I invite you to turn back with
me now to Revelation chapter 2. And I know this for the most
part, that the book of Revelation is a closed book to most folks I talk to. It's
a closed book. It's a book of strange symbols,
symbols of beasts, creatures, and mysterious sayings, frightening
events of prophecy that lay out there. People tell me they lay
out there in the great unknown. That's what I've had folks describe
to me the book of Revelation that way. And sadly, it's going
to remain that way unless God is pleased to give you the key
to unlock these mysteries. You'll fall prey to those preachers
who try to take these things and interpret them literally.
This book was not written to be interpreted literally. This
book is a book of symbols. It's a book of figures and types. And that's how He speaks. And
these things are already established in the Old Testament Scriptures.
Those who are familiar with the types, are familiar with these
things and what these things mean, can read the book of Revelations. And if you're not, it's a closed
book. It's a closed book. In the very first chapter of
the book, we're plainly told what this book is about. Now,
I want you to listen. It is the revelation of Jesus
Christ. That's what it is. That's what
it is. As I read through this book,
that ought to be the preeminent thought in my mind as I read
these things. Not trying to figure out some
future date, or some event, or some advent, or all these things
that eschatology includes. But I am to have in my mind that
this is the revelation of Jesus Christ. Everything concerning
the counsels and purposes of God are a mystery to the natural
man. These things are heavenly things
that he speaks of here. They're heavenly things. If I have a young son or young
daughter who's beginning to read the Word of God, or I give a
Bible to a friend and he begins to read it, and he reads in here,
and he comes and asks, I'm not upset that he don't understand
this. These are heavenly things. They have to be revealed. There
is not something innate in man that he can perceive and understand
these great mysteries of God. Listen to the Scripture. Ephesians
1 verse 3, He said, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings. Now listen, in heavenly places. You know anything about heavenly
places? I've never been there. That's
the only information I have on it, right? Heavenly. These are
heavenly things. That's what I'm trying to tell
you. These are things we need to sit in awe of when we open
this book and not say, well, I'm smart, I'm intelligent, I
can understand. No, no, no, no, no. It's got
nothing to do with that. It's got nothing to do with that. These are heavenly things. These
are things you're not familiar with. These are things that have
to be revealed to your heart. If you don't reveal them, you're
not going to get it. You're just not going to get
it. But I've seen some folks who had little education, very
little education. I'm one up. And I'll never forget
saying, I get it. I get it. I get it. If you would get it this morning,
you'll get it by sitting still and asking God to reveal it to
you. That's how you'll get it, if
you get it at all. These things are heavenly things.
Listen to this, Ephesians 1 verse 20, He raised Christ from the
dead and set Him at His own right hand in a heavenly place. In
chapter 2 verse 6, He raised us up together and made us to
sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. I'll tell you this, the gospel
is not doing good to others. That's not the gospel. That's
what I hear preached every morning. If you just be good to your neighbor
and you see him need some water, give him some water. I'm all
for that. But that's not the gospel. That's not the gospel. Now those who hear the gospel
believe the gospel. Those who trust in Christ. You
see your neighbor need water, give him water. Absolutely do
that. But that's not the gospel. There's
no gospel in that. And it's not turning over a new
leaf. Somebody looks at their past
and they say, boy, what a mess I've made out of things. I need
to turn over a new leaf. That's great. You do need to
turn over a new leaf. I don't want you to go on continuing.
to do wrong when you know it's wrong. Nobody does. But that's
not the gospel, is it? Accepting a creed. Somebody finds
a creed and they argue about it, debate about it back and
forth, and finally this man, he consents and he accepts the
creed. That's great. That's great if
the creed is true. That's great. But there's no
gospel in it. There's no gospel in it. join in the church, and I could
go on and on and on. The gospel is the revelation
of Jesus Christ. That's what this book's all about.
It's the revelation of Jesus Christ in the hearts and minds
of chosen sinners. Listen to what Paul said. He
was a Pharisee, he was a religious man, he was a zealous man, he
was a wise man, and he was a highly educated man. I don't care who
you were, in what country you were, he could come to you and
he could talk to you about your own poets and things that you
probably didn't even know about. He was a highly educated man,
but listen to what he says. He said, when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. that I might preach Him among
the heathen." Now I don't need to confer with flesh and blood.
You see what he's saying? I don't need man's approval or
recommendation. And then in another place he
said, we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and
ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. And here is how he got his information.
He said, For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness,
has shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of
the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now, of this
man, John, the Holy Spirit said through
John about this man. It said, He bare record. He bare
record. He's talking about John, the
man who wrote the book of Revelation. He bare record of the Word of
God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ. Of Jesus Christ. Now to read this book in any
other way is to rest the Scriptures to your own description. Have you ever read the last few
verses of the book of Revelation? It warns about what? Taking from
or adding to any of the words of this prophecy. You rest the
Scriptures to your own destruction. The book of Revelation is just
that. It gives us seven visions of
the person and work of Jesus Christ throughout the whole of
the gospel age. That's what he's talking about.
And the purpose of the book is not to hide or conceal, but to
reveal to the hearts of chosen sinners the glorious person and
work of Jesus Christ. That's what it's for. It's to
comfort and assure God's children while living in this ungodly
world and with all of the things, all of these curses and things
that's going to fall upon this earth, all the corruption that's
in the earth. It's to comfort our hearts while
we live in this ungodly world of their ultimate victory over
sin, self, and Satan. That's what this book is all
about. And it does that by revealing to us through the preaching of
the gospel who Christ is, why He came, what He did, and where
He is at this present time. And we're encouraged to look
to Him with a confident faith. Look to this living Lord, this
invisible One whom you've never seen. but in whom you believe. We look to Him with confident
faith, seeing ourselves as more than conquerors through Him that
loved us." So in chapter 1, he opens the revelation with a spiritual
vision of Christ. That's what I've been laboring
all morning to tell you. He opens this book with a revelation
of Jesus Christ. This spiritual vision to John.
He said, I am Alpha and Omega. What does that mean? I am the
beginning and the end. Now this revelation is the revelation
that God gives to all His elect. This wasn't just to John. But
He is telling us now about the revelation. Some of you in here
are wrestling with this thing of faith. Do I have it? Do I
not have it? Am I a true believer? And so
on. Here is the revelation. Here
is what comes to you. First of all, you see Him. You
see Him. You don't see religious things. You don't see creeds. Here's
what you see. You see Him. You see Him. And the first thing you see in
Him is that He's the beginning and the end. He's what the whole
thing is all about. He spans eternity. He goes back
before the foundation of the world, and He's still around
down here in glory. And He's at the head the whole
time. He's the preeminent one all the
way through. He's Alpha and Omega, the beginning
and the end. He is the Almighty. That's what
it tells you there in John's vision. He's the risen, accepted,
reigning King of Glory. One who has in His possession,
John said, when he saw Him, he saw that He had the keys to death
and hell. Had them in His possession. Now
if you were raised in false religion like I was, you might be shocked
to discover that poor little Jesus boy has no place in God's
revelation. I can't find him. I've read the
whole book. He's not in here. That one that they used to sit
before me to feel sorry for him? Lest all of his work is in vain
if you don't accept him. Huh? Poor little Jesus boy. He
can't do nothing. His hands are tied. He's got
no hand, but your hand, no feet. with your feet. And you can't
find this poor defeated reformer. He's not in here either. Or the
priest whose sacrifice was in vain. Or the king whose hands
is tied. Or the savior whose work is all
in vain, unless man accepts him. You can't find him. He's not
in here. Who's in here? The king. The king. When John saw the Christ of God,
he fell on his face like a dead man. I tell you this, if God
ever gives you a revelation of His Son, you'll fall on your
face like a dead man. You'll have nothing to say. You'll
have no input. You'll have no rights. You'll
have no nothing. You'll fall on your face before
Him. You won't know what to say. Now,
you take a man who's got some kind of a plan in his head and
somebody over here kind of poking him and gouging him and trying
to get him to come down the aisle, trying to do it. He's got a plan.
He's got things to say. Now, repeat after me. I believe
this, I do, on and on. You see him, you ain't going
to say nothing. You're going to fall on your face like a dead
man, like a dead man. In Isaiah chapter 5, the prophet,
this was a prophet of God. He goes through here in some
six times. He woe'd everything coming and
going in chapter 5. Woe's this, woe's the drunkard,
woe's this, woe's that. And all of those things are true.
I'm not trying to take away from them. I'm just trying to make
a point. But in chapter 6, the prophet saw the Lord. And he
said, woe is me. I, woe is me." Old Daniel, what
a godly man he was, and at great cost, at great cost. But when he saw the Lord, he
said, my comeliness melted into corruption. Job, by the Lord's own testimony,
he told Satan, has thou considered this man Job? Do you ever consider
him? He is a righteous man. There is none like him on earth. Yet upon the sight of the King's
glory, Job said, I hate myself. I am laboring this morning to
show you that this is the effect of the revelation of Jesus Christ
upon the sinner. The Apostle Paul was a Pharisee.
Morally speaking, his outward life was perfect. His zeal was
unquestionable, even to the persecution of the church. His bloodline was pure. He was circumcised the eighth
day after the after the commandment of the law. And he was of the
stock of Israel. His education and knowledge was
unequaled by no man. But after this man received the
revelation of Jesus Christ in him, here is what he said, all
those things that I counted as gain, he said, now they are just
dung. They are just dung. This man
Jesus Christ who rose from the dead and ascended up into glory,
now reigns, having the keys of death and hell. And He walks
in the midst of His churches. His candlestick. He walks in
their midst on this earth. Now, I know we tell folks all
the time, there's nothing you can do. But there's a lot of
things you can do. You can go here. You ain't going
nowhere. But God will arrange that in
His own providence. But you can go here. You can
do that. I don't know. Could be God will
let you hear something. Might be He won't. But you can
do that. You can read. You can pick this
book up and read it. Get acquainted with its words
and phrases. You don't have to just take what
a man says for granted. You can search the Scriptures
and prove what's being said to you. Where do we go hear Him? It says
He walks in the midst of His candlesticks. That's where He's
at. That's where He's at. As the presence and power of
God were always in the camp of Israel, so does our Mediator
King still walk in our midst. And in His right hand, in His
hand of power, in His right hand, He holds His passion. Now that's
what this vision tells us. This is all incorporated in that
vision of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see Him sovereign. We see
Him God. We see Him as the Almighty. We
see Him as the Savior, as the Risen King. And we see Him walking
among the churches, walking among them, in their midst, His presence,
always, throughout this whole gospel day. And in his right
hand he holds their pastors. Now the right hand of God is
the hand that yields the scepter. Isn't it? That's the right hand
of power. The right hand. But also in that right hand is
the right hand of fellowship. That's the right hand of fellowship. That's the hand of power and
authority. And in those hands, he holds his pastors. These men
are not men with their own agenda. They're not men who chase after
reputations. They're not covetous and greedy
men. These men are not after titles
and recognition. These men are not dictators who
lord their office over the rest of the church. They're selfless
men who always put the church and the gospel before themselves.
Always. Always. They are faithful men. They are
faithful to their studies and faithful to their messages and
faithful to their hearers. They are faithful. But they are nonetheless in His
hand. And being in His hand is what
makes their words effectual. That is what makes them worth
listening to. They are in His hand. Being in
His hand is what makes their ministry fruitful. Being in His
hand is what makes their goings providential. And being in His hand is what
makes His revelation so clear. So clear. I often, somebody will
come up to me every so often and they'll say, boy, that was
just clear as a bell. Well, how come I knew it was
clear? Because He showed it to me. You know, you're out here
in the woods and something happens. I've heard a lot of fish stories,
hunting stories, and so have you. But now, every so often,
something actually does happen to a man. He really does catch
that big fish. He really does kill that big
bear, that big deer, whatever it is. And I tell you, when he
comes home to tell about it, it ain't like the tales. He can
tell about it. I mean, he can make you smell
that bear's breath, breathing on him. I mean, he can tell you
the story. That's the way it is with the
gospel. You can't tell what you don't know. That's why it ain't
clear. That's why it comes out all jumbled and up, and you can't
understand. What in the world is he trying
to say? That's why he can't say it, because he don't know it.
You can't tell what you don't know. But being in His hand is what
makes His revelation so clear. And throughout the gospel age,
the revelation of Jesus Christ to His church will just play
out again and again until at the last He'll appear in all
the glory of His Father's house with all His holy angels and
gather to Himself all things which were given unto Him of
the Father, both in heaven and earth. What am I saying? I'm saying
it is the blood-bought right and privilege of the children
of God to have the revelation of Jesus Christ. That's how come
you get it and somebody else don't. It was purchased for you
at Calvary. The right and privilege. He came
into the world and the world was made by Him and the world
knew Him not. And He came unto His own, His
own people, His own temple, He came to them, and they received
Him not. But to as many as received Him,
to them gave He power. You look that word up. It has
to do with the right and the privilege. To as many as received Him, to
them gave He the right and the privilege to become sons of God,
even to them that believe on His name. It's the blood-bought right and
privilege of the children of God to have the revelation of
Jesus Christ. Now, I don't say that we all
have the same degree of clarity, but we all share the same vision.
And we all receive it by the same means and by the same Spirit. Now, in chapters 2 and 3, the
Lord writes to the seven churches. He says He walks among them.
He walks. His presence is among them. He's
there. And he holds their pastors in his right hand. And he writes
to these seven churches. And they were actual churches.
Every one of these churches were actual churches who received
letters. He's writing to actual churches.
All of these things that he talks about in here were actual problems
in those actual churches. But they are all representative
of all the churches in all times throughout the gospel age. That's
my point. And of the seven churches, only
the church of Philadelphia, the church of brotherly love, was
exempt of correction. He had somewhat against the other
six. Now maybe that six, that's the
number of man, ain't it? Maybe that's significant. These
are all problems generated by men, all problems caused by men. But to the Ephesians, the church
at Smyrna and Pergamos and Thyatira and Sardis and to the Laodiceans,
the Lord addresses six problems, six troubles that plague his
churches and pastors so long as they're in this world. I want
to just briefly touch on these six things this morning to help
you realize why I preach the way I preach sometimes. Pastor,
sometimes you're just downright offensive. I mean to be. I mean to be. Well, you know,
sometimes you just pull the rug out from under a man. I mean
to. I meant to do that. Well, sometimes it's just like
you're pointing your finger right at... I am pointing my finger.
I'm not preaching to somebody in Brazil. He called me to preach
to you. The only way I can preach to
you is to preach to you, isn't it? Sure it is. So let me touch
on these six things and maybe you can... It might help you
to understand why I continue to preach the way I do and why
I hope to continue to preach this way till I die by the grace
of God. Now, the first word of warning
came by the pastor of the Ephesian church. The Lord said he had
somewhat against it. The Ephesian church was a strong
church. You can't read the book of Ephesians
and not know that. They were orthodox. I mean, the
doctrine so clearly stated. It's stated more clearly in Ephesians
than anywhere else in the scripture. It is so clear. They were orthodox
in doctrine. They were active in good works,
they were patient in trials, and they were very intolerant
of false prophets. But they had left their first
love. They left their first love. Their
hearts had grown cold and dry. Their preaching had become lecturing
and debating. Their worship was mechanical
and dry. There was no heart worship. There
was no love for Christ. I'm speaking to those of you
who've been called out of darkness and translated into the kingdom
of light, who've been made meat to be partakers of the saints
in life. You'll understand exactly what
I'm saying, and nobody else in here will. But I tell you, when
He called you, He was precious to you, wasn't He? Huh? Oh, He
was precious. How precious He was. He was everything. He was everything. He was like
that sun. You're cold and shivering and
you're out there and that warm sun comes up. And old beams hit
you and you just feel that sun radiate and hit you how warm.
That's your first love. But you left that. You left that. And you went over here into these
mechanical things. You went over here into this
dead, dry letter. And you went over here And now
you begin to find some things. You left your first love. You
don't think on those things anymore. You don't think on Him. You're over here debating about
issues and problems, and all of these things are coming along
and troubling you. There's no peace anywhere except
in Him. And you find yourself dead and
dry and lifeless. Anybody in here think they love
enough? I dare say you wonder sometimes
if you love at all. Why is that? Because we don't
think on Him. We've left our first love. That's
exactly what it is. We're told as clearly as words
can be used, he that loveth not knoweth not God. Paul said, though
we speak with the tongues of men and angels, and have not
charity, we have become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals. Anybody
want to stand and listen to me get up there and beat on pi-pan
all morning, just stand there and beat on it. That's what it
is to preach without love. That's what it is when you come
in here to worship, and you come in here and your heart's not
on Him. It's not with Him. You've not
prepared for it. You've not anticipated it. You
didn't look forward to it. You just come in here because
it's Sunday. I tell you, there's no greater
gift for you to seek than love for Christ and one another. Believers
all have faith, hope, and charity, but the greatest of these...
Now listen, faith is a great grace, isn't it? By grace are
you saved through faith. That's a great grace. Oh, Christ in you, the hope of
glory and charity. But now listen, the greatest
of these is charity. Charity. All right. The second warning. Now, here's what he tells me.
You left your first love. You better repent. You better
repent. Turn from whatever it is that's
taking you away from that. Whatever it is that's blocking
the path. Whatever it is that's smothering
you. Don't you just feel smothered
sometimes by the world and things? You just smother. Turn from those things. Turn
to hell. And then the second warning to
His churches is concerning false prophets. Believers are constantly
under pressure by relatives and friends and the world in general
to be tolerant of false prophets. This was the problem in Smyrna.
False prophets. Paul called them dogs in Philippians
2, verse 2. Nipping at your heels. Always
nipping at your heels. And Satan sold this lie of universal
reverence to all religions. and throughout the world. He's got politicians now calling
Reverend Doctor and so on and so on, Dr. King and all the Reverend
this and Reverend that and the Most Holy Pope and all this kind
of nonsense. He holds that live universal
reverence to all religions up to this world and they swallowed
it hook, line and sinker. Paul said, let them be accursed.
That's what he said. Well, now wait a minute. That
guy came, boy, he was straight as an arrow. Paul said, I don't
care if he's an angel from heaven. Ain't that what he said? Let
him be a curse. Let him be a curse. The Lord
called the Pharisees blind leaders of the blind, and in Jude they're
called raging waves of the sea foaming out their own shame. Wandering stars, shooting stars,
glow bright for a minute and then go dark forever. To whom is reserved the blackness
of darkness forever. Then the third warning goes out
to the churches. Now remember, these are warnings
about his churches throughout this whole gospel age. This is the rot that comes in
to plague the local churches. There's a rot out there, and
it comes in different forms, but if it gets in, if it gets
in, it'll rot from within. And the Lord, that church will
disappear. That church will disappear. And the third warning sent out
to the churches is to the church at Pergamos, and it's compromise
with false doctrine. I don't know how to say this
any other way except to say this, that grace and works won't mix.
They're not going to mix. And it's forever, it seems like
the one thing that man wants to do when he gets in religion
is to mix these two. He spends his life laboring to
mix these two things. They're not going to mix. They
won't ever mix. The doctrine of Balaam mentioned
in the text is the doctrine of compromise. Old Balaam, he didn't
instruct Israel to give up their traditional worship of Jehovah.
He didn't do that at all. He defended them on several times. He defended Israel. He simply
instructed them to accept and tolerate the worship of Balaam.
He said, you continue right on doing just what you're doing,
but let's quit yicking and yakking over these things over here.
Let's just be a little more tolerant of them. After all, that's how
they were raised. Isn't that what the world said? Just accept and tolerate the
worship of Baal, and then go along with their practices and
their traditions of your pagan neighbors. Any compromise of
God's Word or the doctrines of Christ is a denial of Christ,
and it's dishonoring to the name of God. That's just so. That's
just so. Well, now we're going to get
into this thing, well, do you believe a man has to be straight
on his baptism to be saved? No, I don't believe that. But
I'll tell you this, if you're confronted with it, and it's
put in its proper light, And you've got a problem with it.
Now there's a real problem. Now there's a real problem. Because
God found your point of rebellion. And you're going to bow to His
truth or He'll send you to hell. And He'll send you to hell over
baptism if that's your point of rebellion. He'll send it to
you over the Lord's table if that's your point of rebellion.
There is no compromise of the Word of God. No compromise. And especially, especially over
the doctrines of Christ. No compromise. Well, how are these compromises
seen? Well, they're seen in marriage, business dealings, relationships. But they're especially seen in
the doctrines of Christ. If you read carefully in Numbers
25 through 31, you'll see the doctrine of compromise as Balaam
manifested it to Israel. But I want you just to listen
to a few verses here in 2 Corinthians 6. These are along those lines. There were controversies there
about eating meat offered to idols and all this kind of stuff.
And here's what he tells them down here in 2 Corinthians 6
verse 14. He said, Be not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers, not in marriage, If you're a believer
and you're single and you seek a wife, don't go down to the
pagans to seek a wife. He said, seek another believer.
Don't be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. And not in
business. You need a business partner.
You go down here and you find this guy, he ain't nothing but
a rebel from the word go, and you and him go in business. How
long do you think you're going to get along? Not very long. Not very long. He's got a whole
different set of principles than you do. For what fellowship, he said,
hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light
with darkness? And what concord hath Christ
with Belial? That is, with something which
is worthless. Or what part hath he that believeth
with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the
living God. As God has said, I'll dwell in
them and walk in them, and I'll be their God, and they'll be
my people. Wherefore, that is, if you know these things, and
you bow to these things, and you see these things, come ye
out from amongst them. Get shed of it, whatever it is. That's what he's telling you.
And be you separate, saith the Lord. And touch not the unclean
thing, and I'll receive you, and I'll be a father to you,
and you'll be my sons and daughters. And then, fourthly, he warns
us about antinomianism. Boy, there's a big word. What's
that mean? Simply speaking, it means, let us sin that grace
may abound. We're saved by grace, so let's
just sin all we want to. God saves a man, and then somehow
or another, he glories in the fact that he's able to sin, on
and on and on. Ain't that what people say we
preach all the time? Let me tell you something, the
Spirit of the living God does not reveal to the hearts of God's
elect that it's okay to sin. I've never heard one, not in
all the writers I've ever read, in all the messages, I've never
heard one even hint toward that. It's never okay to sin. Sin is
what ruined the world. Sin is what corrupts the hearts
and minds of men. Sin always brings death with
it. Believers hate sin. They hate
the presence of it in them. And they hate the sound of it.
And they abhor the very sight of it. Sin brought the suffering
and death and vengeance of God upon our Savior. Now, I know
our sins are paid for. And I know that we all sin. But
to embrace it, and to revel in it and to practice it with no
conscience and with no constraint would be like a woman giving
herself to a man who murdered her husband. That's exactly what
that'd be like. This vicious man, he come in
and he murders this woman's husband and then she just, as though
nothing happened, just give herself to him. That's what it'd be like.
That's the same thing. Believers are new creatures.
They are saved by the washing of regeneration. That's what
it says in Titus. And renewing of the Holy Ghost.
And then fifthly, to the church of Sardis, he warns of hypocrisy
and formality. Now that's the heart of ritualism
and ceremonialism. Cold and dead. Barnard said,
straight as a gun barrel and just as hollow. That's right. It's cold and empty. You go out
here. We go back and forth down here
for her treatments down at Shreveport and we pass this one new house.
And we've been watching them, it burnt down and they're building
it back and they've been doing a great job on it. But the other
day we went by and they formed up a driveway. Got it ready to
pour. They got all the tuba foil going
around. You can see what it's going to
be like. That's a hollow form. That's all that is. You can't
drive on it. You can't use it. It shows no
real beauty like it's going to. It's just a form. It's just a
form. But the contents aren't in it
yet. Nothing is more natural to this
fallen flesh than pretense. Every man has a tendency to substitute
form for worship. And when Paul described the worship
of the Pharisees and the scribes, he said they have a form of religion,
but they deny the power thereof. And that's what legalism is without
the active obedience of Christ, and that's what Calvinism is
without the presence and power of the Holy Ghost. All those
whose worship centers on the outward form of religion, on
that outward form of religion, but had not Christ within, or
like the church at Sardis." They have a name. That's what he tells
them. They have a name that they are alive, but he said, you're
dead. If you're alive, why don't you move? Why don't you sing? Why aren't you rejoicing? If
you're alive, you're dead. You're dead. And then here's
the last warning. It concerns apathy and indifference.
I tell you, nothing is more disgusting to the palate than warm gravy. If I'm going to eat gravy, I
want it hot, don't you? I mean hot enough to burn your
mouth. I want it right when it comes out of that skillet. I
don't want to come in there when it's lukewarm. I don't even want
it in my mouth. I feel that way about milk, don't
you? I can drink hot chocolate, or
I can drink cold milk, but don't give me lukewarm milk. I don't
understand the thought of it. And that's the way I feel about
my stew, too. I don't... Come in there, and you've been
sitting in there about three hours, and you get you out a
big bowl and get ready to eat it, and it's just, oh, nasty. That's what the Lord told me.
He said, I would if you were hot or cold. But you're just
lukewarm. He said, I'll spew you out of
my mouth. It's disgusting. Nothing more disgusting than
lukewarm. And nothing's more intolerable
to God than lukewarm, half-hearted indifference from men and women
who profess to be believers. I tell you, once their faces
lit up with excitement and anticipation to hear, they couldn't wait to
hear. All the horses and mules in this country chained to them
couldn't hold them back from that meeting. They'd be there
or die. Don't you remember that? I'm
going to be there. I have to be there. The Lord
may speak to me. He might uncover more of this
treasure for me. Boy, you weren't indifferent
then. What happened? What happened? No anticipation, no preparation,
and no expectation. Brethren, all these things are
a rotten corruption that finds its way into the hearts of those
who truly believe and hinder, if not destroy, the church if
they're left unchecked. And that's why those preachers
he holds in his hand, he gives them. He gives them. Paul said, you obey them that
have the rule over you, for they watch for your souls. What are
they looking for? They're looking for this Tommy
Rock. That's what they're looking for. And they speak to it, sometimes
hard, sometimes harsh. Sometimes that's what it takes,
isn't it? My dad spoke with a bell a time
or two. I understood exactly what he had to say. From then
on, he didn't have to use it. All he had to do was just look
my direction. I knew exactly what he meant.
He gives this message to his pastors to carry to his church. And he also commends his church.
He commended that church of Philadelphia. That church of brotherly love.
That church that they loved one another and they loved Christ.
And they weren't indifferent. They had no apathy among them. And they didn't tolerate false
prophets. And they didn't tolerate false
gospels and so on. They were a good church. So all
through this time, we speak to those things. I know God's church
is good. It's good because He made it
good. And it's good because His Spirit dwells in them. And it's
good because He walks in their midst. But how long would you
last without a pastor? How long would you last without
that word that Christ sends to you to stir your heart up to
obey?