Chapter 15, Genesis. Chapter 15. Abraham had no children. He was well up in years. And it says here in Genesis 15,
verse 1, after these things, the word of the Lord came unto
Abraham, Abram. He changed his name later, Abraham,
in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abraham, I am thy shield. thy
exceeding great reward. He is our reward. And Abram said,
Lord God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless? And the steward, the steward
of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus. And Abram said, behold,
to me thou hast given no seed, no son, no child. And lo, one
born in my house is my heir, a servant. is my heir." And behold,
the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, This shall not be
thine heir, but he that shall come forth out of thine own bowels
shall be thine heir. You'll have a son. You'll begat
a child of your true wife, Sarah. And he brought him forth abroad
and said, Look now. heaven and tell the stars, if
you're able to number them. And he said unto him, so shall
thy seed be. Here's an old man, a hundred
years old nearly, no children, wife, past the age of bearing
children. And God says to him, look at
the sky, the stars. That's how many seeds you'll
have. And that seed he's talking about is through Isaac in Christ. See, Galatians said, he made
the promise not to seeds, but to seed Christ. So there's going
to be that many believers. Going to be that many in glory. These people talk about 144,000. There's going to be people from
every tribe, kindred, nation, and tongue unto heaven. Every
tribe, tongue, kindred, family. A number which no man can number. Innumerable. Hosts. He's the Lord of hosts. Not handfuls. Hosts. So shall he. And he believed God. He believed
it. He believed it. And God counted
it to him for righteousness. Now let's go to chapter 4, Romans. Verse 17. This is talking about
what I've just read. As it's written in the scriptures. I have made thee a father of
many nations before him whom he believed, even God. who quickeneth
the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were."
God calls things that are not yet
fulfilled as if they're already fulfilled. Whom He foreknew,
He predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son. Whom
He predestinated, He called. There's some that are not even
called yet, but He says they're called, past tense. He called. Whom He called, He justified.
And whom He justified, He glorified. Already. Already. He calls things that are not
as though they already were. And He's the only one that can
do that because He's the only one that can do all that He wills.
You can say, you can say, I'm going to build a garage. God says, I've built a garage.
It's not out there yet. You may not even finish the garage.
You may just think about building a garage. But known unto God
are all his works from the beginning. It's done. It's done. Christ was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. When he died on the cross, he
did what God determined before to be done. It was already done
in the mind of God. See, when Adam fell, he already
had a savior. He already had a mediator. When
the angels fell, see, Christ took not on himself the nature
of angels. He took on himself the nature
of the seed of Abraham. And when angels fell, no redemption. They were committed, the scripture
says, to everlasting chains of darkness, reserved for judgment. When Adam fell, he died spiritually,
but he lived 800 years with a hope of living forever. And that's because Christ, in
the mind of God, in the purpose of God, was already the surety
of a better covenant. When that old covenant perished,
there was another one already, everlasting covenant. And so
God calls those things which be not as though they already
were. And Abraham verse 18 says, who against hope. What does that
mean? Here stands this old man 100
years old with no children and no human reason to believe he
would have a child. No human reason. Against hope. Against hope. His wife was 90
years old. It says, against hope, yet he
believed in hope. Against all human reason, all
human hope, he believed that he would become the father of
many nations. Here's a fellow talking about
being the father of many nations, had he not even got a child. According to that which was spoken,
this is the foundation of faith. This book right here. Not feelings. Luther said feelings come and
feelings go and feelings are deceiving. I trust the eternal
word of God. Nothing else is worth believing.
Abraham knew he'd have a son because God said he'd have a
son. I know that what I'm preaching is true because God said it.
According to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being
not weak in faith, this is what we've got to This is what we've
got to fight. Unbelief. Take heed, brethren,
lest there be found in you an evil heart of unbelief. It's
all right to doubt men. There's a lot about them doubtable.
It's all right to doubt the Word of men, but not Him's Word. Don't question the Word. Don't.
Any time. Now watch it. And this preacher's
got to be careful now. You put a question mark on any
page here, you give people the right to put a question mark
on all the rest of the page. Don't do that. But I don't understand
it. That's all right too. I don't
need a God I can understand. That's the problem with the God
of this world, the children of lesser gods. They've created
gods they understand. I don't believe God would do
that. Your God wouldn't, but this one will. Well, my God wouldn't
do that. Yours wouldn't. Like Jehorakim
with his little penknife, he's created a God. He's carved him
out of God. I've got a friend that carves.
He's a master carver, and he carves little men, cowboys and
kings and things like that, and sets them on the shelf, and they
look real, but they're not. They have ears, but they don't
hear. They have eyes, but they don't see. They have hands, but
they don't touch. This carver's little man, he
carves, the only hands they have are his hands. The only eyes
they have are his eyes. He moves them around. And God's
today, you hear people say, well, God doesn't have any hands but
your hands. Your God doesn't have any hands, but this God
does. God doesn't have any ears but
your ears. Maybe your God doesn't, but this one does. So don't put your human wisdom
question marks on God's Word. Even if it doesn't fit your plans
or purposes or ideas or your church's ideas or your friend's
ideas, let God be God and every man a liar. Let God be God and
every man a liar. It goes out there, too. That's what Scripture says. I
like it. Let God be true. I can worship
that kind of God. I can bow down and worship. I
can say, Lord, have your way, because your way's
right. You're too wise to make a mistake,
and you're too good to do wrong. I'm too dumb to do anything right,
and I do a lot of wrongs, but you're not healed. Don't put
a question mark on it. And Abraham wasn't weak in faith,
and he didn't even consider his own body now dead when he was
about a hundred years old, or the deadness of Sarah's womb.
And he didn't stagger at the promise of God. I didn't even
stagger him. Not a bit in this world. He didn't stagger at the
promise of God through unbelief, but he was strong in faith, giving
glory to God. Being fully persuaded. Now watch
this. Here's the foundation of Abraham's
faith. Two-fold foundation. And ours
too. Being fully persuaded that what
God had promised, God was able to perform. There
it is. The foundation of Abraham's faith.
The promise of God and the power of God. God cannot lie. You preached
on this last Sunday, and he cannot fail. That's the foundation of
Abraham's faith. God cannot lie. What he promised,
he'll do. What he promised, he'll do because
he's able to do it. He can't fail. He can't lie,
and he can't fail. That's the twofold foundation
of faith, right there. And therefore it was imputed
to him for righteousness, his faith in God. And this faith
had to do with a person, Christ Jesus. It had to do with a seed.
It had to do with a Redeemer. And our faith has to do with
Christ. And Christ's obedience and death
is imputed to Abraham because he believed. And Christ hadn't
even come. The chosen seed had not even
come. And yet Abraham believed that
he would, because God said he would. And because God was able
to send him. That's right. Now this wasn't written. Now
watch this. This wasn't written for his sake alone. We're not
studying this this morning to glorify Abraham, but to glorify
God. We're not talking about this
this morning because he sure was blessed. We are too. This
wasn't written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, but
for us also. To whom it shall be imputed.
Abraham was called the friend of God. Why? He believed God. And Christ called us the same
thing. He said, you are my friend. if
you do what I command you." What did he command you? To pray.
I'm his friend. He's my friend. It's not written
for Abraham's sake alone that this friendship and mercy and
grace was imputed to him, but for us to whom it shall be imputed
if we believe on him, on him, on a person in a person. If we believe the person, it's
not just believing there is a God, it's believing God. Not just
believing that God exists, the devil knows there's a God, but
he doesn't love him, he doesn't believe him. He sure didn't believe
him because he said he'd exalt his throne above God's throne.
He didn't believe that there is no throne above God's throne. if we believe on Him that raised
up our Lord Jesus from the dead." He said, just believe He was
resurrected. Who was resurrected? The Lord Jesus. Eternal God,
Lord Jesus. Lord God, Jesus man. The God man. What's He doing
in the grave? See? So if you believe He was
raised from the grave, there's a purpose for His going to the
grave. God died, the God-man died, how
could God die? As God He could and as a man
He could. And so when you believe that
God raised Him from the dead, the Lord Jesus, there's a powerful
transaction taking place here between the Father and the Son
on behalf of some sinners. God became a man and died for
our sins and was buried in the flesh and the Heavenly Father
raised him saying, I accept it. All that he represented, all
that he did, all for which he suffered is done. I accept the payment. I accept
his substitutionary work for every one of my people and I
give them evidence in that I raised him from the dead. It's like
when the old high priest Aaron went into the Holy of Holies
with the blood offering once a year, sprinkled it on the mercy
seat. Everybody outside the camp, outside
the fence of the tabernacle was waiting for one thing, not to
see him go in. What were they waiting on, Mike?
To see him come out. That's the thing, to see him
come out. Anybody can go in there, but
nobody can come out except the one accepted. Old King Uzziah went in there,
but he came out a leper. One of David's generals went
in there and he came out dead. They pulled him out. But when
the high priest went in there with the blood, once a year,
if God accepted it, he walked out. And Jesus Christ walked
out of the grave. accepted in us and in him. Oh
boy, that's... He was delivered for our offenses
and raised for our justification. When God raised him, he raised
us. Therefore. You see, when you find a therefore
in the Bible, see what is a therefore. Therefore because of what's been
said. Therefore because of what's been
done. Therefore, because of who suffered. Therefore, because
he arose. Therefore, this being true. Therefore, being justified through
faith, then we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We have peace. By whom we have,
listen, we have peace with God, we have access. Access where? into His grace, into His fellowship, unto His throne, into His kingdom,
we have access through faith into this grace wherein we stand
and we rejoice. What are we rejoicing in? We
are rejoicing in what's ahead. We are rejoicing in hope. of the glory of God. Hope. You know that word is used
a lot in the scripture, hope. Over here in Romans 8 it says
we're saved by hope. Saved by hope. But this hope, now listen to
me, this hope, hope of the glory of God, this hope is not just
a wish. You know, I planted some beans
and okra Friday afternoon. I hope it rains. I'm wishing it'll rain. I hope
it rains. I hope so. And I hear people
say, well, I wish I could be sure I saved. I wish I could
go to heaven. I could be free from sin and
pain and tears and sorrow and darkness and death. I wish that
someday that all of my family be in glory. I wish that. Well, this hope we are talking
about this morning is not just a wish. Now let me give you a
definition. This hope, we rejoice in hope,
in hope of the glory of God. is a desire, that's right, it
is a desire. It's a deep desire, deep desire. But we have a desire for heaven
and his loving presence and his eternal glory that is based on
expectation of some undeniable facts. Abraham had a hope of
a son. But he wasn't just hoping he'd
have one. He was sure he was going to have one. Because his
hope was based upon undeniable facts. God said he'd have a son. Understand? And our hope of eternal
glory is not just a wish. It's not just a desire. But it's
a desire and a yearning and a longing based upon undeniable facts,
and I'm going to give you four of them. You can write them down.
Four undeniable facts that we have a hope, a good hope. Now
some people, I think there's some folks that say, I have a
hope. Now wait a minute, I have a good hope, a good hope. I have a living hope. I have
a good hope through grace in Christ. I have a living hope
because Christ lives. I have a blessed hope. We have,
John, a sure hope. And I give you four reasons.
Now you listen to these now. Four reasons. Here's the first
one. The first reason for this sure, confident hope is this.
His will. His will. His will. Not my will. His will. Turn with me to the
book of Titus. Book of Titus. Now listen to
this. Titus chapter 1. Here's Wiggle. Paul, a servant of God, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and
the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness, in
hope of eternal life, eternal glory, which God that cannot
lie promised before the world began. This is going to be an
eternal glory for the people of God. He promised it. He promised
it. His will. He willed it. He purposed
it. He promised it before the world
began. Before He ever laid the foundations
of this world, He laid the foundations of the eternal covenant and glory. with His people. That's right. And listen, He not only purposed
it, He chose them. Turn to Ephesians 1. His will not only purposed to
have a people, a kingdom, but He chose the ones who were going
to be in it. before the world began. Look at Ephesians 1, verse
3. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in the heavenlies, in Christ, according as He chose
us in Him before the foundations of the world, that we should
be holy. We're not now, but we're going
to be. We are in Christ now. and without blame before him
in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children
by Jesus Christ according to the good pleasure of his will,
his will. You see what I'm saying? Our
hopes are good, because God willed it before the world began. He not only willed to have a
people, he chose the people. Paul said, Brethren, beloved
of God, I give thanks for you because God has chosen you to
salvation before the world began. And you know, not only that,
not only did he will and purpose to have a kingdom and a people,
not only did he choose them before the world began, but he chose
the way to save them before the world began. Turn to Revelation
13. Revelation 13, the reason I'm
saying this is a sure thing is because it all was planned and
purposed before the world began. The world hasn't got anything
to do with what God's going to do. Adam's fall, all these things,
they're just part of the plan. It's not going to stop it. In Revelation 13, verse 8, listen,
and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, that's worship
the false Christ, the antichrist, whose names are not written in
the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. The Lamb, the Passover Lamb, the sacrificial
Lamb, the blood of the Lamb, the Lamb crucified, the Lamb
personified and prophesied and identified and typified and crucified
and glorified, the Lamb. This was before the world began. God said, we'll have a kingdom
perfect in which dwelleth no sin, no unrighteousness. We'll
have a people. And he chose them. And he chose
the Lamb, the surety. The Lamb slain before the foundation,
and he wrote the book. This is a sure thing. in hope
of eternal life which God promised before the world began. And that's
not all. Turn to 2 Timothy. He gave them
this glory and this treasure and this inheritance before the
world began. He gave it. He gave it. In 2 Timothy 1, verse
9. who saved us and called us with
a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to
his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus. When? The day we believe, no
sir, before the world began. That's when it was given. That's
when it became yours. He chose you in Christ. That's
when Christ became yours. That's when you became His. Before
the world began. So my friends, we can clearly
see the blessed fact. There's going to be a new heaven.
There's going to be a new earth. Populated by redeemed people
from all ages. Our Lord prayed for them in John
17. He said, Father, and nobody ever prayed this way but Christ.
You better not, I better not. Father, we pray this way, Thy
will be done. Christ said, Father, I will. I will that those whom you have
given me be with me where I am. That's a sure thing. And turn
to Revelation chapter 21 again. Revelation 21, let's read verse
1 through 5. Revelation 21, verse 1, and I
saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and first
earth were passed away and there was no more sea. And I, John,
saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a bride adorned for a husband. And I heard a great
voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with
men. And he'll dwell with them, and they'll be his people, and
God himself shall be with them and be their God. And God will
wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there'll be no more
death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain, for the former things are passed away. And he that sat
upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he
said to me, Write. These words are true and faithful."
You want a foundation for your good hope? There she is. There's going to be a new heaven
and a new earth populated by a redeemed people. God willed
it, purposed it, planned it, chose the people, wrote the book,
chose the Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world.
Known unto God are all his works from the beginning. He declares
the things that are not yet done as if they were already done,
and they are All right, second thing that
gives me a confident hope, his will and his work, his work. Look at Matthew chapter 1. I'm
talking about the Lord Jesus Christ, his work, the God-man,
Matthew chapter 1. You know, the angel came to Mary
and told her she'd have a son. She was engaged to Joseph. And then Joseph knew she was
with child, and he was going to put her away privately, but
the angel came to Joseph, and this is what he said to him.
Verse 19 of Matthew 1, Then Joseph, her husband, being a just man,
not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her
away privately. But while he thought on these
things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in
a dream, saying, Thou son of David, fear not to take unto
thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her is
of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son,
and thou shalt call his name Jesus, Savior, for he shall save
his people from their sin." That's why he came. He came to save
his people. That's why Christ came to the
earth. God, the mystery of Godliness, God was manifest in the flesh.
That's why he came, not to set an example, not to play upon
our sympathy, not to get our pity. He came to do a work God
sent him to do. The Father sent him. In the fullness
of time, God sent his Son, made of a woman, made under the law
to redeem them that were under the law. You and I, by Adam's
fall and by our own sin, are under judgment. The law has arrested
us and tried us and found us guilty, and justice has sentenced
us to die. And God will in no wise clear
the guilty. So he sends his Son into this
world to redeem those who are born under the law. That's right. representative. He came as a
federal head. He came as a covenant head. He
came as the second Adam. In the first Adam we died. By
one man, one representative, just two men, the first Adam
and the second Adam. God deals with every man in one
of two Adams or both. He deals with us representatively
in Adam. His sin was imputed to us His
sin was passed on to us. His sin was charged to us. Well,
I don't think that's right for Adam's sin to be imputed to me.
That's guilt by association, identification. I don't think
that's right for God to judge the whole world in one man. Now
wait a minute now. Hang on before you say that.
I wasn't alive when Adam was on this earth. You weren't alive
when Christ was on this earth either. And I think that's a
pretty good arrangement. I fell in Adam, and I sure am
glad that I was restored in Christ. Adam sinned, and I sinned with
him, but when Christ came as my federal head and representative
and obeyed, I obeyed in him. And when he died on the cross
for sin, I suffered in him. And I was buried and rose in
him. And when He ascended to heaven, He took every one of
His people with Him. As we have borne the image of
the earthy, thank God we'll bear the image of the heavenly. By
one man's sin, many were made sinners. By one man's obedience,
we were made righteous. I like that, don't you? I like
that. Ain't nothing to do with Adam's
sin. No, sir, I didn't. I bear the marks of it, the results
of it, the consequences, but I didn't have anything to do
with his death either, Christ. That's God's business. You see,
that's His work. And He can't fail. Christ can't
fail. Christ came as a sin-offering
for His people. He suffered the just for the
unjust to bring us to God. And bless your heart, He's going
to get the job done. That's right. You men that work,
fellas, you give them a job to do. And you come at the end of the
day and you get it done. No, I just didn't have the time. You get upset. And the father
gave the son a work. I have finished the work. Father,
you gave me to do. The first words recorded, the
Lord Jesus Christ spake on this earth. He said to his mother,
I must be about my father's business. And the last words he said before
he said, into thy hands I commend my spirit, he said, it's finished. My father's business is finished.
He can't fail. So I have a good hope, good hope
of eternal glory. God's going to have a people.
And Christ purchased them, redeemed them, justified them. Well, here's the third reason.
that I have a good hope is his power. This is what Abraham said. He said of Abraham over here
that what God promised he was able to perform. Our Lord came
to this earth in the flesh to redeem a people, to sanctify
them, justify them, purchase for himself a people out of every
kindred tribe. This is a fact, isn't it? All
right, here's the question. Did he do it? Is he able? Can he defeat the forces of evil?
Can he give life to the dead? Can he give sight to the blind?
Can he set the captive free? Can he satisfy all the demands
of the law for all the people of God? Can he redeem us from
the justice and righteousness of God? Can he justify us in
such a way that the Father will accept us? in Him. Well, let's let God answer that
Himself. Turn to Genesis. I want you to
turn to Genesis 18. Can He set the captive free? Can He bring life from the dead? Can He defeat the forces of evil? Can He? Genesis 18, 14. Verse 13, And the Lord said,
Abraham, wherefore did Sabael laugh, and say, Sure shall I
of a surety bear a child which am old? Is anything too hard
for the Lord? That's a pretty good question,
isn't it? Now I know with men it's impossible, but with God all things are possible.
Is anything too hard for the Lord? Here's another one in Jeremiah. Turn over to Jeremiah a minute.
Jeremiah chapter 32. Listen to this. I love this. Jeremiah 32. You know, Abraham wasn't staggered
by God's promise. He wasn't staggered. Why should
we be? The Lord has promised to us.
eternal life, eternal glory. He promised it. Christ came down
here and purchased it. Is he not able to do it? Listen
to Jeremiah 32, 17. Oh, Lord God, behold, thou hast
made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched
out arm. Nothing too hard for thee. Thou
showest loving kindness unto thousands. recompenses the iniquity
of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them.
The great, the mighty God, the Lord of hosts is his name, and
mighty, great in counsel and mighty in work. For thine eyes
are open on all the ways of the sons of men to give to everyone
according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doing." He's
able. He's a mighty God. He's able. He's able. You know, the scripture
says he's able to save them that come to God by him. Paul said
in Timothy, he's able to keep that which I've committed to
him. Philippians says he's able to subdue all things under himself
and change our bodies into the likeness of his glorious body.
And Jude said he's able to present us faultless before his throne
with exceeding joy. All right, here's the fourth
foundation. Undeniable truth. Our hope of
eternal glory. God willed it. Christ worked
it out. Christ has the power to do all
that God gave him to do. Now here's the fourth one. Our
desire. Brother Mahan, his work I mean,
his will, his work, his power. Now you're saying, us? Our desire? Yes, sir. You stay with me. Our
desire. And you may think it strange
that along with his will, his work, his power, I'd include
my desire as a reason to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
But the fact that I want to be like Christ is a reason to rejoice. Everybody doesn't. The very fact that I want to
be a child of God, and I want to be saved, and I want to be
in His kingdom, I'd rather be in His kingdom than be anywhere.
And you? Everybody doesn't feel that way.
Every person who wants to be saved will be, if he wants to
be saved for the glory of God. That's right. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden. I'll give you rest." I'm glad
I found out I was laboring and heavy laden and came to Him. The prodigal son was forgiven
by the Father, but he wanted to come home. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life, but you'll never take it till you're willing.
I'm willing. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. You see what I'm saying, Ronnie?
This is the firstfruits of the Spirit. He had given us the firstfruits
of the Spirit. What are the firstfruits? Well, I talk about my little old garden
as if I was a gentleman farmer, but anyway, I plant tomatoes.
And I tell you, I almost pick them before they get ripe. I
wait for the first one. I just get out there and that
first one, that first one is so good. It's so good. Well, that's not all the harvest,
that's just the first one. It's going to be hundreds. And
this little bit of repentance I feel, and this faith I experience,
and this desire to be like Christ, that's not the glory, but that's
the start of it. That's the first fruit. That's
the first fruits of things to come. That little tomato, when
I bring it in, and big old smile, and I bring it to Doris, and
I say, here's the first one. And she can't wait to cut it,
but she knows that ain't the last thing. And that's a pitiful
representative, too, because those that are coming are going
to be better and bigger and redder and more plentiful. And this
little bit of will and desire and repentance and faith that
God's put in this old sinner's heart, it ain't much. I don't
love him like I'm going to. I don't hate sin like I'm going
to. I don't repent like I'm going to. I don't praise Him like I'm
going to. But I do. It's the first fruit.
And I say, I ask you this question this morning, and I ask myself,
I'm not preaching down to you. Do you feel that you're a sinner?
Oh, yeah. Well, thank God. Do you desire
the mercy and grace of God? Oh, yes, I do. Everybody does. Do you want to be here? Everybody
does. Do you believe the Word of God?
Yes, I do. Thank God, everybody does. There are people denying it everywhere. Do you believe Christ came into
the world to save sinners, and He's the Son of God, and the
Son of Man, and He's the Messiah? Oh, yes. Well, thank God. That's proof that you're a child
of God. Do you receive Him? Best I can. Trust Him? Yes, I do. I don't
trust anybody else. You look only to Him for salvation?
Well, certainly. To whom shall we go? I don't
look to my baptism. Some people do. I don't look to the offering
I brought this morning. Some people do. I don't look to the
church that I helped build. Some people do. They stand at
the judgment and say, Lord, didn't we preach in your name and do
wonderful works? I thank God I don't look to those
things. I look to Christ, don't you? That's my desire. Do you want to be in Christ's
likeness? Do you want to wake with his
likeness? I sure do. Well, bless your heart. That's
reason to believe you will. That's not by nature. God put
those things in your heart. Only the Spirit of God. Only
the Spirit of God. This is what Paul called the
firstfruits. It's evidences of salvation. And His will is evidence of a
good hope. His work, His power, but His
workmanship in here to give me the desire and the will and the
faith. And these firstfruits, remember,
they're not the harvest, but they're evidences of the
harvest. And I close with this. Those, now listen carefully to
me, now listen carefully. Those who truly desire to be
saved will be saved by his will and his work. And those who are saved by his
will and his work will desire to be saved. They will. He said, other sheep I have which
are not of this fold. other sheep I have which are
not of this foal, them also I must bring, and they shall hear my
voice, and they shall be one foal, one shepherd."