After this, I looked, and behold, the door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne, and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sorting stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes, before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. and the four beasts had, each of them, six wings round about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. And when those beasts gave glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and 20 elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worshiped him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Thank you, and you may be seated. Good to see each of you coming back tonight as we come to this time that we set aside in further preparation of our hearts for the ministry of the Word. I want to remind you before we go to prayer. to remember Pastor as he returns on Wednesday. I don't know the exact times, but pray for him for a safe and healthy trip, and he'll come back rested. Pray real hard for that. And for Sherry as she continues to operate here without him. And so we'll remember you in prayer. And then Martin Morley is going to have a knee replacement on Wednesday, and so be in prayer for him that it'll all go well, and he'll recover well from that. in the days ahead. Many other folks are ill. There are at least 10 to 12 people or more who would be here tonight in this place with us if they were not ill or away. And so, I know we're going to have a lot of people as we begin our time in the new building, which starts next Sunday, Lord willing. We always want to say Lord willing, but we're looking forward to that. Amen? Let's take just a few moments now and Ask the Lord to prepare our hearts for the preaching and the ministry of the word for our lives personally and for our church corporately. Our loving Heavenly Father, indeed we are thankful for the privilege we have to gather in thy name for the fellowship we've enjoyed in song and praise and in the greeting of each other. Now, Father, as we come to this time, as we gather now for the preaching, the centerpiece of our meeting together, we pray that you will bless the word as it goes forth. Bless us not only in hearing, but the receiving and the responding to it. Father, we pray that you will comfort where comfort is needed and challenge where challenge is needed and convict where a conviction is needed. And may we leave this place changed, saying it was good to be in the house of the Lord because we heard from you on high. We thank you for our Our speaker tonight, our pastor, I pray you will bless and strengthen him and encourage him as he now ministers thy word. And Father, for any who may be hearing even over the airwaves on the internet, we pray that there are some who know not Christ, draw them unto thyself through our Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. Stand one more time before the speaker comes and turn to page 509. Page 509, In Times Like These. In times of need, you need an anchor. Be very sure, be very sure. Your anchor holds, it lifts a solid rock. This rock is Jesus, this rock is Jesus. Their song is Jesus, the only one Be very sure, be very sure Your anchor holds, it keeps the solid rock In times like these, you need the Bible For we are of an oak, we bear you sure, we bear you sure. Your anchor holds, it grips a solid rock. This rock is Jesus, this is the one. This rock is Jesus, ♪ The only one ♪ ♪ He bears no ♪ ♪ He bears no ♪ ♪ No anchor holds ♪ ♪ That grips His solid rod ♪ ♪ In times like these ♪ ♪ I have a Savior ♪ ♪ In times like these ♪ I'm very sure, I'm very sure My anchor holds, and grips a solid rock This rock is Jesus, yes he's the one This rock is Jesus, the only one Be very sure, be very sure, your anchor holds eclipses of the ground. Thank you for the nice singing. You may be seated, Brother Martin. No, now it's power on. It was still green, but all right. Keep me straight. Hey, man, I'm not used to all the electronic fang dangle stuff. All right. Well, I met a new preacher. Oh, there he is in the corner hiding out. All right. Preachers always put their back in the corner like John Wayne. Nobody sneaks up behind them. So, amen. And then my wife and sister Eccles had met each other in Cassville, where her son and and they'd been over there a few times, services, and then they saw each other at the ladies' retreat and recognized each other. Instead, they're pointing at each other for a while, trying to figure out, like, I've seen you. And then they said, well, I know you. And they finally figured that out. And so then tonight, I came in, pointed to Sister Eccles, I said, I know you. And so anyway, amen. We had a great lunch today. I appreciate the Mortys having me over and had the preacher and his wife over, and it was great. And I knew my wife was home hungry, so I hurried home and took her out to dinner. Actually, Sister Morty packed a lunch for her, and so I lied. But anyway, I appreciate that. It was great. Brother Morty makes a mean pie. Amen. What was that store you bought her from? Billy Jim. Billy Jim. It was good stuff. Amen. It looked dangerous and it was and I enjoyed it. Amen. Well, preacher's coming on Wednesday. Amen. See what I can mess up before he gets back. All right. Revelation chapter number four tonight. The book of the Revelation chapter number four. Appreciate the brother reading the text tonight so we won't stand again for it. We're going to walk through the chapter tonight and do some introduction prior to that, but I want to focus tonight on verse number 11, the last verse in that chapter. For it says that the Lord says, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. Jesus Christ is worthy. Amen. Let's pray. Father, thank you for tonight and for the folks that are purposed to come back. I pray that you might bless them for us. Thank you for meeting with us again tonight, and I just pray that your will be done tonight. Father, please, in Jesus' name, amen. We see Christ all through the scriptures, from the beginning to the end. You can find him in every book of the Bible. In fact, if you take him out, you don't just have another book, a book of history and anthropology and science and so forth. But Christ is all in all in every book of the Bible. And it's something to really behold and study and find him there. Of course, in the book of the Genesis, we see him as the creator of all things. And that clarifies itself right here in verse 11. For thou hast created all things, and for that pleasure they are and were created. John tells us in chapter 1 that there was not anything made that was not made without him. He's the creator of all things. He was with God in the beginning. and he's the second person of the Trinity of the Godhead. And you find him as the creator of all things in the book of Genesis. Of course, in the book of Exodus, you find him as the great Redeemer, the Deliverer. And boy, he's that great Redeemer, Deliverer in the New Testament. He has delivered us. If you're born again tonight, if you're not, he can deliver you and desires to deliver you. He's capable of that. He's the only one that can. And we go through the different books of the Bible and you see Jesus Christ there. One interesting thing about him is, as he's renowned, the world hears of him every year in December, Christmastime if you will, and they view him there as the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. By the time we get to the book of the Revelation, he is no longer a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes lying in a manger. He's the King of kings and Lord of lords, his almighty God. And John the Divine, who was an apostle, was exiled because of his preaching to the Isle of Patmos for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. The world did not want John, tried to get rid of him. The other apostles had been crucified. John was exiled. But on the exile, being exiled on that island, while the world thought they were getting rid of this Baptist preacher, never hear from him again, the Lord used him to pen one of the greatest books of the scripture, and it's the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. It does reveal end times, but it's not the revelation of the end times per se, it's the revelation of Jesus Christ, our Lord. And in this text, in chapter one, Jesus Christ identifies himself in verse number eight as he says, I am Alpha and Omega, The beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. Some Baptist preachers said years ago, he just is, is, was, is, always will be, is, he just is, amen. He's eternal. It's really interesting because he gives some real specific instruction of what's to be written in this book. And verse number nine, he tells us about that, begins to walk through the scripture here. And then John hears him behind him and he says in verse number 17, John says of the Lord, he says, 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. I am he that liveth, and was dead, and behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen. And have the keys of hell and of death. And then, of course, verse 19 is the key verse to understanding the book of Revelation. It's a three-point outline on the book of the Revelation. It says, write these things which thou hast seen, number one, the things which are, number two, and things which shall be hereafter. Then begin to read the letters that the Lord wrote to the angels of the churches in the known world at that time, these seven churches in Asia Minor. And I used to really be enthralled by these letters that he wrote to the churches till one day at dawn. I mean, he's writing to the angels of the churches. He's writing to the pastors. And as a pastor, I started to come under conviction. I said, boy, he's getting those churches. I started to know he's getting me. And it's quite an interesting review of the churches at the time. And then he goes on down and he's challenging these different churches in different areas, and five of the seven need reproof and need to correct some things there. That's a good way to examine our churches today against the Scriptures and see how we stack up against the Word. By the time we get to chapter four, John is getting shown some other things, and it's interesting here because he's getting ready to really see the Lord as he's never seen him before. That's my hope tonight, that we'll see him as we've never seen him before. I tell you, preachers, I don't know about you two guys, but I too have, I have preached my share of unforgettable, of forgettable messages. I pray that tonight we don't forget this one because it's about the Lord. He says, after this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was that were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, come up hither, and I will show these things which must be hereafter. A trumpet is a pretty loud instrument. I don't know if you can play one quietly and softly and tenderly. It really sounds out a clear note, and all can hear it. And here's this voice from heaven talking with him as a trumpet talking with me out of heaven. And this trumpet voice says in him, come up hither, and I'll show you some things which must be hereafter. And immediately, the Bible says, John says, I was in the spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he was set on the throne to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone. And there was a rainbow round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and 20 seats. And upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders, sitting, clothed in white raiment, and had on their heads crowns of gold." Why is the Lord Jesus Christ worthy? Because He's indescribable. The Bible does its best to describe Him here. John the Divine does his best on the inspiration of the Spirit to describe Him, but He's really indescribable. How do you describe someone who has a rainbow wrapped around his shoulders and is likened to a sea of glass? And how do you describe him who is eternal, except just to read the scriptures and saturate yourself in them and dive into it and just be absorbed and understand that one day we'll get to see him face to face. And I think all the scripture might come to memory, recall and say, now I get it. Now I see him in his honor. Now I see him in his glory. Now I see how worthy he is of this. But he's so indescribable. We can describe a lot of things in life. We can describe a baby when we see it. We can describe a Corvette Stingray. Yeah, there's a lot of things like that we can describe. We can describe the fish that we caught. Come on guys, help me out. I don't have any place to go. They're back there doing all kinds of numbers. Okay, I got one guy with me. Okay, an honest one and then a fisherman. And so we had, but he's indescribable. How do you describe him except to see him in the scriptures here and how John the Divine in the Spirit sees him, sees him on his throne in heaven, sees him sitting there, see him looking like a jasper in a sardine stone, seeing a rainbow wrapped around his shoulders, around the throne, if you will, like into an emerald. Not long ago, down in, you probably saw it around here, I'm not sure, but not long ago, down there in Butterfield, where we live, a house that's kind of on a rise, up on a hill, we can look out across the hills, and saw a double rainbow. Man, that's beautiful stuff. A single rainbow is good. A partial rainbow is great, amen? But a double rainbow, man, it's beautiful. We took a picture of it. We have it on my phone. She has it on hers. And just try to marvel at that. We also get from there, get to see the storms that pass over Monette and go on that way towards Springfield. And we say, look at that storm going away from us. Isn't it beautiful? I like to watch that storm go away. But boy, just seeing the lightning and the thunder like I described this morning, we've not seen so much lightning as we have in this part of the country since we've been here. But trying to describe it is challenging. That's why they make cameras. That's why they make artists, is to try to give a visual of what something looks like. But when we try to describe the Lord, no matter how we describe Him or how we view Him, He's indescribable. I just know that Paul tells us in Philippians chapter 2, verses 9 through 11, that someday every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of God the Father. Every knee, every atheistic knee, every knee, every Paxton knee, every knee will one day bow and give acknowledgement that Jesus Christ is God and He is Lord and He is worthy of all our praise and honor. He says down in verse number five of our text, it says, out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. It's incomprehensible. How do you comprehend that? The old preacher in California, well, there's some locker he says he laughs in the thunder and testifies in the lightning. So he does. So he does, amen. My mama used to say that thundering, that's just the angels bowling up there, you know, and hitting bowling pins. Well, I prefer a little awkward description. I love my mama, but you know what I'm saying. But he laughs in the thunder and testifies in the lightning, and here, John the Divine sees this coming forth from the throne proceeding lightnings and thunderings and voices. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God, testifying of Him. Incomprehensible. You don't put Him in a capsule. You don't put him in a box. You don't put him in a jar and say, we're going to comprehend him. We're going to put him under a microscope and view him. Here's how we're going to comprehend him. He's incomprehensible. You just take him as he is, as the text describes him. It goes on and says here in verse number 6, And before the throne was a sea of glass, like unto crystal. In the midst of the throne, around about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, the second beast like a calf, the third beast had the faces of man, the fourth beast was like a flying And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes, within and without, and they rested not day and night, saying, testifying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come." They're acknowledging what Jesus said in chapter 1 of himself, of his own testimony. that He always has been, He is, He always will be. And here these beasts are testifying, all this power coming forth in heaven, all these beasts coming forth and testifying of Him and their strength and their power and their submission to Him. And they're crying out, holy, holy, holy. He's indestructible. He's worthy because He's indestructible. Well, how do you destroy Him who is eternal? How do you do that? Well, we'll destroy him by fire. He'll just be in the fire with three Hebrew boys. We'll destroy him by water. He'll just walk on the water. How do you destroy him who is all powerful, who is the creator of all things? How do you destroy him with anything that he is actually created just by his very word? And so He's indestructible. You cannot destroy Him. People may ignore Him. They may reject Him. They may walk away from Him. They may despise and reject Him, and be a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and came into His own, and received Him not. Isaiah 53 tells us of His own people that rejected Him. So you can reject Him, But you can't destroy Him. Put Him on a cross and bury Him. He'll rise in three days. You can't destroy Him. He's eternal. He's God Almighty, Emmanuel, God with us, God manifested in the flesh. So He's indestructible. He's incomprehensible. He's indescribable. He's indestructible. And it's just amazing about him. Look at verse number nine. And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever. I love this. Somebody said once, probably some freshman college Bible students, where'd God come from? Well Habakkuk says he came from the hills of Teman. The hills of Teman, I believe, are at the south end of the Dead Sea where there's nothing down there. And so it's a no place, a nothing. Implication, he came from nowhere. There's no place for him to come from. He is eternal. He was here to get eternity started. And so, here is this one who is eternal, that lives forever and ever, in verse 10, and the twenty and four elders fall down before him and sit on the throne, and worship him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne. It's an interesting study, the crowns for the master. the crowns that we can earn for Jesus Christ and His life. And it's amazing if you study up those crowns of righteousness and so forth. And so, you know, there's four crowns that every Christian can win. There's the one longing to see Him again. Paul talked about that. There's the soul winner's crown. There's the crown for the mastery over the old man. There's the crown for controlling the flesh. But every pastor has the opportunity to earn a crown for being faithful. And so, there are crowns that we can earn, but it's not about us. We're not earning them for us to put on a trophy case in our house behind a glass and say, look what I won today. Look what I acquired today. That's for high school football teams and things of that nature, amen? But we take these crowns and when we get to heaven, cast them at his feet. Why? Because he's worthy. He's worthy. This world is a self-centered world, always has been. It's a crazy thing. And finally they've gotten honest with cameras and telephones because now they're saying, we're taking selfies. Taking selfies. I can stand here today and honestly say I'm not sure I've ever taken a selfie of myself. I know what I look like. I don't need one of me to look at all the time every time I open up my phone. I've got some pictures of my wife because she's pretty. And then there's me. I got pictures here on my phone, but don't have any pictures of me on my phone. Don't want any pictures of me on my phone, amen? I don't want to break my phone. I want to keep it a while. But this world's a selfie world. Churches have gotten this way. Can I say it tonight? Churches have gotten this way. Churches are so self-centered, they're selfie churches. Let me take this a step further. Down there where we come from, I'm sure they're around here too, in Kerrio where I pastored, there's a cowboy church and there's a biker church, Thunder in the Hills Biker Church. Those are selfie churches. They're about themselves. The title, the name of the church tells you that. It tells me that if I'm not a biker or I'm not a cowboy, I can't go to church there. It's my understanding of Scripture that whosoever wants to come to the Lord's house is welcome as long as they behave themselves. Amen. And the Lord's church ought to be composed of the right kind of bikers and cowboys and cowgirls and business people and farmers and laymen. It doesn't matter because they're souls. that Jesus Christ died for. They're souls that when they get saved, that He's coming back for a little thing called the rapture. And so we're thankful for that, that that's the case. And He lives forever and ever and casts their crown before the throne. Because of all of this, of who He is and what He is, the Bible clearly states in verse 11, thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honor and power. Why? For that has created all things and for that pleasure they are and were created. Did you ever make or build something and with the right kind of pride about not being prideful, but being proud of what you're able to accomplish the bank? Say this is something Lord enabled me to do. Huh? We built a house down there in Kerrville and I was always proud of it. We're building a house now. I'm not as proud of it because it It leans more than the one in Kerrville did. But the work that goes into it, you're proud of the labor of your hands. Ladies, you're proud of the labor of your hands. We raise our children and nurture and admonish the Lord and pray that they turn out well. And knowing like Job of old, that we want to pray for him daily because we know not how it is with him. But we also know that like Job of old, he could take him if he wanted to. And so we need to be conscious of that. But we look at children and say, this is the labor of our hands. We've poured ourselves into them. This is a reflection of us. I told some young couples once, I said, would it offend you if I told you that, with all probability, your children are going to be just like you? Does that scare you? I mean, to think about that. But this is so true. And so this is the labor of our love as a husband and wife is to pour life into the children and the grandchildren and son-in-laws, they're on their own. But to pour your life into those young people and to see the labor and the fruit, that's something to be proud of in the right kind of way. And here, I think we should be proud of what the Lord has done, because He's created all things, and for His pleasure they are and were created. Now, wait a minute. If He created all things and they're for His pleasure, we were created by Him. So we were created for His pleasure. So we should be going to Him, Lord, what pleasure is You? What do you want me to do? Not what I want to do today, but how can I pleasure you today? What is your pleasure? What do you want me to do? Because I'm here for your pleasure. You created me for this reason. You created me in your likeness and in your image, and I'm to be conformed to the image of your son. And I've been predestinated after salvation to be conformed to that image. And I want to be in that image. And I want to be called a Christian because I'm Christ-like, like in the book of Acts. And so I'm here for your pleasure. What would you have? Now, your children do that. Come to you, Mom and Daddy, what do you want me to do? Can I help you do that? Let me help you do that. Why are they doing that? They want to pleasure you. They want to please you. And so because of that, listen, he's worthy of that. Now, let me hit you with some things just on a really practical level tonight for a couple of minutes. And that is, what is it in our life that he's really worthy of? Well, could I just begin to say everything? Yeah, I'll talk about some everythings, but everything. He's worthy of our all. There's nothing in our life that He should not be worthy of. And if He's not worthy of it, then maybe we don't need to be messing with it. Number one, He's worthy to be my Savior. I mean, He's worthy to be my Savior because of what He's done for me on Calvary. And suddenly God taught on the precious blood of Christ and His atonement compared to the book of Leviticus and with its two great themes of redemption and substitution and so forth. And boy, that great, great, great teaching in Leviticus, probably the most New Testament, Old Testament book that there is, laying a foundation for the New Testament doctrine of repentance and salvation and the blood atonement for Christ. And we look at that and say, man, you look at what He's done in the past and what He's done in the future, in the Old Testament and the New Testament, how Christ is that New Testament, and He is the Lamb of God to take away the sin of the world. And you try to comprehend that and say, you know what? He's worthy to be my Savior. I don't want another Savior. There is no other Savior. In fact, I think I read once that there's salvation in none other but the Lord Jesus Christ. There's none other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. And so He's the only one worthy of our soul. He's also worthy to be the Lord of my life. After I got saved, I had a real hunger for Him to be Lord of my life. And I began to hear some teaching on the Lordship of Christ and how He wants to be in control of my life. And so preachers used to say, if He's not Lord of all, He's not Lord at all. And so He needs to be Lord of our lives. He's worthy of that. Along with that comes our affections, all of our love, what we place attention to, what's important to us. Show me a man's heart, love, and I'll show you his heart. And so what our man pours his heart into, life into, that's where his heart's really at. And we pour our love into the Lord, that's our heart. He's worthy to be my friend. I have a lot of friends in this life, I'm thankful for them. A lot of them are preachers, a lot of them are our four daughters and my wife, and I hate to say it, but our four son-in-laws are our friends. But Jesus is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. You sure pick on your two son-in-laws a lot. Well, they're worthy of it. I mean, they're pickable. Amen? So, amen. They married my daughters, and they still owe me. One of them promised me four blankets, three horses, and two rifles. I haven't got anything from him yet. But anyway, Jesus is worthy to be a friend, a real friend, a friend somebody you can confide in, a friend somebody you can walk with and talk with and spend some real time with. He's worthy of not only that, but I can say this tonight, he's worthy of my finances. Yeah, he's worthy of my tithes, he's worthy of my offerings, he's worthy of my finances. Some 70% of the parables that Jesus teaches has to do with money. The widow's mite, oil in the house of the wives, the three ladies with the oil and lamp, all the money in the field being buried, giving your money over to the money changers. 70% of his parables have to do with finances. We spend a lot of time thinking about planning, making notes of considering money. what we're going to do with it. It's just filthy mammon, but we sure spent a lot of time on that subject in our minds. But he's worthy of our finances. He's worthy of our talents. Some of us, like myself, might be one talented, and I'm still trying to figure out that one is. But some of you might be two talented or multi-talented, but I have one talent. Our daughter, Sarah, the oldest one, when she was little, started taking piano lessons. And there was a recital, and she came home all excited. How old was she? Five, she comes home, she's got a piano recital. I like to tell mommy about her piano. She's all excited. And then she says, Sarah, honey, you don't really know how to play a piano. I do too, mommy. Well, and so she had her explain. She said, well, they use both hands. I only use one. And so she felt she had really advanced. Well, I've gone beyond that. I use one finger. But at any rate, we have different talents. We have different abilities, gifts that God has bestowed us with. And with those, he's placed us in a little thing called, it's not a big deal. It's just called the church. that local, independent, self-governing body of born-again, scripturally baptized believers put here to fulfill a little thing called the Great Commission. And it's in and through this church, his body, that he functions and works. Some of us are the Our body parts, like Paul tells us, the arm and the leg and so forth, and the head, but we're all functioning together, fitly framed and joined together like a well-built building to serve the Lord. And this is where he puts us with our talents. Some have different talents of teaching, of different things of this nature, different gifts, some of giving, and when they do, do it with simplicity. But he gives us talents to be used in and through the church for him. He's worthy of my time. He's worthy of my time. We talk about, some people talk about, well, I give tithes and I give the missions, but I only come to church once a week. All he's asked from you is to serve him. How much time does he want? Just your life, amen? And how much time, how difficult is it to give him at least the Lord's day? And even more so as we see the day approaching. He's coming back, folks. That's just not good preaching. That's doctrinally sound. He is coming back. It may not be immediate, I don't know, but it's imminent. It will happen. And we need to be ready for that day and give our time to Him so we can be prepared for it. He's worthy to be my Savior, my Lord, my friend, my time, my talents, and my tithes. He's worthy of all my love. Thou shalt have no other gods before me." We don't have any idol worships. We don't have any idol figures in our Baptist churches. The Lord's churches thank the Lord for that. We don't bow down before these idols. They're dumb and they're deaf. They can't hear. They can't speak. They can't hear our prayers or speak to us and comfort us. And so we're not into idol worship, amen? But we do want to worship Christ and Him alone. My favorite verse in the Bible is Colossians 3.11, where it neither is barbarian, Scythian, bond, or free, but Christ is all and in all. Jesus truly is everything. He really is everything. Not only that, but he's worthy waiting for. He's coming back. He's worth waiting for. I don't know when. I jokingly say, if he comes back, he'd take care of most of my problems. He'd take care of all my problems and all your problems, because he is the answer. Thank the Lord for that. This reminds me, if I can wrap it up tonight a little bit here, if I may. Years ago, I should have written the date down, I don't recall it, but Toscanini, an orchestra leader, led the New York Symphony Orchestra to play Beethoven's Ninth. The report that I read about it said that Toscanini and the New York Symphony Orchestra played Beethoven's Ninth to such an extreme expertise, it was unbelievable. So they reached every high note and were able to grasp every low. The rhythm was perfect. Everybody was right on. Nobody missed anything. It's my understanding that there are three types of ovations at a symphony. One is a standing ovation, where they will stand just spontaneously and maybe shout and whistle a little bit and clap their hands. The other is where they'll sit there dignified and applaud. But the third type is where they sit there in silence in awe of the whole thing. This is what happened that day, I understand, when the New York Symphony played Beethoven's Ninth, led by Toscanini. Toscanini began to look at his orchestra, and it said that as he looked at them, he saw pride swelling up inside them of what they had accomplished. He looked at him and he leaned forward on his little podium, he says, he says, who are you? He says, you're nothing. He says, who is Tuscanini? He said, I am nothing. He said, Beethoven is everything. I submit to you tonight, respectfully, who are you? You're nothing. And who am I? I'm nothing, but Christ is everything. Jesus Christ is all and in all, and He's worthy of everything. Yes, He is. And until He comes, we need to conduct ourself in a way that manifests His worthiness, if I can say it that way tonight. He's worthy of everything you'd pour into him, all the attention you'd give him. He's just worthy. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things. For thy pleasure they are and were created. Would you stand with me for a prayer, please? Our father in God, in Christ's name, thank you for tonight. I pray that you might take this simple message and you might finish it tonight. in the hearts of people. Jim, we might go home tonight and say, you know, he's worthy. No matter what we're going through, Jesus Christ is worthy. Father, may we live a life that manifests itself that way. May the world see it that way. Oh, dear God, please, during this time of invitation, if someone wants to come and just give thanks for all that you've done for them and all that you're doing, thank you, Father, you're worthy of all our praise and all of our honor and all of our glory. We thank you for that, in Jesus' name, amen. Church, if you'd like to come tonight and pray, again, I know it's a bit awkward in this auditorium, but feel free to come and pray, or make where you are a place of prayer, but do this, but pray. If nothing else, just thank God for who he is, and for what he's done, that he loved you enough that he sent his only begotten son to die for you on Calvary. He gave his life, he shed his blood, And He rose again from the grave on the third day, literally, to give us victory. What a Savior we serve. He's playing that old, beautiful song, Sweet Hour of Prayer. Oh, what a need to spend an hour of prayer with Him. Huh? Huh? Our Bibles let him talk to us, and we open our hearts and talk with him. Make all your dreams and wishes known. Brother Allen, what page is that? It's where our prayer would be, no? 391, would you come and lead us in a verse or two of that tonight? And we'll dismiss that way. Amen. Thank you, sir. hour of prayer, the hour of prayer that calls me from a world of care and bids me at my Father's throne, make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, My soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempter's snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer. Amen. Thank you, brother. Appreciate you tonight. Thank you. Amen.