Address—C. Hendricks
DISCLAIMER: The following has been auto-transcribed. We hope it will help you to find the section of this audio file you are looking for.
Could we turn to Revelation 3? Continue with our brothers?
Brought before us Revelation 3, verse 11.
The Lord is speaking.
To the assembly at Philadelphia. Behold, I come quickly.
Hold that fast which thou hast.
That no man take thy crown.
The 10th verse.
Sets before us a wonderful promise.
He says, Because thou has kept the word of my patience.
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation.
Which shall come upon all the world.
To try them that dwell upon the earth.
There's two classes here this afternoon, those who are a heavenly people.
Because they've received.
The Lord Jesus the Rejected 1.
Who's now been exalted to the right hand of the throne of God?
The heavenly man. And then there are those who are minding earthly things.
I want to read that in Philippians chapter 3.
Verse 18.
The apostle Paul lamenting, he says for many walk.
Of whom I have told you often.
And now tell you, even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.
Whose end is destruction?
Whose God is their belly?
And whose glory is in their shame?
Who mind?
Earthly things.
For our conversation, our citizenship is in heaven.
From whence also we look for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who mind earthly things do not look for the Lord Jesus.
They're not expecting him.
They don't want him.
There are things that.
Hinder our looking for the Lord Jesus. I just quickly want to touch upon them in Luke 12 very very quickly just to point them out. Three things in Luke 12.
That can hinder.
Are looking and desiring the coming of the Lord. The 1St is verse 4.
I say unto you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body.
And after that have no more that they can do.
But I will forewarn you whom you shall fear. Fear him. Let God, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell. Yeah, I say unto you, Fear Him. Then in verse 8 he says, Whosoever shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man confess also before the angels of God.
But he that denies me before men shall be denied before the angels of God. Every day we are either confessing or denying the blessed Lord.
And it's the fear of man which leads us to.
Deny him. It's the fear of man which is the snare.
That the Lord Jesus warns about the fear of man which would keep us from confessing him, and if we don't confess him boldly, we won't really want his return. That's a great hindrance, the fear of man which leads to a practical denial by our life, by our testimony, by our walk, by our words, by the way we conduct ourselves.
Whether we're either confessing him?
Are denying him. If we're not confessing the Lord in our path, then we don't really want him to come.
Really.
That's the one thing that could hinder us. Then again in verse 13 we have another. And one of the companies said unto him, Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me.
And he said unto him, Notice the answer of the blessed Lord man, who made me a judge or a divider over you.
He wasn't here that way. He wasn't here in that capacity the first time. He wasn't here to judge and divide the inheritance. He wasn't here to set the world right. He will when he returns. He's going to set the world right. But he wasn't here that way, and he didn't change the world when he was here. He wasn't here for that purpose, but rather to save a people out of it and to live for the glory of his Father.
But then he he lays bare what was operating in the heart of this person in the company that said, Master, speak to my brother, that he divided the inheritance with me. In verse 15. He said unto them, Take heed and beware of covetousness, for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth.
00:05:22
Covetousness, that sin which is idolatry, the Apostle Paul tells us. It is occupation with getting possessions, getting things here. It's really characteristic of those who mind earthly things. Their whole portion in life is here.
They're not.
A heavenly people, Judas, his sin, that which led him.
To betray and deny his master was covetousness.
For he had the bag and he bare what was put therein, and it was covetousness which operated his in his heart. So the Lord Jesus says, beware of covetousness. This man who had come and said, divide the inheritance, what was at the what was the motive, what was operating in his heart that caused him to ask that question? How many times even?
Christians become alienated one from another.
Because of the way an inheritance has been divided, beware of covetousness.
A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. Then in the 22nd verse we have the third thing which can operate in the life of a Christian. And if it is operating in such a way that it dominates his life, they won't that such a one will not really look for the Lord's coming. Verse 22. He said unto his disciples.
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life what ye shall eat, neither for the body what ye shall put on. And there's the He goes into this in detail in these verses. There is the cares of this world.
The cares of this world. We can become so occupied with the cares of this world that it quenches the desire for the Lord's coming. We are really so occupied with earthly things.
The fear of losing 1's life causes one not to confess the Lord.
Wanting more earthly possessions, covetousness causes one not to confess the Lord and not to look for His coming, and then being just so occupied with the mundane things of this world that cares of this world, can rob 1 of this precious truth of the Lord's coming.
Now let's go back to Revelation 3 and let's look at verse 10 with a little more detail and then I'll sit down for someone else. Revelation 310 because I was kept the word of my patients.
He's patiently waiting the hour when the Father tells him to come for us, and then he'll come back and set up the Kingdom in power and glory, and then he'll establish his rights here. But this is not the time.
The Corinthians were reigning as kings, Paul said. I would to God you did reign, that we also might reign with you.
Now it's the time of His patience. It's the time when we're identified with Him and His. In His rejection, you, you and I are following a rejected Christ.
And, I don't know, a snare worse than what we've looked at there in Luke covetousness.
It's especially that which we have to be careful about, the love of money, the love of possessions, minding earthly things.
So he says. Because if you've kept the word of my patience, I will keep you.
I will keep you out from the hour of trial, temptation and trial, which shall come upon all the world. The whole world is going to feel this, but it's to try them that dwell upon the earth, them that dwell upon the earth, that's a moral class.
Who are they?
It's those who were offered heaven.
And said no, I prefer Earth.
Apostate Christians.
Them that dwell upon the earth.
The Book of Revelation tells us over and over again about them. Let's just read about them in the 13th of Revelation. Them that dwell upon the earth. We'll see where they're going to end up. This tribulation. Time is going to try them that dwell upon the earth. It's going to come upon the whole world. But the promise to the Philadelphian, to the one who is bearing a heavenly testimony is I'll keep you out. I'll take you out of this world.
00:10:17
Well, we know the the Book of Revelation chapter 13.
Speaks of the beast. There's two beasts mentioned. Verse one is the beast rising out of the sea. Verse 2 The beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet is the feet of a bears mouth is the mouth of a lion, the dragon. This is the revived Roman Empire headed up by a man.
The dragon gave him his power and his seat.
After the church is raptured to heaven, after we've been taken out of the time of temptation which have come upon all the world to try them to dwell upon the earth. But here's now we're going to read about that class of people and what they're going to do after we're taken, after the heavenly Saints are taken to heaven. And you're a heavenly St. If you're a Christian, whether you're living it or not, you're a heavenly St. You belong to heaven. You don't belong to this scene. You don't belong to earth. You're a heavenly person. You're not a Jew.
You are a member of the Church of God, and that means you are heavenly.
And to deny that is to deny your calling, to deny the distinctive character and testimony of Christianity. Heavenly people.
Verse 5 There was given unto him a mouth speaking great things, and blasphemies, and power was given unto him to continue 42 months.
And he opened his mouth and blasphemy against God, to blasphemy his name and his Tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. He blasphemes those that dwell in heaven, the heavenly Saints, and all those that have their portion above. And it was given unto him to make war with the Saints, and to overcome them. And power was given over, given him over all Kindred's tongues and nations, and all that dwell upon the earth. There they are the same class that's going to be.
By this awful time of trial.
That we saw in Revelation 3. They that dwell upon the earth shall worship him.
Whose names were not written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity, and he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the Saints. And I beheld another beast. Here's the Antichrist, the false prophet.
Coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon, And he exercises all the power of the first beast before him, and causes the earth and them which dwell therein again the same expression to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed.
And he doeth wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and he deceiveth them that dwell on the earth. Again the same expression.
By the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth.
That they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live.
And he had power to give breath. It ought to read unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause it. As many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right-hander, in their foreheads, that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark of the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Them that dwell upon the earth, which are you?
Heavenly.
Whose portion is above.
Or are you of that class?
Who dwell upon the earth, whose portion is here?
Solemn, solemn thing. The tribulation, the time of trial that's coming on this world.
Is to test the whole world. It's for the whole world, but it's to try to test them that dwell upon the earth. Apostate Christians that wouldn't have heaven, they preferred earth and they're going to have it in all its horror, in all its judgment.
Beware.
Of covetousness.
Confess him boldly.
And then you'll be looking for his coming.
Don't be occupied with the mundane things of this life, to be so occupied that you're just fretting and worrying all the time. Don't let these things rob you of the daily constant expectation. He may come today. Perhaps today the early brethren greeted one another with perhaps today. Oh, that we might have that before us.
00:15:13
Come quickly, Lord Jesus. He's coming, and that ought to be before us. And if it were before us.
Every day our lives would be different. We would fly the heavenly color. We would show that this scene is not the scene in which we're occupied. It doesn't attract us. Nay, world, I turn away. Though thou seem fair and good, That friendly outstretched hand of thine is stained with Jesus Blood. Within thy least device I stoop to take apart all unaware is God. Thy influence steals God's.
From my heart, May God give us to not just be a righteous people and a holy people always very necessary, but.
Heavenly people, those that show this is not our home, this is not our portion, God is making us to feel it.
Zephaniah 312 Says, I will leave in the midst of thee, and afflicted in poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.
I said to a brother, well, we're not very poor in this country. And he said, but we are afflicted. Yes, he's afflicted us because he wants us to realize this is not our rest. This is not our rest. We have something infinitely better above. And the heavenly people are those that delight in the man who's there.
The rejected 1 here, but the man who's there, the Lord Jesus.
Lord Jesus, come.