Hebrews eleven and verse thirty-two. What shall I more say, for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, of Baruch, of Samson, of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets, whose due face of due kingdoms wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed, valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Now notice some of the suffering the Old Testament saints went through. Women received their dead, raised to life again, but others, notice others, some were blessed, some were delivered, but others were tortured, not accepting deliverance. that they might obtain a better resurrection, they would sooner die than compromise. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourging, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sawn asunder. We're tempted. We're slain with a sore. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented. of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth. These all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. They didn't see the fulfillment of the promise in the coming of the Messiah. God, having provided some better thing for us, and here's where the church comes in. God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. One morning this week, in fact, it was Monday morning, I was walking down Slappy Drive, which I often do almost every morning on my walk. I was thinking on this verse, and a thought struck me as I got to about the Shell Service Station, where Brother Roach holds forth, he operates that shell surface station down on fifth and sloppy. Now there's a plug, a commercial. Well, when I got there, I thought of this text, and I didn't want to lose the thought that I got, so I went in and I asked for a piece of paper and a pencil I wanted to write it down. Well, this is what I thought, and that's why I'm preaching on this subject this morning. God would not allow Israel or those in chapter eleven the cream of Israel to enjoy perfection before or without us, that is the church. Our spiritual blessings far exceed theirs, yet their sufferings and their devotion and their faith far exceeds our worth. Isn't that an amazing thing? When you read in Hebrews about they and them and those, quite often it refers to the children of Israel. And the word oft refers to the church, that is, those today who are born again, they compose the church that commenced on the day of Pentecost. And in chapter eleven, it will thrill your soul to read the whole chapter. I only read a few verses. And it gives you a list of these Old Testament worthies. You have Abel, you have Enoch, you have Noah, you have Abraham, you have Isaac, you have Jacob, you have Joseph, you have Moses. and the nation of Israel, and then Rahab is singled out. And you have all these apostles I read about, and what they suffered for their faith in their God. And remember, Christ had not yet come. They lived in the dim shadows of the age of promise. God was telling them that a Savior was going to come. And on the strength of that, and also God had promised them that he was going to bring them into a land. a wonderful land, and on the strength of those promises that were done compared to the noonday brightness of the promises we have on the strength of those promises. In just the glimmer of God's revelation, these people suffered. They endured all kinds of hardship. Their devotion to their God was amazing. And yet here we are. Christ has come. We're living in the blaze of gospel life. We have the Holy Testament that they didn't have. God has blessed us far greater more gloriously than he blessed them. And yet their faith, their devotion, their attachment to their God makes us blush with shame. How little are we willing to suffer for Christ, and yet to think of how they suffer? And yet God is not going to allow them to enjoy one thing better, nor one moment sooner than he's going to let us enjoy all that he has for us in Christ. Isn't that amazing first, that last verse? God having provided some better thing for us, that is the church, that they, all those saints who suffered as they did, they without us, should not be made first. To me that's one of the most amazing texts in our Bible to think of how these people suffered as they did, endured all the hardship that they did, and yet God says, no, my blessing is for the church, and they are not going to enter into any further blessing until the church is complete, until Jesus Christ comes. Now my subject this morning is better. One word, better. Christianity, Christianity. is better than anything else, any religion, or anything in the world, the good, better, and best of Christianity. Thirteen times in this book of Hebrews, you'll find that word better, better, better. You know we're living in a world where that word is used constantly, yet we never seem to tire of hearing it. The politicians, the leaders of states, are talking about a better world, better living condition. Better homes, better times, better education, better promise. These are the things we hear constantly by politicians in the heads of state. Then, of course, the automobile industry, it's always better cars are coming up, better trucks. Yes, everything's going to be better. Then, of course, the better washers and the better suds and the machines and so on, the soaps all these things every time you see an advertisement. Why, it's something better, even better than they themselves have produced and better than all their competitors. Yes, something better. Better radios, better TVs. That's the pitch of another advertising group. Better, better, better is the word of almost everything in every field of advertising. Better insurance. This insurance is better than another insurance. improvement, progress, and advancement. These are the words of the R. And even the military. Better planes, better guns, better ammunition. And we're thankful for that. Any improvement along that line we appreciate to get our boys back home. Better, better, better, better drugs than the medical field. All the time talking about something better coming out. Scientists in that field discovering better drugs, better medicines, and we're thankful. But I want to get better is the cry of the sick, and you can't blame them. Parents say, I want my children to have something better than I have. And so you have this word better. In many cases, there is paltzer attached to it, and faith. A lot of these things really fundamentally are not better. Men fail to find those better things. Many fight for the bait, and they get food. And it's really not better after all. But let me say something. When God offers you something better, it better. And thirteen times over in this amazing epistle, God speaks of something better. Better than anything that has been known before. Or enjoyed before. And here's the list of those things that he refers to as better. In chapter one, he speaks of Christ being better than the angels. Here are these mighty shining sons of life. When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy, he's referring to those angels, those wonderful beings that were in existence, created by God. And they were there when God broke the silence of eternity and called this world into existence. And here are these wonderful angels, but they are creatures. Our blessed Lord is the Creator. You have seven orders of angels. You have this Michael and Gabriel, the seraphim, the cherry of them. You have the elect angels and the principalities, and you have the ministering spirits, the guardian angels. All these marvelous orders of angels. And yet there's not one in the myriads of angels that can compare with our Lord Jesus Christ. And so Jesus Christ is compared with the angels in chapter one. And God says he's better. He's better. In chapter three, he's better than Moses. Here is God selecting Moses, that great leader of Israel. And Moses was a mighty man, chosen by God, raised up by God, to lead his people, Israel, out of Egypt, through the wilderness, and God had intended their going into the land which they did, but not under Moses. But Moses was a great man. He loved God's people. On one occasion he prayed a prayer that fused. Men would ever pray for their flock. Moses says, Block me, I pray the old God out of thy book, but spare thy people Israel. Think of Moses asking God to block him out. But spare the flock. He was willing to pray for Israel. But of course God wouldn't accept that sacrifice. Here is Moses, mighty Moses. He wrote the Pentateuch, the first five books of our Bible. Even the Lord Jesus could say, Moses, speak of me. And Moses' name is associated with the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Revelation, they sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb. And yet, poor Moses, saved. He spake unadvisedly with his lips. Those people he loved so well he called them a bunch of rebels. And because he failed, God says, Moses, you'll not go into the land. You'll die on this side, the land of Canaan, because you failed. Amen, poor Moses. He made another mistake one time. He killed an Egyptian. But there's one greater than Moses. That's the Lord Jesus. In chapter three, you have Moses and Jesus Christ compared. Moses was a servant in God's house. He's the supervisor of God's house, but Christ is a son over his own house. He owns the house. So much better, so much greater than Moses. And then in chapter four of this book of Hebrews, Jesus Christ is better than Joshua. That brilliant young general, Joshua. He took over where Moses had to lay down his weapons. Moses had paled, he couldn't take the people of Israel into the land. So God says, Joshua knew it. This brilliant young general, he was a spy, he was a statesman, he was a saint, and he was a servant of high degree. And here's young Joshua. But, oh, in comparison to the Lord Jesus, his very name, Joshua, means Jesus in the Old Testament. But here is one far better than Joshua, for Joshua failed to bring God's people into all their inheritance. He wasn't able to establish them completely in the land to enjoy all that God had planned for them. And every one of these men failed that Jesus Christ had better. He'll never fail. He'll bring all God's beloved people into their eternal Canaan in the day to come. And so he's spoken of. as better than Joshua, better than Aaron in chapter seven. You know Aaron was a great orator. God says, I know he can speak well. When Moses complained about his not being able to speak, then long comes Aaron. God says, there's your brother. I'll be his mouthpiece. I know Aaron can speak well. He's a gifted speaker. He's an orator. He's a mountain of light and enlightenment. Aaron was Israel's first high priest, and from his family came all the priests of Israel. Aaron was a wonderful man, yet poor Aaron failed. You know how all of that family failed. Miriam was the eldest girl, then came Aaron, and then came Moses. But all three of them failed to enter into the land of Canaan. God willing we contemplate soon as I get the chart with being painted now from Egypt to Canaan. We want to take up a series of meetings. Israel's journey from the land of Egypt right through the wilderness for forty years until they entered into the land. And isn't it strange, we may start on that next Sunday if the chart is here in time, if not it will be two weeks from today. But isn't it strange these three amazing characters, so wonderfully blessed of God, Miriam, And yet Miriam dragged up something of forty years old age, forty years ago. She found fault with Moses' domestic life. And God smote her and caused her to be a leper. And Aaron failed. He failed to go into the land of Canaan because of it. Moses failed, and God put him to sleep. And he didn't enter into the land. Three remarkable characters, and they all failed. that Jesus Christ never did. Jesus Christ is faithful, sinless. And this book of Hebrews takes up how much better Jesus Christ is than all individuals. And it tells us in chapter ten he's better than the law. And why, when you take a look at Sinai and God revealing himself in Sinai, at Sinai, the lightning and the thunder, the whole mount on the flame, and smoking, and even Moses exceedingly feared and shook as he stood there and saw God revealing himself in all his majesty and his might. Moses besought the Lord that he wouldn't speak that again. His people couldn't take it. But oh, how different will you come to Calvary? The calm, the quiet, the tranquility of Calvary. God displayed himself and revealed himself as a God that hates sin, a God that's going to punish sin, inflexible justice, unyielding law at Sinai and the people trembled. But now God says, I'll reveal myself in love and tell them. Love draws. Love doesn't put you in a distance. Love attracts. Love pulls at your heartstrings. God says, I'm going to come out to the human race now in love. Jesus Christ said, And I, if I let it be lifted up from the earth, I'll draw all men to me. God says, I want the human race to come close. When the law was given, they had to stand at a distance. How much better then is Jesus Christ than the law? Had we had to obtain the favor of God by keeping the law, not one of us would have ever kept it. We'd have been under the curse of the law forever. The last word of the Old Testament is curse. Well, that's where the law brought man to the curse. Everyone's broken the law. But God says, I want a blessed man. I'm giving man something better than the law. And that's where Jesus Christ comes in. He's better, far, far better than the law of the Ten Commandments. He's given us a better covenant in chapter seven and verse twenty. The Old Testament covenant was conditioned on their obedience. But the new covenant that we enter into today is conditioned on the obedience and faithfulness of Jesus Christ and seeing Jesus Christ can never fail. Then those who have Christ can never be lost. It's a better covenant by far. Not only so, but better promises. Based upon better sacrifices, the sacrifice of Christ, not the sacrifice of animals. And a better and eternal substance. Whatever God promised Israel in the way of the land is only temporary. But the substance he offers us and gives to us when we receive the Savior, our inheritance is forever. It's an eternal substance. So much better than what God gave or offered to Israel. Then we read about a better hope in chapter seven. A better sacrifice in chapter nine. Just as much better... as the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is over an animal, a bull, a goat, or any other animal. This sacrifice is so superior because the blood of Jesus Christ was not only the blood of a man, but is the blood of the perfect, sinless, holy, spotless Son of God. Therefore, so much better, so much efficacious, so much more powerful, able to put away sin, the blood of animals just covered sin over temporary. And so how much better is the sacrifice in Christ of Christ than that of Adam. And a better country. The country they look for was Canaan. But oh, God says I've got a better country. This is heaven itself. What a country this is. A better country. That's what he's offering to those who come to Christ today and a better resurrection. and a better thing. That's where my text comes in. God having provided some better thing for us. Oh, how much better is Christ and Christianity than anything else than the old Jewish religion. Just like the caterpillar goes in and makes its little cocoon or its chrysalis, and then on some warm spring morning the little butterfly comes out and it takes its flight and leaves the empty chrysalis behind. So Judaism is just an empty chrysalis, the winged life of Christianity has taken its life. Israel had but shadows, and we have the substance. Everything is so much better in Jesus Christ. The good better in death of Christianity. You know the promise of Christianity was good. Even back when man sinned, God said to Eve, The seed of the woman you is going to bruise the serpent's head. He's referring to Jesus Christ, bruising Satan. That was a wonderful promise. Later on, he said, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and I shall call his name Emmanuel God with us. That was wonderful. That was good. His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace. That's wonderful. And so the very promise of coming Christianity was good. It was good. But the history of Christianity is much better. What do I mean? The actual coming of Jesus Christ and his death upon the cross. It's now history. That's much better than the promises of. Israel had the promises. But we have the history of it. Jesus Christ has already come. We celebrate his birth at Christmas time. It's history. History records that you can't deny it. No one would be so insane as to say Columbus didn't discover America. And no one in his right mind would say that Jesus Christ didn't come. He changed our very calendars from before Christ to after Christ. Historians Great historians like Josephus Talents of the coming of Jesus Christ and write fluently and gloriously of that personality. And so if the promises of Christianity were good, the history of Christianity is better. The fact that he's already come and the thousands down the centuries who have believed on him and lived for him and died for him. But let me tell you something that's best. that is the experience of Christianity is death. I read about the promises before I was a Christian. My, that was good. The Old Testament promises. And I knew about the history of it that Jesus Christ came and fulfilled those promises. He came to Bethlehem and he died at Calvary. He shed his precious blood. He was raised again from the dead. Now we live in heaven, that's the history of Christianity. Oh, that's better than the promises. But friend, let me tell you to experience that in your heart is best. Good, better, and best. And at the age of nineteen, with my own father sitting beside me, he pointed me to Christ. And Christianity no longer to me was promised. It no longer to me was history. It was a blessed experience. when Jesus Christ came into my heart, and I knew that very moment I was saved and I've never had a doubt about it since. Oh, the grand and glorious death of Christianity. Another thing, the implantation of that life in your heart when you're saved is good, but remember the growth and development of that life is better, but remember that the ultimate conclusion to be with and like Christ of eternity's death. Isn't that right? You learned that those decrees, good, better, death. By the night I got saved. Well, that was good. That really was good. I got saved. I knew the sins forgiven. I had peace with God. I had everlasting life. But you know, since then, it's been better. Reading the Bible, studying the Bible, learning more about the Lord Jesus, preaching His word, seeing people say, Why, that's a whole lot better than when I got saved. Well, friends, I'm waiting for the death. And so is every born-again Christian. That death will come when we'll hear His shout and be caught up to meet Him in the air and be changed into His glorious likeness to be with Him forever and forever. That's the death. you have those three things I'm going ahead of myself in connection with Canaan or Egypt Canaan and the wilderness in between here is the children of Israel here are the children Israel and they were sheltered by blood in Egypt they were saved then they had to go through the wilderness there was their experience then there was a land filled with milk and honey that's Canaan one was good The journey to the promised land was better. When they get into the land, that was the best. When a person comes to know Jesus Christ, that's good. That's really good. But when they grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, that's better. When they go on to know the law and practice what they know, that's better. Don't think that conversion is everything. It's a wonderful start. It's enough to take you to heaven, but remember this, the little... Faith can take you to heaven, but a lot of faith can bring heaven into your soul. Right here and now. My, that's wonderful. But oh, the best of it all is one of these days when Jesus Christ shall come. And in a moment in the twinkling of an eye were chained into his likeness. That's there. So here you have the good, the better, and the best of Christianity. You hear today about comparative religions. The Christian knows nothing of comparative religions. They go to college, they go to these universities, and they take a course in comparative religions. The Christian knows nothing of comparative religions, for what religion can compare with the risen, glorified Christ? No religion can compare. Jesus Christ is better than any religion. Think of Confucius. He's dead. What about Buddha? What did Buddha say before he died? Buddha said before his death, I'm still searching for the truth. But Jesus Christ said, I am the truth. Buddha, still searching for the truth. And today millions and millions of people call themselves Buddha to me. He had a good display of what that religion is like out in Vietnam. It's that war that's been going on. Poor, deluded soul. They hardly know anything. Giving their lives. being burned to death like human torches. They're Buddhist, but what hope do they have? They know nothing of sins forgiven. They know nothing of peace with God. They know nothing of the assurance of life after death. Thus you have your religion. Take Shintoism, Hinduism, Judaism, with all its ritual and ceremony, strengthening and so on, present-day religion. All kinds of it in America today, millions of people. are religious this morning, but how many really know Christ the Redeemer? So many face their hopes for heaven on confirmation. You know, confirmation is only mentioned three times in your Bible, and that's in Acts, verse fourteen and fifty, no two chapters. And in one case it refers to believers being confirmed, the other case it refers to disciples being confirmed, the other case it speaks of churches being confirmed. There are no children involved at all. The apostles were confirming the believers, confirming the disciples, confirming the churches, giving them assurance, and confirming them in the faith that they had already received. These are things today that pass for religion and the possibility of taking one to heaven. No, Jesus Christ is far better than all this modernism. When I was up in Canada, it's not the first time I've seen this college. When I was up in Canada here a couple of months ago visiting my sister, I had two of them living in Windsor. My younger sister, May, said one day as we were driving along one of the streets of the town, she said, do you see that big college there? I said, yeah. She said, you know, an article came out recently giving the life of the students in that college. And she said, It was something. She started telling me pieces of it. I said, get that article. Well, she wasn't able to get the exact article, but she went to the newspaper office, and she was able to make excerpts, write out little excerpts of that copy that was in the newspaper, talking about the strict light in that college. And here are young men. They go into that college, and they take the vow of strength. And for twenty-three hours and fifty minutes every day, they never speak a word. Then they're allowed to speak for ten minutes and that on specific subjects. And for seven years, they're only allowed to speak ten minutes every day. Some have taken the vow of absolute silence. And since the college was built in nineteen fifty-eight, not a word has passed their lips. They've taken the vow of poverty and what Google meals they have. And if they're faithful after seven years, they can go out as missionaries. What have they got to tell people? And that man, Morgan, who was the newspaper reporter that spent one week in that college, then wrote his article for the public to read. He said, I have to get out. My mind was going. Friend, that's religion. That's religion. Thank God there's something in this Bible better than that. They claim to be imitators of the Redeemer. That's what they claim. They take these vows to be imitators of the Redeemer. I'm glad the Lord Jesus Christ, my Redeemer, wasn't silent. Nor did he take the vow of silence. He's faith. Never man speak like this now. Jesus Christ uttered wonderful words, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Oh, how much better is Christ than religion. And today the very heart and soul has gone out of a lot of religion. Churches and denominations that used to preach the old-fashioned gospel today are the mere shells. They're only a shadow of former days. The very heart has gone out of their message because they've ceased to preach Christ and Him crucified. When you take the old-fashioned gospel out to preaching today, it's not worth the time to listen to. God says, I want you to keep with the best. And here is something, it's good, it's better, and it's best. It's better than anything that man offers today. There's so much today that just formalism, it's just ritualism, it's no empty, it's hollow, it doesn't have any heart to it, and having no heart, there's no warmth to it. And seeing it has no heart, there's no life to it. Oh, the old-fashioned gospel has life. It has power. It has warmth. It has vitality. It has something in it that when a person receives it, he too gets life and vitality and warmth and energy, spiritual warmth. I thank my God that I have something better to preach than religion. When you come to this Blessed Book, you don't read in this Blessed Book anything about the vows taken by those young men. lot of strict harsh rules and regulations enforced upon young people what for i do not know and yet they think they're going to obtain eternal life by all these self-adnegation efforts my bible speaks of a salvation so much simpler simpler than that far far better salvation is in Christ. Christianity simply means Christ. You take Christ out of Christianity, or you take Christ out of any church, all you've got is religion left, just the empty thing. That's why Paul says, I determined to know nothing among you saved Jesus Christ and him crucified. Or a preacher right in this very town a week ago. He told the folks when he came together, they came together a week ago this morning. We were going to have a very short sermon, but he knew that they wanted to get home and listen to the World Series. And so he preached a very short sermon and let the whole congregation out. I guess he was the most anxious to get home. You see and hear the World Series. He might as well not have preached at all. A man that would have motive of that kind would put a ball game before preaching the gospel message that poor people, men and women need to hear today. No Christ in that, you take Christ out of preaching today and you've got a hollow shell left, you've got nothing left, just a formality. Because they don't have a message, they spend most of their time listening to collection. Thank God there's something better than that in the Bible. What's the person got to do to find this wonderful salvation? He's got to admit, first of all, he's lost. The Son of Man has come to seek and save that which is lost. He admits he's lost. He admits he's ungodly. He admits he's an enemy. He admits he's a sinner. Then he admits he's helpless. I can't save myself. It's not by words of righteousness which I have done. It's according to God's mercy I'm saved. And after he admits he's lost. He admits he's helpless. Then he admits what? I'm willing. I'm willing. I'm willing this morning to get this thing settled and know Christ is my personal Savior. He admits he's willing. Then what does he do? He believes God's precious word. You can't be saved without believing God's word. He accepts God's gift. The gift of God is eternal life. He confesses God's son. We confess Jesus Christ with our mouth and believe in our heart that God has raised him from the dead. God says, thou shalt be saved. These are God's words. After we believe God's word and accept God's gift and confess God's son, we possess God's salvation. That's God's simple, unencumbered plan of salvation with all this other that's going on under the name of religion throughout the world. It's tragic. It's pitiful. You think of the millions that are being duped and damned by all this religious preaching that has no heart, no soul, because it has no Christ at its core. Jesus Christ is the only one that can save men and women. And so this Christianity, Christ is better than religion. And he's better than the world. Any phase of the world. The world's pleasures. The world's wealth. He's far better than all of us. The world or the flesh or the death. Going back to Moses. Poor Moses. He turned. Not poor Moses. Rich Moses. He turned his back upon all the treasures of Egypt, all the wealth of Egypt. Egypt was in their glory then, the peak of her power. Pharaoh, who had adopted Moses, had great influence at the throne of Egypt. Here is Egypt with all her glitter and all her glory. Moses, he reclused them. A choice implies two things. the negative and the positive. You refuse the one and you choose the other. Moses refused all the glory and treasure of Egypt, choosing rather to suffer the friction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasure of sin for the sake. Moses turned his back upon all the glory of Egypt, and he chose the true God, the living and the true God, knowing full well that meant to suffer. suffer persecution he suffered affliction with the people of john he chose it far rather than all the treasure and pleasure of egypt i wondered if christ is better to you today than anything this world has to offer it's well many years ago during the gold rush a large vessel was going down the mississippi Most on board were miners from California, and that vessel struck another vessel that was underneath the water and not noticed, but this vessel plowed into it, and she began to sink. All light belts and light boats were used. Others had to grab boards and any they could to get out and save their lives. Some could swim, some couldn't, but they struggled in the water. clinging to a plank. When everybody was off, as everybody thought, many by this time were standing on the bank. About fifteen minutes after the last man left the boat, one man appeared on the deck with a surprise of others. And he grabbed the plank and he dived in. When he did, he sank like a stone. He couldn't understand. His body was recovered. You know what they found? That man had gone down and he had rifled all the trunks of those miners and gathered all the gold and gold up he could get and he tied it all around his waist. When he died in, he went like a stone. He lost his life and he lost his soul. He just got a little bit of this world's wealth. What shall it profit a man if he gained the whole world and lose his own soul? Jesus Christ is greater pleasure. Jesus Christ is greater treasure. better than all the world has to offer. Any page of it you mention, Jesus Christ is there. God, having provided some better thing for us. Can you tell me anything better than to know that you're saved right now? Can you tell me anything better than to know that when Jesus Christ comes or when you leave your last, you're going to be with him and you're going to be lightened forever and forever? Can you tell me anything better than that? You say, well, my uncle's a millionaire. You may say, your father's a millionaire. I can say something better than that. My father's a billionaire. He owns the world. And it's not a thing that you can mention pertain to this life, but I can't tell you of something better, because it's right in this book. And thirteen times are said at the beginning, The word Decker is used in the epistle to the Hebrews. Everything the Jews brought up, they were arguing in their point that Judaism was better than Christianity. The Apostle Paul comes back and he says, this is better. This is better. This is better. Name anything. All the pleasures of this world, and I can tell you of pleasures forevermore, that's better. You say you've got religion. I've got Christ. That's better. You say you're trusting your good works to take you to heaven. I can tell you something better. I'm trusting the work of Christ to take me. When you have Christ, you have the best. You have all that's necessary to take you to heaven. If you're not a Christian this morning, I trust by the grace of God you'll become a Christian. Write it down. Get your pencil and paper when you go home. Write down everything you want to this world. Make a list of it. then put over here on this side something better Jesus Christ I said the beginning people are crying out for something better something better something better the world is trying to meet that cry with all its various advertisements this is better this is better this is better all the time God's offering his son God says this is not only better it's the best will you come to Christ will you come this morning I trust you will, right here and now, open your heart to receive Jesus Christ, and you know the good, the better, and the best, of God's glorious Christianity, shall we pray. Our Heavenly Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus, Christ, thy Son, we commend for thy service. We ask our blessing upon thy word. We thank thee for thy son. We thank thee for the revelation of our Lord Jesus, given us in the Bible. We do trust that men and women this morning. We have been seeking that which is dead. We'll come to know that Christ and Christ alone is the answer. We ask that He's been giving thanks to His holy and precious name. Amen. And shall we sing two hundred and twenty-six.