Well, Shelby and I are excited
to be with you this weekend, this tremendous occasion. It wasn't long ago, just a few
days ago, Church and Lookout West Virginia called for my ordination. That's been 45 years ago, in
just a short time. very short time. Started 35 years
together in the work in Danville this past March, and it seems
that it has flown by so quickly. And I want very, very much to
continue to be of help to you by the blessing of our God in
the years God's given me upon this earth. And your pastor has
asked me this weekend to address the congregation. And I believe
the Lord's given me another message that will be of help to you.
I'm a realist. I try to face things as they
really are. And I want to give you some warnings. Not my warnings, but warnings
from the Master. If you'll open your Bibles to
Revelation chapter 2. Revelation chapter 2. I have
a lengthy text. Revelation chapter 2, verse 1
through chapter 3 and verse 22. In these two chapters, our Lord
Jesus dictates seven letters by his spirit to the Apostle
John. He dictates seven letters and
says, you send these letters to the churches. Send a letter
to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia,
and Laodicea. Now the things that I have given
you, you write them and send them to these churches. These
were literal churches in the Apostles' day. Churches addressed
specifically according to their needs. But these seven churches
are representative of all gospel churches. Not representative
of all churches, not by a long shot. Representative of all gospel
churches. Representative of all churches
where Christ is worshipped, where his gospel is believed, where
his name is honored. All churches made up of men and
women. born of God's Spirit, washed in the precious blood
of the Lord Jesus. Churches made up of people who
believe God, who trust Christ alone as Savior and Lord. These seven letters are addressed
to Grace Church, San Diego, California. And they're addressed to Grace
Baptist Church, Danville, Kentucky. They're addressed to all God's
churches in this world. They do not represent seven periods
of time, but rather they represent God's churches found in the world
throughout any age in time. In these two chapters, seven
times our Savior repeats these exact words. He that hath an ear, Let him
hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Here are warnings
from the master. I wanna show you four things. First, a fact we must never forget. Second, some dangers. we must
labor to overcome. Third, the counsel of our great,
tender, compassionate Savior to us. And then fourth, our Lord's
promises to those who heed his word, to those who overcome. First, I want to show you here
and remind you of a fact we must never forget. There are two things
our Lord said seven times in these seven letters. The first,
he that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto
the churches. Here's the second thing he says.
He said it to all seven of the churches. He says it to you and
to me. He says it to this congregation,
to the congregation in Houston, to our congregation in Danforth. I know thy works. I know thy works. Now understand and understand
clearly. Works on our part, good works
on our part, have nothing whatsoever to do with our salvation. We are saved by God's free grace,
saved by the merit of Christ's precious blood. Our only righteousness
is His righteousness. Our only holiness is His holiness. Our only atonement is His blood
atonement, the redemption of our souls by His precious blood. The whole of our acceptance with
God is Jesus Christ the Lord. We are accepted in the beloved. But don't ever imagine, don't
ever imagine that it doesn't matter how you live or what you
do. Don't ever imagine that your
works are insignificant. Some years ago, I had a preacher
make this statement. He said, character and conduct
don't matter. We're saved by grace. And I said,
you're a heretic. You're a heretic. Character and
conduct matter a great deal. Our Savior doesn't say, I know
thy feelings, I know thy desires, I know thy profession. He says,
I know thy works. The apostle teaches us that we
should be careful to maintain good works for necessary uses. Understand that grace Grace experienced
in the heart Grace experienced in the soul produces in men and
women good works for the glory of God. It is the nature of spiritual
men, the nature of spiritual women, the nature of God-taught
men and women, the nature of those born from above to walk
in the spirit and to walk in good works. Turn to Romans chapter
1, or chapter 8 rather, and verse 1. We'll look at this a couple of
times this morning in this regard. There is therefore now no condemnation
to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the Spirit. Now let me tell you what it is
to walk after the Spirit. It is to believe on the Son of
God. To walk in the Spirit is to walk
in faith. It is to believe God, to trust
the Lord Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and
death. For what the law could not do,
in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son
in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin condemned sin in
the flesh. That is, Christ came here and
fulfilled the law and satisfied the law on our behalf because
we never could. that the righteousness of the
law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh
but after the spirit. How do we fulfill the righteousness
of the law? We believe the Son of God. 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 is
death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Carnally minded. How does Paul
refer to the ordinances of the law? Calls them cardinal ordinances,
doesn't he? Folks who seek righteousness,
holiness, by their obedience to the law. Folks who seek to
live before God by law obedience, live carnally in enmity against
God, and that's death. To be spiritually minded, to
believe God, to trust Christ alone as our wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption, that's life and peace. That's life and peace. Oh, to
be at peace with God. To be at peace with God. The
carnal mind, the carnal mind says do, do, do. The spiritual
mind says bless God, done, done, done. It's done. This is a bed that's long enough
and broad enough that a man can stretch himself on it. These
are covers wide enough that you can wrap yourself in them. It's
called life and peace because the carnal mind is enmity against
God. For that carnal mind, trying
to use the law for righteousness, trying to use the law for holiness,
trying to use the law for sanctification, 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 watch this, watch this. But
you're not in the flesh. You're not in the flesh. Now,
Brother Don, what on earth is he talking about? I'm looking
at folks sitting here in bodies of flesh. Paul says you're not
in the flesh. What's he talking about? He's
not suggesting we don't live in this body of flesh. He's not
suggesting we don't live in this physical frame. Of course we
do. What he's saying is we no longer live after the flesh as
carnal men and women seeking righteousness before God by what
we do. But rather, we're in the spirit.
And what he says, 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
have 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. All who are saved by the grace
of God, believing on the Lord Jesus, perform good works from
this principle of inward grace called Christ in you, the hope
of glory. God has ordained that those who
are saved by his grace walk in good works for the honor of his
name. For by grace you're saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of
works lest any man should boast. And we are his workmanship. We are his workmanship. God's masterpieces. That's the
word. Art, he says, we're God's masterpieces. This is as good as God can do. That's the word. This is as good
as God can do. We are His workmanship created
in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. And I reckon if God's foreordained
that His people walk in good works, they're gonna walk in
good works. They're going to walk in good
works. That's the way believers live. The dwelling presence of
God, the Holy Spirit makes believers new creatures so that we believe
God. And like Abraham, you know, we
believe God because we obey him. Like Rahab, you know, we believe
God because she hid the spies. Those good works are not things
by which believers evidence their faith to themselves. If you're seeking peace from
God, assurance from God based on what you do, you're gonna
have a tough time getting any. You have a tough time getting...
You don't read your Bible enough. You don't pray enough. And when
you pray, you don't pray with right motives. And you don't
worship sufficiently. And when you worship, you kind
of half-heartedly worship. You don't do good. And when you
do what you would call good, it ain't anywhere near good enough
to give you peace with God. If your assurance before God
of faith is based on what you do, you've got a sandy foundation
for your assurance. Our assurance is faith itself.
But how did Abraham's neighbors know he believed God? God said,
Abraham, get out of this place, leave your kindred, leave your
homeland, and go to a place I'm gonna show you. And Abraham said,
goodbye, boys, I'm gone. I'm gone. How did he believe
God? He said, Sarah, honey, we're
fixing to have a baby. And they did. How folks know
he believed God? He said to his servant, he said,
you wait here. I'm going to take my boy Isaac,
whom I dearly love, up yonder that mountain. And I'm going
to sacrifice him to God. And we're going to come back
down here and go home together. And he did. And he did. Rahab
believed God, that harlot, running a brothel. She was born of God,
taught of God. She believed God. How do you
know she believed God? Because at the hazard of her life, she
hid God's servants from those who would destroy them. Believers are many women who
have a new holy nature. that which is born of God, Christ
in you, the hope of glory, that new nature created in righteousness
and true holiness. And it is Christ in you, the
hope of glory, which inspires and dictates and determines the
believer's life. Now, this is what I'm saying.
If I profess faith in Christ, but by my works deny him, My
profession is an abomination to God and I'm a reprobate man. You too. If I profess faith in
Christ and by the way I live deny him. My profession in Christ
is a sham and I'm a reprobate man. You too. They profess that
they know God, Paul said. But in works they deny him, being
abominable and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate. In the light of these facts,
let all who profess faith in the Lord Jesus hear his words,
I know thy works. For the religious hypocrite,
these are the most terrifying words in the world. I know thy
works. You can deceive your pastor.
You can deceive your wife or your husband. You can deceive
the congregation. You can deceive yourself. You
can't deceive God our Savior. I know thy works. I know thy
works. The eyes of the Lord are in every
place beholding the good and the evil. For the religious hypocrite
Those are terrifying words. For the believer, for the believer, for the man,
the woman, the child who trusts Christ, the most comforting words
in the world, I know thy words. David Pledge, I've known you
a long time. I've known you longer than anybody in this room except
my wife. You know me pretty good. I know you pretty good, but I
don't much know you. He does. Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou
me? The Savior said. After Peter
had cussed and denied him, said I don't know him three times,
walked away from him. He comes to him again, said Simon,
lovest thou me? Peter said, yes, Lord, I love
you. And then the third time, he used
a different word for love. It's translated the same in our
English translation, but it's a different word. He used it
as the strongest word possible to speak of love. And he said,
now Simon, do you really love me? And he
didn't ask it for Simon's sake, or for his sake, he asked it
for Simon's sake. Do you flat out, sure enough, really love
me? And this is how Peter answered.
Lord, thou knowest all things. James and John have reason to
suspect me. The others have reason to suspect
me. All they can see is what they heard and saw, what they
heard with their ears and saw with their eyes. Lord, you know
all things. You know that I love you. The Savior says, I know thy works. Our Savior looks not at our works
themselves, but at the motive by which he inspires them. He
looks to the heart to see why we do the things we do. And he
is well pleased. He is well pleased with our feeble
efforts at honoring him. Isn't that amazing? Isn't that
amazing? He's well pleased with our feeble
efforts at honoring Him. He accepts what we do for Him
in the totality of our lives. by his blood and his righteousness,
making it before God a sacrifice of a sweet-smelling savor. Go,
eat your bread with a merry heart. Drink your wine with a merry
heart, Solomon said. God now accepteth thy works.
He accepts your works. I don't know how to say this,
don't know how to illustrate it. He accepts what we do for
him. Will you hear me, children of
God in San Diego, California? Will you hear me? Do what you can for the master
in the day God's given you. And God accepts it as he accepts
the blood and righteousness of his son. Isn't it amazing? Isn't it amazing?
He accepts it because it's the works of his blood-bought people. I told you last night, I've said
it many times, we only had one child. I said to Eric, we better
go. We only had one. So I don't qualify for giving
advice to parents about anything. Because my only one was a girl.
He was a girl, wasn't a boy. If he had been a boy, one of
us wouldn't have survived this long. He'd have taken after me probably.
But I recall her first steps. That's been 43 years ago. Yeah. I recall her first steps. She's
walking to daddy. I hold up my hands, I come to
daddy. I recall her, you parents remember those days, don't you?
And she just, shake her chubby legs and her chubby butt and
she's coming to daddy and she fell down right smack dab in
the middle of the floor and broke out crying. I didn't come to
daddy. I wasn't the least bit upset
with her falling. Didn't bother me a bit in the world her feet
weren't steady. Cause she's coming to daddy. She's coming to daddy. The Lord
Jesus accepts our works just that way. Just that way. Several
years ago Faith was about four, I reckon. I'd been away in a
meeting for a good many days, and I was driving home and had
CB radio in those days. I got to the top of the mountain
and called and told them I was coming home. And of course, Shelby always
had hot macaroni and cheese in the oven waiting for me to get
there. And Faith was sitting out on the front porches in the
spring of the year. She's sitting on a stoop right in front of
my office, waiting Daddy to come up. And I know it was in the
spring of the year because she went out and picked dandelions.
Y'all don't have dandelions out here, do you? That's a noxious
weed that grows in everybody's yard back home. In the spring,
the grass comes up and you mow dandelions. You can't hardly
cut the blooming things down. They just fall over underneath
the blade. And they've got little fuzz all over them. Just that
fuzz. The seeds. Now your neighbor's
got a thousand. But it's horrible things. Faith had gone out and picked
me a whole fistful of those flowers. Those dandelions. And she had
them behind her back. I drove up and she came running
and here's her dandelions and as she's running the wind blowing
and all the fuzz. All she had was a little ugly
stem sticking out there. And she came running to me, she
saw what those flowers looked like she was so proud of, and
she started to cry because they were so ugly. And I started to
cry because they were so beautiful. How come? I'd give $1,000 for
them right now. How come those ugly things, you
spray weed killer to get rid of them? You give $1,000 to have
them right now, right now. I'll tell you why. Because she
did that just for me, because she loved me. That's all. And so the master
says, I know thy works. Do you remember what he said
concerning that woman who brought down the master box of ointment
and anointed him? And everyone said, why this waste?
She's just throwing everything away. She came to anoint his feet for
his burial. to anoint his body for his burial. And she kissed his feet, washed
them with her tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
And the Lord Jesus said, leave her alone. Let her alone. She hath wrought a good work
on me. That's the only time in this
book the Son of God ever spoke of anything anybody did and said
that's a good work. And you know how he describes
it? She hath done what she could. I say to you, my brothers and
sisters, do what you can for the Savior. Do what you can for
the Savior. I'm not responsible to do what
Eric Richards is responsible to do. Grace Church in Danville
is not responsible what Grace Church in San Diego is responsible
to do. We are responsible to do what
God's put in our hands, the opportunity and the ability to do. Do it
with all your might. Do it with all your might. And
the Lord Jesus says, I know thy works. All right, secondly, secondly. In these two chapters, our Lord
warns us of some dangers we must studiously avoid. The first danger is described
in chapter 2, verse 4. It is the danger of apostasy
from our first love. I have somewhat against thee,
the Savior says, because thou hast left thy first love. Does the son of God speak that
to you? Does he say that to me? These
Ephesians were zealous in good works. They were patient in trials
and afflictions in life. They were thoroughly orthodox
in doctrine. But there was a dreadful decay
of heart. which is everything. Everything. A wife may dutifully perform
all the tasks that she gladly performed when she was newly
married for her husband. She may take care of the house
and fix his meals and do his clothes and take care of all
those things from a sense of duty, though her heart has grown
cold toward that man she's married to. So it is that we often perform our duties from a sense
of duty. Oh, God, keep me from that. God,
keep me from that. How do you correct this? Spend
much time like Mary at the Savior's feet. Spend much time like Mary
hearing His word and learning of Him. Choose that good part,
which will never be taken from you. No time, no effort, no energy
spent. Worshiping and serving the Savior
is ill spent. Set your affection on things
above. Not on things on the earth. And
I don't know how to say this, I don't know, I don't know what's
the proper way to say it. Maybe one of you fellas can help
me. Yes, draw me and we will run
after the eternals and we shall be turned. Yes, we wait on you,
God, to draw our hearts to our savior. But we are to set our affection
on the son of God. Set our affection upon things
above. Set our affections upon him who
loved us and gave himself for us. You get enticed to leave your husband
by some fellow who just passes by seduces you, turn and set
your heart upon the man to whom you're wed. You turn and set
your heart upon the woman to whom you're wed. Children of
God, set your heart upon Christ. With everything that draws you
from him, set your heart upon things above. Next, we're warned
never to embrace the doctrine of Balaam. Chapter two, verse
14. I have a few things against thee,
because thou hast there them that hold to the doctrine of
Balaam, who taught Balaam to cast a stumbling block before
the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols,
and commit fornication. The doctrine of Balaam, Would any of you like to stand
up and tell me what Balaam said that was wrong? And yet there's not a false prophet
mentioned in scripture of more damning character than Balaam.
What was it he did? He did not teach the children
of Israel to abandon the worship of Jehovah. He did not teach
them to abandon the altar of God. He did not teach them to
abandon God's sacrifices. He taught them to accept other
ways. He taught them to get along with
the religious world. He taught them to compromise
the glory of God, the gospel of God, the truth of God, to
get along with folks who were opposed to it. That's the doctrine
of Balaam. And you're gonna be tempted to
it for as long as you live in this world. You'll be tempted
to it for as long as you seek to serve God. Set your mind now
never to compromise God's truth. Never to try to get along with
folks who are opposed to God and his truth. The only way to
remove the offense of the gospel is to deny it. Those who preach
man's free will deny God's sovereignty. Those who preach the freedom
of man deny the sovereignty of God. Those who preach salvation
by the will, works, and worth of man deny salvation by grace. Those who preach universal redemption
deny the redemptive work of Christ and the very Godhood of our Savior.
Those who preach universal atonement deny any atonement at all. Those
who preach universal grace deny the efficacy of God's grace.
Such people may talk grace and talk redemption and talk salvation,
but their doctrine is will worship and nothing else. Number three,
look at verse 15 of chapter two. We are all by nature tempted
to embrace the doctrine of Nicolaitans. So thou hast also them that hold
the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate." The Nicolaitans,
who were those fellas? What was their doctrine? The
Nicolaitans were a group of heretics in John's day who taught that
it was all right for believers to engage in the immoralities
of the pagan religious world around them. taught that it's
all right for believers to just live as they will. They were
what folks call antinomians in reality. Now, I have been accused
of being an antinomian since I was 18 years old, when I first
started preaching, folks started throwing that thing at me, so
I'm real careful how I use that term. But I don't mind being
accused. It's impossible to preach free
grace, absolute free grace, salvation by God's free grace, and not
have workmongers to accuse you of being an antinomian. But I
don't want to be one. And God's people are not. They're
not people who are given to licentiousness and live in licentiousness. Having
said that, understand this. Believers understand, they recognize
the horrid evil of their own hearts, the corruption of their
own natures. But God's people walk with God
and live for his honor. And it's not just something that, that's just what you do. It is
that, but more than that, Pastor, You gotta determine every day
you wake up to live for his honor. Every hour you walk to serve
him, it's a matter of determination as well as a matter of grace.
You set yourself for his glory. I say to you, San Diego Grace
Church, set yourselves for the honor of God. I say to you, each
believer, live for the glory of God. Live every day that you
live in this world for the glory of God. As you go to your work,
work today for God's glory. And you come home and sit down
with your family, spend your time with your family for God's
glory. And when you relax, relax for God's glory. Seek in all
things the glory of God our Savior. Number four. The churches of
Christ and us individual believers are constantly pressured, constantly
pressured to be tolerant of false prophets. Verse 20. Nevertheless,
notwithstanding, I have a few things against thee, because
thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess.
to teach and seduce my servants to commit fornication and eat
things sacrificed to idols. This church at Thyatira was charitable. Oh, they were so sweet. They
were just so nice. They wanted to get along with
everybody, didn't want to cause any trouble. So they had this
woman in there who was a little bit pushy. A little domineering
who like to show herself. Now I realize I'm talking to
folks in the year 2014 and I realize that I'm out of step with the
times and I hope I can get you out of step with them. Pushy,
domineering women are ugly. Pushy domineering women are ugly. I don't care who you are. It
ain't your place But especially in the Church of God Jezebel
They put up with him because she's gonna make trouble if they
didn't and she professed to be a prophetess And I want to tell
you something else any woman who professes to be a prophetess.
She ain't she's a false prophetess. I It is not so. Once in a while, I get letters
from folks, from women who, I do pretty much the same thing with
men, but I get letters from women who want to straighten me out
theologically. And as a general rule, I write
to the ladies and I'll say, when I start to decide to learn my
doctrine from a woman, I'll let you know. That's just not your
place. That's just not your place. Amen,
Brother Fortner, that's right. That's exactly right. Not only
is it true with regard to Jezebel, this woman's called Jezebel after
Ahab's wife because she was a deceiver. I know the flesh says don't make
a fuss about false prophets, it'll only cause trouble. The
world likes to quote our Lord's words, judge not that you be
not judged. That's the only passage in scripture more abused than
John 3.16. Satan tempts us to be silent, lest we call strife
and create division. The word of God warns us, beware
of false prophets. Hymenaeus and Philetus have made
the overthrow, overthrown the faith of some, made shit-crack
of many. You beware of them. Number five,
look at chapter three, verse one. We must guard against the
tendency of our flesh toward hypocrisy. Ritualism and life
resource of orthodoxy Under the angel of the church at Sardis,
right? These things saith he that hath the seven spirits of
God and the seven stars. I know thy works Thou hast a
name that thou livest and art dead Hold the truth of God with a
death grip Obey the Word of God tenaciously. Observe the ordinances of God
exactly as prescribed in the Word of God. But ever pray that
God will cause you to do so with living hearts, living faith. That God will speak to you by
His Word and by His ordinances and cause you to worship Him
in those things. If all you've got's the doctrine,
you don't have much. If all you've got's the right
baptism, you don't have much. If all you've got's the right
observance of the Lord's Supper, you don't have much. But if your
doctrine draws your heart to Christ, that's another story.
at the Lord's table. At home, we observe the Lord's
Supper every Sunday night. We've been doing it for nearly
35 years, every Sunday night. You say, well, aren't you afraid
it'll become mundane? Well, if it does, it's my fault.
Not because we observe it too often. No, no, no. The problem's
with us, with us. Beg God to speak to you by his
word and let you worship him in his ordinances. Lastly, our
Lord warns his churches are the most dangerous of all
fleshly tendencies. Lukewarmness, apathy, indifference. How often have you been here,
heard the gospel of God's grace, and your heart just bursting
with joy? and before you get out the door,
you're as cold as stone again. It is ever the tendency of our
flesh, ever the tendency of our flesh. Let us then ask God for
grace to keenly beware of lukewarmness, apathy, and indifference toward
God. So then, because thou art lukewarm,
Neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. I can't stand anything lukewarm.
I don't like lukewarm coffee or lukewarm milk. I don't want
either one of them. Lukewarm food's just bad. I'd
rather have it cold or hot, but not lukewarm. And yet we're ever
prone to become lukewarm about the things of God. Once the gospel of the grace
of God made your face light up with joy, now unmoved by it. The story of redemption used
to fill you with rapturous gratitude, melting your heart to tears,
and now you hear about it and think nothing. How often I've
seen that, my God. Oh my God, how often I experience
it. What's the answer? Are we to fake it and pretend
everything's all right when it's not? Shall we pretend and put
on a lively show? No, the answer is return to me. As often as our hearts become
lukewarm, let us fly again to our Savior. Now, here's the Savior's counsel.
Listen to what it says. Here's the answer for all these
dangers. Look at chapter two, verse five.
Remember from whence thou art fallen. Do you remember how it was when
first you knew the Savior? When first you knew the blessedness
of complete forgiveness of all your sin. When first you knew
the blessedness of acceptance with God by His Son. And you're
willing to die for Him on the spot. Remember from whence thou
art fallen. Chapter 2 verse 5 again. Repent
and do the first works. As you therefore have received
Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him. Come to God by faith
in Christ, trusting him alone. Verse 25. That which ye already
have, hold fast. Don't let go of Christ and his
gospel. Chapter three, verse two. Be
watchful. Strengthen those things which
remain. Verse 18, buy of me. What, buy of me? Without money
and without price. Come boldly to the throne of
grace and obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
And then fourthly, listen to the Savior's promises. Here's
the promise of our God and Savior to his people, to his churches,
to you, to me. Chapter 2 verse 7 Return to your
first love and Christ promises you the blessedness of eternal
glory verse 17 Hold fast the doctrine of Christ Confess him
in the midst of his enemies and he promises you to own you as
his own Mmm, he'll own you as his own Chapter 2, verse 26, continue in the way of faith
and the Son of God will give you power over the nations of
the world. What a statement, he that overcometh
and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power
over the nations. And then chapter 3, verse 5,
he calls for us to awake. Awake as it were from the dead,
and Christ will give you the light of life. He that overcometh
the same shall be clothed with white raiment, and I will not
blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess
his name before my Father and before the angels of God. Now
look at verse 21. Return to Christ with a true
fervent heart of faith, and he'll cause you to reign with him forever.
Now there's one more statement, verse 20. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. If any man hear my voice, I will
open to him. And open the door, I will come
in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Turn back to the Song of Solomon,
chapter five. I'll wrap this up. Our Lord Jesus is leaning hard
against the door of the church. Leaning hard against the door. And he says, anybody in there
open to me, I'll come in to him, sup with him, he with me. Look
at chapter four, Song of Solomon. This marvelous story of Christ
and his church. Love song between Christ and
his church. Here we are, verse 16. Awake,
O North wind! Come thou south, blow upon my
garden, that the spices thereof may flow out. Let my beloved
come into his garden and eat his pleasant fruits. O Lord,
come with us today. Meet with us. Let us see your
face. Cause your spirit to blow upon
your garden. Bring out the fragrances that
you put here. Chapter 5, verse 1. The master
says, I've come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. I've gathered
my myrrh with my spice. I've eaten my honeycomb with
my honey. I've drunk my wine with my milk. Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink
abundantly, O beloved. And here we speak. As Christ speaks, leaning
heavy against the door, I sleep, but my heart waketh. It's waking because I hear somebody. I hear somebody speaking. It's
the voice of my beloved. It's the voice of the Lord Jesus.
that knocketh, saying, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled. How can I not open to him when
he speaks to me like that? My sister, my love, my dove,
my undefiled. For my head is filled with the
dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. But here's the
response. Don't bother me now. I'm busy.
I put off my coat, how shall I put it on? I've washed my feet,
how shall I defile them? Oh, but my soul. Here's the wonder
of his grace. Mark, he'll never take no for
an answer from us. Oh, my beloved put his hand in
by the hole of the door. You see, we must open to him. But he's the only one who can
open the door. And so we must ever wait on Him
to be gracious to us. He that hath an ear to hear,
let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. Amen.