spices, myrrh, a hundred pounds worth, brought
sweet spices with which he embalmed the Savior's body, with which
he anointed his body. Our Lord's body was not allowed
to see corruption. He arose before the third day
had really gotten started early. Early in the morning of the third
day, he arose from the tomb. So no corruption had set in.
And when he left the tomb, when Peter and John came to that tomb, they walked in that place. It
must smell like a perfume store. That's just not what you expect
in a tomb. That's just not what you expect. I walked in there,
oh, man, this is a sweet-smelling place. Mm, this is a sweet-smelling
place. We tend to go to the graveyard
and think about them as spooky places. When I was a boy, I guess
you fellas did the same thing. I lived in the city, and we wanted
to scare the liver out of fellas. We'd take them out to the cemetery.
and drive around in that thing, get them lost as a goose, and
run off and leave them. And you'd have fellows running,
scared, trying to find their way out of that thing. Oh, everybody's
scared to death in the cemetery. Some of you are, too. Let me
tell you something. For believers, it's the sweetest
smelling place on this earth. sweet spices left behind by the
risen Lord where he had laid. He filled the grave with sweet
smells where corruption and foul decay once prevailed. And now
we can see why should we tremble to convey these bodies to the
tomb? There the dear flesh of Jesus
lay and left a long perfume. The graves of all the saints
he blessed and softened every bed. Where should the dying members
rest but with their dying head? Thence he arose ascending high
and showed our feet the way up to the Lord. We too shall fly
at that great rising day. We should never draw back from
the grave, as if it's something to be dreaded. Yea, though I walk through the
valley of death, I shall fear no evil, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort
me. Next, our Savior left something
else. He left his grave clothes. the
clothes he was buried in, left them for us to look upon as tokens
of his fellowship with us in this low estate, as reminders
that as he cast aside the garments of death, so shall we. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 5.
Let's read this blessed passage again. Start in chapter 4. Our Lord Jesus left his bedclothes
behind. And soon, I'm going to drop this
robe of flesh. And somebody's going to stick
it in the ground. It's just a robe of flesh. That's all. Look at 2 Corinthians 4, verse
16. For which cause we faint, not though our outward men perish,
yet the inward man is renewed day by day for our light affliction.
Our light affliction, which is but for a moment. What's that
talking about? Fred, that's all the trouble
you have in this world. That's all of it. Our light affliction,
which is but for a moment. We were over the other day, got
a little something in his finger. Wanted me to get it out for him.
And I took my pocket knife and scratched the time or two in
his goal. I said, that's nothing, buddy. Hurt nothing. That never
satisfied him. Now, pop says not gonna bother
anything, not gonna bother anything. Will you hear me? These light
afflictions that are just for a minute, they're not gonna bother
anything. Nothing to fret about, nothing
to worry about, nothing to weep over. Our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things
which are seen, we don't focus on those things that are seen,
but the things which are not seen. For the things which are
not seen are temporal. Things which are seen are temporal
and things which are not seen are eternal. Everything you see
here is just temporal. It's just temporal. I get disgusted
with myself when I pay too much attention to the news. Boy, the
economy is shot. Liberties are gone. Nations fallen.
This is just temporary. This is just temporary. It's
just temporary. But by the darkness, these things
are important. Well, relatively, I reckon maybe they are a little.
Relatively. But Mark, not really. Eternal things are important.
Nothing else is. Nothing else is. For we know,
we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved,
we have a building of God and a house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. I know that my Redeemer liveth. He shall stand at the last day
upon this earth, whom I shall see for myself and not another. We live in the blessed hope of
dropping these grave clothes in the grave and rising to be
with Christ our Redeemer forever. These emblems, these grave clothes
certainly are emblems of the righteousnesses of the saints. They're called fine linen, clean
and white. The righteousness. John tells
us not just these are grave clothes, but these were the linens. The linens. I'm so glad the Spirit
of God put that there. You see, the Lord Jesus in his
resurrection has left behind perfect righteousness for his
people. It's called the garments of salvation.
And in Revelation speaks of that, Revelation 19 speaks of the righteousnesses
of the saints as being linen clothes. And the word righteousnesses
should be translated into plural, not singular. What's that talking
about? Oh, that's the righteous works
of the saints. We're justified by his works. Now we really get
cleaned up by our works. No, that doesn't get it. Lindsay,
your righteousnesses are these two things. What Christ did for
you representatively in free justification imputed to you.
And what Christ put in you and made you by his grace when he
made you partake of the divine nature. Righteousness. These spotless, white garments,
linen clothes left behind by the Son of God for his people.
Righteousness, which makes us worthy to be children of the
resurrection. Righteousness, which makes us
stand before God perfect in Christ Jesus. And then John tells us
here in verses 6 and 7, Peter walked in and and saw the
napkin that was about his head, carefully folded up and laid
by itself. I see that napkin still. It is the handkerchief with which
our God wipes away all tears from our eyes. Thus saith the Lord, refrain
thy voice from weeping and thine eyes from tears, for thy work
shall be rewarded, saith the Lord, and they shall come again
from the land of the enemy. The Lord promised I did me and
shall live together with my dead body. Shall they arise awake
and see? So that we come to God in true
repentance. I do more than what I am. And
if ever you come to God, you won't come any other way. You
must come acknowledging what you are. And the Lord God takes
the napkin and says, Christ, who bore your sin, put it away
and is risen and wipes away your tears. He comes to you in free
forgiveness and wipes the tears from your eyes. And when you're
troubled, the risen Christ comes and wipes the tears from your
eyes again, tells you he's sitting on the throne. He does everything
right, does everything well. When you're faced with fear,
oh, what horrid unbelief we display in our fears. Let me see if I can be honest
with this. Alan Kidby, I don't believe I have ever been afraid
of anything in my life in the experience of it. I've never been involved in something
while I was involved with it that caused me any fear. But
oh, my soul, what apprehensions I've had anticipating stuff. Anticipating it. Oh, what's going
to happen? Fearful, fearful. Think about
those grandchildren. We still call them our babies,
but oh, fearful, fearful. Kids take off, go on a trip.
Fearful, fearful. Just apprehensive, fearful. Afraid
of what might happen. All the things that could happen.
Afraid of it. When your husband or wife takes
off, you're just fearful. You go to the hospital. Fearful,
fearful, in anticipation, in anticipation. But there's no
need to fear anything in anticipation or in reality. He who redeemed
you rules the universe for you. Can you get hold of that? He
who loved you and gave himself for you rules the universe for
you. He left this napkin here. wipe
all tears from our eyes. You go to the tomb and you bury
the one you love dearest. And you go home with an aching
heart. And the Lord Jesus brings the
handkerchief. And he says, blessed are the
dead that die in the Lord. For these, there should be no
more weeping, no more sorrow, no more pain, for the former
things are passed away. And he wipes the tears from your
eyes. The Lord left something else
in the tomb. When Mary got there, she saw
two angels. I didn't finish reading down
to verse 20, but she carried on conversation with these angels.
Two angels sitting in white raiment. Men had the appearance of men,
but they were angels. They were clothed in white. They
must have been radiant, something else. And were not told that
those angels were ever taken out of the tomb. When she left,
they were still there. They were still there. I don't
know much about the angels of God, those spirit beings, but
I know this. They're ministering spirits sent
forth to minister to those who shall be the heirs of salvation.
And the Lord Jesus still has his Lazaruses. And when his Lazaruses
breathe their last breath, and their spirits leave their bodies
and they ascend to heaven. The angels of God still carry
Lazarus to Abraham's bosom. Oh, those courtiers of heavenly
glory bring the master servants into his court in their own hands. And there's something else. The
tomb, the stones rolled away. And now it's all light. Back when I was foolish enough
to go to funerals where some babbling preacher, real worship
preacher was preaching, I went and heard this fellow. Actually,
I didn't go to the funeral. I went to the viewing, as they
called it, West Virginia many years ago. And this preacher
got up to read, console the family. And this is how that idiot blasphemer
consoled the family. I hope there's some listening
to me. I hope a bunch of them hear this message. Idiot blasphemers. He said, well, we really don't
know what lies beyond the grave. If I'd have been 61 instead of
21 or 22, I believe I'd have stood up and said, I do. You
want to hear it? The Lord left light. left light. When the believer dies, he ascends
to glory. And at God's right hand are pleasures
forevermore. Just pleasures forevermore. Then shall I be satisfied when
I awake with thy I've told you this before, but
I don't know any better way to express it, this blessed hope,
living in the hope of the resurrection, looking for the mercy of our
Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Back years ago, back years
ago, we had that boxwood elder tree right outside the patio
there, just beside it. And Robin, every year, come lay
her nest in that thing. One year, the grandchildren were
over there, we were young. And they'd go out, every time
they'd come they saw that eggs, blue eggs in that tree. And they'd
go out and look again, go out and look again. And one time
they came and Robin, not Robin, what's our granddaughter's name,
Audrey Grace, ran out to see that Robin's nest. And she ran
out there and when she did, she came back in all upset. The eggs
were broken and nothing there. And I told her, I said, honey,
Those eggs broken mean that everything's all right. That robin set on
the eggs and her babies hatched out and now they've flown away.
And one of these days, hear me, my friends, this body shall be
laid in the earth. And when it is so, there's no
need to weep or to mourn or sorrow as those that have no hope. I
will have burst from this shale into life everlasting as one
of the children of the resurrection. God make it so for you. Amen.