Hey, Jack, are we on?
Okay, as Bobby Mueller said earlier this morning, we’re going to have a little fireside chat this morning. So I’m sitting down. No, actually, I’m sitting down because I can’t stand.
Well, good morning, saints.
Good morning.
Let’s just begin our time with a word of prayer.
Lord, we are here before You this morning. Lord, we stand before the Almighty. Lord, we stand before our Apostle and High Priest this morning, and we come, Lord, before Your throne by Your precious blood.
Lord, we thank You that that blood has made a way of access to God Himself. Lord, we pray this morning, as we come, that we would have ears to hear and that You would, in Your grace and mercy, speak to our hearts this morning, Lord.
Lord, we just want to meet with You this morning, encounter You. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Well, I’d like to read three Scriptures, all by the Apostle Paul. The first one is 2 Timothy 1:9.
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 Christ Jesus before times eternal.
Philippians 3:12:
Not that I have already obtained, or am already made perfect:
but I press on, if so be that I may lay hold on that for which also I was laid hold on by Christ Jesus.
And in 2 Timothy 4:7—we know this is Paul’s letter just before he was to be martyred—Paul said:
I have fought the good fight,
I have finished the course,
I have kept the faith:
henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.
Brothers and sisters, what is on my heart this morning is finishing the course—being all in to finish the course.
Paul said that he had been called with a holy calling, a calling determined by God before the foundation of the world. Every one of us sitting in this room, and those who may be listening, has a holy calling. That is a calling from God Himself—a special calling, a specific calling for you. Each one of you has been called by the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our part is to respond to that calling. But how important it is for your life, for knowing what your life is all about, once you grasp and are able, in some way, to comprehend that a holy God has called you with a holy calling.
Everyone who is born, God has this calling. But we know that not all fulfill their calling; sadly, not all even come into their calling.
That is what is on my heart this morning: finishing that course, being all in, fulfilling our calling in Jesus Christ, so that at the end of our lives we may be able to say with Paul, “I have fought the good fight.”
Because there is a great fight involved in fulfilling your calling. “I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. Henceforth, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness.”
Brothers and sisters, here lately—and this past year particularly, and since I had the heart attack—it has been on my heart. I have been wrestling over the year about finishing the course, about fulfilling my calling in life.
I know I’m called to be a husband, a father, and many things. But there is that spiritual aspect to the calling, brothers and sisters, of apprehending, as Paul said, that for which we have been apprehended in Christ.
As I was wrestling with this a few months ago, I had to say, “Lord, am I still apprehending? Am I still pursuing? Am I still in the fight? Am I still on the course, or have I sat down on the curb? Have I just settled down and become satisfied? And will I finish my course?”
I wrestled with those things. I think that has become more true since my heart attack. Not only that, but I am rapidly approaching eighty years, which, according to the Bible, if you got in seventy, you’re doing really well. And if you get ten more, that is mighty grace of God.
So I’m wondering sometimes, you know, how close to the end of the grace do you get? But actually, I don’t want to be negative. I do want to be positive. I’m just wrestling with these things, and this was on my heart.
I was at the gym, thinking about these things. You know, when you’re in a gym, you’re pumping weights or whatever you’re doing. That particular day, I was not into it. I think all of y’all who work out know what that means. You just don’t feel like it.
You get to the gym, or if you do it at home, whatever, and you say, “I just don’t want to do this today.” But I’m there, and I’m struggling. You’re trying to lift the same weights you’ve lifted before, and you’re just struggling with it.
As I was doing that, there was a young man who walked past me, and on the back of his shirt were the words, “All in.”
All in. That’s what it takes, Jerry. You’ve got to be all in.
And I’m thinking, “Okay, Lord, all in. That’s what it’s about. Approaching eighty, but am I still all in?”
Well, at the same time this was going on, we were also in our Friday-night fellowship-time Bible study, considering Luke 14:25-35.
Now, we’re going to read those shortly. But just to remind you what it is about: the Lord is challenging those who were following Him about discipleship.
He says that to be a disciple, you have to be willing to bear the cross. He talked about building a tower, and this really caught me. He said you need to count the cost to see whether you have enough to finish it.
He goes on to say there is a great warfare involved, and you need to be willing to forsake all in order to overcome and finish.
Lastly, He speaks of salt—remember that—losing its savor. It is worthless and useless. But in there, He is saying that, to be worthy of the kingdom, you need to have a strong savor in the salt.
So I’m exercising and struggling with all of this, and I see that word, “All in.” Interestingly enough, he showed up one more time a week later, just to kind of reinforce it. Haven’t seen him since, but what was said on his shirt has stuck with me: all in.
So let’s read Luke 14:25-35.
Now there went with Him great multitudes:
and He turned, and said unto them,
If any man cometh unto Me, and hateth not his own father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also,
he cannot be My disciple.
Unless you hate all these loved ones, you cannot be My disciple.
Then He said, to explain Himself:
Whosoever doth not bear his own cross, and come after Me, cannot be My disciple.
First He talks about hating, and then He talks about bearing the cross. He says, “You can’t be My disciple otherwise. There’s no need to try to follow Me.”
Then He goes on to give a little more explanation:
For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doth not first sit down and count the cost,
whether he have wherewith to complete it?
Lest haply, when he hath laid a foundation, and is not able to finish,
all that behold begin to mock him,
saying, This man began to build, and was not able to finish.
Counting the cost, to be sure that you can finish.
Then He goes on to say:
Or what king, as he goeth to encounter another king in war,
will not sit down first and take counsel whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?
Or else, while the other is yet a great way off,
he sendeth an ambassage, and asketh conditions of peace.
So therefore whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath,
he cannot be My disciple.
Another challenge: counting the cost and forsaking everything.
Then He goes on and uses the illustration of salt:
Salt therefore is good:
but if even the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be seasoned?
It is fit neither for the land nor for the dunghill:
men cast it out.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Brothers and sisters, at this point He had performed many miracles, and there were many people following Him. It says great crowds, so it could have been thousands who were following.
The Lord turns to them and says, “Except you hate all those you love, you can’t be My disciples. You even need to hate yourself.” Then He said, “You must take up the cross in order to follow Me.”
Do you understand their concept of the cross at that time? We know what it means today because the cross was two thousand years ago, and we understand the spiritual principle behind the cross. But these crowds didn’t know that. They didn’t realize that He was going to the cross.
Their concept was a thief or a murderer carrying his crossbeam up the hill of Golgotha, there to be crucified—a murderer, brothers and sisters. How could they understand such difficult and hard words?
We must also ask, why would the Lord say such things? It’s almost as if He is trying to discourage them from following Him, from being His disciples. Why? Why would the Lord do this?
Y’all might remember another time when the Lord said, “Except you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you cannot have eternal life.” And many left Him. Why would He say such difficult things?
Because, brothers and sisters, the Lord is not just interested in filling up heaven with a lot of people. That is not the Lord’s heart.
He is looking for those who will give up everything to follow Him. He is looking for those who are serious about following Him. He is looking for those who are serious about fulfilling His purpose for them and for Himself.
He is looking for those who will give their all, even their very lives, to follow Him. That is how serious discipleship is in the Lord’s eyes.
Brothers and sisters, I think maybe at times we do not appreciate the call to discipleship. I think most of us may remember being baptized, mostly here many years ago, and what was the reason? We said, “Well, we want to follow Jesus. We want to be His disciple. We want to learn from Him. We want to grow in the Lord.”
But, brothers and sisters, at that time did we really consider the cost? Did we really understand what the Lord was calling us to?
The Lord is looking for true disciples—not those who just want to hang out and enjoy Him, or maybe get some blessing from Him, or have a miracle performed by Him, or follow Him when it is convenient to them. No. He wants disciples who are all out for Him.
That is what we have been called to.
So what is the Lord saying in these Scriptures? He is saying, “I want you to count the cost. I want you to really consider.”
I would say this: even though we have been Christians for a long time, it is always good to sit down and reconsider what God has called you to—the life that He has called us to.
He says, “I want you carefully to consider what you are committing yourself to. Are you willing to take up the cross in your life? Are you willing to forsake all, even your very life, to follow Me? Are you willing to serve My purpose and build My tower? Are you willing to be a soldier in the warfare over My name and My eternal purpose?”
Your life needs to be salty, full of the savor of Christ. This is what it takes to be His disciple. This is what it takes to be all in, brothers and sisters.
Strange words. Difficult words. Disconcerting words to understand. I think for those who were following Him at that time—even the disciples—how disconcerting this may have seemed to them.
But you know, there was always something in the words of our Lord Jesus that carried weight. People did not understand, but they would say to Him, “Lord, You have words of life.” They are living. Some were able to hear; some had hearing ears, even though they may not have understood.
Does He really expect us to hate our loved ones and even ourselves, brothers and sisters, to be His disciple? Does He? That is what the word says—the literal interpretation.
Taking up the cross, brothers and sisters—does He really want us to do that, to go the way of Calvary?
We love His blessings and everything, but brothers and sisters, the only way to receive a crown is to go the way of the cross. It is the way of the cross that leads to the crown.
What is He really saying? I think the best way to explain this Scripture is to consider the wedding feast at Cana of Galilee.
Our brother recently shared on that wedding feast. But you remember His mother came to the Lord and said, “Jesus, they’ve run out of wine.”
She must have had some good bit of responsibility for that feast, or at the very least the people were very good friends. She had been invited to the feast, and she was concerned because the feast was going to fail. They had not completed the feast, and they were already out of wine.
So she came to our Lord, and she said, “They have no wine.”
Jesus’ response is very telling:
Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come.
Now, some think that was a rebuke. I don’t happen to believe that. That word woman that He used means little woman, a term of endearment, actually.
But the Lord’s main concern was not pleasing His mother, nor gaining favor from His mother by fulfilling her request. His heart was, and this is what He said, “My hour is not yet come.”
“I can’t move based on what others feel like I should do, or on others’ motives. I have to please the Father. Everything I do, I move out at the word of the Father.”
So pleasing the Father is what governed our Lord’s life, even if it would mean disappointing His mother.
Well, as you know, that happened to be the first public miracle. John calls it the first sign—more than just a miracle, but a sign. This water being turned into wine represented resurrection life, that He was moving in resurrection life.
What do you do when your close friends, or even your relatives, or your wife or your husband, want you to do something that you know is not the Lord’s will? He has not asked you to do that.
Now, what are you going to do? Are you going to please the Lord? Are you going to follow the Lord? Or are you going to try just to please those whom you love around you?
Well, that becomes a cross. When the will of others, or your own will, goes contrary to the will of the Lord, that becomes a cross in your life.
It is interesting: in the life of our Lord, He would not move or be moved by any motive or consideration but by the directive of the Father.
Many motives and actions were proposed to our Lord. Remember when His earthly brothers said, “Hey, look, You need to go up to Jerusalem and expose Yourself and let everybody know who You are.” And He said, “No, My time is not yet.” He did go up, but He went in secret.
Brothers and sisters, it was not the Father’s will.
Remember even on the cross? There were mockers there saying, “Look, come down from the cross and we’ll believe who You are. We’ll believe You’re the Son of God. Prove it.” But He did not.
Brothers and sisters, He did not come down because if He had come down off that cross and proved who He was, today we would be lost. We would be without Christ. We would be eternally in hell. But the Lord has brought us into Himself.
So thank the Lord. The Lord moves only by the will of God. But that becomes a cross many times in our lives.
Even the word discipleship means to be trained. You are in training, and you will be disciplined. The Lord is disciplining us through the work of the cross in our lives, to be transformed into His image and to be the testimony—to be able to fulfill the calling to which He has called us, to apprehend what Christ wants us to apprehend.
The cross is always a choice. It is not something you are compelled to do. Taking up your cross is always going to be a choice, brothers and sisters.
When the will of God and your will, or your family’s or friends’ wills, are contrary to God’s, at that point you have to choose. The cross is there. Are you going to choose it, or are you going to please others and avoid the cross?
I think it is very interesting. Elijah said—remember, he was up on Mount Carmel, or perhaps not at that point—“How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him; but if Baal, then follow him.”
It is a matter of choice.
So what is the Lord really saying in all this? I think He is saying, “If you want to be My disciple, you must choose Me above all else, above all loves, even love for yourself. I must be your first love.”
“You must be willing to completely put yourself in My hands—your life, your possessions, your family, everything, your work—all in My hands, completely and without reservation.”
That is the cost of discipleship. That is the cost of being able to finish the course, brothers and sisters.
There was another saying—I know we have all heard it; it is very common: If He is not Lord of all, He is not Lord at all.
That is what we have been called to. Brothers and sisters, this is a very serious thing. That is why the Lord was so adamant. He said, “You need to count the cost. You need to consider it. Are you going to be able to finish?”
Well, He uses three illustrations to help us. First, He talks about building a tower. In the building of the tower, you need to count the cost to see whether you will have enough money to get all the materials, basically, to finish the tower.
Brothers and sisters, here is the problem: it is possible to lay the foundation but not be able to finish your course. You understand that.
We have all, I think, probably laid the foundation in Christ. I think we are all here believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. We have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. The foundation is there. But are we going to finish?
Do you realize you are building a tower? Do you know the significance of a tower in the Bible?
I think all of us would remember one tower in particular. What is that? Babel—the Tower of Babel. And what is its significance? I know the Lord came in and changed their language and confused them, but that is not the significance.
If you read Genesis 11:4, it says, as they were building the tower:
Let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven,
and let us make us a name.
Let us make a name for ourselves. With this great high tower, it will cause people to want to come here, and we will be lifted up. “I want to make a name for ourselves here.”
Brothers and sisters, is that the tower you are building in your life—a name for yourself, to be looked upon as something great, even in the spiritual realm?
Unfortunately, our motives sometimes are that we want people to notice us. We want people to recognize us—those kinds of things. Very, very dangerous. It is the Babylonian way. It is the way of Babel.
So, did you realize that we are here to build a tower? This proverb will clear up what I am talking about: Proverbs 18:10.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower. We as Christians are to build a tower. We, as the body of Christ, are to build a tower. It is a testimony to His name, brothers and sisters.
That is what the tower is all about: a name for our Lord, where He is honored, where He is looked to, where many are drawn to that tower.
Now, we are building that tower today in our lives individually and in our corporate life together. We have laid the foundation. But are we able to finish? Are we able to finish?
Brothers and sisters, I think the Lord is very clear. He is saying just laying the foundation is not enough. Even getting fifty percent of it built is not enough. Even ninety-nine percent is not enough.
Brothers and sisters, He wants us to finish.
But we can become passive. We can become satisfied in our life. We can become like the church in Laodicea, who thought everything was fine, everything was great. They quit pressing on.
I like what Bobby said this morning in considering Him: we need to press on. We cannot fall back. We cannot sit on the curb, even if you are eighty years old. Brothers and sisters, you just cannot sit down.
I praise the Lord—our brother Stephen was one hundred and eight, I think. He was in there right to the end, right to the end. But that was to glorify God and God’s great grace in that man, not the man himself.
We are all in to the finish, brothers and sisters. Are we all in?
Let me use another illustration, maybe to help you understand where I’m headed. The example is Abraham.
Remember in Acts 7, it says the God of glory appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, brothers and sisters. Then it says he went out, not knowing.
It also says he was looking for a city which hath foundations. In order to do that, he became a stranger and a pilgrim on this earth. And why? Because the God of glory had appeared to him.
The Lord had shown Himself to Abraham. It was glorious—a glorious beginning. We remember the history of Abraham. His father was actually a worshiper of idols. We do not know for sure whether Abraham was, but he grew up in that family, and most likely he was.
But the God of glory appeared to him even in that condition, and it changed his life forever. He went out, brothers and sisters, not even knowing exactly where he was going.
Where he was headed was the promised land. Brothers and sisters, that was about a twelve-hundred-mile road trip—or a walking trip, you might say, in those days, with the family and all the tents and cattle and sheep and things.
They were on a trek, a twelve-hundred-mile trek. That is about the distance from New York City to Miami, Florida, if you want a reference.
But something happened. What happened? Did they get there?
Halfway, they found this little nice, comfortable place called Haran. It was halfway there, actually just about halfway. And they settled down there.
From the Word, you cannot tell exactly how long, but it appears they were there a number of years. Finally, what happened was when Terah, Abraham’s father, died, the Lord appeared to Abraham and made a covenant with him about the promised land and about his seed.
The God of glory appeared to him once again.
What was the problem? Why did the Lord wait until Terah died? Well, if you read the end of Genesis 11, you will discover that when Abraham went out, it was really his father who was leading them out.
It was his father who was in charge, not Abraham. He had told him to leave his family, but his family went with him. In fact, his family was leading him.
We remember that became a problem. It became a problem because about halfway there, Terah, who represents our old man, our flesh, just got tired. He decided, “Well, this is a good place to rest.”
Not only did they rest there, but they settled there. They were really quite comfortable at that place.
It was not until God, in His sovereign love and mercy, after the old man had left—after the old man had lost his grip on Abraham—that the Lord appeared to him and said, “Let’s go on to the promised land.”
Abraham was all in, wasn’t he?
But it was not because of Abraham’s determination. It was because of the grace and mercy of the Lord that he went on, brothers and sisters. It was because the Lord appeared to him—a fresh revelation of God—and he was able to go on.
Finally, the Lord asked Abraham—you remember he had been in the promised land—to offer up his only son, Isaac, on the altar. You remember the story, I’m sure, very well.
Was Abraham still all in and following the Lord at that point? It was a three-day trek to where Isaac was to be sacrificed, so he had plenty of time to consider what was going to happen.
Was Abraham still in at any cost—the cost of his own son’s life? In fact, the cost of the very one through whom God had promised that a great nation would arise, out of Isaac.
Did he understand what God was doing? I’m not sure. But I do know this: at this point in his life, he believed in God. He had to have a close relationship with God in order to be willing to do such an act, to sacrifice his own son.
Was he willing to sacrifice his all at God’s word, for the sake of God fulfilling His purpose? We know, praise the Lord, that he was. And he finished the course.
Brothers and sisters, the next example is a king going to war. First, there was building the tower: are you able to finish? Then He talks about going to war.
This king has a force of twenty thousand coming against him, but he only has ten thousand troops himself. I think he is thinking in his mind, “Well, should I send all ten thousand out, or maybe just five thousand, to see what can be accomplished, and hold some in reserve in case they overwhelm us and we have to retreat?”
“I’ll need these ones in reserve.”
Brothers and sisters, if we hold something in reserve, we will be defeated. The Lord said, “You must be willing to sacrifice all. You must be willing to sacrifice your all. You have to put it all on the line.”
That was Abraham’s challenge in the end. But He said to us as His disciples, “You can’t be halfway in this thing. You have to be willing to sacrifice your all.” That is discipleship.
Remember our Apostle and High Priest, our Lord Jesus Christ. He went this way—the way of the cross. He went to Calvary. He sacrificed His all for us, brothers and sisters. He is our example of the life He wants us to lead.
You must be willing to sacrifice all, or you are not going to complete the course. It is that simple.
Back to that little saying on the back of that young man’s shirt: all in, all in.
Then the Lord speaks of salt, but not just of salt. He talks about salt losing its savor, or its taste.
Now, I want you to be aware that there are different interpretations of this portion of Luke. What I’m going to share with you this morning is what I really feel before the Lord. I will not call it the right interpretation, but at least it is the way I see it in the Lord as I read these Scriptures.
In Matthew 5, in the Beatitudes, which our dear sisters have been going through, it says that we are the salt of the earth. That is not speaking of unbelievers. That is speaking of us. We Christians are the salt of the earth.
When He speaks of savor, savor is a taste. When we were discussing this in our Bible fellowship, the sisters informed me that you put a pinch of salt in just about everything.
I said, “You know, I’ve heard that, but what in the world is the purpose of a pinch of salt in everything?” They said, “It actually enhances the flavor of the food, of everything.”
I’m thinking, “Well, that makes sense.” A little bit of salt brings it out. I actually tried putting a little in my coffee, and it worked. It did seem to be a little more flavorful.
Now, if you put too much in there, you are going to taste the salt. But anyway, just a taste in everything.
Well, the salt—the savor—is what is so important. What is that savor, brothers and sisters?
All Christians have a special taste that the world does not have, that non-Christians do not have, no matter how nice people they are. There is something about the savor of Christ, and the world does not have it. That is what people recognize.
How is that savor developed? That savor is really the character of Christ in your life. The more of the character of Christ that is built into your life, the stronger the savor.
So savor is very important. It becomes your testimony and the testimony of the church.
But we know that savor can be diluted. In fact, a sister informed me, “Jerry, if you are going to salt something and you have the salt there and you let it get wet, you might as well throw it out because it’s not going to be any good. It’s not going to serve its purpose.”
So salt can be diluted. It can be watered down.
Now, how can the savor in our life—the savor of Christ—be diluted? I think it is pretty obvious. It is through sin in our life. It is through our love of the world more than the love of the Lord. It might be the love of ourselves getting in the way of the love of the Lord.
Brothers and sisters, the world recognizes that savor. Now, if that savor has been greatly diluted in our life, the world will also recognize that, and you will be despised and criticized as being a hypocrite.
We have all probably experienced people challenging us in that way at times in our lives. So, the savor can be lost.
The Lord said that when the savor is lost, the salt becomes useless. But He says something a bit strange. He says it is not good for the land or the dunghill in the King James, but landfill is a good interpretation. It is not good for the land, and it is not good for the landfill.
What does this land represent? I do not think it represents the world itself because, you know, if you salt your garden, what is going to happen? It is going to kill it, right? Everything in it.
I think the land represents the kingdom—the kingdom age.
You know, the great thing about the kingdom age is that it is the age of reward. It is the place where the Lord rewards those who have been faithful disciples to Him, those who have given up all for Him, those who have followed Him wherever the Lamb goes.
It is those who please Him, those who are serving His purpose. Brothers and sisters, I can think of others: it is the overcomers; it is the five wise virgins; it is the firstfruits; those who are under the altar. These are all salt with savor.
They are good for the promised land, and they, brothers and sisters, are those who will reign and rule with Christ in His government over the nations during the kingdom age.
During that thousand years, there will be other nations here. The nation of Israel will actually become the sharers of the gospel with the other nations. But it appears to me that those who go into the kingdom age will actually participate in God’s government over the nations.
That will be quite a privilege and an honor and a reward for those who have been faithful, those who are all in.
So what about the landfill? You know, a landfill is where you throw things that are useless or have no value to you anymore. You would think that would be the perfect place to throw salt that has lost its savor, wouldn’t you?
It is almost valueless now, or it seems to be valueless. But the Lord is very clear to me that the salt—we are the salt. We are the salt of the earth. We Christians are the salt, brothers and sisters.
So what is this landfill? I think it is hell. I think it is hell. And salt is not going to go. Christians are not going to go into hell. They have been saved by Christ. He is eternally faithful to keep us, brothers and sisters.
So it is not a matter of losing your salvation.
So who are these? You remember in the Word of God, talking about the judgment seat, He says your works will be tried as by fire. For some, their works will be burned up. They were not out from Christ. They were not serving His real purpose.
But He says they themselves, though they are tried by fire and their works are burned up, will be saved. That sounds like savorless salt to me. The savor is not there, but the salt is still salt.
It represents those we would call barely saved. I think it represents the five foolish virgins who have oil, but they do not have the extra oil needed for the kingdom, brothers and sisters. It is the fruit that is not quite ready at the right time.
Brothers and sisters, these will not receive that reward of reigning and ruling with Christ during the kingdom age. The savor is lost. They will not receive that honor and privilege.
The Lord says, “I’m going to cast them out, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth”—tears of regret. This is not hell, brothers and sisters. They just will not be able to participate with Christ during that time.
Now, the Word does not say a whole lot about this because the emphasis of the Word is being ready, isn’t it? Being ready when Christ returns. Watch and pray that you might be ready when He returns.
So what is going to happen? At the end of the thousand years, what do we see? The New Jerusalem coming down. All Christians will be in there. It says of the New Jerusalem that it will be without spot or wrinkle. It means all Christians—there will be no spot or wrinkle.
Brothers and sisters, the Lord in Philippians 1:6 says what good work He has begun in you, He will complete it.
I believe that during these thousand years, those who did not actually enter the kingdom age will be further disciplined, learn the way of Calvary—the road of the cross—and they will be restored. Their savor will be restored.
Now, you may not believe that, and that is okay. But I am thankful. I am so thankful that the Lord always achieves His purpose in every Christian.
But what we are called to look forward to is finishing the race, that we might be among those in the kingdom age who will be with our Lord Jesus, serving Him in His government over the nations.
The Lord has challenged us, brothers and sisters, to be His disciple. It is almost impossible, isn’t it? But He says this is what He expects. He even demands it. He said, “Take up your cross.”
Well, I have been counting the cost, and I have to wonder, “Lord, am I going to finish?” I do not know how each one of you brothers and sisters are feeling.
But the Lord says, “With Him all things are possible.” I have to challenge us all: do we believe that?
Often, when we look inward and look at ourselves, we say, “Well, Lord, I’m not sure I’m all in. I’m not sure I’ll finish my course. I don’t know if I’m just resting here, or am I retreating from what You have called me to.”
“You have a great purpose for my life. I want to finish it.”
Well, do you believe that He can do that in here? That is a great challenge because we live by faith, don’t we?
When I was thinking about these things, I could not help but think, for a word of encouragement, of the valley of the dry bones. Is that what you ever felt like—being a dried-up bone?
Those bones—it actually was a fallen army. The bones were in this valley where they had fallen, and they had been scorched by the sun for years. They were completely dry of all moisture, with no hope of ever being anything but a dry bone.
But the Lord came, and I think it was Ezekiel. He said, “Do you think these dry bones can live again?”
And he looked at the Lord and said, “Lord, You know.” He said, “You know, Lord.”
The bones began to move together, and we have that famous old song, “The knee bone connected to the thigh bone.” I will not sing it all, but those bones began to move together, and then flesh began to come upon the bones.
Then the Lord sent the winds through these restored soldiers, and the Spirit came upon them, and they once again became a great army.
I am just saying that to say that with God all things are possible. The Holy Spirit can raise us up.
But what was the real secret of being able to finish the course?
Brothers and sisters, remember this: the God of glory appeared to Abraham, and he went out, and he finished his course. The God of glory appeared to him again in Haran, and a number of times He spoke to him.
Brothers and sisters, it is the appearing of the Lord Jesus in your life that causes you to go on. It is that vision of the glory of the Lord.
May the Lord give us all a glimpse of a vision of His glory, and, brothers and sisters, continual visions of His glory.
Consider well Him. Looking off unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith.
The Lord appeared to Moses in the burning bush. His glory appeared to him there.
Ezekiel—I like that new book on glory about Ezekiel. He lived in dark, tragic times. The nation of Israel had been captured by Babylon. He had been taken out by the river Chebar, I think, and had been captive for five years. He had to be tremendously discouraged.
But the God of glory appeared to him. Remember? He came down; he saw these chariots with the wheels within the wheels. The God of glory appeared to him. He appeared to him a number of times, brothers and sisters.
Oh, what great prophecies came from Ezekiel on the restoration of the nation of Israel, brothers and sisters, and of the coming King. It was because he got a glimpse of the glory of the Lord.
Actually, in Ezekiel 1, it says, “The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God.” That was Ezekiel.
Paul—remember, Paul actually in his beginning hated Christ. He hated all of His followers. He was throwing them in jail. He had Stephen stoned to death.
But later in his life, he says:
What things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ.
Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord:
for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but refuse, that I may gain Christ.
That was who he was pursuing. That was what Paul was pursuing. At the end of his life, he was able to declare, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the course.”
What changed this man Paul from a hater to a lover, to one who followed after Christ, who was willing to give all that he might gain Christ, who was able in the end to say, “I have finished the course”?
We know that what changed him was the vision of the Lord—the risen Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory—on the Damascus road, when he met Paul there in that brilliant light of glory. It changed Paul forever.
But, brothers and sisters, his visions did not end there. Remember, they received the voice from the Lord to send out Paul and Barnabas while he was there among the brothers.
He received the Macedonian vision to go over into Macedonia. He was intending to go somewhere else. He was taken into paradise, brothers and sisters. He was lifted to the third heaven.
It was these glimpses of the glory of the Lord that kept our brother going, that made him able to finish the course.
May we see Jesus.
Lord, we just come to You today.
Lord, when I look at myself, I say, “Lord, there is no way, there is no way. I do not even know if I could call myself a disciple.”
But, Lord Jesus, I look at You. I look off unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my faith—the Completer, Lord, of the course already.
You have gone ahead of me, Lord. You have gone ahead of us, all of us, Lord, on this course. You understand it well. You know how to succor those, Lord, who are on this course.
But, Lord, today we want to declare to You: we want to finish the race. We want to finish well. Lord, we want to be able to say like Paul, “I have fought a good fight, and I have finished the race.”
Lord Jesus, how we need to see You. Lord, that is our heart’s cry today: another glimpse of Your glory.
Lord, that is what keeps us. That is what strengthens us, causes us to go on. Lord, that is what raised the dry bones.
Lord, we just look to You. Lord, may You be merciful to us this day.
Lord, I know that visions of the glory of the Lord, such as I have mentioned, may seem so large. I am not talking about that.
Lord, sometimes it is just a still, small voice that shows us something of Yourself.
Consider well Him. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.