How often do you find yourself
thinking, because of the coldness, emptiness, the deadness of because of the corruptions that
seem to engulf you, because of the wickedness of your behavior,
how often do you think, how can I be a child of God and be like
this? You feel yourself a prisoner. Shut up. Like David, you cry, I'm shut
up. And I cannot come forth. This is what I am. This is where
I am. And I can't do one thing about
it. That's my daily experience. Not once in a while. Daily. I remember years ago going to
a zoo over in Virginia. It's a child's zoo. They had a little petting zoo
there near Roanoke or in Roanoke. And they had an eagle. Wasn't
in a cage. Sitting high up on a bar about
12, 15 feet in the air. But the eagle had a cable to
one of its legs. And it had been sitting there
for so long, it quit even trying to fly away. It just sat there,
looking up, as if to say, oh, how I wish I could soar into
the heavens. But it was tethered. to that
pole and could do nothing. I am shut up and I cannot come
forth. That's my life experience. The fact is, in the word of God,
God's elect are often represented just that way. As a people in
prison, captives, confined, constrained, and disconstant. Imprisonment
is used in the Scripture to portray the captivity of the soul that
is experienced by God's saints in this world. Our Lord Jesus
tells us that he comes to open the prison doors and bring ransom
sinners out of captivity, and we find ourselves in darkness
and bondage, disconsolate. And our captivity is the result
of the fact that we take our eyes off our Savior. In this
body of flesh, because of our unbelieving hearts, we are a
people in prison and our souls are cast down, sometimes, occasionally. We are blessed with such rapturous
visions of our Redeemer's grace and glory that we can almost
imagine being in the same state as Paul was when he said, I knew
a man in Christ who was translated to the third heaven. And we see
things that we can't begin to describe. But then we're buffeted
of Satan. afflicted in the flesh and cast
down in weakness. Our Savior soon appears, brings
us out of our prison house again, frees us from our captivity,
and speaks peace to our souls, saying, My grace is sufficient
for thee. Then we are compelled to cry,
O Lord, I am thy servant, the son of thine handmaid, thou hast
loosed my bonds." Zechariah, God's prophet, was instructed
in chapter 9 to give a specific message specifically to people
in such a state. Our text this morning will be
Zechariah chapter 9, verses 12 and 13. Here is a specific word of grace
to prisoners of hope. Zechariah 9, verse 12. Hear what the Lord God says to
His prisoners of hope. Turn you to the stronghold, ye
prisoners of hope. Even today do I declare that
I will render double unto thee when I have bent Judah for me,
filled the bowl with Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion,
against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword of a mighty
man." Now, I want to show you from the Scriptures. I want to
show you and show you from the Scriptures how these words from
our God distinctly apply to us in our experience of His grace. It will do me no good simply
to stand here and tell you that these words apply to us, and
that will do you no good. I want you to see and see in
the book of God and see clearly in the book of God that these
words are applied to you and I who believe on the Son of God. Our text opens with a very gracious
call. That's the first thing we see.
The triune God says, turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners
of hope. Let me talk to you for a minute
about the call and then for just a minute about the stronghold
and then for just a minute about the call. You will notice that
the stronghold to which we are called is identified with a definite
article. He doesn't say turn you to stronghold
or turn you to a stronghold. He says, turn you to the stronghold. That is because there is but
one stronghold for our poor souls. And that stronghold, of course,
is Jesus Christ our Lord. We're told in verse 3 that Tyrus
did build herself a stronghold. That's what men do everywhere.
They build themselves a stronghold. They make a bed, but it's too
short. They can't stretch themselves on it. The covers are too narrow.
They can't wrap themselves in it. They have a refuge, but it's
a refuge of lies they have built for themselves. Zion's children
do not attempt such folly. Those who are born in Zion turn
to the stronghold. They don't build a stronghold
for themselves. The stronghold to which we turn
is Christ Jesus. He is the tower of the flock. The stronghold of the daughter
of Zion, for the wrecks read Tuesday night to us in Nahum
1, the Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble, and he
knoweth them that trust in him. Christ Jesus is the blessed rock
of refuge in whom alone we trust. Trust ye in the Lord, the prophet
said. Trust ye in the Lord forever,
for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength. He's our buckler, our
defense, and our shield. And being our stronghold in Him,
we are kept safe and secure, though surrounded with distress
and trouble, heartache and foes, surrounded with things that we
cannot overcome or withstand. We are kept secure in Him. shrouded
in security in Christ the stronghold. That great hymn John Newton wrote
has a couple of verses we commonly do not sing. They don't appear
in our hymn book. The last verse in our hymn book,
when we'd been there 10,000 years, somebody put that in I guess
because they thought it sounded good, but Newton didn't write
that. We won't be there 10,000 years, we'll be there forever
more. But Newton did write this. The Lord has promised good to
me. His word my hope secures. He will my shield and portion
be as long as life endures. And when this heart and flesh
shall fail and mortal life shall cease, I shall possess within
the veil a life of joy and peace. turn you to the stronghold. One of those cities of refuge
into which the manslayer was bitten to flee and into which
he would flee and find refuge from the avenger of blood was
named Bezer. That word Bezer is the same root
word that's used here for stronghold. It means fortress. Every sinner
enabled by God the Holy Spirit to flee to Christ for refuge
is safe from God's offended justice because Christ putting away our
sin has borne all the wrath of God in our room instead and now
justice is satisfied. We are forever saved from the
curse and condemnation of the law by Jesus Christ who was made
a curse for us that we might be freed from the curse. Justice
executed Him who was made sin for us, and now we're freed from
sin. And Christ, our stronghold, we're
completely and forever freed from all sin because He has put
it away. I keep declaring these things,
but we haven't yet begun to grasp them. Did you hear what I just
declared? There's no condemnation in this
stronghold. The law that would destroy us
can't touch us. The sword of justice gleaming
over the heads of perishing men has nothing to do with us because
justice has been satisfied by our Redeemer. Condemnation is
not a possibility to those who turn to the stronghold, because
in the stronghold there is therefore now no condemnation. Sin. Sin that terrorizes the whole
human race. Oh, not many acknowledge it,
but the whole human race is constantly terrorized inside, deep inside
their souls with sin. Sin holds no terror, no terror for those who are found
hiding in Christ the stronghold. In Christ the stronghold, neither
Satan nor the enemies of our souls have power to hurt, not
to destroy or even hurt. God's people. In Him, we are
totally beyond the reach of danger or harm of any kind. On such,
the second death shall have no power. Christ my Savior is my
strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort. Thou
hast given commandment to save me." He in whom we hide has given
commandment, commandment to the angels of God, commandment to
creation, commandment to time, commandment to providence, yes,
commandment to hell itself. Thou hast given commandment to
save me. Before ever the world was, He
commanded all things, and now in time He still commands all
things. to perform good for my soul. Sometimes we sing a sweet, delightful
chorus. Under the blood of Jesus, safe
in the shepherd's fold. Under the blood of Jesus, safe
while the ages roll. Safe though the world may crumble. Safe though the stars grow dim. the blood of Jesus, I am secure
in Him. Oh, God put you there today and send you home rejoicing.
But there's something else here. The Lord Jesus, who is Himself
the stronghold, here calls for us to turn to Him. I've shown
you repeatedly the angel Speaking to Zechariah, the God giving
Zechariah his vision is none other than the angel of the covenant,
God our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, turn you to
the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope. Now there is something
very special about that. He whom we have offended, he
whom we desperately need, bids us turn to the stronghold. The call is very personal. Look
at the different words. When you see the word you, you
remember what that means? In your old King James Bible,
you folks who want one of the new ones, you won't get this.
But in your old King James Bible, in translation, anytime you see
Y-O-U, that's singular. That's singular. Turn you. He's talking just to you, Darth.
Just to you. Turn you. And I promise you,
whether you are a believer or whether you are yet dead in your
sins, you will never turn till he speaks personally to you. Turn you. Turn you. But then he speaks another way. The word ye, whenever you see
that word, I'm sorry, I've got it just backwards. The word you,
that's always plural. The word ye, that's always singular. He says, turn you prisoners of
hope, all you in general. But then he says, turn you, you,
you to whom I speak. Turn you to the stronghold. All right, now, turn to John
chapter 6. And I'll show you the encouragement
with which he bids, allures, and entices prisoners of hope
to come to him. Verse 37. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. Well, that's all right. I don't
have any difficulty with that. But what if the Father hasn't
given me to Him? Can I come? And Him that cometh unto me,
I will in no wise cast out. I reckon that means if somehow
I can come to Him, the Father has given me to Him. If somehow I can get to Him,
The Father has given me to him. For he says, him that cometh
unto me, I will in no wise cast out." It doesn't matter who you
are, where you are, what you've been, what you've done. It doesn't even matter how you
come. If you can get to him, he won't
cast you out. You mean it doesn't matter how
we come? You mean we don't have to come by faith? That's the
only way you can come. But it doesn't matter whether you come
running or come crawling. It doesn't matter whether you
come crying in desperation, Lord, save me, I perish! Or you come
with a weak, trembling face. If I can just touch the hem of
His garment, I'll be made whole. It doesn't matter whether you
come to Him with great swiftness, like those disciples our Lord
saw bending their father's nets, and he said, follow me. And they
left their nets and followed him. Or whether you first had
some struggles, and you said, Lord, let me go first and say
goodbye to Mom and Dad. And he reasons with you graciously
and says, let the dead bury the dead. You say, OK, I'll follow
you. It doesn't matter how you come.
If you get to Him, He won't cast you out. I can but perish if I go. I am resolved to try, for if
I stay away, I know I must forever die. But this were to die, delightful
thought, a sinner never Now, look at our text again,
Zechariah 9. He says, turn you, turn you to the stronghold, ye prisoners of hope, you, you
who are prisoners of hope. Here he specifically identifies
a specific people to whom he graciously speaks. You see, the
Word of God is never indiscriminate and ambiguous. Never. People
today, they keep trying somehow to make it appear that there's
a sense in which, you know, Jesus really wants to save everybody.
Brother Darwin showed you so clearly last week. God's Word
is never addressed to men in general. Find me a place where
it is. Never. The Gospel is never preached
to men in general. We preach to everybody because
we have no idea who God's elect are. We proclaim the Word indiscriminately,
but we are preaching to God's people. The Lord Jesus comes
and says, turn ye prisoners of hope. I'm talking to a specific
people. I'm talking to my people. As
we've seen, God's elect are described in verse 11 in their natural
fallen state. Prisoners, like all other men,
lost, ruined in death and in sin. We didn't know it. But even then, we were His prisoners. Prisoners with the sentence of
death written upon us, but His prisoners nonetheless. He says
in verse 11, As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant
I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no
water. His prisoners, His covenant prisoners,
His blood-bought prisoners. And even while we walked in disobedience,
Children of wrath, even as others, we belonged to our Savior. We were His. So there is a sense
in which it can be said that these words, prisoners of hope,
properly applied to us in our unregenerate state. We had hope because we were His,
but it was hope with no hope. It was hope without hope. Let
me show you. Turn to Ephesians chapter 2.
Ephesians 2. You see, experimentally, experimentally,
perceptively, before Christ saved us, before we were born of God,
before we were given grace to believe on the Son of God, we
were altogether without hope. Or we were in Christ, chosen,
accepted in Him, redeemed by Him, but we didn't know it. And
because we didn't know it, we had no hope. Look here at Ephesians
2 verse 11. Wherefore remember that ye being
in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who were called uncircumcision
by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made with hands,
that at that time You were without Christ. Now wait a minute. Are
you saying we had Christ and we didn't have Him? No. God the
Holy Spirit said that. In Ephesians chapter 1, He said
we were in Christ before the world began. Here in chapter
2, He said you were without Christ. He's talking about now in chapter
2, our experience of grace. In chapter 1, he's talking about
God's work of grace for us before the world began, and God's work
of grace for us in redemption, and God's work of grace in us,
revealing Christ in us. Here in chapter 2, he's talking
about the blessed grace of God as we experience it. There was
a time when I was without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel. and strangers from the covenants
of promise. Look at this, having no hope
and without God in the world. Now, in the light of Ephesians
2, it's clear to me that while Zechariah 9, 11 speaks of those
prisoners Christ Jesus comes to save, verse 12 speaks of those
same prisoners, but in another position. These are prisoners
for whom he's done something. These are prisoners in whom he's
done a work. You see, by nature, we are not
just condemned under the sentence of the law. By nature, we are
dead. And a dead man does not have
hope. He doesn't have any. Here in
verse 12, He's talking about prisoners in whom the Lord God
has performed something, causing them to hope. Turn ye to the
stronghold, ye prisoners of hope. Now these words cannot be applied
to the Jews who were still in Babylon. Historically, they can't
be. Cyrus had given a decree. He
had said the Jews are free. Go back to Jerusalem, build your
temple, I'll take care of everything you need. But some of the Jews,
many of them stayed in Babylon. They didn't stay there because
they were prisoners. By decree, by law, they could
have left at any time. They stayed in Babylon because
they chose to stay in Babylon, because they wanted to stay in
Babylon, because they loved Babylon. But there were thousands of them
who came back. In two great floods, they came
back to Jerusalem, and they began to build the house of God. They
laid the foundation, began to build the walls, and there was
a sense, though they were completely out of Babylon, there was a sense
in which they were still prisoners without satisfaction, because
all around them was trouble and distress. discouragement and
heartache. All around them were those who
opposed them and would hinder them in every step they made,
and the opposition and the foes were as much inside as outside
them. Yet, they saw the foundation
laid, and they heard God say, as the foundation stone was laid,
Zerubbabel would with mighty hands lay the headstone in the
corner shouting grace, grace unto it. And they'd look at that
and they'd, oh, let's go lay a few bricks. Let's do a little
more work today. Hoping against hope that the
temple would be finished, the top stone laid in its place.
the glory of the Lord revealed and Messiah would come into his
house as the prophet said he would. Now that's a pretty good
picture of our state in this world. I know that the promise and assurance
of salvation and eternal life in Christ is given only to faith
in Christ. Yet there is a very real sense
in which sinners are first awakened to grace and they have no perceptive
faith in Christ. The scripture says, Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He that believeth
on the Son of God hath everlasting life. But they are greatly mistaken. They are greatly mistaken. who
vainly imagine that faith is the cause of the new birth, or
who point to their first believing on the Son of God and say, there
I was born again. Faith in Christ is the result
of the new birth. And I promise you, nobody sitting
here knows exactly when he was born again. Nobody. Nobody. You say, well, I was
there. I can take you to the place. I can show you the time, and
I can take you to the place when the Lord saved me by His wonderful
grace. No, you can't. No, you can't. In fact, if you can, there's
something wrong. There's something wrong. Because
you're looking to a time and to a place and not to His grace. Quit trying to decide, when did
God save me? When did He give me faith in
Christ? The issue, the only issue to
be settled is, do you believe on the Son of God? Believing
Him, Larry, is the fruit of His grace. It is the fruit of the
new birth. Now, I don't suggest or even
think that all who are born of God experience grace the same
way. They don't. In fact, while we experience
the same grace, we experience grace very differently. Each
of us do. We come in different paths and
different experiences into the kingdom of our God. Some experience
God's saving grace like the Gadarene demoniac. Wasn't much question. That fellow,
the Lord cast out of him seven devils, and he is found sitting,
clothed, and in his right mind. Like that. But there was another
fellow possessed of the devil, who as he was coming to the Savior,
the devil threw him and tear him violently. Sometimes the Lord Jesus gives
full light to his blind ones. Just like that. By the mess,
what is it you want? Oh, Lord, I want to see. Okay,
you see. Sometimes he takes them by the
hand, leads them out by themselves, spits in their eyes, puts a little
mud on their eyes, and says, do you see anything?
And they say, well, I see something. I can't really say exactly what
it is I see, but I see men as trees walking. And then he touches
them again, and they see clearly. So don't ever, when you hear Bob describing his experience
of grace, and you hear Josh describe his experience of grace, don't
ever imagine that one's got to be false because they're different.
Believers experience grace differently. The same grace, the same salvation,
but they experience it differently. Let's not compare ourselves with
ourselves. That's not much of a comparison.
That's not much of a comparison. We find our hope in our Redeemer.
The old writers used to speak of sensible sinners, awakened
sinners, seeking sinners. And I've sometimes kind of ridiculed
those terms, but I've been looking at that a good bit. Brother L.R. Shelton used to talk about lost
sinners. And I realize you can make too
much of this, but the fact is there's a difference between
sinners and sinners. There really is. There was a
time, Don York, when you were a dead Lost, helpless, doomed,
damned, unregenerate sinner, and didn't have a thought about
it. Somebody would come to you and
tell you you were doomed and damned under the curse of God, dead,
couldn't do anything about it, you'd fight them. That's not
so. But then there came a time when in your soul you found yourself dead, doomed,
damned, unbelieving, lost, and you couldn't come forth. I'm talking to some of you in
just that position today, I'm sure of it. Joseph Hart put it like this,
to understand these things are right, this grand distinction
should be known. Though all are sinners in God's
sight, there are but few so in their own. To such as these our
Lord was sent, there are only sinners who repent. What comfort
can a Savior bring to those who never felt their woe? A sinner
is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost hath made him
so. new life from him we must receive,
before for sin we rightly grieve. Do you remember in the last portion
of Luke chapter 9, I believe it is, the Lord Jesus had been
working miracles, just one after the other, one after the other.
And then Luke tells us who he healed. Well, he healed a bunch
of folks. He was healing folks all day
long, but he didn't heal everybody. But He healed as many as had
need of healing. He healed as many as had need
of healing. And I'm going to tell you who's
going to walk out of that door today healed by His grace. Everybody who needs His healing. Well, Brother Don, I don't need
healing, I know. And you'll go home like you came. I don't need
his touch, I know. I understand, I really do. Been
there. And you'll go home without his
touch. Oh, but for the soul that needs him. I promise you, you
shall have him. Our text describes God's elect,
not merely as prisoners in their natural fallen condition, but
as prisoners distinctly identified, prisoners of hope. I hope I'm
talking to some prisoners of hope this morning. They will
soon be free. Who are these prisoners of hope?
Well, God's people may rightly be called prisoners of hope in
three distinct stages of their lives. In the experience of grace,
there is a hope that is the forerunner of faith. Again, I wouldn't suggest
that it's hope without faith. That's not the case. But it is
hope that's accompanied with a faith not yet perceived, not
yet revealed, not made known to the one who possesses it.
A hope that precedes that which Paul describes as confident faith. assured faith, that which Peter
describes as a living faith. John Gill was exactly right when
he wrote, All men are concluded in sin, shut up under the law
and led captive by Satan. But some are not sensible of
their imprisoned state, or desirous of being out of it, or have any
hope concerning it, while others grow old in their bondage. and long for deliverance, hoping
for it. We live in this day of cocksure,
no-so religion. How many times have you heard
preachers and comedians, and it'd be better if the preachers
were comedians, and the comedians were preachers in my book, but
they'll say, Well, I don't have a hope, so religion the Lord
took the hope out and gave me a no-so. The Word of God speaks of hope,
hoping for God's salvation. Let me show you. Lamentations
chapter 3 speaks of sinners hoping for
God's salvation. God has given gravel stones to
eat till the teeth are broken and bound them in chains and
bitterness. Here in chapter 3 verse 25, the
prophet says, The Lord is good to them that wait for him, to
the soul that seeketh him. It is good that a man should
both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It
is good for a man that he bear the yoke of his youth. He sitteth
alone and keepeth silence because he hath borne it upon him. Now
watch this. I know this is what he's talking
about. Watch it. He putteth his mouth in the dust. What is it that a treasonous
felon does before the king? who's captured him. And the traitor
knows by reason of his guilt that the king's about to execute
him. He falls in the dust. He puts his mouth in the dust,
pleading for mercy. Now watch this. If so be, there
may be hope. If so be, there may be hope.
He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him. He is filled full
with reproach. Ever been there? Filled full
with reproach. I was alive without the law once
and sin came. The commandment came and sin
revived and I died. Filled full with reproach. And
if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sin. Filled full with reproach. For
the Lord will not cast off forever. That's the reason he put him
there. But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according
to the multitude of his mercies. How are these prisoners described
in the book? Our Lord describes them as people
with broken and a contrite heart. whom God will never despise,
with whom God is pleased to dwell. He describes them as mourners
who shall be comforted. He describes them as hungry,
thirsting souls that shall be filled. He describes them as
meek ones who shall inherit the earth. He describes them as those
sick ones for whom the great physician has come. Is there
any sinner here who senses in his soul the things I'm talking
about? You're in distress and have no comfort. You hear the good news of the gospel
of God's grace. Find no good news in it for you. You long for liberty, and the
more you long for it, the more bound you are. You hate your
sin, and the more you loathe what you are, the more fast your
corruptions bind you. This is how God describes it
in Psalm 107. That 107th Psalm describes the believer's experience
of grace in a variety of ways. Some experience grace like those
that reel to and fro as a drunken man. Some experience grace as
one who reels to and fro as a drunken man. That is witsians. And others
like those that go out into the sea and do business in deep waters
and their souls are cast down to the deep and the billows overflow
them. And others, like prisoners, because
you've rebelled against the words of God and contempt the counsel,
despise the counsel of the Most High, He's brought down your
heart with labor, and there's none to help. And when you find that there
is none to help, the Son of God steps forward and says, turn
you. You prisoners of hope! I turned
you to the stronghold. I looked, and there was none
to help. And mine own arm, it brought
salvation to me. And my spirit, it sustained me. He who calls the prisoner is
that one who brings the prisoner to himself and bids us cast all
on him. He's the good Samaritan who supplies
all our need. He is the great physician in
whom alone is healing. He's the great high priest who
made sacrifice for our sin. He is that one, our great almighty
advocate, who intercedes for the transgressors. He is that
one in whom is all grace. God's elect are people who believe
in Christ are yet prisoners. Prisoners. You see, we find ourselves, as
the church describes herself in the Song of Solomon, I am two armies. Two armies at war, flesh and
spirit. The things I hate, those are
things I do. And the things I would, the things
I would, I can't do. Now either that's truth or I'm
a hypocrite and a liar. One of the two. Wasn't it? That's what David experienced,
wasn't it? Read the 73rd Psalm. That's what Paul experienced.
Read the 7th chapter of Romans. Oh, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? I'm carnal, sold under sin, full
of corruption. I was shocked to discover, soon after God saved me, that nothing about my old nature
had changed. I mean nothing. I had no thought
that salvation and the experience of grace was going to eradicate
my sin. I didn't have much sense, but I had better sense than that.
I had no thought that I would live in sinless perfection by
the works of my flesh. I had little sense, but better
sense than that. But I did imagine that The lust and the corruptions
and the vileness would be changed, subdued and corrected in great
measure. It's been now 40 years since
first God gave me light to see something of His grace. And I am a preacher. When I try to pray, and I do
try to pray, but I can't pray unless God puts
a prayer in my heart. I don't care how many lists I
make, I don't care how many words I say, I can't pray unless God
puts a prayer in my heart. You say, Brother John, pray for
me. I will if I can. And I'll try. But I can't unless
God puts prayer in my heart. I read this book. I read it regularly. Spend my life studying it. But I can't hear God speak in
His Word. I can't hear it unless God speaks. I know I am responsible to keep
myself before God, but I can't keep myself from
the slightest temptation unless God restrains the tempter's
power and keeps me by His grace. I know I must not fall, but I am in a constant state
of falling, and I will surely fall. unless God Almighty upholds
me by His grace. I know, I know that when I am
faltered, I cannot lift myself up, except
He lifts me up. I am shut up, and I cannot come
forth. But I'm a prisoner with hope.
living in the expectation of eternal life. I hope to stand
before God in resurrection glory, presented faultless before the
presence of His glory with exceeding joy. Well, what have you got to base
that on? Everything written in this book. Everything written in this book.
Oh, but now, Brother Dodd, you know you can't have any assurance
unless you can find something inside you to give you some.
I know if I can find something inside me to give me some assurance,
I am a hypocrite. I'm a liar. I've deceived myself
in trying to deceive God, because there ain't nothing inside you
to give you assurance. Nothing. But I know I'm a child of God
because I love you. Oh, well, now let's see how much
you love me. Let's see. I may know you're a child of
God because you love me, but if you think you're a love for
me, as such as will give you assurance and peace before God,
your love is nothing but proud presumption." That's right. Exactly. Where's your hope? Christ alone. You see, we walk
before God through this world expecting to walk into heaven's
glory in a blaze of glory. Because God said it. How did Abraham live? He lived
as an heir of Thomas. Abraham lived possessing all
the land of Canaan. And Scippy never one time set
foot there. I mean he possessed the whole
thing. And he never one time set foot there. How can that
be? God said it's yours. He didn't
have anything on which to base his confidence except God's Word. Would you tell me what else you
need? Feelings come and feelings go
and feelings are deceiving. I trust the living Word of God. Nought else is worth believing. Amen.