I know I did. I ate too much,
but I enjoyed every minute of it. Other than that, I can't
think of any announcements except to remember those who have requested
prayer and seek the Lord's help for them. Let's begin our worship
service this morning with hymn number 477. Years I spent in vanity and pride
Caring not my lord was crucified Knowing not it was for me he
died On Calvary Mercy there was great and grace was free Pardon
there was multiplied ? Where my burdened soul found
liberty at Calvary ? ? By God's word and that's my sin I learned
? ? Then I trembled at the law I'd spurned ? ? Till my guilty
soul in glory turned to Calvary ? ? Mercy there was great and grace
was free ? Pardon there was multiplied to me ? And my burdened soul
found liberty at Calvary ? Now again did Jesus say, great is
He ? Who can only sing of Calvary
? Mercy there was great and grace was free ? Pardon there was multiplied
to me ? That my burdened soul found liberty at Calvary ? Oh, the grace that brought it
down to man ? Oh, the mighty good that God did spend at Calvary
? Mercy there was great and grace was free ? Pardon there was multiplied
to me ? By my burdened soul found liberty After scripture reading and prayer,
we'll sing hymn number 17. If you have your Bibles, turn with me
to the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ, chapter 13. Revelation
13. And I stood upon the sand of
the sea, and saw a beast rise out of the sea, having seven
heads and ten horns upon the horns, ten crowns, nobody's head,
the names of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was
like a leopard, and his feet were as feet of a bear, and his
mouth as the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him power,
and his seat had great authority. And I saw on one of his heads,
as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound was healed,
and all the world wondered after the beast. And they worshipped
the dragon, which gave power to the beast, and they worshipped
the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to
make war with him? There was given unto him a mouth,
speaking great things and blasphemies. And things and power was given
unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his
mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name and his
tabernacle and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto
him to make war with the saints, to overcome them. And power was
given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And all
that dwell upon the earth shall worship him whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. If any man have an ear, let him
hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity. He that
killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is
the patience and the faith of the saints. And I beheld another
beast coming out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb,
and he spake as a dragon. And he exercised all power, the
first beast before him, and caused the earth and them that dwell
therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was
healed. He doeth great wonders, so that
he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight
of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means
of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the
beast, saying to them that dwell on earth that they should make
an image to the beast which had the wound by the sword and did
live. he had power to give life into
the image of the beast and the image of the beast should both
speak and cause that as many as would not worship the image
to the beast to be killed. He caused all, both small and
great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their
right hand or in their foreheads, that no man might buy or sell,
save he that had the mark of the beast and the number of his
name, which is wisdom, that him that understandeth count the
number of the beast, for it is the number of a man, and his
number is six hundred, three score, and six. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we are
thankful for your word, which is a light unto our feet and
a lamp unto our path, an entrance which gives understanding to
the simple. We are thankful that you have given us your word,
and you have given us an understanding, and taught us that this book,
from cover to cover, is about the Lord Jesus Christ, beginning
with the creation, setting forth the glories of the new creation,
throughout all of history, this thing called time that sits squarely
within eternity. We're thankful, Father, We can
look at this book and see Him who is worthy of all praise and
honor and glory for indeed He was the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive honor and power and glory. Help us this day to worship Him
who is worthy of our worship and be thankful that you and
your goodness and your kindness did not leave us to fall down
and worship the beast. It gave us unction from on high
that we understand all things. We know that the Lamb of God
is the one who is to be worshipped. Help us this day, Father, as
we go through this day, as we hear the gospel, as we take the
Lord's table, as we dine together, is to do so with joy in our hearts
and thanksgiving for all you've done for us. Pray for those who
are sick, going through trials and tribulation and trouble.
Thou knowest every case, and we know for the saints of God
troubles are our lot in life. We have all things, the world
is ours, but we also have tribulation and trials, all made to bring
us to the feet of Jesus Christ to finally confess and rejoice
to do so that we have nothing on earth but him and nothing
in heaven beside him. Help us now to worship you as
you ought to be worshiped. We know we're frail, weak, and
our minds do drift. For this hour, fix our hearts
upon him. We pray in his precious name.
Amen. Come, thou fount of every blessing. Come, thou fount of every blessing. Feud by heart to sing thy grace. Streams of mercy never ceasing. Call for songs of loudest praise. Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mountain, I'm fixed
upon it. to arrive at home. Jesus saw me when a stranger,
wandering from the fold of God. He, to rescue me from danger,
interposed his Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel
it. Steal it for thy courts above. Now Steve and Sylvester, do you
feel like taking up the altar this morning? Now we're going
to sing the offertory today, hymn number 186, The Church's
One Foundation. Let us pray. Father, it is with
great thanksgiving in our hearts and praise for what you've done
for us that we exercise this portion
of worship that you've ordained for your children freely as they
purpose in their own heart give for the preaching of the gospel
here and other places. We are thankful for such an opportunity
that you would, in your great sovereign power, use such meager
means as poor, wretched sinners saved by grace to send your gospel
throughout this land and in other lands. We count it a great privilege. Help us to worship you now, we
pray in Christ's name. Amen. The church is one foundation. The church is one family. this holy bride. With his own blood he bought
her, and for her life he died. He leapt from Her charter of salvation, one
Lord, one faith, one birth. One holy name she blesses, partakes
one holy food. And to one hope she presses,
with every grace endued. of peace forevermore. Till with a vision glorious and
longing eyes are blessed, and the great church victorious shall
be the church at rest. Yet she on earth hath ? With those whose rest is won
? Oh, happy ones and holy ? Lord, give us grace that we ? Like
them, the meek and lonely ? One eye may well with thee I invite your attention back
to Revelation 13. The important thing to remember about
the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ is that is what it is.
This entire book from chapter 1 to verse 22 is a revelation
of a person and his accomplishment for his church and his guard
and victory in the battle against evil. Another thing to remember is
these things were written on the Isle of Patmos while John
was in the Spirit and he saw the Lord coming. He didn't see
it as some future event. The first vision he had was he
looked, as it were, spiritually and saw the Lord on his way.
And all the seven churches that received this letter looked at these things that we
just read and they probably understood exactly the metaphorical language
that was there much better than we do. We've been hogtied in a lot of
ways in religion by the dispensational movements that have taken place
since the 1930s. It started over in England when a woman in a
fever in the hospital began to speak in delirious terms, language
that could not be understood. There was a preacher there in
a room with her named Darby. He decided she was speaking in
tongues and he was going to be the interpreter. So he started
interpreting it and that became the source of what is called
the pre-tribulation, pre-millennial view of the Revelation. This chapter that I just read
is full of strange and wondrous language. and it would be difficult
to process if we did not know that the key and the subject
of this book is the Lord Jesus Christ. Regardless of time and
energy spent on trying to define the meanings of the beast and
the dragon, this chapter is about Jesus Christ and particularly
as he is represented as the victor in verse 8. And all that dwell
upon the earth shall worship the beast, whose names are not
written in the book of the life of the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Chapters 12 through 14 are the
vision of Christ and His Church being persecuted by Satan in
a time period of history that we call the Gospel Age, which
is now. It's been now since the birth
of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it will be now until He returns.
Men here, when they put these things off to some future date,
will try to dispensationalize these events. In the writings
of John Gill and his contemporaries, as well as a number of reformers,
these beasts were said to represent the Roman church. But when this
was written, the Roman church did not exist. Most dispensationalists
have the church out of the picture after chapter four. They call
it rapture, and the church is not there, and all the events
happen after that. But these all teach the specific aspect
of the life of the church in this age. First, in the age in
which John lived, and all the rest of this age until now. Because
this book is about Christ, it's about the sure victory of the
church against every weapon that is formed against it. Which is
the promise of Isaiah 54, 17. No weapon formed against you
shall prosper. And also our Lord told Peter,
upon this rock I'll build my church, and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it. And if you know anything about
the gates of a city, the gates don't move. Soldiers don't bring
their gates with them. That means the church is militant. It's on the attack. The gates
ain't gonna hold up against the church. as cruel and as horrible as these
beastly characters are, they're no match for Jesus Christ and
his blood-bought children. Antichrist, the system, the government,
and the religion are but fat wood designed for the lake of
fire. Back in chapter 12, in verse 7, it says this, excuse
me, verse 11, it says, And they overcame him by the blood of
the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony, and they loved
not their lives unto death. They overcame the beast and the
Antichrist. We know that this all leads to
the final fall of Babylon, the great whore, which is a religion
that is comprised of the government and religion. The thing that's
being addressed by these two beasts is the religion of the
Antichrist Now what does Antichrist mean? It simply means against
Christ. That's what it means, Antichrist. But it's important to note that
Antichrist is against Christ in a very deceptive manner. No
one would be deceived if the appearance of these beasts was
a literal, physical manifestation. Who would be deceived by that?
a creature coming out of the sea with so many heads and so
many horns, we wouldn't think, hey, that's who we ought to worship. Such creatures appeared as they
are here described, it's a pretty sure bet that folks would know
that they were the Antichrist. Only those who are spiritually
alive can understand these symbolic representations. Understanding
Antichrist is only possible by knowing Christ. You can't know a counterfeit
unless you know the truth. People who work in banks don't
study counterfeit notes to figure out what's found in a counterfeit.
They study the true note and they learn it completely. Now
when a counterfeit shows up, they know. They know. It's only possible. It's only
possible to understand who Antichrist is by knowing who Christ is.
Christ is prophet, priest, and king, and it stands to reason
that Antichrist would mimic Christ in these three offices. As prophet,
Antichrist will speak as if he has a direct line to the mind
of God, receiving new and significant revelations from the ether. The
Bible would not be discounted altogether, but would take a
subservient position to exciting new words of knowledge that come
down the pike As priest, Antichrist will present himself as the representative
of the people of God. If not pointing solely to himself,
he will call into question any that oppose him and present at
least a veiled threat that there's a danger in reprobation if he's
not followed. As king, Antichrist will present
himself as the one who truly cares for his people, provides
for his people, and his rule which is set forth as what is
best for the people. will supposedly end in disaster
if not blindly followed. As king, he also exercises governmental
rule and worthiness to be worshipped. Whether Antichrist is a person
or a system is not clear, as both scenarios seem to be
declared throughout this book. There are five characters mentioned
in this passage of scripture, two beasts, those who follow
him, and Christ and those who follow him. The vision of these
beasts is best viewed in light of the natures they represent.
The first beast is horrible in appearance and is seen as being
given great power and authority, rules by causing followers to
quake in fear, and they laud and worship him for his military
prowess. He's great to make war it says
in verse 4. The second beast in appearance
is less threatening. It appears as a lamb with horns
who is able to perform miracles and wonders and he causes men
to make an image of the first beast and to worship him. It
requires no stretch of the imagination to see what these represent.
The first beast is the Antichrist government which uses fire to
persecute the church. The second beast is Antichrist's
religion, which uses its tender influence to cause men to worship
a false god, deceiving and damning their souls. This teaches that
the persecution of and the hatred for the Church involves the entirety
of society, save for those whose names are written in the Lamb's
Book of Life. the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. Marvel not that Christ said that
the world hates you, it hated me first. And the world's governments
and religions, even those who fall under the title of Christian
or some called Christendom, hate Jesus Christ. These will ruthlessly and relentlessly
persecute the Church but to no avail. But to no avail. Verses 8-10 makes clear that.
It says, And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship the beast,
whose names are not written in the book of life, the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him
hear. He that leadeth into captivity, that's the beasts, shall go into
captivity. He that killeth with the sword,
that's the beast, must be killed with the sword, and that sword
will be the word of God. Here is the patience and the
faith of the saints. One thing that captivates the
minds of many and is the birthplace of a multitude of foolish superstitions
is found in verses 16 through 18, the mark of the beast. Everybody plays around with that.
Hollywood, where would Hollywood be in the ability to make horror
movies without this passage of scripture? Number 666 has taken
on a life of its own. I was at Food Line several years
ago and the total of my order was $6.66. The lady at the checkout would not
allow me to write a check. for $6.66. She changed it to
$6.65. Her countenance fell and her
demeanor was positively fearful and fraught with anxiety. She
could not force herself to deal with that number. When I told
her she had nothing to fear from that number, she looked at me
like I was crazy, like I was insane. But that number, ooh,
666. First, if this number were a
little tattoo inscribed on the forehead of men and women, on
whose head would it be etched according to this passage? It'd be on the heads of those
who know not Christ. It'd be on the foreheads of the
condemned. Why would any believer feel threatened by that? Why
would any believer be threatened by that? If it's tattooed in
the forehead of the condemned, of those who have followed the
beast and antichrist, why would we be worried about that? of course it is not a little
mark any more than the seal of the Lord is a little mark in
the forehead of the saints. It is spoken of in chapter 7
in verse 3. It addresses the minds of these
folks. It addresses the bent of their
minds. What they mind. What is the direction
of their thoughts and their affections. The carnal mind His enmity against
God is not subject to the law, nor neither can be. They that are of the flesh mind
the things of the flesh. It all says the mark is in the
right hand because they attribute their association with Antichrist
as their salvation. The right hand is always salvation.
That's why our Lord said if the right hand causes you to offend,
cut it off. if you believe that you have
something to do with your salvation, cut that off. Summarily, amputated. This mark is a mark of glaring
failure and frustration and defeat. Six is the number of men. It
says that right here in this text in verse 18. It's the number
of men, the number of men. Six, six, six, 666. That tells us something. The
mark, the distinctive attribute of the world's religion and government
is what? Centered on who? Man. The salvation talked about by
most religions to this day has to do with man choosing God.
With man deciding for Jesus. with man doing something to please
God, and whether it be so-called Christianity, or Christendom,
or Muslim, or Hindu, or whatever, a Buddhist, whatever, they all
have to do with somehow reaching a higher plane and connecting
with God by what they do. That's the 666, that's the religion
of man. Man is said to be the final arbiter
in his own salvation, the captain, they say, of his own destiny,
which is an oxymoron. If you have a destiny, you can't
be a captain of it. That's just stupid. The mark of the beast
is man, man, man. And what does our Lord say about
man? Cease ye from man whose breath is in his nostrils, for
wherein is he to be accounted of. The seal of the Lord is Christ,
Christ, Christ. for in him dwelleth the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Rejoice if God has chosen you
and caused you to approach unto Him, and if you ever approach
unto Him, that's why you did. the government and religion of
Antichrist will never deceive the elect. Christ said they shall
not deceive my elect. I have a lot of friends who just
fight all the time over theology and about the Armenians and those
who don't believe this and don't believe that. Listen, all day long I'm not
worried about anybody deceiving me, except myself. I deceive myself pretty good,
but I'm not worried about anybody else doing it. and you shouldn't
either. Don't worry about these other
things. Don't worry about them. You'll not be deceived. If your
names are written in the Bamboo Book of Life, you're going to
be all right. You're going to be fine. You will not be deceived
because your names are written. That word is graffo. Same word
is used with a prefix pro-graffo in Acts 13, 48. As many as were
ordained to eternal life believed written in the Lamb's Book of
Life. I remember many, many years ago in the revivals of religion
when I was a child and hear preachers talk about this Lamb's Book of
Life. They talk about when you come down front, preacher, they
would say, when you come down front and shake the preacher's
hand and confess your sins and say you're a sinner and do the
simple plan of salvation the angel of heaven flies and dips
his wing in the blood of the lamb and writes your name in
the lamb's book of life. That's Oscar Mayer, Bologna.
It's a lie. This says your names were written
before the world began. Before the world began. The elect will not be deceived
by the onslaught of Antichrist because they have an unction
from the Holy One. That's what it says in 1 John 2. Turn back a couple of books to
1 John 2 and listen to this. Verse 20. It says, But ye have an unction.
That's an understanding, a spiritual understanding. He's talking to
all the Church of God. You have an unction from the
Holy One. You know all things. I have not written unto you because
you know not the truth, but because you know it. And there are no
lies in the truth or of the truth. Who is a liar but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ? He's Antichrist that denieth
the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, same
hath not the Father. But he that acknowledgeth the
Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you
which ye have heard from the beginning, and that which ye
have heard from the beginning shall remain in you. Ye also
shall continue in the Son and the Father. This is the promise
that he hath promised us, even eternal life. These things I
have written unto you concerning them that seduce you." He says
you ain't got nothing to worry about, you have an unction. understand
the sheep will not follow antichrist our lord in john chapter 10 said
they will not follow a stranger they'll not hear the voice of
a stranger they'll follow the voice of jesus christ now the
voice of jesus christ is not an audible voice the voice of
the preacher is audible but he can't do a thing for you you
don't want me to do something for you because whatever i do
for you ain't gonna do you no good but the words that i speak
somehow in a wonderful thing they are according to god as
he his purpose to cause them to find purchase in your soul
he says that is the word that's the voice of Christ this word
is the voice of Christ and our Lord said my sheep hear my voice
who hears it? not them people he's just giving
them a hard time in a couple verses before that he told them
you're not my sheep well how do you know? because you don't
hear my voice If you were my sheep, you would hear my voice,
and you would follow me, and I would give unto you eternal
life, and you would never perish. No man would ever pluck you out
of my hand. Now, some jack-legged preacher's
gonna stand up and say, well, you can pluck yourself out. Don't
be stupid. Just stop being stupid. No man is able to pluck them
out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than
all. And no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one. Many will follow the false prophets
that are going out into the world. That's why John says in 1 John
chapter 4, test them, try them, prove them. This 13th chapter
of the Revelation declares that the entire world, save for those
whose names are written in the Book of Life, shall follow the
Antichrist. Everybody's going to follow him. Don't be surprised.
Don't be surprised. The whole world, except for those
whose names are written in the Book of Life, multitudes will
perish tenaciously clean to a false hope. Read 2 Thessalonians 2,
verses 8-12. One sets himself up in the church
as if he's God, laying God in the church. How do you do that?
You take credit for salvation. That's how you become God. Because
God says He's the one that saves His people by His grace and mercy,
by His sovereign grace and mercy. And if you say you have something
to do with your salvation, you're setting yourself up in the church
of God and saying you are God. Who's got the power of salvation
if it's left up to you to decide to have it or not? Who's got
the power? You're the God if that's the
situation. And if you got the power, why
in the world would you pray to God to save anybody? Why would
you do it? Why would you do it? If you have
the power by your will to save, I ought to be praying to you.
So you'd do something. But you don't have. The elect need not fear. They
are secure. Eternally secure. They've always
been and always will be secure. They came into this world secure
because Christ was already taking the office of surety for them,
assuming their debt, signing His name to what they owed to
God, so actually they came into this world not owing God anything
because Christ owed it. He had taken that debt to Himself.
That's what surety means. That's what surety means. They came into this world secure,
and they'll exist in this world secure. Their garments will not
be spotted with the flesh. They will be seen by God as righteous
and holy. They are God's children after
all. When did they become? They were always God's children.
Hebrews 2.14 says, Because His children were flesh and blood,
Christ partook of the same. Who's first in that scenario? Their children. Verse 8 gives us three sure things.
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, that is, the
beast, whose names are not written in the book of the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world." Three absolute things reveal
the security of the believer in the midst of this perverse
and hell-bound world. These things are revealed in
what John says about this book of life. The first secure lock
is election of grace. which the names of those who
will not follow the beast are written. It is an eternal registry
of those whom God has reserved for glorious bliss one day. Jeremiah 50, 20 said God will
look on them and there will be no sin, there will be no iniquity
because he will pardon whom he has reserved. whom he has reserved, the Lamb's Book of Life. Is it
a real book? I don't know. Whether it's real
or figurative, the meaning of it is sure. It is a list of those
whom God has chosen to salvation from the foundation of the earth,
whom God has chosen to save. It speaks to the absoluteness
of God's knowledge of His people. He knows them, there He is. names in his palm engraved to
me. He said, I'll never forget you. A mother may forget her
child, but I'll never forget you. I've written your names
in the palm of my hand. There is a remnant, Paul said
in Romans 11, according to the election of grace. Ephesians chapter 1, verses 3
and 4. You all know it. God has blessed us with all spirit.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
has blessed us with all spiritual blessings in Christ. According
as He's chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy without blame before Him, in love having
predestinated us to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ Himself,
the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He has made us
accepted in the beloved. We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God, to them that called
according to His purpose, for whom He did foreknow. He also
did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that
He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom
He did predestinate, them He also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified. What shall we say to these things?
If God be for us, who can be against us? Who can be against
us? We are bound to give thanks,
brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has from the beginning
chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the spirit
and belief in the truth, whereunto he called you by our gospel to
the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ, God who
saved us and called us with a holy calling. not according to our
works but according to his own purpose and grace which was given
us in Jesus Christ before the world began. The second secure lock is the
eternal redemption of the elect. Men may quibble about this, stating
that believing in eternal redemption removes in man's mind the necessity
of repentance and faith. This is a straw man. I know many
who believe in eternal redemption. Not one of them uses it as an
excuse for profligacy. The argument is groundless when
you consider that time, what is time? It's something that fits squarely
in eternity. Time had a beginning. It began
with the creation of this world. Now the human, this world is
destroyed, but it has a place. you have eternity, imagine a
line, eternity, a line that is endless in both directions, having
neither beginning nor end, and in the middle of that somewhere
is this thing, starting here and ending here, called time. That's where we are. We're in
this thing called time. Now, this time thing is in eternity,
in eternity. What a wondrous thing that is. time is merely a part of the
eternal purpose of God in salvation. This statement declaring that
the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world is a sure proclamation
of eternal redemption of the elect, played out in time precisely
according to script, exactly as God purposed it. Shakespeare
wasn't far off base when he said the whole world is a stage and
we are but actors upon it playing our parts. If you ever understand
who God is and what you are, you will know. As you sit here
this morning, if you live through this day and live for another
40, 50 years, how long you live, when you finish this day, you
will have served your purpose. whether you are a child of God,
one redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, or you are an infidel
that rebels against God all the days of your life, you will have
served your purpose. Elsewise, God is not sovereign. When God purposed it, it's as
good as done. It had not been for this eternal
transaction between God and His Son on behalf of His elect, humanity
would not have progressively digressed beyond Adam, partaking
of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil." He just kept
getting worse and worse. Why? God endures the vessels fitted
to destruction because those whom He has ordained to bring
to Christ are those He has redeemed by eternal blood. the blood of
the everlasting covenant, that's what we'll be celebrating here
in just a few minutes, the blood of the everlasting covenant. Time is the stage upon which
God performs His story, the story of eternal salvation. From eternity to eternity, everything
is about Christ and His work and the salvation He accomplished
for His people. That's God's glory, you see. There's a glory in creation.
There's no doubt about that. Christ is the creator. There's
a glory in providence. It's a wonder far beyond our
ability to comprehend that the glory of God is salvation. That's
what he told Moses when Moses asked him that question. Moses
had seen some glorious things. I mean some glorious, he'd seen
some glory there. He saw the Red Sea parted right
then, standing up in its midst, congealed in its midst. He saw
all those seven places. He saw a burning bush that wasn't
consumed with fire. It spoke out of that bush with
the voice of God, I am that I am. He's seen some things. Why does
he ask for God to show his glory? Because he knows that there's
more to this than that. Show me your glory. more said okay here's my goal claim make my
goodness I will have mercy will be gracious you know about what
god's glory claim Jesus Christ you know anything good for his
people he's going to show mercy on whom
he will and be gracious unto whom he will. From eternity to
eternity, everything's about Jesus Christ. Finally, the entire
point of these blessed words is to declare that those who
are written to life are those for whom Christ shed his blood
and those whom he redeemed. Who's not going to follow the
beast? instead of his people, redeemed
them by his blood out of every kindred nation, tongue, and people,
and made them kings and priests unto their God." Listen very
carefully. Everyone for whom Christ bled
and died is eternally secure by his great work. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. him that comes to me, I'll in
no wise cast out, for I came down from heaven, not to do mine
own will, but this is the will that was sent me, that of all
that God has given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again in the last day. No one for whom Jesus Christ
died will ever Sam, you feel like you can serve?
You feel like you can? Okay. This is the Lord's table, not
the church's table. It's the Lord's table. Those
who are invited to this table are the Lord's people. Those
who have confessed the Lord Jesus Christ, those who profess to
know Him and love Him, those who have been redeemed by His
blood. It's not for everybody. If you're looking to Him alone
and nowhere else for your eternal life, then welcome to this board. Take this table. Nobody in and of himself is worthy,
but He is worthy. And this table is an exaltation
and a commemoration of His worthiness. For we are here today as brothers
and sisters in Christ, but rather, Well, you can. He said to the disciples, I'm
looking forward to this Passover. And this night
he instituted something called the Lord's Table. He took the
Passover bread, it was an unleavened bread. And he break it and give
it to his disciples. And he took the wine and gave
it to his disciples. And he made some statements concerning
this thing. First thing he said, this bread
is my body. Now, they knew, and we know, that this bread is not
his body. and tells us a story about it. and say that it didn't occur. Yeah. of amazing grace, how sweet the
sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost. But now I see. Rune, lana, mi, weji, iga, guna,
e. Now we here at Sequoia, we're
huggers. th th