Colossians chapter 1, I want you to stand if you are able this morning in reverence to God's wonderful Word. I want to read verse 26 down through verse 29. Verse 26 of Colossians chapter 1 through verse 29. Even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints, to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. whereunto I also labor striving according to the working which worketh in me mightily. Would you pray with me? Our Heavenly Father, I want to thank you for your blessings that we have received of you this morning. I thank you that every day of life you load us with benefits and blessings that are beyond compare to anything, God, that we've ever experienced. Some people think in the world perhaps that to be a Christian diminishes their blessings or diminishes their happiness. But Lord, we don't even begin to understand how to live life until we come to Him who is life and He gives us eternal life. And our Heavenly Father, it is an abundant life. Jesus said, I've come that you might have life abundantly while we live in this earth. Sure, we have our struggles and our sorrows and our heartaches, and we have our troubles, and we run up against some things sometimes, God, that we have no understanding of. nor knowledge, Lord, what the outcome will be. But we have lived with you and for you long enough to know that we just need in those times to stand still and to wait upon the Lord, because you have promised that you'll never leave us, nor will you ever forsake us. You said that you're the resurrection and you're the life. And God, you said that your grace would always be sufficient for us. Today, Lord, I know that that'll be true. God, in Sam's family, During this time of bereavement, I pray, Lord, that the Holy Spirit will comfort the hearts of all of her loved ones, dear Father. And I pray, God, that you will keep them very near to your own heart. I praise you, Lord, today for Ashley's good report, God. And I pray that you'll continue, Lord, just to bring total healing upon her body. I pray, God, that the Holy Ghost will touch Amy this morning in ways that Amy's never experienced before. I pray that you'll send a healing into her physical body. And I'm believing you for it, God. You said, what things? So every desire when you pray, believe you receive them, and ye shall have them. And I pray, God, that you'll give confirmation and peace and assurance to Kevin, to Landon, and to Lacey, and that they'll learn something about the great physician, that he is the mighty God, the everlasting Father, who's touched by the feelings of the infirmities that we experience. Lord, Tracy testified a while ago, and it was not silly, God. When we can learn to praise you in the simple things than the little things, Lord, you do greater things for us. And God, it's sometimes those little things. The Bible says, who would despise the day of small things? God, I praise you, Lord, that she was able to find that bracelet. And I praise you, Lord, for what it means to her and how that it has encouraged her and strengthened her. And Lord, we just pray that you'll continue to lift her up and heal her body. God, it's good to see Gary and Sharon here this morning. Bless them and their family, I pray. Bless every home and every family and every individual that's in this service today. And God, I pray that when we leave this house today, I pray that we'll go home rejoicing, shouting the praises of God. And I pray, Lord, that if somebody is here that's never been saved, let them open their heart or help them to open their heart unto Jesus today and save them. God, I pray. If there's anybody that has made a profession of faith, but they're discouraged and they're disheartened and something has hindered them, break those chains that bind them and deliver them. Father, I pray from those hindering causes. And today, God, I pray that you will set them free and restore the joy of salvation. I pray this morning that you'll put your hand upon Brother Ottis and that, God, you'll help him to breathe easy day by day. And I pray that he'll feel the strengthening power of God touch his physical body. And Lord, I know that he'd like to be able to come back to the house of God. And I pray that you'll touch him. I pray you'll bless Brother Herman, Sister Nina's husband. Lord, such a precious, wonderful man of God, Father, that has stood for many years proclaiming the gospel. I know today that if I know anything, I believe his mind's been on you this morning. He's probably been in your word today. He's worshipped you there where he is. I pray that you'll bless him, dear Father, in a special way. Help me to preach your word this morning. God, hide me, I pray, in the shadow of the cross, and be glorified in the message today, I pray. And we give you all the praise and all the glory. In Jesus' name, I pray, and God's children said, Amen. You can be seated. When I read the passage in your hearing this morning, there is a phrase. Out of verse 27, that has been on my heart throughout the week, and as I studied it, I prepared and felt that this is what God would have me to speak on. In verse number 27, it is the phrase, Christ in you. the hope of glory. I don't know if you've thought about it this morning, but if you're a child of God, Christ lives in you. The very power and presence and person of Jesus Christ indwells the heart of every believer. If you're not a Christian this morning, it's not because God doesn't want you to be, because He loved you so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to die for your sins so that on this day, if you would allow Him, Christ would live inside of you. Do you remember in Revelation the Bible said he stands at the door and knocks and said that if any man hears his voice and will open the door he will come in and sup with him and he with the Lord. What a precious day it was in my life that he knocked at my heart's door and I heard the call of God on my life and I answered that door and he came in and I've never been the same from that day to this And I'm getting better every day. What do you mean, preacher? I'm getting closer to glory land. I'm getting closer to the day when mine eyes shall see Him in all of His beauty and in all of His glory. So Christ in you is the hope of glory. And this is the mystery that Paul is talking about here in the text that I read, which he said had been hid from ages and from generations. But it is now, Paul said, made manifest. That is, it's been made known unto you and I to His saints. You and I as Gentiles now have this very same privilege to be in the body of Christ. If you'll go back with me for just a moment to the book of Ephesians chapter 2, God has included the Gentiles into this hope of glory that God has promised us that Christ will live in us as well. In Ephesians chapter 2 verses 11 and 12, Listen to what Paul writes as he's writing to the Ephesian church. Wherefore, he said, remember that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands, that at that time, You were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. That was the plight of our lives at one time. There was a time or a day when I would not have and did not have the privilege of what I do have today. But if you look at verse 13 of that same passage of Scripture, now you and I have been made nigh, or we've been drawn near unto Him, and we've been given this privilege through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you go over to chapter 3 of the book of Ephesians, verse number 6, you'll see that we've been made a fellow, heirs according to the flesh, and we also have been given the privilege of being partakers of the promise that is in Christ Jesus through the gospel. You see, this morning I'm charged with the responsibility because God placed a calling in my life And today the calling is that I must stand before you and bear to you a message called the Gospel and bring to you some news from God's Word that I hope that you'll put your faith and your trust in. And the Gospel is the good news that Jesus loves you and that He's not willing that you perish, but that you might be saved. And that ought to build hope in you and I this morning. Oh, what hope we have today as Gentiles. And when I think about hope, I look up the word to see what it means by definition, and it is a confident expectation in the unseen. I have never seen Jesus Christ like I see you, but I am confident in who He is that I believe with all my heart. He is the Son of the living God. I believe He was born of the Virgin Mary from the seed of the Holy Spirit. I do not believe He was conceived by the natural means of humankind as far as man is concerned, but He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and He was truly formed in the womb of Mary. and He was given birth into life into the flesh just like you and I. That's why the Bible says being found in fashion as a man, He humbled Himself. He knows what it is to be human. He knows what it is to feel sorrow and struggles and trials and tribulations. in every point that you and I experience in life, the Lord Jesus Christ has been there. And thank God He is a merciful High Priest and a faithful High Priest because He can help us with our infirmities. And I have an expectation of not only that Jesus is really there, but I really believe He really truly died on the cross. I really believe He died for my sins and cleansed me from my sins so that on that October night When the Holy Spirit came to me and said, Jesus called you, I could go to Him in confidence and ask Him to forgive me of my sin and know that He would do that. That night I got as free as I've ever been and I've been free ever since because I learned that the Bible says that whom the Son sets free, they're free indeed. I'm free to worship Him. I'm free to praise Him. I'm free to serve Him. And I thank the Lord for that today. But my friend, I also believe that He left this earth and ascended back in heaven and gave this promise. Let not your heart be troubled, He said. You believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house there are many mansions and I'm going there to prepare a place for you. Did you hear what He said? I am going there to prepare a place for you. And I like this, and if I go, I will come again. I have hope that He's returning soon. That's my confident expectation of Him. I believe one of these mornings the clouds will roll apart like a scroll that rolls together. I believe a trumpet will sound loud enough that the whole world will hear Him. I believe the heavens will be filled with holy angels. I believe we'll hear the shout of the Son of God as He starts descending down from heaven. Because the Bible says in the book of Psalms, He went up with a shout and He's coming back with a shout. And I believe that when he shouts, the dead in Christ shall rise first, even as His Word declares. Preacher, you sure got a lot of hopes and confident expectations. Why do I have such hope? Because God cannot lie and because His Word is truth. And not only will the dead in Christ be raised first, but if I'm alive and remaining in that day, I'll be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. and I'll be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. You may never have shouted in the church house, but you'll shout that day, because what a day that will be when our Jesus we shall see. What confident expectations in the unseen? Paul said in the book of Romans chapter 8 verse 24 and 25, he said, We are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope. For what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for it? But if we hope for that that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it? Many times in prayer I've told the Lord in troubles and sorrows, God, I still have hope. And I will hope no matter what comes my way. Because, Lord, if I'd already seen my hope, then I wouldn't have to hope any longer. But, Lord, You have taught me in Your Word to be patient and to wait. for that hope to come in fulfillment. And today I praise Him that He gives us this hope. The word glory in the text Paul speaks of in this phrase is the state of blessedness into which we as believers will enter hereafter when we're brought into the likeness and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what Paul wrote in his letter to the Roman Christians. He said, For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory. When I read that, I thought about the sufferings of Paul. Sometimes Paul said he was in the deep, a day and a night. That means that he was cast out or he was in the ocean. And there he did not know whether he would survive it or not. He said in his writings that he had been beaten three or four times and they had given him many stripes. Paul had been put in prison, and he suffered hunger, and he suffered thirst, and he suffered coldness. But in all of it, he learned how to praise God. He knew that this was a terrible life, full of sorrows and full of heartaches. Some people in life, when those things come, they grow weary of it, and they have the tendency to want to get frustrated with God and say, If you can do all things, why are you allowing these things? Oh, friend, you hear me today. One glimpse of Him in glory will all the toils of life repay. The sufferings, Paul said, of this present life are not worthy to be compared to the glory which shall be revealed in us. He goes on and writes, the creature which is us itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption, and we will be delivered into the liberty and the glory of the children of God. It means something to know you have Christ in you today. Do you know He's in you today? Can you feel Him in you today? Has He stirred you today? Has He made them glory bumps stand around on your body? Has He made you feel like shouting? Has He made you want to holler Amen? Has He made you feel like standing up? Sometimes people say, well, that's just not me. He's standing on the inside. You might as well stand up on the outside every now and then. He is Christ in us, the hope of our glory. When I studied this, there's three things that I want you to really get a hold of. First of all, as the hope of glory, it starts with the hope of grace. For by grace are you saved through faith in that not of yourself. Grace is the unmerited. That means you do not earn it, you cannot earn it. It's just the divine loving favor of God towards you. If you're someone today who thinks that God is your enemy, you need to rethink that. For God loved you even while you were still a sinner. He let His Son die for you personally on the cross of Calvary. Grace has five letters in its spelling. And I've heard many acronyms, but there's three that I really like about grace. The first one that I gave you this morning about grace in an acronym is God redeeming at Christ's expense. It is God that redeems us, but it was at Christ's expense. What do you mean? It was Jesus who was wounded for my transgressions for years. It was Jesus who was bruised for my iniquities for years. The Bible says it was the chastisement of our peace that was laid upon His back, and with His stripes we are healed. Oh, it was an expensive death that Jesus died. It was a shameful death because they stripped Him after they had beaten Him and crowned Him with thorns and nailed His hands and His feet to the cross. They hanged Him naked before the world openly. And even the Bible said that Jesus despised the shame but for the joy. How in the world, Lord Jesus, could you find joy in such a moment as that? The joy was that he looked up and saw his father and knew that he was pleasing the father and fulfilling his will. What will? The will that none should perish? The will that none should perish? Why would you want to perish? Why would you want to reject Jesus? Why do you want to turn away from Him and have no connection to Him when He cares so much and so deeply about you that He doesn't want you to perish? And because that He saw He pleased His Father and that He was in the Father's will, He knew what it would mean to you and I to be saved from such treacherous ways, such as sin. And so that brought Him great joy to know that He could please the Father in doing this. and in spite of the shame that he felt because of how they have treated him, the creator of heaven and earth, the one who even gave them life and allowed them to live and allowed them to do what they did. Don't you kid yourself for a minute. Had he called twelve legions or more of angels would have descended to the heavens and have taken him down from the cross and delivered him. But Jesus said, I could have called them but I won't. For how else shall the Scriptures be fulfilled? I'm here to tell you this morning there ain't nobody in this world that'll love you like Jesus Christ loves you. And there ain't nobody in this world that'll ever do for you what Christ will. God redeem me at Christ's expense. The second acronym that I want to give you this morning is God Reconciling a Child Exiled. Sin separated Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. And God had to put a cherub at the tree of life lest they eat of it and forever live in their sin. And sin separated me from God and separated my relationship to God. And I died spiritually. Inside I was dead in my trespasses and in my sins. But thanks be unto God, though I was an exiled sinner, God reconciled me through Jesus Christ. And then there's a third acronym that I want you to look at and consider about grace. God removing all condemnation eternally. You see, I'm never condemned anymore. Neither are you. You say, well, I feel condemned. Well, if you committed something you hadn't ought to, God will forgive you if you'll ask Him. But I want to remind you that the Bible says, There is therefore now no condemnation to them who are in Christ. Christ in me and me in Christ and no condemnation. Not because I don't walk after the flesh, but I follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit. And for eternity and for all of eternity there will never be any condemnation in my life. And so the hope of grace brought to me the peace of God. The peace of God as was stated in the service this morning that brings to you and I that quiet, calm assurance. Preacher, you speak as though you are so confident and so certain of this thing. I am not because just of the feeling that I have, but I'm going on the Word of God and the Word of promise. He cannot lie. He'll keep His promise, and that's what I'm trusting in today. My faith is anchored in the promises of the Word of God. If you look down in verse number 20, Paul reminds us that our peace was made through the blood of the cross. Yeah, it was a horrible, expensive price that he paid on the cross, But little did we realize the war that we were at with God. Jesus, the Prince of Peace, was settling that and satisfying that. Up until that time, every sacrifice offered could only say, unsatisfied, unsatisfied. But the minute Jesus said, Father, it is finished, and He gave up the ghost and died, I believe heaven probably heard the Father say, satisfied, satisfied. Nothing will cleanse for your sins but the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to me. Paul reminds us in Romans chapter 5 and verse number 1, being justified by faith, I have peace with God through Jesus Christ. I am glad when I lay down brother James Edwards at night and go to sleep, before I drift off, I can look to him and say, I am thankful Father, I am at peace with you. And then I stop and say, Lord Jesus, I have sweet peace because you made it possible in my life. And then I say, whether I wake or I sleep, I praise you that if I awaken this earth, I'll still serve you for me to live as Christ. That is, I'll live in Christ and serve Christ. But if I die while I sleep, I'll awaken your presence and I'll shout your glory. Ephesians 2.14 says that Jesus Christ is our peace. In the book of Isaiah chapter 53 and verse 5, the Bible said the chastisement of our peace was laid upon Him. It's the hope of His grace that brought Christ in us, the hope of glory. And this hope of grace gave to us faith according to verse number 4 of Colossians chapter 1. For when Paul learned of their faith or heard of their faith, he knew that that faith was a belief in the truth. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is the way, Jesus is the truth, and Jesus is the life. Remember Jesus said in John's Gospel chapter 5 verse 24, Truly, truly, or verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, shall not come into condemnation, but is passed from death unto life. Oh, listen, what an experience it is to come alive from the death of sin and to be alive unto Jesus Christ. And know you're not under condemnation. And know that Christ is living in you. Know that He's built in you a hope of glory. And then if you noticed in verse number 4 and verse number 8, not only did this hope of grace give faith, but it also gives you love. The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. And we love the saints. You learn to love all the saints. I thought, as my wife testified, and we said, did she come in the other night? I told her she was over here at the girls' lock-in, and I told her, I said, now, Brenda, you know that I'm pretty spooky at night, and you know that I've got a loaded gun by my bed, and you know that if you come and unlock that door, the first thing you need to do is turn on a light, and the second thing you need to do before you step through the door is holler my name, so when I hear your voice, I don't start shooting. And so I heard the key rattle, and I got up ready to get my gun, and I saw the light come on, and she said, Mike. And I just laid back in comfort. But she came in and sat on the edge of the bed, and she was full of joy. Now, I'm one to sleep, but she was full of joy. I learned later she had drinking some coffee over here. She was full of coffee, too. But no, listen, here's what she said. Those are precious young girls. Those are good girls. Girls, I want you to know my wife loves you. And she said, I'll tell you, brother Mike, she said, those are really precious girls. And I don't know if she went to sleep really quick, but I went off to sleep thinking, why are they precious? They're precious not because of who they are, but they're precious because of who the Lord Jesus is. Jesus Christ is the only person that gives you and I any worth or any value. And we talked about it again the next morning and she testified a while ago and talked about this loving church. The love that we both feel for you and that you've shown to us is not a love that is natural. that we could express naturally. That love is able to be shown because the hope of grace has brought that love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit of God. See, if Christ is in me and Christ is in you, we can share love and it's good. Amen. So I thank Him for that. The second thing I want you to pick up on is not only does this Christ in you, the hope of glory bring the hope of grace, But it brings the hope of the gospel. Look at verse 23 of Colossians chapter 1. In verse 23 Paul says, if you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel. Listen to me. You get saved because you've heard the gospel that Jesus Christ loved you, died for you and arose from the dead. I want you to go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 15 with me for just a minute and let me prove that. I didn't just preach your mic telling you that. I want you to hear the Word of God say that. The hope of the gospel, what is it? Well, Paul wrote it in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 1 through 4. Moreover, brethren, Paul said, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. Notice now, for I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how? That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried and that he arose again the third day according to the scriptures. What is the hope of the gospel? It's the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The death that he died for my sins and your sins. He wasn't dying for his own because he had none. But he died for our sins. And he was buried and he arose the third day. And I have hope in that. I didn't see it, but this book said it, and God cannot lie, and I believe it. And I believe He's just as alive as you and I are today. And he's been looking in on this service and I believe he's been pleased with the service because he sure has kept blessing us. But thank God today that the gospel encompasses the death, burial, and resurrection. I remember reading in the opening remarks of St. Mark's gospel that he said, the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark could have penned it and said, that the gospel of God is all about Jesus Christ. There's a lot of things we could preach about this morning, but the most important thing you'll ever hear is a preacher to tell you that the hope that you can have through the gospel is in Christ alone. Because He has died, He has been buried, and He has risen from the dead. The gospel ministers to you and I faith and grace. And it makes us, notice in verse number 12, it makes us partakers of His inheritance. And then it makes us, or it delivers us in verse 13 from the power of darkness. And then in verse 13 Paul says of Colossians chapter 1 that it translates us into the kingdom of His dear Son. And notice this, in whom he says in verse 14 in Colossians chapter 1 now, in whom he's referring to that we've been translated into the kingdom of God's Son, in whom Jesus Christ we have redemption, listen now, through His blood. I want you to listen to me. Why do you preach your statement, that old King James Bible? Because if you look at all the other translations, they take out through His blood. All the other translations remove through His blood. I have redemption, the King James says, through His blood. To me, the life of the flesh, the Bible says, is in the blood. And you let all the blood out of your body and you won't live. And if you can't live without the blood, neither does this book live without the blood. And I appreciate the way the translation to King James says, you have redemption through His blood. I praise Him for His blood today. And not only redemption through His blood, but we also notice this, have forgiveness of our sins. Have you asked God to forgive you? No, why not? He's waiting for you to ask Him so He can. And if you have asked Him to forgive you, have you forgiven you? If you let the devil beat up on you and accuse you and go around holding you in captivity saying, you're not saved, you're not right, he's a liar. And he's a murderer. And God promised that He'd cast your sins behind His back and He'd never remember them ever against you again. And if you're forgiven today, you ought to be glad and rejoicing in your soul. for the forgiveness of your sins. Look at verses 20 through 22. Paul writes in Colossians chapter 1 in these verses about our reconciliation. Separated from God, we've been brought back to God by the hope of the gospel. And in verse 22, he reminds us that it is righteousness that gives us the privilege of being holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. Now listen to me. Do you know today if you're saved and under the blood of Jesus, if you die and stand in God's presence, You are holy, you're unreprovable, and you're unblameable. Do you know why the Holy Spirit, why Christ lives in you? Because John wrote it and God knew that as we go through the course of life that because of the weakness of the human flesh that sometimes we will sin at our very best. We will sin. That's our nature. It doesn't mean you want to do it or you deliberately do it. It just happens because there's a law in your members. sin and death that lives in your body that wars against the law of your mind through which you are serving Christ. It brings you into captivity sometimes, that law of sin and death. You commit sin because of the weakness of your flesh. But when Christ is in you and you've done a sin that grieves God, immediately the Holy Spirit reveals your heart. And do you know if you'll say at that express moment, I'm sorry God, I'm sorry for that thing that I just thought or that thing I just said or that thing I just did. He is faithful and just to forgive you and cleanse you of your sins. Brother Mike, you come over some of the same things everybody do that I'm trying to build you up in the faith. I'm trying to build you up in the joy of the Lord. Oh, yeah, there'll be some times that I'll have to preach some pretty hard messages and tough messages. And when you're listening to it and you think it's hard on you, you will think about me as if God works me over through the week because He has to get me cleaned up and right before I can do it here. But I want to tell you this, what I've learned about God, His children, He loves and He chastens. I don't want God to let me just go and do things, you know, and get by with it. I see little children today, their parents don't hold them in check and hold them to behave their self hold them responsible. And I think when I say it, dear one, if you only knew what that behavior is going to lead to. The more discipline and there's a right way to discipline. Sometimes the pastor has to preach some pretty tough messages. But it's not because he's mad at you, it's because he doesn't love you. If I didn't love you, I'd just come here with sweet things and laughing things and sweet and smooth things all the time. But I tell you these things because I don't want you to fail to meet this hope that God has given us. What hope is that? Well, the hope that started in grace, the hope that came to you through the gospel, but finally the hope of glory. The hope of glory. A little bit of the glory we taste here on earth. The testimony makes us to feel inside as though we're almost there. Every now and then a song is sang. And by the way, can I tell you, I read something this week that really blessed me. Some of you don't need to get nervous about an overhead if we ever put one up in church, that we'll always sing from an overhead, because there's something about a hymn book, and I knew there was something special about hymn books. And this week, I just happened to read this and run on this, that one of the reasons that churches ought to consider never giving up using hymn books totally is because all the songs written in those hymn books were written for theological teachings of truths about God. Now, I realize that it's just a book. And I can say to you, it's just a book and the words on here won't be any different if I put them over there on the screen. And by the way, it's a little hard to hold a book and get happy and raise both hands. But you can hold a book and raise one hand. Amen. And again, please understand there's nothing wrong with putting them on a screen. The words are the same there as they are here. But I'll tell you something. I've seen them over there and I'll tell you what I've learned. Sometimes when they're over there, they're just formality. They go through a motion. But over the years, especially the old saints, I've watched them as they read and they read those words. And when they're looking down, they're more apt to be thinking about what they're saying. And all of a sudden, the glorious light of God comes on in them as though someone flipped a switch, and they've learned the truth from the Word. I heard a preacher one time preach a sermon out of a song book, and some people went out criticizing him. And I'll tell you this, the sermon that he preached from the hymn book had as much theology because it was a song written based on the Scriptures. Somebody said, can you get saved listening to a song? You sure can if it's a song based on the scriptures. Because the gospel is preached through singing and the gospel is preached through the preaching of the word of God. And it is these songs and this gospel that gives you and I the eternal hope of heaven, the glory of God. In Psalm 73, 24, David wrote, thou shalt guide me with thy counsel and afterwards receive me to glory. In 2 Corinthians chapter 4, Paul wrote, our light affliction, talking about here on earth, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. If you look at Colossians chapter 3 verses 3 through 4 or 2 through 4, Paul reminds the Colossian Christians that Christ in you being the hope of glory comes from the hope of grace, comes from the hope of the gospel that leads you to the hope of glory. Therefore Paul says, set your affection on things above and not on things of the earth or on the earth. For you are dead and your life is hid with Christ and God. when Christ who is our life shall appear, listen, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory. Christ in you the hope of glory. This morning as Brother Ryan comes and prepares to lead us and sing for us the invitational hymn, I thought about a lot of people that I've loved and watched and leave this earth and go home to glory. My parents, I loved them deeply and we talked a lot of times together about these promises that God has given us. Remember mother and dad used to say to us boys, there's a likely possibility that we'll leave you kids here on earth for a while, but we'll meet you in heaven. I watched my mom bury two of her sons before she left earth. I was her pastor those days, and she used to say to me, you're my son, but now I need to talk to you as my pastor. And she said, it didn't seem fair. A mother ought never to have to watch her children die. She ought to be able to go first. I said, well, mother, I can't speak truly to your feelings, and I don't have any words that I could give you of understanding except this, that God is too wise to make a mistake. And Mother, He loves you too much to hurt you. And she looked at me as though it was startling to her. What do you mean? It does hurt me. And I said, now that I know that you're thinking, well, that don't make any sense because this death hurt me. But I said, which would hurt you more, to watch them die knowing they're in Christ And they went to be with Him and would never be separated. Or would it hurt you more to see them live in sin and walk in wickedness and die lost forever? Oh, she said, I'd far rather see them die in Christ. And she said, I see what you mean. And I said, God is too wise to make a mistake. He loves you too much to do that. He loves you too much to hurt you. And He knows the hurt of a mother would be to lose her child. And perhaps God took your children because He didn't want to see them lost or want you to see them lost if there was ever that possibility. I said, I don't know the mind of God. I don't know if that's why God did it all or not. But I said, Mom, here's what you need to remember. He is God and He never does wrong. And just think about this. You've got more to go to heaven for now. You already had all you needed to go to heaven in Jesus. But the more of your loved ones that move out of here and leave over there, you got a whole bunch of glory waiting. You know, heaven will be glorious just to see the Savior and to look at Him as you look at each other and to tell Him what He means to you. But it will be glorious because of the reunion of the many ones that has already left us from this earth. So here's the message in simplicity today. Christ wants to live in you. Can He? Will you let Him? He won't frighten you. He won't hurt you. He won't ever shame you. He won't ever embarrass you. He'll be the best thing that's ever happened to you. I promise you on the authority of the Word, you'll never, ever be sorry if you truly open the door and let Him come in. I would like to, but I'm afraid I can't live it. Now you're about to get where you need to be to get saved. Because if you think you could live it, then you're not ready to be saved yet. You can't live it. You have to let Him come in. and trust Him to help you live it, and He will. He'll live it through you. Well, what if I make a mistake? He knows you will, and He'll forgive you of that, too. But I'm going to tell you, Christ in you gives you the hope of grace, the hope of the gospel promises, and the hope that in the end you're going to have His glory. Let's stand to our feet. Father, I praise You this morning for the blessed hope that we have in Jesus. Now, Lord, I tried to pour out what I feel that you've poured into our heart. I love your word. It just encourages me and it fills me with hope and joy and gladness and sweet peace and real assurance. And I'm thankful to God that I have the privilege to be the messenger boy of our Savior, to be able to herald and tell the world around us the world here in Oak Lane Sanctuary and those who've watched us out on social media to tell them that Christ loves them, died for them, arose from the dead, knocks at their heart's door and wants to live in them so they can have the hope of glory. God, I pray, Father, this morning that many will do what the Bible says, call upon the name of the Lord. They'll be saved. If there's anyone in the service that'd like to be saved this morning, God, I pray. Even if they don't know how to pray, if they'll just come, we'll help them, Lord. We'll help them pray through. If there's any out in the social media audience watching, I hope, Lord, that they'll bow their heads and their hearts and say unto you, Lord Jesus, forgive me of my sins. Come into my heart, be my Lord, be my Savior this day. I trust in you, I believe in you, and I accept you as my Savior. God, if they'll do that and mean it, Lord, you'll change their lives. And Father, I pray that you'll encourage them to write us, and we'll send them some Bible study help to get them started in their faith. Now, Father, I pray today that if everyone in the audience here has examined their hearts and there is no sin that separates between them and you, I pray, Lord, that they will rejoice and give praise to you. But if there's one that says they're Christian, Lord, that doesn't have this glad joy and hope, maybe what they need today is just to come and rededicate their self to you fresh and new. and ask forgiveness, God, of anything in their heart that would separate them from this joy. Father, I pray that all can leave this house today saying, ìIt is well with my soul.î You are our eternal hope, Lord Jesus. Bless this audience, we pray in Jesusí name.