Praise the Lord for his mercy and kindness in showing us the Savior, Jesus Christ, the righteous. Each time that I stand before you, I'm aware that Could be the last time that I'm given that privilege to declare the unsearchable riches of Christ. And I fear that I might shun to do that. Lord might give us grace to look into his word to see that which is true. I might from time to time speak to you something that's not true. It would not be my desire to do so. But being a fallible man, it's very possible that could happen. But I always desire to point you to the word of God because there is no error in it.

And whatever you read in this book is true. Whether you understand it or I understand it or somebody twists its meaning beyond what it is, Neglects it or whatever the Word of God stands sure steadfast And it will endure the test of time as it always has And we're looking at the the message of the angel to the church in Philadelphia and this is the revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him, gave to Jesus Christ. Now that might be redundant in your mind, but keep in mind who the Lord Jesus Christ is. He is God. He is the Father. Scripture, when Isaiah said his name shall be called, the everlasting father.

Now, men, they stumble around with that and try to explain it to people and come up with all sorts of illustrations and ways for men to get it and you can't do it. It's impossible that you should ever grasp the complete picture or have a complete understanding of God himself. He's beyond the capability of men to comprehend. And I can't begin to tell you how all of that can be. How can the father send the son and the son pray to the father and yet be the father? I can't explain it. I can read it, however, in the scripture. Isaac Watts, accused of heresy by some of his day, wrote these words, when God, the mighty maker, died for man, the creature, sin. Can God die? He did on Calvary's cross. Has God ever been dead? No. Because he's life itself.

Can I explain that? Can't do it. But I'm telling you, that's what the scripture says. And if you want to not believe that, that's your business, but I'm pointing you to the word of God. Let God be true and every man be a liar. It doesn't make a difference what men say or what their understanding might be. You know, our refuge is in the Word of God. It does not change. It is what it is, whether I can grasp it or not.

These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, and he that openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth, and no man openeth. He has the key. He's the one who opens and does not, and no man can shut, no man can open that which he has shut.

Can a man open his heart and call on the name of the Lord? Can't do it. If God doesn't open a man's heart, he'll never call upon the name of the Lord. Doesn't matter what he knows, it doesn't matter how much preaching he sets under, none of that matters. What matters is the one who holds the key if he opens the door of that heart. And when he has opened the door of the heart, it can't be shut. What a glorious thing. He says, I know thy works. Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.

Can men prevent other men from being saved? You know, the tradition that I was raised up in taught us that we needed to go out and give people an opportunity to be saved, because if we don't, there's going to be millions that's going to die because we didn't go out and tell them. Now, we don't by any means believe that we should not go forth preaching the gospel. We must go forth preaching the gospel. The Lord put us upon the earth to preach the gospel, to declare to men such things as we have seen and heard and has been brought in us and to us.

But I can assure you this, that not one of the sheep of the Lord shall perish because men fail to do something. Not gonna happen. He said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them and they follow me. The Lord's able to call his sheep. Now, some, you know, have taken that and made it to be something that it's not by denying other things that the Lord has said. Some say, well, you know, we'll just sit at home and not do anything, and the Lord's gonna save whoever He will. Now, I'm sure that that is true on the one hand, but it's not what the Lord said to do, is it? You know, we can't hide behind that, say, well, the Lord's gonna save whoever He will, we don't need to do anything. Well, you know, the Lord said, go. He sent his apostles, gave them a direct communication.

We have evidence in the scripture that the believers in the early church, they went everywhere, spreading that news, telling men. It wasn't from pulpits. It was from everyday life and conversation. Men living for Christ. and it being so much a part of them that it rubbed off. They couldn't be quiet about it because the Spirit of God was in them. Oh, that the Lord might pour out His Spirit today in such a sane fashion that God's people might be filled with His Spirit to go forth and declare the unsearchable riches of Christ to whoever and wherever. However, whenever, wherever we go, because we are the children of God.

Can a light be put under a bushel? Can it be covered? The Lord said, a city which is set upon a hill cannot be hid, or that the Lord might move upon us in his time. I know thy works. I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it. For thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Now the Lord, as we said last week, this is really the only church that the Lord commends and does not say, I've got something against you.

And, of course, this church is representative of the work of the gospel in the people of God. And I believe all of these churches, as we have said, though these are particular churches, they were specifically set out by the Lord in these various places. We can read about them in Acts as the Lord sent Paul and other disciples to these places and established churches there. And surely these messages were sent directly and specifically for those churches, but I believe in the greater meaning and purpose of this book, these churches represent all of God's church, because you can find something of all churches in each one of these churches. You know, there's not any one church that encompasses all of these, and these things are found in all churches.

And so, it always comes down to then, he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Because we're supposed to get something from all of this, not just pick out something and say, well, we're in this age, or this is for us, and that's not for, you know, till this happens, or this, that, or the other. These are things the Lord is saying to the churches. to the assemblies of God's people come together.

And it says, I know thy works. Behold, I've set before thee an open door. He knows our works. We've talked about this. The Lord knows them that are His. He knows where we are. He knows where we've been. He knows what we are. If that doesn't make you hold your head in shame, then you hadn't thought much about Your works. Because if you're happy with your works, you know, then, I'm talking about your works, what you, somebody could say, well, you know, he did a good work. If you think that your works are pleasing in the eyes of God, you've missed the picture. The Lord says, I know thy works. I know what you are.

And see, the Lord is pleased with his people. Not because of the individual things that they're doing, but because of Christ. Because he's that one who's our performer, and if anything that we ever do is pleasing in the eyes of God, it's gonna be because he wrought it in us by the Spirit of the living God. He works in us, both the will and the do of his good pleasure. What a privilege it is. What a privilege that is, for the Lord to work in us. Oh, that he might teach us such things.

He says, I know thy works. I know what you are. Now, you know, he knew his disciples, did he not? He knew Peter. He could say to Peter, Peter, I know your works. He said all of his disciples, when, uh, Peter and James and John were sitting, were taken by the Lord apart, and he said to them, pray with me while I go yonder. And he came back, and they were asleep. He says, I know thy words. But you know the thing was, There was no condemnation there. He says, I know your works. I know what you are.

But you see, the Lord loves his people in spite of that. So much so that he doesn't take what they're doing into account in this respect because he has such love for his people. It's as a father or a mother overlooks the weaknesses of their child. Now we know the Lord doesn't overlook things, but he has paid the price. So in that respect, he does overlook those things. He forgives us. He treats us as though we are perfectly walking in obedience to every command that he has ever given us.

Now, we can't believe that. I guarantee you, the hardest thing for a man to ever believe is that that's true. But I'm telling you, that's what, when Paul wrote, there is therefore now no condemnation to those which are in Christ Jesus. What does that mean? It means there's no condemnation.

Now, when the Spirit of God convinces us of sin, righteousness, and judgment, what's he do that for? He does this to remind us what we are. But when he brings the glorious sound of the gospel to us, what's he do that for? To remind us that there's no condemnation. Now, both of those things are true. The Spirit of God convinces us of sin and we hang our head and we say, oh God, be merciful to me, a sinner. But then when we hear the sweet sound of the gospel, our head is raised up and we praise Him. Because you see, our works are His. His works are ours. And He says, I know thy works. I know what you are.

I have set an open door before you. What's an open door? That means you can get out. See, if you go into a prison and you put the key in the lock and you open that door, and Brother Tom would know about this, and he opened that door and say, okay, you can go. I mean, does the old prisoner sit in there and look? You know, a lot of times people are so accustomed to being in that prison that they're afraid to go out.

The Lord said, I've set an open door before you. I made you free. He said, if I make you free, then you'll be free indeed. See, there's nothing that can bring us into condemnation before Almighty God. We're free people. What Paul was saying, we're free to love one another. See, we're not free to love one another in our flesh, are we? Because we can't love one another as Christ loved us. You can't perform that. I can't either. I'll be mad at you before the day is out. I'll be thinking of something against you.

It's just the way that the flesh is. But he sat before us an open door. And we're not, Paul said, reckon yourselves to be dead in deed unto sin, but alive unto Christ. Now sometimes, men have taken that in the flesh and thought about it and said, oh, we're free from sin, oh buddy, we can just go do anything we want to. But see, that's to disregard the second part of that. He said, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto Christ. See, we're free from sin, but we're made alive. We have life where death has reigned forever. I have set an open door before thee, and no man can shut it, for you have a little strength. We know that, don't we?

I mean, you know, when we think we're strong, that's when we're weak. And so when he's saying you have a little strength, he's not saying you have some strength. He says you have little strength. You don't have any strength. I mean, it's like a baby. Now, a baby can raise his hand up, but what can a baby do? Nothing. He doesn't know anything. He can't do anything. He has little strength. But see, we need one that's got great strength, and he is that one. Thou hast a little strength. And he says, you've kept my word and have not denied my name.

Lord, when have we done that? When have we kept his word? When have we obeyed him? we have in Christ. See, I don't know of anything that can melt the heart of a born again child of God than to consider that. That he has done everything for us. You've kept my word.

What does it mean to keep the word of God? Does it mean to perfectly obey every jot and tittle of it? Well, that would be the ideal thing, would it not? But you see, God's people keep his word because it's precious to us. We must keep his word. If you're a true believer in Jesus Christ and a believer that God has given us his word in this book, you can't just say, I don't want anything to do with that book. You keep it. It's that which is precious to you. It's that which you want to know about. We're not satisfied with the ignorance of what the Lord has taught us to do. We want to know.

He says, you have kept my word. Why? Because the Spirit of God constrains you to do so. And you have not denied my name. If you'll be honest, you have. Same fashion Peter did. But he said to them, you've not denied my name. The Lord has given us some things, couple of things that illustrate that we have not denied his name. I believe these are things that the Lord would work in his people a desire for. One of them is baptism. Now baptism, that is water baptism, being baptized in water in obedience to the Lord, that won't Get you into the kingdom of God. It won't keep you out of it if you don't, if it's never done to you. I mean, the thief on the cross, when was he ever baptized? He wasn't. He was baptized in Christ, was he not? I mean, everything Christ did, he did for us. He has called us, however, to follow him in baptism. Now, why is that important? because we would not deny his name.

The scripture says with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord. Now the mouth is a means of communication. And so when we can communicate that, we can say it with our mouth, which is important. that the redeemed of the Lord say so. We speak these things forth from our lips. We have no desire not to speak that we are the sons of God, that we want to walk in the way of the Lord. But he's given us a concrete manner, something that we can communicate with the eye, not only to ourselves, but to others.

And that is in the matter of being baptized in water. In faith. Baptism, the scripture says, is the answer of a good conscience toward God. What does that mean? That means that we are satisfied with that which Christ has done. And we confess that before men. by following that example that he gave and that he commands us to walk in. And so I believe we have not denied his name because we have confessed him in the waters of baptism. We have not denied his name, I believe, because he has given us another manner in which we might communicate that we are the sons of God. and that is in the taking of bread and wine in remembrance of him. Why is that important? Because he told us to do it.

You know, we talked about washing feet earlier. The Lord did tell his disciples to wash one another's feet, but what did he mean by that? Did he say, now when y'all get together, get out, wash tubs and wash one another's feet? Was that the point that he was making to them?

Now I certainly, again, I would never make that a point of issue or fellowship with anybody if they did or did not actually practice that. But we really have no example anywhere other than in that place where the early churches ever did that. There's not anything other than those women who are considered as the ones taken into the church to be taken care of, those widows, says if they have washed the saints' feet. Now what does that mean?

It means if they've shown hospitality to them, if they have set forth an example of Christ to them. It doesn't necessarily mean that every time that somebody came around that they got out some basins of water and washed their feet. Nor does it mean that they did so in a ceremony of any kind, but it simply means that that was their mindset. That was their thought process. They wanted to wash one another's feet. They wanted to be humble with one another. They wanted to help one another. They wanted to bear one another's burdens and all of those things.

But we are those who have not denied Christ because we have done what he said to do in remembrance of him. And one thing that he told us to do in remembrance of him was remember his death till he comes again. Now people make a big deal out of remembering his birth. You know, biggest holiday of the year is Christmas. And everybody makes a big deal. I had a little baby Jesus. And going through all these different ceremonies and things.

And again, I'm not fighting against anybody with that. If you want to do that, that's okay. I don't think you ought to mix a bunch of stuff with that and call it that you're remembering the Lord's birth. But nonetheless, He never told us to remember his birth. Not one time in the scripture did he say, remember my birth. But he did say, remember my death. And he did say, one way in which we are to do that, and that is by taking bread and wine in remembrance of me. As often as you do it, do this in remembrance of me.

We have not denied his name because we have confessed him. In the waters of baptism, we have confessed him by taking the bread and the wine according to his command. We declare. See, when we take those things, we declare that we are the sons of God. We declare we are not ashamed to be identified.

Can you imagine what it was for a Jew in those times, and even now in other parts of the world, for a man to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Can you imagine being in a Muslim family, being raised in that, and all of your family are practicing Muslims, and you announce one day, I'm gonna be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. You might not survive. See, that's what it is not to deny.

It is to confess Christ. And those are the ways in which he has given us exact activities that manifest that we do not deny his name. We're glad for people to know that we are the followers of Christ. May the Lord give us a mind and heart to follow him. He said, by sheep hear my voice. I know who they are. He says, I know thy words. He says, I know them and they follow me. They don't follow the customs of the day. They might not have a crusade against the customs of the day, but they don't follow them.

Those things, the Lord said you're in the world, but you're not of the world. No, we use the world, but we don't abuse the world, nor allow the world to abuse us. So we're not bowing down before the world. We're not concerned that people think we're strange. They already know I'm strange. So, you know, I can't, I don't want to disappoint them. But I don't want to follow the ways of the world. I don't want the morals of the world to be my morals. I don't want the things that the world counts to be okay to be okay with me because the world says it is. I want to know, is it okay with Christ? You know, is that the thing he would have me to walk in? Is that the thing he would have me to manifest before men that I am? Only he can bring that past in us. And he will.

We live in a country that has been so blessed down through the years. I was thinking the other day, it would be hard to go anywhere in this country and not find somebody who has heard the gospel. Somebody who's a follower of Christ. I don't believe that you could go to a city in the United States where there's not one believer in Jesus Christ. In fact, there's multitudes beyond what we necessarily can comprehend.

The Lord has his people. Now just because everybody says that they're a follower of Christ doesn't mean it. That doesn't mean that they're not denied him. Doesn't mean that they are following him. But you know, we're a blessed people. But yet at the same time, we are a people who I believe are sleeping, as it were, on the job. Now, only the Lord can stir us up. I'm not trying to get folks to go out and do something that the Lord hasn't sent you to do, but what I'm saying to this is this. We need to pray, Lord, pour out your spirit.

As you have in times past, when he has moved among God's people to walk in an open fashion, declaring Christ through our lives, desiring, you know, that the people that we meet, the people that we know, that they might hear the truth of God. Now, because we say that there's very few people that have not heard of Jesus Christ or heard something of the gospel, it doesn't mean that they have been given the gospel. We live in an age which there's a hundred different, or more than that, different ideas people have about Christ and what he did.

Christ didn't do a bunch of things. He did one thing that he told us to tell people about, and that was that he died on Calvary's cross for sinners, not for the righteous. Nothing you can add to it. And so we desire, dear brethren, to go forth preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified, not what men can do, Not what men can add to it. Even as the song we sang there a moment ago that Brother Jim wrote.

The gospel is offensive. While I believe there's multitudes of people that believe the gospel, I also understand that there's a lot of people who profess to believe the gospel to whom the gospel is an offense. If they ever hear the true gospel. They don't want to hear that. Oh, they're happy, you know, just to go along. I mean, Daddy was a Christian, Mama was a Christian. We were raised up in the church, and we learned in vacation Bible school about who Jesus was, and we walked in these things, you know, and here we are today, and we're just going along the same old path. Now, the gospel's offensive. Why? Because it sets people apart. See, God's people are holy people. God's people are people who are unlike the rest of the world. And we're crazy enough to believe that Jesus Christ alone is the salvation of his people.

And we rejoice in that. And we won't tell people, look, if you're trusting in anything else, You're trusting in too much. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but holy land on Jesus' name. But there ought to be a verse in that. I don't trust in anything else. See, I trust in that. That's my hope. That's my only hope. I don't have any hope beyond that. that Christ died for sinners.

And I know myself to be a sinner because he taught me. I don't know myself to be a sinner because I read the four spiritual laws and when somebody said, you're a sinner. Everybody knows they've sinned, but only the Spirit of God can teach a man that he's a sinner. A sinner is a sacred thing. The Holy Ghost has made him so. May the Lord teach us and help us.