Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Somewhat Against You Pt.4

We'll have hot dogs or something. I don't know; I don't have a clue what [Pastor Jim] has planned, but [the Baltimore church groundbreaking] should be a good time of fellowship; praise God. All I'm doing is going up to throw some dirt, pray, and see what else Father has for us. It should be a great time. It's been a long time; we've been there seven years on that particular property. The Lord really ordered our steps; I can still remember the first day we were driving around through there, looking at the different pieces [of land], and when we came to that property we knew this was the hand of the Lord. It's very exciting to see, after these years, the move getting ready to take place. I believe I shared with you last session: we were in the meeting a couple of weeks ago and Jim was there. He said, "Pastor, I have to confess: You know, for 18 months or more now I've come in, and I was anxious about the building and different things. You would always just say, 'Don't worry about it; God's timing is perfect.' I knew you were encouraging me and that it's true: God's in charge. Then I'd go away, and it would work for a little while; then I'd come back more anxious. As it got closer and closer, about six weeks ago, I said, 'Oh, I don't know about the sale of the building.' You said, 'Don't worry about it; God's timing is perfect. It will be right on time. This is God; this is the will of God.' At that time I chose to say, 'You know, this is the man of God speaking. I can't take lightly the words being spoken to me. I believe, Father, this is You speaking to me. I choose to believe that and to rest in it. It's not just a natural encouragement, and not just a basic biblical principle, but a word from God.' As it came to reality it worked this way: I literally went down and picked up the paperwork for the building permit, and left there knowing I had to go right over to the attorney's office to sign the contract for the [sale of the] building, all within 45 minutes." Isn't God good? Our steps are ordered, praise God. His timing is perfect. He opens doors no man can close and closes doors not even you can open (Revelation 3:7); can you say "Praise God" for that? You ought to have a picture of yourself at home; really, you should have a person draw a picture of you trying to pull on this door, and have the confidence that you'll never get it open, praise God. No matter how hard you try, you can't open a door God shuts; that's His love for us. So many times we think we can get around it; God might let you go through a door you thought was closed to put a knot on your head and to teach you some things and to cause you to grow; but, ultimately, the doors He has closed no man can open, praise God. I feel confident in that as I'm running to do the work of the Kingdom and I'm about Father's business. I also believe very strongly that there's nobody who can close the door against us that we can't open, praise God. "If God be for us, who can be against us" (Romans 8:31)? Even the gates of hell can't prevail against the onslaught of this great gospel we're preaching, the power of the Holy Spirit that resides within us, as we go to set captives free, praise God. He tries to keep them in bondage, but we're able to break through every stronghold of the enemy and see captives set free; "If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed," praise God (John 8:36).

Let's go back to the book of Revelation. We've been talking about the Lord's letters to the seven churches, we've talked about the need to identify ourselves in what we are contributing to this community. As you remember, we said we don't look at these churches from a strict dispensational perspective like many do: the Scoffield Bible for instance, many of your fundamentalist believers, your Baptists, and some of your Presbyterians hold very strongly to dispensationalism. We are not dispensationalists, though I think there's a reason they've come to believe this. You can see a progression in God's dealing with the church: His distinct blessings to Israel and the unique and distinct blessings to the church, but in reality we see that it's all-inclusive. Israel is being amalgamated now into the church--the Israel of God, not the nation--because Jesus and His church ultimately are going to be all in all. A lot of people mistakenly think the church is being amalgamated into Israel. That's not how it works, because the lesser is blessed of the greater. As we look at these things, we can't look from a strictly dispensational perspective, a progression from Ephesus, the doctrinally pure church, to a diminished church of Laodicea, which is boasting in its own righteousness and its monetary power and strength, not realizing its nakedness because of its spiritual depravity. In fact, we see that historically all seven of these churches continue to express themselves. The better way to say that is: the personalities of each of these churches have for 2,000 years expressed themselves throughout the visible church. We make a distinction between the visible church and the true church, the body of Christ, and now what we call the historical church, which really has so much of its roots in Catholicism, which is nothing more than the predecessor of the Great Whore of Revelation. So, when we talk about the church, we have to distinguish what are we talking about. I'm not saying this for your good: I'm saying this for when you're talking to other people. When you're sharing the gospel, don't just talk about the church, when you say "church," seventy percent of the people you're talking to will think Roman Catholicism or some other branch, some other denomination. We need to make a distinction, when we're sharing the gospel with people, in what we're making reference to, whether it's the historical expression of the visible church or historical references to the true church, the Body of Christ; because, when we talk about the true church today, we have to make references back to the historical, visible, traditional (Catholic, Lutheran, Methodist), and how they were distinct from the true church, the Body of Christ. Yet the Body of Christ was observable within them: there were believers in all of these organizations. Yes, even in the Catholic Church: it was the only church around, and there was a remnant in there, and they knew it wasn't right. So, one priest one day puts a treatise on the Wittenberg door and we begin to see what we call Protestantism; we begin to see the Prōtest-ants against the Catholic Church and its dogma. Luther now begins to separate himself. We see the Lutheran Church begin to emerge. Isn't it tragic where you find most Lutherans today? So, God breathes upon His people again, and historically we see revivals beginning to break out, from the Moravian period up through the Anabaptists. We begin to see the Methodist revival with the Wesleys, and the fire of God moving across this great nation, what we call the Great Awakening beginning to manifest itself from the times of Whitfield on. Revival: the true church emerges out of the apathy of traditionalism, historical roots, the traditions of men making the Word of God of no effect. So, here's this great Wesleyan revival: isn't it tragic where you find most Methodists today? They're probably some of the deadest folks around, yet they knew the power of God, the fire of God. Wesley would surely not be welcome in the Methodist Church today. Then we begin to progress, and we see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Topeka, Kansas, as a few people get together and the Holy Spirit is poured out upon this group. At the same time we see a move [of God] going on in the West and the Azusa Street revival breaks out; a one-eyed black preacher named Seymour was being used of the Holy Ghost. This last year we weren't able to go out to the Winter Nationals, the drag [races] at Pomona, but I love it. One of my favorite things about going to drags is I get to drive by Azusa Street. You wouldn't quite recognize it today, but think of what was taking place at that time: this great outpouring and the lives affected by it.

I have in the back study a little pamphlet, which was just mailed to me. I shared with you the other day that a woman had e-mailed us, and she actually mailed me this little pamphlet: Life With Hookie. I looked in it and saw a couple of the different things mentioned about Hookie, and I thought, "You know, Hookie would be a real handful in our midst today; I'd have a lot of trouble keeping her straight," because, tragically, there wasn't sound doctrine at that time. Hookie's doctrine was not correct, but she had a simple faith and a desire to please God, and was willing to pay whatever price was necessary to be used of God and to move in the spirit. As I look back, and I read some of the things she did, I wouldn't permit her to do in our midst some of the things she used to do. We are doctrinally correct but, as I shared in Ephesians, have we lost our first love? Where is the fire! Where is the willingness to be, if necessary, a fool for God? Where is that first love in which we relate to Him, not just in doctrine, but also in heart relationship? I'll give you a quick example of one of the things this book recited that is not--listen to me clearly--is not (I even hesitate to share it) the purest, safest, most conventional, trustworthy method of guidance. I could come up with more adjectives. Again, you're talking about those who didn't have a lot of doctrinal instruction. E.S. Williams, Ralph Riggs, and Frank Boyd came later: those who set the doctrine for the Pentecostal movement. So, others who were not able to go through and understand, and were just moving the way they knew to move, God blessed them in their ignorance. It was faith!

You'd have to know Hookie; I can just see her saying this. As she was preaching at a revival meeting, this preacher came up to her and said, "We've been praying and fasting at our church and asking God who should come as an evangelist, and the Lord told us to come and seek you." She said, "No, you're looking for the wrong person; it's not me." The guy said, "But we really believe the Lord has spoken to us." She said, "No, you missed God." So the fellow left, and she turned to her associate, who asked, "How come you don't want to go?" She said, "I don't like the way he looks." You had to know her; that's her: "I don't like the way that guy looks." She was quick with an opinion. I'll never forget the time, years after Janet and I had been married (this would have been 1971, so we'd have been married about four years at that time), she came over to the house for dinner and said, "I have a confession to make." I asked, "What's that?" She said, "I was against you two getting married [I've shared this with you before]. Missy [that's what she called Janet], you were just too independent; you were too self-sufficient, and I didn't think you would ever be able to submit to any man." I didn't hear her say this many times: "I was just wrong; I missed God." I think she'd missed God more times than she thought. This particular guy left. She was sleeping in the night, when the Lord woke her up and said, "I'm sending you to hold a meeting at this place." (This guy didn't tell her who he was or where he was from.) On the wall she saw [some] words, so she got up and began to type out every city she knew in California and all the preachers she knew. She put them in a hat, and said, "We're going to the place [with the name] I draw out of this hat." She reaches in there: the name on the wall comes out of the hat! She puts it back in there and shakes it up. Three times--this is the other lady, June Williams, telling the story--three times the name on the wall comes out. Now, how many of you after three times would say, "Okay Lord"? She said, "I must be tired, we'll try this again in the morning." She put the hat down, went to bed, got up in the morning, reached in the hat--and they went and had a great meeting, praise God! That's not how you get guidance; but we serve a great God, don't we? Who had the faith: the preacher or Hookie? Yes.

As we're looking at ourselves today, we've put such emphasis on doctrine, and rightly so. That's where our safety is; that's the truth we're proclaiming. But [what about] our first love for the supernatural, for the power of God and the presence of God, to where we're not seduced by knowledge, natural abilities, strength, finances, or any natural resources, but [trust] our ability to move in the spirit and to move in the power of God, not an inordinate emphasis on doctrine, as the Ephesians went to, and no trust in our own natural abilities, as the Laodicean church went to and was deceived in its nakedness? So we've identified some of that, and we've said we have to realize that those are things we as a fellowship are contending with. Who I personally believe we really are, though we have those tendencies, the propensity toward those things, as a fellowship, and to some degree toward some of these others--Let's look at these very quickly; I don't want to pass by these. It's probably not a true statement to say we have no identity with the Smyrna church, because not everybody likes us. So, I guess we do suffer a little bit of persecution periodically, even though it's just verbal. We're not always well thought of, and we know a little bit about opposition and trials. I want to point out just a couple of things, though these aren't the strongest areas we're contending with. In the church of Pergamos, the one thing I want you to see here that he speaks toward very strongly, commending them first of all that they had held fast His name and not denied the faith: but he said, "I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam." What was the doctrine of Balaam? Let me give you a quick rundown: you remember how Balak wanted to curse the people (Numbers 22-25). He called Balaam and said, "Come and curse the people;" [Balaam] asked, "How can I curse what God has blessed?" The whole flattery system of Balak came to tell him how great he was: "You're a great man of God; whatever you say is the word of the Lord; we understand that nobody can refute your word; I'll make you rich; you're the man." So Balaam goes to the Lord and says, "Lord, don't You want to reconsider what You told me about going and ministering and speaking to this group of people?" The Lord became angry with Balaam for questioning. He said, "Well, go ahead and go." We know the story: He got on the donkey to go; we know what took place there: the donkey won't go, Balaam's all ticked off and he smacks the donkey. He said, "If I had a sword in my hand, I'd whack you." God opened his eyes and showed him the angel with the sword and said, "You just about got whacked yourself because of your disobedience, and your pride, and your rebellion." Tragically, in the midst of all of this, though Balaam refused to speak a word and curse the people of God, he said, "I'll tell you how you can get these people: intermingle with them." The spirit of Balaam in our midst would be those who are saying, "Take your liberties; these are disputable matters. Come on, there's nothing wrong with that. We need to intermingle and just befriend the world; let's not be so separate." And it came to the place where they intermarried, so God said [to Moses], "This is not acceptable, I want you to bring judgment upon them." The people didn't understand that this was the hand of God moving, to where you even saw [Zimri, with] Cozbi (not Bill), in the midst of God's [people], at the time the judgment was taking place, being joined with the world and having relations right in the midst of God's judgment. Then Phineas takes a javelin and runs them both through, right through him and into the woman's belly, and it stays the plague. We see contrasted in this church compromise with the spirit of Phineas. Let's not lose our Phineas spirit: don't lose the boldness to speak out against sin because of disputable matters. We've heard very well and we know the liberty there is of individual conscience, but I want to tell you something: your liberty of conscience does not rob me of my Phineas call, and it will not rob me of my Phineas zeal, so don't be offended. Now, God probably won't let us run you through with this javelin, but we'll hit you upside the head with it, because God's people must stay pure and separate. Let's not allow ourselves, as this church [did], to be seduced by the world or by anybody who's been flattered about how mature they are who would speak contrary to this particular call of separation in our lives. That's a very quick overview of the Pergamos problem, but this evening I want to get to the church I believe we truly are.

There's the church of Thyatira He speaks toward: He said, "I know thy works, and charity, and service, and faith, and thy patience, and thy works [twice He says works]; and the last to be more than the first." This is a church that was doing things for God: they were out ministering; there was a willingness to be about Father's business, to go into the highways and the byways. "Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee [verse 20], because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel [I want you to see the phrasing; look at the next phrase] which calleth herself a prophetess." She calls herself a prophetess. Now, here's the problem; you're going to see two major problems with this church: disorder, this woman who is vaunting herself, the original sin of Eve, a usurping spirit; at the same time you'll notice He implies she has brought about the establishing of the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, "which thing I hate." Twice in these letters to the churches He speaks of the Nicolaitanes: who were the Nicolaitanes? Nicholas was a very prominent Gnostic, and so gnosticism in it's worst expression is found in this doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, but it goes one step beyond this, and you'll see it as you read the context of this letter. When you study the word "Nicolaitane" as part of the doctrine, it means the voice of many rules; in other words, what's the popular message today; what's popular? The majority rules. The church is never governed by that mentality. It doesn't matter what the world says is right; it doesn't matter what the majority of professed Christians says is right; it doesn't matter what self-proclaimed prophets or prophetesses say is right: "His sheep...know His voice. And a stranger they will not follow..." (John 10:4-5). "There is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). "You've come to a fork: choose the old paths" (Jeremiah 6:16). This was a desire in this church: to embrace the new doctrine, the new fad, what's going on. Today the new fad, as we've talked about a little bit before, is this seeker-friendly thing. All the business techniques are being used to build the super-churches. A super-church is defined as having over 2,000 members; there are 176 of them in the nation--you would have thought there would be more. So, you take the popular message of the day; we know what the prophet Jeremiah said: "[the] people love to have it so" (Jeremiah 5:31). "Speak unto us smooth things," tell us what we want to hear" (Isaiah 30:10). This self-proclaimed prophetess, out of order (the Greek here implies to us, in the context, that this is actually the pastor's wife), is [permitted] "...To teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds." Now look: here's the tragedy. Look: it's the exact opposite of what we're trying to do. "And I will kill her children..." What's so tragic about what's taking place today? We're going to lose a whole generation that doesn't know the truth. I want to tell you something: the children will bear the sins of their parents because, the fact of the matter is, most of our children are going to be what we are; there are exceptions, but most of our children are going to be what we are. "And I will kill her children with death." Death is usually the consequence of being killed: the dual emphasis here is talking about eternal death, judgment, separation from God. The dual death: "the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die" (Genesis 2:17). To die once is what you and I are looking for: if you're born twice, you die only once; if you're born once, you die twice.

He goes on and says, "...And all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts." It's very interesting that He's talking about, not an outward work (they were known for their works) but He says, "I'm the One who tries the heart." It doesn't matter how good this thing looks on the outside; it doesn't matter how hard people are working; it doesn't matter how great an edifice has been built. Every church around can do what the church in Houston is doing: buy the coliseum the basketball team played in and spend 70 million dollars to remodel it, and feel like they've really accomplished something, really impressed the world. You're getting the world's leftovers: they outgrew it, so who are you? The church boasts in the wrong things! We've talked about this before: the church entertainers, the singers. All they are is a bunch of people who can't make it [in the world]. "Why would you want to?" is the real question. What is our treasure? What is success in the Kingdom? It's exactly the opposite of what the world would be promoting. If we take over the (they knocked it down, though) Capital Center (it's a pretty cool place, I can't remember what it seated, 17 or 18,000 is what the place the church just took over down there; so what?) and we boast, "God's moving in our midst!" Why, because you have a church that seats 17,000: [Pastor] Cho has that many deacons, so what's big? Cho's church [in Korea] is so big, he barely knows the names of all of his pastors--that's getting too big. This fornication, this need to be accepted of the world and to be called successful by their criteria, this Jezebel spirit--that Jezebel spirit: that seductive spirit, which tries to seduce others to make you great and to grow at any price. Then you teach them to commit fornication, spiritual fornication is primarily what's being spoken of here, though historically, if you'll study this thing out, you'll see that what took place in Athens and many of the other areas where the Gnostics were around, [is that] these people were having orgies in the churches. I know of a church out in California, they would have the whole staff and deacons doing wife swapping and all this, and they would come to church. It was the fastest growing Pentecostal, Word-teaching church in that area. I know it for a fact; I helped try to pick up some of the pieces; I talked to the people involved. So, what is success? From the outward it was the fastest growing, with miracles, signs and wonders taking place. "...And all the churches shall know [verse 23] that I am He which searcheth the reins and the hearts: and will give unto every one of you according to his works." There is a Day of Judgment coming: we're going to answer for every idle word, for all of our deeds. That doctrine isn't out there anymore: this is why this reproof is coming to this church in Thyatira. There's much more that can be said about this, but we're not going to deal with that right now.

The next church is the Sardis church, "...Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead." He makes a comment to them in verse 3: "Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief..." It was a blessing to see that Richard was teaching on the coming of the Lord the other day. In fact, when we came back Sunday evening, I had just taught on the coming of the Lord that morning. I asked Richard, "What did you teach on this morning?" He said, "The coming of the Lord." I said, "Praise God." Here we've been taught for years and years and years, but it's just not taught anymore: it's a lost doctrine that He's coming as a thief. We're going to see this evening, as we get to the church I believe really represents us in the majority of our hearts and our lives, the Philadelphia church. But the letters to these seven churches have to do with the fact that He's coming quickly and you're not ready. You're being seduced; you're being distracted; you're being preoccupied by things that are going to pass; you're being influenced by majority rule, by the newest and most spectacular "move of God," whatever that might be today. What are you doing with your own heart, personally? He speaks to the church here, and He makes the comment, "...hold fast and repent. ...Thou hast a few names [verse 4] even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; [I love verse 5] ...He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life..." The opposite [conclusion] of that is: names can be blotted out of the book of life. How's your garment? "We have a name that we live, but we're dead." As a church we have a reputation; not everybody likes us, but to those who aren't prejudiced--in fact, to those who are part of the true remnant, the real church, we have a name that we live. People know; those who know the Lord know we aren't playing games. Many of them aren't willing to pay the price. Let's not be a [part of the] fragment here, a faction, that has a name that we live, but are dead. He speaks to the specific individual: He said, "You're a church that has a name that you're alive, but how about you? Don't allow your name to be blotted out. He who has an ear, hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Then we get to the church I wanted to emphasize tonight, the one that I believe best represents us. I think two that represent us very strongly are Ephesus and Laodicea in things I said we have a propensity toward, but this is who I believe we really are, and there is a great promise I want you to get hold of tonight and to rejoice in and to be thankful in--not to make any boasts, but a true awareness of a work that's been done in us, and a thankfulness and a jealousy to where we'll never lose this by being seduced into any of these other doctrines spoken of to these seven churches. "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key [the authority of the covenant] of David..." I can't get into the Davidic covenant at this particular time, but of his kingdom there shall be no end, praise God. It's a covenant that was made which is irreversible, irrefutable. A kingdom that has been established that's irresistible, that stone the prophet speaks of, hewn without hands, which is going to destroy all other man-made entities and governments, all of the principalities and powers of the kingdom of hell: cults and occults. It's a Kingdom established, which the gates of hell cannot prevail against. That's what He's talking about when He talks about the key of David, that Davidic covenant, this kingdom that was built, of which there will be no end, as Daniel speaks of. "...He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth." We're not only talking about authority, but supreme authority: sovereignty. He's showing Himself to this church, the Philadelphia church, which has a love for Him, a love for one another, a love for pure doctrine, a love for the gospel, and what He's saying right here, encouraging us, is: "Don't you understand that you are invincible, that the message you bring is irrefutable; My power is irresistible." We talk about all the attributes of God: His omnipotence, His omniscience. He is, basically, saying right here: "I am sovereign, and I'll open and I'll close doors that man cannot refute, so put your confidence in the fact that you are invincible, that My Word abides forever, that My grace and faith are irresistible." "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: [now lest you want to boast a little bit and think of yourself more highly than you ought to, look at this:] for thou hast a little strength." Israel was chosen because they were (say it) the least. You're here because you're the least. If we're ever going to be successful, as a church, we must always see ourselves for what we are: the least, with no natural strength, no real natural abilities, and no power of numbers. God has chosen not to put wealthy people here. Through the years I've seen it in many ministries. PTL was one that was subsidized by a very wealthy individual. Every time they just really believed God for something and presumptuously went out and said, "If we don't get it--God's going to come through or we're going to sink," this guy would come up and he'd say, "Okay, I'll match an offering of everything you all give." So the television audience would send in ten million dollars, and this guy would write a check for ten million, and the Lord "blessed" them. Thank God, there are rich among us, but that's all relative. He speaks here specifically: He says, "You have little strength." The Bible says that when we're weak, then we're (say it) [strong]. We are nobody, but we have a God working in us and through us who can open doors no man can shut. We can accomplish what governments can't accomplish; we can see manifest what all the billionaires in the country couldn't pull off--if it's the will of God. So we have only one real need here, that's to find out what God's doing and get in the program. That's what we've tried to do to the best of our ability. In the little things God wants us to do we try to be faithful.

"...Thou hast a little strength [these next two phrases are what I live for], and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name." That's how you stay strong; that's where our strength is; we're nothing in ourselves. We don't look to the right hand or to the left, but in all of our ways we acknowledge God. We don't trust in the broken reeds of Egypt: we don't look to the arm of the flesh. We try to set a course to where we look to the mountains, from which comes our help. He said, "Because you've kept my Word and not denied My name, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are [the covenant people] and are not, but do lie; [I will make those who say they are the representatives of God, say they are the ones being blessed of God, say they are the voice of God;] behold, I will make them come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee." Whom is He speaking to here? He's speaking to the true church, the body of Christ. I believe He is saying (and this is what I've said all along I believe) is that many people, and not just this fellowship, but around the world, many people who have fled the truth, when these times of tribulation come, are a remnant that's coming back because they know where the real deal is: I believe God is going to restore a remnant. "Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." [These are] the earth-dwellers we've spoken of: the word there, literally katoikeo, is talking about a permanent citizenship, those who have lost the first love, those who have lost their expectation of the imminent return of the Lord.

We've shared many times; I shared in the meeting the other day. I said to the people, "The way to determine whether or not you really believe in the imminent return of the Lord is to just test yourself and ask, 'If I knew Jesus was coming back Friday, (here it is, Wednesday) or a week from today, would I change what I'm doing?' If you would, then you are not truly living believing in the imminent return of the Lord, believing He could come at any moment, and we are going to give an answer for every idle word spoken, and every work we've done. If we would change things, then we are not trusting in His grace as sufficient at this moment. If I would look back a week from now, if the Lord tarries, there's no way I could analyze and say, "I was perfectly doing what I was supposed to do," but I'm willing to do what I know to do. I choose to do what I'm asked to do, and I'm confident that which I've committed to Him, He's keeping against that day, so I know I'm in the will of God at this moment, and I'm not going to change to try to get a better relationship. I'll change only if it's an act of obedience to be able to accomplish more for the glory of God. It's not relational, it's functional: that's why we change.

"I also will keep thee [from the hour of wrath,] from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, [and then He says, and we'll end with this one for this evening,] Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem [the bride of Christ], which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. [King of kings, Lord of lords] He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches." What's awaiting you and me? We become pillars in the house of God; we become finally united with our soon coming Groom. We'll know as we're known; we see Him and we're like Him, the Scripture says. Who are these people who are going to be kept from that hour of temptation? This is speaking of the tribulation; this is speaking of the wrath of God, the judgment of God. We don't have time to go there right now, but you can look at Luke 21 and see very clearly what's being spoken of here, or the Thessalonians passage in 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and 5:19, and see what this hour of wrath is all about: the great tribulation. "...Thou hast kept My Word and hast not denied My name." The loyal church, the church of Philadelphia, the church that loves one another because they first loved Him, because they were first loved of Him; I believe that's representative of our spirit, so let's be very aware of all of these other temptations around us represented by these other churches; let's look for the danger signs; let's ask ourselves this question in closing tonight: "What am I making this fellowship; what do I bring in here every service; what am I contributing to make us better to bring more honor and more glory to Him?" "I really don't know." Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He's talking: are you listening? Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit's saying to the churches. Where are you tonight? What's going to be written on that white stone? What is the name that's going to be given to you? Are you being made into a pillar in the house of your God? Let him who has ears hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches. Let's stand before the Lord.

We'll take just a second and let Gary play for us and, as he does, listen for that voice of the Holy Spirit tonight. Have you seen anything about yourself in these glances at the churches? We are as a unit what we are in majority as individuals, and we are what the leadership brings us to. Do you understand a little better why we do some of the things we do, what we're trying to protect ourselves from, and what reputation we're trying to bring to the Lord? It's a jealousy for His glory, His purity. The day will come when those eyes of fire are going to pierce our hearts, the secrets of every heart revealed.

Let's sing it together and worship Him: "Jesus I Am Thirsty." Hallelujah! It's our hearts' desire, Father, and we ask that You would be seen in our midst a loving God. [We are] faithful children, thankful that we have so freely received; now help us to freely give, we ask in Jesus' name. Amen, amen. Praise God. Turn to somebody next to you and say, "Hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches." Go in peace, God's love go with you.

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