In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the joy, peace, and hope that believers have in their relationship with God. He describes this joy as being almost tangible and full of glory. He also highlights the richness of being a follower of Christ, even if one may not have material wealth. The preacher then transitions to discussing the book of Revelation, specifically focusing on chapters 2 and 3. He reminds the audience that the book is a revelation of Jesus Christ given by God and delivered through the Spirit to John. The preacher encourages the listeners to pay attention to what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

Eight O Five, please. Eight O Five. Brightly beams our Father's mercy from his lighthouse evermore, but to us he gives the keeping of the lights along the shore. Eight O Five, please. We're back to reading and reaping in Revelation, and we're going through from verse 8 to the end of verse 11. Just four verses this evening, but four very wonderful verses. Verse 8, 9, 10, 11. I think we need to recapture that our Lord is walking here in the midst of the seven churches, seven actual, literal churches in Asia. And our Lord is walking and watching as he walks in the midst of the churches. He's lovingly looking at all the laborers and at all the neighbors. He's seeing all the saints and all their sufferings. And as the Master walks in the midst, he penned these letters to these churches. And the one we're thinking about tonight is our Lord's last letter, last word to the church at Smyrna. That's a very interesting word, the word Smyrna, because it comes from the word myrrh. Smyrna comes from the word myrrh. And the word myrrh refers to a gum that's squeezed out of a tree. It's a sort of rosin, and it's squeezed out at certain seasons and comes out through the bark. You remember when our Lord hung upon the cross, you remember they gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall. And the word gall is actually the old word myrrh. It was something that was put in wine or put in the vinegar to drink to stupefy the senses when someone was suffering. And there's a great example laid down for us here, that our Lord refused to be stupefied when he was suffering in our room instead, because when he had tasted it, he would not drink it. And this word myrrh, it's a word that appears both at Christ's birth and Christ's death. You remember when the wise men came, they brought gold, frankincense and myrrh, and presented it to the young child. Of course, gold is something that's everlasting and unchanging. It's like deity itself. Frankincense is something that's pleasant, something that's lovely, something that's fragrant, and it's like many of the graces of our Lord Jesus. Of course, myrrh, coming from being squeezed out through the bark, it always refers to suffering. And indeed this church at Smyrna was a suffering church. And so that's the one that went up this evening. I think that we should establish again that this was a natural, literal church. Don't let's forget. Here's an interesting little link that you should always keep in your mind when you're reading the first three chapters of the book of the Revelation. Remember, the book is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave of him. That's the very first verse in the first chapter. It is not the revelation of Saint John the Divine, as was in your Bible. Actually, it's the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's God's revelation of Christ. It's God giving a revelation of Christ to Christ. And then Christ gave it by his Spirit to John. Because the last verse in this chapter says, verse 29, He that hath a ear, let him hear what the Spirit says. Capital S. It's very true that it's God's revelation. It's very true that it's Christ's. It's very true that it's the Spirit's. I think we should keep that in mind. And God is giving it to Christ, and Christ is giving it to John by his Spirit. And then John gave it to the angel of the church at Ephesus, the angel of the church at Smyrna, the angel of the church of Pergamos. And we found that there were seven churches, and we found there were seven angels. And the word angel, of course, is not referring to one of these glorified beings in heaven. It's an old Greek word that refers to the messenger of God. And in each of those churches, there was a recognized messenger, the pastor. Whether you like it or not, if you try to work it out any other way, you'll be in a fix. I know the type of brethren who don't like it. Let me tell you, sir, there were seven churches. There are seven messengers, and there is one for each church. And he is responsible to receive, responsible to receive the message from God, responsible to put it into order, responsible to prophet unto the congregation. This is God's order, you know. When Christ went back to heaven and the church was formed, he gave, first of all, in the early days before there was any New Testament at all, he gave apostles and prophets. And then he gave evangelists to evangelize. And then he gave pastors and teachers. And the greatest gift we have today is teacher. And so, we've got to see just this very clearly, that this was a literal, literal church. Well, I think we must go deeper into the Scriptures than this, because it's very true that while we have the seven churches, that they may well be bringing before us seven prophetical, historical periods, all belonging to each of us. You see, for the first hundred years after the church was formed, the church was like the church at Ephesus. It had great activities and great qualities, and yet it was getting so taken up with itself that it was beginning to lose its first love, which was Christ. And that was taking place in the first hundred years of church history. Now, for the next two hundred years, the church passed through times of persecution and suffering and tribulation, and this may be well what the church at Smyrna is bringing forward in a prophetical, historical sense. And then, not only do we look at an actual, literal church, and not only may there be a prophetical, historical period here, but we must remember that the word that goes forth, though it's by the Spirit through the churches, there's a word for individuals. You know, again and again we find this word, and we'll find it again in this church this evening, at verse 11. At the last phrase, he that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. And that's the promise to the individual who will overcome all the suffering that's going to come before us in the paragraphs this evening. So, having done that, we'll start this letter to this church properly. There are two things stressed here as our Lord writes this letter. Verse 8. Our Lord is speaking now unto John, and saying to him, and unto the messenger of the church in Smyrna writes. And you can see that our translators have got this right this time, because in chapter 2, verse 1, they put it like this. Our Lord said, unto the messenger of the church of Ephesus writes. And I corrected that last week, and pointed out it's the church in Ephesus. There's no title, no ecclesiastical title for this church. Verse 8. Unto the angel of the messenger of the church in Smyrna. It was written to all the believers there. Right. And our Lord puts his name on these letters. These things saith the first and the last, which are dead and is alive. And you remember when we were in the first chapter, let's go back to refresh our minds again. Verse 8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, which was, which is to come, the Almighty. And it's quite clear for anyone to see that the one who is Alpha and Omega is the Almighty. This is Jehovah. And then in verse 10, John said, I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a voice as if a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega. This is Jehovah. Now the wording is added, the first and the last. So there's no trouble about this. And when John saw our Lord Jesus Christ, it's said in verse 17, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not. I am the first and the last, and I challenge the Jehovah's Witnesses to wake it up, and you can't. Jesus Christ is God. There is no problem in my mind with that. And if you youngsters get the three verses together, you can handle all the Jehovah's Witnesses in the country. He is the first and the last. You see, this is what he's saying in this church here. He's saying right unto the angel or the messenger of the church in Smyrna, these things saith the first and the last. You know, this is something that all the saints should get a hold of, especially in times when the church is suffering. We should see the great head of our church, that he's on the throne of the universe, that he's God. Don't let there be any hesitations about this. I can bow any hour of the day or night at Jesus Christ's feet and say, my Lord and my God, and I don't blush when I do it. Because he was God, manifest in flesh. You see, he's the first in the sense that all things were made by him. He was before all things, that's what the bible says, therefore he must be the first. And actually there is nothing else to him. Because not only were all things made for him, all things made by him, but all things were made for him. Yes, he's the first and he's the last. And it's a wonderful name that he puts on this letter, because when saints are going through a time of suffering, it's then they need to know that Jesus Christ is really God. You know, I'm preparing a sermon, in fact I might have pitched it on Sunday morning if the colonel had not been coming. I'm preparing a message at this moment on the super sayings of Christ. I know that everything he said is wonderful, I'm sure of that. I'm sure it's perfectly true that never man speak like this man. But then he said things that no other man would ever attempt to say. We had one of them the other week. He said, I have the keys of hell and of death. If you find anybody in the British Isles who would like to come and say this, nobody that I ever knew would ever like to say, I have the keys of hell, I have the keys of death. The pilot asked me yesterday, are you frightened? I said, I'm not a bit frightened. He said, this thing never worries me, not because I'm a brave man, just because I know that the keys of death hang at the girdle of the Lord Jesus. You see, as I see life, you go on down the sands of time and the door of death for you is the way down there, maybe not so far down for some of us, but there's a lock on the door and there's a key for the lock, and the key for the lock hangs at the girdle of my Lord, and not until he puts the key in the lock and opens the door will I die as a super saint. And have you got the truth of the super saint? My dear friends, there are a lot of super saints, I'll not tell you any more of them now, but I have quite a number of them under my belt. Yes, you know, he's God, he's the first, he's the last. But he said something more to them when he was writing this letter. He said, I'm to the messenger of the church in Smyrna write these things as the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. Not only do you see the deity of Christ here, but you see the victory of Christ, or the victory of Calvary. You know, it's a thing to see Christ on death, face to face. Very wonderful, you know. Do you remember that Epaphroditus, a servant who went round with Paul, was nigh unto death, very nigh unto death. But you know, the Lord didn't let him die. Oh, no, the Lord just raised him up, you know, because he is far to take us away from the gates of death. He is far. Do you remember that Jairus came and said, my daughter is even now dead. I believe you can deal with this. What a character he was. And the Lord walked in and lifted the little girl by the hand. You remember we were looking at this, the tiny, white, lifeless, cold hand in the hand of the master. And he just squeezed it there, and he kissed death away. You know, he himself became dead. He was dead. And how cold, and still, and dark, and hopeless the tombs seem to be. They have ruled the stone, they have sealed the stone. There's a body inside, it's dark, it's cold. And yet he moved, and he came out through the stone. Yes, he's mastered death. He abolished death. This is the one that's writing the letter. He wants these suffering saints to know this. And in days of suffering, in days when death is nearby, it's good to know his deity, and it's good to know his victory. That's what he's writing the letter all about. And I think we need to get the hold of that. And so now we've got really started. Verse 8. Unto the messenger of the church, in Smyrna, write, These things, death the first and the last, which was dead. And if anybody ever challenges you about Calvary, one fellow said to me, I think he only went into his fullness. Not on your life he didn't. He himself said, I am he that liveth and was dead. He was dead. But he's alive, and alive forevermore, and death hath no more dominion. He lives in the power of an endless life. And so that's the signature on the letter. Now he's talking to the church. He says, I know thy works. You see, he had watched this little suffering church down at Smyrna, and he knew all the activity that was going on there. He knew about the different preachers that were there. He knew about the different meetings. He knew about the prayer meetings. He knew all the activity of the church. I know thy works. He's just saying, I know the works of the church. And then he went on to say this, I know thy works on tribulation. You see, he didn't only know the activity of the church, he knew the severity of the hour. He knew they were passing through these times of suffering. He knew they were being squeezed, just like the gum in the tree is squeezed by the strength of the tree out through the box. He knew all about the severity of the tribulation. He says, I know the activity of the church. I know the severity of the hour. And poverty, I know the poverty of the day. This church was in poverty. It had no money. You see, immediately he said this, parenthetical little bit put in, for thou art rich. You see, it is possible for a church to be materially poor, and yet be spiritually rich. Don't let's make any mistakes about that. Sometimes we're up to measure the spirituality of the church by the materials that it has. Well, you'd be very wrong when you go to the church of the Naodecians, because they were increased with goods, and they had need of nothing. Actually, it's the other way around when we get there. They were materially rich, ah, but spiritually poor, poor, blind, miserable, wretched, naked. Don't let's measure things wrongly. This was a little church. It had no money. It was in poverty. And the Lord knew the activity of the church, and the severity of the hour, and the poverty of the day. But it was spiritually rich. And I think, you know, no matter what our situation in life is, that we should always count our blessings, or at least try to count them. You'll never be able to do it properly. You know, every believer should have a sort of jewel case in his heart, just the way some of the rich have a jewel case in the house. I was at the very rich home once, when they opened this jewel case, and they let me see rings that cost about ten thousand pounds. And then they went into all kinds of jewellery. And of course, while I looked at this, I was spiritualizing away. I wonder how you jewels in your heart tonight. You rich. You know, if you're really saved, if you're born again, if you're washed in the blood of the Lamb, you know, you have eternal things tonight that belong to you. First of all, you have eternal life. And you didn't work for it. It was the gift of God. Sometimes I like to open this sort of jewel case and say, look, I've got eternal life. And then what's more, I have got eternal redemption. And there is no last again about that. Because I am eternally redeemed tonight, whether you like it or not. When my Lord went back to heaven, this is what Hebrews 9 says, he went back to heaven by his own blood, by the power of his own shed blood, having obtained eternal redemption for us believers. I'm eternally redeemed. I've got eternal life. And I can't have eternal life for six months, you know. It must be eternal life. And I have eternal redemption. And I'll tell you what's more, I have eternal salvation. They're all in this jewel case that I keep. And I have a joy that's in there, just like a ring. It's joy unspeakable. And it's full of glory. And I have a peace in there. It's a peace that passes all understanding. And I have a hope that anticipates the glory of God. One day I shall be glorified. I've got justification. I've got reconciliation. Friends, I'm really rich, you know. I may not have much of this world's goods, but I'm rich just the same. And so, you know, he's talking to this church, and he's saying, I know the activity of the church, and I know the severity of the hour, and I know the poverty of the day. Now we get down to the bit that means a lot. Verse 9, I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, but thou art rich. I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. You see, some of this squeezing, and some of this crushing, and some of this persecution, and some of this tribulation, that was really hurting these saints of Smyrna, and made them the suffering church, this came from Jews. Let's get the hold of it. They're not hardly worthy to be called Jews, which say they are Jews. Yes, you know, they were in a synagogue down the road, as far as the world. In this city of Smyrna, there were many Jews, and there were many synagogues. But, you know, a synagogue can be taken over by the devil. Well, that's a very dangerous point we're on just now. You see, you can become so bigoted, and so embittered, that you can be bluffed by the devil into thinking that you're doing something for God, when you're doing nothing of the kind. The Lord said to his disciples, the time will come when they that tell you will think that they do God's service. It is how warped a man's mind can be. He can break the sixth commandment, he can break thou shalt not kill, and at the same time, he can be so bluffed that he thinks he's working for God. Now, be very careful. Be very careful that the devil doesn't take you over. You know, so sometimes, I think that some of the saints become so bigoted. In fact, I find bitterness, and I think the devil has taken them over. I think it's terrible. A man came to me on this platform, sat beside me here. He's a gunsmith, owns a gun shop. He said, there was a believer in my house last night with 300 pounds, wanting to buy guns to shoot Roman Catholics. What should I do? I said, you know what to do. How dare you? How dare you, believer, murder anybody? I think you don't get the text right sometimes. Thou shalt not kill. No believer should ever be found guilty of murder. I don't know what we're getting about this book, plainly says that we should be blameless and harmless as the sons of God. What do you mean? The devil has taken you over with your Protestant bigotry. Yeah, you can soon be taken over, you know. And the wee synagogue becomes the house of the devil. Then are you stuck? Yeah, we're talking to you now. If you're going to be a Christian, then follow Christ. There, this little church at Smyrna, it was the Jews down the road in the synagogue. They were giving them what for? Arnold of Brass, who may. They were saying things against the truth that was being taught by the little church. But they were only the synagogue of Satan now. And so, you can see the discernment of Christ. He's discerning our sufferings. I know the activity of the church. I know the severity of the hour. I know the poverty of the day. I know the blasphemy of the Jews. I know the subtlety of the devil. This is pretty good shooting, isn't it? It's the master that's preaching. That's why it's good preaching. Because never anybody spoke like him. And then he comes to encourage them now in verse 10. He says, Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. You know how often in this book, from Genesis right through to the page where we are, does the Lord come to his believers, his followers, his saints, his suffering ones? How often has he come and said, Fear not. He always says this. You remember when Abraham went out against the four kings and overthrew them. And the five kings that had already been defeated by them, came round to the Lord and blessed Abraham and he wanted nothing to do with them. He says, the way I broke your business, I don't want anything to do with you boys. And so he's not only against four, but against four plus five. And God came in and said, Look, Abraham, fear not. I am thy shield. How often God has to come to quieten our fears. You remember he came to Joshua, said, Fear not, Joshua. You remember when we were going through the book of Daniel, he came to Daniel, Fear not, Daniel, thou art a man greatly beloved. You remember that he took the little flock in his arms when he was with them in the upper room and said, Fear not, little flock. It is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. In the first chapter of Revelation, John is in the isle of Patmos. He touched him and said, Fear not. I am he that liveth and was dead. Behold, I am alive. And here he's talking to the little church. He says, Don't be afraid. Oh, the devil's against you. Don't be afraid. My dear friends, what a consolation these fear not's are right throughout the book. But we have not only consolation here from him, we have revelation. Verse 10, Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, thus ye may be tried. Now, they were not cast into prison yet. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you. You know, the wonder of Christ continually strikes me as I read these things, because he knew every move of the devil. The chessboard of life was open to our Lord. He knew the move he would make. You know, I think that you can see the divine knowledge of Christ here. Of course, he knew all things. He was never limited in his knowledge at any time. But certainly now, as the glorified Lord, he knew everything. Yes, you can see the knowledge of God here. He knew exactly what the devil would do. But I think you must go deeper into that. You must see the permissive will of God. He is going to allow the devil to do it. You see, we must get this corrected tonight. The devil can't do his election. What a wonderful thing that is. You know, we had a man in this meeting some years ago. He wasn't saved. He just came around here and he was a commercial traveler. He was earning three or four thousand pounds a year at times. But he hated the sight of me, and I wasn't too charmed about him either, so it was all right. But he sent for me on one occasion, and I very gladly went to see him. He wasn't too well then. And he was crying when I was in. He says, Pastor, I've got a confession to make to you. I say, you're making no confession to me. I'm not a popist priest. Any confession you want to make, you make it to God. I don't want to hear your confession. He says, but it concerns you. I want to tell you this. If I don't get telling you this, I'll be distressed. All right, I said, trot it out till we hear it. He says, you know, for six months I've been getting up at four o'clock every morning to pray to the devil to destroy you. I said, I thought you had a wee bit of brains, but now I know you have none. Look, if the devil could destroy me, he wouldn't wait on a lazy character like you getting out of bed. He'd do it before you get out. My fancy among being so daft is all that. If the devil could destroy a whole bunch of us now, you would never have another second. Ah, but he can't do it. He couldn't even touch Job until God said, you touch him. And when God allows him to touch Job's farm, he could only touch the farm and the leaves all belong. And not until God said, you can touch his body, but you can't kill him. Then he touched his body. He must get permission from God. He's not the boss, you know. Surely not like me talking to you like this, but he is not the boss. So that the Lord foresaw this. It's the foreknowledge of God that's here. And then the permissive will of God is here, because God is going to allow the devil to cast some of them into prison. But then there's not only the knowledge of God there, and the permissive will of God there, there is the providence of God there, because he was only going to cast some of them. God was going to, in his providential dealings with the church, allow some of them. Probably he could have written out the list of names. Ah, just the providence of God, he allowed that. What a wonderful thing it is to see this. The knowledge of God, the permissive will of God, the providence of God, only some of them would be cast in. Now, here's the bit we must get the hold of. He says, behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried. Oh, that was the plan of God. God was only using the old devil to try the faith of the believer. You know, God will try your faith. The trial of your faith is very precious to God, I assure you. He may even use the devil to try it. He may. Yes, that's a revelation of prayer, you know. That's a revelation. You see, as he encourages them, he brings the consolation, fear not. And then he brings this revelation. You know, he knows all that's going to happen, and the reason why. And then he said this to them, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. And I believe at this place, the days are like the days in Daniel. They are periods. For ten periods, this church was going to have tribulation. This is very interesting when you swing round to think that these churches, while they were literal, intellectual, they might also be bringing us a prophetical, historical period. Because from Nero, that great Roman emperor, right down to Diocletian, of the boys that know Roman history better than I do, and they're all around me here, they know that from Nero, Cretan, there were ten emperors. Nero first, Diocletian last, the others that I can name in between. And for those whole ten periods, the church went through time of suffering. They were squeezed. Now, can you see this? They were squeezed on the one side by the Jews. They were squeezed on the other by the Gentiles, the Roman empire, and they're bigger than Jews. Squeezing the weak church. Yes. Sometimes I wonder, is God allowing the devil to do things in Ulster? Sometimes I wonder, is our faith being tried? Sometimes I wonder how long the squeeze will go on. I don't know the answers. I don't see anybody who does. But I know that my Lord is on the throne, and I know he's still the first and the last, and I know he can conquer death. Yes, I think this is great encouragement. She said this, Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye might be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days. As I say, they were squeezed on one hand by the Jews, and on the other hand by the Gentiles, and on both hands by the devil. You'll notice that it was the synagogue of Satan. It was the devil that was using the Jews. You'll know it's the devil that's using the Roman empire and the emperors to squeeze the little church. But here's an expectation that comes to them. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Now the Lord is promising them something, but it's in the next life he's promising it. It's not in this one, because when we meet at the judgment seat, I'll give you a crown of life. There was just one word that he said to them, Be thou faithful, but we could get the hold of that tonight. I'm sure that this is what he wants of us. I need to be faithful to this book, don't I? I made up my mind a long time ago, no matter who upset I would be faithful to the book. Sometimes I upset the Brethren, the Tate ones. Sometimes I upset the old dead Baptists that are around me. Sometimes I upset the Presbyterians and the Methodists. Sometimes I upset the Orange Men, because if you're depending on a sash to get you to heaven, you'll go to hell. Sometimes I upset the Romans. I need to be faithful to this book, and by God's grace I shall be faithful to that book. I'll teach what it says, whether you like it or lump it. And 20 years has proved that there are a lot of people who love the truth. I'm here 20 years behind this book now, and look at this tonight in the bomb town, and it's not my face that attracts you here. Helena was listening to a meeting the other night, and she says it was lovely to listen the tape and not have to look at your old face. That was really wonderful, wasn't it? Oh well, she takes it out on me, and sometimes I take it out on her. Bless her. Yes, here it is, you know. You need to be faithful. Man came to me in London just yesterday. That's not long ago. He said, you know, I don't see any harm in going in with a Roman Catholic priest and sitting down and having fellowship. I said, I'm sure you wouldn't see any harm because you're sort of half blind according to the truth. Because I'm just not putting up with people talking, oh he was a very nice gentleman. I just can't afford to let nice gentlemen off with it. I said, I'll tell you what this book says, never mind what you think. This book says that I am to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. Now what have you got to say to that? He's just got nothing to say to that. He was just going to be his imagination before that. He couldn't see normally. He couldn't see anything. He could hardly see his nose going up. You see, I can't do fellowship. You don't mean to tell me that I can have fellowship with a man who says he can turn away from Him to Christ, do you? Not for a moment. I can't have fellowship with men and women who think that Mary is God. No. And you'll need to think she's God of everybody, and Lurgan, and Portadown, and Bangor, and Euthanas, and Donatee. Praise to her. At the same moment every day she'll need to be God to hear them. I can't go in with baloney like that. He says, where do you stand by the book? If the Lord says I'm to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them, then that is what I must do. I must be faithful to the book. It is all the difference, you know, between friendship and fellowship. I want to be friends with all the Roman Catholics, and I am. I can walk down in there anywhere, any day, and talk to anyone I like. I'm friends, and I know I am. But I can't have fellowship. That's different. Be long faithful. Don't be compromising this thing. Some of you could swing in for a Sunday with the devil rightly. You're not faithful. You're not right. That's your trouble. You're not just standing up for the Lord. You're just playing at match. The word for you is, be thou faithful. It costs you your head to be faithful. What about it? Not until he turns the key. Yes, that's an expectation. Then we come to this individual part. He's not half a mere what the Spirit saith unto the churches. You see, while this was for Smyrna, while this was for the pastor, while this was for some who were going to be cast into prison, yet it comes down the years to us, and we need to hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. And here's the personal promise. He that overcomes, he that overcomes the poverty, he that overcomes the severity of the tribulation, he that overcomes the subtlety of Satan, he that overcometh the crushing, both from the Jew and the Gentile, he that overcometh it says here, shall not be hurt of the second death. You know what the second death is, don't you? You know what the first death is anyway, don't you? Yes, it's the separation of body and soul and spirit, and the body dies. Well, the second death is body and soul and spirit coming together and being cast into the lake of fire to be damned for all eternity. You know, we don't want to get this wrong. This book is not teaching that if you endure suffering here, that you'll be saved in eternity. No, what he's just saying is this, that if you're really saved, then you'll take your stand, and then you'll be blessed. You know, you don't stand to be saved. You stand because you are saved. On forgetting the cost before the horse now, and saved men ought to take their stand, and you're trying to. How many of you took your stand? You're stuck in old dead churches. Where are you getting out? Oh, you're left over this, and you're still stuck there after years. Yes, you want to be for Christ. Some of you just want to be for the Methodist, don't you? Oh, yes, go ahead, stick up for them. They have lost the Lord now, but rather a scooper. Yeah, I need to talk to you, sir. Get out! Stand up for Christ. Yes, he that overcometh. My dear friend, it'll prove you've got life. That's what proves you've got life. You get saved, then you stand. You don't stand to be saved. You stand because you are saved. It's a great message. It's just one word for us tonight. Lord, you've said that you're alive. I think it is that you're alive. He says, be thou saved. God bless you. We're going to take time to sing that old-fashioned hymn tonight. Lost the number, Nora. 672. 672. Am I a soldier of the cross, a follower of the Lamb, and shall I fear to own his cause, or blush to speak his name? 672, please. Amen. Dear Lord, we hear thee saying again, be thou faithful unto death. Lord, give us grace. Part us in thy fear, and with thy blessing, for thy holy name's sake. Amen.