The lesson this morning is in
Revelation chapter three. It's the second half of our Lord's
letter to this faithful little assembly. In our last two previous
lessons, we talked about Christ the door. He is the door. There's no other way. He's the
way. He said, I am the way. There's no other truth. He said,
I am the truth. To know Him is life eternal. None other name, the apostle
said, given among men whereby we must be saved. It do us well
to get acquainted with Christ and that name which is manifested
in Him. He said this, he said, no man
cometh unto the Father but by me. No knowledge of the Father,
no request of the Father, no entering into that holy chamber
to make requests and so forth. No man cometh unto the Father
but by me. He's the way. And then Christ is an open door.
The person of Jesus Christ and His appointments and his promises
and his appearance as a man and all his accomplishments and even
his present intercession and glory has nothing to do. Now let this sink in. Has nothing
to do with those who will not come to him that they might have
life. Has nothing to do. He is an open
door. He's an open door. This race,
this world of wicked men are under the judgment of God on
the basis of three undeniable facts. You read through the scriptures,
and when I'm talking about man being fallen, man being under
the judgment of God, he's under there by three undeniable facts
declared throughout the scriptures. First of all, by the way of Adam's
fall in the garden. Bible's very clear, uses very
simple language. It says, by one man, sin entered
into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon
all men, for that all have sinned. How did it come? Come through
one man. One man. Scripture said, by him Adam,
all die. That's pretty conclusive, isn't
it? All die. And then secondly, by nature
of sin, which he inherited from his father Adam, we're sinners. We're under the
condemnation of God. In that fall of Adam, we each
one, everyone, personally sinned against God in him. He's our
representative. All mankind came forth from Him. Came forth from Him. We have a nature of sin which
we inherit from Him. And by this nature, all that
we do is sinful. It pollutes everything we think.
Well, you say, I have a mind. I know you do, but it's polluted
by sin. I have a will. I know you do,
but it's constrained by your nature. It's not free. Your mind's not clear. You're
carnally minded, naturally minded. David said in Psalm 58.3, the
wicked are strained from the womb. They go astray as soon
as they be born, speaking lies. It's their nature. And then again
in Psalm 51, 5, he said, Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and
in sin did my mother conceive me. And then having described
the nature of our sin, and proved that we're all under sin by its
curse in Romans 3, 9 through 18, Paul says this, Now we know
that what thing soever the law saith, It saith to them that
are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all
the world become guilty before God. Now they were already guilty,
but the law makes them to know their guilt. It manifests their
guilt. They were already guilty, but
they didn't know it. until the law will shut them
up to Christ. Men are condemned in the fall of their federal
head, Adam, and they are condemned by their own personal sin and
transgression before God. And thirdly, this is the third
basis of this fall and judgment upon men, by the unbelief and
unwillingness to submit to, believe on, and rest in the Lord Jesus
Christ. Christ himself said, I came not
to judge the world, but to save it. I'm a savior. I didn't come
here to judge. I judged before I came here.
This world was judged way back in Adam. And it'll be judged
in that last day. He said, I didn't come to judge.
I come to save. You see what I'm saying? Jesus
Christ is an open door. He's an open door. And he said,
this is the condemnation. If you want to talk about judgment,
he said, here it is. Light has come into the world,
and men love darkness rather than light. This is the judgment.
That's the third thing. By nature, by practice, and then
by unbelief. John 3, 19, and this is the condemnation. Light has come into the world,
and men love darkness rather than light. Why? Because their
deeds are evil. Their thoughts are evil, their
heart is evil. So it's not the Lord Jesus Christ that shuts
men out of the mercy and favor of God, but their own sin and
unbelief. Is that not right? When our Lord said, come, come
unto me, all you that labor and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. You reckon
every man that came, he gave rest to? Sure he did. Could they
have come without him? No. No. But that work of grace
in their heart caused them to come, while others stayed put,
filled with unbelief. But that doesn't make him a closed
door. It makes their unbelief the closed door. in a world of darkness and sin
and ruin. Christ is the open door. And
this is the message of all true evangelism. And this is what
he said to John the Baptist way back yonder in the book of Isaiah.
He said, you go tell them they're ruined by the fall. They're ruined by the fall. They're
redeemed by the blood and regenerated by the truth through the power
of the Holy Ghost. Now listen to the results of
that assembly who will be faithful to Christ and His gospel. Revelation 3 verse 9. He said,
Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say
they are Jews and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them
to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have
loved thee. Now most everyone I read applied
this verse to the end of time, when this world will bow to Christ,
they'll bow that knee, they'll confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord to the glory of God the Father, and his saints being
one with him and gathered round him, and they'll kneel down and
they'll worship God. With their mouth, they will confess
that Jesus Christ was victorious Lord, uncompromised Lord to the
glory of God the Father. And I have no doubt in my mind
that this is true. This is a true statement. They
will. They will. This whole world of pretending,
professing believers who have no interest in Christ in that
day, that day, will come and worship at the feet of God's
saints, them being gathered around the Lord Jesus Christ. And it is in keeping with the
theme of Revelations, assuring them of the ultimate victory
in Christ. But if you'll let me this morning,
and just indulge me for a few minutes, Let me see if I can
show you something more applicable to believers in every generation
from the day of Christ until that ultimate victory be manifest. I believe what he's talking here
in this about is that power of the gospel which he accompanies
in that faithful church who will preach it and bring men to worship
at the feet of his saints. Those who have denied the name
of Christ and have been faithful to declare Him as the door of
the sheepfold, an open door of salvation. He will cause the
most vile, the most self-righteous enemies of the church, those
who are of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews and are
not, say they are God's elect but are not, God's covenant people,
that's what they pretend to be, children of God but are not,
Deceive rebels who are actively persecuting the church, blind
leaders of the blind. Behold, saith our Lord, I'll
make them to come and worship before thy feet and to know that
I've loved thee. Saul of Tarsus was one such man. Was he not? He said, I'm a Jew. And he was
physically. But not spiritually. Not spiritually. He persecuted the church. He
hated the church. He held the coats of them that
stoned Stephen while Stephen preached the gospel of God's
sovereign grace to them. He hated the church. He despised
the church. He was a persecutor of the church,
and he himself admitted. He said in 1 Timothy 1.13, I
was before a blasphemer, a persecutor, injurious, But I obtained mercy
because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. And the grace of our
Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love, which is in Christ
Jesus. What did God do with Paul? He
brought him to the house of Cornelius, blind, didn't he? He was blind,
couldn't see a thing. Had to be led there. Here's this
proud rebel who just a short time before this was on that
white charger seeking papers to persecute Christians and have
them locked up and killed in the arena, destroyed in the arena,
made fun of in the arena. This same man, and now here he
is, humbled, blind, led by the hand down to the house of Cornelius
and sat there while Cornelius preached the gospel to him. Huh? Isn't that what this is
saying? That's exactly what this is saying.
The church up in Dingus, West Virginia at one time was a free
will Baptist church. I was attending 13th Street when
God did the work. He took that message Henry Mayan
preached on the television and saved the pastor of that church.
A free will Baptist preacher saved him. And that man began
to to have an interest and listen to Henry and trying to talk to
his people about it and invited Henry up. And before that thing
was over, better than half of that church was converted. And it's now a Sovereign Grace
Baptist Church and has been for years up in West Virginia, Dangus,
West Virginia, a little coal mining town up in the mountains. Larry Chris, who's been here
to preach on occasion, did you know at one time he was a free
will Baptist preacher? He sure was. God saved him. And he humbled him and he caused
him to submit and lay at the feet of a preacher and hear God's
grace declared to him. And this one who stands before
you this morning, And teaching you this lesson is the same kind,
same kind. Raised in religion, said I was
a Jew and knew in my heart that I wasn't a pretender of religion,
a rebel. And God brought me to the feet
of Brother Mahan and he taught me the gospel. That's exactly
what this is talking about, because you're faithful to this message.
He said, I'm gonna take the most powerful, the most subversive,
the most rebellious man out there, and I'm gonna save him. And the
way I'm gonna save him is, I'm gonna blind him, and I'm gonna
lead him by the hand, and I'm gonna sit him down in a pew,
and he's gonna sit there quiet, and he's gonna listen to you
preach the gospel. That's what this is saying. And
this church understood what Christ said, and Christ maintained that
church for 800 years, a gospel church. The Lord is encouraging his church
here to be faithful to his gospel and to their obedience to Christ
their Lord. And he'll use his gospel to save
even the most fierce enemy and cause him to come and worship
at their feet. And not only that, but to know
that this one who now sits before them and preaches to them this
open door is loved by God. God loved him. God loved him. You thought he was an enemy because
he was ignorant. Now you don't see it that way.
You don't see it that way anymore. All right, Revelation 3, verse
10. Because thou hast kept the word
of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell
upon the earth. Now most Arminian writers, they
believe in a tribulation period. They believe in this, a time. And it's gonna be when those
who have rejected Christ, they'll have this time then that they're
gonna be tried and they're gonna go through severe times such
as never was seen upon the earth. And if they survive it, if they'll
pass through those trials, God ultimately will save them. But
that's not the teaching of scripture. And we all know that. Turn with
me to 1 Corinthians 3. The first four chapters of 1
Corinthians is about the necessity of gospel preaching, how God
uses it, the fact that he ordained it, the necessity of it. He tells us it's necessary because
God has ordained it. It's the means whereby he's gonna
call out his elect and establish them and preserve them. And to
them that are perishing under the deceit of antichrist religion,
or the wisdom of this world, the preaching of the cross is
to them foolishness. But unto us which are being saved,
it's the power of God and the wisdom of God. Paul said, so we preached and
so you believe. Men don't preach. Let me tell
you something. God's preachers don't preach believing that they
have some power in themselves to do something for the sinner. They preach because God has chosen
this means to save his elect, and we preach and we wait upon
the Holy Spirit to do the work. I can't do the work, but I can
do what he called me to do. I can study, I can prepare, and
I can preach to you the gospel, but I can't empower that gospel
to change your heart. But he can, and he will. He'll
bless his gospel. So then, 1 Corinthians 3, 9,
we're labors together with God. You are God's husbandry. You're
his garden. You're God's building. And verse
10, according to the grace of God, which is given to me as
a wise master builder. He was an apostle. He was gonna
lay the foundation of scripture by the inspiration of the Spirit.
He said, I've laid the foundation. which another buildeth their
own. You know, when I was in the building
business, one man didn't build a whole house. I didn't build a whole house.
I just did certain things on it. And then I hired professionals
who were professional in one craft to do that craft. I had drywallers do the drywall.
I had concrete men do the concrete. I had painters do the painting. Several men, all experts in their
craft, made the contribution. And here Paul is telling us that
by God's calling, he laid the foundation, Christ and Christ
alone. Christ, our covenant surety.
Christ, our mediator. Christ, our righteousness. Christ,
our sin offering. Christ, our risen intercessor.
Christ, our king. And God's pastors and evangelists,
by the Spirit of God and the gospel, frame up the building. They frame it up. He says, you
are built upon the foundation of the prophets and apostles,
Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone, in whom all the
building fitly framed together groweth unto a holy temple in
the Lord. First Corinthians 3.12. Are you
with me so far? Are you hearing what I'm saying?
All right. First Corinthians 3.12. Now,
if any man build upon this foundation, isn't that what you're doing
here this morning? You're listening to me? Faith is the building. It's the
house for our souls. We're building that. I'm telling
you these things, and you're putting it together, just like
Noah's sons put together the ark. God gave him that revelation. He gave it to his sons. His sons
went out, formed the wood, built the ark. If any man built upon this foundation,
whatever he uses, whatever he chooses to build with, gold,
silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, Every man's work shall be made
manifest, for the day shall declare it. For it shall be revealed
by fire, and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort
it is. If it's hay, wood, and stubble,
God gonna burn it up. Burn it up. If it's gold, and
it's tried in the fire, all it can do is purify it. It just
burns away the dross. leaves the pure gold. You see
what he's saying here? And what he's telling this church,
I'll keep you. You do these things that I told
you, I'll keep you in that hour of temptation and trial. I'll
keep you. I'll preserve you. I'll cause
you to be able to go through it and not be consumed by it.
Isn't that what he's saying? He's not talking about a tribulation
there. He's talking about our everyday experience of grace.
We're all gonna be tried. We all say, well, I love God. I've made a profession. I believe
in him. I believe what this church stands
for and what this church preaches. I believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And God says, okay, now I'm gonna
prove that to the world. I'm gonna prove it to the world.
And so he puts us through these trials. and his temptations. And he said, if you listen to
what this pastor's telling you, this faithful man, you listen
to what he's saying. You read it for yourself in the
word of God and you'll be established. I'll keep you in that hour of
temptation and in that hour of trial. Because thou hast kept the word
of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation
which shall come upon the whole world to try them that dwell
upon the earth. Revelation 3.10. What things is he talking about?
He's talking about things that draw us away from Christ. What can draw us away from Christ?
Many things. Jobs. They can draw you away
from Christ. Love of your children, sometimes.
Draw a man away from Christ. Lots of things out there can
draw a man away from Christ. Things that try your patience. Things that demand your attention. How will Christ keep us from
us? How's he gonna keep us from it? How's he gonna preserve us
in it? by the word of his patience,
his promise, and his gospel. Verse 11. Behold, I come quickly. You say, well, wait a minute,
preacher, this has been over 2,000 years. That's pretty quickly
in light of eternity. Isn't it? I'm telling you, yesterday I
was as old as these boys sitting right here. I'm 67 now, going on 68. Henry Mayhem seemed to be in
his prime when I first heard him. I went up and visited with
him the other day. He's 92. I come quickly. Another thing
that quickly means is he's not stalling when everything he's
purposed to be is done. immediately he'll return. Isn't that what quickly means
there? Sure it is. Behold I come quickly. Now, hold
that fast which thou hast. What do you have? What does a
believer have? He has faith in Christ. He has
the revelation of the gospel. He has the work of the Holy Spirit
done in his heart. Now you be careful to preserve
those things. You hold those things. Don't
hunt for something else. You hold on to those things.
Because people are going to have you, they'll have you out here
chasing rabbits all over the place, chasing evidences, chasing
this, chasing that. Don't chase anything. You just,
see what he tells them here? You just hold fast to what you
have because you've got it all. If you've got Christ, you've
got everything there is. He's the creator, Richard. So what if He destroys the earth?
He'll create another one. He's the creator. I have all
things in Him. In Him. And if I don't have Him,
I have nothing but a soap bubble. David said, Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and forget not all His benefits. who forgiveth all thine
iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who redeemeth thy life
from destruction, who crowneth thee, now here it is, with loving
kindness and tender mercies. And Solomon said, the crown of
the wise is his riches, that in the ages to come he might
show the exceeding riches of his grace and his kindness toward
us through Christ Jesus. That's our riches. And then Isaiah
said, in that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory
and for a diadem of beauty under the residue of his people. And then quickly, Revelation
3.12, him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God and he shall go no more out. Now write upon him
the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which
is New Jerusalem, which cometh down from heaven from my God,
and I write upon him my new name." What is a pillar? That's what
holds everything up. God says, you study these things,
and I'll establish you in these things, and I'll make you a pillar. What's that pillar do? He holds
these things up. What's he holding up? He's holding
up Christ. He's holding up the glory of
God. He's holding up the word of God. And he just stands and
holds those things up. That's what he does. That's what
he does. I'm trying to remember the name of the battle, but Moses
was out there and the Lord told him, he said, you go out there
And you hold up, I believe it was his staff, he held up his
staff. And as long as he held that staff up, Israel won. They
was winning the battle. But when that staff started down,
they began to lose. And Aaron come over with the
priest and got his arm and held him up, held that staff up.