Book of Romans, and I'll go ahead and get started. Go ahead and turn to the Book of Romans, chapter 8. Let's pray. Lord, we do pray right now and just ask that you guide, lead, and direct in the services tonight. Lord, that your will be done. We thank you for being such a gracious and merciful and wonderful God. Just pray that we would hide behind the cross and to learn from thee. In Jesus' name, amen. In Romans chapter 8, we're going to start in verse 14, and I may have to back up just a little bit to 13, but let's look at 13. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die. But if ye through the Spirit, so it's the Spirit that helps you, do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. Now, you have to realize you cannot lead something that's not obedient. So, led of the Spirit, but if you're not obedient, then it doesn't really work. Verse 15, For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God, join heirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together. So, as you look at these few scriptures here, There's so much in there. I already mentioned being led by the Spirit of God. They're the sons of God. And then in verse 15 it says, for we have not received the spirit of bondage. One of the things that happens in churches is you have the spirit of bondage. told such things, you know, do this, don't do that, and all those things. Listen, it is important for you to understand Scripture, but it's important to understand that your obedience is a personal matter. I can't make you obey. Paris can't make children obey. God doesn't want to make you obey. He could. He could say, you will do this, but He chooses to give you free will and for you to exercise your free will. Because that's what God is about. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. What is the thing? Well, you can eat of any tree of the garden. Except one. One rule. Don't eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. And what did they do? They disobeyed that. But why did they disobey? Because they had the freedom to choose. To me, that just decimates any type of teaching that says, you know, you're predestined or you're this or that. Listen, you're not. If that were the case, what would prayer matter? If everything is foreordained by God that you will do this... Now, does God know everything? He certainly does. But you have a choice to determine your future and your outcome. You get to decide by submitting to God, and then as you submit to Him, He works through you and guides you and leads you. But if you don't submit, Even though he's God, he's not going to force you to do it. So he goes on and he says, well, I want you to go ahead. He says, for we have not received the spirit of bondage. I want you to look at 1 Corinthians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. And look at, look at verse 12. We'll just do the one verse. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 12. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Why do you have the Spirit which is of God? So you can know the things that God freely gives you. I don't know about you, but I truly am thankful that I can know the future. And I don't mean that in crystal ball type thing. I know God wins, and He's going to defeat Satan, He's going to defeat death, He's going to change my mortal body into a glorified body, and I'm going to live with Him forever, and I'll stand before the judgment seat of Christ, not something that any of us should really say, well, you know, we got it handled. No, maybe not. If you do things for the wrong purpose, you do it to be seen or to be glorified by others, then it may all burn up. You and I have to make sure whatever we do is done for the glory of God and not for self-glorification or self-gratification or anything else. We must look at it that way. But He hasn't given us the spirit of bondage. He hasn't given us the spirit of the world. The Spirit of the world is what, when you turn on your television and you see all the ruckus going on, that's the Spirit of the world. That's not God. God wants us to be different, peculiar, unique, outstanding, really. And that's what He's chosen us to be. He said the Spirit in verse 16 of Romans 8, "...the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God." That is one thing. If the Spirit doesn't bear witness that you're a child of God, there's a reason for that. You're not. You ought to know that you know that you know. These things in 1 John have I written unto you that believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know you have eternal life. You ought to know that you have eternal life. I knew I had eternal life 44 years ago. Not as soon as I got saved, because I really didn't understand anything other than they told me, here's what the Bible says, you're a sinner, Jesus Christ died for you, and you've got to trust in Him, ask Him to save you, He'll save you. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That's all I knew. That was the extent of my understanding. Now I understand so much more because of the Bible, but He hasn't given us the Spirit of bondage. He tells us that his spirit bears witness with our spirit. They were the children of God. And then he talks, then he goes on, he says, first of all, it's relationship first. Look at verse 16. That we are the children of God. That's relationship first. And if children, relationship, then heirs. Now we're going past just the relationship and into into, well, it may be an extended relationship, heirs. I mean, imagine being a joint heir with God the Son. That's what it says. It says, and if children, then heirs of God. So you're an heir of God if you're a child of God. Joint heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with Him that we may also be glorified together. You say, well, I've never suffered for the cause of Christ. You'd be surprised. Have you ever lost a friend because of your Christianity? Have you ever had anything like that happen? That's suffering for Christ. If we suffer, we shall also reign with Him, the Bible says. So, here's what I would say first. Let's delve into this a little bit deeper. Look at verse 32 first. Verse 32 of the same chapter. "...He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all..." How many? "...us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" He wants to freely give us all things. What an amazing God to freely give us All things. And look at Galatians 4 about this thing about children and sons. Galatians chapter 4, look at verse 5. Galatians 4 verse 5 says that, well verse 4, But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." I mean, just look at the amount of information in those few verses. He was sent to redeem us who were under the law. You're under the law how? Under the condemnation of the law. that we might receive the adoption of sons. What an amazing thing that we might, that we're adopted into the family of God. And I don't know, I don't know if I've ever told you this, but actually the laws on adoption are stronger than the laws on natural birth. But that's, you know, I mean, that's, our laws are like that. So when you look back, going back, well, I want to take you to another verse. No, no, go on back to Romans chapter eight. And I did want to tell you another verse. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter 3. I want to make a point here now. You can suffer now or suffer later. Suffer loss. So let's say you get saved and you take a firm stand for Christ. You suffer for that. You suffer now. Well, look at 1 Corinthians 3 and let's look at somebody who's going to suffer later. 1 Corinthians 3 talks about, in verse 10, the foundation that was laid, and 11 is the foundation can no man lay that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. So our foundation is Jesus Christ. Now, if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be made manifest. So God's going to show your work. For the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon on that foundation which is Jesus Christ, he shall receive a reward. Now watch. If any man's work shall be burned, He shall suffer loss. Suffer now or suffer then. Suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. So here's that foundation. You'll build upon that foundation all kinds of work of what sort it is. It's going to be good or bad. There's only two sorts. Right or wrong. Good or bad. Burn up or not burn up. If it's tried by fire, gold, silver, precious stones, It lasts, it's purified. Wood hay stubble burns up and you suffer loss, so as by fire, yet you're still saved. So suffer now or suffer later. Some people play fast and loose with the things of God and think, well, it's okay. No, it's not okay. God, you're going to reap what you sow. If you sow to the flesh, you'll reap corruption. If you sow to the spirit, you'll reap life everlasting. People say, oh wow, that's how you get life. No. You're reaping life everlasting. You're reaping the rewards of doing right. The gold, silver, precious stones that you build upon that foundation. That's what it's talking about. So as you move on, let's go on and move on in Romans chapter 8. Oh no, look at Philippians 3. Remember I told you to suffer now or suffer later. Let's look at the Apostle Paul and look at what he says in Philippians chapter 3. He starts off in verse 4. He says, Though I might also have confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. I mean, Paul knew the law. Paul lived righteousness as best he could. Still a sinner. But he said, If anybody could trust in the flesh, it'd be me. Here's why. Circumcised the eighth day, the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews, touching the law, a Pharisee. So he's the top dog in religion. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the rites which is in the law, blameless. He's without blame. He followed the law's requirements to receive forgiveness. What does blameless mean? If he sinned, he brought the sin offering. and it covered over the sin. It could never take away the sin, could never cleanse him beyond needing to bring a sacrifice. And then verse 7, But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for Christ? Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but done. and be found in him not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." He understood God's righteousness, which was important, and he said, I've suffered the loss of all things, so you will either lose now or lose in the future. That's just your two choices. So now we go back to Romans chapter 8, and we'll move on. in verse 18. He says, for I reckon, that's why you hear Southerners talk, you know, I reckon so. They get that from the Bible. And they talk like the Bible. And what we've done is, you know, we go, well, they're Hicks. You know, they say, well, I reckon. No, that's Bible. I wish we were all a little bit more like that. You know, you say, well, they sound uneducated. No, they sound biblical. For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed... Notice it says, in us. What will be revealed in us. You're going to receive the things done in your body, whether it be good or bad, the Bible says. It's going to be received in us. Now, you know what the modern version, ESV for instance, says, will be revealed to us. There's a big difference. It's not the revelation to you, it's what will be revealed in us. Imagine Christ living in you. and what He does through you, and then He reveals in eternity what the results of that was. You can quench the Spirit, you can grieve the Spirit, or you can follow what God wants you to do, and then when He reveals the things done in us, He'll get all the glory, but you'll get the reward. That's just God. Think about that. You'll get the reward for just submitting to God, allowing Him to work through you. He gets the glory, you get the reward. I've got to tell you, that's a pretty good deal. And that's what He's going to do. I'm going to show you something here in a little bit. I'm going to show you now. He talks about the day of redemption in Ephesians 4.30. We're sealed till the day of redemption. But I want you to go to Ephesians chapter 2, and I don't remember whether I've taught this here, but I'm going to show you in the Bible what the purpose of life is. The purpose of all of this that goes on, all the cosmic battle that goes on, I want to show you in Ephesians chapter 2 what this life is all about. Verse 1, He's quickened us who are dead in trespasses and sins. He talks about the children of wrath there at the end of verse 3, even as others, but God, who is rich in mercy for His great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ by grace you're saved, and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. The church is made to... We're seated together in heavenly places right now. We are the ecclesia, the separated body in Christ. You say, I don't understand that. It doesn't matter. It's still true. You're here, but you're not. You're seated together in heavenly places. That's what the Bible says. But the next verse... Here's why we're seated together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come, here's the purpose of the whole thing. He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. That He can show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us. You're in heaven. Not yet. I mean, you're in heaven literally after death or the rapture, whatever. And he's going to be able to say, you see Jen over there? She's here because of the exceeding riches of my grace. You see Barbara? She's here not because of her works, not because of what she did, You see, Carrie, Kathy, Patty, I could name every one of you. And Judy, honey, I can't leave my wife out. Now I can move on. It's like this morning I left somebody out and it's like, you know, the mothers. If I ever do that, you know, where I go, hey, if you're a spouse, you're a child, and I leave out a group that you think is legit, just come on up and get in the picture. Because it's just pastoral. We lose our mind. First thing to go is your mind. So I just say that because I want to make sure you understand. Listen, I forgot about that. I don't think I've ever done, I have done these things many times, but I've never said, or if you're the mother of a veteran or a military person. So I will not forget until next week. I will not forget. Some of you are going to help me out. By the way, Bill, I appreciate you and John putting that up there. Bill was so engineeringly, he said, you got to put it through here, tie it off here, do this and slide. I put it up and we broke it. So that's why it didn't get up early. But it was a Sunday school project. We haven't had many projects in Sunday school. We had one this morning. Put that up. So I had to go sit in my car and turn on the air conditioner. Because I was up here breaking a sweat pretty bad. And I'm like, man, I'm going to be so uncomfortable the rest of the morning. But look at verse 7 again. I just want to drive this home a little bit further. This is the purpose of life. That in the ages to come, He's going to be able to point at you, you, you, each one of us. He might show the exceeding riches of His grace and His kindness toward us. You're going to be a trophy of God's grace. You say, what if I don't do everything right? You're still a trophy of God's grace because you're there. It's not you deserve it. We're not talking about rewards. We're talking about relationship. You're a child of God and He's going to look at you and say, they're here because of me. You are a trophy to God's grace. And every single saved person is that trophy for all eternity. He doesn't say, well, in the next age. He says, in the ages to come. Imagine a God that has everything. A God that created everything. A God that can do everything, that can be anywhere. And He looks at us and says, you know what? I want you to be my trophy. because you are here because of My Son and the payment that He did for you on the cross of Calvary. And for the ages to come, He's going to show the exceeding riches of His grace in you. To me, that's one of the most amazing things, because it explains a lot. Why do you go through things? Why do things happen? Why do bad things happen? Why do bad things happen to good people? trying to do right and what happens. Man, you're, I mean, I think about Jan's, let's just call, son-in-law. I remember him, he was in the hospital. He had a motorcycle accident. And he said, man, I thought I was doing everything right. And then he's in a coma for a long time. And I remember him saying that. And sometimes we look at that and say, hey, we're trying to do right, trying to live right. And then bad things happen. Listen, if you're trying to do right and trying to live right, you can't look at that and go, well, God, you owe me. I've got to have an easy life now. Just the opposite. What does it take for you to quit or to give up on God? What does it take for you to look to God and say, well, I'm only going to do this while I have the easy life? No. He looks at you and says, listen, I want you through the thick and the thin. I want you just like a marriage. Your marriage vows, 60 years ago, What? 16. Well, that's pretty cool too. Man. Well, so some of you are 60, so let's just use somebody else for a moment. 16 is cool. 60 years? I mean, 16 years? The vows don't change. Your vows don't change with God. Your vows are vows like that. Your relationship is to be like that. Through good or bad, sickness and in health, till death do us part type of thing. Listen, that's the relationship God has with you. He doesn't look at you and say, well, you know, you're doing right, I'm going to make it easy on you. Look at Job. Job's living right, doing right, and he lost everything. And then you get to read. I think I listened to Job a couple of weeks ago. I mean, I did listen to him, but it was a couple of weeks ago. And I remember listening to them going back and forth, and then God comes in, in the last chapters, and He says, hey, you guys got to bring an offering to Job. You're just a bunch of sounding brass, and Job's just trying to figure it out. Can you imagine when you're doing right, living right, and everybody turns on you? He says, well, you've got to be doing wrong to have that type of thing happen to you. You can't be living right. Hey, just take them to Job and realize that just because something happens doesn't mean you're getting what you deserve. In fact, just the opposite. I say to you this way, If you're doing right and something happens, you're not getting what you deserve. And then if you're doing wrong and God's merciful and gracious, you're not getting what you deserve. You deserve a whole lot worse. And then you get through that and you go, well, I don't understand how this works out. It works out this way. God allows things to come in your life to prove you and test you, to bring out of you that which He's put in you, and sometimes going through the fire is the best way for that to happen. Sometimes it's health issues. Sometimes it's family issues. It's just all these things. It's societal issues. And you look at it and you can't look at it and go, well, here's the box that I put God in and now it doesn't work because when I look at it, it's supposed to work this way. We don't understand God in that capacity. You'll have things happen that you don't deserve, and that goes for good or bad. And I'll tell you this, I praise God I haven't always gotten what I deserve. And then when I've been living right, I'm thinking, I don't deserve this. That's not the way it works. Live with him through the thick and the thin. Love him through the thick and the thin. Let's go on, look at... Look at verse 19. He says, For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Now look, the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. Aren't you the sons of God? Yes? Joined heirs with Christ? Have we suffered? And the expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. You see, what we are has not been manifested yet. Who we're going to become for all eternity is not manifested yet, but the whole creature, the creation, waits for that manifestation. I'm waiting for the manifestation. I mean, you look at people and you go, how can people be like that? They're not manifested yet what they're going to be. And then you look at it and go, wow, I wish I was like that. You know, the ones that are doing right and living right. Man, I wish I was more like that. The manifestation's coming. You're just waiting for it. Verse 20, For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope." Hope is something we're going to look at in a minute. "...because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." And not only they, the animals, the creatures, but ourselves also which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves growing within ourselves waiting for the adoption to wit the redemption of our body. So what you have is we ourselves, we have the firstfruits of the Spirit. The firstfruits. We're waiting. for the summation or the completion of the whole thing. We have the first fruits, and then we're waiting for the adoption or the redemption of our body. I've told you this many times, you're two-thirds saved. At salvation, your soul and your spirit are saved, your body is not. Your body, is not saved until the redemption of the body which is in the future. And when that happens, we're waiting for the adoption to with the redemption of our bodies in verse 24. For we are saved by hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope, for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Notice I've said many times about patience. You say, well, I was always told, don't pray for patience. Tribulation worketh patience, you pray for patience, you're going to have tribulation. Let me tell you something, you're going to have tribulation anyway. But you need patience. So pray for patience. Oh, I once prayed for patience, and as soon as I did, I came up to a red light, and the car in front of me never went, and it turned green, and I'll never pray for patience again. You of all people need patience. Guilty. I just flashed in front of me Bill driving as that happens. Hey, we need patience. It's not an easy thing in life, but we need patience. Pray for patience because listen, here's the thing. You're going to have tribulation. What helps you get through tribulation? Patience. So why not pray for patience? You've been told all your life, don't pray for patience. I'm telling you that that is the worst advice anybody can give you. Because listen, once you get to a level where you start looking and you say, well, Lord, I've seen you work it out in the past. I know you've got the future, but I'm looking at the present right now that doesn't look real good. and you get impatient, and God isn't working fast enough, and things aren't clearing up fast enough, what happens? You get discouraged and defeated. You get to where you look and say, well, God, you're not fair to me. That's impatience. But if you'll pray for patience, and then you look in the past, you see God, and then as you come forward, you're in the thing, and you go, oh, Lord, all I've got to do is wait on Thee. And then He gives you a peace that passeth all understanding. And then you look at that and go, wow, I wish I'd have handled it the right way with patience. But you're looking at it from a worldly perspective and, oh, don't pray for patience. If you do, tribulation's coming. I got news for you, tribulation's coming anyway. And if you want to have a little help getting through it, It takes a lot of patience. It is not easy to live this life. And some of the best examples in life are those that learn how to have patience through the tribulation. You look at Job, he really didn't have patience. He's our example of somebody that didn't have patience during the tribulation. But then, you know, I can look back on Job and I can go, I see it. What did Job have to look at? His friends? And they looked and they didn't have any example like that. And they're looking at it going, you had this self-righteous attitude, and by the way, people will judge you left and right, night and day. Oh, you're full of pride, and oh, you're this and you're that. You know what pride is many times, or our perception of pride? It's confidence. Are you confident in God? To the world, you're gonna look like you're prideful. Are you confident enough to stand firm in the most intense pressure in this world? People will look at that and say, oh, you're too prideful. Man, pride cometh before destruction, haughty spirit before the fall. Can't wait to see God knock you down. And then they don't say that, but in reality, that's what a lot of people think. You know what you gotta do? You just gotta look at it, smile, grin and bear it. Listen, the more people persecute you, the more you ought to not internalize it. I believe in empathy. I'm not as empathetic as my wife. Women have a tendency to be much more empathetic than men. But then there's a couple things like, you know, hanging this up on the wall that tight, I'd rather be working with a man than a woman. It's just a little easier, right honey? She knows. I'm like, she says, well you need to do this. I go, honey, I'm a man. And I tell her that because it's like, you know, it's just a different way of thinking. Venus and Mars, something like that. I don't remember what that one is. I don't even know if that's good, so I'll just... But you know, men and women are different. I don't want to be a woman. I would like to be more empathetic toward people. I just would. I would like to have... And listen, because of that, I think God helps. A pastor not being empathetic is a problem because you don't relate as well as you should. So you do want some of that. But I don't want women to go, well, I want to be like a man. I don't want to be like a woman. I wanna be a man that is rounded out, that has the qualities that you need to be able to help people in their time of need. I don't wanna be like the Secretary of Health. You saw that. I think JFK, are they doing, not JFK, Robert F. Kennedy, are they saying he's gonna be the Secretary of Health, I think? Maybe they're looking at that, but right now you got a man from Pennsylvania that dresses like a woman that's your Secretary of Health. No wonder. And it's been that four years. I mean, so you wonder why we got a problem? There it is. There it is. In a nutshell. I was going to do a box, but in a nutshell. Whatever it is. I mean, it's crazy. what we've got going on. So as you look at this thing about hope, let's finish out on hope. Remember, your adoption is in the future. It's Acts 3.21, the times of restitution of all things. Ephesians, we're waiting for the adoption with the redemption of our body. In Ephesians 1.14, it talks about the redemption of the purchased possession. So here's what it is. Your body, soul, and spirit, three parts, all three have been purchased. Two have been redeemed. Two are redeemed at salvation, soul and spirit. Your body's waiting for the redemption of the purchased possession, Ephesians 1.14. I want to deal with hope and then close out tonight, so I'm not going to deal with the adoption, redemption anymore. Look at Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3, look at verse 5. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace we should be made heirs Heirs, again, according to the hope of eternal life. The hope of eternal life. Now, remember, it isn't, well, I hope so. It isn't an unsure hope. We have what? A sure hope. It's used differently. We think of hope and we go, oh, I hope that happens. That's not what we're talking about. We have a sure hope. Look at Titus chapter 2, verse 11. He goes through there and he says, "...for the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world, looking for that blessed hope." What's the blessed hope? That's Jesus Christ's return. We're looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ. That's the blessed hope. It's a sure thing. He's coming back. That's why we talk about the blessed hope in that context. Now you can say, well, the blessed hope is not that, but let's look at it as a noun. The blessed hope is Jesus Christ's return. And by the way, that's a sure hope. Look at 1 John 3. 1 John 3, verse 1. Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us not." There's hope right there because it knew Him not. If the world didn't know Him, it's not going to know you as you are as a Christian. Verse 2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God? And it doth not yet appear what we shall be. Remember, it's going to be manifest in the future. But we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, and every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure. Why is the coming of Jesus Christ, the rapture, so important? Because the Bible says when you have that hope, the hope that He's coming, that He could come back today, and you're going to get a glorified body, everything's changed, we're out of here. When you have that hope, you purify yourself. We're going to see Him as He is. We're going to be changed like He is. What an amazing time. But it's a sure hope. Not, I hope, oh, I wish. That's not what it's talking about. Look at Hebrews 6. Hebrews 6. And look at verse 18. Hebrews 6. Verse 18. He says that by two, immutable. What's immutable mean? It means it cannot change. It's immutable. Well, why don't you, why didn't it just say by two things that can't change? Because there's a reason it's immutable. If I just told you, well, two things can't change, and you go, well, what do you mean can't change? How powerful is that? I'm telling you it's immutable. You go, what's that? That means it can't change. And that word has authority. And that's why you don't change the Bible. If I went to law school, I'm sorry, if I went to become a doctor, and I went in there and I said, well, you know, that tibula and fibula, I think you should just call it the front bone and the backbone in the arm. No, it's the tibula and the fibula. No, it's there for a reason. If they don't name every part and they go, well, look at the backbone. You look at it and go, well, do you mean when the arms turn like this or like this? No, it's the tibial and fibula and they're connected in certain places in your elbow. And I'm no doctor, by the way, other than the other one. No medical doctor. What I'm telling you though is you don't change it if you go to medical school. So why do people that go to seminary get taught that, hey, these words aren't important. No, they're immutable. They don't change. God's immutable. God, He changeth not. He's immutable. So, by two immutable things, we're going to look at two things that don't change, in which it was impossible for God to lie. By the way, it's impossible for God to lie. Is it possible? No, it's impossible. That means it's not possible. God cannot lie. We might have a strong consolation who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us. which hope we have..." It's immutable. "...which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil. Whether the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made in high priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." Some of you are looking probably saying, well, who is Melchizedek? No father, no mother, da, da, da, da, da. That is not for tonight, that's for sure. Look at Galatians chapter five, Galatians chapter five, looking at this hope, this immutable, two immutable things, Galatians chapter five, look at verse five. He says, for we through the Spirit, Wait. What's it take to wait? Patience. For we, through the Spirit, wait for the hope of righteousness by faith. We wait for the hope of righteousness. Look at Hebrews 11. I should have taken you with this when we were over there, but look at Hebrews 11. Now this is one of the most important verses on faith and hope and defining it. Now he says in Hebrews 11, remember it's the chapter on faith. Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. What is faith? Right there it's defined. Substance of things hoped for, But you don't have the evidence. You know what the world looks for now? Evidence, evidence, evidence. They want to live by sight. We are not to walk by sight, we're to walk by faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. That is the substance of faith. Two more verses, look at Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1. Now remember, we have a sure hope Verse 27, and I'm just going to jump in there, "...to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles." What is the mystery? What is this thing about the riches of His glory? Which is, He defines it, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ in you, the hope of glory. I've been preaching and teaching a long time. Talking about Christ in you never gets old. Never. Christ in you, the hope of glory. One more verse found in Proverbs chapter 14. Proverbs chapter 14. This thing, hope. Proverbs 14 verse 32. He says, the wicked is driven away in his wickedness, but the righteous hath hope in his death. You're made righteous by the work of God. You have hope in death. We are not as many which sorrow as others that have no hope. You have something that is so blessed. You know your future. You know the outcome of the whole thing. And you know, I'll say this because it just came to mind, but there's some that would say, boy, I don't know about the election. If the election would have gone another way, then so much more ungodliness would have happened and then Christ would come back sooner. That's not the way it works. That's not the way it works. I didn't expect to make, I'm 65, I didn't expect to make it to 65. Yet here I am. In 1988, I was in Bible college my fourth year, after four years at Penn State, after, you know, four years, three years at Penn State, four years military. And I thought Jesus is coming back in 1988, because the guy wrote a book on it. 88 Reasons Why Jesus is Coming Back in 1988. He changed it to 89 the next year. Literally. But I thought, man, I'm going. I'm leaving this earth. 1988. Man, that's what? Long time. 40 years? Somewhere around there. 36, thank you. I was doing the math reverse and I got stuck somewhere. 88, I was doing 2, and 24 is 26, so I should have had the 6 anyway. When you look at that, and it's just not going to work that way. Don't pray that things go bad so that Jesus has to come back quicker. It just means you've got to live here in the mess. Pray for those in authority. Look, look, that you may lead a quiet and peaceable life. I don't care if it's Kamala Harris that was going to be in the president. You know what we had a responsibility to do? Pray for her. Pray for her. And listen, pray for her salvation. Can you imagine if she got saved? Oh, she can't get saved. Oh, yes, she can. Just pray for those in authority. But don't pray that this whole world is going to implode so we can get out of here. You say, well, we're not going through the tribulation. No, but things are gonna get pretty bad before we're gone. So if we have four more years of reprieve, I'm all for four more years, because then that puts me on the 70, you know, and then if I keep going, sooner or later, I'm gonna run out of time. I'll run out of life before, you know, before the Lord comes back, maybe. I hope and pray I'm here when He comes back for His church. Alive. I hope so. It's not a sure thing, though. That's a different hope than what we're talking about. What I'm telling you, though, is you ought to pray for all those in authority. I'm talking on a local level, county level, state level, federal level, national level, even though they shouldn't even exist, all this one-world stuff. But pray for them that God will open up their eyes. Pray for Rupert Murdoch, the guy that hates people, hates America. He was a Holocaust victim. And what he has done has shown that he hates that which is good and righteous and pure. Pray for him. I mean, can you imagine if all of a sudden he got saved and then he turned everything around and did good? You say, well, it can't happen. I don't say it's a sure hope, but if He can save my soul, He can save His soul. If He can save your soul, He can save His soul. We need to be praying that way. And you don't need to do name it, claim it. Lord, I claim Rupert Murdoch's going to be a Christian next week. We're just waiting two weeks and you'll be praying it again. You'll be like that 1988 book. You don't force God to do anything. But you do pray because prayer matters and prayer changes things. Let's all stand together. Lord, thank You for the sure hope that You give us. Thank You for the blessed hope to come. Thank You, Lord, for the opportunity to look into Your Word and to learn and grow and mature. Lord, that's what You want us to do. Help us to be faithful in doing that. In Jesus' name, with your head bowed and eyes closed.