Now, there's very much written
and preached today about degrees of glory and rewards which shall be given
to believers in heaven based on their faithfulness in service
to God while here on the earth. Now, I'm fully aware of what
they are teaching when they teach this era. There are many preachers
who have as many as five, six, or seven different crowns which
believers shall receive. Some will get seven, some six,
five, four, three, two, one, some none. And then the song,
Will there be any stars in my crown, is based on that very
system of rewards. We get a crown. And then we are
distinguished from other believers in heaven by how many stars or
jewels are in that crown. Some crowns are more elaborate
than others. And preachers use this teaching
to motivate people, to motivate people to give their offerings
and their tithes and support a certain preacher's program.
They use this reward system to to motivate people to witness
and win souls. They use it to get folks to go
out and win souls. The more souls you win to Jesus,
the more important you'll be in heaven. Now, that's talk.
And they use it to motivate people to be faithful to their programs.
And they frighten people who are careless about their religious
duties by talking to them about, honestly, tears in heaven. This one preacher preached a
message and wrote a book on tears in heaven. God is going to assemble
all believers, judgment seat of Christ. And at the judgment
seat of Christ is where believers are going to be judged for their
works and be rewarded accordingly. And there will be many people
at the judgment seat of Christ who are going to stand there
and weep because of wasted opportunity. That's exactly right. That's
being preached all over this nation. It's being preached in
Baptist churches. Perhaps you will remember from
this very pulpit there was a sermon. Remember, Ronnie? Because you
called attention, my attention to it, and also the preacher
who preached it. He talked about in the millennium. how that there
were going to be ghettos and slums where people are going
to live that didn't serve God like they ought to. And then
another preacher friend of mine, of many years ago, was on television
recently, and he said that a very wealthy lady was a Christian,
and she died and went to heaven. And he said, Our Lord said there
are many mansions, in my Father's house are many mansions. But
there are many other little shacks, too. In other words, everybody
doesn't live in a mansion, just us who faithfully serve God. So the first mansion that she
came to, she said, well, that's mine. He said, no, that's your
cleaning lady's house. What do you mean, that's my cleaning?
Well, the lady that worked for you and your cleaning lady and
servant, that's her house. She said, well, where's mine?
Well, he said, follow me. People, I'm not making this up.
This is a true illustration that not only one preacher uses, but
many. So as they walked down the streets
of Glover, the mansion got smaller and smaller. All adequate, but
smaller. And so they finally came to a
little white house with a picket fence, lovely house, but very
small. You could have put 10 or 12 of
them in that first mansion. She said, whose is this? He said,
yours. She said, I don't understand. He said, well, that's all the
material you sent up here to build it with. Now, let me tell you something.
That's an abomination to God. That's evil preaching. That's
sinful preaching. That's degrading to the grace
of God. That's fleshless stuff. That's
very easy for me. I'm going to give you four reasons.
It's very easy for me to strike down this era of degrees of glory
in my own mind. What I'm teaching is this, that
all of God's children, all of those redeemed by Christ, given
to Christ, loved by Christ, of whom Christ is a surety, for
whom he's the perfect righteousness and our sacrifice and our scapegoat
and our sin offering and our risen justifier. And the receipt
God gave to Christ, that all that he paid was accepted, was
his resurrection. And he's our interceding mediator. All of those are loved the same,
infinitely, everlastingly. All of them have the same reward.
All of them are going to live together in unity and happiness
and harmony and glory, a joint heir with Jesus Christ. They're
no rich folks or poor folks in glory. They're God's folks. They're
one family. There's no jealousy and envy
and elevation of self and ego. It doesn't exist. We're going
to leave that trash down here when we leave. One and the same
in Christ. Now, it's no problem for me to
strike that down in my heart. I'll give you four reasons. Number
one is this. Christ is my reward. Christ is
my reward. I have no ambition, no other
ambition. I have no other ambition other
than to see him and be made like him and to enjoy him forever. I have no other ambition. And
that's sufficient because I know there's nothing better than Christ.
What in the world would I want with a crown when I have him
who is the crown of glory? How can you get a crown better
than Christ, sweeter than Christ? How in the world can I partake
of anything? How in the world can I be taken
up with anything when I'm looking into his face? I'm going to see
him and be like him. And David said, I shall be satisfied. Now, we don't know anything about
complete satisfaction, but we will. David said, I'm going to
be thoroughly, totally, completely, everlastingly satisfied when
I awake with his likeness. When I come out of the grave,
and they're going to take me by a place called a judgment
seat and judge me for my rewards and all? No, sir. When I come
out of the grave, I'm coming out immortal, incorruptible,
eternal, just like Christ. Just like Christ. In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye. He said we shall not all sleep,
but we'll be changed. Changed what? Into his likeness.
And I'll be satisfied. You can't add one thing, not
one thing. My service to Christ is motivated
by love for Christ, not by law, and not in order to gain something
personally. That's not my motivation. Turn
to 2 Corinthians 5. My friends, it is the servant
in the house that works for rewards, not the son. Not the son. Doris has been feeling
a little poorly in the last few weeks or months. We've had two
cleaning ladies. One we hire, she comes by once
a day, and that's what she comes by. If you don't pay her, she
ain't going to come by. And one we didn't hire and don't pay,
and she's sitting down here on the front row, my daughter. That's,
as Doris said, a labor of love. The other is a labor of professional
gain. You understand what I'm saying? The servant works for
reward. Now, if you're here tonight and
I'm upsetting you with this message, you're not a son, you're a servant.
I'm talking about your wages. I'm an heir. I'm a son. This
is my house. God's house is my house. God's
kingdom is my kingdom. I don't work for pay. I own this
thing. In Christ, that's right. I don't
punch a clock, in or out. A son doesn't punch a clock,
a daughter doesn't punch a clock. It don't work, but what are you
going to give me? You have me, what else do you want? That's
what Christ said, you have me. You understand what I'm saying?
Listen to Paul in 2 Corinthians 5. He said, verse 14, "...for
the love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, if
one died for all, then we are all dead." And that he died for
all that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves,
but unto him that died for them and rose again. That's my motivation.
He loved me and gave himself for me. I'm a son. I'm not a servant. I'm not a
hireling. I'm not a fellow arguing about
wages. That's what you have all these
unions and labor and management and strife and strikes is because
is because they're not sons, they're servants. A son doesn't
strike. And then the third thing is this.
Salvation is all of grace from start to finish. One hundred
percent of grace. I wrote down from conviction
of sin to glorification, but it goes further than that, back
yonder in the beginning when God chose me. He chose me by
his grace. He chose me by his grace. And
through his long suffering and patience, enduring even the sins
and rebellion of Israel as he revealed to them pictures and
prophecies of Christ, that was all by grace, that God didn't
spew the well out of his mouth and wipe them all out like he
did the angels that fell. And Christ's incarnation to his
death, burial and resurrection, my conviction, the sustaining
of my faith is by his grace. Let me tell you something. If
it were not for the grace of God, I would fall into complete
heresy and apostasy tonight, not next week. Even while I'm
standing up here preaching, it's God's grace that sustains me
in preaching any truth or telling any truth or loving any truth.
That's right. Paul said, I am what I am by
the grace of God. Without me, you can do nothing.
Now, do I expect God to reward me for what he did? It just doesn't make any sense
to me for anyone to expect a reward for something he didn't even
have anything to do with. Repentance is the gift of God.
It's the goodness of God that led me to repentance. It's the
gift of God, faith is. Everything is of grace from start
to finish. I have no reason to have any
pride whatsoever in any part of my being against any human
being, not even against the devil, because I'd make an awful good
devil. Well, that's right, you would too. You would too. And what's more, that's what
we'd be if it wasn't being straight. That's exactly right. It's all
the grace of God, all of grace. Paul, turn to Romans 11, 6 and
listen to this. Romans 11, 6. You said that with
too much conviction back there. Romans 11, 6. If it's by grace,
then it's no more works. Otherwise, grace is not grace.
If it be of works, it's not grace. Otherwise, work is work. There
is absolutely no mingling or mixing of grace and works. I'm saved in its entirety from
God's purpose to the crown of glory by grace or by works. All right, here's the fourth
one. I won't grab, as old brother L.R. Shelton used to say, Grab a hold of your seat, we're
going to jump a creek or something like that. This is one of the
most clinched, I've never seen this in my life until I studied
for this message the other day. I want you to turn to 1 Corinthians
12. To me, this destroys any, along
with the other arguments, this destroys any thought of any degrees
of glory for any member of the body of Christ. 1 Corinthians
12, 12, For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one
body, being many, are yet one body, so also is Christ. For
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be
Jews or Gentiles, bond or free, male or female, white or black,
whatever, old or We've been made to drink all the drink into one
spirit. The body is not one member but
many. The foot shall say, I'm not the
hand, I'm not of the body. Is it therefore not of the body?
Now, here's what I'm asking. How could you bless one member
of the body and not bless the whole body, if we're one? Now, come on. How can you bless
my hand and not bless my other hand? When you hand something
in this hand, it belongs to the whole body. How could Christ
reward Charlie Payne without rewarding me? He couldn't do
it, because we're one in Christ. You see what I'm saying? It's
an impossibility. We're one body. Christ is not
many members out here in competition and all going different directions
and this sort of thing. When you understand your oneness
with Christ, he's the head, without him we can do nothing. He is
the vine, we're the branches. When you understand your oneness
with Christ, your oneness with his people, then your one desire
is let Christ be glorified, whether I'm first or last. You just can't
reward a part of the body of Christ without rewarding the
whole body. If one member of the body of Christ receives something,
they all receive it. And they all rejoice in it as
if it were theirs. And really, it is. You see what
I'm saying? I hope you do, because you can't
bless one member of the body without blessing the other. We're
one in Christ. One in Christ. And I tell you,
when one member suffers, the whole body suffers. When one
member is made glad, the whole body is made glad. That's the
way God loves his people, that we're many members, but we're
one body. And that one body is loved, and
that one body is redeemed, and that one body's nourishment and
strength comes from the head. Now, different parts of the body
have different duties. There are some parts of the body
that are much more active than others. They are much more evident. They are much more open. They
are seen. They are rewarded. Some of you
ladies spend a whole lot more time on your face, you know,
than you do your feet. That's right. Spend more time
on your hair. And the hair is glorified. It's
recognized. It's bragged on. But nobody's
bragged on your big toe lately, has they? But you wouldn't part
with it. You couldn't get along without
it. That's what I'm saying, that there are members of the body
of Christ that aren't nearly as prominent and public. But
they're so vital and essential, and they're putting that body
for his glory and our good. And you can't reward one without
the other. So it's completely nonsense to talk about God escorting
all the hands into the judgment seat and bless all the hands
and put all the feet outside, and bless all the noses and put
all the ears outside. That's right. It's silly, isn't
it? You're laughing at it because it's foolish. Swallowed it, Russell, Hook,
Line, and Sinker, when we were growing up, because that's just
what everybody... I have a dear preacher friend for whom I've
held several meetings, and we've never conflicted on anything
I've ever preached. I've preached for him so many
times. But I preached this message one
night, and I thought, he's going to die. He got so upset, and
we left the service in the car, and he said, Henry, I never disagreed
with you on anything before. He said, I'm upset. He said,
I just believe that folks that give their all for Jesus and
labor for Christ, when they get to heaven, they're going to be
recognized and rewarded. I said, are you? Well, no, not
me. I said, well, do you deserve
a reward? Well, no. I said, neither do I. Who are
they, Herbert? Who are they? Who are these people
that deserve a reward? Well, he said, I don't know,
but I just believe it. Oh, my. All right, that's enough of that
my own. That's my satisfaction, not necessarily yours. Let's
look at the Word of God, Matthew 19. Let's look at what our Lord
said. Peter came to him in verse 27 of Matthew 19. And our Lord
does indicate that these twelve disciples, there's something
unusual. There's something unusual for
them, and I don't understand all of that. But I do know that
Peter asked him this. And let's don't get sidetracked
on what he's talking about, the regeneration and sitting on the
twelve thrones and judging the twelve tribes of Israel, because
you don't know anything about it and I don't either. So don't
get sidetracked on it. And you say, how are you going
to find the twelve tribes when they've all disappeared and so
forth? Well, that's not my problem. But this other is my problem.
This other is, so that Peter asked him, said, Behold, verse
27, we have forsaken all and followed thee, what are we going
to have therefore? Now, that's exactly what he's
asking. In what way are we going to be
distinguished? In what way are we going to be rewarded? What
are we going to have? And our Lord said in verse 30,
meaning that a first shall be last and a last shall be first,
for the kingdom of heaven is locked to a man. Now, watch this. In the morning, he had a huge
vineyard, grapes, I suppose, or fig trees or something, but
he went down to the marketplace where laborers and where men
stood around, probably where they hired workers, the farm
workers, and he went down there and he saw some men. Six o'clock
in the morning, he said, you fellas hired? They said, no.
He said, you want to work? Yeah, we were. I'll pay you a
penny, which was a good wage probably at that day. a Roman
penny. So he said, fine. He said, all
right, go on down here, down the road, turn left over there,
that's my farm, and go to work. Well, he went on about his business.
About 9 o'clock in the morning, he went back to Market Place
and he saw some more men. He said, you fellas got anything
to do? They said, no. He said, well, go down there and work
in my vineyard. Whatever's right, I'll pay you.
The day's already started. And he said, whatever's right,
I'll pay you. Well, they trusted him. They went down to work.
He did that at noon. He did that at three o'clock,
and he was out there, and he saw they weren't going to get finished
before dark, so he went down to the marketplace and he found
some more fellows. Five o'clock in the evening, he said, you
fellows got a job. He said, nobody's hired us. He said, skedaddle
down there and work for me, and get that crop of grapes in, and
I'll give you what's right. So they did, and at six o'clock,
they quit at six o'clock. They worked from six to six,
sun up, sun down, and they measured time by the hour like that. He
went out to his steward. And he said, now, go call those
laborers and pay them, but start with the last one, the last one
I hired. The last fellow that went in
the field hadn't even worked up a sweat. So the last fellows came in,
you know, and he gave everyone a penny, everyone. And everyone
got a penny, and the ones at 4 o'clock got a penny and 12
o'clock got a penny. So the folks that were hired
first, verse 10, you see it? Well, they supposed that they'd
receive more. But they received a penny. And
when they received it, they murmured against him. And they said, well,
these fellows only worked an hour. You made them equal to
us. Brother Kent Clark was preaching on this subject one time in Michigan.
This is a true story. And after the service, a man
came up to him. This is going to shock you. But
a man came up to him, and he said, are you teaching? that
people who are saved when they're old, or people who are saved
and die and never serve the Lord in any capacity on this earth,
are going to be, we're all going to be equal in heaven? Kids,
that's exactly what I'm preaching. We're all going to be one with
Christ, like Christ, joint heirs with Christ, glorified with Christ.
He is our reward, everything. He said, you mean to tell me
that I've attended church these 30 years, and I've paid my tithes,
and I've taught Sunday school, and I've studied and worked for
nothing? That happened. Now, you don't
think this generation of religionists is ignorant? No, That fellow won't have any
problem. He's not going to be in glory.
I'm as sure of that as I'm standing in this pulpit. That man has
missed the grace of God. Any man who would want more than
another believer or thinks he deserves more than another believer
or is doing that in order to be rewarded has missed Christ.
He's missed Christ. That defeats the whole principle
of grace. That destroys the whole principle
of eternal life being a gift. It's a gift. You say, what is
the Lord teaching here? I believe this is the application.
At 6 a.m., early youth. You know anybody that was saved
in early youth at 6 a.m.? John the Baptist, from his mother's
womb. Isn't that right? From his mother's
womb. He was filled with the Holy Ghost.
That's God's business, too. But that's true. John the Baptist
From his mother's womb was a forerunner of Christ, a servant of Christ. What about 9 a.m.? I'd say that
was between 20 and 30 years of age. I'd say Timothy. Timothy
was a very young lad. And Paul said, from a child thou
hast known the holy scriptures to make thee wise unto salvation.
He's one of those 9 a.m. workers, 20 to 30. And then I'd
say noon is 30 to 40. You know, a lot of people think
middle age is about 60, but it ain't 35. That's middle, you're
probably 70 years when you get 35, you're middle age. That's
30 to 40, that's middle life, that's 12 noon. I'd say the disciples
fall into that category. 3 o'clock in the afternoon, who
would that be, 40 to 60? That's towards the sunset hours,
you know, 3 o'clock in the afternoon, getting towards sunset. I'm moving
towards the sunset. I'd say the Ethiopian eunuch
might have been one of those, because he was the treasurer
of the whole country of Ethiopia, and he didn't get that when he
was 25, 35 years old. He was a mature man. He'd been
around a while. Lydia, probably a widow, was
seller of purple. Lydia was probably saved in her
late 50s. What about 5 p.m.? What thief
on the cross? I know. God saved him and took
him right to glory. He didn't work up a sweat in
the field either. He didn't walk for Jesus. His feet were nailed
to the cross. He didn't even wash. He wasn't
even baptized. He didn't witness. He didn't
do anything but receive grants. And you know he's going to be
paid off first. That's what he said. He started with the last
one and paid him off. You know, is your heart... Let
me ask you this question, and the householder asked this man
this question. He came and said, well, we worked
all day. We bore the heat and burden of
the day. He said, what did I promise you? He said, a penny. He said,
what did you get? I got what you promised. When is your eye
evil because mine is good? Can't I do with my own what I
will? I really believe, now sincerely, I believe that any redeemed child
of God, because of the grace of God in his heart, this is
the principle on which he operates anyway. He's delighted for the
last to be first and the first to be last. He's delighted, because
that's the spirit of his Lord. That's the Spirit of his Lord,
and he can do with his own all that we might be unable to love
in this way. Let me give you some closing
words from my own observations. Now, this is some of my own observations
in closing. First of all, when you come down
to it, all of our services. Now, I've been in the ministry
34 years, since 1950, in the ministry of the gospel. I was in church for then, you
know, I was in religion, but in the ministry of the gospel
for 34 years. And I have, just like some of you, I've,
the Lord has enabled us to do some things for his glory, I
think, to say that. But all of those services and
labors are due to God. There he is already. Any gifts
I've given or sermons I've preached or work I've done, it belongs
to him. Let me show you that in Luke
17. I haven't done anything at all,
nor have you in Luke 17. Listen to this. This is so effective
here. Luke 17, 7. And this is the Master
speaking in Luke 17, 7. Listen. But which of you, having
a servant plowing or feeding cattle, We'll say unto him by
and by when he's come from the field, go sit, go sit down to
me. You don't say that. You say, you rather say to him,
make ready wherewith I may eat, and gird yourself and serve me
till I've eaten and drunken, and after that you'll eat and
drink. Does he thank that servant because he did the things that
were commanded him? I think not. So likewise you,
when you shall have done all these things, all those things
which are commanded you, say, We're unprofitable servants.
We've done that, which was our duty to do. See what I'm saying? You call your servant in and
tell him, go and fix supper, and after I've eaten my supper
and you've served the family, then you go eat something. You
don't thank him. He's expected to do that. That's his job. And
this is what the Lord Jesus is saying to us. Should God reward
me for giving him what's his? I should love God, I should praise
God, I should serve God. I'm not my own, I'm bought with
a price. It's His. My allegiance and love to Him
is His. It's expected of me, and I haven't
done anything anyway. I haven't done anything. Secondly,
now watch this. All of our service to God And
I'm talking about teaching class. You ladies are going to teach
the Bible school this week. And I know you've been working
for two or three weeks on this and going to come over here every
morning and teach these children. And some of you cook for the
conference. And I'm going to bring a message
one of these days on a woman's place in the church. And it's
going to surprise you. I'm not going to talk about them
keeping silence. I'm going to talk about how they labor for
the Lord and for his glory. But now, wait a minute. All of
our service in itself is unacceptable. Are you with me? I've never preached a sermon
that God could accept in itself. I've never prayed a prayer, read
a verse, taught a class, when all of our, never given a dime
that God could accept on the, on its own merit, see what I
mean, on its own merit. When all of our preaching, teaching,
giving, service is sifted down and sifted down in God's holy
scepter, it's all so imperfect and defiled and full of sin,
it couldn't possibly merit a reward. That's right, not possibly. You
don't listen. When you get up there, if there's
a judgment seat, you don't want them to bring up that prayer
you prayed. Please don't mention that. In
the light of his holiness, it's a rotten prayer. Don't, don't,
don't, don't, don't mention that gift I gave. There's too many
bad motives connected with it. Oh, I had a few, you know, commendable,
but most of them weren't too good anyway. Don't, don't show
me for what I am. That's right. Don't, don't show
me a, regard me in Christ. Don't show me for what I am.
Paul, Paul mentioned all these things he'd done. He said, that's
dumb that I may win Christ. It couldn't possibly merit it.
Can God accept or dignify that which is imperfect? Come on now. When we get to glory, you don't
want Him to mention anything you did down here, good or bad.
That's exactly right. It couldn't find any place of
dignity in His presence. Too imperfect, that's right.
And then watch this thirdly. The ability and gifts to serve
God are all gifts of his grace. Turn to 1 Corinthians 4.7. Didn't
he say in 1 Corinthians 4.7, listen to this, in 1 Corinthians
4.7, who maketh thee to differ from another? Mike and Sonia
and Bridget and the quartet and the trio, and some of them have
such beautiful voices, sing so pretty. But who gave you that
gift? Jonathan, who gave you that?
God gave it to you. You croaked like a frog through
unto his grace. That's exactly right. And I should
be rewarded for that? If I can preach, and some people
say they think I can't, I know at times I've been able to, but
it's not I, it's the grace of God in me. I couldn't preach
a lick. Without His grace, who maketh
you to differ? What do you have that you didn't
receive? Now, if you received it, why
do you glory or why do you expect to be glorified on the basis
of it or rewarded? As though you had not received
it. It's God who gives the power to get wealth. It's God who enables
the brain to think. You think you can put those things
together without His power? You think you could walk without
his power? The mouth to speak, it's God who enables you to speak.
And our place of service is by his grace. Paul said, he put
me in the ministry. It's God who gives the gift.
It's God who opens the door. It's God who gives the ear. It's
God who makes our labors to be successful, not unto us, not
unto us, but unto thy name, O Lord, give glory. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3. Let me show you another verse
here, 1 Corinthians 3. 1 Corinthians 3, verse 5, Paul
is talking about the preachers of that day, and he said, Who
then is Paul, and who is Apollos? 1 Corinthians 3, verse 5. But
ministers by whom you believe, even as the Lord gave to every
man, I have planted, Apollos is watered, But God gave the
increase, so then neither is he that planteth anything, nothing,
neither is he that watereth anything. But God, he is everything that
giveth the increase. Now, let me ask you something
else that I read one time years ago. Here is a man who is saved, as
I was, and Bob, you and Mike and others here in the congregation
early in life. And you've been blessed with
the Lord's presence and blessings over these years. And you talk
about being rewarded for that, you've already been rewarded.
You've already been rewarded. You've got real friends. You've
got a real fellowship. You've got a real family. That
fellow that wasn't saved until he was about 60, he missed out
on so much. It's no duty or responsibility
to walk with Christ, it's a pleasure. It's a pleasure. That's the thing I cannot understand.
Actually, the fellow that was saved at the 11th hour, at the
last moment, I want him to have everything because I've had it
before he got it. I've already had the presence
of Christ and the blessings of Christ and the mercies of Christ.
I've had his mercies and blessings for 34 years, 34 years. And so when they line up in glory
for whatever God's pleased to do for us in Christ Jesus, I
want him at the front of the line. I've got plenty of time
anyway. Listen to a poem. It's not, you
know, it's not how much I'm due when it comes down to it. It's
not how much I'm due from the hand of God. It's how much I
owe. And Robert Merrick McShane wrote
this, when this passing world is done, when has set yon glaring
sun, when we stand with Christ in glory looking over life's
finished story, Then, Lord, shall I fully know, and not till then,
how much I owe. When I hear the wicked call on
the rocks and hills to fall, when I see them start and shrink
on the fiery deluge brink, then, Lord, shall I fully know, not
till then, how much I owe. When I stand before thy throne,
dressed in beauty not my own, And when I see thee as thou art,
and love thee with an unsinning heart, then, Lord, shall I fully
know, not till then, how much I owe. Not how much I do, how much I
owe. When the praise of heaven I hear,
loud as thunder to the ear, loud as many waters' noise, sweet
as the harp's melodious voice, Then, Lord, shall I fully know,
not till then, how much I owe, chosen not for good in me, wakened
up from wrath to flee, hidden in the Savior's side, by his
Spirit sanctified. Teach me, Lord, on earth to show
by thy grace how much I owe. That's what I'm preaching. I'm
preaching not what God owes us, I'm preaching what we owe him.
And anything that we do is already his. But I rejoice, I'm
glad that God's not going to form any judgment against me
or upon me based on anything I've ever done, good or bad. It's going to be on the merits
of Christ. I'll be accepted in the Beloved, walk in the glory
in the Beloved, and rejoice in the Beloved. And I encourage
every one of you, lift up your head and rejoice. Your redemption
draws nigh. We'll be able to praise him together.
Mike, you come, and I believe you've got a song already picked
out. You come and lead us, if you would.