All righty, we have come to the
sixth chapter, and it'll probably take two studies. We'll do it
this morning, part A, and we'll do part B of chapter six in two
weeks when we come back from San Diego. But as you know, we're
looking at the mysteries of God. And Don, Brother Don, when he
wrote this book, wrote this on the basis of 1 Corinthians 4
verse 1 where it says, let a man so account of us, let men, let
those who hear our voice, those who witness what we are and who
we believe in our walk in life, those who witness, let them account
of us as the ministers of Christ. And every single one of us is
a minister. Every single one of us By our walk with God is
a minister of God. So he's talking about everybody.
Let a man so account of us as the ministers of Christ and stewards
of the mysteries of God. And then Don goes through listing
out those mysteries. In chapter two, we talked about
the mystery of godliness from 1 Timothy 3 verse 16. Chapter
three was the mystery of the faith. from 1 Timothy 3, 9. Chapter
4 was the mystery of Christ and the union with the church, that's
Ephesians 5, verse 32, 30 and 32. And then chapter 5, which
we finished looking at last week, was the mystery of providence,
which is spoken of in Romans 11, verse 25 through 33. When you turn in your Bibles
to the Revelation, the book of Revelation, And we're going to read a lengthy
section of Scripture here, but it needs to be read to set us
up for what we're going to see in the last two sentences of
our reading this morning. Turn to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. And begin reading with me if
you would I, John, this is the writer of
Revelation, the visions that the Lord gave to John, the Apostle
John, he says, who also am your brother and companion in tribulation
and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ within the isle
that is called Patmos. For the word of God and for the
testimony of Jesus Christ I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day
and heard behind me a great voice as a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last, and what thou seest, write
in the book and send it unto the seven churches which are
in Asia." He's being instructed. He's receiving a vision. Now, we don't know how these
visions come about. Maybe it's like a dream, and
they just picture it in a reality. I don't know. It doesn't matter. It's still a vision from God.
It's instructions from God, the Holy Spirit, unto write these
letters. And notice that it says, unto
the seven churches, which are in Asia. Unto Ephesus. And then he lists these seven
churches. Unto Samaria. unto Pergamos, and unto Theretia,
and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned
to see the voice that spake with me, writes John. And being turned,
I saw seven golden candlesticks. And in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with the
garment down to the foot, and girded about the paps with the
golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white
like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were as a flame
of fire. And his feet were like into a
fine brass, as if they were burned in a furnace. And his voice was
as a sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand
seven stars. And out of his mouth went a sharp,
two-edged sword. And his countenance was as the
sun shineth in his stream. And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying,
unto me, fear not. I am the first and the last.
I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell
and of death. Write the things which thou hast
seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be
hereafter. The mystery, and here we go,
this is the mystery. of the seven stars which thou
sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.
The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the
seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches."
Now, this is a mystery to the world, that God has picked a
certain number of churches. Notice He only picked seven.
You think that's all the churches that were in the world of that
day? Listen to these words from Don Fortner. He says, these seven
churches are their pastors. They are symbolic of God's pastors. They are representative of all
true gospel churches and all true gospel preachers. The seven churches of Asia Minor
mentioned in this chapter did exist during the days of the
Apostle John. However, they are used here as
an allegorical representative of all local churches in the
kingdom of God. The stars, the pastors of the
churches, represent all true gospel preachers given by God
to pastor in his churches. The churches represent all local
churches where Christ is worshipped. The mystery of the stars and
the candlestick is full of instruction. May God, the Holy Spirit, apply
that which is here revealed to our hearts continually. Don addresses
this first, the servants. And we'll look at that this morning
as we can in this chapter, and then Lord willing, when we come
back in two weeks, we'll look at the churches, the candlesticks
themselves. Both God's servants, gospel preachers,
and His churches are constantly protected and provided for by
the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen and amen. If the churches of Christ and
his servants are so highly valued by him, they ought to be highly
valued by us as well. I would agree with that as well.
Amen. The greatest blessing God can ever bestow upon any community
is to establish a local church in which men and women gather
in the name of Christ to worship him. I want to back up for just
a moment in what Don here wrote. If God so highly agreed or so
highly protects and provides for his churches, we should consider
them in the same way. We do. You remember when we flooded? You know how many churches reached
out and gave us blessings to help us with rebuilding the fellowship
hall? Did you know, some of you may
not know this, this little body of people, Thanks to a suggestion
one of the ladies of the church made when we cancelled that expensive
copier that we once had, the monies that we were paying monthly
now go to a dear sister in Christ whose husband has gone on to
be with the Lord. That's what churches do. The churches of
God, Corinth, they sent money to other places. Ephesians sent
money to other places. Philippians sent money to other
places. We don't just hoard all of what
God gives us right here to rescue. If we have excess, we give it
to those who need it. What a blessing, if I might say
it is, to be able to look after the needs of other churches as
well as our own. What a blessing it is to this
heart of this dear brother. A local church in the New Testament,
since of that term, is a congregation, writes Don, of saved sinners. Now, I thought about our brothers
and sisters in Christ down in San Diego as I was reading this.
This is the first thing I brought to them, when the Lord allowed
me to go to San Diego. The church is not the pastor. It's wonderful when God provides
a church a pastor. But as we know, there are many
churches in this country today that don't have pastors. Our
sisters and brothers and sisters in Danville, should we say that
they're not a church because they don't have a pastor because
God hasn't given them one yet? Absolutely not. Should we say
that those in San Diego are not a church because they don't longer
have a pastor? Absolutely not. This is the description
of a church. It's a congregation, a gathering,
those who are called out of saved centers, united in the name of
Christ to worship Him and to serve the interest of His kingdom
in this world. And could you explain churches
any better than that? That's scriptural. It's seeking His glory. Proclaiming
His gospel. Seeking His sheep. You know,
Brother Roger this morning, he's talking about a lady that he
met on Facebook that he's hoping that because she gives good comments
about the scriptures that we quote and the articles that we
put on there, that she might come to find rescue as a church
that she would attend. That's exactly what we're talking
about. Seeking the Lord's sheep. This young couple who started
coming over the last three weeks. Isn't that wonderful? I prayed
that very morning that the Lord might bring somebody new to the
church. And He did! And they're still coming. I don't
know how many of you noticed it, but there was a lady with
two daughters. They just live up the road here. They came on
Mother's Day. And then they didn't come, so
I thought that was it. We wouldn't see them again. They were here
last week. We're seeking sinners. We're seeking the sheep of God,
endeavoring to be faithful and obedient to his word in doctrine
and in practice. The greatest blessing the Lord
God can or will bestow upon a local church is to give it a pastor
after his own heart. a faithful gospel preacher. One who will feed his sheep with
knowledge and understanding. Listen to what we read in Jeremiah
3 verse 15. And I will give you pastors according
to mine heart which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. Pastors are the ascension gifts
of Christ to his church for the conversion, teaching, edification
and steadfastness of his elect. Turn over to Ephesians chapter
4. Look over to Ephesians chapter 4 with me if you would. In Ephesians chapter 4, beginning
at verse 8, we read these words, Wherefore he saith, when he ascendeth
up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto
men. Now that he is ascended, what
is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of
the earth? That's a gift. He that descended is the same
also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might be
filled with the things. Folks, that's an obscurity there,
but it still, it points us right to Christ and Him crucified,
and God accepting that crucifixion. And He gave unto, in verse 11,
and He gave unto us some disciples, I'm sorry, some apostles, and
some prophets, and some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers
for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry,
for the edifying of the body of Christ. till we all come in
the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto
a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness
of Christ. That we henceforth be no more
children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind
of doctrine by the slate of men and cunning craftiness, thereby
they lie in wait to deceive. But speaking the truth in love,
may grow up unto him in all things which is the head, even Christ,
from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted
by that which every joint supplies according to the effectual working
of the measure of every part maketh increase of the body unto
the edifying of itself in love. So we see very clearly that It's this very thing. Subjects
that we can come together and study on Sunday morning like
we're doing right now. They are to be known, loved,
and highly esteemed for their work, writes Brother Don. Look over at 1 Thessalonians.
Turn to the right. Just before Hebrews. The three
T's. Somebody once taught me and I'm
so thankful for that. Turn over to 1 Thessalonians
chapter 5. They are to be known, loved,
highly esteemed for their works in studying and bringing about
studies from the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Thessalonians 5, beginning
at verse 12, we read this, And we beseech you, brethren, to
know them which labor 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. writes
Don as the servants of God are to be obeyed as those who watch
for the souls trusted for their care of God. Look at that over
in Hebrews chapter 13. Keep going to the right a little
further past the T's there and fill them on. Come to Hebrews
chapter 13. Hebrews 13. Look at two verses with me if
you would over in Hebrews chapter 13. First one being verse 7.
Remember them which have the rule over you. who have spoken
unto you the word of God, whose faith follow, considering the
end of their conversation. Now look at verse 17. Obey them
that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves, for they
watch for your souls, as they must give account, that they
may do it with joy, and not with greed. For that is an unprofitable
for you. Now I want to stop there with
what our brother Don has wrote for just a moment, because I
realize that This is talking about the pastor and how you
are to treat your pastor. And I realize that means me,
your pastor, but there's also words in God's Word that tell
us pastors how we should rule. I was put in this position of
pastor. I was asked to be the pastor
here at Rescue after six months of internship. And I expressed to each and every
one of you, I don't even know what it means to be a pastor.
But part of how I was put in as this pastor is exactly what
it is to be a pastor. The word was spoken And I'm hesitating because I
don't want to use names. And you all know who I'm talking
about, but it doesn't matter. It was said, I don't care what
the people of this church think. And that was the first thing
that jumped out at John Reeves when I thought about what it
is to be a pastor. A pastor must care what the congregation
thinks. That doesn't mean I don't give
you instructions on, well, you know, that's not a very good
way to think. Maybe you should consider these
other things. That's what it means. It doesn't
mean that you shut the door on them and you say, I don't care
what you think. This is the way it is. And I
know pastors who have treated their congregation that very
way. That's not what a pastor should
be. A pastor is supposed to be loving like Christ is loving
us. Roger, I love you. I love your
soul. I know I'm picking on you because
you're sitting here in front of me, but there's people online
right now and I want them to understand. I love you too. I
love all of you folks. I have to be very careful not
to be the governor that some pastors think they are. I'm not
a governor, I'm a teacher. I'm here to express to you the
grace of God. And if God is gracious to us,
we should be gracious to others and to each other. I just can't address this part
about you and how you're supposed to treat your pastor without
telling you how a pastor is supposed to treat you. with love, with love in our hearts
for your soul. That's what I get up in the morning
and I think and I pray to my Lord, Lord, what will I bring
for your sheep today? What message of hope? Don't let me stand here before
your people alone. Don't leave me to myself. You must be with me or I'm failing
your people. Back to what Don has written.
He says, I don't hesitate to state this also, that the single
most important aspect of every believer's life is the assembly
of God's saints for public worship. Turn over to, you're already
there in Hebrews. Look at verse 24 through 27 of
Hebrews 13. We just read a moment ago and
I turned away from it. I meant to stay there, I apologize.
Hebrews 13, look at verses 24 through 27. Wait a minute. That's not the right... I've
got the right chapter and verses, I'll bet you, but I've got the
wrong book. All right, so let's go on past
that. It is there, writes Don, that Christ, it is there that
God's saints, gathering together for public worship, it is there
that Christ has promised to meet with the minister to whom he
sent, the minister to whom he sent to worship with his people,
the Lord Jesus. Turn over to Matthew 18, verse
20. Matthew 18, verse 20. For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there I am in the midst. Don is talking
about here, when he said that very word, it is there where
Christ has promised to meet us. This is what he's talking about.
When public worship is despised and willfully neglected, it is
an indication of inward apostasy of Christ. Now, I'm not talking
about those who are joining in via the internet. I'm talking
about those who slowly slip away and just decide not to worship
anymore with God's saints anywhere. There are those who go and move
places that, for instance, our sister Cheryl, she had to move
to Utah. That was where her family is.
That's where her daughters are. That's where the people are that
will take care of her when she can't take care of herself. It
was important for her to go there. And there's no gospel church
there. Yet she still comes together with God's people, even if it
is through the internet. Our folks down in San Diego,
they still come together with God's people, even though it's
over the internet with a pastor out in Kingsport, Tennessee.
It's still the worship with God's people and God's saints. So I
wanted to point that out as well, that we're not talking about
those who are staying home today because the weather is real bad.
They're still here. Aren't you thankful for the internet? Aren't you thankful in that way?
It blesses my heart that folks from all over the country, Colorado,
my brother in Colorado, Craig over in Kansas, Shirley and Cheryl
in Utah and Arizona, the dear folks in San Diego who can't
go out today because the weather is so bad. Our sister over in
Marysville, or Wheatland, with her son, who are waiting to leave
for services a little bit later. They'll join their pastor in
Marysville here in a little bit. They're with us. Isn't that wonderful? Those who despise God's servants
despise God. That's what it says in 1 Samuel
8, verse 7. Listen to this. And the Lord
said unto Samuel, hearken unto the voice of the people in all
that they say unto thee, for they have not rejected thee,
but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
And those who seek to divide God's church bring upon themselves
judgment of God. Look over at 1 Corinthians chapter
3. If you're in Matthew 19, go to
the right, past Acts and Romans, 1 Corinthians chapter 3. And look at verses 16 and 17
with me if you would. Verse 16 of 1 Corinthians 3,
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple
of God, him shall God destroy, for the temple of God is holy,
which temple ye are. The Son of God places such high
value upon His servants that He considers anything done to
them, either bad or good, as being done unto Himself. and
he places such a high value upon his people that he considers
anything done to them, either bad or good, as being done to
him. That means that pastors must be very careful in their
treatment of God's people as well. Local churches must be
very careful in their treatment of their pastors, who are God's
servants. Notice that each of the seven
churches had its own angel, writes Don, its own messenger from God.
We are told that the seven is the number of grace, the number
of holiness, completion, perfection. In seven days the Lord created
all things. If that is so, we must assume
that the churches of Christ are represented as seven to show
us that there is always and has many local churches in this world
as are needed to fulfill all our Lord's purpose." Now, when
I read that from Don, I got to thinking about this. Think about
this for just a moment. It sure seems like there's very
few of us, huh? There's one little small church
over there in Marysville. There's one up in the Dalles
we know of, the San Diego folks gathered together. There's one
in Montana. in Great Falls, Montana. That's
the only one I know of over there. It sure seems like there's very
few, but you know what? What Don just wrote is absolutely
true. There's exactly how many churches
are supposed to be right now. And there's exactly how many
pastors for those churches that are supposed to be right now.
Folks, our God does not do anything halfway. Everything He does is
right. The seven stars, which John saw
in Christ's right hand, represent the angels, or the pastors, or
the ministers of the churches. In all the periods of time, from
the first to the second advent, thus the Holy Spirit tells us
that all true gospel preachers are in Christ's right hand. That's what we read in verse
16. They are placed there by Him, where he wants them. They are
placed there and protected by him and provided for by him. All true gospel preachers are
under the authority and the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
They are instruments in his hands to accomplish his will by which
he serves the interest of his people in this world. Faithful
pastors are here compared to stars and angels. Stars, like
preachers, are made by God. Stars, like preachers, give out
light in the midst of darkness. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter
4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. We're talking about pastors,
and this is not pastors who get up and talk about themselves.
We're talking about God's preachers. We're talking about pastors who
preach about Christ and Him crucified over and over and over and over
again, even if it means for 38 years, like Pastor Gene Harmon.
Look at 2 Corinthians 4, verses 4 and 6. In whom the God of this
world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest
the light of the glorious gospel of Christ who is the image of
God should shine unto them, for we preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus, the Lord, and ourselves, your servants, for Jesus' sake. There is a pastor. There's what
John Reeves does. I'm here to serve you. I'm not
here to lord over you on how to live, like I mentioned Friday
night in our Friday night study. I said this when I first came
here. I'm not coming here to teach you how to live. I'm coming
here to teach you and preach to you about Christ, who lived
perfectly for us. This is what we do, we preach,
not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves, your
servants, for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge and the glory in the face of Jesus
Christ. true gospel preachers like stars
or men on fire, burning with zeal for the glory of God and
burning with the Word of God that must be delivered. Jeremiah
chapter 20 verse 9, if you want to read about that in your own
time. Every true pastor is an angel of God to the church to
which he is sent. He, the minister of Christ and
his church, He is sent forth to minister to those who shall
be the heirs of salvation. The faithful pastor is a messenger,
a man sent with a message from God that he must deliver. And
as we read a moment ago in 2 Corinthians 4, we preach not ourselves, but
Christ Jesus the Lord. Oh dear folks, God help me to
stay with that message. The message God sends his creatures
to declare is always the same. It's the gospel of his free and
sovereign grace in Christ. Like the angels of God, faithful
pastors rejoice in their conversion of sinners by the grace of God.
It should also be noticed that there are no more angels than
churches. and no more churches than angels. God Almighty never
lacks for messengers. Whenever and wherever his church
needs a preacher, he raises one up. Yet he never raises up a
preacher until he is needed. As one old preacher used to say,
God never made a possum that he didn't make a persimmon tree,
and he never made a preacher that he didn't make a pulpit.