Well, I don't know about you, but I could go home right now, and my soul is just overflowing with joy from the things that we've heard this weekend. And I feel like that message that you just heard is a capstone of what we rejoice in, in the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Joseph means a great deal to me and his family. And I've watched him grow in grace and knowledge. And I've watched him grow through many of the trials that God has called him to pass through. And I would beseech you that you would pray for all of God's servants. Because to be a servant of Jesus Christ is to have a target placed on your back. The devil. is opposed to God's servants because of the message that they're bringing that liberates God's people from the tyranny of that wicked ruler in a darkened and broken world. But I'm so thankful to know that overall God reigns. I'd like us to go back to the language of Acts chapter 28 for a little while. I want to talk to you a little while about the hope of Israel. We've been referring to it over and over through this conference, and in Acts chapter 28 where the apostle Paul is speaking to the Jews that have come to his hired house, and they're seeking to understand his doctrine, his manner of life, and why he's incarcerated at Rome in the first place. They're there asking him about why he's bound. You know, Brother Joseph in his earlier message asked that question when in Acts chapter 20 he meets with the elders of the church at Ephesus and speaks about the prophecies of opposition that are awaiting him in Jerusalem. But you know, Paul's attitude was such that he said, none of these things move me. Brother Joseph asked us, what moves us? What motivates us to proclaim the gospel? And Paul, he says, none of these things move me, but I want to be found faithful to the calling that God has upon my life to tell people the good news of the resurrected Savior. That was the motivating cause. And his love and compassion for the people of God, wherever they are, was such that he was willing to endure all things for the sake of the elect. For the sake of those who were chosen in Christ from the foundation of the world. Those who were loved by Christ and redeemed by the blood of Christ. The Apostle Paul had a message. for them. And we have the same message today. But what's interesting is how the apostle Paul answered their inquiry. We find that here in Acts chapter 28 where he says in verse 20, For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak to you, because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain, the hope of Israel. He's referring to the Messiah. He's referring to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And if you study the ministry of Paul, if you study the actual messages that Luke records for us in the Acts of the Apostles, it's interesting, isn't it, how that the Apostle Paul in every message will take us to the resurrection of Christ. I want to understand that a little bit better with you today. If God would bless us, I would like to talk to you about the hope of Israel and why the publication of the Gospel is so important for us. I believe that the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the answer that changes everything. We understand the Bible to teach the reality of death. In Ecclesiastes 9, verse 4, Solomon writes that death comes to all men. Death is the reality of life in this world. We know that the Bible, for instance, teaches us that there are three particular types of death that we have to be confronted by. You know, first, there's natural death, the physical aspects that are the consequence of sin. Remember in the Garden of Eden, when God spake to Adam and Eve, He said, In the day that thou eatest, thou shalt surely die. There's a separation that is described by the word death. Adam and Eve were separated from the communion that they had with God in the garden because they were cast out of the garden. They were separated from God naturally. And the Bible teaches that from a standpoint of nature, all have sinned, right? Romans 3.19, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. All have sinned and in Romans chapter 5 verse 12, the result of sin is death. separation. So there's a physical separation of the soul from the body in physical death, natural death. But the Bible also describes a spiritual death, a death in the spirit, wherein a man by nature is alienated from God. A man by nature does not love God, does not submit to God. His heart is of stone. He's resistant to the things of God. In I Corinthians chapter 2 verse 9, he tells us that the natural mind receives not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he know them. Why? Because they're spiritually understood. The things of God are spiritually discerned. If you have not the Spirit of God within you, the Word of God doesn't have any impact. It doesn't have any influence in the life of an individual. So there's a natural death, and then there's a spiritual death that all men, by nature, are born into. Paul uses that language, doesn't he, in Ephesians 2, verse 1, And you hath he quickened, who were what? dead in trespasses and in sin, dead to the things of God, dead to the truth of God, dead to the reality of God, and in the wisdom of carnal men deny even the very existence of God. So there's a natural death, and then there's a spiritual death, but there's also an eternal death. The Bible calls it the second death. Did you know that? second death, the, the second death, which is described in the book of Revelation, all of those, the devil and his angels and those who are God haters and, and Christ rejecters are going to be sent into the lake of fire and brimstone, which I believe is a literal geographical location, It's not just a mythological place. It is a real place where the wicked are going to spend eternity, and John, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, calls that the second death. I want you to understand, if you forget everything I say this morning, don't forget this one. Those that are born once are going to die twice. Those that are born twice are going to only die once. Those who are born of the Spirit of God will never experience that second death. The Apostle Paul had something constraining in his life. I believe he was by nature a very zealous man. I believe he was a very intelligent man from many of the evidences we read about his life. and, and other writings about the Apostle Paul. I believe that in his zeal for the Law of God, he actually at one time persecuted the Church of our Lord. But the Lord appeared to him in Acts chapter 9 on the road to Damascus, and you know the story very well. And in that moment, He received a calling that he did not deserve, and by the way, he wasn't seeking for. He didn't, he wasn't doing anything to please the Lord Jesus Christ. He was opposing Him, but God said this in Acts chapter 9 verse 15, He said, He is a chosen vessel unto me, and I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. And the Apostle Paul never forgot that. He never forgot his calling. He never forgot that experience of meeting the Lord Jesus Christ. And when a person, listen to me carefully, when a person meets the Lord Jesus Christ, they're never the same. They're never the same. Brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul was, was coming to Rome to be tried in the court of Caesar. and his only crime was preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And now these Jews come to him and say, boy, you know, this is a strange situation. We need to know why you are here. Why are you bound with this chain? And he tells them, for the hope of Israel. am I bound with this chain? Turn your Bible back Acts, turn back in the book of Acts to Acts chapter 26 when the Apostle Paul was speaking before Agrippa, listen to how he uses this word hope in this connection. Here he's standing before this judge Agrippa And by the way, my wife and I had the opportunity to go to Caesarea, and we actually went to the place where Agrippa and the judges of that day in the first century would judge the criminals, and we saw the stage with the iron pins where the prisoner was fixed, and then we saw the seat which was up in the stands, the seat where the judge, the Bema judge would sit, and our leader said this is actually where Agrippa would sit, and that's exactly where Paul would be judged and make this speech before Agrippa. And I thought, oh my goodness, how wonderful it is to be able to see this and to put it in perspective physically in my mind. And as I read this, I'm thinking about that courtroom in Caesarea, and here's Paul in chains standing before Agrippa, and Agrippa's sitting right here listening to these words, and he says this, Back up for time's sake, let's just back up to verse 4. My manner of life from my youth, which was at the first among mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews. He was a Jew. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He was a religious Jew. Which knew me from the beginning, if they would testify, if they tell the truth, that after the most strictest sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee. And remember the Pharisees believed that there would be a Messiah and that there would be a bodily resurrection. But they did not connect any of those promises with the Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And now I stand, I'm talking about the Pharisees, and now I stand and am judged, notice how he says this, for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers, unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come, for which hope's sake, King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews." Now here's his question. Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead? that the God of heaven would be able to defeat natural death, spiritual death, and eternal death. For the hope of Israel. Am I bound with this chain? Now when we're talking about hope biblically, we're not talking about a whimsical desire, we're not talking about a simple wish, like I hope my truck doesn't break down on the way home. I hope I don't have a flat tire. Now that's the way we use the word hope, but hope biblically is the Greek word elpis or elpido, which means expectation of that which is good. It's an expectation. of that which is good. So here he's talking about an expectation that can only be realized through the defeat of death. Death has to be defeated. But who's going to be able to defeat death? Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 9 that no one is going to escape the torrents of death. We can all expect, as it were, death to occur. But Paul is bound by his knowledge, bound by his understanding that there actually was One that would come and defeat death. And His name is Jesus Christ. And He is the hope of Israel. And He is our hope here today. I'm mindful of a famous painting that you can see. It's actually in the museum in Paris today, and it was painted in 1597 by a man named Johannes Bruegel. He was a famous artist in his day. And the title of this painting, it's a large painting, and it's The Triumph of Death. And the artist portrays huge skeletal armies, these skeletons that are armed and alive, and they're coming into the villages and into the cities and into the hamlets of ancient Europe, and they're invading, they're an invading army. And they're coming by the thousands into the courts of royalty, into the palaces of the wealthy, into the banqueting halls of the learned, the councils of the religious of that day. They come and they're coming to the gaming tables of the foolish and the alleyways of the poor to illustrate the reigning terror of death that affects all levels of human existence. It is a dark, scary picture of hopeless and helpless humanity separated from the truth of the triumph of Jesus Christ over death in his own resurrection. We read historically that in the 17th century, men of learning, philosophical learning, come to an age of enlightenment, an age of what we call quote, unquote, reason. Through these leaders, ecclesiastical leaders in Europe, they, they denied the supernatural or the miraculous works of God, changing everything in the Bible to an allegory. spiritualizing, as it were, every literal event. These great professors of religion went on to rewrite a lot of the, the, the scriptures themselves. New translations and versions of the scripture began to appear in the religious arena. they took scriptural interpretation from an objective reality to a subjective interpretation. They would say that the truth is whatever you want it to be. They, they would say the, the, the reality of miracles is only in the mind of an individual, that hell is actually not a, a literal place, but borrowed from Greek mythology, and all kinds of heretical teachings came out of the colleges of religious institutions during the time of the Age of Enlightenment. They produced skepticism, rejection, of the divine inspiration of the scripture, they exalted the intellect and the sophistication of man above the Word of God. And they call that enlightenment. But their influence is still being felt today. Their, their influence has impacted Christianity even today as they deny the miraculous power of God Brother Joseph shared with us from Matthew chapter 9 verses 35 to 37 a moment ago, and what that's doing is describing the ministry of Christ. He would preach the gospel, right? He would teach the Word, and he would heal. Preaching, teaching, healing. These are the three major elements of the ministry of Christ. And by the way, when you find a true minister of Christ, you're going to find those three elements. You're going to find the proclamation of the truth, you're going to find the teaching of the Word of God, and you're going to find an environment in which healing takes place. Sometimes that healing is the broken heart. Sometimes it's the heavy load that people care and carry, and when they come under the sound of the true gospel of Jesus Christ, something wells up in their hearts, and it's called hope. Brothers and sisters, that hope is the reality of who Jesus Christ is, that He is the conqueror of death, hell, and the grave. The literal truth of Christ's bodily resurrection is essential. There would be no Christianity except there be a resurrected Savior. Jesus would teach this all the way through His ministry. He would refer to His own resurrection. In Matthew chapter 16 verse 21, He prepared His disciples. He says, We're going to go to Jerusalem. I'm going to be betrayed into the hands of sinful men. They're going to crucify me. They're going to bury me. But after three days, I'm going to rise again. Matthew chapter 16, verse 21. Matthew chapter 17, verse 22. Matthew chapter 20, verse 17. Matthew is recording how Jesus was preparing the disciples for His own death. But the death that He would experience would not be a final experience. It would not be a finality. Did you know that death is not a period? Death is a comma. Death is not, you know, you hear philosophers even today, billboards that say, you only go around once in life, right? After this, it's done. You're dead all over like the old dog Grover. Well, brothers and sisters, that's not the truth of the Scripture. Death is not a period. It's not a, it's not a wall that you hit at the end of the age. It is a door through which we all must pass. It's a comma in the experience. And Jesus Christ is preparing them for His sacrificial death on the cross. But brothers and sisters, that's not where the story ended. The story does not end with the death of Jesus Christ. The story does not end with His imminent burial. in a borrowed tomb. That used to bother me. When I was a little boy and I'd hear my daddy preach about Jesus having to borrow a grave, boy, that troubled me. And I'd go to my daddy and I'd say, you know, that just bothers me that he was so poor he couldn't even afford a place to be buried. But daddy would look at me and say, but he didn't need it very long. See, he was just borrowing that place. It was something that he didn't need very long. He only needed it for three days. And then the Bible says that he rose again, never to experience death again. You know what he did? You know what he did? He conquered death. He conquered death natural. He conquered death spiritual. He conquered death eternal on behalf of those that were given Him in covenant before time began. You see, Jesus Christ didn't come to give men a chance for eternal life. Jesus Christ came to procure it, to provide it through His own death, burial, and resurrection. Paul said, for the hope of Israel, I'm bound with this chain. This chain is alright. It's alright. for me to have a chain around my hands and my feet. But my heart will never be bound because the truth of God cannot be destroyed. It cannot be defeated. It's something that will outlive all the vain philosophy and the vain teachings of religious men. You talk about an age of enlightenment. You talk about being enlightened. when you know the Lord Jesus Christ as Paul knew Him, you're bound with a chain, a chain of hope, a chain of deliverance, because we understand that in Jesus Christ, death was defeated. The story of Jesus Christ is the death of death. It is the reality It is the reality of the Christian. I think about this in context with the miracles of Jesus Christ during His earthly ministry. In Luke chapter 7 verses 11 through 16, Jesus went to the widow woman. Isn't that interesting? Isn't it interesting to you that Jesus would favor the poor? Isn't it interesting with you that the very announcement of the birth of Jesus Christ was given to those poor shepherds in the field? It wasn't announced in the palaces of Rome. It wasn't announced in the religious halls of Jerusalem. No, these poor shepherds out there. Jesus comes and tells them. And they run into the city to see the baby Jesus. You know the story, don't you, in Luke chapter 2? Well, isn't it interesting that Jesus would have compassion upon those that often are forgotten? Those often that are actually abused, the widows, the orphans. Jesus had a special place in his heart for the poor. I think about that in the prophecy of Zephaniah chapter 3 verse 12, I will leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people and they shall trust in the name of the Lord. Jesus would come to the widow woman and you can imagine in that culture, remember in that culture a widow depended upon her son for her livelihood. But now her son was taken from her. You can imagine how broken and how sorrowful that woman must have been. But Jesus came and he touched the bier, he touched the coven and said, young man arise! Get up out of there! And then of course they picked the mama up off of the ground, I'm adding to it, you know. Because if I'd have been there, I'd have fainted, wouldn't you? You go to a funeral and you're passing by the casket and the person in the casket wakes up and says, hey, what's going on? I believe everybody would be, yeah, I believe that would get our attention, don't you think? But Jesus restored that son to the grieving widow. Oh, that's a wonderful picture of His compassion. a wonderful picture of His power over death. Isn't that amazing? In Luke chapter 8, verses 40 through 56, Jesus comes to raise the daughter of Jairus. You know the story, and I'm not going to belabor that point, but all He was doing was demonstrating His power over death. Son, arise, he says. Young maiden, arise, he says. In John chapter 11, he comes to the tomb of Lazarus. He says, Lazarus, come forth. Have you ever wondered why he would specifically say, young man, arise. Young woman, arise. Lazarus, arise. I'll tell you why. Because if he wouldn't have specifically addressed that command to those individuals, all of the graves would have opened. See? See, He's got authority. He's got authority over death. He has authority over the grave. I believe that the physical presence of Jesus with His disciples after the resurrection demonstrate the evidence of his literal, physical resurrection. You know, see, out of the 17th century school of theology, they were saying, they were claiming that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was only spiritual. They were saying that it was a spiritual resurrection, not a physical resurrection, you see. That's too miraculous, you see, for these elitist minds. But I want you to know the Bible testifies to the reality of the physical resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. There's two appearances recorded for us at Jerusalem. There's His appearance in Galilee in Matthew 28 when He gave that great commission. There's his appearance to Saul on the road to Damascus. There's his appearance to Stephen in Acts 7.55 when they were stoning Stephen. Stephen looked up and saw the Lord Jesus. Isn't that amazing? He saw Him on that occasion. These are testimonies of the 40 days in which Jesus would make these various appearings to His disciples all along to verify that He physically, literally rose as a conqueror of death. And brothers and sisters, that's an amazing teaching. That's amazing testimony. It's something that cannot be undone or twisted. by whatever religious elite might deny it. I believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost authenticated the resurrection of Christ. I do not believe, I do not believe that the Spirit would have ever come into the church had not Christ physically raised from the dead. Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 27, if I go away I will not leave you comfortably. I will not leave you as an orphan. I will not leave you without a paraclete, someone to come alongside you. But if I go, he says, I'll send another comforter, another of the same kind, and he's going to do something. He's going to bring to your minds. He's going to bring remembrance of the things that I've taught you. He's going to be a teacher. He's going to, he's going to be a revelator. He's going to be a light that shines on the true promises of God to His people. And He's going to remind us, brother Joseph, that there's a God in heaven that reigns. And He reigns over death. And you can trust Him. You can trust Him. Brothers and sisters, we can trust Him. I believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit is what animated Peter's sermon in Acts chapter 2. It was demonstrated through the healing of the lame man in Acts chapter 3. It is the apostolic witness as they go from place to place and they begin to speak in the very language of the people that they're preaching to. That's the gift of tongues, not gibberish. not some mechanized sound, but it was actually a language. They were able to go to a German tribe and speak German. They were able to go to a Spanish place and speak Spanish, to Mongolians speak Mongolian. My point is, it was a language. It was a gift of tongues. And it verified, it authenticated them. to be the servants of God. And not only that, it authenticated the message that they were conveying, because the people would say, how did you learn that language? That's my mother tongue! That's my mother tongue! I don't know if you've ever been in a foreign country. One time, Elder Mike Strievel and I went to Africa on the first trip, and this was in 1998. We went to Kenya and Uganda, and we began to to minister to those places, and of course we had to have a translator. They speak Kiswahili, and one of their expressions is Mungo Nimwe Mabwana, and it means God is good, because He is God. God is good. And that's a common Christian greeting. But boy, I mean, we labored in Kenya, and Brother Nathan Pitney was there as well, and that was his first trip, and boy, he was taking notes. He was taking notes. And today, he doesn't have to take notes. But I can remember him there. and we're going village to village and we're preaching and I mean we're having services from early morning to late at night. We were just preaching everywhere and loving it and energized and everything was great and it was a three week trip and I can remember getting on that airplane after those three weeks of that hard labor. and sitting down in that seat and just kind of melting and going to sleep. I slept the whole way home. Well, all of a sudden, Brother Roger, I heard a stewardess seating somebody in first class. By the way, primitive Baptist evangelists don't ride first class. We usually sit in the middle seat at the back of the plane between two sumo wrestlers. And invariably there'll be two mamas with infants that are teething in front of us. I'm just saying. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying. But I tell you what, I heard the stewardess, an American stewardess, say to someone, sir, please take this seat and I'll be with you in a moment. And when I heard her speak English, it got my attention. And she made her way back to the end of the plane and she was taking care of all of us and she said, sir, is there anything I can get for you? And I said, ma'am, just talk a little bit more. There was something about my mother tongue. I've been around all of these key Swahili speaking folks and trying to speak and trying to understand through this translator and trying to communicate to these people the wonderful beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ and all of that together. But when I heard my mother tongue, there was just something. I was saying to myself, you know, I'm headed home. I'm headed home. I believe that the gift of tongues, God was equipping these apostles to, to speak the mother language of these people, to realize that they're home. They're home in Jesus. They finally found the reason and basis for their hope of eternal life. It's in the Lord Jesus Christ and Him alone, the conqueror of death, the defeater of hell, the conqueror and victor over Satan himself. I believe that this is so powerful, brothers and sisters. It's a foundational truth to all that the Bible teaches. Apart from the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we would have no hope. Amen? We would have nothing to lay hold upon. The lives of the disciples were changed forever. Do you realize, do you realize that all the apostles died martyrdom, martyr's death? Do you think that they would die a martyr's death for something that they weren't persuaded was true? I don't. Why would a person die for something that they didn't believe? Why would we die for a myth? Or some kind of a fable? No, brothers and sisters, I'm telling you, these men were willing to die for their testimony in Jesus Christ because they had experienced the Lord Himself. Because they had met Jesus. And I'm telling you, when you meet Jesus Christ, it's going to change your attitude about dying. It's going to change your attitude about death. Oh, I realize that we miss our family, we miss our loved ones, we miss the things that we've grown to treasure in this world, but brothers and sisters, when it comes to comparing this world with Jesus Christ and that world that is to come, there's nothing in this world that can tempt me to want to stay here any longer than when the Lord wants me to go. Romans chapter 8 verse 18, listen to what he says. He says, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be even compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. I'm telling you that's the hope of Israel that binds us. That's the hope of Israel that motivates us. That's the hope of Israel that animates our witness to those in our environment. It's real. Jesus Christ is real. We could, I don't have time to go into 1 Corinthians 15 with you, that Magna Carta of the resurrection, where Paul uses historical proof, personal proof, doctrinal proof, and even practical proof concerning the reality of our hope in Jesus Christ, the resurrected Savior. But if you'll allow me, would you allow me just a few more minutes to talk about the death of death in Christ. I want you to turn your Bible with me to II Timothy chapter 1 verse 10. Just allow me a few parting moments here in II Corinthians chapter 1 verse 10. Listen to how Paul words this, and this is in the context of the Gospel. I'm not ashamed. He says, Timothy, don't be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord in verse 8, nor of me as prisoner. But be thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God, who hath saved us. See, this is what God has done for you that you could never do for yourself. who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus. When? When was that? When you made a decision for Jesus? When you decided that you wanted to follow Jesus? No, no. This was given in Christ Jesus before the world began. But watch verse 10, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath," what? That's what it said. It said, "...abolished death, abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles." Hallelujah! You see, Jesus Christ came to bring about the death of death. Hebrews 2.14 is another one. Don't go there, but we understand that He has a defeated death. And, and this is, this is what we're listening to. This is what we're hoping for. This is what animated Paul. This is why he was ready to be martyred. He wasn't going to back up not one step. They would tell Paul, Paul all you've got to do is deny Jesus Christ and you can live. All you've got to do is deny Jesus Christ and you can have this job. All you have to do is deny Jesus Christ and you can be popular. You can be anything you want to be in a secular darkened world. All you have to do is deny Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul said it's not worth it. Not worth it. There's nothing here that's worth that. Nothing here compares with it. That's exactly right. But listen to what Jesus says. Oh, my friends, listen. Listen carefully. In John 14, verse 1, He says, Let not your heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in Me. For in My Father's house there are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. Listen. And if I go, to prepare a place for you, I will return and receive you unto Myself, that where I am, there ye may be also. You see, brothers and sisters, there's the hope that you and I have this morning. This is the hope that makes all of the sufferings, and all of the struggles, and all of the discouragements, and all of the afflictions, and all of the persecutions worth it. because of the reality that Jesus Christ that conquered death, hell, and the grave is one day going to come back. And what Brother Joseph said is so accurate and so true and precise in Titus 2, verse 13. What are you doing? You're looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us that He might redeem us. from all iniquity, and purifying to himself a people peculiar, not a strange people, but a people peculiar, purchased people, zealous of what? Good works. You want to know why we want to work for the Lord? It's not to earn eternal life. We're not working for the Lord to make ourselves worthy of eternal life, worthy of salvation. That's not it at all. But brothers and sisters, when you see the measure of His divine love, and what He's done for us, not just for today, but for eternity, that He made a way for us not to fear death, not to be afraid, not to tremble before our archenemy devil, but to repaint the picture that I mentioned a moment ago of this skeletal army that's coming after us, and to be so afraid and so coward in hiding. That's, brothers and sisters, when I realize that death is not a period, but a comma. When I realize that death is the open door through which I must pass into an eternal realm where at last I'll be at peace, where at last I'll be at rest, where at last I'll be with those who love the same Lord as I do, At last, I'll be a conqueror over that which prevents me so often in this world from serving our God like we ought to. I'm looking forward to that place where I can worship Him without sin and without any of the fear and any of the torments of this human body. I'm looking forward to it. How about you? Are you bound? with this chain? Are you willing to suffer for this cause? You see, if you are, you're in the same place, in the same wonderful hope that animated the life of the great Apostle Paul. And I'm praying for you this morning that he'll touch you in such a way as you'll never be afraid of death. You'll never be afraid of the devil. You'll never be afraid of the world we're living in. But you'll trust in this Savior that brought about the death of death.