place to come. And then in verse
25, there's a voice to hear. Verse 25, see that you refuse
not him that speaketh. That's pretty clear, isn't it? A course to follow, a place not
to come, and a place to come, and then
a voice to hear. All right, verse 14, a course
to follow, peace and holiness. Follow peace with all men. Now
to follow peace is not just to desire it, and it's not just
to talk about it. It's to pursue it. That's what
that word is, pursue, follow peace. That's to pursue it by
my efforts. to promote peace with all men. That's what it says, peace with
all men. But I think our efforts should begin in the home, between
husbands and wives, peace, peace, joy and happiness. And we are
to promote that and pursue that, putting forth every effort to
make our home a place of peace. And not only our home, but in
the church. How pleasant it is, how very pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity. I had a friend that loved that
scripture. The latter part of his life,
he learned what it meant. You see, you can learn to be
a peacemaker. You don't have to be. contentious
all your life. You can learn to be a peacemaker.
I met this fine man when he was 45 years old, and he was contentious. Good man, moral man, religious
man, theologian, and was a member of several churches, but every
church of which he was a member, he disturbed it, troubled it,
troubled it. And that went on for years. In
fact, when I visited the place where he lived and those churches
which he worshipped, all of the pastors are frowned when I mention
his name. But he learned to be a peacemaker,
and the last 20 years of his life were spent in fellowship,
encouraging the pastor, promoting the ministry, and doing all he
could to keep it a happy place. I'm talking about John B. Fleming.
whom I loved. He learned to be a peacemaker.
He wasn't before us. So you can too. I can too. I
believe I'm learning. Peace in the church. It says
here in Ephesians 4, in Ephesians chapter 4, Paul exhorts us to endeavor to
keep the peace. In verse 1 of Ephesians, for
I therefore the person of the Lord beseech you, you walk worthy
of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness
and meekness, with longsuffering, for bearing one another in love,
endeavoring, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace. So follow peace in the home. in the congregation put forth
an effort, endeavor to keep that unity and peace. And in your natural relationships
with friends and neighbors and co-workers, a contentious, quarrelsome
spirit is inconsistent with grace and the gospel. Turn to Romans
12. You can be an honest man And
you can be a strong believer in the gospel and still be contentious,
and that ought not to be. A contentious, quarrelsome spirit
is inconsistent with the gospel. A man who would have friends
must show himself friendly. And it says here in Romans 12,
verse 17, Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things
honest in the sight of all men, and if it be possible, as much
as life in you. Live peaceably with all men,
not just believers, but with everybody. Live peaceably with
them. All right, of course, to follow.
Follow, pursue peace with all men, and holiness, without which
no man will see the Lord. Now, this holiness is twofold. It's a twofold holiness. First
of all, I know this, it's the holiness and righteousness of
our Lord Jesus Christ imputed unto us. As Ronnie mentioned
in his prayer, the obedience of our Lord, the righteousness
of our Lord is imputed unto us. And with his spotless garments
on, we're as holy as God's Son. That's the holiness that our
Lord talked about in Matthew 6.33. He said, Seek ye first
above all things. the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
not ours, his righteousness. Seek ye first his righteousness. In Matthew 5.20, he said to his
disciples one day, he said, now, accept your righteousness, exceed,
exceed the righteousness of the religious scribes and Pharisees.
You won't enter the kingdom of heaven. That's what he says here.
holiness without which no man will see the Lord, no man will
enter the kingdom of God. You've got to have a righteousness
with which God is pleased and well satisfied. And then in Romans
10, verse 3, let's turn back together, Romans 10, verse 3. Paul says here concerning the
religious Jews, he says in Romans 10, verse 1, My heart's desire
and prayer to God for Israel is they might be saved. I bear
them record. They have a zeal of God, but
not according to knowledge. They're ignorant of God's righteousness. This holiness we're talking about,
this imputed holiness, they're ignorant of that. And they're
going about to establish their own righteousness and have not
submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone that believes it. So seek this, this righteousness
in Christ. Pursue this righteousness. Seek
ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. But also this
holiness here without which no man will see the Lord is a godly
walk, a godly walk. And both of these righteousness,
righteousness of Christ and this godly walk is dealt with in Romans
8. Let's turn over there and look
at it. In Romans chapter 8. This righteousness of Christ
and this godly walk in Romans chapter 8. Beginning with verse
1. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus. They are not condemned because
they have a perfect righteousness and they have a perfect atonement.
But here is the effect of that perfect righteousness and perfect
atonement. They walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
I'm free from the law of sin and death. What the law could
not do, because it was weak through the flesh. The law wasn't weak,
it was the flesh that was weak. God sent his own Son in the likeness
of sinful flesh and for sin and condemned sin in the flesh that,"
listen, this righteousness of the law, perfect holiness before
God, "...might be fulfilled in us." Now, what are we like in
which this is fulfilled? We walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. We are changed people. We are
godly people. We walk with God. We obey his
word, we love his word, we think on his word, meditate on his
word. For he says in verse 5, they
that are after the flesh do mind. They are concerned about the
things of the flesh, that's their world, that's their life. But
they that are after the spirit, they mind the things of the spirit.
Their minds have been changed, hearts have been changed, lives
have been changed, walk has been changed. To be calmly minded
is death, to be spiritually minded is life and peace, because the
natural mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. So they that walk in the
flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh.
Yes, we are in one sense of the word. We're still in this human
body. But our hearts and minds are
in the Spirit of God, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell
All right, back to Hebrews 12. So follow, pursue peace and holiness,
imputed and imparted, without which no man will see the Lord.
Now do that diligently, protecting the spiritual inheritance. Now watch here, he gives us an
example. Well, let's read verse 15. Do it diligently. looking diligently, lest any
man fall from the grace of God, depart from the grace of God,
lest any root of bitterness spring up and trouble you, a root of
bitterness between yourselves and destroying this peace and
this spiritual joy and happiness, and thereby many people are defiled,
many people are You're not the only one hurt, many people are
hurt. You've exchanged the spiritual peace and holiness and rest and
joy for something carnal and fleshly. The conflict's not over
the gospel, it's over the flesh. It's over the things, material
things. And here's an example of a fellow
that did that. He traded his spiritual inheritance for something
he could hold in his hands. He traded his spiritual joy and
peace for something he could use for this flesh. He said,
verse 16, lest there be any fornicator or profane person, as Esau, who
for one parcel of meat sold his birthright. What is a birthright? A birthright is not an estate. A birthright is not wealth, material
things. A birthright is a spiritual position. A spiritual position. The oldest
son, when the father died, the father before he died blessed
that oldest son. And he became the leader of the
home. He became the leader of the tribe. He became the one who prayed
for them, and the one who advised them, and the one who encouraged
them, and the one to whom they looked. He took the Father's
place as God's man, God's leader. That's what he saw sold. That's
what he traded away. He traded away his spiritual
position, his spiritual place. He swapped that for something
that satisfies flesh. That's what it says. The birthright
was not the greater part of his father's estate, it was a spiritual
office. He was God's man in the family.
And Esau's desires were to the flesh, so he threw aside this. He sold it for nothing. For something
that just lasted a little while, but the damage was done forever.
Something that he wanted then, but the damage was done forever.
And let's read about it. over here in Genesis 25, verse
29. This is interesting, Genesis
25, 29. He stood in the position to be
God's man in the family. He stood on the threshold of
great and wonderful fellowship and communion with God. He stood
to be a spokesman and leader for his people. But he swapped
it. Look here in Genesis 25 verse
29. And Jacob sawed pottage. Now
that's, he was boiling some stew. That's what he was, he was boiling
some stew made of vegetables and meat. Esau came in from the
field and he was faint, he'd been hunting, tired. And Esau
said to Jacob, now this is right off the top of his head. There's
no preparation for spiritual gain. There's no preparation.
There's no study and thought and devotion. Meditation goes
into the flesh. It's just like that. Just like
that. If it feels good, do it. If it looks good, take it. If
you want it, take it. That's the way the flesh operates.
So he said, and Esau said to Jacob, feed me, I pray thee,
with that same red pottage, that red stoop. Boy, that smells good.
Therefore was his name called Edom, Red Potty. And Jacob said,
sell me this day your birthright. Sell me your birthright, your
position, your place, spiritual place, leadership. He said, I'm
about ready to die, so what profits that birthright to me? He didn't
think too much of it, did he? Jacob said, Swear to me this
day, and he swore to him, and he sold his birthright to Jacob. That's an extreme example, but
it's an example of a fellow that is in position to be a blessing,
a blessing, and in position to have sweet fellowship with God,
and he sold it. It's not money, because let me
show you something over here in Genesis 32. It didn't have
anything to do with property and wealth, because Esau was
a wealthy man. Esau, Genesis 32. Let me show
you something. Genesis 32. This is interesting. Genesis 32, verse 13. You know, Jacob was coming to,
Esau was going to meet Jacob, he was mad at him, and he was
going to meet him, and Jacob, he decided to give Esau a present. And I want you to read about
this present. In Genesis 32, 13, and he lodged there, this
is talking about Jacob that night, same night, and took of that
which came to his hand, a present for Esau, his brother. Two hundred
she goats, that's a lot of goats. 20 he-goats, keep a count of
all this now. 200 sheep, ewe, female sheep. 20 rams, that's 440 rams and
goats, that's a pretty good flock. A poor man would welcome that,
wouldn't he? 20 milk, 30 milk cows with their
coats. Milk camels I mean, 30 milk camels
with their coats. 40 cows, 40 cows. ten bulls, twenty she-ashes in
their poles. That's a range. But you know
something, turn to the next chapter, in Genesis 33, when Esau saw
all that conglomeration and those flocks, here in Genesis 33 verse
8, And Esau said, What meanest thou
by all this grove which I met? When I came to you, I met all
this ranch. What does this mean? And Jacob
said, These are to find grace in the sight of my Lord. And
Esau said, I have enough, my brother. Keep all of it. I don't need that. So I'm showing
you that this birthright didn't have anything to do with things,
money and cattle and those things. What he sold was his fellowship
with God. Now then, I want to show you
something in verse 17. These are examples that we follow
not. Scripture talks about examples
to follow. These are examples not to follow. Verse 17, you
know that afterwards, when he would have inherited the blessing,
when the time came for him to be the spokesman, the leader,
the influence, he was rejected. And he found no place of repentance,
though he shouted carefully with tears. Now I'm not saying that people
who make fleshly choices which force them out of spiritual places
and out of leadership are lost. I wouldn't say that. Esau, now
God said I hate him. He was an extreme example. He
was an extreme type, Esau and Jacob. I'm not saying that people
who forfeit Places they've come to, that God's brought them to,
to be spiritual leaders are lost. I wouldn't say that, but I do
know this. I do say that when they make those fleshly charges
which force them out of those places, there's no coming back
to that place. No coming back. That's what that's
saying. There's no coming back. Some
choices prevent the return to the place of usefulness. if we
forfeit it unwisely. And usually it involves something
fleshly. Usually a person who loses a
place of leadership, an example, an influence, he loses it over
something to do with this world and not Christ. Now that's a
strong warning, an awesome warning. Looking diligent, follow peace.
Pursue peace and holiness without which no man see the Lord. And
do it diligently. And don't forfeit the blessing. Don't lose it. Don't lose it. Don't lose it to foolishness.
And all right, that's the course to follow. Let's look at the
second part of this passage here. And that's verse 18. A place
not to come. Not to the law. not the sign
of the eye, you're not come to a mount that might be touched. You touch it, but it kills you.
I said, well, don't touch it, but like you read, well, you
don't touch it, it'll destroy you, this mount. It might be
touched, is it? It's a physical place. It's a
physical. We don't come to a material place
or a physical place like the law and the ceremony and the
sacrifices and the mountain. We burn with fire. and burned
with fire, nor under blackness and darkness and tempest. You're
not come there. The place is Mount Sinai. And
the circumstances, look at verse 18, it burned with fire. It was
a giving of the law. Let's turn to Exodus 19 just
a minute and look at verse 10 through 13, at this Mount Sinai. And the Lord said in Exodus 19,
and the Lord said to Moses, Go unto the people and sanctify
them today and tomorrow, and let them wash their clothes,
and be ready against the third day, for the third day the Lord
will come down. in the sight of all the people
upon Mount Sinai, and Joshua set bounds unto the people round
about, saying, Take heed, he says, that ye go not up into
the mountain, or touch the border of it, whosoever touches the
mountain shall be put to death. That was the mountain. And the
circumstances was the giving of the law. And in verse 19,
let's read this, Hebrews 12, verse 19, And the sound of the
trumpet, the voice of words, which voice they that heard entreated
that the word should not be spoken to them any more. They said,
Moses, you talk to us, we don't want God talking to us anymore.
They backed away from that now. That voice of God, I am the Lord
thy God, he gave the law, the law. And that was the result. Now look at verse 19 through
21, verse 20. They could not endure that which
was commanded If as much as a beast touched that mountain, it should
be stoned and thrust through with a dart. So terrible was
the sight that even Moses said, I exceedingly fear and quake."
Now we don't come to that mountain. We don't come to the law. Don't
bring people to the law and circumcision and the tabernacle and the Sabbath
day and all of these things involved in the law. No, we don't come
there. They couldn't endure that which was commanded. But I tell
you where we come. Now this is interesting. And when I show
you this, what I'm about to show you from these next verses will
forever wean you from taking any part in this public invitation
for people to come forward and accept Jesus as their personal
Savior. This will forever Right here,
what we are fixing to look at will forever sour you on any
demonstration like that, calling it salvation. We don't come to
a mountain, and we don't come to an altar. We don't come to
a pool, and we don't come to a man. It's all one place, but there
are several identifying marks of this one place where we come.
Now, look first. You come to Mount Zion. That's
where we come. We're coming for salvation, and
we're coming to know God, we're coming to meet God, we're coming
to fellowship with God, we're coming to be received of God,
we're coming to worship God. So where do we come? Mount Zion. What is Mount Zion? Mount Zion,
first of all, is Christ and his church, inseparable. inseparable, distinct from Mount
Sinai and Israel, distinct from the tabernacle and the sacrifices,
we come not to Israel and the law, we come to Christ and his
Church. And they won. Let me show you
that. Romans 9, verse 33. Christ and his Church. That's
where salvation is. Christ and his Church. Romans
9, verse 33. Listen to this. Mount Zion, that's
the Church. Romans 9, verse 33. As it is written, Behold, I lay
in Zion a stumbling stone," that's Christ, a rock of a fence, "...whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed." Where is he? He's in
his Church. He's the head, they're the body.
I'll build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it. Where two or three are met together,
I'm in their midst. Christ and the Church, look at
Romans 11, out of Zion shall come the rock. Romans 11.26 says, So all Israel
shall be saved. They will, all that are Israel,
but all that are natural Israel are not Israel. In Isaac shall
thy seed be called. But what's this? They shall come
out of Zion to deliver it, and shall turn away ungodliness from
Jacob. We've come to Mount Zion. Look
at 1 Peter. Let's read on. just beyond our
text here, 1 Peter 2.6. Wherefore also is contained in
the scriptures, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone.
Where is he? In his church. Elect, precious,
he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Let me show
you another one here in Revelation 14. You just need to look at
these. We come to Mount Zion. Revelation
14, verse 1, And I looked, John said, and, lo, a lamb stood on
Mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty-four
thousand, having his father's name written in their foreheads.
I saw the lamb in the midst of the candlesticks, and on the
throne, and on the Mount Zion. Well, back to my text. This is
beautiful here. We come under Mount Zion, and
next, he says, we come to the city of the living God. The city
of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. This is the heavenly
Jerusalem, wherein dwelleth righteousness, where every inhabitant is a son
of God. Every inhabitant is born of God. Every inhabitant is like Christ. every inhabitant. We come to
Christ and his church, a city, a kingdom. I'll show you that
back in Hebrews 11. We just saw this the other day,
a few weeks ago, Hebrews 11.10, talking about Abraham. He looked
for a city. Abraham looked for a city, which
hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. We come to
Mount Zion, we come to a city. Not all Jerusalem, heavenly Jerusalem,
kingdom, were translated from the kingdom of darkness into
the kingdom of his Son. Look at Hebrews 11.16. Now, but now they desire a better
country that is a heavenly, wherefore God is not ashamed to be called
their God. He's prepared for them a city. You ain't a man
to be saved and be outside that city, outside of Mount Zion. We come to Christ. We come to
Mount Zion, we come to that city, that city. Revelation 21, you've
got to see this one. Revelation 21, verse 2-5. Listen. Revelation 21, verse
1-5. Oh, join me here, let's look
at this. Revelation 21-1. I saw a new
heaven and a new earth. The first heaven, first earth
were passed away, and I, John, saw a holy city, heavenly Jerusalem. Isn't that what I just read?
We come to a city, heavenly Jerusalem. Coming down from God out of heaven
is a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out
of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with me,
and he will dwell with them, there will be his people, God
will be with them, and God will be their God. God will wipe away
all tears from their eyes. There won't be any more death,
sorrow, crying, any more pain. Former things have passed away.
That's the city. Salvation is in Mount Zion, in
the kingdom, in the city of our God. Now look at the third thing
he says here in Hebrews 12, an innumerable company of angels.
All right, verse 23 now. We come to the general assembly
and church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.
That's an assembly. What's an assembly? We come to
the general assembly. An assembly, according to the
writers, is a public gathering of people, a large collection
of people, a convention of people. Well, how is this church of the
firstborn an assembly? Where is it assembled? This is
one of the arguments, people who don't believe in a universal
church, people who don't believe in a universal church, who believe
that the church only is identified with local congregations because
they're assembled. Thirteenth Street Baptist Church
is assembled right here, here all up. They assemble every Sunday,
so they can be called an assembly. But when does this universal
church assemble? My brother, it was assembled
in the mind of God before the foundation of the world, when
he elected them in Christ and wrote their names in the Lamb's
Book of Life. He knew every one of them like he knew the stars.
Secondly, it was assembled in Jesus Christ when he became their
surety. He took every one of them into
himself, and he said, Father, I'll bring them home. And when
he went to that cross and died, everyone died in him. Isn't that
right? They were assembled in Christ.
The Father saw every one of them, from Abel to the last one to
be called. And forever, right now, and forever,
they are assembled in God's presence, for he said, I loved you with
an everlasting love. So we come to that assembly. We are part of that vast body
of believers whose names are written in heaven, of the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world. That's our salvation. And then we come, oh, look at
this, to God, the judge of all. Yep, sins have to be dealt with. We come to God. We come to God
as sinners. We come to God who is a judge,
a just judge, a righteous judge, a holy judge. We come to God
the holy judge. But thank God we don't come and
stand there in ourselves. We come standing in the blood
and the righteousness of our Redeemer, and we find that just
God to also be a justifier. Just and justifier. We're not brought into heaven
by hook or crook. We're brought into heaven by
a fair and full payment for all of our sins by our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's right. He died just for
the unjust to bring us to God, the judge of all. Our sins have
been judged and purged. We come to him. I have a whole
lot more now than coming down here and shaking hands with me
and whispering in my ear that you've decided to let Jesus be
your personal Savior. That's a whole lot bigger than
that, isn't it? All right. We come to Mount Zion, we come
to a city, holy Jerusalem, we come to a general assembly, church
of the firstborn, we come to God, a judge. And we come next
to the spirits of just men made perfect who saved the same way
we are. We come to the fellowship of believers, past, present,
and future. We're not some little group that
came into being about 150 years ago and called itself the Church
of Christ or the Church of Presbyterian or the Baptist or somebody else. This is the spirit of just men
made perfect in Christ from way back yonder to way out yonder. Those who are justified past,
present, and future, made perfect in Christ, whose communion, fellowship,
and kinship is not of a fleshless social nature. We're not playing church. We're
not playing organization. We're not playing this thing. We come into people whose hearts
and souls are knit together in love for Christ. All of them
are my brothers and my sisters. John talked about, over here
in 1 John, he talked about that fellowship. He read it a lot
of times. He said, What I've seen and heard
declare I unto you, that you may have fellowship with us. And I fellowship with the Father
and with the Son. The spirit of just men made perfect. All right, one more, listen.
And we come to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant. He's more
than just a personal Savior. He's more than just a payment.
He's more than just a firescape to Miss Hale. He's a mediator
of a new covenant. He's the surety of a better covenant.
He's the shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. He's the high priest with a better sacrifice. He's
the mediator of a new covenant. His blood is the blood of sprinkling
and a better sacrifice, and His blood will forever speak, saying,
Blood of strength and better things than that of Abel. Is that talking about Abel's
own blood that cries from the ground? Well, maybe. Abel's blood
cried for vengeance. Christ's blood cries for forgiveness.
That's better, isn't it? Father forgive them, they don't
want to do it. Abel's blood of sacrifice never pleased God. He said that God had respect
to it because it represented Christ, whose blood did please
God. Abel's sacrifice gave him temporary
peace. Christ's sacrifice gives us everlasting
peace. So we don't come to the mountain
that burned with fire, on which God gave a law. But we come to Mount Zion, the
city of the living God, the heaven of Jerusalem, to an innumerable
company of angels, to a general assembly, to the church of the
firstborn whose names are written in heaven, to God who's just
and holy and righteous, to the just spirit of just men made
perfect, to Jesus Christ, the mediator of a new covenant, to
the blood of sprinkling that speaks a whole lot better things
than Abel. The whole pattern and plan and purpose of God I receive everything that God
has written, that God has decreed. That's salvation. That's where
we come from, and all our needs are met there. Now, here is a
voice to hear, and I'll close. The voice to hear. See that ye
refuse not him that speaketh, for if they escape not who refused
him that spake on earth. Wasn't that Moses? and the prophets,
much more shall we not re-escape if we turn away from him that
speaks from heaven." That's Christ. God spake to our fathers, but
the prophets have spoken thus by his Son, whose voice then
shook the earth. The voice of God then shook the
earth. That's what it said about the
mountain, it shook the earth. Now he hath promised, saying,
once more will I shake not only the earth, but heaven too. What's
he talking about? Well, turn to Haggai once more. I'll shake not only the earth,
but I'll shake heaven too. In Haggai 2, verse 6. Listen to it. Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, Yet once, it's a little while, and I'll shake
the heavens. And I'll shake the earth, and
I'll shake the sea, and I'll shake the dry land, and I'll
shake all nations. What's happening? The desire
of all nations shall come. That's Christ. That's our Lord,
our Redeemer, come to this earth. And I'll fill this house, the
temple, with glory, saith the Lord of hosts. The silver is
mine, the gold is mine, saith the Lord of hosts. The glory
of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith
the Lord of hosts. And in this place will I give
peace, saith the Lord of hosts." This word, yet once more, signifies
the removing of those things that are shaken. What are those
things that are shaken, that are removed? Sinai and its law,
the Jewish state, the whole Mosaic covenant, the
Levitical ceremonies, priesthood, the tabernacle, all things pertaining
to worship which are made with hands are removed. That's what it says. Listen,
this word, once more, signifying the removing of those things
that are shaken, as of things that are made. That those things
which cannot be shaken may remain. Who is that? That's Christ's
priesthood, and Christ's offering, and Christ's righteousness, and
Christ's redemption. It's a kingdom that can't be
moved. Sure and steadfast. Wherefore we receive in a kingdom
which cannot be moved. We receive a kingdom with the
king, a city, an assembly, all we receive those things. What
I'm saying is don't accept Jesus as your personal savior. Accept
everything he is, everything he's done, everything he's ordered,
everything he's purposed, everything that's associated and identified
with him, prophet, priest, and king. The kingdom which cannot
be moved, let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and godly fear. I told Bob at noon today I was
preaching down in Panama Canal Zone back years ago, in the 1950s. I believe the Lord gave a sort
of a revival. It's the only place I've ever
preached where people stood looking in the windows. And in the doors,
every seat taken, chairs. There were a lot of military
personnel there. I was only about 27, 28 years
old. I was preaching the grace of
God. Pastor William Beebe, First Baptist Church, Cologne, Panama,
invited me down there. One old grisly sergeant emptied
the brig. What did y'all call the brig
in the army? Yeah, they emptied by all the
prisoners. Great time. Some people heard,
but Chaplain's wife, one of these high-ranking chaplains, his wife
was in the service, and I preached one night on the fear of God.
Fear of God. And she came down that aisle.
I thought she was going to have a confrontation. She said, we're
not supposed to fear God. We're supposed to love God. She
thought that was profound. But I read here where it says,
let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with
reverence and what? Fear. Godly fear. Folks that don't fear God don't
know God. They've never seen God. Our God
is a consuming fire. And I thought, well, I can't
quit without giving you what somebody says about that. I think
what I'm reading here is good. He's a consuming fire. He's a
wall of fire to protect his people and provide for them. Anyone
who deals with them deals with him. Isn't that right? He's a
warming fire to comfort us. He's a testing fire to cleanse
us and purify us. He talks about putting the gold
in the fire. And he purifies us, he tests
us, he tries us. He's a pillar of fire to guide
us. But where our enemies are concerned, he's a consuming fire. I believe that's what that says.
Well, we had a good time in chapter 12. I did. I hope you did. I
want so much to be a blessing to you and to tell you the truth
about what God says. I want so much, and I hope it's
a blessing to you. 268, how firm a foundation you
Saints of the Lord laid for your faith, and here's excellent