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About the prospects of returning to County Road B2 in Hamlin and we aren't setting any

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dates for that yet but the contractor did tell us this week that around the middle of

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November we'll be able to get back in it looks like.

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The building won't be quite completed then but we're not waiting for that last little

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bit of dust to get cleaned up before we go back.

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We're eager to get there and as soon as that is possible we will announce it to you so

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that you can make your plans that way too.

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Next Sunday morning we're going to take three to five minutes of our morning service to

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talk to you about the ministry of Grace Church.

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Some of us realize this summer that there are not a small number of us that really are

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not aware of all that is going on during the week as well as in other hours on Sunday than

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the ones that we attend here together in this room.

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And so we're taking several weeks of the morning service to expose you via slides and other

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means of some of the things happening in our ministry here and we hope that that will be

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not only informative for you but also a reason for you to pray more intelligently for the

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ministry that God has given us here in this part of the Twin Cities.

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This is an exciting day for Grace Church because in Edina today, Grace Church Edina, Pastor

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Rick Yawn is beginning his preaching ministry and then in Richfield, Grace Church Richfield

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begins today with the ministry of Pastor Jim Engel.

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And so we are eager to hear about what's happening in those places as well as excited about what

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God is doing here.

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Would you take your Bible please and turn with me to Revelation chapter one.

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In a few weeks we're going to begin an expository study of the book of Acts on Sunday mornings.

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Now don't be alarmed by that.

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Some of you who were around for a while remember that it took us almost two years to get through

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16 chapters of Romans and there's 28 chapters in Acts.

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But please don't be alarmed by that because we may even pick up the pace a little bit

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as we get through some of these chapters in the book of Acts.

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But until then we're going to talk about the church.

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We've been dealing with this subject now for several months looking at the analogies or

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the pictures of the church in the New Testament.

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Today we'll talk about the church, a golden lampstand.

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In Revelation chapter one we have John's account of his experience on the Isle of Patmos.

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In verse 12 it says, and I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me.

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And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands.

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And in the middle of the lampstands one like the Son of God, clothed in a robe, reaching

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down to his feet and girdled or girded across his breast with a golden girdle.

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In verse 20 we have the explanation of what is being seen here.

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The Lord Jesus says to John, as for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right

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hand and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches

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and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

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And so the lampstand is clearly said to be here an analogy for a local church.

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The seven churches that he has in mind were the seven major churches of Asia Minor to

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whom letters were written and recorded for us in chapters two and three of Revelation.

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And so a local church is like a golden lampstand.

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What is a lampstand?

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A lampstand in that day was a stand on which an oil lamp was placed.

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In order to provide for better illumination and visibility in a room.

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The Lord Jesus talked about a lampstand when in Matthew chapter five he spoke about the

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fact that we don't put a candle or a lamp on a lampstand and then hide it.

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He says in verse 15, nor do men light a lamp and put it under the peck measure, but on

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the lampstand and it gives light to all who are in the house.

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So he says that you take a lamp and in those days the lamp often involved a saucer like

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piece of pottery along the side of which would be placed a wick that would burn.

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And that saucer of oil would be placed carefully upon the lampstand and left there so that

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as it burned slowly it would give illumination to the entire room.

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Jesus said you don't put the bushel over the lampstand and the light, but rather you take

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it off and so the light can be seen.

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The same word is found elsewhere in the New Testament, Hebrews chapter nine verse two,

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where the writer records for us some of the furniture that was to be found in the tabernacle

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that was built in the wilderness.

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And one piece of that furnishing was the golden lampstand.

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In that day that lampstand in the tabernacle weighed between 60 and 80 pounds and was made

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of pure gold.

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Here in the temple that Solomon built there were ten of these lampstands, not just one,

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and each of the lampstands had seven lamps on it and so it produced a good deal of light.

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Why is the church called a golden lampstand?

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As I thought about that it seemed to me that there may be a couple of reasons why we are

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described such.

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Gold is that which is highly valued and so is the church.

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In fact the Lord Jesus Christ shed his life's blood on behalf of the church, indicating

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to us the value that he places upon this elected group called out during this age, the church.

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Furthermore gold is a symbol of royalty in the Bible.

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We see this for example in the vision which Nebuchadnezzar had of the image.

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Do you remember that statue that he saw?

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The head of it was of solid gold and when Daniel gave him the interpretation he said

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you Nebuchadnezzar are the head of gold.

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What was Nebuchadnezzar?

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He was the most powerful sovereign, the most powerful royal figure of his day.

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Gold represents royalty and so the church is royalty.

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As we have studied now several months ago, the church is the royalty of God's new creation.

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Those of us who are a part of the church, who believe in Jesus Christ in this age, we

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are destined to reign with Jesus Christ and to share his throne and so we are royalty.

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We are God's family.

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Therefore we are a golden lampstand.

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The lamp of course provides light and that is the meaning of that.

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We are that which holds up the light.

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We are not light ourselves.

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It is true that Jesus in Matthew chapter 5 said you are the light of the world but he

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went on to say that we are a city set on a hill which cannot be hidden.

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We are not the light in ourselves but we are reflectors of the light as Paul makes clear

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in Philippians chapter 2 verse 15 where describing this generation as crooked and perverse, he

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goes on to say among whom you reflect the light in the world.

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You are luminaries.

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So we are not the light in ourselves but the Lord Jesus Christ lives in us and therefore

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we are the givers out of the light.

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We are the holders up of the light.

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We are the stand on which the light rests.

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We are the lampstand.

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We see this figure further expounded in Revelation chapter 21 when our eternal home, the New

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Jerusalem is described.

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In reading through that description you must be taken with the fact that it is apparently

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a city which is made of materials which are basically transparent.

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The streets are said to be made of gold and yet it is not the gold like we have, it is

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gold that you can see through.

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It seems as though the purpose of that city which will be our eternal home and headquarters

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will be to radiate and emanate the glory of God.

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So even in eternity to come we will be the source of giving out God's glory to his new

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creation.

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We are that which gives out the light or holds up the light.

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As a golden lampstand right now in this age the church is purposed to be a bright testimony

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of Jesus Christ to the world.

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That's part of our purpose in this age, to shine forth the light of Jesus Christ to the

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darkness all around us.

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Now it may seem that we are not very many in a very dark world, but I need not describe

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for you how much difference even a small light makes in the midst of gloomy darkness.

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It makes a great deal of difference.

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And when you add together the other local churches, for example just in this area which

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preach the gospel and hold forth Jesus Christ, we do make a great deal of difference in the

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darkness of this world.

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As a golden lampstand the church is purposed to be a bright testimony of the light of Jesus

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Christ to a dark world.

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That brings to mind a question, why is it so important that we do that?

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Why is it so important that we be a witnessing church and a missionary-minded people?

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I would suggest to you four reasons this morning as to why it is very important that we fulfill

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our calling to be the lampstand of Jesus Christ in this world.

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Number one, because it is the command of Jesus Christ that we do so.

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In Acts chapter 1, Jesus said to those apostles that they were to wait in Jerusalem.

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He says, the Holy Spirit is coming upon you.

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You will receive power.

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And then he said, you shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria

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to the uttermost parts of the earth.

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That was his plan, his command.

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You shall be witnesses unto me.

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In Matthew chapter 28, Jesus said, all power is given to me in heaven and in earth.

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Going therefore, make disciples of all nations.

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That is the command in that verse.

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Make disciples.

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Disciple the nations.

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And the idea is to bring them to the place of understanding who he is and bring them

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into obedience to him.

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It is the command of Jesus Christ that we be his lampstand, his bright testimony.

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And it is our privileged responsibility to do so.

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It is our privilege to proclaim him and the saving gospel about him to all men everywhere.

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And that goes for all of us, not just for the missionaries that we send out or for those

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who are part of the EE ministry or for those in our church who may be very equipped, vocal,

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active witnesses.

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But Jesus is referring to all of us in the church.

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We are all a part of the lampstand.

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And though our witnessing may differ in its intensity, in its methodology, we are all

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to be witnesses and sharers in that responsibility to hold forth the light to the world.

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And we can all share verbally in some way.

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That is important.

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We should all be giving our money to support the Lord's work here as well as on the mission

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fields of the world.

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That's the way we all participate in holding forth the light.

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We live godly lives, I trust.

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That too is holding forth his light to the world.

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There may be practical ways in which we can be involved in holding forth the light.

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For example, I know some men in one church who have organized themselves under the title

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Men with a Mission.

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And their purpose is to go at least once, but hopefully several times a year, to some

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mission field, in home missions or in foreign missions, where they can build a church for

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the missionaries or add a room onto the missionary's house or remodel the kitchen if necessary

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or build a Sunday school room, do whatever is necessary in a practical way to help that

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ministry along.

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I don't know in what ways we are involved, but all of us are involved, I trust, in some

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way in being a part of this golden lampstand.

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Someone has said Jesus' last command should be our first concern, and that's true.

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But what we have to be careful of is being engrossed in our own affairs to the point

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that we forget his.

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We need to be careful that there does not develop in our hearts a callousness toward

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those who are going to hell.

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But rather as our Lord's golden lampstand, we should be like him, not willing that any

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should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

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All of us need to be that way.

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Now there are those who say that the church is such a golden lampstand that it will preach

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the gospel to all the world before Jesus comes back.

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And they usually point to a verse in Matthew chapter 24 verse 14 where it says, in this

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gospel the kingdom shall be proclaimed to all the world and then the end will come.

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The Lord will return.

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They fail to take note of the context of that verse, which is the tribulation period, and

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the specific message that will be proclaimed in that period of time of the Lord's return

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to establish his kingdom.

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There is in fact no commitment on the part of our Lord that the whole world will have

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to hear the message before Jesus comes back.

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If that were the case, then our Lord could not come back today.

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He could not come at any moment.

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His eminent appearing would be abolished if everyone had to hear the gospel before he

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could return for the church.

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If that were the case, then actually we would be losing ground because there are more people

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today who have not heard than any time in the history of the world.

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We are not guaranteed that everybody in the uttermost parts of the earth will hear the

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gospel before Jesus comes back for the church.

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But that should not deter us one bit from attempting to take the gospel to the uttermost

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parts of the earth in this age.

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That is our responsibility.

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It is his commission, and his commission is our mission, and we must not be disobedient

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in that.

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The early apostles were warned that they should stop preaching and speaking in the name of

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Jesus Christ.

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And their response to those who ordered that was, we must obey God rather than men.

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You see, it is a matter of obedience.

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We are a golden lampstand for Jesus Christ.

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He has commissioned us with that purpose and commanded us that both here and in the uttermost

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parts of the earth, we should be active in holding forth his light.

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How are you functioning in obedience to that command?

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What are you doing to take his gospel to your neighbors or to those people at the office

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or that person who pumps your gas or to the people on the Indian reservation in Upper

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Minnesota or in Arizona or to the people in Africa or India or Indonesia?

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You see, each of us as a part of the church has some part to play in this role of ours,

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the golden lampstand.

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We each must hold forth the light of Jesus Christ.

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It's his command.

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There's a second reason why we should do that, and that is because it is the only hope for

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those who are perishing.

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Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 2 for a moment.

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The apostle here employs a figure which is mysterious to us today but which was familiar

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to those people.

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It is that of the Roman march of triumph when a general had a victory in a battle which

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was significant.

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He was often accorded the favor of having a triumphal entrance into a city.

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That involved the offering of sacrifices and the waving of incense before him and his troops

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as they come into the city along with prisoners who come at the end of the line.

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Now employing that figure, the apostle says in chapter 2 of 2 Corinthians verse 14, thanks

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be to God who always leads us in his triumph in Christ.

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What he's really saying there is that in Jesus Christ we're on the victory side.

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The victory has already been achieved by our Lord, and we are a part of his victory march.

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And he says he manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of him in every place.

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For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those

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who are perishing.

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Why does he talk here about a sweet aroma and a fragrance?

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Well, I mentioned the incense of that triumph march.

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As the army came into the city there would be that fragrance, that aroma of incense in

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the air.

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And to the soldiers who were on the victory side it was a sweet aroma.

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It was a welcome fragrance because it meant they were being honored and the victory had

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been accomplished.

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But to those poor souls who came at the end of the line who were the prisoners, it meant

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death.

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It meant they were doomed.

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They had been conquered.

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And so what the apostle is saying is this, that as we hold forth the gospel of Jesus

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Christ to the world, to those who are being saved it is a wonderful message.

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We rejoice in it.

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There is a fragrance and a sweet aroma about it and about us.

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But he says to those who are perishing it only is the fragrance of death and damnation.

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There are those perishing around us.

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Do we remember that?

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Do we really understand that the majority of the population around us is on the way

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to a Christless eternity?

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If they are going to hear how to be saved it must come through the church.

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God is not going to send angels into the world to declare the gospel.

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We are His lamp stand.

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Therefore we are the only hope for those who are perishing.

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They cannot know the gospel naturally for their minds are darkened to the things of

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God.

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They will not discover how to be rescued from their lostness through human made religions

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for all of those religions lead only to hell.

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Nor will they discover how to be saved through the apostate Christian church which has largely

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turned to another gospel and to another Jesus which the Bible does not proclaim.

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If those who are perishing will be saved it is through us who know the Lord Jesus Christ

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and who are part of His true church in this age.

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Jesus Christ is the only Savior of the world.

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There are some people who back away from that with some embarrassment who say, well I think

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we really should be more broad minded about that, don't you?

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For surely God understands and wouldn't condemn sincere people.

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Well my friend I am sorry to alarm you if that is the way you feel but the fact is that

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God will condemn those outside of Jesus Christ.

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How broad minded should we be?

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As broad minded as the word of God and no more, we do not have the liberty to be any

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more broad minded than that.

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And I remind you of what Paul's attitude was, if anyone does not love the Lord let him be

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accursed.

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That is not exactly Dale Carnegie stuff.

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How broad minded are we supposed to be?

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As broad minded as saying that the way to heaven is through Jesus Christ and He is the

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only way.

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Jesus said I am the way, not a way.

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The truth, not a truth, the truth, the life.

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No one comes to the Father but by me, He said.

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Now we can say that Jesus was mistaken and if He was then how do we know that He was

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not mistaken about other things that He said?

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Or we can say that He was deceived and if He was deceived then we are in trouble.

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Or if He purposely lied to us then what kind of a Savior would He be?

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The only conclusion we can make is that He was saying the truth and therefore we are

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not at liberty to broaden that.

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Jesus Christ is the only hope for those who are perishing and those who are perishing

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will not learn the truth about Him except from His people, the Church.

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The true Church of Jesus Christ as the possessor of truth is duty bound to make Him known.

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Isn't that the Apostles attitude when Romans 1 verses 14 and 15 He says I am indebted?

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Both to the Jew and the Greek to give them the gospel, are we not similarly indebted?

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Asa Hale Grant said, I dare not go up to the judgment till I have done my best to diffuse

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His glory throughout the world.

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Do you realize that there are more people headed for hell than ever before?

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We live in that generation.

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What a privilege God has given to us to hold forth the light so that those who are perishing

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can see Christ, believe in Him, and be saved.

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And it is our obligation to do that.

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Clay Cooper in his book Nothing to Win but the World writes of the great naturalist Huber

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who noted that when a wasp finds a deposit of honey, it immediately returns to its nest

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to impart the good news to the others.

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Is not the lesson of the wasp obvious to us?

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J.G.

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Holland wrote, open your hands, you whose hands are full.

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The hungry world is waiting for you, the whole machinery of divine beneficence is clogged

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by your closed hands and rigid fingers.

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Give and spend and be sure that God will send.

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For only in the giving and spending do you fulfill the object of God's giving and sending.

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God has sent His Son that people might not perish but have everlasting life, and we hold

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Him forth for the same reason.

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We are His golden lampstand to proclaim Him to those who are perishing that they might

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see Him and not perish but be saved through faith in Him.

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A third reason why it is important that we be a faithful golden lampstand can be found

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in 1 Corinthians chapter 4.

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It is this reason that our being a faithful witness to the world is proof that we view

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life properly.

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1 Corinthians 4, verse 1, Let a man regard us in this manner, says the Apostle, as servants

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of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.

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In this case, moreover, it is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy.

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We need to almost constantly remind ourselves that we are but stewards of all that God has

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given us.

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The moment that we see ourselves as owners of what we have, we have lost the right perspective.

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Life is given to you and to me as an opportunity, an opportunity for us to prove our faithfulness

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in looking after our Lord's concerns and not our own.

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For we are His stewards and the purpose of a steward is to look after the things of His

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Master.

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Now as stewards, we must be found faithful.

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Clay Cooper also said, God's gifts are tools, not prizes.

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The reconciled are to be reconcilers.

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To regard anything in one's possession as something owned rather than loaned is to widely

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miss the idea of stewardship.

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Whether it be the abilities I have or the spiritual gifts I've been given or whether

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it be the material things I own or even my family, all is given to me as a loan by God.

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You and I will return to Him for accounting the same way we came into the world empty

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handed and at that point He will be able to accurately measure how well we have handled

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His affairs in this world.

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What kind of a steward are you of life, of the material things that God has given you,

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of the opportunities to serve the Lord makes available, of the gifts and abilities He's

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entrusted to you as a steward?

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I think it is when we are faithful as a golden lampstand that we begin to view life properly

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and we see that we are not here to shine forth our own glory, but we are here simply as a

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lampstand to lift up the light of the world, Jesus Christ, to look after His affairs so

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that all may see Him and come to Him to be saved.

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How wise it is to invest our gifts, our resources for eternal good.

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A fourth reason as to why we should be a good, faithful, shining golden lampstand is that

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it is evidence of gratitude for the work of Calvary.

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Turn to the last part of 1 Corinthians to chapter 15.

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The Apostle in this chapter talks about the gospel, the death, burial, and resurrection

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of Jesus Christ.

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He majors on the resurrection because that was a truth that was being denied by some

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false teachers in Corinth.

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And as he closes this chapter in which he deals with the gospel, he says in verse 57,

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thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

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Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of

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the Lord.

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What is Paul implying here?

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That our thanks to God for the victory is evidenced by our steadfastness, our immovability,

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our abounding in the work of the Lord.

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That's proof that we really are grateful for the gospel, for the work of Calvary.

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Can any person seriously contemplate Golgotha without it making a profound and far-reaching

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impact in his life, without it creating a deep gratitude, without it instilling somewhere

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in the heart a desire that that story, that truth be told to all?

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Is it not true that when the heart becomes careless about that, that it has grown cold

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regarding the cross?

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I think so.

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His saving work, His suffering for us in our place is the greatest motivation that we have

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for living as we should.

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The apostle Paul was controlled by the love of Christ.

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Remember how he said that in 2 Corinthians 5?

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He said, the love of Christ constrains me.

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It constrains me.

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And then in the next verse he says that we might no longer live for ourselves but for

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Him who died for us and rose again.

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Can we honestly look at the cross work of the Lord Jesus Christ and then say, it matters

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so little to me that I will live for myself?

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How can anyone do that?

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But we do, don't we?

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We do.

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It is only as we live for Him and as we fulfill our calling to be His lampstand that we are

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evidencing our gratitude for Golgotha.

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There was an old man who visited a museum in London some years ago which had an art

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gallery.

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He looked at the various paintings that were displayed there and finally he came to one

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that pictured Christ dying on the cross.

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The man stopped and gazed at that painting for a long time and as he did there welled

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within his heart a deep love for his Savior.

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And he blurted out with great feeling, bless Him.

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I love Him.

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I love Him.

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There was quite a crowd in the museum.

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Some were embarrassed by his outcry but there were a few who came out from the crowd and

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stood beside Him and they said, we too love Him, brother.

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You cannot look at the cross of Jesus Christ and understand what it was all about without

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responding similarly.

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We love Him because He first loved us.

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The lampstand in Revelation is mentioned once more and that is in Revelation chapter 2.

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It's important that you turn there and look at that.

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This time it is in regard to the church in Ephesus.

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One of the seven churches mentioned in chapter 1.

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In verse 1 of Revelation 2 it reads, To the angel of the church in Ephesus write,

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The one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven golden

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lampstands, says this, I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot

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endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles and they are

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not and you found them to be false, and you have perseverance and have endured for my

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name's sake and have not grown weary, but I have this against you, that you have left

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your first love.

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Enter therefore from where you have fallen and repent and do the words or deeds rather

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you did at first, or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its

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place unless you repent.

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Would you notice that there is a warning by our Lord to the church at Ephesus?

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It is a warning to that church that it would lose its ministry, its witness, its testimony.

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Why?

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Not for its lack of orthodoxy.

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It had even tried those who were false teachers and branded them false.

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It had stood for the truth, it had persevered and endured against evil.

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Why then did Jesus give this warning?

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Not because it was lazy in its works, because it was busy in its ministry.

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They toiled to the point of exhaustion and agony for the sake of Jesus Christ.

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Why then did Jesus give this warning?

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It was because of its loss of its first love, its first love.

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You see they had a love for him, but it was not a first love.

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What does that mean?

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I think one way to describe it is it was not a love that gave him priority.

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There was a love for him, but it was not the kind of love that put him first, a first love.

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John Stott puts it this way, their earlier devotion to Christ had cooled.

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They had been in love with him, but they had fallen out of love with him.

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So the bridegroom seeks to woo his bride back, back to her first love.

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The divine lover still sorrows when his love is unrequited and pines for our continuing,

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deepening, maturing adoration.

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Love then, writes Stott, is the first mark of a true and living church.

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Without this love, the church's work is lifeless.

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You know it's hard to measure the love of a church for Jesus Christ.

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Ultimately, only he can do that, and he does, for he stands in the midst of the lampstands

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today, the church is today, and he examines us.

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But you and I can examine and determine the measure of love that we have for him personally.

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How warm is your love for Jesus?

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How real and vital is it in your life?

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Jesus said, he that loves me keeps my commandments.

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In other words, obedience is the real test of love.

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We can say the words, but it's whether we do what he says that counts.

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And that is not a cold, legalistic obedience that Jesus is speaking about, but he's talking

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about an obedience that comes from a heart of fervent devotion and grateful ardor for

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him.

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Do you love him?

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How much?

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How does it show?

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00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:36,840
Jeanette Lockerbie tells the story of four-year-old Martha.

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Little Martha came to her mother one day with a doll around each of her little pudgy arms.

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She walked up to mother and she said, with a wistful look on her face, I love them and

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love them and love them, but they don't love me back.

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Jesus said, I love you.

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I said, Lord, how much do you love me?

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And he said, this much.

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Let's pray.

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Lord Jesus, thank you for stretching out your arms one day.

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We recognize that as they were nailed to the cross that you were embracing us.

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For therein is love, not that you loved us when we were good, but when we were sinners

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and you died in our place.

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But I'm afraid, Lord, a lot of us today have to be honest and tell you that while we love

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you, perhaps even with a love of affection, it's not a first love.

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It's not the kind of love that gives you priority in our plans, in the use of our money, the

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places we go, the things that we give our time to.

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It's not a first love.

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And therefore we recognize that this warning to Ephesus applies to us that unless we repent

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of that, you will remove our lampstand and we will no longer have a ministry.

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And so today we come to you and pray that you will give us hearts of genuine repentance.

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Forgive us of all the selfishness, the self-centeredness.

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Forgive us for loving the world.

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Forgive us for putting things and even other people before you in our lives.

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I pray that as we close this service, Savior, that each of us may be able to somehow personalize

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this message and within the throne room of our own hearts meet with you and give you

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ourselves a fresh and anew.

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Claim us, we are rightfully yours, and claim all of us.

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Amen.