We would have been stars for
sure, wouldn't we? Acts chapter 12, let me read
a few verses in this chapter. I want to continue sort of the
thought that I had this morning about the persecution of the
church. I want to read about this church, probably the greatest
persecution that it's suffered up to this time, the Jerusalem
church. But let's read about it in Acts
chapter 12, beginning in verse 1. Now about that time, Herod the
king stretched forth his hands to vex, to harass, to persecute
certain of the church. And he killed James, the brother
of John, with a sword. And because he saw it pleased
the Jews, he proceeded farther to take Peter also. Then were
the days of unleavened bread. And when he had apprehended him,
he put him in prison and delivered him to four quatrillions of soldiers
to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to
the people. Peter, therefore, was kept in prison, but prayer
was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him. And
when Herod would have brought him forth, the same night Peter
was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and the
keepers before the door kept the prison. And behold, the angel
of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison,
and smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise
up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said unto him,
Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And so he did. And he
said unto him, Cast thy garment about thee, and follow me. And
he went out, and followed him, and wished not, knew not, that
it was true which was done by the angel, but thought he saw
a vision. And when they were past the first
and second ward, they came into the iron gate that leadeth them
to the city, which opened to them of his own accord. And they
went out and passed on through one street, and forthwith the
angel departed from him. And when Peter was come to himself,
he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel,
and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from the
expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered
the thing, he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John,
whose surname was Mark, where many were gathered together praying.
And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to
hearken, named Rhoda. And when she knew Peter's voice,
she opened up the gate for gladness, but ran in and told how Peter
stood before the gate. And they said unto her, Thou
art mad. But she continually affirmed
that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking,
and when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But he beckoning unto them with
a hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought
him out of the prison. And he said, Go, show these things
unto James and to the brethren. And he departed and went into
another place. Now as soon as it was day, there
was no small stir among the soldiers that was what was become of Peter. And when Herod had sought for
him and found him not, he examined the keepers and commanded that
they should be put to death. And he went down from Judea to
Caesarea and there abode. And Herod was highly displeased
with them of Tyre and Sidon, but they came with one accord
to him, and having made Blastus the king's chamberlain their
friend, desired peace, because their country was nourished by
the king's country. And upon a set day Herod arrayed
in royal apparel, set upon his throne, made an oration unto
them. And the people gave a shout,
saying, It is the voice of a God, and not of a man. And immediately
the angel of the Lord smote him, because he gave not God the glory.
And he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost. But the word
of the Lord grew and multiplied. I want to look at this, this
afternoon, because up until now, as I said, this was no doubt
the most severe trial that the church had faced. They had faced
trials before. They had faced trials that all
of us, as the Lord's people, born-again people, believers,
face within. All of us face trials within.
Wayne talked this morning about the old man that will never be
rid of until we die. But they faced persecutions.
First it came from the religious folks, the Pharisees. They killed the Lord Jesus. They
got to Him with their wicked hands. But when He was going
back to heaven, they turned on His church. And they began to
persecute His church. And then it worsened. You begin
to find there in chapter 6 and 7, they threatened them, took
them in to the Sanhedrin and said, if you speak in His name
anymore, you're going to suffer at our hands. Well, they did
preach and they whipped them. And then the apostle Paul, before
he was an apostle, he was Saul of Tarsus, and he persecuted
the church in the strange cities and had them put to death. and
bore witness at their trials that they were blasphemers. But
then it worsened. It even got worse than that.
Here we are told in this chapter that the government now turned
on. This was the first time that it happened. The government had
been there somewhat for protection. But now the government himself,
this king, King Herod, arrested James and took him down into
the dungeon and cut his head off. and arrested Peter. This
was a trial that they had never faced before. That's why I was
talking this morning concerning us. You and I have had a reprieve
from oppressive governments. We've gotten used to having these
liberties, haven't we? If anybody comes here to molest
us, to shut down this service, to disturb the peace, we call
the authorities. What will we do if the authorities
turns on the church. How would we handle that? There
was no preaching at this time. Everybody was hiding. There was
no worship service. The church was in hiding. What
would happen if they forbid us to worship? What would happen
if they forbid me to preach? What would we do? I wonder what
we would do. We don't know, do we? Because
we've never experienced that. I think this is one reason, brothers
and sisters, the Lord tells us to pray for them that's in authority. Pray for them. Why? It has a
lot to do with the church. When the church lives under communist
rule or oppressive ruled dictators, their worship is greatly affected. I'd rather live in a place where
we've got the liberty to assemble, wouldn't you? Pray for these
poor politicians. The Bible calls them the baser
sort of men. God rules over the nation, and
lo and behold, who does He set over? The basest sort of men. And why does He do that? But
to teach us that after all, they're not the ones that preserved our
country. They're preserved in spite of
these politicians. and pray for them that the Lord
would uphold them, that you and I may lead a quiet and peaceable
life in all honesty. I tell you what's the truth,
I've almost come to the place I despise politicians. Are you
that way? I am. Look how ignorant they
are. Look how condescending they are.
Look how compromising they are. But they're base people. Lord,
please, Rule the heart of the king and the president and the
governor in our day. That we lose not our liberty
to live a quiet and peaceable life. But another trial that
the church faced here was this. We find it in the last portion
of chapter 11. And look in verse 28. And there
stood one of them named Agabus. He was a prophet. that it came up here to Antioch,
and signified by the Spirit that there should be great drought,
famine, throughout all the world, which came to pass in the days
of Claudius Caesar. Then the disciples, every man
according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren
which dwelt in Judea." Boy, here was something that added on to
the trial. Not just the persecutions from
religious folks, Not just what they went through in their own
heart. Not just what the government had oppressed them. But now a
drought came. That's why I say this was the
most difficult trial the church had faced up until now. Those
things that they were dependent on before, the food, just the
food that they ate, was now cut off. They had to have their food
brought in to them. The government that they depended
upon to give them some protection from false religion, the government
had turned on them. This was a severe trial. What
was the church to do? What's the church to do when
she's made to sit passive? And that's what they did. No
preaching, as far as we know, unless it was in dugouts someplace. What were they to do when they
cannot do anything else? Well, we're told here in verse
5, aren't we? Here's what we can do. He said, Peter therefore was
kept in prison, but prayer was made without ceasing of the church
unto God for him. What happens? What is the church
to do when her preachers have either been killed or jailed?
when she's having to hide out from the authority. What can
the church do when she can't lift up her voice and sing unto
the Lord and worship Him? She's to pray. The church is
to pray. I've had people to say, at least
we can do is pray. That's the most we can do. If
I ever promoted anything over preaching, if I had to say we
had one or the other, and I hope I never have to make that decision,
but you know what? I would probably choose prayer.
Seeking the Lord with our hearts and our lips. Prayer was made
of the church without ceasing. Why were they praying? They couldn't
do anything else. I think sometimes it would be
good for us in our personal life, and probably as a church, sometimes
to be reduced to the point that we could do nothing but pour
our hearts out to the Lord. I was in a worship service one
time, and this made such an impression on me that I never have forgot. It's probably been 30 years ago.
And we began a service, the pastor did. We sang. Somebody read the
Scriptures and the preacher came to preach. And we never did pray. And somebody said, well, I think
they forgot it. I thought, how sad. How sad that
we forgot to pray. If there was a spirit of prayer
among us, we would have never forgot to pray, would we? Can
you imagine coming to the house of prayer and not praying? There has been some preaching
that wasn't very good. It was the Gospel, but the poor
preacher, he just couldn't say much. But you know the Lord blessed
him. And you know why? People were
seeking him in prayer. His church was seeking him. And
there has been some great preaching that accomplished very little
because God didn't bless it. He didn't bless it. Lord, help
us to pray, to be praying. The church made prayer without
ceasing unto God for Him. We see something here also about
the prayer of faith, don't we? What is it to pray? The prayer
of faith that James talked about. What is it to pray by faith?
Is it believing there's no doubt that what I pray for, God's going
to give me? You know, that's not it, is it?
He answered their prayer. It was no doubt that they believed
that He could do it. But you know they didn't believe
He's going to. Especially how He did it. They didn't even believe
He did it, did they? Lord, would You be pleased to
deliver Your Apostle out of Herod's jail? And here Peter is knocking
on the door, and they said, that ain't him. That can't be him.
Well, wasn't that what you asked the Lord to do? Yes, yes, but... But you know it was the prayer
of faith. They may not have believed He was going to do it that way
and that quick, but you know how we know that we prayed in
faith? We believe He's able, don't we?
He's able. That's the way they prayed. Abraham
staggered not. at the promise of God through
unbelief, but he was strong in faith, giving glory to God, being
fully persuaded that God was going to do something. What he
had promised, he was able. He was able. And that's the prayer
of faith, isn't it? That poor old leper came to the
Lord Jesus and he said, Lord, I don't know if You're going
to make me clean. I don't know. But I know you're
able. If you will, you're able to make me clean. And He said,
I will be thou clean. That's the prayer of faith, isn't
it? This church prayed in faith. In faith. What are we to do then when we're
brought to the place where we can't do anything? Well, here's
what I want to consider in verse 6. And when Herod would have
brought him forth, the same night Peter was sleeping between two
soldiers bound with two chains, and the keepers before the door
kept the prison. This is an amazing text, is it
not? Peter was resting. He was sleeping. What are we
to do when we are so shut up that we can't do anything else?
I don't even know if they allowed him to have prayer with his lips.
If he prayed, it was in his heart. They surely wouldn't allow him
to lay there and worship and sing. What can we do when we
can absolutely do nothing else? Well, I would recommend what
Peter did. Just rest. Rest. This is one of the most
amazing passages of Scripture, I think, in the New Testament.
And this was of the Lord. This sleeping was of the Lord. Now how do we know that and why
would I make such a statement? For this reason, this man Peter
was so intimidated by other people. You remember when he denied the
Lord Jesus and why? There was this little girl who
came to him and got up in his face and said, you're one of
his disciples. And he looked at her and she
looked like a lion roaring at him. And it so intimidated him,
he denied being the Lord's disciple and swore and cursed to it. I
don't know it. He was down in the church at
Galatia when some of the self-righteous Jews came up from Jerusalem.
And he was eating with the Pharisees, eating with the Christians, eating
pork and things he wasn't allowed to eat under the ceremonial law.
And he got up and separated himself, fearing them which were of the
circumcision. I'm just saying this man was
so easily intimidated by other people. Here he is between these
two strong soldiers, bound to them with chains, and what's
this man doing? He's sleeping. He's sleeping. How in the world could this be
possible? And that's what I want to look at with you in just a
minute. And think of this, we're told here that it was the night
before Herod was going to cut his head off. And he knew it. And yet he was sleeping. Isn't
that amazing? It's amazing. Can you imagine how his imagination
could have been running wild with him? I know how I would
have been running. How in the world can I face this? This is
going to hurt. What are they going to do to
me? How long am I going to suffer? What if they just stab me in
the gut and leave me to linger and linger and die? Your imagination
would run wild with you, but not this man. He was sleeping. And thirdly, he wasn't ignorant
about death, was he? He wasn't ignorant about hell
and heaven, eternity. He was standing on the brink
of eternity and he knew it. And he slept. He laid down and
slept. And I want to give you simply
seven things right quickly that this man believed. And this is
what enabled this man that had been so intimidated by other
people just to lay down and rest. Seven things this man knew, and
I'll prove to you he knew it himself, personally, experientially,
in his heart, that enabled him to lay down and sleep in this
situation. First of all, it wasn't just
what he knew, but it's who he knew. Isn't this the most important
point of all? It's who he knew. He knew the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew the Son of God. He knew
Him. Twice He professes that He knows
Him. One time the Lord asked Him,
who do men say that I am? They said, some are saying this
about You and some are saying that. He said, Peter, do you
know Me? Who do you say that I am? He
said, Thou art the Christ. You're the Son of the living
God. And then he asked him that again
over in John chapter 6 when everybody was leaving him. And he said,
will you fellows go away? And Peter said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? You have the words of eternal
life. And listen how he said this.
And we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. Now isn't this a wonderful thing?
And I can't explain this and nobody else can explain this.
How can we, poor sinners upon this earth, know the living Lord
who has been exalted to heaven on the right hand of God? How
can we know Him? It comes by revelation, doesn't
it? I can't teach you to know Him. I can't teach you into the
Kingdom of God. He has to be revealed to you. He's in the bosom of the Father,
and He has to, as it were, unbosom Himself to our understanding,
to our hearts, that we may know Him. And that's what the covenant
of grace says. They shall all know Me, from
the least to the greatest, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness. We must know the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else matters, does it?
It don't matter what we learn. It don't matter what system we
may adapt. Do we know the Lord in glory? Do we know Him? That's life eternal,
isn't it? That they might know Thee, the
living God and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent. Secondly, he believed this, and
this is just as important. He knew and believed what the
Lord Jesus had done concerning his sins. Get these two statements
that Peter wrote himself. Who his own self, bear our sins
in his own body on the tree. Now you find that in 1 Peter
2.24. And listen to what he says in
1 Peter 3.18. Christ has once suffered for sins, the just for
the unjust, that He might bring us to God. What did Peter believe
that Christ had done? He believed that Christ had really
and truly taken our sins, the sins of all God's elect, and
He took them to His own bosom. That God gathered them all up
and put them upon the body and into the soul of the Son of God. And on Calvary, He suffered for
those sins. Now He believed that. He earnestly
believed that. You think that won't help you
to lay down in the face of death and rest? What is it that scares
us about death? To be honest about it. When we
think of eternity and judgment to come, what is it that concerns
us? Is it not our sins? You see,
man, I had a dad, and I was talking with him. He was on his deathbed.
And he made this statement. I said, you afraid to die? Oh
no, I ain't afraid to die. I ain't afraid to die. And yet
he died in his sins because he was so deceived about it. How
would you feel dying in your sins? It would scare you to death,
wouldn't it? I often told you about the mountain
climber, the teenager, that he went up into one of the mountains
here in the States and he got caught in the storm, the snow
storm, and they found him a few months later and he was frozen
stiff, but he had this little note in his fist. And they read
it and he said, My greatest fear, will God forgive my sins? Will God forgive my sins? I tell you what, when we come
down to face death, if we have a good ground to remove our fears,
it's going to be what Peter had. Somebody, some able person, namely
the Son of God, has bore my sins and has been punished for my
sins and has purged away my sins. And if that happens, we can lay
in rest, can we not? This is why you and I, if we
believe correctly about the death of Christ, we don't believe that
He just died upon the cross as a general atonement for sin. That He just made atonement for
everybody's sins, and now it's up to you to accept it or reject
it, or believe it or disbelieve it. And however you believe it
or not determines where He did what He said He did. Can you imagine Peter laying
here between these two soldiers and he begins to think, you know,
the Son of God did no more for me upon the cross than He did
Judas. Can you imagine? Can you lay down and face death
with an attitude like that? If He did no more for you than
He did for those in hell, what kind of atonement is that, brothers
and sisters? When the Son of God hung upon
Calvary's tree, Every sin of every person that was to ever
be saved, let me put it this way, every sin of everybody who
was to ever believe on Him was in His body. That really happened. And there He made an atonement
for those people and put away their sins. It sounds so kind,
Charles Spurgeon said, to say that Jesus Christ died for everybody
without exception. It sounds so loving, doesn't
it? It sounds so kind to say that. He loved you and He died
for your sins. Spurgeon said that was like a
bridge that goes halfway across the river. It gets everybody
on it, but nobody across it. I want to know that when the
Son of God bore my sins at Calvary, He took them away by the sacrifice
of Himself. I want to be saved. I want a
peace that's grounded, not just on the love of God and the mercy
of God, but on the justice of God. And if the Lord Jesus has
bore a man's sins and was punished for those sins, God will never
punish him again. And you can lay down in the face
of death and as you face eternity. I'm here to say that this is
the very reason that the Apostle Peter lay down and slept. He
believed and knew the Son of God had settled this question
of his sin. I tell you, if my sin is gone
in a just way that's pleasing to God, I'm not concerned about
death. I'm not concerned about the judgment
or eternity. That's the thing, though, isn't
it? That's the thing. Has my sin been purged away? Thirdly, Peter knew this. This
was a wonderful thing. Peter knew he had an advocate
with a Father. One to plead and maintain His
cause. He experienced this, didn't he?
Remember what the Lord Jesus told him? Peter, you're going
to deny Me? And Peter, Satan, is longing
to have you. He's desiring to have you that
he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you that
your faith fell not." Why didn't Peter fall away? Why did he get
up to walk with the Lord again? Because he had an advocate with
the Father. He prayed for Peter. He could
lay down here and sleep, even though earth seemed to be against
Him, because there was One in heaven who was for Him. If heaven
is for you, it don't make any difference. If earth is against
you, does it? It's heaven that what counts.
And Peter said, I've got nothing against me. My Mediator, my High
Priest is there in heaven. Listen to how David said it.
Peter may have been reading after David. or to shield for me. You are my glory, and You are
the lifter up of my head. I lay me down and slept. I awoke,
for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands
of people, or trials, or troubles, that have set me round about.
I will both lay me down in peace and sleep. For the Lord only
maketh me dwell in safety. What a wonderful thing that you
and I, poor sinners upon this earth, we have a mediator to
plead and maintain our cause in heaven. That's wonderful,
isn't it? What a wonderful thing. I can
sleep like that, can't you? I can rest. Heaven is for me. What does it matter how earth
mistreats me? Fourthly, think of this, and
you find this in 1 Peter 3, verse 22. Peter said this, Jesus is
gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God, angels and
authorities and powers being made subject unto Him. That word
subject means slaves. The principalities, powers, all
the Authorities in this world, they're the slaves of the Lord
Jesus Christ. That's all they are. Who's Harriet? He's killed James. Who's Harriet?
He's just a puppet. He's in the hands of Jesus, the
true King of Nations. Why should I fear Harriet? He's
under the authority of my living Lord. Oh, we get so anxious,
don't we? At the same time, we warn you
about when the government turns on you, and then we turn right
around and say, don't even be concerned about them. They're
in the hands of our dear Savior. Don't be anxious about them.
Boy, these soldiers here, can't you imagine? Here, Herod sits
on his throne, and boy, he's boasting. I got one of them yesterday. And in the morning, I'm going
to bring forth the next one. I'm going to kill him, too. And
there's these poor soldiers laying on each side of Peter and they
look over at him and they say, you poor apostle, I feel for
you. You're going to die tomorrow, boy. And they noticed him. Wake up! You're dying tomorrow.
How can you sleep? Mocking him? But let me ask you
this. Who died? And who survived? The Lord can dispose of His enemies
so easy. Can He not? Here are these soldiers
that kept Peter, that looked down upon him and pitied him.
They died the next day, not Peter. And mighty Herod went down to
preach to those people and speak like a God. But God smote him
and worms ate him. See how easy the Lord can dispose
of His enemies? I won't fear what man can do
unto me. Why? The Lord is my helper. Who's the Lord? The Lord of glory. The Sovereign Lord ruling over
all things. Jesus, the Son of Mary, is God. Jesus, the Son of Mary, is the
Sovereign Lord seated upon His throne, ruling in heaven. And don't that comfort you? Oh,
the comfort that that brings while we're living in this hostile
world. Peter knew that. And he lay down
and slept. Fifthly, think about this. And
you find this in Matthew chapter 28. In verses 19 and 20. All of these things Peter experienced.
He had a promise. from the Lord. And here's what
he said. The Lord Jesus, just before He went up into glory,
He looked at Peter and those other apostles, and He said,
I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. I will be with
thee always, even unto the end of the world. Now isn't that
amazing? Was the Lord Jesus here? Was
He in Peter? Was He with Peter while He suffered? and was ready to separate. Lay
Him between these two soldiers. Well, He was there, was He not?
Peter just believed Him. And he believed Him to the point
he said, I think I'll take a nap. I think I'll take a nap. Christ
was there with him. Dear soul, you don't have to
be afraid of man. Let your conversation be without
covetousness. For He has said, I'll never leave
you nor forsake you. Ain't that what He says? Peter
was here in a dungeon. But the Lord Jesus was with him.
Where will you wind up at? I don't know. But He'll be with
you. You read Foxe's Book of Martyrs
sometimes and those saints of old, bless their hearts, they
died in some terrible ways. They burned them at the stake.
They poured them in boiling oil. They pulled some of them apart
with their limbs. But you know the most dreadful
way to me to have died at the hands of those fellows? They
took some of them down in a dungeon, just them and the executors.
And they would strangle them to death, or put them in water
to watch them suffocate. If you were out there on the
burning coals, and they set you on fire, they always had some
people surrounding. Brother, the Lord will help you!
Look to Christ! He's with you! But down in the
dungeon, you had nobody encouraging you. But I tell you this, the
Lord Jesus was there. He promised, I'll never leave
you. He didn't say, I'll walk with you when the sun's shining.
But when it gets cloudy now, I'll walk with you as long as
the ground is dry. But when you get too muddy, I'm
not going through that mud hole with you. Yes, He's with you
always. Always. And like I said about my free
will Baptist cousin, You're going to have to have a big pair of
rubber lips to stretch that to mean something other than always.
Always. Even to the end of the world. Lord, get hold of that promise.
And I'm telling you what, it will change you. This will change
you. It will comfort you. It will encourage you. It will
correct you. I am with you always. Peter lay down and slept because
the Lord was with him. Sixthly, Think of this. This wasn't the first time Peter
had been in prison. In chapter 5, he and John was
there in prison before this happened. And remember the angel of the
Lord opened the door there and let them out. So this was the
second time. He probably thought, here we
go again, didn't he? You know one of the reasons we
tell young people, seek the Lord in the days of your youth. You
know why we encourage young people to seek the Lord? You know why
we pray, Lord, save these young people? So you can walk with
the Lord, know Him better, experience how He leads you and guides you.
Because experience helps you. It helps you. It helped Peter. Well, here you are, Peter, you're
in jail. I've been in jail before. The Lord got me out before. It
was no problem for Him. If He wants me out, He'll get
me out this time. Until He does, I'm going to lay down and rest
and wait upon the Lord. Experience. Experience. And lastly, think about this.
I want you to turn it over to 1 Peter chapter 5. Here's the
seventh thing Peter knew. Look over here in 1 Peter chapter
5. This is what he said. 1 Peter chapter 5 and look in
verse 1. 1 Peter chapter 5 and verse 1.
The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder,
a witness of the sufferings of Christ. He witnessed of Christ's
sufferings for our sins. And he was a witness and a partaker
of that suffering of the saints. And also, look at this, a partaker
of the glory which shall be revealed. Man alive, if a man believes
that, he can lay down and sleep, can't he? I am also a partaker
of the glory that shall be revealed. He says, yes, now we're suffering. But my goodness, the glory is
yet to come. Now it's the suffering, soon
the crown. The glory is coming. Paul said
it like this, the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us. And then he said, our light afflictions
which are for a moment worketh for us a far more exceeding and
eternal Weight of glory. We don't look at the things that's
seen, but the things that's not seen. We don't consider the things
that's temporal, but the things that's eternal. And Peter said,
let them have my body. I'm interested in that glory
that shall be revealed. And he believed it to the point
that this was truly going to happen. He rested. And he slept. And he thought
to himself, no doubt, they may take this body and cut its head
off, put it back in the ground or burn it or whatever they're
going to do with it. And it's going to become ashes and the
wind is going to blow it away and man can't find it. And I'm
going to be with the Lord and rest with Him until the day of
the resurrection. And then the Son of God Himself
is going to stand up and He's going to descend from heaven
with a shout and He's going to speak. And my body is going to
come together, a glorious body. And my soul and my body is going
to unite together. And then the glory, the glory
is going to be experienced. Oh, we sang the old song, What
a Day That Will Be. Oh, what a day that will be.
Oh, brothers and sisters, I can't explain it. But can you imagine
being rid of this old man? Can you imagine being free from
the sense of sin? We see through this glass darkly.
It's very dim. We can't see very much of the
Savior. But oh, in that day, we'll see Him face to face. Here
we can't worship Him, can we? Oh, we get just a glimpse of
Him in a song or a message or a prayer, but then everything's
gone. But there's coming a day. We'll
worship Him without any sense of sin and these weak infirmities. We'll know Him as we long to
know Him here. We'll worship Him as we long
to worship Him here. Peter said, that's glory. That's
glory. Somebody said, what are we doing
there in heaven? There's nothing to do. Oh, I
beg your pardon. We'll worship. We'll worship. maybe the first ten billion years,
then we may think, you know, what can we see? What else can
we see? Lord, what have you prepared?
But I want to see Him, don't you? And I want to be like Him. And John said, this is our hope.
We'll see Him as He is. And Peter said, I believe that.
That's no fairy tale to me. I believe that. I am a partaker. So he sleeps. If it comes to
the time, brothers and sisters, that we can't gather anymore,
and you're shut up in your home for fear, and the preacher's
been killed, pray. Pray to a God who is a
God who hears prayer. And when you can't preach, you
can't pray, you can't gather to worship, then lay down and
rest and leave it with the Lord if you believe What He did, you
can. God bless His Word. Let's pray. Oh, our Father, our merciful,
merciful Father in Heaven, what a great God that You are. What wondrous things You've done
in creation and providence and salvation. How could You love
us? A sinner, sinners, condemned
and unclean. Oh, the greatness of Your love.
What a great name You've gotten to Yourself. To this very day,
Lord, everybody that You've revealed Yourself to is amazed. They're amazed at You. How could
it be that Thou, my God, should die for me? Oh, how amazing. Amazing love. We'll never get
over it, Lord. Let us never get over it. That
we're Yours and You're ours. Let us live and believe as Your
Apostle. Give us the same grace that You
gave Him. Watch over this dear people.
Lead. Please give direction. Be the
shepherd of every last soul gathered here today. Lead them, Lord,
in the ways that they know not. according to the promise of Your
Word. And give grace for each one of us to cleave to You, to
love You, for You're our life. You're the length of our days,
and without You we're nothing. If You're not our Father, we're
orphans. We have no other Father. If You're not our Savior, we're
lost forever. We're the devil. We have no other
Savior. If Your blood doesn't cleanse
us, we're filthy. We have no other fountain to
wash in. We're utterly dependent upon You, our Lord, for everything. And ourselves, we're vile and
wretched. Our righteousness and our hope,
all our salvation, blessed Savior, is found in You. And we cast
ourselves upon You today again to be saved utterly by You. Watch
over this, dear people, in the coming days. Let us not fall
or bring shame on Your name. And if we fall, Lord, lift us
up. We ask these things for Your
sake and for Your glory. Amen. He's all I need. Christ is all I need. He's all I need. He's all I need. Christ is all I need... Lord bless you. We'll
see some of you Wednesday night.