sin and sins someday will molest
us no more. It's molesting you right now.
I'll try to prevent you from hearing this message. Revelation 2, this message is
by request. David and Teresa Patterson back
then requested this. I remember we looked at the first
letter of the church at Ephesus, and I asked if anybody wants
to hear the rest of it. Well, they asked me. By request. I hope it's by command. By the
Lord's command. Smyrna. Short name. Great meaning. Smyrna. A city, a church, is now unknown. That name doesn't exist anymore.
God knows her. Smyrna. Smyrna. This church was
named by the Lord, by their husband. What it means is what she means
to him. The name is Myrrh. That's the name. It's a derivative
of Myrrh. That's what it means. The name
Myrna. You've heard the name Myrna.
Some people, very few, name that today. It means myrrh. That myrrh is that sweet smelling
fragrance, that ointment that was the principal spice of the
holy anointing oil that God told them to put on the head of the
great high priest. And it flowed down, the spices,
to the beard. the garment, the skirts thereof.
That's Christ. Myrrh. That's the sweet-smelling
savor of Jesus Christ in His Gospel. And you know, that's
what He smells like to her. And that's what she smells like
to Him. And He named her that. Like Jehovah
Sidkenia, John. That's his name. You know what?
That's her name. Myrrh. Myrrh. Song of Solomon,
Chapter 1. Go back there quickly. Song of
Solomon, Chapter 1. Myrrh is this sweet-smelling
fragrance. As I told you before, it's the
balm of Gilead. And it was taken from an evergreen
tree that was wounded and the sap flowed out from that living
tree like blood which made the balm of Gilead which was a sweet
smell and covered and healed the wounds of the people. What
is that? The blood of Christ. This is
the sweet smelling savor to God and his people of Christ and
him crucified. Look at it. Verse 13. This is
what the church says of Christ. Verse 13. He's a bundle of myrrh
is my beloved between my breast that is in my heart. This is
what I feel about him. This is what I think about him.
This is how he makes me feel. He's sweet smelling savor. Chapter five, she describes her
beloved church speaks of Christ, chapter 5, verse 9, what is your
beloved more than another beloved? Oh, my. He's the fairest. He's the fairest. And it goes
on. She goes on to describe him. Verse 13, she says, his cheeks
are as a bed of spices. And it goes on and mentions one
spice. His cheeks are as a bed of spices,
as sweet flowers, Rose of Sharon, his lips like lilies dropping
sweet smelling myrrh. Then verse 16, his mouth is most
sweet. What is your beloved? He is altogether
lovely. He is all. He is all to me. He
is everything to me. Everything about him is sweet
smelling and lovely and precious to God and to God's people. It's
all together. Spice, cheats. I've told you
this, somebody hadn't heard it. My grandfather, Robert Lee, was
a dear man. I loved him dearly. He's just
a precious man. My mother is just like him. This
man, I never remember him except being pleasant, and smiling,
and tender, and gracious, and kind, always generous. Oh, did we ever love going to
see granddaddy. We go there twice a year at Christmas,
and in the summer vacation, but granddaddy freeze. Oh, he was
so kind, so gentle, so tender. He loved us so much. He'd do anything for it. fond
memories of him. And one thing I remember about
him, he always wore the same aftershave. Aftershave, that's
what they used to call it. It was Old Spice. I remember it. It's sweet smelling.
For most people, it's too sweet smelling. But I remember, and
today when I smell that smell of Old Spice, I think of him.
I remember him. And it gives me precious thoughts
of him. Well, this gospel, the Word of God, when we remember
Him, it's a sweet-smelling savor and remembrance of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The first time I mentioned that
back years ago before Christmas, I got about five gallons of Old
Spice for Christmas. I've still got four of them.
But every now and then I put it on and I think of my beloved
grandfather. Now, to the church, See, He's why we come here. He's
our husband. He's why we come here. We come
to hear Him. We come to see Him. We come to
be with Him. We come to commune with Him.
No, we come to worship Him. It's all about Him. The church. This is God's house. It's all
about God's Son. We come to taste His grace, don't
we? Let Him kiss me, she said, with
the kisses of His mouth. I need the Lord to speak to me
personally. A kiss is nothing more personal, nothing more intimate,
nothing more revealing of one's love to another than a kiss.
And that's what He says about the Word of God to His people. Touch me, speak to me in such
a way, in such a personal way, from His Word that I know He's
mine and I'm His. And only those that love Him
and are loved by Him will feel that, will taste that, will taste
that, want that. In chapter 1, He says, draw us,
draw us, we'll run to you. Let Him kiss me and draw me. Oh, the savor of His good ultimates.
His name poured forth. The virgins love Him. Draw me.
I'll run. And we won't come. No man can. No man will come
unless the Father that sent Him does what? Draw you. What does He draw you to? The
Son. He makes you to fall in love
with the Son. And from that day forward, you
come to hear Him. And like this woman in Song of
Solomon, if you don't hear Him, if you can't find Him, you just
blame it on yourself. I slept through it. He was here. And I slept through it. It came
all this way. Chapter 4 now is what the Lord
thinks of His people. Chapter 4 is what the Lord thinks
of His people. You read it with me. Verse 6.
He said, I'll get to the mountain of Myrrh. He said, that's what my church
is. That's where I smell this smell. That's where He is. Myrrh. The mountain of Myrrh. Mount Zion. His people. That's
where the balm of Gilead is. Isn't there no balm? Is there
no bond? Yes, there is. And he says of
her, thou art all fair, my love. Everything about you is fair
to me. Everything. There's no spot in
you. You're without spot and blemish. You're altogether lovely to me,
Christ said of his people. You know what she said? You know
what she said? I'm black. How could he love me? That's
what Ruth said to Boaz. Why have I found grace in the
sight of this great man? Me, I'm a beggar. He says, no. You're spotless. Without spot. Without blemish. That's what he thinks. That's
what he sees. Though she sees herself as only
black, to him she's only fair. No spot. Smyrna, in the letter,
now go to the text in Revelation 2. Every text is the same, isn't
it? It's all him. Him and us, her. Can't thank Christ without his
bride. Christ came for his bride. I'm to feed the church of Christ,
of God, which he purchased with his own blood, which he loved,
gave himself for the church. Smyrna, in our text here, there
are no sins mentioned of this church in Smyrna. None. He has nothing against her. Of
these seven letters, five of them He says, I have something
against you. Doesn't He? Smyrna, not one thing against
her. None. No sins mentioned. No fault. No rebuke, John. No condemnation. There is therefore. Anybody love
Romans 8.1? Do you want to hear it? There
is therefore now. Not shall be. Now, no condemnation
to them that are in Christ. If you believe Christ, you're
fair. You're altogether leavened. You're
without spot, without blemish. There's no sin in you. Nobody's
going to convince you of sin. Nobody is going to find one sin
in you. The sin, the iniquity of Israel shall be solved. It
won't be found. Why? Christ put it away. There's something that covers
those sins. It's a sweet-smelling savor to God. A sweet savor of
His blood. You can't smell any sin. You
can't see any sin. It's washed. It's gone. One minute. You know that's love, isn't it?
Love is... They say beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
It's true. It's true. He said, Behold, thou art fair. You know, all that really should
matter to you is what God thinks of you. You know, you shouldn't be concerned
whatsoever what men think of you. It's impossible. But we should be greatly concerned
with what God thinks of us. Do you know that if you're in
Jesus Christ, if you love His Son, He says, you're fair. You're
altogether lovely. You're my beloved. I love you
like I love my son. He can find no fault in you,
and you can't find any good in yourself. That's God's love. And it's because
of Christ. It's because of Christ. As He
is, so are we in this world right now. This world to God is a filthy,
vile, and wretched, and stinking place. He knows He walked here. He sees it like Sodom. But he
says that his people, the world is not worthy of my people. His
people are not of this world. His people, because of Jesus
Christ, to him, are altogether holy, upright, unblameable, and
unreprovable in God's sight. Why? Because of him. They wear
his garments. Did you read that with me? You
know, I've read a thousand times, and reading it with you just
now is like the first time I ever read it. Her garments, her smell,
everything. This is what Christ said of us. Why? Because she's in him. This world is a filthy place.
In Ezekiel 16, I was going to have you turn there, but I want
to preach for 30 minutes. Not 31, 30. You're not going to fall asleep
on me. How could you? Listen to the
subject. Ezekiel 16 says he found, he
said, cause Jerusalem to know their abominations. Cause them
to know what they are. Cause them to know where I found
them and what they were when I found them. wretched, miserable,
poor, blind, naked, filthy, stinking, just like everybody in this world.
Just like them. A Hittite, a Hivite, a pagan. No thoughts of God. No fear.
Nothing. Never calling on God. That's
you. But he said, when I passed by, when I sent the word, when
I sent the gospel, I got to holler this. When I saw you polluted
in your blood, I said to you, live! It was a time of love,
not cheering for me, mad for you. Why you? You're no different
than anybody else. Just as black, just as despicable,
just as black as every sinner on earth. But God chose you and
passed by, came by through the gospel and says, live and what
did you do? He said, I spread my skirt on
you. Anointed you with oil. Put my
ring on your finger. He said, you're mine. I've betrothed
you to me. I've bought you. I've paid the
price for you. I've loved you. He washed her.
He anointed her. She's His. From then on. You know, she went on to sin.
She got proud and went on to sin. She's still His. You know why she's beautiful
to Him? You know what it says at the end of that chapter 16
or the middle of that chapter 16? Her beauty, she's made beautiful
through my comeliness. I, because she's in me, she's
beautiful. She knows it. We know it. As
said, the world is an ugly place to our Lord. It's an ugly place, and there's
some outwardly beautiful people. That's what they call them, the
beautiful people. To God, they're ugly. The thing that God hates
more than anything is a proud look, which characterizes nearly
every human being on the top side of this earth. It's ugly
to God. You've seen these runway models,
ain't I something? You're nothing. You're ugly to
God. That beauty, that outward beauty,
is only that, outward. Within, you're full of extinction. How could you be proud in the
face of God who gave you everything you've got? Strong men, buff,
look at me. God looks at you alright. You're
vile to Him. Well, who is beautiful to Him?
Who does God look upon? You know, when Jesus Christ came
to this world, He said there was no beauty about Him that
we should desire. He wasn't tall and handsome and
muscular. Nobody paid any attention to
him. You're a nothing. You're a nobody. You're a Nazarene.
You're a carpenter's son. God says he's altogether lovely. To the world, he's nothing. Despised
and rejected. No beauty. God says, all beauty. Beauty's in the eyes of the beholder,
all right. What men say is beautiful is ugly to God. Men say as ugly as beautiful
to God. Pride. You know who's beautiful
and lovely to God? It's the one who thinks they're
ugly. You know who Jesus Christ marries? It's a woman that says, there's
no way he'll marry me. I'm too ugly. The one that says, there's no
beauty in my flesh dwelleth no good thing. Christ says, you're
mine. You're the one I've come for. That person who's beautiful to
God says of themselves, like Job, there was not a finer man
on the earth than Job. Our Lord said that. There's none
like him. He's upright. He's just. He's one that feareth
God and is just as evil. Isn't he? Unlike him in all the
earth, what did Job say about himself? When Job saw him, when
Job heard him, what did Job say? Behold, I am Thou. And God said, not to me. So like I said, it doesn't matter
if you're married to a man or not. You don't need him. But
you do need to be married to Jesus Christ. He'll love you
like no man will love you. He will never leave you. You
will never get a bill of divorce from Him. Ever. That's why you
need to marry a man that's like Him. He won't do it either. My dad once said, somebody asked
him, have you ever thought about divorce? He said, never. It's
not in my vocabulary. He said, murder? Yes. And we do. We're both a couple
of sinners. Thanks to the grace of God, we're
two sinners who live together, and one male, one female. You married to Christ, and you
will stray. You will go astray. You will.
You will leave Him. You will deny Him. You will be
unfaithful to Him. This is why you need Him. He
abides in faith. He cannot deny Himself. And you're
Him. These two become one. You're
Him. You belong to Him. And you leave. He'll come get you. That's how
I know who belongs to Him. They leave. We're all prone to
wander. Oh Lord, we feel it coming. Prone to leave the God we love.
We do love Him. But this world has a pull on
us. And we might leave. But if we
belong to Him, He's coming to get us. And He uses the same
thing to get us back as He did in the beginning. And you'll come back with your
tail between your legs. How could He still love me? How
could He love me the first time and how could He love me now?
Because He is love. That's Him. In our text, verse 8, It
says, These things saith the first and last, which was dead
and is alive, to Smyrna, his beloved. These things saith he.
Things of God, the wonderful words of life. These things saith
he to the church. Verse 11, He that hath ear, let
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. I'm preaching
to the church this morning. I'm preaching to you. I'm preaching
to God's people that he loves. I'm not preaching to the world.
I'm preaching to you. Neither did Christ. He didn't preach
to the world. He's not talking to you. He's not showing the
world these days. You're hearing it. Why are you
hearing it? Why do you love what you hear?
Huh? Because He loves you? He's taking the things of God,
the things of who? Christ, and showing them unto
you. Now the world is hearing all kinds of things, that He
who holds the candlesticks in His hand, among the candlesticks,
He says, these things say at the first and last. He's the
first and last. He's the beginning and the end. He's the God who in the beginning,
the God who will be in the end. No beginning of days, no end
of days. The first and the last, which
was dead. You know that most people think
that Jesus Christ is still dead. His bones are over there. He's
alive. That's what he said to his people.
Behold, I'm alive forevermore. We worship a living God, a living
Christ, a person, not a doctrine. Person, thing. I was dead, now
I'm alive. He was crucified, he was buried,
he's alive forevermore. Because he lives. We live. These things. You know, he only
appeared when Christ rose from the dead. You know who he appeared
to? He didn't appear to everybody. He didn't go to Jerusalem and
say, I'm alive. He didn't do that. He appeared to His disciples
only. You know that? That's right. So it is today. He makes Himself
known, I'm alive. I'm your Lord. I'm your beloved. You're mine. He's alive. He's
with us right now. He might not know it. He might
not feel it. These things. And he goes on
to tell, and I told you a while ago, that he doesn't mention
any sin here. No sins of his people. None. But now he speaks of nothing
but their troubles. There's no sin that he mentions. He doesn't bring it up. But everything
he talks about here is their troubles. Look at it, verse 9. I know thy
works in tribulation and poverty, and thou art rid. I know the
blasphemy of them which say they're Jews and are not, the synagogue
of Satan. Fear none of those things which
thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast
you into prison. You'll be tried. You have tribulation.
And you're going to die. Our Lord says, He tells them
all about the troubles that they're going through and the troubles
they shall go through. His people. He says, I know. I know. I know. I know there are works, works
of love, labor of love, works of faith. works of faith, I know
that. I know what you do. He's aware
of everything that's done. Though everybody, other people
are not aware of some things you do for the cause of Christ.
He said, I know. That's, he said, it doesn't matter. That's what we do it unto. I
know. He said, I know. I know. I know
where you are. I know where you are. I know
what you are. I know your frame. I know. This
is a blessed thought. It'll put fear in you and it'll
put comfort in you. I know you. John and I were just
talking about He knows us better than we know ourselves. That's a good thing. He knows
you're praying. You know what He remembers? He
never loses sight of. He just does. Just flesh. He knows that. How does He know? He became Philippian. You know.
I know what you're going through. Why? He said it. And he went
through it. I know. I know what all. I know. For whom he did foreknow. He did predestinate. Whom he
did predestinate he called. Called to do what? To believe?
But Philippians said it's not only given unto you to believe
but to what? Suffer. Suffer. I know you are suffering. I know. In Hebrews 2 it talks
about Him knowing because He Himself took part of the saying. Touched with the feeling of our
impermanence. Tempted in all points like we are. All points. Tempted. He could not be touched
with sin. But He knows we can. He knows. And we fall. He knows. Get a hold of this, people. I
know. I know what you're going through. I know your temptation. I know
your trials. I know your failures. I know
your sin. I know your thoughts. I know everything about you. I know your poverty. Look at
verse 9. Your poverty. Well, I'm going
to have to go 35 minutes, okay? I know your poverty. You know,
our Lord literally came to the poor. He himself was poor. He
was literally poor. Nobody that's ever lived was
poorer than Jesus Christ. And that was by design to show
us that you need to live on one thing. You will live on one thing.
You can live on one thing by God's grace. He did. He didn't have a place to lay
his head. He had no riches, earthly riches. He gave up the riches
to become poor. Was he rich? He had everything that men want
and can't have through things. He had nothing. He had it all. He said, I know your poverty.
Our Lord literally came for the poor. He literally, like Mindy
and I were talking about the gospel, leaving Jerusalem, our
Lord went about And not many mighty, not many noble, not many
rich and famous were called. Joseph of Arimathea was the only
rich man in the New Testament. I know that. He came for the poor, the Galileans.
Everybody said, who are these Galileans? That's the Lord's
people. Who are these? Where is Franklin
County, Virginia? Where is Fairmont, West Virginia?
It's where John's from. You know where Fairmont, West
Virginia is? You ever been there? Dingus.
Anybody been to Dingus, West Virginia? Your GPS won't take you there. It's so backward. The whole world
would scoff at that place. This is a bunch of nobodies from
nowhere, poor, ignorant, mountain Appalachian people. God says of his little church
there in Dingus, West Virginia, they're fair. They're all together
lovely. Many and I have been there. We'd
rather be sitting there than in the White House. 10 times. If I was invited, I wouldn't
go. But there's a little White House called a church in Dingus,
and that's where I want to be. In fact, we're going there. Lord
willing, it might have a come. Bruce, Dingus, West Virginia. of all places, Franklin. I know
your poverty. I know who you are. I know where
you're from. I know you have nothing. You're rich. You're rich. Why? How? Do you know Jesus Christ? Do you treasure the gospel? Is
Christ precious to you? Is His gospel precious to you?
Does He treasure you? You know, in Him are unsearchable
riches. You say, I don't have any worth. I don't have any value. I don't
have any works. I don't have any knowledge. I
don't have anything. Do you believe Christ? Yeah,
I got faith, but a little bit. Do you have faith? Do you really believe this Christ? Very few people do. Do you really? You're rich. People are looking for peace.
Christ said, there won't be any. People are looking for joy in
the things and the people of this world. He said, there won't
be any. I won't let it happen. I'll take it all away. People
are looking for long life. He said, they're not going to
get it. But those that are looking for
Christ, He said, you get all those things in one. Peace, joy,
eternal life, a crown of life. You're rich. You just don't know
it. We're like heirs of everything. Joint heirs with Christ. And
we're just waiting on Him to read the will. And we're all
sitting in here thinking, there's no way He left me anything. You
don't understand. Hold on now. Yeah, but I'm the worst. I'm
the black sheep. I'm the worst child. I'm the prodigal son.
Surely there's nothing for me. I'm here to tell you everything
is yours. Me? What do you think about yourself? I'm nothing. No, you're everything
to Him. You're rich. You're rich. The world, all they have is money.
You, you've got God. You've got Christ. You're rich. He goes on to say,
I know the blasphemy that you endure. I know the blasphemy
of those that say they're Christians or not. I know you're right in
the middle of the synagogue of Satan. I know you're vexed with
it. I was, he said. I was. I was there. I heard it
all. All these Pharisees and scribes, I heard them all. I
know. I know what they say about me.
I know how they use God's name. I know it vexed me, and it vexes
you, doesn't it? That's how you know. They hate
for His name to be drawn through the mud. I know. Look at verse 10. Fear none of
those things which thou should suffer. Brothers and sisters,
would you listen to me one more time for the next calamity He
sends? I want you to listen to God now
because He is going to send another calamity. I want you to listen. You fear none of those things.
Okay? Listen to Psalm 4. It says, I
will lay me down to sleep, for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell
in safety. Salvation belongeth unto the
Lord. His blessing is upon His people. Whatever He sends, it's
not bad, it's good. It's a blessing. Don't fear it.
Fear Him. Listen. Thou, Lord, wilt bless
the righteous with favor. Thou wilt compass him as with
a shield. Fear none of those things. The
next calamity, God sends, and He will surely send another.
Fear none of those things. Fear not them, it, whatever it
may be that may even take your life. Fear Him who takes the
life, who sent these things. You fear Him? It need not fear
them. Fear none of those things. Did you hear? I didn't say it. God said it. OK? You wouldn't send your children
anything that wasn't good for them if you could help it. And
God loves you more than you love your children. Yes, he does. If he sends it, it's because
he loves you. It's good. He can't not do it. I know. You see, I know the blasphemy.
I know the things you're going to suffer. I know I'm sinning.
The devil will cast you into prison. Oh, people, the prison
that we are in called the flesh. We're bound by this flesh, aren't
we? In my flesh dwelleth no good
thing. And I'm in this earth. I'm a worm. And no man, I just
crawled. He knows. He knows. He was here. You'll see, I know prison that's
called flesh that you're in. The tribulation you'll have ten
days. Verse 10. Ten days. And every
Bible scholar says that that represents all the major persecutions
of the church. Ten periods of persecution. Thousands
upon thousands upon thousands of believers like you and me
were slaughtered by religion. There's a great cloud of witnesses
witnessing of God's Word, witnessing of God's grace, witnessing of
God's truth. He said it would come, it came.
He said my grace would be sufficient, and it was. And they endured
the same. What are you going to be called
on to endure? You don't know. But God said my grace is sufficient. And we'll with that trial make
a way that you may be able to escape. You'll be buried. He
promised. It's to His people. I know, he
said. Be thou faithful unto death.
What does that mean? Be faithful. What does that mean?
What is faith? Is it something you do? Huh? You need to have more faith.
Drum up some faith. Hold on now. What is faith? It's looking to Him. That's faith. Here, you want to be faithful?
Look! Look! Look! You want to have more faith? Look! As long as you look to
Him, you'll believe. You look within, you don't have
any faith. Look. You keep looking, you'll be faithful
unto death. Yes, you will. Look. Look. Look to Him. Unto death. You're going to die. You're going to die. Everything
is. You're going to die. But you
know what? Quicken together with Christ,
and believeth on Him, Christ said, you know what? Never die. Do you believe that? Do you? So when He lays that body of
yours down, when He sends something that might take your life from
you, it's the best thing that ever happened to you. And when
He lays your body in that ground, in the dirt, in the ground, and
they throw that dirt over you, crown of life. This whole world
is seeking happiness and peace and joy and contentment in dead
things. And then when it's all over,
they die. They want to live forever. They want to live in this world.
They want peace and all these things in this world. They can't
find it. They want to live forever. That's their secret thought.
Just stay here. Enjoy all these things forever. And they die. And all enjoyment and all peace
is gone forever. But those whom God puts within
them a desire for Jesus Christ. Sets their affection on things
above where Christ sits. He pits this desire in them for
Christ. They want to know Christ and
have eternal life in Christ. When they lay that body down
and lose everything in this world, they've lost nothing. But he,
like Job in the end, you've heard the end of Job? Well, that's
our end too. Double! We're going to get double all
our iniquity. We don't lose a thing. We gain
everything. Now he that hath an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit saith unto the church. He that overcometh. Yes, there's a battle. How do
we overcome? Believe it on him. Look to him. You can't overcome anything.
You and I can't overcome anything. Nothing. He says, I have overcome. Look to me. He said, let him
hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. And I read to you,
Solomon, because that's an intimate letter between the Lord and his
bride, like a husband and wife in the bedchamber speaking private
things to one another that nobody else knows. telling each other
of their love for one another, speaking about matters that concerns
nobody else but them. And that's who this letter's
to. You're fair. It's hard to believe it. He said
it. If he said it, you can believe
it. OK, John, you come.