This message is one of the Times Square
Church pulpit series.
It was recorded in the sanctuary of Times
Square Church in Manhattan, New York City.
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...that brought to light different aspects of the
churches, the seven churches of Asia, remnants of
those churches that can be found throughout all
of society and have been found throughout all
of biblical history.
If you have an open heart tonight, and
I'm sure that you will, there'll be traces
of one of these churches we're about to
speak of tonight, the Church of Smyrna, and
I believe with all my heart that some,
for sure, will find traces of that church
within your life.
Father, I thank you tonight, O God, for
the anointing of your Holy Spirit.
I thank you, Lord, that you are continuously
taking us step by step, you are building
us, O God, image to image, glory to
glory, strength to strength.
Lord, there is no turning back in you,
but a continual going forward.
And I thank you tonight that even when
we don't think that we're going forward, we
are, as long as our hearts are towards
you, O God.
I thank you for your sovereign protection.
I thank you for the anointing that breaks
down every misconception of Christ and destroys the
works of darkness.
Lord God, I'm asking tonight that you would
crush every weapon of evil that has been
formed against any child of God in this
house tonight.
Lord, that you would send it forth your
word like cannon fire into the ranks of
the enemy and release all in their mind
and heart who are being cast down and
tormented by the powers of darkness.
And Father, I thank you for your liberating
word tonight.
I thank you for the healing oil of
Jesus.
In your precious name, amen.
Hallelujah.
Revelation chapter 2 beginning at verse 8.
And unto the angel of the church in
Smyrna write these things, saith the first and
the last, which was dead and is alive.
I know thy works and tribulation and poverty,
but thou art rich.
And I know the blasphemy of them which
say they are Jews and are not, but
are the synagogue of Satan.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt
suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you
into prison, that you may be tried, and
you shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I will
give thee a crown of life.
He that hath an ear, let him hear
what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
He that overcometh shall not be hurt of
the second death.
An interesting thing about this particular church is
that it's one of only two in the
book of Revelation that the manifestation or the
manifested presence of Jesus didn't rebuke.
It was a church that had been birthed
in difficulty, a church that was going through
difficulty.
Jesus said in verse 9, I know your
works, I know your trial, your tribulation, your
difficulty, your poverty, but you are rich.
And you see, when Jesus comes into the
midst of his church, we studied a week
ago, there was a church called Laodicea that
thought they were rich.
But when the presence of Christ came into
that church and exposed the roots and intents
of the heart, a church that thought they
were rich found out that they were indeed
poor in the sight of God.
Nevertheless, a church that was poor in the
sight of man and seemed to be downtrodden
and perhaps even being plowed over in many
respects by the works of the evil rulers
of that day, that church, when Jesus came
into the midst of that church, his presence
exposed a deep and rich spiritual heritage.
Now, I know if you have an open
heart tonight, we're going to examine the Scripture
and find that there are many, even sitting
here tonight, that you have that heritage.
And Christ is about to speak some words
to you, and he's about to lift you
out of a place of difficulty and give
you an understanding of why you are where
you are and where it is that you're
going.
Verse 10, he tells this church, he said,
Don't fear those things that you're going to
suffer.
The devil will cast some of you into
prison.
In other words, he's going to take you
and put you into a place of captivity
that you may be tried.
You shall have tribulation ten days.
In other words, it's going to be a
short season.
It may seem long, but remember the words
of the Apostle James.
Our life is just a vapor.
It appears for a season and then it
vanishes away.
In another Scripture, there's a warning to the
rich man who appears and seems to have
all kinds of glory, but just as the
flower of the grass in a moment, in
a season, he just fades away and he's
gone and he's no more.
Even though life seems long on this earth
sometimes, brothers and sisters, in the realm of
eternity, it's just a vapor of smoke.
A billion years from now, we're going to
be fellowshipping together in heaven and looking back
and marveling at how short this life really
was.
We thought it was so long.
That's simply because we're in the confines of
this carnal body.
Every day sometimes seems like a long time,
especially if you're knowing what it is to
suffer and to go through some kind of
tribulation.
Jesus said, I know your works.
I know your tribulation and your poverty, but
you're rich.
There was a richness found in this church.
The remnants of this church are found throughout
all ages and indeed, I'm sure are here
in this building tonight.
Don't fear those things that you're going to
suffer.
Now, we're not in this society in the
Western world, literally cast into prison for the
gospel.
In this hour, at least that we're living
in, I'm not sure that that's not going
to come at some point in the future.
Now, throughout history, we have known churches have
suffered.
There have been difficulties in trials and times
of imprisonment.
History and tradition tells us that the church
of Smyrna was about 40 miles northeast of
Ephesus.
The Ephesian church we studied just a little
while ago, that it was the apostle John
that ordained Polycarp, the first century Christian historian,
who was the first bishop of this church.
And Polycarp tradition says at least died a
martyr in that area.
Great tribulation, great persecution.
The Christians of that church were fed to
wild beasts.
And if the wild beasts didn't intimidate them,
then they were burned, they were tortured.
There was an incredible hardship came upon this
church.
I was with my wife several years ago.
We were in Rome and we went to
the Colosseum in Rome where Christians were tortured
and ripped to pieces.
They were burnt, they were displayed and fought
against and ripped apart and made a mockery
of by the people.
And I remember standing in the middle of
this gigantic Colosseum in Rome, feeling so unworthy
to be called even by the name of
Christ, that I had not walked in the
footsteps.
I was walking on cement that I know
is drenched in the blood of the saints.
And I was feeling so unworthy that day
to even walk in that same place where
they walk.
A church that had gone through such struggle
and trial.
And I had read stories of how they
tied people to stakes and set them aflame
and they would go out singing the Psalms.
They would be worshipping God as the flames
consumed their flesh.
An absolute glory that was so upon these
early Christians that people who were unsaved, who
were in the stands, who had come to
see their death, would stand up and say,
their God is God.
If their God can take them through into
eternity that way, then I want this Savior.
People stood and confessed Christ, even knowing that
they were the next to go to the
stake or to be torn apart.
There was such a glory on that church.
And there's a glory that can come upon,
that does come upon a life, if our
heart is right, if we have the right
perspective in the heart and life of those
who are going through struggles and trials, if
we can understand that in the midst of
all of the difficulties we face, that Christ
is with us.
He has never left us.
He has never forsaken us.
He's walking every step of the way.
And there is a cup of glory, there's
a cup of His presence available to those
who go through suffering and difficulty.
There were people who would say that there's
no suffering really, there are no prisons in
this present system, especially in the Western world.
But that's not true.
Imprisonment is basically, the concept of imprisonment is
when a society takes a certain segment of
its population and shuns them, puts them away
into a corner, puts them away into another
place.
That's really the concept of imprisonment.
Imprisonment is isolation.
Putting somebody away into a place where they're
sort of out of sight and out of
mind.
And I know that, and I've seen over
the years as a pastor, people put into
very real prisons, although there are no bars
on these prisons, they're very real.
And if you're here tonight and you're in
one of these, you know what I'm talking
about.
You can't see the bars, but it's a
very real place.
It's a place of being isolated.
It's a place of being rejected.
It's a place sometimes of being written off
by those that are closest to you, close
to your heart.
It's a place where you can feel all
alone, you feel forsaken.
Sometimes even erroneously feel forsaken by God.
There are prisons of rejection.
Rejection by friends.
Jesus said in Matthew 10, 25, It's enough
for the disciple that he be as his
master, and the servant as his lord.
If they've called the master of the house
Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them
of his household?
There are people who have come to Christ
in this room tonight, in this sanctuary, that
you had lots of friends, and you were
perhaps somewhat at least popular in the places
you traveled, the people you walked among.
Then all of a sudden you've received Christ,
and it's the best news you've ever heard
in your whole life.
The darkness in your mind is dissipating, and
light has come into your soul.
You're beginning to walk, and you know who
you are, you know where you came from,
you know where you're going.
And for a season you're so excited, and
you want to tell all your friends.
Then all of a sudden you find that
these same friends that once you were able
to associate with and relate to, all of
a sudden are rejecting you, and wanting to
put you off in a corner, wanting to
shove you out of their company.
You see, a world that's sown in darkness
will never accept or rejoice in the light.
Light has no fellowship with darkness.
And sometimes, especially if you're a young Christian,
it's so hard to understand how it is
that you found such good news, and those
that you love, because it's not wrong to
love your friends, you know, but those that
you love are pushing you out of their
company, and you find yourself isolated, and you
find yourself alone.
And it's sort of like they've imprisoned you,
they've shut you out of their presence, and
you feel so alone and so rejected.
It's even more difficult when that rejection comes
from members of your own family.
Jesus said in Matthew chapter 10, He said,
Don't think that I've come to send peace
on the earth.
I've come not to send peace but a
sword.
For I've come to set a man at
variance against his father, and the daughter against
her mother, and the daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law.
And a man's foes shall be they of
his own household.
I suppose that's the imprisonment that this society
offers, that is, for a Christian, can hurt
worse than any other prison.
And some of you here tonight, you know
what that's all about.
You came to Christ, you heard the gospel
on a radio show, or somebody came to
you and told you, or you picked up
a tract, or you came to church, you
found Jesus, it was the best news that
you'd ever heard in your whole life.
And you went home to your husband, you
went home to your wife, or you went
home to your children, or you went home,
young people, to your mom and dad, and
you tried to share this news.
And in the beginning, perhaps, there was a
semi-tolerance to your newfound faith.
But the more you walk with God, the
more you love God, you find an intolerance
beginning to develop in those around you.
And in some cases, it turned to a
rage.
And there are women here tonight that it
cost you your husband to walk with God.
There are men that it cost you your
wife.
There are children that it cost you your
relationship with your mom and dad.
Deep, deep wounds and bruises in your lives.
And it feels like you're in a prison.
You go home, the home is supposed to
be a place of refuge, and then you
walk in the door, but it feels like
a prison with jailers all around, casting you
out of their presence and treating you in
a difficult manner.
There are prisons also of persecution.
Paul says in 2 Timothy 3, verse 12,
And all that will live godly in Christ
Jesus shall suffer persecution.
All, A-L-L, that will live godly
in Christ Jesus.
You can be at your workplace, all of
a sudden, evil spoken of for no apparent
reason.
You used to work with everybody, you knew
them, you loved them.
They seem to have a respect for you.
And all of a sudden now, because you're
doing things right, because you're not falsifying documents,
because all of a sudden you come in,
God's spirit got a hold of you, you're
working hard, that means every sluggard is now
going to have an envy towards you.
You're doing things right, that means everybody that's
doing it wrong is going to stand against
you.
And you may have been well spoken of
when you were one of the boys or
girls, quote-unquote.
But all of a sudden now, there's an
evil speaking.
And some of you here know what I'm
talking about tonight.
You go to work and you're evil spoken
of.
It doesn't matter, it seems, how hard you
work.
You can never work hard enough.
It doesn't matter how much you put in.
It seems when monthly assessment time comes out,
there's always something wrong with the things that
you're doing at work.
And all it is, is that because you
confess Christ and you profess to love Him
and know Him and walk with Him, you're
passed by consistently when times for promotion and
betterment come up in the workplace.
I want to warn you, don't let bitterness
ever get in your heart over these things.
God will defend you.
He's a defender of His own children.
You'll find that there's a buddy system in
the workplace and you don't play the game
and you don't get promoted.
That's just the bottom line of the whole
way that the world operates.
But I tell you that they may pass
you by here, but there's an ultimate pass
-by that's coming to them if they don't
repent of their sin and turn to God.
They may pass you by, but I tell
you there's somebody a lot more important than
those over here that is not going to
pass you by.
Hallelujah.
Very soon the trumpet is going to sound.
And you might be sitting at your desk.
Maybe they're speaking evil of you.
Maybe you've been passed by for all kinds
of promotions.
But I want to tell you that trumpet
is going to sound and all that's going
to be left is your pencil on that
desk.
Hallelujah.
Glory to God.
There's prisons of loneliness.
I've met so many lonely people.
Isolated from work and isolated at family.
Loneliness.
Over the years as a pastor, I've met
situations that have broken my heart.
Wives, lonely in their marriage, having had a
husband that they felt close to and all
of a sudden they come home, they found
Jesus and they find a separation now coming
in their marriage.
Not that they want it.
They desire their husband.
They want to be close, but there's a
separation because Christ is now on the throne
of the heart.
Those are difficult situations and it can seem
like you're in a prison.
It really can.
You know, everybody around you is free, but
all of a sudden it just seems like,
Oh God, I want to love you.
I want to serve you, but it just
seems that ever increasing disaster is coming upon
my life.
I heard a story of a woman recently
that accepted the Lord in a suburban middle
class family.
She received Christ as her savior, went home
all excited and for a season her husband
endured this and then one day he came
home and he said to her, We're just
growing apart.
The things don't seem to be going good
at home anymore.
If you'll just tone down this religion of
yours, if you'll tone it down, everything's going
to be all right.
But if you can't tone it down, I'm
afraid I'm going to have to leave you.
And she had a very real and difficult
choice to make, but she chose the Lord.
And I'm happy for her, although it's hard
and my heart hurts for her.
And so her husband left her for another
woman and her two sons, not understanding the
situation.
They also decided they wanted to go and
live with their father.
And so here she is, less than a
short time after receiving Christ and she's lost
everything.
She's lost her husband, she's lost her sons.
Everything that was precious to her on this
earth is gone.
And folks, don't you ever underestimate the pain
that is in somebody's heart when they have
to make that kind of a choice.
If you've never had to make that choice,
you better thank God that you've never had
to make that choice.
But there are people all over the church
who've had to make that choice and they
feel that, God, I've chosen to live for
you and now it seems like I'm in
a prison.
It seems like I'm shut in on all
sides.
I'm isolated, I'm lonely, I'm hurt.
And you can identify with how the church
of Smyrna felt.
Receiving Christ, being betrayed by family members, brother
betraying brother unto the death, being arrested by
soldiers, being thrust into a place of isolation.
And all it seemed is that there's just
wild beasts in fire out there.
And there can come a moment of absolute
despair upon the heart of a person who
has given all for God and all of
a sudden you find yourself in a place
of trial, in a place of testing, in
a place of loneliness, a place of persecution,
and a place of imprisonment.
But in the midst of it all, the
writer of Hebrews chapter 13 verse 5 pens
these words.
And they're words that you need to write
down on the table of your heart and
never put it away.
I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
You're not alone.
No matter what your situation is, no matter
how hard it is, no matter how much
of a sacrifice you've had to make, there
is coming a day, my brother and sister,
we sing about it, it will be worth
it all when we see Jesus.
Life's trial will seem so small when we
see Christ.
One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrow
will erase.
So bravely run the race until we see
Christ.
One of the tactics of the powers of
darkness when you're in this place is to
say that God has forgotten you.
God has abandoned you.
You're all alone.
Everybody at church is getting blessed.
Everybody is experiencing the glory of God.
Everybody around you is knowing victory.
But here you are, lonely, abandoned, imprisoned and
forsaken.
There's some of you here tonight, you've come
to this service and you're on your last
legs.
I sense that in my spirit the whole
time sitting on the platform tonight.
You're on your last legs.
And you say, God, if I don't hear
from you soon, I don't know what I'm
going to do.
I can't go on.
I know there are people like that tonight
because God's Holy Spirit is speaking that to
my heart.
And the word of the Lord to you
tonight is, I will never leave you.
I will never forsake you.
I'll never.
Turn to the book of Isaiah, please.
Chapter 49.
Isaiah chapter 49.
Now this word is for you.
Everyone in this house that have feel that
you're in that place of imprisonment.
A place of difficulty.
God doesn't promise you at any time that
He's going to take you out of it.
But He promises you that He's going to
give you the victory in the midst of
it.
He's going to take you through the fire.
It's not going to burn you.
And He's going to take you through the
water.
And it's not going to drown you.
That's the promise of God.
You can have victory in the midst of
your trial.
The church of Smyrna went out.
A glorious church.
One of the only two churches that Jesus
had nothing negative to say about.
In the midst of your trial, there's a
purification process that's going on in your life
that is precious in the sight of God.
You're not looking to riches.
You're not walking in false peace and false
comfort.
Your situation has forced you into a place
where what you have with God is real
or you don't have it at all.
It has to be real because it can't
get you through otherwise.
It has to be real.
In chapter 49 of Isaiah verse 13, The
Lord says, Sing, O heavens, and be joyful,
O earth, and break forth into singing, O
mountains.
For the Lord has comforted His people and
will have mercy upon His afflicted.
But Zion said, Now that's some of the
children of God.
The Lord has forsaken me.
And the Lord has forgotten me.
There are some here tonight that you feel
that of God.
That God, because of your situation, you say,
God, how is it you said that you
came to give me an abundant life?
And Lord God, it feels like you've forsaken
me.
But you see, God's going to reveal something
to you tonight.
The abundance you seek is not in your
situation.
The abundance you seek is in Him.
It's in Him, in Him alone.
Your situation may never change, but your life
will change and your outlook can change when
you begin to understand that you have, in
the midst of your poverty, in the midst
of your trial, in the midst of your
difficulty, if you have Him, that's what He
says to the church of Smyrna, you are
rich in the midst of your difficulty, in
the midst of your poverty.
I knew a lady one time, her husband
treated her like absolute dirt.
It was excruciating just to watch him.
It was all I could do sometimes, not
to literally take matters into my own hands.
He would just berate her in public and
treat her cruelly and she'd have no money.
It was a terrible situation.
But that lady, in the midst of that
difficult situation that she was in, had a
treasure that I yearned for.
She would be at prayer meetings and she'd
be weeping before a holy God.
She'd be praying for sons and daughters.
She'd be praying for people out on the
streets.
She'd pray for her husband day in and
day out.
The more cruelly he treated her, the more
she lifted him up, the more she would
speak well of him in front of other
people.
That woman had a treasure in her life.
She had a treasure in her heart.
Even though her situation was difficult, God in
His grace, that man developed a very, very
severe illness that made him an invalid and
went when she could have said, now, you're
getting your just reward for what you've done
to me and how you've treated me all
these years.
No.
She became a nursemaid to that man and
kept him at home and bathed him and
helped him to walk and look after him
and still does so today and won his
soul to God.
Hallelujah!
In the abundance of her poverty, she was
rich for she had the very presence of
God in her life.
When I would meet with her, she wouldn't
want to talk about the weather.
She didn't want to talk about the cows
out in the pasture.
She wanted to talk about Jesus.
She would always talk about the goodness of
God and how God was blessing her.
Oh, I tell you, brothers and sisters, it
was all I could do to look in
that home and find an ounce of blessing
in that place.
But God was blessing her.
Her blessing was not in her circumstance.
There was an interior blessing because of her
poverty and deep trial that she was in.
She had turned to Him and found Him.
Hallelujah!
Glory to God!
And now in this hour, she is one
of the mothers of Zion.
She is one of the pillars in the
church.
Hallelujah!
Never ever having any place of prominence or
preeminence in the church.
All she ever did for years is just
serve and bring a cup of water if
she noticed that the preacher was struggling with
his throat.
Just little things in the church.
God had done something rich in her heart.
In the midst of her trial, she had
found a treasure that many who have never
known difficulty ever find.
Oh, I just praise the Lord for His
faithfulness and what He did in her life.
But Zion said, verse 14, Isaiah 49, The
Lord has forsaken me and my Lord has
forgotten me.
Can a woman forget her sucking child that
she should not have compassion on the son
of her womb?
Yea, they may forget, but yet I will
not forget thee.
Behold, I have graven thee on the palms
of my hands.
And now listen to the other part.
Thy walls are continually before me.
Thy walls.
What walls, you say?
Lord God, you said you've engraved me on
the palms of your hands.
I understand that.
I understand that you went to Calvary.
I understand that nails went through your wrist.
And my name was on the very tip
of one of those nails.
And my name is engraved on your hand.
God, you won't forget me.
I acknowledge that tonight.
You'll never forget me.
But what are these walls?
And what the Lord is saying, I have
encircled you.
Haven't you seen me there?
I am protecting you.
I have built walls around you.
The enemy will not exact against you.
Nothing can come against you, but that you're
able to bear.
The Lord will not allow you to be
tempted above that you can bear, but with
the trial or temptation will make a way
to escape that you may be able to
bear it.
You're not alone.
God is with you in the midst of
your struggle.
God has built a wall.
He has encircled you.
Look at Psalm 91.
Go back to Psalm 91.
I want to show you this.
How he's encircled you.
Psalm 91.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of
the Most High shall abide or lodge under
the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is
my refuge and my fortress, my God, in
Him will I trust.
Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare
of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
Now here's the walls.
He shall cover thee with His feathers.
And under His wings shalt thou trust.
His truth shall be thy shield and thy
buckler.
In other words, thy protection.
He will cover you with His feathers.
Sir, madam, brother, sister, young person that's here,
you've been in difficulty and trial, but you've
never been alone.
God has been with you and God will
stay with you.
He has built walls around you.
Those walls are His own arms, His own
hands.
He's not going to allow the enemy to
exact against you.
He's not going to allow the powers of
hell to destroy you.
But in the midst of that difficulty, He's
going to reveal to you Himself.
That's what He was saying to Smyrna.
You're going to have a revelation of Jesus
in the midst of that trial.
And that revelation is going to produce a
sweetness that others who've never known trial are
never going to have.
If you can understand it tonight, if you're
in a place of difficulty, you're blessed of
Almighty God.
In that place of difficulty, if you will
turn to Him, you will find Him in
a way that so few find Him on
this side of eternity.
Hallelujah.
Thou shalt not be afraid, verse 5, for
the terror by night, nor for the arrow
that flies by day.
Some of you, you've known what it is
to be terrified in the night time.
And you've known what it is to get
out of your bed.
And the moment you're out, out come the
arrows and they're flying at you from every
corner direction of your own house, even sometimes.
But He says, you'll not be afraid of
the terror by night, nor for the arrow
that flies by day, nor for the pestilence
that walks in darkness, nor for the destruction
that wastes at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side and
ten thousand at thy right hand.
But it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes thou shalt behold and
see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord, which is
my refuge, even the most high, thy habitation.
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall
any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For He will give His angels charge over
thee to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands,
lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder,
the young lion and the dragon.
This is the end of side one.
You may now turn the tape over to
side two.
The young lion and the dragon shall thou
trample under feet.
Because He has set His love upon me,
therefore will I deliver Him.
I will set Him on high because He
has known my name.
He shall call upon me and I will
answer Him.
I will be with Him in trouble.
I will deliver Him and honor Him.
With long life will I satisfy Him and
show Him my salvation.
That's what the Lord is saying to you
tonight.
I will show you my salvation.
I will give you a revelation.
I will give you an understanding heart that
one day something is coming your way and
you will be comforted, you will be encouraged
with this revelation.
That's what the presence of Jesus was to
this church called Smyrna.
Hallelujah!
One day your warfare will be accomplished.
He said to Smyrna, be faithful unto death
and I will give you a crown of
life.
Be faithful unto death.
Let me just read to you from Isaiah
40, please.
Hallelujah!
Be faithful, be faithful, be faithful.
Isaiah 40, verse 1.
Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your
God.
Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem and cry unto
her that her warfare is accomplished, that her
iniquity is pardoned, for she has received of
the Lord's hand double for all her sins.
Now verse 28, please go ahead.
Hast thou not known?
Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God,
the Lord, the Creator of the ends of
the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?
There is no searching of his understanding.
He gives power to the faint and to
them that have no might He increases their
strength.
Even the youth shall faint and be weary
and the young men shall utterly fall.
But they that wait upon the Lord shall
renew their strength.
They shall mount up with wings as eagles.
They shall run and not be weary.
They shall walk and not faint.
Hallelujah!
Look at Romans, please.
I want to show you the revelation now.
The revelation that Jesus gave to this church.
The revelation.
Revelation 8.
Verse 15.
For you have not received the spirit of
bondage again to fear, but you have received
the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father.
In other words, you're not alone.
You're not alone in your house.
You're not alone at your job.
You're not alone on the street.
Wherever you are, you're not alone.
We have not received the spirit of fear,
but we have been adopted by Almighty God,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
I'm never alone.
I'm not alone.
Even in the darkest night.
Even when things are the most difficult.
I'm never alone.
He has said, I will never leave you
and I will never forsake you.
The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit
that we are the children of God.
And if we're children, then heirs.
Heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.
If so be that we suffer with him,
that we may be also glorified together.
Listen to what Paul says in verse 18.
For I reckon that the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy, are not worthy,
are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that shall be revealed in us.
Hallelujah.
The sufferings are not worthy.
Jesus, in the book of Hebrews chapter 2,
the Scripture says, looking unto Jesus, the author
and finisher of our faith, who for the
joy that was set before Him endured the
cross, despising the shame, and is set down
at the right hand of the throne of
God.
In the next couple of verses it says,
consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners
against Himself, lest you become weary and faint
in your minds.
Consider Him, who for the joy...
Paul says, I reckon the sufferings of this
present time are not worthy.
No matter how hard it gets, brothers and
sisters.
No matter what happens to our society.
No matter where we end up on this
earth as a church body.
The sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to even compare with the glory that's
going to be revealed in you and I
as the body of Jesus Christ.
Hallelujah.
The Bible exhorts us to have the eyes
of Christ.
His eyes were not on His situation, but
He was looking ahead to the joy that
was before Him.
That's where you and I need to be
looking this night.
If you're in a situation of difficulty, ask
God for the grace to get your eyes
off of your situation insomuch as is possible
in the Holy Ghost.
And begin to look unto Him, the author
and finisher of your salvation.
Look unto Him who said, I will never
fail you.
A thousand will fall at your one hand
and ten thousand at the other hand, but
it will not come nigh you.
Hallelujah.
Now listen to what glory lies ahead.
2 Corinthians please.
2 Corinthians.
Hallelujah.
2 Corinthians 4.
Verse 15.
What glory.
What glory lies ahead.
For all things are for your sakes that
the abundant grace might through the thanksgiving of
many redound to the glory of God.
For which cause we faint not, but though
our outward man perish, yet the inward man
is renewed day by day.
Listen to verse 17.
Just the first four words.
For our light affliction.
Now if you go back over the life
of the apostle Paul and you read his
testimony.
I was shipwrecked.
I was a day and night in the
deep or three days and three nights.
I was stoned.
I was left for dead.
I was in perils among false brethren.
I was slandered, blasphemed.
You name it.
Whatever could happen to Paul, it happened to
Paul.
Imagine going to preach a sermon and being
left for dead under a pile of rocks
and the church comes around and prays for
you.
You get up, you go back into the
city and preach again.
And Paul says, Our light affliction, light affliction,
which is but for a moment.
His eyes were not looking on his circumstances.
I'm sure of that.
Works for us a far more exceeding and
eternal weight of glory.
Now here's the key.
Verse 18.
While we look not at the things which
are seen, but at the things which are
not seen.
For the things which are seen are temporal,
but the things which are not seen are
eternal.
Hallelujah.
Now, we would ask, what did Paul see
ahead?
Paul saw in Romans 6, 5.
Let me just read it to you.
He said, If we have been planted together
in the likeness of His death, we shall
also be in the likeness of His resurrection.
The Apostle John, the beloved Apostle, in 1
John chapter 3, in verse 2, he said,
Now, beloved, we are now the sons of
God, and it does not yet appear what
we shall be.
But we know that when He shall appear,
we shall be like Him.
For we shall see Him as He is.
When He shall appear, we shall be like
Him.
Hallelujah.
The sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory that
shall be revealed in us as the church
of Jesus Christ.
Revelation.
Let's look at what He really looks like.
Revelation chapter 1.
John says, When He shall appear, we shall
be like Him.
When He shall appear, we shall be like
Him.
Hallelujah.
Revelation 1.13. John says, And in the
midst of the seven candlesticks was one like
unto the Son of Man, clothed with a
garment down to the foot and girt above
the paps with a golden girdle.
His head and hairs were white like wool
as white as snow, and His eyes were
as a flame of fire.
And His feet like undefined brass as if
they burned in a 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 or appearance was as the
sun shining in His strength.
Hallelujah.
We know that John says, When I saw
Him, I fell at His feet like a
dead man.
Paul says, The sufferings of this present time
are not worthy to be compared with the
glory that shall be revealed in us.
Hallelujah.
Revelation 1.
talks about what Jesus looks like.
John says, We are now the sons of
God.
And we know that when He shall appear
we shall be like Him.
Paul says in Philippians 3.21 He shall
change our vile body that it may be
fashioned unto His glorious body according to the
working whereby He is able to subdue all
things unto Himself.
The book of 1 Corinthians.
Turn there please, quickly.
Chapter 15.
Hallelujah.
Are you starting to get the picture?
Verse 49.
As we have borne the image of the
earthy we shall also bear the image of
the heavenly.
Now this I say brethren that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.
Neither does corruption inherit incorruption.
Behold, I show you a mystery.
We shall not all sleep but we shall
all be changed.
In a moment in the twinkling of an
eye at the last trump for the trumpet
shall sound and the dead shall be raised
incorruptible and we shall be changed.
For this corruptible must put on incorruption this
mortal must put on immortality.
So when this corruptible shall have put on
incorruption this mortal shall have put on immortality
then shall be brought to pass the saying
that is written death is swallowed up in
victory.
O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory?
The sting of death is sin and the
strength of sin is the law but thanks
be to God who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, my beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always
abounding we sang that tonight Jesus is my
Savior I shall not be moved.
Hallelujah.
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 show you a mystery I show you
a mystery the revelation of Jesus Christ.
Let me just read some verses of Scripture
to you now.
John says, I saw a new heaven and
a new earth for the first heaven and
the first earth were passed away and there
was no more sea and I, John, saw
the holy city New Jerusalem coming down from
God out of heaven prepared as a bride
adorned for her husband even those who are
suffering even those who are in difficulty tonight
and I heard a great voice out of
heaven saying behold the tabernacle of God is
with men and he will dwell with them
and they shall be his people and God
himself shall be with them and be their
God and God shall wipe away all tears
from their eyes there shall be no more
death no more sorrow no more crying there
shall be no more pain for the former
things hallelujah thanks to God are passed away
hallelujah hallelujah and he said to me write
for these words are true and faithful these
words are true and faithful and I saw
no temple therein for the Lord God Almighty
and the Lamb are the temple of it
the city had no need of the sun
nor of the moon to shine in it
for the glory of God did lighten it
and the Lamb is the light thereof the
nations of them which are saved shall walk
in the light of it and kings of
the earth to bring their glory and honor
into it and the gates of it shall
not be shut at all by day there
shall be no night there they shall bring
the glory and honor of the nations into
it and there shall in no wise enter
into it anything that defiles neither works abomination
or makes a lie but they that are
written in the Lamb's book of life hallelujah
hallelujah and he showed me a pure river
of water of life clear as crystal proceeding
out of the throne of God and out
of the Lamb in the midst of the
street of it and on either side of
the river there was the tree of life
which bare twelve manner of fruits and yielded
her fruit every month and the leaves of
the tree were for the healing of the
nations there shall be no more curse but
the throne of God and of the Lamb
shall be in it and His servant shall
serve Him they shall see His face and
His name shall be in their foreheads there
shall be no night there they need no
candle neither light of the sun for the
Lord God will give them light and they
shall reign forever and ever and He said
unto me these things are faithful and true
and the Lord God of the holy prophets
sent His angel to show unto His servants
the things which must shortly be done behold
I come quickly blessed is he that keeps
the sayings of the prophecy of this book
hallelujah the apostle Paul calls this life a
momentary and a light affliction the devil would
have us to believe that it's all over
you're rejected and God's forsaken you and you're
never going to get through but you know
that the devil is a liar and we're
not ignorant of his schemes we're not ignorant
of his lies he wants to drive you
into a dungeon of despair he's a master
at doing that he wants to crush you
and he wants to convince you that God
doesn't love you and God hasn't forsaken you
and God has forsaken you and God has
nothing in the future for you but he's
just a liar an absolute liar and the
father of all lies God has not forsaken
you and if you will turn to Him
and look to Him with all of your
heart there is a richness of Jesus there
is a richness that can be found in
trial that can't be found anywhere else hallelujah
hallelujah I know your tribulation I know your
poverty I know your works but you are
rich hallelujah you are rich in the midst
of it all whenever we have prayer meetings
in this house on Thursday and Friday night
I know especially the women who come down
to pray I know the ones who've had
a hard hard home life there's a richness
in your prayer oh mothers of Zion don't
you ever stop praying in this house there's
something in your prayer that touches the heart
of God when a person has gone through
difficulty in trial in their life something happens
inside and they come up and all they
want is Him and all they have is
Him and their whole focus is Him their
whole heart is for Him their whole love
is for Him and they've begun to look
out from themselves and they look out onto
others and they begin to get concerned about
the struggles because they can identify with the
struggles Jesus Himself was moved with the feeling
of our infirmities hallelujah hallelujah one last scripture
please go to the book of Romans chapter
8 Romans chapter 8 some
of you tonight have a lot of people
against you and it seems that circumstances at
times are against you but I have a
scripture that blows a hole right through the
middle of all that Romans 8 31 it
says what shall we then say to these
things if God's before us who can be
against us hallelujah hallelujah I'm not trying to
sound callous tonight or flippant but I tell
you you can go back home to that
situation tonight and go in your room and
nothing has changed at home you can get
down on your knees and have a little
chuckle with God and I really mean that
you can worship and laugh and rejoice God
if you be for me who can be
against me who he that spared not
his own son but delivered him up for
us all how shall he not with him
also freely give us all things ma'am
you go home and that husband's heart may
be hard but I want to tell you
there's not a man on the earth big
enough to fight against God there's not a
man on the earth small enough to hide
from God I challenge you to get to
your knees and say God who does that
man think he is that he can stand
against you and stand against your convicting power
and stand against your love and begin to
pray like you've never prayed before that God
has to put that man on a bed
of affliction like my precious sister that I
spoke to you about then God will do
what God has to do you love him
with all of your heart you praise him
and you make a decision in your heart
tonight Lord I'm going to love you like
Daniel and Shadrach Meshach and Abednego God is
well able to deliver us out of the
flame and if he wants to he can
but if not we'll serve him anyway it
makes no difference hallelujah God can take me
through the fire God can take me through
this trial and I'm not looking to find
satisfaction in this place I'm looking beyond I
see a joy coming ahead of me I
don't fully understand it all but I'm going
to a place where there's no more sorrow
I'm going to a place where no more
arrows come flying in my direction I'm going
to a place where there's no more backbiting
and no more lying and no more backstabbing
I'm going to a place where dogs don't
come in I'm going to a place where
righteousness dwells I'm going to a place where
I can step out of my mansion walk
down streets of gold and come into the
parlor of the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords hallelujah hallelujah I'm going to a
place where I can walk down a street
that has trees on every side of the
river and there's fruit for the healing of
the nations and I can take whatever I
want for whatever need I have hallelujah glory
to God glory to God and so Lord
we declare tonight that this momentary and light
affliction is not worthy to be compared it's
not worthy to be compared with the glory
that shall be revealed in us hallelujah verse
33 says who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect it is God that
justifies who shall lay anything to the charge
if you're walking in a right relationship with
God I know there are women and men
here tonight that you go home and an
unsaved partner is picking you apart continuously and
talking about your hypocrisy every you're not perfect
and the only one perfect is Christ and
you make mistakes you lose your temper you
do things you shouldn't do and they're right
there to point out every fault and crush
you and tear you down and there are
women here and men who can identify with
this tonight but the scripture says who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect
who shall bring an accusation against the children
of God it is God that justifies if
you are justified in the sight of God
don't you dare let any voice condemn you
and cast you down if you know you're
a child of God hallelujah who is he
that condemns it is Christ that died yet
rather is risen again who is even at
the right hand of God who also makes
intercession for us who shall separate us from
the love of Christ shall tribulation that means
trial or distress or persecution or famine or
nakedness or peril or sword as it is
written for thy sake we are killed all
the day long we are counted as sheep
for the slaughter now the apostle Paul says
nay but in all these things we are
more than conquerors through him that loved us
for I am persuaded I am persuaded that
neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities
nor powers nor things present nor things to
come nor any height nor depth nor any
other creature shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord hallelujah hallelujah nothing nothing
nothing nothing nothing nothing glory
to your holy name glory hallelujah ha ha
ha ha ha ha this is the conclusion
of the tape