I think he went back to work. He went to the parks down there. Talked to Mike Butler last night. He's doing better. His knee has now been at 88 degrees.
He can't get any more degrees, he can drive the car. He's feeling better about that.
Oh yeah, Jim Poe is not here today because he had a car wreck. He was making a left turn and
some guy come through. They don't want to know who's
fault it was. It might be Jim's, but I don't know. But he took
the front end off that car. He's not hurt. Banged up a little
bit, got some scratches. But he's callous. In front of
him, he's pretty much gone. So remember him in your prayers
also. Other than that, I can't think of any others. Does that
answer your question? All right, let's begin our worship
service with hymn number 449, God Be the Glory. God be the glory, great things we have
done. Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise the lord. Praise the lord. Praise the lord. Praise the lord. Let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord. Let the people rejoice. Come
to the Father, to Jesus the Son, and give him the glory. Make
peace with him and love him. Jesus we see Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear his voice. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice. O come, let us adore him, O come,
let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us
adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him,
O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let
us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come,
let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come,
let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us
adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let
us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore
him, O come, let us adore him, O come, let us adore him, O come,
let After Scripture reading and prayer, we're sinking to 463. If you have your Bibles, turn
to the Revelation of Jesus in the last chapter, chapter 22. Go read one verse of Scripture. Our Father in heaven, blessed
be your name, hallowed be your name. You who do all things well
and do all things right, you who are the creator, consummate sustainer of everything that
is and lives upon this world and throughout the universe.
We thank you, Father, for the full salvation wrought by Jesus
Christ on Calvary's tree. We thank you by his shed blood
and his perfect death, he satisfied every to those for whom he died. Rose from the grave and ascended
to thy right hand. We can never be able to make
intercession for these people. We can never praise you enough
for your kindness, your mercy, grace, and mercy. Pray for those who are sick and
going through trials. Pray for those who have shut-ins.
Thank you for the prayer that's feeling better. Lord, pray that
you continue to make Help us, Lord, to remember these
others who requested prayer, these others who are upon our
hearts, the Parks family, Christy, Jackson, Kate, and also the Burrells
and the Parks. We ask the Lord to be with them.
Help us, Lord, today to worship you in spirit and in truth. Teach us thy word and thy way.
uh... uh... uh... uh... uh... ? Who can she love like Jesus ?
? By His presence will be found ? ? True and tender and gracious
? ? Oh, how sweet to call Him mine ? All that fills my soul is Jesus. He is more than life to me. And I'm very stoked and thousand
in my thanks to the Lord I sing. All that fills my soul is Jesus. Is more than life to me And a
very strong and powerful song In my breast you will not see
What a wonderful, beautiful song Never can a mortal fly is more than life In my blessing, Lord, I'll stay. Here in Jesus Christ, I'll find
Him. Here in Jesus Christ, I'll find
Him. All His things to me, He is all
in all to me. All that gives my soul is Jesus,
He is more than life to me. with the rest of the world Praise and glorify the King! All the virtues of His Jesus, He
is more than life to me. And the very strong devotion
in my heart I see. And the Father gave me approach
in the name of Jesus Christ, that blessed name, that wonderful
name, whose name is wonderful, the counsel of the mighty God,
the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace, whose King of Kings
the Lord forms, and yet we have given him to you people, and
with him and freely given him all things. We're grateful. Let us never
be full of ingratitude. Be thankful always. And we know
that everything we have is sad, but what we deserve is grace. Bless us to live up
to the opportunity to pray in Christ. Amen. Amen. and and and and and So, I invite your attention back
to Romans Revelation Chapter 22. The Word of Blessing begins this so we
know that it is a Beatitude. The words of our Lord are Beatitude. There are several of them in
Scripture. Most of religion looks at Beatitude
and sees that it is a conditional promise. they believe that if you do something,
God will bless you. Let me be very clear, as clear
as I can be. You can't do anything, anything, that would cause God
to bless you. It simply don't work that way.
Let's put the cart before the horse. One famous preacher, in
a crystal palace, talked about the hour of power, wrote a book
on the Beatitudes, on the Sermon on the Mount, and entitled the
book, The Be Happy Attitudes. The premise of the book is that
if you did what the Beatitudes promised, then you'd be blessed,
and therefore consequently happy, if you did what the Beatitudes
said. Blessing, according to history, If you are a child of God, if
you have been saved by His grace because of the shed blood and
perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ, if you have been made
alive through the Spirit, through the preaching of the gospel, you already are. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in Him, according as He's chosen us in Him for the
foundation of the world. That we would behold Him, but
not blame Him for it, and love Him, having predestinated us
to the adoption of children by Jesus Christ, and to Himself,
to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He's made
us accepted in the blood. I know some of these people. One said that David was a man
after God's own heart because he was a praying man. No. David
was a praying man because he was a man after God's own heart. Actually, the realization of
the promise is the result of being blessed of God. If, for example, God has blessed
you to be a peacemaker, he has likewise promised that you will
be called the children of God. If he has blessed you to be persecuted, Likewise, promise that yours
is the kingdom of heaven. The Lord Jesus pronounced nine
beatitudes in a certain amount in Matthew chapter 5 verse 20-12. The Apostle Paul, by divine inspiration,
gave us what some call the last beatitude in Acts chapter 20
verse 35 when he said, Remember the words of the Lord. Now he
said, In the revelation of Jesus Christ,
our Lord pronounces seven final blessednesses. seven final Beatitudes, seven
things that will come as a result of God blessing you. I just read
one of them to you, Revelation chapter 22 verse 14, but let's
begin back with Revelation 1. Revelation chapter 1 verse 3
it says, Blessed is he that readeth and they that heareth the words
of this prophecy, and keep these things which are written therein,
for the time is at hand, if the Lord has blessed you. And you
will read and hear this word, and absorb this word, if the
Lord has blessed you. You will notice there is a distinction
made here by the use of different pronouns, there's a distinction
between he singular and they plural. It's like it refers to
public worship when a preacher reads and gives sense to the
words and the congregation hears the words with understanding.
That's how it's referred to over in the book of Nehemiah when
the prophet read the book of God in verse 8 of chapter 8,
he said, so they read in the book of the law of God distinctly
and gave the sense. gave the sentence, and caused
them to understand the reading. That's what this is talking about.
Blessed is that man who hears the word of God, him who preaches
it. If you have heard the word of
God, if you have heard the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, from
one whom God has sent and called to preach and enabled to preach.
And you have absorbed this work. You know why that is? Because you've been blessed.
God has blessed you to understand that. Paul said this about Thessalonians
chapter one, or Thessalonians chapter four and five. He said,
knowing this, brethren, beloved, your election of God, where our
gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and
in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance, as you know what manner
of man the Lord will be for your sake. The gospel came to you
different than it comes to some. Not everybody that hears the
gospel believes God. They do leave the building knowing
what they don't believe if the preacher's done his job, because
the gospel not only helps it melts the ice, it hardens the
clay. The gospel always does something,
it's always triumphant when it's preached. But if you, standing
here this morning, sitting here this morning, come to understand
the truth of the word of God, you've been blessed to do so.
Now you didn't understand the word of truth and then God blessed
you because you understood it. You are blessed of God to understand
the truth. God has blessed some to die in
the Lord. That's what it says in Revelation
chapter 14 and verse 13. I don't know whether any of you listened
to the message that Brother Chris Cunningham preached, Lee Parks'
funeral, but it was a blessing to get it on YouTube. God has blessed some to die in
the Lord. In chapter 14, verse 13, it says,
and I heard a voice from heaven saying, right, blessed are the
dead which die in the Lord. Blessed are the dead which die
in the Lord. From henceforth, yea, saith the Spirit, that they
may rest from their labors, and the works do follow them. Those of us who've been around
for more than a day or two that life is a vapor. It is quicker
than a pulse and faster than a weaver's shovel. What we accumulate
will end up in someone else's hands. And men may hold that
having stuff is synonymous with being blessed. Many do. But true blessedness is this,
to die in Christ. Precious. in the sight of the
Lord, or the dead. You notice in this text it says
in verse 13, write, blessed are the dead which die. That seems to be a double thing
there. Blessed are the dead. Who are
the dead that die in the Lord? They are those who are dead in
Jesus Christ. whose life is hidden in Jesus
Christ, who died when Christ died, and they're already dead.
That's why Paul told the Colossians, we are dead. And our life is
hidden with Christ in God. So if you're dead in Jesus Christ,
then you will die in the Lord. And the thing about that is,
the reason that takes place is because God has blessed you.
God has blessed you. True blessing is to die in the
Lord and enter eternal joy and peace and have your works follow.
It says their works do follow them. I like the way that's put.
It says in this book also that the Lord knows our works. It
doesn't say that we know them, but it does say that he knows
them. He said our works do not go before us to prepare a place
for us in heaven. Christ has already done that.
We do not carry our works with us as the basis of our acceptance
of God. or for a reward in heaven, but
our works do follow us to heaven for the praise and honor and
glory of Christ. When they arrive, they will all
be attributed to God. Over when our Lord was talking
to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 verse 21, it says that he that
doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be
manifest. that they were involved in God. We come and bring our works,
we don't bring them, they follow us, and when they end up there,
we'll have to say, hey, God did all that. That's God's doing. If you do anything, God will
release it by grace. It's by grace and grace alone.
God has blessed some to preserve and persevere in the faith. Look
at Romans chapter 16, verse 15. Says this, behold, I come as
a thief in the night, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that
watcheth and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and see his
shame. Blessed is he that perseveres
in the faith. God's people look for that day
when Christ will come and carry them home. I admit in my young
years as a child of God, I didn't think about it as much as I do
today. But I think about it a great deal more. especially as I see
the condition of the world. I know people are just so upset,
they just want to straighten things out and they put some
serious stuff on Facebook to try to straighten out things.
The world wouldn't be in this mess if God just wants you to
give Him 60 seconds a day to talk to Him. God wants you, needs
you to talk to Him if you talk to Him. This world is in a mess
because it has to be in a mess. This is according to God's ordained
purpose. This world is in going down the
tubes. And there's some political stuff
going on. It's just me and Debbie shake our heads, scratch our
heads. There's a group of men, rich men, elite men who already
figured out how to take care of this plant. They're going
to do it by vaccinations, by food processing, by having manufactured
viruses. They've said this, they're saying
it openly now, they used to talk about it. They're saying now,
we want to reduce the world's population down to 1 billion
people. Can you imagine that? That's 1 billion
people, they say, because they call you and me, poor old people,
useless eaters. That's what they call us. You
look at that and say, man, this world must be ending. This must
be ending. And I'm all for it. I'll be honest
with you. Because I know, save for one
or two people, the people I love in this world are going with
me when I go. Going with me. A couple of them
I'm not sure about. But I have hope. And I have hope. for Him in faith. He says He'll
come as a thief in the night, but not to His people according
to 1 Thessalonians. To His people. They'll be watching
for Him. They'll see Him when He comes. This is the single
eye of faith. Faith never quits. It just keeps
on watching. As we keep our garments, that is the garments of salvation,
which Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah chapter 61 in verse 2. Persevering
in faith. How shall we overcome the work?
1 John 5 verse 4 says we shall
overcome the world by faith, by something that can't be seen,
can't be judged, can't be touched, can't be taken from us, something
that can't be lost, can't happen. God has blessed some also with
summons to the wedding feast in Revelation 19 verse 9 It says this, and he saith unto
the right, blessed are they which are called into the marriage
supper of the Lamb, and saith unto thee, these are the true
saints of God. Summoned to the wedding of Jesus
Christ, when finally he and his bride consummate their marriage. She was given to him in all eternity
in election. He became their surety. she has
promised to him he died for all that the Lord had given him and
their table is reserved. their table is reserved. Jeremiah
chapter 50 verse 20 it says in those days
and in that time saith the Lord the iniquity of Israel shall
be solved. the people of Lutheran sinned. There shall be none. How in the world can that be? Only if their sins have been
put away by Jesus Christ. And the sins of Judah, they shall
not be found. For I will pardon them whom I
reserve. Them whom I reserve. This is
the Lord's doing and it's marvelous in our eyes. Blessed are they
who are called to the wedding This call, this summons is the
effectual call of the gospel. Blessed is the man whom thou
choosest that calls us to approach unto thee. Paul said, we're bound
to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of
the Lord, because God is from the beginning chosen to salvation
through sanctification of spirit, belief in the truth, or until
he calls you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. God has blessed the Son to be
born from the blood to be born of His will and by His Word.
Revelation 20 verse 6 says, Blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection. On such the second death hath
no power. But they will be priests of God
and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years. is the Lamb of God who was slain
and redeemed us by His blood out of every kidney, neck, and
tongue of the people that made us kings and priests unto our God. What blessedness is this that
we should be called sons of God? That's what John, in amazement
in 1 John chapter 3 said. What manner of love is it? What
kind of love is this? We don't know anything. We love
people that love us, and we hate people that hate us. We don't
know anything about that kind of love. Here it is, a love manifested
in people who naturally carnally hate God and despise the mention
of his name would dethrone him if possible. John when he considers himself
and his brethren in Christ, he says, what kind of love is this?
And we should be called sons of God. Us, of all people, should
be called sons of God. Born of God. Born of His blood,
new birth, regeneration, is the beatitude of grace. Bless you.
You're blessed if you're born again. I know many great books
on how to be born again, but I'm going to tell you how to
be born again. Search it. You'll not find one
thing connected to new birth that you knew anywhere in this
book. Just like you were connected to anything in your natural life.
You didn't have anything to do with that. You were born because
your mother and father got together and mixed up his sperm with her
own and then they created a zygote and it grew and grew and grew
and for nine months and then it popped out and there you were. Now you were born. Now the Lord
uses that analogy to say this is how it all takes place. How
are we born? By the Spirit. with the Word of Truth. You are
born not of corruption, but incorruptible, even the Word of God, which is
given to them by the Father for ever. This is the Word of God,
which by the Gospel is preached unto you, that you burn. Those over whom the second death
has no power are those who have been resurrected. They are in
the first resurrection. When was that? When Christ rose.
When Christ rose. Our Lord said in John chapter
5, verse 25 it says, Verily, verily, truly, truly,
I say unto you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall
hear the voice of the Son of God. Paul illuminates that whole concept
in Ephesians chapter 2. Most beautifully, I might add, when he says this, And you have
been quickened, resurrected, who were dead in trespasses and
sin. That was your condition when God brought you. Wherein
in times past you walked according to the course of this world,
however the world went, whatever the world thought, whatever was
new in the world, you went right along with it, according to the
prince of the power of the air. You were the devil's minion,
but you were a child of God and didn't know him. He's the spirit
that now worketh in the children of the disobedience, among whom
we also had our conversation. In times past, in the lust of
our own flesh, fulfilling the desires, of our flesh and of
our minds were by nature. Thankful, those two words are
there. By nature. Carnally, as we're born in the
world, that's where we were. We were by nature the children
of wrath, even as others, but that's not the end of the story. But, it says, God, who is rich
in mercy, for his great love were with he loved us. Even when
we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, we are saved. Quickened us together with Christ.
It is after you have been raised from the dead and saved by His
grace that we are made kings and priests under our God. This
is blessedness. Not the future. Not in some future. Millennial Kingdom. It's now. Are you in Christ Jesus? Now.
You were all born because you took part in that first resurrection
and the second death which is hell and the lake of fire. I'm
not going to pry over you. You're not going to worry about
it. You're not even going to stand before God and judge it.
You've already done that in Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago on Calvary
Street. when the judgment comes, those books that are opened up
are for those that don't know Christ and they're going to end
up in the lake of fire and say, another book, your name's in
it. And it don't have anything to
do with your sin, it has to do with your sinlessness. His name is written in the Lamb's
book of life. You see, for the child of God,
the judgment day is going to be a roll call. You don't have
to be a judge, you've already been judged. Completely and fully. God has given you birth in Jesus
Christ. That second death has nothing to do with you. God has blessed some to
obey the gospel. Look at Revelation 22 verse 7.
He said, Behold, I come quickly. Blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecy of this book. If you believe the gospel,
it's because you've been blessed. If you obey the gospel, it's
because you've been blessed. All thanks for your obedience
belongs to God. Over in Romans chapter 6, Paul
talks about the doctrine of Christ. In Romans chapter 6, verse 17
and 18, it says, But God be thanked. Don't lose those four words. Because this is what everything
else is based on, and this is what follows here. But God be
thanked that ye were the servants of sin. What? You were the servants
of sin. But God be thanked that you have
obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered
to you. God be thanked for that. That means you wouldn't have
believed it had God not done it for you. Being then made free
from sin, you became servants of righteousness. But God be
thanked for that. Blessed to obey the gospel. To
be blessed of God is to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our
Lord spoke of His sheep. and John chapter 10 and he spoke
of them in distinctive language because there were those standing
about him who were very religious men who believed they were sons
of Abraham and they were children of God but they weren't because
they didn't believe on Christ and he addressed their unbelief
by saying this he said well you believe not because you're not
my sheep If you want my sheep, you can believe me. See, my sheep
believe me. Well, who are his sheep? Those
who believe me. Why do they believe him? Because he's blessed to
do so. You believe nothing because you're
not a sheep. My sheep, here are my boys. And
they follow me. And I give to them eternal life. And they shall never perish.
Neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which is greater than
all, gave me then that no man is able
to pluck him out of my Father's hand. Two-fisted security. In
the hands of Jesus Christ and in the hands of the Father. This
is what it is. to obey the gospel, to enjoy
us, to be blessed, to believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus
Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ
who has blessed us for all eternity. God has blessed some to do the
commandments of God, which is our text that I read this morning
in chapter 22, verse 14. Behold, I come quickly, for the
Lord is with me, to give every man according to his works, I
am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the
last. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may
have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the
gates into the city. What is the city? The city is
the bride of Christ, it's the church. Revelation 11 and 9 teaches
that. When the new Jerusalem is laid
down, John is shown what precedes that. The angel says, you want
to see the bride of Christ? He says, yeah. And down comes
the new Jerusalem, the mother of us all, the bride of Jesus Christ. His
commandments are very simple and easy to be born. John says
they're not grievous. They're not grievous to be born.
We believe in Christ, we offer to God perfect righteousness
and the complete fulfillment of His commandments. That's how
we approach God, through the blood and righteousness of Jesus
Christ. We are a royal priesthood to offer acceptable gifts unto
God by Jesus Christ. All who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ have a right to live forever. That's what it says. They have
a right! to the tree of life. He said, well, I don't have any
rights. Be like old John Jasper. Old John Jasper was a black preacher,
former slave. He went out to preach. They wouldn't
let him preach in white churches, you know, because he was a black
man. This is way back, right after the Civil War. So he preached
black funerals. They let him do that. But he
was such a preacher. White people would get in their
horse and buggies and travel miles and miles and miles. And
they would sell the funerals to black men. Jesus Christ, you have a right
to Him. Why? Because Christ is your righteousness.
And He's already there, seated in heavenly places. And so are
you according to Ephesians chapter 2, seated in heavenly places. All who believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ have the right to live forever. God made it so when
he declared that our salvation in saving us, he was righteous
in doing so. He wrote this in chapter 3. By
the gift of God, the purchase of Christ, and the imputation
of righteousness to them, they are blessed with worthiness.
to inherit eternal life. They of themselves are not worthy,
but they are blessed of God with worthiness, with the right to
be in the very presence of God. You see, I can think all by the
blood of Jesus Christ. In Colossians 1.12 it says, giving
thanks unto the Father. There it is again. I show you
thanks again. Giving thanks unto the Father
which has made us made us suitable to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints of light. Blessed indeed are they that
do his commandments that they may have right to the true life
and may enter into the gates of the city. If anything from
you is God work for His Lord. It is by His grace and His mercy.
And it's because one thing has happened to you. Not that you have a new car,
a new house, or money in the bank. It's because God has blessed
you to be His child. All things that follow are the
blessings Our message to him is that, trust.