Good evening, everybody. It's
Revelation chapter 3 this evening. If you want to turn with me,
Revelation 3, 14. We'll just take this a verse
at a time, I believe, and go through it a word and a phrase
at a time. Revelation 3, 14. before we uh... read verse fourteen
let me just say this there were no rebukes in the last letter
that we looked at the letter to the church in philadelphia
but there are no commendations for the church in laodicea and
these seven letters to the churches contain so many so many things
from the lord that uh... He tells us that he does not
approve of, that he doesn't find perfect, which anything that's
not perfect is not acceptable. It's not Christ if it's not perfect.
And also, even that which disgusts him, we'll see in this letter
today. But they also contain messages
from the Lord about that which he approves, and that's, we know,
We know who that is. He approves faithfulness to his
person and his word, and that's true only in Christ. Now Christ introduces himself
in this first verse, verse 14, unto the angel of the church
of the Laodiceans write, these things saith the amen. So let's
think about that for a little while. We say amen, some of us
do, when we hear something in a message that we agree with.
Somebody's preaching and we say amen. That means we agree with
that, and that's fine, that's good. The true pronunciation
of the word is amen, but it doesn't matter how you say it. We don't
say it that way, that's fine. But what does matter is what
does it mean. It's from a Hebrew word that
means verily, truly, or so be it. And so you can see how it
is agreement, verily, truly. You're saying that which is true.
But the Greek word, when it's spoken after something is said,
when it's spoken before you're about to say something, you're
saying this is what I'm about to say is true. It's verily the
case. the truth of God, but at the
end of something that's said, it means so be it, or so it is. And when we say amen to something,
we're saying that's the truth. But also think about this, Christ
himself is the amen, is what our text is saying. He is the
amen. He is the truth that is. When
we say an amen, we're saying amen to him. It's his truth,
and he is that truth. The truth that we believe, the
truth that we agree with. It's Christ and him crucified. It's the truth that saves us.
And so we say, amen. So be that. I'm saved by Christ
and what he did for me. So be it. We're saying that's
right. And may it ever be true. Proclaimed
as truth. The same word means so it is. Think about that. It means so
it is. We're not saying when we say so be it, we're not saying
may it ever be true as though it might not be at some time,
so it is. We're just saying what is is
what we need, it's what we want, it's what we know. We agree with
it, we want that, we need that, we need him. And that's all Christ. He is why what is is. And so
he's the amen. If there's an amen, it's because
of him. He is why, what is, is. And he is what is. He's all and
in all. The amen. Christ himself is the
gospel. We say amen when the gospel is
preached. In all of the truth of God, his
holiness, who God is in his holiness, in his sovereignty, in his love
for sinners, his electing love in Christ. How sinners are saved and what
salvation is. Christ is all of that. He's the
truth of all of it. To preach the whole counsel of
God is simply to preach him. And listen, we say amen, what
does that mean? Second Corinthians 1.20, for
all the promises of God in Christ are yea and in him, amen. That's why we say amen, because
of him. and who he is unto the glory
of God by us, by the preaching of the gospel. And then it says
there in verse 14, he said, I'm the faithful and true witness.
Christ is the perfect witness of the truth. Perfect. We witness of the truth. He is
the perfect witness of God's truth. John 1, 17, the law was
given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. He is God's truth. He declares
God's truth. And we just say what he said.
John 18, 37, Pilate therefore said unto him, unto the Lord,
art thou a king then? And Jesus answered, thou sayest
that I am a king. To this end was I born. And for
this cause came I into the world that I should bear witness unto
the truth, the faithful witness. Everyone that is of the truth
hears my voice. John 1 18, no man has seen God
at any time. The only begotten son, which
is in the bosom of the father, he hath declared him. He is the
faithful. If we're to be faithful witnesses
of God, we have to look to the perfect witness. Christ himself
must be our doctor. We don't concoct a series of
statements that we have deduced from the word of God and say
that's our doctrine. It's called the doctrine of Christ.
Not just because he preached it, but because it's of him. Our doctrine is him. Second John
1.9, whosoever transgresseth and abideth not in the doctrine
of Christ hath not God. That's what it is to transgress,
it's to abide not in the doctrine of Christ. But he that abideth
in the doctrine of Christ, the truth of Christ, this, not what
somebody came up with, some clever deduction based on the truth,
the truth is our doctrine. And he that abideth in the doctrine
of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. Matthew 28, 18,
and Jesus came and spake unto them saying, all power is given
unto me in heaven and earth, go ye therefore. The power is
not ours, it's his. All power is given unto me, go
you therefore. We go because Christ is all powerful. He has all authority to give
life to whomsoever he will. That's why we go and preach.
Not because we have any power. The disciples, the apostles,
they said, don't look at us as though this man stands here before
you all by anything we did. Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified,
it's by his name. And so the Lord spake, all power
is given to me. You go and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and
of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe, to give diligent
attention to what? All things whatsoever I've commanded
you, everything I've said to you, what I have testified of,
you go testify of. And Lo, my favorite part, I'm
with you always. I wouldn't want to go without
him, would you? Even unto the end of the world, amen. Amen, I like saying amen, so
we'll say that. John 17, six, I have manifested
thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world. This
is Christ praying to his father. He said, I have manifested thy
name unto them, the faithful witness of God. Thine they were
and thou gavest them me and they've kept thy word. He calls himself
this, the beginning of the creation of God. Think about that for
a minute. The source, the origin of everything
God made is Christ. The beginning of everything that
has a beginning is the Lord himself. Without him was not anything
made that was made. Notice how this goes with, he's
the amen and the faithful witness. So anything you know of God,
of salvation through Christ, you can thank Christ for that.
And he's the origin of all that's created. So everything you have
and everything you are and everything that you see, you can thank him
for that too, including one another, including everything he's given
us in this world. Boy, what a name, what a name
he has. the faithful witness, the origin
and author of all of the creation of God. And then he said in verse
15, as he does in all of these letters, I know your works. And he said, I know this, I know
your works that thou art neither cold nor hot. I would that thou
weren't cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. What
a strong statement. That's one of the most memorable,
when the letters to the churches in Revelation are mentioned,
you probably remember that part because it's such a, just such an awesome, thing to
say for him to say to sinners. Notice that the lukewarmness,
lukewarmness is a condition of the heart, but it showed up in
their works. That's how it was expressed and
that's what he said, I know your works that you're neither cold
nor hot. Really, your works before God
are more about the condition of your heart anyway than they
are about what is actually performed. Remember 1 Corinthians 13, if
I do great things and know everything, but I don't have love for God,
for his people, for Christ, I'm nothing. No matter what I do, no matter
what I know. Without faith, it's impossible to please God Faith
and love are operations of the heart, expressed in the actions and
deeds. A question might come to mind
when you hear God say this, how can coldness be better than lukewarmness? At least there's a little bit
of heat in a lukewarm thing. How can coldness be better than
that? Have you ever wondered that?
Well, being cold, What does that mean? First of all, it means
to have no interest in God whatsoever. For the Lord Jesus Christ to
mean absolutely nothing to you. It would be to have no interest
in the things of God, the word of God, the church of God, no
interest. I thought of a picture, the picture
of that that came to my mind when I thought about being cold
is those dead bones in Ezekiel chapter 37. But you know what?
when by God's purpose and command, those bones were prophesied unto,
they began to grow flesh upon them, and God gave them life.
The gospel is sent to those that are cold, and that's how we are
when the Lord first speaks to us. And the gospel, it's suitable
for those that are cold, for those who were far He brought
nigh by the blood of Christ. Those who were far from God,
he brought them nigh by his precious blood. He does that. And those
who are hot, if you're cold, you need the gospel. And if you're
hot, that is zealous for God's glory. You're on fire. The fire of his love is burning
in your heart. And you're like the house of
Stephanas in 1 Corinthians 16, 15. They were addicted to the
ministry of Christ. That's what hot is. But to be
lukewarm is indifferent. If you're hot, you need the gospel.
If you're cold, you need the gospel. If you're lukewarm, you're
indifferent to the gospel. You hear the gospel and it just
doesn't mean that much to you. It's not completely something
that you could utterly absent yourself from. You agree with
truth, but you don't have in your heart the love, the burning
love of the truth that God gives to his sheep. You fellowship
with the family of God. It was called a church because
there were some sheep there and everybody that was lukewarm,
many of them apparently were lukewarm. That's how he characterizes
this church in general. So they were fellowshipping with
the people of God, but they're not your true family. It's just
a social thing. You have one foot in the church
and one foot in the world. There's no worse place to be
according to God. You may have a form of godliness,
2 Timothy 3.5, but denying the power thereof. It just has no power in your
heart. And you attribute unto God not
the power that he has and the glory that's due to his name
because of it. And God is disgusted by those
who are lukewarm. It doesn't say he's disgusted
by those clearly who are hot. In ourselves, we're all despicable
before God, but in Christ, he sees those who love him and who
know him because he first loved them. Of course, he rejoices
in them and calls us his jewels. But those who are cold, even,
it doesn't say they disgust him. He's either gonna save them or
he's not gonna save them. Some of them that are cold now,
they're his and he already loves them. He loved them before they
ever loved him, that's for sure. But God is disgusted by those
who are lukewarm. The word spew literally means
vomit, and that's not my favorite word. I don't even like saying
that word. That's what it means. I will vomit you out of my mouth.
This is one of the most vivid and memorable parts of all of
these letters. When God says, you make me sick
to my stomach, that ought to get our attention. He elaborates on what it is to
be lukewarm in verse 17. Look at this. Because you say,
I'm rich, and increased with goods and have need of nothing,
and you don't know that you are wretched and miserable and poor
and blind and naked. You are everything that a sinner
is without Christ." Those are specifically chosen words, they're
not random. Those who have the Lord Jesus
Christ always feel their need of Christ. You remember what
Paul said in Philippians 3? Didn't Paul, you reckon Paul,
by the time Philippians 3 was written, knew him, the Lord had
stopped him on the road to Damascus and said, I've chosen you to
be a witness of me unto the Gentiles. And he preached in the Jewish
synagogues too and preached the gospel and many were saved by
the preaching of Paul by the grace of God. speaking through
him, but in Philippians chapter three, he says, oh that I may
know him. I need him as much today as I did the day he blinded
me and put me in the dust and caused me to say, Lord, what
would you have me do? He broke my heart and mended
it again. but that I may know Him and the
power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings
be made conformable unto His death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead." That's Christ.
He's the firstborn from the dead. Not as though I had already attained,
either were already perfect, but I follow after, if that I
may apprehend that for which also I'm apprehended of Christ
Jesus. If I could just lay hold of the
one that has laid hold of me. Brethren, I count not myself
to have apprehended. But this one thing I do, forgetting
those things which are behind and reaching forth unto those
things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize
of the high calling of God. What is the prize of God calling
me out of darkness into his marvelous light? It's Christ, that's what
it is. The prize of the high calling
of God in Christ Jesus. That's the testimony of a believer
now who knows Christ and believes on him. I'm reaching forth, Paul
said, I'm pressing toward the prize, my savior and my redeemer,
my Lord, my God. But these lukewarm ones, they
had need of nothing. They didn't need the Lord. They
didn't feel like they needed him. They felt like, well, I'm,
you know, once saved, always saved is the attitude Of course,
God doesn't save you and then change his mind and damn you.
But this whole attitude of religion is like, well, you know, the
Lord saved me, now I can go do, you know, I'm fine. I'm sure
for heaven as if I was already there. That's not what Paul said.
He said, I'm pressing toward Christ today. It's interesting
that the Lord told these poor believers in Smyrna, you remember
those ones in Smyrna. They were under great trial and
tribulation. He told them to stand fast in
that wherein you suffer. And he said to them, I know your
works and your trouble and your poverty, but you're rich. You're
rich. He reminded them of the riches
of God in Christ Jesus and how they had everything. You have
Christ, you have everything. But these lukewarm sinners in
Laodicea in the church there they thought they were rich and
in need of nothing but God said to them you're poor and miserable and naked and blind
think about those words now with me for a minute they're not random
first of all he said you're wretched you think you're doing fine but
you're wretched you know what that means afflicted they didn't have any physical
trial Apparently, they said, we don't need anything. We don't
need God to get us through anything. How can you be afflicted and
not know it? Well, it's when what you call blessings are really
curses from God. What you call, you think, well,
God's given me all these blessings, but really they're things that
keep you from Christ and cause you to be lukewarm before him.
That's not a blessing. I don't care how much it improves
your life and your mind. That's not a blessing. You think
you're increased with goods, but you're not increased in those
things which you truly need. Well, I say things. One thing
is needful. You're poor. You're wretched.
You're afflicted and have no idea. You're miserable. That means to be pitied. They're
sitting there saying, we're sitting pretty, but they're in a terrible
place. They are to be pitied. Remember
what the psalmist in Psalm 73 wrote? At the beginning of that
psalm, he envied the wicked. But toward the end of it, when
he said, then I went into the sanctuary of God and God showed
me the truth. When he saw the true situation
of those who don't know God, although they're prospering in
this world, he said, they don't have any need of anything, just
like our text is saying. But then when God showed him
the truth, you remember what he said about them? Surely thou
did set them in slippery places. They're not to be envied, they're
to be pitied. And that's what our Lord is saying here. He said,
you're poor. You need a ransom for your sin and you have nothing
to pay. You owe much, but you're spiritually
bankrupt and God's calling in your marker and you have nothing. blind. You're blind to all of
the truth of your condition before God. You're to be pitied, but
you don't see that. That's not the way you see things. You're
wretched, but you don't consider yourself wretched. You're blind
to your condition, and you're blind as to how to remedy it.
You're blind to the solution, the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember what the Lord said to
the Pharisees in John 9, 39. He said, for judgment am I come
into this world. And they had just watched him
heal a blind man and reveal himself to that blind
man. He said, do you believe on the
Son of God? And that blind man said, Lord, who is he that I
might believe on him? He said, you've both seen him and it is
he that speaketh with me. And he worshiped the Son of God.
And those Pharisees heard that, and he said this to those Pharisees,
for judgment I'm coming to this world that they which see not
might see, and that they which see might be made blind. That's the Pharisees. You say
we see. And some of the Pharisees which
were with him heard those words and said unto him, are we blind
also? You can imagine in what spirit that was asked. We're the authorities on the
word of God. Are we blind too? Is that what
you're talking about? mockingly and with disdain. And Jesus said
unto them, if you were blind, you should have no sin. And then
he reveals what he meant by that. But now you say, you say we see,
therefore your sin remaineth. Blind to their need of the Lord
Jesus Christ, but not aware of it. They said, we don't have
need of anything. We don't need you to make us
see. We already see. That's your problem. You don't need the Lord Jesus
Christ. You don't see him, and you don't even know it. Naked,
this was the problem in the garden. We're uncovered before God. We're
shamed and guilty before God with no covering. And the only
solution is the death of a sacrifice that God will accept. Blood must
be shed, innocent blood must be shed to cover your shame and
to put away your sin. Christ is the answer to every
one of these. Are you poor? Listen to what
he says in verse 18. I counsel thee to buy of me gold
tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich. white raiment
that thou mayest be clothed he said you're naked you need clothing
where are you going to get it from come to me you're gonna
have to get it from me you're going to buy it from me though
you don't have any money and that the shame of thy nakedness
do not appear god sees you without the wedding garment you're a
goner and anoint thine eyes with eye salve that thou mayest see.
You see how this answers all of the things? Christ, buy of
me, obtain from me everything that you need and don't know
you need. I have need of nothing, you have
need of everything, and I am that everything. What a beautiful
gospel message from our Savior. Look, Christ is the gold tried
in the fire. spiritually speaking there's
the fire is the wrath of god and there's just one there's
there's only one pure gold there's only one that's completely without
dross without blemish and without spot it's christ and us in him
but because of him he is the spotless one he is the one tried
in the fire And he suffered the wrath of God and put away all
of the sin of his elect. Sin was laid on him. He bore
our sins in his own body on the tree, but tried by the fire of
God's wrath, our sins were purged. But Christ being the son of God,
God's spotless lamb, conquered sin and death for all of those
for whom he suffered, all of his elect. Only by having him
can a sinner be rich. Only by being in him can we have
that gold. Here's a question for you. How
are you gonna buy this gold from Christ when he just got through
saying you're bankrupt? Well, you know, don't you? If
you know him, you know the answer to that. Listen to Isaiah 55
one. Ho, everyone that thirsteth,
come ye to the waters. And he that hath no money, Come
ye buy. You've got nothing. You're bankrupt
before God, but you got to have him. You've got to have that
which is priceless. How are you going to obtain it?
Freely. He said concerning his people,
I will love them freely. He that hath no money, come ye buy
and eat. You've got to eat to live, you've
got to drink to live, and the only meat indeed and drink indeed
is the Lord Jesus. Yea, come buy wine and milk without
money and without price. And then this poignant question
is asked, why do you spend money for that which is not bread?
You can't live on that. Man shall not live by bread alone,
but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And why
do you labor for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto
me, and eat ye that which is good. Let your soul delight itself
in fatness, incline your ear, and come unto me. That's how
you partake of Christ. Now hearing of him through Foolishness
of preaching, God is pleased to save them that believe. Incline
your ear, come unto me here, and your soul shall live. Your
soul will have plenty to eat and drink, and I will make an
everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Oh, what a beautiful gospel call. You bankrupt before God come,
and obtain from me everything that you need. Christ also is the white raiment,
coming by for me raiment, that you might not be naked before
God. He's the only righteousness that God can accept. There is
just one righteousness. There's just one. One human righteousness,
and it is that, it is Christ's. It's that which he wrought, it's
everything he did, and everything that he is before God. Christ
himself must be my righteousness. I can't have righteousness like
his, that's not gonna cut it. I can't have righteousness that
is the best, you know, I'm just, my good outweighs my bad. You're
gonna split hell wide open with all of your so-called good. Christ is my righteousness. or I don't have any. It's just
simple as that. Simple as that. Christ is the
ISAF. You remember when he spit on
the ground? His spit. Picturing how the Lord is considered
by this world distasteful. We don't want nothing to do with
him. But that's why he deliberately
did it that way. Instead of saying some beautiful
words, you know, just saying, you know, your eyes be opened.
He spit on the ground and made clay from that spit and put it
on that man's eyes and told him to go and wash. And he came seeing. Christ is the eye staff. He opens
the eyes of sinners that they're not blind anymore. I can see
my condition before God by nature. to the extent that he reveals
it to me, not perfectly, we don't know anything yet as we ought
to know, but we know by God's grace, we know what we are before
God and we know who he is by his grace, he reveals himself
to us, he shows us how he can be just and yet justify a wretch
like us through Christ Jesus, power and grace and love and
precious blood. In verse 19, he said, as many
as I love, I rebuke and chasten. That's what he's doing here in
this letter. He's rebuking them. He said, you make me sick to
my stomach. He didn't say, he said, be zealous,
therefore repent. He didn't say, I love all of
you and I sure do want all of you to be saved. He said, those
I love, I rebuke. He will not leave his loved ones
in their misery and wretchedness and poverty and blindness and
nakedness. He will not leave us there. There
were some of his loved ones in this church. That's why it's
called the church at Laodicea. Because there were some there
that he loved. Some of these ones that were lukewarm, I'm
sure, were not his. And perhaps died in their lukewarmness
someday after this. But there were some, as many
as I love, I'm not gonna leave you like you are. I'm not gonna
leave you blind. I'm your Asav, I'm your riches,
your inheritance, your exceeding great reward. God rebukes us by the gospel. That's how, as many as I love,
I rebuke. That's how he does it. our text
in this whole book the context of our text which is the whole
bible 2nd timothy 3 16 all scripture is given by inspiration of god
and is profitable for doctrine for reproof for correction for
instruction in righteousness he rebukes us and chastens us
with his word and by this letter to them this This book is his
word to all of us. He chastens his children, those
that he loves. He condemns those that he don't
love with the same word. But he chastens his children
now. It says in Hebrews 12, five, you've forgotten the exhortation
which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son, despise not
thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint, when thou art rebuked
of him for whom the Lord loveth he chastened and scourgeth every
son whom he receiveth. May we not rebel and despise
the chastening of the Lord, but may he grant us what he requires
in our text. I'll tell you this, whatever
he requires, he's gonna have to grant us that. Because we
don't have it by nature. to be zealous and repent. The scriptures are pretty clear
about how we get repentance. The prayer of Paul was that God
might grant unto you repentance. That's how you're gonna get some.
Be zealous and repent when God and we are at odds with one another. If he finds not our works to
be perfect, or if we disgust him with the way that we're with
what we're doing, which reveals a lukewarm heart. He says here,
don't be, he doesn't change. When we're at odds with him,
guess who's got to change? That's what repent means. He
don't change. When we've got a problem with
God, it's we've got to change. And it's him, the prophet said,
turn us, Lord, and we'll be turned. We'll be changed if you change
us. But that's the command here, that's what he requires. He says,
don't be lukewarm anymore. He doesn't change. Don't be lukewarm,
but zealous. That's the opposite of just lackadaisical,
is to have zeal for the Lord. Remember your first love. What
he said to the other church, your first love. As he gives
us rebukes and doctrine and instruction in righteousness by his word,
may it cause us to turn to him. Lord, see if there be any wicked
way in me and lead me in the way everlasting. Point me back
to Christ and away from myself. May it cause us to turn to him,
to repent from us to him. Verse 20, behold, I stand at
the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and
open the door, I will come into him and will sup with him. and
he with me. The Lord is the one that's gonna
initiate the change. I'm standing at your door and
I'm not going away. We're talking about his loved
ones now. This verse of scripture is used,
I should say misused by religion all the world over to be an invitation
to all mankind. The Lord is saying, please open
the door to me You know, I can't come in unless you let me. He's
trying to come in. If you'll just let him in, you
know, you'll be safe. That's not what's happening here.
He's talking to his loved ones now, my friends. That's pretty
clear from the scripture here. And did you notice that when
he's talking to his loved ones, he changes his tone completely
in this letter? He talking to the church in general,
but simply saying that those who are the true church, those
whom I love, I'm not going to leave you the way you are. I'm
going to stand at your door and I'm not going away and you're
going to open to me. It's just a matter of time. He's
not going away. He don't give up on those that
he loves. How could you possibly think
that he ever would? Nobody that the Lord Jesus Christ
loves is ever gonna suffer for their sin. That's what love is,
that he gave himself for our sins. And listen, those who are
the true church, as many as he loves, he's ready and willing
to come in to that person. Notice that wording, I will come
into him. He's ready, he's willing, and
he's able. And I will sup with him, and he with me. We're gonna
have a meal together. Guess what's on the menu? We just have one spiritual food,
and that's the Lord. He said, you've got to eat my
flesh and drink my blood. There's nothing weird about that.
That's spiritual language. By faith, we partake of Christ. Religion is turned out into some
weird thing. That's just simple spiritual
truth. We've got to have Him. He's our meat indeed and our
drink indeed. I'm going to sup with Him and
He with me. What a beautiful promise to the people of God. Those whom He loves, He does
not give up on. by means of rebuke and instruction
in righteousness. In other words, by revealing
himself in the scriptures to be all of our riches, all of
our knowledge, all of our comfort, all of our peace and all we need. And he just keeps knocking. He
keeps sending messengers. He keeps preaching the gospel
to us by the means that he's ordained. And he's not going
away. He said, I'll never leave you
nor forsake you. That starts before we ever know
him. That started way before I knew him. No matter how low
we get, when we do know him, he's not gonna leave us. And
this reminds me of Psalm 139. Listen to the part of it and
see if this doesn't remind you of our text. Thou hast beset
me behind and before. The Lord has hedged me in and
laid your hand on me. Such knowledge is too wonderful
for me. It is high. I cannot attain unto
it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit,
or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up
into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold,
thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning
and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall
thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." I can't
get away from him, and he's not going away. Oh, you see how the
similarity here to our tape? Behold, I stand at the door.
He's not passing by, he's standing there, knocking. And he's not
going anywhere. David said, his goodness and
mercy pursue me all the days of my life. They're gonna pursue
me all the days of my life. And before he said that, he'd
been pursuing David all the days of his life before he even knew
the Lord. He said, remember what he said to Saul of Tarsus? Is
it hard for you to kick against the pricks, the goads? That's
knocks on the door. That's what that is. The Lord's
coming in if you're His. He's not going away. The matter
is not in question. He's long suffering with us.
This is not about Him trying to get in if you'll let Him.
This is about the way that He deals with His people. He's long
suffering. He didn't just say Paul overnight,
he goaded him. He stood at the door and knocked. And then, as it says in Song
of Solomon chapter five, when he puts his hand in at the hole
of the door, you remember that story? At first, his loved one
is on the inside and he's knocking and she says, I just, I'm not
gonna open the door. I just can't open the door right
now. And then he did something. He put his hand in the hole of
the door, and it says, then she opened up, she opened the door
to him. He initiates that. You see how he says, you've got
to repent, you've got to turn, but how does that happen? The
Lord comes. He comes in, he comes in. And he's coming in, if you're
his, he longs suffering as he was with Saul, but also he is
relentless as he was with David. He knocked Saul's door down eventually,
didn't he? He wasn't knocking that day on
the road to Damascus anymore. Does that sound like a knock
to you? Sounds like he knocked him in
the dust and said, I've called you, you're mine, and I'm gonna
have you now. That's what happened. He gonna
knock it down eventually. But he knocked a while, too.
He knocked a while. We open the door by grace through
faith. This is clearly a picture of
salvation, and not necessarily what he initially saves us. These believers, I suppose, they
were believers. Maybe they weren't yet, and that's
why he's saying, you're lukewarm. You're making me sick. But he
loved some of them. So I don't know if it was them
being saved or him restoring them. David wrote, restore unto
me the joy of thy salvation. The joy, I don't want to be lukewarm
anymore. I want to rejoice in Christ like
never before. Like never before. Maybe that was it in some cases.
In some cases, it may have been him saving them for the first
time in their experience. But we opened the door, this
is salvation. We open the door by grace through faith. He initiates
it. He is the door. And he calls us by his grace. We open the door by grace. This
is a picture of the salvation of God's people, and by grace
are you saved through faith. And that not of yourselves. Come
unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give
you rest. When the Lord shows us himself and what he's done
for us, we open up. He opens our heart. By faith,
we open, like his loved one opens the door to her beloved. And
I'll tell you this, if you read that passage in Song of Solomon,
the first part of chapter five of Song of Solomon, you'll see
that it's what he did. that caused her to open the door. And it's always that way. Verse
21, to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my
throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my father
in his throne. We come to Christ because he
first came to us. We love Christ because he first
loved us. And we overcome by faith in Christ
because he overcame. He triumphed as the captain of
our salvation. He conquered sin, death, hell,
and the grave and sat down victorious on the right hand of the majesty
on high ever to make intercession for us. And so we overcome in
him. Here's us overcoming. You want
to know what it looks like to overcome? First Corinthians 1551. Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump, for the trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible and we
shall be changed. We're going to overcome. We shall be, something's going
to happen to us. That's how we overcome. For this
corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. Why? Because we deserve it? No. Because he loves us. Because
of his grace. Because of his precious blood.
So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and
this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought
to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory.
We've overcome. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin. And
he put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. And the strength
of sin is the law. And he obeyed the law and honored
and fulfilled God's law, fully satisfied it for us. Up to and
including his precious blood being shed for our sins. But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory. He just got through
saying who won the victory, it's Christ. and he giveth us the
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what us overcoming
looks like. And then the last verse of this
letter, the seventh and final letter that the Lord has written
to these churches that represent all of his churches everywhere.
May God give us ears to hear what the Spirit says to the churches. You know what the Spirit's saying?
The Lord told us what the spirit was gonna do. The Lord Jesus
said before he left this earth, the spirit of God is gonna take
the things of mine and show them to you. And that's what he does
every time we meet. If what you heard as I preached
this, this evening is that Christ is
all and in all, then you have ears to hear. If what you heard
is that Christ is all of my righteousness, my only righteousness before
God, he is my white raiment. That doesn't just cover my sin,
in a sense that's the picture, but he makes us righteous in
the sight of God where it counts. If what you heard is that Christ's
precious blood has washed away all of the sins of all of his
sheep, And those he chose from eternity, he saves by his grace,
his power, his precious blood. And you have ears to hear. If
what you heard is that Christ is all you need, there's one
thing needful. He's our riches, he's our necessary
food, he's our righteousness before God, he's our peace, he's
our comfort. And we see by his grace and power. May God bless his word to us all and glorify his son and
comfort his people. Amen.