OK, turn with me then to 1 Peter,
the first epistle of Peter, chapter 3, and I want to focus our attention
this morning on verse 18, but within the context of the passage
from verse 16 to verse 22. Last week, we looked at the first
part of the chapter from verse 1 down to verse 15, and we looked
at what I entitled the witness of the hidden man, the hidden
man being the phrase that is used in verse 4 regarding the
new man that the Spirit of God implants in a believer. A believer
is two natures, the old flesh and a new man inside and it's
that hidden man which is not corruptible, implanted by the
Spirit of God and that new man bears fruit, bears the fruit
of the Holy Spirit. and those actions that that new
man bears you've heard the expression they speak louder than words
actions you know you may say oh I'll do this for you I'll
come and I'll come and cut your grass I'll definitely come and
do that and it goes on and on and on and on and on and you
don't do it and all the words don't say a solitary thing that
means anything but the day you get up and you go and you get
the lawnmower and you cut the grass that action speaks so much
louder than the words that go with it And this is what the
passage is about. Actions. The believer's actions
speak louder than words. And people, verse 15, will ask. So he says, be ready to give
a reason to those who ask you for the hope. Why have you got
this hope? You have a hope that is beyond
this life. When all around is despairing and in anguish about
the state of things, you have a hope that seems to be outside
of this current existence. And he says, be ready to give
an answer. And we looked at some of the reasons that you should
give. And then verses 16 and 17 go on and say, sometimes the
reaction might not be as gentle as that. Oh, tell me, tell me
what it is about your belief. Sometimes the reactions might
be more hostile. They might be unjust. They might
speak evil against you, verse 16. They might charge you with
being evildoers. They might look at your good
conversation in Christ and twist it and turn it into something
which is utterly evil. And he says, it is better if
the will of God be so that you suffer for well-doing than for
evil-doing. If you suffer for evil-doing,
you're getting your just desserts. But suffering for well-doing,
suffering for doing good, suffering for a good conversation, because
the world doesn't understand these things. And then he says,
he points to the Lord Jesus Christ, because he's saying, in all of
this, bear it, bear it patiently, bear it graciously. These things,
you know, it's exactly what the Lord Jesus Christ said in the
Sermon on the Mount. If someone comes to you and strikes
you on one cheek, turn the other cheek and let them strike you
on that cheek also. Don't react violently and wrongly
against these things, but look to the Lord Jesus Christ, verse
18, because if ever there was an example of injustice, of suffering
unjustly, it's the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the supreme example
in all history of unjust suffering. We're better to look than to
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're better to look. How is
it that the writer to the Hebrews, I think the writer to the Hebrews
was Paul, but we won't get into a debate about that. But the
writer to the Hebrews, he gets to the end of chapter 11, which
is the faith gallery, and then he tells them to look to Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith. And he goes on in the
next verse, Hebrews 12 verse 3. Consider him. Think about
him. that endured such contradiction
of sinners. Contradiction means speaking
against. Consider him as your example, who suffered such contradiction
of sinners as he did. Yes, all of the suffering of
the Lord Jesus Christ was supremely unjust, for he was just, he was
perfect, he did no sin, neither was any guile found in his mouth.
His accusers couldn't bring an accusation against him. the judge
pilot in the situation couldn't bring an accusation against him
he found him not guilty I find no fault in him it was completely
unjust and yet he went and the wrath of man was poured out against
him but it was all in the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God Acts 2.23 says Peter to them on the day of Pentecost you by
wicked hands have taken this sinless one and crucified the
Lord of glory But it was all, all in the determinate counsel
and foreknowledge of God because it was for a purpose. It was
for a specific purpose. It wasn't a tragedy of human
history. It wasn't. It was all in the
purpose of God to establish justice in the Lord Jesus Christ. That
He might be just and the justifier of His people. That He might
be a just God who in no wise clears the guilty. And yet He
punishes the guilty in the Lord Jesus Christ, His Son. He punishes
those who deserve His wrath, His people, chosen in Christ
from before the foundation of the world. And He puts them in
Christ and there, their sins, their real sins, the sins which
if we say we do not have, we deceive ourselves and the truth
is not in us. He loads them on the Lord Jesus
Christ. And then the Christ, our Lord, as a guilty, guilty
sin-bearer in our place, bears the wrath of God in the place
of His people. It was all in the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God. And look in verse 18. It
was a once for all suffering. By which I mean once for all
time. Nowhere does the scripture, absolutely
nowhere does the scripture say that the Lord Jesus Christ's
suffering was for all people that have ever lived. It doesn't
say that. I defy anybody, I defy anybody
on balance to look at this book and show me where it says that
Christ died for every sin. Many of our hymns say it, and
you'll notice that I have a bit of a habit of editing the hymns
when we come to sing, because there are some good hymns, but
that error is in there. He didn't die for every sin,
He died for the sins of His people. And it was a once in time, one
time only, He suffered for the sins of His people. Why did He
do it? Look in verse 18, For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God.
once suffered in time. This is why the cross of Calvary,
that time 2,000 years ago, is absolutely pivotal in history. The whole of history pivots on
that one point, where God, in human form, he who, though he
was in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, yet made himself of no reputation, and humbled himself, and became
a servant, a servant of men, and came to this earth, and lived
a perfect life, and was loaded for sins for His people. He once
suffered in time that He might accomplish the justice of God
and the salvation of His people. So that Hebrews 10, 14 says that
He has perfected forever. Think of it. He has perfected
His people forever. Oh, you say, oh, I'm sinful and
there's so much wrong with me. I know there is, but He's perfected
you forever if you're in the Lord Jesus Christ. You're perfected
forever in Him. What triumphant language that
is! Have you got a hope to tell others about if they ask you?
If you know anything of that, you have. This is triumphant
language. He has perfected forever those
that are sanctified, says Hebrews 10.14. What does that mean? Those
who try hard at keeping the law of God to make themselves better
and better and better until they're good enough to be regarded as
perfect? No! perfected forever those that
He has set apart is what that word means that He has made holy
in the Lord Jesus Christ God has made His people holy He has
sanctified them in the Lord Jesus Christ and so we read of Christ
that He has made unto us wisdom from God and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption He is our sanctification He is
our holiness making we're made holy and righteous and justified
and complete in Him as Paul writes to the Colossians he in him dwells
the fullness of the Godhead bodily and you if you're in him are
complete in him for in him dwells that fullness and he's done it
forever forever no going back on it can't possibly be lost
the debt is cleared the books are cleared the The ink, the
writing that was against us has been blotted out. Blotted out. As they used to do in the old
ledger at the banks in the accounting of money, the debts that were
paid were blotted out. Blotted out. Obliterated. And
he died the just for the unjust. Our Lord Jesus Christ, the just
for the unjust, it says there in verse 18. He was just. He was absolutely righteous.
He, as a man, was absolutely perfectly holy. That's why he
was born of a virgin. He was conceived of the Holy
Ghost. He wasn't born of a man. They thought he was Joseph's
son, but he wasn't. Joseph was, as it were, his stepfather,
his father in this human life, who raised him and taught him
the trade of carpentry. But his father was his heavenly
father. Do you not know, he said to his parents, when they lost
him at the feast in Jerusalem. Do you not know that I should
be about my father's business? He said that to Joseph and to
Mary. I must be about my father's business. He was the just one.
He was the holy one. He's known as the holy one in
scripture. You will not suffer your holy
one to see corruption. He's the holy one of God. He's
the just one. And he suffered. He who in justice
deserved nothing but glory. He bore the sins of His people,
the unjust, for we are unjust by nature, by birth, by every
aspect of this flesh in which we live. Oh, we put on a good
outward show, but inside, if you know, if God has shown you
the true state of your heart against Him, Him who is holy,
He who is God, we think we have the right to make the rules and
to judge God for how He's ordered things. He is God. We have no
such right. We have no such right. I heard
another preacher the other day, I was listening to a message.
He said it's like dogs in the dog pound. If you like dogs and
you go to the dog pound to choose a dog, you are completely sovereign
in it and nobody questions your sovereignty. And so it is with
God, the way He deals with people. He is sovereign over all these
things. And we know in 2 Corinthians
chapter 5 and verse 21, I think I might have already quoted it,
but you know that verse there that we know so well, that He
made him God made Him, Christ, who knew no sin, to be made sin
for us, the just for the unjust, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Do you hear that? That His people
might be made the righteousness of God in Him. How do you come
to God? How do you see God? What must
you have to see God? It tells us in Hebrews chapter
9, I believe it is, pursue holiness. Pursue righteousness, pursue
perfection, without which no man shall see the Lord. Oh, what
a thing it is to be mortal in this life and there's a prospect
of eternity. Oh, the necessity of seeing the
Lord. Pursue holiness, without which
no man shall see the Lord. And of course, there's a sense
in which that is a pursue holiness. Pursue holiness of mind and action. But I tell you, you will never
find it in your actions because the flesh is weak. It is weak
through the flesh. The law of God can never do it,
but Christ has done that. He has done it. He has established
righteousness, the righteousness of God in Him for all of His
people, the just for the unjust. And being justified, what does
that do? It's that He might bring us to
God. Verse 18, that He might bring
us to God. This was His eternal purpose.
This is why He came. not to drive us to God but to
bring us to God that He might bring His people to God we who
are sinners we're no different from anybody else we're no better
we're not regarded as any better in God's sight because we happen
to go to church we're no better in God's sight because we happen
to read the Bible and pray to Him not in the slightest we're
sinners no different as Ephesians 2 says we're children of wrath
even as the others. We deserve hell and condemnation
in our flesh as we are. And yet He wants to bring us
to God. And if He wants to do it, if
God wants to bring us to God, He'll bring us to God. I hear
preachers who say things like this, God wants to save you,
but He can't unless you will let Him. God has never said that.
Anything, if God is God, anything that God wants, He is able to
do. He is able to do all His holy
will. He is able to bring us to God.
And oh, what a glorious thing. Think about your life on this
earth. Think about your experience. You know, we read about celebrities
going to Africa with lots of money, all the money they could
ever desire, and they go and they rescue a child from poverty
for adoption. You know, it's been in the news
recently. You know who I'm talking about. They say, how much better
it will be for this child to be taken out of this dirty, filthy,
poverty-stricken existence and brought up with everything that
the most affluent society in the world can give, with unlimited
riches, everything that money can buy. And some of us really
do wonder whether the latter end of that child is actually
preferable to the former end before they're adopted. But you
know what's desired in this. But think of this, the blessings
of being a sinner. The blessings of being a sinner,
lost, without hope, facing only death. Oh, you say, I'm not going
to die for a while, I'm young, I've got many years ahead of
me. Oh, how quickly they pass. I know you hear it over and over
again. Just talk to those who are older. What they were going
to do with those years, and where have those years gone? They're
just a vapor. They've gone in no time. Without
hope. Without Christ, you're without
hope in this world. But by grace, and by the work
of the Lord Jesus Christ, suffering once for sins, the just for the
unjust. He brings us to God. He brings
his people to God. This is his purpose. How is it
accomplished? How? It isn't just something
that is casually done. How is it accomplished? You see,
firstly, it's nothing to do with the sinners themselves. We contribute
nothing. We do not contribute a solitary
thing. I may have told some of you this
but I remember very sadly hearing an old lady in Southampton many,
many years, she must be dead by now because she was very old
then and this is over twenty years ago and she told me that
she was witnessing to her neighbours because she didn't want to go
into the presence of the Lord empty-handed and I thought, oh
how sad I want to go empty-handed what does the hymn say? Nothing
in my hand I bring simply to thy cross I cling. That's all
I want to take. The hope of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I contribute nothing to my standing, to my being brought to God. I
didn't even choose Him until the Holy Spirit made me willing
to choose Him in the day of His power. It wasn't me that chose.
Jesus said to His disciples, you did not choose me. You may
think you did, but I chose you. This is what He says. The Father
chooses. The Son Before the beginning
of time, the Father chose a people in the Lord Jesus Christ, from
all humanity, known only to Him. His purposes, His reasons for
it, known only to Him. But this is what the Word of
God teaches, and how true it must be. Because so many authors,
down so many thousands of years, wrote exactly the same thing.
The same message comes through, the Father chose in Christ, before
the foundation of the world. on the basis of a covenant with
the Sun, that the Sun would stand surety. Surety. You know it happens,
some of you might know about this, but when you go and get
accommodation somewhere else for the first time on your own,
you rent somewhere, you often need somebody to stand surety
for you. Which means this, if you default on the agreement,
on the tenancy or the loan or whatever else it might be, somebody
else is there to stand surety, to stand in your place. We defaulted
on that Arrangement of eternal life and the Lord Jesus Christ
said, I will stand surety. You know the pictures in the
Old Testament are there again and again and again. Joseph and
Benjamin and the brothers and I can't remember now which one
was it? Reuben said, I will stand surety for him. Might have been
Judah, I can't remember. A guarantor. Somebody who will
stand in the place. Somebody who will bear the consequences. Somebody who will make it right.
He said that. And the Spirit, the Holy Spirit,
all three of the triune God, the Spirit comes and takes those
who are children of wrath, even as the others, dead in trespasses
and sins, and quickens, makes alive, puts that new hidden man
inside. But here in verse 18, it's specifically
the Lord Jesus Christ that is being spoken of. For He, to bring
us to God, was put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the
Spirit. Put to death in the flesh but
quickened by the Spirit. Died as a human being, but made
alive by the Spirit. Christ's humanity and Christ's
divinity is what is being spoken of here. It's the two natures
of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He was fully man. He was fully
human, the Son of Man, but also the Son of God. He was God in
human form. He was the sin-bearing God-man,
standing in the place of His people. Because you see, For
people to be saved, there must be a human Savior. For human
beings to be saved, there must be a human Savior who is able
to save them to the uttermost. It's not just good enough that
the Savior be human, but He must be able, who other than the infinite
God, could save a multitude of people. And He came to this world. A body was prepared. We read
about it in Hebrews 10 and verse 5, quoting Psalm 40. Wherefore,
when he cometh, speaking of Christ, when he cometh into the world,
he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not. All those Old
Testament sacrifices and offerings were mere pictures. They in themselves
accomplished nothing. The blood of bulls and goats
and the scattering of the ashes of a heifer can do nothing to
make a man justified before God. Those things you would not, but
a body a body, a human body you have prepared me a body prepared
for Christ to come so that Romans 8 and verse 3 says this for what
the law this is when it's just said there is now therefore no
condemnation to those who are in Christ who walk not after
the flesh but after the Spirit what the law could not do in
that it was weak through the flesh oh yes pursue holiness
if you can earn enough holiness by obedience to the law then
you'll be right with God As Jesus said to that young, rich young
ruler who came to him, what must I do? And he said, obey the law.
Obey the law, just obey it in every respect and you'll be right
with God. You will have established, but
it could not do it. Why could it not do it? It was
weak through the flesh. But God has done it. Through
sending His Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, though without
sin, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, He has condemned
sin in the flesh. In the Lord Jesus Christ, He
loaded Him with sin, with the sins of His people, and He condemned
those sins in the flesh of the Lord Jesus Christ. He received
His just reward, and to receive that just reward, He had to be
human. That just reward was the wrath
of God for the sins of His people. This is so glorious that being
brought to God, His people are treated so graciously, so abundantly,
overflowingly, well in the Lord Jesus Christ. Hebrews 2.16 says
concerning Christ, for verily he took not on him the nature
of angels. Do you know there were angels
that fell? There were angels that sinned. But he didn't take
on him the nature of angels. No. He took on him the seed of
Abraham. Not the seed of Adam. That would
be everybody. The seed of Abraham. Who are
the seed of Abraham? Those who are given like precious
faith with Abraham. those who walk in the way of
Abraham in truth in belief it's just like the brazen serpent
you know Moses was told the snakes were biting the children of Israel
for their sin in the wilderness and those were venomous deadly
snakes and God said to Moses make an image of that very thing
the likeness of sinful flesh Christ came in the likeness of
sinful flesh says Romans 8 verse 3 that he in the flesh might
condemn sin in the flesh. And just as that brazen serpent
was lifted up on a pole, so Christ was lifted up on that cross of
Calvary. And God said to everybody, look,
look unto Me. He's a just God and a Savior.
He said, therefore, because He's a just God and a Savior, He says,
look unto Me, all you ends of the earth, and be saved. And
some are given ears to hear and eyes to see, and they look. and
the children of Israel some of them were given eyes to see and
they looked at the brazen serpent and they were saved they recovered
but he also had to be not only man but he had to be fully God
he had to be fully God with infinite power to save a multitude and
to raise himself from the dead you see that quickened by the
spirit put to death in his human flesh but quickened by his spirit
You may say, are you not going out a bit on a limb? Wasn't it
the father that raised the son from the dead? Let me show you
some scriptures. Yes, of course it was. But let me show you some
scriptures. Turn to John's Gospel, chapter
2 and verse 19. John's Gospel, chapter 2 and
verse 19. This is right at the start of
his ministry. Jesus answered and said unto
them, destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it
up destroy this temple what's he talking about he was in the
temple in Jerusalem and they thought he was talking about
that physical pile of stones but he was talking about the
temple of his body he said destroy this temple on the cross of Calvary
and in three days I will raise it up quickened by the Spirit
then turn over a few pages to chapter 5 and verse 26. Has He
got the power to do that? Has the Lord Jesus Christ, that
One in whom there is no comeliness that we should desire Him, there
is nothing physically obvious that should make us think, ah,
here is God walking the earth. Only those closest to Him could
see that He was completely without sin and heard those gracious
words. Does He have power? John 5 verse
26, For as the Father hath life, in Himself, so hath He given
to the Son to have life in Himself. Do you know that it's only God,
the one true God, can have life in Himself? All life derives
from something else. All life derives ultimately from
God. But just as the Father, obviously,
as God, has life in Himself, so He has given to the Son, who
is also God, to have life in Himself. he has that life in
himself John chapter 10 verses 17 and 18 chapter 10 verses 17
and 18 in the chapter about the Good Shepherd therefore doth
my father love me because I lay down my life that I might take
it again no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of myself
I have power to lay it down now listen watch this and I have
power to take it again, quickened by the Spirit, quickened by the
Spirit. I have power to lay it down and
He, although He died on the cross of Calvary and was put in a tomb,
He is quickened by the Spirit. I have power to take it again,
to rise from the dead. Romans chapter 1, the first four
verses, turn there, the opening verses of Paul's epistle to the
Romans. where he writes this, Paul, a
servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto
the gospel of God, it's the gospel of God, the gospel of God, separated
unto the gospel of God, which he had promised afore by his
prophets in the holy scriptures, nothing new, concerning his son,
this is the gospel, concerning his son, Jesus Christ our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh,
put to death in the flesh a body has been prepared that he might
be put to death in the flesh the just for the unjust to bring
us to God but verse 4 declared to be the Son of God with power
according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the
dead his resurrection from the dead he's raising himself from
the dead declares him to be the Son of God with power according
to the spirit of holiness our Lord Jesus Christ has divine
power and human perfection in one being and all required to
satisfy justice and yet justify sinners. I've already said, Isaiah
45, 21, that He is a just God and a Savior. Our God is a just
God and a Savior, therefore look unto Me all the ends of the earth
and be saved. And Romans 4, 25 says this, that
He did all of this that He might be just. God cannot be other
than just. He never changes, that He might
be just that He must condemn sin, that He must punish sin,
but He did it in Christ that He might justify, justify sinners. In Him, in the Lord Jesus Christ,
in that human body, in that One who laid aside His glory, the
equality with God, to be made a little lower than the angels
for a while, to come and live as a man, yet in that body dwelt
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And its purpose was to bring
us to God. This is it. This is his purpose.
To bring his people, for whom he's lived and died and risen
again, to bring us to God as a glorious bride. As Ephesians
5 tells us, talking about husbands and wives, but really he's speaking
about Christ and his church. That he died for his church.
That he brings us to God. That bringing his bride to Christ,
his bride should be perfect, without spot or wrinkle. Absolutely
perfect. Absolutely perfect. I want you
to look at some more Scriptures. John chapter 17. Turn to John
chapter 17, that great high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ
the night before He died. John chapter 17 and verse 2. He says this, praying to His
Father, As Thou hast given Him, Christ, power over all flesh,
that He should give eternal life, who to? To as many as Thou hast
given to all those whom the Father gave to the Son before the beginning
of time Jesus Christ has power over all flesh to give eternal
life what's his eternal purpose? to bring us to God the little
epistle of Jude just a couple of pages over from where we are
at the moment in 1st Peter and verse 24, there's only one chapter
in Jude and there's this great doxology at the end of the epistle
of Jude, now unto him that is able to keep you from falling.
Comfort. Think of that. God is able to
keep His people from falling and to present you faultless
before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy. That's why
we sang that hymn before that seemed rather repetitive. Rejoice
and be glad. Rejoice and be glad. Rejoice
and be glad. He is able. He is able to keep
you from falling and to present you faultless without spot. or wrinkle without any blemish
at all before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy." We die in this flesh as we read
earlier. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We're earthly. We're earthy as
the old text says. Earthy. Of this earth. What are
we made of? What are we made of? Dust. The
dust of the earth. You boil it all down and I remember
looking in a science book and it's still true, a little pile
of iron and a little pile of sulfur and a little pile of carbon
and a bottle of oxygen and that's it, that's us, that's it. A few
molecules, just the dust of the earth, for dust thou art and
to dust thou shalt return said God to Adam when he sinned. Dust thou art and to dust thou
shalt return. We are of this earth. But what
Paul is talking about in this epistle in verses 41 down to
the end is the glory of that spiritual state which belongs
to those who are his people. Look at verse 42. So is the resurrection
of the dead. It is sown in corruption. These
bodies die. These fleshly sinful bodies die
but raised in incorruption. Sown in dishonor but raised in
glory. Sown in weakness raised in power
Sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body, as His glorious body, as
His spiritual body. We don't know what we shall be,
says John. 1 John 3 verse 2. But when we see Him, we shall
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. It doesn't appear
what we shall be, but it will be a spiritual body, like unto
His glorious body. There is a natural body, and
there is a spiritual body. So it was written. The first
man, Adam, was made a living soul. The last Adam, who is Christ,
was made a quickening spirit. How be it? That was not first,
which is spiritual, but that which is natural. This natural
state comes before, but afterward, this is the prospect, that which
is spiritual. The first man is of the earth,
earthy. We're earthy. The second man
is the Lord from heaven. And as is the earthy, such are
they also that are earthy. And as is the heavenly, such
are they also that are heavenly. As we have born the image of
the earthy, so shall also we shall bear the image of the heavenly.
This is a glorious, glorious prospect. A blessed union of
Christ and his church and his people to take us to be with
him, to bring us to God. He died once for all, the just
for the unjust, suffered for sins that he might bring us to
God. Put to death in the flesh, but
raised, quickened, made alive, by the Spirit in His power as
the Son of God to raise Himself from the dead. It started already.
Even now, if you're a believer, it started already. It was sealed
before the beginning of time when the Lamb was slain from
before the foundation of the world. It was accomplished in
time at the cross of Calvary when He who knew no sin bore
our sins in His own body on the tree. It was guaranteed. How
do you know it's guaranteed? He rose from the dead. this is
why the resurrection is not just an interesting little snippet
it's vital he rose from the dead it's guaranteed 1 Peter chapter
3 our passage 1 Peter chapter 3 in verse 21 it relates it to
baptism we're going to look at the account of Noah at our service
this evening which is the subject of verse 20 and we'll refer to
it then but in verse 21 he says baptism is similar in that it
is symbolical it represents that which is spiritual reality the
going down into the water represents union with Christ in his death
and the coming back up out of the water represents union with
Christ in his resurrection in his being raised from the dead
by the resurrection, see look what it says there the whereunto
even baptism doth also now save us not the putting away of the
filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward God
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ who has gone into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of God and all things are subject
to him and he's done it all to bring his people to God. There's
a blessed, blessed hope. I want you to turn just as we
close to Revelation chapter 14. Revelation chapter 14. Death is in the news every day. Again this morning I heard on
the news another two soldiers have been killed in an explosion
in Afghanistan and every one of them is tragic. But there
are some words here in Revelation chapter 14 that are completely
contrary to the philosophy of the world. Look at verse 13.
I heard a voice from heaven. This is John. I heard a voice
from heaven saying unto me, Write, blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord from henceforth. Blessed are the dead. Did you
hear that? Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. Oh, someone has a terminal illness.
Or somebody's lost in an accident. Or somebody lives to a ripe old
age and dies. But every single one of them is a loss. And if
it's a family member, it's a heartfelt loss. But blessed, blessed. This is what God says to His
people. Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord. What hope,
what glorious hope we have. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. Today is the day of salvation,
says 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 2. Today is the day of salvation. And I'll just make quick reference
to this verse 20 because Peter is effectively saying that. Today
is the day of salvation. Today is the day the Gospel is
preached. Today is the day of salvation. Look unto Him. Why will you die? Why will you
die in your sins when there is such a glorious Savior set before
us in the Scriptures? He says it's just as it was in
the days of Noah. Noah, a preacher of righteousness,
was preaching this same gospel. And there was the ark, which
was such a figurative, evocative symbol of the Lord Jesus Christ
and the salvation that's in Him. And there it is, and there are
the people going about their business, as Jesus said in Matthew
24, giving Him marriage, eating, drinking, rising up, doing everything
that they normally do, until the flood came, the judgment.
and took them all away. And so it will be in our day
or whenever he chooses to come again. Today is the day of salvation. What a glorious hope there is
for the people of God. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. Don't weep for me. Don't weep
for me. That's the message of our final
hymn. You might remember we sang it a few weeks ago. It's one of Don Fortner's hymns,
and half of the copies have got the numbers of the verses wrong,
but don't worry about that. That was where Microsoft Word
chose to remember the numbering when I copied and pasted it across
in the other columns. So some of them go verses three,
four, four, and five, but never mind about that. I just didn't
notice it before I printed it. You might find these words. We
know how Don is. Don will tell you just exactly
the way it is. He doesn't stand on ceremony. He doesn't give
way to right and proper ways of saying things. He doesn't mind if he shocks
occasionally. And no doubt these words wouldn't appear in the
average hymn book, but I think they're excellent. When I have
breathed my final breath and dropped this robe of fleshing
death, when my appointed work is done and my allotted time
is gone, Don't stand around my grave and cry. If you're a believer,
I'll not be there. I did not die. Blessed are they
who die in the Lord. Let's sing it.