I had a supper engagement last
Wednesday evening in Pittsburgh, North Carolina. My hostesses were three elderly
ladies. One of them was about 85, one
was about 80, one was about 75 or 76. They were sisters. They had never been married.
They lived together and they had me over for supper. And we
were talking about the church of which they were members. I
asked them how long that they had been attending the church.
I was holding a meeting in their home church. And they said, well,
we've been there all our lives. Our mother took us to church
just a few weeks after we were born, and we've been there all
our lives. Well, I said, then you know all the pastors that
have been pastors of that church, that have preached at that church.
Oh, we know them all well. There have been many, 15, 16,
17 pastors. I said, well, would you let me
ask you a question? Yes, sir. I said, which of those
pastors, which pastor could preach better than the rest of them?
Oh, we liked them all. I said, I know that. I'm sure
that you loved them and appreciated their ministry, but which one
of them, there has to be one of them, that could preach the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ better than all of the others,
that you learned more under his ministry, and he could preach
the gospel Well, they thought for a moment. Finally, one of
them said, I would save Brother Thomas. And I said, Why? She said, Well, he was such a
nice man. When he would come to our house,
he was just like one of us. He'd come in any time of the
day and sit down at the table, and if we had cornbread and peas,
that was all right by him. He'd just eat anything we had.
He'd just make himself at home, and he was just such a fine man. Well, I said, that's not what
I want to know. I'm not interested in the pastor's personality.
I know you liked him, and he ate cornbread and peas just like
you did, or he'd come in any time, make himself at home. But
what I want to know is this. I want to know which one of those
men preached the gospel of Jesus Christ from the pulpit better
than the rest of them. And they thought a moment. And
finally one of them said, I would say Brother Norris. I said, why? Well, she said, you know, he
pastored here about four years, and you know, when he preached,
he was just all over that pulpit. Why, he'd just walk up and down
that pulpit, and he'd walk down the stairs down to the front
of the church, and he'd even get up on the bench down front
and walk up and down. Oh, he could preach! They never did understand what
I meant. Which one of those men would lay, as I read to you a
moment ago from Isaiah 28, line upon line, precept upon precept,
hear a little, bear a little, who would talk about the rest,
wherewith you may cause the weary to rest. The hope in which the
hopeless can hope. the place of refuge in which
the weary can hide. But they never heard that. Now,
my friends, there's some things that all religious people know.
There's some things, to some extent, that all religious people
know, that these three sweet, blessed old ladies knew, that
all of the preachers know, and that all of the congregation
knows. There's some things that all men know. First of all, they
know there's a God. they know there's a God. They
know that somewhere there is a God. Now they have some unusual
ideas about God. They call their large brothers
the most worshipful master. They call God the man upstairs. I never could quite understand
that. Men have different ideas about God. They call their large
brothers the exalted potentates. and they call their God Superstar. I never could understand that.
But everybody believes there's a God, and everybody has a God,
and secondly, everybody knows to some extent that sin has entered
into this world. They will disagree as to what
caused it. They will disagree as to the
extent of its influence on them. They'll disagree as to what happened
in the Garden of Eden. Some people believe Adam died.
Some people believe he was slightly wounded. Some people believe
that he lost the sight in both eyes. Some believe he lost one
eye. Some believe that he was rendered lame on both his feet.
Some believe that he was crippled a little bit on one leg and can
hobble somehow, and God can supply what he lacks. They disagree
as to the extent or influence of sin. But they know that there's
a problem. There's a problem between us
and God, and that problem is sin. Everybody knows that. If these dear sweet ladies who
knew nothing about the gospel, if I had asked them if they believed
in God, oh, they believe in God. There's a God. Everybody knows
that preaching. Well, do you believe that sin
has come into this world? Oh, yes, we do. Everybody knows
that sin has come into this world, where it came from, and what
it does, and to what extent it has influenced us, and the amount
of wrath of Almighty God upon it. Now, we disagree in that
point, but we believe in sin. And then they believe that death
comes to all men, and that after death there is a judgment. And after judgment there is eternal
life, either in heaven or hell. Now the poet Longfellow wrote,
life is real, life is earnest, the grave is not its gold, dust
thou art, to dust returneth, wasn't spoken of the soul. He
knew that, and you know that. And all these religious people
throughout this country know that there is death and that
there's life after death. You believe that, everybody believes
that, there's no doubt about that. Everybody knows they're
going to die. And everybody believes that life
after death. Now here is the main point. And almost everybody has some
kind of refuge, some kind of hope. Let me ask you this. Anybody
here this morning believe? Does anybody believe? And I wish
I had the ear of the whole religious community. Does anybody believe? Is there anybody? who believes
that he or she is going to hell. Huh? Nobody. Nobody. Everybody's got a hope. Everybody's
got a hope. Everybody. Everybody has a hope. Everybody's got a refuge. That's
what God says here in the word we read a moment ago. Look at
verse 15. God said, Now you speak to these
people, and you say this to them, verse 15, You have said, We have
a covenant with death. Now, we don't want to die. We
don't want to die. We're not like the Apostle Paul
just yet. Paul said, I have a desire to
depart and be with Christ. We don't have that desire. We
can't say with the Apostle Paul, I'm in a strait betwixt the two,
having a desire to depart. We can't say with Paul, for me
to live is Christ and for me to die is gain. The best thing
that could happen to me right now is to die. We can't say that. But we've got a covenant with
death. We don't want to die, but we're not afraid to die.
We're not afraid to die, we accept it, we know it's a fact, we know
it finally must come to all men, and finally it'll come to us.
We bought our insurance policies, we bought our lots out the cemetery,
and we've made out a will, and we've told the preacher we'd
like him to preach our funeral, and we want him to sing the sweet
by and by, and we want him to sing, will the circle be unbroken.
We got it all fixed up, and we don't want to die. That's the
last thing we want to happen. And heaven's our home, but we're
not home safe. And we got it all fixed up. We
made a covenant with death. We're not afraid to die. Don't
want to now, but we're not afraid of it. Greed on. And with hell,
are we at agreement? We have an agreement with hell.
Sure there's a hell, Fletcher. I'm not a heathen. I believe
there's a heaven. I believe there's a hell. You
believe you're going to hell? No, sir. No, sir. That's never
entered my mind. Now, so some folks may go to
hell. I'm sure that some folks may
go to hell. But me, me, why, that's the farthest thing from
my mind. I've got an agreement with hell.
I am not going to hell. Now, we tell other people to
go to hell, but we don't plan on going there. We've got an
agreement with hell. Read on. And when the overflowing
scourge shall pass through," that's God's wrath, as you read
those later verses in Isaiah 28, you find out that that scourge,
that overflowing scourge, that all-consuming flood, is God's
judgment and God's wrath that shall be unleashed upon all men. And we say when it comes around,
It's not going to come unto me. I'm all fixed up. I've got a
hiding place. I've got a storm cellar. I've got a place in which I can
hide that the wrath of God and the flood of His judgment is
not going to come to me. I'm not afraid of the judgment.
That's what these people say. God said, you speak to them,
Isaiah, and you tell them, I know about their covenant with death,
and I know about their agreement with hell, and I know about their
refuge, but their refuge is a refuge of lies. They're not deceiving
me. They're deceiving themselves.
They're hiding in a refuge of lies. They're covering themselves
with falsehood. Now read on down in verse 17. Here's the sad news. God says
your refuge is a refuge of lies. God says your hiding place is
falsehood. And here's when you're going
to find it out. Verse 17, God says, Judgment also will I lay
to the lion, and righteousness to the plummet I don't know a
whole lot about a plummet, but I know that when a fellow's laying
a wall, a block wall or a stone wall or a brick wall, that he
uses that line and that plummet, that weight, and he gets that
line exactly, exactly straight. And God Almighty says, I'm going
to deal in exact righteousness. At the judgment, at the judgment,
I'm going to deal in justice, clear-cut justice. I'm going to deal in righteousness
with all men, nothing secret that shall not be revealed, nothing
hidden that shall not be made open. Our thoughts are going
to be measured by God's thoughts, by the perfect line, the straight
line, the holy line, the immaculate line of God's thoughts. And our holiness is going to
be measured by God's holiness. And our righteousness is going
to be measured by God's righteousness. Oh, the awful, terrible, fearful,
perfect righteousness of God Almighty. And then he's going to say to
that man or woman who came in without a suitable covering,
without a holy garb, without a suitable garment? How'd you
get in here?" And they're going to be speechless, and he's going
to call for the angels to bind them hand and foot and cast them
into the hell with which they had agreement, and cast them into the judgment
of God's eternal condemnation, which they said will never come
to us. but they never knew the holiness
by which they'd be measured. They had no idea of the righteousness
with which they would be examined, nor the thoughts and purity. And then there's going to be
the strangest prayer meeting that was ever held. And then
there's going to be the strangest prayer meeting that's ever been
conducted. Not the saved, but the unsaved
are going to start praying. and not to God, but they're going
to cry to the rocks and the mountains. And they're going to pray not
for life, but for death. They're going to pray for the
death with which they had the covenant. And they're going to
pray not to see God's glory, but that His face might be hid
from their sight. Oh, hide us from the face of
Him that sitteth on the throne. But that prayer won't be answered.
God says, your covenant, look at verse 18, I'm going to lay
judgment to the line. It's going to be a straight line.
It's not going to be your little line of judgment that lets you
veer a little here and veer a little there. I don't think this is
too bad, and I don't think that's too bad, and I don't think God
would mind this too much, you know, and I think it'd be all
right here and all. God says, I'm going to lay it
to the line. the straight line. I'm going
to lay it to the line." And he said, "...righteousness to the
plummet, so exact as God is exact, and holy as God is holy, and
righteous as God is righteous." How good does a man have to be
to get by in the judgment as good as God? How holy does a
man have to be to get by at the judgment as holy as God? How righteous does a man have
to be to get by for judgment as righteous as God? That's how
righteous. That's how perfect. If you're
going to stand on your feet, they'd better be perfect feet.
If you're going to lift your hands in a plea to God for mercy
at the judgment, it better be hands that have never been stained
with sin. If you're going to lift your
voice to God Almighty and plead your own words, it better be
a voice that's never spoken in anything except holiness. Because
God's going to measure it by the line, by the permit of God,
and then He says you can't stand. Your covenant with death is going
to be dishonorable, and your agreement with hell will not
stand. And then the overflowing scourge
is coming through and is sweeping you away. You've got no place
to hide. You say, Preacher, that men today
have a false refuge. Yes, they do. There's about four
or five false refuges that I'd like to point out to you right
now, in which men and women, boys
and girls, are hiding. First of all, the average religious
person has a wrong idea of sin. A man said to me several months
ago, he said, I used to walk into the church And I'd look
around at the people, and I'd say to myself, I'm as good as
these people are. Why I'm as good as these people
who say they're Christians. I'm even better than some of
them. And you know you're right. I expect you're right. I expect
you could find somebody here this morning, maybe several people,
not quite as good as you are. Not quite as good as you are.
But if you lift your eyes a little higher, you'll find somebody
a whole lot holier than you are. And he's one you got to do business
with. You look up here at me and say,
well, I've known you for years. You ain't everything that you
claim to be. You're right, but he's everything
he claimed to be. And you're not going to deal
with me at the judgment. I'm not the one that's going
to be sitting on that throne. You better be glad I'm not. Yeah, and that fellow sitting
next to you in church, you say you're better than he is, you're
right, but he's not going to judge you. God is. And this man said, I used to
go in church and I'd look around and I'd say, why, I'm good as
these people, I'm better than some. And he said later he found
out what an evil heart he had. He said, I was comparing myself
to other people while God was measuring my thoughts and my
words and my deeds by his holy law. Now then, I look at the holy
law of God. I don't look at the people around
me and talk about how good I am. I don't look at the people around
me and talk about how much better I am than them. He said, now
I look as in a mirror at the holy law of God and I cry out
like with the leper, unclean, unclean. Oh, unclean. Unclean. Have you ever seen yourself
a sinner? Have you ever gone like the publican
to the temple and cried, Oh God, be merciful to me, the sinner. I'm not responsible for the way
other people are, and the way other people act, and the way
other people live, but I'm responsible to you for the way I think, and
the way I act, and the way I live, and oh God, I've sinned against
heaven, and in thy sight be merciful to me. Let thy blood be propitiation
for me on the mercy sea." Have you been there? A man'll never
be found till he's lost. A man'll never be clothed till
he's naked. A man'll never be raised till
he's slain. And a man'll never be exalted
till he's humble. And a man will never find Christ
the Savior of sinners till he cries with Paul, I'm the chief
of sinners, O more wretched man that I am. Have you seen your
heritage? One with him who tried to dethrone
God? Have you seen your heritage?
one with those who stood in front of Pilate and said, Give us Moabites
and crucify Jesus. Can you hear your voice in that
multitude? Have you seen your lust, your
malice, your idolatry, your covetousness, your evil heart? Has it ever
been opened? Has the cesspool of iniquity
that lives in your breast ever been cut open by the Holy Spirit
and your eyes seen? by the searchlight of God's holy
law, all the wretched, wicked, vile creatures that live there. Have you? Have you? If you have, you won't be talking
about a covenant with death. You won't be talking about an
agreement with hell. You won't be boasting that the
judgment won't come now you. You'll be crying, Oh God, deliver
me. I tell you, another false refuge
in which people are hiding is the wrong idea of the mercy and
love of God. Now brethren, I tell you, I preach
the love of God. I preach it. I believe it with
all my heart. Believe me, honestly. If it weren't
for the love of God, you and I would all be in hell right
now. The love of God, how rich, how pure, how measureless, how
strong, it shall forevermore endure the saints' and angels'
song. God so loved this wicked world
that he gave his Son to die for our sins. Greater love, greater
love, hath no man than mercy lay down his life for his friends. But this world has heard nothing
but the love of God. They haven't heard about the
wrath of God. You boys and girls are taught
from the time you're two years old to sing, Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells
me so. Does Jesus love you? Huh? Come
on now, think a minute. My brother Mahan, God loves everybody,
does he now? Does he? What about this verse
description, John 3, verse 36? John 3, verse 36, He that believeth
on the Son hath everlasting life, and he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath The wrath of God abideth
on him. Is that in your Bible? You have
John 3.36 in your Bible? Have I got an unusual Bible up
here that just goes further than yours? It says here the what? The wrath of God. Turn to Psalms
chapter 5. Let me show you another verse
over here. In Psalms the 5th chapter I believe it's verse
5, Psalms 5, verse 5, listen to it, "...the foolish shall
not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity."
Look at Psalm 7, verse 11, "...God judgeth the righteous, and God
is angry with the wicked every day." Do I have the right to
stand and tell wicked men and women that God loves them when
the Bible says God's angry with them? Do I have a right to tell the
workers of iniquity that God loves them when the Bible says
that God hates the workers of iniquity? Do I have a right to
stand before men who do not believe in Christ who never have received
Christ as their Lord and Savior, who've never bowed to his scepter,
who've never received his rule, and tell them God loves them
when the Bible said they're under the wrath of God? That'd be like
Noah sticking a bumper sticker on the back of the ark. Smile,
God loves you. Every time I see one of those
signs, I think about old Noah and that ark. Here I am sailing
through this ungodly world in my automobile, and men and women
are taking God's name in vain. They're ignoring his blessed
house of worship. They care nothing for his blessed,
precious words. They care nothing that his son
died on the cross for their sin. They care nothing for his holy
law. They care not for any of those things, and here I am riding
down the road with a sign, That fellow hanging to the last
limb on the last tree before the water swept him off. Watch
Noah's ark go by. And there was that sign. God
loved him. I bet he said that's a funny
kind of love. It's a funny kind of love. I'll
tell you where God's love is. Turn to Romans 8. Romans 8, verse
38. Turn over there with me now.
Watch it. Romans 8, verse 38. It says here, I am persuaded,
I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God. Watch it now. Read it with me. Everybody out
loud. Come on now. The love of God.
Read it. Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. That's where she is,
my friend. The love of God's in Christ.
It's in Christ. It's deeper than hell, it's higher
than heaven, it's broader than infinitude, it's further than
the infinite space that reaches out yonder in the unfathomed
trails of eternity, the love of God, but it's in Christ! That's
where it is. And out of Christ is judgment
and wrath and hell. There's mercy. Turn to Romans
8, verse 1. Now look at it. Yes, there's
mercy. Romans 8 says, there is therefore
now no condemnation, no judgment, no fear. Watch it. To them who are in Christ. There's no judgment to them who
are in Christ. There's no hell to them who are
in Christ. But outside of Christ, my friend,
there's condemnation. and judgment and wrath. Turn
to Romans 5, verse 1. Listen to this. Romans 5, verse
1. Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God. Where is it? It's through our
Lord Jesus Christ. You don't have any peace with
God, do you, out of Christ? God's angry with you. God's angry
with you. If you're out of Christ today,
you've got no peace. You've got no rest. You've got
no deliverance. You've got no hope. God's angry. The frown of heaven is upon you. I'll tell you something else.
There's another false refuge in which people hide. They've
got a wrong conception of sin. They've got a wrong conception
of the mercy of God. The mercy of God's in that cross,
like it was in that ark. The mercy of God's in that cross,
like it was in that brazen serpent. The mercy of God's in that cross,
like it was in the blood of the lamb, the Passover lamb in Egypt,
outside of the blood there was wrath and death. And outside
of the cross of Christ is wrath and death. I'm telling you the
truth. Here's one preacher that's not
looking for a bigger church. I got all I can handle. And this
is all I want to be responsible for at the judgment. Here's one
preacher who's not looking for a bigger salary. Here's one preacher
who's not looking for friends. I got plenty of friends. I like
the ones I got. You want to be my friend, that's
wonderful. You want to go to hell, that's your business. But
I'm going to tell you the truth. The love of God's in Christ,
and the peace of God's in Christ, and the mercy of God's in Christ,
and outside of Christ there's nothing. but wrath and judgment
and hell. You're out of Christ this morning.
I don't care how educated you are and how moral you are. I
care not how long you've been a church member. If you're not
in Christ, God's angry with you, bud. You're under the wrath of
God. God doesn't love you. His love's
in Christ. Ain't nothing about you to love.
Somebody says, well, he loves the sinner and hates his sin.
How can you separate the sinner and his sin? You are sin. You
are a sinner because you are sin. You were born in sin and
shaped in sin in the flesh. Well, it's no good thing. You
can't separate yourself and your sins. That's what you are, sin.
Your mind is enmity against God. Now look at the third thing.
I'll tell you another refuge in which people are hiding, a
profession of salvation that does not produce the fruits of
the Spirit and the works of faith and love. Now listen to me. I'm
going to say four things here. It's a false refuge. that gives
a man a hope for heaven who is unholy in his life. That's a false refuge. It's a false refuge that lets
a man love God and hate his fellow man. That's a false refuge. It's
a false refuge that grants forgiveness to me while I refuse to forgive
somebody else. That's as phony as a three-dollar
bill. It's a false refuge that gives
mercy to me while I give no mercy to anybody else. That's phony. You can't separate faith and
conduct. Works can't save, but nobody's
ever been saved without them. Prayer can't save, but no man's
ever been saved who didn't pray. Giving can't save, but a selfish
man going to hell. Morality won't save, but an immoral
man doesn't know God. Now you figure that out, but
that's so. That's so. A profession of salvation
that does not produce in me The fruits of the Spirit and works
of love and faith is a false refuge, and I'll find it out
at the judgment. I may sit around and say, I'm
in agreement with hell, and I may sit around and talk about the
covenant I have with death, and I may talk about how I'm going
to find the judgment, but I'm not going to fire at all, because
I'm hiding in a false refuge. Have you ever tried to sleep
on a bed that was too short? Ain't too comfortable, is it?
Have you ever tried on a coat? You go to bed at night, and it's
not too cool, but the thermometer drops during the night, and you're
a long-legged fellow, you know, and the cover's too narrow, and
the bed's too short, and you pull that cover up and get your
shoulders warm and your feet free, and you push that cover
down and get your feet wrapped up in it, and your chest gets
cold, you know. It's just too narrow and too
short, and that's what these religious experiences are. He
says in verse 20, your bed's too short. not comfortable, you
can't find comfort except in Christ. All of the works and
baptism and church membership and professions of faith and
all these things won't give a man ease and rest and peace and comfort
and warmth because the bed's too short and the cover's too
narrow. And I'm not telling you anything
you don't know. The fourth false refuge is this. Now listen to me. An old experience
that stays old. You know, it's great to hear
men and women tell how they were convicted of sin, and how they
came to a knowledge of Christ, and how the gospel was preached
to them, and they trusted Christ and leaned upon Christ, but my
friends, to go back to that own experience to prove that I know
the Lord is poly of the worst sort. Repentance is not an isolated
act, it's a state of being. I have repented, I am repenting,
I shall repent. Faith is not an isolated act
that happened behind the barn 25 years ago and is now forgotten. Faith is something I have believed,
I am believing, I shall believe. I don't have to go back one day
to prove the Lord is my hope. He's my hope now. I don't have
to go back one day or one week or one year to prove the Lord
is my Redeemer. He's my Redeemer right now. The
cross is my refuge and the blood is my covering and the sacrifice
is my atonement now. Right now. And if we have to go back yonder
25 years ago and lean on an old experience, and lean on an old
feeling, and lean on an old profession, and lean on an old decision,
it's like a man pulling out a birth certificate trying to prove he's
living. That's foolish. I worry about people that have
to go back to prove they're safe. You know, I've married, I've
performed marriage a lot of times. Young couples come to me and
want to be married. And they walk down the aisle
together and they stand here in front of me. If I were to
say to that young boy, you love this girl? Why, he'd say, yes. Of course I do. But 25 years
later, or 26 years later, if by the grace of God they lived
together through those years. And I say to that boy, you love
this girl. You've been married 225, 226, 227 years. I sure do,
preacher. Do you love her more now than
you did then? Oh, I didn't love her at all then. I thought I
did. I didn't even know I did. But we've lived together 20 some
odd years. We've wept together, we've laughed
together, we've prayed together, we've worshipped together, we've
rejoiced together, we've raised our children together. I love
her now more than I've ever loved in my life. And that's the way
it is with Christ. If you're saved, if you know
him, You go back there 25, 26, 30 years, way back yonder and
say, I'm saved because back yonder I fell in love with Jesus. Boy,
you didn't love Him then. You do now, don't you? You didn't
know anything about sin then. You didn't know anything about
rebellion then. You didn't know anything about
evil then. Boy, you do now, don't you? Huh?
You do now. So that's what worries me about
people who have to go back to prove they're saved. If you haven't
grown in grace and knowledge of Christ, you're not living.
Anything that lives, grows. Let me give you another false
refuge quickly. In Acts 24, verse 25, Paul stood
before a man called Felix, and he talked to him about righteousness,
Christ's righteousness and his lack of it. He talked to him
about He talked to him about judgment to come in Phoenix,
Temple. And he answered and he said,
Paul, you go your way right now. I believe what you said. I sure do. You've been, you've
rung my bell. But now I don't, I don't have
time today to deal with these matters. Tomorrow I'm going to
do something about it. Yeah, Paul, you're right. You're
right about that righteousness. We don't have any by nature.
We don't have any by birth. We don't have any by deeds. We
need a righteousness that God will accept. We need a holiness
with which God will be pleased. We need a covering. I agree with
you. Paul, you write about that sin
deal. You write, all is sin and comes
short of the glory of God. You write about that. You write
about that atonement. You write about that sacrifice.
You write about judgment to come, and I don't have a mediator,
and I don't have a hope, and I don't have a redeemer, but
I don't have time right now to deal with it. So tomorrow, next
week, next year, I'm going to settle this matter. And that's
the worst false refuge that there is today, is tomorrow. Because, my friend, tomorrow
you'll be dead. And tomorrow you're going to
stand at the judgment. And tomorrow you're going to
hear God say, Depart from me. And then tomorrow you'll be in
hell. Today is the day of salvation.
That's what this Bible says. Now is accepted time, right now. You believe that? Felix never
did sin for Paul. This was his day, right here.
This was the day God spoke to him. This is the day God warned
him. This is the day God stripped him. This is the day God sent
his messenger. This is the day God Almighty
delivered the ultimatum! This is the day! And Felix said,
tomorrow. And God said, no, today. Tomorrow,
not today. Today. I want to give you one
other thing from Isaiah 28, and then I'll let you go. Isaiah
28 and verse 16. God says, Behold, I lay in Zion. I lay in Zion. This is the foundation
that God laid. It'll stand. I didn't lay it. The preacher of the Baptist church,
God laid it. It'll stand against death and
hell and delivering the judgment. This is a hiding place that'll
cover you in time of storm. God said, I lay in Zion, the
church, for a foundation, a stone. Christ is the stone. He's strong
and durable. God laid this stone in his everlasting
covenant and purpose. This is the cornerstone. This
is the Savior. This is the Redeemer. This is
the stone that we build upon for eternity. Allea stone, God
said. And read on. He said it's a tried
stone. Tried by the Old Testament saints
who put their trust in Him. Tried by principalities and powers
and rulers of the darkness. Tried by Satan. Tried by sin
in all points. Tried by the Father. who committed
to him all the elect, tried. He's been tried in all points,
and yet he never failed. And God says he's a precious
cornerstone. He's precious to the Father who
loves him and delights in him. He's precious to the angels who
behold his glory and delight in his victory. He's precious
to every believer who finds in him our hope. and our life, and
our deliverance, and our redemption, and our wisdom, and our sanctification. Without Christ, I'm as sure for
hell as the devil is. Without Christ, I'm under the
wrath of God like the demons of darkness. Without Christ,
I have no hope. He is precious. More precious
than life on this earth. And then God says he's a sure
foundation. He'll never give way. He's a
sure foundation. And he that believeth on him
shall not be ashamed. You got a refuge? Who is it? You mean picture what is it?
No. Who is it? You got a hiding place? Who is
it? You mean, what is it? No, I mean,
who is it? Paul said, I know whom I have
believed, and I'm persuaded he is able to keep that which I
committed unto him against that day. Okay, preacher, you're right,
and I'm going to do something about it. When? Tomorrow. That's
what I thought. That's what I thought. Let's
turn and sing one verse of Scripture, or one verse of a song.