Matthew chapter 3. I'm taking
the title from the words found in verse 2. Notice carefully
verse 2. John came preaching, John the
Baptist, he came preaching in the wilderness of Judea saying,
repent ye for or because the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom
of heaven or the king of heaven is at hand, speaking of our blessed
Savior. So the title found there in verse
2, repent for the kingdom of heaven is here. The king, the
king of kings. Repentance. We know both faith
and repentance are the sovereign gifts of God. Men don't naturally
believe or repent, not truly, without God giving us and granting
us repentance. The Apostle Paul said in Acts
20, he said, I kept back nothing profitable unto you, but have
showed you and I've taught you publicly from house to house,
testifying both to the Jews and also to the Greeks, repentance
toward God and faith toward the Lord Jesus Christ. What two precious
gifts God gives to his children. We know that both faith and repentance,
True faith, true repentance, love the gospel. Love the gospel
of Christ freely and publicly own it before men, confessing
with the mouth the Lord Jesus Christ is all of our salvation,
all of our hope, and by identifying with the Lord Jesus Christ in
believer's baptism. That's where true faith and true
repentance always looks to Christ and causes us in our heart to
confess Him, our union with Him, by identifying with Him in believer's
baptism. The faith of God's elect always
acknowledges the truth, always loves the truth, just like repentance
is given of God. Both faith and repentance acknowledge
that God is God. True faith and true repentance
acknowledges that salvation is all of the Lord. Faith does not
look to faith. Faith does not look to faith. Faith looks to Christ. Repentance
does not look to repentance. True repentance always looks
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith and repentance do not accomplish
salvation, do they? Not at all, but rather receives
the Lord Jesus Christ as all of our salvation, all of our
hope of redemption, who accomplished salvation for us. So faith doesn't
accomplish salvation, faith receives the Lord Jesus Christ who did
accomplish all our salvation, every bit of it. He said it is,
it is finished. In him was all the fullness of
a Godhead bodily and in the Lord Jesus Christ believers stand,
what? Complete. Complete. Christ is
all and in all. That's our hope. That's what
true faith and true repentance always comes to Christ. Confessing
him. Something else we know about
repentance. Where you find repentance, you find faith. They come together. They're not isolated experiences. It's a continuous ongoing in
the life and the experience of the believer. I have believed,
I am believing, and by his grace I will continue to believe. The
just shall live by faith. We are continuously, continuously
coming to the Lord Jesus Christ. How do you come to him? By faith. Looking to the Lord Jesus Christ
for every spiritual blessing. Every spiritual blessing, God
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in the heavenlies in
our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. So faith and repentance
are not some isolated experience. We are always believing, repenting,
and coming to the Lord Jesus Christ, looking unto him who
is the author and finisher of our faith. Now, in the close
of chapter two, Matthew Chapter 2, we find the Lord Jesus Christ
living, being raised in Nazareth with Mary and with Joseph, that
it might be fulfilled. Look at verse 23, Matthew 2.
He came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled,
which is spoken by the prophets, he shall be called the Nazarene,
one who was separated under God to accomplish the will of God
the eternal purpose of God, the work of God in accomplishing
our salvation. Our Lord said, my meat is to
do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Salvation is by his doing, not
ours. Now in Matthew chapter three,
we have a time gap of about 28 years. the Lord Jesus Christ
comes, begin his public ministry that was announced by John the
Baptist, who always pointed sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. If
you read John chapter one, he said, behold the Lamb of God
that takes away our sin. And then just a few verses later,
he says again, behold the Lamb of God that takes away our sin. Now look at verse 1, Matthew
chapter 3. In those days, in those days
appointed by God, determined by God, came John. John, son of God. John the Baptist
he is known as. And he came preaching, preaching
in the wilderness. Not among the established Jewish
religion, but outside of the religion of the Jews out in the
wilderness. Now, who was John the Baptist? He's an unusual character. He's
one set of God with the message of God. He was the last Old Testament
prophet. He was a forerunner to prepare
the way of the Lord. His ministry was foretold by
Isaiah, as we read a moment ago. in Isaiah chapter 40, and also
again in Malachi chapter 3, where we read, behold, God said, I'll
send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me, and
the Lord whom you seek shall suddenly come to his temple,
even the messenger of the covenant, talking about Christ, whom you
delight in, behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. Our Lord Jesus Christ said of
his prophet John, among them born of women is none greater
than John. He was a man just like you and
just like me, a man of like passion, but he was one sent of God with
the message of God. In John chapter 1, the apostle
John writes this, there was a man sent from God whose name was
John. The same came for witness, to
bear witness of the light, that all men through him might believe.
He was not that light, but he was sent to bear witness of that
light, capital L. He is the light, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He came to bear witness of the
light. Our Lord said of him in John chapter five, he was a burning
and shining light, pointing sinners to the Lord Jesus Christ. We
know that John was the son of Elizabeth and Zachariah the priest. They conceived this special son
in their old age. He was filled with the Holy Spirit
from his mother's womb. The angel told his father, Zacharias,
he shall be great in the sight of the Lord and shall drink neither
wine nor strong drink. He shall be filled with the Holy
Ghost even from his mother's womb. Now think about this, and
we don't often think about this, John, talking about John the
Baptist, his father was a Jewish priest. John saw all those lambs
every year come on the Day of Atonement He saw all those lambs
that were in the morning sacrifice, in the evening sacrifice. John
grew up around the temple. He knew all about those lambs.
But when the Lord Jesus Christ came publicly, John said, there's
that lamb. There's the lamb that is of God. We see his office and his calling
was given of God. He was sent of God to preach
the gospel of God. concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
He ministers not in the temple, but rather in the wilderness
of Judea. He ministers outside the established
religion of the Jews, the Pharisees and the Sadducees. He did not and did not fellowship with them.
He was outside the camp. John the Baptist said of the
Lord Jesus Christ, he must increase, I must decrease. He must increase,
I must decrease. Now look at verse two. Saying,
what's his message? He's preaching in the wilderness,
outside of the camp, outside of the Jewish established religion,
saying, Repent. Repent because for, this is a
word, because the Kingdom of Heaven, or the King of Heaven,
the King of Kings, the Lord Jesus Christ, He's at hand. We must
answer to Him because He is the Lord. He is the King. Now what's
His message? The same message the Lord Jesus
Christ began to preach. Turn one page and look at Matthew
chapter 4, verse 17. From that time, Jesus began to
preach, this is when he started his public ministry, and to say,
repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. The king is here. The king is here. Now, repentance,
what is it? We know it's a gift of God. We
know men naturally don't repent, not truly, because It's a gift
of God. Repentance is being changed by
the power of God. It's being changed in our thoughts.
It's being changed in our heart. It's being changed in our will.
It's being changed in our affection. It's being changed by the power
of God to think right thoughts about God. Right thoughts about
self. right thoughts about the way
of salvation by the grace of God. How do I know if God has
given me true repentance? Because true repentance always
agrees with what God says about us in the way of salvation. The Jews were seeking salvation
by the deeds and ceremonies of the law. Our Lord said of those
Pharisees, you or they would justify yourself before men,
but God knows your heart. That which is highly esteemed
among men, he says, is an abomination in the sight of Almighty God. They were going about to establish
a righteousness of their own. In Galatians chapter 2, don't
turn, let me just quote it to you. One of my favorite verses
in that book of Galatians. Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Christ. by the
faith of Christ. Even we have believed in Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. For by the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified in his sight." True
repentance doesn't go about to establish a righteousness by
the deeds of the law. True repentance is submitted
unto the righteousness of God in Christ. Blessed is that man
for whom God would impute righteousness with how it works. True repentance,
like faith, We know faith is the gift of God, right? For by
grace are you saved through faith, and that is not of yourself.
What's the rest of it? It's the gift of God, not of
work that any man should boast. And then in Acts chapter 5, when
he talks about repentance, God, the God of our fathers, raised
up Jesus, whom you slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted
with his right hand to be Prince and Savior, for to give repentance
to Israel and the forgiveness of sin. So we see readily and
easily that both faith and repentance are sovereign gifts of God. Now,
do you need to repent? Do I need to repent? All the
time, every day, every way. We all need to repent because
we're sinners through and through. We need our thoughts corrected,
don't we? To think right thoughts of God, right thoughts of ourselves,
right thoughts of the way of salvation by His mercy. By nature,
we think too highly of ourselves and too low about our great God
and almighty Savior. Can you think too highly of Him? Can you give Him too much honor,
too much glory, the almighty God? No. Can you think too lowly
of yourself, guilty, vile, wretched sinners that we are? That's the
truth of the matter. True repentance is turning from
self and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ alone. But all of salvation,
not some of it, all of salvation. As the apostle said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ for I know whom I have believed.
And I'm persuaded that he's able to keep that which I've committed
unto him against that day. Why do we need this precious
gift of repentance? Lord, give me a repentant heart.
I cry that all the time. God, have mercy on me, the sinner.
That's a repentant heart right there. God, be merciful to me,
the sinner. Why do we need this precious
gift of repentance? If we miss repentance, I'm talking
about true godly repentance. If we miss repentance, we'll
miss faith. Faith in Christ. If we miss faith,
we'll miss the Lord Jesus Christ. That's how he's received. If
we miss Christ, we miss salvation. He said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. And if we miss salvation, we've
missed everything because we've missed him. Now, the second thing
he says there in that verse two, not only The command of repentance. God
had commanded all men everywhere to repent. Repentance is not
something that's optional. It's a command of God. Repent.
Because the King is at hand. You must answer to the King.
The King is at hand. The reign of the King of Kings,
the Lord of Lords is at hand. The Messiah is here. The Christ
of God has come. And the fullness of time. God
sent forth his son made of a woman, made under the law to redeem
them that were under the law. The Lord Jesus Christ came. Why
did he come? Well, we know he was sent of
God, right? He came to purchase his church with his own blood. We are redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. He bought the church. He owns
us. We're his. He bought us. We're
redeemed with the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's
why he came. He came to buy us. We were in
bondage and debt to sin and to God's law and justice. He redeemed
us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. This
is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation. The Lord
Jesus Christ came to save sinners. Now, I can say with Paul, can't
you? I'm the chief one. I'm the chief sinner. The Lord
Jesus Christ came not only to put away our sin, not only to
establish righteousness for us, which he freely gives us by his
grace, but he came to save us. He didn't come to try to save
us. He didn't come to shed His blood that He might justify somebody. No, He shed His blood to justify,
we're justified freely by His grace through the redeeming blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He came to save us, to seek and
to save that which is lost. He came to call us out of darkness
into His marvelous light. He came to make us new creatures
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Aren't you glad He came? He came
to accomplish all things by God's purpose and grace. Now look at
verse 3, Matthew chapter 3, for this is he that was spoken by
the prophet Isaiah. It was spoken 700 years before
the Lord Jesus Christ actually came. Is there any doubt in your
mind that what God has purposed and what God has spoken will
come to pass? The voice of one crying in the
wilderness, prepare you the way of the Lord. Make straight his
path. John the Baptist was the voice
of God, the messenger of God, to prepare the way for the coming
of the Lord. You remember what we read in
Isaiah chapter 40? Three things we read there. Number
one, all flesh is grass. Remember? What then shall I cry? What is the message of true evangelism?
All flesh is grass. And then secondly, the word of
the Lord endures forever. Of his own will begat he us with
the word. And then thirdly, what? Behold
your God. That's our message. We are sinners. We need to hear the word of God,
which is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword.
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of the Lord, and
then behold your God. What's he saying there? Look
to Christ, look unto me, our Lord said, and be ye saved. Now
look at verse four. John was a plain man, a simple
man. Look at verse four. The same
John had his raiment, camel's hair, rough. rough old camel's
hair, and his leather, and had a leather
girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then went out to him Jerusalem,
and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan. John was a simple man, with a
simple dress, with a simple diet, that had a simple message. Look
to Christ. Look to the Lord Jesus Christ.
John used simple means that God had ordained to accomplish the
Lord's purpose. Preaching, preaching, preaching. John came preaching the Word
of the Lord. What is preaching? Repeating
what God's already said. Repeating what God's already
said. He was not ashamed to declare the message that God gave him. The message of Christ, same as
the Apostle Paul where he said, I'm determined to know nothing
among you but Jesus Christ and him crucified. The established
religion of the Jews was so much different. They had those long
flowing robes, soft clothing, much ceremony, much traditions
of men, and here comes this old preacher, son of God, camel's
hair, and a leather girdle, but he was one that had the message
of God. Much like the religion in our
day, the Jewish religion had much pomp, much ceremony, much
tradition, Much like the religion in our day, much on proper order,
little or no proper true doctrine. I woke up this morning, flipped
on Fox News, and they were broadcasting the Vatican Square ceremony. So much pomp, so much ceremony,
so much tradition, no gospel. No gospel truth. So sad. That's
just so sad. All those thousands of people
flocking to hear the word of a man who is a false prophet, who brings no good news because
they preach salvation depends on you, not on Christ. Now look at verse 5 and 6. that
went out to him, Jerusalem, many, and all Judea, and all the region
round about Jordan, and were baptized with him in Jordan,
confessing their sin. There had not been a true prophet in Israel since
Malachi 350 years ago. And then John comes on the scene. Many and those Pharisees thought
he was the promised Messiah. Let's turn to John chapter 1
and read that. John chapter 1. You hold your
place there in Matthew 3. John chapter 1. Verse 19. And this is a record
of John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to
ask him, who art thou? And he confessed and denied not,
but confessed. He said, I'm not the Christ.
And they asked him, what then, art thou Elijah? And he said,
I'm not. Art thou that prophet that Moses
told us about, Deuteronomy 18? He said, no, I'm not him. They
said unto him, who art thou, that we may give answer to him
that sent us? What sayest thou of thyself?
And he said, I'm the voice of one crying in the wilderness,
make straight the way of the Lord, as said the prophet Isaiah. Many, through the preaching of
John, were granted true repentance and true faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ, and they were baptized with him, confessing they were
sinners in need of salvation through the Lamb of God, the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice what happens next.
Many heard John's message, the message of Christ crucified,
the Lamb of God. And they were convicted, and
they were given repentance, they were given faith, and because
they were, they were confessing the Lord Jesus Christ in believer's
baptism. And look at verse 7. Here comes
this religious crowd. He saw many of the Pharisees
and Sadducees come to his baptism. I think they came out of curiosity
because so many people flocked to him. He said to them, well,
I'm so glad to see you guys. I've been waiting for you for
a long time. I'm glad you finally came to
your senses and of your own free will that you decided that you're
going to have salvation. Look what he says. You generation
of snakes. Vipers, who warned you to flee
from wrath, wrath to come? You reckon they got upset with
that message? You know they did. You know they
did. Bring forth, verse 8, bring forth
therefore fruits, meat for repentance. Confess that you're not going
about to establish a righteousness by the deeds of the law, that
you're confessing Christ is everything in salvation. John had a very
sharp rebukes for the self-righteous Jews who were hiding in their
refuge of lies, very much like the Lord rebuked the same crowd. Turn over here to Matthew 23.
Do you remember what our Lord said to that same crowd? Matthew
23. Woe, verse 23, Matthew 23, 23. Woe unto you, woe unto you, scribes
and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you pay tithe and mint and anise
and cumin and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, faith. These not you have done, not
to leave the other undone. You blind guides which strain
at a gnat is swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites, for you may clean the outside of the cup and of
the platter, but within you're full of extortion and excess.
Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the
cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also. Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, for you lack unto whited sepulchers,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full
of dead men's bones. Even so outwardly you appear
righteous unto men, but within you're full, full of hypocrisy,
full of iniquity. Woe unto you. Woe unto that man
who goes about to establish righteousness by his own doing. Remember, our
Lord said in John chapter 8, when this same crowd of Pharisees
and Sadducees, they said, Abraham is our father. And he said, you
are indeed of your father, the devil. That's who you are. He
was a liar from the beginning, and you believed his lie. Now,
back to Matthew chapter 3, verse 8. Bring evidence that you've
forsaken seeking salvation by your works, by the deeds of the
law, and that you bowed to the sovereign lordship of Jesus Christ. Now in Luke chapter 7 verse 30,
let me read this to you. And all the people that heard
him, that is John the Baptist, the publicans, notorious sinners,
they justified God being baptized with the baptism of John But
the Pharisees and Sadducees and the lawyers rejected the counsel
of God against themselves being not baptized. They rejected the way of salvation
by the grace of God. Now what is the evidence of true
repentance? It is that you take God's side
against yourself. It is that you agree with God's
word as a testimony against your own person, your own self. We have all sinned, right? Right? We have all sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Therefore, we are all, where
does that leave us? Guilty. Guilty. Let every mouth
be stopped and all the world become guilty, guilty before
God. We are sinners. Sinners by imputation,
and Adam all died. Sinners by birth, were born in
sin, shaped in iniquity. Were sinners by practice, and
sinners by choice. There was none righteous, no,
not one. There's none to understand. There's
none to seek after God. There was none that do as good,
no, not one. That's the four nones. You ever
met the four nones? None righteous, no, not one.
Not one. We don't understand. We do not
seek. There's none that seeketh God
left to himself. What a precious gift this is
of repentance. A repenting heart. A changed
heart. Look at verse 9. And think not
to say within yourselves, well, Abraham was our father. We know
we're saved because Abraham was our father. Abraham was our father
for, and the Lord said, or John said, for I say unto you that
God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. Abraham, they were saying, is
our refuge, or Moses is our refuge. The only refuge for sinners to
hide in is that refuge that God has provided. What is that refuge? Who is that refuge? Christ himself. He is the only refuge, the only
foundation upon which we can find true salvation. Now he's
saying here, don't think God needs you. Don't think God needs
you. Have you ever been driving down
the road and you see those those signs out front of different
churches and they have one of those clever quaint sayings rather
than putting the Word of God out there, they have these clever
and quaint sayings of men. And one of them they often say,
we can't spell church without you. What's missing? You. This thing really doesn't work
without you. John is saying here, God doesn't
need us. We need Him. We need Him. God is able. to raise up true
believers out of these cold, dead hearts of stone. That's what we are. We have a
stony heart, a dead heart. It's no problem for the Lord
to take cold, dead, hard-hearted sinners and to make them true
sons of God. He's able. Behold what manner
of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. The sons of God. Now look at
verse 10, 11, and 12. John points sinners to Christ. Now also the axe, the axe of
the Word is laid to the root, the root problem of the tree. Therefore every tree which does
not bring forth fruit to the glory of God is hewn down and
cast into the fire. I indeed, John said, baptize
you with water. unto repentance or concerning
repentance. But he that cometh after me is
mightier than I, whose shoes I'm not worthy to bear. He shall
baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire, whose fan is in
his hand. He will surely purge his floor,
gather his wheat into the garner. The garner there is the storage
place, but he will burn up the chaff. with unquenchable fire. The great woodman is the Lord
Jesus Christ. The great woodman has come. He
takes every tree, every center that tries to establish righteousness
by their doing, that's the root of the problem, useless, fruitless
religion, and cuts it down to the ground. He puts the acts
of the word to it and cuts it down, for he must have all the
honor and glory in the saving of sinners. In Matthew chapter
15, We read, our Lord said, every plant which my Heavenly Father
hath not planted shall be rooted up. Shall be rooted up. You see,
the Lord must break us to save us. He's nigh them of a broken
heart. The Lord must strip us before
he clothes us with the righteousness we have in Christ. He must bring
us down in the dust of repentance to lift us up by faith, looking
to the Lord Jesus Christ. John says in verse 11, John could
only administer the outward ordinance of baptism. You see that? All John could do was do what
God had told him to do, is that those confessing faith in Christ
to be baptized, water baptism. But we know this, there is no
salvation. There is no salvation in water
baptism. Is there? There's no regeneration
in water baptism. There is no washing away of sin
in water baptism. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all our sin. He that cometh, look what
it says there, I indeed baptize you unto repentance, but he that
cometh after me, he's my dear. How mighty is he? He's the almighty
God. Mightier than I, and John said,
I'm not even worthy to bear his shoes. I'm not even worthy to
untie his shoe latches. He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire. Now here's what we need. We need
to be baptized by God the Holy Spirit. God the Holy Spirit.
You see what he's teaching is this. Salvation is an inward
work by the power of God the Holy Spirit in the heart. In
the heart. He must convict us of sin, what
we are, of righteousness, what we need, and of judgment, what
we deserve. That which is born of the flesh
is just flesh. That which is born of the Spirit
is spirit. God must quicken us from the
dead and make us new creatures in Christ. Listen to this scripture,
1 Corinthians 12. For by one spirit, that is God
the Holy Spirit, are we all baptized into one body, whether we be
Jew or Gentile, whether we be bond or free, and have been made
to drink into that one spirit. How'd you get in Christ? But
of him, are you in Christ? Who of God is made unto us? What? Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glory,
let him glory in the Lord. He that cometh after me is mightier
than I. He shall baptize you with the
Holy Ghost and with fire. That must precede confessing
Christ in believer's baptism. Now look what it says in verse
12, and I'll let you go. talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ and the gospel of Christ. And he uses this illustration
of the old timers when they would harvest their wheat. Remember,
they would throw it up, and they would use a fan to separate the
wheat from the chaff. whose fan is in his hand, verse
12, he will thoroughly purge his floor, speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ, he shall gather his wheat into the storage place,
the garner, and he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable,
unquenchable fire. The good shepherd, the chief
shepherd, the great shepherd, He knows His sheep by name, doesn't
He? The foundation of God standeth sure, the Lord knoweth them that
are His. Remember, He says, My sheep hear
My voice, and I know them, they follow Me. But notice these three
or four things here. The fan of the Gospel, or the
power of the Gospel, is in His mighty hand. You see that in
verse 12? The fan, or the power of the
Gospel, is in His hand. No one can stay his hand or say
unto him, Lord God Almighty, what doest thou? He will have
mercy on whom he will have mercy. Secondly, the Lord will purge
away our sin. Now, I can't do anything about
my sin, and you can't do anything about yours. I cannot put away
my sin. All those thousands and thousands
of animals died under the Jewish covenant. The blood of bulls
and goats cannot put away sin. But remember how sin is put away. We studied a few weeks ago in
Matthew chapter 1, called his name Jesus. He shall, he shall
what? Put away or purge our sin. He shall take away our sin. He shall save us from our sins. He shall purge our sin by the
sacrifice of himself. Thirdly, the Lord will with sovereign
power separate. There's a separation between
the wheat and the chaff. There is a separation between
the tares and the wheat. There is a separation between
the sheep and the goats. Let's read about it. Turn over
here to Matthew chapter 25. Matthew 25 verse 31. Now who
does the separating? who divides the fans in His hand. He will purge away our sin. He
will separate the sheep from the goats, Matthew 25, 31. When the Son of Man shall come
in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then shall He
sit upon the throne of His glory, and before Him shall be gathered
all nations, and He shall separate them one from another, As a shepherd
divideth his sheep from the goats, he shall set the sheep on his
right hand, the goats on the left. Then shall the king say
unto them on his right hand, Come, O come, ye blessed of my
father, inherit the kingdom, there's that kingdom again, prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. Now look down to verse
41. Matthew chapter 25, then shall
he say also unto them on the left hand, depart from me, ye
cursed in the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. Look at verse 46. These shall
go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous unto eternal
life. So the Lord, has the fan and
the power of the gospel in His mighty hand. The Lord will purge
away our sin. The Lord will separate the tares
from the wheat, sheep from the goat, and then the Lord will,
as it says there, He will gather us, His wheat, unto His barn. And that's what the gospel is
designed to do. It's designed to gather out,
to call out of His call out of darkness into his marvelous light
a people into his barn, his garner, his storage place. The Lord himself
shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and the trump of God and the dead in Christ shall
rise first, and we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up Together with them, the clouds will meet the Lord in the air.
So shall we ever be with the Lord. Amen.