Thank you very much.
Thank you.
We'll begin the song service
this evening with song 411,
Hold the Fort.
Song 411.
With song 411,
Hold the Fort.
Song 411.
On the first.
Oh, my
comrades see the
signal waving
in the sky.
We
are
now appearing.
Victory is nigh.
Hold the
Fort for I am coming.
Jesus signal
still.
Wave the answer
back to Heaven.
By thy grace
we will
see the mighty
host advancing
Satan
on.
Mighty men
around us falling
courage almost
strong.
Hold the Fort
for I am coming.
Jesus signal
still.
Wave the answer
back to Heaven.
By thy grace
we will
see the
mighty
host advancing
Satan on.
Mighty men
around us
falling
courage almost
strong.
Hold the Fort
for I am coming.
Jesus signal
still.
Wave the
answer back to
Heaven.
Hearsome on the
pattern which is
but our help is
near.
All the
comes our
wave commander
cheer like
a last cheer.
Hold the
Fort for I am coming.
Jesus signal
still.
Wave the
answer back to Heaven.
By thy grace
we will
see the mighty
host advancing
Satan on.
Mighty men around us falling
courage almost strong.
Wave the answer back to Heaven.
By thy grace
we will
see the mighty
host advancing
Amen.
Great is
thy faithfulness
O God my Father
there is
no shadow
of turning with
thee.
Thou
changes
not the
passions
they fail not
as thou has
failed not
great is thy faithfulness
great is
thy faithfulness
morning by
morning new
mercies I
see
all I have
needed thy hand
hath provided
great is
thy faithfulness
Lord unto
me
summer and
winter and
springtime and
harvest
sun, moon and
stars in their
forces of
love
join with all
nature in
plentiful
weakness
to thy great
faithfulness
love
great is thy
faithfulness
great is thy
faithfulness
morning by
morning new
mercies I
see all
I have needed
thy hand hath
provided
great is
thy faithfulness
Lord unto
me
hearted for
sin and
of peace that
endureth
I hope
hear
presence to
cheer and to
guide strength
for today
and bright hope
for tomorrow
ten thousand
each night
great is thy
faithfulness
great is thy
faithfulness
morning by
morning new
mercies I
see all I
have needed
thy hand hath
provided
great is
thy faithfulness
Lord unto
me
Alright at this time we'll go through our announcements together
if you don't have a bulletin slip up your hand nice and
high and we'll go through our
announcements on the inside we have our service time Sunday
mornings at 1030 is our preaching service
Sunday nights at 6 Wednesday nights
at 7 is our Bible study
this week we will be suspending
our normal
Bible study in Deuteronomy
which by the way we only have one chapter left
just Deuteronomy chapter 34
but that's going to have to wait
because we've got pastor Roger
Jimenez coming and preaching
this Wednesday night I really would
love for you to be there even if you don't
normally come on
Wednesday nights in fact if you have to choose
between being here tonight and being here Wednesday
night I'd rather you're here
Wednesday night so if you need to leave you know
just go ahead and just get up and walk out
right now if that's what it takes
to get you here on Wednesday
so anyway you're not going to want to miss his sermon
below that we've got
the soul winning times we've got
salvation, baptisms, birthdays
wedding anniversaries
we've got the expectant ladies
prayer list there
on the back of course
got the announcement that I just made
below that the soul winning
small town trip to Dripping Springs Arizona
the sign up and the
itinerary for that is over here to my right
preaching class is every Tuesday night
at 7
you're eligible as long as you go soul winning
and you are biologically
male
and no spectators are allowed
and then other upcoming
events are listed there at the bottom
I believe that's about it for announcements
of course don't forget we do have
the missions conference
coming up in November
it's way out there November 8th or 12th
but that is a thing to
kind of keep on your radar for later in the year
but let's go ahead and
count up the soul winning for the past few days
so going back to Thursday the 29th
ok
ok anything else from Thursday
what about Friday
ok boom boom
excuse me
for Friday
ok
ok got it
got it
ok and then
Saturday anything from Saturday
got it got it
ok
ok got it
alright and then
what about today
for the Scott are you there Scott
do you read me over Scott
Scott
what's going on man
oh ok that's right
we got the new baby
got to be in the glider
10
10 for the main group with brother Scott
alright
for
North Phoenix
alright for the week
ok
got it got it
ok alright very good
keep up the great work on soul winning
come lead us
this world is not
my home you should have a hand out
put your hand up if you need one
this world is not my home
all the birds
this world
is not my home
I'm just a passing through
my treasures are laid off
somewhere beyond the blue
the angel's begging me
from heaven's open door
and I can't feel at home
in this world anymore
oh lord you know
I have no friends like you
and that it's not my
home and no one will
undo the angel's
begging me from heaven's
open door and I can't
feel at home in this world
anymore
the angel's begging me from heaven's
open door and I can't
feel at home in this world
anymore
oh lord you know
I have no friends like you
and that it's not my home
and no one will
undo the angel's
begging me from heaven's
open door and I can't
feel at home in this world
anymore
oh lord you know
I have no friends like you
and that it's not my
home and no one will
undo the angel's
begging me from heaven's
open door and I can't
feel at home in this world
anymore
oh lord you know
I have no friends like you
and that it's not my
home and no one will
undo the angel's
begging me from heaven's
open door and I can't
feel at home in this world
anymore
oh lord you know
I have no friends like you
and that it's not my
home and no one will
undo the angel's
begging me from heaven's
open door and I can't
feel at home in this world
anymore
oh lord you know
I have no friends like you
and that it's not my
home and no one will
undo the angel's
begging me from
heaven's
open door and I can't
feel at home in this
world
anymore
4-0-1
Set my soul
afire
One more verse
Set my
soul afire
Lord
Lord I hope
may burn
Burn it deep
in me
Let your voice
be heard
Build his hope
in darkness
in this day
and hour
I will be
your witness
Fill me
with life now
Set my
soul afire
Lord
Set my soul
afire
Make my life
a witness
Love my saving
power
Billions grow
in darkness
waiting for
thy word
Set my
soul afire
Lord
Set my soul
afire
Set my
soul afire
Lord
For the lost
may see
Give to me
a passion
as I
seek to
pay
Help me not
to falter
Never let
my spirit
that I
will prevail
Set my
soul afire
Lord
Set my soul
afire
Make my life
a witness
Love my saving
power
Billions grow
in darkness
waiting for
thy word
Set my
soul afire
Lord
Set my
soul afire
Set my
soul afire
Lord
In my daily
life
Far too long
I've wandered
by
Nothing else
will matter
but to live
for Thee
I will be
your witness
as you
live in me
Set my
soul afire
Lord
Set my soul afire
Make my
life a witness
Love my
saving power
Billions grow
in darkness
waiting for
thy word
Set my
soul afire
Lord
Set my
soul afire
This time we'll quickly pass our offering plate as the plates go around let's turn our Bibles to Hebrews chapter 4
Hebrews chapter number 4
as we always do we'll read the entire chapter beginning in verse number 1 follow along silently with brother Dan as he reads
Hebrews chapter 4 starting in verse number 1
Hebrews chapter 4 the Bible reads
Let us therefore fear lest the promise being left of us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it
for unto us was the gospel preached as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it
for we which have believed do enter into rest as he said I've sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest
although the works were finished from the foundation of the world for you spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise
and God did rest the seventh day from all his works and in this place again if they shall enter into my rest
seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief
again he limited a certain day saying in David today after so long a time as it is said today if you will hear his voice harden not your hearts
for if Jesus had given them rest then would he not afterward have spoken of another day there remaineth therefore rest to the people of God
for he that has entered into his rest he also hath ceased from his own works as God did from his
let us labor therefore to enter into that rest lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief
for the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit
and of the joints and marrow and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart
neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight but all things are naked and opened under the eyes of him with whom we have to do
seeing then that we have a great high priest that is passed into the heavens Jesus the son of God let us hold fast our profession
for we have not a high priest which cannot be touched with the feelings of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin
let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need
Father in heaven thank you for our rest our Sabbath which is your son Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior which is eternal life
I pray that you please bless Pastor Anderson with the fullness and the power of the Holy Spirit as he preaches the word
so that we your children would grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Savior Jesus Christ and in Jesus' name I pray Amen
Amen the title of my sermon this evening is laboring to enter into rest laboring to enter into rest and we're going to come back to Hebrews chapter 4
but first I would like you to turn to John chapter number 6 and if you remember over the last several weeks or months
I've been kind of going through the Gospel of John and preaching different things not really preaching through the Gospel of John per se
but sort of preaching about these peripheral issues that come up as we go through the book of John
and so I'm sort of continuing where I left off this morning because in this morning's sermon we talked about those people
who were like the mixed multitude of the Old Testament in the sense that they had attached themselves to God's people for the wrong reason
or they're following Christ not because they believe in Christ they don't actually believe in him but they're just there for a wrong motive
in that case they were just getting a free meal in John chapter 6 and I barely touched on these verses 26 through 29
and I feel like we really need to slow down and look at these in more detail because of some of the peculiar wording here in verse 27
so it says in verse 26
and that's what we talked about this morning
but then he says in verse 27
now the reason that we need to stop and pay attention to this verse is because on the surface somebody could maybe look at this and get the wrong idea
that we somehow work for our salvation because he's basically saying you know don't labor for the meat that perishes
don't labor for the physical paycheck or for the free meal but rather labor for the meat which endureth unto everlasting life
you know do we work our way to heaven do we work to get saved absolutely not
I mean the Bible is crystal clear that salvation is not of works lest any man should boast
but that those who believe on Jesus Christ are saved
so we want to understand if that's not what Christ is saying here which obviously that's not what he's saying
what is he saying here when he says labor for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life
well the first thing I want to point out is just the context right here in the passage is that he's saying
labor not for the meat which perishes but labor for this other meat
so let's talk about laboring for the meat that perishes
what's he talking about he's talking about the fact that they had exerted tremendous effort earlier in this chapter to find Jesus
because if you remember Jesus Christ to get away from the multitudes gets in a boat crosses the Sea of Galilee
and then they're looking for him and they go on this big frantic hunt to try to find Jesus
and they're working to try to find him they're laboring they're searching and then finally they find him
and he says wait a minute you're doing this not because you believed not because you saw the miracles
but because you ate of the loaves and were filled he's saying you're putting forth a tremendous effort
in order to get physical food you ought to be putting forth that effort not to find Jesus so he can give you lunch
but to find Jesus so that he can give you salvation
so there's no works involved in earning salvation or achieving salvation or gaining salvation
because salvation is a free gift that's already been paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ all we have to do is believe
the effort involved is in finding the truth finding the gospel finding the Lord Jesus Christ
that can sometimes take great effort just like they put forth a bunch of effort to find Jesus to get food
he's saying you should have been looking really hard for me working laboring striving to find me so that you could get saved
that's what he's saying so if we put these two things side by side in that way then it makes perfect sense to say
hey don't put forth the effort to get the food put forth the effort to get salvation that's way more important
now they do misunderstand him because in the next breath now they think that there's some work that they have to do
in order to get saved because they say what shall we do that we might work the works of God
and then Jesus answered and said to them well this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he had sent
you know all you have to do to be saved is ultimately just believe on Jesus but it can be work to find Jesus or figure that out initially
let's go to Luke chapter 13 because we're going to see this in multiple scriptures
I'm not just pulling this out of John chapter 6 but rather this is something that comes up repeatedly
now as we're turning to Luke chapter 13 stop and think about your own life
some of you that were not raised in a Christian home how did you end up getting saved
how did you end up finding out about the gospel because I'll bet you in many cases it involved you putting forth effort
or labor or work or you went on some kind of a quest or a search that ultimately led you to the truth
and who would say you know what I worked hard to figure out the truth before I was saved
it was a lot of work trying to figure out the truth exactly
and so this shouldn't be too hard for you to understand because it's a process that you literally went through
now those of us that grew up in a Christian home this was just handed to me on a silver platter
you know what I mean I was just born into a family where I was just taught the gospel from a child I knew
the holy scriptures which are able to make me wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus
and so I'm super thankful that I didn't have to go on a quest to find the gospel the truth salvation
it was just handed to me and I'm very grateful for that and you should be too if that's your situation
but look at Luke chapter 13 verse 22 and he meaning Jesus went through the cities and villages
teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem Luke 13 23
Then said one unto him, Lord, are there few that be saved?
Now that's a pretty good question so is the majority going to heaven
or are lots and lots of people going to heaven or are relatively few people going to heaven
are there few that be saved and what is the answer? Strive, verse 24, strive to enter in at the straight gate
now straight notice the spelling there s-t-r-a-i-t no gh this means narrow
not this is not the opposite of crooked this is the opposite of broad or wide right
so he says strive to enter in at the straight gate for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able
now again this is similar to the idea of laboring to find Christ
you know you're striving you're working you're putting forth effort in order to enter in at the straight gate
because you have to find it you see there's a parallel passage in Matthew chapter 7 where he says
broad is the way that leads to destruction and many there be which go in there at
because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life watch this and few there be that find it
right so the difficulty with being saved is finding the truth because there are lies out there
there's all this disinformation misinformation false prophets false teachers all kinds of junk out there
you've got to find the truth now the good news is that if you want the truth and you seek the truth seek and you shall find
but sometimes it's going to take effort to search and find the truth and here's the thing a lot of people
aren't willing to put forth that effort because they don't care you know I mean we walk up to their door
and we're ready to give it to them on a silver platter and it's like oh no man I'm about to beat my personal vest on Tetris
or whatever whatever excuse they have you know it's like they just don't even care enough to even think about it
and a lot of people they're just so tied up with the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches
that they're just not even thinking about these things and so you've got to put forth that effort as an
unsafe person to find the truth because there's a lot of junk out there and so he says hey if you're smart
you're going to strive to enter in at the straight gate so the answer to the question are there few that be saved
is yes are there few that be saved well strive to enter at the straight gate few there be that find it
now again is this saying in verse 24 that we have to do work in order to be saved absolutely not
the only work is in finding the gospel for some people that's not work at all like myself it was just handed to me
okay but if it's not handed to you then man you better do whatever is necessary to find it is what he's saying
you know search for it this is the most important thing and so he says strive to enter at the straight gate
for many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able now what does he mean here when he says
well try hard to enter because some people aren't going to enter it's not that people are showing up at the door of salvation
and saying alright Jesus let me in and he's just like nope I don't like your face or whatever or you know your past is too wicked
or you know you didn't repent enough or you're not good enough or whatever no no what it is is a temporal thing
okay because what is the next word that starts verse 25 when when that is the key word so when he says here
many people will try to enter in and will not be able why are they not able is it because they're too sinful
no Jesus said him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out the Bible says that whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
anyone who comes to Christ and puts their faith and trust in him will be saved they will not be refused or rejected if they believe in Christ
the reason people are striving to enter in or seeking to enter in and are not able is because they're doing it when it's already too late
because what is the next word it says many I say unto you will seek to enter in and shall not be able when once the master of the house has risen up and hath shut to the door
you see that's the problem right there is that they're trying to enter in after the door is shut so basically this could be people after they die
you know saying okay I get it you know I was wrong let me out of hell I'm ready to be saved now people that are at the great white throne of judgment
when death and hell deliver up the dead which are in them their every knee is going to bow and every tongue is going to confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father
and they're going to be people saying Lord Lord open to us let us say he's going to say I know you not I know you not when she are depart from me ye workers of iniquity
and so when it's too late it's too late also it can even become too late for a person even before they die because of the fact that the Bible talks about people whose heart becomes hardened
and their understanding becomes darkened to the point where now they're never going to find the truth they're just not going to find it you see you got to seek the Lord while he may be found the Bible says
call upon him while he's near don't wait because the longer you wait the more unlikely it's going to be that you actually get saved
who's easier to get saved someone who's a teenager or someone who's 75 years old and by the way some people when they become older are even just going to lose the cognitive ability to even comprehend the gospel
as they get too old so you better you better get saved right while you still can is what he's saying because when once the master of the house is risen up
and it's shut to the door and ye begin to stand without and knock at the door saying Lord Lord open unto us and he shall answer and say unto you I know you not when you are
which once you are just means where are you from he's like I don't even know where are you guys from who are you guys right because it's a parable obviously God knows where we're from
okay but the idea here is that it's the master of the house somebody's banging on his door in the middle of the night and he's just like who are you and why are you banging on my door what do you want get out of here
also there's the illustration about the wedding guests and the bridegroom cometh and the maidens come and they're too late and they knock the door it's like sorry too late you guys missed it
so it's funny when he says I know you not when she are in Matthew 7 of course it's the more famous I know you know I never knew you depart from me right those famous words
this has always stood out to me as strange and I never understood it until I became a pastor and then I understood it
then shall ye begin to say we've eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets
now remember in Matthew 7 when he's preaching this they say you know Lord Lord have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils and in thy name done many wonderful works
they're saying you know we've done all these works let us into heaven and he says I never knew you depart from me
here though they're not even claiming that they did a bunch of works they say we've eaten and drunk in thy presence and thou hast taught in our streets
think about how stupid this is I mean look work salvation is already dumb to say oh we did all these wonderful works
it's like well all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags your works are not going to pay for your salvation only the blood of Christ can pay for your salvation
like I get it that work salvation doesn't make any sense but what makes infinitely less sense is to say well let me into heaven because I ate and drunk in your presence
and because you taught in my streets this is implying that they were doing Jesus a favor by eating in his presence
and that they were doing Jesus a favor by listening to him preach and I never understood this growing up I always wondered what this meant
until I became a pastor and I became faced with multitudes of people who think that by listening to my preaching I now owe them something
because they listened to my preaching and since now that I've run into hundreds or even thousands of people who think this way
now this verse makes perfect sense you know the people will say you know how dare you not spend time with me or you know whatever
because I've listened to hundreds of hours of your preaching you're gonna it's like I'm not gonna do jack for you
I know you not depart from me I never knew you but people will come to me and literally feel entitled to my time or feel entitled to some kind of a special treatment for me
based on how many hours of my preaching let me explain some to you every hour that you spent listening to my preaching didn't do anything for me
I've received zero benefit from you listening to my preaching in fact you sitting in that chair right now listening to me preach does nothing for me right now
you are not helping me you are not ministering to me right now you are not serving me and I'm not racking up this debt with all of you
because you're sitting and listening to me preach right now so that's so dumb that doesn't make sense like I'm actually supposed to be helping you by preaching to you
right you know I've spent all this time and thousands and thousands of hours studying the Bible so that I can get up and teach you things that are supposed to help you
and then you're supposedly getting some kind of a benefit from hearing this but it's really not the reverse I don't get some kind of a benefit from you listening to my preaching
you know whether my sermon gets downloaded 5,000 times or 50,000 times it really doesn't affect me at all
it really affects the 45,000 extra people who heard the sermon I hope it's a blessing I hope it's helpful I hope it's edifying and I hope that ultimately Christ's kingdom goes forward
but at the end of the day listening to Christ talk is not doing Christ a favor any more than listening to me talk is doing me a favor
it's not like I just really need somebody to listen to you know I just you know I really need somebody to talk to
and so that's why I come to church three times a week I can just kind of get everything off my chest
you know I could literally just do that with like one person right I wouldn't have to assemble hundreds of people just to rattle my cage
I could literally just sit down with one person and just say let me just tell you some stuff thanks for being such a great listener
now look if I don't need people to listen to me and if people aren't doing me a favor by listening to me
how much less does Christ need people to listen to him and are we doing a favor to Jesus Christ by listening to him
what absurdity and also people are also by the way doing me a personal favor when they eat donuts on Sunday morning
because they ate and drunk in my presence I mean what kind of logic is that right and yet this is what people are literally saying to Jesus
but you know when we go out sowing and we talk to unsaved people we get this kind of illogical stuff all day long
oh I'm going to heaven because I keep the commandments because I'm a good person
first of all number one you don't keep the commandments let's just start there
number two you're not a good person
number three keeping the commandments and being a good person have nothing to do with going to heaven
so like everything that you said is wrong in every way you know but other than that keep up the great you know work there buddy
but you get all these you know oh well you know I'm going to heaven because I rescue animals or whatever
or you know I'm going to heaven because I almost died and you know what all this stuff you know what always cracks me up
how about victims of terrorism automatic heaven entry so basically if you just happen to be in a building that Muslims blow up
automatic ticket to heaven because you know we know all the victims of 9-11 are in heaven you know what I mean
I mean that that's what they say literally I remember at the time all kinds of preachers and pastors saying hey we know that these victims are all in heaven
how do you know that because last time I checked just getting blown up by a Muslim you know I mean I know they think it's their ticket straight to heaven
so on one hand you got Muslims saying well if I blow myself up I'm going straight to heaven
and then you got a bunch of so-called fake Christians saying well if we get blown up we're going to heaven
and so this is like a win-win I mean you know the Muslim blows himself up and he gets all his virgins you know
and his harem and then and then I get blowed up and I go to no you go to heaven by believing that Jesus is the son of God
and so the terror is not going to heaven and his victims are only going to heaven if they have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior
now I'm assuming that out of all the victims of 9-11 which is what like around 3,100 victims or somewhere don't quote me on that
but it's like a little over 3,000 victims you know I'm sure that a bunch of them were saved
but I'm also sure that a bunch of them were not saved and they got blown up or jumped out the window or whatever and they went to hell
and God's not just gonna be like well you know I was gonna send you to hell but because you got blowed up you get to go to heaven
that's foolish but people say these things don't they I mean am I making this up no this is the kind of stuff that people were saying
when 9-11 happened and when other tragedies have happened it's just automatic entry into heaven
oh and by the way just because you came out with music that was popular on the radio that doesn't send you to heaven either
because you see all these comics of like getting to heaven and Michael Jackson's there to greet you and John Lennon's there to greet you
and you know the artist formerly known as Prince is there to greet you and all these people it's like you know what if you die
and you see those faces you you just went you went downstairs let me tell you right now you know you you just haven't felt the heat yet
but it's coming when you see Michael Jackson that is St. Peter okay so be very afraid
we've eaten and drunk in your presence you've taught in our streets but he shall say I tell you I know you not whence you are
depart from me all you workers of iniquity there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth
verse 28 of Luke 13 when you shall see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God
and you yourselves thrust out they shall come from the east and from the west from the north and from the south
and shall sit down in the kingdom of God and behold there last which shall be first and there first which shall be last
you want to know who those first are that will be last how about the Jews right because he's saying look
you're gonna see Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God and then you think oh I get a pass because I'm Jewish
I'm a descendant of Abraham Isaac and Jacob Christ taught in our streets and we ate and drunk in his presence
he said no no there will be people from all over the world north south east and west of Israel getting saved and going to heaven
right people from every nation under heaven and then the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness
there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth and when it says in Matthew the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness
we're talking about the kingdom of Israel talking about the nation of Israel and it's gonna be ironic when Abraham
Isaac Jacob all the prophets go into heaven and then all these Gentiles from all over the world go to heaven
and then you yourselves are thrust out Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, dedicated Jews you're gonna be cast straight into hell is what the Bible is saying
now with that in mind let's go to Hebrews chapter 4 let's see more support for this so remember when we were in John chapter 6
we saw hey labor for that meat that endureth unto everlasting life what he's saying is don't look for Jesus so you can get free money
free food free whatever look for Jesus so that you can get eternal life the effort the striving the work the laboring is searching for Christ
that is the effort there's no actual effort required to get salvation once you know about it it's a free gift
it's easy there's no work required but it can sometimes take work to learn about it research it search it find it whatever
we saw the same thing in Luke chapter 13 strive to enter in at the straight gate why because you're searching for it few people find it
so hey whatever effort is required to find it put forth that effort because you don't wanna be on the wrong side of that door
when judgment day comes you gotta get in there because someday it's gonna be too late when once that door is shut that door is shut
and it's depart from me I never knew you now Hebrews chapter 4 again teaches the same thing look at Hebrews chapter 4 verse 1
let us therefore fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest any of you should seem to come short of it
now here the idea of rest is representative of salvation and of course rest is a perfect illustration for salvation
because you're totally relying on what Christ has done to get you to heaven you're resting on him
salvation is not by works it's by rest it's the opposite of work it's rest
for unto us was the gospel preached verse 2 as well as unto them but the word preached did not profit them
not being mixed with faith in them that heard it for we which have believed do enter into rest as he said
as I have sworn in my wrath if they shall enter into my rest so notice verse 3 says we which have believed
that is equivalent to entering into rest ok although the works were finished from the foundation of the world
for he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise and God did rest the seventh day from all his works
and in this place again if they shall enter into my rest seeing therefore it remaineth that some must enter therein
and they to whom it was first preached entered not in because of unbelief again he limited the certain day saying to David
today after so long a time as it is said today if you will hear his voice harden not your heart
so the idea here is that you enter into rest by believing in Christ and those who did not enter into rest
it's because of unbelief everybody see that there at the end of verse 6 they to whom it was first preached
entered not in because of unbelief that's why they didn't go in that's what it takes to get in
see the reason they didn't enter into rest verse 2 was because the message that they heard wasn't mixed with faith
in the hearer right because the hearer has to believe the message for the message to do any good
the word preached did not profit them not being mixed with faith in them that heard it
for if Jesus had given them rest then would he not afterward have spoken of another day
so what he's saying is that these verses in the Old Testament that say things like if they shall enter into my rest
they're not just talking about getting to the promised land because the immediate context of that verse
that Joshua is dealing with is getting into the promised land they didn't enter into my rest
meaning they're going to wander in the wilderness as opposed to entering into rest
that's the immediate context but it's symbolic of a greater rest a spiritual rest salvation through Christ Jesus
why did the children of Israel not enter the promised land because of unbelief
this is a picture of people not entering into rest salvation through Jesus because of their unbelief
does everybody see how that works the seventh day at the creation is also a picture of salvation through Christ
these things are pointing us to Christ and he's going to explain now
it says in verse 9 there remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God
what he's saying is there's another rest for the people of God other than a physical promised land
or other than a day off every week right the rest of God's people isn't
hey I take a day off every week or hey I entered into the land flowing with milk and honey
and I don't have to keep fighting because we've already defeated the Canaanites or whatever
no no there remains another rest to talk about which is salvation eternal life through Christ
for he that has entered into his rest God's rest Christ's rest he also has ceased from his own works as God did from his
okay so entering into rest is equivalent to believing in Jesus but also entering into rest means that you've ceased from your own works as God did from his
so the person who's working their way to heaven trusting in works to get to heaven trying to keep commandments
or do the works of the law in order to go to heaven they think it's from reformation and turning from sin and cleaning up their life
that person who's working they've not ceased from their own works as a method for salvation
they have not entered into rest they are an unbeliever they're still not saved right because you've got to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
you've got to put your faith and trust in his finished work you have to cease from your own works as God did from his
so when the Bible says in verse number 11 let us labor therefore to enter into that rest lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief
the Bible's not saying here hey we got to work in order to get to heaven no what it's saying is labor to enter into rest
and once you enter into rest the work's over the works are done you've ceased from your own works because you're already saved by believing in Christ
so again where does the work come it comes before you're saved if you are unaware of salvation if you have not found the gospel
if you have not found the straight gate if you have not found Jesus then you know what you better drop everything and find him
and if that means that you have to walk or drive or search or read or study or whatever you have to do man figure it out
because a lot of people are not going to figure it out until it's too late and you don't want to be one of them
so it's pretty consistent what's being taught in John chapter 6 Luke chapter 13 and Hebrews chapter 4 it's the same idea
if you would flip back to John chapter 6 while you're turning there let me say this you know this doesn't just apply to salvation
obviously the most important thing that we learn is the gospel right I mean if there's one piece of information we better have it's the gospel
it's how to be saved I mean that's the number one most important thing but after we're saved there are a lot of other things that we would like to know
about God about the Christian life about just other doctrines and other matters that we have to deal with
and you know we should put forth the effort to figure those things out and if you think about it when the Bible specifically talks about a pastor
it says let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor especially they who labor
because remember we talked about them you know laboring to find Jesus laboring to enter into rest
but the Bible says especially they who labor in the word and doctrine for the scripture said thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn
and the laborer is worthy of his reward and so the idea here is that the pastor the elder the bishop is supposed to be laboring in the word
and he's supposed to be laboring in doctrine and these two things laboring in the word and laboring in doctrine have to do with basically an input and an output
you see I'm supposed to be laboring in the word to figure out what the truth is
I mean the number one most important thing to me as a preacher is not necessarily how well I can deliver a sermon or how dynamic I can be or how interesting I can be
although I do care about those things I want to preach the best possible sermon that the most people will actually want to listen to or profit from or enjoy even
but really that's not the most important thing the number one most important thing to me is that what I preach is true
I mean that's the most important thing I'd rather preach a really lame sermon but everything I said was true than to preach an awesome sermon
but turns out is really inaccurate and there were a lot of things that weren't really right or biblical
I mean at the end of the day what's more important you know I'd rather than anything else the most important thing is I've got to preach what's accurate
I've got to preach what's right I've got to preach the truth I want to now look obviously I'm not perfect and not everything I've ever said behind the pulpit is true
there I said it you know obviously I'm a human being but here's the thing if I spend hours and hours and hours and hours laboring in the word of God
you think I'm gonna get more right than if I don't read the Bible that much or don't put forth a lot of effort of study
look if I'm spending hundreds of hours thousands of hours studying the word of God studying to show myself for proof laboring in the word
then I'm gonna be a lot more accurate than the guy who doesn't know the Bible that well hasn't read the Bible that much
just vaguely knows the Bible or just maybe reads the Bible once a year
look reading the Bible is once a year is great for those who are in the pew you know the average church member hey you read the Bible once a year
that's great and you know depending on your lifestyle depending on your goals you know that might be enough that might be sufficient that might work for you
that might be you know what you need it's a great standard of just saying hey let's read through the Bible once a year
now I'm all for you reading it more than that but I think that's a good standard of saying hey at least read the Bible once a year
but is that really sufficient for a pastor because stop and think about it reading the Bible once a year takes about 20 minutes a day
do you think that I as a pastor of the church who's getting up and speaking on these things for three hours a week
and that people in the pew are looking to me to have the right answers and to know what I'm talking about
my other pastor friends are looking to me to know what I'm talking about I look to them to know what they're talking about
you know we're all you know trying to preach right things do you really think that spending 20 minutes a day in my Bible is gonna cut it
is gonna do it and you know what's funny you've got pastors out there that have literally read the Bible like one or two times cover to cover
three four times cover to cover I mean it's mind blowing to me and then meanwhile doctors are going to school for years and years and years
lawyers are going to school for years and years and years engineers are going to school for years and years and years right
you know what I'm sorry but I just believe that this is way more important than any of that
I mean I think this is literally the most important thing well you don't understand a lot of those jobs are life and death
well you know what's even bigger than life and death heaven and hell eternal life and eternal death are even bigger than just a physical life and death
and so you know this job is huge and it's a big responsibility and therefore you know spending 20 minutes a day in the word isn't gonna cut it
we need pastors that are putting forth some serious serious effort in the word of God laboring in the word
and look I've been reading the Bible my whole life obviously I read the Bible a ton before I became a pastor and ever since I've been a pastor
but you know what still to this day I mean tomorrow man I'm going to be in this book tomorrow and I'm going to be reading and I'm going to be studying
and I'm going to spend a ton of time in this book tomorrow and Tuesday and Wednesday why you know I could just at this point I could just coast and say well I've already studied the Bible
I've already memorized studied learned no my friend it's never enough because guess what the more that you actually learn the more that you realize you don't know
and I as a pastor am constantly feeling inadequate like man I don't know enough Bible I don't know as much as I should know I need to know more
and so man I'm running scared even now and saying hey yeah okay I've been pastoring for 18 years but man I need to learn the Bible
it's like oh yeah I went to Bible college years ago and you know this guy riding on that no man I'm laboring in the word non-stop I have to be
and five years from now I'm gonna be laboring in the word and I'm still gonna be feeling like I don't I don't know enough
the people who feel like they know enough are usually the dumbest people you know what I mean because actually the more that you learn the more you realize like wow there's a lot to learn
I mean you know I'll be studying my Bible I'll get to whole sections of the Bible where I'm just like man I just don't know this part of the Bible like I should
I'm just like man you know and so it's just more work more labor more effort to find the truth now look of course as a pastor you know I have to do that it's my job to do that
and then the other side of that coin is the output the doctrine because the doctrine is teaching it so it's my job to take in all the information
and then it's my job to get up and communicate that information you know it doesn't matter how much I've learned if I can't communicate it to you in a way that you understand
let me tell you something there are some churches out there that are bad at communicating this is a big problem
I mean look there are churches all over Phoenix all over this area that if we went to their website and look at their statement of faith they have salvation right
and if I walked up to that pastor and started grilling him on salvation he would give me the right answers but then half the congregation doesn't understand salvation
what's going on you know I knock on the door of the church member and they say oh I'm going to heaven because I live a good life I keep the commandments and I'm thinking to myself
what church do you go to how many years have you gone there because I promise you and I don't say this to them but this is what I'm thinking in my heart I promise if I ask your pastor
he's not going to say keep the commandments you really think that these evangelical pastors these Baptist pastors if I ask them how to go to heaven are going to say keep the commandments
live a good life be a good person you think they're going to say that is that what their statement of faith says salvation we believe that salvation is achieved by being a good person
that's stupid why do they then why are they saying that why do they think that because you could go to these churches for years and not figure out salvation because they make it so unclear
now look walk around faith forward Baptist church and ask a bunch of people about salvation you know what everybody's going to give you the same answer
you come to faith forward and talk to 200 people you're going to get salvation by faith from virtually everyone unless somebody just stumbled in here and you know doesn't know where they are
right anybody who's actually a member of our anybody who's been coming here for any length of time they know exactly what salvation is and what it isn't yet a lot of these churches
you talk to 200 people you're going to get 20 different answers about salvation why because it's a failure to communicate that's why the pastor he might be super knowledgeable
and even right on his doctrine but he's failing to communicate that to the congregation right so pastoring is a two part deal you got to take it you know you got to labor in the word
and then you got to labor to teach that you know and obviously you know that involves going out to the lost and communicating the gospel to them
and it also includes getting up in the pulpit in church and communicating to the flock but we got to labor in the word we got to labor in doctrine as pastors
but you as a layman you know what even though you're not doing this as a vocation even though this isn't your full time job you're still a Christian too
and so you should be laboring in the word too maybe not as much as the guy who's doing it full time but you should still be doing it and you should have an input and an output
you should be taking in the word of God studying to show yourself approved checking out whether what I'm teaching you know I'm obviously doing a lot of heavy lifting to learn this stuff
but then it's your job to check my work and make sure that what I'm teaching is right now it's a lot easier to check my work than to come up with this stuff from scratch
okay I've come up with it from scratch but you know what you still need to do due diligence to fact check me check me with scripture and make sure that what I'm teaching is right
and maybe that's going to take a little work or a little bit of labor but you know what if people were putting forth this labor they wouldn't be going to churches that preach a bunch of false doctrine
because if they actually labored in the word themselves they'd figure out my pastor's not laboring in the word because the stuff that he's saying is just so wrong
and I'm not saying hey if your pastor's wrong about anything then just write him off because guess what we're all wrong about something including myself
we all have blind spots I'm not saying to run down your pastor because he's wrong on your little pet doctrine or your pet issue
but at the same time you can sometimes perceive when you're sitting in a church that dude this guy does not know what he's talking about
he doesn't know the Bible he hasn't studied he's up there and he's a charlatan and you know he's not the real deal
you know if people were doing their own due diligence they'd know that but if you don't know the Bible how are you going to know whether the pastor's even preaching you the truth
we should all be on a quest for truth we should all be laboring for the truth striving to find the truth
initially to get saved but even after we're saved don't we also want to know the truth about every other subject and we want to know what the Bible teaches about X Y and Z
we got to put forth the effort the work to find it and to search out those things in the word of God
so with that in mind back to John chapter 6 he said again in verse 27
chapter 27
jump down to verse 35
you see how salvation is a one-time deal
once you come to Christ and eat of that bread of life you're never hungry again
once you drink of the water of life you'll never thirst again right
eating and drinking to be saved is a one-time deal you show up you eat you drink you're saved
it's a door Jesus said I'm the door okay you go through that door you save forever
okay all these different illustrations that Christ gives but here's what's so funny is that the Roman Catholics will take this chapter John chapter 6
and they'll say well we have to literally eat Christ's flesh and drink his blood to be saved
they take it very literally don't they
they're sort of like Nicodemus back in John chapter 3 they think born again means they have to crawl up into their mother's womb and be born again
you know they're like the woman at the well oh yeah give me the water of life so I don't have to draw water anymore
that's foolish right it's clearly not literal it's a metaphor and when Jesus says in John chapter 6
that they have to eat his flesh and drink his blood they're taking that literally but here's what's so hilarious about that
okay well if that's literal well then that means that you should never have to eat again why don't you take that literally too
because if you eat of the bread that he gives you which is his body he said then you'll never hunger
so then why are you doing it every week why are you doing it every day
Jesus Christ is saying you eat once and it's done you'll never hunger again you drink once and you'll never thirst again
why because it's not talking about his literal flesh and blood it's talking about the word of God
he says the flesh profit of nothing it's the spirit that quickeneth the words that I speak unto you
their spirit and their life and once you hear the word of God and believe the word of God and receive the free gift of salvation
you never have to do it again you never hunger again you never thirst again you don't have to work anymore
with respect to your salvation you cease from your own work and you're just trusting what Christ already did
you've already eaten you've already drunk you've already gone through the door you've been passed from death into life
it's a done deal I mean how can you read this and say well salvation is not a one time deal
he literally says he that cometh to me shall never hunger and he that believeth on me shall never thirst
and he even says to the one with the will you know if you drink this water you're going to thirst again
that's why you got to come back here every day and get more but if you drink of the water that I give you you'll never thirst
oh so I have to do it every day oh so I need to go to mass every day I need to pray every day to be saved
I need to go to church every day and every week oh I got to keep doing it's like okay let's talk about this again
if you drink of this water you'll thirst again but if you drink of the water that Christ gives you you'll never thirst
oh so I have to keep I pray that every night but see the unregenerate man his mind is not able to process spiritual things unfortunately
they're blinded and it seems so easy to us seems so obvious to us but that's because we're saved we're indwelled by the Holy Spirit
to the unsaved this is all very confusing it's all very mysterious you know God has to show them these things
and so it says you know he that believeth on me shall never thirst verse 36 but I said unto you that ye also have seen me and believe not
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out for I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him that sent me
and this is the Father's will which hath sent me that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again at the last day
so it's God's will that everyone who believes in Christ be eternally saved look what he says in the next verse this is the will of him that sent me
verse 40 that everyone which seeth the Son and believeth on him may have everlasting life and I will raise him up on the last day
so it is the will of God the will of the Father specifically the will of him who sent Jesus is that everyone who sees the Son and believes on him has everlasting life
and that's why Jesus said not everyone that saith unto me Lord, Lord shall enter the kingdom of heaven but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven
and then people say oh you have to do the will of God that means you have to do works you have to do commandments no no no the will of the Father is that everyone that sees the Son and believes on him will have everlasting life
that's the will of the Father the will of the Father is that we be saved by faith he says in verse 47 verily verily I say unto you he that believeth on me hath everlasting life
doesn't get much clearer than that I am that bread of life now in verse 60 we got some Catholics and they took it too literally how can this man give us his flesh to eat
you know it's like what this is a hard saying and so it finally and Jesus is preaching it to them and finally they're just like well this is a hard saying who can hear it
when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it he said unto them in verse 61 does this offend you I'm so sorry let me go ahead and tailor my doctrine to what you are more comfortable with
no he just says oh does this offend you well what an if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before
why because what they were specifically offended about earlier in addition to their whining about well how can this man give us his flesh to eat
they think they're gonna literally just like eat his corpse or something it's just stupid but not only that they are bothered by the fact that he says I'm the bread that came down from heaven
and they're like well how can this guy say he came down from heaven you know we know his parents we you know he's just a guy he didn't come from heaven of course he did come from heaven
because the fact that Jesus Christ pre-existed before he was conceived in Mary's womb he already existed he was in the beginning with God and he was God
that's why he says I came from heaven because he's up in heaven and then he comes down from heaven to be born as a baby and that's what is going on
and so you know he says well what you know oh you're offended by what if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before
now look who gets to see Jesus ascend up where he was before the disciples because remember the 12 disciples they actually go after Jesus had resurrected and showed himself alive 40 days and so forth
they remember watch him literally ascend into heaven remember they're standing there looking and he ascends up to heaven in a cloud cloud receives him out of their sight
so when he says well what if you see the Son of Man ascend up where he was before he's going to make good on that for the people that actually believe
and so you know he says it's the spirit that quickeneth verse 63 the flesh profiteth nothing you know you're so concerned about well how can you give me your flesh to eat
well it's the spirit that quickeneth it's not the flesh profit it's not actual flesh it's the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and they are life it says at the end of verse 63
but there are some of you that believe not and so that's ultimately the problem people not believing in Jesus it's not that they didn't go to Catholic mass and eat human flesh and drink human blood
and get you know ash on their head on Wednesday and fat on their plate on Tuesday it is that they don't believe in Jesus that's the problem
for Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not and who should betray him you know he knew that Jesus did not believe
and he said therefore said unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given unto him of my father from that time many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him
now look these disciples who are bailing on him over this you know it's because they're not saved he says there's some of you even amongst my so-called disciples followers that don't believe
and he knew from the beginning who it was that believed not it's not like oh these people lost their salvation no no he knew from the beginning that they didn't believe
Judas people were like well Judas lost his salvation Judas never believed Jesus knew from the beginning that he never believed
and then Jesus said unto the twelve will ye also go away then Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go thou hast the words of eternal life
Judas meanwhile is standing right there and he's like yeah what Peter said yeah but he's a liar because he doesn't believe in Jesus
we believe Simon says verse 69 and we're sure that thou art that Christ the Son of the Living God
Jesus answered them have not I chosen you twelve and one of you is a devil
he said look even you twelve who've stayed one of you is bogus one of you is a devil
he spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon different Simon of course for he it was that should betray him being one of the twelve
so all that to say this the Bible is not teaching a workspace salvation in any of these passages we've got to read the context in John 6 to understand what the laboring is
what is the striving in Luke 13 what is the laboring well in Hebrews 4 it's laboring to enter into rest
it's working hard to figure out what the gospel is so that you can be done with that and just rest in the gospel
so look when it comes to salvation our work is done the only work was just figuring out what the gospel is and for some of us it was no work at all
because like I said I did not strive to enter in at the straight gate I did not labor to enter into that rest
I did not labor for that meat that endureth unto everlasting life it was just handed to me
I just grew up in a home where it was just this is who Jesus is this is who the gospel is I didn't have to go on some quest to find it
I got saved as a six year old boy through the work of other people other people worked to bring me the gospel
so there's still work that went into it just to you know to teach it to me once we're saved there's no work to do
you've ceased from your own works even as God did from his with respect to salvation there's no work to do
but obviously we work every day because we work at our jobs you work as a plumber you work as an electrician you work as a computer programmer
you work as a homemaker we're all working in our lives and we're all working for Christ not to earn our salvation because we're already saved it's done
we're just resting in the finished work of Christ but we're just working so that we can earn rewards we're working to get other people saved
we're working to get people the gospel and hopefully we're putting in some work with the word of God you know and you know what let me tell you something
reading the Bible studying the Bible is work the Bible says much study is a weariness of the flesh why because it's work it's hard work
this is why a lot of pastors aren't doing it because they're lazy you know what I'm saying like there are pastors out there who are just lazy
they sit around they fool around they don't want to put in the effort to get to know the Bible and then you've got faithful pastors who are actually struggling
striving laboring toiling and sweating over this book because they actually care about the integrity and the quality and the authenticity and the accuracy of what they're preaching
and like I said out of all of my concerns my number one concern and you know what you might sit there and say you know what pastor Anderson I don't think you're a very good pastor
and I you know I feel like you have slacked off in this area and you've slacked off in that area and you've slacked off in this other area and I haven't found you to be very helpful or blah blah blah
you know you could come up with all or you know you don't you don't hang out with me enough you don't spend time with me enough you don't get personal with me enough
but you know what you can't say about me is that I don't study my Bible you could say a lot of things about me and maybe a lot of them are true maybe they're not but you know what
let it never be said that I got up and preached without studying my Bible you know and I honestly I'd rather screw up some social encounters than to screw up the teaching of God's word and the doctrine of God's word
and I'd rather go to a church where maybe the pastor wasn't that cool but where the stuff that he's saying is real stuff you know maybe you don't feel that way maybe you feel like you know that that's not the most important thing
maybe you feel like that's low on the list and you know you want X and Y and Z well then you know what you go find what you want you go out there and you find the best church that you can the church that ministers to you the most the church that you like the most
because you know what there's lots of churches out there there's a lot of choices my friend this is not the only church in Phoenix this is not the only Bible believing Baptist Church in Phoenix this is not the only good church in Phoenix
this is not the only scriptural church in Phoenix there are all kinds of people at other churches in Phoenix that never even thought about us that love God and walk with God you know what but I can assure you of one thing I care about truth and I labor every day and strive and toil and really try to figure out what the truth is on any given subject and that's what I bring to the table that's what I preach
but you I hope as a as a layman are a truth seeker and I feel like a lot of people in our church are truth seekers because I'm a truth seeker you're a truth seeker hey you know what let's just be one big happy church of truth seekers right here
you know let the church down the street not really care about being accurate you know and I've literally heard churches that are just like you know everybody's so worried about being accurate everybody's gotta be right all the time
you're so worried about being right all the time yes I am worried about being right all the time why would I want to be wrong crooked forward perverse up here no I want to be right
you know God's right all of God's commandments are right the Bible is always right well then the man of God should be right and look I'm not always right my friend I'm not always right but you know what it's super important to me to be right
it's the number one most important thing to me as a pastor is to be right and the only way that I can do a good job of trying to make sure I'm right is by putting effort into studying the Bible
and I hope that you're out there seeking truth fact-checking what I say searching the scriptures daily whether these things be so and we should all be people who care about truth accuracy
you know and not just well close enough whatever you know it's just it's just a relationship man well you know I want to have a relationship with the right person
I want to have the right kind of relationship I want to know what God wants me to do and what God wants you to do and what it all means
and that's my job is to figure out what it all means and then explain it to you and then you take what I've explained to you and hopefully you profit from it
and then hopefully you go check it and make sure and you know what sometimes you're going to find that I'm wrong but that's okay because I'm 99.44% accurate
Father we thank you so much for your word and we're thankful for the Bible that we have just this repository of absolute truth Lord
thank you that we can read it in our own language that it's easy to get a copy of it it's easy to find it electronically and print Lord
thank you so much help us take advantage of that help us all to labor in the word Lord and and and study and and show ourselves approved Lord
and if there's anyone here who's not saved Lord I pray that they would put forth the effort necessary because so many people say
oh I'm just not sure Lord help those people that aren't sure to actually put in the work and the effort necessary to make sure and figure out
what is what so that they can be saved before it is eternally too late and it's in Christ's name we pray Amen
Psalm 174
Psalm 174 my Jesus I love thee
Psalm 174
my Jesus I love thee
On the first
my Jesus I love thee
I know thou art mine
For thee, O, the Follies of Savior
I resign
My gracious, sweet Deeper
My Savior art thou
If ever I love thee
my Jesus is now
I love thee because
now has first come in me
And purchased my part
on Calvary Street
I love thee for wearing
the cords on thy crown
If ever I love thee
my Jesus is now
I love thee in life
I will love thee in death
And praise thee as long
as thou lendest me breath
And save with thy death
through Christ's fold
on my crown
If ever I love thee
my Jesus is now
In vengeance of glory
and endless delight
I'll ever adore thee
in heaven so bright
I'll sing with the glitters
and be proud on my crown
If ever I love thee
my Jesus is now
In vengeance of glory
and endless delight
I'll sing with the glitters
and be proud on my crown
If ever I love thee
I'll sing with the glitters
and be proud on my crown