We have been talking about something that is
most important, the Church of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And when I talked with you regarding
this wonderful organism, we saw that the only
way that Jesus can represent himself to the world
today is through his body the church and it's
just like that the only way that christ who is
now in glory in position of great high priest
can represent himself to the world through this
his The church made up of born -again men and
women. And you do not join his church. You do
not join this great body. You are born into the
body of Christ. And he is the head. Therefore,
there could be no church, his church, until after
Pentecost. We'll go right back to where I left
you in our last heart -to -heart talk. We go
to the book of the Revelation. John was instructed
to write everything that he heard and he saw.
And he begins with being in the spirit on the
Lord's day. I heard a voice saying, I am Alpha
and Omega, the first and the last. What thou
seest, write in a book. And being turned, I saw
seven golden candle stands. These are not like
the candlesticks in the temple and in the tabernacle.
Those were seven -branched. Six side branches
and the central shaft made the seven. What John
saw was seven separate candlesticks. lamp stands
Christ is represented by the seven branched candlestick
in the holy place and the Spirit of God is represented
by the seven lamps upon it but during his absence
during the time of his priesthood in glory at
the right hand of God the Father his People are
to be lights for him in this world. And so John
sees in this first lesion not one candlestick
with seven branches, but seven distinct lampstands
in the form of a circle. And in the midst of
them, he says he saw one light under the sun
of man girt about the breast with golden girdle.
It is the Lord Jesus himself in the midst of
his assemblies. Then we learn what these candlesticks,
these lampstands symbolize. They picture for
us the whole course of the church's history.
until the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ again.
In his absence, the church of the Lord Jesus
Christ is responsible to keep a light burning
in the midst of the darkness of this old world.
You'll remember that while Jesus was on earth,
he said, I am the light of the world. But one
day, He said, it's expedient for you that I go
away. But when I am come, the Holy Spirit will
come unto you. I will send him. He will be the
oil. He will be the power. He is the one who
will equip you to keep the light burning in your
life. I will not leave you defenseless. I will
not leave you without power. I will send, I will
give to you the equipment to make it possible
for you to shine, to so live that you'll shine
in a world of darkness. You'll be here in my
stead. You will be the only Christ. The unbeliever
will see. And you and I are here in Christ's
bed. His body, the church, manifests Jesus to
a lost and dying world. Then he added by saying,
ye are the light of the world. Do you realize
the responsibility of a Christian? Do you recognize
your responsibility? In his absence, the church
of the Lord Jesus Christ is responsible to keep
this light burning. That's your responsibility.
That is my responsibility. Because we represent
Him. Do you see the importance now of this wonderful
body of Christ? Not as an organization, but as
an organism. Now let's continue further. For
the next step here in the book of Revelation,
We have a picture of the seven stages of this
wonderful organism into which men are born into.
From the time of Pentecost right on down to the
very day, the very hour in which you and I are
living. The history, the testing of the church,
comes in between the revelation of its original
standing in the full blessing of God and its
ultimate testing in association with Christ in
glory. And you will see what a contrast there
is. In the church, this great organism, the church
that was and the church that is now. I will not
have time to read the entire portion of the Word
of God. You read it yourself. Everything that
I am saying is found in the first three chapters
of the book of Revelation. The seven stages of
the church. Oh, beloved, go back in the book
of Acts and see those early Christians. The wonderful
power that was manifested. Do you know that when
Peter got through preaching just one sermon,
And I dare say that should he preach that same
sermon today, he would be far from being a masterpiece.
I don't think he'd ask to return the next Sunday
if he preached that same sermon in many of our
churches. It wasn't especially what he said.
It wasn't his much learning. It wasn't his oratorical
ability. It was the power of the Holy Ghost that
spoke through lips of clay. And what was the
result? Three thousand were born again. Three
thousand men and women. I don't think they had
a personal worker. I don't think they had a counselor.
I don't think it was organized. What was it?
It was the power of the Holy Ghost. It's not
by might. It's not by power. It's by my spirit,
saith the Lord. It's the Holy Ghost. He's the
secret. He's the power. All that the Lord wants
is an empty vessel. That's all. That's all that
he needs. He doesn't need your ability. He just
wants your yieldedness. There isn't anything
that you have that God can't supply. He doesn't
ask for golden vessels. asked for silver vessels
he asks for a yielded vessel through which the
holy spirit can work because after all it's the
power of the holy spirit who does the work oh
that early church it must have been wonderful
it must have been wonderful i do not leave for
one minute They had prayer cards. A long line
for healing. I don't believe it. I believe that
there was so much power. The presence of the
Holy Ghost was so great that people were healed
just sitting in their seats. Mm -hmm. Sure. Look
at the gate of the temple. Bless you. Begging
for alms. What happened in the next second? They
were running and leaping, completely healed by
the power of God. The secret? The power of the
Holy Spirit in the life of believers. They believed.
I believe that all of the gifts and the fruits
of the Spirit were manifested in that first church.
All their first love. Everybody loved everybody
else. Now, how long this continued, I do not
know. I wish I knew. But sooner or later, the
enemy came in. He always does. Always. And the
first thing that came... into this body of believers
to disrupt it was the fact they lost their first
love. Oh, precious one, if you only knew what
a great treasure you have in your first love.
When you hear the name of Jesus spoken, And you
can still cry. When you talk about the power
of God, the manifestation of His power, and you
can still weep. When you come into the service,
and you see the outpouring of the Holy Spirit,
and you see men and women coming to the Lord
Jesus Christ, and you can still feel the tears.
Falling down your cheeks. If you can read the
Bible, the precious word of God, and it thrills
your very being. Something you can't explain
to someone who's never been born again, but there's
something about the word that Jesus comes through.
To know the word is to know him. To know the
word. is to know god the father and you read
a new thrill to it if you still have that thrill
if you can still weep if you're still hungry
for him there is no physical hunger that's greater
than Spiritual hunger. Blessed is you, hungers
and thirsts after righteousness. If you still
have that hunger for spiritual things, then,
my friend, you still have your first love. But
when you can no longer weep, when you no longer
love, when you can no longer forgive, Something
has happened. And something did happen in the
church when they lost their first love. Ecclesiastical
pretension and departure from first love characterized
the close of the apostolic period. The church
at Ephesus. You'll find in the second chapter
of the book of Revelation, the first seven verses.
Next succeeded the martyr period, which brings
us down to the close of the tenth and the last
persecution. The church at Smyrna. Decreasing
spirituality. Increasing worldliness. And wherever
you'll find decreasing spirituality, your next
step is increasing worldliness. And it went hand
in hand from the ascension of Constantine and
his public patronage of Christianity on to the
7th century. The church at Pergamos. That's the
second chapter of the book of the Revelation.
Verses 12 to 17. Then the papal church. Satan's
masterpiece on earth. Oh, Satan got in a blow.
It's witnessed in the assumption of universal
authority. Cruel persecution of the saints of
God. Man. Men. Its evil reign covers the Middle
Ages, the moral characteristics of which have
been well -termed dark. That's the church at
Thyatira. Verses 18 and 29 of the second chapter.
The Reformation followed. The Reformation was
God's intervention in grace and... and introduced
into Europe the light which for 300 years has
been burning with more or less brilliancy. But
still the Holy Spirit was quenched. Protestantism
came next. Protestantism. with its divisions
and its deadness, shows clearly enough how far
short it comes of God's ideal of the church and
Christianity. There is nothing as dead as a dead
religious organization. Nothing. Mm -hmm. That's
the church at Sardis, the third chapter of the
book of Revelation, the first six verses. Another
reformation, equally the work of God, characterized
the beginning of the last century, the church
at Philadelphia. Chapter 3. from 7 to 13. Now
we come down to the present state of the professing
church. And I read it to you exactly as it is
in God's Word. Word for Word in that third chapter
of the book of the Revelation. And unto the angel
of the church of the Thessalonians write, These
things saith the all men, the faithful and true
witness, the beginning of the creation of God.
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold
nor hot. I would that thou wert cold or hot.
So then, because thou art lukewarm, neither cold
nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. I
will vomit you out of my mouth. Because you're
neither cold, you're neither hot, you're trying
to play both sides. I will spew thee out of my
mouth. Because thou sayest I am rich and increased
with goods and have need of nothing. knowest
thou not that thou art wretched and miserable
and poor and blind and naked i counsel thee to
buy of me gold cried in the fire that thou mayest
be rich and white raiment that thou mayest be
clothed and that the shame of thy nakedness do
not appear and anointed thine eyes with eyesab
that thou mayest see as many as i love i rebuke
and chasten be zealous therefore and repent where
now is this wonderful church that had its beginning
at the day of Pentecost. The church to whom Jesus
said, ye are the light of the world. The church
to whom he gave this great responsibility, this
wonderful responsibility. That body of believers
who's to represent him. I want you to see the
then and the now. Then, when a poor fisherman,
illiterate, unlearned, but filled with the power
of the Holy Ghost, stood up and preached under
this glorious anointing, and when he gave an
altar call, 3 ,000 were converted. They had nothing.
When it came to material goods, they had nothing.
They had nothing of which they could boast. Let's
go to the now. What a contrast between the was
and the now. Now there never was a time when
the church... was as rich materially as it is
this hour they can say of a truth we have need
of nothing heavily in doubt so far as material
things are concerned the church never was so
rich but never was the church so blind so poor
So naked, spiritually, as it is now, and this
the darkest hour the world has ever seen, when
the world stands challenging the church, the
church has nothing to offer. She is without power.
Will it remain so? The Lord Jesus Christ knows
no defeat. Follow me in my next heart -to -heart
talk. God bless you.