<TITLE>02. Par 7-11</TITLE>L-7 And now, you know the little legend of the robin. He was a little brown bird (according to the legend) until Good Friday. And there was One dying alone. And there was no one to help Him. And He stood alone, and He was nailed in--to a cross. And a little brown bird was trying to free Him from the cross. And the diving back and forth to the nails and to the thorns on His head, he got his little breast all red with blood, and since then it's been red.
And I thought, Oh, God, I--that's the kind of shield I want. And if you'll notice the little robin when he's picking himself just beneath that little red layer of feathers is blackness. It's the rest of his feathers; but the--the red shield protects him. That's what I want. No matter how good we would try to be, we're still sinners. But just that little red shield is all it takes to make him different from other birds. That's all it takes to make us different from the world, is just that little red shield of His grace.

L-8 We come this morning on Easter, like each Easter morning we look forward to--to gather at this early sun rising. And it's been my privilege for the past many years to come here to the Tabernacle, and to baptize the people, and to preach to them the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And as I was studying last evening during the storm, and was thinking what would be appropriate words to say in the morning at this resurrection service, and my thoughts fell upon this, a subject that our brother has just read of Job the 19th chapter and the--the 23rd to the 27th verses. "I know my Redeemer liveth," said Job. And I chose that for the subject.

L-9 And as we come... Why are we coming is for this purpose only, that we could find new hopes. We are on this earth here, and we are--know we're living in darkness. We just don't have to kindy imagine these things or kid ourself, as it was, because we know that we're living in the shadows of death.
Each time we hear an ambulance scream, when we pass the cemetery, when we see a hospital, every gray hair marks it on our memory that we are a doomed people: to both young and old.
And we come on such a morning to gather hopes, some new hopes of what we are here for and what is the purpose. And I think that this is a wonderful time to think on the hopes that God has given us.

L-10 Now we want to draw this first into our mind, that there is not one thing that can destroy us until the purpose of He Who created us has been fulfilled. There could be nothing. We are made for a purpose. This church was built here for a purpose. This foundation was not dug, and the cornerstone laid, and the blocks laid into the--the building, and the roof and the interior was not put here just to see if it could be done. It was put here by a purpose, or for a purpose.
Your home that you live in was not just accidentally put there or somebody just wasting some time. Your home was made for a purpose, to serve a purpose.

L-11 If you did drive this morning here in your automobile, that automobile was not made just to see if it could be made. The materials was not wasted by man. It was put here for a purpose and to serve a purpose.
The clothing that you wear was not just to see if somebody could fashion something. It was for a purpose. The food that you eat was not grown on the earth just to see it grow. It was made to serve a purpose.
And God did not have to just make a tree just to be a tree. He made a tree for a purpose. And God did not make you and I just to see if He could do it. He made us for a purpose. Therefore, there is a purpose of us all being here. You're not here just to be another human being. You are here because that God made you for some purpose. You're not here just to eat the food that God growed. You're not here just to live in the house that--that man made, or to wear the clothing that someone fashioned. You are here for a specific purpose.


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