You can be turning to Revelation
3. Revelation chapter 3. I told you Wednesday that I pray
and I seek a message from the Lord for you from His Word. The only message from God is
from His Word. We preach God's Word. That is our message. And I read and study and try
to find a word for you from God's Word. Sometimes, every now and
then, rare times, actually a word, a scripture comes to my mind
even while I'm sleeping. It doesn't happen very often. But oh, I rejoice when that happens.
I wake up and it's on my mind, God's Word. I got to go in and
start writing. This was one of those times.
I was actually awakened with these words running through my
mind and heart. My people and my city. It kept reverberating through
my mind. My people and my city. So I got up and I know it's everywhere. all through the Scriptures. And
I wrote down 28 verses. I'm not going to have you turn
to Mom. But 28 verses where God talks
about, He says, they're My people. And that's My city. Talking about
His church. His city. Jerusalem is the church. That's God's church. That's God's
city where He dwells. And I believe this is it. His city. This letter is to a
city, isn't it? A church. Philadelphia. We'll
look at that in a minute. But all through Exodus, we've
been going through Exodus, he says, let my people go. He said, I have heard the cry
of my people that are in Egypt. He said, I have come down and
bring them out, bring them up, bring them in. My people, they're
my people. If you've heard this gospel, you've cried unto the Lord to
bring you out. You're his people. And He's brought you into His
city, His church. My people. For the transgression
of My people, Isaiah said, was He stricken. My people. He said in Isaiah 43, this people
have I formed for Myself. They're My people. They're going
to know Me. That I'm God. There's no other
God. They're going to know that. My people. My people. And as
He is, we read in Jeremiah 32, remember He said, they'll be
My people and I'll be their God. Remember that? My people. And as He is, so are we. What Ruth said. What was Ruth's
prayer to Naomi? Thy people be My people. And your God, My God. And what I hope that you'll see
Today, I hope you'll see, and with great comfort, that God
calls you his people. And this place that you're a
part of, this group, this assembly, is his city and his church. And
he's opened a door and no man can shut it. I hope you'll see that. And I
hope you'll cry with Ruth, with Daniel, Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, do. This is your people. This is your city. I hope. That's my hope, my prayer. So
he says, my people, all through the scripture. Too many to name. Too many to number. And he says,
my city. My city. This is Psalm 46. You like Psalm 46? I know you
do. You've told me. God is our refuge
and strength, the very present help There's a river, the streams
whereof make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles
of the Most High. God is in the midst of her. She
shall not be moved. God shall help her, his city,
his people, his bride. The Lord of hosts is with us.
The God of Jacob is our refuge. I could go on and on about that.
Listen to this. Great is the Lord and greatly
to be praised in the city of our God and the mountain of His
holiness. Oh, beautiful for situation.
The joy of the whole earth is Zion, the city of God. You've
been put in a beautiful situation. Do you believe that God has raised
you up to make you sit in a heavenly place from the dung heap? Have
you been brought from a dung heap? This is what we were talking
about earlier. Has He not brought you out of
the dung heap and made you sit among princes? And you don't
want to go back, do you? Your brother all the time says,
I've been to places I wish I hadn't been. It's true, isn't it? Every time God's people leave
this place and go out there, we have to go out to a place
we wish we didn't have to go back to. No. And bless His name. And in returning and rest, we
find strength together. His city. It's my city. It's
my city. It's my people. My kind of people. Like Abraham Lincoln said about that
book, to those that like this kind of book, it's the kind of
book you like. And those that like these kind of people, it's
the kind of people you like. The kind of place you like. It's
where God has put you. My people. My city. My church. My church. God's church. Oh my, listen to this. I've got
a few I wrote down. In that day shall this song be
sung in the land of Judah. Remember, we have a strong city. Salvation God has appointed for
walls and bulwarks. He's going to keep in perfect
peace those whose mind has stayed on Him, stayed upon Jehovah,
the Rock of Ages. So God says, these are my people
and my city. God has an elect people. Yes,
He does. God has an elect people, a chosen
people, a church that is found in various cities, not every
city. Not every city. Various cities
on earth, like here in Revelation. In Revelation. Well, you're there,
aren't you, in Revelation? He wrote these letters, these
words, to the churches. In chapter 1, he says to John,
our Lord Jesus Christ is the one who's talking, isn't it?
And he said, write these things down. What you see, write in
a book. and send it to the seven churches
which are in, and he names cities, doesn't he? Certain places that
he's put his name there. Places he's chosen. How blessed
is the place that God has chosen, the city, the literal place that
God has chosen to put His name there. His name is His glory,
His person, His work. How blessed! And He names His
city Ephesus, and Smyrna, and Pergamos, and Thyatira, and Sardis,
and Philadelphia, Laodicea, seven churches. Seven churches. You still with me? If you want to read sometime,
go to Deuteronomy 12. And I was talking to one of the
sisters about this after the message on, it said wherever
his name is recorded from Exodus 20. Eighteen times, eighteen
times from Deuteronomy 12 to 17, he talks about the place
he's chosen to put his name there. He says, you go there. And Exodus
20 says places. In Psalm 84, tabernacles, that
means little places here and there, where His name is recorded,
where His name is feared, where His name is exalted, not blasphemed,
exalted, where His name is declared, His power, His glory, His person,
His Word. And He said in Deuteronomy 18
times, He said, you go to that place, That's where you worship. He said, take your sons, your
daughters, you, your son, your daughter. It's not every place.
He said, don't go to those places. When he started in Deuteronomy
12, he says, other places. Don't go there. He says, I've
got a place that I've caused to put my name there. Go there. That's where my Gospels pray.
That's where my people are. That's my city. That's my church. You go there, you take your children,
your sons and your daughters. If it's too far for you in one
place. He said, if it's too far, sell out and move there. Because that's the place that
I bless. Eighteen times. Eighteen times. Let that be your city and your
people. I'm your God. That's my people.
That's my city. That's where you'll find me.
Go there. Eighteen times. He writes this to these churches.
And brothers and sisters, I'm convinced This little city of Rocky Mount,
Virginia is the most blessed city in Franklin County. And you go run true and fro trying
to find people preaching this gospel, you don't find it, do
you? Do you? If you can, go there. It's just not, is it? God has
blessed this city, this church. This little village. So blessed. God has blessed this house. House
of Mary. House of Stephen. It's our house. God's house. It's our city. God's
people. These are my people. My kind
of people. Well, this church in Philadelphia. Remember a while back we looked
at Ephesus? And then we looked at Sardis, I believe it was,
the next one, did we? Yeah, Smyrna. And this was not
my doing, but I believe it's of the Lord. To the angel, verse
7, to the preacher, the messenger, and the church in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, what does that mean? There's a city in the United
States, in Pennsylvania, named Philadelphia. You know what the
name means? City of brotherly love. That's
what it means. Brotherly love. Love of the brethren.
Is that what you'll find if you go to Philadelphia? I've been
there. I've been there. As far as I
know, there's no gospel there. There's no gospel there. This is Philadelphia. This is
a city of brotherly love. Brotherly love. He said, this
is how all men will know you are my disciples. The city is
full of people that love each other. They love God. Philadelphia. Love God and love each other.
Look at verse 7. These things saith he that is
holy. These things. What God says is
paramount. It's principle. It's vital. It's everything to God's church,
to God's people. The Word of God is paramount. It's principle. It's everything. The Word of God is everything
to His people. We are His people by the Word
of God. We are saved by the Word of God.
We are kept by the Word of God. We are led by the Word of God.
We have an understanding by the Word of God. We're born of the
Word of God. The Word of God is everything. We preach the Word of God. We
believe the Word of God. We stand on the Word of God.
We don't do anything else but preach the Word of God and believe
the Word of God. Is that what we do in this little place? This
is how you know God's people. The Word of God is precious. This book begins this way, Revelation
1. Blessed are they that read the
Word of God. We do, don't we? We started this
service out by reading the Word of God. But this day didn't start
with us meeting together in a formal way, did it? Did you read the
Word of God before you came here? I did. Why? God's Word is everything. Everything. Bless God for His
Word. Word of God. He made known His
ways. His Word drawn to the sons of
Jacob. That's how you know God's people.
His Word. He sent His Word to them. Healed
them. Saved them. Keeps them. Keeps
them going. Keeps them coming back to the
city. What for? Oh, listen, Mindy brought this
verse up to me the other day. Oh, don't you love this? Listen
to it. They that feared the Lord spake often one to another, and
the Lord heard it, and a book was written. A book of remembrance. Remember what? Remember Christ. Remember the pit from which we
were digged. Remember mercy. Remember a covenant. Remember
a book of remembrance for them that feared the Lord and thought
in His name. He said, they are mine. This letter is to them. This book is for them. This letter is to them. It's
a love letter from God to His people. They're my people. Do
you have any love letters from your husband or wife that they
wrote you. Do you have any letters that
your husband used to write you, do you? Used to write you? Poems
or whatever? Do you ever bring them out and
read them, do you? What would you take for it? Jeanette's
nodding her head, Nancy's nodding her head. I'll give you $1,000
for one of those letters. $2,000. Oh, Jeanette ain't worth
much. $10,000. What do you take for
this? Just renounce all this and you
win the lottery. Yeah. You can have whatever you want. I told
you Wednesday night. God will give you whatever you want. You want
the world? Go after it. Just renounce it. Go after the
world. You can get it. You can't have both. What do you take for it? What
do you take for this word? What do you take for this gospel?
What do you take? You can have it all. Christ is
all. Is Christ all? Is He really? I got stuck on one word here.
The Word. Oh, how grateful we are for the
Word of God. These things saith he this, who
is God? What is God? Give me God's greatest
and chief attribute. That which describes God greater
than any other attribute. Somebody give it to me loud and
clear. What did the angels cry before the throne of God? Three
words, same word. These three are one. Holy, holy,
holy is the Lord God. Do you hear that in preaching
out there? Do you hear anybody? You ask
everybody across the board. You ask anybody and everybody
in any so-called church in America, describe God in one word, they'll
all give you one word. What is it? These things saith he that is
holy. His love is holy. God is angry. Anger of the Lord. Hatred of the Lord. God hateth
all works of iniquity. That's an attribute of God. The
righteous Lord loveth the righteous. He hateth unrighteousness. That's an attribute. God is holy. You know that, don't you? What
does that produce? Fear. Here. Here. He that is true. These things saith he that is
holy. He that is true. Do you say with Paul through
the Romans, let God be true and every man alive? Do you not say
that? Do you? Who do you believe? God or man? Should we obey God
or man? What do you say? What do you
say to these things? Let God be true. And every man
a liar. David said, I said in my haste,
all men are liars. You can't trust any of them.
Every man at his best state, is this what you said? Is altogether
banished. That God is the true and living
God. God alone. God alone. He's true. Verse 7. He that hath the key of David,
he that openeth and no man shutteth. The key of David. Notice who
this is talking about. Him. It's talking about Him. It gets to His people a little
later. But this is all about Him. What's
this all about? What's the church all about?
What's the people of God all about? What's heaven all about?
What's salvation all about? What's the globe all about? What's
the universe all about? What's time and eternity all
about? Him! Him. That's how you know God's
people. That's how you know where God is. It's all about Him. Not in name, but it actually
is. They're actually preaching the
Word of God. They're actually worshiping God in spirit, the
truth of God, which is Jesus Christ and the gospel. And there's
no flesh in it. No flesh. None. That's speaking. That's sitting down. He that
is true. He that hath the key of David.
Who hath the key? Who has this key? I've seen one
of these false prophets on TV, and the title of his program
was The Key of Knowledge. He said, I have it. You send
me your money, and I'll give you the keys. Who has this key? This is Jesus
Christ talking. I have the key. What is the key
that opens and no man shuts? Well, what is it? It unlocks
doors, opens. Who has the keys of hell and
death at His side? Who has the key? Who has all
things in His hands? Who? Religion says He has no
hands. The key is in your hand. You
open it by your decision. Oh no, He has the key. The key
is His. He is the key. We're going to
talk about the door. He is the door. And the key. He is the key. He says, I have
the key. The key of David. What's that? That's Christ. The Son of David. He's talking about the covenant.
Here's the key. It's the covenant. The covenant
is the key. And Christ has it. And Christ
is it. It's His covenant to keep for His people. It's His covenant
that God made with Him. He is the covenant. He's the
head of the covenant. This is the key to understanding
all of this Bible and all of salvation. Christ is the key. And it's in Him. It's up to Him.
It ain't up to you. It ain't up to man. What are
you going to do with it? Huh? Hold on. What's He going to do?
That's what it's about. Who's going to open? If he doesn't
open it, if he doesn't open the ear, if he doesn't open the eye,
if he doesn't open the heart, no man can do it. If he doesn't bring us into heaven, he's the door, he's the key.
Right? There's no other way. A door
is an entrance into or out of a place. There was one door in
the ark, wasn't there? One door. I love that, that everybody
in the ark, it says God was in the ark and said, come. All that
God spoke to came into the ark. All manner of, you know, skunks
and lions and tigers and bears and Noah and his family, all
of them, they all came into the ark. There was one door. Who
shut it? Who opened the door? Who shut
it? Christ did. The door's too big
for no one to shut. Somebody had to pitch it on the
outside. They're on the inside. Who closed the door and who shut
it and who pitched it? Christ did. He said, I have the
key. I open the door. I shut the door.
I seal them up. I pitch them. I keep them by
my power. You see that? Any other so-called
church or city that talks about God wanting this and wanting
that and can't do it without you, that's not the God of the
Bible. Anybody that says Jesus is standing
outside your door, knocking on your door, hoping you'll open
the door, He doesn't have a key, He doesn't have no handle on
it, He can't open it, is not the Jesus Christ of Scripture.
It's a lie. I can't say that loud enough. Evidently,
you believe this because I said it real loud and you liked it.
And the world says, stop, this is noise. No, this is noise. Don't shout at me, preacher.
God's people say, say it louder. He's the key. He's the door.
He's the way. He's the truth. He's the life.
He's God. He's salvation. He's everything. It's His Word. And what He says,
He'll do. It's all about Him. It's His
city. It's His glory. It's His honor. It's His people.
We don't make ourselves His people. He did. I'm enjoying this. This letter
is written to us. What God shuts, what He openeth,
no man can shut. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad?
Salvation is up to the Lord. He shuts, no man can open. Oh,
man, He shut us up. We're shut up to faith. Aren't
you glad that nobody can pluck us out of His hand? Are you saying,
once in grace, always in grace? Yes, that's exactly what I'm
saying. Now, there. Alright, verse 8, he says, I've
set before thee an open door. Verse 8. He says, I know thy
works. I know thy works. What works?
Well, we've been talking about it. And God's people don't acknowledge
Him. And we really don't think we
have any good works. But He did. Didn't He? In every church, He
said that to every church. The very first thing He said
to every church, I know you work. I know you do. I know you. I
know what you're doing. I see what you're doing. He's
not unrighteous. Forget our labor of love and
works, works of faith we did for His name. No, no. He's not unrighteous. He knows.
He sees it. He acknowledges it. A cup of
cold water. Thank you, John. Can you bring
that to me again? Thank you. God knows. I appreciate it. God knows. The
disciples of the war. You take any credit for that?
You think you did something great? God says it's as vital as a man
preaching to a woman. That's what God said. Who's more
important, the one that takes out the garbage or the one that
preaches the gospel? Huh? It's all the same. It's all the
same, the God. It's all for His cause. He said,
I know you're working. I know. I know what you're doing.
And He said, I've set before you, behold, I've set before
you an open door. No man can shut it. Do you know
how people would like the doors of this church to be shut? Over the years, this gospel's
been pretty. You know how, you know, you know
what's up. And God says, I've opened a door
and nobody's going to shut it until the last sheep's in that
fold. Does that not give you hope? Brothers and sisters, this
little building is, Three-fourths of the way full. It thrilled
me. And I didn't have anything to
do with it. If it had been up to me, y'all, there wouldn't
be anybody here. Mindy would be sitting there. Maybe. Seriously. I'm just a man. I'm a sinner. If I could drive
you off, I guess I would have. But God. I didn't have anything to do
with it. I know nobody knows that better than I do. Nobody. And I'm just amazed. This must
be God's city. It must be God's people that
nobody can run you off. He says, I like this, verse 8,
you have a little strength. You've kept my word and not denied
my name. You have a little strength, a
little faith. You know, little faith is strong
enough to lay hold of Christ. Have you laid hold of by faith
on Christ? Have you? Do you not want to
let go? Are you like Jacob? I will not
let you go until you bless me. A little bit of faith lays hold
of Christ. Have you laid hold of Christ?
Is Christ all your hope? Is it? Is Christ all your hope? A little bit of strength is strong
enough. We talked about faith the other
night. Burning a fire. You say, why
is faith not burning? I feel like it's just smoking. Oh, are you a smoking flax, are
you? Huh? He said, I won't quit you.
He fanned the flame. Little strength. He kept my word. Here you are. Still sitting here. Listen to this Word. We haven't
done anything different for 35 years. Before I came here, the
same thing was being done. Forty-some years. Still doing
one thing. John, you're a witness. Stephen,
y'all were here before me. Nancy, one thing. One thing been
going on here, hadn't it? One thing. The Bible. God's Word. The Gospel. Christ being praised.
Hadn't changed a bit, had it? You've kept my Word. In my name, you haven't denied
my name. God is God. When we say God, we mean God.
We believe God is God. There is no way of it. There's
not even a little g with them. He said, this people I formed
for myself, I've made it known to them that there's no God beside
me. None. Man doesn't have free will. God's people know that. Across
the board, they know that. God's will. Whoever has free
will is God. He's God. You haven't denied
my name. You don't say let God. You never
say let God. You can't say that in the name
of God. If He's God, you don't let Him do anything. That's Isaiah
43. I will work and who will let
me? That's God. You haven't denied my name. When
you say Jesus, you mean Savior. You don't mean He made a down
payment and hope man will make the rest of it. Oh no, you say
Jesus paid it off. Call His name Jesus, for He shall
save His people. From what? Their sin. You don't
deny My name like the rest of the people do. When you say Lord,
you don't mean a figurehead. You mean absolute sovereign,
reigning and ruling over all flesh. And as many as God gave
Him, He'll raise up, He'll save. Lord! Not in name only, but in
actuality. You haven't denied my name. You
call him Lord because that's who he is. Christ, Messiah, covenant
head, the coming one. No, he's crying. You haven't
denied my name. You don't take my name in vain.
He said that. You don't take my name. You fear
my name. You don't blaspheme my name.
You don't use my name in every way. You don't put my name on
bumper stickers or t-shirts or bathroom wall. You make mention
his name is exalted. You fear his name. Oh, you haven't
denied my name. That's us. That's his city. There's one in Kingsport. There's
one in Fairmont. There's one in Houston, a couple
of them. Huh? Yes, there they are. There's one in Spring Lake, North
Carolina. They don't deny His name. They've
kept His Word. That's His city. You want to
find another city like Ephesus? Go to Spring Lake, North Carolina. You'll see people that know God. His people. The city of God. And I happen to believe, no,
I know, this is one of them. And I'm so thankful. to be a
part of Him. I happen to believe that I'm
one of His people, a part of His city, because here I am. You played that mighty fortress
is our God. That's Martin Luther. You know
what Martin Luther said? Here I stand. I'm not going anywhere. Verse 9, I've got to hurry. It says in verse 9, I'll make
them of the synagogue of Satan, and say they're Jews and are
not, and lie. I'll make them come and worship
with you, and know that you're my loved people. Who's that?
That's Methodists? That's Baptists? That's Catholics?
That's the synagogue of Satan. Do you understand me? There's
only one church of God. There's only one. You're either
in God's true church or you're in the synagogue of Satan. You're
either in true religion or false religion. Whatever name it goes
by, it's either true or it's false. There's no gray area.
There's no straddling the fence. Who's on the Lord's side? Who's not? There's only two spirits
that men are led by. The Holy Spirit or the evil spirit. Right? What does the Holy Spirit
do? He takes the things of Christ
and shows them to God's people. They worship God. They worship
Christ. What does the Spirit of this
world do? He speaks of the world and the world hears Him. But
He is of God here with us. He is of the world. Here's entertainment. Here's music. Here's spaghetti
dinners. Here's this and that. Here's
a Bible for the young. Here's a Bible for the sports
enthusiasts. Here's a Bible for NASCAR people. Whatever you want.
Whatever you want in the world, we have it over here. Well, we
won't have that. By God's grace. Right. That's what it says. And he says, I'm going to take
some of those Satan worshipers. Some of those people in those
places, I'm going to take them out of that and bring them to
this city to hear this gospel of this God and they're going
to bow down with God's people and say, this is God. There is
no other. This is Christ. This is the truth. This is the gospel. These are
my people. This is my God. This is where
I'm sitting from now on. That's right. Brother, I know I'm getting excited,
but I'm excited to be here. I am thrilled that I'm a part
of this. There was a time when I was not a part of this. I didn't
want anything to do with this. There's nothing that can be said
by my preacher. You talk about hollering. Did
my dad ever holler? Tammy Jo? And no amount of hollering got
my attention as his son. I'm the preacher's kid. But God
one day took that prodigal off the streets out of the world
and sat him down in that pew and said, You're mine. These
are your people. This is your city. This is where
you go. And I've opened your heart. I've
opened your ear. I've opened your eyes. I've opened
the door. And no man's going to shut this.
And you're here to stay because you're mine. And you know what
I say? Amen. These are my people. This is my church. I'm so happy to be here. I'm
so happy I want to be here. I'm so happy I have a little
strength. I got a little faith. I got a little faith. I didn't
used to have any. Keep the Word of His patience.
Verse 10, keep the Word of our patience. I will keep you, he
said, from the hour of temptation that will come upon the whole
world to try them that dwell upon the earth. I'm coming quickly.
Brothers and sisters, we're in the last days. We looked at this
recently. Peculiar people have strange
God, strange doctrine. Strange beliefs. It's become
more and more strange and more and more peculiar as time goes
by. As this world grows more dark and vain and wild and wicked
and perverse, though religious, it's so far from God now that
when you speak the truth of God, it's strange to people's ears.
When you talk about God being God, it's strange, doctor, to
their ears. And what they call Doctrines
of devils is the doctrine of God. Doctrine of Christ. Do you
know that? They call that a doctrine of
devils. God choosing the people. God electing the people. People
being depraved and all that. And Christ's blood. They call that doctrine of devils. We don't believe that. God is
one thing. He's love. He loves us all. Jesus loves
us all. It's all up to us. That's all a lie. It's all a
lie. But God. has kept this truth
as old-fashioned, as out of season as it is, as hated as it is. He's kept it in this little city. And he said, I'm going to keep
it there until the last elect is brought in and I'm going to
shut the door. And I'm going to keep that door
open. Aren't you glad that this door is open? Aren't you glad?
There must be somebody. He must be waiting to be gracious,
sister, to somebody. Somebody, by God's grace and
luck, this fellow is going to come walking through that door.
And he's going to sit down in that pew. And God's going to
reveal Himself to him. And God's going to catch him.
Bring him out of darkness into His light. Bring him out of death
to life. And take him all the way up to glory. Might be your
son. Might be your daughter. Might
be your husband. Might be your wife. Might be
your father or mother. Might be somebody. Why not yours? Huh? He's left this door open
because this is the power of God and salvation. There is no
other. Might be waiting on your twins
to grow up to be old enough to hear this gospel. Lord save their
soul. And then it's over. Close the door. Close the door.
Christ said, I'm coming quickly. I'm coming. What do God's people
say? over in 2 Peter 3, it says, the
whole world mocking and scoffing. 2000 rolled around. A collective
sigh of relief was announced all over the world. When the
world didn't end, you know, everybody, whew. Then 24 years later, can you
believe it? Can you believe it's 2024? I
was born in Olivia, your nana was born in 1955. Your papa was
born in 1941. Now somewhere around there. Ron was 48. Forties. Born
in the forties. How many years is that? 2,000
rolled around. It can't be much longer. 2,024. And the whole world scoffing
and mocking. Where's the promise of His coming?
Oh, no, He's not coming. This is all a myth. This is all
a wife's fable. Jewish fable. All this vain talk
of poor, ignorant, mountain people and this Jesus that's coming
back this way. He ain't coming back. Yes, He is. Yes, He is. You know, the world doesn't want
him to come back. They didn't want him to come the first time.
They didn't care that he came. They didn't care what he did.
They don't believe he even exists. But he's coming. He said it. Do you believe that? Why? Was
there ever a time you didn't believe that? There sure was.
Do you believe with all your heart now that God is, that Christ
is? And He's coming back. And you
can say with all of His people in the nearly last verse of this
book, come quickly. Come quickly. You know, if the
Lord came right now with your baby girls to Asia, He'd take
them right up to glory. I want Him to come, don't you?
I want Him to come for them. I want Him to come for my own.
I want Him to come for me. I want to be in that number.
I want to be in His city. I want to be standing there someday
saying, well, here I stand. I want you to be standing right
beside me. I praise His name. I actually
enjoy it. By the grace of God, I actually
enjoy being here. There was a time, like I see
in the faces of these kids, when is it going to be over? I was there. And now I look into
the faces of adults whom the Lord has had mercy upon and I
say, don't let this be over. They just say, when is this going
to be over? It says in verse 12, Him that overcometh, that crown
is salvation, the helmet, crown, crown us with eternal life. Him
that overcometh, I'll make a pillar in the temple of my God. pillar. That's a beam, a support in the
church of His God. You've got pillars in your pew,
you're sitting on them, you country people. You've got a pillar behind
your back? That's a pillar you can take
out and throw out and take out. The pillar that this church is
built on, the foundation it rests on, you'd have to remove the
whole church to remove the pillar. The support, where does it stand? It's on a foundation. You didn't
lay that, did you? There was not a man in here that
laid that foundation this building stands on. And there's not anybody
in here that laid this foundation that we stand upon. God did. And he said, I'll make you a
pillar. And you're not going anywhere. You're not going to
be removed. Oh, that's what I want, don't
you? And you go no more out. Some people leave, don't they? I don't want to go out. A fellow
one time said to Brother David Plager, a fellow came in, a new
fellow, and he wanted to do some preaching and teaching. And David
saw right through him. And then one day the fellow said
to Brother David, he said, I'd like to help you out. And David
said, I don't want out. I don't want out. And that's
what he meant. I want this. I want you out and
me in. I don't want out. Do you? He says there, you'll
not go any more out. I don't want out. And I'll write
on him the name of my God. That's the Son of God. That's
the Child of God. Christian. That's God. Christ is. And the name of the
city of my God. That's the church. New Jerusalem. come down out of heaven, the
bride in chapter 19 of Revelation. Now write upon him my new name.
What's that? That's a new name. Well, on over
there, I had it written down to take you there, but I'm not
going to do it. But it says a name that no man knows except him
to whom he reveals it. You've read it. You've read it.
And it goes on over there, and it says he had a name on his
thigh. A new name. A new name. What
is it? The Word of God. That was his name. A new name. His name's God. His name's Jehovah.
His name's the Lord Jesus Christ. He said this new name. No man
knows, say he to whom he reveals it. Now you're catching it. The Word of God. When God reveals
Christ to you, He stamps His face and His name
on every word on every page of this book. That's what you said
to me in a text the other day. The more I read the Word, the
more I see Christ in it. You must be one of His people.
You must be in His city. This is not just the Word of
God, this is Christ. He is the Word. This book is
all about, this is a hymn book. Don't you see that? Don't you
see that? Is He not opening your eyes to
see? A fellow came to Gabe a couple of years or more ago with tears
in his eyes. And he'd been in religion. He'd
been under the truth for a while. And he said to Gabe, he said
with tears in his eyes, I now see. I now see clearly that Christ
is all. He's all. He really is. So, that's what we do. When you finally see the Son, it all revolves around the Son.
All lives because of the Son. It's all about Him. Okay. Brother John, you come.