Would you turn please to Revelation? Sound like I've got a big voice tonight, huh? My mother always told me my voice would change one of these days. Revelation chapter one. beginning at verse ten. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. And what thou seest write in a book and send it unto the seven churches. Verse twelve. And I turned to see the voice that spake with me And being turned I saw seven golden lampstands. And in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, And gird about the peps with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white like wool as white as snow. And his eyes were the flame of fire, And its feet likened to fine brass, As if they burned in the furnace, And his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars, And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, And his countenance was as the sun shined in his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. John hears a voice behind him. He turns to see the voice. And that's exactly what you and I have been doing, believer in Christ. Ever since the day we first heard his voice, come unto me, all ye that are labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Ever since we heard his voice, we've been turning to see the voice. We haven't seen him yet, but we're still turning to see that voice. And you know, I think that if we keep in that spirit, in that attitude of heart, of turning to see him, I believe we'll see just what John saw. For he said, Be in turn. I saw seven golden lampstands. He saw the seven churches. Oh, so many run off, half caught these days. Go off to do the work of the Lord, as they would call it. And they've never stopped long enough. to see what John saw, to get the whole message, to really see what the Lord's work is all about. Suppose you went to a hospital and you were just about to be hauled out to the operating room and you suddenly thought something you asked your doctor to say. Where did you do your study in medicine? And this surgeon that's about to operate on you says, well, I just wanted to be a surgeon. I didn't really see any use and wasting time studying. And I'm just a natural-born surgeon. Well, that wouldn't delight you very much, would it, on the weights of the operation? You want a man who's going to operate on you to know what he's doing. and likewise with any professional person. But it's strange how today we treat the Lord's work, just that foolishly. Some young person says, I want to serve the Lord, then away we go. Instead of first seeing, first hearing the whole counsel of God, learning the ways that be in Christ. As Paul said, I teach everywhere in every church. Oh, to have a vision, a complete vision of the Lord's work. You know, I used to being brought up in the church as I was with a father who was a preacher. I used to get quite weary at church. It seemed like to me I was there more than I was anywhere else. And I got pretty bored with the whole thing, especially not being saved, full of religion, but not full of Christ. If you just summed up how I felt about Christianity, it would be in a song that Georgia crackers can sing, and only Georgia crackers can sing it. Now, I'm going to exercise the gift that's not in me by trying to sing it, and then considering that my voice is all fracked up, I don't know how I'm going to come out on this, but I hope you get the message anyway. Here was the song that summed up how I felt about Christianity. toiling on. Don't you get it? Weary, dreary, toil. That's what the Lord's work was to me. That's what Christianity was to me. But then one day I met the Lord Jesus. I trusted him. It was through my dear sister who was three years older than I. And we used to scrap like cats and dogs. It's terrible how we lived up to the name Sheridan, which is Irish. And then one day she claimed to get saved. And my father, you know, Baptist preacher who didn't, I stick right to the word on some things, called on my sister to give her testimony in church one day. And so she gave her testimony, and she cried. Well, this young fella, he and I was sitting together in church, and we went back outside and stood on the front porch. He said, you know, your sister meant that thing. I said, she sure did. My sister doesn't cry. And then a few days later, I was, well, I was about fifteen or sixteen at that time. I thought I would tantalize my sister as usual, you know, she was practicing on the piano. So I went down to this end and I went, and before she could swap me, I went around the other end, boom, and trying to get a rise out of her, and nothing happened. So I figured, well, I still got a little work to do here, so I started pushing her on the piano bench, and the next thing I knew, it turned over backwards. And she hit the floor with a thud. And I knew that Armageddon was on the way. And I put up both hands like that to shelter myself from the storm. And it didn't hit. I thought, well, that's funny. I looked down through my hands. And I saw my sister lying there on the floor in some pain. But her face I'll never forget. She wasn't angry with me at all. She looked at me like she felt sorry for me. And she wanted to tell me something, but she didn't know how to do it. But it was just like an hour right in my heart. And I got out of that room as fast as I could go. And a few days later she was asking me again, If I would go to this young people's Bible class. And, oh, I told them no a thousand times, it seemed. But now she just finally got on my nerves. And, you know, I figured being a preacher's son going to church had the time that that was enough religion. But to get her off my back, I said, okay, I've got a date Friday night. If she'll go to the Bible class, we'll go. And so Friday night came up and I asked this girl I was dating if she was interested in going to a Bible class. My sister had hounded me to death to go to one. And I told her we'd go if she wanted to go. So this girl said, yes, but I've heard of that class. I'd like to go. And so we went to the class. And that night I saw something I'd never seen before. I saw young people. in little groups around with their Bibles in their hands open. And they were saying, let me show you what I got this week. And I'd never seen that in my life. And then they started the meeting with prayer. And everybody was praying, one at the time. And they were coming down the road, you know, that I was sitting on. and the boy that was quarterback on our football team. I practically idolized that fellow. I thought he was so great. Then it came his turn to pray. And he prayed, lovely Lord Jesus. And I never fell off my chair. I never heard anybody talk to the Lord like that. And then it came my time. Why, preacher, son? a member of a Baptist church, baptized, teaching a Sunday school class. Well, I could pray backwards if I wanted to. I was that good at it. And so naturally I prayed. But I have never forgotten the first two words of my prayer. I prayed, Oh God, and then it hit me. pressed and dealt there said, Lovely Lord Jesus. And to me he was, Oh God, we, we all found us someplace. And I realized I didn't really know him. And this girl gave her testimony that night. And oh, it was a lovely testimony. I was really amazed. and she also said that she'd prayed for her brother to get well and that the Lord had given her the assurance he was going to get well. Well, I knew about this case because my parents had been talking about it. They said that Bill White, her brother, had globar pneumonia, and that was before even sulfur drugs had been developed and no penicillin, no antibodies. and to have low bar pneumonia was just sure death, that's all. And my folks had said there wasn't a chance he'd live. And yet there his sister had said the lawyer had given her the assurance that he would get well. Well, Bill White today is a physician in the city of Augusta, Georgia. He got well. Well, all that and always too much for me with my religion. And after a good message on Romans twelve, verses one and two, and an invitation in which the speaker said, if there's anyone here tonight who would like to surrender your life to the Lord Jesus, notice what he said now. He didn't say, would you like to get saved? Because I figured I was saved when I was nine years old. I walked the aisle. I was weeping. Today, I don't know when I got saved. I really can't tell you. But I figured I was saved. But the invitation was, is anyone here tonight you would like to surrender your life to the Lord Jesus? Would you just stand up and say so? Well, you know, I was used in what we call VTU, Baptist Training Union. That's where they, you know, put you through training, put you through the machinery. And you memorize why you're a Baptist and all rest. And you say your little part. You know, you get to be a public speaker. And I could get up to say my part without a tremor. But that night I stood up. And I was shaking from head to toe. Because this was for real. And I said, I've been a Christian a long time. But I sure haven't lived like one. But tonight I surrender my life to the Lord Jesus. And oh the change, oh the change. There were no more battles between my sister and me. And my brother, who was not yet saved, was in the position where I'd been before. And the near time I looked at him as he wanted to start going, you know, like we used to. And I looked at him and I must have looked just like my sister did, wishing I could tell him what I had and why it didn't matter anymore about having your own wake. But all the change, he became my Lord. And all to this day, my wife will tell you that that's what makes our home. It's as long as He's Lord, absolute Lord. But then, you know, I decided, since I had such a dim view, Christianity and the Lord's work, one day I decided, I'm going to look up this word work. I'm going to see if the Bible really talks about the Lord's work. I've had it, preached it to me so much, work, work, work. I want to see what the book says. So I looked it up and I got a real shock. Let me show you some of the verses. Let's turn to First Corinthians please. First Corinthians sixteen and verse ten I believe it is. First Corinthians sixteen. in verse ten. Now if Demotheus come, see that he may be with you without fear, for he works the work of the Lord, as I also do. That was enough of you. Yes, God speaks about work. The Lord Jesus is talking about the work. But then I found it again, Philippians Chapter two and verse thirty. Philippians two, verse thirty. Because for the work of Christ, he was nigh unto death, not regarding his life, to supply your lack of service toward me, for the work of Christ. Oh my, that made it look so different. Notice the beautiful frame he put around this word, work, the work of the Lord, the work of Christ. Why was a young man like Timothy who had his whole life ahead of him, why was he willing to throw his life away on this business, this work? because it was the work of the Lord. Why was this older man, Epaphroditus, so taken up with this work that he didn't look after his health and now he was at the point of death? It was because for the work of Christ. He was nigh unto death. Yes, they saw it as the Lord's work. You see, the Lord Jesus has a finished work, and he has an unfinished work. That wonderful work that's done, praise God, it's finished. And that's why you and I can sing tonight. That's why we've got the joy of the Lord in our hearts. That's why we walk on air. That's why all the terrors and griefs and sorrows and pains of this life can't get us down because we're saved and we know it. And because it's all based upon the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's our message that we have for a lost world. And that's why we love. to take it out and tell it to them the finished work it is done but my friend there is that unfinished work of cross for paul said he works timothy is working the work of the lord as i also am doing so if there is that unfinished work First Corinthians fifteen of all places to see the work. Who would expect to find it in First Corinthians fifteen? The great doctrine of the resurrection, the bodily resurrection. First Corinthians fifteen. He concludes that great subject with verse fifty-eight. The last verse of First Corinthians fifteen. Therefore, my beloved brethren, Be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. I'm so glad that the mayas have that verse at the foot of the bed where I'm sleeping. Every morning when I get up, that's the first thing I see. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. So I'm not tired of you, your saints, of abounding in the work of the Lord. It's His work. But what is that work? What is it? That's what we mentioned at the beginning here. Have we really seen yet what it's all about? What is the Lord's work? Well, let's go over to Acts chapter thirteen, please. Acts chapter thirteen. Here Paul is in the church at Antioch, and the Lord has really done a marvelous work here. So many gifts in the church, so much blessing. Then in verse two we read, As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me, Barnabas and Saul, for the work, where unto I have called them. So here we see these brethren called to the work. I like the way it reads in the Greek here in verse three. When they fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they let them go. Not they sent them. They didn't send them. The next verse tells us who sent them. So they being sent forth by the Holy Ghost. That's who sent them. And you don't need to worry if you're sent by Him, sent by the Holy Ghost. You'll have blessing and you'll have provision for your needs as well. I don't know how it all will do. It's amazing how he works in such strange ways, but he always provides one way or another. But they were, they let them go. That's what the church did. They let them go. And that's the way it ought to be. When anybody goes out to the Lord's work, first of all, they should have the approval of the assembly. They should have the commendation of the assembly, the local church. is like the hub of the wheel and all the spokes come out from that hub. And those who go out to minister in a special way should always have the commendation of their brethren. This is one way in which God protects the assembly. That's the way he protects his work. from false teachers, from people that go off half-cocked, as I mentioned in the beginning. It's by these elders with wisdom, with experience, who can discern whether this seems to be a sudden emotion or whether it's a solid thing of the Spirit of God and can advise a young Christian I knew a couple in an assembly who were prepared, who went and studied and got ready to go out as missionaries. And when they asked the assembly if they would commend them, the assembly said, no, we don't feel like this is of the Lord yet. Instead of that couple with all their zeal and earnestness, instead of them saying, okay, we'll just go on our own. Instead, that couple stayed there and served faithfully wherever they could fill a need in that assembly. And I don't remember how many years it was, but I would say at least two years. And at the end of that time, that assembly said, we feel that it is of the Lord for you to go. And that couple are now serving the Lord in South America as missionaries. Instead of getting peeves and getting a backup and saying these people are behind the times and they are squares and they don't know what, instead of that kind of reaction, they submitted to their elders and now they know that oneness of the saints be with them, holy in the work of the Lord. And that seems to be a sort of a protector. that the Lord has instituted for his work. And we all ought to want the approval of our brethren when we go out and undertake a special endeavor. Not only their approval, but their support, their prayers as we go. So the Holy Spirit didn't just speak to Paul and Barnabas. No, he spoke to the brethren. And he said, You, brethren, separate me, Paul, and Barnabas unto the work. And that's the way the Spirit of God works, not only through the worker, but through the brethren as well. And so they went forth. Well, if they went out to the work, Don't you think we can find out what the work is by seeing what they did? That's just common sense, isn't it? All right, before we do that, let's look at chapter fourteen. Chapter fourteen and verse twenty-six. And since sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God all the work, which they fulfilled. So now we see they have done the work. All right, chapter thirteen we see them going out to do the work. Chapter fourteen they finished the work. So all we got to do is look in between those verses and see what the work is. Well, we're not going to read two chapters, but let's read a cross section. Chapter twenty-one, I mean chapter fourteen, verse twenty-one. And when they preached the gospel to that city and they taught many, they returned again to Lystra, to Iconium and Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples and exhorting them. Verse twenty-three, and when they ordained them elders in every church, so you see what they're doing. We mentioned the other night Paul's great passion to preach Christ where he had not been heard. And so as Paul goes with Barnabas and they cross over to Cyprus and travel all the way across the island and then go up northward into Pamphylia and get Derby, Lister, these towns. And now Paul says, I guess we better go back home. and report to the saints what God is doing. You would think he would say, let's go around in a southeasterly route back home. Let's don't go back over our steps. We've already preached the gospel to these people. They've had it. Let's preach it in these towns where they haven't heard it. But that's not what he did. Instead, he returned. they went right back to the same towns they just preached the gospel in. What for? Establishing the souls of the disciples, those who had trusted Christ when they first went through and preached the gospel. And they established local churches. They ordained elders in every city. Don't you see that The word was twofold. It was to preach the gospel, and then it was to establish the believers in what I keep quoting from First Corinthians four, verse seventeen. Paul says, Timothy will bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ, which I also teach everywhere. in every church. Paul had a passion to preach the gospel, but he had an equal passion to establish those believers in the ways that be in Christ, to establish them in local assemblies. And my friend, that's the work of our Lord Jesus. It is twofold, and we cannot separate It is all one work. Even an evangelist wouldn't think of just leaving those sheep that he's led to the Lord. He'll see to it that they have a teacher, that they have those that can lead them on in the ways that be in Christ. We have one work, and that is to preach the gospel and then to teach them all things. Now, if you were brought up a Baptist as I am, you would know very well what the Great Commission is. My, how many times I heard that. But if you had asked me, what is the Great Commission? You know, I'd have missed it because I would have said the Great Commission is to go and preach the gospel to every creature. And I'll stop right there. But let's see what the Great Commission is. In the end of Matthew, Matthew twenty-eight and verse nineteen. Go ye therefore and disciple all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always. even until the end of the age. Amen. Oh, don't you see, the Great Commission is twofold. First, make them disciples, baptize them, and then teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. You know, we live in a day when people are calling some things in the Bible. Minor details. like the woman's head covering. I say the woman's head covering. Actually, that has two sides to it. The man not being covered is just as much a definite testimony as the woman being covered is a testimony. The two go together in the Scriptures. And I've heard people say, well, why bother with that minor detail? The Apostle Paul concludes his teaching about the woman in the assembly saying she should be silent in all these details. And he says, if any man think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that are right unto you are the commandments of the Lord. How dare we say something is a minor detail. It's a commandment of the Lord. And we need to have our work balanced. We need to preach the gospel and then equally have that burden to see those believers established in local churches that are according to the mind of our Lord. The Lord's work is twofold. Look again at First Corinthians three. First Corinthians chapter three. The apostle is speaking as a worker with other workers and then he looks at the work. First Corinthians three, verse nine. For we are the co-laborers of God. I really, I noticed Darby explained this and I can't help but agree with Darby on this, that God. He's not saying we are labors with God, but he's saying we are labors with one another, but he's saying we are co-labors together, are God. Darby explained that as being what the Greeks set forth here. We are God's co-labors. So now he looks at the work. He's speaking of himself and the others as workers. Now he looks at the work and what does he see? Ye are God's husbandry or God's till field. Ye are God's building. Notice he looks at the work and as a worker and he sees it in a two-fold way. A till field and a building. I think of the building as one stone being added to another, one by one. As each person is saved, is put into the building, as Peter says, unto whom coming as unto a living stone, ye also as living stones, are built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood. So it's through the gospel that the stones are added to the building and one day it's going to be the last stone is going to be put in place maybe tonight and the great chief cornerstone take his place and the whole glorious temple will be taken to heaven through the preaching of the gospel but the till field we don't think of adding to something we think of cultivation so that what is planted grows and develops, matures, bears rich fruit, and that's the other side of the Lord's work. And we're in it, dear saints, together. It's His work and all that we might, each one of us, might look again carefully at what the Lord's doing in the world today. and take it up as our burden. And look around and see who is doing this work. Who is it that's really out seeking to preach that gospel and see souls born again? Let's have heart with a person like that. Where are they that are building up local assemblies in the ways that be in Christ Let's put our weight there in these things that are truly the Lord's work and be careful that we don't go up on some tangent that really isn't directed to the Lord's work. You see what happens is the Lord's work comes out of the assembly and it goes right back into the assembly. The worker is commended by the assembly. He's proven by the assembly. He stood out, commended by the assembly. And then what happens is that he, in turn, establishes assemblies. And it's like a chain reaction. And that's what our Lord intended. The work of the Lord. All that we might see. The whole work. See what Paul saw. as he said in first corinth the second corinthians eleven twenty eight that which presses upon me daily anxiety for all the churches he didn't just see the church the one body he saw the local churches well my time is gone but i wanted to get back to revelation chapter one and see how the Lord Jesus supervises this work. But we'll have to see that tomorrow night. The Lord will. Shall we close in a word of prayer? And I'll ask our brother Lyndon, and he'll kindly be.