Here we have the sum and the
substance of all of creation. We have the Lord, the one that
laid the foundations of the earth. He created the heavens. He created
the earth, all for one purpose, for one singular purpose, for
the salvation of His people. Let's read our text. Hebrews
1, verse 10 tells us, in the beginning has laid the
foundation of the earth. The heavens are the works of
thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest. They all shall wax old as doth
a garment. And at the vesture shall thou
fold them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art the
same, and thy years shall not fail. I've titled this message,
In the Beginning. In the Beginning. That's how
the scripture actually begins, isn't it? Genesis chapter one,
In the Beginning. Before there was ever time, before
there was ever a beginning, let's start there. Before there was
ever a beginning, there was God. Before there was ever a beginning,
see he has no beginning. So before there was, and we can't
wrap our mind around that, everything that we know in this earth has
a beginning and has an end. I saw a advertisement recently
that said diamonds are forever, no they're not. No, they're not. The Lord is. He's the only thing
that is eternal, that never had a beginning and never has an
end. Understand, he wasn't just in
the beginning, he is the beginning. He is the beginning. He's not
just going to be in the end. He is the end. He's the alpha
and the omega. Before there was time, there
was God. Before the first ray of light ever shone forth at
his word, he was light. He was light. He is light and
life. Without him, nothing exists,
but by his will, according to his purpose, everything was made
by the word of his power. We have the first creation as
it's mentioned here in the beginning, but the first creation was a
representation of the law and works. It was a creation of flesh. The second creation, that's a
creation of life eternal in the new man. And we have no part
in either one. It all hinges, it's all dependent,
it's all contingent upon one thing, Him saying, let there
be life. Let there be light. And we know the source of that
light and the source of that life is the same, isn't it? Look
in the book of John, chapter one. The Lord's light and the Lord's
life is the Lord Jesus Christ. John chapter one starts the same
way as Genesis. The same words are used in our
text. In the beginning was the word
and the word was with God and the word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him. And without him was not anything
made that was made in him was life. And the life was the light
of men and the light shineth in darkness. And the darkness
comprehended it, not everything about the Lord. It's the source
of life, the source of light. He is life and light. But everything
about us is darkness and death. And the darkness comprehends
not the light. Our flesh can't wrap our minds
around the words that I've spoken thus far about the Lord being
from the beginning, before the beginning. Everything we know
has a beginning and has an end, according to the flesh. But according
to God, he is life, eternal, he is light. And that light is
his life for his people. Without him creating light and
life, we would remain in darkness. We would remain in death. We have no power to change what
we are. We can't comprehend who he is and what he is. He's higher
than the heavens. He created the heavens. We don't
understand that, do we? He inhabits eternity. He sits
upon a throne that's never had a beginning and will never have
an end. He is from the beginning. He's
the one that created all things, all things by the word of His
power. Life is not just in Him. He is life. He's not only the
source of life, He is life. That's what it just said right
here. He is light. In Him, verse four, was life. We don't understand that, do
we? We can't, but we believe it. Light's not what he admits. It's not just what he admits.
He is light. Without him, there is no light.
Without him, there is no life. He is the sole source and substance
of life and light. It's not that he just radiates
light. He is the light. He is the light. Without him,
there is no life. There is no life. Interesting. To hear David's words, whenever
the Lord spoke to David, he said, you thought, and boy, we get
in a lot of trouble for thinking, don't we? He said, you thought
that I was all together like unto you, but I'm not. I'm not liking to you. He's not
like us in any way. Everything that we that we see
in ourself that everything about us is completely opposite of
him. It's true that man was created
in the Lord's image. The scripture says, as far as
standing upright, as far as having the head and the body and We
know all those things are true, but everything about our nature
is totally different than he is. Our nature is darkness. Our
nature is sinful. His nature is light. His nature
is holiness. His nature is perfection. What
a glorious thought that he chose to create this world in order
to bring his people to the knowledge of that light. Why didn't he
just leave us in darkness? It's what we deserved, wasn't
it? What we deserved. No, he says, I have chosen you
this day. I have made you mine. I've redeemed
you for my own glory, for my own purpose. You thought I was
like one unto you. I'm going to show you who I am.
I'm going to show you my power. From the beginning, I created
all things, even this salvation. He said, I will reprove thee
and set them. Verse, I'll read the whole verse,
Psalm 50, 21. Thou thoughtest I was altogether such as one
of thyself, but I will reprove thee and set them in order before
thy eyes. See, understand, unless the Lord
reproves us, gives us repentance, unless he gives his people understanding,
as we heard about Wednesday night, we're in darkness. And we're
not talking about darkness where we're wandering around trying
to find the light. No, we're comfortable in darkness.
We like the dark. That's what he just said here.
He just said, Well, look in verse number nine. That was the true
light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He
was in the world and the world was made by him and the world
knew him not. He came to his own, his own received him not.
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believed on his name. Why
is it that men won't receive the Lord? Well, he tells us,
he tells us that men love darkness rather than light. Because their
deeds are evil. This is what the Lord's Word
says. You and I are in darkness. We are. We're going to turn to
Genesis here in a little bit. I'm getting ahead of myself,
but what does it say in the beginning? God created the heaven and the
Earth. and the earth was without form and void. Can you relate
to that? Being without form and void of
understanding of God, having no understanding of who He is,
and every time, think about what little bit of understanding He's
given us by grace through faith. Every time we see Him again,
is it not like the light has been turned on all over again?
I thought I knew the Lord before, but now my eyes have seen the
King again. There's light again, there's newness. I thought that
this, and I thought that that, but every time we see him, it's
the same response. That light shines through. What
happens to that darkness? It has to disappear, doesn't
it? Light and darkness has no harmony one with another. You
can think of an object getting in the way of light, and that
object would cast a shadow. Not so with the Lord's light.
Nothing can stop his light. Nothing can cast a shadow on
his truth. No, the Lord's light shines through
to his people and all the darkness that we are vanishes away when
his light shines into the heart of his people, illuminating the
precious Lord Jesus Christ. How does he do that? Well, he
says, let there be light. Let there be life without him
saying that we have no hope of eternal life. This morning, I
want to understand something very vital. I want us to understand
something very vital. We had no part in the first creation,
did we? Nobody was present for the first
creation. That may sound like a silly question to ask, but
how much more so did we not have part in the second creation? The new heaven and the new earth
wrought by the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Mount Zion accomplished
on the cross of Calvary for his people. The new birth, what part
did we have with that? Somebody said, well, I made a
choice. No, you didn't. I had part in it because I've
done this and I've done that. No, we didn't. We didn't have
any part in the first one. And we would say, that's a silly
thing to say. Of course, we didn't speak the light into existence.
Of course, we didn't form man out of the dust of the ground.
Of course, we didn't create a butterfly or we didn't create a tree speaking
into existence. God did. He did all of that. He divided the waters from the
earth. We had no part in that, did we? We had no part in salvation
either. Not the new birth, not the second
creation. That's what I'm calling it, the
second creation. He has to create in me a clean heart. It's what
David said, create in me a clean heart. We had no part. Our input was not required in
any part of creation, was it? You hear me quoting Job quite
often where he said, where were you when I laid the foundation
of the earth? I want to look at that this morning. Look in Job chapter
38. God's questioning Job. I love the Lord's questions.
They're all rhetorical. You know it is, but it's all
to teach us. Him asking a question makes every sinner do the same
thing. We put our hands over our mouth.
We realize I'm darkness. No, you're light. Everything
about you is other than me. Everything about you is truth.
I'm false. That's what it causes. God's questioning Job after Job
has felt sorry for himself for some time, after he has had some
so-called friends come to him and criticize and whatever else,
and Job has justified himself in a lot of ways. Then Elihu
preaches the gospel to him, and before Job even gets to respond,
God speaks. That's where we're at in chapter
38, verse one. Then the Lord answered Job out
of the whirlwind. He said to him, who is this that darkeneth
counsel? That's all we can do, isn't it?
That's all we can do. All we can do is darkeneth counsel.
Why? That's all we are is darkness. It's all we can do. Who is this
that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now
thy loins like a man, for I will demand of thee and answer thou
me. Where was thou when I laid the
foundations of the earth? Declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof
if thou knowest, or who hath stretched the line upon it? Where were you? Where were you
when I spoke the world into existence? I laid the foundation of the
world. Is this not what he shows us? One place he mentions he hath
measured the waters in the hollow of his hands, but even that,
even us thinking of a hand with water in it and the earth and
the vastness of it in our little minds, that's still an understatement
of the vastness of the Lord. That was just an analogy given
to try to help us to see, I mean, Lord, didn't you understand what
I'm saying? He's, he's other than we are. Where were you when I laid the
foundations of the world, Joe reply, give me your opinion. If you have one, if you have
understanding, let me know what you think. What Job didn't say
much. Did he look what he continues
asking him, asking him questions in verse 12. Hast thou commended
the morning since thy days and caused the day spring to know
his place? Hast thou commended the morning?
It would be easier for someone to speak at midnight to the sun. Think about my words here. It
would be easier for someone to say to the sun, the sun in the
sky, at midnight, come forth and believe that that sun will
come forth. That would make more sense than
to think we can let God do something. We can't do either one, can we?
We have no power. We have no power. He does. Matter of fact, scripture says
that one time he stopped the sun from moving. Completely stopped
it. And then another time, he turned
the sun back a couple of degrees, didn't he? What the scripture
tells us, he's got all power. No, the winds and the waves still
know his voice. When he walked upon the earth,
even the demons knew who he was. Everything is subject to him.
Everything. He, from the beginning, created
all things. Can you and I bind up the light?
Can we collect the light to use it later? I mean, I'm not talking
about solar panels. You understand what I'm talking
about. We have no control in and of ourself to bind the light,
to constrain or restrain it, no. It's the Lord's light. It's the Lord's light. How much
more so spiritual? How much more so spiritual? Look
what he continues asking in verse 21. Knowest thou it because thou
wast been born? or because the number of thy
days is great. Do you know what you know because you were born?
The Lord's saying, I was never born, Job. I have no beginning,
no end. Do you know what you know because
you were born or because you've lived so long? Have you determined
this because your numbers, you've lived 80 years and now you've
arrived? Or did you know this from birth? Because I've always
known it and I was not born. He's the ancient of days. He
has no beginning, no end. He's numberless. This is who
God is. This is who the Lord's revealing
to Job, and this is who the Lord reveals to his people. He, from
the beginning, made all things for his glory. He continues on,
and for the sake of time, I'll just tell you, he says, can you
command the light? Can you command the lightning to shine forth?
Can you command the thunder to clap? Can you number the clouds
in wisdom? That's what he asks him. Can
you number the clouds in wisdom? You and I, we can't number the
clouds. Can't even number the stars. Every time somebody gets
a stronger telescope, they say, well, we thought we knew the
number of the stars, but now there's, we found another cluster,
so now there's this many. We can't number the stars. No,
to measure the awesomeness of our Lord, it would be likened
to measure every single grain of sand upon every sea. It's
impossible. It's impossible, but even that
is a weak analogy to the vastness of the Lord, His infinite wisdom,
His infinite strength and power, and who He is. We have no idea,
do we? Lord, show us your glory. That's
what it makes us cry out, isn't it? Show us Christ. I see with
the seeing of eye now. I thought I was worried about
this and I was worried about that, but now I see you high
and lifted up. I understand now, you've created
all things. You've purposed all things. After
71 verses of the Lord, would you call it an interrogation?
I don't know, what would be the right word? You interrogated
Job. Tell me what you know. Tell me
what you know. Maybe it was instruction, wasn't
it, in the form of rhetorical questions, but also it was a
declaration of the Lord's awesomeness. After 71 verses of it, look what
Job says in Job 40. Verse three, then Job answered
the Lord and said, behold, that word behold means I see something
I've not seen before. I am vile. I am vile. What shall I answer thee? I will,
I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Once I have spoken, but I will
not answer, yea, twice, but I will proceed no further. What is he
saying? He's saying the only reason I'm going to answer you
is because you've made me. And this is what I have to say.
I'm vile. That's my answer. That's my answer. Now I'm going
to put my hands over my mouth. I'm not going to respond. I can't
answer anything else. That's it. There's no second
answer. That's it. I'm vile. Have you ever been made to realize
that? Have you ever been made to realize you're vile? Have
I ever been made to realize I am vile? Not in a way of like, yeah,
I'm bad, but I'm not as bad as this person, or I'm not as bad
as that person. Because when Job saw God, Job became the most
putrid, disgusting creature on the face of the planet. That's
what vile means. No good whatsoever, from the
top to the bottom. Nothing in me. deserving of salvation,
deserving of righteousness, nothing in me to merit holiness, nothing
in me that can fix anything that I am either. What's the hope? Thou hast from the beginning
created all things, even salvation, even salvation. If the Lord causes us to realize
this, that's a gift of grace in the heart. I was talking to
Kylie after service last Sunday, and I mentioned we were talking
about the throne room, as we had mentioned before, the scepter
that went forth, meaning that someone could enter in in mercy.
But I made this statement. No one is ever summoned to the
throne room in this life in wrath. It's always in mercy in this
life. It's always in mercy. No one's summoned to the throne
room. No one is given the revelation of how vile you are and seeing
the king, how holy and good and true he is in vain. That's the gift of grace. That's
the gift of grace and seeing the Lord high and lifted up. Men talk about fearing the Lord. You can't fear something you
don't know. The fear of the Lord, we're gonna see this in Proverbs
in a couple weeks, maybe even this next week. The fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Why? Because only the way that
we can fear the Lord is if we've been given wisdom. Only way that
we can fear the Lord is if we see him as the creator from the
beginning. Only way that we can fear him
is to see him as king, high and lifted up, as Job saw him, and
therefore we see ourself as vile. as vile, him being beautiful
and us being other. And he shines forth his light,
that's what we say, behold, I'm vile. But if God leaves us in
darkness, we can't come to the light. Our flesh says that it
loves darkness rather than light. Now, on the other side, everyone
that is summonsed to the throne room in death, and everyone's
gonna stand before this throne, This is not a message of dread. We have great hope this morning.
We're getting to it. Everyone's gonna be summoned
to this throne, either in mercy or in wrath. Either it's in this
life unto mercy or it's in the life to come unto wrath. Everyone
is summons to the throne room. In death, every man stands before
the Lord in judgment. There is no hope. It takes faith,
doesn't it? Without faith, it's impossible
to please God. There's a mystery. The Lord gives
faith in this life to believe Him. He summons us to His throne
room. He gives us faith to believe Him, all by grace. We say, I
am vile. I am vile. Every man, woman,
boy and girl that stands before him after death that has not
been given faith may make excuses, but in the end they will bow
as well and say, thou art Lord, thou art Lord. They'll be made
to confess. If he gives us light, if he gives
us light, he has to say, let there be light. I love that.
He commands that in salvation. He commands that in salvation,
just as he did from the beginning. He creates a clean heart. If
he does, we say with Jonas, salvation is of the Lord. Salvation is
of the Lord. That's what Nebuchadnezzar was
made to realize, wasn't it? Turn with me to Daniel chapter
four. Nebuchadnezzar left to himself for some time had made
a golden Statue, didn't he? He told the Hebrew men to bow
down and worship it. Now I've never, we can talk after
service if you want to, but there's very few people, if any, in the
scripture that I know of that had seen so much light from the
Lord, physically speaking, and still did not believe. Think
about that. He saw the Son of God in the
fiery furnace, didn't he? He saw the Son of God in the
fiery furnace, and yet, what did he do after that? He said,
is this not great Babylon that I've created? Look at me, look
what I've done. He saw the Son of God, physically,
and says, look at me, look what I've done. Boy, that's us by
nature in darkness, isn't it? Seeing something physical, this
is what this is. Seeing something physical doesn't
mean that the light of the Lord has shone into our hearts. Knowing
that makes us cry out, Lord, shine forth your light, please.
I can't make it. I can't command the sun to rise.
How am I gonna command? How am I gonna let you shine
your light into my heart? Lord, you're gonna have to do
it. Well, because Nebuchadnezzar was the Lord's, because Nebuchadnezzar
was the Lord's, he says, he tells him, he even tells him he's gonna
do that. Daniel says, here's the interpretation of the dream.
You're gonna be driven out among men because of your pride. And
sure enough, it happened. It happened, he drove him out.
He had to spend seven years, he ate grass. Men like to say,
well, God will never, he's a gentleman, he'll never push his way in.
Ask Nebuchadnezzar how that works out. No, ask Jonah how that works
out. No, God pushes his way in, why? Because our nature is so contrary
to him in darkness, we'll never, ever, ever come to the light.
Lord, you're gonna have to shine forth your light and blast this
darkness away that I am. That's exactly what he does to
every one of his sheep, every one that he died for. That's
what he does in his time. Look at Nebuchadnezzar's confession.
After he had been eating grass and straw and he had had his
nails like eagles' claws and eagles' feathers for his hair
and everything, he was a mess, wasn't he? The Lord showed him
what he was. The Lord shows us what we are. What is that? Vile,
nothing but a beast, nothing but a beast. Look what he says
in verse 34, Daniel chapter four. At the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar,
lifted up mine eyes into heaven, and mine understanding returned
unto me. I like the wording there. Mine understanding returned.
Who gave it back? Who took it away? It was the Lord, wasn't
it? I bless the most high and I praised and honored him that
live forever whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and his
kingdom is from generation to generation and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing and he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? At the same time, my reason returned
unto me and for the glory of my kingdom, my honor and brightness
returned unto me and my counselors and my Lord's salt unto me. And
I was established in my kingdom and excellent majesty was added
unto me. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the
King of heaven. all whose works are truth, and
his ways judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able
to abase. Brethren, this is every believer's
confession. Every believer's confession is
the same as Job. It's the same as Jonah. When
Jonah found himself in the belly of the fish crying out, he says,
Inhale, I lifted up my voice. And what was his confession?
Salvations of the Lord. What did Job praise? He praised
the Lord. Who did Jonah praise? He praised
the Lord. Who did Nebuchadnezzar praise? Why? Because we see that
without him creating in us a clean heart, we will be left in our
pride, in our darkness, in our own unbelief. Every man by nature, even you
and I by nature, you and I by nature are included in that.
Believe we have something to do with salvation by nature.
We need a new nature, don't we? We need a new creation in us.
We need to be made a new creature. Is that not what he did upon
the cross of Calvary? Whenever he died for his people,
taking away their sin, he didn't just make a way, he is the way. And by his spirit births us into
that family. It's what we're gonna hear about
the second hour, being heirs of the Lord. He did it all. He
did it all. Our only hope is that he would
not just impose on our will and say, I'm giving you an opportunity
by your own will to make a decision. No, our hope is that he creates
a new will in us. Give me a new heart. Because
if I'm left to this wheel, I'm going to be as a dog. A dog can
learn behavioral tricks, doesn't it? I have several dogs. I use
that as an analogy pretty often. Some of you have been around
dogs. Maybe you've seen shows where dogs go on there. They
can do all kinds of tricks. A dog can sit. It can roll over. It can stand up on its hind legs,
walk like a man. It can shake, all kinds of things. You know, that's what religion
teaches every man and woman. that you can do better and God
will be pleased with you. You're still a dog. You're still
a dog. I'm still a dog. No matter how
many tricks we learn, no matter how much morality that we practice,
no matter how much better we think we are getting, still a
dog. Still just a dog. Every chance
my dog gets, it runs to the litter box to eat the cat's stuff. Just a dog. No matter how many
tricks I teach it, no matter how much I spank the dog, still
a dog. No matter how a dog returned to its vomit, isn't that up?
We're vile. No, Lord, you're other. We're
different. We're not the same as you. Lord,
you're gonna have to create in us light because we have none. We're darkness. We're darkness. All men are created equally depraved,
having Adam's sinful blood. We're born. We're born that way. Born in sin, shaped in iniquity.
God must create life the same way he created all things. I
told you we're gonna turn to Genesis. Let's do that now. Genesis
chapter one. Genesis 1.1. In the beginning,
that's what we're, that's the title of the message. In the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth
was without form and void. And darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And the spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. And God said, let there be light.
And there was light. And God saw the light, that it
was good. And God divided the light from the darkness. And
God called the light day and the darkness he called night,
and the evening and the morning were the first day. Without form
and void. Without form and void, it says,
that's us. Then what happened? Without form
and void, and then the spirit of God moved. See, we will remain
without form and void pertaining to things of God, unless the
Spirit of God moves. And then what happened? Let there
be light. See, in the beginning, God created
this earthen vessel that is without form and void, and darkness was
upon the face of the deep. No matter how deep you go down
inside of yourself, you'll find nothing but darkness. Our hope
is that the Spirit of God moved according to the will of God
through the preaching of the gospel all by grace through faith. And he says, let there be light. And there was light. And when
he saw that light, He no longer saw the darkness on the face
of the deep. No matter how deep down you go,
light was created. Light was created. What did he
say about that light? Well, who is the light? It's
the Lord Jesus Christ. What does he say about that light?
He's well pleased. He's well pleased. God saw the
light. And it was good. No, there's
nothing good in you and I, except if the Lord puts it there. Except
if the Lord puts it there, we remain dead and in darkness.
You know it's true, brethren, we had no part in the first creation,
nor do we have any part in the second. The first creation represents
works in the flesh. The second creation is the second
birth. It's given in Christ Jesus by
grace through faith. That's spirit and life, isn't
it? The Lord has to do that. The Lord has to do that. What did the Lord tell the, what
did the Lord speak to the disciples? He said, here in his life, here
in his life, that you may know God and Jesus Christ whom he
has sent. That's life. That's life. Here is life that you believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, but how can we believe if we're dead?
Men will say, just believe. All you gotta do is just believe.
How can we believe if we're dead in darkness? How can I believe
the light if I've never saw the light? If all I've ever known
is what I've been exposed to in darkness, how can I know even
what light is? Here's our hope. The spirit moves. God speaks. Let there be light. You, hath he quickened, who were
dead in trespasses and in sin? You, hath he quickened, who were
dead in trespasses and in sins? There's our hope. What comes
first, the quickening or the believing? You, hath he quickened,
who were dead and trespasses and sin. Job didn't say I am
vile of his own determination. Nebuchadnezzar didn't say he's
the king out of his own judgment. Jonah never said salvations of
the Lord until they all found themselves standing before the
Lord as nothing, as vile. Realizing they're nothing but
sinners and nothing but darkness. Brethren, our hope is one hope,
it's very simple. You hath he quickened, let there
be light. That's our hope. The same light
that God shined forth from the beginning, that's the same light
he shines to the heart of his elect, to the same creator. Scripture says, for by him were
all things created that are in heaven and that are in earth,
visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or powers or principalities or powers, where all things were
created by him. I love that he says all things,
then he starts naming all things. Just wanted to confirm in case
we didn't hear the first part. All things were created by him.
Without him, not anything made that was made. He is before all
things and all things by him consists. Lord created me a clean
heart. What part of our creation did
we have to do with? Our birth, nothing. He created
that too. What part of salvation can we
do or have anything to do with? Nothing. Lord created me a clean
heart. That's the cry of the believer. Lord created me a right
spirit. Lord put away my sin. He's the
only one that created all things and can make something disappear.
and he made the sin of his people disappear by the death of himself
on the cross of Calvary. Lord, cause me to know the Lord
Jesus Christ is all my salvation. Now in closing, if I go back
to our text, Hebrews chapter one. Unless the Lord illuminates the
glorious finished work of the cross of Calvary, we'll never
see it. We'll never have a need for it. We'll never have a need
for it. Hebrews one, verse 10. And thou,
Lord, in the beginning hath laid the foundation of the earth.
What is the foundation of the earth? Well, let's think about
this for a second. Everything has a physical and
a spiritual. You and I are earthen vessels. What is our foundation
to stand before the Lord? Think about that. Nothing in
myself. Lord, you're gonna have to lay
the foundation. Is Christ Jesus not the chief
cornerstone? Lord, lay the foundation, reveal
to me that I have a hope, a rock, an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast. Cause my feet to be planted upon
him. Give me foundation in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is what
his light reveals. The heavens are the works of
thy hands. They shall perish, but thou remainest. They all shall wax old as doth
the garment. And as a vesture shall thou fold
them up, and they shall be changed, but thou art the same. I could,
we could probably bring a message from that, those words right
there, thou art the same. Thou art the same. Thy years
shall not fail, because he is the same and he changes not.
That's the reason we're not consumed, isn't it? It's what the scripture
says. When God is finished calling his people out of darkness, he'll
fold up this world, he'll fold up the heavens just like a garment.
I have a handkerchief in my hand. He'll just fold it up. He's done
with it. He's done. That's God. That's what he does.
You mean all time will be over? Yes. God made time. We should
never think that we have anything to do with our salvation. He's
got to do that or we have no hope. All that remains will be
his light and his truth. He said in Matthew 24, heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away.
His word is truth. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, isn't
it? That's who remains. Lord, cause me to be found in
your light, not in darkness, not in darkness. What is the
Lord's word? It is finished. Salvation accomplished. Sin put away. Now he speaks the
same word to his people, creating light and life in them. Let there
be light. Is that your hope is that he
says it? Yes, absolutely. In the beginning, God and in
the end, God, may he be merciful. To say unto us, let there be
light, let there be light. Let's pray. Father, from the
beginning you are God. You surpass the beginning, you'll
surpass the end causes to be found in Christ. In his name
we pray, amen. Let's take a break.