Turn in your Bibles, please,
to Psalm 96. Of all the holidays that we observe, this Thanksgiving holiday is
certainly the most scriptural, without a doubt. And it's really
one that should be observed by God's children, not just one
day a year, But every day. Paul, writing to the Thessalonians,
said, in everything give thanks. Let your prayers be made known
to God with much thanksgiving supplication. So our purpose
tonight on this Thanksgiving Eve is to preach from a psalm
of thanksgiving. That's what I set out to do.
a special psalm of thanksgiving. But I found that every psalm
seems to hold to that one great theme, O give thanks unto the
Lord, for he is good. Every psalm. But I selected Psalm
96, which begins in this way, O sing unto the Lord, sing unto
the Lord, Look back at Psalm 95, it begins the same way. O
come, let us sing unto the Lord. Let us who love the Lord, our
Redeemer. Let us who rejoice in his great
mercies, mercies forever. Let us who reverence him and
believe him. Let us, that's what he said,
O come, let us. I don't expect anybody who doesn't
know him to sing his praises, do you? I don't expect those
who do not believe him to sing his praises. I don't encourage
them to. That would be hypocritical. But you, us, let us sing unto
the Lord, let us come before his presence with thanksgiving
and enter his courts with praise. But I fear, and I experienced
a little bit of this last week, I fear that much, much religious
singing is not unto the Lord. This says, O sing unto the Lord. O come, let us sing unto the
Lord. Not to the ear of the congregation. Don't sing to the ear of the
congregation. Somebody says, Well, I can't
sing well. Well, you're not singing to us. You can't impress me anyway. I'm not singing, nor can I impress
you, but I'm not singing to you, I'm singing to the Lord. And
he pays no attention to the cracking of my voice. It's the breaking
of my heart. That's right. Let's go sing for
the approval of the congregation. I see a lot of that, or the applause
of the congregation. we won't do this, because God
despises it. Above all things, in special
music or in congregational singing, take care that we direct our
songs and our praise to the Lord himself. And about the Lord himself,
with sincere hearts and fervent spirits, O sing unto the Lord. And Psalm 95 says, Let us sing
unto the Lord. He says, Let us sing unto the
Lord a new song. It's called a new song because
it had to be learned. You weren't born knowing this
song. In fact, the first years of your life were spent singing
to yourself and about yourself, exalting your pride and sensuality. But this is a new song, and this
song is learned in the newness of life and the quickening of
the Holy Spirit. It is sung only by new creatures. This song of Moses and the Lamb
is taught of God. No man can come to me. Let us
come and sing unto the Lord. No man can come to me except
my Father draw him. It is written in the prophets.
They shall all be taught of God, and everyone that is taught of
God can sing this song. They are the only ones who can.
What is the song? Turn to Revelation 5, and I'll
show you this new song, this new song, this taught of God. In Revelation 5, verse 9, this
is the way it begins here, and they sung a new song. This crowd
did. These who washed their robes
and made them white in the blood of the Lamb that came through
great tribulation, that had their palms in their hands and clothed
in white robes, they sang a new song, and here it is. Thou art
worthy to take the book and to open the seals, for thou was
slain, and thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred and tongue and people and nation. And it's made
us, under our God, kings and priests, and we'll reign on the
earth. That's the new song. And go back to my text. The first
verse, Oh, sing unto the Lord. Come, let us sing unto the Lord. A new song, sing unto the Lord,
all the earth. What is this, all the earth?
What did that say over there, those people who were out of
Edric's tribe? Kindred, nation, tongue, people
unto heaven. That's who he's talking about.
Not just the Jew only, but the Jew and the Gentile. Not just
the men only, the men and the women, male and female, bond
and free. Let the whole earth sing unto
the Lord. All redeemed people of every
kindred, all the earth sing unto the Lord. And you know something?
Not men only. Not people. only, but let the
moon, and the stars, and the sun, and let the rain, and the wind,
and the thunder." Do you hear God in the thunder? Thunder praises
the Lord, lightning praises the Lord. He says, come and it comes,
go and it goes. The cracking of thunder, the
birds sing unto the Lord, the trees as the wind whistles through
the creeks and the streams flowing down the mountains. In other
words, the Psalms close with this statement in Psalm 150. There are 150 of them, and the
very last statement says, Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise you, the Lord. Let everything
that hath breath praise the Lord. I never could understand how
people can sit in worship services and not sing when we are praising
the Lord, when we are giving thanks, when
we are lifting our voices, when we are blending our voices. Are
you not going to sing in glory when you get there, when we sing
this song unto him that loved us? Are you going to stand there
like a dummy? Or are you going to sing? Start singing it here, hold a
book, praise the Lord. That's right. Everyone that has
breath, because he gave it to you. You can't take another breath
without him. You better thank him. Verse 2, look at this. Verse
2 says, sing unto the Lord, sing unto the Lord. You know, there
are three times already in a verse and a half I've said, sing unto
the Lord, three times. Sing unto the Lord, verse 1.
Sing unto the Lord, verse 1. Sing unto the Lord, verse 2.
One writer suggested, we're talking about the eternal Trinity. Sing
unto the Lord, Abba Father. Sing unto the Lord, Jehovah,
God my Savior. Sing unto the Lord, his blessed
Holy Spirit. that opened my heart and quickened
me and brought me to salvation, saying unto the Lord,' and look
here, bless his name, bless his name. Neither is there salvation
in any other. There is none other name unto
heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Bless his name. What is his name? Well, his name is Jehovah, God
my Savior. Jehovah The Lord will provide, that's
his name, the Lord who provides everything. Jehovah Raper, the
Lord that healeth me, all my diseases and sicknesses. Jehovah
Nisa, the Lord my banner. We don't have a Christian flag
up here, we have an American flag. We love our flag, we love
the country for which it stands. But we don't have a Christian
flag. Why? A banner is not a flag, it's a person. A person. His banner over me is love. Jehovah
nisam, the Lord my banner. Jehovah Rehoboam, my shepherd.
Jehovah Shalom, my peace. Jehovah Sidkenu, my righteousness. The Lord is present. God bless
his name. Bless his name. What is his name? Jehovah. yields the richest perfume, sweeter
than music his voice. His presence disperses my gloom,
makes all within me rejoice. I should, were he always thus
nigh, have nothing to wish or to fear, no mortal as happy as
I, my summer would last all the year. His name, his name, everything
is in that name. Everything I need, everything
heaven requires, everything God Almighty demands is in that name.
And whosoever can call on that name, understanding who he is,
will be saved. But to reject that name is to
be forever condemned. Verse 2, show forth your salvation,
show forth your salvation from day to day. His salvation is
his gospel. His salvation is the redemptive
mercies of a covenant God. And that's the clearest revelation
of God himself, is his gospel. That's the clearest revelation.
Show forth his salvation every day. Show forth his salvation.
That's the clearest revelation of God. Now, the heavens declare
the glory of God. But the heavens are very limited
in declaring the glory of God. Creation, God is seen and understood
in the things that are made, but it's very shortcoming in
revealing the glory of God. And providence, how God holds
the worlds together, sends the stars and planets on their orbits,
Not a leaf falls to the ground without God, or a sparrow without
your Heavenly Father, and who close the lilies, his providence,
purposes, declares glory. But nothing declares his glory
like his gospel. His gospel, the gospel of his
salvation, the redemption purchased by Christ in his sufferings and
his obedience and his blood. So show forth his salvation. How, preacher? Spurgeon says
it's ever new, it's ever sure, it's ever certain, it's ever
suitable, it's ever perfect. Show it forth. We've got a glad,
wonderful, good tidings to show people. Show forth his salvation. How? Well, in word, in deed,
in conduct, in character. in appearance, in song, in sermon,
in baptism, in the Lord's table, in worship, in daily testimony,
in days of joy or days of sorrow, in trial, life or death. Show
this world your salvation. Turn to 1 Peter and listen to
what the Apostle Peter says to those folks about that. chapter 2, verse 9. I want you to look at this, everybody,
1 Peter 2.9. You are a chosen generation. God chose you. He said, You didn't
choose me, I chose you. You are a royal priesthood, you
are king-priest, royal is king, priesthood royal priesthood,
the king priesthood. He made us kings and priests.
You are a holy nation. You are holy, unblamable, unreprovable
in Christ. You are a peculiar, purchased,
special people. That you should show forth the
praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light. That's what the psalmist said.
Bless his name. show forth his salvation, his
salvation. Verse 3 declares glory among
the heathen. You don't have to go over to
some foreign country to find heathen. The whole United States
is heathen. People who do not know God are
heathen, that's right. People who do not worship God
are heathen. So declare his glory to the heathen. He told us back here in verse
2, his salvation. Then in verse 3, the last line
says, his wonders, show his salvation, show his wonders, show his glory. Let me tell you this, his salvation
and his wonders accomplished to the one whose name is wonderful,
that is his glory. That's what he said to Moses.
Moses said, Show me your glory. He said, My glory is my goodness. My glory is my goodness. I'll
make all my goodness pass before you. I'll be merciful to whom
I will be merciful. I'll be gracious to whom I will
be gracious. That's my glory. Our Lord Jesus
prayed in John 17. He said, Father, thou has come. Glory by thy Son. If our son
may glorify thee, I've glorified thee on the earth, I've finished
the work you gave me to do. That's your glory, the work you
gave me to do. In 2 Corinthians 4, verse 6,
it says, God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to reveal
to us the glory of God in the face of Christ Jesus. That's
his glory. His salvation is his glory. John
Cummings, one of the writers of the past, he wrote this. Listen
to it. God's glory, my friends, he said,
shines in every ray of light from millions of stars. God's
glory sparkles in the rising and the setting sun. God's glory
speaks in the restless waves of the ocean. and the rippling
streams in the mountain. God's glory is manifest in the
revolution of planets and worlds. God's glory is shown in the springing
of flowers, in the falling waters, in the flight of a bird, in the
wonders and mysteries of the seas. God's glory. But nothing, nothing is so glorifying
to God. is so wonderful as the salvation
of a sinner by his precious blood, the precious blood of his well-beloved
Son. Oh, to behold God saving his
enemies by the incarnation, suffering, obedience, death, burial, resurrection,
and exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ. To see is to behold God's
greater glory. And if you hadn't seen Christ,
you hadn't seen his glory. You could sing about the streams
and the stars and the nature of Christ. He said that. They
said, Show us the Father. He said, You seen me? You seen God. But how do we see
him? Whom do men say that I am? A
great prophet, one of the prophets, Jeremiah, Elijah. They haven't
seen me. Whom do you say that I am? I
am the Christ, the Son of the living God. You've seen me. If you've seen me, you've seen
the glory of God. A word to us preachers and elders
and teachers, listen to me now. Listen to me now. It's his glory
that we are to proclaim, not our learning, not our ability,
not our cleverness or our rhetorical ability. It's his glory. And if people do not see in our
message his glory, we haven't preached a lick. It's his glory,
his goodness. The blessedness of Christ, it
must be our theme. Paul said, I preach Christ and
him crucified. I preach not myself, I preach
Christ. The blessedness of Christ, that
must be our theme, not the law, not the form, not our pet doctrine,
not the threats of hell which makes trembling slaves, but not
living sons, his glory. glory of his cross. God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross, my Lord Jesus Christ. It is his glory that we are to
proclaim to the heathen, because it is his glory to the heathen and to all people, whether they
are illiterate or ignorant or religious, whether they are unpolished
or worldly, or wherever they are. Our gospel is not to be
confined to our circles. We are to go into all the world
and preach the glory of Jesus Christ and call on men to believe
it and expect them to. I don't preach just to try to
convince people of anything. I preach the truth and I expect
them to believe it. The fool says there is no God. The fool says, tear down your
barns and build bigger ones, eat, drink, and be married. Tomorrow,
God said, you are going to die. And then whose will all these
things be that you have accumulated? I say a man who doesn't hear
my gospel and believe my gospel is a fool. Look at verse 4 and 5. The Lord
is great, and he is greatly to be praised. He is to be praised
in accordance with his greatness. The heathen gods are nothing.
He is to be feared above all idols. For all the gods of the
nation are idols, but the Lord made the heavens. The heathen
gods are nothing, there is no such thing as any god except
Jehovah. They are nonentities. They do
not exist except in the minds of the people who invent them. Turn to Jeremiah 10. Let me show
you how Jeremiah addresses this thing of idols and false gods. Anything that is an idol is not
Christ, because in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead
bodily. He pleased God that in him should all fulness dwell.
So anything that is not Christ is an idol. Let me show you what he says
about idols in Jeremiah 10. Look at verse 10. This is a great
scripture, and it needs to be marked in your Bible. Jeremiah
10, 10. But the Lord is the true God. The Lord, L-O-R-D, Jehovah, that's
Christ. He is the true God. He is the
living God. He is the everlasting King. And
his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be
able to abide his indignation. Thus shall ye say unto them,
The idols that have not made the heavens and the earth, even
they shall perish from the earth. Every God that didn't make the
heavens and the earth is going to perish. Everything that has
been disguised as a God and passed off as a God, that didn't create
the heavens, is going to perish from under these heavens. But
he hath made the earth by his power. He hath established the
world by his wisdom. He has stretched out the heavens
by his discretion. When he uttered his voice, there
is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapors
to ascend from the ends of the earth, he maketh the lightnings
with rain, bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures." Listen
to this 14th verse. Every man is brutish in his knowledge,
and every founder is confounded by the graven image that he makes.
Every founder of a false god will be ashamed and confounded
by the very god he made. For his molten image is falsehood,
and there is no breath in a false god. Their vanity and the work
of errors, in the time of their visitation they shall perish.
But the portion of Jacob is not like them. For he is the farmer,
he is the maker, he is the founder of all things. And Israel is
the rod of his inheritance. What's his name? His name is
the Lord of Hosts, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's his name. That's
his name. Out there on the board. Unto
us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Government shall be
upon his shoulders. Call his name Wonderful. counselor,
the mighty God, called his name Immanuel, God with us. That's
him. Look at verse 6. Honoring majesty
before him, strength and beauty are in his sanctuary. Oh, this
is a beautiful verse. I just was blessed by this. Listen
to it now, listen. Honoring majesty before him,
our Lord, our sovereign God, honoring majesty before him,
and strength and beauty is in his sanctuary, in his temple,
in his church. Now, men talk of honor. They
talk of majesty. They talk of strength. They even
talk of beauty. And they even mimic these things.
They mimic honor and majesty and strength and beauty, but
only for a season, because, you see, man's honor is fleeting. That's right, man's so-called
honor. And man's majesty is tinsel,
charade, put on. Well, do they say that the world's
a stage and every man's an actor? That's what's going on, too.
His strength is temporary, it turns into a weakness. His beauty is fading. But God,
before his throne, Before his throne is majesty, majesty, there's
majesty before him. Spender, excellence, the text
says. Isaiah said, when king Uzziah
died, I saw the Lord, high and lifted up, and his train filled
the temple. And the seraphim about the throne
said, holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, and the smoke covered
every place. But you know, his throne is not
only a throne of majesty, but it's a throne of honor. That's
what's missing from man's so-called rule and reign and throne, honor. Turn with me to Psalm 45. It
talks about his honor. his honor, his righteousness.
Psalm 45, verse 6 and 7. Before his throne is majesty
and honor. He's just and justifiable. That's
right, honor and majesty. Psalm 45, verse 6. Thy throne,
O God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of thy kingdom is
a right scepter. Thou lovest righteousness, and
hatest wickedness. Therefore God, thy God," he's
talking to Christ here now, the Lord Jesus, "...thy God hath
anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows, because
thy throne is a throne of not only majesty, but righteousness,
honor." That's what enables him to be just and justified. And
look at the next line in our Psalm 96, verse 6. Strength and
beauty are in his sanctuary. Strength and beauty are in his
church. Strength and beauty are in his
temple. That strength is sovereignty, and that beauty is holiness.
Strength, power to do what he will, but to do it in a way that
is holy. And as one scripture comes to
my mind, I'm sure to yours. over here in Psalm 110. Psalm 110, Thy people shall be
with him in the day of thy power, in the beauty of holiness, from
the womb of the morning. Where he acts in sovereignty
and power, he acts in giving a righteousness and a beauty
a beauty of holiness before his throne. He says, honor and majesty
before him, majesty and justice and righteousness and strength. He's sovereign, but everything
he does is in accordance with his holiness. His love is a holy
love. That's the reason he can only
love us in Christ. Preachers can go all over this
world saying God loves everybody, but it's just not so. It's just
not so. He said he hated Esau. He said
he hates the workers of iniquity. He says he's angry with the wicked.
He said he believes it's not on the Son, the wrath of God
abides on him. And the only reason the wrath
of God doesn't abide on this preacher right now is because
I'm in Christ. The love of God is in Christ
Jesus our Lord. That's how God That's the only
way God can love you, is in Christ. You've got to have a holiness
for a holy God to love you. His throne is a throne of majesty
and honor. His throne is a throne of strength
and beauty. And there's nothing beautiful
about sin, even in thought. But you're beautiful in Christ.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of his sovereignty in
the beauty of holiness, and we are robed in his righteous garment
of holiness. And that enables a holy God to
love you and me, and to save you and me, and to accept you
and me in Christ. Verse 7, given to the Lord, O
ye kindreds of the people, given to the Lord, glory and strength,
given to the Lord, the glory due his name. Back in verse 1,
2, and 3, he said, Sing unto the Lord. Now he says, Give.
We're not talking about money. I'm not preaching a sermon on
stewardship here now. You give unto the Lord. What
did he say? Well, see what he says, Give. See what he says, Give. He says
in verse 7, Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people,
all of you families, granddaddies and grandmothers and parents. and children, and their babies,
and tribes and families, all the kindreds given to the Lord.
A man made a speech down here at Shawnee University, some smart
professor, and he said, well, he told the Lord, if you leave
me alone, I'll leave him alone. Listen to me. All things are
naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom you have to
live. You've got to deal with God. That's right. That's the reason it says all
the kindreds, all mamas and daddies and sons and daughters, kindreds,
kinfolks. Give unto the Lord what? Look
at the next line. Give unto the Lord glory. Give him glory and
strength. Who is glorious but God? Who
deserves glory but God? Who is almighty but our God?
Whom should we exalt and praise? To whom shall we give glory?
To the Lord. To the Lord. Worship him. Give unto the Lord, listen, the
glory due unto his name. You've got a debt, my friend.
I've got a debt. The chief end of everything on
this earth is to glorify God. And if it doesn't, God will burn
it. The chief end of every man is to glorify God. It's a debt
we owe. That everything that glories,
let him glory in the Lord. It's a debt I must pay. Glorify
God. Somebody said, Christians ought
to worship God. No, sir. Everybody ought to worship
God. That's what it says. giving the Lord glory and strength.
Give him the glory, do his name. Bring an offering. What kind
of offering is that? Well, the sin offering has already
been made. Christ, the offering, the trespass
offering, the sin offering, the burnt offering, the atonement,
that's all been made. Well, bring what kind of offering?
A frank offering. A frank offering. Day by day,
sit down at your table. Put your food before you. Thank
you, Lord. That's an offering, a thank offering. Come to the place of worship.
Take the book and sing, thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank offering. Turn to Hebrews
13. Let me show it to you. Hebrews 13, verse 15, 16. It's praise offering. It's a thank offering. Hebrews
13, verse 15. Listen to this. By him, by Christ
our Lord, by him, therefore, let's offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually. Continually. That is the fruit
of our lips. Give thanks to his name. And
to do good and to communicate, forget not With such sacrifices,
God is well pleased. What you did tonight, Brother
Eccles, stand up here thanking God, that pleased him. It pleased
God, that's what that says. It pleased God. You mean we can
please God in Christ? In prayer, in worship, in thanksgiving,
in witnessing. Oh, those are sacrifices of praise.
Praise God. Look at verse 9. Worship the
Lord in the beauty of holiness. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness, clear before him all the earth. The only beauty which God cares
about in worship. Now, here's a worship service.
Here's a worship service, and it says, Worship the Lord in
the beauty of holiness. Hear the Lord, that is, to respect
and reverence and come before his presence in all, all the
earth. And the only beauty which God
cares for in our worship and in our gatherings is the beauty
of holiness. Nothing can replace it. Nothing
can compensate for it. Not fine architecture, that's
what churches are trying to do, they build these monstrous, beautiful,
awesome, picturesque, wonderful cathedrals. God's not impressed. That's not worshiping him in
the beauty of holiness, that's worshiping him in the beauty
of architecture. It's not the beauty of apparel. They could understand why these
preachers put on these fancy garbs, you know, fancy pointed
hats and gold crown and certain robes. I don't think the beauty
of our apparel impresses God too much to hear. Worship God
in the beauty of apparel? No. What about the beauty of
paintings, whether on the walls or on the windows? What about
the awesome sounds of our instruments and the harmony of our voices
and the exactness of our singing, or the robes of our choir. Does that impress God? It impresses
people. But he says for us to worship
God in the beauty of holiness. Could I define that for you with
some help from some other writers? To worship God in the beauty
of holiness is to worship God in the beauty of sincerity of
heart. sincerity of heart. But God looks
on the heart, not on the outward countenance. My son, give me
your heart. Out of the heart proceeds evil,
and out of the heart comes forth praise to God, but not out of
the same heart. Give me your heart. Secondly,
the beauty of holiness is earnestness in prayer and praise, earnestness,
honesty. avoiding hypocrisy and put on. It's earnestness in prayer and
praise. If you can't pray earnestly,
don't pray. It's the spirit of faith and
love and forgiveness. It's the spirit of God, the beauty
of holiness, of faith. Believe in God. It's the purity
of purpose. Why am I here? It's preaching. of his glorious
gospel of grace in Christ Jesus, the glory of God. That's the
beauty of holiness. It doesn't matter what kind of
roof you got up there, or what kind of clothes you have on here,
or how off-key your choir sings, or how fumbling the music is,
it's inserted high, calling on God. I've gone too long, but let me
just briefly give you these last three or four verses. Verse 10
says, Say among the heathen that the Lord reigns. Tell them that. The Lord reigns. The Lord Jesus
Christ has purchased all things by his blood. God's given him
all power in heaven and earth to give eternal life to whom
he will. And that's good news. And tell
the heathen that. Tell them he reigns. not by your
permission or mine, he reigns by God's decree. And tell him
that the world also shall be established and will not be moved.
And that can only be true if Christ is King. Where Christ
is King, the foundation shall not be moved. Where Christ is
King, his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. And he will judge the
people righteously. He justifies us with his own
righteousness, he forms in his people a new nature of righteousness,
and he will judge the unbeliever in righteousness. God hath appointed a day in which
he will judge the world by that man, Jesus Christ, whom he raised
from the tomb. So let the heathen rejoice. Let the heavens rejoice at his
coming. Let the earth be glad. That's the new earth wherein
dwelleth righteousness. It will be a glad place. Let
the sea roar. That's the voice of the islands.
Look down at Psalm 97, verse 1. The Lord reigneth, let the
earth rejoice, let the multitude of islands be glad thereof. So
let the sea roar as the islands praise his name and the fullness
thereof. Verse 12, let the field be joyful. That's the church. And all there
is therein, then shall those trees of the woods rejoice before
the Lord." The trees of righteousness which the Lord planted, they
rejoice before the Lord. For he cometh, for he cometh.
One of the writers said, did they make a topographical error
there? They said the same thing twice.
No, the Lord God says, for he cometh, for he cometh. And he
repeats it because it's certain, because it's soon, because it's
the most important and joyous day for us to consider. He's coming. I'm going to prepare
a place for you. And when I go prepare a place
for you, I'll come. And he's coming. He's coming
to judge the earth, not to save it. He came the first time to
save the earth. come in the second time to judge
it. Not to say, but to judge. And he's going to judge the world
with righteousness. There'll be no bribery. There'll
be no excuses. There'll be no loopholes. There'll
be no hiding places. He's going to judge it with righteousness
and with truth. Righteousness and with truth.
I close reading John chapter 12. The Lord said, he said here he's
coming to judge the earth, not to save it, but to judge it,
and he's going to judge it with righteousness and truth. I close
reading John chapter 12. The Lord said, he said here he's
coming to judge the earth, not to save it, but to judge it,
and he's going to judge it with righteousness and truth. Here's the reason why I need
to preach the truth and you need to hear the truth. I need to
preach the word, you need to hear the word. Because all of
these things are coming back. This is the basis on which he's
going to judge the world, what we've just gone over. This is
the lesson that we have tonight, what we've just gone over, the
basis on which and by which he's going to judge everybody. that
doesn't believe the gospel. Now look at John chapter 12,
verse 47. And if any man hear my words,
and that's what we've been doing tonight, this is the third entire
chapter we've read tonight. I read one, Jim one, and then
I preached one. If any man hear these words and
believe not, I judge him not, not now, not now. I came not
to judge the world, but to save the world. That's my mission.
And he that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, he hath
one that judges him. The words that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in that last day." What a responsibility
I have, Todd, you have, these elders have. What a responsibility. Tell the Word, preach the Word,
be true to God's Word. I preach as one who may never
preach again. I preach as a dying man to dying
men. You hear as one who may never
hear again, because you're a dying man today. And he said, these
words will judge you in that day. Lord, teach me the word. Give me a heart to love the word.
Give me a heart to love Christ. and love and faith in my heart
that understands the word, loves the word, walks in the word,
rejoices in the word. Isn't that great? If any man
will to know his will, he said, he'll know it if he wills to.