Okay, this evening our study
is taken from Psalm 49. Psalm 49. I'm entitling this
message from the words found in verse 8. Redemption. What a glorious word. Redemption. Redemption. You know, the Lord
Jesus Christ is our kinsman redeemer. We're doing a study right now
through the book of Ruth in our Bible study there at Zebulun. And I've told the folks about
Boaz. Boaz, the kinsman-redeemer, who
had the right to redeem, being mere kin, who had the ability
to redeem, and who was willing to do so. Boaz is a very good
personal type of the Lord Jesus Christ. Redemption. Oh, what
a Redeemer we have in Christ Jesus. He has redeemed us from
our sin with His own blood. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanses us from all our sin. This word redemption is
also deliverer. the Lord Jesus Christ is our
deliverer he has delivered us from all condemnation and he's
given us salvation in Christ Jesus now this psalm as all of
God's Word has a sobering and truthful message a sobering and
truthful message for those that would find some sort of refuge
in the deceitfulness of riches, or in the power of the flesh,
or in a fleshly established righteousness." Oh, this psalm just bears it
out for what it really is. All flesh is grass. But also
this psalm has a message of comfort for the believer who finds all
of his salvation in the Lord alone. For it says in verse 15,
God will redeem my soul. Who will? But God. Who else could? Who else is able
to save to the uttermost? But God will redeem my soul. He has and He will and He will
finally totally deliver us from all the presence and power of
sin and make us just like the Lord Jesus Christ. This psalm
reminds me of the words found in Jeremiah 17 where it describes
who is the cursed man and who is the blessed man. Remember
from Jeremiah 17 verse 5 Cursed is that man that trusteth
in the flesh, who maketh the flesh his strength, his arm,
his crutch, his power, his refuge. But then the flip side of that
is blessed is the man whose hope is in the Lord. That's a blessed
man whose hope is in the Lord, our God. Now notice, if you will,
verses 1 and 2 in Psalm 49. Hear this! Hear this, don't hear something
else, hear this. Oh, we should be swift to hear,
shouldn't we? That's what James says, isn't
it? Swift to hear, slow to speak. Hear this, all ye people. Give ear, all ye inhabitants
of the world. And then it describes low and
high. It doesn't matter your station
in life. All men need to hear a word from
Almighty God. He says, hear this, both low
and high, rich and poor, together, hear the Word of the Lord, the
Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the Gospel of God concerning
Christ and Him crucified. The Gospel is a message to be
heard by all people, all men, poor, rich, young, old, Jew,
Gentile, black, white. Our risen Lord instructed His
church, it's recorded in Mark 16, go into all the world and
preach the gospel to, doesn't say go preach to the elect, preach
the gospel to every creature and God will call out His elect
with that message. He'll divide the sheep from the
goats. The sheep, He said, they what?
They hear my voice. I know them and I give unto them
eternal life. He gives them ears to hear. You
ever notice that God has given us two ears, one tongue. Two
ears, one tongue. To show us that we should be
swift to hear Him and slow to speak, we should be twice as
ready to hear. He's given us two ears, this way and this way. Sometimes our ears don't work
too good, but God's given us two ears and oftentimes we speak
when we should sit still and listen, listen. Our Lord said,
he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Blessed are your eyes,
he said, for they see, and your ears, for they hear, they hear.
Oh, I tell you what, to hear a word from God, blessed in the
power of God the Holy Spirit, blessed our heart, oh, what a
blessing, what a blessing. God speaks from heaven, and the
message is this, This is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased.
Hear Him. Hear Him. Hear Him. Oh, for a willingness to hear
the gospel message. That's why you're here this evening,
aren't you? To hear a word from God? You didn't come here just
to hear me preach. I trust you came here to hear
a word from God. I trust the Lord will bless us
with the message and I'll be able to deliver a message that's
true to the word, honoring to Christ. The gospel message of
salvation that is of the Lord is meant to be heard by all people,
all people. under God's reign, all people,
all nations, rich, poor, learned, ignorant. For in that respect,
according to the flesh, God is no respecter of persons, going
to all the world and preach the gospel to everyone. I like the
words, when Peter went to the house of Cornelius, and God had
been doing a work in that man's heart, and when Peter got there
with the gospel message, you remember what he said? Cornelius
had gathered all of his servants around and he said to Peter,
we're glad to see you. You're God's prophet. He said,
we're all here to hear what God had commanded you to speak unto
us. That's why we're here. We're
here to hear a word from God Almighty. May God be pleased to do so.
The man who refuses to receive gospel instruction from the Word
of God will not be able to escape receiving destruction when God
Almighty says in judgment, depart from me you cursed into everlasting
fire. Oh, you imagine hearing such
a pronouncement from God Almighty. The man who refuses to hear gospel
instruction will one day receive those damning instructions depart
from me." So, hear this! Now hear this! All you people,
give ear! All you inhabitants of the world,
doesn't matter low, high, rich, poor, bond, free, Jew, Gentile,
black, white, young, old, hear this! God's gospel concerning Christ
Jesus. That's what it says in verse
3, for my mouth shall speak of wisdom. That's our message. Our
message is wisdom. The wisdom of God that's hid
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's see if we can find that
over here. I haven't written this text down, but find the
book of Colossians. If my mind hasn't completely
left me, and sometimes I begin to think that it has, in Colossians
chapter 2, he says, For them I pray that
their hearts might be comforted, verse 2, being knit together
in love, unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding,
to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father,
and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. My mouth shall speak of wisdom,
or we can say it this way, our message is Christ the Lord Jesus
Christ in him crucified God's servants have a message to preach
we have a message to preach the Apostle Paul said woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel of Christ but now listen to this
if I do by his grace preach the gospel of Christ and you won't
hear it woe unto you if you won't hear it Woe unto me if I don't
preach the gospel of Christ, but woe is unto that person who
refuses to hear the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. For we
come preaching, he says in another place in 2 Corinthians, we come
not preaching ourselves, We don't preach ourselves. We preach Christ
alone. Christ alone. I've never heard
a believer complain about, we preach Christ too often. We exalt
Christ too much. We give Him too much honor and
glory. I've never heard a believer complain
about that. Have you? I'd like to be charged
being guilty of giving too much honor. and exalting the Lord
too high in the preaching of the gospel. We preach not ourselves,
but ourselves, your servant for Christ's sake. Our message is
the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What He has done for
us, not what we must do for Him. Our message is not let God do
something or try God and see if He works or try Jesus and
see if that'll work out for you. That's not our message. Our message
is not what we do for God or what we must do. Our message
is what God has done for us in Christ. He's redeemed us from
our sin and given us Christ and Christ alone. May our determination
be, as we meet here together as God's saints, as we meet here
together, may our determination be the same as the Apostle Paul.
Determined not to know anything among you but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Christ crucified is the wisdom
of God, the power of God, the righteousness of God, the salvation
of sinners in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It says that over
in the book of 1 Corinthians. Turn over there. We preach Christ
crucified as the wisdom of God. This is 1 Corinthians chapter
1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Our message is that of wisdom.
My mouth shall speak of wisdom, and the meditation of my heart
shall be of understanding." Understanding. Notice 1 Corinthians chapter
1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. He said, for the Jews require
a sign, verse 22. The Greeks, they seek after fleshly
wisdom. That wisdom there is referring
to worldly wisdom, that we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews
a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which
are called, both Jew and Gentile, Christ crucified, the power of
God, and Christ crucified, the wisdom of God. Oh, the wisdom
of God in the gospel, how God can be a just God and Savior,
how He can be just and the justifier of the ungodly. We preach Christ,
Christ crucified as the wisdom of God, the glory of God. And
God's servants preach with Understanding. It says that in verse 3. My mouth shall speak of wisdom,
Christ, and the meditation of my heart is with understanding. With understanding of who God
is. God's servants preach with understanding. Here's what it says in 1 John.
1 John 5.20. Don't turn, let me just read
it to you here. We know the Son of God has come, and He's given
us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we
are in Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This
is a true God. And this is eternal life. Believers
also hear with understanding. We preach with understanding
and we hear with understanding. I want you to turn to Psalm 119.
Let me show you something here. How did we arrive at this understanding?
Where does it come from? Psalm 119. I want to look at
verse 104. Through thy precepts I get understanding
through God's word. Psalm 119 verse 104. How sweet,
verse 103, are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey
to my mouth. Through thy precepts I get understanding. Now look at this carefully. Through
thy precepts I get understanding, therefore I hate every false
way. I tell you what, if you do not
hate that which is contrary to the gospel of God's grace, it's
because you have no real genuine love for the truth. I hate that
which is contrary to God, contrary to the gospel, contrary to salvation
by God's grace. I despise it because it's dishonoring
to God and it's not true. It's dishonoring to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Through thy precepts I get understanding,
therefore I hate, I hate. Every fault way my mouth shall
speak of wisdom and a meditation of my heart shall be of understanding
Understanding I've got another reference written down here.
Let's turn over here to Proverbs chapter 4 Proverbs chapter 4
Understanding. Understanding. Oh, to hear of
the Lord Jesus Christ with understanding. Proverbs chapter 4 verse 5. This tells us also something
about wisdom and understanding. Proverbs 4 verse 5. Get wisdom. Get it. Get it. Get understanding. Forget it
not. Neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her
not. She shall preserve thee. Love her, and she shall keep
thee. Wisdom is a principal thing.
Therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting, you know what
comes with it? Understanding. understanding. These are the gifts God gives
to His church through the ministry of the gospel, by the power and
revelation of God the Holy Spirit. Now look at verse 4. Look at
verse 4, Psalm 49, verse 4. I will incline my ear to a parable. I will open my dark sayings with
a song, with a song, with a harp. A psalm. God's servants tell
others what they have heard and learned and know to be so. You cannot tell others what you
don't know. That's pretty difficult to do.
Impossible to do. You cannot tell others what you
don't know anymore. You can come back from where
you haven't been. We declare a message that is true. A message
that we believe. A message that we have experienced
in our heart. We declare this message with
joy. To preach the same things to
you, to me indeed. Look over here at Philippians
chapter 3. To preach the same things to you, to me indeed is
not grievous. It's not a burden. You know,
I preach the same message every time I preach. Message doesn't
change. God doesn't change. The message
doesn't change. The gospel doesn't change. Our
message is always that salvation is of the Lord. Look at Philippians
chapter 3. Finally, my brethren, verse 1.
Rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing to you,
to me, indeed, is not a burden. And to preach the same message
to you every time I come here is not a burden. It's not grievous,
but for you it's safe. Beware of dogs. These are not
the four-legged dogs. These are the two-legged false
preachers. Beware of evil workers. Beware
of the flesh merchants, of the concision, those who preach circumcision
or doing rather than done. But we are the true Israel, the
true circumcision, that which is the circumcision of the heart,
the operation of God upon the heart, that's the circumcision
we need. And we worship God in His Spirit,
we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in this
flesh. Our confidence is in the Lord
and Him alone. So we declare this message unto
you with joy. Turn over here to Psalm 116.
Psalm 116 verse 10. Paul quotes this over in 2 Corinthians
chapter 4, but he brings it from this verse right here. This is
Psalm 116 verse 10. I believed, therefore have I
spoken. I believe. Therefore have I spoken."
Look at the next part of that. I was greatly afflicted. I tell
you what, you take a strong and public stand for the gospel of
God's grace and the enemies of God, you'll hear from them. You'll hear from them. I had
one man some years ago who publicly attacked me on the radio. and criticized me very harshly
and invited all my congregation to leave. And you take a strong
public stand for the gospel of God's grace and you'll hear from
the enemies of God. But we don't need to be fearful
of them. Look at verse 5. Wherefore should
I fear in the days of evil? I tell you my friend, we're living
in that day. in the days of evil, everywhere,
everywhere. Wherefore should I fear in the
days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me
about? They that trust in their wealth,
and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, none of them
can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for
him. Why should we fear the days of
evil? when the iniquities of our flesh, or the iniquities
of the flesh compass me round about, or the iniquities of the
semplaters, or the enemies of the gospel surround us all the
time, and hound us, and hunt us, and if they would, they would
harm us. Look over here at Psalm 27. Psalm
27. The message of the gospel is
always to God's people a way of comfort. Fear not. Fear not. Psalm 27, the Lord is my light. Verse 1, my salvation, whom shall
I fear? The Lord is the strength of my
life, of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even my enemies,
my foes, boy, David had a bunch of them, came upon me to eat
up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though a host should encamp
against me, my heart shall not fear. Though war should rise
against me, in this I will be confident. When the iniquities of my heels,
look back at the text again, wherefore should I fear in these
evil days? When the iniquities of my flesh
compass me all about, fear not. The message of the gospel is
fear not. Isaiah 43, fear not, I am with
thee, I am with thee. Turn to one of my favorite scriptures
over here found in Isaiah 41. Isaiah 41 I'd be in trouble if
I said turn to one of my favorite scriptures, and I couldn't find
it You would begin to wonder about old Tom wouldn't you? But
I found this one Psalm for Isaiah 41 10 Isaiah 41 10 fear thou
not I'm with thee I am with thee you remember what the Lord said
the risen Lord said to his disciples He said, go on to all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. And then he said, I,
lo, I'm with you always, even to the end of the earth. You
say, well, you know, I don't feel his presence. He didn't
ask you to feel his presence. He said, believe my word. I'm
with you always. Fear not. For I am with thee,
be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee,
yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand
of my righteousness. Fear not, fear not. Look over
here at Isaiah 43 verse 1. But now, thus saith the Lord
that created thee, O Jacob, he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not. Why? I have redeemed thee. I've
redeemed thee. I've called thee. You're mine. Oh, what a blessed, blessed truth. Fear not, my friend. I've jotted
down four things here under this heading of fear not. We as believers
need not fear old age. Old age. I'm soon going to be
60 years old. Matter of fact, I've got a birthday
coming up next week or no, this week, this week. And a lot of
folks this morning asked me, well, pastor, preacher, how old
are you going to be? And I said, I'm almost 60 and
I can't wait till I'm 60 years old. I said, I finally feel like
I've grown up a little bit. 60 years old, but we need not
as believers fear old age. Death, the death of this flesh
to a believer. We need not fear death. The sting
of death has been taken away in Christ Jesus. The death of
this flesh for the believer, blessed are those who die in
the Lord. The death of this flesh for a
believer simply ushers us into his presence forever. We need
not fear death. For me to live is Christ, to
die is gain. Our Lord said this in Psalm 116.
Precious in the sight of the Lord. Now you think about it.
There's not many things in the Word of God that's called precious. We are redeemed with His precious
blood. He has obtained for us like precious
faith. But He says here, precious in
the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints. What a blessing
to die in the Lord. We need not fear death. Second
thing, we need not fear the iniquities of our sin. For the Lord Jesus
Christ has taken care of our sin. His blood cleanses us from
all sin. And then he says, my little children,
these things I write unto you, that you sin not, but when you
do, We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous. There is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus. Oh, when the iniquities of my
heels, my flesh, compasses me about, the Lord Jesus Christ
put away our sin. Put away our sin. Thirdly, we
need not fear the assault of the enemies of the gospel of
Christ. We need not fear them, for God will take care of them
in due time. In due time, you remember that
scripture over there in Deuteronomy? In due time their foot shall
slide. In due time. They're on slippery
ground. They're not on the solid rock. They're on sinking sand. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand. I'm reminded of a story about
an old Irishman and he was out in the open air,
this is years ago, preaching the gospel of God's grace in
Christ Jesus and he had a heckler out in the crowd and the heckler
knew he was an Irishman and he said, the heckler said, Tell
us about the shamrock, the shamrock. And the man would hush for a
while and the preacher would go on preaching Christ, Christ,
Christ. And the man would speak up, tell
us about the shamrock. Well finally the preacher addressed
the man. He said, I tell you what, on
Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is shamrock.
Shamrock. Christ is our solid rock. Everything else is shamrock.
Shamrock. God fed away with it. Christ
is the rock of ages. On Him I stand. All other ground
is sinking sand. We need not fear the assault
of the enemy. We need not fear our iniquities.
We need not fear death, old age and death. We need not fear.
Fourthly, we need not fear the trial that come our way. Oh,
we have many burdens to bear, don't we? We need not fear these
trials that come our way, for they are for our good. They are for our good. Peter
calls them precious trials. Precious trials. He said, think
it not a strange thing when fiery trials come upon you. I want to adopt this attitude
that glorifies God. I'll tell you another story.
Some of you have heard, maybe even have heard the one message
that's on Sermon Audio by A.D. Muse. He's an old preacher that
preached in Pastor Mahan's conference in that first conference in 1954.
But Brother Muse was preaching and traveling somewhere
preaching a meeting somewhere I don't know when and don't know
what year this happened but he ministered back in the he died
in 1954 but this was back in the 30s and the 40s and he was
traveling out of the country with another preacher headed
to a meeting or coming back from a meeting and they ran off the
road and crashed pretty serious crash and both the men were hurt
both of them were moaning and bemoaning their pain and grief,
and one said to the other, Brother, you okay? And the other brother
said back to his dear friend, he said, God is sovereign, we'll
be thankful. God is sovereign, we'll be thankful. I want to adopt that attitude,
don't you? In everything give thanks, for this is the will
of God in Christ Jesus concerning you. In everything give thanks,
God is sovereign, we'll be thankful." That's the attitude that honoring
to God. God is sovereign, we'll be thankful. Wherefore should I fear? Look
back to text again. I've got to move on. We'll never
get through this. I've already gone 29 minutes. I'm going to
have to line this up. Wherefore should I fear in the
days of evil when the iniquities of my heels shall compass me
about? Now look at verse 6, 7, and 9. Verse 6, 7, and 9. They that trust in their wealth.
Now that's a pitiful thing to trust in, isn't it? That's a
pitiful thing to trust in, their wealth. I'd say the majority
of people who are wealthy, that's their comfort, that's their refuge. They think that money's the answer
of everything. And our Lord said the love of
money is the root of evil. They that trust in their wealth
and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches, well, none of
them can by any means, any means, redeem his brother. Can you buy
Your salvation? We read a moment ago in 1 Peter,
we're not redeemed with corruptible things. It's not gold and silver. It's not traditions. It's not
anything but Christ. None of them can by any means,
that's pretty strong language, redeem his brother, nor give
to God a ransom. A ransom. A ransom prize for
him. Verse 9, that he should still
live forever. and not see corruption. I tell you, death cannot be bribed,
can it? It's appointed unto men once
to die after that judgment. It doesn't matter if you have
plenty or if you're a shoe-black. A shoe-black is one who shines
boots for a living. It doesn't matter if you're a
president or a shoe-black. Death cannot be bribed, neither
can riches stop the progress of death. Riches, Kent, not at
all. No one has ever been redeemed
or delivered from the wages of sin by wealth or good works,
not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he saved us. God is not impressed with the
world of gold. What is that to God? What is
Fort Knox full of gold? Nothing, nothing but rocks. God is not impressed with a world
of gold or oceans of diamonds nor mountains of silver. Not
at all. All boasted treasures of men
are powerless to save and justify the ungodly. Not at all. But here's the blessed truth
here in verse 8 and I'll get to verse 15. for the redemption
of their soul. The redemption of any soul is
precious. You know that word there is also
rendered heavy? The redemption of the soul is
costly. And it's not worldly riches. The cost of the redemption of
any soul is the precious blood of Christ. That's a heavy price. He paid the ultimate price to
put away our sin. The deliverance of a soul from
the clutches of sin and death and the law of God is precious. It's costly. And it is eternal
redemption we have in Christ. And I've got a note on verse
8, it says camp here. Camp here. Pitch a tent here. Pastor Mahan used to say that
all the time. Now let's camp here for a while.
And I realize my camping time is gone. Redemption is precious. Redemption
is costly. The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
our Kinsman Redeemer, has redeemed us with His own precious blood. God bought the church with His
own blood. I like that scripture found in
Job 33. Deliver Him from going down to
the pit. Deliver Him! I found a ransom,
and that ransom price is Christ. And when the ransom price is
paid, the captive goes free. Christ has redeemed us from the
curse of the law, being made a curse for us. And the Lord
Jesus Christ, by that one offering, perfected forever. them who were
sanctified. How precious and how costly and
what is the value and worth and merit of the blood redemption
we have in Christ Jesus. So much so that God Almighty
said their sin and their iniquity will I remember no more. Our sin is gone. So powerful. Nothing weak and anemic about
the blood atonement of Christ. It's powerful and prevailing
and has eternal value, eternal merit. He bought us with His
own blood. And I tell you what, God's going
to have what He bought. You don't go to the grocery store
and buy groceries and then leave them at the store, do you? I
tell one of my wife, she did that the other day. She left
part of her groceries at the store. But you don't on purpose
go to the grocery store and buy groceries and go home without
them, do you? You're going to take home what
you bought. Now you think God is going to have what he bought?
Absolutely so. All those for whom the Lord Jesus
Christ died, they cannot perish. Forgive me, will you dear? Well, it makes for a good illustration
anyway, doesn't it? That's why it happened. So, I
could use that as an illustration. Look at verse 10. Back to the ungodly, for he seeth
that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person,
they leave their wealth to others. The wise, the educated man, the
fool, the brutish, the ungodly, heathen, the infidel, death is
no respect for persons. They leave all that they have
for others to fight over, don't they? Likewise the fool and the brutish
person, they die, they leave their wealth to others. There
was a rich man who died in the local community, and they all
came to view his body, and they asked, well, what did the rich
man leave? And someone wisely said, he left everything. We
came, we brought nothing into this world. Naked we came, and
that's how we're going to leave. We're going to leave everything.
The fashioner of this world passed away. It says in 1 Timothy 6,
but we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can
carry nothing out. But their inward foolish thought
is this, their houses will continue forever. And they're dwelling
to all generations. And they call their lands after
their own name. The foolish unbelievers inward
thought is they're not going to die. That their goods are real and
lasting. Not so. The Word of God said the fashion
of this world is passing away. You know, Satan is still promoting
the lie that he told Adam and Eve. God told Adam and Eve, the
day you eat you're going to die. And Satan is still promoting
that lie, thou shalt not surely die. And many people are still
believing that lie. Oh yes, fallen mankind is still
duped by Satan's lie. As soon as this flesh is born
there's a steady march back to the dust for all flesh is grass. Look at verse 12. I'll just read
these verses. I want to get down to verse 15 there for a minute.
Nevertheless, man being in honor, he abideth not. He's like the
beast that perishes, and it says that twice. Man, verse 20, man
that is honor understandeth not, is like the beast that perishes.
This, their folly is their way. The fool hath said in his heart,
there is no God. There is a way that seems right
unto men, but the end of that way is death. This their way
is their folly, yet their posterity approve of their sayings. Like
sheep they are laid in the grave, death shall feed on them, and
the upright shall have dominion over them, as they are one with
Christ, and as they rule with him, and their beauty shall consume in the grave. from their dwelling. But, and here's what I want to
get to, and I'll let you go with this, verse 15. You see, the
believer's hope is beyond the grave. If in this life we have
only hope in Christ, we're of all men most miserable, but God
will redeem my soul from the power of the grave. For he shall
receive me forever. The believer's hope is a glorious
resurrection hope in Christ. Did you ever read that beautiful
promise in John chapter 11? When our Lord says to Martha,
I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me,
though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth
and believeth in me shall never die. Our elder brother, the Lord
Jesus, has given to God a ransom. We are redeemed, the redeemed
of the Lord, and because of this ransom price, we shall be assuredly
redeemed out of the hand of the last enemy, and he shall receive
us, for he shall receive me." Remember what the Lord said in
John 14, I go away to prepare a place for you. What's he talking
about there? A lot of people think he's going
away and building a big mansion or a big paradise. That's not what he's talking
about. He says that on the eve of the cross. He said, I go away
to prepare a place for you. Where's he going? To the cross.
He's going to the cross to prepare us for the way, Christ the way. He said, I go away, but I'll
come again. I'm going away, I'm going to
come again and I'll receive you to myself and there shall you
be forever with Him. That's the place He's prepared
for us. At the cross. At the cross. That's what we're
going to sing in a minute. At the cross. Our elder brother
has given to God a ransom. Oh, what a ransom! And because
of that, He shall receive me. He shall take me out of the tomb
and take me to glory. My spirit God will receive, and
my body shall sleep in the ground for a while, till God comes again
and receives us unto Himself forever." You know, that's what
predestination is all about. Predestinated to be conformed
to the image of Christ. God is going to make a heavenly
people. He's going to populate heaven
with a people just like Christ Jesus. Perfect in every way.