The other night I was talking
to Diane. You know her father's suffering
from Alzheimer's has been for some time so painful to watch. So when you love, go through
that. And I tried to be of some comfort in this next to impossible.
I said, cherish the memory of a faithful father. Cherish the
memory of it. And give thanks to God for that. Few have such memories. You who
have had good parents, whether believers or unbelievers, what
a privilege. What a privilege. What a rare,
rare, rare privilege. And cherish the memory of that.
You who have been raised by men and women who love God more than
they love you. the rarest privileges. Cherish
it. Cherish it. For my part, I never
knew what a family was until God Almighty made me to
be a partaker of His family. Now I realize what I've said.
I realize what I've said. You see, there's much more to
being a father than siring children. That's the reason we call dogs,
if you breed dogs, you don't call the father of the dog a
father. He's a sire. Same with horses. They don't know anything about
fatherhood. Giving birth doesn't make you a mother, but rather
the loving commitment of a father and a mother to your welfare. That's a delightful, delightful
thing. Delightful thing. And God Almighty,
in his everlasting commitment to my soul, delivered me from
darkness. into the kingdom of his darling
son, snatched me as a brand from the burning, from the very pit
of destruction. And he did so, if you'll permit
me to use David's words, that I may show forth all his praise
in the gates of the door of Zion, that I may show forth his salvation. him rather put it this way, ere
since, by faith, I saw the stream thy flowing wounds supply, redeeming
love has been my theme, and shall be till I die. Turn with me,
if you will, to 2 Corinthians chapter 1. I want to talk to you about God's
salvation. The psalmist said, I have trusted
in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy
salvation. We will rejoice in thy salvation,
and in the name of our God will we set up our banners. I'm not a flag waver. If you
see a bumper sticker on one of my vehicles, somebody else put
it there. I don't use those things. Not because I don't feel strongly
about things, I'm just not a flag waver. I rather suspect if you
talk to me very much about anything, you don't need to see me wear
a flag on my lapel or anywhere else. You know exactly where
I stand with regard to all issues of importance. Well, here's a
banner I do wave. The Lord God is my salvation. We raise up our banners before
our God, and our banner is God our Savior, our Lord Jesus, says
concerning himself as Jehovah's righteous servant. And David,
who penned the word, says this concerning himself. I have not
hid thy righteousness within my heart. I have declared thy
faithfulness and thy salvation. That's the revelation of his
righteousness. I have not concealed thy lovingkindness
and thy truth from the great congregation. For God is my King
of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth. Anytime you wonder what God's
doing, try to remember He's working salvation in the midst of the
earth. That's what He's doing. That
takes away the mist to the clouds of darkness and gives you some
peace. in the midst of difficult times.
Truly the Lord hath done great things for us whereof we are
glad, but none of those great things, none of those great things
God has done and is doing for us, compares with, or begins
to give us such gladness as the salvation of our souls in Christ. Oh, how I rejoice And God, my
King, who has been my King of old, working salvation in the
midst of the earth. And I pray that He will work
salvation in your heart as you hear the gospel of His grace
today. Here in 2 Corinthians 1, verses 9 and 10, the Apostle
Paul states, with regard to his deliverance from physical death
by the hands of men, that it is a work which God has done,
is doing, and shall do. Look at verse 9. We had the sentence
of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves,
but in God which raiseth the dead, who delivered us from so
great a death, and doth deliver in whom we trust He will yet
deliver us. Salvation is deliverance. Complete, absolute, everlasting
deliverance from the sentence of death. And that which Paul
here says concerning himself and his experience of deliverance
by God's hand of mercy from wicked men, and the sentence of death
wicked men would execute upon him, is a very clear statement
also of our experience of God's grace in salvation. There was
a time, as Paul put it in verse 8, when we were pressed out of
measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. I've been there. I've been there. Pressed with
the weight of my guilt and my sin and my shame before a holy
God and His holy law with such heavy, heavy, heavy weight that
I despaired of life. I have no question at all, had
it not been just the fear of everlasting damnation, I would
have committed suicide when I was a young teenager. Just despair
of life. Despair of life. And God graciously
laid his heavy hand of justice on my heart. And pushed me as
it were to the very brink of hell in utter terror. Convinced that I deserved his
wrath. Convinced that everlasting damnation
must be my portion. I despaired of life. Couldn't
understand there's any possibility of hope for sinners such as me. Despaired of life. And when I
had the sentence of death in my soul, death sentenced by law,
worked its determined purpose by God's ordination, it taught
me I must not trust in myself. That's the purpose of the law.
The purpose of God showing us our guilt and our just damnation. by the curse of His holy law,
with the sentence of wrath upon us, is to shut us up to Christ,
to show us there's nothing in ourselves to trust in. You don't
have any goodness. You can't produce any goodness.
You cannot atone for your sin. You can't make up with God. We
despaired of life and were taught not to trust in ourselves, but
rather He graciously forced us. to trust in God, which raiseth
the dead. You say, Preacher, you mean he
forced you to do so? Oh, yeah. Yeah. I was glad to
do it, but he forced me to die. I'm so thankful. I'm so thankful
that I can trust Him. But I trust Him because He forced
me to. He made me to understand there
was no other hope for my soul. And I want to tell you something.
This is when you will come to trust Jesus Christ the Lord.
Are you listening to me? When God just flat shuts you
up to Him and you can't do anything else. You'll never trust Him as long
as you make any other turn. You'll never trust Him as long
as you can lean on anything else. You'll never trust him as long
as you can cling to something else. Oh, but if God will cause
you to know your sin and your guilt, to despair of life, teach
you you can't trust in yourself, if he'll strip you naked, knock
every prop out from under you, he'll graciously force you to
trust in his son. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest and causest to approach unto thee. Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power, but not otherwise. Now, trusting
Him, I am here to speak to you as one sinner to another about
God my Savior, who delivered us from so great a death, and
doth deliver in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us.
I've told you many times, salvation is a big, big word. It includes
everything that is involved in the deliverance of our souls
from the sentence of death into the glorious liberty of the sons
of God. We have been conditioned to think
about salvation in a time experience, in a time framework. When we
talk about salvation, folks talk about the time when I got saved.
Well, I kind of doubt it. You talk to me about God saving
you, that's something else, that I decided to get saved. I went
to church and got saved. No, no, no, no, no. Salvation
is not something that's related just to a time experience, but
rather it includes everything involved. in this great work
of God, by which many women who fully deserve everlasting damnation,
many women who are dead in trespasses and in sins, are brought into
God's everlasting glory in the perfect conformity to Jesus Christ
the Lord. Salvation is a big, big word. And if you'll search the scriptures,
You'll find that salvation is set before us in at least four
distinct tenses. Now, I realize in our English
grammar you've only got three tenses, but when I talk about
English grammar now, we're talking about biblical grammar. And salvation
is clearly set before us in these four distinct tenses. First,
salvation is set before us as a work of God completely Fully,
absolutely accomplished in the eternal past. In the eternal
past. Turn, if you will, to Romans
chapter 8. Now listen to me while you turn
it. In Hebrews chapter 4, verse 3, the Holy Spirit tells us that
with regard to this thing called rest, this salvation into which
God delivers His people, The works were finished from the
foundation of the world. That's pretty plain language,
isn't it? The works were finished. Just in case you don't understand
that complicated word, that means done. Done. From the foundation of the world.
We were chosen in everlasting love as the sons of God. We were redeemed from old eternity
by the blood of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
We were accepted in the Beloved and blessed with all spiritual
blessings in the Beloved before the world began. Listen again
to what Paul declares. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus, and this is
how he did it, according as he hath chosen us in him. before the foundation of the
world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him,
in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
wherein He hath made us accepted unto be loved. Romans chapter
8, verse 29, Paul speaks to us about God's purpose of grace.
And this is it, whom He did foreknow, whom He loved from eternity.
He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His
Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover,
whom He did predestinate, them He also called, whom He called,
them He also justified, whom He justified, them He also glorified. Past tense. Past tense. You mean preacher?
It was done from eternity? Done from eternity. Finished
before the foundation of the world. Look at 2 Timothy 1. 2
Timothy 1. Paul is describing to Timothy
the gospel for which he suffers imprisonment and is about to
suffer death. His last epistle. He writes to this young man Timothy
and says, don't be ashamed of me, or of my bonds, or of the
gospel for which I suffer these things. And here it is. God hath
saved us. You see that verse 9? God hath
saved us and called us with an holy calling according to his
own purpose and grace. Now look at it. Which was given
us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But is now made manifest. by the appearing of God our Savior
who hath abolished death and hath brought life and immortality
to light through the gospel. What happens when God comes to
a center in saving grace in time? What is this thing called the
experience of salvation? God lets you in on what He did
from eternity and causes you to experience it in your soul. But the work was done from eternity. Now, the automatic response of
men is, well, if you preach that, then there's no need for men
to repent, no need for faith, no need for preaching. That nullifies
all things with regard to responsibility. Well, you can mock God if you
want to and go to hell. But according to God's Word,
not so. Those who were saved in eternity. are brought to experience salvation
in time. And so our salvation is spoken
of clearly in this regard as well. It is spoken of as something
that was done in the historic past. Not just the eternal past,
but in the historic past. Let's look at Scripture. Our
Lord Jesus, in John 19, verse 30, said, It is finished. What's that mean? It was finished.
What was finished? Everything He came here to do.
He said, Father, I have finished the work Thou gavest me to do.
The work was finished before the foundation of the world,
but He came here to do that work which was finished in the purpose
of God and in the covenant of His grace by our surety from
old eternity. In time, He came down here and
assumed human flesh and fulfilled all righteousness for us as our
substitute. And he suffered the wrath of
God in our room instead when he was made sin for us, dying
upon the cursed tree. And as he did, his sin is finished. And with his own blood, he entered
in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption
for us. This is what our Savior did when
he finished his life on this earth and laid down his life
as a sacrifice for sin. He brought in everlasting righteousness. He put away our sins. He made
us to be the very righteousness of God in Him, so that when He
arose from the dead, according to the testimony of this book,
we arose with Him. And when He sat down at the right
hand of the Majesty on High, we sat down with Him in heavenly
places. Well, I don't understand how
that can be. I'm not sure that I understand
it, but I flat do believe it and rejoice in it. When Christ
died, I died. Paul said, I have been crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but Christ liveth in me. In the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. When he died, I died. When he
arose, I arose. When he sat down. accepted in
heaven. I sat down, accepted in heaven. Done. Done. And then there comes
a time when the believing sinner experiences grace. Anybody who tells you that we
preach God's sovereignty and predestination and have nothing
to say about experience, just go ahead and laugh at them. It'll
be all right. You know what you're talking about. Every chosen redeems
at the appointed time of love. is made to enjoy the sweet experience
of grace in His soul. There was a time when God came
to me by His grace and gave this dead sinner life and faith in
Christ. There was a time when He called
me to believe, called me to come to Christ, called me to receive
Christ calls me to trust Christ as my only Lord and Savior. In
Ephesians 1 verse 13, the Apostle Paul tells us first in verse
12 that God the Father trusted Christ as our surety before the
world was. Then in verse 13 he says, in
whom you also trusted, trusted after that you heard the word
of truth. There's no other way you're going
to ever come to trust Him. The word of truth, the gospel
of your salvation. The preacher comes by the power
of God's Spirit and publishes salvation accomplished. And God
Almighty calls you to hear the gospel of His grace. And it becomes
to you the word of your salvation. In whom also, after that you
believed, that is, having believed, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. Sealed. Now, there are folks
who will tell you that's talking about some kind of a second work
of grace, some kind of a second blessing. This is what Paul said. Mark Henson, when God calls you
to believe the gospel, When you believed on Christ, believing
Him, God the Holy Spirit sealed to you all the work of Christ,
all the blessings of the covenant, all the goodness and grace of
God, and sealed you in His grace. Believing on Him, God said you're
one. Believing on Him, God said, I've
chosen you. Believing on Him, God said, you're
redeemed. Believing on Him, God said, your
sins are put away. Believing on Him, God says, you
have everlasting life. Read on. Which is the earnest,
the pledge, the down payment of our inheritance until the
redemption of the purchased possession. Let me show you about it. Look
at Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2. And you have been quickened,
made alive, who were dead. And I wonder what that means.
No, you don't. If you pick up the newspaper
this afternoon when you get home and you read that somebody is
dead, do you wonder what that means? Dead means the same thing
here in a spiritual sense. No life. No feeling, no emotion,
no ability, no power. Dead! Graveyard, stone, cold,
dead. Dead. You don't have to be a
theologian to figure that out. Dead in trespasses and in sins. Well, that means if anything
ain't done for us, somebody's going to have to do it. Dead
in trespasses and in sins. Where in time past you walked.
according to the course of this world. Live just like everybody
else, after the lust of your flesh. Read it. According to the prince of the
power of the air and the spirit that now worketh in the children
of disobedience, among whom also we all had our conversation,
our way of life, in time past, in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature
children of wrath. just exactly like everybody else. Some walked the high road of
morality and self-righteous religion and moral decency because they
saw advantage in doing so. Some walked the low road of indecency
and decadence and debauchery because that was exactly what
they wanted to do. All walked according to the lust
of their flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, It calls
their children who hate God by nature. Everybody. Everybody. That's the shape we
were in. Now listen. That's the shape we'd be in now
and forever. Except for these two words. But
God. but God all. I ran as fast and hard as I could
to hell, but God. I hated Him, but God. I would
have nothing to do with Him, but God stepped in my way. at the exact spot in time that
He had ordained from eternity when He set the days of my life
and the days of my rebellion and said, hitherto shalt thou
go and no further. But God, who is rich in mercy
for His great love wherewith He loved us, hath quickened us
together with Christ. What does that mean? By grace
you're saved. That's what that means. That's
what that means. The psalmist expressed well what
I want to preach all the days of my life. I will bless the
Lord at all times. His praise shall continually
be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast
in the Lord. The humble will hear thereof
and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
let us exalt His name together. How come? I sought the Lord,
and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked
unto Him, and looking to Him they were lightened, and their
faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and crying
the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
And now, the angel of the Lord, and keepeth round about them
that fear him, and delivereth him. Oh, hear me. Eternity bound men and women,
hear me. Oh, taste and see that the Lord
is good. Taste and see that the Lord is
good. Blessed is the man that trusteth
in him. Now, turn to Romans 5. I'm talking
to you now about the past, historic past tense of salvation and the
experience of grace. Believing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
we received the atonement. We received justification. We received eternal life. And now we stand in grace experimentally. Now listen carefully. Listen
carefully. You will never obtain justification,
sanctification, redemption, atonement, and eternal life except you believe
on the Son of God. It won't happen. It won't happen. Romans 4.25, Christ was delivered
because of our offenses, raised again because of our justification. Therefore, being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom also we have access, now watch it, by faith, by Christ
We have access, by faith, into this grace wherein we stand and
rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but
we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope
maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given to us, shed abroad
in our hearts by Him giving us faith in Christ. Read on. For
when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous
man will one die, yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth His love toward
us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Now watch this next word. Much
more. I like that. Paul uses it over
and over again in this chapter. Much more. There's more yet. Much more than being now justified
by his blood. Now, wait a minute. We were justified
by his blood at Calvary. Yeah. We were justified by his
blood from eternity. Yeah. But now we're justified
by his blood. How? Through faith. Through faith. You mean, preacher, our faith
causes God to put away our sins? Idiot, no. No. You mean, preacher, our faith
merits justification? Why, you fool, no. No. But you're not going to get it
without faith. It ain't going to happen. We are now justified
in our conscience by faith in Christ, by His blood. and being
justified now by His blood, we have this assurance. We shall
be saved from wrath to come. Four, if when we were enemies
we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more
being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only
so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom
we have now received the atonement. That's what I've been talking
about. You're not going to get it but by faith. You mean faith
causes us to have eternal life? Where do you reckon a dead man
is going to exercise faith? No, no, no. Faith is the fruit
of having eternal life. Faith is the work of God having
given us the new birth, having given us life in Christ. But
you're not going to obtain life and faith, and you're not going
to obtain the testimony of God, you're not going to obtain the
atonement, except you believe on the Son of God. Turn to John
chapter 1. If you would be justified before
God in your soul, you must Believe on Christ. If you would be saved,
you must trust Christ. If you would have Christ, you
must receive him. Now, there are two words in the
scriptures in the New Testament that are translated receive.
One means to receive just exactly like this glass of water or this
glass received water here about two hours ago. What did it do? Nothing. What can be ascribed
to it? Nothing is empty and dry. And Mrs. Fortner came along,
put some ice in it, and poured water in. That's how we receive
the new birth. We're completely passive. Completely
passive. Just like that glass. Completely
empty. Completely void of life. But,
there's another word for receive. Any of y'all thirsty? Don't you
wish you had that? Watch this. You know what I just did? A thirsty
man just received a cool drink of water. That word is used here
in John chapter 1. Look at it. Verse 11. He came
unto his own. And His own received Him not,
but to as many as reached out and took Him and drank of the
water of life. That's the word. To as many as
received Him. To them gave He power, the right
in their own consciences to be called the sons of God. The authority
to say, Bless God. He's my Father. Abba, Father,
to believe, even to them which believe on his name. Well, you're
crediting too much to man. I remind you, these are not my
words. These are the words of our God. And this is what he says concerning
we who were thirsty and took a drink. who were weary and heavy
laden and came to Him, who were pressed out of measure, despairing
of life, and trusted Him, which were born, not of blood, nor
the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, God did it. When the sinner is given life
in his death that he's made to live before God, he reaches out
and takes Christ. Now some men preach as if they're
scared to death. one of the non-elect might possibly
get saved, and they throw up barbed wire, razor wire fences
all around the gospel doing everything they can to keep sinners from
coming to the Son of God. I never cease to be amazed that
the heads of sinful men often swell with such dizziness in
their intoxication of pride that they imagine themselves smarter
than God, and they will dare to assert that anyone who uses
the very language of Scripture without giving their explanation
of it is preaching heresy. Recently, a fellow made a statement
concerning these things I'm preaching to you now, using the words of
Scripture. He said, that's blaspheming heresy.
Well, were his assertions not so utterly serious and deluding,
they'd be laughable. Let me tell you, about the language
of scripture. I don't mind using it at all.
Matter of fact, I prefer it to any other language when I'm preaching.
Do you know what our Savior said to the woman with an issue of
blood? Do you know what he said? He
said it three times. It's recorded three times. Daughter,
be of good comfort. Thy faith has made thee whole.
You say that, folks will think you're an Arminian. I don't give
a hoot what folks think I am. Folks talk about eternal redemption,
eternal salvation. Oh, they'll think you're primitive
badness. I don't care what they think. I'm telling you what God
says. You remember what our Savior
said to the woman of Canaan, the Syro-Phoenician woman who
came and said, my daughter's previously taxed to the devil.
Lord, have mercy on me. The Lord Jesus said, oh woman,
Great is thy face, be it unto thee even as thou wilt. Listen to me. You who believe
on Christ. Do you believe Him there? Do
you believe Him? Say to the mountains that separate
you and God, depart. Look yonder. I see them leveled. And they're not one thing standing
between me and God. Say to this huge sycamore tree,
this useless thing, this obstacle, be plucked up by the roots and
cast into the sea. There goes all my sins, my corruption,
my weakness. Every accusation of men and hell,
gone. This is what the Master says,
great is thy faith. Be it unto thee, even as thou
wilt. That's great faith. That's great
faith. That's great faith. And it is
just as necessary just as vital to the saving of your soul as
eternal election, divine predestination, imputed righteousness, and effectual
redemption by the blood of Christ. Somebody said, well, you folks
leave man predestined to be saved. They're going to be saved no
matter what. No, I don't believe that at all. I don't believe
that at all. Matter of fact, nobody who believes predestination,
as it's taught according to this book, believes that. Nobody.
No, no, they're not going to be saved no matter what. They're
going to be saved exactly as God ordained. Exactly when He
ordained. By the hearing of the gospel.
By trusting on Christ. It's the only way. It's the only
way. Now, somebody said, well, faith is a new principle of life. That may sound real smart, but
I'm going to tell you something. Faith's not a principle. It's
not a doctrine. It's heart confidence in Christ. And it's active. We were passive
in regeneration, just as passive as a baby given birth. It's passive. That baby comes
into the world, not struggling to get in, but because mama's
struggling to get it out. But just as soon as the baby's
face is wiped, and the doctor slaps it on the
bottom, that baby begins to cry to breathe. And just as soon
as you lay that newborn baby on his mama's breast, it struggles
with everything in it to get to mama's breast for the milk
of life. And so it is with faith in Christ. The believing soul being given
life to Christ. Life in Christ. Christ at God's
mercy. and to the breast of consolation
on the Almighty for life everlasting. Believe in Him. Believe in Him. And this faith is yours. Oh, it's God's work. God's gift. God's operation. We rejoice in
it. But it's yours. Yeah, it's yours.
Somebody says, well, I believe, but that's not me believing.
That's Christ believing in me. No, it's not. But I believe,
that's not me believing, that's the Holy Spirit believing for
me. No. Find me language like that in this book. Find me language
like that in this book. It's not in there. What is it?
God gave me faith. And I believe Him. And since
God gave it to me, Bill, that makes it mine. I don't understand that. Watch
this. Watch. Watch close now. This
is profound. Did you hear me breathe? That's
my breath. That's my breath. Isn't that
shocking? That's my breath. How dare you
say that? Because I did it. Breathe. Does that mean I don't acknowledge
God gave me breath and God causes me to breathe? God created the
lungs and God fills them with air and God gives me a heart
that pumps blood through my veins. No! I acknowledge all that with
great gladness and joy. But to deny that the breath is
mine is foolish. You say, well that part's not
vital. I'll tell you what you do. You
stick your plastic bag over your head and try breathing and see
whether or not it's vital. It's vital that you believe on the
Son of God as necessary and as precious as blood redemption. I have two questions for you.
Two questions. Do you cry like the Philippian
jailer? What must I do to be saved? I
answer without hesitation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
right where you are, right now. Without saying anything, without
doing anything, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you were
saved already. Well, that's true. That's not
what the book says, is it? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and
thou shalt be saved. You're going to go home with
God's salvation. Another question. It's not important
at all. Now listen to me. Please listen
to me. It doesn't matter. Folks say, well, when did you
believe? Shoot, that's it. When you believe. That doesn't
matter. Was he a sound preacher? Did
he prove to be an apostate after all? What's that got to do with
anything? Nothing. Well, what did you know
when you believed? How much did you know? How much
did you know? I didn't know a frazzling thing.
I don't know about you. Without faith, you don't know anything.
Well, how do you know whether or not you're a true believer?
Dost thou believe on the Son of God? Do you? Do you? Do you believe? You own the Son
of God? Yes, I sure do. I sure do. My only hope, my only
plea, is that Christ died, and He died for me. That's God's
salvation. That's faith. And I'll just take it and go
on and preach it to you another time. There's a present tense
to this thing called salvation. God is saving me. It is God that
worketh in you both to will and to do of His own good pleasure. God is saving me. I am kept by
the power of God through faith. God's power, I'm kept by it as
I continue to believe in Him. And I continue believing Him
because I'm kept by the power of His grace in the hand of meekness. And blessed be God. The best
is yet to come. Now is our salvation nearer than
when we believed. Salvation spoken of in a future
tense. Salvation ready to be revealed. Ready to be revealed. Soon, I'm
going to drop this robe of flesh. They call that dying. No, I'm dying now. Then I shall
live. Then I shall live. And then Christ is coming in
His glory. And I'm going to be raised up
from the grave. Raised up. You don't believe
in that resurrection stuff, do you? Oh, yeah. I sure do. Live in the hope of the resurrection. And when all else is done, when
this mortal has put on immortality, when this corruptible has been
made incorruptible, when the dust of my ashes has been gathered
together with my everlasting soul, I shall be glorified forever
with the glory of my Redeemer Himself. the glory which He has
given me. I don't know much about that.
I can't say much about that. But I know this much about it.
In that day, there'll be no more sickness or sorrow or pain, no
more bereavement, no more death, no more sighing, no more darkness,
but only everlasting day. For they shall see His face. And God Himself shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes. Because in that day, there will be no more sin. And then I shall be saved. I shall be
saved. Oh may God make this salvation
yours for Christ.