We are going to look at a very
unusual and somewhat difficult book in the Bible,
the book of Ecclesiastes.
I would imagine from my experience through the
years that comparatively few of you have ever
studied the book of Ecclesiastes other than just
a cursory survey perhaps in some course that
you've had.
We tend to fleek from this book because
it is somewhat difficult, but it is part
of the Word of God.
Every book in the Bible is important, or
it wouldn't be.
Of the world, and his name is Satan,
the Bible speaks about him as the ruler
of the world and an evil ruler he
is.
In contrast, the ruler of the other kingdom
is our Lord Jesus Christ.
I'd like you to turn to 1 Corinthians
8, verses 5 and 6.
It's a verse that's not too familiar in
some way or other, but it's a favorite
of mine, the two verses at least.
1 Corinthians 8, verses 5 and 6.
For even if there are so-called gods,
whether in heaven or on earth, as there
are many gods and many lords, yet for
us there is only one God, the Father,
of whom are all things, and we for
him, and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom
are all things, and through whom we live.
I like to think of this as a
pledge of allegiance to those who are in
the kingdom of God's Son.
They're beautiful verses, aren't they?
Let's look at them and see what they
say.
Even if there are so-called gods, whether
in heaven or on earth, what's that mean?
I thought there was only one true God.
Well, there is only one true God.
But don't forget that Paul was writing to
the Corinthians, and Corinth was in Greece.
And the Greeks had a lot of gods,
mythological gods, and some of them were supposed
to live in heaven, and some of them
were supposed to live on earth.
And the people to whom this book was
written had no difficulty understanding this verse at
all.
They would think immediately of the gods of
mythology, the Greek gods of mythology, when they
would read Paul's words here.
Even if there are so-called gods, whether
in heaven or on earth, as there are
many gods and many lords, you think of
all the idols, you think of Hinduism, thousands
of gods in India, false gods of court.
Makes me think of an interesting story.
There was a man in India years ago
named Silas Fox, greatly used of God in
seeing assemblies planted, and he came to visit
in one of the other missionaries' homes.
And there was a Hindu woman who lived
downstairs, and she was really fascinated by the
Christians.
And while Silas Fox was upstairs having lunch
with the Bullocks, she crept up, she wanted
to meet him.
And then she met him, and she quickly
left and went downstairs.
But after Silas Fox left, she went upstairs,
and she said to Mrs. Bullock, I saw
the God in his face.
A Hindu woman who had thousands of gods,
and she looked on the face of Silas
Fox, and she said, I saw the God
in his face.
It was quite an admission, wasn't there?
Well, as far as the world is concerned,
there are many gods and many lords, but
to us, ah, this is it, yet for
us there's only one God, the Father, of
whom are all things, and we for him,
and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are
all things, and through whom we live.
And then Colossians 1.13, with which we
began last night, it was our golden text
last night, where we read that God has
delivered us from the power of darkness, and
translated us into the kingdom of the Son
of his love.
What a wonderful transfer that is.
Now, the subjects of these two kingdoms, all
unconverted people, are the subjects.
In fact, everybody is born into that kingdom,
born in sin and shapen in iniquity, and
we read in 1 John 5.19 last
night that the whole world lies in the
evil one.
That is, the whole unregenerate world lies in
the evil one.
This is kind of sobering.
If you are here tonight, and you are
unsaved, the devil is your ruler, and in
that kingdom you are earning hell.
Did you know that?
Hell is earned.
Heaven is received as a free gift.
It's awfully important to realize that.
People are trying to earn heaven.
You can't earn heaven.
Mark Twain said it well.
Mark Twain wasn't a believer, but you know,
many a truth has been spoken between false
teeth, and he said a great one.
He said, heaven goes by favor, not by
merit.
If it went by merit, your dog would
go in and you'd stay out.
Think about that for a while.
Heaven goes by favor.
Great, huh?
Heaven goes by favor, not by merit.
If it went by merit, your dog would
go in and you'd stay out.
And anybody who likes dogs would understand that
parable.
So it's a solemn thing, isn't it, to
be a member of that kingdom, and to
be led around by Satan at will.
And the only way you can get out
of it is by the new birth, isn't
it?
John 3, 3, 5, Except a man be
born again, he cannot see or enter the
kingdom of God.
And it's really a change of citizenship, isn't
it?
To come out of that first kingdom and
go into the second kingdom, you're really changing
your citizenship.
And you show it by water baptism.
In water baptism, you are pledging your allegiance
to the Lord Jesus Christ.
You're saying, I take myself off the ground
of this world, as it were, this world
system, and I identify myself with the Lord
Jesus Christ, believing that he died for me,
that he rose again, he bought me with
his precious blood, and I belong to him.
That's what it's all about, isn't it?
Thank God for everyone in the room tonight
who has, by a definite act of faith,
received Jesus Christ, who has repented of his
sins, and by a definite act of faith,
received the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and
Savior.
Thank God for everyone in the room tonight
who has gone down into the waters of
baptism, pledged his allegiance to the Lord Jesus,
been buried with him, and risen with him
to walk in newness of life.
People who are subjects of that first kingdom
are at home in the world.
It's all they've ever known, and they feel
quite comfortable there.
And you can believe that the ruler does
everything that he can to make them feel
comfortable there.
He blinded their eyes, lest the light of
the gospel of the glory of Christ should
shine unto them.
How successful he is, I often marvel at
it.
Whereas believers are strangers, pilgrims, and aliens in
this world system.
What does that mean?
What's that all about?
Peter says in 1 Peter 2.11, I
beseech you as strangers and pilgrims that you
abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the
soul.
What's a pilgrim?
Well, a pilgrim is a person who's going
through a foreign country, and he does it
in such a way that he doesn't take
the character of that country upon himself.
He's just as different when he leaves the
country as when he came into the country.
It's alien territory for him.
In one sense, the Jewish people are like
that.
Not in this sense that we're speaking of
here, but you know, it's amazing how the
Jewish people have maintained their identity down through
the years, isn't it?
There are Jews in Ethiopia.
There are Jews in China, Chinese Jews.
Jews in India, Cochin Jews.
They've been there for centuries.
They're still Jews.
Elders are living in India, but they're still
Jews in their practices and in their belief.
That's what it should be for the Christian,
shouldn't it?
Going through this world.
You should go through the world, but not
take the character of the world upon himself.
As the Lord Jesus said, he's in it,
but not of it.
Let's look at these verses in John chapter
17, verses 11, 14, and 18.
John chapter 17, verses 11, 14, and 18.
I pray, now I am no longer in
the world, but these are in the world,
in the world.
And I come to you, Holy Father, keep
through your name those whom you have given
me, that they may be one as we
are.
Verse 14, I have given them your word
and the world has hated them because they
are not of the world, just as I
am not of the world.
Verse 18, as you sent me into the
world, I also have sent them into the
world.
See, in the world, into the world, not
of the world.
That's what the scripture teaches.
Let's go back just for a minute to
verse 11 and let me make a comment
there.
Holy Father, keep through your name those whom
you have given me, that they may be
one as we are.
What did Jesus mean when he said that
they may be one as we are?
Do you mean one denomination?
Was he referring to the ecumenical movement here?
Well, of course, these verses are used by
the ecumenical movement as a reason why all
Christians should come together.
Forget doctrine, it's unity that counts, huh?
Doctrine divides, and what they want is a
unity at the expense.
Is that what Jesus meant here?
Did he mean unity in the sense of
a visible entity on earth?
I don't think he did.
I really believe that the unity for which
the Lord Jesus was praying in this chapter
of scripture was a spiritual unity, a moral
and spiritual unity.
He wanted his people to be like himself.
Unity in Christ like this.
That's what makes the world believe.
I mean, you could have all the ecumenical
movements that you ever wanted, and the world
still wouldn't believe.
But when people see Christ in another human
being, it makes a difference.
A few years ago in our discipleship intern
training program, we had a young fellow who
was dying of melanoma, a very vicious form
of cancer.
And there was a district nurse that used
to come out to the house and visit.
And one day she said to Donna, Rob
makes me think of Jesus.
You know, that's beautiful, isn't it?
Rob makes me think of Jesus.
And she said the disciples, she said the
interns make me think of the disciples with
Jesus.
That's what Jesus was praying for here.
That's exactly what he was praying for.
A unity in Christ like this.
Because he says they may be one as
we are.
That is, as the father and the son
are.
A moral and spiritual unity.
Well, that's just a little bit off the
subject, but I thought I just wanted to
mention that as we went along.
I also want to mention in verse 14,
a verse that is spoken loudly to me
in life.
I have given them your word and the
world has hated them because they are not
of the world, just as I am not
of the world.
I want to ask you a question.
How much was Jesus of the world?
Not at all.
How much should you and I be of
the world?
Not at all.
Is that what it says?
Absolutely.
Because they are not of the world, just
as I am not of the world.
People of the world love the world.
They love the world.
It doesn't say it in 1 John 2,
15, 16 and so many words, but it
certainly implies that love not the world, neither
the things that are in the world.
If any man loved the world, the love
of the father is not in him.
And what it really means is that people
who are in the world, they love the
world.
They don't love the father, but they love
the world.
They're never comfortable when they remember the father.
They're only comfortable when they forget him.
It's the difference, isn't it, between an unsafe
person and a safe person?
An unsafe person is only happy when he
can forget God, and only sad when he
remembers him.
But the believer is the very opposite.
He's only sad when he forgets the Lord,
and only happy when he remembers him.
Believers do not love the world, neither the
things that are in the world.
And incidentally, in this epistle, John is giving
the marks of reality.
And you know, 1 John is an epistle
that's very much needed today, because there are
so many people who have a talk of
Christianity, even evangelical language, but they don't show
the marks of reality in their life.
That's why this epistle was written, to give
the test of life that we might go
to them and see if we're really saved
after all.
Believers are nonconformists.
At least they should be.
They shouldn't fit the pattern of the world.
Romans chapter 12, verse 2, And be not
conformed to the world, but be transformed by
the renewing of your mind, that you may
prove what is that good and acceptable and
perfect will of God.
Boy, it's tough to be a nonconformist, isn't
it?
I mean, all the pressures around us, the
peer pressure and all the rest, is trying
to force us into the mold of the
world.
And the world hates us if we resist
that pressure.
The Lord Jesus was a nonconformist, wasn't he?
He didn't fit the pattern of the world.
That's why they crucified him.
Hard to be a nonconformist, and yet it's
the only pathway of blessing.
Some years ago in an assembly in Massachusetts,
a young girl going to school, and she
was in a literature class, and the teacher
required all the class to memorize and recite
publicly the poem Invictus by William Henley.
It's an infidel poem.
That's what it is.
It's an infidel poem.
It says, Out of the night that covers
me, black as the pit from pole to
pole, I thank whatever gods may be for
my unconquerable soul.
There's no gospel in that, is there?
In the fell clutch of circumstance, I have
not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is
bloody but unbowed.
And it goes on to say it matters
not how straight the gate, how charged with
punishment the soul.
I am the master of my fate.
I am the captain of my soul.
And if you're shocked by that, just remember
that's the humanism that's being taught in the
school today.
Well, there was a girl in one of
the assemblies in Massachusetts.
She went to school.
She said to the teacher, I will not
recite that poem publicly.
She was a non-conformist.
And I want to tell you something.
It was in the newspapers.
Not because they proved to her at all.
What kind of a radical was this that
wouldn't recite a classic poem of English literature,
in fact, just by William Henson.
And that poor girl, she suffered for it,
you know.
She suffered ridicule.
And she suffered reproach for the stand she
took.
But some dear Christian friend came to her
and said, look, there's another version of that
poem, a Christian version of that poem.
Why don't you go to this teacher and
ask her if you can recite a Christian
version of that poem by Dorothy Day.
And so she gave her a copy of
the poem.
And that dear girl went up to the
teacher and gave her permission, not knowing what
she did.
And that girl got up in her classroom
and she said, Out of the light that
dazzled me, bright as the sun from pole
to pole, I know the God, I thank
the God I know to be for Christ,
the conqueror of my soul.
It matters not how straight the gate.
He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the master of my fate.
Christ is the conqueror of my soul.
She swam against the tide.
It's tough to swim against the tide, isn't
it?
Any dead fish can swim along with the
tide.
But it's something to take a stand for
the Lord Jesus.
Maybe that's what the film is about tonight,
isn't it?
Never ashamed.
That's it.
Never ashamed.
Be a nonconformist.
Don't fit.
And that's what Phillips says in his translation,
his paraphrase of Romans chapter 12, Don't let
the world around you pour you into its
mold.
Beautiful, isn't it?
Worth the price of the whole book.
Don't let the world around you pour you
into its mold.
It's not that we isolate ourselves from the
world.
It's that we are in an adversary relationship
to the world.
There's hostility between the child of God and
the world.
You say, Why?
Well, I told you why last night.
Because it's the world that nailed the Christ
of God to the cross of Calvary.
That's why.
And we are in an adversary.
It's not a question of coexistence or detente,
but testifying against the world that its deeds
are evil.
Let's look at that scripture.
John chapter 7 and verse 7 says it
very, very clearly and very, very plainly.
John 7, verse 7.
The world cannot hate you, but it hates
me because I testify of it that its
works are evil.
Jesus is speaking to unbelievers here.
He's not speaking to Christians.
He's not speaking to followers of it.
He's speaking to unbelievers and he says the
world can't hate you.
I don't know any more stinging indictment that
could be made of anybody.
I don't want those words said to me.
The world can't hate you.
But it hates me and it hates anyone
else who testifies against it that its deeds
are evil, that its works are evil.
But it's not just that.
It's not just having this adversary relationship to
the world and testifying against the world.
It's telling her, look, there's a way of
escape from where you are.
And we have the message of reconciliation.
We're ambassadors for Christ as though God did
beseech you through us.
We pray you in Christ's head be reconciled
to God.
We have a positive message to take to
the world.
God has made him to be sin for
us who knew no sin that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him.
And so we can go to the world
with a gospel of redeeming grace and see
men and women saved from this wretched system
and translated into the kingdom of the Son
of God's love.
Now, people who are in the world are
loved by the world.
The world loves its own.
John chapter 15 and verse 19.
The Lord here, of course, is speaking to
his followers, to believers.
And he says, well, let me go back
to verse 18.
If the world hates you, you know it
hated me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world
would love its own.
Because you're not of the world, but I
chose you out of the world.
Therefore, the world hates you.
I wonder if you've ever had this experience
in life that maybe at work, maybe at
school, maybe in the neighborhood, and people in
the world show hostility to you and you
scratch your head and you say, what did
he say that for?
And you rack your brains and you can't
think of a single reason why people treat
you with that hostility.
Have you had that experience?
We have a young man in our assembly.
His name is Matt Clark.
And Matt works at the Naval Air Station
in Alameda.
He's a civilian worker in the Naval Air
Station at Alameda.
And Matt lives the Christ-like life.
Across the desk from him there's an unsaved
fellow called George Mendoza.
If George ever comes to Christ, it'll be
through the life and testimony of Matt Clark.
Sometimes Matt's boss comes in and chews Matt
out for something Matt hasn't done of all.
Something he's not guilty of at all, and
Matt sits there and turns the other cheek.
And do you know, sometimes it gets so
bad that George Mendoza, the unsaved fellow, has
to leave.
He can't take it.
The hostility of the world.
What has Matt done?
Just lived Christ, that's all.
Turns the other cheek when he's abused and
persecuted.
And it's so bad that an unsaved fellow
next to him has to get up and
leave.
He can't take it anymore.
That's a testimony, isn't it?
That's a testimony to live Christ before the
world like that.
So don't be surprised.
Young people, don't be surprised if you're living
Christ before the world and you experience the
hatred.
It's normal.
It hated him before it hated you.
And I guess that's the time when we
should really rejoice, isn't it?
That's the way they treat us, the prophets
of God in the Old Testament.
The only type of prophet the world likes
is a dead one.
They'll come and put wreaths on the grave
of the dead prophet.
That's what Jesus said.
What does the world have to offer?
Not very much.
All that is in the world.
The lust of the eyes.
The lust of the flesh.
And the pride of life.
They're not of the Father.
They're of the world.
The world passes away.
The lust thereof but he that doeth the
will of God abideth forever.
What does that mean?
First of all, let me just say this
about the word lust.
When we think of lust, generally speaking, we
think of sexual immorality.
The word itself is kind of a neutral
word.
It means appetite.
Lust means appetite.
And it could be good.
I mean, your appetite for food is a
lust, but it's a good one.
But generally speaking, in the Bible, the word
lust is used in a bad sense.
And it's used in a bad sense here.
The lust of the eyes.
The incessant craving for the satisfaction through the
eyes.
The satisfaction through the eyes.
It conjures up images of people of the
world traveling all over the world.
And they just think, if I can see
enough of the world, I'll be satisfied, you
know.
And so they jump on the bus, and
they go all over the world and jump
out at the vista points and snap away
with their cameras and jump back into the
bus and go on to the next vista
point and they come home with 30,000
slides to bore their friends.
The lust of the eyes.
Never satisfied.
You know, it's amazing, isn't it?
One look of the Lord Jesus is enough
to satisfy the human heart.
But all the world, the sights of all
the world won't do it.
The lust of the flesh.
Yeah, physical appetite, that's what it is.
Physical appetite, and especially sexual appetite.
That's what Hollywood says.
If you just get enough of it, you
know, you'll be satisfied.
And the pride of life, the ego trip,
that's all the world has to offer.
And everything in the world caters to those
three things.
That's what Hollywood's all about.
That's what TV's all about.
That's what magazines are all about.
Advertisements.
All of them.
Lust of the eyes.
Lust of the flesh.
The pride of life.
In contrast to that, the kingdom of our
blessed Lord offers the desires of faith.
Hard to get people to realize this, but
what you see is not as important as
what you don't see.
What you see in this world is often
fantasy.
What you don't see is reality.
It's through the eyes of faith that you
see what's real.
Now, that's why I have here the desires
of faith.
We walk by faith and not by fight.
Does that just sound very practical?
It is practical.
It's the only thing that is practical.
Instead of the lust of the flesh, the
desires of the Spirit.
Ah, yes.
The Holy Spirit creating desires in us.
Glorifying Christ.
Setting our affections on things that are eternal.
Occupying us within.
People ridicule pie in the sky.
Pie in the sky is more real than
pie on earth.
And more lasting, too.
And then to the glory of God rather
than the pride of life.
The believer doesn't live for self and to
glorify self.
He lives to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
First Corinthians chapter 10, verse 31.
Therefore, whether you eat or drink or whatever
you do, do all to the glory of
God.
I'd like to just pause there and go
into greater detail as to what Christ's kingdom
offers.
And I think this will strike a responsive
chord in your heart tonight if you know
and love the Savior.
When you think of the blessings of your
salvation, what do you think of?
You're glad to be a Christian tonight.
I certainly am.
And one of the first things I think
of is the forgiveness of sin.
Ephesians chapter 1, 7.
In whom we have redemption through his blood,
the forgiveness of sin.
I tell you, I think it's wonderful to
stand here tonight and to know my sins
are gone.
To know the penalty has been paid once
for all.
To know that God can search his records
and he can never find a single sin
to bring against me in a day of
judgment.
I'm sure you've heard the story of that
Englishman who had a Rolls Royce and he
went across to France on a vacation.
And while he was in France, the rear
axle of his Rolls Royce broke.
And he went to the local garage and
they said, well, sorry friend, we don't have
any rear axles for a Rolls Royce.
They said it in French, of course.
And so they telephoned across to England.
And the Rolls Royce company in England sent
two mechanics across the channel to France with
a rear axle for the man's Rolls Royce.
And they were there and they saw the
rear axle installed.
The man went and continued on his vacation
and ultimately he came back.
He came back to England and waited for
the bill, the enormous bill from the Rolls
Royce company.
He waited and waited and no bill came.
So finally he sat down and he wrote.
He said, look, I was over in France
on my holidays.
And he said, he said the rear axle
of my Rolls Royce broke.
And he said, you sent two men across
with a rear axle and fixed it.
And he said, I've never received a bill.
He got a letter back from the Rolls
Royce company and said, we have examined our
records carefully.
And we can find no record of a
Rolls Royce ever having had a broken axle.
I want to tell you something more wonderful
than that.
God can examine his records carefully.
He can find no record of sin in
the life of the person who has trusted
his Son, the Savior.
The Old Believer's Hymnbook, there was a verse
of a hymn that said, Reach my blessed
Savior first.
Take him from God's esteem.
Prove Jesus bears one spot of sin, then
tell me I'm unclean.
That's it.
Let me say that again.
Reach my blessed Savior first.
Take him from God's esteem.
Prove Jesus bears one spot of sin, then
tell me I'm unclean.
God would have to find sin on his
own beloved Son before he could find it
on the Believer and the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is sin with which to punish him
with eternal death.
It doesn't mean he doesn't see sin in
my life from day to day.
Of course he does.
Forgiveness of sins.
Marvelous, really, when you stop to think.
We take these things for granted, don't we?
How recently have you thanked the Lord for
the forgiveness of sin, redemption through his blood,
even the forgiveness of sin.
And that isn't all.
Eternal life.
I don't know why the people of the
world don't think about this, but you know,
we're only here for a very short time,
aren't we?
Life is just a vapor.
It's just like a hand breath.
I had an uncle in Scotland who was
a compulsive witness.
He witnessed to everything that moved.
And one day he was going into town
and he passed a young fellow named John
Morrison.
And he crawled across to him and he
said, John, do you ever think about your
soul?
John said, it's a funny thing.
You should ask me that.
He said, only this morning I was thinking
my days are as a hand breath.
And he said, I'm right on the edge,
ready to fall off into hell.
Michael said to him, let's get down on
our knees.
And down by the side of the road,
they got down on their knees.
Michael said to him, will you trust Christ
two weeks from today, John?
And he burst out crying.
He said, no, I'll trust him today.
And he did.
And he passed from death to life.
Yeah.
Eternal life.
Hope beyond the grave.
What else does Christ's kingdom offer?
It offers love, not lust.
Love, not lust.
1 John 3.1. Behold what manner of
love the Father hath bestowed upon us.
That's really wonderful.
The world offers lust.
Lust cannot wait to get.
Love cannot wait to give.
That's the difference.
The other night, I think it was last
Wednesday night after the prayer meeting, I stood
there outside.
Our Christians were all there.
And having the happiest fellowship after the prayer
meeting, young John Mulgrew came up to me.
And he said, Bill, this is great, he
said.
He says, you know, before I was saved,
Carol and I didn't have any friends.
He said, look at us now.
You're looking out over the saints, you know,
people who loved them.
People who shared their joys and their sorrows
and were bound with them in the same
bundle of life.
It comes to know the difference between love
and lust.
Joy, joy.
I tell you, it's really wonderful.
Romans 14 and 17.
Kingdom of God is not meat and drink,
but righteousness and peace and joy in the
Holy Spirit.
The Christian has a joy that's independent of
earthly circumstances.
That's wonderful.
The world doesn't know that.
The world's happiness is dependent upon circumstances about
him.
But the Christian can go through the deepest
trials and sorrows and yet have joy in
his heart.
We can stand by the grave of loved
ones who've gone to be with the Lord
and our hearts are touched.
We're sorrowful and yet we have joy.
They're home with the Lord.
We're sorrowful because of the loss to us.
But they're in the presence of the Lord
enjoying him at that very moment.
The Christian's joy is something really wonderful.
And then, of course, the Christian has peace.
Peace, perfect peace in this dark world of
sin.
Imagine it.
The blood of Jesus whispers peace within.
And this is really a wonderful testimony to
the world about us where they can see
us walking in peace.
Therefore, justified by faith, we have peace with
God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And the peace of Christ garrisons our hearts
day by day.
And then, that's Philippians chapter 4, verse 7.
Hope, the Christian's hope.
Hebrews chapter 6 and verse 19.
Hebrews 6 and I think it's verse 19.
Just turn to it.
Yes, this hope we have as an anchor
of the soul, both sure and steadfast, in
which enters the presence behind the veil.
When we use the word hope in the
world, that is in everyday conversation, there's always
a measure of doubt.
Are you going to be there?
Well, I hope so.
May and may not.
Where the word hope is used in the
Bible, there's never any doubt about it.
Do you know why?
Because it's based upon the promise of God.
And the promise of God is the surest
thing in the universe.
There's nothing as sure as the word of
God.
And so, when God gives us the hope
at the time of our salvation, and we
are saved in hope, we're saved in an
attitude of hope.
There's no question about it.
It refers to the redemption of the body.
It refers to the glorified state.
It refers to the coming of Christ and
our being with him.
And it's just as real as if it
had already taken place.
The people in heaven are enjoying heaven more
than we are, but they're not more sure
of it than we are.
Isn't that right?
More happy, but not more secure, the soul
of the blessed in heaven.
And then this is a wonderful benefit of
Christ's kingdom, a worldwide family.
And it's real, friends.
It is real.
Matthew 19, verse 29.
Everyone who has left houses or brothers or
sisters or father or mother or wife or
children or land, for my name's sake, shall
receive a hundredfold and inherit everlasting life.
And I want to tell you the Lord
is true to his word.
I've traveled around the world now for many,
many years.
And everywhere I've gone, I've found God's family
doing their utmost to show kindness to me
for Jesus' sake.
I'm only with them a very short time,
but it seems I've been with them forever.
And I want to tell you that no
fraternity, no Masonic order, nothing of the sort
can compare with the family of God.
I'm so glad I'm a part of the
family of God.
And then I'm just going to close with
this one.
There are more.
Take them up next time.
The Bible.
I cannot tell you how grateful I am
for this book.
Because when I hold this book in my
hand, I'm holding the truth in my hand.
When I think of the people who are
friends of mine and they spend their lives
searching for truth.
Isn't that what they say?
I'm not searching for truth, I found it.
Sanctify them through thy truth.
Thy word is truth.
Truth is what God says about something, isn't
it?
That's what truth is.
Truth is what God says about something.
And I tell you, as I stand here
tonight, it gives me a tremendous joy and
a tremendous thrill to know that I have
within the covers of this book the answers
to all the problems that plague humanity.
The problem of creation.
The problem of sin.
The problems of providence.
The problem of life after death and the
future states.
They're all here within the covers of the
Bible.
Guy King said in his book one time,
what lucky beggars we are.
I know there's no luck in the things
of God, but I tell you that struck
a responsive chord in my heart.
What lucky beggars we are.
We'll go on in the morning, I believe
it is, the next meeting, with the other
things that Christ's kingdom offers.
I hope it fills your heart with joy
tonight if you know the Lord.
That you go back and before you go
to bed tonight, get down on your knees
and just pour out your heart in thanksgiving
to the Lord for all that he's done
for you.
And I hope if you're here and you're
not safe, it's made your mouth to water.
Made you in a hurry to come to
Jesus.
Shall we pray?
Amen.