You taste something of that bliss
or joy, that abundant life now. That's what I was talking about
there. All right, Revelation chapter
three. Revelation chapter three. As I say, this letter to the
church at Sardis is one of the more convicting of the letters,
along with the letter to the church at Laodicea, the church
at Ephesus. This is clearly one of those
inspired verses Paul spoke of in 2 Timothy 3, verse 16, that
is profitable for proof and correction. profitable for rebuke and exhortation. And in the course of this message,
we need to seriously examine ourselves. It will cause you
to do so. We need to seriously examine
ourselves, whether we be of the faith. And as Paul said in that
second Corinthian letter, prove ourselves. Prove your own selves
Know ye not your own selves, whether Christ be in you, except
you be reprobate." Look at verse 1 now, beginning in verse 1.
And under the angel of the church in Sardis Rite, under the pastor
of the church at Sardis Rite, these things saith he that hath
the seven spirits of God and the seven stars. These things
saith he," now remember who it is that's talking, and the seriousness
of heeding or not heeding what he has to say. I hope you will
receive this word as every time we meet together you will receive
the word as it is in truth, not my word but the word of God himself. All I merely want to do is just
expound to you or repeat back to you what God is saying. So
remember who it is that's talking, not me. I'm not just giving you
a sermon tonight. This is the Lord Jesus Christ
writing and speaking to his church. It's the Holy Spirit speaking
to his church, if indeed you be his church. He says, He that
hath the seven spirits of God. Now, I do not know what that
is. I don't know what that is. It's
spoken of in Revelation 1 and Revelation 5, and I read men
about it, but they just didn't satisfy me, so we'll just leave
it at that. I don't know what the seven spirits of God are.
It's capital S, isn't it? I don't know. Someone said it's
the graces or perfections of the Holy Spirit. I don't know.
At any rate, and he says, he that holdeth the seven stars.
We do know that seven stars are the preachers and the seven candlesticks
are the seven churches, the seven stars. At any rate, this is he
that holds his people. his church, his preachers. He has the kingdom of God, the
kingdom of this earth to give to whomsoever he will. It is
he who holds these things in his hand. He sovereignly holds
all things up by the word of his power. He is the head of
the body. He is Lord over all, and he is
able to keep us from falling, or he is able to cast down. And
like I spoke of that tree able to pluck up by the roots. Now, this is both a comforting
thought that he has us in his hand. And yet a sobering thought
to think that we are in his hands to do with. With us, whoever
he whatsoever he will turn us with us, whoever he will. That would necessitate us. Begging
him for mercy at all times, wasn't it? Spare us. God be merciful
to me, thee sinner, at all times. And he says this, unto he that
hath the seven spirits of God, the seven stars, unto the church
of Sardis, he says, I know thy works. Now, as with every letter,
he says the same thing. I know thy works. To the church
at Thyatira, you may remember, he commended them for their works.
He commended them, but here he condemns their works, or rather
their lack of them. And this is what he says about
this church. I know thy works, that thou hast
a name that thou livest, and are dead. You have a name that
thou livest, and are dead. In other words, this church and. People, you know, this these
we're talking about people here, we're not talking about necessarily
a collective group. Individuals make a church, you
are the church, if indeed you are a believer. But these people and you. May
have only the name of Christ. on your lips or in your head,
the doctrine of Christ, the name Church, yet be very dead. We may be formal and orthodox
in our doctrine and our creeds, our catechisms, yet dead, cold,
lifeless, and dead. This is something we need to
fear, something we need to examine ourselves about. Characteristics of life, can
you think of what five things characterize life as we know
it? I mean, that someone is living. We talk about the five senses,
don't we? That describes life, the five senses, sight, hearing,
tasting, smelling, feeling. Seeing is one of those senses
or characteristics of life. This church no longer saw the
beauty of Christ. in the things of the gospel,
saw no beauty in them. Hearing. This church heard sermons,
but not messages. There's a difference. They didn't
hear messages. There was no joy. There was no
emotion. There was no enthusiasm. They only heard dry, dead sermons,
not messages from God, from Christ to his church, a love letter
Or a word of rebuke necessary chastening. They didn't hear
that in here. They lost their sense of hearing
tasting. They'd lost their communion with
Christ. He was mere formality now. And they who had once tasted
that the Lord was gracious lost that sweet taste. Smell. The gospel was no longer a sweet
smelling savor. To them, but just another Like
I said, sermon. Feeling. They no longer were
in touch with their own selves, their real needs, nor did they
feel a real need for Christ and his gospel. And they became unemotional
over the Word. Very rarely showed or felt any
sort of emotion when they heard the gospel preached. Certainly,
unlike the people in Nehemiah's day, when they heard the word
of God read distinctly, they wept. They wept. Or like the people our Lord described
in Isaiah chapter 66, verse 2, to this man will I look, even
to him that is of a broken spirit and a contrite heart, and trembles
at my word. Trembles. Takes it to heart.
Feels it. He feels it. That's what it means
to take the word of God to heart. You feel it. And this church
had evidently lost its feeling, no emotion, no real feeling of
need for Christ and his gospel, and it didn't touch a nerve with
them. Those are signs of life, or the absence of them is a sign
of death. And then growth is a sign of life, is it not? Everything
that is living, truly living, is growing, whether it be plant
life, animal mankind. Growth is a characteristic
of life, and this body of believers evidently were not growing in
grace and the knowledge of Christ, growing in faith. They were staying
very stagnant. They weren't growing in courage
or comfort. They weren't growing in love for the things of God
or love for one another. They didn't exhibit these evidences
of growth. Now, notice there's no mention
Like I said, this is a very sobering message, isn't it? And I. Like
I said, I did not relish in bringing this, it was very convicting
to me. I needed it, so I. Go on with it, and I'm quite
certain you probably need it, too. But notice, there's no mention
of persecution here to this church, no mention whatsoever that they
were under any persecution. Why? A dead church won't be persecuted. It'll be getting along just fine
with the world. Getting along just fine with
those other people who are dead themselves, she said. All right,
let me ask the question then. The necessary question arises
then, what brings on this deadness in a professing believer? Now,
he's talking to the church. He's talking to those who profess
the name of Christ. He said, you have the name, but you're
dead. What brings on this deadness? You ever feel it? You ever feel
that deadness? What brings it on? Well, all sin has its root. Along with unbelief, all sin
has its root. Now, unbelief is the granddaddy
of them all. And we'll go into that in a moment. But all sin,
and John talked about this, Or our Lord talked about this. And
this is what brought sin into this world. All sin has at its
root. The principle of lust. Lust, lust, or that is translated
into desire or covetousness and that chiefly being for the world.
Lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh. and the pride of this
life. Lust after the world. There's
nothing so detrimental or deadly to spiritual life than this world. Let me say it again. There's
nothing so detrimental or deadly to spiritual life than this world. Nothing. Christ himself had so
many plain things say about the love or that is the lust and
desire and covetousness after this world didn't it? He said
any man love the world, the things of the world, the love of the
Father is not in it. You cannot love two masters or
serve two masters. Do you remember the parable of
the sower our Lord gave? Do you remember what he likened
the cares of this world and the riches and the pleasures of this
world to? Do you remember what he called them? Anybody? Thorns. Remember that? The seed fell on the thorny ground
and the cares of this world and the riches and the pleasures
of this world came and choked it out. Thorn. Thorns. Listen to this. Thorns will not
prick or stick you in and of themselves. But when they are
grasped in a man's hand, they prick deep. Thorns will not prick in and
of themselves, but when grabbed ahold of in a man's hand, a woman's
hand, they prick deep. This world and the things of
this world are all good. They're made by God for our use
and our benefit, but in moderation, or in moderately taking hold
of them, makes them very hurtful to us. Listen to this. The legitimate, or that is the
lawful, Paul said all things are lawful to me, didn't he?
Did he say that? But some things are just not
expedient or helpful or necessary or profitable to me. He said
the lawful or those things that are allowed to us, possessions
and enjoyments of this life, become positively sinful when
they take priority over the things of God and things of Christ.
Though they're lawful to us, yet if they take priority over
the things of God and the things of Christ, they're absolutely
sinful. Christ calls them idolatry, that covetousness, which is idolatry. Listen to Thomas Guthrie's famous
saying. I put this in our bulletin one
time. I've never read a better one. If you find yourself loving
any pleasure better than worship, any book better than the Bible,
Any house better than God's house. Any table better than the Lord's
table. Any person better than Christ. Any indulgence or pursuit better
than the hope of heaven. Take alarm. Take alarm. You may be about
to fall like Eve who let the lust of the flesh and let the
lust of the eyes and the pride of life plunge her into ruin. Now, we may not fall permanently. Certainly, no child of God will.
Christ said, I give unto them eternal life and they shall never
perish. Unto him that is able to keep you from falling, present
you faultless before his presence. You may not fall permanently
as a result of this But your fall may be, listen to me now,
your fall may be to such an extreme, and it may be permanently or
at least ruinous to you all the time you're on this earth, like
David. When David took that great fall, it was a terrible, terrible
experience, the worst of his life. He never recovered from
it. He lost his salt, didn't he? You may not fall permanently,
but if you fall, your fall may be so extreme and it may be ruinous
to you like David. There's nothing more deadly to
the soul. Nothing that snuffs out the love to God and the worship
of God like covetousness. It's called idolatry. It takes
your heart from God and places it upon the things of this world.
Now look at what he says here in verse two. So here's what
he says to prevent this. This is that's what causes deadness
that's the chief cause of deadness. Among professing believers is
the world worldliness. No doubt about it no doubt about
it I know that from experience. Here's his cure he says be watchful. Be watchful that word means. Vigilant. Wakeful. Diligent. Be watchful, be watchful. Be vigilant, be diligent, be
wakeful, be on guard. Against that sin which does so
easily beset you and and the world which takes so easily,
so easily takes root in your heart. We need to watch and guard
against it, be watchful. How? How? Christ asked his disciples that,
can't you watch with me? One hour. We're here in this
place about one hour. It's about it. It's a perfect
parallel. We come here twice, three times
a week, and each time we watch about one hour. That's not much,
is it? That's just not much. And if
we were. If we were very honest, we'd
have to say that during the course of the rest of the week, we were
not very watchful at all. So he says, can you not watch
with me one hour? Can you not pray to me one hour? How about 15 minutes? Can you not seek direction, my
direction and leadership from my word one hour? Does not my
word interest you for one hour? How about 30 minutes? You know,
every day our Lord said, Boast not thyself of tomorrow, you
know not what a day brings forth. Every day is new day and is uncharted
territory, is it not? We don't have any idea what the
next day brings forth. Dare we face it without seeking
his face. Dare we face a new and uncharted
day or territory without seeking direction for it. Would we go
in... Joe, would you go on a trip somewhere
you've never been before and not take a map? Huh? Would you dream of it? Would
you even set out? You wouldn't start out yet. Dare
we face uncharted territory in a new day without seeking the
right path to take in the course of that day? Without seeking
the root of the way that is found in God's map book? Matthew Henry said, a believer
ought to know the Gospels like the sailor knows his chart and
compass. Because it is the way. It is
our direction, it's our path that we walk in, right? It's
how we go and it's the direction God gives us to walk this uncharted
territory. We don't know what faces us,
we don't know who faces us, what evils lie ahead of us, what trials,
what temptations, do we? And so, the first thing we ask,
Lord, lead us not into temptation, but rather deliver us from evil. Take us walking straight path.
He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Now, he says this, be watchful
and strengthen, be watchful and strengthen the things which remain,
that are ready to die. You read that. Be watchful and
strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die. He seems to be saying here. That
to this church here and maybe to some of us, he may he seems
to be saying you are dangerously on the brink of apostasy. Now,
what do you say? And we say, those things that are ready to
die. He said you're living on the edge when you ought to be
grounded in self. Playing dangerously with that
which might kill you. That's what he's saying here.
Living very dangerously. And he says to strengthen the
things which remain. What little bit of grace we have. Strengthen it. Build upon it. Act upon it. Now our strength
lies in God. Ephesians 6 says, Be strong in
the Lord and the power of his might. So our strength lies with
him. Now look at what else he says
here. Now he says, Strengthen the things
which remain that are ready to die. You're about ready to die. You're about ready to quit is
what you're about ready to do. You better strengthen those things.
And he says this, and I have not found by works perfect before
God. You see, he's not commending
their works at all. He's he's rebuking them for their lack
of or their. He says the works are not perfect. Perfect means mature. Perfect
means complete. Perfect means whole. What he's
saying here is that you your works are not complete. They're
half hearted. That's what he's saying here.
They're half hearted, they're formal, they're dead works. There
are few, and the ones that we do practice are very insincere
at best. That's what he's saying. I have not found your works perfect
before God. Do you need this? I do. In verse 3, he says, now
remember. Oh boy, whenever the Lord says
remember, it's striking, isn't it? Ecclesiastes 12, son, remember
now thy creator. The Lord gave that parable or
that story of the rich man and Lazarus. And Abraham said to
the rich man, remember, son, remember. Some say that that's
that worm that dieth not in hell, that worm that gnaws at you,
your remembrance of things. What if, you know, if, if only,
if only. Have you ever had that thought
in your mind, if only, that they'll haunt you? Remember, now's the
time to remember, isn't it? Remember, therefore, how thou
hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent. Remember, therefore, how thou
hast received and heard. Oh, Central Baptist Church, remember
how God sovereignly and mercifully and graciously gave you the gospel
in this little place and passed it on to others. Oh, remember
that, and never take this blessed treasure, this precious, priceless
treasure for granted. Don't take it. These wins, don't
take them for granted. These letters to the churches
we've been studying are priceless. Remember what you've heard. Remember. And remember this, these churches
he's talking to are no longer, are no more. These churches had
the gospel too, but they are no more. Remember, and he says, hold fast
and repent. Hold fast. In other words, I
always like to quote Brother Maurice's famous little saying,
hug up to the Lord. Hold fast, hug up to him like
a child who's been caught, you know, and just grab the hold
of mama or daddy to keep from being beaten too hard, severely.
Hug up, daddy. I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
Please, please don't do it again. Hug up, hold fast. to the Lord
again. Do the first works. Remember
the first works he talked about to the letter at Ephesus, wasn't
it? Do the first works. Rekindle
that first love. What was it that kindled that
first love? An ardent and sincere desire to hear the gospel. He
couldn't get enough of it. Tape after tape after sermon
after message after message after talking with people and Conversing
with others, communion, fellowship, just love burned hot. Hold, take to heart, grab hold
upon, he says, Christ and his gospel. Grab hold, like old Jacob,
lay hold on him and never let him go until he blesses you.
Hang on to him, grab hold of him, just like Jacob, and say,
Lord, I haven't been receiving a blessing and I'm just not going
to let you go until you do. On these Wednesday nights, do
that first thing or Sunday or whenever. Take hold, hold fast
and repent, repent, beg his forgiveness and say, Lord, help me, forgive
me, help me. If I haven't loved you before,
let me begin tonight. If I haven't been moved before,
let me be moved tonight. Lord, if I've been dead, if I'm
dead, I am dead right now, confess it, confess your sin, repent.
That's what it means. Beg his forgiveness and turn.
You know what repent means? It means to turn. Turn from your
sin and yourself. Now this is the great warning
that he gives us if we don't. He says in verse three, if therefore
thou shalt not watch, thou come on me as a thief, and
thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Just like
those virgins that were without oil. you won't be let in the
marriage supper. And there'll be weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth, especially by those who once tasted that
the Lord tasted the heavenly gift and were once partakers
of the Holy Ghost, like Paul talked about in Hebrews 6. There'll
be nothing so bitter to a man's
taste and a memory of these things that he let slip. let those things
slip. And like one of those sleeping
disciples, he won't behold the Lord's glory. Like Thomas, you
know, who was absent, who didn't see the Lord and was fraught
full of trouble for such a long time. And the Lord's coming will
be dreadful and not delightful. And let me ask you if it's not
so now with you. He says, I'll come upon you as
a thief and you won't know what hour I will come upon you. Isn't
it so now that at times the Lord Jesus Christ meets in these services
with his people? And there's times when you're
not there in spirit like John talked about. You're not there
and your mind's a thousand miles away or whatever and the Lord
meets with his people and you afterwards say, obviously the
Lord was in this place. Like Jacob said at Bethel, the
Lord was in this place, everybody else was blessed, I wasn't. The
Lord was in this place and I knew it not. I wish I hadn't have
missed it. So we need to get back to Bethel,
don't we? Back to Bethel. How did Jacob get in that mess
when he said that? The world. The world. All his travels and all his accumulations
of wives and goods and this and that and the other, he left Bethel,
the place he started. And we need to get back to Bethel,
our first love and the first fruits. All right, now verse
four, he says this, you have a few names, there's a few, and
I'm glad he put this in here. You have a few names, even in
Sardis, which have not defiled their garments. A few names in
there, a few devoted, Sincere worshipers. Those who are obtaining
the blessing, the joy, the peace, the comfort, some amount of growth,
who do seem to have the consolation, very much seem to be alive under
the things of God, there are some there. I rejoice that I
can look out over this congregation and say that confidently. There are some that have not
defiled their garments in this way. Then they shall walk with
me, the Lord said. They'll walk with me in white. They walk with
me in white, and they're worthy to him that believeth. Now, look
at this is what he said, verse five. He that overcometh, the
same shall be clothed in white, white raiment. He that overcometh.
Now, what is he talking about overcoming? First of all, what
is it that overcomes? Anybody tell me where a verse
of Scripture is found where it talks about overcoming? 1 John 5, isn't it? 1 John 5, 4 and 5, where he talks
about that which overcomes. And the first thing he's talking
about us overcoming is what I've been talking about, the world. This is that which overcometh
the world, even your faith, your faith. The world is that which
we first need to overcome, is it not? The world, that which
hinders us from worshiping our God. That sucks. All right, now this overcoming
is faith. It's so simple. You think I'm
giving you something hard to do, don't you? You think I'm
telling you to go home and get on your knees and pray for 12
hours and then this thing will come. That's not so. Prayer is necessary, yes. Reading
the scriptures is necessary, yes. It's vital. It's a believer's
bread. Talking to the Lord is like communication
between a child and his father. It's absolutely necessary. You're
not alive if you don't cry. But it's so simple. The Word is nigh you, even in
your mouth. Simply trusting and believing
God's Word. Simply trusting and believing
God's Word. Here it is, in a nutshell. You said, faith cometh by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. That's not, doesn't take a great
effort for me to come and place myself under the hearing of the
word. We have very nice comfortable automobiles to get us here. It
doesn't take any sacrifice at all. I don't care who, how rapidly,
I don't care how hard it was for you to get here from your
house. They don't care. It is still very, very easy,
really. Inconvenient? Maybe. Rushed? Yeah, maybe. Tough? No. No. We didn't walk six hours
and we didn't ride in the back of the steak bed truck, did we? Lord, you said faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God. Well, here I am. I want
to hear. That's it. That's simple enough,
isn't it? Lord, you said. This is what overcomes the world
and unbelief. Lord, you said, faith cometh
by hearing, hearing by the word of God. I'm coming to hear the
word. Would you let me hear it? Lord, you said, call upon me
in the day of trouble and I'll hear you. I'm calling. Hear me. Help me. Would you help me? You said you'd
be a very present help in time of need. This is faith that overcomes
it. What you said you'd be a better
help. In time of need I'm a needy group
help me. Simple as that. Day. Lord I need love you'll have
it. Count on it. It's as simple as
that the word is not even in your mouth. Is that too simple is that right.
Simple trust childlike faith. believing the Word of God that
he's able. Lord, you said ask, would you? Lord, you said seek. I'm seeking. I'm having a hard time, but I'm
seeking. Lord, you said knock. Would you let me in on the secrets?
Let me in on this communion. Lord, let me in. I want to sup
with you. You said it. Honor your Word. He'll honor
it. Count on it. Count on him. He
will not lie. Isn't that simple? Simple as
that. Simple as that. Simple truth.
This is he that overcometh. This is how you overcome the
world. Lord, the world's getting in my heart, but you get the
world out of my heart. Simple as that. It's a continual thing,
though. It's a continual thing. It's
not a one-time thing and then you go on about your business.
To whom coming? To whom coming? And you can count
on it, believer. This is the victory that overcometh
the world, even your faith. It sounds too simple, doesn't
it? It's a gift, I know that. But we're responsible to... He
said, I will, I will, I will, there in a little bit, Ezekiel
36, didn't he? I will, I will, I will. I'll
do this for him, I'll do that for him, I'll do that for him.
But I will yet be inquired of for this thing. They shall. I will. I will. I will. But they
shall call on me. They're going to ask for it.
If they don't ask for it, they're not going to get it. Well, how
do you reconcile that? If God's going to do it, he's
already determined to do it. And it's going to be done, just
as sure as he's God. But yet he won't do it unless
I ask him for it. How do you reconcile that? Don't try to.
Just believe. That's the way it works. the
way he said he was. And your faith, your faith overcometh
the world. This is he that overcometh the
world, he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ. Your faith
in the faithful Lord. The Lord will honor his word.
Read it. Hear it. He'll honor it. He that hath ears, let him hear. Get you? I'm having trouble here. Okay, say that again, would you?
I'm not trying to be cute. We have trouble hearing, don't
we? He'll honor his word. He said, faith cometh by hearing,
hearing by the word. Somebody one time, if you didn't
get what I said, please speak up and say, would you say that
again? That song we sing, Brother Joe, you know, make the message
plain. Somebody said they quit here because they couldn't hear.
Somebody left this congregation because they couldn't hear. Obviously,
they couldn't. Spiritually, they didn't. But
I said, I thought, well, I'd be sitting down right here. All
right, we'll get you a chair. We'll get you right here. Or
if you can't hear, I'll jerk the volume up on this thing where
you'll hear. We'll all start preaching like
nonpartner, and everybody will hear, even if people outside. We need to hear, don't we? The
Lord will honor his word. He that heareth it, I need to
hear. The Lord will bless his gospel. Preach
it, preacher. Preach the gospel. He'll bless
it every time. And I've said before, I hesitate
at times. I think, well, they've heard
this before, you know, imputed righteousness and shed blood
and justification, all these terms and all that. I'll just,
no, make it plain. Tell it again. Tell it again.
Make it real plain to me again. It's something I didn't catch
there. The Lord will give his Holy Spirit
to them that ask him. He'll give it. I've said before,
if a man has trouble with whatever it may be. Ask, ask. You said
you have not because you ask not. If you then, being evil,
know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit? Every time we
come in this place, God, don't, if you go not with me, if your
Holy Spirit goes not with me, don't take me to church. I'm
just adding to my condemnation. Right? Don't let me sit in that
pew and not give me the Holy Spirit and anoint your Word. The Lord will lead his people. I don't know which way to turn.
Lord, all we like sheep have gone astray. We've turned every
one of his own. Where do I go, Lord? He'll lead his people.
He's the good shepherd. He'll not lead us into temptation. He'll not lead us in wrong paths.
He'll lead us in the right path every time. All we have to do
is ask him. He said, ask. He said, you have not because
you ask not. You go astray, why? Because you didn't ask before
you went. Is that right? Simple faith. Isn't this simple? The Lord said he would feed his
sheep. Well, why am I not being fed?
Maybe I'm not hungry. Right? So don't come in here
full. Come in here empty. All right? Don't come in here full of the
world or full of this or full of that. Empty all that before
you get here, you know. And ask Him, we need to ask Him
for emptiness. I'm just full of, you know what
we're full of, don't you? I'm full of that. Done. Lord, get this, I'm full
of foolishness, and get this out of me. Fill me with Thy Spirit.
Fill me with Your Word. Feed me, I'm a sheep. I've been
out there feeding on briars all week and husks. Nor here I am
the prodigal back. Would you kill the fatted calf
one more time? And would you kill the lamb slain
one more time and feed me a table in the presence of mine enemies?
I need to go on the strength of that food for a few more days,
I collect. The Lord will give thirst. Oh
boy, the water of this world leaves you thirsty. You know,
while you're drinking it, boy, you just, it's like, well, while
you're drinking it, you know, you think you're enjoying it.
Now give me another. Give me another. And for long,
you just, it makes you sick. Right? And you throw up and you
think, why did I ever start drinking that? All I needed was one glass
of water, that would do. That would do Lord. Just a cup
of water. In the name or under the sound
of a prophet. And we only need to have all
we have to do is bring an appetite that's not hard is it and that's
this he gives for the asking now believers. Believers I'm talking to real
needy seeking sinners now I'm not talking to those that he
talked about at the first day. He says now in verse five, he
says, he that overcometh the same will be clothed in white.
That is declared righteous. You want that? Listen, I'm a
sinner. There's nothing that grieves
me more. It grieves me that I don't grieve
about it more. My lack of grief grieves me,
but my sins are ever before me. Are they you? Hmm? He says, believe. He that overcometh shall be clothed
in white. Declared righteous. I need to
be declared righteous. So I'm just not going to let
him go until he blesses me. Until he declares me righteous.
Until I cross the other shore. I'm not going to believe it until
I see it. I'm sorry, I'm like Thomas though, I'm just not going
to believe. Like I said, I got full assurance part of the time.
And that other part of the time, boy, I'm torn up. I want to feel
saved and assured for heaven as if I was already there, but
I don't all the time. And I'm not going to believe
it until I'm there. And I'm not going to quit seeking
until I'm there, and I'm not going to... He said the kingdom
of heaven suffered violence, and the violence has taken my
soul. Since John the Baptist, the prophets, the Gospels preach,
and men press into it. All right. And he said they're
clothed in white. And he said I'll not blot his
name out of the book of life. I don't know how to reconcile
that with the book that's already sealed. I'm not going to try
to explain that. All right. I know the book is
sealed. There's no possible way that
we can fall out of his hand. There's no possible way that
anybody can take us out of that Lamb's Book of Life because it
is sealed, sealed by the Holy Spirit, sealed by the by the
blood of Christ, but as far as I'm concerned, I ain't there
yet. I haven't seen my name written
there. You all want to walk up and see
it, don't you? Well, there it is. And here I
am. I think I'll stay. Well, that's
where I am pressing. And I'll not blot your name out,
he says, but I'll confess his name before my father. I'll confess
this is my disciple here receiving provide for him and my father
provide for him and to the angel. Do you need a guardian angel
to watch over you and keep you lest you dash your foot against
a stone? I mean a pebble. You can dash your foot against
a pebble and get a sore toe and it bother you from now on. Do
you need an angel of the Lord? Maybe you sent one tonight. You
need an angel he said I'll get my angels watch over you I'll
confess you before the angel I'll tell the angels you keep
watch over him unless he dashes foot against the stone. Let something
become a stone and block it. Don't let him. There he goes.
Angel. Tend to him. Tend to her. Look
out he's going. Get him. Go over and get him.
Goodness and mercy. Faithful watchdogs you know.
The good shepherds. Faithfulness. Mercy. Truth. There
he's going, get him, go get him. Verse six, now he that hath an
ear, let him hear. Oh, I tell you, did you need
to hear all this? I did. Well, I've got, I don't just
have one ear, I've got two. I've got two. But he's talking
about the spiritual ear, I know that. But it is our responsibility
to prick up our ears here. Let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches. Now listen to this. I read of
an old faithful preacher. An old faithful preacher. I forget
his name. I read this just the other day. I can't recall his
name. You would know his name if I
gave it to you. An old faithful preacher who, at the close of
every message he preached—every message—he would close it by
reminding the people of the parable of the sower. Every time he would close every
message by reminding the people of the parable of the sower.
The sower went forth to sow, and he sowed some seed, and it
fell here, and it fell there, the other place, and he would
admonish them to not let the birds of the air come and pluck
away that which was sung. Isn't that good advice? It isn't. He would admonish them every
time to not let the birds of the air come and take away what
they heard, but to water it, water it with careful thought.
Water it by conversing with one another about it. He himself
wouldn't even face the people. He would leave and go down to
his study and ask the Lord's blessings, ask the Lord's forgiveness
for what he did or did not say. Water it with conversing with
one another with careful thought that it might take what? Root. Isn't that what we want? We don't want to be like those
people were in Ezekiel's day. Oh, he has a good sounding voice. He has such a melodious voice. And that was such a good song
he sung. It's got a good sermon and all
that, but would not do what he said. We don't want to be like
that, do we? That's the reason he admonishes us at the end of
every one of these letters. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit It's not Paul Mahan talking here. It's
the Holy Spirit of God. What he said to the church. You
church? You the church? Pray to that
end. All right, stand with me and
I'll dismiss it. Heavenly Father, how we need
your chastening rod. And this word is truly your rod. It corrects us, it reproves and
rebukes with all long-suffering. and doctrine. You're so compassionate
with us, so tender and kind and patient with us, just like a
loving father is with a small child. We thank you for that.
We thank you. We bless your holy name with
the thought that you'll never leave us. And, Lord, how we leave
you at times, how we forsake you, how we turn our back upon
you, how we, like a prodigal, go astray. like lost sheep, black
sheep. Every one of us in here would
readily admit we're the black sheep. Lord, we want to be clothed
in white. We want to be like Christ. We
want to walk in paths of righteousness. We don't want to be tossed to
and fro with every wind of doctrine, every wind of trouble, every
trial and tribulation and stumble and stump our toe at everything.
Lord, we want to be grounded and settled in the truth, strong,
not unbelieving, but strong in faith and know something of the
joy of being a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the persecution. In consolation, it goes with
that. Lord, grant us, and it's all according to your riches
in glory, and these riches are found in this glorious treasure
that we have in earthen vessels. Gospel, the Word. Make us avail
ourselves of it. May it not be taken from us.
May it take root. Send your Holy Spirit, dear Lord.
Be with us. and Sunday toward the day. In
Christ's name we pray and amen together. Amen.