THE KING IN HIS BEAUTY

a sermon preached by Peter S. Ruckman

     All right, let's take our Bible this morning and turn to two places. I
want to preach about my favorite subject this morning; and if nobody gets a
blessing out of it but me, I'm gonna get a blessing out of preaching it. And
I'm gonna preach this morning about Heaven. Get Isaiah chapter 33, and Job
chapter 35.  Isaiah chapter 33 and Job chapter 35.

     First of all, reading a passage in Isaiah chapter 33, beginning at verse
16, and then in Job chapter 35, beginning at verse 13. Isaiah chapter 33,
verse 16: "He shall dwell on high: his place of defence [shall be] the
munitions of rocks: bread shall be given him; his waters [shall be] sure."
This will be my text: "Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall
behold the land that is very far off.  Thine heart shall meditate terror.
Where [is] the scribe? where [is] the receiver? where [is] he that counted the
towers?  Thou shalt not see a fierce people, a people of a deeper speech than
thou canst perceive; of a stammering tongue, [that thou canst] not understand.
Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnities: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem a
quiet habitation, a tabernacle [that] shall not be taken down; not one of the
stakes thereof shall ever be removed, neither shall any of the cords thereof
be broken."

     This in Job chapter 35, verse 13: "Surely God will not hear vanity,
neither will the Almighty regard it.  Although thou sayest thou shalt not see
him, [yet] judgment [is] before him; therefore trust thou in him." Now these
two verses together. First of all, "Although thou sayest thou shalt not see
him, [yet] judgment [is] before him; therefore trust thou in him." Then this:
"Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they shall behold the land that
is very far off."

     Now, Father, I look to the Holy Spirit this hour to activate this passage
of Scripture and make my sermon a reality and a heart to these who are about
to hear. I pray you give 'em ears to hear with, and spiritual eyes to see
with, and may these things that you have spoken about many times in your word
be real to us today, and may we cease to get our eyes on this world, and cease
to look at things materialistically, and give us the eye of faith today, to
see what's actually up ahead for us. And may it be as real and more real than
these things that take up our vision and take up our time down here. And I
pray it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

     Amen. Let me get rid of this before I get it all over my notes.

     Now, we're talking here about a verse that says, "You may say you won't
see the Lord, but you're gonna see Him." I think Job 1800 years before the
birth of Christ read the mind of the 20th century Americans, and in Job 35:14
he called their hand when he said, "Although you say you're not gonna see Him,
you're gonna see Him."

     And the passage says in Isaiah chapter 33, "Thine eye shall see the King
in His beauty." I want to say this first of all about the text: The text says,
"Thine eyes." That's yours. It's not somebody else's.

     Job said in chapter 19, "I know my Redeemer liveth and shall stand in the
latter day upon the earth, whom my eye shall see, and mine and not another."
That is, these eyes right here are gonna look at Jesus Christ and see Him.
"Thine eye shall see."

     Simeon said, "Let me depart in peace, because I have seen the Lord's
Christ." It was revealed to Simeon that he wouldn't die until he has seen the
Lord's Christ. And, thank God, some day I'm gonna see Him! I might not die
before I see Him, but dead or alive I'm gonna see Him!

     Old Job said, he said, "I don't care--" well, thank you, thank you, thank
you. That's great, man! Florence Nightingale ready to go!

     I'm ready to see Him dead or alive, and dead or alive I'm still gonna see
Him. Because Job said, "After my skin worms destroy my flesh, yet in my flesh
I'll see God whom my eyes shall behold, and not another!" It's all there!

     Moses could see things that couldn't be seen. The Bible says he endured
as seeing Him who is invisible. How 'bout that? He said he could see something
you couldn't see. Moses endured as seeing Him who is invisible.

     Heaven's invisible. Hell's invisible. Christ is invisible. New Jerusalem
is invisible. The Bible says the things that are not seen are permanent,
eternal. The things that are seen are temporal. If there's one thing wrong
with this generation, the last generation, the generation that's come, it's
real simple. All they can understand is what they can see, or feel, or taste,
or smell, or touch--and that ain't eternal. It's temporal. That's the problem.

     Here today--gone tomorrow.

     Now, the eyes of the unsaved people are gonna see Jesus Christ. That's
the first thing I'm gonna talk about. Then the eyes of the unsaved people are
gonna see Jesus Christ. We have eyes, but our eyes have to be opened.

     I read in the Bible, in the Old Testament, the Lord had to open Hagar's
eyes, so she could see the well that was nearby. I read that Elisha's servant
was in a sweat about the troops, and Elisha said, "Lord, open this young man's
eyes." And he got his eyes opened, and he saw the horses and chariots of fire
round about.

     I read in the New Testament, the two along the road to Emmaus, and they
stop in there, and get to eating bread, and about that time the Lord breaks
the bread and blesses it, and their eyes are opened--and they knew Him, and He
vanished out of their sight.

     We're gonna see Him as Thomas did. Thomas says, "If I don't see Him, I
don't believe." And about that time, the Lord shows up, and Thomas bows down
and says, "My Lord and my God!"

     Now, listen! Some day--some day--a personal testimony--some day I am
gonna see Jesus Christ. And when I see Him, I'm gonna see Him as my Lord and
my God. That's what Thomas did. That isn't all. I got a break. I'm gonna also
see Him as a Friend and a Brother. A Brother.

     The Bible says He was not ashamed to call them brethren. He said,
"Whoever doeth the will of my Father is the same as my sister, and my mother,
and my brother"--brother. I'm gonna see my elder Brother some day. My Friend.

     And I'm gonna see Him as my God and my Lord. He said, "I am the way, the
truth, and the life." A fellow said, "If you're lost, without the way, there's
no going. If you're without the truth, there's no knowing. If you're without
the life, there's no growing." You've gotta have the way, the truth, and the
life--and some day you'll see Him.

     {Got the wrong reference there for that poem! But I know where a good one
is--right over here!}

     Lord, when I am weary with toiling and burdensome,

     See my commands,

     If my load should lead to complaining,

     Lord, show me thy hands,

     Thy nail-pierced hands,

     Thy cross-torn hands.

     My Saviour, show me thy hands.

     Christ, if ever my footstep should falter,

     If I be prepared to retreat,

     If this desert or thorns cause lamenting,

     Lord, show me thy feet,

     Thy bleeding feet,

     Thy nail-scarred feet.

     Lord, show me thy feet.

     Oh, God, dare I show thee My hands and my feet?

     That's the business. Some day I'm gonna see Him.

     "Thine eyes shall see the King," he says. "Thine eyes shall behold the
King in His beauty." I'm gonna see Him.

     The eyes of the lost are gonna see Him. The Bible says, "Every eye shall
see Him. And they that pierced Him." The eyes of the unsaved people are gonna
see Him. Gonna see Him at the White Throne Judgment.

     Why, unsaved people aren't gonna get to New Jerusalem to see the King in
His beauty as King. Why, if a thief got to New Jerusalem, you know what he'd
do, don't you? He'd start stealing some of those precious stones off the
foundation! Why, if a miser got there, you know what he'd start doing. He'd
start buying up all the apartments, gold apartments, and charging high for
them.

     If Eddie Murphy got there, he'd start telling some dirty jokes, or
cussin'.

     Unsaved people aren't gonna see the Lord in His beauty. Unsaved people
are gonna see Him, though. They're gonna see Him with a Great White Throne as
a Judge.

     My, what a shock! Took His clothes off Him one time, down here on the
earth--stripped Him. Naked. Stark naked. Hung Him up on a tree--made fun of
Him. Pointed at Him. Made fun of Him. Talked about His body. Wagged their
heads. Shame! The shame of the cross, it speaks about. Shame!

     You sing, "An old rugged cross, so despised by the world, what bears a
wondrous attraction to me! On that cross, He suffered and died, shame of
suffering, and shame, shame." Naked. Shot dice for His garments.

     That word that fellow gets halt at the White Throne Judgment and stands
there, and the Lord says, "Hey! You took my clothes off me one time, watch
this one!" And the Lord strips Himself of His universe--takes it off.

     "I saw a great white throne, and him that sat upon it, from whose face
heaven and earth fled away." "Thou shalt fold them up as a garment, and change
them as of a vesture." Mmmmmppphhhh!

     God Almighty sits out there, "You want to see something? Look at this
one!" WHAAPP! Away go the clothes--you can't look! You can't look! That
unsaved fellow--my, what a terror! You talk about a holy terror, man! You
think about standing before the unsheeted, naked Creator, in His nakedness,
who can make suns and galaxies, and stand and have to look at Him!

     You can't look at Him! You'll drop your head!

     They looked at Him at Calvary. They made fun of Him at Calvary. The Bible
says, "All things were made by Him." Amen? John chapter 1. They looked at Him
at Calvary. Boy, you wait till that thing comes! White Throne Judgment.

     Unsaved people see Him--nothin' beautiful about the White Throne Judgment
of a living hell, boy!

     Three ghosts met on a lonely road,

     And spake each one to another,

     "How come that dark stain upon your mouth,

     Brother my brother?"

     "From eating forbidden food,

     Brother my brother!"

     Three ghosts met on a midnight road,

     And spake each one to another,

     "How come that burn upon thy foot,

     No dust or ash can cover?"

     "I stamped a neighbor's heart flame out,

     Brother my brother!"

     Three ghosts tarried on a darkened road

     And said one to another,

     "How came that blood stain on your hand,

     No silken glove can cover?"

     "By breaking a woman's heart,

     Brother my brother."

     Three ghosts parted on that muddy road,

     The glutton, the thief, and the lover.

     And they sought their deeds to cover.

     But, "Naked the soul goes up to God,

     Brother my brother!"

     Three souls stood at the Great White Throne.

     There they found no cover.

     So into the lake of fire they went,

     The glutton, the thief, and the lover.

     For, without the Lord's Christ--

     And there is no other--

     You cannot hide your sins,

     Brother my brother!

     It's because the Bible says, "All things are naked and open before the
eyes of Him with whom we have to do." If you're sitting here this morning, and
you're an unsaved person. I've got bad news for you. When you see the King,
there won't be anything beautiful about Him. You'll think you're in front of a
roaring lion.

     The eyes of the lost will see Him. See who? The King in His beauty. The
King in His beauty.

     Now, He wasn't very beautiful the first time. The Bible says there's no
comeliness nor form in Him that we should desire Him. Common, ordinary Man. A
plain, a day-laborer, a carpenter--sleeping outdoors at night. Rough, peasant-
type fellow. That's the Bible picture.

     One time a little girl said to her mother; she said, "Mama," she said,
"Why your hands so ugly? Your hands aren't like Cindy's mother--her hands."

     And the mother said, "Well, honey, when you were about eight years old, I
pulled you out of a fire, and I put the fallow of my hands to save you, and my
hands have been like this ever since."

     The little girl thought for a minute and said, "Oh, I think they're
beautiful! I think they're beautiful!"

     That's the way I look at it, see! I mean, the world says about Jesus
Christ, "Well, who are you?" I think He's great!

     Song of Solomon says, "My beloved is altogether lovely." No form or
comeliness to an unsaved person, but, boy, He's beautiful to me! I have a
personal interest in Him. I want to see Him!

     "Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face!" You say, Why? I've got a
personal interest.

     I want to see His ears. You say, "Why?" They heard me! They heard me. I
want to see His eyes. You say, "Why?" They looked on me. I want to see His
mouth. You say, "Why?" He spoke to me! I want to look at His feet. He came out
to get me! Amen?

     I mean, up in glory, all the thrones face His throne, boy! The thrones of
archangels and cherubim and seraphim and martyrs, and the twelve--they all
face His throne. Up there, when they get a serve going, everybody's got a
testimony, and there the martyrs stand up and say, "That's the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the One I died for!" And the apostles and preachers say,
"That's the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the One I preached about all my life."
And the children get up there and say, "That's the Lord Jesus Christ that
picked us up and took us out of an inhospitable world and brought us home to
this wonderful place." And the widows and orphans say, "That's the Lord Jesus
Christ! That's the One who gave us comfort when our hearts were broken." And
the sick old folks stand up there and say, "That's the Lord Jesus Christ, who
held us up when we couldn't walk, and stand, and supported our crutch, and
took care of us to the end." And then Ruckman will get up and say, "That's the
Lord Jesus Christ, who saved my wicked soul!"

     I want to see Him! I want to see Him! I want to brag about Him publicly!
I've been bragging about Him here, down here, all my life; I'd like to do it
in glory. Say, "You know who that is?" That's the One who saved me. Right
there. Right there! See Him? Right there; that's the One.

     I know the world doesn't feel that way about Him. I don't give a flip how
they feel about it! He's only beautiful to the saved. The Song of Solomon
says, "Altogether lovely. This is my Beloved, O daughters of Jerusalem."

     The world doesn't want Him for a King. The world doesn't want Him to rule
over them. They don't see anything beautiful about Him at all. They like
somebody like Mandela. You know, or Gorbachev, or JFK, or Aristedes--some
Roman Catholic punk down there, trying to get his own people killed. They want
somebody like Pope John Paul II going over to Croatia to get an army to tax
some people over there. That's what they like.

     I like Jesus.

     One of these great leaders says, "World government is inevitable." A
young world leader said, "The only escape from total destruction of
civilization will be a one-world government." I think the only way to save
civilization is to abandon the one-world government.

     Right now, at Fort Polk in Louisiana, you've got down there, you've got
there Germans and Turks down there training. There are 30,000 foreign troops
in America right now. There haven't been that many foreign troops in America
since King George of England. You've got 30,000 foreign troops on this soil
right now. Ten thousand of them are Russians--atheists. Ten thousand are
Germans--Catholics. And five hundred are Turks--Muslims. And the government
doesn't even know what the religious issue is about. They're here. They're
here. They're training--right now.

     You know what they're trying to do? They're trying to get this thing all
together to where it'll work--without Jesus Christ. I want to see the King in
His beauty, boy!

     Who is the Lord of your life? Who's your King? Those fellows down at
Kiala in 2 Samuel--they had two kings. The first king was David, the king who
helped them out and saved them from the Philistines. Ain't no longer saved him
from the Philistines than Saul came down and said, "You know where he's at?"
And they said, "Yeah, he's out here. Come on down, and we'll give him, turn
him over to you." They had two kings.

     Sometimes I think some Christians are like that. Sometimes I think you've
got two Lords. You've got the One that saved you, and you've got one that
flattered you someplace, and you're trying to serve them both.

     Paul saw Jesus Christ in glory. The disciples saw Him in His
resurrection. John saw Him at His second coming. Stephen saw Him at death.
When Stephen died, he saw the Lord before he died.

     A little Scotch girl back there in 1890 was coming back to Scotland to
die. And she had been in America for awhile, and they were immigrants. And
they were taking her back to Scotland to die. She had an incurable disease.
And when they neared the coast of Scotland, she kept talking about, "I see the
bonny hills. I see the bonny hills." And her daddy said to her, "Honey, those
aren't hills yet! Those are just waves--ocean waves."

     And she said, "It doesn't matter," she said, "what they are." But she
said, "I kin not that that is where the horses and chariots were that picked
up Elijah."

     She was seeing something.

     She was seeing what Elijah saw--some horses and chariots coming to get
her.

     Ol' Negro spiritual says, "Swing low, sweet chariot, comin' for to carry
me home." Psalm of death!

     Up in glory, they're gonna be singing, "She'll be comin' 'round the
mountain when she comes!" They're waitin' for the bride. "She'll be comin'
'round the mountain when she comes!"

     Down here in this earth, in the Tribulation, the Jews are gonna be
singing, "She'll be drivin' six white horses when she comes! She'll be drivin'
six white horses when she comes!"

     How many know what I'm talking about? Let me see your hands! OK, I
thought I might have been over your head or somethin' there!

     The Bride of Christ is a she. When she comes back, she comes back on
white horses. And when she goes, she goes up over the mountains, boy! The Lord
comes down in the atmosphere--comes down and calls you out!

     That's your King--the King in His beauty.

     Now my text says this. "Thine eyes shall see the king in his beauty: they
shall behold the land that is very far off." They'll behold the land. We say,
"Oh Beulah Land, I'm longing for you!" A man said, "You see the first Heaven
by day, the second Heaven by night, and the third Heaven by faith!" That's the
truth.

     You see the first Heaven by day--that's out here, the sun and the clouds
and the sky. You see the second Heaven by night--that's right; that's the
stars, and the planets, and the moon. And you see the third Heaven by faith--
and that's the truth.

     Joseph Parker was one time asked by a man named Doctor Dawson to take a
trip to the Holy Land for a tour. And Joseph Parker moved his hand like that
across the sky and said, "That's my holy land. That's my holy land." Where?
Heaven! Glory. That's where it is. Up there--upstairs. One step outside those
gates, I'm a pauper. One step inside those gates, I'm a king.

     That's the land that is very far off. One step outside those gates, I'm a
pilgrim. One step in, I'm a resident. I'm a permanent resident. One step
outside those gates, I'm sick. Once I get in those gates, I'm well. One step
outside that gate, I'm a sinner. And, bless God, one step in that gate, and
I'm holy forever. I want to see it.

     "Oh, Beulahland, I'm longing for thee." "Beautiful home, home of the
soul, in the land where we'll never grow old."

     If you're unsaved here this morning, I want to ask you something. If you
found an ad in Fortune Magazine like the one I'm gettin' ready to read, would
you be interested? I'm gonna run an ad in Fortune that says this:

     "Beautiful homes. Given away free. In a perfect city. No crime, no
garbage disposal, no taxes, no gas bills, no water bills, no telephone bills.
Permanent pavement. No crime, no garbage, no hunger, perfect air, perfect
health, no hospitals, no funeral homes, no doctors, no lawyers. And beautiful
music all the time. Who wants it?"

     There would be a mob to get in there! But that's what God offers you. And
if you're unsaved, some of you, you haven't taken it. If you're not gonna take
it yet, something's wrong with you.

     Tell me, wayward wind,

     that round my pathway roar,

     Do you not know some spot

     where mortals weep no more?

     Some lone and pleasant spot,

     Some valley in the west,

     Where free from toil and sorrow,

     The lonely soul may rest?

     The loud wind brittled to a whisper low,

     And sighed in pity, "No, no, no."


     Tell me, thou mighty deep,

     Whose billows round me play,

     Knowest thou some favored spot,

     Some island far away?

     Where weary man may find the peace

     For which he sighs?

     And sorrow never lives,

     And friendship never dies?

     The loud wave rolling in perpetual flow,

     Surged to a calm and answered,

     "No, no, no."


     And now, serenest moon,

     Thou with such a lovely face,

     Just look upon the earth

     Asleep in night's embrace,

     Tell me, all thy phases,

     Hast thou seen some spot

     Where wretched man may

     Find a happy lot?

     Behind a cloud, the moon withdrew

     In woe, and responded with sad, sweet voice,

     "No, no, no."


     Tell me, oh my reborn spirit,

     Oh, tell me, hope and faith,

     Is there no resting place

     From sorrow, sin, and death?

     Is there no happy spot

     Where mortal can be blest?

     Where grief may find a balm,

     And weary some rest?

     Faith and hope and love,

     Best gift a sinner is given,

     Cried aloud within my soul,

     "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

     In Heaven. In Heaven.

     New Jerusalem. There's a place. But it's not down here. Now, if you don't
know that, you just have never traveled down here very much. I've done some
movin' down around here. I've tried these little islands, 'way out where
nobody can get to you, to get your peace and rest. Get out there, you know.
Drug traffic out there. Poisonous snakes. Portuguese man-o-war. Third-degree
burns.

     I've seen these nice little places, you know--some little isolated place
where supposedly nothing can get to you. Out in the West--where Las Vegas is,
and California is, and Rodney King is, and the U.F.O.'s and the CIA's are
gonna blow you to kingdom come in the atom bombs.

     It's up in glory, if it isn't anywhere.

     "The land that is very far off." I remember years ago, one of my church
members said to me when I was going through a certain trial, they said, "Is it
worth it? Is it worth it? Pete, is it worth it?"

     I said, "Yeah, it's worth it."

     I remember about fifteen years later, someone said to me, "Is it really
worth it, what you're going through? Is it worth it?"

     I said, "It's worth it! It's worth it." I haven't changed my mind a bit.
"Our present light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh a far more
exceeding weight of glory, while we behold those things that are not seen, For
the things that are not seen are eternal, and the things that are seen are
temporal." Yeah, it's worth it. Yeah, it's worth it.

     "If you had to go do it again, would you do it that way?" Yes! I'd do it
just like that. That's the best I can do it; I can't do it any better. If you
do any better, help yourself; more power to you.

     Amen, amen, amen!

     Conditions being what I went through, I did the very best I could under
those conditions; if I had to do it over again, I couldn't do it any better.
So I'm not gonna sweat it out. It's worth it. It's worth it. It's worth it.

     "The land that is very far off." How far. Well, 100 million light years,
give or take a few hundred thousand--I don't know. It's 'way out there. I know
one thing: The scientists can't reach it. I know that.

     Jesus said, "Whither I go, ye cannot come." The scientists don't know the
direction; they don't know the location. They don't even know the Maker. These
poor dumb, stupid idiots, messed around with graves and reptilians and Essenes
and Shakaras, and messin' around with Saturn and Venus, and somebody from
Nigelian, the Pleides, and messin' around trying to find life on other
planets, trying to get to the fourth dimension, and get through the time warp--
you don't know where you're at, buster! You're just runnin' around drunk in
your underclothes; you don't know what you're talking about!

     Why, we've got kids here in daily vacation Bible school, ten years old,
that have got more sense than you've got. When a man gets saved, brother, he
gets spiritual insight. These scientists have nothing. "Science fiction."
Awww, come on, man! We had science fiction when I was a boy! We had a story
about a cow that jumped over the moon! Did you ever hear that one? "Hi diddle
diddle, the cat in the fiddle, the cow jumped over the moon. The little dog
laughed to see such sport, and the dish ran away with the spoon!"

     That's powerful! I really liked those stories. We had all kind of
science; we had the world coming to an end, man! Sure, Chicken Little running
around saying, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling! The sky is falling!
Ran into Doggy-Woggy, and he said, 'The sky is falling!' And Ducky-Wucky, and
he said, 'The sky is falling!'  you know. Cowsy-Wowsy, and somethin' else!"

     We had all that kind of stuff--"Jack and the Beanstalk." Yeah, we had all
that kind of stuff. Science fiction--this giant come down from outer space,
you know. And he was a cannibal, too! He fell down, and broke his neck!

     And the Environmental Protection Agency had a time with that stinkin'
corpse lying around, they couldn't move the thing, they do nothing about it
for six or seven days. 

     King Kong left a bad enough mess to clean up--but that giant lying around
there! We had that stuff when I was a boy; they got nothin' to offer you--not
a thing to offer you. They can't find it; they don't know where it's at.

     Any saved 16-year-old knows more about Heaven and about God and man than
any news commentator or journalist in the United States. Why, if I had some of
these fellows like Brokaw, you know, and Mike Wallace and Phil Donahue and
that bunch make fun and come here, I'd just laugh at 'em. I'd stuck my tongue
out and just laugh at 'em; I'd give 'em the raspberry, boy. I'd say, "Run on,
sonny, before you get hit in the traffic." All that stuff. Why, you can find
more in that Book in one afternoon than that bunch can find out in the Library
of Congress in 35 years.

     It said you're gonna behold the land that is very far off. Very far off.
And he says, "Thine eye shall see the King in His beauty." And if you say,
"I'm not gonna see Him," you're still gonna see Him.

     The unsaved can't reach it. How do you get there? You get there through
blood. Unsaved people get up there, and the Lord said, "I never knew you."

     "But, God, I built some churches, and I helped out the cerebral palsy
fund, and I gave contributions to the battle on AIDS and cancer and heart
disease."

     "I never knew you."

     "But, Lord, I'm a 32nd degree Mason, and I take the sacraments."

     "I never knew you."

     "But I'm a philanthropist and I'm a humanist. I've done what I can to
make the world a better place--"

     "I never knew you."

     The password that gets you up there is "nothing but the blood of Jesus."
And without that you're not gettin' in. Christ said, "I am the door."

     I heard a preacher preaching that the other day. He said this. He said,
"I call your attention, first of all, to the first word--'I'. And there's only
one door--Jesus Christ. And then He said, 'I am.' He said he wasn't the door--
He's the door right now. He's the present door. 'I am.' And He said, 'I am the
door.'" And he said, "I'm gonna call your attention to the. He didn't say He
was a door; He said He was the door. There ain't any other door." Then he
said, "I'd like to call your attention to the word 'door.'" He said, "The way
you get into a place is go through a door. If you want to get into Heaven, you
go through the door, and there's only one door. 'I am the door.'"

     That's the business. "I am the door."

     Oh, what is this splendor

     That beams on me now?

     This beautiful sunrise

     That dawns on my soul?

     While faint and far off

     The stars lie below,

     And under my feet

     The golden streets roll.

     To what mighty King

     Does this city belong,

     With its rich jewel walls

     And garden of flowers

     And its breath of pure incense

     And its praise and its song

     And the light that is

     Gilding its towers?

     See, for from the gates

     Like a bridal array

     Come the princes of Heaven,

     How brightly they shine!

     'Tis to welcome a stranger,

     To show me my home,

     And to tell me that all I see,

     Is mine.

     No sickness is here,

     No bleak winter cold,

     No hunger, debt, prison

     Or wearisome toil,

     No robbers to steal

     Those treasures of gold,

     No rust to corrupt,

     No cancer to spoil,

     My God! It was

     But a short hour ago,

     I lay on a bed

     Of unbearable pains,

     All cheerless about me,

     Weeping and woe.

     Now the wailing is changed

     To angelic strains!

     That's how she's gonna go. You die in terrible pain like some of the
brethren do--and the chances are they'll have you so doped up you're probably
not gonna feel most of it--but if you die like some of them had to die, even
friends of mine I've known, you may leave your pillow sopping wet with tears,
but, bless God, no tears up there!

     About the time you pass away, and all that family's weeping over you and
moaning over you and groaning over you and bewailing your loss, up in Heaven
they'll be saying, "Glory to God! He's home! Glory to God! He's home!" And
you'll be saying the same thing. You won't be whimpering around saying, "Oh, I
hurt so bad." You'll be saying, "Thank God, I'm home!" Thank God, I'm home!

     Only resurrection power can get you there. In Ephesians chapter 1:19,
Ephesians chapter 1, verse 20, Ephesians chapter 3, verse 20, I read that
Jesus Christ is able to do exceedingly abundantly all that we ask and think,
according to His mighty power which works in us, and if the power be in you
that raised Christ from the dead, God shall quicken your mortal bodies by His
Spirit that dwelleth in you.

     I'll get off the ground by a Spirit that you can't even see in me right
now. And I'll get beyond there where Gemini and Pioneer and Apollo and
Carpenter and those fellows never went--never went. But you only do that by
the Holy Spirit. The power of God that raised Christ from the dead.

     A little girl one time was in a train. She was looking out the window.
And sometimes in trains you can't see the railroad bridge you're going over.
And she kept seeing these rivers and ponds and lakes coming up, and she
thought they were going to go right in 'em. And every time they just kinda
seemed to fly in the air over 'em. And she said to her mama, she said, "Isn't
that wonderful, Mama?" She said, "Somebody's put up bridges for us all the
way."

     Somebody's put up bridges for us all the way. Jesus Christ.

     "Thine eye shall behold the King. Thou shalt see the land that is very
far off." What is that? Resurrection power when you get saved.

     A little girl in China one time, who had preached about, about her
idolatry, and she didn't get saved. But after the missionary got through, she
went back to her house, and took one of those little gods off her shelf there,
and took that little god and buried it in the back yard. And then she waited a
couple of days for it to come up--it never came up. It never came up.

     If you're unsaved, you're gonna die, and they're gonna bury you; but when
the trumpet blows, and the Lord calls us out, you're not coming up. You're
gonna stay there, until that grave disintegrates around you, and the earth
goes into fire, and there you are standing. You're not going up anywhere--not
even in the resurrection. You're just gonna be lying there like a dead man in
that body right there, and your soul in hell--about that time that thing blows
away, your soul will get in that old decomposed body there, and up you'll
stand in a body of damnation before Jesus Christ. You can't make it. You can't
make it.

     The land is very far off. Henry Ward Beecher, one of the dumbest
preachers that ever lived, said, "The imitation of God's will will fulfill
itself in the collective mass. All physical life is improving and evolving."
No, it's not. It's dying. It's dying. Dying.

     One time a little old boy was dying, he said, "Mama," he said, "What's it
like to die?" He said, "Does it hurt?"

     And she left the room crying--she couldn't answer him. And after she
walked around the house awhile, and prayed, she came back, and she said,
"Well, honey, you remember when you were about seven or eight years old, and
you used to play, and you were so tired you couldn't even undress to go to
bed?"

     And that boy said, "Yeah, I remember that."

     And the mama said, "When that happened, you'd come in and you'd lie down
in mama's bed and go sound asleep. But you would never wake up in my bed,
would you?"

     He said, "No, mama, I woke up in my bed."

     And she said, "You know why that was?

     And he said, "Why?"

     And she said, "Because, when you come in so tired, you couldn't undress,
just laying on my bed, after you were sound asleep, Daddy would come in, and
he'd pick you up and take you out of that bed and take you over to the room
and put you down on the bed where you belonged. So, when you woke up, you were
in the right room." She said, "Now, death is just like that. Your Father just
picks you up out of this room down here, and takes you over and puts you in
the right room. And when you wake up, you're in the right room."

     Amen, amen, amen, amen!

     Now, I don't know how many times I've woke up in those rooms, I'd lost
track of 'em. Long, lost track of 'em. I've been in so many places, man, that
when I get up in the morning, I don't know where I'm at. Sometimes it'll take
me about 15 seconds to even get the state where I'm at. And these motels,
they're all different, you know, in the shape of the rooms. Sometimes, in the
middle of the night, you get up and go to the bathroom, and walk out in the
hall, you know, or something like--it's really a mess, man!

     And I keep thinking about what Bob Jones Sr. said one time about God
giving him little rooms to clean up all his life. And finally he said, he'd be
in a room where he'd see something over the top of that room, in the ceiling,
and look up there, and there'd be a light up there. He said, "Well, it's
gettin' kinda dark around me here, but there's a light up there. And I'd look
up through the top of the light and say, 'Who's that up there?' And a voice
would say, 'I'm your Saviour. It's time to come up here now. And I've been up
here 2,000 years making room for you. And I'm a carpenter; so you can imagine
what kind of room it's gonna be.' Then I'll walk into a real room."

     I often think about that. And I think about maybe, perhaps--maybe it
won't come this way--but I think in my mind's eye, I see myself getting up
some morning, in some motel somewhere, I don't know where. When I was a little
boy in Kansas, I never would have thought I'd spend half my life in airports
and motels--but that's where I've been. You want an expert on eating out in
restaurants? I am the expert. I've eaten out an average of three times a week
for 45 years.

     And, to get up here in this motel, and I'll get up in the morning, you
know, and it'll be a real beautiful day, and sunlight's streamin' through the
windows, you know. And I'll say, "Boy, this is a beautiful day. Last night was
stormy and cold, but a sudden change in the weather or somethin'! I'll get up
and stretch myself, and about that time I'll hear a noise outside. And it'll
sound like a big ol' choir singing 'The Hallelujah Chorus.' And I'll say,
'Somebody's got an FM radio station or something over at the end of the room
there.' But the choir will be too big. I'll hear this noise out like that, and
I'll say, 'That sure is a loud bunch of folks singing over there.' And I'll go
up there and I'll take that blind, and pull that blind back and look out
there, and, boy that light'll hit me and about block my eyes out. I'll look
down there and I'll see a golden street down there, going up there, boy, about
300 yards, and all of them, tree of life along both sides, and all that crowd
out there waving and yelling, waving them palms and roaring, 'He shall reign
forever and ever.'

     And I'll say, "I know where I am! I know where I am. I'm home!"

     Fourteenth of March, 1949--probably about the 13th, the night before. I
broke into the Methodist Church in downtown Pensacola, at the top of Gregory
and Wright Street. I came there with my shoes unlaced, and my pants unzipped,
and about two days' growth of beard, and a hangover. And knelt down there at
an altar in the prayer meeting. There wasn't anybody in the main building;
they're back in the back plant; they're having a choir practice. And I knelt
in that building 20 minutes and prayed, and got out and left--not a man,
woman, or child put a foot in that building the whole time I was in there. I
didn't know what I prayed, because I didn't know how to pray. But I remember
something of what I prayed.

     And while I was praying there, they began to sing in the back room, and I
remember the words of this song: It says, "Rock of ages, cleft for me, Let me
hide myself in thee. Let the water and the blood, From thy wounded side which
flowed, Be of sin the double cure, Save from wrath and make me pure. Should my
tears forever flow, Should my zeal no languor know, All for sin could not
atone, Thou must save, and Thou alone. In my hand, no price I bring. Simply
thy cross I cling."

     And I didn't understand it all. But I heard the words. I knew the words.
I heard them on a radio station, on the programs. I know what I prayed
everything, but I know one thing I prayed. I said, "Lord, I'm tired. I'm beat.
I am wore out. I've had--I'm up to here with it. I've had all I can take. No
more men, no more women, no more traveling, no more art, no more sports, no
more music, no more fame--no, nuthin'! I'm up to here with it!" I said, "I've
been shot at, I've been cussed, I'm cold, I'm tired, I'm hungry, I'm starved."
I said, "I want to come home, and I don't know where home is! Because I
haven't been there. But wherever home is, I wanna come back!" I said, "God,
would you take me back!"

     He did. He did. I'm on my way home. "My eyes will see the King in His
beauty. And I'll behold the land that is afar off."

     All right, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, bless your word this
morning. I know this verse is so; I know it's true. I'm staking my soul on it.
And there are people here who are doing the same thing. Maybe there's somebody
here this morning that's never going to see Heaven, they're never going to see
glory; they're never going to see the King in His beauty. And I pray your Holy
Spirit right now will convict of sin and righteousness and judgment, and show
'em this world is not their home, they're just passing through. If they got
any treasure at all, they're gonna have to be laid up someplace in here.
Because down here, thieves break through and steal, and moth destroys, and
cancer corrupts. Lord, I pray for these Christians here this morning, that
have gotten worldly minded the land two or three weeks, or two or three
months, or two or three years, and have forgotten their heavenly calling. I
pray you would renew again their vision of glory and New Jerusalem, and
eternal things above. May they set their affection on things above, and not on
things of this earth. Remind us constantly, Lord. We're travelers; we're
strangers. We've been loaned some things for awhile. We're stewards; we've
been entrusted with some things for a few days. And we're going like a vapor.
Now, God, help us to be heavenly minded.

     Let's pray a little while in prayer. If some Christian here this morning
in this building, you've lost the heavenly calling, it's got dead for you, you
got your eyes on things down here, forgotten your real calling. Why don't you
this morning make a few vows to God, and ask God to make Heaven real to you,
and make eternal things more real to you than they are, and get back on the
pilgrim pathway, instead of settling down, trying to get your roots in.

     Before we close today, is there anybody here this morning who's not
saved? Is there anybody here this morning who would raise their hand and say,
"Preacher, I'm not a Christian, and I'm not saved. I don't know I'm going to
Heaven; I'm not sure about it. Pray for me. Would you raise the hand? Would
you raise the hand anywhere in the building? Preacher, pray for me. I'm not
sure of my heavenly calling; I'm not sure I've been saved; I don't know I'm
going to Heaven; pray for me. Anybody like that here today? Would you let me
pray for you? By the uplifted hand? Anonymous; I'm not gonna mention your
name.

     But would you confess a need this morning? Would you confess a need? I
need to know I'm going home to be with God when I die. Pray for me. Is there a
hand like that anywhere? All right. Thank you, ma'am. Thank you, sir. Thank
you. All right. Nobody's gonna put any pressure on you; nobody's gonna
embarrass you. We don't do things like that around here. I'd like to pray for
you. Somebody else? Is there another one anywhere? Raise the hand? All right,
thank you sir. Thank you. Anybody else? Raise the hand and say, "Pray for me.
I need to be saved, and know it."

     And you do it. It isn't always gonna be Palifox and Davis, Ninth Avenue
and Twelfth, and Creighton Road and Cantonment, Peking Restaurant, city pier
and auditorium--roof under construction. It isn't gonna be that way. Thine
eyes are gonna behold the King in His beauty, and see the land that is far
off. Anybody else?

     Father, we ask thee for salvation for these two men that raised the hand,
that you might fill 'em with the Spirit of God and save their souls. May they
get the assurance that they're seeking, and want. May you give it to them. May
you show 'em that it's connected with the death of your Son. May they see it
and grasp it by faith. We pray, Father, from this day on, they won't have any
doubts about their salvation. They'll rest in your finished work, and have the
joy of knowing that some day they're gonna see you in your beauty. We pray it
in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.

     Let's stand. Let's stand. Let's stand, we're gonna sing just two stanzas
of invitation song before we leave here this morning. Let's sing just two
stanzas of "Just as I Am." We'll sing "Just as I Am, Without One Plea," and
we'll sing, "Just As I Am, and Waiting Not." That's all we're gonna sing. Just
two stanzas, whether anybody comes or not--just two stanzas. If you're here
this morning and you'd like to be saved and know it, I'm gonna ask Brother
Donovan that he'd come down here and meet you down here at the front. And I
ask you to step out of your seat when the invitation come, two stanzas, that's
all. All right, let's sing.

     All right, we're gonna sing, Just as I am and waiting not, To rid of my
soul of one dark blot, to Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot, O Lamb of
God, I come. It works. It works. It works. I've worked it. It works. We're not
talking about anything theoretical. It works. I ran into Jesus Christ back
there--it's been 45 years ago. You talk about a trip--it works! And if He's
gotten me this far, just by believing what He said, then what He said about
from here on is bound to be true. What He said up to here has come out right
on the money. So what He said about the future, He's not gonna lie. And He
said in the future, "Thine eyes shall see the King in His beauty, and thine
eye shall behold the land that is far off." Amen! Amen! I want to see it! I
want to see Him--right now! Right now would be just fine. Just anytime. I'm
tired of looking at you. I'm tired of looking at me. I'm tired of looking at
my family. I'm tired of looking at buildings. I'm tired of looking at cars.
I've seen so much junk, I can't even keep track of it. I'm tired of seeing
streets. I think mountains and springs and lakes are beautiful; I can do
without 'em tonight. See? I want to see, I want to see that Author of all this
stuff. I want to see the One that saved me. And the Book says I'm going to.
"Just as I am, and waiting not."

     If you want to come, come on. Whosoever will, let him come. You want to
come? Whosoever will, let him come.

