That ought to be the prayer of every
seeking sinner, every true child of God. Here's my heart. Take
and seal it. Shut it, shut everything else
out of my heart. Seal it, pitch it, within and
without, with the blood of Christ. Seal it off from this world.
Let not the world have any influence over it, but altogether seal
it with thy praise and mercy and love and grace and commitment
to thee. All right, I want you to turn
to two passages of Scripture, Psalm 34. Psalm 34. In a moment, we'll be looking at
Revelation 1. As I announced this morning,
for the next several Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, I will
be bringing a series of messages upon these letters that our Lord
wrote to the churches. And these messages, I hope, by
God's good pleasure, I hope these messages, they may be the most
important messages you will ever hear. I know for a fact that
the messages contained in those letters are, is, The most important
message you'll ever hear, whether or not the Lord will bless me
to bring these things out or not, or bless you in hearing
it, I don't know. The promise is, though, that
if you ask for help, he'll help you. And as never before, I urge
your complete and undivided attention in the course of these messages.
We're going to be looking at these seven letters to the churches. And all of these letters apply
to us. We are the church. Now, they
were written with the names of seven churches
at their head. Nevertheless, everything that
God wrote to these churches applies to us equally as much. Seven letters. Seven letters
given by divine inspiration of God Almighty. under the pen of
John, seven letters written by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself,
seven letters full of doctrine, reproof, correction, instruction
in righteousness, that the man or the woman of God may be truly
furnished, may be perfect, truly furnished. Seven letters full
of commendation, comfort, commendation and condemnation. Seven letters
full of promises that we saw this morning. Precious, blessed,
sweet, sweet promises from God. And seven letters full of warnings.
Serious, sobering, chilling warnings. Promises, promises lest we despair. No need for anyone to despair
as long as today is the day of salvation. Warnings, lest we
presume, is every reason to be fearful because we have fallen,
we have come far short of the glory that God demands of his
people. Look over at Psalm 33, verse
8. It says, Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the inhabitants of the
world stand in awe of him. Then verse thirteen says, The
Lord looks down from heaven. He beholdeth all the sons of
men. God is watching. From the place of his habitation
he looketh upon all the inhabitants of the earth. Now he says in verse eighteen,
Behold, the eye, the eye of the Lord, that eye of affection,
that look of compassion, that look of special love and mercy
and grace like you see on the faces of some of these ladies
for their little children or some of these men for their precious
little ones. the eye of the Lord. In other
words, God is looking. Don't let anybody tell you that
God doesn't look on the outward countenance. He does. It's just He doesn't look there
first. He looks on the heart. He doesn't see solely or completely
as man seeth. Man can only see on the outside.
But God looks upon the heart. But He does look at what men
and women are doing. And it's as if God Almighty is
looking around. He's looking around. There's
nothing out from under the eye of God Almighty. His eyes behold,
his eyelids cry. Men say God doesn't see. He sees. But that eye of affection and
love says, Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them, that Who is the eye of the Lord upon,
the special eye of God's mercy and love and grace upon? Them
that fear him. Them that hope in his mercy. It makes me want to cry because
our generation, there's no fear of God before their eyes. And if you want to reverse the
meaning of this of this verse, you could say, the eye of the
Lord, the eye of anger and consternation and absolute hatred is upon them
that do not fear him. Right? Look at Psalm 34, look over here
at verse 7, he says, the angel of the Lord. You are going to
see in a moment why I started this message out like this. Because
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, right? Verse 7 says in Psalm 34, the
angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and
delivereth them. Verse 9, O fear the Lord, ye
his saints. Look at this promise. There's
no want to them that fear him. No want. Look at verses 11 and
12. Come, ye children. And what do you mean, fear the
Lord? They will come, children, hearken unto me, and I will teach
you the fear of the Lord. What man, what woman, is there
anybody out there that desires life and loveth many days? that he may see good. Why should we fear the Lord?
Why should we fear the Lord? Well, turn over to Psalm 47.
Psalm 47. Why should we fear the Lord? Number one, because God is terrible. This generation, I would venture to say, I can
say this with perfect confidence, that there's not one in 10,000
preachers who have ever, ever said that from a pulpit. God
is terrible. But the scripture says it over
and over and over and over again. God is terrible. Psalm 47 verse
2 says, The Lord Most High is terrible. What are you smiling
for, Joe? You know what that means, don't
you? Bless God. Blessed are your ears. They hear,
they know. Blessed is your heart. You understand what that means.
It doesn't strike terror in your heart, but it brings praise into
your heart. Terrible. That's a glorious name
and attribute of God. You know that's one of His attributes?
He's terrible. Terrible. This world doesn't
have the foggiest idea of what that means. He's terrible. Another place says He's dreadful.
Stan, we use those terms in reference to bad things, don't we? Oh,
that's just terrible. Oh, that's just dreadful. Scripture
says God's like that. Striking fear. You know what
terrible means? It means strike fear and terror
in the hearts. You see, all that truly see God
as He is, or at least know Him in part, they fear Him. They
fear Him. Psalm 66. Turn over there. You
want a few more of these? Psalm 66. Look at verse 3 with
me. Psalm 66, verse 3. Verse 2, sing forth the honor
of his name, make his praise glorious. Don't fake it though. Don't lift up your dirty hand
and go through your silly emotions. His praise better be from the
heart and it better be glorious. Better be glorifying his attributes
and his person and his work, not just giving you a good religious
feeling. Verse 3 says, Say unto God how
terrible art thou in thy works. Through the greatness of thy
power shall thine enemies submit themselves unto thee. Look at
verse 5. Come and see the works of God.
He is terrible in his doing toward the children of men. Oh, I thought
God was love. He is love to those at first
fearing. You fear him first. This generation
is so ignorant. The blind leaders of the blind,
they're all falling into the ditch, thinking that God loves
them. Right? And the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom, the beginning of worship, the beginning of
praise. You want another one? Look at Psalm 68, verse 35. Psalm
68, verse 35 says, Thou art terrible. And I'll read
this one to you over in Psalm 99. It says there, Psalm 99. Psalm 99 says, verse 3, Let them
praise thy great and terrible name. It is holy. It is holy. Now turn over to Revelation chapter
1. You see, the thing I would like
to establish in my own heart, the thing I would like God's
Spirit to establish in my own heart, and the thing I would
like to establish at the outset of every message I preach and
establish in your hearts and your minds is that we must first
fall down in fear and worship before our holy, thrice holy
God. Fall down in fear before Him. We need to come into this
place with sackcloth and ashes on our head. We need to have
our laughter turned into mourning. Now, John was a beloved disciple.
He was a beloved disciple. He was a very devout man. John
was a serious man. How could you come away from
Patmos and not be serious? Huh? How could you see the things
that John saw and not be serious? How could you stand at the foot
of Mount Calvary and watch what he saw and not be serious? Huh? Verse 10 says, I was in the Spirit
on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me. I was in the Spirit,
Spirit of worship. Spirit of truth. Scripture said,
Christ himself said, The Father seeketh such to worship him in
spirit and truth. See the eyelids, the eyes of the Lord are beholden
to the sons of men. Christ said in John 3, he said the Lord is,
John 4, he said he seeketh such to worship him in spirit and
truth. Didn't it? Isn't that what he
said? The hour comes and now is when they that worship the
Father shall worship him in spirit and truth. For the Father seeketh
such to worship him. Well, John was one of them. But
John was a worshipful man, a devout man, and he says that he heard
a great voice, a great voice as of a trumpet.
It says in verse 11, and he heard this voice saying, I am Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last. And what you see, write in a
book and send it unto the churches. But John, verse 12, turned to
see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, he said,
I saw seven golden candlesticks, and in the midst of the seven
candlesticks, one like unto the Son of Man,
clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the
chest area with golden girdle. His head and his hair were white
like wool, unlike any white wool we have
ever seen, as white as snow. pure virgin snow, and his eyes
were as a flame of fire, and his feet like unto fine brass,
as if they burned in a furnace, and his voice as the sound of
many waters. And he had in his right hand
seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp
two-edged And his countenance was as the
sun shineth in its strength, the noonday sun. So John saw
the Lord high and lifted up, like Isaiah. Isaiah saw him,
and Isaiah said, Oh, unclean man, didn't he? Oh, John said
he fell at his feet, verse seventeen, when I saw him. It just struck
fear in my heart. I felt as dead. Dead. So why should we fear God? Does that answer your question?
Does Revelation 1, the mere reading of it, answer our question? How
should we approach this thing of worship? Does that answer
your question? How should we prepare our hearts
to worship? Does that answer your question? How are we going
to enter into the spirit of worship? How are we going to hear the
voice of God? How are we going to see great things? Does that
answer your question? Doesn't need comment, does it?
Why should we fear the Lord? Because he's terrible. All right, number two. Another
reason why we should fear the Lord We read back in Psalm 34,
verse 7, it said, The angel of the Lord campeth round about
them, period. The angel of the Lord, the angel
of the Lord, the angel's presence. Who might that be? Who's the
angel of the Lord? I don't know. I don't know. It might be the
Holy Spirit. It might be Christ. I don't know. But there's no one able to stand
before him. And at the presence of this angel of the Lord who
campeth around about them that fear him, there's deliverance.
Deliverance. Deliverance from whatever. You
need deliverance from anything? I need deliverance every day.
You need deliverance from that man, don't you? Fear him. Something to do with the fear
of the Lord. Something to do with the fear of the Lord. It
says also that there's no want to them that fear him. Oh, fear
the Lord, ye his saints. There's no want. No want. I love verse 10, I remember studying
this as a very young believer, and I went through and there's
a good way to study the scripture. Do word studies, get your concordance
out and look up every word in one, get one verse of scripture
and get your concordance out and look up every verse, every
word. In that work, and I did that with some thirty four verse
ten when I was a very, very young man and it absolutely blessed
me to know him. It says young lions do lack and
suffer hunger. In other words, these strong,
robust lions in the jungle who should be able to fend for themselves,
they lack and they suffer hunger. But they that seek the Lord,
that is weak, helpless, poor sinners, men frail, fickle, finite,
fallible men, young men, boys, children, they that seek the
Lord shall not want any good thing. And that word thing there
means any good word or promise from the Lord. Any good word
or promise, no want of answers, of help, very present help in
time of need, of deliverance, of strength, of power, of comfort,
of assurance, of peace, just go on and on and on. They that
fear the Lord shall not want. And then it promises back there
life and many good things. What man is he that desires life?
He desires life. And it's not just talking about
eternal life, it's talking about life more abundant. Barbara,
you and I have talked about this many times. Living life on planet Earth the
way God meant for a man to live life. Life more abundant. Does God be more to this life
than meat and drink, isn't it? That's what the Lord said. The
kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink. It's righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That's life. To enjoy
yourself on this planet, this planet full of misery and destruction
and evil and walking through a world of tribulations, we're
going to have to know something about real living. You know what? What man is there among you who
desires life? Huh? Do you desire, Brother Terry,
that meat to eat that Christ said we don't know anything about? The way your belly is not your
God. The way your belly doesn't control
you. Life. Life more abundant. Real life. Communion with God
that Adam enjoyed in the Enoch. You see, Adam was a perfect man.
Enoch wasn't. And go on and on with the scriptural
example. Life. fellowship with God, communion
with God, relationship with God, life, and many good days. Seen enough evil days, haven't
you? I'd like to have some good days.
I'd like to wake up in the morning without murmuring, complaining,
and evil upon my lips. I'd like to have a good day.
I'd like to wake up in the morning and say, this is the Lord's day.
I'll rejoice and be glad. It's going to be a good day.
Yeah, but Henry, Gas has been raised fifty cents a gallon.
It's a good day. You'd like to know something
about that, buddy. You know, it's a mark of truth.
Why fear the Lord? He said the angel's presence
will be with you, give you deliverance, no want, life, many good days. Fear the Lord. Something to do
with the fear of the Lord. It's a mark of true discipleship.
Fear of the Lord. It's the beginning of wisdom,
the scripture says. Scripture says the Lord is with them that
fear Him. Scripture says the Lord is round about them that
fear Him. Scripture says the Lord is upon them that fear Him.
I could go on and on. Fear. Last Sunday morning, we
looked at 1 Timothy 6, verse 15, and talked about in his days,
in his times, he's going to show who. God's going to show off His Son.
That's what this is all about. God's going to show off His Son.
He started in the beginning. He carried it on through the
prophets. And when Christ came, and then He's going to, one of
these days, the sun's going to shine like high noon. God's going
to show off His Son. He's going to set Him forth for
all to see. He's going to show who He is.
The only potentate. King of kings and Lord of lords.
And we saw something of His glory majesty last week, didn't we? And time and time again,
it seems like over the past couple of years, I've been absolutely
impressed with a sense of the imminent coming of our Lord.
Imminent. One of the parents told me that
their young daughter was a little bit disturbed by some messages
I've been preaching on the coming of our Lord. He is. He is coming. He said, surely
I come. It said there in our text, he's
at hand, the time is at hand. I ought to preach like Martin
Luther who said, I ought to preach as though Jesus Christ died yesterday,
rose today, and coming back again tomorrow. Or like Richard Baxter said,
I ought to preach like this was my first message, and this is
my last message, and it's going to be my best message, and the
best one you ever heard, the most needful. Or as Richard Baxter
said, I ought to preach as a dying man, and I am a dying man, as
a man who never may preach again. Why should we fear the Lord?
out to fear and tremble. You talk about praying and reading
the scripture, fearing and feeling, we ought to. We're handling the
words of life. The Lord is near them that fear
him. And to say God is nigh unto them
that fear him, them that are of a broken heart and what? Tremble
at his word. You know what they say? Tremble. And you know, we're so pitiful, we have a hard
time staying awake, let alone trembling. You see why we ought to fear
the Lord? It better be by grace. Martin
used to say, people better be glad I'm not God. Right? God's longsuffering. You know,
longsuffering is the Lord's salvation. Well, John feared him. In verse
17, he says, I fell at his feet as a dead man, and he laid his
hand on me. Oh, wouldn't you like to be touched?
He touched me. Oh, he touched me. Has a message ever touched you?
Oh, the joy that flooded my soul, something wonderful happened. I forgot to touch it. Every time
you came in here, I think God ought to touch us
in the form of a good slap across the face. Thanks, I needed that. Wake me
up, Lord, lest I sleep the sleep of death." And the Lord touched
John, and he said, Oh, my, fear not. Now, he had heard his voice
a moment ago as the voice of the sound of many waters, and
I can't, I'm not even going to try to imitate that voice. He wouldn't even come close with
it. Sound of many waters. Have you ever heard waves crashing
against the ocean at night? It's downright deafening. Many
waters. Take that and multiply it a thousand
times. And fill it full of majesty. And an aura of mystery. And divine
wisdom and authority. And He that speaks and creates
worlds speaks. Saying unto you, Fear not. Don't be afraid. Fear not. You
see, if we truly fear the Lord, we'll worship like John did,
and we'll hear and see wonderful things, and the Lord will say
unto us, Fear not. Fear not. Now, while I was studying
this, I was absolutely overcome with a sense of The absolute
seriousness of what we do here. I was absolutely overwhelmed
with a sense of seriousness and importance of worship. Dealt
with a little bit this morning, and I'm going to deal with it
some more tonight. The absolute seriousness and importance of
worship are coming here to hear the gospel. Go to church is what
we call it. Go to church. Now, I ask this
question this morning, why go to church? Well, this ought to
answer our question, but I'm going to deal with it a little
bit. Why go to church? And I'm constantly exhorting us, and
I don't get... It doesn't. It does encourage
me. I'll admit it. It does encourage
me. I get greatly discouraged when
people don't come for whatever reason. I do. I get discouraged,
more discouraged and troubled for them than upset, really.
But I'm not in charge of that. God is. The Holy Spirit is sovereign. He brings, and maybe I ought
not to dwell on it so much and talk about it so much, because
those that want to be here are those that are going to be here. Those that God intends to have
here will be here, and I ought to count it a privilege and a
blessing. But I'm going to keep exhorting you. He said in First
Timothy, he said, I would, he told young Timothy to constantly
affirm these things, keep telling them, keep exhorting the people.
Why should we go to church? Come worship God. I'll put it
in our own language, go to church. But what we're doing here is
coming to worship God. Now, if you ask it in that way,
why should we come to worship God? It answers itself, doesn't
it? We ought to have seven services
a week, shouldn't we? Why? Worship God? Well, why should we go to church? Number two, because Christ said, Christ said, We're so familiar with that verse
of Scripture, I don't even have to quote it. God will be with us. Can you
believe that? Or would you just like to quote
it? Does it just sound good? Does it sound religious? Didn't
Christ say it? He who could not lie, cannot
lie. He said where two or three gather. with the express purpose
of really worshiping me. Sitting down, clothed in your
right mind, before the Word of God Almighty in a worshipful
and reverent fashion, in a fearful, asking, calling upon the Spirit
of God to bless my heart and my mind and my soul with the
Word of God. Speak, O Lord, thy servant here. Christ said, I'm
going to be there. I'm going to meet with you. I'm
going to be there. Buddy, that's reason enough to
be here, and I don't want to miss him. Huh? I don't want to
miss him. No promise he's going to be with
me down in that study. It's just one of me. But there's more than
two or three here. And I'm hoping and praying that
there's two or three in here tonight. If so, I'm not being overdramatic here. I don't want to miss him. You
know what? I don't want to miss him. I've said it many times,
like Thomas. Thomas missed out, didn't he?
Buddy Thomas just about missed out, period. But the Lord's long-suffering
grace, he said, Thomas, come over here. And he was blessed
to him. You know what describes a true
disciple, a true believer, about as much as anything else? The two words in the scriptures
that describe a true disciple of Christ. Disciple, you don't
disciple me. You know where the word disciple
comes from? Discipline. You know what it
is to discipline yourself? To put yourself in subjection,
in devotion, consecration, commitment, zeal, enthusiasm. Study, pursue,
press. That's what that means. Disciple. A true disciple of the Lord Jesus
Christ. The two words that best describe
a true disciple, or best tell what position they are in. Number one. They're waiting. the way. In the Lord say reported a couple
of times. Blessed is that man. Whom when
the Lord comes. He found. Waiting. Waiting. That's what we're doing
is what we're doing waiting. Waiting. Another word watching. Watching watching These things
describe, it's like a, let me see if I can illustrate. One
of you ladies, one of you ladies who have had children, now when
your time was just about to come to have that child, what were
you doing? Were you watching General Hospital? Were you water skiing? What were you doing? You were
waiting, weren't you? Anxiously waiting, watching. What were you watching? Well,
if you were tied up miserably to a monitor, you were watching
those, your husband was watching, watching that monitor for contraction. Your whole person was engrossed
in this labor and this travail until that child came forth,
right? This is what a believer is, a disciple. He's waiting.
He's watching. He can't wait. He's as one in
travail until he'd be born. Didn't it say the whole creation
groaneth and travaileth? And so should even the sons of
God. It waits for the redemption of
the sons of God, the birth the time of the birth of the sons
of God into glory, it says. You ladies say, I don't know
if y'all were married when Henry went into the army or not, but
what if your husband was overseeing the war? Huh? What if he was
overseeing the war? And you were at home and you
loved that man dearly? Would you be waiting? Or would
you be running around on him? Would you? Would you be waiting?
Would you go to the post office in the morning? Would you wait
until noon? Huh? See what I'm talking about? That
describes a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Waiting and watching. Waiting. And he said where two
or three are gathered together, I'll be in their midst. So number
one, why should we go to church That's a poor choice of word,
but that's what we call it. I'm going to church today. Why
should I? I'm going to worship the Lord.
A little bit of likeness here. One of the men, one of the preachers, he would
talk about going to church to one of his children. He would
say, son, we're going to go worship the Lord. He wouldn't call it
going to church. That's good. He'd say, we're going to go worship
the Lord. And one morning, one morning, one morning, little
boy, one Sunday morning, the little boy woke up, you know,
he wanted to lay in bed. He didn't want to get up. It
was his day off, you know. And father came in and said,
Son, get up. He said, Daddy, I don't want
to go worship the Lord this morning. I like that. least he was honest. There's a boy with no gal. I
don't feel like worshiping the Lord. Why should we go to church?
To worship the Lord. That's why. Granted, we always
don't feel like it, but once you get here, ask the Lord and
he'll give you that spirit. And why should we be here? Because
Christ said, I'll be here. I don't want to miss him. I don't
know much about this rapture theory. I do know what it says
in Revelation. In 1 Thessalonians it talks about
the Lord shall come and gather his people. I don't know. You've
heard all the theories and all that, but I do know that he's
going to take his people. There's going to be some people
left on this earth when the Lord comes, some of his people, and
he's going to gather them together. And I kind of like to be around.
I kind of like to be in a group. Wouldn't you? Wouldn't you like
that? Wouldn't you love it right now? Would that be the most marvelous?
Can you think of anything more blessed? I'm not getting charismatic
on you here. I'm just... Wouldn't that be
the most marvelous thing? I'm with my family right now.
Ain't nobody out there that I'm concerned or giving a thought
to right now but you. Now it'd just suit me just fine.
Let's go. You ready? Let's go. Wouldn't
that be great? So I'm going to be here and hope
someday that might happen, OK? I'm going to be here. I hate
to be gone all of a sudden. Seriously, I'm just as serious
as I can be. This is my family, no place I'd
rather be. And number three, why should
we go to the house of God? Number three, the Spirit of God
Almighty speaks. The Spirit of God Almighty speaks.
He said to John, he said, come on now, John, I'm going to show
you some things. And I want you to write them down. John, I'm
going to show you something. You've never seen anything like
this before. There's a whole lot of things,
John, I haven't seen. This John. John Debus. Telling John about five faithful
men in the scriptures. Tychicus, Silvanus, Timothy,
Tychicus, Silvanus, Onesimus, And I said, wouldn't
you like to have John Debus in there, too? Faithful man. Faithful man. That's what I'd
like to be found faithful. When the Lord comes, will he
find faith on the earth? That's what he asked. Will he
find faith on the earth? But the Spirit of God speaks
and leads and guides and instructs and reveals things. There's things
I don't, I'm so ignorant, Henry, I'm so ignorant. Aren't you? I'm the preacher. The preacher's
ignorant. I'm ignorant. I don't know much. I'd like to know more. Wouldn't
you? That's what we're doing here. That's what the Holy Spirit
does. He takes us and leads us and
guides us in the altar. He comforts. I need comfort.
I'm so unsettled all the time. I need to be comforted. And hungry? I need to be fed, nourished.
Warned, restrained, all of these things. He says the Spirit of
God meets with his people when they get together and he does
all of these things through the reading and preaching of his
word. You see the importance of this. And all of this is found in these
letters to the churches. I told you this was going to
be just an introduction to this letter. All of these things,
warnings, instructions, guidance, revelation, mystery, nourishment,
feeding, restraints, just you name it. They're found in these
letters. Let me let you look at several
things here, several times. Chapter 2, look at chapter 2. Seven times, and I've got to
hurry. Seven times the Lord says this,
and I'll not have you turn to all of them, but seven times,
you'll see them if you're here. Seven times, chapter 2, verse
7, he says this, look at it, seven times. He that hath an
ear to hear, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches. It says that in verse 11, it
says that in verse 17, it says that in verse 29, it says that
in chapter 3, verse 6, chapter 3, verse 13, chapter 3, verse
22, the very same thing. He that hath an ear, He that
hath an ear, that's a spiritual ear, that's the heart, that's
what that is, but we have two ears, we'll let him hear what
the Spirit saith. Any wonder why I say these could
be the most important messages we ever hear, provided we hear
them. Seven times. You know when the
Lord says something one time, we'd better sit up and take notice
of it. If he says it seven times, Oh, doesn't that make it sevenfold
more important? It is said of some throughout
the scriptures, having ears, they hear not. And sad to say that I have ears,
and it's been many times when I have not heard. How about you? For various reasons, people don't
hear. Number one, they're not around to hear. If you're not
here, that's right. Why should we be here? If we're
not here, we won't hear. Number two, another reason why people
don't hear, have ears, but they don't hear is because your mind
is somewhere else. Number three, maybe, just maybe, your ears
are unenlightened. There's a certain man, well I've
known several people, to sit under the sound of gospel for
many years, many, many years, and never hear it. And then there's
one day, all of a sudden, they're gone. That's scary. But to him that
hath regenerated ears and ear to hear, let him hear. Let him
hear. Come, sit, listen. Listen up. And the mystery will unfold.
Mystery of God's will, it says in chapter 1, verse 19. Mysteries
like this. Things like this. Write these
things that you've seen. Things that thou hast seen, that's
the Old Testament types and pictures. This world, they still think
Noah was just a, you know, Noah's Ark just a story about a boat
and some animals. Our children know more than that,
don't they? The mystery of the Old Testament
types and pictures, things which were, things that you have seen,
things that are, things that are now. The gospel is being
preached to you now. What's going on now? Blessing
and understood. Things that shall be. Things
that shall be hereafter. Things like this, verse 20. Things
like the mystery of the seven stars and the seven golden candlesticks. Seven stars, he said, are the
angels of the churches. Seven churches. Now, that's the
pastors. You understand that, don't you?
The seven stars are the pastors of these seven churches. I don't
know who they were, unless one of them might be Timothy at Ephesus.
I don't know. It's sheer speculation. It might be at that time. Seven
stars are the angels, the pastors of the churches. And he says
here, I like this. Boy, this was to me. I read this
and I just, man, I like this. He said, The mystery of the seven
stars which thou sawest in my right hand. That's exactly where I want to
be. If I'm a pastor of his church. That's where I want to be. How
good to know that I'm in his hand. This is the Lord's church,
and I just don't. It's not my work, it's his. That's
good to know. I need to constantly remember
that. In chapter two, verse one, it says here, he says, under
the angel of the church of Ephesus, These things saith he that holdeth
the seven stars in his right hand, and who walketh in the
midst of the seven golden candlesticks." That last verse there in chapter
1 says the seven golden candlesticks, the seven churches, and that
Jesus Christ walks right in the middle of them. Like I said, two or three,
right in the middle. Here's a brief summary of all
the things we're going to look at, and I'll quit in these verses. Look at chapter 2, and he that
hath ears to hear, O my, he that hath an ear to hear, let him
hear what the Holy Spirit saith unto the churches. And here's
some promises here. Chapter 2, verse 7 says, He that
hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree
of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God." What in the world is that? I
don't know. Come back next week and we'll
find out. OK? I don't know what it is,
but it sounds good to me. Huh? Sounds like I'd like to
have a big bite out of that tree. Doesn't it to you? the tree of
life in the midst of the paradise of God. I have a feeling it has something
to do with Christ, none of that. But we're going to look at that.
And then verse 10 says, you shall have tribulation, the middle
of that, verse 10, but be thou faithful unto death, and I will
give thee a crown of life. There is that life that we were
talking about, the crown of life. Verse 11 says, He that hath an
ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that
overcometh shall not be hurt in the second day. It will not
come at you. You will be standing back saying,
Amen. I want part of that. Verse seventeen
says this, He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit
saith unto the churches. To him that overcometh, I'll
give to eat of hidden manna. Hidden manna. That's some bread, John, I hadn't
eaten yet. Now what I've tasted so far,
about as sweet as men to your honey bread, it doesn't match
this. Some of the sweetness of the
things I've tasted. from God's Word. It doesn't match
it. That honey wheat bread, she figured, I never thought anything
could top that, but it can. What he says is, you've got some
bread coming to you. Hidden manna. And look at it,
give him a white stone. What in the, what is that? I
don't know. We're going to find out, hopefully.
A new name written. Like old George Whitefield said,
let the name of George Whitefield die. Give me a new name, a spotless
name, a holy name. Everybody knows me. I want to
be anonymous. Give me a new name. He said,
I'm going to give you a new name. Verse 27 says, He that overcometh
keepeth my works. Him I will give power over the
nations. Chapter 3, verse 5 says this,
Chapter 3, verse 5 says, He that overcometh, the same will be
clothed in white raiment. Clothed in white raiment. And
it says, I'll confess his name before my Father. I sang that song to you one time.
Says something like this, it goes up. When it's time for you
to stand before God's judgment throne, will you stand in Christ
complete or will you stand alone? Will you stand in Christ complete
or will you stand alone? Will he stand before you, the
verse goes on to say, when you stand before his judgment throne
and he calls your name. Will Christ stand when your name
is called and say, I'm here? When he calls your name, Joe
Parks, will Christ stand up and say, here, here, and he's mine? Confess you, will he? Don't you
want that to happen? Oh my, confess his name before
my Father. I redeemed that old boy. He's
mine. He's yours. You loved him. Sent
me to die for him. Let him come in. Confess his
name." Then it says in verse 10, it says that he'll keep us
from temptation. Oh, I need that. When the hour
of temptation has come upon the world such as never before, he'll
keep his people from temptation. I want that. And from the evil
that comes on the world. I'll make him a pillar in the
temple of my God, a fixture in the temple. Wouldn't you like
to just be just a pillar in the temple of God, just a fixture,
never to be moved? And then it says in verse 20
and 21, it says that I stand at the door and knock. If any
man hear my voice and open the door, I'm going to come in and
go sit down. and we're going to have dinner
together." Now, I'm going to be happy just
to be there, but you let the Lord of glory
sit down at the seat beside me at the table, that'll tick this old sinner
plum pink. We got some things to talk about.
He said, I'm going to come sit down and have dinner with you.
You'd like to know something about that? Say you're being melodramatic.
No, I'm not. That's what it says. I'll come
in and what? Sup with you. Commune with you. And I'll grant you to sit with
me in my throne. Sit down in the throne of majesty
on high with me and we'll live forever together. But there's
warnings. There's warnings back in chapter
one, verse four. Chapter two, verse four, says
this. He says, I've got something against
you. I've got something against you.
You've left your first love. That's me. Verse 14 says, I've
got something against you. You hold the doctrine of Balaam.
In other words, you're in this thing of what you can get out
of. That's me. Verse 15 says, I've
got something against you. You hold the doctrine of Nicolaitans.
That's antinomianism. I've been guilty. Have you? Well, I've sinned,
but the Lord will forgive me. and not be repentant of it. Verse
20, he said, I've got something against you. You suffer that
woman Jezebel called a prophet to teach and to seduce my spirit,
my people, my servants. That's compromise and toleration
of false prophets and untruths. Toleration. That's me. What are you doing? Chapter 3, verses 1 and 2, says
this. He says, I've got something against
you, verse 1 and 2. And I know your works. You have a name. But you're dead. That's ritualism
and dead orthodoxy. That's Calvinism without a heart.
That's me. I'm guilty. Right? Dead, dry doctrinalists with
no heart to worship. He said, I've got something against
you. Verse 16, he says this. Verse 16, he says, You're not
cold or hot, you're lukewarm. How dare you come into my house
and be lukewarm? I'll spew you out of my mouth.
That's me. Now you, verse 17, he says, I
got something against you. You say I'm rich and increased
with goods and have need of nothing. And no, it's not, that thou art
wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. In other
words, hypocrisy. Hypocrisy. All of which I have and need to hear about. Don't
you? You need to hear those warnings.
I'm guilty as charged. guilty as charged on all counts.
How does the court find this man guilty on all counts? In Revelation, I'll read this
in closing. Revelation 22, read these verses with me in closing.
Revelation 22, read these with me in closing
now. He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear this. This is man,
this is solemn, solemn here. He said unto me, These sayings
are faithful and true. And the Lord God of the holy
prophets sent his angel to show unto his servants the things
which must shortly be done. Behold, I come quickly. Blessed
is he that keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book. And I, John, he's saying, verse
7, he's talking about keeping, taking to heart what he's saying.
Blessed is he that hears, yes, blessed is he that keepeth. And
I, John, saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard
and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel
which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou
do it not? I am thy fellow-servant of thy
brethren, the prophets, of them which keep the sayings of this
book. Worship God, and he saith unto me, See thou not the sayings
of the prophecy of this book? The time is at hand. He that
is unjust, let him be unjust still. He which is filthy, let
him be filthy still. He that is righteous, let him
be righteous still. He that is holy, let him be holy
still. And behold, I come quickly, and
my reward is with me. to give every man according as
his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end, the first and the last. Blessed are they that do
his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life,
and may enter in through the gates into the city. For without
are dogs and sorcerers and whoremongers and murderers and idolaters and
whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I, Jesus, have sent my angel
to testify unto you these things in the churches." Do you consider me an angel? I am the root and the offspring
of David and the Bride and Morning Star. And the Holy Spirit and
the Bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say,
Come. And let him that is athirst come. and whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. For I testify unto every man
that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, if any
man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues
that are written in this book. And if any man shall take away
from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take
away his part out of the book of life and out of the holy city,
and from the things which are written in the book, in this
book. He which testified these things
saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
be with you all. Amen. Now do you see what we're about
to embark upon? This is just an introduction
to what we're going to look at. These seven solemn letters to
the churches. They're so full. He that hath an ear to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit say unto the churches. Church at Central. Okay, stand
with me and I'll dismiss this in prayer. Dear Lord, we ask that you would
impress upon us, as a result of reading your Word, impress
upon us something of your awesome majesty and glory and holiness
and terror, the terribleness of our God. Still within our
hearts, fear of God, that we come before your presence with
fear and We come into your house, it's time to worship the spirit
of true worship. May we be in the spirit on the
Lord's day. May we hear and see great things from our God. May
the hand of our God touch us and comfort us, say unto us,
fear not. Lord, may we glean great things
from your word. We already have. We thank you
for this day. Heard blessed promises and solemn warnings. Lord, don't
let us, don't let it go in one ear and out the other. Please,
Lord.