The title of my message tonight
is Between Death and the Resurrection. And I might give it a subtitle,
In Praise of the Dead. You'll see why in a moment. I
began working on this message a few weeks ago after Brother
Oscar Bailey asked me a question, asked me about the state of God's
elect between death and the resurrection. And few subjects arouse greater
interest. This is a subject about which
everyone has an interest. We're interested in it personally
because we are dying mortals. And we're interested in it because
all of us have friends and loved ones whose bodies lie beneath
the earth, who've left us long ago, some of them, and some more
recently. What is the condition of the
redeemed soul when it leaves the body? Where are those who
sleep in Jesus until the resurrection? These are questions about which
no one can be indifferent. And I've searched the scriptures.
I found some answers. I pray God will make them a source
of comfort and edification, joy, and hope to your souls. Turn
with me, if you will, to Ecclesiastes Chapter 4, and we'll begin here. Ecclesiastes, the fourth chapter. I have often heard preachers
and read commendators who refer to the book of Ecclesiastes as
a book about a frustrated preacher. Nothing could be further from
the truth. It is a book of wisdom. The wisdom given to a man who
was the wisest man who had ever lived. A book of wisdom given
to him by divine inspiration. It's not a book about frustration. but rather a book of instruction
to you and I. Ecclesiastes chapter 4, Solomon
says, so I returned and considered all the oppressions that are
done under the sun. That's a big statement. I considered
all the oppressions that are done under the sun and behold
the tears of such as were oppressed, all the oppressions and all the
tears that men shed in this world, and they have had no comforter. And on the side of their oppressors,
there was power, but they had no comforter. Wherefore, I praised
the dead, which are already dead, more than the living which are
yet alive. Solomon is saying exactly the
same thing the Apostle John said in Revelation 14, blessed are
the dead which die in the Lord. And yet you and I go to the funeral
home or we go to the graveside and we weep with sorrow. If the one God has taken is an
unbeliever, the sorrow is understandable. I've been there. Those who die in unbelief and
in sin die under the wrath of God Almighty. And if that doesn't break your
heart, I don't know what will. If our sorrow is the sorrow of
parting friends, that's understandable, very reasonable. None of us likes
to bid goodbye forever to one who is dear to us. I remember
when my friend, Brother Art Young, when the Lord took him home and
went down to the funeral, and his wife, Ethel, was just brokenhearted.
And she said to me, she said, don't misunderstand. I'm not
hurting for him, I'm hurting for me. I'm hurting for me. That's understandable. I've been
there. But if the sorrow is the sorrow
of those who have no hope, the sorrow of uncontrollable anguish,
even anger at God for having taken someone we love, that's
not understandable. Such sorrow reveals both ignorance
and unbelief. Ignorance with regard to the
blessed state of God's saints in heaven and unbelief with regard
to the word of God, the promises of the gospel and the finished
work of Christ. Do not be surprised if your pastor
should find you in such a state at the funeral of a husband or
a wife or a son or daughter and you behave like an infidel. If
your pastor pulls you aside and says, Bob, now you know better
than this. This ain't right. This ain't right. We don't become
hysterical. We don't sorrow as those who
have no hope. We don't do so, we oughtn't to
do so, and we must not do so for the glory of God and for
the hope of the gospel. I want to show you from the scriptures
tonight that God's saints in heaven, Our departed friends
are alive and well. Their bodies have died. Their
bodies lay in the earth. But they are more alive than
ever. Full of happiness beyond description. And let me show you five or six
things. Here's the first. A statement
of revealed fact. And I'm going to show you this
is a statement of revealed fact. Got nothing to do with speculation,
nothing to do with theory, nothing to do with what I hope might
be so, but a statement of revealed fact. The Word of God shows us
plainly that the souls of redeemed sinners immediately after death,
immediately after death, enter into heaven. They enter into
a state of happiness. It's not my intention to answer
the questions that foolish men raise infidels and heretics despising
the gospel of God's grace. I wouldn't waste my effort or
my breath. And I won't be sidetracked by
the foolish speculations of ignorant men about life after death. You can watch those stupid, stupid programs that come on
television. folks who've had after-death
experiences. And you can watch that mess if
you want to. All it's going to do is corrupt your heart and
your mind. You ought to leave such nonsense
alone. We have only one source of information about eternity. Just one. Only one source of
information about life after death. Only one source of information
about that which lies before us in that eternal world to which
we are going. And that source is the Word of
God. When we think about the wonders
of immortality, let us give no thought to any speculation that
men may offer with regard to these things. Only the eternal
God can unveil the mysteries of eternity. He said, well, but
what about people who've had those kinds of experiences? There
are only two I can find in this book, only two. The Apostle Paul
you're familiar with, and Lazarus. Some years ago, Brother Rex Bartley
asked me after service one night, after reading one night, he said,
what about those three days Lazarus was dead? And I dealt with it
at the times, important matter. But I'll call your attention
to something. After his resurrection from the dead, Lazarus never
said a word about it. His sisters Martha and Mary never
said a word about it. We have no indication of anything
that Lazarus experienced except perhaps if he experienced that
which the Apostle Paul describes for us in his experience when
the Lord translated him into the third heaven briefly. The
fact being that that which Paul saw, he said, I saw things that
I can't tell you about. The things I saw when the Lord
brought me into the third heaven are things that baffle the description
of words. So I can tell you up front, anybody
who pretends to have had an after death experience and came back
to tell you about it, he's fooled and he's trying to fool you.
He doesn't have any idea what he's talking about. We are preachers
of God. made with immortal undying souls,
and as soon as we leave this world, we continue to live. Though these bodies must die
and they must rot in the earth like brute beast, our souls continue
forever. As soon as you die, your soul
will enter immediately into an everlasting state of either Indescribable
bliss or indescribable woe, one of the two. When your dog dies,
that's all there is to it. Somebody said, well, man dies
like a dog. No, this body dies just like
a dog's body. But man doesn't die like a dog.
When you die, that's not all there is to it. You were created
with an undying soul. Your soul lives on, not in a
state of sleep, insensitivity and inactivity, but in the fullness
of life and consciousness. That's a tremendous statement. Be sure you hear it. When we
leave this world, we enter into a world where there is the fullness,
fullness of life and consciousness. Here, those things are subdued.
Subdued by all things in time in this world. But in that world,
the worm that dies not in hell and the fire that is not quenched,
I'm convinced have more to do with the conscious, fully awakened
than anything else. The souls of believers, Redeemed
sinners men and women who have been made righteous before God
in Christ the souls of God's Saints Returned to God at death
Our departed brothers and sisters as soon as they closed their
eyes in death opened them again in glory there They remain until
the second coming of Christ Now you won't we won't turn then
let's do turn there turn the first Thessalonians 4. Let me
show you It's too good to pass it over When Christ comes, these
who are with him now in glory, he will bring with him and raise
their bodies from the dust, reuniting their bodies and souls in resurrection
glory. Believers, yet living, will then
be raised from the dead, translated, glorified, changed, and caught
up into glory. And thereafter, we shall forever
be with the Lord. 1 Thessalonians 4, verse 13.
I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, 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 unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
The word is, we shall not go before them which are asleep. I have to interject this. If you've got one of those Bibles
that's been messed with, one of those Schofield Bibles, you'll
have a note here, probably. I can't remember exactly whether
it's here or not. Been a long time since I had
to read one of those things. But it will suggest that believers,
you know, we want to live and Until the rapture, won't it be
a great thing? Oh, I'd like to live until the
Lord comes again. Why? Why? Well, this passage declares that
those who are already with our Redeemer shall rise first in
the resurrection. Then we which are alive and remain
shall be caught up together with them. Verse 16. For the Lord
himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, the jubilee trumpet
finally blowing, and the dead in Christ shall 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. Comfort one another. with regard
to God's saints who have been taken from us. Comfort one another
with regard to the prospect of death with these words. Though
hell is as real as heaven, and damnation is as real as salvation,
lest I turn your thoughts to matters of sorrow and grief,
I'm going to say little about the horrible state of the wicked
and unbelieving after death. But this I must say, you who
are without Christ, if God takes you out of this
world tonight, as soon as you close your eyes in death, you
will wake up in the torments of the damned in hell. Oh, if you are without Christ,
without faith, You're without hope. Be warned. The wrath of
God is upon you. If you die without Christ, you
must forever be damned. But for the believer, things
are different. The believer, as soon as he dies,
begins to live. As soon as he dies, he is alive
forevermore. God in regeneration by his spirit
has given us eternal life. That life which we now have in
our soul by Christ living in us is that which we have here
in grace and shall be brought to its consummate perfection
in everlasting glory. I don't mean the life will be
improved. I mean all those things that
keep us from enjoying it will then be gone. The soul of God's
saints goes immediately home to Christ in heaven. Now I've
said that, let me show you. The Word of God, when speaking
of the believer's death, always represents it as an immediate
entrance into heavenly blessedness. You remember what the Lord told
Martha? She came to him and said, Lord, if you'd been here, my
brother had not died. And the Lord Jesus said, your brother
is going to rise again. And Martha said, well, I knew
he was going to rise in the resurrection. She believed the doctrine. And
the Lord Jesus said, Martha, the resurrection is standing
in front of you. I am the resurrection and the life, whosoever liveth
and believeth on me shall never die. Well, we've all got to die, not
me. Not me. When the scripture speaks of
the believer as dying, the scriptures simply speak in such a manner
as to accommodate our foolishness with regard to the death of the
body. Our Lord said Lazarus is dead,
but there he said he didn't die. Lazarus sleeps. Lazarus is alive. His body sleeps, but he is alive
forevermore. God's elect never die. The death
of the body is just the liberty of the soul. And as soon as our
souls are freed from this body, we enter into heaven and enter
into life. Paul said, who shall deliver
me from the body of this death? The body of this death. When
the righteous perish, turn to Isaiah 57, let me show you something.
When the righteous perish from the earth, they live in their
uprightness forever. Isaiah 57. The scripture gives us a number
of reasons why God takes his people out of this world. Here's
just one of them. The righteous perisheth, and
nobody pays any attention. No man layeth it to heart. And
merciful men are taken away. Nobody thinks about it. None
considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to
come. When he takes us out of this
world, he takes us away from evil. Notice the words to come
are in italics. When He takes you home, James,
He takes you out of evil forever. All evil. The evil of this world. The evil of this physical frame. The evil of this life of death. The evil of this human nature.
They're taken away from the evil. He shall enter into peace. They shall rest in their beds.
But that's not all He said. Walking in uprightness. They shall rest in their beds,
their bodies resting in the earth. Each one, however, walking in
his uprightness, not sleeping in the earth, but walking in
his uprightness. When the righteous die, they
live forever. Their souls rest in the arm of
Christ and their everlasting rest is begun. They walk in their
uprightness. God takes the righteous out of
the world. They're righteous already. He
reckons the righteousness of Christ to be theirs. They've
been made righteous by Christ's righteousness being imputed to
them and by Christ's righteousness being imparted to them in the
new birth. And yet, that righteousness here, while we live in the joy
of it, while we live in the confidence of it, cannot really be experienced
as long as we live in this body of flesh. Everything we think, everything
we do, is tainted with the corruption of this body. Not just the physical
body, but the nature that resides in us. Only when we have dropped
this nature, the Adam nature, and this physical body of flesh,
can we walk in uprightness. Walk in His uprightness. Imagine that, Darwin. Imagine
that. My uprightness. My uprightness. Well, we can't say that. That
implies that we did this. Jump on it and cuss if you want
to. God has made the righteousness of Christ my righteousness. It really is mine. It really
is mine. Did you get that? It really is
mine. And in heavenly glory, I will
forever walk with God in my uprightness, which is the righteousness he's
given me. As soon as the believer dies,
he's carried by God's angels into heaven, described by our
Lord in the parable as Abraham's bosom. Luke 16, Our Lord gives
that very familiar parable. And he speaks of Abraham's bosom.
And sometimes fellows who don't have any better sense than to
read that, which is obviously allegorical, try to make something
literal out of it. Abraham's bosom was a term commonly
used among the Jews to refer to the place where God's saints
reside after death. And our Lord seized upon the
thought of the mind in his day and used it for a parable to
teach divine truth, Luke 16, 22. And it came to pass that
the beggar died and was carried by the angels into heaven, into
Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died and was
buried. What a difference. Lazarus died,
angels of God sweep down to the earth and pick him up and carry
him to glory while his body lays in the earth. The rich man died
and he's in hell. What a difference. And in hell,
he'd lift up his eyes being in torments and seeth Abraham afar
off and he saw somebody else. and Lazarus in his bosom. Every believing sinner, as soon
as he dies, is taken with Christ into paradise. Paradise is another
word for the garden of God in Revelation 2, 7. It is the place
described by Paul as the third heaven into which he was raptured
for a brief visit. It's the place of the divine
majesty, the place of happiness, pleasure, and endless delight.
It was to paradise that our Lord Jesus went, with his own blood
as soon as he died, having obtained eternal redemption for us. Paradise
is the place of assured blessedness, promised to every sinner who
seeks the mercy of God in Christ. Our Lord Jesus said to that dying
thief, who said, Lord, remember me. Remember me. Oh, if he remembers me, I can
want nothing else. Remember me. And the Lord Jesus
said to him, today, immediately, as soon as this ordeal of death
is over, shout thou most assuredly, be with me in my full presence
and company forever in paradise, in heaven. All right? I've said all that to say this.
For the believer, death is infinite, immeasurable gain. Turn to Philippians
chapter 1. When Solomon said, I praise the
dead, he had a good reason for it. Philippians 121, Paul says,
to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Verse 23, I am in a strait betwixt
the two, having a desire to depart and to be with Christ, which
is far better. Mr. Spurgeon told a story of
a preacher. Went to visit a man one day in
his congregation. Left the man, had his family
all around him, they invited the preacher for lunch. Children
and grandchildren all present and after lunch they were sitting
out in the garden just chatting and kids running around and the
man looked over at his pastor and he said, these are the things
that make it hard to die. And they are. And they are. Who wants to leave a wife or
husband, son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter? Nobody. Well, yes, somebody. The thought of leaving them painful,
all but depart and be with Christ, that's far better. That's far
better. Paul was confident that as soon
as he departed from this world, he would immediately be with
Christ in blessed, perfect communion. Believing the word and promise
of God, he looked upon death not as something to be pushed
aside and postponed, if possible, but something desirable right
now. What is the state of God's saints
between death and the resurrection? Where are they? I won't say more
than the Bible says, but I know this. The souls of God's saints
are not floating around in the sky. They have gone to a specific
place where Christ is. They are assembled, Paul tells
us in Hebrews 12, as a glorified church around the throne of God.
Their souls are in a recognizable form. No question about that. A recognizable form that is immediately
made known. When Peter, James, and John were
on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord Jesus, they had
never seen Moses or Elijah. And they had never seen a picture
of them. Nobody had digital cameras in those days. They'd never seen
them. Had no idea what they looked
like. But when they saw Moses and Elijah standing with Christ
in His glory and then reflecting His glory, they saw that this
is Moses and this is Elijah, just as surely as that's Christ. And when the rich man was in
hell, he saw Lazarus and Abraham's blessing. Somebody As for me, and one time
said, do you think we'll know one another in heaven? He said,
I think I'll be smarter then than I am now. Know one another? Of course we
will. Will I know that she was my wife on this earth? I'm sure
I will. I won't love her any the better for having been my
wife. But know she's my wife? Know you were my friend walking
on this earth? Yeah, sure we will. Sure we will. Don't have
any question about that. Do God's saints in heaven have
a Body between death and the resurrection? Turn to 2 Corinthians
4. Now, I know I'm fixing to get in trouble
with some folks. Everything I say, somebody takes
it to task and decides we ought to split up and make a new denomination
over it, so just have at it. But I'm talking here for your
comfort and edification, and I'm not concerned what other
folks do with it. Do God's saints have a body between death and
the resurrection? A physical body? No. So what kind is there? A heavenly body. A spiritual
body. Moses' body is somewhere in the
dust of this earth right now. Right now. God buried him somewhere
and his body rotted and went back to the dust from which it
came. as shall be the case with all
of us if we lay beneath the earth long enough. But Moses stood
on the Mount of Transfiguration in a body, just like Elijah did,
just like our Lord did. A physical body? No. A spiritual
body? Definitely. A heavenly form? A house for their souls? Most
definitely. Here in 2 Corinthians 5, the
Apostle Paul speaks, let's back up to verse 17 of chapter 4. He says, for our light affliction,
which is but for a moment, compared with what he's about to tell
us, it's light and it's just for a moment. What is this in the light of
eternity? Our light affliction, which is
but for a moment, worketh for us, not against us, for us. It
worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
In other words, the trouble and the pain and the heartache you
experience in this body of flesh will make heaven all the more
glorious when God finally brings us to His heavenly throne. While we look not at the things
which are seen, don't fix your mind on those things, but the
things which are not seen. For the things which are seen
are temporal, All of them are just temporary, passing away.
But the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know
that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved...
Now what do you reckon he's talking about? Your body. It's going
to be dissolved. If our earthly house of this
tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God. A house
not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this,
in this earthly house, we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed
upon with our house, which is from heaven. If so be that being
clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this
tabernacle do groan, being burdened. Oh, I'd just like to leave this
world. That's not what he's talking
about. That's not what he's talking about. That's the burden of despair. You go through trouble and say,
I just want to die. Well, poor you. That's not the
burden he's talking about. No, no. This is a burden of hope
and confidence. Let's see. Okay. We're, we're
burdened. Not desiring to be unclothed,
but clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. Verse 3,
if so be it being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For
we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened, not
for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality
might be swallowed up of life. Oh, I have only one reason for desiring
to leave this world, because I want to live, Merle. I want
to live. You understand what I'm talking
about? I want to live. Now he that hath
wrought us for the selfsame thing. Not he that hath wrought for
us. He that hath wrought us for the
selfsame thing. This immortality is God who hath
also given us the promise of it. The earnest of the Spirit.
What is this house? Some suggest that Paul is saying
we have a heaven in the heavens and saying that heaven itself
is the house, but that seems a little redundant. Others say
this house is talking about the resurrection body, but Paul is
not here talking about the resurrection. He's talking about the immediate
departure of God's saints from this world. It seems obvious
to me that the Apostle is here declaring that as soon as we
drop this earthly house of clay, we enter into another house for
our souls, an intermediate body specifically prepared for God
for that blessed estate. Every word here shows a contrast,
a distinct contrast. This old house is a tent. The
new one's a building. The old house, though not made
with hands, has certainly made to be what it is with hands. When Adam reached and took the
fruit, this house became a body of death, a house of corruption. This new one is not made with
hands, but made by God and it's his work and his gift. The old
house is temporal and perishing. The new is eternal. When Paul
says we have this house in the heavens, it's plain he's not
talking about heaven itself. This house is a new body replacing
and surpassing that in which we presently live. It is in the
heavens. It is there where Christ is,
where he has prepared it for us. And he says we have it. We have. As soon as we Breathe
our last breath. We have a house not made with
hands, eternal in the heavens. No wonder Solomon said, I praise
the dead which are dead already more than the living which are
yet alive. If we could see by faith that
which John saw by revelation, if we could grasp something of
the glory and happiness of God's saints, In even now, at this
very moment in heaven, we would say with John, blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord. Here's the third thing. We should always remember that
for the believer, the death of this body is a welcome relief. In this house we grow. We struggle with sin, groaning
for life. There, the struggle is over. We are tempted in this house
and often fall. There, there should be no more
temptation and no more false. We weep in this house. There,
God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes. There won't be
one sorrowful thing. There's not one sorrowful thing
awaiting us on the other side. Here we long to be like Christ.
In heaven we shall be. We long for our Lord's presence.
How tedious and tasteless the hour when Jesus no longer I see. Never again a tedious tasteless
hour. We have many friends in heaven,
folks we dearly love. We miss them. But sorrow for
them? No, no. Envy them? Envy them? Yeah, yeah. Richard
Baxter made this statement with regard to the believer's death. He said it will be a welcome
relief. It will be like taking off the
pair of shoes that hurt my feet. It will be like laying down a
tool whose usefulness is completely finished. It will be a welcome
relief. As for me, I will behold thy
face in righteousness. I shall be satisfied, O my God,
when I awake with thy likeness. Now here's a question. Where is Hetham? That's a good question. And you
know what? I don't have a clue. And you
know why I don't have a clue? Because God didn't tell me. And
he didn't tell anybody else. It is a place somewhere outside
this world, somewhere outside of time, but a real place. The place where Christ is right
now. The place where God's saints now reside. The place to which
he has promised to bring me. I will come again and receive
you unto myself that where I am there you may be also. It is
the place of endless delight. In heaven we shall have another
house for our souls. A house not made with hands,
eternal in the heavens. Brother Dodd, what happens then
when the believer dies? Where have our friends gone?
They've gone home. Sweetest place on this earth. All my life growing up, Home was just about the most
miserable place I could imagine. I couldn't imagine anybody wanting
to go home. Couldn't imagine it. But for
nearly 40 years, God's given me a home. And when I leave here
tomorrow morning, I'll have my mind on coming home Saturday
night. Home, sweetest place on this earth. But there's no home
here. Not really. Our friends have
gone home. They've gone to be with Christ. Well, that answer doesn't satisfy
me. Well, I pity you if that answer
doesn't satisfy you. I pity you. What do God's people do in heaven?
Read Revelation 5, 4, 5, chapter 7, chapter 14. A casual reading of the book
of Revelation, if you can get past trying to speculate about
what all the symbols are and read what the book's all about,
will tell you that in heaven, God's saints are gathered around
the throne of Christ and behold Christ with unceasing delight,
with ever increasing knowledge, They are conversant with one
another and with the angels of God, serving the Redeemer day
and night, praying before Him and praising Him for His goodness,
mercy, and grace, for all the wonders of His providence, for
all the wondrous things we could not comprehend here to which
He gives us light increasing forever. God's saints in heaven
forever enjoy the constant, uninterrupted, fellowship of the Redeemer, walking
with him in perfect communion, in perfect conformity to him,
following the Lamb whithersoever he goeth all the time. One more question and I'll be
done. Turn to Mark chapter 8. Why has our Savior left us here? He's already made us completely
worthy of heaven. He put away all our sins. He's
put his own nature in us, making us the very righteousness of
God in him. We are right now meet to be partakers
of the inheritance of the saints in light. Paul says so in Colossians
1. So why has he left us here? I've
been pondering that question a lot lately. I can't find a
complete answer to it. But I found an answer that satisfies
me here in Mark chapter eight. Our Lord, or Mark chapter five,
rather. Our Lord has come and healed the maniac of Gadara,
you'll remember. And after he healed that maniac
of Gadara, this poor man, once he was made to know the Lord
Jesus, he wanted just one thing. David,
he wanted to be with him. Wanted to be with him. want to
be with him. Now watch this, verse 18, When
he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with
the devil prayed him that he might be with him. And the Lord
said, No, not now. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not,
but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how
great things the Lord hath done for thee. and hath had compassion
on thee. Why has God left us here? In wondrous wisdom, grace, condescension. He has put the treasure of his
grace and his gospel in these earthen vessels, in these houses
of clay, and tells us to go and tell our friends, tell other
eternity-bound sinners what wonderful things He's done for us and how
He had compassion on us. And he's left us here because
he will have, as long as time stands, a witness in the earth
for himself. What an honor. He's chosen us
to be his witnesses. He's left us here to be witnesses
unto his goodness and his grace. How long you reckon you're going
to live, Brother Dodd? just as long as there's something
for me to do for you and him. Just that long. Just that long. Until then, the disease hasn't
been found yet that can harm me. And the enemy hasn't been
found yet who can slay me. Mortals are immortal here until
their work is done. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ. Either that's true, I'm deceived
in my heart, and I'm a liar, one of the two. No in between,
Graham. I have a desire to depart and
be with Christ. But for right now, it's needful
for you that I hang around a little while longer. That's all. That's all. For what purpose?
To get faith. Well, that's a silly bubble,
isn't it? To make money. Well, that's kind of like a little
boy going out playing in the sandlot. To get property. No, no. To declare to eternity-bound
sinners the wonders of God's saving grace and his unsearchable
mercy. and his love that passes knowledge
in Christ Jesus the Lord. Amen.