The book of Revelation is presented as a crucial prophetic book in the New Testament, revealing God's future purposes and Jesus Christ as he is today, a glorified man in heaven. The sermon outlines the book's structure, from the person of the Lamb in chapter one to his reign in chapters twenty to twenty-two, emphasizing that its theme is the revelation of Jesus Christ, not the Antichrist. It highlights the importance of reading and understanding the Bible, particularly Revelation, and stresses that grace, not works, is the foundation of salvation. The sermon concludes by emphasizing that God's grace, exemplified by Jesus Christ, is the source of peace and salvation, and that believers should honor the name of Jesus.
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As thy word unto my heart, and glorify my name. Father, we pray now that thou wilt quiet our hearts before thee. And while we are here together, we pray that we may largely forget one another. And remember that thou art here. And we pray that thou will speak to us tonight. And may we have ears to hear what thou does have to say to us. For the Lord Jesus' sake. Amen. Let's open our Bible then please tonight to Revelation chapter one. Revelation chapter one. We've tried to point out the little sessions we've had that this is a tremendously important book.
It's the only book of prophecy we have in the New Testament. It's an answer to a prayer that everyone here has prayed and has prayed hundreds of thousands, I suppose millions of times every day. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth like thy will is now being done in heaven. And then it's also a book that tells us what God is going to do with everything and everybody. We do not need to be in the dark as to God's purposes, what's going to be in the future. But it's only the child of God that knows the things that are going to happen. The secret of the Lord is the those who fear him. And then it's also, as we've tried to point out, the book that presents Christ as he is today, not as he was when he was here on earth, the Christ of Galilee or the Christ of Nazareth, but we see him as he is today, a glorified man in heaven, a glorified man at the Father's right hand.
And all authority and all power has been given under him. And as our brother was reading from Ephesians chapter one, yesterday and today, we read that last, that it's all settled. No one will ever go above him. I don't know whether you remember a man by the name of Nikita Khrushchev or not. Anybody here old enough remember him. He said, life is so short. I could have told him that. And he said, I only hope that I can live long enough to see the red flag of communism waving over all the countries of the world. And I said, oh, Nick, you're trying to climb that ladder. But you know, if you do get up the ladder away because you didn't get very far, But if you were, get up toward the top, you'll find the topmost rung is already occupied.
No room for anybody else. It's all settled. In this age or any age, no, no, ever go above Christ. I'm glad to know that, aren't you? And he has been given the name which is above every name. And then someone thanked me today that gave a little outline on the book that it's the Book of the Lamb. I'll go through rapidly, and you can just make the, check those things off mentally. In chapter one, the person of the Lamb. Chapters two and three, the churches of the Lamb. Chapter four and five, the worship of the Lamb. Chapter six to eighteen, the wrath of the Lamb. The great day of his wrath has come and who shall be able to stand.
Chapter nineteen, the marriage of the Lamb. And then chapter twenty to twenty-two, you have the reign of the Lamb and the rule of the Lamb. Now we said that no book has come to us. No book in the Bible has come to us. Like this book, God the Father gave this book to God the Son. And the Son gave it to an angel. And as you've read this book in your own reading, you've noticed that angels are mentioned so frequently. They are mentioned no less than seventy times in this book. Nineteen chapters out of twenty-two speak about angels. And there's much about angels in this book. We pointed that out, and God the Son gave it to an angel.
We don't know what angel it was, but it was an angel who gave it to John. And John wrote it down in a book for us. We thought that we found that the theme of the book is found out in the key in the first five words of the book. It is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's not the revelation of Antichrist. I think there are some who are more interested in Antichrist than there in Christ. And I hear, you know, speculation of who you think the Antichrist might be. I'll have never been too concerned about who it might be, about who he might be. But I'd rather spend my time. and thinking about our Lord Jesus Christ. And this is the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. And it's the book of prophecy.
And in this book, John gives his testimony, and he tells what he knew about him. Then he begins with that first of the seven Beatitudes. Blessed is he that read it. And they that hear the words of the prophecy of this book and keep those things which are written therein. In other words, it's a trust and obey. And understanding will come by reading. In fact, I believe that's the best way to understand the Bible anyway. And the best way to study the Bible is to read the Bible. God has given us sixty-six books. And we read, I wonder here tonight, how many here have never read the Bible all the way through? Now, if you raise your hand, you're an awfully good company. You've never read the Bible all the way through.
Get the arthritis out of your mouth. Well, that's the most to have. That's taken down. I'm going to ask how many have started to read the Bible all the way through. You know, you were told that if you'd read three each day and five on Sunday, you could go through in a year. You started, but you quit. You raise your hand. Same ones. And I know why you did it. You got along real well in Genesis. Everybody loves Genesis. And then you got along real well in Exodus until you hit the twenties. And when you got past those twenties, and then you got a little further and so and so beget so and so, and he beget somebody else.
And don't put a linen garment on with a woolen one and don't sow mixed seeds in the field. And you say, oh, me, I've got to get something juicier than this. Or if you're able to slug it out and you got as far as Ezekiel, I was talking to a lady today. She asked me a question about Ezekiel. I said, I must confess. That Ezekiel is plowing in hard ground for me. I don't understand. I love Jeremiah, but Ezekiel is really rough. And Job, I still can't understand Job. There's only three things I know about the Book of Job. He said, why in the world was I ever born the first place? Why couldn't I have died when I was born? Why can't I die now? That's the only thing I understand about the Book of Job. I do have a little system that I picked up over thirty years ago that I've followed religiously, and I think thousands of people around the world that have done it, are very easy and a delightful way to read the Bible, and you'll read all of the Bible.
And if you like it, I'll pass it on to you, one of the sessions that I have remaining. And I think that you'd like it as well. Maybe some of you already follow this little system. But it's not a legalistic system. It's no three every day and five on Sunday. Because usually, you know, sometimes you'd have to skip and you have six tomorrow. And then you just give up. And you say, well, I'm just going back and close my eyes and start reading here. But the best way to study the Bible is to read the Bible and to saturate yourself with the contents of the Scriptures. Well, I didn't mean to say all that. Verse four of chapter one. He's got this far, not very far in the book, have we? John to the seven churches which are in Asia.
Now it's not difficult to see that he was writing to several seven local assemblies of professed believers. Doesn't mean they're all going to be genuine believers in there. I'm always happy when I hear there are hypocrites in the church. I can't think of a better place for a hypocrite to be. Can you? He might hear something that'll help him there. I'd rather have him in than out. But you remember that someone went to a woman, went to Charles Spurgeon, and said, do you have a perfect church? He said, I don't know what you're talking about. He said, I want to know. Do you have a perfect church? Everybody in there real and genuine, all possessors, not simply professors. He said, we have a lot of good people in our church.
But I wouldn't say it's perfect. I remember the Lord had a Judas, and there was an Ananias and Sapphira in Jerusalem, and that first Baptist church in Jerusalem. Do you say it? Well, yes, it was. I know that because it said there were about three thousand on the day of Pentecost, and somebody didn't have his report in. That's why it said about three thousand. And said then there was some mean ones in Corinth and there were some bad ones in Rome. But he said, well, I wouldn't say we've got a perfect one. But my advice to you is you keep looking around until you find a perfect church and don't join it because you'd spoil it. So here are letters to seven churches of professed believers.
Then he starts out, grace be unto you and peace. I kind of love that word grace for you. I was speaking on the grace of God one night, and after the meeting, one who had been a nun, been in the convent for a year, came forward, and she came to profess faith in Christ. And she wrote me a letter afterward and sent me her prayer beads and her missile and other religious paraphernalia, a very sincere woman. I asked her why she left the convent, and she said, well, you have to keep the Ten Commandments and said, I couldn't do it, and I didn't see anybody else who were doing it. And then had a page of about three hundred pages of rules and couldn't do that.
But when she sent me all this religious stuff, and I say a very sincere, wonderful person, she said, Roy, whenever you preach, please preach on the grace of God and be sure and tell that grace is free and that good works are not coins with which you can buy it. Later, I was speaking in Africa, way up in Rwanda, way up in the mountains of Rwanda. And they came, and that's when they were among the Watoosies and the Bohutus, and they were fighting them. They're still fighting today. You don't hear much about this war. But I saw the homes being burned, and people going through with the spears and spearing and death. So we had our meeting on the side of a hill, and the women had come with babies and goat skins on the back.
And they didn't want sermonettes for preacher by preacherettes for Christianettes. They wanted to preach all afternoon. I mean, they wanted a long one. and even though many of them were pagan, yet somehow they knew about the grace of God. And they gave a lovely statement about the grace of God. You know what they said? God gives to you. He will not trade with you. If you trade with him, he will overcharge you. Just give you that again. God gives to you. He will not trade with you. If you trade with him, He will overcharge you. You see, God is so rich, he will never sell.
And you're so pitifully poor, you could never buy. That's why everything has to be by grace. And we love that word, grace. Incidentally, you notice the order. Grace be unto you and peace. And it's everlastingly that order. Grace is always first, and then comes peace. Men want peace, but they don't want grace. A New York City paper. send out some reporters as the book shops to find out what people were reading. The bestsellers are books on religion. The second bestsellers are books on diet. And the third bestsellers are books on antiques. What a conglomeration. Religion, antiques, and diet.
But everybody wants peace, but they don't want grace. But grace is always first and then comes peace. I went through the Bible and I found out that the word grace is found thirty-eight times in the Old Testament. The word grace is found more than one hundred and twenty-five times in the New Testament. The first mention of the word grace in the Bible, although the idea of grace precedes this. The first mention of the word grace is in Genesis chapter six, when Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The last reference to the word grace in the Bible is in the last verse of the last chapter of the last book. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
So there is grace in Genesis and there is grace in Revelation. There is grace at the beginning of this book, which we always have considered to be a book of judgment, and it is. But there is grace at the beginning, like we said, there's a beatitude at the beginning, a benediction at the end, and this message is bounded by grace. Grace at the beginning and grace at the end. And I kind of like that. You see, in the Old Testament, the grace of God was foreshadowed. We have grace foreshadowed in the Old Testament. Grace came by Jesus Christ. And grace was enthroned at the cross. I have a little study I give sometimes, and I hope that you won't spit in too much judgment on me by the title of it.
I call it Three Kings and a Queen. Law reigned, death reigned, sin reigned, and now we have a Queen reigning. Queen Grace reigns through righteousness. And so grace reigns, grace came by Jesus Christ, and grace rules, and grace reigns. And I look into the eyes, and I suppose most everyone here tonight either preaches or you teach a Sunday school class, and I hear the men praying, and I hear them, and I have an idea that they're interested in soul winning, and whether it's by personal evangelism, or whether it's a Sunday school class, or preaching in prison, or on the street, or on the platform in your chapel, or wherever it might be, I beg of you, I warn you, in fact, you better be sure that you know the grace of God and that you preach the grace of God because God's highest glory is displayed in sovereign grace.
And anyone who ever preaches a mixed gospel, you say, what do you mean by a mixed gospel? A mixed gospel is a little bit of law, a little bit of grace, a little bit of faith, a little bit of works, a little bit of Christ, a little bit of self, and the thing gets all mixed up and chewed together that the feet never get free to run the race for God. Anyone who ever preaches a mixed gospel, and I hope you'll remember this, he is going to rob God of his glory, and he will rob the sinner of his hope. There's absolutely no hope for the sinner unless it is a hundred percent the grace of God.
If our salvation is ninety-nine percent or nine hundred and ninety-nine percent, if there is such a thing, the grace of God and just one little infinitesimal fraction of Roy Gustafson, I'll never make it. And neither will you. And he starts out by this, the grace of God. Do you remember in the Old Testament? that Christ, show me thy glory. In the New Testament we beheld his glory. What did we behold? Full of grace and truth. We never tire singing, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.
I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. There are many of the verses in that that we never sing. They're never in the hymn book. There are about thirty of them altogether. Thy grace first made me feel my sin and taught me to believe. Then in believing, peace I found, and now in Christ I live. The earth shall soon dissolve like snow. The stars refuse to shine. But he who called me here below will be forever mine. Grace all the work shall crown. Through everlasting days, it lays in heaven the topmost stone, and well deserves our praise.
Well, when we ask, what is grace? If I were to put out a little paper right now and say, would you mind writing down your definition of grace? I dare say that a good high percentage would put down what? Grace is unmerited favor. Well, that's pretty good. I don't know this any way to ever really and truly define grace. Someone has given us an acrostic on grace. God's riches at Christ's expense. Or everything for nothing for those who don't deserve anything. That's not too bad either, is it? Everything for nothing for those who don't deserve anything.
Or grace is infinite love. Grace is infinite energy. Grace is infinite love energy, which reaches down to us who are unworthy and unlovely, lifting us up and endowing us with its own loveliness. I think the best definition I ever heard of grace, and I'll give it once or twice in case some of you don't get the tapes, and I can't imagine anybody buying my tapes, I wouldn't listen to me. I wouldn't even be here to hear it. If I were you, I wouldn't be here to listen to me. And so if you'd like this and you don't want to get the tape, I'll give it to slowly so you can copy it down. Grace is God, assuming all of guilty man's responsibility and doing it with such infinite perfection and finality that it never needs to be done again.
Let me give that again. Grace is God. assuming all of guilty man's responsibility, and doing it with such infinite perfection and finality that it never needs to be done again. And I see some of you are a little complaining. I went too fast. And that's what messed up your handwriting when you're in school. You could write pretty well before you went to school, but the teacher gave notes so fast, messed up your handwriting. So I'll go a little bit slowly. I was never against school. It was a principle of a thing that I didn't like. But let me give it slowly for you.
Grace is God. Assuming all of guilty man's responsibility. Grace is God assuming all of guilty man's responsibility, and doing it with such infinite perfection, and doing it with such infinite perfection and finality that it never needs to be done again. And grace reigns now through righteousness. Again, I beg of you, if you're going to teach, if you're going to preach, if you're going to witness, be sure that you know the grace of God.
I do love that hymn that we sing, O to grace, how great a debtor, but it just isn't true. Grace never incurs death. God doesn't do something okay. I know a debtor to grace alone, but we're not debtor. Grace just never incurs debt, or else it wouldn't be grace. We need to understand what the grace of God is and that there is saved by grace. The Apostle Paul, who was without a peer, he said, by the grace of God I am what I am. In fact, he uses the word grace three times in that one verse. He said, I labored more abundantly than the other. Yet not me, but the grace of God that was in me. And he knew about the grace.
In fact, I don't think anyone will ever know the grace of God unless he knows what the Apostle Paul knew. The revelation it was given to him. He knew the grace of God. But grace is always for us, and then comes peace. Do you know we have there in Romans, therefore being justified by grace, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. I often, I really do, I feel badly for our congregations, have to listen to preachers like we are. There's only one way that I can understand why anybody could ever listen to me.
And that is, to the hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. You know. Boy, when I first got out, and I wrote out all my mess, still have them. And we had one woman. Boy, she was the doctor's wife. And she could have at least been a little gracious. But she had made the nastiest remarks lots of times to come by and say, And I've been reading some of those messages I gave, and I could understand now why she should. But I heard about this young preacher, and he took his first church. And, of course, you never know as much in all the rest of your life put together when you just got a Bible school, all that, and you're going to start preaching. And they told him about one member in a congregation that was a terminal case, and she was in the hospital.
She was a well-alonged in years. Had plenty of mileage. Robert Laidlaw said to me one day, he said, You know, our birthdays tell how long we've been on the road. They just don't tell how far we've traveled. And that's a lot of people have been on the road a long way, but a long time, but they've never been anywhere. But so this young preacher went to the hospital and walked in, and his first words were, My sister, they tell me you're dying. What a cheerful little earful. She said, That's the way I understand it. Said, Have you made your peace with God? She said, no, I have not made my peace with God. Said, aren't you afraid to die? She said, no, I'm not afraid to die.
Said, you mean you're dying and you haven't made peace with God and you're not afraid to die? She said, they tell me I'm dying. I haven't made peace with God and I'm not afraid to die. You see, Jesus Christ made peace through the blood of his cross, nineteen hundred years ago, and I'm simply resting in the peace that he made. So grace comes first, and that brings peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. And then when the Apostle Paul wrote to those Philippian believers, and I'm kind of glad, do you know how you got that little letter, a Philippian letter? Do you know what happens to be here? The Apostle Paul was in that Memortime prison, not a prison, but a dungeon in Rome.
You can still visit it. You can see where he would have been let down. And word got back there to Rome that Paul was having a hard time, and these believers loved him. And they had already sent two gifts to him while he was in Salonika, with Salonika today, Thessalonika, named after Alexander the Great Sister. And so they sent him a gift. Not money, they sent him some things. Well, they couldn't send it to United UPS, so they couldn't send it air freight, and so they had to get one of their members, one of their... believers. And so they got a fellow by the name of Epaphraditis. And he brought the gift over to him. And he saw all the work that needed to be done there in Rome. And he pitched in. And he got sick and nearly died.
In answer to prayer, God raised him up. But in the meantime, words back there to Philippi that one of their beloved people was sick there in Rome. And they were anxious about him. And so Paul said, I'm going to send him back to you. But I won't send him back to empty handed. You sent me a gift. I'm going to give you one. So he sent that Philippian letter back because they had care of him. Aren't you glad that they cared for him? That's how we got this lovely little letter. Do you remember what he said? Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving. Let your request be made known unto God and the peace of God which passes all understanding. And you know the rest will keep your hearts. So we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have the peace of God. through prayer of committal when we take our lives and we commit those things unto him. Then down in verse nine he speaks of the God of peace which comes by a life of separated obedience unto him. But this grace and peace comes from him who is and was and is to come and from the sevenfold spirit which is before his throne and from Jesus Christ. I'd like to tarry here for a few minutes. a little bit here. That name Jesus. It's found about nine hundred times in the New Testament, the name Jesus.
And it's not necessary for me to remind you tonight that that name is not like Tom, Dick or Harry. That name is God's greatest name tonight. Someone has gone through the Bible and they've found that about six or seven hundred different names for God in the Bible. That means that you could get up every morning for nearly two years. And you could address God with a different name every day. But when you go through all of the names, as far as now, Jesus is God's greatest name. There is no other name like that name. Mary didn't give him that name.
They didn't go through a list and say, well, let's pick out a name for the coming babies. He is the last one of eight in the Bible who were named before he was born. Ishmael was the first, of course. And he's the last. Named before he was born. But Mary didn't give him the name. And Joseph didn't give him the name. The angel didn't give him the name. The angel brought the name. The angel, in fact, brought two names. Call his name Jesus. He'll save his people from their sin. That has to do with saving power. Call his name Emmanuel, which means God with us. That is sovereign presence. But the angel didn't give him the name. That name was given to him by his father in heaven and has connection with sinners on earth.
God the Father gave him that name. That's his human name. given by the Father in heaven and has connection with sinners on earth. That's how you came to faith. We're all saved in exactly the same way. Yes, we are. Our experiences vary. I've known people that get so happy when they come to faith that they jump. We don't care. Jump as high as you want if you walk straight after you hit the ground. That's the real test. Then I've heard of those who get wonderfully happy, you know, and they shout. We don't care. Shout as loud as you want. Holler all you want to if you say the right thing after you quit hollering. But that's not the way you were saved.
We're all saved in exactly the same way, and we're saved when we see who he was and what he did. Understand? When we see with the eye of faith and we believe the imperishable record of the Holy Spirit in what we call the Bible, that book you hold in your hands, we believe that with the eye of faith. And in Romans ten, thirteen, that lovely, lovely verse, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. I came to faith on January twenty-seventh, nineteen thirty-three. As many as received him, to them gave you power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.
There's none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. It's by the name of Jesus that you have access to the throne of God. We pray in the name of Jesus. So the name Jesus is his human name given to him by his father in heaven and has connection with sinners on earth. And I say, let's be careful how we handle that name. Some of you who lived in Michigan on that area will remember the name of Henry Savage. Henry Savage was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Pontiac, Michigan. He was Mr. Evangelical of Michigan, not whole area. Three children, all of them were on the mission field in South America.
And Doc Savage... was a great man and a very wise man. I owe so much to him, my own personal life. I owe so much to so many. And Jack Savage was in a killing station one day, having his car service. And there was a young fellow there, kept ripping and snorting and cursing and all the rest and using the name of the Lord in vain. So Dr. Savage just walked over and said, Pardon me, young man, you a preacher? Boy, he let out another one. And he said, boy, I didn't know I'm no preacher. Well, Dr. Savage said, I thought maybe you were. You've just been preaching the greatest sermon I've ever listened to. I like good preaching, and you've just been preaching the best one I've ever heard.
You keep walking around here, and you're using the name Jesus. He said, do you know what that name means? The first two letters, J-E, is the Old Testament root for God, for Jehovah. And the last three letters, S-U-S, is the New Testament root for Savior. And you're walking around here and say, I'm a sinner, but God came down from heaven to save me. And you keep using, preaching that. And he said, that's the best sermon I've ever heard. And I just thought maybe you were a preacher. And walked off and let him think. I bet he thought of it many, many times after that. Pretty wise way to do it, don't you think? Now, Christ is his official name. And is linked with his administration. In the Old Testament, Messiah. And the Jews, of course, look for the Messiah.
But Christ is the New Testament word for Messiah. I say it's his official name and is linked with his administration. And Lord is a title that's been given to him. You remember in the book of Acts we read? that God hath made this same Jesus to be both what? Lord and Christ. I know you haven't asked me to give you any advice, but I'm going to give you a little, especially the young people. I don't have much hope for us older ones. You're not going to teach the old dogs a new trick. And I know that it's not even necessary for me to say it to most of the folks we have here, because you have learned the honor of that name.
I've heard you, and I've heard you talk, and I've heard you speak of him, and heard you pray. And I know that many of you have learned the honor of that name. So Robert Anderson said, and rightly so, he said he believed that first century Christians would be absolutely shocked if they heard the way that twentieth century Christians often refer to that name. You know, and you'll hear people pray and they'll use, and you do what you want to do. But you will never, in the New Testament, ever have the name Jesus prefixed by an adjective. You never hear him speaking of sweet Jesus or loving Jesus or precious Jesus.
Maybe you like this sort of thing. I don't. But I've never been to him. In fact, you don't ever hear one of the apostles ever walking up to him and say, Jesus, that was a great miracle. Oh, Jesus, I enjoyed the... That was a great parable. There's only one time. I remember a demon cried out and said, I know who you are. You're Jesus. So while you're young, learn the honor of that name. And when you speak of that name, speak of him as the Lord Jesus, or the Lord Jesus Christ. Tomorrow you may be at a filling station or downtown or somewhere and hear someone swear and curse and they'll speak about Jesus or Christ or Jesus Christ, but you have never heard them.
Swear and you are cursed and say, Lord Jesus, or Lord Jesus Christ. I'm not saying let's get with a one-act play and kind of legalistic about this thing, but let's learn the honor of that name, because that is the name that God delights to honor. There is no other name like that name. So this grace and this peace comes from the Father, the seven-fold spirit, before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, and then there's a three-fold title that's given to him. I see that goes so fast up there, that clock. And I'm not like the preacher that had a lot of notes. And a little boy watching him from the balcony.
And the preacher went on and he got to the last page of notes. And he spoke about two or three minutes. And he said, well, I see my time is gone. I could go on for hours in this subject. And the kid yelled out and said, I'll pipe down. You're out of stuff and you know it. And when I get through here in about four minutes, I won't be out of material. Any more than you would. You could step up here and pick right up where I'll leave off and say a whole lot more about what I'm talking about here. But you'll notice a three-fold title that's given to him. It says that he is the faithful witness. That has to do with reliability. Solomon said in the book of Proverbs, chapter fourteen in verse five, a faithful witness will not lie. He is the truth.
In the same chapter said... Because later on in chapter three, verse fourteen in Revelation, he's called the faithful and true witness in other places in the Revelation. As we mentioned this afternoon, or we read this afternoon. And in the same chapter of Proverbs, that a true witness delivers souls. And I know that's speaking of him because he delivered mine. But a faithful witness will not lie. He is the truth. That has to do with reliability. Then he's the first begotten of the dead, and that's what we'll talk about tomorrow morning, more like what we'll talk about right here. The first begotten of the dead, and that has to do very easily with resurrection. And then he's spoken of as the prince of the kings of the earth, and that has to do with rulership.
Then he goes on, say, unto him that loveth us, this faithful witness loves you. He loves us. In fact... Let me just tarry here for a second. I'm not going to try to give you a Greek lesson. I know you hate to hear preachers get up and tell what the Greek says, the Greek this and the Greek that. I heard about a little church out in the country and they were looking for a new pastor and they said, the advertising said they wanted one that ain't never been to the Holy Land. You know, a preacher goes to the Holy Land, that's all they can do. When I was in the Holy Land, now in the Holy Land, the Holy Land. They showed their slides and terrible slides with the Instamatic and We want a preacher that ain't never been no seminary, too.
And we want a preacher that don't know no Greek. So one fellow showed up and he said, Well, I ain't never been the Holy Land. And I ain't never been seminary. And they could tell that. He said, Well, I have to confess I do know a little Greek. He runs a restaurant. He said, That's all. I know you hate to hear preachers talk about the Greek and the Hebrew, especially when they don't know what they're talking about. And I'm one of them. but I do know one little thing about it, that the present tense in the Greek language is a lot different than the present tense in English. If I say, I am speaking to you, that means I'm speaking now. It doesn't indicate that I was speaking an hour ago, and it doesn't mean that I'll be speaking an hour from now.
But if I were to use the present tense in Greek language, it would mean I was an unbroken continuous action. That I was speaking to you an hour ago, I'm speaking to you now, and an hour from now I'll still be speaking. Of course, if I am, I'll be the only one here. but carries with it that idea of perpetuity from past right on through the present and into the future. I like that in connection with it. Unto him not who loved us, but unto him that loveth us. Do you ever kind of get discouraged with yourself? I don't suppose anybody here ever gets discouraged with yourself. Such a poor stick, so unfaithful. And you'll wonder, do you suppose the Lord might chuck me one of these days?
Why doesn't he toss me off onto that heap? No, he knew all about you before he ever brought you into the family. Yes, he did. He knew what a failure you'd be. He knew what a lousy witness you'd ever be. What a poor representative of him you'd be. But he loves you just the same. You love that verse, don't you? That thou shouldst love a wretch like me and be the God thou art. Tis darkness to my intellect, but it's sunshine to my heart. The faithful witness loveth us. The first begotten from among the dead has loosed us from our sins and the power of his own blood. And the ruler of the kings of the earth has made us to be a what?
A kingdom of priests unto God and his father. And John can't go any further. He's like Paul. He's like Peter. They get so far. They get wrapped up in something. And they've got to stop and sing the doxology. And he stopped right here and said, To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. And that's my last word of my talk tonight. Shall we stand, please? All right. Let's continue to pray for one another. The time goes so fast. And you start to think we started on Saturday night, and here it is through Tuesday already. And we'll have Wednesday and Thursday, and that's it.
But we believe that each one has been brought here in the will of God. I know these who have to do with this conference, and they work hard all year, all year for this, and they plan. And I can assure you, because I have somewhat to do, not in the conference, but other things, as a lot goes on behind the scenes. But these men and these women pray... that God will send the ones He wants. And I believe you're here on purpose for these days. And so let's pray for one another. And let's just look for