Jake, that kind introduction. Those memories to me are special
memories, special memories. And we started coming here in
the fall. I think it was a Sunday after
Labor Day and that's September of 2006. And boy, what precious,
precious memories that we have coming and being with you and
getting acquainted and of course preaching the gospel. preaching
the gospel of the grace of God and we're so thankful what we
prayed and prayed and prayed about to work here and we didn't
set out a two-year goal or a five-year goal or any goal we just say
we're gonna come and preach and ask the Lord to bless the meeting
and we prayed that the Lord would Send a pastor and and he did
and we're so thankful for Gabe and his family Someone said to me one time after
brother Gabe had been here for a while if If I had any regrets
about brother Gabe coming here and giving up being the pastor
of the church here I said absolutely not I said, that's what we prayed
for, for the Lord to send a gospel preacher. And we're so thankful. And I appreciate the invitation
to come and be with you this evening. I miss being with Gabe,
and I know we'll have some conversation down the road. So let's get to
the business of preaching the gospel. So turn in your book.
to the book, let's turn to the gospel written by, given by Isaiah. Isaiah's gospel, chapter 28,
verse 16. Isaiah 28, 16. Now this is a familiar portion,
I trust it is to most of you. The Lord, as He does many times,
gives us a contrast here in what He does in verse 14 down through
verse 18. But I want to mainly look at
verse 16. Therefore thus saith the Lord. And we can say that about all
the word of God. It's his word given by inspiration
of God. And the Lord would have us to
know, he said, behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone,
a stone. This stone here we know is the
rock of Ages, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says this stone
and this foundation is a tridestone, a precious, precious cornerstone,
and it's sure. It's a sure foundation. And then
he makes this statement, and this is quoted twice in the New
Testament, he that believeth shall not Make haste. Now, it is a safe and right and
good thing to always trust the Lord Jesus Christ for all of
salvation. Now, I delight in the things
of God, the gospel of God, things that are certain, sure, true,
and everlasting. I love the words of David, although
it be not so with my house, God hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things, and is sure, this is all my salvation. So I delight in the things of
God that are certain, sure, true, and everlasting. And then in
2 Peter 1, we have this, where he says, we have also a more
sure word of prophecy, things that are certain and sure. And
then again, we read in Romans 4, 16, it is by faith that it
might be by grace to the end that the promise might be sure
to all God's seed, the elect of God. Now, I trust that you
find comfort in those things that are unquestionably sure. undeniably safe and eternally
true. And such is the gospel of God's
grace. Now it is troubling to me to
see so many in religion finding comfort or seeking a refuge in
that which is contrary to the gospel of God's grace. Seeking
a refuge in things that are unsure, that are not safe at all and
that are not true. If you read the first part of
Isaiah 28, he talks about a falsehood. He talks about a fading flower
whose glorious beauty is a fading flower and we know that all flesh
is grass. Now, again, it's troubling to
us, and I trust to you, to see so many going about to establish
a righteousness of their own doing and totally disregarding
the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel. Paul says of that
righteousness and of that gospel, he said, I'm not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth. For therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. And the righteousness of God
revealed is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Lord, our righteousness. Blessed is the man to whom God
would impute or imputeth righteousness without works. Now, if you ask
the average religious church going, what he knows or what
he has heard about that blessed righteousness that's given and
imputed and accounted to the elect of God by the free and
sovereign grace of God, you ask the average religious Joe, he
would say that he would know, huh, I don't know anything, I've
never heard of that word, imputed righteousness, and most think
It's imputed nonsense among religious lost people, but it is not, my
friend. The righteousness we have that's
revealed in the gospel is a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the
Lord, our righteousness. Paul warned those in his day
in Romans 10. Brethren, he said, my heart's
desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be
saved. They were very religious, but they didn't know God. He
said, For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God,
but not according to knowledge, for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God
revealed in Christ. For Christ is the end of the
law, for righteousness to everyone that believeth. The Lord in this
chapter, Isaiah 28, especially from verse 14 down to verse 18,
is going to tell us and point out a contrast and a difference
between a false refuge of men and the true refuge of God. One will save you eternally in
Christ and anything on any refuge, refuge of lies will damn you
forever if you lay hold of it and trust it. That true refuge
we have in Christ will bless you with all spiritual blessing
in the heavenlies in the Lord Jesus Christ. That refuge of
lies will curse you eternally. The true gospel of the grace
of God will justify you freely forever by His grace. That other
false refuge will condemn you. One, by the grace of God, will
redeem you from all your sin. For read, the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleansed us from all our sin. The other,
that false refuge, the refuge of lies, will ruin your soul
forever if you go that route, if you trust your own self for
righteousness. Now, I ask you a question. Do
you have a refuge? Do you have a righteousness?
Now, I've talked to a lot of people over my years, a lot of
different people, and I've never found one person that I've talked
to that did not have some sort of refuge of one kind or the
other. It may be a religious refuge,
or it may be totally irreligious, but everybody's hiding something,
for some reason, for some cause, rather than resting totally and
only and completely in the Lord Jesus Christ. The only refuge
that God has provided for sinners is Christ. The only refuge that
God has given and the only righteousness that is revealed is that righteousness
of God revealed in Christ. And it's only built upon the
one foundation, this sure foundation that we read of here, the Rock
of Ages, the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not built upon the sand. of our works, but rather upon
His grace and His grace only and His grace alone. The only
grace that we read of in this book is sovereign grace, redeeming
grace. electing grace, eternal grace,
saving grace, fetching grace, the fetching grace of God. Now,
let's look at verse 14 and 15. Wherefore, hear the word of the
Lord. Now that's a good thing to do.
This is a good thing and right thing to hear the word of the
Lord. But not only just to hear it, let us be swift to hear and
slow to speak. Let us hear The word as it is
in truth, the word of God that affects the works in you that
believe. Hear the word of the Lord. And he says, these people
here, most religious but lost, are scornful men. They're sinful
men. They rule this people, which
is in Jerusalem. You remember the conversation
the Lord had between all the Sadducees and Pharisees and that
conflict they had. Because he says verse 15 you
have said now. Here's what they said we have
a covenant We have the covenant with death and with hell and
that word there actually is the grave with death and the grave
we're at agreement When the overflowing scourge shall pass through that
is the scourge of God's wrath his judgment Wrath to come it
will not come unto us and They said we have a refuge and It
is a refuge of lies. It is based upon a falsehood. And they said, we have hid ourselves. Now, how deluded must you be? And how silly must you be to
hide in a refuge of lies and to push yourself under a falsehood
and then to trust that for salvation? Now, it's most obvious and evident
that those who refuse to hear the truth of the Word of God,
the Lord Jesus, and receive the truth of God, and believe the
truth, will go about to build a refuge that has a foundation
built on sand and falsehood. It will not last. Not the judgment of God. Not
at all. These folks declared before God,
they said, oh, we believe God. We believe in a God. We believe
that man will die. We believe that judgment will
come, but it won't come unto us. We're OK. We're OK. We're safe. Don't worry me. Don't bother me. I'm OK. I've
made my profession years ago. I'm getting along just fine.
Don't bother me. I'm satisfied hiding in my false
refuge. They say, well, we fixed things
up with God. They say things like, we've made
peace with God. They say things like, we have
done many good works. You remember those in Matthew
7, where they said, Lord, we preached in your name. Lord,
we've done many wonderful works in your name. We've even cast
out demons and we did it in your name. And you remember what the
Lord said to them? Depart from me, you workers of
iniquity. They were trusting what they
had done or did not do, rather than looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ alone. They had a flimsy and false covenant
with death. This covenant they have made
is not the covenant of grace, it's a covenant of their puny
ungodly works, which will not satisfy God and will not justify
your soul. By the deeds of the law, by the deeds of the law, how
many shall be justified by the deeds of the law? By the deeds
of the law, there shall be none justified. Our Lord had such
kind and tender word to those sinners struggling in their sin,
and he always showed mercy unto them. But those self-righteous
Pharisees, listen to what he says here in Luke 15. He said,
you are they which justify yourselves before men, but God knows your
heart. But that which is highly esteemed
among men, he says, is an abomination. Abomination in the sight of God.
They said, we have made an agreement with death and with the grave.
And their agreement was not based upon the word of God, of salvation
of the Lord, but rather by their own religious denomination and
good deeds. We have made a refuge of our
own doing. Oh, it's not the refuge of Christ
alone, but rather it's called, as he says there, a refuge of
lies. Now these phrases are expressive of their being
fearless before God. How many times have you heard
someone say, well, I'm not afraid of death. I'm not talking about
a believer, but someone who was an unbeliever, an irreligious,
and they would say, well, I'm not afraid to die. Not afraid
to meet God in judgment. They have confidence and assurance
that they shall not be affected by the holy wrath of God. You
know why they talk that way? They're ignorant of God. They're
ignorant of God. They don't know that God is holy.
They don't know that God must punish sin. They don't know that
they're sinful and guilty and vile and wretched and without
God and without hope and without Christ. What's going to happen
to those who are hiding under a falsehood, who are resting
in a refuge that's nothing but lies? Look what he says in verse
17 and following. He said, one day judgment's coming. Judgment's coming. Judgment also
will I lay to the line. and righteousness to the plummet.
Now you men who are in the construction business, you know the line goes
this way and the plumb bob goes this way. And that's the line
that you build to. You don't build outside the line,
you build to the line. Is that right? You build to the
line. You men in construction know
what this is talking about. And you ladies who need some
help, you ask your husband. A line goes this way when you
lay some block. It does not vary. You stretch
it tight. Don't let it sag. And the plumb
bob goes this way. Straight vertical. Does not vary. And you build to the line. And
the Lord said, My judgment and My holiness and My wrath will
not vary. Judgment I'm gonna lay to the
line of my strict holiness. Righteousness will I lay to the
line of the absolute plumb bob. And the hail of God's wrath will
sweep away your refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow
your hiding place. Judgment's coming. It's appointed
a man wants to die, and after that, judgment. Judgment's coming.
Look at verse 18, and your covenant, your agreement, With death and
the grave, it won't stand. It'll be disannulled, and your
agreement with hell, with the grave, will not stand. When the
overflowing scourge shall pass through, then you shall be trodden
down by it." Boy, that's pretty strong language, isn't it? God
will destroy that refuge of lies and those who are hiding under
falsehood in a refuge of lies. God will swat will take them
away in absolute judgment with no mercy whatsoever. The standard of judgment is the
absolute holiness of God. And I know this, you cannot produce
a righteousness or a holiness of your own doing before God.
You read over here in Isaiah 64, he said, all your righteousnesses
are as filthy rags in my sight. You cannot build to that line
and to that plumbob of absolute strict judgment and justice. You have to have a substitute. And that substitute is the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now he did. He honored the law
of God, perfectly honored. He built to that line of perfection
and that plumb bob of perfection. He had no sin, knew no sin, and
did no sin. Such a high priest became us
who was holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sin. Oh, He's
the one in whom we can stand before the judgment of God, for
there is therefore now No condemnation to those who are in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now that's where I want to be.
I want to be in Christ. I want to be like old Saul of
Tarsus. You remember his story? It went
about seeking salvation by the deeds of the law until God put
him in the dust. The old timers used to say God
unhorsed him and put him in the dust and told him and showed
him he was a vile, wretched sinner and God saved him by his grace.
You remember what he wrote about that later? He said, I count
all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
my Lord, for whom I've suffered the loss of all things and count
them but dung that I may win Christ and be found in him. found in him, not having my own
righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through
the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ, the righteousness
which is of God in Christ Jesus. Now, having said that, and I
love the way the Lord makes the contrast between that which is
false and that which is a refuge of lies, and then right in the
middle of that, he sandwiches that with this gospel truth in
verse 16. Therefore, thus saith the Lord
God, behold. Now, you know what? When I read
scripture and I tell our folks, when you see that word behold, get a visual memory of a stop
sign. God said, you stop, look, and
listen. Behold, behold, I lay in Zion. for the church, the elective
God. I lay in Zion for a foundation, a stone. Christ is that rock. A tried stone, a precious cornerstone,
a sure and certain foundation. He that believeth, not he that
worketh, not he that runneth, not he that willeth, he that
believeth. On him shall not make haste. Now, let's spend a little bit
of time on verse 16. With God there is an everlasting
covenant of grace made with Christ in that eternal blessed covenant. We read about it in Hebrews 13.
The God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus Christ, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood
of the everlasting covenant that will justify you forever before
God's holy presence. Jeremiah writes about that, and
they shall be my people about the covenant of God. I will be
their God and I'll give them one heart and one way that they
may fear me forever for the good of them and their children after
them. I will make an everlasting covenant
with them. I will not turn away from them
to do them good. I will put my fear in their heart
and they shall not depart from me. God said I will and they
shall. I will and they shall. God's
will is going to be done. He worketh all things after the
counsel of His own will. There is an everlasting covenant
of grace that's revealed in the word of the Lord, whereby it's
revealed that the Lord Jesus Christ came not to try to put
away sin, not to accomplish salvation, but to actually put sin away
by the sacrifice of himself, and to accomplish all of our
salvation by his doing. His doing. Listen to these scriptures. Matthew 9. The Lord said, I didn't
come to call the righteous. I came to call sinners to repentance. He didn't come to call good folks.
He came to save the guilty. There is grace for the guilty. There is mercy for the miserable.
Listen to this scripture. The Lord said, Luke 19, that
he came to seek and to save that which is lost. You see, in this
covenant of grace, it all revolves around the person and work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He's called the surety of the
covenant. He's the surety of the covenant, the everlasting
covenant of grace. He is the sacrifice of that covenant,
for by one offering hath he perfected forever them that are sanctified.
How complete is that blood atonement of Christ? It's so thorough and
so complete that God said their sin and their iniquity will I
remember no more. That's an atonement. We don't
have an attemptment for sin. The Lord didn't make an attempt
to put away our sin. He put away sin completely, fully,
and totally by one sacrifice forever He perfected them and
put away our sin. And he came to save his people.
This is a faithful saying worthy of all acceptation that the Lord
Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. God doesn't
try to save you. You hear people in religion say
well God's trying to save you, but you won't let Him. That's
not so. That's a lie. God doesn't try
to do anything. He accomplishes His purpose. None can stay His hand, and none
can say unto Him, Lord God Almighty, what doest Thou? He does according
to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of
this earth, and none can stay His hand. When He came before
those disciples, I brought this message this morning from Luke
24, He said unto them, Behold My hands, the hands of the sovereign,
the hands that were sacrificed because of your sin, the hands,
salvation is in His hand, not mine, not yours, His hand, His
hand alone. There is a true refuge for sinners
to hide in from a storm of God's wrath, and that refuge is the
Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There is no other. The Lord said,
I am the way. The truth, the life. No man comes
to the Father but by and through me. No man. None. That's why
we are determined, and your pastor and God's preachers in this world,
we're determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. The Lord Jesus Christ crucified
is all my righteousness and all my salvation before God Almighty. There is a true, solid, established
foundation upon which weary sinners can find total rest and all of
salvation. The Lord Jesus Christ is made
unto us, but of Him are you in Christ, who of God is made unto
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that, according
as it is written, He that would glory, let him glory only in
the Lord. Paul said it in another place,
he said, God forbid I should glory save in the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's why the Lord so explicitly
says to sinners in need of mercy, he said, you come to me and rest. All you that labor and emulate,
you come unto me, I'll give you rest, rest. There's rest for
the weary in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who says so? Thus saith the Lord
God. I don't need any more. Do you? Thus saith the Lord God. Now without question, this foundation
that God has laid for Zion, his elect, his bride, his church,
is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ himself. The Lord Jesus
Christ himself. I love what Peter said when he
was before that council being questioned about the man who
had been healed, and he declared unto them, neither is there salvation
in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given
among men whereby we must be saved. The saints of God and
the household of God are built upon the foundation, Ephesians
2, of the apostles and the prophets. What is that foundation of the
apostles and the prophets? Jesus Christ himself. That's
what it said being the cheap cornerstone Ephesians 2 20 the
Apostle said this to the Corinthian church for other foundation can
no man lay then that which is laid. If you have a perfect,
good foundation that God has laid for us to rest upon, why
would you try to get your shovel and your wheelbarrow and fill
it full of gravel and cement and sand and try to build another
one? How foolish. If righteous have
come by the law, by your doing, then the Lord Jesus Christ is
dead in vain. That's one of my favorite scriptures
found in the book of Galatians. Now, notice who's provided and
established this foundation. Behold, I am Zion. God himself
is the architect. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. God himself is
the architect, the supplier, the builder. of this safe and
secure foundation. He says in Matthew 16, I'll build
my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Remember this. Only that which God provides
will God accept. I heard Brother Scott Richardson
say that 35 years ago and I've never forgot it. But Bob probably
remembered the same thing. Only that which God provides
will God accept. And thank God the scripture said
we are accepted in the beloved. Now notice three characteristics
of this foundation that the Lord has provided for us. He said this foundation is a
stone, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, and a sure foundation. This foundation is tried and
established. It's a proven stone. The Lord
Jesus Christ is a rock in the weary land. He is a proven foundation. No sinner ever perished resting
on this foundation. It's tried and tested by Satan.
We read in John 14, for the prince of this world cometh, and the
Lord said, he found nothing in me. It tried and tested by the
law, for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with
the feeling of our infirmity, but was in all points, like as
we are, yet without sin, tried and tested and proven by the
Father. The Father speak from heaven and said, this is my beloved
son in whom I am well pleased. You see, this stone is a tried
stone. And then he said, it's a precious
cornerstone. To those that perish in their
sin, to those to whom the gospel is foolishness, Christ crucified
is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense. But to you who believe
the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, Christ crucified is the
wisdom of God, the power of God, and the glory of God. Christ
is the living stone upon which we build. To you who believe
the Lord Jesus Christ, He's everything. To you who believe, He is precious.
It says there, a precious cornerstone. We are redeemed, we read in 1
Peter, we are redeemed with His precious blood. His precious
blood. We're not redeemed with corruptible
things, but with His precious blood. We are justified by the
exceeding great and precious promises of God revealed in the
gospel. We have obtained like precious
faith through the righteousness of Christ. Without faith, it
is impossible to please God. Where'd you get that faith? It
wasn't born in here naturally. Arthur Pink said it's something
exotic. It's outside of you that God
gives you as a gift of God. So it's a precious, it's tried,
it's precious, and then he said it's sure. It's a sure foundation. One foundation, this sure foundation
that cannot be altered, it cannot fail, it cannot be changed. A sure foundation of faith, hope,
Peace, joy, comfort of eternal happiness to all that look to
the Lord Jesus Christ by faith and rest in Him. He says that
over here, where is that? Isaiah, what is that? 45, isn't it? He said, look unto
me and be ye saved. all the ends of the earth, I
am God, beside me there is no other, look to Christ. You know
what I found out about saving faith? It always looks back to
the one who gave it. If you have true saving faith,
you don't look anywhere else but to the Lord Jesus Christ.
He says that in Hebrews 12, where he says, looking unto Jesus,
who is the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the shame, and he sat down on
the right hand of the throne of God. A foundation firm, strong,
immovable, everlasting, that will never decay, that never
needs improvement, never needs to be updated, replaced, or changed. He never changes. You remember Malachi? He said,
I am the Lord, I change not, therefore you sons of Jacob,
You're not consumed. The Lord Jesus Christ, we read
in the Hebrews again, He's the same yesterday, today, and He's
forever. There's no variance in His person. He is the same forever. You can
rest in Him. You can count upon Him. He is that foundation that God
has laid and He has cemented us to it. It's a living foundation. It's just not cold dead rebar
and concrete. This foundation is alive. And those who are fastened and
fixed to that foundation are living in him. They are one in
him. The foundation and those Living
stones built upon that foundation are one. They're so cemented
by His divine love and grace that they are one. He said, I
in them, thou in me, that we may be made perfect in one. We call that eternal union with
the Lord Jesus Christ. The foundation of God standeth
sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. Now I appreciate your pastor
so much, and one of the things that I like so much about his
ministry is when it comes to 28, 29, 30 minutes, you can count
on it, he's done. And I admire that. I've been
trying to do that for 35 years and haven't found out how to
do it yet. So you just have to bear with me just a little bit.
But I got written in my note here, in conclusion, And I usually
say that to give you an encouragement that this preacher's about to
wind it up. Those that believe and hope and
trust that foundation, those that rest upon that sure and
movable foundation of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says here, he
that believeth shall not make haste. Now tell me what does
that mean? Here's what it means. You can
look it up in the original. We shall never be forced out. That is, He said, My sheep hear
My voice, I know them, I give unto them eternal life, and they
shall never perish. All that the Father giveth to
Me, they'll come to Me, and those that come to Me, I will never
cast them out. They shall never perish. He said,
I'll never leave you, I'll never forsake you, lo, I'm with you
always. Now, When we read this same scripture
that's quoted in Romans 9.33, let me just read it to you. Behold,
I lay in Zion a stumbling stone, a rock of offense, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed here or hereafter. We shall never be forced out
and we shall never be ashamed. We can say with the apostle,
I quoted earlier, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. I know
whom I have believed and I'm persuaded he is able, therefore
we're not ashamed. We read in our hymn book sometimes
and we sing this hymn Ashamed of Jesus can it be a mortal man
ashamed of thee ashamed of Thee whom angels praise whose glory
shine through endless days. Oh, we're not ashamed of him
now but think about this you remember Hebrews 2 where it says
he's not ashamed to call us a Brethren, now think about that. We're not
ashamed of him. And then Peter, when he quotes
this in 1 Peter 2, he uses the word confounded. Behold, I lay
in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious. He that believeth
on him shall not be confounded, shall never be ashamed and never
forced out. That's pretty good news, isn't
it? It's a safe and good thing to rest upon the foundation that
God had laid Christ now Who or what? Who is your hope of salvation? Who is your hope of salvation? Do you have a refuge? Are you
hiding in the refuge and upon the foundation that the Lord
God has laid? Christ alone? Grace alone? Faith alone? Are you resting
in the Lord Jesus Christ? You don't have to answer that
to me. You answer that in your own heart before God. Are you
resting only and totally in Him? Or do you have some experience
you had way back? Some feeling you felt way back.
Don't go there. That's a refuge of lies. That's
a false refuge. That's a falsehood. Look to the
Lord Jesus Christ right now. Saving faith is not looking back.
Saving faith is looking unto Him right now in your heart. It's believing Him. It's coming
to Him. And it's always looking to the
Lord Jesus Christ, not something in the past, forgetting those
things which are behind. Let's reach forth unto Him. That's
what saving faith does. Throw away every false refuge,
every false hope, discard every religious lie, and count it done
and lost, and flee right now, quickly, by faith. to the Lord Jesus. He said, I'm
the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on me shall never, never thirst. Look to Him. There is no God
else beside me, the Lord said. Just God, the only just God and
Savior. There is none beside me. Look
unto me and be ye saved. All the ends of the earth, I
am God and there is none else. I've been on the radio for many
years, more than 20 some years, and I like the radio ministry.
I think it's one of the good ways the Lord has given us to
get the gospel out, TV, radio, internet, these things, newspaper.
But I used to close my radio program for years, I did this.
And I would always say this, with the Lord Jesus Christ, there
is endless hope. We have a good hope through grace.
Christ in you is a hope of glory. And then it would also say this,
without him, there is hopeless end. Without him, there is a
hopeless end. Now, to die, the Lord said, blessed
are those who die in the Lord. That's a blessing, but what a
horrible thing it must be to die without Christ. Look to him in your heart right
now and ask the Lord for mercy. May God continue his mercy upon
you here and bless you and your dear pastor and his family. Brother Mahan, Brother Henry
Mahan, he may be listening tonight, I don't know. Through the sermon
audio. Brother Bob, you'll remember
Brother Bob and I go way back, way back when we were kids. I think I was 29 years old, 28,
29 years old when I first met you. But one of the things Brother
Henry would always tell us about any community or a church congregation
He would always say this, one of the best blessings God can
give to any community or people or congregation is a God-sent
faithful pastor. Boy, love him, pray for him,
appreciate him, thank God for him, and every once in a while
you can tell him, it's all right, every once in a while you can
tell him, I thank God for you, that's all right, that's all
right. Okay, I'm done. Lord bless you. Thank you. Thank
you for inviting me, Brother Gabe. We love you, appreciate
you, and y'all come and visit us in Pikeville someday.