When we were driving to Wise,
Virginia last Sunday afternoon, the pastor of the church down
there had written to me and told me that he was on the radio from
515 to 615 every Sunday evening over a local FM station and invited
me to turn my radio on. 515 and listen to him preach
while I was driving to the services, which I did. His name is Brother
Lester Baker. And while he was preaching last
Sunday afternoon, he made this statement I thought was very
good. He said, if I should be assigned
to write a thesis on the subject of hope, H-O-P-E, hope. He said, it wouldn't take me
very long to write it. In fact, it would only take me
a few minutes, because our entire hope is summed up in three words,
Christ in you, the hope of glory. That's it. Do you believe that? Christ in you, the hope of glory. The hope of glory. See that over
there in Colossians 127, right across the page from where I
was reading a moment ago. I read it in the message this
morning. It says, Colossians 127, to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery. among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you." Christ in you. That's the hope of glory. And then up here in chapter 3,
I read a moment ago, and I called your attention to the fact that
some of these words had been supplied by the translators,
which is fine, they help. But in verse 4 of Colossians
3, it says this, when Christ, our Christ our life. There's three other words. Talk
about a three-word sermon. Christ our life. He is our spiritual
life. Christ is our life. He is life. I am come that they might have
life and have it more abundantly. I am the way. I am the truth.
I am the life. Spiritual life is not in Christ. It is Christ. We talk like spiritual
life is something Christ gives to us apart and outside of himself. Christ is life. He that hath
the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath
not life, because Christ is life. He is spiritual life. It's utter
foolishness to talk about anybody knowing the Father apart from
Christ. I wrote this down. These three
words, Christ our hope, Christ our hope, and Christ our life,
and Christ is all. Now, my friends, those three
words are the key to divine knowledge. A person here who longs to know
God David said, as the heart panteth for the water brooks,
my soul panteth for thee, the living God. Not just to know
a God, but to know God. Everybody has a God. A fellow
said to Brother Barnard one time, my God wouldn't do what you say.
My God. Brother Barnard turned to him
and said, I expect you're right. Your God wouldn't. But my friend,
your God may not be the living God. Another fellow said one
time, well, the God you preach is a monster. He's a monster. And my reply to that is, all
right, if that's your conclusion, that what we preach about God,
what the Old Testament, what the New Testament says about
God, if your conclusion is that God's a monster, all right, then
get ready to meet a monster, because that's God. I tried. Who said, now watch it, when
Israel took Jericho, I was reading this just yesterday, Israel took
Jericho, and God said to them, don't you touch anything that
appertains to that town's worship, that country's worship. It's
an abomination, an abomination. Don't touch it. Well, this fella
Akin said he saw that Babylonish garment and that wedge of gold.
And my friends, it wasn't just gold. Now you check on this.
You read this, Charlie. This is so. It wasn't just a
wedge of gold or a garment. It appertained to their worship.
It was an idol he took and brought out of Jericho. He took an idol,
an idol. Now you read that, and brought
it out. Then Israel went against the little town of Ai, and they
whipped the socks off of the little village. Boy, they were
really heady with confidence and conquest and victory when
they whipped Jericho, and they went against a little town called
Ai, and they turned them away. And old Joshua went before the
Lord and said, what's going on here? He said, check with Achan.
And Achan had taken that wedge of gold and that garment and
those things, he saw it and wanted it and took it. But it wasn't
just a matter of pilfering the pot, you know, and taking a little
gold or silver. He brought into the camp of Israel
an idol of God. That's what he brought into the
camp. He brought an idol of Jericho into the camp of Israel, and
God let Israel take a licking because they had another god
in that camp. So he said, now watch this, you
read it yourself. He told Joshua to take Achan.
and his wife, and all his children, and stone them, and burn them
with fire." He said, God's a monster. All right, that's okay. If that's
your opinion, then you get ready to meet a monster. Because the
living God will not, he will not tolerate idolatry. He will
not, he's going to stone it out and burn it out. He's going to
annihilate it, He's going to wipe it off the face of the earth,
and everybody's got anything to do with it. He will not share
His glory. I'm telling you, the man who
longs to know the living God, and I'm not talking about just
a God, but the living God, the awesome, fearful, omnipotent,
omniscient, omnipresent, eternal, unapproachable, in the flesh,
living God. will make no progress in that
direction. Now, I'm not saying a man can't
know a God and he can't have religious knowledge and he can't
have law knowledge and all these things, but I'm saying divine
knowledge, of which so few have anything at all, divine knowledge is in Christ. Christ is all. He said, No man knoweth the Father
save the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal it. In divine knowledge, they said,
Well, show us the Father. He said, He that hath seen me
hath seen the Father. You've seen God when you see
Christ. You know God when you know Christ. He that hath seen
me hath seen the Father. That's Christ is all. In the
knowledge of God, Christ is all. He is our wisdom. And then secondly,
note this. These three words are not only
the key to divine knowledge, but these three words are the
key to the justification of the soul. Now, I don't know anybody
in here that's not interested in the forgiveness of sins. We
certainly have enough sins to be forgiven. Like David, my sins
are ever before me. I'm conscious that in iniquity
my mother conceived me. I was shapen in sin. I was brought
forth speaking lies. I'm a sinner by birth, by nature. I'm a sinner by practice, sinner
in word, thought, and deed. I'm so interested in the pardoning
of my sins, in the pardon of my sins. I'm interested in sins
being blotted out and put away. I'm interested in God looking
with favor upon me because my sins are gone. Well, where is
the forgiveness of sin? It's in Christ. In him we have redemption, the
forgiveness of sin. In him. He put away our sins
by the sacrifice of himself. Pardon is in Christ. Justification
is in Christ. He is our redemption. And then thirdly, these three
words are the key to righteousness and sanctification. I hear people
talking about being wholly sanctified. And I'll tell you, that's something
that's to be coveted. Wholly sanctified. I mean absolutely,
immaculately, infinitely, totally wholly sanctified. Sanctified. But I'll tell you, and we might
say this, without that total sanctification, no man will ever
stand before God. That's just so. will not look
upon, love, receive, accept, not God, not the living God,
not the God of holiness, who shall stand in his presence,
he that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who's never lifted
up his soul to vanity. Without holiness, no man can
see the Lord, as nothing shall enter in that worketh or maketh
a lie. The presence of God is absolute
holiness such that even the seraphims cover their faces and their feet
and cry, holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts. Would you be perfectly
and wholly sanctified in God's sight? Would you be righteous
and perfectly sanctified before the law of God? Well, I tell
you, Christ is all. He is our righteousness. He is our sanctification. I don't know how it can be made
plainer. I know there's no righteousness in us. I know some of us have
made some progress spiritually, not as much as we'd like to make
or ought to make. But we've made some progress,
but still we're rotten as a wormy apple. That's right. And it's
distasteful. as filthy rags in God's sight. Our righteousness is a filthy
rag. We've made some progress in the spiritual nature, but
I tell you, our old fleshly nature, not much different. Mine's not
as yours. You feel more holy in the flesh than you did last
year, the year before? I certainly do not, but my righteousness
is Christ. My holiness is Christ. My sanctification
is Christ. And then let me show you this.
Turn to John chapter 10. And I know there's no way I can
make this, I can reveal this to anybody. I know that. God
has to reveal it. I know to most people these are
just words. You've heard them before. So
I heard that before. I know you have. You'll probably
hear it again too. But I'll tell you this. If you ever quit hearing it here
and start hearing it here, put you on cloud nine. If you ever
stop hearing it here and start hearing it here, it'll give you
rest like you've never known before. It'll give you a peace
that you've never enjoyed. It'll give you a confidence and
assurance that you can quit looking at your old profession and start
looking to Christ. You give your foundation on which
to build, that'll be better than what you've been building on.
It's so shaky. If you ever see this, Christ
is all. This is comfort. This is confidence. This is assurance.
This is what 99% of today's religionists never heard, don't know anything
about, and are complete strangers to it. That's so. Christ is all. Christ is all. Now, our Lord
Lazarus had died. And our Lord Jesus Christ came
back to Bethany. And he delayed his coming for
a long time. In fact, Lazarus had been in
the grave several days. And so, several days, Lazarus,
it's John chapter 13, it is, I'm sorry. I think it's John
chapter 13. John chapter 11 is where it is,
John 11. But several days had passed, and Christ came back,
and of course the sister, Martha, ran out to meet him. And she'd
sent for Christ back three or four days ago when Lazarus was
sick. She'd sent for him and told him, my brother's sick,
and he never came. And so she went out and met him,
and she said, if you'd been here, you wouldn't have died. Little
edge on that, I think. If you'd have been here, he wouldn't
have died. And she was revealing her belief in the power of Christ
to heal. She believed he was able. She
was confident. Martha spoke her mind. She said,
if you'd have been here, he wouldn't have died. I know he wouldn't.
And that's faith, isn't it? And a lot of us have that faith.
If Christ, we say, well, if the Lord is pleased, he'll heal him.
We have that kind of faith. But that's not it. The devil
knows that. That's not it. If you'd have
been here, you wouldn't have died. That's still not it. You
can believe that and still perish. So the Lord said, well, he'll
rise again. And she said, I know he'll rise again. I know this.
I got this confidence. He'll rise again at the great
day. That's going to be a resurrection.
You can turn on every prophetical preacher in town. He knows that. Christ is coming, the trumpled
sound, the voice of the archangel, the dead in Christ arrive. Everybody's
going to be changed. Everybody knows that. Even Satan
knows that. In fact, our Lord came upon a
man possessed of demons, and they cried out, have you come
to torment us before our time? We got a time, and we know it.
A time of judgment. Is it that time? You going to
torment us before that day? They know when that day is. They
may not know the day or the hour, but they know it's been set.
That's still not it. She said, I know He'll rise at
the judgment. Now listen to Christ. Verse 25, John 11, Jesus said
unto her, I am the resurrection. I am the life. The resurrection
is no doctrine, it's a person. Life is not a doctrine, it's
a person. I am the resurrection and the
life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall
he live. Whosoever liveth and believeth in me will never die.
How about this? Do you believe this?" That's
it. Facts won't say. Mental acceptance
of facts won't say. Mental agreement and decisions
and professions, I'm sorry, it's just not so. Salvation's a new
birth. Salvation's a new nature. Salvation's
a miracle of God. Salvation is God living in a
man's heart. That's salvation. Anything else
is not salvation, it's religion. And we can go up and down, like
Barney used to say, swearing on a stack of Bibles, we're saved
and going to heaven and still not be saved. Because salvation
is a person. Christ is all. And I'm telling
you, in this knowledge of God, this divine knowledge, and I
know we've got religion clear up to our eyebrows. We've been
steeped in it, raised in it, customized in it, traditionalized
in it, and everything else. We're all fixed up. We think
we're a whole lot smarter than we are. But divine knowledge
is to know Christ. Christ is all. The man who's
taken up with Christ Jesus, not with himself or his religion
or his doctrine, but Christ. That's the man that's saved,
that knows Christ. He is our wisdom. He himself
personified in the flesh, in the spirit, God in human flesh. That's our wisdom, a person.
He's our wisdom, He's our redemption, He's our righteousness and sanctification,
and He's all in eternal glory. Now, Mark sang a few verses to
that song, but evidently I had another book that got some more
words to it. I want you to listen to this.
I stood beside a dying bed, where lay a man with aching head, waiting
for the Lord to call. I marked his smile It was sweet
as May, and as his spirit passed away, he whispered, Christ is
all. Christ is all. I saw that gospel
preacher go to island sand and Greenland snow. He'd heard the
Savior call. Nor home nor life he counted
dear, in want and trial He knew no fear. He said, Christ is all. I dreamed that time and years
had fled. The earth and sea gave up their
dead. A fire dissolved this ball. I
saw the church's ransom thrown, and I heard the singing of their
song. It was Christ is all. Christ is all. I believe that. I wish everybody I knew believed
that, that Christ is all. Yes, Christ is all and in all. Everything in heaven, in earth,
in the seas, and all deep places is related to Christ. God gave
it to him in an eternal decree. God purposed it in an everlasting
design. The Lord Jesus Christ bought
it in death. He bought the world. He died
that he may be Lord of the dead and the living. He's got the
keys of hell and death. It's here. Hanging from his side
is the key to every man's, every man's destiny. Hanging on the
side of the Lord. He bought it. It's here. Don't spend any time feeling
sorry for the Lord Jesus Christ. He's all. And God hath highly
exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name, that
at the name of Jesus every knee, I'm talking about every knee,
Every angel, seraphim, cherubim, human, prophet, apostle, evangelist,
pastor, missionary, evangelist, deacon, elder, saved man, lost
man, woman, child, old man, demon, devil, Satan, principalities,
powers, every kneel-bowing, every tongue in heaven, earth, and
hell is going to honor that He is Lord. Don't waste your pity. He's Lord. He ain't gonna be
Lord. He's Lord. Christ is all. And there's nothing for you or
me or anybody else outside of Christ, gentlemen. Nothing but
God's judgment and wrath. And you can run around here talking
silly talk like God loves you and God loves you and smile God
loves you and God loves the world. It just ain't so. He loves Christ
and everything in Christ. He said, God loves everybody.
I know one fellow He doesn't love, name was Esau. God said
that. God said that. I know another
one, Almighty God in His omnipotent holiness and truth didn't love,
and that was the workers of iniquity. He said, I hate all workers of
iniquity. God said that. I'll tell you
another one that God doesn't love. In his holiness and omnipotence
and righteousness, he that believeth not on the Son, the wrath of
God abideth on him. Christ is all! And you needn't
even expect a crumb from God's table outside of Christ. That's
just so. He's got nothing for you. There's
no mercy outside of Christ. There's no grace outside of Christ.
There's no love outside of Christ. There's no life outside of Christ.
There's nothing but what God demonstrated outside the ark.
And that's death and destruction and misery. Misery. In the ark, that's where God's
mercy is. Get in the ark. Christ is all
in the art, in Christ by faith. That's where God's love is. I
don't care how frail and feeble you are. I don't care how weak
you are. I don't care how afflicted you
are. Grab hold of Christ by faith. Grab hold of Christ. Let me just
give you four things briefly here. Christ is all in God's
eternal purposes. No question about that. Now,
my friends, you've heard me give this before, but I'm going to
do it again for a few minutes. There was a time when this world
as we know it now didn't exist. There was a time when the sky
and the stars and the planets and all these galaxies and so
forth as we know them didn't exist. Didn't exist. Well, if Christ is all, Christ,
I'm saying He's everything. in God's eternal purpose and
covenant and plan. He's everything. If Christ is
all, where was he then before any of these things came to pass
or created? Well, he said in John 17, glorify
me with the glory which I had with thee before the world was. He was in God's glory. Also, it says in the beginning
was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God
in the beginning. Also, I would like you to turn
to this passage, Proverbs, Proverbs chapter 8. Listen to this. And this is talking about Christ,
whose name is Wisdom, whose name is Wisdom. It says here in Proverbs
8, verse 24, when there were no depths, we talk about the
depths of the sea and the depths of this, that, and the other.
When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were
no fountains, we talk about the rivers and lakes and waters above
the earth and under the earth, and God divided the waters and
so forth. When there were no waters, before the mountains
were settled, before the hills was I brought forth, while as
yet He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest
part of the dust of the world, when He prepared the heavens,
I was there. I was there. when he set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, and strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree
that the waters should not pass his commandment, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth, I was by him as one brought up
with him, I was daily his delight." That's the master. You can't
apply that to anybody else, Cesar. That's the master. All right. There was a day or a time when
this world was created. God made the heavens and the
earth, separated the waters, the dry land appeared, let there
be light. Night was separated from darkness, man was formed
from the dust of the ground, and God breathed under his breath.
His nostrils were the breath of life, he became a living soul.
If Christ is all, where was he then? Well, it says, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,
and all things were made by him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. And then over here in Colossians,
listen to this, talking about Christ in Colossians 1, verse
13, he said, He hath delivered us from the power of darkness
and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. in whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sin.
He's the image, the express image, the exact image of the invisible
God. He's the image of the invisible
God. God is invisible. God is a spirit. Christ is the revelation of God.
See that? He is the image, the express
image of the invisible God. There is no other revelation
of God but Christ. There's no other image of God
but Christ. For by Him, by this person, Christ,
who's the firstborn of every creature, by Him were all things
created that are in heaven, that are in the earth, visible and
invisible, the atoms. I heard a man say the other night,
isn't the molecules and atoms and all these things out there
to blow this world all to pieces if a chain reaction all was set
up? Well, he made them. He made each
little microscopic atom, created it visible and invisible. All right. Whether they be thrones
The little old peanut king, dictated by the name of Haile Selassie
over there in Ethiopia, used to call himself the king of kings
and lord of lords. He was so short and his medals
were hanging down, he'd trip over his medals sometimes, you
know. That's so funny, even his throne God gave him, little peanut
monarch, God gave it to him. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him,
and watch it, and for him. All right, there was a day, this
was a dark day, there was a day when sin entered this world. God created the world, he said
it's good. God created man, male and female,
created he them and said it's good. And there was fellowship. Somebody said, well, how long
did Adam stand? Nobody knows. Nobody knows. That's a question
that can't be answered. But they fell. And death passed
upon God's creation. Not just the man, but death passed
upon things like this. These things are beautiful, but
they're not going to be pretty long. These leaves are withering,
the flowers will fade and they'll fall. That's the story of everything
about this world. Trees rot and fall, and the gardens,
they die, and we get old and die, and everything, the fashion
of this world fadeth away. Everything in the world because
of Adam's... You see, Adam, my friends, Adam
was the representative of the whole human race. Adam was the
king, the prince. Everything was in Adam. Everything. Everything was in Adam, pertaining
to this earth, pertaining to human nature, pertaining to the
kingdom of men, to the race of men. Adam was the representative,
federal head, high point, at me, whatever. God just created
one man. He even made that woman out of
that man. He made that woman out of that mess. He was her
head too. Her head too. Now when he took
that forbidden fruit, when he sinned against God, when he lifted
his fist against God, God's judgment and condemnation just fell on
everything from the North Pole to the South Pole, the latitude,
longitude, all, everything in the, even the sea groaned under
sin. And even the nature of animals
changed. The lion didn't eat other animals
till after the fall. And then they pounced on one
another. Even the trees shed their leaves. And at death came
to everything, a thorn, a thistle, a briar, never come out of the
earth, but now it did. And Adam's whole, he was so perfectly
created in the image of God. Such a, such a, it took him 800
years to die physically. Now you see, when God gives us
a new body, it's going to live always. And Adam was so made
by God and so created in the image of God and so created in
strength and beauty and perfection, it took nearly 900 years for
that old boy to die. Even after he sinned, even after
that awful thing called, even after death came into his body,
it couldn't kill him. But he died spiritually. He died. And darkness, God's And I'll
tell you, you say, if Christ is all, where was he then? Let
me tell you something. If he hadn't been the representative
federal head and appointed, ordained Messiah of a new race, of a new
kingdom, this whole thing would have been thrown into hell right
then. Christ stood then for us. He was the Lamb slain for the
foundation of the world. You say, they don't preach that.
I know they don't know anything. Today's preacher's not preaching
for God's glory and your good and the truth of the scriptures.
He's preaching for his own recognition and his own praise. That's the
reason. He doesn't care a flip about
God. He doesn't know God to start
with. But when this head fell, there was another head already,
already, already ordained. Already chosen in him and given
to him in an everlasting covenant that would be Accomplished over
here when all this mess is destroyed and a new earth made in that
covenant He already had a kingdom and a people and they were already
Justified you said don't preach eternal justification Everything
God does is eternal God never does anything in time. He didn't
decree an eternity And as far as God's concerned, anything
he decrees and ordains, it's good as done. He declares the
end, the end out there from the beginning. And he says, my counsel
shall stand. I know Christ had to come and
die. I know as well as you did, but he was already the lamb slain
in the mind and purpose of God, or he couldn't have, he couldn't
have pardoned Adam. He'd had to destroy him. And just as Adam is the representative
of a race, Christ, the covenant head, is a representative of
a new race, of people just like him. You see, we're all just
like Adam in the flesh. As we're born in the image of
the earthy, we're going to bear the image of the heavenly. In
Adam all died, in Christ they're made alive. That's right. By man came death, By man came
the resurrection. By one man's sin, death passed
upon all men, judgment and condemnation. By one man's disobedience, we
were made sinners. By another man's obedience, we
were made righteous. Where was Christ, my friend?
He was all and in all. During that whole mess, He was
everything. That's right. When God looked
at Adam, He looked at him through Christ. All right, go on and
fall, Adam, because this revelation of Christ awaits your fall. Hurry
up and get it over with. That's right, awaits your fall. It awaits your fall. And I tell
you this, the revelation of Christ to your heart awaits your fall. You say, everybody's falling.
Get them to admit it. That's right. Get them to admit
it. We ourselves aren't denied yet. No, we're still wiggling. Barney,
just say as long as you can wiggle your little fingers spiritually,
you're not falling yet. You're still hanging on. You've
been hanging on this way and this way, now you got one little
finger hanging on. You haven't fallen yet. When
you finally let go and hit the bottom, then Christ is revealed
in his saving power and grace and life. All right, there was
a time, God let this world go on for about 4,000 years, in
which the Savior was revealed in the Word, in picture, in prophecy,
in pattern, in type, in many what, but they didn't believe
it. They didn't believe it. And so
there came a time when the world was so buried in religious superstition. Now let me tell you something,
a whole lot like this day. A whole lot like this day. Ceremonialism,
hypocrisy, superstition, ignorance, religious ignorance abounded. The time of God to redeem his
people was now in the fullness of time. Well, if Christ is all,
where was he then? God sent him into this world.
He came. Jesus Christ is coming to the
world. You know, actually, it just boggles
the mind. But the Lord God Almighty, He
was in the earth and yet He was still in heaven. He said, the
Son of Man which is in heaven. He left heaven, but Tom, He never
left it. Never left it. I can't understand
that. A whole lot of things I don't
know. But I do know this, it said, that he became flesh, that
the Lord God of glory tabernacled in a human body and came down
here and was begotten in the womb of a virgin. And then he
was born into this world and he lived in holiness and knew
no shame. He died on a cross and bore my
blame. He arose in victory without sin
and he reigns in glory still the perfect man. That's something, isn't it? There's
a man in glory. A fellow preached that from Mr.
Popey at one time, made it as clear to me as I've ever seen
it, a man in glory. And I'll tell you this, here's
our hope. If there's one man in glory,
there can be two, and three, and four, and five, and a number
no man can number. If one man, if a man, if a man,
I'm talking about a man now, And Jesus Christ is perfect God,
but behold the man. If a human, if a man of flesh
and bones can go within the veil, behind the veil, into the very
presence of God, and yet even not wring his hands and pace
the floor, but sit down on the right hand of God, why can another
in Him, because of Him, through Him. That's our hope. It's no
hope that you walked an aisle. I'll tell you hope that Christ
walked the road of life in perfection. It's not that you took a trip
to the front, it's that Christ took a trip to Calvary. It's
not that you sacrificed a few sins, as Ralph said, and held
on to some more. and turned over a new leaf, is
that the Lord Jesus Christ arose without sin and ascended to the
right hand of God, and every one of us are accepted in Him,
and His work is my work, His obedience is my obedience, His
death is my death, His victory is my victory, and His position
is my position. That's the truth. And He's all. And He's all. He's all. Now, there's going
to come a time when this world's going to end. God said that.
He said the earth is going to earth and the heavens will melt
with a fervent heat. There's going to be a resurrection,
great and small. The scripture says the sea gave
up the dead, death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them,
and they all stand before God. Stand before God. Can't you imagine
that great throne, innumerable? Somebody said a definite number
for an indefinite. 10,000 times 10,000 and thousands
and thousands stand before God. Well, if Christ is all, where
will He be then? Well, let's see. Turn to John
5. John chapter 5. Now, what I'm
trying to enforce is this. If you think little of Christ,
my friends, if you think little of Christ, if you give Him any
position below everything and all. And you've come up short
on this divine knowledge and this laying hold of salvation,
because God says He's all and in all. Look at John 5, verse
22. The Father judges no man, but
hath committed all judgment to the Son, that all men should
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father, he that honoreth
not the Son. honoreth not the Father which
sent him." Christ is the judgment. It's
him. He is the judge. And then there'll
be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness.
If Christ is all, where will he be then? Well, let's turn
to Revelation. Somebody said this one time.
They said, The praise of heaven will be Christ. Turn to Revelation
5. Revelation 5. The praise in heaven will be
Christ. Look at verse 9. Revelation 5,
9. And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take
the book and to open the seals thereof. For thou hast, thou
wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. And God hath made
us, and thou hast made us unto our God, kings and priests, and
we shall reign on the earth." That's the song of heaven, unto
Him who loved us. All right, turn to Revelation
7. What is the service of heaven? What are we going to do? What's
our occupation in glory? I can't break this down. I can't
break this down into daily activities and give you a calendar of events.
That's silly. But I can tell you the broad
scope of the thing, the general trend in Revelation 7 and 9,
After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man
could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and
tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed
with white robes, and palms in their hands. And they cried with
a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon
the throne under the Lamb. And all the angels stood round
about the throne, about the elders and four beasts, and fell before
the throne on their faces and worshipped God. And verse 15
says, Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve
him day and night in his temple. And he that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell among them, and they'll hunger no more, neither thirst
any more, neither see the sunlight on them, nor any heat. For the
lamb which is in the middle of the throne shall feed them, and
lead them unto living fountains of water, and God will wipe away
all tears from their eyes. You see, the presence of Christ
will be our joy in eternal glory. He said today to the thief, thou
shalt be with me in paradise. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and be with Christ, which is far better. And in the whole
center of worship and adoration is Christ. And I really believe
that folks have missed it that keep talking about God gathering
a bunch of people around and saying, now, Ron, you've been
faithful all your life here. You go over here. And Mike, you've
been pretty faithful, not like you ought to be. So you go over
here. Bob, you've missed it, son. You just got there with
the skin of your teeth. We got a place for you now. Don't
despair. Don't run off and hide. We'll get to you later. We got
some important people over here to deal with. I don't believe
that. I just don't believe it.