I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray,
I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray, I pray All right,
turn back to Revelation chapter 1. Revelation chapter 1. Revelation
chapter 1. Now, Paul says that to win your honor, to win
your honor, you should respect, you should appreciate knowledge, This is not an acknowledgment
of their work, especially those work of the nation, the labor,
the economy, and the law. But when it comes to ascribing
greatness, and glory, and pleasure, that claim belongs to not all
of us. It's the reason the Father says,
His name is Christ. It's all over that record. His
name is Christ. But Christus says, let God be
heard at the end of time. Christus says, every man of his
half-faith is altogether a man. Christus says, there's none like
the Father. This says all that can in some
sort of the glory of God. That's who He is. That's who He is. And He's true
of every man and woman on the topside of God's earth, and every
man and woman. Amen. It's only one man who ever lived
that those persons did not pretend to be. It's all a piece of crap. It's true, these things, that
a man is a liar, and that he can't stand the same things,
and unrighteous, all these things. It's true of the prophets, and
it's true of all the apostles. All men, all women, are nothing.
We're nobody. We're no good. that God Almighty
makes something, somebody, to do that. And even after God does this,
this is called regeneration. God makes a turn, I don't know. I'm saying, even after regeneration,
all people are still what they are and still know what they
know and still can do what they can do, all 100% by their grace. And even though God Almighty
calls a man or a woman a saint, that man or that woman is still
very much a sinner. And we will be so until we're
delivered from this body of sin. We're absolutely delivered from
depression. Now, there's a scripture in Proverbs
22, don't you think? It just says this, Not your own life. Another scripture says, not he
that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commands. And I might add, not he that
is commended of men is approved, but whom the Lord commands. Men in the church, men such as
John, you hear? never took the lesson of silence
for themselves, but took the lesson of silence for themselves,
and never desired the high honors and accolades of others. They never desired to be called
Pope, or father, or resident, or even bishop. They never even called themselves
saints. They were called apostles, yes,
but that was a hated title. That was a hated title back then,
and it was needed for the early church to distinguish between
these men. But do you know the greatest
man born of woman? The Lord Jesus Christ said that
John the Baptist was the greatest man born of a woman didn't. Remember what he said about himself
when they asked him who he was. Remember who are you John he
didn't say well I'm the right Reverend Dr. Dr. John I'll have you know I'm the
cheapest among. You said I'm just a boy didn't.
I'm nothing. He said, I'm not even worthy
to tie. There's somebody you need to know. There's only one
name you need to acknowledge. That's God's Son, Emmanuel, Jesus
Christ. And I'm not worthy to tie his
shoes, John said. George Whitefield, arguably one
of the greatest men who ever preached the gospel, he said,
let the name of George Whitefield perish from the earth. Let the
name of Jesus Christ be sounded forth. Look at the title of this book
you have in front of you here. Look at the title just before
chapter one. What does your book say? Any
of you who do not have a Cambridge... I have a Cambridge Bible. Does
anyone here have something other than a Cambridge? Huh? Do you? What does it say? Tell me. Read it out loud, Henry. The
title there. The Revelation of Saint John
the Divine. Now, John would have...this would
have made him shiver to his bones to hear that written. This was
not John's revelation, and John didn't call himself a saint,
nor a divine. That was added by the translators.
Look at verse 1. That's in direct contrast to
verse 1. Look at it. The revelation of Jesus Christ. This is not the revelation of
John. This is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the revealer
of God. No man knows anything except
it be given him from above. Jesus Christ is the revealer
of secrets, of all truth. John had to have everything revealed
to him, just like you and I. You and me. This is not John's
story. This is Jesus Christ's story. As with all scriptures, this
was not written by or about man. This was written by and about
in man, you will. Now, I want you to look with
me at what John says about himself. Look down at verse 9. Look at
what John says about himself. I John, not Pope. He doesn't even call himself
Apostle here, does he? After he saw what he saw, Joe, and
heard what he heard, he wasn't about to take any title. Not
even Apostle. I John, not Pope, not Reverend,
not Father John, but I John. I John. Verse 9, I John, who
also am your brother. Now, just a man? flesh and blood
like you are, a man of like passions, a sinner saved by grace, a beggar
seeking a handout for the king. I, John, who am also your brother,
and I'm your companion in tribulation. I, John, I'm a working man. I'm
a suffering man. I'm a sinful man. I'm a tempted
man, I'm a tried man, I'm a troubled man, I'm a man in tribulation,
I'm a persecuted man. I, John, am just a man, just
like you, going through a world of tribulation, just like you,
John. Read on. I, John, who also am
your brother and companion in tribulation, and I, John, am
in the kingdom and the patience of Jesus Christ. As with everything
and everyone, I, John, am under the dominion of the King, the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm in his hands. I'm under his
rule, his sovereign reign and rule, his sovereign authority.
He is my Lord to do with me as he pleases. I'm under his reign. I'm in his hands, under his control,
and by God's grace. I'm in his kingdom by God, of
God, I'm in Christ, who of God is made unto me wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. I'm saved by God's grace. I'm
in Christ by faith. I'm in his kingdom in patience.
In patience is Jesus Christ. It's through the patient forbearance.
It's through the long-suffering of my Lord Jesus Christ. I'm
kept by his faithfulness. I'm kept by his patience. I'm
kept by his power. I'm washed in his blood. I'm
robed in his righteousness. I am in and kept by the faithful
woman, the Lord Jesus Christ, because he is faithful. I'm kept.
I, John, is the man. Not one whit better, not one
whit different, than any man, or any woman for that matter,
who sits under the sound of my voice this morning. Put your
name here, I, Sam. He could be, it could be you,
I, Joe. How many of you may be? I, John. John, you ought to be
really building that religion. I, John. I, John. Now look at
this. He says, I, John, was in the
isle that is called Patmos. It doesn't say he was in the
Holy Land. It doesn't say this was a holy island and he was
down on his knees kissing the dirt. It doesn't say he was blessing
the waters or consecrating or sanctifying the island that he
was on, that it was some special place, just an island, just a
piece of dirt. Our John was in the isle called
Patmos, not a holy place, not a special place, just an island.
And though John was persecuted, you know the reason John was
on this island? for the gospel. He was exiled or put upon this
island because he was one of these believers. The church was
being persecuted. The church was being killed in
these days, and John was taken and put on this solitary confinement
on this island. He wasn't alone that way. So
he was put on this island, and I guarantee you there was times
when he felt like he was all alone. He was just a man, I John. He was on this island, and I
don't know how long he was on this island, but he had been
persecuted, he'd been exiled, and he was probably somewhat
discouraged and depressed at times, and downcast at times.
He was just a man now, come on, does not make him out to be anything
more than he was. And I'm sure he was here a while, but he was
there on purpose, and oh, what a purpose. It may not have been the place
that he particularly wanted to be at the time, but it's the
place God had him to be, and it's the best place for him.
And he was about to experience something. He says this, now, the one. I
was in the isle of what is called Patmos, and I was there for the
word of God. There for one purpose, and one
purpose only. God's purpose. I was there for
a time, and God's good time. According to God's purpose, and
that purpose was for me to hear the word of God and for the testimony
or the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, like I said, I don't know
how long he'd been here. Probably a while, because he
spent away with every one of God's saints. All are made to
wait on the Lord. You're going to have to wait
on the Lord. He's not waiting on you. We're going to have to
wait on him. at the weight on him, so that
the Scripture says patience can have her perfect work. We need
to wait on the Lord so that patience can have its perfecting work. But John knew he was there on
purpose, and he waited to hear from God and hear the gospel. That's the same way with us,
the exact same way with us. We're here on this earth, as
Brother Ryden Barton preached to us. We're here to serve God.
We're here to magnify God. And we're in this building this
morning, not by accident, and maybe not by choice. Maybe not
the place we want to be, certainly not with some young children,
but we're not in this building by accident. We're here on purpose,
and God's a good time for us to hear from God and hear the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And though we come time and again,
quite often, perhaps never hearing anything, yet by God's grace
we keep coming, and some of you keep coming back, we must hear
God speak. We must hear from God. We must hear the gospel. We must.
We keep coming back. Now look at verse ten. He says,
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. You see that? This is significant. John says,
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Would that God be in the
Spirit every Lord's day. You know why? John was in the
Spirit on the Lord's day. He heard something. Oh, he heard
a great voice. You know what? I get tired of
hearing myself. It could be you get tired of hearing my voice.
It's obvious for some. I'd get tired of hearing my own
voice, but sometimes you're going to hear God speak through my
own babbling right here. There comes time and again. John
says, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, though, and I
heard something. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and
heard a great voice, and I saw some marvelous things. Wouldn't
you like to hear a great voice? When you like to see the glory
of God in the face of Jesus Christ, you get tired of hearing sermons,
I get tired of preaching. Now John was just a man, wasn't
he? I've just spent a great deal
of time describing him, he was just a man. He said he was in
the Spirit on the Lord's Day. You know what the Lord's Day
is? Sunday, Sunday morning. I know every day is the Lord's
Day, but this was the Lord's Day, the first day of which the day
that our Lord set aside for his people to meet, the Lord's Day.
It was on Sunday. John was in the Spirit, the Holy
Spirit, on the Lord's Day. Come with me to Luke chapter
11. Luke chapter 11. How does one get in the Spirit
on the Lord's Day? How does one come to be in the
Spirit on the Lord's Day? I want to know people. I want
to be in it. I want to be in it. You know, God's Holy Spirit
is sovereign. Scripture says, our Lord said
in John 3, the wind bloweth where it lifteth, even so every one
is born of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the wind,
the pneumos. The Holy Spirit is a sovereign
God. You can't presume upon Him. You
can't command him, you can't say, we're going to meet at seven
o'clock tonight and the Holy Spirit is going to be there and
we're going to have revival. You can't say that. But this promise is
from our Lord's lips and self. Look at Luke 11, verse 9. It
says in Luke 11, verse 9, I say unto you, ask, and it shall be
given. What? Seek, and you shall find. Seek what? Knock, and it shall
be opened unto you. What? For everyone that asketh,
receive it. What? And he that seeketh, find
it. Find what? Him that knocketh, it shall be
opened. What'll be opened, Lord? Well, if a son shall ask bread
of any of you, there's a father, will he give him a stone? If
he asks officially for a fish, give him a serpent? He asked
an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 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 to them that ask
him?" And what is the Holy Spirit's job? Take the praise of Christ
and show them unto you to cause you to grow in grace and in knowledge
of the Lord Jesus Christ, to cause you to mature, to predestinate,
to conform you to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ, to fill
your heart, your mind, your soul, your very being with the person
of Jesus Christ, so that you have inexpressible joy and comfort
and peace and assurance and life more abundant, and to make your
steps walk in the very paths of righteousness, that the Lord
Jesus Christ himself shall come." That's the work of the Holy Spirit.
I want to be right there. I want to be under His influence.
I want to be led by the Spirit. As many as are led by the Spirit
of God, they're the sons of God. If you be led by the Spirit of
God, you'll not fulfill the lesson of the place. That's where I
want to be. And you? How are we going to get there? I've been in many Sunday mornings. Lord, I've been in many services
on Sunday mornings. I've heard sermon after sermon
after sermon. I've sat on row 1, aisle 2, just
like John, aisle 2, row 1, seat B, for 40 years now. I'm tired
of playing this game. I'm tired of hearing sermons.
I'm tired of not hearing from you. Lord, God, send your Spirit. Let me hear your voice. They
say you speak from heaven. They say you're a great shepherd
and all your sheep will hear your voice. I want to hear it.
I want to hear it now. They say many people have seen
your wondrous works. They say many people have seen
the glory of God in the face and the person and the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I've never seen it. I want to see it now,
Sunday morning, the Lord's Day. I want to be in the Spirit. Lord, open my ears, they're full
of earthly wax. Lord, open my eyes, I want to
see Christ." And I give this advice confidently,
before every service, during every service at this very moment,
I beseech, I plead, I beg, I exhort, I admonish you to be calling
upon our great God to speak to us, to speak to me, and in turn
to speak to you, else we'll go out of here just as dead as we
fall, just as unmoved, just as sinful, just as corrupt, just
as troubled, just as up and down, just as moody, just as mean,
just as uncrossed like. Right? Well, John did that. God Almighty
speak to me. I've been on this island too
long. I've been in Isle 2, Street 3 too long now. Lord, how long? How long? Didn't David say that
over and over again in the Psalms? Huh? I read those all the time,
don't you? How long, O Lord? How long is
a heaven's branch? How long? Speak! He does. He speaks. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's
Day. And I heard behind me a great
voice as of a trumpet. I heard a great voice as of a
trumpet years ago. Brother Henry, you might remember
this. You were in the service. Brother Charles Ross, he's probably
old enough to remember this. Back in the service, back when
Charles was in the cavalry, Civil War. Do you remember, did they
have a revelry, back when you were in the army? Huh? Did a man get up early in the
morning, at daylight, and blow a trumpet? Revelry. You know what that means? It
means to awaken those that are asleep. To arouse them out of
their sleep. Revelry. Revelry. Well, years ago, I was in a service. And I was in a service much like
this, and I heard you have over it. It wasn't a trumpet, but
it was to me. It was a gospel call about as
loud as you could blow a trumpet. I hear it. And it awoke me out
of the sleep of death, dead in trespassions and sins, dead toward
God. I was awakened by a call, a gospel
call. I heard a great voice. I heard that man preaching. I
heard a voice I never heard before, a great voice. I'm not talking
about an audible voice now. I'm talking about the gospel
preached through God's Word. And though it came from a man's
voice who was preaching the gospel, it was as if God Almighty was
speaking right to me. Listen up, boy. You ain't listened
up until this time. You're going to listen now. And
I heard it. And that word told me, that trumpet, that voice
told me what I was. You ain't no good, you ain't
going to amount to nothing. You're a sinner, you're hellbound,
hellbent, worthless, hopeless, helpless, without God, without
hope, without strength in this world, naked, miserable, defiled,
ought to send you to hell, but God is rich in mercy. For his great love, where was
he loved? Quickened you together by Jesus Christ, God sent his
son down here to be a righteous substitute, to be a righteous
man. I heard who God was, who Christ
is, my Lord, my Savior, my Messiah, my only hope. And he said, you
better get over to him, boy. You better get to Christ. He's
your only hope. And by God's grace, I came to Christ. Confessed
and been following him ever since. Now, there are many services
where I didn't hear this. Like I said, I sat in, I always
sat in pretty much the same row and aisle. John said, yes, I
was in aisle pat. Well, I was in a church called
13th Street, aisle 4, seat B. I was there one day, Joe, for
the word of the Lord and it was a good time. But there were many
times I didn't hear it. I was like that little boy. I
was like that little boy who was sitting beside his mother
in a church service one day, and on the wall there were plaques
all the way around the wall with names on them. And the little
boy said to his mother, he punched his mother, he said, Mom, who
are all those people on the wall with plaques, with names on those
plaques? Who are all those people? She
said, those are the names of the boys who died in the service. He said, which one, the morning
or the evening? And I was much like that for
years, you know, so I was going to die. Morning and evening.
Wednesday night. Oh, don't make me go to Wednesday
night. I was going to die here and never
have my name up on that plaque. Thank God my name was written
someplace else. And one day I did hear his voice,
and I died. But I rose to walk in the notice
of the Lord. He killed me, slew me, told me what a guilty sinner
I was. But I rose, I will arise and
go to the Savior," the psalmist said. I'm charmed by this world
of delights, things that are higher than things that are nobler.
These began to allure my sight, and all these other things began
to drop to the wayside. I will hasten. It's coming back. Same row, same aisle, but I was
hearing something from that day. And there's still times when
I come here, and you do too. You come here to hear, but you
go away just as dead and just as asleep, and you didn't hear
his voice. Well, look what he said he heard. He said, I, John, heard behind
me a great voice as of a trumpet And you know, after he heard
something. Look at verse twelve, he said, I turned to see the
boy. Let's think with me. John heard a boy. The word of
God. And he saw a person. John heard a boy. And he saw
a person. Now that's significant. Because
if you ever really hear the word of God preached, you'll see a
person. You'll see the glory of God in
the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. Isaiah did. He said, in the day
that in his eye died, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. That's what John saw then. We're going to look at it. You
know, back in this day, back in Christ's day, when he was
on this earth, that is, Many people saw a man named Jesus,
didn't they? And some of them even asked, Sir? I came to the
door. We would see Jesus. And many today are doing the
exact same thing. They're going to church today
to see Jesus. Many attend service after service
to see the choir, to see their friends. to see us. Somebody court him, but if by
God's grace you're seeking God, if you're wanting to hear his
voice, if you're seeking, if you're asking, if you're knocking,
if you're calling by God's grace, you'll find God. You will hear
his voice, you will hear from God, you will hear the gospel,
you will see the glory of God, you will see Christ, you will
see everything you need. Not that man, not that woman, not
this, not that, you will see the God man, the one you need,
the pearl of great power. Not a mere man, not a helpless
martyr, not a failed reformer, you're going to see a king. If
any man really rightly preaches the gospel, if you ever hear
the Word of God preached as it should be preached, as it is
in truth, the Word of living God, you're going to hear about
a king. You're not going to hear about some faithless, helpless
martyr, are you? Some pitiful failure, some martyr
long, some mere man, you're going to hear about the Lord of glory.
And you know what's going to happen? So let's see what happened to
John. Read down. Let's look to who he saw. Not
just the mere man. Look at verse 13. And this sure
doesn't sound like the Jesus I'm hearing about these days.
Look at it with me. It said, I, John, turned to see
the voice that spoke with me, and being turned, I saw seven
golden candlesticks. That represents the churches.
And in the midst of seven candlesticks, right in the middle of the churches,
one like unto the Son of Man. Oh, I wish I could read this.
Clothed with a garment down to the foot. A garment. A garment. What a garment. That Broderick work, that was,
you ain't, you ladies, you seamstresses ain't never seen a garment like
this. This one he made. It's his righteousness. He wrought
it out with his own hands. The hands that made the universe
made this robe. clothed with a garment down to
the foot, and gird about the paps of the midsection with a
golden girdle. His head and his hair were white
like wool, white as snow. His eyes were as a flame of fire,
his feet like undefined brass, as if it burned in a furnace.
His voice was the sound of many waters." I can't imitate that
voice that he had in his right hand, seven stars. Stars! And
out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. That's his word.
And his countenance was as the sun shining in all its strength. He's not that one that's veiled
in human flesh, is He? Huh? He's not that one whom we
may see and there's no beauty about Him that we should desire.
And we'll hide our faces. What will we hide our faces from,
Lord? Those who don't know Him will hide their faces. But they'll
hide their faces for the grandeur and the glory and the majesty
of Him this time, the sheer beauty of Him, the inexpressible effulgence,
you want a word? Bright, shining, hottest from
the face of Him that sits on the throne. That's what a multitude
of people are going to be saying. That's not the Jesus I heard
about. This is the Lord of Glory. And then we're going to find
out, and I hope not too late, well, I mean His hands, those hands that have
stars in them. And look at what John did. And
this is what every son of Adam is going to have to come to.
Verse 17. I, John, ain't a nothing, ain't a nobody, I'm just a man.
I, John, was in the isle called Patmos that day for the word
of God and the testimony of the Jesus Christ. I, John, heard
a voice. Thank God I heard a voice. I,
John, saw a person, the Lord Jesus Christ in all His glory
and all His person, all of his work, and all of his honor and
his measure. And I, John, look at it, verse seventeen, saw when
I saw him, I fell down. I didn't stand up and say, Jesus,
I didn't raise my hands, I didn't walk the aisle, I didn't make
my little decision for Jesus. I fell down on And ain't no son of Adam on the
top side of God's earth ever been saved till he fell on his
face before a holy and sovereign God, before this holy King. You don't accept Jesus, do we?
He's not up for acceptation. We don't decide for Jesus. We
beg Him to decide for us. We don't choose Him. We beg Him
to choose us. We don't—it's not what we will
do with Jesus. It's what in the world. In the
hell and heaven is he going to do with us? He got the keys of
heaven and hell on his side. They say he doesn't send anybody
to hell. What's he doing with keys on his side? When a man or a woman quits playing
games, quits asking endless questions, I get so tired of questions.
What about this? What about that? What about you?
What about you before a holy God? When a man or a woman quits
asking questions and begins to get serious about hearing from
God, when they quit talking, I get tired of hearing everybody
talk. You know what? In a multitude of words there
lacks wisdom. You know that? God is in the heavens, thou upon
the earth. Let thy words be few, the Scripture says. Be still
and know that I am God, right? If we've got something to say,
let it be Scripture. I get tired of hearing people talk. I get
tired of hearing preachers talk. I get tired of hearing myself
talk. Never must be stopped and all the world become what? Guilty
before God Almighty and fall down at the feet of a great and
holy God and worship and quit asking questions. Then maybe,
then maybe, then maybe we'll feel His touch
and hear His voice. Not until then. Only then, when somebody stops
talking, quits asking, starts bowing, starts worshiping and
praising and thanking Him, only then will they be saved. Count
on it. Count on it. Only then will they be saved.
Only then will they feel His touch and hear His voice. Look
at verse seventeen. That's what happened. When I
saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And that's what man is,
isn't he? He's dead in trespasses and sins.
And only when the Lord of glory stops by his tomb, his religious
tomb, and says, Lazarus, come out of there, not when he does
this or does that, but when God decides, when God moves, when
the Holy Spirit moves, and when he lays his hand on me, not when
I lay hold on Jesus, not when I do this, not when I accept
him when he lays his hand on me. When I'm going the other
way, he's got to lay his hand on me, doesn't he, Roberta? He's
got to lay hold on me. come. Only then will we be saved. And
he'll lay his hand, verse 17, on me and say unto me, I'm first and last. And I'm going
to be first with you from here on and last. You see, the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. So why are you getting so excited,
Preacher? Why are you yelling at us like this? We just read about a voice of
many waters that the world's going to hear.
You're talking about yelling. You're talking about hearing
somebody yell. This world's going to hear Him
who speaks. The voice of the sound of many
waters is going to strike fear into the hearts of men. And if
we don't hear that voice now in its beauty and its glory and
its majesty and its saving power, it's going to strike fear in
our own heart. And if we don't hear Him say,
fear not, if we don't start fearing first, if we don't fear Him first,
we're not going to hear Him say, fear not. Right? That's the problem
with our generation. There's no fear of God before
their eyes. Is there? Religion makes a mockery
of God, makes a mockery of the gospel, makes a mockery of Christ,
makes a mockery of man. Religion has made God a man and
man into God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. And the sooner a man and men and pulpits everywhere
stand up behind the pulpit much like this and begin to proclaim
the utter majesty and honor and glory and holiness and power
of a holy and sovereign God, the quicker men will really be
saved. And I'll tell you that reaction
people are going to have. It's not going to be coming down
the aisle, popping their blowgum, you know, and popping their galluses
and laughing and talking. They'll be weeping and crying
and falling on their faces before a holy God. Like happened years
ago. Saying like the people of Pentecost,
what must we do to be saved? And not until then. And now,
every now and then, he's doing it one at a time. He's not doing
it in great masses like he did Pentecost and other times. He's
doing it one at a time. Thank God he does do it one at
a time. One person here and there sitting in the aisle called Central,
at a certain place, hears that voice and thinks, oh, he's great,
isn't he? Oh, I'm nothing like him. Oh,
I need Christ, don't I? And they quit asking questions.
I don't care who, where Cain got his wife. And we'll start believing God
and bow to his word. And, you know, the answers will
come to questions you were never asking in the first place. We're
asking all the wrong questions. Paul said to Timothy, avoid endless
questions. Genealogy just renders strife
and trouble and unbelief. Avoid that. And he'll give you
answers to questions you weren't even asking. You weren't even asking. Well, look over at them. Couple
of more eyes here. Look over chapter 21 with me
and I'll hurry, I'll quit. Chapter 21. Chapter 21, verse 2, look at
it. We saw this the other night. So, such a failure at trying
to describe this, but he says, I John. You know, John heard
the gospel first thing. He heard the gospel and he saw
Christ. And he felt his touch. Here am
I. I have loved you with an everlasting
love. Therefore, with loving kindness,
I have drawn you to this place, the Isle of Patmos, to hear the
word of God, to hear the gospel. You have never heard it before,
John, but here you are. Now, John did, but I am using
that as an illustration. And John saw some things. Between
chapter one and chapter twenty-one, oh, and from nineteen whatever
it was here, Until now, I've seen some things, I've heard
some things. How about you? Almost like Paul. Almost like
Paul. See, that thing's indescribable. Isn't that lawful to utter? I
can't... You know, at the times, you know,
it comes to the word and I say, I'm nothing. I, Paul. I, John.
I'm a man. Yet God reveals himself to men
and women just like you and me. There have been times I was sitting
down in that little cubicle and I think, I'm going to be Enoch right now.
I'm going to walk right on out. Walk right on up. Enoch. And I think, oh, I've got to
get this on paper if I can just get it to just come out like
it went in. And I come up here and I say,
but, excuse me. I go on. I say, I know all I
have to say is, fine, what do you say? I say, you call on the same God.
You look at the same book I did. I tried, I failed. The Holy Spirit's
got to do it. I can't do it. Understand me? I say, read. I say, seek. I say,
pray. I say, call. I say, wait. I say, ask. I say, seek. I say, knock. I can't do it for
you. And John said, I saw the holy
city, New Jerusalem. coming down from God out of heaven,
like old Barnard's illustration of it, being in that heavenly
choir. A multitude which no man can number, a sea of people,
a sea of voices singing, holy, holy. Wouldn't you like to hear
that song sung by a choir without a minor, without a flat? Holy, holy. I've got a better song. Unto
him that loved us and washed us from our sins, his own. Thou
art worthy, Thou art worthy, worthy in honor, O Lord. For Thou hast created, all things
hast created. For Thou hast created all things
worthy in honor. power and glory, power and glory,
power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power
and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power
and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory,
power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power
and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory,
power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory,
power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power
and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power
and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power
and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power and glory, power
and glory, little ones. How John saw this, and it just
about made me quit singing when I got back to earth. And you know, the more he heard,
the more he saw, the more it humbled him and broke him, and
he became more worshipful. This is what I've got. I've got
a problem with this generation. You know what? I've got a real
problem with this religious generation. Their religion's not making them
humble, is it, Rick? It's making them brash and bold
and cocky and familiar with God and using flippant terms with
God. Me and Jesus. You and Jesus,
nothing. Let's hope it's Jesus Christ in you. Like Abraham Lincoln
said one day, he said, this side over here says the Lord's on
our side. This side says the Lord's on our side. That ain't
the question. The question is, who's on the Lord's side? Is
he on our side? No, that's not the question.
Are we on his side? This side's wrong. That side's
wrong. He's right. Every man's a liar.
And this world every mile needs to be stopped. And all the world bow before
a holy sovereign king. And the more John saw here—John
was a great man, yes, just a man—but the more he saw, the more it
humbled him, broke him. He became worshipful. The more he saw Christ and his
sovereignty, he stayed in a prone position. Stayed in a prone position. I got one more eye for you now,
Quip. Look over chapter 22. One more eye. And oh, what an
eye. We heard from John, I John, I
John this, I John that. You see, there's somebody that's
the first and the last, and he's going to get the last word. He
got the first word in, he's first. He's going to get the last in,
isn't he? He that laughs last, laughs best. He that has the
last word has the last say, doesn't he? Verse 16. I, Jesus, have sent mine angel to testify
unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the
offspring of David, the bride and the morning star, and the
Holy Spirit and the bride say come. And let him that heareth,
he heard this morning, will come. And let him that is athirst,
are you thirsty for this? Come. And whosoever will, let
him take the water of life freely. For I testify unto you, 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. Any man should
take away from the words of the book of this prophecy. God should
take away his part out of the book of life, out of the Holy
City, from the things which are written in the book. He which
testifies to these things, that's the Lord Jesus Christ. He saith,
Surely I come. Quickly. Amen. Can you say amen today?
Can you say this? Even so, come, Lord Jesus. The
grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. Okay. Stand and I'll dismiss
this in prayer.