Thou art nigh. Revelation 3. Revelation 3. This is the 6th part, 6th letter,
6th word to the church. The church is Philadelphia. To the angel of the church in
Philadelphia. Philadelphia means brotherly
love. That's what it means. That's
the city in Pennsylvania. calls itself by that name, but
it is anything but. You know that it has the highest
murder rate among the largest cities in this nation. Isn't
that ironic? Brotherly love. But God's city,
God's church, is. It is the city of love, the brotherly
love. It truly is. It's fitting that
John has been exhorting us to love in 1 John. We've been looking
at that all the way through the book of 1 John, haven't we? And
our Lord, in the Gospel of Luke, these things I command you, all
the Gospel. Our Lord said, in the last days,
iniquity shall abound and the love of many shall wax cold. God's people do. They do love
each other. I observe you, I watch you greet
one another, salute one another, and it's refreshing. You love
one another. He that loveth is born of God. God's people love. They love
God, they love His truth, they love Christ, they love what we're
doing right now. Worship God more than anything
else. Really. I was looking back at you all
singing this song that we've sung for so many years and you
were singing it with joy and some of you had your eyes closed
and singing like this. You love this, don't you? That's
the love of God shed abroad in the heart. You love the people
you're surrounded with. These things, verse 7, these
things saith he that is holy. That's the first thing. He that
is holy. Go back to Isaiah 6 with me.
Isaiah 6 is one of those Oh my, what can you say? How can you
describe it? Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up, sitting upon
a throne. His train filled the temple and
there were seraphims like over the ark. Wings, six wings. And here's what they cried in
verse three. One cried to another and said,
holy, holy, holy. is the Lord God of hope. The
whole earth is full of His glory. His glory. Holy. These things
saith He that is holy. Holy. This is the true God. This
is the true God. God's people know that God's
chief attribute is holiness. Note that. Your memory verse,
John 17, 3. By the way, I was just so pleased
with the response I got from you all. Nearly half of those
I texted with that responded enthusiastically to me about
that. This is life eternal, our Lord
said, that they might know thee, the only true God. And all God's people, they shall
all be taught of God, John 6 45. Maybe that'll be one of your
memory verses. And great shall be the peace. And he that hath
heard and learned of the Father cometh unto man, John 6 45. They're
all taught, all of God's people know that God is first and foremost
and chiefly holy. Holy, holy. These things saith
he that is holy. Holy, holy, holy. Our next verse
may be, our next memory verse may be Proverbs 9, 10. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge
of the holy is understanding. The fear of the Lord. We ought
to start, that's where it starts, in the fear of God. The fear
of God. God is greatly to be feared. Psalm 89. Greatly to be feared
in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence among
all them that are around them. God is greatly to be feared because
he's holy. Holy, holy, holy, holy. These things saith he that is
holy. Look at the next line, verse
seven. These things saith he that is true. He that is true. Aren't you glad? Our God is true. There's somebody we can listen
to and believe in these days where everybody's a liar. God
is true. We can believe Him. We can trust
Him. God is true. He cannot lie. That's what the scripture said.
God who cannot lie has promised an eternal life, and this life
is in His hand. He that is true, let God be true
in every man of life. True means He cannot lie. He's
truth. True means faithful, trustworthy. Look at the next line. These
things saith he, now this is Christ, this is speaking of Christ
and God. These things saith he that is
holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that
openeth and no man shutteth, that shutteth and no man openeth.
The key of David, where is that found? Isaiah 22, go back there,
Isaiah chapter 22. He that hath the key of David. Now a key, as you know, locks
or unlocks a door, doesn't it? A door is entrance into somewhere,
into a place. And a key is that which locks
and unlocks. Christ has the key. Christ is
the key into the Kingdom of God. He said, no man cometh unto the
Father but by name. Every man that cometh unto the
Father by me will go in. He hath the key, he is the key. Look at Isaiah 22, verse 22. The key and all of this, verse
20, Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, he's a type of Christ here. I'll
clothe him with thy robe, strengthen him with thy girdle, commit the
government at his hand, The father to Jerusalem, to the house of
Judah, verse 22. And the key of the house of David
will I lay upon his shoulder. So he shall open, none shall
shut. He shall shut and none shall
open. And I'll fasten him as a nail. I could keep going, couldn't
I? See, Christ is all. And then
all the thing. He's the key. You know, this
man is not, not talking about a mere man. He's talking about
Christ. To him give all the prophets.
Witness. The house of David, what's that?
That's the king's house. David's key. The king's house. He has the key. And our Lord
said in so many places throughout the gospels, he said, all power
is given unto me in heaven and earth. The father hath life in
himself, the son hath life in himself. God has committed all
judgment to the son. All power is given unto Christ
in heaven and earth. He says in John 17, 2, as thou
hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given him. And this is life eternal,
that they might know that. So Jesus Christ has the key,
He is the key. No man cometh unto the Father
but by Him. He opens, no man shut. He shuts,
you can't get in. Doesn't false religion have it
backwards? They have him outside wanting in, and you have to open
the door. Well, that's a lie. We're on
the outside, and only when he says, we come in, do we come
in. The opposite is true, you see.
We're on the outside, and if he lets us in, we're in. Now,
look at this. I love this. He that openeth,
and no man shutteth. And shutteth, and no man openeth.
He that openeth, and no man shutteth. We sang that song, open my eyes,
open my ears, open my mouth, open my heart. If God, have you
ever thought of this in the sense of when God opens your eyes,
no man is gonna shut it. If God opens your ears, nobody's
gonna stop him. You hear his voice. God opens
your eyes, see his glory, nobody's gonna diminish it. God opens
your heart, God opens your understanding, no man is going to take it away. He opened it. Look at it like
this. If we're put in Christ, then no man can take us out. He that puts us in Christ, no
man can take us out. That might be one of our next
memory verses. Are you in Christ, in him? 1 Corinthians 1.30. Who of God
is made unto us. We need to memorize that now.
Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Of God are you
in him? In Christ. If we're put in Christ,
no man is going to take us out. He that giveth life, no man can
take it away. He said, I give unto them eternal
life, no man, and none shall perish. He that keepeth us, no
man will pluck us out of his hand. He that convinces us of
sin, righteousness, and judgment, no man will deceive us. He that
openeth, and no man will shut. You say, once in Christ, always
in Christ? Yes, I am. Isn't that wonderful? Isn't that
wonderful? I like this, too. He that shutteth,
and no man openeth. He that shutteth. Now, Isaiah
6, as I said, one of those passages that you just need to read and
consider. At the end of that, the Lord
says, shut their ears and shut their eyes, that they might not
see. God does that. He sends strong
delusions, they believe a lie. Because they receive not the
love of the truth, God sends them strong delusions, they believe
a lie, and shuts their ears. and shuts their eyes, blind them. That's what God said. He that
shutteth. You wonder why you can't get
through to people. Why? You can read the plainest, the
clearest passages of Scripture. Plain, as we say, there's a nose
on your face. Just plain language, simple and
clear, but don't see it. You can give them a message that
God is greatly blessed to your heart, just wonderful, and they
don't hear it. Why? God shuts. If He shuts, no man can open
it. Isn't that right? But I like
this. Go to Genesis 7, Genesis chapter
7, verse 16 with me. And the reason I'm having you
turn is because You need to commit these to memory. Genesis 7, verse
16. Genesis 7, 16. You know that the ark is a type
of Christ, don't you? Well, Noah is too. His name means
rest. Who went in the ark? Those that
Noah gathered. Noah went in and they went in
unto him. Look at verse 16. They went in, male and female,
of all flesh, as God had commanded him, and the Lord shut him in. Don't you like being shut up
to faith? You want to be shut in? Listen
to this. This is the last two verses.
The whole song is wonderful. I don't know
who wrote it. Joseph Hart. Boy, he was a good
one. Listen to these last two verses.
In his own heart, The Christian puts no trust but builds his
hopes on him that opes and no man shuts, and shuts and no man
opes. Listen, in Christ his ark he
safely rides, not wrecked by death or sin. How is it he so
safe abides? The Lord has shut him in. The whole song is like that. The Lord has shut him in. He
that shuts and no man opens. We will not fall out of the ark. Remember that illustration? Noah
got up one morning and he was a sinner. He had sinful thoughts. And he may have fallen, but he
didn't fall out of the ark. He was still in it. Isn't that
good news? You can't fall out of Christ
if God has put you in. and no man's open, shut in. What
a wonderful description of our Lord. He that openeth and no
man shutteth. Salvation, you know, we say of
a law case, we say it's an open and shut case. Meaning the evidence
isn't clear, it's open, shut, sealed. All right, look at the
next line. I know thy works, verse eight,
behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can
shut it. I know thy works. Once again,
he says this to every church today. I know thy works. Truly,
we've seen it, truly good works or works of righteousness are
works of the gospel. That's what this open door is
we're going to look at. The church, the work of the church,
the work of God's people is to witness, bear witness and testimony
of the gospel. The church, as we're gathered
here, what are we doing? What is the work? What is my
work? It's to preach the gospel. Paul said, woe is unto me if
I preach not the gospel. The church is the pillar, and
we're going to look at that, the pillar and the ground of
truth. That's what the church is all
about. People could come in and hear
the truth, the truth, the gospel. That's what we're all about,
isn't it? Nothing else. I know thy works, the work of
the gospel. That's what we're about. And
these things, this is for God's glory. I know thy works. Here's
the work of the church. It says in verse 8, I have set
before thee an open door and no man could shut it. Our work is preaching and witnessing
of the gospel of Christ the door. Right? We're telling people of
Christ the door, the way of light. The way into the kingdom of heaven. One way. Christ is the door.
Christ is the light. He's the window. He's the window. Like the ark, there was one window.
There's only one source of light. If you want to see light, you
have to go to the window. Christ is the door. Christ is
the window. Christ is the light. Christ is
the key. So he said, I've set before thee
an open door, and no man can shut it. No man can shut it. How the world would love to shut
this door, wouldn't it? Ever since the gospel has been
preached, Satan has opposed it, and the world has hated it and
tried to silence it. Psalm 2 said, the heathen rage,
and the people imagine a vain thing. What's that? That they
can shut this door. They say, let us cast their bands
asunder. Let's get rid of this group.
They can't do it. They can't do it. Well, we'll
burn them at the stake. You remember Ridley and Latimer? We're going to light a candle
they'll never put out. They tied old William Tyndall
to the stake, and his last words were a prayer. A man named King
James was on the throne. And his last words were, Lord,
open the king's eyes. It wasn't a six months or a year
later, King James said, everybody's going to have a Bible. An open door, I've set before
you an open door and no man's going to shut it. A place where
the gospel is preached as long as the gospel, the door of the
ark is open God's still merciful. God's still
gracious. Somebody's going to come in.
I'm glad. I'm glad. And so we're just going
to wait and see who it is. And so we say, we preach the
gospel. Come. Come to Christ. Now that's
a little strength. Verse 8. He never says to anybody,
you have a lot of strength. A little strength. That's better
than none. What is our strength? Christ is our strength. The gospel
is the power of God. Strong in the Lord and the power
of His might. That's the word, the gospel.
You have a little strength. You've kept my word and not denied
my name. Kept my word and not denied my
name. Laid hold of His truth. Kept
it. Believe it. Take it to heart. And not denied my name. God's
true people fear his name. This is how you know the difference.
This is how you know the true people of God. It's becoming
more and more evident, isn't it? It's becoming more and more
obvious who really knows the Lord. Because God's people fear
his name. As I quoted to you in Psalm 89,
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints. And
to be had in reverence of them that are about him. Make mention
that his name is exalted. Now shall not take my name in
vain. God's people don't. They don't
do it. They fear his name. David said
that. Unite my heart to fear thy name. The secret of the Lord
is with them that fear Him. Oh, I know, all the way through
this scripture. God's people have not denied His name, they
fear His name. His name is Lord. and that's
who he is. His name is Jesus, Savior, and
that's what he did. His name is Christ, Messiah,
the second Adam, and that's who he is, the anointed one, the
only one. His name is prophet, he's priest, he's king. His name
is Emmanuel, being interpreted God with us, and that's who he
is. His name is the Word, and that's
who he is. So we haven't denied his name,
thank God. Verse 9, he says, I will make
them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are
not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come
and worship before thy feet and to know that I have loved thee.
I will bring some, some of these that were in false religion who
claim to be Jews, you know, he is not a Jew, which is one app.
Paul says, circumcisions of the heart. Circumcision not made
with hand, but of God. Circumcisions of the heart. These
are the three marks. Philippians 3.3, maybe that'll
be our memory verse. We are the true circumcision,
which worship God in the spirit. These are the marks. This is
the circumcision that God puts in His people. These are the
marks of God's true people. We're the true circumcision which
worship God in the spirit. Do you see any trappings of religion
here? Do you see any statues or pictures
or choirs or all this stuff and big bands and all that? You don't
need that when you worship God in the spirit and truth. We need
one thing to worship God. Spirit of God and a Bible. We worship God in the Spirit.
We rejoice in Christ Jesus. Second mark of God's true people. They rejoice in the Lord. And again, I say, they rejoice.
They rejoice in the Lord Jesus Christ. That's who they gather
around. That's who they come to. That's
who they believe. That's who is their salvation.
That's who is their peace. That's who there is their joy.
That's who they worship. That's why they come. God's true
people. And third mark. No confidence
in the flesh. No confidence in the flesh. Not
my flesh, not your flesh, not anybody's flesh, not anything
we do. All our confidence, all our hope,
all our trust, all our salvation is in Him. That's a Jew. Salvation is of the Jews. And
He is not a Jew which is one outwardly but inwardly. And this
is the work of God. In all of His people. They're
true Jews. What's a Jew? Chosen one. Love is a son of Jacob. Jacob have I loved. I'll make
them, who said they were, but are not, I'll make them come
and sit, and they're going to hear what you hear, and they're
going to believe. And they're going to say, like
Jacob did, God was in this place, and I knew it not. Nearly everybody
in here was in false religion, weren't you? Be it Southern Baptist,
be it Catholic, be it Methodist, false religion, wasn't it? And
God brought you out of that, the synagogue of Satan, and brought
you to where his people, his true people are, and sat you
down, and clothed you, and put you in your right mind, and you're
worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ. You're not just religious, you're
worshipping Christ. And you say, this is where the
love of God is. It's in Christ. It's in the Ark. Saul of Tarsus. Saul of Tarsus. He said he was a Jew. He boasted
that he was a Jew, didn't he? I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews. A Pharisee
of Pharisees. Concerning the righteousness
of the law, you're talking about a good Jew? Blameless! Oh no,
Paul. Oh no. You need to circumcise. And Christ came that day, changed him, made him a true
Jew. And he's the one that wrote about
that in Romans 2. He says, so I'll make them come
and sit and worship with you. Like Mary Magdalene. Verse 10,
because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep
thee from the hour of temptation. shall come upon all the world
to try them that dwell upon the earth. Because thou hast kept
the word of my patience. Go with me to 2 Peter. Go back
just three or four pages, five or six pages. 2 Peter 3. The word of my patience. Now
God has spoken. Christ has spoken. And we believe
all he said, don't we? We believe all the prophets said,
all the apostles said, the commandments of our Lord and our Savior and
the apostles and the prophets don't want. The way they call
heresy, that's what we believe. Everything. That's it. We believe
this is God's word from Genesis 1 to Revelation. We do. We believe it. All the prophecies,
all the promises, and they're in Christ. Christ said, heaven
and earth shall pass away, but not one word of mine shall fail.
Not one. And we've seen it. We've seen
much of it fulfilled. Much has already come to pass. You know this, that most of Revelation
has already come to pass. It's not, there's not many future
events left. Because he said there, write
the things, now this was 2,000 years ago. He said, write the
things that has seen. That's before 2,000 years. Things
which are, that's then. And things which shall shortly
shall be hereafter. It's almost, it's over. We're
in the last hour. But all right, we believe much,
if not most, has already come to pass, happening right now,
and must shortly come to pass. And so we wait, patiently. We're just waiting. We believe. We're not worried. We're not
worried. Oh look, over here. No, we're
not going there. We're just sitting, waiting,
patiently. We've kept His word. We believe
His word. We're not upset. The new wind of doctrine comes
along. We're not going there. So we're going to sit. We just
wait patiently on the Lord to come. We've kept the word. of my patience. 2 Peter, here
it is, the word of his patience. Verse 3, it says, know this first,
that they shall come in the last day scoffers, walking after their
own lusts, saying, where is the promise of his coming? Since
the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were
from the beginning of creation. He's not coming. Yes, he is.
Oh, yes, he is. He said he would. He said he'd
come the first time, and he did. And he said, I'm coming again.
Lo, I come quickly. And he will. He's going to make
short work. I believe him. Don't you? He
can't lie. No, he's not coming. Well, verse
9 says, the Lord's not slack concerning his promise. And some
men count slackness. He's longsuffering to us. We're
going to look at us Sunday morning. Us. Not willing any of us, any of
his people, shall perish. You see, the door of the ark
is still open. He's still got some sheep, and they're going
to come in. Doesn't that make you hopeful, sister? And if they're
one of his own, they're coming in. And when the last select
come in, then he's going to shut, and nobody's going to open. The
day of the Lord will come, verse 10, as a thief in the night. He said it, didn't he? Verse
11, seeing all these things shall be dissolved. Verse 12, looking
for, hasting the coming of the Lord. Verse 13, we according
to his promise, his word, look for new heavens and new earth
wherein dwelleth righteousness. So we wait. No, we've kept his
word, I believe his word. We're just waiting. He's just
going to wait. You'll see. Wait! How many times
does it say that in Scripture? Psalm 27. Wait. Wait, I say.
He's coming. Alright, go back to Revelation
3 verse 10. I will keep thee from the hour
of temptation which shall come upon all the world to try them
that dwell upon the earth. The hour of temptation. Now,
Scripture speaks of years in terms of days, doesn't it? Doesn't
it? Days. Teach us to number our
days, not years, days. Psalm 90, I cannot recommend
highly enough for you to keep reading Psalm 90 over and over
and over and over again. Consider your ladder in. Oh,
that they were wise, we consider this, their ladder in. Our years,
we spend our years as a tale that is told. It's like a watch
in the night. It's like a sleep. Our days are
like a sleep. We wake up and it's over. Oh,
that we were wise and consider our ladder in, Psalm 90. But the scriptures talks about
an hour. And for years or days, what hour
is the last? It's almost over. The final hour. The hour of temptation. This
is, I believe, I'm quite certain, in chapter 20, it speaks of,
you don't turn there, but it speaks of Satan's little season.
Little season. Our Lord said he knows he has
a short time. The Lord lets him loose in the world. It's now. and goes out to deceive the whole
world. That's now. Right now. It's a little season. It's an
hour. An hour of temptation that shall come upon the whole world.
What's that? Satan's temptation. Satan's lies. How did he tempt the first man
and woman? Free will. False religion. He came to our Lord to tempt
him. How did he tempt him? Lust of the eye, lust of the
flesh. He had a chain. Satan had a chain. Pride of life. The whole world
is full of that. The world. The Lord said, love
not the world. All that is in the world is lust
of the eye, lust of the flesh, pride of life. That's not of
God. That's of Satan. The whole world falls for it.
The whole world is just captive to it. Our. A temptation. I'll keep you. You keep my word. You've kept my word. I'll keep
you. Don't you love that? Oh, we're kept by the power of
God, aren't we? Peter said that. What's the power
of God? His word. His gospel. Christ himself is
the power of God. We're not kept by a book. We're
not kept by a truth in our head. We're kept by a person on the
throne. So, but it's all together. He uses his word, he uses his
truth to keep our minds and heart. Keep us, keep convincing us,
keep persuading us, keep us looking to him and waiting on him. I'll
keep thee from that hour of temptation that shall come upon all the
world to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold, verse
11, I come quickly. Hold that fast which thou hast,
that no man take thy crown. I come quickly. Brethren, 6,000
years have come and gone, haven't they? 6,000 years. Do you remember
when the millennium turned? That's been 20 years. Do you remember everybody was
piling up food and guns and all that? It's over, boom, 20 years. Now everybody's, he ain't coming. Right? I come quickly. Time is so short,
isn't it? So rapid, it's like a sleep in
the night, Psalm 90. If you see all, our Lord said,
now when you see all these things, know I'm at the door. I'm at
the door. The door's about to be shut.
And once the master of the house riseth up and shutteth the door,
no man's coming in. That's why he says, today, if
you will hear his voice, harden not your heart. I come quickly. I come quickly. Do you remember
Exodus 12? I was going to have you turn
back there. But he said, let no man go out of the door of
the house. Don't go out of that door of
the house. Because at midnight, I'm coming through. I'm going
to smite each of you. But when I see the blood, let
nobody go out of the door. I'm coming. Don't leave the house. Wait, I say, wait on the Lord.
I come quickly. Hold fast that which thou hast.
And no man taketh thy crown. What is the crown that believers
wear? Well, the helmet of salvation. The crown of life, he said back
there in chapter 2. The crown of life, the helmet
of salvation. Let no man take it from you.
He said no man would. But let me give you a good illustration. in Christian, in Pilgrim's Progress,
Christian was fleeing. He wasn't a Christian yet, was
he, till he, at the foot of the cross, but when Pilgrims was
leaving the city of destruction, going to the young Celestial
City, as he was leaving that city, his family was begging
him to stay. His neighbors were scoffing and
mocking and laughing at him as he was leaving. You know what
he did? He said he's put his fingers in his ears. And as he
was running, let us run this right, he's running out of that
city, he was crying, life, life, eternal life. I'm not listening
to what anybody has to say. It's the helmet of salvation. Take my hand. I'm not listening. I got my eyes on the Lord. I'm listening to Him. Let no
man take it from me. Buy the truth, sell it not. Anything,
anyone. Don't trade it. Verse 12, Him
that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God. He shall
go no more out. A pillar, a fixed member of his church, a supporter
of the truth, not going anywhere. He's not going anywhere. David
said, my heart is fixed, planted. Those that are in the house of
the Lord will be like a tree planted, a pillar. Church is
a pillar and ground of the truth. So is every believer, a pillar. And they're not going anywhere.
The Lord asked many disciples, left the Lord because of those
hard sayings. He turned to Simon and all of
them, will you go away? And said, no. You're not going
anywhere. Your life, life, life, eternal
life. He said, yeah, I've chosen you. That's why. I made you a pillar.
A pillar. You're not going to go out anymore. There was a time that I came
and went. You know that? There was a time I was just visiting
here. I was a visitor. I was a stranger to the covenant
of promise. Stranger. I'd come in, I'd sit,
and I'd hear, and I didn't hear it, and I left. I'd come in,
I'd go out. I'd come in, I'd go out. Well,
one day I came in. It was a time of love. It was my time. Time of life. When the Lord looked
down on this child in the field, and he said, live. And I heard
his voice, and he covered me with his robe. and I became his,
and I'm still here. I'm not going out. I'm not a
visitor anymore. I live here. Okay, verse 12. I'll write upon
him the name of my God, a son of God. Reverend, behold, what
manner of love the Father bestowed upon us that we should be called
the sons of God. God, the name of God, son of
God. I'll write the name of the city
of my God. What's that? The church. The
church. Somebody said, you don't go to
church. You are the church. I don't have to go to church
to worship. Oh, yes, you do. You have to
be the church to worship. Only the church worships. And
you'll be where the church is, won't you? It's like saying, I'm a sheep,
I don't like to gather with a bunch in the fold. That's not possible.
It's the nature of the animal. Love the fold. Love the sheep. Love eating this green grass. So he says, I'll write upon him
the name of the city of my God, the name of New Jerusalem, which
cometh down out of heaven from my God. Brethren, one of these
days, this is what 2 Thessalonians tells us, When Christ shall come,
it says the heavenly hosts are going to come with him. All our
brethren are coming with him. If we're still alive when he
comes, all our brethren are coming with him. And we're going to
see him. The whole city's coming down out of heaven to greet us
if we're still around. If we go before that, we're going
to come with him. Isn't that going to be something? And they're going to be, look,
look, look, look. Really? It's not fable. It's no cunningly
devised fable, Peter said. This is the word of the Lord. We believe He loves us. And we're
just waiting, and we're going to see. Verse 12, he says, I'll
write upon him my new name. We've already seen that. It says,
he has a name that no man knoweth, save with him that receiveth
it. And it went over there to show us, what is his name? The
Word. I'm going to write my word on
it. On the table of his heart. I'm going to write it there. Plant it. And no man is going
to take it away. He that hath an ear, an ear,
not ears, ear. It's like you shut one ear to
what's being said in the world and you have one ear open to
God. He that hath an ear, mine ear hast thou digged. Let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the church. Do you hear it? Did
you hear it? Did you hear it? You must be
a son. Here, let me give you another
illustration in closing. There was a preacher years ago
that used to close every message he preached with a prayer, Lord,
keep the fowls of the air from stealing the seed. Christian and his friend, Hopeful,
they were walking along and they ran into all sorts of people.
If you've read the book, men like, a person like Mr. Obstinate,
Mr. Pliable, Mr. Worldly Wise Man. There was one
fellow called Mr. Talkative. And he wanted to talk
about everything. Well, Christian and Hope were
walking along, they were talking about what? What were they talking
about? The Celestial City. And Mr. Talkative came along.
And he could talk a good talk. And they started talking about
it, and he'd enter in, he'd talk about it a little bit, talk about
that, until finally they started talking about, tell us when you
met the Lord. Tell us what the Lord has done
for you. Tell us what the Lord means to you. Causing him to
search, see if he's of the faith. And he couldn't, he left. Mr. Talkative left. He had no more
to say. Shut him out. Christian said to Hopeful, come
my brother, let's go on a journey and let's have profitable discourse. And let no man bother us from
here. Let not the fowl of the air come and steal these things
away. He that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit sayeth, and shut
your ears to everything in. Stand with me. Our Lord, we thank you, thank
you, thank you for your blessed truth. Oh my, we would be lost
without it, we'd be blind without it, we'd be deaf and dumb, we'd
be in darkness even as others. But you've sent forth thy gospel,
the light, and shined in our hearts. Oh, how we thank you. The people that walked in darkness
have seen a great light. Those who were strangers to the
truth have been brought into the fold, brought into fellow
citizens, household of faith. How we thank you, Lord, for choosing
the people, revealing thyself in them, and planting your word,
giving them faith in their hearts. Thank you, Lord. And no man,
we are confident, no man will take it away. We thank you. Thank
you for this time, and thank you for these people. In Christ's
name, amen. You're dismissed. See you later.