Join me here in the book of Revelation
tonight, chapter 3, as we look at the letter to the seventh
church, the church of Laodicea. And I find it very difficult
to assume that these letters represent church ages. just as I have great difficulty
in looking into the Scripture and seeing that there are seven
great dispensations of time. It's often spoken about, and
people who write books often sell their books on that. But
I just look at these as positions a church might be in over its
history. The position of Laodicea might
be a middle position of a church. And the Lord grants opportunity
to repent, and they see the error, and they go back to their first
love. So these are just situations. These are honest, churches. They were established churches. People attended these churches.
And the Lord thought enough about them to send a letter to them.
And that's grace. That's just grace, that they'd
get a letter from God Almighty. So we're getting the same letter.
And as we look at this, we notice last week, here in this chapter,
verse 14, unto the angel or the messenger or the pastor of the
church of the Laodiceans write, these things saith the Amen. And we looked at that a little
bit last week and we had a Hebrew lesson. Hebrew, it's Amen. Greek, it's Amen. English, it's
Amen. We know Greek now, and more than
just a little guy that runs a bread store, you know. But the Lord
is our amen. He is the sure word of promise. He's the amen. He's the verily,
verily. He is the truly, truly. And God's
people, without exception, God's people, once they've thought
about it and prayed about it, will always agree with Christ.
there will be no conflict. We'll not look at the Word of
God and say, well, I believe everything but that. We'll go
home, we'll pray about it, and God will open our heart and we'll
believe it. And there's, I guess I could say, there's just something
we don't have to pray about. It's just right there, plain,
right in front of us, and it's for us to take. And though, like
so much of the scripture, We may not understand it, we may
not understand all about it, but if we have a little bit of
knowledge given to us in regeneration, we'll not argue with God about
his word. We'll just take it and we'll
say it's God's word and it's the truth and I must have it. It also shares in that verse
of scripture, verse 14, the faithful, these things saith the Amen.
These are his credentials. And we find most of these listed
there early in the chapter one, all of these in a long list.
And then he separates them out to the various churches. And
we find as he speaks to these churches, he's speaking to all
of us, he's speaking to his people, and he's sharing his credentials
about himself, that he is the Amen, and he is the faithful
and true witness, as he tells us here, in the beginning of
the creation of God. Now, I'd like to spend a little
time tonight on that. He's the faithful and true witness.
But let us read the rest of this chapter. I know thy works, that
thou art neither cold nor hot. I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm,
and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. Because
thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable,
and poor, and blind, and naked. I counsel thee. There's no greater
counselor than the Lord. This church holds, what, a million
dollars of insurance on me? Best thing I can do is keep my
mouth shut when it comes to counseling. But the Lord counsels us. The best thing for any problem
is the gospel. The gospel, that's the best thing
for any problem. Christ is the best thing for any problem, any
issue. Lord, I trust you. And if we ever come to grips
with he has purposed all things from before the foundation of
the world, he'll just help us immensely with the daily grains
of sand. All right, now he's the council.
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou
mayest be rich, white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed.
Now when I read this, what I think of? I think of four lepers when
they entered into that camp, and all that they needed was
there. Over there. We're going to use
that when we get here. But they went there, they found drink,
they found raiment, They found riches. And they found, there's four things. Clothing,
thank you. They found clothing. He says,
I counsel thee, buy from me. Thou mayest be rich. White ring,
that thou mayest be clothed. Shame, that the shame of thy
nakedness do not appear. And anoint thy eyes with eye
salve that thou mayest see. As many as I love. I love that. As many as I love, I rebuke and
chasten. Be zealous, therefore, and repent.
Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice
and open the door, I will come in unto him and will sup with
him and he with me. To him that overcometh will I
grant to sit with me in my throne. even as I also overcame and am
sat down with my father in his room." Now, we just thank God
that he sits down. His work is finished. His work
is finished. Old Testament priest's work was
never finished. But his work is finished. He
cried, it is finished, and from that moment he could have sat
down. Now, he really goes to the extreme and lays down. Three
days and three nights he's laying down, resting, because his work
is finished. And now he's sitting at the right
hand of the Father. And then he says, he that hath
an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Now, we know that the Lord Jesus Christ said about himself, I
am the way, the truth, and the life. I'm the way, the truth,
and the life. And I'll never get my hands around
all of that. those three statements. I am
the way, the truth, and the life. And when he shares with this
church that he is the faithful and true witness, he is restating
what he shared with his disciples. I am the way, the truth, and
the life. Now, the truth is not hard to find, but usually hard to face. The Scriptures are filled with
the truth. And in religion, we find it very difficult to face
the truth. We want to make excuses for ourselves
and escape the truth. Who would preach a God that changes? He who believes a lie. It goes on all the time. A person
that would talk about a God that changes is a person that would
believe a lie. The truth is not hard to find.
I change not. But it's hard to face that. God
does not change. And we find that so often as
we look at the book of Revelation that people are long on prophecy
and very short on grace. So let's look at this passage
of scripture. He is the truth. Now, I asked
the question. I asked myself the question this
afternoon. I had the privilege of visiting with Duane, and I
got to reading and thinking, and I said, you know, I'm going
to ruminate. And while I ruminate, I clean
my desk off. Threw away a lot of trash. but
just ruminant, chewing on what in the world is he saying? And
who is he saying this to? And the fault lies. These words
of accusation lie directly at the feet of the angel of the
church of Laodicea. Who was it that allowed this
church to become lukewarm and not hot and Lord not cold. Who was it? The fault lies at
the foot of the angel of the church of the Laodiceans and
for some reason or other he allowed or brought in to the body this
lie. Now there are several lies that
he could have been bringing in that substituted the truth Now,
the reason I say this, in verse 17 it says, because thou sayest. This is what they said. This
is what the pastor said. This is what the group said.
This is what the body said. This is what they said about
themselves. You say, I am rich, and increased
with goods, and have need of nothing. Now that's what they're
saying, but what is the truth of the matter? What is the truth
that should have been said? What is the truth that should
have been proclaimed? The Lord Jesus Christ answers
that question in this very same verse of scripture. You say this,
which is a lie. And who would take a lie but
anybody who would not believe the truth? Now there was a problem
here for some reason or other. This pastor, this angel, this
minister at the Church of Laodicea allowed a lukewarmness to take
over. And the only reason that that
could take over from our standpoint, and I like what that preacher
say, we can only be responsible for our generation. But we must
take responsibility for our generation. We must stand up for what is
truth. at the expense of popularity,
at the expense of whatever, we must stand for the truth. The
Lord Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life, and
we must, if we are going to be in love with Him, must stand
with Him. Now thank God He stands with
us, but we must stand with Him. Now what was it that this pastor
brought in? He brought in some way, somehow,
he brought in this teaching What does it say, verse 17? I am rich
and increased with goods and have need of nothing. Now that
is a terrible position for this church to be in or for any church
to be in. And it's terrible because the
pastor allowed it to come in. And the Lord Jesus Christ says
what you should have been saved, what should have been preached,
what should have been taught is we're weak and needy creatures. And we're in need of everything.
And that's one reason, and we're not going to cover it tonight,
but that's one reason he shares with this church that I am the
beginning of the creation of God. I am the first cause for
all things, and you have gone beyond that. You have stepped
aside from that. You've taken a lie. You haven't
believed the truth about that. And you have said that you're
increased with good. You're rich and increased with
goods. Some way, somehow, this pastor came in with this teaching.
Now whether it was over time, we don't know. Whether they got
a new pastor and this is what he brought in, we don't know.
But we know this. This letter is written to the
pastor of this church and the problem lies at his feet. And
the repentance must be his as well as the bodies. Now this
is what the Lord said about it. Thou knowest, and knowest not
that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Now that's the truth, and you
believe the lie. Now there are several things
that could have helped promote this kind of feeling. One of
them is so amongst us today, and that's progressive sanctification. Progressive sanctification means
I was saved and now it's up to me to make myself better so that
I'm more acceptable with God. And I'm going to do that by cutting
out things, leaving things, don't doing things, not speaking things,
not being with people, and on and on the thing goes. And in
fact, we find that the truth is the Lord is our sanctification. And when we are regenerated,
we're as sanctified as we can ever be. And that's 100%. Nothing
is left out. There is no Achilles heel. You read about Achilles, his
mother stuck him down in a river and didn't get his heel down
in the water. Well, that's where the arrow
got him and that's where he got killed. Well, with God's people,
there is no Achilles' heel. He completely sanctifies His
people, and He completely makes them spotless, and He completely
makes them acceptable in His sight, and He completely makes
them presentable before Him. It is an absolute perfection
that God does. So there is no such thing is
popular but it is believing a lie at the expense of the truth because
the Lord Jesus Christ is our sanctification. He is the only
one that can make us be able to be presented to God clean.
We can't do it and it doesn't matter what we stop doing. Now there may be some things
that when God saves us we see the error of it and we say, I
don't want to do that anymore. But it's not going to make us
more holy with God. He's just working out conforming
us to the image of His Son. Now, there's something else that
has come so popular in the religious world today, it's all around
us, that you can reach the stage of sinless perfection. It's all
around us. We say it's in the holiness people.
It's not just in the holiness people. It's all around us. And whether this preacher came
in and says, you can make yourself to the point that you are sinless
before God on your own. Now that's a lie. That's a lie. Or he may have come in and said,
believing Paul's words written in Romans 7. Turn with me in
Romans 7 verse 24 was before he was regenerated. Now Romans
7 verse 24 is after he was regenerated and this is why the Lord Jesus
Christ shared with this church of Laodicea that this is the
truth about the matter. You're poor and wretched and
blind and miserable. in yourself. In me you can be
whole, in yourself. Now notice here in the book of
Romans, and the book of Romans chapter 7 and verse 24 has nothing
to do with Saul of Tarsus and has everything to do with Paul
the Apostle. Saul of Tarsus is gone. Paul
the Apostle is present. Saul of Tarsus, he writes about
him, and he says, I was trying to accomplish it on my own righteousness.
You follow the writings of Paul, and he looks at his old life,
and he says, I tried to get to God on my own righteousness.
Now, I don't want to. In Romans 7, verse 24, notice
these words as the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Rome by
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. And he's bearing his soul for
us. And saying what God's people say, O wretched man that I am,
who can deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God through
Jesus Christ our Lord. Now that's my hope. That's my
hope. But I am poor and wretched and
blind and miserable. Left to myself, I am wretched. I am a wretched man. And so,
as the Lord Jesus Christ shares with the church at Laodicea,
he's sharing with the pastor, you've got things messed up.
You brought in untruths, and you've preached them, and people
have believed you. Back up. Repent. Change your course. You need
to back up. You need to change your course,
because what you have brought here has brought this church
to lukewarmness. They have got satisfied with
themselves, and what brought on this lukewarmness? Verse 17,
I'm rich, increased with goods, and have need of nothing. I am
rich, I'm increased with goods, and have need of nothing. What's
that sound like? Lord, I thank Thee that I'm not like other
men. the Pharisee. I pay tithes on
my celery seed and besides that I'm thankful I'm not like that
man. Now this would not be a fun church
to attend because any sinner wouldn't fit in. You couldn't
go there and not be perfect. it would be difficult to go the
second time. I used to work for a fellow.
He was in the military. He was down in Texas. He went
to a church. He and his wife went back the
second time. The deacons met him out the door. He says, we
know what rank you are, we know how much you make, and we expect
you to be tithing next Sunday. Do you think he ever went back?
That was his argument about not going to church. I'm rich, I'm
increased in goods, and I have need of nothing. So it'd be a
very difficult place to go. People don't mind being around
people who know that they're weak and needy creatures because
that's where we are. They don't mind being around
people that are in the city of refuge because we all know why
we're there. We're dead in trespassings and sin, regenerated by the mighty
grace of God, and God has protected us by His walls. We know. We're all sinners saved by grace.
We know that why we're here. This is not a museum for saints. This is a hospital for sinners. And when we look at it as a hospital
for sinners, everybody's welcome. Nobody's cast out. Nobody's left
out. We're not going to expect people
to get better. They're not going to have to clean up their act
to come. They're going to be welcome as
they are. They may come in miniskirts and
shorts, but we're not going to find fault with that. God can
take care of that. He can take care of the way we
dress. Now, I enjoy shorts. I perspire easily, and I understand
why I want to wear shorts. But we're not going to find fault
with the way they're dressed. We're not going to find fault
with the way they talk. We're not going to find fault
with the way they are. Now, if we get some religious guy in
here who wants to run a place, there's the door. And I'll ask the men to escort
him out. If they want to sit and be quiet and listen, they're
welcome. Anybody is welcome. Why? Because
we're poor and needy creatures. And nobody minds being around
people that are poor and needy creatures. All right. Now, they could say, we're glad we're
not like the church over there at Philadelphia. Now, they're
very close to us, but we're glad we're not like them. Because
that's a church full of sinners over there. But we've made it. We've arrived. We've got beyond
that. Now turn with me, if you would,
over to the book of Deuteronomy. This whole situation rests at
the feet of the pastor of that church, and rests at the feet
of those who believed it. I believe it is essential that
we be like those at Berea, for they were more noble than those
at Thessalonica, in that they searched the scriptures daily
to see if those things were true. So it is essential that we search
the scriptures to make sure that that's true. Now over here in
the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 18, verse 20, the Lord shared
with the Jews in the Old Testament these words, and they are profound
when it comes to the pastor of the church of Laodicea. When
the Lord Jesus Christ presented himself to that church and says,
I am the Amen, and I am the faithful and true witness, he's bringing
these words up because that church, under the leadership of that
pastor, had said, we're rich, and we have everything we need,
and we have need of nothing. And what that does is put you
in the same place that God is, because he's the only one that
has need of nothing. He doesn't need us for his glory.
He's glory in himself. Now, Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse
20, the scripture says this, but the prophet, which shall
presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded
him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of the other gods,
even that prophet shall die. Now that's a warning. That's
a warning. I can just imagine this coming
Sunday we're going to have a lot of messages in the United States
of America about the little war that was in Georgia. Mark my words, long on prophecy,
short on grace. and Russia, and the coming, and
the going, and the Gog and Magog, and all this stuff. Because if
you're long on prophecy and short on grace, you have to have something.
And people will believe a lie, because the preacher believed
a lie. All right. Now here it says, take them out
and kill them. Take them. Oh, Lord. Lord, help me. Help me to be honest with your
word and honest with your people. Now turn with me to the book
of Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 28. We've read this before, but
we want to read it again because the pastor of the church at Laodicea
had this charge laid at his feet. I am the Amen, I am God Almighty,
and I will do as I please. And I am the faithful and true
witness. And you must speak my word. You cannot deviate from it. You cannot interject your thoughts. You cannot interject your desires. Leave it alone. Preach it and
leave it alone. State it and leave it alone.
Declare it and leave it alone. Don't get involved with it. Just
say it and leave it alone. Now here in the book of Jeremiah,
chapter 28, there was a prophet. His name was Hananiah, and verse
15, the scriptures share this, then said the prophet Jeremiah
unto Hananiah the prophet, hear now Hananiah, the Lord hath not
sent thee. You know what he had? He had
a local call. Might have been his, might have
been his wife's, might have been his mother's, might have been
some church. I grew up in a church, oh the
pride that went out was how many men in that church were called
to the ministry and were pastoring churches in places. And most
of them needed to be plowing corn. You heard about that cloud
that G. P. C. And the fellas thought
it was go preach Christ, it was really go plow corn. No, he said,
I didn't send you. What's it say here? The Lord
said, Hear now Hananoah, the Lord hath not sent thee, but
thou makest this people to trust in a lie. Therefore, thus saith
the Lord, behold, I will cast thee from off the face of the
earth. This year thou shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion
against the Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died
the same year in the seventh month." Serious, serious, serious. You did, I didn't send you, and
you didn't speak for me. And yet the people looked at
him as a prophet. Jeremiah, let's back up just a little bit, chapter
5, verse 31 of the book of Jeremiah. Jeremiah chapter 5, as we think
about that pastor over there in Laodicea, he's a silver-tongued
orator. He can speak, and he can get
the crowd. He can get the crowd, get a lot
of people. And that's the way most people
measure success, big. people, lots of people, two,
three services, that's how measurement goes on. And yet, the man at
Laodicea is told, you say, we have no need, we have no weakness,
we have everything in order and we're doing fine. What the truth
is, you're poor and blind and miserable. And my counsel to
you is, come to Christ. That's what he's saying. Come
to Christ. I've got all of this. The rich blessings of God come
to Christ. Now Jeremiah chapter 5 verse
31. The scripture shares this. The
prophets prophesy falsely. The priests bear rule by their
means. And my people love to have it
so. Now that's national Israel. The prophets and the priests
are doing a lie, and you know what? People love it. What can
get a crowd more than a prophecy meeting? What can get a crowd
quicker than a lie? All you have to do is go out
and say, God loves everybody. You know what the miracle about
it is? I like what Charles Spurgeon said about that verse of scripture.
Now that verse of scripture over there in the book of Romans is
never read in that context. And usually it's never read.
Chapters 8, 9, 10, and 11 are generally never read. When I
was in Bible school, they told me they were all parenthetical.
Put the parenthesis around it, you don't need to read these.
They're not that important. Well, they are mighty important.
They're mighty important. And the scriptures say three
times in scripture, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated.
Now God's people have no problem with God hating them. And they
have no problem with God hating Esau. But oh the grace that's
made evident that God would love Jacob. And that God would love
you. Now that's a miracle. God would
love His people with an everlasting love. Now, here it says there
in verse 31, the prophets prophesy falsely, the priests bear rule
by their means, and my people love to have it so, and what
will ye do in the end thereof? But the crab tree's father says,
oh Bruce, what am I going to do? When it comes down to the
end, and we believe the lie to the end, And the truth is exposed
to us at the end. Oh, Lord, what shall we do? What
shall we do? Oh, the truth. Buy the truth
and sell it not. Hang on to it. Jeremiah chapter
14. Read with me here. Jeremiah 14. 14, 14. Jeremiah 14, 14. Then the Lord said unto me, Jeremiah
14, 14, the Lord said unto me, the prophets prophesy lies in
my name. I sent them not, neither have
I commanded them, neither spake unto them. That's several statements
about I didn't, I didn't, and they're going up and saying,
I have a word. I have a whisper from God. God's
spoken to me. Down there in Florida, there's
I-4, Interstate 4, goes between Tampa and Daytona. It's east or west, but it's really
going north and south. And it goes from coast to coast.
Now, outside of Orlando, there's a monstrosity of a building,
and it's known as the eyesore on I-4. The eyesore on I-4. And it goes up like this, and
it has a big curve, and it's all glass. And you look into
it, and there's not a thing in it. Now, the guy that has been
in the process of building it over several years is on TV,
and he has bled widows dry. I have a ministry. God has spoken to me, and you
have a $20 bill, you have a $50 bill, you have some savings,
and He wants me to build this building for the honor and glory
of the Lord where we can have Christian people have office
space. And it's several millions of
dollars right out there on I-4. And people have been duped into
giving to that. Now what's it say right there?
Jeremiah 14, 14. I sent them not, neither have
I commanded them, neither spoken to them. They prophesy unto you
a false vision and divination, and a thing of naught, and the
deceit of their heart. Now if there's ever been a time,
I know it was evident here in Jeremiah's day, it was evident
in Paul's day, in the Lord's day, it's been evident throughout
the ages, but it's really evident today. Oh, they have a thing
of naught and the deceit of their heart. I like that song, or the
name of it at least, Would Jesus Wear a Rolex? a country song, would Jesus wear
a Rolex? Because most of the TV preachers have Rolexes. They sold out. The church at
Laodicea had a problem, and the problem lays right at the feet
of the man they called as their pastor. and he brought this garbage
in that everybody's okay and God loves everybody and you're
doing fine and don't worry about a thing and you're going to be
okay and we have no needs. So therefore, therefore we can
have our Monday night, Tuesday night, Wednesday night, Thursday
night, Friday, sessions, and we'll break the kids up here,
and we'll have our swimming pools, and we'll have our basketball
courts, and everything else that's non-essential, and the gospel
is lost. I'll never forget that guy calling
me up from Montana saying, what do you have for the kids at your
church? And I said, the gospel. That's all. And at the close of the service,
we have some that kind of run. I didn't say that. They have
a good time. All right. And in Jeremiah 23
and verse 16. Would you turn with me there?
Jeremiah 23 and verse 16. It was a terrible time in the
days of Jeremiah. No wonder he wrote the Lamentations
of Jeremiah. Holy Spirit led him to do that.
And he's a prophet at about the same time as Isaiah. And we've
read what's going on in the days of Isaiah over there. As soon
as Hezekiah's gone, his son Manasseh takes over and he is an absolute
renegade. He's a rebel against God. Now
Jeremiah chapter 23 and verse 16, it says, Thus saith the Lord of hosts,
hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto
you. They make you vain. They speak
a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the
Lord." Oh, what a statement. In all of these verses, we've
seen what the pastor is supposed to be doing. This is what you're
supposed to do. Listen to my word. Read my word.
Now, I don't have to go into my study and say, I want you to tell me what I'm
supposed to preach on. Now I'll tell you, he impresses. He impresses. But this is what we have to preach
from. This is it. We're not looking from a word.
We're looking at the Word. So that's what we have. That's
the statement. And the Apostle Paul said, you
know, if I were an angel from heaven. Galatians chapter 1. If I were an angel from heaven.
come and preach any other gospel than I preach unto you, let him
be accursed." And then in the next verse, he restates it. The
Holy Spirit restates that comment and says, let him be accursed. Well, the Old Testament just
said, kill him. Take him out and kill him. Here it says, let
him be accursed. That's what the Lord said with
regard to Judas. It would have been better that
he had never been born. The Son of Man goeth as it was
determined, but woe unto him by whom he is betrayed. The preacher
that stands in the pulpit and lies on God has much to stand
before God about. Now this man, the Lord says,
oh repent, repent, repent, go back, go back. Forget about this mush that you're
preaching. Go back. Forget about the crowd. That's not the measure of success. Faithfulness is the measure of
success. What we want to hear is, welcome,
thou good and faithful servant. And all of God's people will
hear that. Now, there are some statements made in the book of
Leviticus. But I want to, my time is about out. I would like
to look at the book of Leviticus chapter 19 and verse 36. Old
Testament gospel. Leviticus 19. Those people at
Laodicea said, I am rich, increased with goods,
and have need of nothing. Religion will teach you that.
Grace will teach you the opposite. I'm in need of Christ. I am poor,
weak, and needy, and I am desperate for Christ. Give me Christ, lest
I die. Let me hear Him. Now, here in
the book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 36. Just balances, just weights,
a just ephah, a just hen shall ye have. I am the Lord your God,
which brought you out of the land of Egypt. Keep your finger
right there and turn with me, if you would, over to the book
of Proverbs, chapter 20. Proverbs, chapter 20. Keep your
finger right there in the book of Leviticus. Over in the book
of Proverbs, chapter 20, we have these words mentioned that go
along with that. And this is, it is important
if you're in business that you have honest weights and honest
scales and honest measures. That's true. But when it comes
to Christ, You must be honest with Him. And you must be honest
with the Word. The Word, the truth, is not hard
to find. It is difficult to face. So don't
pull out dishonest weights and measures about God. Don't lie
on God. Don't lie about God. He is high
and lifted up. Our greatest honor of Him is
just saying He's high and lifted up. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God Almighty. If we have nothing else to say,
that's honor to Him. But once we pull Him down and
try to get people to believe He's doing things He's not doing,
we've told a lie on Him. We're in need of nothing. We're
in need of nothing. Now notice here in Proverbs chapter 20,
verse 10, the scripture says, diverse weights and diverse measures,
both of them are alike abomination to the Lord. Now if you're going
into business, be honest with your weights and measures, but
it certainly is saying a whole lot more than that. It is be
honest with God and be honest with yourself. Face the truth. the truth about God. Don't believe
a lie about God. Don't have a half cup declared
as a full cup when it comes to God. People in that day and time,
if you were the friend, the measurements were bigger if it was volume. And the measurements were smaller
if it was weight. They had various measures, and
it happens all the time. One of my favorite Norman Rockwell's
is, you know what it is? The lady on the outside pushing
up and the butcher on the inside pulling the weight down, you
know? That is just human nature right there. Honest weights and
honest measures. Now when it comes to God, just
be honest. And it won't be long, we'll be
saying, I'm in need of Christ. I'm in need of Christ. He is
my all in all. We do justly when we spend 99%
of our time speaking of Christ and His redemption. For that
is the percentage of the Bible dedicated to this subject. Now
I said 99%. There's 1%. And he begat, and he begat, and
he begat, and he begat. All right. And some of the laws,
and so forth. But oh, if we'd spend 99%, we'd
be just in dandy shape spending on Christ. Now, I was cleaning
off my desk, and I found a bulletin that was printed in January of
2000. It was the happy new year, January
2000. That's Y2K. Now, we had Gene up here in December
because we were told all over, we don't know what's going to
happen to the computer systems. You might not be able to buy
or trade. You may have to have a forehead marker, a marker,
all this stuff. Well, we made it across Y2K.
But in that bulletin, and it was copied, and I don't know
where from, the new gospel versus the old gospel. Evangelism, by
and large, has ceased to preach the gospel in the old biblical
way. And we frankly admit that the
new gospel, in as far as it deviates from the old, seems to us a distortion
of the biblical message. And we can now see what has gone
wrong. Our theological currency has
been debased. Our minds have been conditioned
to think of the cross as a redemption which does less than redeem.
and a Christ as a Savior who is less than safe, and God's
love as a weak affection which cannot keep anyone from hell
without help, and of faith as the human help which God needs
for this purpose. The pitiable Savior and the pathetic
God of modern pulpits are unknown to the Old Gospel. The Old Gospel
tells men that they need God. but not that God needs them,
a modern falsehood. It does not exhort them to pity
Christ, but announces that Christ has pitied them. though pity
was the last thing they deserved. It never loses sight of the divine
majesty and sovereign power of Christ, whom it proclaims, but
rejects flatly all representations of him who would obscure his
free omnipotence." Now, that's the modern. That's the Laodicean. We're rich. We have need of nothing. And the Lord Jesus Christ, who
is the truth, faithful and true witness, says, now let's state
this right. Let's state this right. You are
poor. Well, I wonder what the pastor
did when he got that word. But that message didn't stop
right there. The Lord continued on and said, you're not only
that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. And I wonder what that pastor
did with those five thoughts. We can hope that he says, oh
my goodness. Oh my goodness. Remember the
priests that were shuffling through the temple one time? And they
came upon a scroll. And they started reading it. Oh, my goodness. We have deviated. And they brought it to the king. And they read it before the king.
Oh, he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes. We have
deviated. We've gone way over here. We've
said because we're Jews, we're okay. And the Scriptures slapped
them right in the face. And at that time, there was a
great revival. Why? Because of the word. Because
of the word. That's the only thing that will
revive our souls, is the word. The word of God. And his word
to this church was, you say this, that's a lie. Let me tell you
the truth. You are, I'm getting it wrong,
but I'm going to say it right, wretched, miserable, poor, and
blind and naked. That's your condition. That's
your condition. And now, he says, I counsel thee, buy from me. What's he say? Come unto me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. I have everything God demands
and everything you need, and you don't have any of it. So
come to me. Come to me.