John was inspired by God the
Holy Spirit to write his gospel narrative specifically for the
purpose of identifying the Lord Jesus Christ as God. Now some imaginary brilliant
men these days try to convince you that The Lord Jesus never
claimed to be God and that he, when men understand that he's
talking about being God, they're terribly mistaken. That's not
even a possibility. The Jews understood clearly what
he taught. They said, we're going to kill
you because you, being a man, make yourself God. The Messiah, the King, the Christ,
our Savior, our Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel is Himself
God. And every time you read about
God walking with men in the Old Testament, appearing to men,
speaking to men, making Himself known to men, That one who is
speaking to them is the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior, God
the Son, in one of his many pre-incarnate appearances, whereby he showed
himself as that one who would come in human flesh. When Moses
stood at the burning bush, the Lord Jesus spoke to him, representing
and speaking for, as a mediator, the triune God. And he said, my name is I Am. The name of his self-existence,
the name of his great might, the name of his eternal self-sufficiency,
the name of the Redeemer, I Am, tell them, has sent thee unto
them. And when you come to read the
Gospel of John, over and over and over again, Our Lord Jesus
uses these very same words, I am. What words he uses to identify
himself. You remember when the chief priest
and the garrison soldiers were led by Judas to the Lord Jesus
in the garden and the betrayer had come to betray him with a
kiss. Judas was fearful, but he was a betrayer. He said, now
when I kiss him, you hold him fast. And so the soldiers come
and the Lord Jesus does something I've never heard tell of a prisoner
doing before. It is something I've never heard
tell of one who was sought by the law doing before. He takes
the initiative. He stands up and says to the
soldiers, whom seek ye? And they said, we're seeking
Jesus of Nazareth. And he said, I am. And they fell away as dead men. And he raised them up again.
He said, now that you know who you're dealing with, who is it
you said you were seeking? I am he. Our Lord Jesus spoke
and said, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. He said twice, I am the light
of the world. He that followeth me shall not
walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. He said, I
am the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. He said to Martha, I am the resurrection
and the life. Martha's talking to him about
the resurrection as though it's a doctrine, as though it's a
theory. And he said, Martha, don't you understand? I am the
resurrection. I am the life. They said, I am
the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh under the father,
but by me. And he said, I am the true vine.
I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. Now in all
those places of scripture, our master shows himself to be the
master of simplicity. And that means he was the master
of preachers. When you read our Lord's teachings,
whether in the Sermon on the Mount or in any of the passages
in the scriptures where our Lord Jesus is speaking, have you ever
noticed how utterly simple and plain he is in his doctrine?
He seldom uses more than two or three syllable words, seldom. He speaks with utter simplicity,
with such simplicity that he could not be misunderstood, except
when he spoke in parables to men, intending that those who
had no ears would not hear, and those who had no eyes would not
see. Our Lord Jesus spoke with utter
simplicity. He cared nothing about displays
of logic to prove anything. When He preached and taught the
most profound things revealed in this book, He did it with
simplicity. He just declared it and left
it at that. He cared nothing about displays of rhetoric and
eloquence. He just spoke the word of truth
from him who is himself the truth, the word of God. He comes and
speaks to men with simplicity. And here in John chapter 10,
our Lord again is teaching us splendid, marvelous, wondrous
things, and he does it with utter simplicity. Our subject this
morning is found here in John chapter 10, where our Lord says
twice, I am the door. I am the door that's beginning
in verse one. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that entereth not by the door
into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, The same as
a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the
door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth, and
the sheep hear his voice. And he calleth his own sheep
by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his
own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him, for
they know his voice. And the stranger will they not
follow, but will flee from him. For they know not the voice of
strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them. Remember now,
he's talking to the Pharisees. These same folks he'd been talking
to back in chapter 8. He's talking to these Pharisees. This parable spake Jesus unto
them, but they understood not what things they were which he
spake unto them. Then said Jesus unto them again,
Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door. I am the door,
the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me
are thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn't hear them. I
am the door. I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not before to
steal and to kill and to destroy. I'm come. that they might have
life and they might have it more abundantly. Of all comparisons
in the scripture, our Lord might use to illustrate and set forth
that he is appointed of God as our singular savior, as the only
one by whom sinners might enter into life. None could be more
profound and none more simply put than this. Lord Jesus says,
I am the door. The youngest person here this
morning, I expect is Noah. And if I said, no, go to the
door, I wouldn't have to point to him where he's going. Do you
know where the door is? What's the door used for? You
go out the door or you come in the door. Folks you want in,
you let in by the door. Folks you want to keep in, you
shut in by the door. And folks you want out, you shut
out by the door. And you keep them shut out by
the door. That's the purpose of the door. A door is a simple
metaphor. Our Lord uses this simple picture
to show us His work and His greatness and His glory as our Savior. And He does it, I think, for
another reason. So that you and I But every time
we go through a door, think of him. Christ is the door. I'm entering
into this room by this door, so I enter into life by Christ. I am going out of this place
by this door. So I walk out of darkness and
trouble by Christ. I'm entering into this delightful
place by a door. So I enter into everlasting glory
by Christ Jesus, the Lord. Our Lord Jesus says, I am the
door. By me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and shall go in and out and find pasture. Now, it's easy enough to understand
what our Lord means when he says, by me, if any man enter in, he
shall be saved and go in. But what on earth does it mean
when he says he should go out and find pasture? If you come
in that door, you've got to come out of that place. You come into
one place, you leave another. And so we come in by Christ the
door. and we leave behind the world. We come in by Christ the door
and we leave behind all our works, religion. We come in by Christ
the door and we leave behind all darkness. We come in by Christ
the door and we leave behind all the bondage and corruption
and depravity of our nature. We walk in by Christ the door
and here we find pasture, pasture in him, pasture for our souls
upon which the sheep feed. All right, now let me show you
three or four things here. First, I want you to understand that
Christ Jesus, when he says, I am the door, he's the only door
out of death into life. He's the only door there is out
of the house of bondage into liberty. He's the only door there
is out of darkness into light. We have many times in scripture
pictures of God's people and bondage, many forms of bondage. Let's focus on that a little
bit. By nature, we're all condemned prisoners shut up under the sentence
of death, rightly so by the justice of God. The scripture had concluded
all understand that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might
be given to them that believe we're guilty. without excuse. We're debtors with nothing to
pay. We're criminals. We violated
every aspect of God's law. We're under the sentence of death.
That's our nature. We're prisoners shut up in a
prison where there is no hope. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
door out of our prison. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Christ is the one who's come
to set the prisoners free, to proclaim liberty to the captives.
Turn to Isaiah 61. The Lord Jesus has set many captives
free. Thou hast loosed my bonds, the
psalmist said. I know something about this.
being in bondage and being set free. Isaiah 61 verse 1, the
spirit of the Lord is upon me because the Lord hath anointed
me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and the
opening of the prison to them that are bound. Zechariah speaks
of him setting the prisoners of hope free, coming to those
who are his captives, his lawful captives, and setting them free.
As he sent his angel to Peter and John to release them from
prison, he sent his servant to you today to proclaim liberty
to the captives, liberty. Word to God, you who yet are
without Christ, may this day find liberty, the blessed liberty
of life and grace in Him. It is a liberty that is lawful. because he has earned it by his
obedience. It is lawful because he has fully
met all the demands of God's justice, satisfying the law in
the behalf of sinners. It's lawful for he's paid our
debt. It is a liberty that's given
by the power of God's spirit so that we come to proclaim liberty,
not to make it, to proclaim liberty, not to tell you how to get it
or how to earn it. to proclaim it. Christ comes
and proclaims liberty to the captives. As Israel came out
of Egypt by the hand of Moses, Moses says they were brought
out by the hand of God. They're brought out by the blood
of the Lamb, by the power of God, and passing through the
Red Sea. So Christ the door is our only
way out of darkness and slavery and bondage and prison. Some
of you still struggle greatly with legalism. Oh, what a terrible,
terrible bondage legal religion is. We are all condemned prisoners
by nature, and we are all by nature bondmen under the law,
a condemnation we fully deserve, and yet a condemnation that we
fear and despise. But there is this religious bondage,
and we love it. It's just our nature. We love
it. We love the shackles of duty, the leg irons of ceremony, and
the stocks of piety, and the prison of legality. We all love
it. Love to have somebody tell us
what to do. What to do. I started to tell
you just a while back when I was writing, I had written a book
on the Church of God that was published One of the editors
strongly suggested that I should give some things concerning tithing,
give some rules, less people might give too much. And I said,
well, if I ever had that problem, I might consider that, but I've
never seen that happen yet. But at the same time, people
do that because they love rules, rules, regulations. We love to
be treated like children. We love to have somebody to lead
us around and tell us what we must do. And I think I know the
reason why. I think I know the reason why.
David, we don't like having responsibility on our own. Well, I did what you told me
to do. If that doesn't work, then it's your fault, not mine.
We like to have someone else to blame. We love having someone
else to guide us, and we love to have a measuring stick by
which we can measure our holiness and our piety as we make advances
in obedience. We love bondage. The Lord Jesus
sets sinners free. You remember that Gadarene? They
tried to bind him with chains and fetters, and he would break
them loose, and he was a wild man. And then the Lord Jesus
came to him, and he cast out those demons that were in him.
And the folks from the city came, this wild gathering that religion
couldn't tame. They came out and they saw him
sitting at the master's feet, clothed and in his right mind. He wasn't just tamed, he's a
new man. You know what Scripture says
about that? Merle, they were all afraid. They were all afraid. This wild man, they got accustomed
to living with him. They got accustomed to the man who would
break his shackles. They got accustomed to the man
who walked around naked in the graveyard all the time. They
got accustomed to that. This man who would run around
cutting himself and screaming. They got accustomed to that.
But here sits this same man at the master's feet, clothed. That's where grace puts us. At
his feet, clothed in his righteousness, washed in his blood, and in his
right mind. And they were terrified by him.
Listen to the scriptures. The Lord Jesus says, come unto
me. All ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly at heart. And you shall find rest unto
your souls. Our Savior said to these Pharisees,
if the Son, therefore, shall make you free, you shall be free
indeed. Ishmael persecuted Isaac, and
the legalists always delight to ridicule and belittle and
mock and slander the liberty of grace. The fact is Ishmael
hates and is terrified of such liberty. But we have other forms
of bondage. We often have times of sickness
and trouble, pain, affliction that just bind our souls. Bind us in ways that shackles
can't bind. Bind us in ways that a prison
cell can't bind. Bind us in ways that we can hardly
describe what you just said about storms that shut us up in darkness. While David was singing, I turned
again to John 17 and read a verse of scripture. Of course, I was
reminded again. When I was in the hospital last
time, I don't know what it is about heart difficulties, but
that, along with the terrible reaction I had to drugs, I had
a horrible time, as you know, in which God wouldn't speak to
me and wouldn't let me speak to
him. And there was nothing I could
do about it. I tried, as Shelby would read
scripture to me, read Hawker and Spurgeon to me, talk to him
about things. We'd try to pray together. Oh,
I tried. Do something to lift this heavy
weight from my soul. Horrible darkness and bondage. Nothing I could do. But bless
her heart, she just kept reading and talking. And one morning
we were sitting together and she read a passage from Spurgeon's
devotional. And it was from John 17, 15.
I pray not that thou wouldest take them out of the world. And
for the first time in weeks, God spoke. You know what? That quick, the bondage is gone.
Just that quick. Just that quick. He's the only
door out, Christ Jesus the Lord. Unto you it is given in the behalf of Christ, not
only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. And Christ
who gives you the trouble is the door out of the trouble.
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,
that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care on
him, for he careth for you. David went through such a time.
You want to turn back to Psalm 73, I'll show you. Psalm 73. He said, when my father and mother
forsake me, the Lord will take me up. Psalm 73, 21. Thus my heart was grieved, and
I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee.
David had seen the prosperity of the wicked, and he said, I've
washed my hands in innocence. It's a foolish thing to serve
God. I've got nothing from serving
God. That's just exactly what it is.
I can't say that. He said, I would have spoken
it, but I dare not, lest I offend against the generation of thy
children. Then I went into the house of God. And I saw their
end. Now watch this. I was foolish, ignorant as a
beast before thee. Nevertheless, that's one of the
best words in the world, Bob. Nevertheless, nevertheless, I
am continually with thee. Thou hast hold me by my right
hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy
counsel, and afterward receive me up to glory. Whom have I in
heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth
that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart faileth,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
For lo, they that are far from thee shall perish. Thou hast
destroyed all them that go a whoring from thee. but it is good for
me to draw near to God. I put my trust in the Lord God
that I may declare all thy works. And as Christ is the only door out
of spiritual death and spiritual graves and spiritual tombs, so
Christ is the only door out of that grave to which we soon must
go. These bodies soon will lie in
the dirt. They will decay and molder and
go back to the earth unless they're pickled like you'd pickle pickles
and put them in a jar. They're going back to the earth
as they should. But bless God, Christ the door
will open our graves and raise us up. Turn to 1 Thessalonians
4. Verse 13. I don't know why you seldom ever
hear preachers deal with these things except at funerals. I want you to think real often
about death. I wish I could get you to think about it all the
time. I pray God will teach me to think about it all the time.
The death of this body. Think about it. Stop right where
you are right now, right now. Say this, say it to yourself,
will you? Will you honestly do it? I will
die soon. I am dying. God teach you to know it and
rejoice in it. and rejoice in it. Look at this.
First Thessalonians 4 13. I would not have you to be ignorant,
brethren, concerning them which are asleep. Asleep. That's right, asleep. They're
dead. No, they're asleep. They're asleep. Their bodies are asleep. Their
souls are with Christ in glory, but their bodies are asleep.
Our Lord said, he that liveth and believeth on me shall never
die. Oh. Well, maybe we should have said,
I shall not die. That'd be all right, too. I shall
not die. I'm not going to die. It's not
going to happen to me. This body is going to the grave.
I shall only continue to live and my life shall only get better.
Concerning them which are asleep. that you sorrow not, even as
others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus
died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus
will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the
word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain under the
coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep.
Now, that word prevent, remember, means to precede or go before. We who are alive and remain to
the coming of the Lord are not going to go up to glory before
those who are asleep. Some of you folks have friends
who are involved in all this prophecy mania nonsense, and
they'll ask you all the time, do you believe in the rapture?
I'll tell you what you ought to do. Ask them, show that to
me from the book. Show that to me from the book. The rapture.
What do you know about the rapture? Not a frazzling thing. There
ain't no such thing. I know I'm talking deliberately
in proper English because I want you to hear me. There ain't no
such thing. Well, didn't this, the rapture, this is exactly
where they'll take you. First Thessalonians chapter four. No,
they're talking about, they're talking about, well, oh, I'm
not going to die. I'm going to live till the Lord comes. I don't want
to die. I don't want to be here when he comes. I'll be taken up in a rapture.
Taken up in a rapture. Why, there's an advantage to
dying. There's an advantage to dying first. because they who
sleep in the grave with the Savior shall rise first. Then we which
are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in
there. We shall arise with our brethren who have gone up from
the graves. And when we do, we will meet
the Lord in the air and he will come here with ten thousands
of his saints. And in a moment, in a twinkling
of an eye, dissolve this earth and make all things new. And
we shall dwell forever with him. Read on. For the Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel and the trump of God and the dead in Christ will rise
first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up
together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.
And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort
one another with these words. All right, back here in John
10 again. Our Lord says, I am the door. He's the door out of
bondage, the only door out of bondage, and he's the only door
into the sheepfold. I am the door by me if any man
enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The Lord is now talking about
entering into his kingdom, the kingdom of God, entering into
the sheepfold of grace. There are many who enter in outwardly,
many who enter into the kingdom by profession, many who enter
the church by a profession of faith who never really enter
in. Because Lindsay dealt with this a little bit this morning
when he was talking about Judas. In the church and kingdom of God,
you always have goats as well as sheep. You always do in the
outward visible church. In this place, you will have
as long as time shall stand, tares as well as wheat. But what
do you do with them? Nothing. Nothing. Well, don't
you think we ought to put them out of the church? Well, it'd
be all right except for one thing. You don't have enough sense to
tell the difference. You can't tell the difference.
You can't distinguish between tares and wheat, and you're so
impressed with the faults that you will embrace that and push
aside the truth. Is that what our Lord said, Rex?
He said, let them grow together. Let them grow together till the
harvest time. And God will send his angels
and he'll gather his wheat into his garner and he will bind up
the tares for the burning. And by the preaching of the gospel
in this end of the age, that's exactly what God's doing. He
binds up the tares for the burning and he gathers his wheat into
his garner. And so it shall be in the last
day. But the work is his and only
his. The early church had its Judas. They had to deal with Adonais
and Sapphira. And it has always been that way
and always will be. And we should make no effort
to change it. I hope I won't embarrass Joe
and Cynthia. They started attending here,
have to move to here, They wanted to identify with this congregation
a good while before they could get moved here. And they got
some phone calls from their legalistic reformed preacher, where they'd
been attending church some time back, and kept pressing them.
Wouldn't let them get out. Wouldn't let them get out. And
so Joe asked me, said, would you mind calling him and telling
him that we have united with the congregation in Danville?
I said, why, no, I don't mind. So I called. I worked out just
the way I wanted it to. I got an answering machine. I
had to talk to the rascal. He just gave me a message, but he
called back. Well, Brother Fortner, are you now assuming responsibility
for the discipline of Mr. and Ms. Blakely in their lives? No, goodbye. No. That's not my business. That's not my business. That's
the Lord's business. The only discipline we exercise
in the kingdom of God, I'm talking about the kingdom of God now,
is the discipline that God does by his word. That's all. The Lord Jesus says, I'm the
door into my kingdom. I'm the door into the sheepfold. And blessed be his name. He's
not just the only door. He's a wide open door. He's a
wide open door. Behold, I was in the spirit on
the Lord's day, John said, and I saw a door open in heaven. A wide open door. Don't you think
the door sometimes shut? No. No, no, not while light still
shines. Not while time still stands. He's an open door. Our Lord Jesus,
I love these present tense, linear tense words, says, him that cometh
unto me, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. He heard Brother Paul Mahan deal
with that a little bit yesterday morning, and I thought I was
going to jump out of my seat. He said, he places no restraint
or limitations on this at all. No matter how often you've fallen,
him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. How often
can I come? This is your third time. No. Him that cometh unto me, I will
in no wise cast out. Come to Christ. He is that one
to whom cometh. Oh, brother Don, but I've been
so unfaithful, so corrupt, so vile. My heart's so empty. I can't expect him to take somebody
like me. That's just the kind he takes,
like you and me. That's just the kind he takes.
Him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. Oh, come
in by Christ the door. God help you to come in. He's
the only door of access unto God, the only door of acceptance
with God. We have access unto the Father
by him. Our Savior died that he might
bring us to God. And it is only by his blood that
we come to God, only by his blood that we obtain, receive and embrace
the atonement, only by his blood that we're reconciled to God.
We come to God by Christ Jesus. He is he's both the ark and the
door into the ark and God who says come into the ark and God
who shuts us in the ark. He's the ark that bore all the
fury of God's wrath in which Noah and his family were saved.
And he's the door by which they came into the ark. And he's the
one who shuts them in the ark. And so even to this day, the
son of God is the door. Now, look at this promise he
makes in John 10 9. The Lord Jesus here makes a twofold
promise to all who enter in by the door. He says, I've come that they
might have life and might have it more abundantly. And in verse
nine, it says, I am the door. By me, if any man enter in. Any
man. If any man enter in. He shall
be saved. And shall go in and out and find
pasture. If any man enter in. He shall
be saved. Saved with an immediate salvation.
Fully pardoned. Fully justified. Fully reconciled. Fully accepted. Saved. Enter
in by Christ the door. And salvation's yours. Enter
in. But Brother Don, that doesn't
sound like free grace to me. I don't care what it sounds like
to you. That doesn't sound like sovereignty to me. That doesn't
fit with our scheme of things. I'm not interested in your scheme
of things. The Savior says, if any man enter in by me, he shall
be saved. Is that what he said? Is that
what he said? That's what he said. Enter in.
Enter in. Well, other places he says, if
you're hungry, you can come and eat. and I don't know whether
I'm hungry or not. If you're thirsty, you can come
and drink, but I don't know whether I have enough thirst or not.
If you feel your need of him, you can come to him. He says
here, Fred, if any man enter in by the door. Now, find me an excuse. Now,
find me an excuse why you don't enter in. If any man enter in,
he shall be saved. Saved with an everlasting salvation. Saved by Christ Jesus the Lord.
Any man, rich or poor, bond or free, old or young, black or
white, upper crust, lower crust, no crust, it doesn't matter.
Come to Christ and salvation's yours. If any man enter in, He
shall be saved. And the Lord God, telling us,
I am the door, assures us that entering in by
Him, we shall be saved and go in and out and find pasture. shut in by him. Shut in by him. This is the door that shuts us
in. He is given us as a covenant. He's given us as the promise
of God. He's given us as the witness
of God. He's given us as the blessing
of God. He's given us as all things given
us from God. And he shuts us in. He says,
Other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I
must bring. And there shall be one fold and
one shepherd, and he will shut them into the fold. He will bring
them in and seal them in the fold. Turn with me to Jeremiah,
chapter 13, chapter 33. Chapter 33. I got home tired yesterday evening
and sat down a little bit. Sheba said, I want to read something
to you. You've got hawkers morning and evening. You go home and
read it. Yesterday's reading. Jeremiah 33, 13, listen to this. Let's back up to verse 12. Thus
saith the Lord of hosts, Again, in this place, in this place
which is desolate, without man, without beast. Talk about Jerusalem
when it'd been overrun. In this place, and all the cities
thereof, shall be a habitation of shepherds, causing their flocks
to lie down. Read on. In the cities of the
mountains, and in the cities of the vale, and in the cities
of the South, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the place
about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah. Do you know what all
that takes in? That takes in the whole land
of promise. That takes in all of God's Israel. The typical picture of God's
Israel in this place. in this whole land of covenant
promise. Read on now. Shall the flocks pass again under
the hands of him that telleth them, saith the Lord. Lo, I and the children, I and
the sheep, Thou hast given me safe in the shepherd's fold,
held secure in the shepherd's hands. He that entereth in by
the door shall be saved, and he shall
go in and out and here find pasture and rest for his soul forever. kept by the power of his grace. I recall when God began dealing with my
soul in such a way that I was aware of it. Can't really put
your finger on what he does. It's amazing that Satan will
first do his dead-level best to tell you you're too good to
be saved, and then he'll tell you you're too bad to be saved.
He'll do everything he can to keep you from the Savior. And
I, like most people, every time I got in trouble, our family
took me to church, and I'd go, made a profession of faith when
I was a kid, and then go rededicate up, you know, and have a revival
meeting. And I began to sense hell in my soul. And I couldn't. I just couldn't trust the Son
of God. Because Satan kept whispering,
it won't last. It's just going to be a temporary
fix again. You're just going to embarrass
yourself again. It won't last. It won't last. And then somehow,
God gave me a word. He said, He that hath begun a
good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. You don't have to make it last.
God does. You don't have to keep yourself.
God does. You don't have to perfect yourself.
God does. The whole work is His. The work
which is goodness began, the arm of His strength will complete.
His promise is yea and amen and never was forfeited yet. Things
future nor things that are now, not all things below nor above
can make him his purposeful goal or sever my soul from his love. My name from the palms of his
hand. Eternity will not embrace, impressed
forever on his hands in marks of indelible grace. Yes, I to
the end shall endure as sure as the earnest is given. More happy, but not more secure, the glorified
saints in heaven. God give you grace now, come
in, not crash the door and live forever. Amen.