We’ve been going through Revelation 1 verse at a time and we’re to verse 15. This morning as I was going over this passage it was early and I was up and it’s kind of my habit somewhere during the morning to, you know, you find out where the weather channel has the local weather. You know exactly what time it’s going to be. You only have to turn it on for a couple minutes, you know, so I went and turned it on just at that time so I could see, you know, how long it was going to rain today. And the first thing that came on the screen, I think that the cable company that services us put this on here and the first thing that was on the screen was the power of you. And I was just reading this passage and just reading John standing before the Lord and if there’s one thing that John knew was the power was not of him. It was of the Lord.
That’s kind of like the commercial, you know, the army of one or whatever. We have in our time certainly put ourselves as the number one most important person in our lives, haven’t we? Matter of fact, we’ve adopted these in our countries, as a matter of fact. Number one, if I like it, it’s mine. Number two, if it’s in my hand, it’s mine.
It’s still mine. Number five, if it’s mine, it must never appear to be yours in any way. Number six, if I’m doing or building something, all the pieces are mine. Number seven, if it looks just like mine, it is mine. And number eight, if I think it’s mine, it’s mine. And number nine, if it’s yours and I steal it, it’s mine. I thought, well, that’s probably true in the nursery, but I think it’s becoming more and more true in our lives, isn’t it?
We just think everything revolves around us. I wonder how we solve this. I’ll tell you how it is. We began to see the risen Lord Jesus Christ as John was seeing him there on the Isle of Patmos. As Paul saw him when he was taken up to the third heaven, as Isaiah saw him high and lifted up.
And it’s not until we can see the Lord in those ways that we solve the power is me problem. Here we have in our text, in verse 13, we saw candlesticks and we saw the garments of the Lord Jesus Christ. In verse 14, his head white as snow, his eyes burning as they were as a flame of fire. Now in verse 15, his feet and his voice. And in verse 16, we’ll see in his right hand, we’ll hear the word of his mouth and see his countenance. In these things, we see the glory of the resurrected Christ. Feet, as we will see in our text, his feet likened to fine brass as if they burned in a furnace. Feet speak of judgment and of equity. God will crush his enemies and yet he will support the righteous.
He will do that in his own time. The voice is the disseminator of truth. If we go back to verse 10, remember when John first heard that voice, I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet. And then in verse 12, after he heard this voice speak, I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, then he begins to describe what he saw. And now in verse 15, he hears this voice and describes it as the sound of many waters.
The voice is the disseminator of truth. The Lord said to Satan himself, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. I think in today’s world we think that God has failed in these areas. I think we believe that God has failed to judge the world properly. Why is there so much terror in the world?
Why is there so much injustice? Surely God has not been God. God has not been on the job as he should be.
This is kind of the Jonah syndrome, you know? We’ve gone and we’ve pronounced judgment on Nineveh and then we sit out and pout on the hill because God hasn’t done what we wanted him to do in his time. And so we pout about it and that’s what this world is doing. And we ought to ask ourselves, does the long suffering then of God mean that God has failed? Is being long suffering infidelity?
Is somehow that God in his goodness is waiting, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance? Is turning the cheek no longer a virtue as we know it? And why would we do those things?
Because judgment or justice will come in its proper time. Maybe not right now, but eventually it will. And many today I think God’s, believe God’s word has failed. It’s no longer reliable. It’s old.
It’s out of date. It was written thousands of years ago. We even believe it’s contradictory in many ways.
But you know what is ironic about that? God’s word predicted that we would think like that. God’s word said that in the end time this is the way the world would be. Second Peter chapter three, that great prophetic chapter, knowing this first that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts and saying where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.
For this they are willingly ignorant of. That by the word of God, the heavens were of old and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was being overflowed with water perished, of course speaking of Noah’s day. But the heavens and the earth which are now by the same word are kept in store reserved under the fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
If God waited 120 years before He brought the judgment upon that wicked world, then it is right that He waits until His own time to He brings the judgment upon this wicked world. I remember one time as a teenager I had stayed out late with two of my friends. This was back in the 60s and as far as I can remember those two friends were not even believers. They were not Christian young men.
I just went to high school, played ball with them. We didn’t smoke. We didn’t drink.
We didn’t corrales around. But somehow we stayed out late one night and I was driving and I remember taking the first way and it was after midnight or something like that. And the one fellow lived on a farm and I remember him telling me, don’t drop me off at the driveway. Drop me off out here at the fence. And he jumped over the fence and went across the pasture toward the house. I figured he was okay. The second guy, we got to his house and the lights were on and mom and dad were pacing in the living room. So I knew he was in trouble but I dropped him off. So I went home. We lived a little ways out in the country.
The front door was never locked. And in our house the lights were off and I thought, oh, I’ve got it made. And you know, I had to come in the front door and cross the hallway and go down the stairs to my bedroom. So down the hallway to the right mom and dad’s bedroom. So all I’ve got to do is make it across that four foot hallway.
If I can just make it across there, I’ll be okay. So I go in quietly, shut the door behind me, start to tiptoe across the hallway and I hear this voice that says, go on to bed. We’ll talk about it in the morning.
You’ve heard that right? Go on to bed. We’ll talk about it in the morning.
I had a really good night’s sleep that night. Waiting for morning to come. And you know what God basically has said to this world folks? We’ll talk about it in the morning. I’m not going to judge everything right now.
I’m not going to let you know everything that’s going to happen, but we will talk about it in the morning. Now, when we see the Lord Jesus Christ in Revelation chapter one, he is appearing as the judge. He is appearing as the resurrected Christ. This is how he exists today and how he will exist forevermore. This is how you will see him.
This is how the lost world will stand before him. And as we see these characteristics of them, then we ought to take notice and remember that he will talk to us in the morning. So two truths here in our text in verse 15 about that morning time and about when we see the Lord Jesus Christ.
First of all, Jesus Christ meets out perfect judgment. And that’s what it means when it talks about his feet as fine brass as if they burned in a furnace. He is the judge and he will judge and his feet will tread the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
And yet his feet will uphold those who are righteous. You know, Solomon was a wise man. People came to Solomon to hear him and to hear the wisdom that he had. And yet Jesus himself said, a greater than Solomon is here. When we stand before him, then we will realize that all of that he has done is wise.
All that he has done is perfect. And he is the one with these feet that have the right to tread where they want to tread. These feet that John knew were washed with tears once. John saw the human feet of Jesus washed with tears.
He saw Mary wipe them with the hairs of her head. He saw when Mary would sit at his feet and others would sit around him at these feet and they would hear this teacher. He walked with him over the hills of Judea many times and saw those human feet. And then he saw them pierced at the cross with that nail that went through both of those. And yet he saw those feet stand in Resurrection Day and on the amount of olives that sin back up into heaven. And so now John stands before him and he looks again at these feet and this time they are as burning brass. You know, feet in the Scripture are an interesting thing. There are many analogies to feet.
One is, of course, that they support. The Lord is my strength, Habakkuk said. He will make my feet like hind’s feet and will make me to walk upon mine high places. God will uphold us and give our feet sure footing. Feet speak of strength, Psalm 18. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me that my feet did not slip.
God can do that for our feet. They speak of beauty. Isaiah 52. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of Him that bringeth good tidings, that publish peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation. How beautiful are the feet of the soul in other words. And feet speak of guidance.
Peter said in 1 Peter 4 here unto where you called because Christ also suffered for us leaving us an example that you should follow in His steps. Put your feet where His feet were. Walk where He walked.
We follow in His steps. But of course feet speak of judgment too. Revelation 19 that I mentioned a minute ago out of His mouth when a sharp sword, we’re going to see that in the next verse. That with it He should smite the nations and He shall rule them with the rod of iron and He treadeth the wine press of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
I think when John sees Him here and sees these feet as fine brass that that is the primary meaning. He is the judge. He will judge in His time.
And when He brings judgment it will be just and it will be perfect judgment. Every last disciple except John had died. All of his friends, all of those that walked with Him and with Jesus now have gone to their death in many of them horrible ways. Tortured for their faith. Persecuted.
Crucified upside down in various different ways. And here is John alone. And wouldn’t John of all people in this world have the right to ask Lord are you just? Will you do what is right? Are you still the God of this world? And the Lord is going to assure Him yes I am and I will judge in my own time. Now notice and I want you to follow with me a little bit down this trail.
I had fun studying this and I’m going to just skip a rock across the top of this. But he sees his feet like unto fine brass. There are actually two Greek words that can be the word brass. And one means just kind of rough brass in its rough element. And the other does mean fine brass smelted down brought up to a glowing burning shininess.
And this of course is the word that he sees here. Fine brass. We know that in the Old Testament bronze was an alloy of copper and tin. When you add the copper and tin together we call it bronze.
But when you add copper and zinc together we call it brass. And the bronze color was more the common one. They used for utensils. They used for tools and various things like that.
But when they wanted it to be perfect and they wanted it to shine they wanted it on their table or they wanted it in the temple especially then it was brass. Copper and zinc burned as in a furnace. This was called copper smelting. Interesting that back in Solomon’s day he filled the temple with these types of elements. As a matter of fact you remember gold, silver, copper and iron in the scripture always they were the four common metals even when Daniel saw Nebuchadnezzar’s vision right? It went from the top to the bottom to from the gold down to the iron and these four metals were common in their day. Second Chronicles said the pots also and the shovels and the flesh hooks and all their instruments did hire him his father make to King Solomon for the house of the Lord of bright brass. The same kind of brass. And in the plain of Jordan did the king cast them in the clay between Succoff and Ceradoth.
In other words in the clay from the Jordan River they made the molds and put this fine brass into them and made the instruments for the temple. But that’s not all. I want you to do something for me. Can you find the book of Habakkuk in your Old Testament? You say no I can’t even pronounce the book of Habakkuk unless let’s find it. But you’ll find it right in the middle of the Minor Prophets after Daniel and before Matthew right in the middle is the book of Habakkuk.
And I want to show you something that’s interesting as we continue to think about this fine brass that we are seeing in the Lord’s feet. And remember that this was a common material and often found in the scriptures. Now Habakkuk was a prophet that prophesied about 600 BC. When you think of 600 BC you ought to think of the Babylonian captivity. You ought to think of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego.
Nebuchadnezzar coming in and taking the things away to Babylon and he takes away all of the temple and things. And here are prophets who prophesied that God was going to judge. That he is going to bring his answer to their wickedness and their backsliding. And many said to the prophets of those days, especially Jeremiah, oh Jeremiah you don’t know what you’re talking about. You keep talking about God’s judgment, you keep talking that we ought to do this or that.
But this is not going to happen to us. Habakkuk was one of those prophets. Now in Habakkuk 3, It says, a prayer of Habakkuk the prophet upon Shuganath, O Lord, I have heard thy speech and was afraid, which when we hear the voice of the Lord we ought to be. O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years. God I pray for revival, not judgment. In the midst of the years make known in wrath.
Remember mercy. We ought to be crying in our day, O Lord, we know judgment is coming. But in your wrath, be long suffering, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But verse three, God came from Teemun. You ought to know where God came from.
Now you know. And the Holy One from Mount Peron. So if you need to know, if somebody asks you where God come from, you know, in the beginning God will where God come from. Now you know, Habakkuk 3.3. Well, the word Teemun means south or the South land. And the word Peron is the wilderness of Peron or Peron. And if you look in your Bible map and you look down to the Sinai Peninsula, you’ll see two bodies of water jutting up like this that look like two fingers. And the Sinai Peninsula goes down between the Red Sea to a peninsula.
And this is the Arabah, the South land, the wilderness of Peron. And of course that’s where Mount Sinai is too. And Israel first met God at Mount Sinai. It first learned of God’s laws there. It would be enough to say God comes from the South. God comes from Mount Sinai is where he comes from, as far as we know.
But read on a little bit. Say, La, he says, his glory covered the heavens. The earth was full of his praise and his brightness was as the light. He had horns coming out of his hand. There was the hiding of his power. And before him went the pestilence and notice burning coals went forth at his feet.
Now, something interesting that I found and read about again. And if you’ll allow me to read you just a few sentences from Merle Unger’s Dictionary where he said, Solomon, think back to 1000 BC when Solomon again was building the temple and using all of the copper to build the temple. Solomon developed the lucrative copper mining and copper smelting industries in the araba down here in Paran in the wilderness of Paran.
Solomon lavishly used gold, silver and copper in the construction of the temple. His seaport copper refinery at Ezeon Gieber. Now that’s an archaeologist turn. Ezeon Gieber has been unearthed at Tel Akathah. I think it is by Nelson Gluck in 1938. Now I looked up where Ezeon Gieber is and you know where it is where those two fingers come up and the Gulf of Acaba sticks up like this and the Sinai peninsula goes down like this.
Ezeon Gieber is right at the top of this point right here. And at that point, Solomon had his copper mining and they burnt it down and as a matter of fact, he goes on to say here that blast furnacers were there constructed. They found these things in the archaeology. Blast furnacers were constructed to take advantage of the fierce winds sweeping down the araba. Inguts of raw copper not only supplied the vast quantities needed for the temple and palaces in Jerusalem, but also furnished Solomon’s stock and trade for his tarshish fleets, which brought back exotic woods and other things.
In other words, the tarshish ships, the ships of tarshish were largely carrying this copper, raw copper to various parts of the world to make the bronze and the brass. And so consider what Habakkuk says here. I am telling you Israel, God is going to judge you. I am telling you he has not forgotten and you should not forget where he came from. He is coming from the South land. He is coming from the wilderness of Peron. He is coming to judge this land from the South and his feet are red hot from the blast furnaces of the smelting pots in the wilderness of Peron and he’s coming to judge you. Quite a picture that Habakkuk gives here then of God coming from this area and what is going to happen in their future. His feet, verse four, he again, he says are as burning coals and going forth at his feet. So cannot we say in Revelation chapter one as John sees Jesus and the Lord says, you wait, John, I’ll make all things right. I am coming to judge this world. It will not belong. And he looks and he sees that his feet are as shining brass melted in a furnace, bright hot as if just coming out of that furnace.
us. Now back in Revelation notice that John will use this analogy then for example in chapter 2 verse 18. Each time he writes a letter to one of the seven churches he uses another characteristic of Christ, of what he saw. And to a sinning church, to a backslidden church, to a worldly church that used all of the worldly means in their worship and the rest, even Jezebel in verse 20 and all. He says in verse 18, under the church in Thyatira write these things, sayeth the Son of God who hath his eyes like unto a flame of fire and his feet like unto fine brass. And what is he going to say to this church? You have sin in the church and you have not followed the Lord Jesus Christ and when he comes with his feet as shining brass to judge I would not want to be standing in front of him.
And look into those eyes and realize what is coming. Verse 23, I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. Verse 27, he shall rule them with a rod of iron and as the vessels of a potter shall they be broken to shivers even as I received of my Father. Of course there’s blessing. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ, if you have walked with him and he says in verse 24, unto you I say and unto the rest not everyone had to sin.
You don’t have to do what your neighbor does. As many as have not this doctrine which have not known the depths of Satan as they speak, I will put upon you none other burden. To know the Lord like that, to know that the Lord is not going to judge you but you are right with God. Then to know that the Lord is coming to set things right to you is a blessing.
You are saying even so, come Lord Jesus. Do you ever read the Psalms in the Old Testament and ask yourself why David was so angry? How come when David writes all the time, he’s always saying, we call these imprecatory prayers, God rain down your wrath upon the enemies. God poke them in the eye. God smash out their teeth.
God come and take care of the enemies of God and of Israel. And you say to yourself, how could David think such a way? You know I think the only proper conclusion to that thought is because David being a man after God’s own heart, knowing what God wants, he wants what God wants. Blessed is a man that hungers and thirsts after righteousness because one day he will be filled. David hungered and thirsted for righteousness in the land of Israel and one day the Lord will come by the way and sit upon David’s throne and David will be there and Abraham will be there and Isaac and Jacob and all of the Israelites and God will have avenged his enemies just as his prayer was. Jesus said, pray our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Lord, come today and thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
I can’t wait for that day. I want God’s will to be done here. You sit here this morning and you are afraid of God’s will? Afraid of what it might be when Jesus Christ comes back? You really don’t want him to come yet?
You want to do your own thing for a while longer? Then you’re not praying that prayer are you? You’re saying God hold off because I might be under your judgment. There’s this great dichotomy when we speak about the Lord’s coming and the judgments that will come. In Revelation, for example, chapter 22, behold I come quickly, he says, my reward is with me to give to every man according to his work.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, 2214. Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life and enter in through the gates into the city. You follow the Lord, you walk with him, you’re born again, the blood of his son Jesus Christ cleanses you from all sin.
You are keeping his commandments because you love him. And even though the world is not living in righteousness, you can. You’re like Lot who was in Sodom and that righteous man was vexed by the conversation of the wicked. You look around you and your soul is vexed when you see the sin of our day.
And so what do you do? You look forward to Christ coming. And you say, oh Lord come now and come and put an end to it. And Lord may your righteousness spread and Jesus said, I come quickly and if you’re like that, ah, blessed are you when I come. Verse 15, for without are dogs and sorcerers and hormone-gers and murderers and idolaters and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David and the bright and morning star. So which do you want it to be when the Lord comes?
Can you say even so, come Lord Jesus? Or are you saying, oh Lord, not today, wait a little bit longer please. Until I get things straightened out. Well maybe the Lord has you here this morning to get things straightened out. Well, first of all, Jesus Christ meets out perfect judgment.
His feet are like shining brass. Secondly, Jesus Christ speaks all-encompassing truth. Every word that ever came from the mouth of God the Father in any way, by vision, by revelation, by appearance, every word that ever came out of the mouth of the Lord Jesus Christ both on this earth before He came to this earth and since He came to this earth, and everything that the Holy Spirit has ever done, convicted of, or applied to anyone’s heart is absolute truth.
Everything God says is truth. We’re the ones that mess it up. We’re the ones that don’t take it the way it ought to be taken.
We’re the ones that doubt it and reject it, but everything God has ever revealed and ever said is absolute truth. John hears this voice. He heard it.
He turned around to see where the voice was. He realizes now it comes from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. You know, Adam heard the voice of God. They heard the voice of the Lord walking in the garden in the cool of the day.
What do you think the Lord said to Adam and Eve when He walked with them? Untruth? Half-truths? Relativity?
No. God said was absolute. They didn’t follow His voice. In Genesis 12, He speaks to Abraham. The Lord said unto Abraham, Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy father’s house.
Into a land that I will show you. Do you think Abraham did it? Absolutely, because he believed God. At the foot of Mount Sinai, when God is giving the law and He’s telling the people, only come so close to this mountain. Exodus 19, it came to pass on the third day in the morning that there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud upon the mount. And the voice of the trumpet. How did John hear that voice first of all back in verse 10? A voice like a trumpet. And they heard that voice as a trumpet exceeding loud so that all the people that was in the camp trembled. And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long and waxed louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him by a voice. They heard this voice too. Ezekiel heard this voice. When Ezekiel sees the vision. And I’m going to go back and preach on this chapter soon because just with a little bit of glancing over it, I thought, oh, we’ve got to see this throne room of God in Ezekiel.
We have to understand this. And in Ezekiel 43, he sees the Lord coming into the temple. He says, afterward he brought me to the gate and even the gate that looked toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east and his voice was like the noise of many waters. When Christ comes back the second time, it will be like a flood of water coming in upon the world.
That’s how he will come. The disciples heard thy voice from heaven. This is my beloved son, whom I am well pleased. Someday we’ll hear the voice of the Lord, the shout and the voice of the archangel and the trump of God. You know what God says to us folks? God who is at sundry times and in diverse manners, spake in time, passed unto the fathers by the prophet, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son whom he have appointed heir of all things. He revealed himself. He was the living word and this is the written word.
God surely has spoken. He hears the voice of many waters. Can’t you imagine, John, on the Isle of Patmos, and hearing the waves crashing all around him against the shoreline? And he hears this loud voice like it was a trumpet and to him it drowned it out the waves. It drowned it out the ocean, if you will. You ever stood at the bottom of a mighty waterfall?
I’ve been to Niagara Falls just once. But what a sight and what power and what noise as you’re standing there. The voice of God is like that. Or like a heavy rain, the sound of many waters. As a matter of fact, because it was raining hard this morning, I opened the sliding door on the back porch and stood there and listened. And the rain just fell all around, just kind of like a thundering sound. You ever stand by a mountain river? I have many times in Colorado when the water is just churning and gushing and falling down those mountain sides.
What power is there and what noise? No one would want to fall into that. Mothers go grab their children and pull them back from the edges of those rivers because they’re so mighty. This is the voice of God. When Ezekiel does see the cherubim and he sees them around the throne of God. And what a vision that is.
Again, I want to preach on it. Someday he says when they went, speaking of these cherubim, who went back and forth before the throne of God, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters. As the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech. As the noise of a host when they stood, they let down their wings. As these mighty creatures go around the throne of God, the voices of God. God, come among them.
What a sight that is. Do you know that the word of God is like water, is it not? You remember that God said to Isaiah, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. Sayeth the Lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. And we as puny human beings say, oh, we can figure God out.
And we know better than God. And then God says for as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven. And returneth not thither, but watereth the earth.
And makeeth it bring forth and bud that it may give seed to the sore and bread to the eater, so shall my word be. And I thought this morning standing at that back door and hearing the water, you know, my voice is like a sprinkler. You know, you take your sprinkler and you put it on out there and it gets one little place green, you know, and doesn’t reach anything else.
And it doesn’t do a very good job of that, you know. But when God’s rain comes, it saturates. There isn’t a corner out there that’s not wet.
There isn’t a place left untouched. Everything is drenched, thoroughness. And that water comes and it soaks into the ground. And now when the earth needs it, because it’s about ready to bring forth food in the springtime. And God then says, you go into the ground and you accomplish everything here. Split the seed open and I will send the sun and I’ll make it grow and we’ll have crops this year. Go down into the valleys and the tunnels and water the lands out in the plains.
And God does that with all of the rain. So shall my words be. Goes forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void. This word of God will go out even in this congregation this morning. I’m confident of it or I wouldn’t be a preacher of His word. I may not see it.
I don’t know how you’ll deal with it. But the God’s word goes into every corner of this auditorium, into every ear and into every heart. And it begins to plant life and it begins to water and do the things God wants it to do. And it will go that way and it will not return void but it shall accomplish that which I please. It shall prosper in the thing wherein to I send it.
What a beautiful thing that is. Even God’s second coming will be like the rain. He shall come unto us as the rain, as the former and latter rain upon the earth. When He comes folks, don’t expect some little celebration over there in Jerusalem.
Don’t expect just in a few church buildings around the world that they’ll celebrate. This world will be saturated with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and He will come and His words will speak and His feet will judge. Even creation as you know speaks of the voice of God. The Lord thundered in the heavens and the highest gave His voice. Hail stones and coals of fire. Psalm 104, at thy rebuke they fled and the voice of thy thunder they hasted away. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters, the God of glory, thundereth. The Lord is upon many waters. Do we listen to these things in God’s creation and God’s world and say thank you Lord for speaking to me. The heavens declare the glory of God. The firmament shows his handiwork day and day utter a speech night and night show with knowledge.
That’s why even with the songwriter I can say this is my Father’s world. He shines in all that’s fair. In the rustling grass I hear him pass. He speaks to me everywhere. Not in some esoteric way, but in that I see God’s mighty power all around. And so folks this is expression of God speaking.
Let me ask you this. Jesus I said speaks all encompassing truth and he’s speaking to you this morning. He is not judging yet. He is letting unrighteousness have its way. He’s letting the darkness remain for a while, but he will come and put an end to it. And in the meantime he speaks to you and to me. And he says these things that we need to hear. His speaking is final authority. Again he has in the time past spoke by the prophets under the fathers, but in these last days he’s spoken unto us by his son. It is what Jesus Christ says that is the final authority in this world.
It’s not colloquial. It’s not that just we as Americans decided to be Christian, but the rest of the world has decided something else. No, God has become a man.
And given the gospel to the whole world. It is an invitation to rest, don’t you remember? Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. You know God’s voice is speaking to you that way. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly of heart. Some are here today with heavy burdens and broken hearts. And Jesus is still speaking words of absolute truth.
I will give you rest. Jesus is speaking in a correcting way. And I hope that you came and said Lord, whatever it is in me that needs to be cleaned out. Whatever that needs to be revealed that I need to confess the word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than a two-edged sword. Piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow and as a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. He’s discerning right now as the word of God comes as rain falling upon you and he’s discerning between the thoughts and the intents of your heart.
He knows those thoughts before you even speak them. But I think best of all that there is an invitation given to eternal life. Behold I stand at the door and knock chapter 3 verse 20 says if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come in to him and sup with him and he with me. As Jesus Christ standing at your heart store saying I need to be your Savior I need to come in and forgive you of your sin. There’s a little bit of time left today as a day of salvation now is the accepted time if any man hear my voice don’t harden your heart.
The Lord is saying that even to us today what an invitation that is the spirit and the bride say come let him that heareth come let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take of the water of life freely. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God right and it please God by the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe. I think the one thing I suppose that we preachers have to apologize. We pray you in Christ’s stead Paul said be reconciled to God. Christ can’t be here but he has ordained his word to go forth just like it has right now. So you’re standing here today you don’t know Christ as your Savior and you have a little bit of time before those feet of brass come and judge this world as word out into your heart and you would hear that word and then still say to the Savior no I don’t want you now.
You would do that then I wouldn’t want to be stand before him some day when you see him. You know there’s three ingredients that need to happen for God to use his word and move. The first one is from God the Father he sovereignly arranges the circumstances. God brings you to a place where you hear the word of God.
If you think back Christian to the place where you got saved and how you got saved and all that happened to bring to come to that time where God brought you to that place at that time with someone speaking the word of God to you. God arranges that. How do you know that God has not arranged this circumstance this morning so that you would hear what you need to hear. God kind of arranged these things secondly we need the Son of God who came to seek and to save that which is lost and you know what he’s still seeking and he’s still saving those that are lost and you have a Savior who loved you and someone who died for you someone whose blood can cleanse you from all sin who still is as powerful today as he has ever been and still will save you in an instant when you place your faith and trust in him there is no one else none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved we need that and we have that this morning. Thirdly we need the Holy Spirit of God who wakes us up who convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment to come who comes into our hearts at a time like this is as you wake up I have something to say to you with this word and about this Savior the Bible says we must walk by faith not by sight if you’re if you’re one of those waiting around to say well God if you show me I’ll believe then you never will believe you better rather say I’ll believe and you know what then God will show you you come to him by faith hearing his word believing in his promises and trusting what you need I want you to stand with me now this morning if you will as we stand before we sing a song of invitation and let’s bow our heads before we sing and go to God in prayer and let me ask you this do you know the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior if I ask you if I could come to each and every person in this auditorium and say are you saved you know Christ’s Savior would you answer yes or no if you can’t answer that question and the affirmative if you can’t say yes then as we sing this song I’d be you’re one of those that need to follow the Lord in baptism and we have baptism coming up next week and you finally need to surrender and do that then come and do that maybe this is the church where God has led you and this is your decision or maybe you just need to come and kneel at these altars at each side and pray here and burn some bridge behind you and say Lord I’m confessing this to you hear my prayer you do what God wants you to do let’s pray together now Father we have preached your word and we have read it we have seen the Lord Jesus Christ through your word we know Father that his feet are like shining brass and will one day tread the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God we know Father that you are long-suffering not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance so Father even in this day and hour do your work in a lost person’s heart this morning Father we know that your voice is like the voice of many waters the voice the word of God can pierce and divide us under soul and spirit today and I pray that you would do that and Father may you work in our heart and anything that you desire to do in us would you do it today as we yield ourselves to you we ask these things in Jesus name amen we’re gonna sing page 547 a familiar song have thine own way Lord 547 as