She had come to her illness. When I saw her, she was feeling
pretty good, but she went awfully weak. And she told me she was
ready to go home in glory and kind of looking forward to it.
So the Lord has answered that prayer. She's going home to be
with the Lord. So that's the last word I've
got anyway. If that changes, I'll text everybody
and let them know to remember the family in your prayers. And
we'll observe the Lord's tale this morning after morning worship
service. We'll be in our worship service
with hymn number 62, crown hymn with many crowns. Crown Him with many crowns, the
Lamb upon His throne. Hark how the heav'nly anthem
drowns all music but its own. Awake, my soul, and sing of Him
who died for thee. no angel you. He came to save, His glory now
we'll see, Who died and holds your heart, Who died, eternal
life to bring, And in death Him may die. One with the Father known One
with the Spirit through Him giv'n From yonder glorious throne To
Thee be endless praise This is talking about who is
going to be in the church and who is not going to be in the church and who is
in the church and who is not in the church. This is talking about heaven
in Jerusalem, but it's heading down to heaven. And most people
think that's some sort of a beautiful city, but it's clear that it's
the Bride of Christ. It says in chapter, in verse
9, there came unto me one of the seven angels, which had seven
vials full of seven last flags, and talked to me, saying, come
hither, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife. And he carried
them away and showed them to Jerusalem. And it says in verse
22, and I saw no temple there. So in the church, there is no
temple. The church is the temple of the Lord. For the Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of the Holy Temple. The habitation of Almighty God
is the church and its work. It's the body of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And it says in verse 27, and
there shall no wise enter into anything. that defileth, and
neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which
are written in the Lamb's book of life. Let us pray. Our Father,
we come in the perfect name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. We pray,
Lord, that you would meet with us in the presence of your Spirit,
to take the things of Christ and reveal them unto us. To show
us him who is the temple, him who is the head of the church. Show us him who sits at that
right hand having accomplished redemption for his people, fully
satisfying your justice and your law. Him who has been made into
his people wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
We thank you, Father, for all that you've done for your children.
We pray for those who are sick, going through trials. We pray
for those who've lost loved ones. We pray for Ethel's family. Our
sister's gone on to glory now. She's there, Father. What a thing
is taking place for her that we can't even imagine. To worship
without sin, to live without sin, beyond our comprehension. We thank you. That's what awaits
every child of God who has been born of the spirit and washed
in the blood. Prayer for our time together,
the Lord here today as we hear the gospel, as we take the Lord's
table, as we fellowship around the table, we ask the Lord you
would be pleased to give us worship. Fix our minds on what's worthwhile.
Cause us to look at things that are honorable, just, and pure,
even the Lord Jesus Christ. Help us now we pray in his precious
name. Number 128, Wounded For Me. ? Wounded for me, wounded for me
? ? Here on the cross, he was wounded for me ? ? Got my transgressions
and now I am free ? ? All because he touched my feet ? I see. living for me me one day Let us pray. Father, again we
approach in the name of Christ. and a heart full of thanksgiving,
that you have fixed it in your great purpose, that your children,
who have received all the things at thy good hand, are privileged
to return unto thee that which you've given them, for the fervor
of the gospel, for the preaching of it here and in other places.
We pray for everyone who stands today to proclaim the gospel
of your grace, offer it to them and strengthen them. Help us
to appreciate what you've done for us. We pray in Christ's name,
amen. you you you I invite your attention back
to Revelation, the 21st chapter. It's been a common assessment
since the time of King Enable that good people go to heaven.
That's what people think. Of course, the measure of good
has nothing to do with God, but rather by ideally comparing moral
and cultural or societal or regional behavior. The only measure, the
only definition of goodness is God Himself. There is no other
definition of defining character in the universe. In fact, the
name God is a derivation of an English word, and the English
word is good. They changed the word good, took
out an O and capitalized it and made it God, but it means the
same thing. Our Lord said to the rich young
ruler, who called him good master, he said, there is none good but
God. And our Lord revealed his glory
to Moses. When Moses said, show me your
glory, the first thing he told him was, I will make my goodness
to pass before you. The true and living God is good,
but of that goodness, the natural mind has not a clue. They don't
understand what goodness is. The problem then is that since
men have no true concept of goodness or what is good, they have bought
into the religious idea of God and therefore their notion of
goodness is completely diminished. You listen to the language of
the day in which we live, it seems that everyone who dies
goes to heaven. sprouts wings and is watching
over us somehow, no matter who they are or how profligate they
were or if they were a murderer or whatever. Once they leave
this world, they go up yonder. They look down on us and maybe
help us out along the way. Now, this does not mean that
everyone who dies is necessarily good, but the anemic and latiating
concept of God, who alone is goodness, makes it very, very
impossible for him to send anybody to hell. There was a time, not so long
ago, that even the most vile profligate believed that there
was a place called hell. Now, it's rare to hear the word
except in reference to bad things happening to good people, or
if you're in some kind of dire straits of your life or some
calamity is coming upon you, you might say, I'm living in
hell. But that's not hell. I've heard many in this day say
that God is too good to send people to hell. The fact is,
he is too good not to send people to hell. And this poor view of
God that is born of the constant bombardment, false doctrine of
God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life and God loves
everybody, makes it more and more impossible for the natural
mind to believe that hell even exists. Such things have made
preachers to blame natural disasters on the devil. I heard Jimmy Swigert
say many years ago, long before his motel ministry began, many
years ago that God didn't send the flood, the devil did. It's really not only an ignorance
of Scripture, but another stupidity concerning Scripture. People say things, and you've
probably heard it like this, when a child dies or a group
comes to some horrible end, how can there be a loving God if
He lets these terrible things Like genocide and family murder
and child abuse, such things exist in the world. It's easier
for such to deny the existence of God rather than to admit that
they wish such a God existed to keep such things from happening
or to punish those who do such things. The natural mind, whether
a part of religion or not, simply cannot equate bad things to God,
whom they've been programmed to believe is definition of goodness is love.
You listen to people talk about love today. They're not talking
about love. Love is a wondrous thing, a marvelous
thing. Love always goes out to the loved
one. It never comes back. Most people
talk about love today, they talk about sex. That's what they're
talking about. Listen to them. That's what they're
talking about. The love of God goes out from
God, doesn't return to God, save he opens the heart and mind of
believers, of his children. But he doesn't look for it to
return. He didn't act for it to return. He didn't act upon
people who he felt like would return. He fixed the hearts of
everyone. We love him because he first
loved us. That's why we love God. The concept
of the good and loving God has made men question God based on
circumstance rather than judging circumstance based on the will
and purpose of God Almighty. What if the good and loving God
actually causes bad things to happen? What if He did that? Over in
Amos chapter 6, He says this, Shall a trumpet be blown in the
city and the people not afraid? Shall there be evil in the city
and the Lord hath not done it? Done it, it says. Shall there
be evil in a city and the Lord hath not done it? Look back at
Isaiah, the prophet. In Isaiah chapter 45, verses
5 through 7, I am the Lord. Notice that's capital L-O-R-D,
Jehovah God. I am the Lord, there is none
else. There is no God beside, or there
is no God but me. I girded thee, though thou hast
not known me. He's talking about Cyrus, and
Cyrus never knew him. Cyrus died an infidel, but God
used him to deliver the people from Babylon. That they may know,
I girded thee, though thou is not on me. I used this infidel,
I used this rebel, I used this pagan to show something. That they may know from the rising
of the sun and from the west, there is none beside me. I am
the Lord, there is none else. I form the light. and create
darkness. Psalmist said darkness and light
are the same to him. Are the same to him. I form the
light and create darkness. I make peace and I create evil. I the Lord do all these things. And yet this is an example of
goodness. This is God's goodness. What if the good and loving God
actually created some men in order to destroy them? Proverbs
16, verse 4 said, I create the wicked for the day of evil. I create the wicked to punish
them in hell. That's what he's saying. In 2 Thessalonians, he said he
sent people a delusion so they would actually believe a lie.
and then damned them for believing the lie that he gave them the
delusion to believe. I will make my goodness to pass
before you. Romans 9 makes it clear that
he creates some to be vessels of wrath and others to be vessels
of mercy. He creates some to glorify and
others he's fitted or made to destroy. What if the good and
loving God actually loves some men and hated others? You tell people today that God
hates some people, hey, they think you're crazy. But God said He did. He hates
the workers of iniquity. Angry with the wicked every day,
according to Psalms, Romans 9 makes it clear. Jacob have I loved,
and Esau have I hated. And that is preceded by the words,
as it is written, because it was written in Malachi chapter
3. What if the good and loving God has appointed the moment
of every man's death, and no matter what, that man cannot
pass? Ethel and I sat in the hospital room the other day,
and I was reading Scripture too, and after I read Scripture, we
had a prayer, and I talked for a few minutes more. She said, I'm ready
to go. And I said, you'll go when it's
time, and not a second before. and you're not last a second
longer. When it's time, your days are numbered. People celebrate
their birthday, but sometimes you're in that year. It's the
anniversary of your death day. You just don't know what it is.
But it's there. Is it September the 30th? Who
knows? Your day is set. Your days are
numbered. They are with God. He has set
your bounds and you cannot pass according to scripture. Look
over at Deuteronomy 32. Verse 39. See now, that I, even
I, am he, and there is no God with me. I kill, and I make alive. I wound, and I heal. Neither is there any that can
deliver out of my hand." Sounds like the prayer of Hannah, doesn't
it, that she prayed when the Lord gave her Samuel? He killeth
and he maketh alive. Takes the beggar from the dunghill
and sets him among princes. This is the work of the Lord,
because it's good. Because it's good. What if the good of the
loving God decided before the world began, before even one
human being existed, who would go to heaven and who would not
be allowed there? Our text says this, back in Revelation
21. There shall in no wise enter
into it, that is, to the temple. to the Presence of God, to the
New Jerusalem, there shall no wise enter into anything that
defileth, neither whatsoever worketh an abomination, or maketh
a lie, but they that are written in the Lamb's Book of Life."
What an astounding phrase when you think about the title of
my message. Is it as simple as that? It's
as simple as that. As simple as that. Such a God
would be totally outside the control of men. Such a God would
not give account of His matters. Such a God would do exactly as
He pleases, when He pleases, with whom He pleases, just as
He pleases in heaven and earth and all the deep places. Such
a God would think it, according to Isaiah 14, 14, and it would
come to pass. Such a God would never fit puny
man's mold or be subject to his creature's foolish thoughts or
his creature's silly will. But a God, such a God would be
a God and He alone would determine who would be accepted and welcomed
into His eternal home. God is not accepted by human
beings. A worm does not accept a king. It's the king who does the accepting
of us worms. And our text clearly proclaims
that some are welcome in his presence and some are not. In that glorious church, that
New Jerusalem described in such a wonderful, symbolic and metaphorical
poetry, read it sometimes. Some are welcome, some are not
welcome and will never be permitted to enter it. And that place some
are welcome and some are not. Not everyone who dies goes to
hell. Everyone is not up there looking down and watching over
us. According to our text, many would have to crane their neck
to look up if they wanted to watch those who left behind.
There was a man in Luke 16, that's what he had to do. His eyes to
Father Abraham, which represents God. He said, go back and tell
my brothers not to come to this place. He said, no. They have Moses.
Let them read Moses. They're the first five books
of the Bible. Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
They're the gospels. Nine and then every title. They have Moses. Let them hear
him. He said, no. You see, if somebody was risen
from the dead, They'd surely believe him. And he said, no, they won't believe
him even if he's risen from the dead. Even as he's risen from
the dead. There is one who was risen from
the dead by his own power. And it takes an act of God's
absolute sovereign power and will to make that person believe
in the one whom he raised from the dead. Now it takes Peter and proclaims
who will and will not be in heaven and why. First declares who will
not enter in and why and he finds abominations or abominators and
liars will not enter in and in no way can. Paul said the same
thing back in 1 Corinthians chapter 6. when he was setting forth the
fact that the church should never bring any good right before civil
court. He said in 1 Corinthians chapter
6 and verse 9, know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit
the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators,
nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of
themselves with mankind. nor thieves, nor covetous, nor
drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the
kingdom of God." Now the Lord is saying basically the same
thing back to you. Revelation 21 verse 8 says this, But the fearful, and the unbelieving,
and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers,
and idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the
lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second
day. It seems utterly reasonable,
even to the part of a false religion that seems to retain some concept
of the holiness of God, it seems reasonable that such would suffer
eternal punishment. If then some are welcome, the
world would say, well, they must be the opposite of those people. They must be good people. By
nature, those who enter in, those who are welcome, there is no
difference than those who are refused entry. There's no difference. In themselves, there is none.
In fact, back in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, verse 11, it says,
and such were some of you. Such were some of you. Who is it that God has chosen
from the foundations of the world? Who is it that God has accepted
in the beloved to the praise and the glory of his grace? What
kind of folk are they? that God has made them to be
for His glory. Who is it that has heard the
truth of God? The word of life, the salvation,
about the salvation of their souls, that it has taken place.
What kind of people are they? Here they're described in Ephesians
chapter 2 after that glorious chapter of Ephesians chapter
1. And you had to quicken who were dead in trespasses and sins. That's the same people he's talking
about here in that glorious chapter, chapter one. Those glorious recipients
of his grace that were down to the glory of his grace, who are
they? They were those who were dead in trespasses and sin. Where in times past he walked
according to the course of this world. What is the course of
this world? Listen to the world, what's it saying? We followed
that course, whatever Lime came down from on high, that's what
we followed. We walked according to the prince
of the power of the air. The one who ran our show was
Satan. Satan. And that was the spirit
that now worketh in the children of disobedience. The same spirit
works in the children who are continually and continue to disobey
God. Among also We all had our conversation,
our walk. This is where we were in times
past. In the lusts of the flesh, whatever
the desires of the flesh was, fulfilling the desires of the
flesh and of the mind, and were by nature, by nature, as we are
born into this world, were by nature the children of wrath,
even as others. I'm glad those two words, by
nature, are in there. Because that does qualify as
some harm. It says, we who are chosen of God and redeemed of
God and forgiven by God and called by God and sealed by the Holy
Spirit of God, we are no different than those that perish in hell.
By nature, we're the same. But then you have two words that
just jump out at you. But God. But God. who is rich in mercy for the
great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you are
saved." By grace, you are saved. Surely those people that go to
heaven are good people. No, they're not. You say, well,
the good people have to get saved. No, they're not. Their righteousness
is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. He's been made to be
their righteousness. Their redemption is Jesus Christ.
Their wisdom is Jesus Christ. Their sanctification or holiness
is Jesus Christ and nothing else. Well, if they're not naturally
good, but are rather no different from those who perish, how is
it that they are welcomed to the presence of God? How is it
they're accepted in the beloved? The answer is so plain that it
befuddles the natural mind. And I suspect if you tell somebody
this, they'd say, you're just crazy. They have access, they've
been given entry, they're welcome into the holy city because their
names are written in the book of the Lamb. What? And no difference. This is why I'm going to heaven,
if I go there, because my name was written in the Lamb's book
of life. That's the reason, is what it
says. There shall no wise enter into
anything, into anything that defileth, neither whatsoever
worketh abomination, nor maketh a lie. But they which do good
works, no. They which are righteous, no.
They that are written in the Lamb's book of life. They are there because before
the world began, before they existed, before the stars were
hung in the heavens, before the planets were put in their orbits,
God wrote their names in the Lamb's Book of Life. They were written there. And
because God wrote their names there, when they were written
there, before the foundation of the world, because that's
what it says in chapter 13 and verse 8, Talking about Jesus
Christ slain from the foundation of the world. And those who are
not written in the book of life will not believe on him. Are
they not believers? Yes, they are believers because
their names are written in the book. Over in Acts chapter 13,
verse 48, when he talks about the Gentiles who glorified in
the work of God, it says that as many as were written or ordained
to life, Believed. That word ordained is pro-graphical,
but a word graphic for me. As many as were written to life,
believed. The book in which their names
are written is the book of the substitute, the Lamb. The book
of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. And all who are
in that book are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, and they
make kings and priests unto their God. Worthy is the Lamb that
was slain, that has redeemed us by His blood out of every
kindred, nation, and coming people, and made us kings and priests
unto our God. It's a wondrous thing. Us lowly
paupers, worms of the dust, maggots on a dung heap. Christ has crowned
us. He's crowned us. He's made us
kings. And priests, we're priests. We do the work of God. So what
is it? I don't know. But we do it because
the Lord died to do it. We're paid to do it. Priests,
we offer acceptable sacrifices unto the Lord by Jesus Christ.
A short yet precise verse says
it all. Those who enter into heaven are
there by grace alone. Their works neither good or bad
had anything to do with them being there. They're there because
their names are written in the book of life. Chapter 17, verse
8. The same book. It says, the beast that thou
saw'st was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless
pit and go in perdition, and they that dwell on the earth
shall wonder whose names are not written in the book of the
life, the book of life from the foundation of the world, when
they beheld the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. The world's
gonna wonder at the beast, gonna worship the beast, but those
written in the book of life won't. They won't. Those who will not
enter in do not have their names in that book. Chapter 20, verse
15. It says, and whosoever was not
found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of
fire. I've said many times, when the
judgment day comes, there ought to be some books that are open.
And men who don't know Christ will be judged out of those books.
But for the child of God, they're not just out of those books according
to the Word of God. It's a roll call. God opens up the book. There's
Peggy Hill. Here. Name was written before
the foundation of the world. We used to sing that old song,
when the road is called up yonder, I'll be there. I used to think
it was a bad song, because it sounded kind of hard to me. But
for the elect, yeah, that's my song. When the road is called up yonder,
I'll be there, because my name is written in the book of life
before the foundation of the world. Salvation, all of it, every aspect
of it. is set forth in another succinct
and precise phrase. Salvation is of the Lord. Those who are written in the
book of life are written there because Jesus Christ was no substitute
before the foundation of the world. And what that simply means,
he died in our room at his feet. And once a month, this church
gets together around this table, the table that only sinners are
welcome at this point, to rehearse once again the one thing. One
thing that we have utterly and do utterly rely on for our salvation,
and that's the death of the Lamb slain for the foundation of the
world. His death is what we count on. We are thankful for his life,
for his life was impeccable. He knew no sin, he did no sin,
and never had an evil thought, which bid him to be the perfect
sacrifice unto God. But his life was not what saved
us. It's his death that saved us. Because his death answered
justice. We had sinned and come short
of the glory of God. The sword of justice hung over
us like the sword of Damocles, and we were going to die. We
must die. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Jesus Christ went to that cross and offered Himself to
God Almighty. His transaction was not between
Christ and men. Men got a hold of Jesus Christ.
He allowed them to touch Him. You saw what they did. That's
what men think of God when they can put their hands on Him. But
that sacrifice on Calvary was not to men. It was between God
and His Son. Jesus Christ offered God a death
so perfect that it paid the sin debt for
everyone whose names were written in the Lamb's Book of Life. We
gather once a month to remember that, to simply recall it, to
remember that Jesus Christ in His death is one of the saviors.
That's what Paul was talking about when he said, discerning
the body and the blood of Jesus Christ. We understand that His
body and His blood is our salvation and nothing else. And if you
know that to be true in your case, if you are trusted wholly
in the merits of His finished work, His death, then you're
invited to this table to take this speech. of unleavened bread
and wine. Let's ask the Lord's blessing
upon the table. Father, help us to see the simplicity
of the language of Scripture. That those who are in glory because
their names are written in heaven before the foundation of the
world and the Lamb's milk of Christ. That salvation is of
the Lord. that he that believeth on the
Son hath life, and he that believeth not hath not life, and shall
not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. Help us to see the necessity
of this being, for we owe it to God to die, and Jesus Christ
paid what we could not pay. Help us to appreciate the fact
that we're here today, in these beautiful mountains, with brethren
and friends to recall and recollect that 2,000 years ago on a lonely
hill outside Jerusalem called Golgotha, our blessed Savior
paid fully the price of our redemption. He died that we might have life
and have it more abundantly. Thank you, Father, for this opportunity.
We pray in Christ's name. Amen. Yes, sir. Well, the night I rode with the
train, he took bread, the unleavened bread of the Passover feast,
and break it and handed it to his disciples. He said, take
heed. This is my body broken for you. As often as you do it,
do it in remembrance of me. That same night, he took the
cup after he had blessed it. He said, this cup is the new
covenant, a new testimony in my blood. As long as you eat
this bread and drink this cup, you do so forth night and day
until I come again. Do this in remembrance of me." And the scriptures say they stood
and sang a hymn. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now
am found. I was blind, but now I see. Now I know down in Bethel, when
I was down there, I got a lot of hugs. And that's how we finish
these services. Every time we give each other
a hug, pat on the back, shake their hands. We're thankful for them. Thankful
for their new pastor. I had a good meeting down there.
Had a wonderful time with them. That's a good barbecue. That's
always a treat. Good barbecue. So give them a
hug and make them feel welcome. God bless you. Lord bless you.