All right, here in the book of
Revelation, Revelation chapter 3, and last week we started some
comments on the seven statements made here to these seven churches
about overcoming. And each of the churches is given
a message with regard to this subject, to him that overcometh
or he that overcometh. And last week we kind of reviewed
a little bit and we noticed in the book of First John chapter
five that those who are overcomers have been born again. That's
the overcomers. Overcomers are not a special
class of Christian. They are Christians. God grants
us the blessing of overcoming because he has overcome. He said,
I've overcome the world, therefore you will. And in our regeneration,
we are guaranteed the privilege of overcoming. overcoming this
world, overcoming all obstacles, and it's in the grace of the
Lord Jesus. Now, we notice in the book of
Revelation that that word, overcometh, or over, that's found here seven
times in the first, or chapter two and chapter three, that in
other places in the book of Revelation, it is translated, hath prevailed,
or conquering, and to conquer, or hath gotten the victory, it is
always a positive thing in the relationship of Christians. And
as we followed through with regard to the Lord and his overcoming
or conquering and to conquer, he was always successful in his
conquering. He always prevailed, He always
overcome, He has always gotten the victory, He is overcoming,
He has overcome, and He will continue to overcome. So we're
in that realm of the Lord's overcoming, and He grants to us an inherited
right to overcome. Now, as we look at this, we find
that God does not have special rewards for people. Turn with
me if you would. Keep your finger right there
and we're going to be right back here, but I do want to read this verse
in Genesis chapter 15 with regard to a message that the Lord gave
to Abram. In Genesis chapter 15 and verse
1, Now, Abraham has just spoken
to the King of Sodom. The King of Sodom has promised
him a lot. And Abraham has said, I'll not
take one, well, I'll not take from the thread even to a shoelatch
it. And that's in verse 23 of the
previous chapter. that I'll not take anything that
is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abraham rich
or Abram rich. So he's gonna take nothing from
the king of Sodom. And then in verse one of the
15th chapter, the Lord shares with us, after these things,
the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision saying, fear
not Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. Now, what a comfort it was To
him, what a comfort it is to us to know that the Lord God
Almighty is our exceeding great reward. Now, through every one
of these seven churches of Asia, when he speaks about overcoming,
there is something said with regard to our relationship to
Jesus Christ. He is our exceeding great reward. Now let's go back to the book
of Revelation and go through these seven churches, and we're
gonna do it in a pretty brief manner. We're not gonna spend
a lot of time on each of these. We've said a few things about
each of these as we've passed through, but I just wanted to
look at them in a combined sense. These are the messages that God
has for his saints and this is what they will be given as a
result of God regenerating them or giving them the new birth.
They will all have it. Every overcomer will have this.
And you might mark in your Bible, 1 John 5, verses 4 and 5, right
here by these words that are, that mention overcome. Same words
are found there. And this is who overcomes, but
he that is born of God. That's the overcomers is those
that are born of God and first John chapter 5 verses 4 and 5
that versus mentioned and here in chapters 2 and 3 of the book
of Revelation. We have that the Lord uses this
term to share what he has done for his people and his exceeding
great reward ship. All right, the first. statement
is found in chapter 2 and verse 7, and it's to the church at
Ephesus, and in comparative speaking, comparatively speaking, it is
rather short, but it is so full. For it says here in Revelation
chapter 2 and verse 7, He that hath an ear, 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. Now, it's interesting here in
the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, we have reference
to a situation found in the first book of the Bible. In the Garden
of Eden, there was a tree of life. And if you remember, that
tree of life was shielded against so Adam and Eve could not get
to after the fall. And the only way that anyone
could get to that tree of life was to go through that angel
with his sword. Now we find that the Lord Jesus
Christ went through that. He took the sword of God's justice
and permits us, by his grace, to attend to, to come to the
tree of life, to come to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now twice,
again, here in the book of Revelation, this tree of life is mentioned,
and if you'll notice in chapter 22, verse two, Revelation chapter
22 and verse two, as the Lord shared with Abraham, I am thy
exceeding great reward. The more we find out about Christ,
the more we find that we have a reward in him. He is our exceeding
great reward, and it manifests itself in so many ways. And here in these seven churches
of Asia, there are at least seven. I would say there are several
more than that because sometimes they're plural in the verses.
But notice with me in Revelation chapter 22 and verse 2, in the
midst of the street of it, And on either side of the river was
there a tree of life, which bear 12 manner of fruits, and yielded
her fruit every month, and the leaves of the trees were for
the healing of the nations. Now there's certainly some things
there that we don't understand the full interpretation of. But
we do know this, that what we lost in Adam, we gained in Christ. What we lost in Genesis, we gained
in Revelation. What we lost as the tree of life,
that tree of life no longer was applicable to us. We could not
gain access to it on our own, and the only ones that could
gain access to it were going to lose their life. And then
we follow the king of glory coming to this earth and he lost his
life. He gave his life so that he could
give access to the tree of life that we find. Overcomers are
going to have access to the tree of life. Now it's not a tree,
it's a person. We have access to Christ. He
has invited us up and he has, here it says 12 manna of fruit.
I think it's symbolic of all of the good blessings that we
have in Christ Jesus the Lord. Every good and perfect gift,
and every spiritual blessing we have in Christ. So all the
fruit that is displayed there in Christ is given to us. So
next chapter, chapter 21, verse eight, excuse me, chapter 22, verse
14. I was reading the wrong section there. Chapter 22, verse 14. Blessed are they that do his
commandments and they That they may have right to the tree of
life and may enter in through the gates of the city So one
of the time we have mentioned of this tree of life. We lost
it in Adam It was a tree in the center of the garden and it was
a tree that God prevented Adam and Eve access to after they
fell he only prevented them from having the fruit off of one tree
in that garden and And you know, of all of the glorious fruits
that we can enjoy, the fruit in the Garden of Eden was by
far the best. It was always ripe. There didn't
have to wait for seasons. They could have fruit any time
they wanted it. And it was nourishing beyond
compare. They could have their apples
and their pears and their peaches, all of the rich fruit. And they
didn't feel like, Adam didn't feel like he had access to any
if he didn't have access to the one. And he wanted an aid of
the forbidden fruit. And as a result of that, access
to the tree of life was shut off. and only in the covenant
of grace are we given re-access to it, and that is we have access
to Christ. And so he that overcometh, him
that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which
is in the midst of the paradise of God. In chapter two of the
book of Revelation, verse 11, the church at Smyrna is promised
this. Now as this letter goes around,
Other churches were going to read this like we do and say,
well, I want verse 7 of chapter 2 and I want verse 11. You know, if this church got
this message and this church got that message and that church
got that message, but when it was all compiled together and
all the other churches got to read it, this is, I'm going to
take all of it. I'm not just going to take Smyrna's
blessing. I'm going to take all of it. So that's our privilege.
And here in chapter 2 in verse 11, 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 death. My goodness. What a glorious statement God
gave to every one of his believers, to every child of God, to everyone
that overcometh. Now we will be hurt by the first
death. We're all going to pass through
that. It's a valley of the shadow of death. It's going to claim
all descendants of Adam. But the serious death is the
second death. Now turn with me, if you would,
over to the book of Revelation 20 in verse 6. Here it says,
these overcomers, he that overcometh shall not be hurt in the second
death. What that is making a statement of, we've used it so often, is
God's people have eternal security. I remember a preacher was asked
one time, do you believe in eternal security? And his comment was,
it depends on who saves you. Now, if religion saved you, you
don't have it. If work saved you, you don't
have it. If Christ saved you, you have eternal security. He
will lose none of his sheep. Now over here in the book of
Revelation chapter 20 and verse 6, it says, blessed and holy. I love this verse of scripture.
Verse 6, chapter 20, blessed and holy is he that hath part
in the first resurrection, on such the second death hath no
power. Well, when God raised us in the resurrection of the
new birth and the regeneration, he has said, the second death
hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ
and shall reign with him 1,000 years. Now that word 1,000 is
the same word we find in Peter, about a day is the Lord's 1,000
years and 1,000 years is a day. And the Old Testament word for
that is he owns a cattle on 1,000 hills. Well, don't limit God. He has authority over all the
hills. And one day is the same as another
day and counts as nothing to God. We are captivated by days. He is not. And this thousand
years is an unlimited, unlimited time. But the part that we want
to notice here in this verse of scripture, in chapter 20 and
verse 6, is that The second death hath no power. Now in chapter 20 and verse 14,
and death and hell were cast in a lake of fire. This is the
second death. So all those that have gone on and have died without
Christ, died without help, without hope and without God in the world,
have died in themselves. They have at this present time
are held And I will just say it this way, in a county jail.
It is in torment. It's a county jail. But at this
day, they shall be cast into the state penitentiary and never
be released. It burneth forever. So on such,
the second death hath no power. Those who have been regenerated,
second death. How is that possible? The Lord
took our second death. He's the one that truly substituted
himself and took all of what is going to be meted out in eternity
on those without God and without Christ. He took it upon himself. He absolutely became our substitute. Now, last Sunday, before services,
I asked the men who among them were going to be my substitute
for the surgery tomorrow. Nobody raised their hand. Well,
I told that to Rachel, said, yeah, probably Mike R. had to watch a little water,
and Mike B. had to trim up his mustache,
and Wink had to inspect a new cane, and none of them would
help you, would they, Dad? Well, Christ as our substitute,
he became sin for us in such a manner that he suffered the
effects of the second death. Everyone's going to have a second
death to pay for. Those in Christ, he took care of them. Those out
of Christ, they'll take care of it. And because they continue
to sin in this place of torment, they will never, ever pay and
get out. And one other place found here
in chapter 21, verse 8, Chapter 21, verse 8, the scriptures share
this. But the fearful and unbelieving
and the abominable and the murderers and the whoremongers and the
resourcers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part
in the lake of fire. which burneth with fire and brimstone,
which is the second death. Now, when we read these couple
of verses of scripture, it's awful nice to find out he that
overcometh shall not be hurt by the second death. And that's
what God has promised. He took their place. So the second
death hath no part. It is not applicable. It is not
even going to be considered for all his children. He took their
place. All right, in chapter two of
Revelation, verse 17, is to the church at Pergamos. And to the
church at Pergamos, there in verse 17, to him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna. Now, manna in the Old
Testament was given by God, and it was an absolute perfect meal. It's amazing that the children
of Israel wandered in the wilderness for all that time and not one
of them ever got sick except when God said, because you wouldn't
follow my word at Kadesh Barnea, you're all gonna die off. Now,
he doesn't say that they died from disease. They're just gonna
die off. This manna was a perfect meal. They looked at it and they
called it manna because the definition of that is what is it? but it
was a perfect meal. Now, we have a little explanation
of it over there in the Old Testament, but this manna that is mentioned,
this hidden manna, he says, I'll let you eat the hidden manna.
Now, the hidden manna is Christ. He's our food. He is our Passover. He is partaking of the lamb. Those Jews in the Old Testament
demonstrated what it is in picture form to partake of Christ. He said, unless you eat my flesh
and drink my blood. Now he's not ever asking us to
be a cannibal. He's asking us, this is all spiritual. Your spirit must feast on Christ
and your spirit must benefit from his blood or you have no
part with me. So He that, to him that overcometh
will I give to eat of the hidden manna and will give him a white
stone in the stone of a new name written, which no man knows saving
he that receives it. There's two things in here that
I wanted to mention. Number one is this, this hidden
manna and turn with me to the book of John chapter six. John
chapter six, verse 31. We find here about this manna.
Now it was amazing. I'd never noticed until we were
going through it this time that it says, your fathers did eat
manna in the wilderness and they are dead. They are dead. Now notice here,
John chapter six, verse 31. Our fathers did eat man in the
desert, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven
to eat. And Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my father giveth
you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which
cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world. Now that
is just so clear about what this hidden manna is. I am the hidden
manna. I am the feast of heaven. And
they say unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus
said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me
shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I say unto you that ye also shall have seen
me and believe not. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Notice verse 49. Your fathers
did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. And verse 58. This
is that bread which came down from heaven, not as your fathers
did eat and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall
live forever. So the difference between the manna, which was
a miracle. Somewhere I read of the carloads,
train carloads of manna that had to be dispensed every day.
Train carloads, not little buckets full, but train carloads to feed
two, three, four million Jews on a daily ration. It was carloads
of manna that fell every day. And then the quail that went
with it out of their own, they weren't satisfied with God's
bread, so he sent them quail. So they had buckets full of quail
and trainloads of manna. But they ate that manna, which
was a picture, a symbol, a sign of the bread of heaven, the Lord
Jesus. But just eating that physical bread, Jesus said, and they had
to acknowledge, They died. But I am that bread that came
down from heaven. And in me you shall have eternal
life. He that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna.
When we are born again, we eat of Christ. And it is hidden to
the world. Now the Jews could go out there and find a whole
parcel of it. But this manna, it's hidden manna. Have you noticed the number of
times that Jesus Christ went through a crowd and nobody in
this world recognized him? Once in a while, a disciple did.
I've been intrigued by that woman that came in and anointed his
feet. They wanted, well, they mocked
him for allowing it to happen. She's doing that for my burial.
She's the only one there that understood what was going on.
Well, the hidden man, he's hidden to the world, but he's revealed
to his people. Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And Jesus said, flesh and blood
did not reveal this unto you, but my Father, which is in heaven.
To the world, he's the hidden manna. They can't find him. He's
under a bushel. But to his people that are revealed,
he is so prominent. And we see him. Nancy and I were
listening to a program the other day about the Bible and what
a good history book it is. Well, I remember a preacher one
time was told, you know, you can find boats in the Bible,
you can find automobiles in the Bible, you can find end times
in the Bible. He says, there's one other thing
you can find in there. Oh, what's that? Christ, Christ, Christ's
in the Bible. And so he is the hidden manna.
Now it also says in that same verse that I'll give you a white
stone and that white stone That, God is telling us by that, I've
elected you. I've chosen you. Now, the same
word is used, the Apostle Paul used it. He says, I voted against
Christians. I dropped in the black stone.
And a lot of Christians lost their lives because of my vote.
But he said, God said, I've given you the Whitestone. I voted for
you. In other words, I elected you. I chose you. Now turn with
me, if you would, to 2 Peter chapter 1. This is God's vote. The devil has nothing to do with
it. It's God's vote. He chooses things will happen.
He chooses the election goes right. Now here in the book of
2 Peter chapter 1, we notice here that the Apostle Peter was
led by the Holy Spirit to write this about the importance, the
value that is placed in this great subject. 1 Peter chapter
1 verse 10, wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make
your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you
shall never fall. What's it say over here? To him
that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and
will give him a white stone. I have chosen you, and you have
responded to this choice. I have chosen you. You've come
when I called, which no, in a new name written, which no man knoweth,
saving he that receiveth it. Well. That could just be the Lord our
righteousness. Believer. Christian. They were called Christians first
at Antioch. A name that God gives his people that they alone know.
And here it is, to him that overcometh. Hidden man of Christ. And knowledge
that I voted for you in eternity past on your behalf. You voted against yourself in
Adam and I voted for you and I'm bigger. I overcome the vote. I like it when God votes for
his people because no one can overcome the vote. It is a sure
thing. If God vote for you, who then
can vote against you? God before you, who then can
be against you? He is the last word on the situation
of all his people. Who then can lay any charge to
God's elect? It is God that justifies. And
so he says, overcomers, I've got two more things I want to
give you. Because of the new birth, I am going to give you
the hidden manna. I'm going to give you Christ,
and I'm going to give you the knowledge that I voted for you
in eternity past. And my, what good news? What
good news? All right, Thyatira, verse 26
and 27. The scripture says there, Revelation
chapter 2, verses 26 and 27, Thyatira, he said, and he that
overcometh and keepeth my words, Unto him, unto the end, to him
will I give power over the nations, and he shall rule them with a
rod of iron, as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken
to shivers, even as I received of my father. Now, what does
that mean? Hmm. I like this. Paul wrote to us in Romans chapter
one, verse 16. about the gospel. It is the power
of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth. Now this rod
of iron, this absolute, this is the gospel in absolute. There is no right or left hand
to the gospel. There is no gospel for our family
and then gospel for everybody else. There's no gospel for Jews
and then a gospel for the Gentiles. Now that's what's preached all
over the world. The Jews fall under one gospel
and the Gentiles fall under another one. They're going to have their
own little party over here, and the Gentiles are going to have
theirs, and all this stuff about religious denominations. He said,
we will rule with a rod of iron, and what that means is, it will
be absolute. The power that God gives to his
saints in preaching the gospel is absolute, and nobody will
enter into glory except through this gospel that is absolute. There'll be no right handers
left. It is a rod of iron. You're not gonna get, nobody
is gonna plead God and say, I want you to slack up just a little. No, there's no slack in it. It is a straightforward, honest
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ extends his power through
the gospel and breaks the dry hearts. our hearts, the hearts
of poor lost sinners by this, and he uses his regenerated ones
to do that. Now he rules with the rod of
iron too. No question about it. He's got a sway that he will
not give to the right hand or to the left. He is not going
to give in on his purpose. He's not going to give in on
his elective grace. He will stand and he will perform. But the same is true about every
one of his elected ones, every one of his chosen ones, every
one of his regenerated ones. When they open their mouth about
the gospel, they will agree on this. The gospel is God's and
we have no room to move it. It is to Jews and Gentiles alike.
It is family and friends. It is to family and enemies alike. It is the same, and it is if
it is ruled with a rod of iron. And it is powerful. It is quick
and powerful. His word is. And as Paul wrote
to the Romans, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. So he is saying to everyone that
overcomes, there's only one rule. the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and you will not take it one way or the other. It is
a rod of iron, and thank God, it is the only thing that will
break the vessels of a potter to shivers. The prophet said, my word is
like a hammer breaking the rock to pieces. And that's the only thing that
will do it. It's the only thing that will make a difference is
the gospel. Now it will make, it'll create new creatures in
Christ Jesus. All right, moving on to the church
at Sardis. Chapter three, verse five, we
find here a wonderful statement about God and his dressing his
church. He that overcometh, the same
shall be clothed in white raiment. and will not blot, and I'll not
blot his names out of the book of life, but I will confess his
name before my father and before his angels. Now turn with me,
if you would, to the book of Isaiah, chapter 61, and there
we find this wonderful verse of scripture with regard to this
robe that God gives us. Now it is not separate from Christ,
it is Christ put on us. This robe of righteousness, he
that overcometh, he that is born again, he that is regenerated,
the same shall be clothed with white raiment, shall be clothed
with the righteousness of Christ, in fact be clothed with Christ.
When God sees us, he sees his son. When God smells us, he smells
his son. When God feels us, he feels his
son. We are completely and totally covered with the sun. There is,
and if there's anything sticking out, we're in trouble. We want
the robe to go clear to the floor. We want to cover the entire head,
because if God sees us and does not see his son, we're in trouble. He must see his son. Now here in the book of Isaiah,
chapter 61, Isaiah chapter 61 and verse 10. We read this, I will greatly
rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God, for
he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation. He hath covered
me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Now this robe of righteousness
is not something that we gain in time, this is something we
are granted in Christ. I'm convinced that we have this
robe prepared to be installed upon us before the foundation
of the world. It's prepared at our birth and
it is placed upon us in our second birth. and our regeneration.
We have been given this robe of righteousness. And then we
also find in that verse of scripture, and I'd like to turn to Luke
chapter 10, where it talks about not blot your names out of the
book of life. Well, here in Luke chapter 10, we've looked at this
before, and we wanna be careful. All the blessings God gives to
us, that we don't brag in the blessings, but we brag in Christ.
As we mentioned there, Wednesday night, that's our reasonable
service, not to brag in our service, not to brag in what we do, but
brag in Christ. And here, these guys came back
from their little missionary trip, and my goodness, all the
things that were subject unto them. And in verse 10, or excuse
me, verse 20 of the 10th chapter, Says, notwithstanding in this
rejoice not, for the spirits are subject unto you, but rather
rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. Now what's
that mean? It's your reasonable service.
Brag on where your names are, and who recorded them, and how
they were recorded, and by whose righteousness, and by whose grace.
And so, they came back, and Satan, he says serpents are, we have
power over serpents and scorpions and all this stuff. That's not
their reasonable service. Their reasonable service is to
brag on Christ. And here we have it. He that
overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment. I will not blot out his name
of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my father
and before his angels. What's that mean? Welcome. Here's
my child. Welcome, my child. Welcome, my
child. Alright, Philadelphia chapter
3 and verse 12 of the book of Revelation. Chapter 3 and verse
12, to him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God and he shall go no more out. And I will write upon
him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which
is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God,
and I will write upon him my new name. Well, turn with me
to the book of Revelation 21. Revelation 21. We're not going
to see a building in heaven. There's not going to be a temple
at heaven. Why? Because it says right here, Revelation
chapter 21, verse 22. And I saw no temple therein for
the Lord God Almighty and the lamb or the temple of it. Now,
what does it mean here? Make a pillar in the temple of
my God. My goodness, to be put in such
a position in Christ. Unmovable. Fading, not away. Such a position
that God's people have been made in Christ. There's not going
to be a temple there, but the temple is Christ and to be placed
in Christ, to have a secure position that's in Christ. Now over in
the book of Jeremiah chapter 31, we have these words and we
read this not long ago, but I want to read it again. Jeremiah chapter
31 verse 33 we find there that God's name will be upon us and
Will be his people and New Jerusalem be our city and and here in Jeremiah
It's just another way of stating the new covenant the everlasting
covenant Jeremiah 31 33 the scriptures Have this, and it says, but this
shall be the covenant that I'll make with the house of Israel
after those days, saith the Lord. I'll put my law in their inward
parts and right in their hearts and will be their God and they
shall be my people. And here what we have, overcomers.
God's going to be my God and I'll be his people. What a blessing. Every statement he makes, the
church is ready to claim in the new birth. to have all of these
things, to have every blessing in Christ Jesus, to have all
this comfort that he gives to us. He's the temple and we'll
be pillars in the temple. We'll be strong because of Christ. It's just going to be a strength
that we didn't know we had, but it's in Christ. And then finally,
the church at Laodicea, chapter 3 and verse 21, these words are
there, to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my father
in his throne. Now in Ephesians chapter 2, Ephesians
chapter 2 verse 6, he makes us sit together with him. What a
blessing it is when he regenerates us, we have been granted a position
to sit down with him. What's that mean? Labor's over. When he sat down, he signified
that all the work was completed. It is finished. On the sixth
day, God rested. The Lord Jesus Christ has been
sitting at the right hand of the Father since his resurrection,
and God's people in him are sitting with him, saying, symbolically
now, the work's over. I never could work enough, and
then I found out he took care of it all. Here in the book of
Ephesians, chapter two, Ephesians chapter two, and verse six, and
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly
places in Christ Jesus. We are as successful as he was. We are as successful as he is.
And we are as successful as he ever shall be. Every one of God's
people are sitting with Christ, in Christ, at the right hand
of the Father. And so he says, To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame
and am set down with my Father in his throne. He's made us sit
together in heavenly places. And this is an exceeding great
reward, to be in Christ and to sit with him in glory now and
for eternity. To be as sure as it now, as it
is actually happened, and to know that his purpose of grace
is to have all his people with him. And so the seven churches
of Asia, as he commented to all seven and shares with them about
overcomers, goes right back to 1 John chapter 5. What is an
overcomer? Who is an overcomer? One I've
regenerated. And as a result of my regeneration,
as a result of my salvation that I've given to them, they shall
have all these rich blessings in Christ Jesus. They shall have
the tree of life. They shall have their names written
down. They shall be given the white
stone. They shall be pillars in the
temple. They shall have all these access
to me. And they shall sit down with
me in heaven as we speak now. And so all the people in all
those churches that truly knew Christ Jesus could go over this
list and say, oh, look what I have. Look what I have. Look what I
have. I have Christ and all these rich
blessings that are in Christ. Well, we're going to close the
first three chapters of the book of Revelation with tonight's
lesson. And I might say, and I just have
a moment, it would be a most gracious visit to John and to
us if the message of Revelation was found only in chapters one,
two, and three. What a book. What a statement,
what a comment. But you know what? There are
19 more, 19 more chapters that speak of the revelation of Jesus
Christ and it gets so good. The grass is belly deep. It's waist high. The rivers are
deep and clear as crystal. And the rainbows are high, and
the glory is great, and God is almighty, and his reign is over
all. And he's going to demonstrate
that as we go through this book. As we see, as we go into his
presence in chapters 4 through 22, we see the great glory of
God. And it's just really the fulfillment
of the overcoming. We're going to step into his
presence. We're going to hear him say,
I can overcome the line of the tribe of Judah. He overcame.
We're going to see him in action. And it really is the fulfillment
of all of these seven statements to the seven churches of Asia.
We're going to see it in action in chapters 4 through 22. We're going to see what he does
to overcomers for overcomers. And it's not a special group.
It's his church.