Let us turn to the chapter we
read, the book of the Revelation, chapter 1, and reading again
verse 12, the first part of verse 13, and then the end of verse
20. Revelation 1, verse 13. John having turned to see the
voice that spoke with him sees seven golden candlesticks and
then in verse 13 he says and in the midst of the seven candlesticks
one like unto the son of man clothed with the garment down
to the foot and girt about the paps with the golden girdle and then at the end of verse
20 we read the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches
and the seven candlesticks which they swore us are the seven churches read those words again verse
12 I turned to see the voice that spake with me and being
turned I saw seven golden candlesticks And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man. And then at the end,
the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the
seven candlesticks which they saw are the seven churches."
Taking these words as a text this morning, I want to speak
on the churches as we see them here at the end of the New Testament. To say something then with regards
to what we can discover with regards to the doctrine of the
church. Do we not see something of the
independence of the churches? It's interesting to observe that
there was a church in the Old Testament when Stephen makes
that noble defense of his faith at his martyrdom in Acts chapter
7 there in verse 38 he refers to the church in the wilderness. He's speaking of the days of
Moses, he's speaking of the deliverance out of Egypt and the wanderings
for forty years there in the wilderness before they come into
the land that God has promised but he speaks in terms of that
company as the church the church in the wilderness and then it's
interesting also when we go back to that history that we find
in Exodus and Numbers and Deuteronomy, that the words that I use to
describe that component, we have them in our authorized version,
they are sometimes referred to as the congregation, other times
they are referred to as the assembly. And in the ancient Greek version
of the Old Testament, the words that he used, the word Ekklesia,
and the word synagogue, these are words that are taken up in
the New Testament. Those words are there in the
Old Testament, in those books of Moses, rendered in our English
either assembly or congregation, but those particular Greek words
are then used, we find, in the New Testament, in describing
the churches that were established by the ministry of the apostles
particularly in the Acts. New Testament churches then are
given the same name as that church in the wilderness. In Acts 15-14 we're told of the
ministry of the Apostle and others, how he went through Syria and
Cilicia, confirming the churches. And that is the word that we
know as Ecclesia, and it's derived from a verb that means to call
out. What our churches are a people
called out. just as the children of Israel
had been called out of Egypt. There are not only people who
are called out, but there are people who are also gathered
together in local assemblies. And ultimately, we see that the
whole church, the great company of the election of Christ, are
spoken of in Hebrews 12 as the general assembly and church of
the firstborn which are written in heaven. Now that people who
are written in heaven there, the election of grace had been
chosen before the foundation of the world but in time God
has called them out. They've known that effectual
call of God's, that irresistible grace of God. For example, when
Paul writes to the church of the Thessalonians there in chapter
1, he tells them, knowing brethren beloved your election of God,
he says, for our gospel came not unto you in word only but
in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. He knew
that they were the elect because by the ministry, by the preaching
of the gospel, they were called out, called out of the world
and gathered as a local church. How this word, this ecclesia,
which of course in Tyndale's version of the New Testament
is translated as congregation, but in the Authorized Version
it is usually translated by the word church. But that church,
that congregation is made up of a company of men and women
who have been chosen and then they've been called out, called
by the grace of God, just as the children of Israel had been
called out of Egypt. But then there's that other word.
I said two words are used back in the writings, the five books
of Moses. not only the word Ecclesia, but
also the word Synagogue. Now, we know that word in our
English because it is translated as the word Synagogue. And when James writes there in
James 2 and verse 2, and makes reference to the church, we read
these words, if they come unto your assembly, he's writing to
a The Company of Christian People is writing to those who would
gather as a church, and he says, there in James 2, to if they
come unto your assembly. And you might observe, if you
have a Bible with marginal references, that the word is the word synagogue. if they come unto your synagogue,
your assembly. How that word is taken over from
the Old Testament into the New Testament, it simply means the
people gathered together, a congregation, an assembly. How these words
then from the Old Testament are used when it comes to the description
of those who were saved by the grace of God, in the New Testament,
saved by the preaching of the apostles. Now, Israel, when we
think of them there in the Old Testament, certainly when they
came out of Egypt, throughout all the wilderness wanderings,
they were very much a theocracy. God is that one who who governs,
God is that one who instructs and directs them. When Moses
is in the mount 40 days and 40 nights, he has all that instruction
from God concerning the tabernacle, the furnishings, the materials,
and repeatedly he is told that they must make all things according
to that pattern. They must do everything according
to the pattern that was shown unto them in the mount. how God
was their king, God was their governor. And Jeremiah in his
ministry reminds them of those days. I remember these things. It is the Lord God speaking there
in Jeremiah chapter 2 through His servant the prophet, I remember
the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals when
they went after me in the wilderness in a land not inhabited. Israel
was holiness unto the Lord. Oh, that was that church in the
wilderness. It was a theocracy. And likewise,
of course, local churches are to be a theocracy. They look
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He is that one who is the head
over all things to the church. And what do we see here when
we read of these churches? This is the end of the New Testament
period. John is the only apostle who
is still living. The apostolic ministry is coming
to an end. The doctrine of the church is
clearly established and what do we learn with regards to these
churches? Well, who is that one who is
in the midst of the churches? In the midst of the seven candlesticks
one like unto the Son of Man. It is Christ who is in the midst
of his churches and it is Christ who holds in his right hand the
seven stars. And we're told the seven stars
are the angels, or the messengers, the ministers we might say, of
the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks which they saw us
are the seven churches. Oh, there is much you see that
we can gather then, by coming to the last book of Scripture
and yet going right back to the beginning. and to the books of
Moses and he's not only that church in the wilderness but
we can also think of that church of the patriarchs previous to
the church in the wilderness go back to Genesis chapter 4
the birth of Enos remember our We have previous mention of those
two sons of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. Cain had killed his
brother Abel, but then we have mention of another son, the birth
of Enos, Genesis 4, 26, and it says, "...then began men to call
upon the name of the Lord." And that is one of the marks
of the Church. It is made up of those who call
upon the name of the Lord. When we read of Abraham, who
is the father of believers, the father of the faithful. Genesis 12.8, we read how he
builds an altar and calls upon the name of the Lord. Again,
Genesis 13.4, he builds another altar. Here he is, you see, he
has no dwelling, he's a stranger, he's a pilgrim, but wherever
he goes he is calling upon the name of the Lord. And isn't that
one of the marks of the true Church of Jesus Christ? When Paul writes to the church
at Corinth there in the opening verses of the first epistle to
the Corinthians. He doesn't just address his letter
to that church at Corinth but he also says that it's to all
that in every place called upon the name of the Lord. Here is
the mark of the church and it's the people who are called out
called out of the world, it's a people who are gathered together
in a congregation, it's a people who are calling upon the name
of the Lord. Isn't that what we do as we come
together as a local church? We call upon the Lord, we speak
to Him, we pray to Him, we show forth His praises, or we attend
to those things that are written here in His words. Well, I want us for a while this
morning to consider the seven churches at the end of the apostolic
age, the seven churches spoken of here in Revelation chapter
1. John says, And I turned to see
the voice that spake with me, and being turned I saw seven
golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven candlesticks
one like unto the Son of Man. And then at the end, the seven
stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks,
which they sawed us, are the seven churches. Well, what do
we learn here concerning the doctrine of the church? I mentioned
three things this morning. First of all, we see their independence. Secondly, we see their equality,
and thirdly, we see their unity. Following in that threefold division,
first of all, their independence. Each of these churches is represented
by a candlestick, a single candlestick. John says, being turned I saw
seven golden candlesticks. Now, we can think again of the
Old Testament, and we must think of the Old Testament, and think
of the furnishings of the tabernacle, and all that instruction and
direction that is given in Exodus to Moses. Exodus chapter 25,
for example, there at verse 31, we have the instruction with
regards to the six-branched candelabra. Here is that that will give light
in the holy place. It's a candelabra with a single
stem, but then each side of that stem there are three branches
on the one side, three branches on the other, so in total there
are seven lights. when we take into account that
middle stem. The seven lighted candelabra,
which gives light. Now, it was one piece. Hosea
is instructed quite specifically, Exodus 25, 36, it shall be of
one beaten work of pure gold. It is a single candelabra with
seven lights upon it. But what we have here, when we
come to the church at the end of the New Testament, is not seven lights on a candelabra,
but we have seven separate candlesticks. And no longer these churches
tied to one another by some formal arrangement. That was the case
with regards to Israel there in the Old Testament. They were
one nation. But what we have here is seven
separate candlesticks representing seven separate churches. John is not sending a letter
to the Church of Asia Like here we might have reference to the
Church of England, or the Church of Scotland, that is, churches
that have been established by law, and are recognized as one
single church, and you know the pattern here in England, the
Church of England is a territorial church. and the territory of
England is divided into those two provinces with an archbishop
in each province, the southern province based on Canterbury
and the northern province based on York with archbishops and
then those provinces divided again into dioceses and in each
diocese there's a bishop And then in each of the dioceses,
the dioceses are divided into parishes. And so you have a territorial
church. It's one church. Just as in the
Old Testament, the children of Israel are atypical people, that's
one church. But that's not the pattern that
we find here at the end of the apostolic ministry. We have seven
separate candlesticks. It's not just that John is to
send a letter to the church of Asia Minor, but he is to send
these individual letters. He addresses himself quite specifically
at the beginning, verse 4, John, to the seven churches which are
in Asia. And then the individual letters
that follow in chapters 2 and 3. the beginning of chapter 2,
unto the angel of the church of Ephesus writes. And then at verse 8, unto the angel of
the church in Smyrna writes. They're individual letters sent
to specific local churches there in Asia Minor. Oh yes, there's a sense in which
they They are to hear what is being
said to each of the churches. Verse 7 of chapter 2, He that
hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
And that's repeated time and again. Verse 11 there in the
second chapter, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the
Spirit saith unto the churches. I will come subsequently to the
idea of the of the unity, but here we see quite clearly that
they are individual churches, they are independent churches,
independent of one another, they have their own particular letters
sent to them, although other churches are to take account
of what is being said to those independent churches. We see
then right at the end of the apostolic era the truth of the
independence of the local church. But then also here we see that
there is a certain equality. One church is not placed above
another church. Now of course they appear in a certain order. John is told
at verse 11, what they'll see us write in a book and send it
on to the seven churches which are in Asia, on to Ephesus, and
on to Smyrna, on to Pergamos, and on to Thyatira, and on to
Sardis, and on to Philadelphia, and on to Laodicea. And the order
is simply geographical. It seems to start at Ephesus,
and the letters, as it were, go in a clockwise direction from
there. There's no particular significance. It's not that Ephesus is superior
to the other churches. The churches are really equal. And each church has its own angel. Verse 16, he had in his right
hand seven stars, it says, and out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged sword. And we're told concerning the
seven stars, at verse 20, they are the angels of the seven churches. Now, the word angel is again
simply a transliteration of the Greek word Angelos just as we
said earlier that Synagogue comes over into our English as Synagogue
so this word Angelos we know as angel but if we translate
that word into English it literally means the messenger that's what
an angel is, a messenger just as a synagogue is a people who've
been gathered together. So these angels are not Seraphim
and Cherubim. They're messengers really. They're
the messengers of the seven churches. They're the ministers, they're
the servants. of those seven churches. And interestingly, Paul refers
to himself as a servant of the church. When he writes to the
Corinthians, 2 Corinthians 4-5, he says, "...ourselves your servants
for Jesus' sake." Those who are the messengers of the church
or the ministers of the church they don't accrue to themselves
a certain dignity, or they should not. When we think, you see,
of the false church, when we think of the Roman church, how
there we see a hierarchy, and how we see that that is really
contrary to the pattern that is set before us here in the
Word of God. We have that remarkable passage
in 2 Thessalonians which is a prophetic passage really describing to
us the son of perdition, the Antichrist. And how solemn it
is. We read of this one, the son
of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that
is called God or that is worshipped, so that he is God, sitteth in
the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." And certainly
the Protestant Reformers and the Puritans are quite clear
that this is a description of the papacy and there we have a man who exalts
himself above all that is called God and sits in the temple of
God showing himself that he is God and that is the false church
that is the false church a man accruing to himself dignity. And now, of course, he is referred
to by the Roman Catholic as the Holy Father. How he puts himself
in the very place of God the Father. The only time in the
New Testament that that expression, Holy Father, is used is in the
Lord's great high priestly prayer in John 17, where he addresses
his Father as Holy Father. And now, not only that, but the
Pope would see himself as that's one who is the great priest. Of course, the Roman Catholic
system has a multitude of priests. who are often daily offering
what they call the sacrifice of the Mass. But who is the chief
of all the priests? It is the Bishop of Rome. But
Christ, Christ is the Great High Priest of our profession. How
he would put himself in the place of the Lord Jesus Christ. But then also he puts himself
in the place of the Holy Ghost because He is referred to as
the Vicar of Christ that is Christ's representative but who is the
Lord's representative here upon the earth? It's the Holy Ghost
as the Lord speaks of His coming there in John 14 15 and 16 you
see He exalted Himself above all that is called God He accrues to himself all that
authority. And that very system is so different
to what we find with regards to the New Testament and the
ministry in the New Testament. Peter. Now, the Roman Church
claims Peter to be the first Pope. No historic evidence for
that at all, but that's the claim that they make. But what does
Peter say of himself? Well there in 1 Peter 5, The
elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness
of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory
that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God which is
among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but
willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither
as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensembles to the flock."
Peter is an apostle, but here he is exhorting elders, and he
says he is just as one of the elders. The elders which are
among you, I exhort you, I am also an elder. and a witness,
he was a witness of Christ's sufferings and he exhorts them
to feed the flock and now are they to take that oversight not
by constraints but willingly, not for filthy lucre neither
as being lords over God's heritage there is that true minister one
of those who is as it were the star in the right hand of the
Lord Jesus Christ we recognize that as these are in the right
hand of the Lord Jesus Christ there is a certain authority
in the ministry and that comes out of course in the practical
part of the epistles when Paul is giving instruction to these
various Churches that have been established by his ministry,
he reminds them of their duties, their responsibilities, writing
to the Thessalonians, here in 1 Thessalonians 5, verse 12, he says, We beseech
you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very
highly in love for their work's sake, and be at peace among yourselves. there is to be that proper order
then in all the affairs of these independent churches. Again look
at the language in Hebrews 13 verse 17 Obey them that have
the rule over you and submit yourselves for they watch for
your souls as they that must give account that they may do
it with joy and not with grief for that is unprofitable for
you Pray for us, for we trust we have a good conscience in
all things willing to live honestly. But there is to be that regard
for the ministry of the word and for the office of the minister
of the words. How the Lord is pleased to own
that ministry. We have mentioned in the Gospels
of that binding and loosing, that remitting and that retaining. When Peter makes his confession
of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew 16, Thou art the Christ, the
Son of the Living God, and then the Lord says, Blessed art thou,
Simon, by Jonah, flesh and blood, I have not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. And then he goes on to say other
things, and he says unto him in verse 19, I will give unto
thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever thou shalt
bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever thou shalt
loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. What are we to make
of those words in verse 19? The binding and the loosing.
It has nothing to do with a priestly office where a priest can grant the pardon of sins. That's
how the Roman Church interpreted it. They say Peter and his so-called
descendants, the Popes and the whole priesthood, they can hear
confessions and they can grant pardons, binding and loosing. But that's not what's being said,
it's not just Peter. Look at what we read later, there
in Matthew 18, 18, the Lord speaking to all his disciples, How are
we to understand these things? Well, again, Let us look at another of the
Gospels, what we read there in John's Gospel, in John chapter
20. And there at verse 22 the Lord
speaks of the coming of the Spirit. When he had said this, he breathed
on them, that is, on the disciples, and said unto them, Receive ye
the Holy Ghost. Whosoever sins ye remit, they
are remitted unto them. Whosoever sins ye retain, they
are retained. And here is the key, really.
In John, here is the key to those verses that we have previously
in Matthew 16 and Matthew 18. The remitting, the retaining, it's
associated with the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And it's
associated with the preaching of the Gospel. And we see it,
of course, so strikingly in the case of Peter when we come to
Acts chapter 2, the coming of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost,
the preaching of the Gospel. And now there are those whose
sins are remitted. There are those who are wonderfully
brought to saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. By the preaching
of the gospel, yes, but not by any ability in Peter or anyone
else. It's the ministry of the Spirit
as he applies that word, as he brings that word home. The comment
of Calvin then, here, is so opposite. Christ did not give this power
to men, but to his work, of which he made men ministers. And so each of these churches has a minister, a messenger. And that messenger
is to preach and proclaim the word of God. There's no authority
vested in a man. The authority lies in the word
of God. of which that man is to seek
to be a faithful minister, rightly dividing the words of truth. But there's no sort of hierarchy
here. The churches are equal churches.
And the ministry is equal. Look at the language that we
have again here in verse 16 where we read of the seven stars. And
then the juxtaposition with what follows. He had in his right
hand seven stars, out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged
sword. It's by the ministry that that sword, which is the words
of the Lord, it is by that ministry of the word then that some have
their sins remitted, some have their sins retained. The ministry,
that faithful ministry will make a division, make a distinction.
To some he comes the saviour of life, to some he comes the
saviour of death. He'll be sufficient for these
things. All they're independent churches. They're equal churches. There's no such things as popes
and archbishops and archdeacons and all the paraphernalia that
one would find in in a church like the Church of Rome or a
semi-reformed church like the Church of England. We say that
the churches are independent, the churches are equal one with
the other. No superiority, no inferiority. And then thirdly, to say something
with regard to their unity. Now, we read here of the seven
churches which are in Asia. But there were more than seven
churches in Asia. In Acts 13.1 we read of Antioch. Antioch in Asia, in Asia Minor. Later on in that chapter we also
read of another Antioch in Pisidia, now to be distinguished. But
there were more than seven churches. established by the ministry of
the apostle there in Asia Minor. Why then do we have this number,
John to the seven churches? Well, we have to remember what
the book is that we're taking our text from this morning. It's
the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto him to show
unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass and
descend and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. He signified it. There are signs
being used in this book. There are symbols being used
throughout this book. The numbers are significant numbers
and this number 7 is a most significant number because it is the number
of perfection. God made all things, we're told,
at the beginning in six days. On the seventh day, God rests
from all His labor that He has made and pronounces it to be
very good. Seven suggests to us the idea
of that perfection of the works of God. And so here, when we
read of seven churches, it reminds us of that one true church which
is perfect. not perfect in that the people
who make up that one true church are without any sin. They are
sinners called by the grace of God. But as they are trusting
in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, they are those who
are justified, they are those who are accounted righteous,
they are those who are sanctified. But it suggests to us that whole
company of the election of grace, the one true church. And interestingly here, the revelation
that John is receiving is sent to the seven churches. They all
have their individual letters. But what do we read concerning
this book verse 11 John is told what thou seest write in a book
and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia and then each
of those churches is named individually so whilst they are individual
independent churches yet there is a certain unity amongst these
churches and we know in the in the New Testament certainly there
was that unity and we recognize then there was an apostolic ministry
and when Paul speaks of his own apostolic ministry to the Corinthians
he reminds them that that came upon him daily the care of all
the churches the apostles had an authority that was not just
evident in one particular local church, but they had an authority
over all the churches. And when there was a certain
dispute, as we see in Acts 15, there is a council called the
Council of Jerusalem. And decisions are made. It concerns, of course, the fact
that Gentiles are now being saved, are being converted, churches
are being established. What is to be the relationship
between these Gentile converts and those who were previously
Jews? All the Lord's apostles were Jews. Well, there's this
council and we have it mentioned there in Acts 15 and the conclusion,
and at the conclusion we see that directions are sent under
apostolic authority. In verse 6 of Acts 15 we're told
that the apostles and elders came together for to consider
this matter. What is the relationship of these
Gentiles to the various Jewish rites and so forth. And they
discussed the matter and then They come to their decision and they send instruction to
the churches. Verse 22, Then it pleased the
apostles and elders with the whole church to send chosen men
of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, namely
Judas, and Ambassador and Silas, chief among the brethren. and
they wrote letters by them after this manner. The apostles and
elders and brethren send greetings unto the brethren which are of
the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia. And this letter
then is conveyed to the churches. So there is that evidence of
the unity of the churches. They are all subject to apostolic
authority. Well, No, there are no more any
apostles. So there's no one who can exercise
that apostolic authority that was theirs, the care of all the
churches. However, we recognize that the
churches can consult one with another, we would recognize that.
When a certain problem might arise in a particular local independent
church, it would not be improper for the church to seek help,
advice, encouragement from other churches of the same faith and
order. But the advice that was given
by those other churches would not have the same authority as
belonged to the apostles. It doesn't mean, of course, that
any advice given could be lightly dismissed if a church has sought
the help of its fellow churches. Surely, it ought to take into
serious consideration that advice when it comes back. There would
be great respect shown to what the brethren had said. So there can be inter-church
relationships, but that's not to deny the independence of each
local church. And it's interesting how that
It seems in the New Testament that there was a sharing of the
letters that might come from one church to another. When Paul writes to the church
at Colossae, for example, and there at the end where he's,
as usual, giving various exhortations and conveying various greetings,
He says in Colossians 4.15, Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea
and Nymphos, and the church which is in his house. And when this
epistle is read among you, cause it be read also in the church
of the Laodiceans, and that ye likewise read the epistle from
Laodicea. obviously this letter addressed
to the Colossians was also to be read amongst the Laodiceans
and there was a letter that had been sent it would seem to Laodicea but that letter we have not anymore
it was not part of the inspired canon of Holy Scripture but there
is clearly there a relationship between the church at Colossae
and the church at Laodicea. And when Paul writes to the Corinthians,
as we've already said, it's not just address that first epistle
to the church at Corinth, but to all that in every place call
upon the name of the Lord." So other churches would have read
these. Certainly these apostolic, these inspired epistles would
have been read amongst the various churches. What do we see then
as we come to the end of the New Testament? We begin to discern
something with regards to the way in which the churches were
organized. They were independent, There was no church that was
superior to another church. They were equal in that sense
and there was a certain unity and certainly the apostolic ministry
ensured that unity. But now there is much comfort
here for the local church. We should have a high doctrine
of what a local church is. What a great and blessed privilege
it is to be a member in a local church, even a small church.
Small churches are still true churches. We don't have to belong
to some vast organization in order to be a true Church of
Jesus Christ. Think of the language that we
have in the Song of Solomon. There in chapter 4 verse 12,
a garden Enclosed is my sister, my spouse, says the Lord. And
again, I am coming to my God and my sister, my spouse, he
says in chapter 5. How the Lord comes where his
people are, where two or three are met together in my name.
There am I in the midst. It doesn't just say where two
or three are met together. There am I in the midst. It says
they are met together in His name. Or that name that is above
every name. This is the glory of the church
rhythm. That the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who is in the midst.
John hears the voice as the sound of a trumpet it says. and I turn
to see the voice that spake with me and being turned what does
he see? He sees seven golden candlesticks
the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches
he sees the churches and where is Christ? Christ is there in
the midst of the churches that is the glory of the local church
that the Lord Jesus Christ is that one who is there, even though
it might be a small gathering, a little company, two or three
met together in my name. Think of that letter that's sent
to the Philadelphian church. There in chapter 3, verse 7,
to the angel of the church in Philadelphia. Verse 8, I know
thy works. Behold, I have set before thee
an open door And no man can shut it, for thou hast a little strength,
and hast kept my word and hast not denied my name." Or we might
be a little church and not have much strength, but ought to be
those who keep the Word of God, who do not deny the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ. That blessed mark of those who
are the true church, those who in every place call upon the
name of the Lord. Well, the Lord bless these things
to us today.