Open your Bibles, if you will,
to Revelation Chapter 2. Revelation Chapter 2. As you read the New Testament,
it seems that the apostles were constantly engaged in conflict,
constantly meeting with the accusations of false brethren, constantly
dealing with false prophets, constantly battling an uphill
battle against the Prince of Darkness, and fighting that battle
in the churches all the time. All the time. From the beginning
of his ministry, the Apostle Paul was in conflict to the last
day he lived. in that conflict. We're warned
by him, by John, by Jude, we're warned by Peter, we're warned
throughout the scriptures of the dangers we face. And our
Lord Jesus wraps up the book of God and begins to wrap it
up with warnings, solemn warnings, solemn warnings. Solemn warnings
that need to be heard by every believer and by every local church
in every age Revelation chapters 2 and 3 we have these seven letters
which the Lord Jesus Dictated to the Apostle John which were
sent to the pastors of these seven churches in Asia each letter
was sent to a specific church and The cities named were Ephesus,
Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. These were literal local churches,
just like Grace Baptist Church of Danville, literal local churches. But these seven churches in the
apostolic era, represent all the churches of Christ in this
world throughout this gospel age. They do not represent all
churches. They represent all the churches
of Christ. They do not represent the various
ages in which we live, various periods of church history, but
rather they represent the various conditions local churches find
themselves in at any time in history. In a word, these are
letters from our dear Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to us,
to you and to me. We ought to read the letters
as being specifically, personally addressed to us. When you read
these seven epistles in Revelation chapters 2 and 3, always read
them as if the Lord Jesus were saying to the church of Danville,
Kentucky, to Grace Baptist Church, Denver, Kentucky. These are letters
intended by our Lord to be read just that way as we read them. Our Lord's commendations, his
warnings, and the promises given in these two chapters are addressed
to you and to me. In these two chapters, he gives
this admonition seven times. He that hath an ear Let him hear
what the Spirit saith to the churches. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Seven times he
tells us, he that hath an ear, an ear from God to understand
things spiritual. He that hath an ear, let him
hear. what the Spirit saith to the
churches. In these seven letters, our Savior
warns us plainly and pointedly of the most prominent
dangers we must face in this world. These are the dangers
God's people faced in John's day. They're the dangers God's
people have faced in the darkest of times in this world. They're
the dangers God's people face right now, today. And they're
the dangers you will face tomorrow. I want us to look at four things
I'm going to pull out of these seven letters from our Lord to
the churches. First, I want us to deal with
a fact. I want to show you a fact that
we must never forget. And then, point out some dangers
to which our Lord calls our attention, dangers that we must overcome. Third, our Savior gives us counsel
concerning these dangers. And then fourth, he makes some
very specific promises. All right, here's the first thing.
Here's a fact we must never forget. Our Lord says, I know thy works
seven times. Addressing each of the churches,
he says, I know thy works. I know thy works. The works of God's elect are
important. Our works have no merit before
God. Our works do not and cannot justify us. Our works do not
and cannot atone for sin. Our works cannot make up for
the past or prepare for the better. Our works in no way have merit
before God. Anyone who even faintly is familiar
with the teachings of the Holy Scripture knows that God's grace
and God's salvation in Christ are altogether a matter of God's
free grace. Your will, your works, your worth
have nothing to do with those things. We're chosen freely by
his grace, redeemed freely by the blood of God's darling son,
justified freely by his grace, sanctified freely by his grace,
kept freely by his grace. Works on our part have nothing
to do with that. But if you think good works are
insignificant, useless and of no value because they're not
meritorious. I'm afraid your religion is a
sham, a show, a pretense. There's no such thing as a believer
who is not concerned about honoring God. There's no such thing as
a believer who's not concerned about living for the glory of
God. There's no such thing as a believer
We're not concerned about honoring the name of the Lord Jesus and
the gospel we believe, the gospel of God's free grace. It is the
nature of spiritual men and women to walk in the spirit. Now let
me show you from the scriptures very plainly. God's saving grace
always produces good works. Always. Not what men point at
and brag about their works. Men like to point out their things
they do or don't do and show you how good they are. That's
not what I'm talking about. In the scriptures, good works
always have to do with mercy and love and forgiveness. Good
works always had to do with our treatment of one another, not
a show, not the way we dress, or comb our hair, or talk out
of food we eat. That's not what the Scriptures
talk about when we talk about good works. Good works had to
do with mercy, and love, and forgiveness. Throughout the Scriptures,
you'll find that to be the case. And all who are saved by the
grace of God, believing on the Lord Jesus, perform good works
because of grace wrought within them. Faith worketh by love. That's the language of scripture.
Faith worketh by love. The Spirit of God tells us faith
without works is dead. Good works give evidence to others
that our faith is real. Good works give evidence to others
that our faith is real, not to ourselves. Our evidence of life
and assurance is faith itself. But good works evidence our faith
to others. Let me see if I can illustrate
this. Call your attention to what James
says concerning this. He speaks of Abraham. Abraham believed
God and showed himself to be a believer, justifying his professed
faith by his works. God said, Abraham, follow me. You get out of Ur of the Chaldees
and follow me into a land that I'm going to tell you about.
Leave your father and your father's house and all your earthly relationships
and follow me into a land that I'll tell you about. And Abraham
got up and left Ur of the Chaldees. Where are you going, Abraham?
I don't know. What are you going to do when you get there? I don't
know. I just know God said, come out and come out. I must. And
he believed God. God said to Abraham, I'm going
to give you a son. He's a man a hundred years old,
a hundred years old, because I'm give you a son. I'm give
you a son. You got to be kidding. You got
to be kidding. Abraham said, Sarah, honey, we're
going to have a son. and went to bed with his wife
fully expecting her to conceive. And she did. How come? He believed God. He believed
God. God said, that boy of yours,
he is the one through whom the promised seed of woman is coming
into this world, in whom all the nations of the earth will
be blessed, by whom God's elect everywhere will be redeemed.
He is the one by whom you shall be redeemed yourself. Your son,
he's the one, now take him up to a mountain and sacrifice him
to me. And Abraham took Isaac up to
Mount Moriah. He took Isaac up to Mount Moriah fully believing,
fully believing that God who gave him his son had now required
him to sacrifice his son and that God would raise his son
from the dead. He fully believed it. He fully
believed it. He drew his knife out and slaughtered
his son. Oh, no, he didn't. You ask God
about that. God said he did. God said he did. He slaughtered
his son and he left his servant down at the base of the mountain.
He said, he said, I and the lad are going to go yonder and worship
God in the three days. I and the lad, I'm about to sacrifice. I'm coming back here and we'll
meet you right here. He believed God. There was a harlot by the
name of Rahab who believed God. Wonder she really does. At the
hazard of her life, she hid the spies who came in to spy out
the city. She believed God. God's people
are men and women who, believing Him, act on their faith. I remember Brother Paul Thacker
saying to me years ago, he said, faith is not so much what I believe. It is acting on what I believe. Faith works by love. Faith works by love, and it does
work. Look at Ephesians chapter 2,
Ephesians 2. God has ordained that all who
are saved by his grace walk in good works for the honor of his
name. Verse 8, Ephesians 2, 8. For
by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. God hath before ordained that
we should walk in them. And if God ordained it, Mark,
God will accomplish it. He foreordained we should walk
in good works. He will see to it that his people
do. By the indwelling presence of God the Holy Spirit, believers
are made new creatures in Christ. If we walk in the Spirit, Paul
tells us, we shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. And all
who are born of God walk in the Spirit. Look at Romans chapter
8. Romans chapter 8. Brother Mark brought an excellent
study this morning from the latter part of this chapter. Look at
the beginning of it. Romans chapter 8 verse 4. The
righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who walk not after the
flesh, but after the spirit. For they that are after the flesh
do mind the things of the flesh, but they that are after the spirit,
the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded, that
is to live after the flesh. To be carnally minded is death.
But to be spiritually minded, to live after the spirit, is
life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God. For it is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in
the flesh cannot please God. Now what's this next line? But
ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. You'll be born
again. You now live different. You live
from a different principle. You live with different motives.
You live a different life. You walk in the spirit, believe
in God. You're not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that
the spirit of God dwell in you. Now, if any man had not the spirit
of Christ, he's none of his. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. But if the spirit of him that
raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised
up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies
by his spirit that dwelleth in you. Therefore, brethren, we
are debtors, not to the flesh to live after the flesh. For
if you live after the flesh, you shall die. But if you, through
the Spirit, do modify the deeds of the body, you shall live.
For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons
of God. If I am in Christ, if I have
a new holy nature, that which is born of God, that new nature
is Christ. It's holy. It's created in righteousness
and in true holiness. It is Christ in me, the hope
of glory. And that new nature is that by
which I serve God, in which I serve God, walking in good works. Of this I'm sure. If I profess
faith in Christ, if I profess faith in Christ, but in my works
deny him, my profession is an abomination and I'm reprobate. If I profess faith in Christ,
but in my works, deny him. My profession is an abomination
and my, and I am a reprobate. Let's see if that's what the
book teaches. Titus chapter one, Titus chapter one. Verse 16. They profess that they
know God. about everybody does. How many
people do you know who don't? They profess that they know God,
but in works they deny him, being abominable and disobedient, and
unto every good work reprobate. Those who profess faith in Christ,
but by their works deny him, are reprobate. That's not debatable. True believers glorify God before
men in their good works. Faith works by love. Faith always works, not by law,
but by love. And it always works. Read the
book of Titus chapter 2, and you'll find Paul speaking of
how we ought to adorn the doctrine of God. Because the grace of
God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, but it teaches
us, it teaches us, it's appeared to us effectually in the revelation
of Christ, denying ungodliness and worldly lust to live soberly,
righteously, and godly in this present world. Believers are
men and women who walk before God and perform good works. In the light of these things,
hear what the Savior says, I know thy works. For the religious hypocrite,
those words are terrifying. The eyes of the Lord are in every
place, beholding the evil and the good. Our Lord sees through
the facade we put up. He sees through the outward veneer. He sees through the words. And
he sees what goes on right here. He looks on the heart. He sees
the motive by which we live. So that for the hypocrite, these
words are terrifying, I know thy works. For the believer,
they're most comforting. I don't know that we'll ever
learn this, this side of eternity. But you and I, Bob, we don't
have the ability to look on anything but the outward appearance. That's all we can see is the
outward appearance. We can't look beyond what we
see with these eyes and hear with these ears. We just can't
look beyond that. And we ought, with the knowledge
of that fact, keep our mouths and thoughts shut with regard
to judging others and what they do and what they are. That's
not our business. The master knows our works. He
knows our works. Peter, you remember when he had
denied the Lord. Master came to him by the sea
and said, Peter, we need to get something settled. Not that I
need to know anything, but you do. Lovest thou me more than
these? And he said, well, yes, Lord.
I love you. He said, feed my sheep. He asked
him again, Peter, lovest thou me? And he said, yes, Lord. You know, I love you. Feed my
sheep. And then the Lord changed words.
Our English translation translates the word love, translates several
words by the word love. But he earlier used a very common
term for love. Then he uses the strongest possible
term, the word from which we get our word brotherly. It's the word brotherly love.
Love of committed brothers to one another. Love of committed
brothers to one another. Frank and Curtis back there are
brothers. And if you're around them much,
they pick and fuss and jostle each other and bump each other
and keep making sure one's got the upper hand on the other one.
But they're brothers. You better not get between them.
You better not get between them. They're brothers. That's the
kind of love he's talking about. Now he says, he says, Simon,
he said to him the third time, Lovest thou me? Do you really
love me? Do you really love me? And Peter
was pricked in his heart because he said to him the third time,
do you really love me? Do you really love me? And Peter's
response was this, Lord, you know all things. You know that
I love you." He hadn't acted much like it, John might say,
James might say. Remember, Peter, we were there
that night. Remember, we heard you. Remember,
we saw what you did. Don't talk to us about that.
Peter might say, I wasn't talking to you. Lord, you know all things. You know that I love you. You
see, the fact that our Savior knows our works makes hypocrisy
a deadly losing game. The hope of the hypocrite shall
perish. For the believer, it's a matter
of great comfort. Our Lord looks on his people
and says, I know with approval and with delight thy works. I know thy works, works that
will follow you to glory, works that shall be mentioned in the
day of judgment before wandering worlds, works that I'll say to
you on my right hand, you who fed me and clothed me and visited
me and comforted me and took care of me, you come and inherit.
You come and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation
of the world. I know your works. I know your works. Works that
he delights in, approves of, and accepts. Works done for him. Our Lord Jesus saw that woman
who brought the alabaster box and anointed him, and washed
his feet with her tears, and kissed them, and dried them with
the hairs of her head. And she broke the alabaster box
and anointed him for his burial. Disciples following Judas's lead.
Isn't that amazing? The fellows we choose to follow,
following Judas's lead, they began to ridicule her. Why this
waste? And the master said something. He said, you leave her alone. And then he said something he
never said about anybody else or anything else in this book. She hath wrought a good work
on me. She hath wrought a good work
on me. Now, there are many things that
could be said about that. It was a work that involved faith.
It was a work that involved personal sacrifice. But principally, it
was a work done just for him. Done just for him. I get a little older, and you
get a little older, you remember things that you didn't pay much attention
to when you were younger. I recall Faith's first steps, her first steps. She's standing
beside the coffee table and just trying to walk. I was down on
my knee and I said, come to daddy, come to daddy. And she's holding
on that table, just scared to death to let go. And finally
she let go and started waddling to daddy. And she fell down and
she cried and she got up and kept coming to daddy. Oh, what a wonderful thing for her
to do. What a delight it brought to me. Shelby and I just laughed
and just tickled to death. There she is walking. Here she's
coming to daddy. That's how the Savior receives everything in
our lives we do for Him as we are coming to Him. He receives
us and receives that we've committed to Him, our lives, with approval
and delight. I know thy works. Secondly, our
Lord warns us of some dangers we must overcome. In these two
chapters, our Lord identifies six specific conditions, which
if they're not resisted and overcome, will result in eternal ruin.
Let me give them to you. Here's the first danger. Apostasy
for my first love. Look at chapter two, verse four.
I have somewhat against thee. because thou hast left thy first
love. Does the Son of God speak that
to me? Does he say that to you? These
Ephesians were zealous of good works. They were patient in trials
and afflictions. They were thoroughly orthodox
in doctrine. But there was a dreadful decay. in the matter of love for Christ. How can you deal with that? A woman may be married to a man
and after some period of time their relationship gets cold. She continues to go about her
wifely duty. She continues to cook the meals
and clean the house and do the laundry and things that women
do in the house. And she does them with all the ability she has, as she has in
the past. But there's no love involved
in the work, just her duty. Are you like that? Am I? Does
our love for Christ decline? Do we find ourselves more and
more concerned about the cares of this world and less and less
concerned about Christ? David just saying nothing between. Sad fact is, usually there's
much between. Buy it or make it. But what's the answer? Set your affection on things
above. Set your affection, not affections,
your affection. Set your heart on Christ. Set your heart on Christ. Make it your determination, by
the grace of God, ever to seek Him and live for Him. And then you can sing, as he
did, I am resolved. There's nothing between. Set
your affection on the Savior. The correction for that deadness
we sense. There's not emotionalism or a
show. The correction is devotion to
Christ. Take your place like Mary at
his feet. And stay there. Take your place
at his feet. Learn of him. Hear his word.
Take your place at his feet. Ask him to speak to you. Second,
look at verse 14. were warned not to embrace the
doctrine of Balaam. I have a few things against thee,
because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam,
who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block before the children of
Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. When Balak called for Balaam
to curse Israel, God restrained him. Much to Balak's disgust,
God forced Balaam to bless his people, and yet Israel became
involved in the worship of Baal. Their sin, we're told plainly,
is the result of Balaam's counsel. What was that? What was that?
Balaam taught Israel to compromise with their idolatrous neighbors.
He didn't teach them to forsake the worship of God. He didn't
teach them to give up Remembrance of the Passover and the feast
days that God had ordained. He didn't tell them don't offer
sacrifices on God's altar. No, no, no, no, he said Just
don't make this an issue with these folks You join them in
their religious festivities and they'll join you in your religious
festivities and y'all can all get along As long as you don't
identify Jehovah as the only God and His grace as the only
salvation, His sacrifice, the only sacrifice, you'll get along
alright with folks. And they learned to do so. The
result was idolatry. Be warned, my friends. Compromise
with false religion is damning to the souls of men. It is damning
to the souls of men. We're told time and time again
to come out from among them, not to be unequally yoked together.
The fact is the only way for us to remove the offense of the
gospel is to deny it. We must never give credibility
to the religion of this world. Those who preach free will deny
free grace. Those who declare that man has
his way, declare that God can't have his way. Those who tell
us that Christ died for all men, deny the efficacy of his blood.
Those who tell us that God's trying to save all men, deny
the efficacy of his grace. The compromise always is damning,
and we must never give credibility to such religion. Third, verse
15. We are by nature, all of us,
tempted to embrace the doctrine of the Nicolaitans. So hast thou
also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing
I hate." Now, you'll have to look long and hard to find what
these Nicolaitans taught who they were. The only help I could
find with it was from Dr. Gill, and I just presume he knew
what he was saying. These Nicolaitans were named
after the band they followed. Gill said they committed fornication,
adultery, and all uncleanness, and had their wives in common,
and also ate things off of diamonds. In other words, the Nicolaitans
really were antinomians. They were men who thought they
could live as they pleased, live in ungodliness, give vent to
their unbridled lust, and still have the grace of God in the
saving knowledge of Christ. Without question, without question,
any man who preaches the gospel of God's free grace is accused
of being such. I have been accused all my life
of being against the law and of teaching lawlessness. That's
just common stuff. It happens every day with me.
Every day somebody brings that accusation. And that's all right.
I don't mind being accused of it. I don't want it to be true
of me and not going to be. They accuse the Apostle Paul
of saying, let us sin that grace may abound. That's not the case.
That's not the case. God's people are free from the
law, but God's people aren't lawless. God's people are free
from the law, but they don't live in their lust and in the
passions of their flesh. Believers are men and women who
seek to walk before God in uprightness and true holiness. Number four. Look at verse 20. The churches
of Christ are constantly pressured by the world to be tolerant of
false prophets. Notwithstanding, I have a few
things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel,
which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants
to commit fornication and to eat things offered to idols.
Now there are lots of folks who like to tell us about female
preachers and how good it is to have a female preacher and
lots of idiots go listen to them. I chose my words on purpose.
Lots of idiots go listen to them. There was one female preacher
mentioned in this book, just one. Her name is Jezebel. She's called Jezebel after Ahab's
wife. Because she was a wicked woman
bent upon turning men away from the worship of God. A wicked
woman determined to keep people from worshiping God. Jezebel,
this false prophet, seduces men. Seduces them into ungodliness. And by the ungodliness he's talking
about is ungodly religion. We mustn't be tolerant of false
prophets. The Word of God clearly, clearly
speaks. Folks say, well, don't make a
fuss about false prophets. It'll only cause trouble. The
world says judge not to condemn the actions of another's bigotry.
And Satan tempts us to be silent, thus we create division. But
the Word of God is constant in its warnings. Beware of false
prophets. If they're not identified, Exposed
and denounced, they will sooner or later devour a congregation. It is my responsibility, my responsibility
to expose every error to which you are exposed and make you
understand the danger of that error. I don't chase rabbit trails,
and I don't spend time studying cults and false doctrines, stuff
like that. But as you are confronted with
things as a congregation that are contrary to the gospel of
God's grace, it is my responsibility to make it clear that which is
contrary to the gospel of God's grace. My responsibility. I've
been in situations where I've had to follow preachers and just
Take everything the man said and expose everything he said
as being heresy. Why would you do that? Troublemaker. No, no. I'm there to speak for
God. And I can't hear a man declare
works salvation, declare works religion, declare free will salvation,
free will religion, and keep my mouth shut. Well, our dear
brother and I, we have some disagreements. No. Hymenaeus and Philetus would
destroy the souls of men. And Hymenaeus and Philetus must
be identified. Number five, we must constantly
guard against the tendency of our flesh toward hypocrisy, ritualism,
and lifeless orthodoxy. Look at chapter three, verse
one. To the angel of the church at Sardis write, These things
saith he that hath the seven spirits of God and the seven
stars. I know thy works that thou hast
to name that thou livest and art dead. Our Lord's warning is much like
that which he gave earlier. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. I want very much to set before
you an example of godliness. I want to do that. I want very
much to set before my wife, my daughter, son-in-law, grandchildren,
an example of godliness. I want very much to do that. But I pray for grace constantly
to avoid a show to impress you. I'm not interested in trying
to convince you that I am godly. I'm not interested in trying
to convince you that I am a holy man. I'm not interested in trying
to convince you that I am some kind of a superhero spiritually. That's hypocrisy. That's hypocrisy. But what's the difference? I
hope you know the difference. Don't try to show your righteousness
to men. Don't try to show your godliness
to men. Live in godliness before men. There's all the difference in
the world. Don't just put on a show and try to impress people
with how devoted you are. Live in devotion to Christ. There's
all the difference in the world. And lastly, in verses 15 and
16, our Lord warns his churches are the most dangerous of all
fleshly tendencies, lukewarmness, apathy, and indifference. The Laodiceans were lukewarm. Nothing lukewarm is good. Make it hot or cold, but not
lukewarm. Our Lord says, because you're
lukewarm, I'm ready to spew you out of my mouth. Nothing is more disgusting to
our Redeemer than lukewarm, half-hearted, apathetic, indifferent men and
women. Yet we're ever prone to become
lukewarm about the things of Christ. How often I've seen it. How often I experience it. Lukewarm. Lukewarm. So that those things that ought
to be the most heart-moving things. We ought to constantly have our
minds and our attention and our thoughts. We tend to look upon
as everyday things with which we're familiar, like free grace, full forgiveness, blood atonement,
everlasting love. acceptance in the beloved. How
those things ought to charm our hearts relentlessly. But we'll
talk about that and sing about that in a little bit. We'll observe
the Lord's table, and I hope we can come together, take the
bread and wine, and remember our Savior, really. And if he allows us to do so,
Merle, if things go as normal, Before we get out the door, we
got our minds on something else. God save us from lukewarmness. Oh, Spirit of God, constantly
show me my need of Christ and constantly give me grace to look
to him in faith and constantly draw my heart after him. Let
nothing come between my soul and my Savior. Well, what can
be done about this? Hear the counsel of our Savior.
Verse 5, chapter 2. Remember from whence thou art
fallen. Be honest with yourself and honest
with God all the time. Be honest with yourself and honest
with God all the time. Repent and do the first works. What? Repent and come to Christ. Repent and believe on the Lord
Jesus. Repent and trust the Son of God. Repent and do the first
works. Verse 25. That which ye already
have, hold fast. Tenaciously adhere to the truth
of God, the gospel of his free grace in Christ. Chapter three,
verse two, be watchful and strengthen those things which remain. And
then in verse 18, he says, buy me, buy me. Strange language. Buy me. Just like you did in the first
without money and without price. Come and buy everything you need
from me. Buy of me without money by the
free gift of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then our Savior
makes some promises. Look at these promises he gives.
Chapter 2, verse 7. Return to your first love, and
he promises you the blessedness of eternal glory. Hold fast the
doctrine of Christ, confess him in the midst of his enemies,
and he promises to own you as his. In verse 17, he says, I'll
give you a white stone of pardon, and I'll give you a new name
that nobody knows but you. Jehovah said, King you, the Lord
our righteousness. Verse 26, continue in the way
of faith, and the Son of God says, I'll give you power over
the world. Verse 5, chapter 3, awake, arise from the dead, and
he will give you light and life. And then in verse 21, he says,
return to me with a true fervent heart of faith, and I'll cause
you to reign with me forever. Now, look at verse 20 of chapter
3. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come
in to him. and will sup with him, and he
with me. Come back to the Song of Solomon,
if you will. I'll wrap this up. Our blessed Savior leans hard
against the door of his church, knocking for his beloved to open
to him. And if anyone in the house will
open to him, he says, I'll come in and sup with you and you with
me. Look in the Song of Solomon, chapter 4. Awake, O north wind, and come
thou south. Blow upon my garden that the
spices thereof may flow out. I use that language all the time
preparing for our worship services. Spirit of God awake, blow upon
us this day and cause the spices of your garden to flow out. Let
my beloved come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits.
And the Savior answers, chapter 5, verse 1. I am coming to my
garden, my sister, my spouse. I've gathered my myrrh with my
spice. I've eaten my honeycomb with my honey. I have drunk my
wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink
abundantly, O beloved. And she says, I sleep. But my heart wakes up. I'm not
dead, I'm asleep. My heart awakes because I hear
the voice. I hear somebody's voice. It's
the voice of my beloved. He knocks, saying, open to me.
Open to me. My sister. My love. My dove. My undefiled. Laurel Hart, does he say that
to you? My sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled, open to me. You're undefiled. You're a dove. You're mine because my head is
filled with the dew and my rocks with the drops of the night.
I've been laboring for your soul. Open to me. Open to me. And our response is come back
later, don't bother me now. Lord, thank you for your grace,
but I'm busy right now. Thank you for your goodness,
but I've got other things to do right now. I put off my coat,
how shall I put it on? I've washed my feet, how shall
I defile them? Oh, thank you, blessed Savior, that from this evil heart of
mine, you will never take no for an answer. My beloved put his hand in by
the hold of the door, and my bowels moved for him. He knocks
and says, open. He leans hard against the door
and says, open to me. And we push back and say, no. And he graciously forces the
door open and lets himself in and causes us to open to him
and run after him. so that we who are His are kept
His only by His grace. Hear these solemn warnings and
look to Christ in faith, commitment, and devotion. Ask grace of Him
every day, every hour, in all circumstances, Savior Hold me
and don't let me go. Amen.