Back to the book of Revelation chapter one. We remember that there’s some folks upstairs that maybe we don’t see. Do we hear an amen from the balcony? Okay, so you’re up there.
You think I can’t see you, but I know when you’re sleeping up there. Alright, Revelation chapter one is Howard backed up a little bit and reminded us that Jesus now is hearing, or John, I think we’ll get it right here, and is hearing Jesus speak to him now, and the Lord is saying what you see in verse 11. He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, and he tells John what you see and what you hear right in a book. And then in this short verse, verse 12, I turn to see the voice that was speaking with me, and then he sees Jesus standing among the golden candlesticks. Once again, here in chapter one, we see that churches, local churches just like the one we’re meeting in this morning, are God’s intended instrument or vehicle for this age of grace. That is what this book of Revelation really is all about, what Christ wants, the churches to hear, and what He wants them to do. You know, God has instituted some things throughout history. The first thing He did was form the family, if you remember, and Adam and Eve, and then He instructed that their children would leave father and mother, they would be joined together. And so God has ordained the family, one woman, one man, to be together, to propagate, and to raise children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
That has never changed. It’s still God’s will, and it’s still God’s will that we do it that way. After the flood of Noah, God, as soon as Noah’s feet hit the ground, God instituted human government. And He said to Noah, now, though I’ve done things myself in certain ways before, from now on, you will have to do them.
And you collectively as a government will. And so still to this day, we have instruction in our New Testament to obey the laws of the land, to pray for those who rule over us, to pay our taxes, to give honor to whom honor is due. Government is ordained by God. It’s good to have a government that recognizes the God of the Scripture and the Lord Jesus Christ, but even in lands where that is not so, if a government will protect what is good and punish what is evil, at least in that respect, they are doing what God ordained government to do. It’s when the government begins to protect the evil and punish the good that they step out of God’s will.
And so we give unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. Then God ordained the nation of Israel. God instituted this family of Abraham’s to be his people, and He worked with them, and He took them, and He made a nation out of them. He gave them laws. He gave them a constitution.
He led them through lands and to conquer lands, and He gave the land to them. Now they sinned, they crucified their very Messiah. And for a while, God has set Israel aside, not that He has disowned them, not that they are not His people, but He is working now in this age of grace with the church.
And at the end of the age, He will again bring Israel back to the front, and He will deal with that nation again, even as He returns to this earth. But in this time in which we live, from the cross of Calvary 2,000 years ago, until the time Jesus comes again, He will deal with local churches just like this one. Like the ones here in Ephesus and Smyrna and Pergamos and Thyatira and all of these churches that you have listed in verse 11, Christ is interested in them, and He will work with them. These churches, folks, are land.
That’s why we send missionaries to the remotest parts of the earth, so that a candlestick can be planted there, and light can come from there. Churches are a retreat in a time of war. You know, we’re in a spiritual warfare, and we have on the armor of God, but we need this retreat place. We need this place to come in and let our guard down, and to sing the songs of Zion, and to learn again from God’s Word, and to encourage one another in the fight that we’re in.
And this place ought to be a place of safety in a time of moral disaster, like the world that we live in, where we can come and trust one another, and have our kids grow up together, and honor those things that God has done. honors. Now when John turns he sees seven golden candlesticks. You remember candlesticks in the Scripture don’t you? These are actually oil lamps of course.
They had the olive oil that they used and they put a wick in that oil and then they would light that wick and it would burn. God instructed Moses to make one of these at least a seven fold one. Back in Exodus he said, thou shall make a candlestick of pure gold, notice that it was of gold, of beaten work shall the candlestick be made. His shaft and his branches, his bowls and his knobs and his flowers shall be of the same. Six branches shall come out of the sides of it, three branches out of one side and three branches from the other side and thou shall make seven lamps thereof, so one in the middle.
The menorah as we call it with those six branches and one in the middle that was the candlestick that existed in the tabernacle it existed in the temple. If you will hold your place here and go back to the book of Zechariah. Now you can find the book of Malachi right?
Because Matthew is the first book of the New Testament. Malachi is the last book of the Old Testament and Zechariah is just before Malachi. And in chapter four you ought to know this chapter and read it again later, but here is a vision that Zechariah had of a candlestick like I’m describing, like you would see in the tabernacle or the temple.
And so he says in verse two Zechariah 4-2, he said unto me, what seeest thou? And I said, I have looked and behold a candlestick, notice of gold, with a bowl on the top of it and his seven lamps thereof. So he sees that and seven pipes to the seven lamps which are upon the top thereof.
So the bowls on the top of this candlestick are being supplied with oil through seven pipes that go right to the seven lamps. Look at verse three. The two olive trees by it, one upon the right side of the bowl and the other upon the left side thereof. And he sees those two and let me tell you what’s happening is that there is a pipe going from each olive tree to the bowl and from the bowl down to each of the seven lamps so that the olive oil is continually flowing from these trees into the lamp so that the lamp is supplied with oil not by men’s effort but by God himself in a continual way. And so look at verse six. He answered and spake unto me saying, this is the word of the Lord unto the rubble saying what?
Not by might nor by power but by my spirit saith the Lord of hosts. Now these Jewish people knew as they lit this candelabra every morning in the and kept it going in the temple that there is coming a day and we call it the kingdom of God when God will supply the oil for the nation of Israel and they will be his people forever and it will not be by might nor by power but by God’s spirit. And then you find in verse 10 another verse that you know who has despised the day of small things.
You may think that this little temple that they were building as they came back out of Babylon didn’t amount to much not compared to Solomon’s temple but don’t despise the day of small things if God is in it little as much if God is in it. Now back to Revelation. I just wanted to show you that that those who knew their Old Testament knew these things and knew what these candlesticks look like. And even in the book of Revelation in the middle of this tribulation period when two witnesses come and they begin to prophesy and preach in the middle of the tribulation period chapter 11 verse 3 says I will give power unto my two witnesses.
They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three score days in other words three and a half years clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing beside the God of the earth and God will supply them with the power and with the words to speak as they preach even in that day. Now as John turns and sees seven golden candlesticks and as I thought about this and read it I’m kind of convinced of this that this these candlesticks probably were not the seven fold menorahs like you would see in the tabernacle or the temple but rather single candlesticks. Each one representing a church still golden still a candlestick but not necessarily seven together. You remember Jesus saying in Matthew 5 neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel but on a candlestick and it giveth light to all that are in the house one candle on one stick. Mark 421 he said unto them is a candle brought to be put under a bushel or under a bed and not to be set on a candlestick and just as in those uses in the New Testament you had a single candlestick and a single lamp sitting on top of that candlestick I think that that’s probably what John saw when he turned around to see them. We need not make unnecessary parallels between what God did with the Jewish nation and what He will do with the New Testament church.
We have some obvious things in common, of course. Our Messiah, our Savior, is their Messiah, and we know that even if they do not. But a lot of things that belong to Israel don’t necessarily belong to the church.
I don’t see anyone sacrificing bullocks here this morning as we met together unless down in the woods they did that somewhere, but I don’t think we’re doing that anymore. Or even keeping the Passover because Jesus Christ, our Passover, is crucified for us. But rather we are individual churches made for this time in which we live.
This is what God has ordained for the age of grace. Scattered around, individual candlesticks, as John sees them scattered and standing around Christ but now scattered all over the world, aren’t they? And even today as we enjoy this bright sunshine coming over the Midwest, our missionaries and sister churches have already held their services hours ago, earlier today, as the sun was in their part of the world. And now they’re preaching in their evening services in the dark of the day and these candlesticks wherever it is are still lighting the world.
And you know what? Candlesticks come and go. Not every church that did exist still exists, do they? They go to lands and they begin a church.
A new candlestick will be there in that part of the world. I think this is what John sees as he turns around and sees this. Now also he hears a voice and it’s interesting he says, I turn to see the voice. Well, not really to see a voice of course, but to see the source of the voice, right?
To see who is speaking. Who is this that is speaking to him? And so notice in our verse because this is my twofold point for my sermon today that there are two actions John does here. I turned to see and then he will say, and being turned, I saw. I turned out of curiosity. I turned because I wanted to know. I turned because I had heard something and having turned now looking directly in that direction, I see that it is Christ and he is among the churches.
You know, I find that kind of turning part of our lives. You came to the Lord Jesus Christ by doing such a thing. Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and said, they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had under you, how you turned to God and God kept calling us until we turned around and then we saw Christ and we put our faith in Christ.
We turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. And you know what you do every day or should do every day? You should be on your knees or in your prayer closet or wherever it is, maybe with God’s word in your hand and your head bowed to him and say, Lord, what are you showing me today? What is it I need to confess and leave behind today? Help me to turn and see you and see your will and understand what you want for me this day and walk in that. And we need to be doing that daily in this life. Now as John turns, he sees Christ among the churches and that’s the point of today’s message. And this is the point of the book, by the way.
Stop and think about this for a minute. Though we read Revelation so often and we study the prophecies and rightly so, we’re involved in what happens in the tribulation period and the Antichrist and the false prophet, the mark of the beast, Armageddon and the return of Christ and glory and all of those things which we should be interested in. But this book starts and ends with directions to the churches. Here in these verses that we’re reading, in chapters two and three, the instruction to these seven churches and then in chapter 22, the last chapter of the book in verse 16, I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. And so this book of Revelation is for the church’s benefit.
This is written for local churches, these candlesticks, wherever they may be throughout the world, not as much even for the world as it is for us. We understand what the future holds, folks. We know where this world is going. We know what’s going to happen. We know who’s going to be in control. We know who’s going to win.
We even know the whole fate and career of the Antichrist and the world doesn’t even know who he is yet and we know all of that. And what does that do for us? It gives us confidence in this age in which we live to serve God because this book is given to us. And we come together in these churches like we’re in this morning to learn these things. Now, back to our verse, when we seek Him, He will be among the churches.
If you seek the Lord Jesus Christ and say, Lord, what should I do? I turned to see, you will find Christ among the churches in this age of grace. You will find God working through His churches. You will find great pastors of the past, evangelists sent out by those churches. You’ll find great missionaries who have gone from churches supported by churches to the far reaches of the world and began other other churches in those places. You’ll find Christ among the churches if you seek Christ in this day in which we live. Now, I turned to see the voice that’s spake with me. Again, think about that. Jesus Christ is speaking Christ and He is writing them down in this book.
And that’s why you have it in your lap right now. Because Jesus Christ speaks to us. He is the Word of God and the Word of God is God’s word to us. Remember how the book of Hebrews begins? God who at sundry times and in diverse manners, spake in time, passed under the fathers by the prophets.
Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he had appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world. And in chapter two, verse three, how should we escape then? If we neglect so great salvation, which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord and was confirmed unto us that them that heard him. Now, the main business of the church is the Word of God.
The main business of the church as we meet together is to take what Jesus has spoken and what these men have written down under inspiration and talk about it. And that’s what we’re doing right now. And the reason why we’re sitting here for 30, 40 minutes seems like just but a few minutes. You’re sitting here and what are we doing? We have our Bible open. We’re thinking about the content of this book. We’re trying to learn what God has to say to us. And as always said through these verses, it’s still the business of the church. When Paul instructed young Timothy in 1 Timothy 4.16, he said, Take heed to thyself, Timothy, and unto the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself and them that hear thee. A speaker of the gospel, a teacher of a Sunday school class, whatever, is going to save himself in this book. If he doesn’t make this book part of his life, then he’ll lead others astray. And then if you will stay in this book and will teach this book and will speak of this book, will save those also that hear us. You know, the Bible is a wonderful thing, isn’t it? Of all the religious books in the world, this is the very word of God.
Now, Christian, don’t doubt that. And don’t begin to think as the world thinks that, well, there are lots of religious books. There are lots of religions.
They all kind of have their good things. They have their prayers, and they speak to God, and they have their prophets, and they have their Saviors, and they have their books. And then we’re thinking exactly as Satan wants us to think. I don’t know if it’s politically correct or not, but the fact is this book is the only word of God. And other religious books have not come to us by inspiration. By the way, this book has come to us. These are the words of Christ. You know, we are glad that we live in a country that basically was founded upon the principles of this book and not some other religious book. And we come from a heritage across the ocean, from nations who were founded on this book and not other books.
And by the way, it’s that way and not the other way around. That is because of what God did through the Reformation and other things. Listen, the Renaissance would have led the world astray if it hadn’t been for the Reformation. It is a Reformation that took us back to the Word of God, whether in Germany, in Switzerland, in England, in Scotland, and then on the shores of North America, so that we believed that this book was really God’s Word to us, and therefore we will pattern all of our lives after this book. Our government, our societies, our homes, and our churches.
And we did that. When we turn away from that, we will suffer the consequences of not walking with God that way. But this book is our book.
We can have confidence in it, that we have the blessings that we have because of this book. Now, the voice that’s spake, notice it says, with me. He expected a response. When Jesus spoke to John, he expected John to have some response to this.
Did he not? Didn’t he write to the churches and say, he that hath ears to hear, let him hear. John had ears. I have ears. You have ears. And anyone that has ears is supposed to respond to the things that are written in this book.
Take the word ear. How’s it spelled? E-A-R.
The E-A-R is the instrument on the side of your head. It doesn’t have any brain in it. Most of us don’t have too much between them either, but it’s just a piece of flesh and bone and a few vibrating things inside that. It’s an instrument. Now put the word H on the beginning of the word ear and you have the ability or the action and that is the hearing. The breathing, an H is a breathing sound and you have the hearing of the message, not just the instrument to receive it, but the ability inside to hear and to think about and to do.
And then by the way, if you’ll take the word ear and you’ll put an H on the front of it and a T on the end of it, you will have the very receptacle that’s supposed to change, the very thing that’s supposed to become one with God and that is to give Him our heart. Let these things sink down into your heart. Take it to heart with the ear and with the hearing.
Put it in your heart. I thought about that and I thought of ourselves folks and I thought, do we really believe as we read this book that Jesus is speaking to us? As really as if we were standing there on that aisle of Patmos, standing there with Jesus only, no one else around and He is looking directly at your eyes and He is saying these words.
What would you say to Him? Well, you know Lord, that sounds interesting. I’m going to go home study that for a while. Well Lord, you know, I’ll pray about that. I think that sounds like a good idea. This is kind of the way we take the word of God, isn’t it? Well, you know, I think that that will fit in with my vision of things.
You know, back in Asia, I have a plan Lord to do and I think what you’re saying might be, I might be able to adapt that to my plan. I mean, that’s kind of the way we take the word of God. You know why? Because it’s a distant thing to us. It’s kind of like we treat it like another book that you might read and say, well, that was interesting. Put that one down.
You read another one and say, well, that was interesting. I put that down. Well, I’ll read a little bit of this.
I’ll learn a little bit from here. I don’t like those kind of books so I won’t read those and we treat the Bible the same way. John has had no way to say, now wait, Lord, I’ve got other things to do. Wait, Lord, I have, I know a lot other things too. No, we have to take these things as God’s word. Now, let me say moms and dads, even grandmas and grandpas, that we have children that have to learn these things. And if we live in front of our kids in a way that the Bible can be taken or left, if we treat it in a way that, well, sometimes it’s important to follow and sometimes it’s not. In this day and age in which we live where we say, oh, doctrine, yeah, I mean, show me a truth in here. Boy, I’ll believe that doctrine. But covetousness, well, you know, sometimes I will and sometimes I won’t. Hatred, well, I’ll try the best I can.
Modesty, well, sometimes it’s just not the style today. And we bargain with God over things that are just as much God’s word as a doctrine is God’s word. And mom and dad, it is up to you. I was thinking back yesterday, Terry and I were talking, and I was thinking back to some of the things that my kids as preacher’s kids had to grow up with and do. And you know, people always say, oh, you know, I feel so sorry for preacher’s kids. They live in a glass house, you know, and everybody, and yet they did have to do some things or not do some things that other kids were allowed or not allowed to do.
But I’ll tell you what, they’re the better for it. I remember when Rebecca was just 16, and Rebecca was driving, but no one else. And I remember in the little Toyota station wagon we had that she came back and said, dad, I made a lot of people mad, so just be ready, that these boys were in the back seat, and they decided they didn’t have to put their seat bell on, but they could lean out the window and wave at people with both hands. And Rebecca pulled over to the curb and said, out.
And so what do you mean out? In my car, you have to wear the seat belt because dad said so, and that’s the law. And I think they argued for a while, but they realized they’re going to have to get out or put their seat belt on.
I think they put their seat belt on. You know why? Because that’s a small example. But it wasn’t a bargaining thing with me. It wasn’t a if you feel like it thing with me.
This is the law, and the law says you will wear it and you will put it on and we will not go anywhere unless you do. I remember when our youngest Matthew started to play Little League Baseball, and they decided they were going to play Little League Baseball on Wednesday night. And so I went to the coach and I said, you know, I just want you to know that on Wednesday night we have churches seven o’clock and therefore I will leave with Matthew at 6.30 and we’ll go to church. Now if you can play him before that fine, if he hasn’t played in the game, he’s just leaving.
You know what? The coach was fine with that. I told him what to expect. Matthew had no complaints. He knew he would be in church. It didn’t matter if the president was in town.
It didn’t matter if the Broncos were in the Super Bowl. It didn’t matter we will be in church not there. Wednesday night you’re in church. And so sure enough every Wednesday night like a little trooper, you know, he’d grab his stuff and all the other kids would look at him and he’d gather up his stuff and off we’d go and we’d go to church. Now you say, well that’s just pretty rough on kids.
Well it may be folks, but that little boy right now after learning a few things he did at Purdue University went to went to seminary and is finishing seminary right now for the ministry highly involved in Greek and Hebrew and Aramaic, you know, all these kinds of things. And why? Because he knew that these things are absolutes in his life. Those other things are not. I’m just saying moms and dads they will learn it from us and they will learn it in this church of the Lord Jesus Christ only if we insist that these things come from God and they are not ifs with us. So how about it when the in the seven churches Jesus speaks the Holy Spirit applies and the people do.
He says I am writing to the church at Ephesus he that hath ears let him hear what the spirit says to the churches and if you will not do these things I’ll remove your candlestick out of its place. How do we do on the Lord’s Day? Do we treat the Lord’s Day as an absolute? Do we understand God wants us here? Do we understand that our money belongs to him and we bring our offerings to him because this is what God has blessed us with? God says sing the songs of Zion come to me in prayer and we bow our heads in prayer in a place like this. Are you praying with us? We sing songs together to unite our hearts together to him. Are you singing with us? Do you have your Bible in your lap?
Is your family gathered around you? These things are absolutes with God folks and this is what will save your kids and the others that hear us if we’ll do these things. Now secondly I have to move on quickly when we see Kim he’ll be among the churches but secondly having sought him we will be among the churches.
We will be there with him. Being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks. These are the churches. Jesus wants to talk about the churches. He doesn’t want to talk about the Roman Empire. He doesn’t want to talk about the failed government that was going on in Rome. He didn’t want to talk about the Jewish nation in Israel. He wanted to talk about the churches and these seven churches John you are responsible for. He was the circuit riding apostle you know that went to these seven churches and took them these letters.
Notice these three things quickly. First of all there are seven churches. Now I think probably seven because the Bible often uses this number as a way to speak of completeness.
We know there were more than seven churches of course even in Asia that existed at this time but here is the physical arrangement. He looked and he saw these candlesticks and as I say I think they were single candlesticks and they were arranged maybe randomly I don’t know maybe in a circle but around Christ and Christ is walking in the midst of them in the middle of them and now these candlesticks as I said are scattered throughout the whole world and even today as they have given off the light of the gospel look at all the different places these are. Is Jesus still walking among these candlesticks?
He absolutely is as much as he did in that day on the Isle of Patmos. He intends to be here and if you are going to turn and see Jesus and ask him his will and want to obey him and follow him you’ll find yourself among the churches too. Why a local church?
Why churches like this? A few hundred people gathered together you know we’re just sitting in chairs here there are a lot more exciting things to do in this world I mean you can get a thrill out of a lot of other things there’s some good basketball games going on today I mean you know a lot of other things it’s a nice it’s nice whether you could be at the lake you could be here or there I’ll tell you why training because God wants us to learn his word accountability because you need to be accountable to others they need to look for you at the front door and say did you see so and so no I haven’t seen him yet today you need that accountability we need fellowship we need to mingle around in here and talk with one another and say how high are you doing Bob I haven’t seen you in a long time good to see you back in our services today we need that fellowship among ourselves and it gives us clout you know where two or three are gathered in my name, he is there in the midst. Let me tell you when we bow our heads and we address God in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with the help of the Holy Spirit, we have power with God and power that this world has not seen. And by the way, if you’re not used to listening in on those prayers, start getting used to it. Listen to those people speak when they’re praying.
Listen to the words that they’re saying. It’s part of our prayer and part of our agreement together. And by the way, here’s where we do the ordinances.
We must do the ordinances. If you are saved, you must be baptized. And when others get saved, then you must witness that baptism of theirs. This is where we watch baptism and practice baptism.
We have to do this. This is where we have the Lord’s table. And as often as we do it, we do it four times a year here. We could do it 12 times, or some do it more or fewer. But as many times as we do it, this is what God commanded. We don’t say, well, you know, I don’t think I’ll do that this time.
Take that up with the Lord and see if that flies with him. This is my body, my blood that I shed for you. These are the symbols of it.
As often as you do it, you do it and do it in remembrance of me. This is the New Testament pattern. Take your New Testament, start in the book of Acts as the churches began. Go all the way through Revelation and tell me if you find any other institution, any other thing there that God has ordained other than the church and the family who is still there and the government that we’re supposed to obey.
This is how we serve God appointed to us. So there’s seven of them. Secondly, they are golden.
Of course, this is the character, right? God always made golden candlesticks and the wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish, a golden candlestick. He said to the Corinthians, I’m jealous over you with a godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ, golden churches.
And this gold is necessary. Flip over to chapter three, by the way, and the letter to the Laodiceans begins in verse 14. But look at verse 17 as he says to this Laodicean church, because thou sayest I am rich, and by the way, they were.
The most prosperous of all the cities, no doubt, the church that had the most assets was the Laodicean church. Thou sayest I am rich and increased with goods and have need of nothing. And knowest not that thou art wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I counsel thee, buy of me gold. Your gold is tarnished, your gold is no good anymore, buy of me gold, not of the world. Tried in the fire because pure gold comes by trial, pure gold comes the hard way, that thou mayest be rich. And white raiment, by the way, because your purity is gone, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear. And anoint thine eyes with eyes have, you think you see, but you don’t see, that thou mayest see. You know what the poorest church of all the seven were?
Verse nine, I know thy works and tribulation and poverty, and then he puts in a parenthesis, but thou art rich. A golden church, a golden candlestick, and that is surely is what we need. The ministers need to be that way, and the Lord knows we have failed in that much in our generation. The leaders of the church need to be this way, parents need to be this way, and teenagers, you need to be this way. You don’t wait till you’re 18 to serve the Lord, you don’t wait till you’re 18 to sacrifice, to be a golden candlestick, you don’t wait till you’re 18 to do the hard things for Christ, do it now.
Well, you have energy and youth, and effectiveness that you have. So seven golden, and lastly candlesticks. Here’s the purpose. The seven is the arrangement, and golden is the character, but the candlestick is the purpose, it is a light holder. You are not the oil, and you are not the flame.
About the time we get to thinking we are, we’re not going to be very effective. The Holy Spirit is the oil. He dwells here. Do you know where the Holy Spirit lives?
He lives in believers, right? And so the Holy Spirit lives in each and every one of us, and look, we’re gathered here together, like a lot of olives taken out of an olive tree, and meshed together, and made one room full of oil right here, because the Holy Spirit is here with us and in us. And the flame is Jesus Christ, and the truth of the Word of God.
This flame of the gospel, this flame of the truth needs to go to all the world. And so what are we? We are the light holders. Paul called us vessels, remember?
We have this treasure in earthen vessels. You say, well, I’m not much good. That’s exactly what God wants you to be. Not much. I don’t have very thick skin.
Good. He wants you to have thin skin so that the light of the gospel may shine through you. He doesn’t need talent. He doesn’t need all of that worldly ability. He needs a willing vessel that is willing to be broken for him to pour out this oil in this world. You know what Paul said to Timothy, we are the pillar and ground of the truth.
The church is the pillar and ground of the truth. No doubt he was looking at those great columns that they made with the the columns standing upright in the in the base of that column. I was driving up to Iowa last week and noticed how many towers that you see around these days. Not just the radio type towers, but now the communication towers for satellite and the rest and all of our cell phones that work. You see these towers everywhere. But if you get up very close to one, those are pretty big objects.
They are way up in the sky. You see these cables and I was looking at how far out those cables come. You know if a guy says, well yeah, you can put up one of those towers on my property, they’re going to take up a lot of space around there. And so those cables come down and they have a little fence around the foot or the anchor to that cable, right? Although it may be as big as this, you know, room here that they put the fence around.
And so then I got the thing. I wonder how far down in the ground those anchors go and what they’re made like. You know, is it a concrete column? And how far down does that concrete have to go? And maybe something goes down even below that. You know, you’re driving across northern Missouri, you can think of a lot of things, you know, to entertain yourself. But I’m thinking, I wonder how anchored that is and what those things look like so that the wind, the rain, the tornadoes and everything else that come doesn’t shake that tower, but that signal will still go out.
And you know where I’m going with this, don’t you? We are the pillar and ground of the truth. If the churches are not anchored, if the churches are not strong, then the tower falls over, then the candlestick does not stand up, then the signal of the gospel will not go out. We have to be strong. We have to be deep in this church.
And yes, others have to be too, but hey, that we have one cable that comes to us and God has entrusted us with it, and we’re going to be strong and we’re going to be anchored the way we need to be. So Metro Baptist Church, we have our business to do decently in an order as much as we can by a group of human beings. We will try to honor God and do these things in order. But let’s address ourselves as individuals here this morning. We have responsibility to God’s Word.
You have a responsibility to be an anchor. You have a neighbor. You have a husband or wife. You have children, grandchildren. You have friends. You have acquaintances.
You have places where you make an influence. You must be a light. You must be salt in this world. You must be anchored in these things.
If you’re going to hear Christ’s voice and He’s going to turn you around so that you’re looking at Him, you’ll find Him among the churches. You be solid. You be anchored. This church is only as anchored as much as the individuals in this room are anchored.
And that’s what we must be. Now I want you to stand with me if you will. And I thank you for reading this word with me today. Let’s go to the Lord in prayer before we sing our song of invitation. Let’s ask Him to speak to our hearts here today. Now Father in heaven, we thank you for the Word of God. We thank you that in every verse of the Word of God is inspired meaning that you have put there, that your Holy Spirit left by the pen of these writers.
Just as real as the voice and the very sound of Jesus’ vocal cords, they come into our ears and demand of us that we walk with thee. So Father show us the things we need to see today. Convict our hearts. Show us our sin.
Bring us to a place of confession that we might confess it and be rid of it and walk again with you. Father there may be some here today that don’t know Jesus Christ as Savior and they need Father even as we sing to come and say I need to receive Christ as Savior and let someone show them from the Word of God how to pray and ask Jesus to be their Savior. And then Father maybe some need to follow in baptism. Maybe some need to follow in membership. Maybe there are sins that we need to just be on our knees and confess.
Maybe it’s just a lack of confidence that we have that you can use us. Father we ask that you make us strong as individuals so that this church can be strong as mothers and fathers and as young people so that we can be strong. So Father now speak to each and every heart the way that we need and we ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen. On page 400 or 547, a familiar song from the Bible is called, The Word of God. It’s a song that’s written by the Lord.