Our Lord asked the religionist of his day this question, what think ye of Christ? I wish that someone would sincerely,
honestly, with a real interest in the reply. Ask me that question. Since no one has lately, I'm
going to ask myself that question and answer it in this message
tonight, What Think Ye of Jesus Christ? Well, first of all, I would give
several general answers. And then I would come down to
the last one and dwell on it for a little while. What do you
think of Jesus Christ? Well, first of all, I know this. I know it in my heart, in my
soul. He is God, and he is the very
glory of God. John said the word, Christ was
made flesh. and dwelt among us, and we beheld."
He said, I touched him, I heard him, I saw him, my hands handled
him. The Word of God was made flesh,
and we beheld his glory, God's glory. The glory of God was seen
in the very face of Jesus Christ. That's where the glory of God
was seen. And I want you to look at Hebrews
chapter 1. I hesitate to try to quote this
one because I want it to be exactly right. Hebrews chapter 1, verses 1 through 3. God, who at sundry times and
in different manners spake in time past unto the fathers by
the prophets. in these last days spoken unto
us by his Son, whom he hath appointed
heir, owner of all things, and by whom also he made the worlds,
who, being not in the brightness of his glory, but being the brightness
of his glory, not in the image of his person.
He created man in his own image, but Christ is his image. See
the difference? And being the brightness of his
glory and to express the exact image of his person, and upholding
all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself,
without any assistance from anybody, purged our sins, eradicated them,
sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high. That's what
I think of Jesus Christ. He's the very glory of God. Secondly,
he is the Bible. I preached this week in Detroit,
and a dear friend of several years and an attender of the
services and a member of the church said to me after the service
one night, I never knew that that rock was Christ. I know Kent said it, I know I've
said it up there, but you don't hear what you don't hear. And
I'm saying that Christ is the Bible. Christ is the Bible. He's the Word of God. And I can't
see how that you can separate The written word and the incarnate
word and the living word. The written word is no word at
all without the living word. This Bible means nothing without
Christ. He is the Bible. To him give
all the prophets witness. To him. In John 5.39, our Lord
said, you search the scriptures. Talking to the Pharisees and
talking to us too. We do, we read the scriptures.
For in these scriptures you think you have life. If you can successfully unite
the living word and the written word, you will find life in these
scriptures. But if you don't, you won't.
You'll find nothing but dry, dead doctrine. In them you think
you have life, but they are they which testify of me. See what
I'm trying to say? Christ is the Word. He is the
Bible. And the Bible is a useless, a
useless book without Christ. He is the Bible. And then thirdly,
Christ is the gospel. I read this morning where Paul
said in Romans 1 that he was separated to the gospel concerning
God's Son. The gospel is concerning his
Son. It's not concerning anything
you do, I do, it's concerning his Son. It's not any work that we perform.
It's not even faith. Faith is not the gospel. Christ
is the gospel. We believe the gospel. We don't enact the gospel, we
believe the gospel. The gospel is totally without
us. perform and perfect it in the person and work of Jesus
Christ our Lord. He is the gospel. That's the
reason it's so ignorant and foolish for people to talk about a man
being saved without hearing the gospel, because Jesus Christ
is the gospel. You're as much as saying that
a man can be saved without Christ. And that's impossible. He is
the gospel. I can't explain how the Holy
Spirit, the agent in regeneration, quickens men using the seed,
the word of God, which is Christ, the gospel, but I know it so.
Of his own will, beget he us with the word of truth. And we are born again, not of
corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed, the word of God. Our Lord
said, A sower went forth to sow, and the sower is the son of man,
and the seed is the word of God. I can't explain that, I just
know it's so. Any more than I can explain the
incarnation, any more than I can explain the Trinity, any more
than I can explain How that God created the world by the word
of his power, but I know that there was no light until he said,
Let there be light. The relationship between his
speaking and light becoming a reality, I can't explain, but I know there
was no light until he spoke, and there will be no light in
you until he speaks to you. And this is how he speaks. You're
not going to hear a voice. It's going to be the word. But
that's God speaking. He said to his disciples, he
that heareth you, heareth me." Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ. It's the gospel of Christ. He
is the gospel. And then Christ is salvation.
I want you to look at this verse in 2 Timothy 2. He is salvation. 2 Timothy 2. It says here in
verse 10, Paul is talking about all the things that he suffered,
the troubles and trials he endured. He said in verse 10, Therefore
I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they may also obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus. Where is salvation? It's in Christ Jesus. Is that
clear enough? That's as clear as it can be
made. It's in Christ Jesus. It's not in this poem. It's not in a decision. It's
not in a feeling. It's not in a profession. It's
in Christ Jesus. That's where salvation is. In
Christ's label, accurately defined it. And I think these are little
points and outlines we ought to commit to memory. He said
four things. Every blessing and benefit that
God has for sinners is in Christ. Nowhere else. You can make that
the love of God, the grace of God, the mercy of God, and the
kindness and goodness of God's Spirit is in Christ Jesus. It
is mine only as I'm united with him. I receive it from him. No way I can receive it apart
from him, because it's in him. And thirdly, that union is accomplished
by faith in him, I believe. And that faith cometh by hearing
the word of God. So salvation is Christ. I know it's in Christ, but it
is Christ. He is salvation. That's all in
Acts 4.12. Let's look at that one, Acts
4.12. And listen to this, how clearly
this note is sounded, neither. He said in verse 11 of Acts 4,
this is the stone which was set at naught by you builders. It
has become the head of the corner. Now watch this, neither is there
salvation in any other. Look for it nowhere else, for
there is none other name unto heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved. Here is the one I want to visit
with you on for a few minutes. Here is the true believer's grand
confession. There are a lot of people who
may even handle some of these other things. Christ is the glory
of God, he is the Bible, he is the gospel, he is salvation.
Here is the true believer's grand confession, here is the true
believer's claim to peace and acceptance with God. In Colossians
3, verse 4, Paul said in Colossians 3, verse 4, When Christ, Jesus
Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus the perfect man, Jesus the crucified
man, Jesus the risen justifier, Jesus the exalted mediator, when
Jesus Christ Who is my life? He is my life. Christ is my life. And here's where I explain that,
and the way he explained it himself. As the branch is to the vine.
As the branch is to the vine. Here is a vine, or a trunk of
a tree. And the The branch has no life
in itself, severed from the vine, if withered and dead. It has
absolutely no life, produces no life. It has no life. It owns no life. The life is
in the vine. And that's the way I am as far
as Christ is concerned. He is my life. He's not just
a weight of heaven. He's not just my personal Savior. He is my life. That's what Paul
is saying, like the head is to the body, like the body is to
the soul. I was down at Ruth and Am's nephew, down with
Bob Pruitt, and he was just spending the day and having lunch with
him a few days ago, and he had just gone to pick up the body
of a 51-year-old man. He told me about him. He said
he was from Huntington. I cannot think of his name. An
Italian man, handsome man, full head of gray hair, just a big
man, six foot tall, 200 pounds, and 51 years of age. He was out
cutting grass and fell over with a heart attack. had on his shorts
and sandals and fell over dead. And they brought him to Bob.
His wife had leaned over and kissed him right here. The print
of her mouth was right here on his, her lipstick. It felt sad.
It was right here on his shoulder. He fell dead. She leaned over
and further took him away and kissed him. And when Bob prepared
his body, he left that kiss right there. I thought that was kind
of him. I stood and looked at him and
I thought, He's such a fine-looking man, strong man. Had a lovely
wife who loved him, and family. Down in Winchester, Kentucky.
They'd moved there, and they used to live in Huntington. And
I thought here, just hours before, this man was cutting grass. Lifing, strong, on top of the
world, in charge. But now here lies this body.
and the soul is gone. He's dead. It's no more than
working on a piece of furniture, planing a piece of furniture,
staining it. It's got nothing. It's nothing
good. And that's what Christ is to
me. He's my life. Without him, I'm a carcass. Without
him, I'm no more than a piece of furniture. I'm no more than
a piece of driftwood. He's my life. Spiritually, that's
what I'm saying. That's what Paul is saying here,
Christ is our life. And this is what, Bob, we've
been teaching in Sunday school these last few Sundays. Turn
to John 6 a minute. I want you to listen to this.
And this is what he was saying to the people over here in John
6 that they couldn't understand. They just couldn't grasp. They said, it's a hard saying,
who can hear it? And away they went. Look at verse
54. Now listen to this, this is what
our Lord said to those people, John 6, verse 53, "...then Jesus
said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat
the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have
no life in you." No life in you, no spiritual
life. You're a carcass, you're dead,
you have no life. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh
my blood, hath eternal life, and I raise him up at the last
day. Listen, for my flesh is meat
indeed, my blood is drink indeed, and he that eateth my flesh,
and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I dwell in him. Consequently,
look at verse 57, as the living Father hath sent me, and I live
but a father. He that eateth me, even he shall
live by me." Now, I can't handle this like it ought to be handled,
I know, but as Christ lives, and he's the living God, the
second person of the Trinity, and as he lives by the Father,
we spiritually live by him. He is our life. It's not a matter
of me having some a spark of life and a little life and spiritual
existence, and in order to be saved, I accept something, a
finished work or something he did or something he said. That's
not it at all. I have no life until I come by
God's grace into union with him. He is my life. I dwell in him,
but he dwells in me. Let's see if I can handle this.
and define this principle. Now, here's what I'm saying.
I don't know how long I'll, ten, fifteen minutes, but now listen
to this. I've given this a lot of thought. Number one, here's five things.
Number one, Christ is the very life of our spiritual existence. He's the very life. Christ is
our life, and I'm saying he's the very life. He is our spiritual
existence. We have none without You see,
as a result of Adam's transgression, we died, we were born dead in
sin, totally void of the life of God. You read that all the
way through the Bible, it says you had the quickened who were
dead. But even when we were dead in sin, we were quickened together
with Christ. And no matter how you view this
grand blessing of salvation and eternal life, Jesus Christ is
that life. He's begotten in us, he's quickened
in us. He is our life. I'll show you
that in 1 John 5, if you'll turn over there and read it with me.
1 John 5. He is our life. Now look at verse 10. 1 John 5, 10. He that believeth
on the Son of God hath the witness in himself. He that believeth
not God hath made God a liar, because he believeth not the
record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that
God hath given to us eternal life. This life is in his Son,
and he that hath the Son hath life. Now, watch this, and I
know they called you. Did any of you see that television
special, In the Name of God? Everybody needs to see it. And I know these television preachers,
most of them are crooks and conmen. But then the other side I'm afraid
of also. I'm afraid of this anti-fundamentalism. I'm afraid of fundamentalism,
but I'm afraid of this everybody's all right, don't criticize each
other. He that hath not the Son of God
hath not lied. Now do with that what you will.
and grow angry, if you will. You mean to tell me I can't worship
God apart from the way you preach? If I'm preaching the gospel,
you can't. If I'm preaching the gospel,
you can't worship God apart from the gospel, because Christ is
the gospel. And he that hath not the Son of God, he may have
a lot of things, but he doesn't have life, he's dead. That's
what it Look at verse 20, 1 John 5, "...and
we know that the Son of God is come, and hath 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. Now this is the true
God, and this is eternal life." Radical, fanatical, narrow-minded,
extreme, Yes, yes it is. But there is
only one way. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father but
by me. Neither is there salvation in
any other. There is none other name given
among me and unto heaven, whereby we must be saved. Christ is our
spiritual existence. He is the life of our spiritual
existence. He that hath the Son in faith
And he that hath not the Son of God is dead, still dead. Second, Christ is the very life of our
sanctification. Now, hear me. Our trouble, our
death in sin, was not only a legal separation from God, and if you're
not careful, this is the way you look at it. Therefore Adam died, and the
whole human race is legally separated from God because of an offense,
because of a sin. And that's the reason people
rise up and say, well, I don't think it's right for God to judge
me for something somebody else did. I just don't think it's
right for us to bear the brunt and to take the flak because
of something Adam did. Well, I wouldn't either if that's
all there was to it. I wouldn't either. But my friends,
here's the problem. We're not only legally separated
from God, and justly so, but we're truly and personally alienated
from God because we hate God. You see what I mean? We love
darkness. You say, I don't hate God. You
don't hate your idea of God, you hate a revelation of the
true and living God. I know you do, I do too, by nature. And all men do. Our Lord said
that. I didn't say that. He said, Marvel
not, my brethren, that the world hate you. It hated me before
it hated you. And the world hates me without
a cause. The world hates the living God. So wouldn't it be wonderful if
somebody come to this earth, a perfect man, a holy man, a
righteous man, a good man, a true man, a true leader. He did, and
we spit in his face and nailed him to a cross. That's what men
think of true holiness. Men love their holiness and their
righteousness, they hate God's righteousness. We not only sin, but we do it
willingly. We not only do evil, but we like
it. Be honest, we love evil. That's
our problem. Our problem is a problem of nature. Our problem is not a problem
of an event that happened a long time ago. Our problem is a problem
of nature. And so therefore, in sanctification,
there must not only be a record of obedience, there not only must be an act
of obedience to fulfill that which occurred in the Garden
of Eden. But God's got to put within us
a nature of holiness to love him, or we'll be just like we
were before he did a work of righteousness for us. Does that
make sense what I'm saying? In other words, sure, we've sinned
against God. Sure, we've broken his law. Sure,
we have. And there's recorded against
us these sins. But we've not only got to have
those sins removed and that law honored, But we've got to have
put within us a nature and a principle that loves God's love, and loves
God, or we'll go on doing the same thing. So Jesus Christ, by his life
and his death, gave us, imputed to us, reckoned us, charged us,
a perfect righteousness. And that's our sanctification.
before God. But not only that, his living
presence, when he comes in to dwell, gives us a new nature
which does love God and pants after God. That's right. Turn to Galatians 2.20. So he's our sanctification legally,
and he's our sanctification experientially. Listen to Paul, I'm crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, I'm alive,
I'm a person. I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me. Christ liveth in me. And the
life which I now live right now in the flesh, it's not I. I live
by the faith of the Son of God who loved me, gave himself for
me, and I might add, who dwells within me. Paul said, I am what
I am by the grace of God, yet not I, but it is the grace of
God in me. I labored more than all of you,
yet not I, but the Christ who dwells within me. Is that clear
what I'm saying? Here it is, summed up. I'm saying
that Jesus Christ in his life, in his death, perfectly sanctified
us, making us holy and acceptable in God's sight, a perfect sanctification,
the thief on the cross before he went to paradise with the
Son of God, in the eyes of God, was perfectly justified and perfectly
sanctified. It's one and the same. No man
has ever been justified who is not sanctified. No man has ever
been sanctified who is not justified. But I'm saying that everybody
whom God saves, truly saved, I'm not saying everybody who
makes a profession joins a church, I'm still talking about everybody
whom God visits in grace. I'm saying that whatever holiness
and obedience and love for God that we have and love for others
is not our old nature improved, but it's that new nature actually
created in Christ Jesus. Your old nature is not going
to be improved. I'll tell you that. Older people
who are sitting here who have been in church for 40 or 50 years,
been in the Word, been in Christ None of them will tell you that
their old nature is any better than it was years ago. But they've
got a new nature and a new person. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new person. He's a new person, created in
Christ Jesus. And he loves the Word and he
loves God and he loves the people of God. He is a new person. And that new person is none other
than Christ who dwells within us. It's not you, it's Christ. If that new person is not there
and Christ is not there, then all you've got is a mechanical
profession of religion. He is our sanctification. And you do, you do generous things,
but it's Christ that does it in you. You do love God, you
do love his work, but it's Christ in you that loves God. You do
love one another. If you don't, you've missed the
gospel. But it's not you, it's Christ. It's not your old nature.
Your old nature doesn't love people. Your old nature loves
itself. And you know what you're going to do with that old nature?
You're going to bury it, and that's where it belongs. But
that new nature is Christ. And that's the reason you can
never be lost, because Christ never leaves. Where he dwells,
he never leaves. Where he conquers, he never surrenders.
He never retreats. It's Christ in me, it's not I,
it's Christ that liveth in me. So don't take credit. Where is
boasting then? It's excluded. By what law? Works? No, by faith. So he is
our sanctification. If somebody brags on you next
week, just remember that they're not bragging on you, they're
bragging on Christ, if you deserve any bragging. And some of you, I know, somebody's
told me, he's not the same person, she's not the same. Well, I know
that. If they say they're not, Christ is in them. By nature,
they're the same person. But spiritually, they're a new
creature. And see, that new creature, greater is he that's in you than
he that's in the world. And that new nature reigns. The
old nature no longer reigns. Sin shall not reign in your mortal
body, because you've got a Lord that reigns. All right, thirdly,
Christ is the life of all Christian graces. Paul said, and now about
it, faith, hope, and love. Now, wait a minute, a whole lot
said about faith, but don't confuse the fruits of faith, the results
of faith, with the object of faith. The object of faith is Christ,
and therefore Christ is the life of faith. Faith may bring peace,
faith may bring a lot of things. But faith is the reception of
a person, and that person is Christ. Faith is the reception
of a gift. It becomes mine because God gave
it, and that gift is Christ. Where he lives, faith lives.
And where he doesn't live, faith doesn't live. He is our faith.
I live by the faith of the Son of God. I don't live by my faith
in the Son of God particularly. I live by the faith of the Son
of God. He is my faith. being the object
of my faith. Christ is everything, he's all,
he's my hope. Here's an interesting, look at
Colossians 1, verse 27. Listen to this. You know, if we have any hope
of mercy, life and glory, it's because we have Christ. to whom
God, Colossians 1.27, would make known what is the riches of the
glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in
you, Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is, Christ in you
is your hope. He has entered for us within
the veil and cast the anchor and occupied, and therefore I
have hope. is not based on anything that
I've done or will do. It's on him being within the
veil. I dare not enter there unless
he's there. I dare not even think about entering
there. I dare not even talk about entering there if he's not already
there. And if he's there, I'm there.
That's our hope. Let me show you that in Hebrews.
It would be interesting to look at Hebrews 6. We're talking about
hope, faith, hope and love. Now watch this. Hebrews chapter
6. And you know, when you talk about
preaching Christ, when these things are made real to you,
you'll preach Christ, because you can't preach anything without
preaching Christ. You can't preach faith without
preaching Christ, he is our faith. You can't preach life without,
he is our life. You can't preach hope, he is
our hope. Look at Hebrews 6, 17. Listen to this. willing more abundantly to show
unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel,
confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things in which
it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation,
who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before
us, which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure
and steadfast, which entereth into that within the veil." Whether
the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus made a high priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek, there's our hope. And that's
the only foundation of hope. He is our hope. And Christ is
love. Christ is love. Without Christ,
there can be no genuine love. And you can follow any of the
Christian graces and duties. What about forgiveness? Forgive
one another as I forgave you. Humility, let this mind be in
you which is also in Christ. Worship, where two or three are
met together, I'm in their midst. Pray, whatsoever ye ask the Father
in my name. Witness, ye shall be witnesses
unto me. There's not one Christian grace,
there's not one Christian duty, there's not one Christian experience
of which Christ is not the very essence and substance and heart.
Not one, not one. It all arises from a union with
Christ. So yet not I, but Christ that
liveth in me. These things cannot heartily
and sincerely be produced without Christ. It will always be a hypocrisy,
no matter how much a man gives, no matter how much a man witnesses,
no matter how much a man goes through the form of worship.
No matter how much he strives to do, it will all be a feigned
thing. It will be a hypocritical thing.
It will be a useless thing of no avail, because Christ is the
life of all these things. Without him, it's impossible.
Just impossible. It can't be done. It can't be
produced. And then, fourthly, Christ is
the life of Christian ordinance. These ordinances, we talk about
baptism, the Lord's Suffering, preaching. And this is the reason
in our day, I really believe this is the reason why we succumb
to and why we give over to other activities as far as the Church
is concerned, like bands and entertainment and puppet shows
and all these different ball teams
and ball leagues and all this stuff that is connected with
the Church. I'll tell you why. Because in the Christian ordinances
that our Lord has set forth, unless Christ is in them, they
are dead, dry, empty wells, and we have to go somewhere else
for our nourishment and to hold our people. And all these ordinances and
all these activities are empty ceremonies like the Jewish sacrifices
of old. They had the feast days, but
they were dead. They had the ceremonies, but
they were lifeless. They had the preachers and they
had the temples and they had the synagogue and they had all
these things, but people came to these things and went away
thirsty and went away hungry and went away with nothing. And
the same thing is true today of all our church activities,
if Christ is not in them, the center of them, the essence of
them, sure as day. You see, baptism, we're buried
with him in baptism. He is baptism. When a person
comes to be baptized, when we celebrate this blessed ordinance
without Christ, it's a ritual, and a ritual is dead. You know,
life in a ritual, when we take Wednesday night, we're going
to take the Lord's table. But if the living Christ is not here
and he's not in that, it's a dead ceremony, it's a ritual, it's
a tiring, tiresome thing. I loathe it, going through the
motions, and I know you do, but oh, how sweet it is when he's
there. And preaching. I know why Paul
said, we preach Christ. Christ is the heart of our preaching.
He's the life of our preaching, and without Christ, preaching
is a useless exercise in foolishness. Now, it is. I watch these fellows
prancing around and carrying on. It's an exercise in futility
and foolishness if Christ is not there. I am determined. I know what
Paul was saying to the Corinthian people of Corinth. I am determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified,
because any other preaching is useless, lifeless, and godless. That's it. And I tell you, when
you come here, like when these other men speak and when other
preachers come in, we have one thing in common, one thing that
is the cement that bonds us together, one common faith, one common
salvation, one common objective, one common goal, no matter whether
a man has great ability or little ability or a loud voice or a
soft voice or a high voice or a low voice or an old man or
a young man, it's Christ they're preaching. It's Christ. I don't care who he is, it's
Christ. And that's what it's all about. And that's the reason
every time one of these men preach, people say, that blessed me.
I tell you, if Christ dwells in you and Christ dwells in the
preacher, you'll get a blessing. Yes, you will. Yes, you will. He is the heart and life of the
ordinances, and without him they are useless, last of all. Christ
is the very life of eternal glory. Now, someday I'm going to leave
here, and I want to think of it in
this vein. I'm just not going to to a more
pleasant place, though I'm sure it is. But there wouldn't be
anything wrong with this world if sin were taken out of it,
did you know that? God made it, he said it was good, until sin
came in it. So it doesn't matter, I just
seem to stay in this place when God renovates it, or in that
place, but I'm going to a person, a person. Christ said to the
thief, today shalt thou be with me, with me. Our Lord said to his disciples,
I go to prepare a place for you that where I am there you may
be also. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and be with Christ. And I'm talking about something
I don't know a whole lot about because I haven't been there
in return. And Paul said it was so magnificent that he didn't
have words and couldn't put it in words. But I do know this. That eternal glory is a greater
revelation of Christ. It's a greater manifestation
of what we have a taste of right now. That's what I'm saying. And I'll tell you, this is the
reason that a lot of people's idea of heaven is so carnal.
It's because their religion is carnal. That's the reason their
idea of heaven, they dwell on rewards and bigger mansions or
little mansions or cabins or corner of glory or next door
to Jesus. They dwell on these things because
their so-called religion is a natural, carnal, covetous mess. But I'll tell you, if you're
taken up with Christ, you know that heaven and eternal glory
is a greater manifestation of what you've already tasted out,
what you've already experienced, infinitely more. We know in part,
we prophesy in part, but when that which is perfect is come,
then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child,
I spoke as a child, understood as a child, but when I became
a man, I put away childish things. That's what he said. And we're
going to know as we have been known. And that seems so magnificent. But guess what? Christ is the
essence of heaven. And I worry about people always
talking about little family circles. Always talking about, will my
wife be my wife in heaven, or will my son be my son in heaven,
That sounds kind of carnal to me. It sounds kind of like you
miss the spirituality of the kingdom of God. It worries me.
It worries me when I think in that vein, or when anybody else
does. Heaven and eternal glory, and God makes a new heaven and
a new earth when we leave here. This vital union, this living
union, this union with Christ, this revelation of Christ, this
sweetness of his presence in person. And he's the only comfort
we have. He's the only joy we really have.
You got any joy besides that which Christ brings? Lasting
joy. And so all of that is just going
to be enlarged. Faith will give way to sight,
and hope will give way to reality, and this love remains the same.
Faith, hope, and love. But love remains the same. It's
just enlarged.