You'll find the scripture tonight in the book of Ephesians 5, verse 21. I do want to express my gratitude for the privilege of being with you during these days. Thank you so much, Brother Reeves, for the invitation to come and be a part of this meeting, part of these services. I know that there are thousands of Baptist preachers that Brother Mike could have asked to come, but I feel honored and blessed of God to have this privilege. And I do pray that God will give us days of revival and days of refreshment. Thank you so much for allowing us to be here. Ephesians 5, verse 21. Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God, why submit yourselves to your own husbands as unto the Lord? For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church and is the Savior of the body. Therefore, as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it. That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies, he that loveth his wife loveth himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the Church. For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they too shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless, let every one of you in particular so love his wife, even as himself, and the wife see that she reverence her husband." Let's bow our heads again, please, while we pray. Our fathers, we bow at your presence. We come, first of all, to ask You to forgive us, to cleanse us of every sin, every word, every thought, every lust, every action, every attitude, everything and anything about us that's un-Christlike, unbecome as a child of God. I pray that You'll cleanse us and forgive us of it. I'm aware that You're holy, You're righteous. You cannot and will not hear us if we regard iniquity in our heart. And I pray that nothing shall be between us and thee. We've come to worship you, to honor you, to adore you, to do business with heaven. Thank you for these that are here, for the songs that have been sung, for those that sang them. Thank you for this church, for this dear pastor. And I pray, Lord, that you will be pleased to give us days of revival. Thank you, Lord, for what you have already been doing. We rejoice and praise you for it. Our Father, I pray that even in these days, Lord, that you'll give us a great experience of your power, and you'll be pleased to lift up a standard in this place and lay bare your holy arm. I pray, Lord, that everything that's done and said in this place will be the approval and the praise of the glory of God. I pray that you'll be pleased to touch thy servant, give us that special anointing, illuminate our mind, elucidate our tongue, and may the gospel go forth not in word only, but in power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost with much assurance. All that you are pleased to do for us, through us and in us, we will be careful to give you the praise. In the name that is above every name, the name of our blessed, blood-stained Redeemer, we humbly pray. Amen. 1 Corinthians 10.32 says, "...give none offense neither to the church, nor the Jew, nor the Gentile." And so in reality, every person is either a Jew or Gentile or a member of the church in which there is neither Jew nor Gentile. Our Lord is building a church. And the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 5 that I've just read uses the analogy, the relationship between a husband and wife, to describe his relationship to the Church. He admonishes the wives to submit unto their own husbands as unto the Lord. And he admonishes the husband to love his wife even as Christ loved the Church. and gave himself for it. Our Lord takes the debris of a fallen race and puts his grace in men's hearts, and we call this glorious body the church. Sometimes it's referred to as the building, as the bride of Christ. And one day he will put his church on display before this world. part of the churches in this world through the will of God, while the rest of the churches in heaven through the will of God. In the preceding chapter, the apostle says, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth are named. While you and I are yet in this world doing the will of God, worshiping and serving God, the rest of the churches in heaven doing the same. And someday the entire body of Christ will come together in heaven. When God saved me, He made me a part of something that is eternal and in the grace of God. I have not come to Mount Sinai, but unto Mount Sinai, to the church of the firstborn, to the immutable covenant of angels, so that spirit shall testify, being made perfect, unto Jesus, the mediator of the New Testament. And what a privilege it is to be a part of the church of God. Now, of course, God's church is visible in this world, as it's seen in every New Testament local church. Now, I'm well aware that every group that calls itself a church may in reality not be a church. If that group does not measure up to New Testament standards and principles, they have no right to be called a church at all. But our Lord is building a church, and every local New Testament church is but a visual expression of the entire body of Christ. And what a privilege it is to be a part of the church. I make no apologies. Has to be identified with the church. Christ loved the church and gave Himself for it. He's coming for the church. He died for the church. If revival comes, it'll come for the church. And I'm grateful to be identified with the church. Not with the worship center, but with the church. Not with some club, but with the church. Christ loved the church, and He gave Himself for the church. And what a high and holy privilege it is to be a part of this glorious body we call the church. As we consider the church, you note the mystery of the church, mysterious in the fact that the church was divinely conceived. He was known in God's mind before He made this world. And in much the same way that you and I were conceived, the church was conceived. If you could have seen me in my mother's womb, you wouldn't have recognized me. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't even have recognized myself. But everything that I now possess, I possessed at the moment of my conception. And those genes were determined to color my skin, the color of my eyes. And when I was born in this world, all the parts that I received at my conception, I was born in the world with everything necessary to operate, and function as a human being. And so it was with the church. And when God conceived and God planned the church to find the inception, to find the beginning of the church, it's necessary to travel backward in time through two thousand years of gospel preaching. And then we travel backward in time 400 more years, 400 solid years, the period of time between the New and the Old Testament. And then we travel backward in time 3,600 more years than the times of the minor prophets, the prophets and the judges. And we come the first day of newborn time and exit the realm known as time into eternity, into infinity, long before God created angels, before He made shepherds and seraphims, before He placed the planets in their orbits and makes them move not one second ahead or behind their scheduled path. In the silence of eternity past, In the bosom of God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, the church was conceived. The church began in heaven. It began in the mind of God, and that's exactly where it'll wind up. Romans 8 says, "...for whom it did foreknow that he also predestinated, that he conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, those he predestinated, those he called, and those he called he justified, and those he justified he glorified." Now, the apostle uses the word glorified in the past tense. You and I are not yet glorified, but as far as God's concerned, we're already glorified. And there's no possibility that that glorification will not take place. As sure as God foreknew us before He laid the mud seals on this world, as certain as He is predestined to make us like His darling Son, as sure as He has called us, as certain as He has justified us, He will glorify us. It does not yet appear what we shall be, but when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is, and all that God has purposed And where the church should be will someday come to be realized. Nobody will be able to put the church out of business. All the cunning of hell and all the craft of earth cannot destroy the church. Now, you and I live in a day when multitudes of people have the thinking and the mentality, no God for me, no church for me. But God keeps on saving sinners, and He keeps on adding this glorious body that we call the church, until someday there'll be a multitude in heaven that no man can number. But they've all got one thing in common, they've been washed by blood and saved by grace. Our Lord is going to present to himself a glorious church without spot or without wrinkle. And when the smoke of battle has cleared away, the cradled church shall be safe at home with God. He's going to present to himself a glorious church. But you know that the church is divinely, is mysterious. in the fact that it has been divinely constituted. The church is populated by saints. We were born in the church. We were not baptized into it. We were born into it by the experience of the new birth. And, of course, we were baptized in the body of Christ by the Holy Ghost. Somebody says, if you've been baptized with the Spirit of God, You have been, if you're saved. It was He, the Holy Ghost, that baptized us in the body of Christ, one Lord and one baptism. And, of course, we were baptized to signify identification with the Lord Jesus. But the Church of God has been populated by saints. I believe that saved people love to congregate. There's an attachment to the household of faith. David said, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord. And since the moment God saved me, there's been a blessed attachment, a blessed fellowship with the people of God at my home church where I was saved many, many years ago. As a matter of fact, next month it will be fifty years ago as a nine-year-old boy that God put His pure grace in my heart. But when I was saved, the clouds became so large until they had to have two services, one at 8.30 and one at 11. It was unusual for those days. But you know which service I went to, which preaching service I went to? I went to both of them. I didn't want to miss a thing. And it's been that way since God saved me. I've been in a chancellor with a household of faith. Save people, love to congregate. I tell you, a lot of badness, and I can talk about badness because I am one. It's kind of like your own family. You can talk about it, but nobody else can. Well, there's a lot of badness. Every Lord's Day, they'd get a strange sickness. And I tell you, Brother Chapman, if I could find an Anderson or an Ashford that'd work on the Lord's Day like they do the other six days of the week, I'd be a wealthy man. But somehow, Andersons don't work on Sunday like they do the other six days. And there's a multitude of people every Sunday morning who wake up, hold my back, hold my head. I just feel so bad. I don't believe I'll go today. God understands. And then get up after service is over, run all over the countryside Sunday afternoon, eat like a rogue elephant, and about service time Sunday night, uh-oh, it's hit me again. I've had a relapse. Get up the next morning, go to work, and never miss an hour of the day. I ought to tell you there's something wrong with that. Have you got a legitimate reason? That's a different story altogether. But when you willfully and unpurposely have sent yourself for the means of grace, you violate a scriptural principle, and you cannot expect nor will you enjoy the blessings of God. What a thrill it is to meet with the people of the Lord and to congregate with the household of God's people, saved people, and to congregate. Some years ago, I was in Houston, Texas in a meeting, and in those days when you could catch a late flight, I was leaving about midnight from the airport in Houston. When I got out of the gate, there wasn't a person there. But all of a sudden, about 50 or 60 people showed up, and they were carrying a large banner that said, Welcome Home. Such and such missionary family from such and such a Baptist church. Finally the plane arrived and that missionary family got off, and the members of that church, those people began to hug one another, the men hugging the men and the ladies hugging the ladies and saying, God bless you, I love you. I didn't know one of them, but they hugged me and I hugged them back and said, God bless you. And in all I want them, bless me the time that binds our hearts in Christian life when God saves you and makes you a part of this church as a glorious fellowship and a congregating with the people of God. The church is divinely constituted in that it's been perfected by the scriptures. We're not guided by the traditions of men. We set our standards by one book, or at least we should. We base all knowledge by one book, the infallible Word of God. For we were born not of corruptible, but by the incorruptible Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever. Hebrews 4.12 says, For the Word is quick, God is quick and powerful. and sharper than any two-edged sword. Here's the name of the body and the thunder, of the soul and the spirit, of the joint and the marrow, and is the discernment of the thought and the intent of the heart. If you'll allow God's book, it'll cut off all the dead limbs. It will smooth out all the rough places. And the more and more, we become like the Son of God. He cleanses His church. He sanctifies and cleanses it with the washing of water by the Word. Now, there's not one experience that a person can have and eradicate this holodomic nature. I wish it were true, but until God delivers us from these foul bodies, we're going to be in a warfare against the world, the flesh, the devil, the carnal, of the spiritual man between the carnal man. But thank God for the Holy Ghost within, who does give us victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil. But there's not one experience that a person can have and eradicate or be through with this sinful nature for the rest of our life. We're like the hymn writer who wrote, Pronged to wander, pronged to leave the God I love. Lord, I feel it, and that's true of every person that's saved. There's a battle that rages, and we're in a daily warfare and a daily battle. And so there's not just one experience that you can have. and eradicate this whole nature. Many, many years ago, I heard a man on the radio say that he refused to take a cold. That's what he said. He refused to take a cold. But I couldn't help but notice sometime after that he didn't refuse to take a few prostitutes. But I thought when I heard that, Oh, fellas, I'm sure you sneak off in the corner and blow your nose just like the rest of us. You're made out of the same stuff as the rest of all of Adam's fallen race. And there's not one experience you can have and eradicate this nature. But thank God for the Holy Ghost that gives us victory over the world and the flesh and the devil. And the Lord sanctifies and He cleanses His church through the washing of powder. Fire the Word! And that's why I need the preaching and the teaching of this blessed book. And if the church is divinely constituted and that it's been perpetuated, fire the Spirit. Now, the church is not being built by men. The Holy Ghost adds to this organism. The church is an organization. But it's more than that. It's an organism. It's alive. It's complete in itself. We're born of His bone, the bone of Christ, and flesh of His flesh. It is a building fitly framed together. Now, the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, knows the need of every local congregation. And every church has its own identity. And it is the Spirit of God that directs this faithful man of God, Brother Reeves, as to the need of this local church. And he preaches to you that the Lord lays upon his heart. Sometimes we need to be reproved. Sometimes we need to be rebuked. And sometimes we need to be encouraged, but He, the Holy Ghost, knows exactly what we need. And He directs the man of God as to the need of that hour, for the Holy Ghost is the overseer, and the church is the living. It is a live organism being perpetuated by the Spirit of God. And then you note the ministry of the church. The ministry of the church is to exalt the Savior. Now, the church is an agency for God, an agency represents and promotes the interests of another, and it is the responsibility of the church to promote the interests of God and to magnify His name. Now, you can't, of course, make Christ any bigger than He is. But like a magnifying glass, you can see the object bigger. And that's why the Holy Ghost dies for this Word. He lifts the Lord Jesus up in our hearts and exalts Him. And that's the business of the church. to exalt that name that is above every name has come to pass. And I must decrease, but He must increase. It's our responsibility to make men aware of Him. And every time we come to God's house, we need to know we're going to hear a word from God. We're going to hear a word from Him. And the Lord Jesus will be lifted up. And like those ancient Greeks who said, Sirs, we would see Jesus. And that's our responsibility, is to magnify that name that is above every name. I tell you, some churches advertise like a Walmart. or a K-mark. But it's our business to exalt that name that is above every name. And when the preacher stands in the pulpit, when the Sunday school teacher stands to teach, we need to know we're going to hear a word from God. It's all about Him. And our eyes will be turned toward the Lord Jesus. Somebody said the reason a lot of people don't go to church is because they've already been. I mean, there's just so much death and rigor mortis a person can stand. When we come to God's house, we need to know we're going to hear a word from Him. And then the ministry of the church is to evangelize the sinner. Now, God has called the church to publicize the gospel. Clubs and organizations may do good things sometimes, But God didn't promise to put His power on any civic club. But He did say to the church, I give to you the keys, and whatsoever shall be loosed on earth shall be loosed in heaven, and whatsoever shall be bound on earth shall be bound in heaven. And it's the responsibility of the church to evangelize the center and to propagate the gospel and to pray for the salvation of men. Now let me say that I reject the idea of hyper-evangelism, and let me be clear. God knows that we're not setting any records in getting people saved, and that ought to bother us, and that ought to disturb us, and drive us to our knees. And I rejoice at what God has been doing in this church, and we praise and bless His name for it. Salvation is of the Lord. But it is our responsibility to preach the gospel and to pray for the salvation of men. When people are not saved, I do examine my heart. And when I preach the gospel, I expect people to be saved because the gospel is the power of God and the salvation to everyone that believes. But on the other hand, I think we insult God when we give God a list and say, God, If you don't do one, two, and three, we're going to put it down as barren. I've heard men, great preachers, Brother Reeve, say that in so many you're not saved in a given service, but that church should close its doors. That's all man-made. Now, how can it be barren if the Word's preached? And the Lord has promised if two or more are gathered in my name, I'm in the midst. How can it be burnt if he's in the mist? Just because God didn't do what we told him to do, just because he didn't do what we think he should have done, means absolutely nothing. God's always at work. He's always left us something. And just because God didn't give us what we think that He should have means absolutely nothing. God's always at work. And it's never in vain when the church comes together to worship. When we meet in His Name, we have the promise He's given me. For example, I read about a man up in New England who was a nine-year-old boy over in England. heard the old Puritan John Flavel preach, and he got under deep conviction. But he wasn't saved that day. But 71 years later, all the way across the North Atlantic, up in New England, out behind this mule plowing one day, the Holy Ghost reminded him of the words of that old Puritan 71 years before. They stopped the mule and got down behind the plow and got saved. Now, if someone had been in that service 71 years before, they might have said it was barren. Nothing happened. Well, it wasn't too barren. It lasted seventy-one years. And the truth is, we don't know what God is doing. As Brother Reeves said in the beginning, it may be that God has placed a seed in your heart, some salt, some water, but God must give the increase. But I will remind you that it will never, absolutely never pass when we gather in the name of the Lord. Never does the church meet in vain. The responsibility of the church is to evangelize the sinner, to edify the saint. The church is a place to nurture God's people. Peter said, feed the flock of God. It's through the church that we mature, that we learn the ways of God. The responsibility of the minister of the church is to enlist for service. It's through the church, the preachers, that missionaries are sent out. God willing, this coming May, I've been preaching 47 years. I preached the first revival as a 12-year-old boy. But all through these years, Mother Eve, it's been the church that's prayed for me. It's been the church that's lifted my hands up to God and made it possible for me to give myself to the preaching of the Word of God. Thank God for this church, for the prayers of His people. And I absolutely make no apology as to being identified with the church, with the Lord's people. It's through the church that the Lord works. And then lastly, you know for majesty of the church, It has majesty as a body, a complete body. It is a special body. It is the body of Christ. Jesus' own blood bought the church and endowed it with the abilities, whatever talent, whatever ability God has given you. He has given it to you to sanctify the church. And just as those that sang tonight and blessed our hearts, It would have been a tragedy if they had used their talents for the world. But instead, they've used their talent to edify the church, exalt the Lord. Whatever talent, whatever building God may have given you, He made us all different. He gave us all different personalities. But whatever God has given you, He's given it to you to edify the church and to exalt the Lord Jesus. and it is a secure body. It can't ever be destroyed. Colossians says that Christ is the head of the church. You never heard of anybody drowning till their head went under. How are you going to destroy the body when Christ is the head of the church? Do you remember many years ago when the popes died? And the news media kept saying the church is without a visible head. And then they elected a new pope six months later. He died. And they said the same thing. And then, of course, when Pope Paul died two or three years ago, the news media repeated the same thing. The church is without a head. And someone said when one pope dies, another one just popes up. And I want to tell you that the Pope is not the head of the church. Christ is the head of the church. I remember when Pope Paul died, I heard on the radio that Friday that the Cardinals were saying a special mass for the departed soul of the Pope into heaven. I thought, that's strange. Here's the man that's head of the whole crowd, and they're not real sure he's going to make it. And the next day they set seven different more Masses for the departed Pope. And of course, throughout the next week they carried his body all over the Vatican. They sprinkled water on him. They sprinkled or they slung smoke on him. And finally they buried him. And then the Monday actor's burial, the new Pope, Pope Pius, went by his tomb and set a special Mass again for the safe arrival of the Pope in heaven. Have a far better hope. I mean, here's the man, they sprinkled him, they watered him, they paraded him, and they're still not sure he made it. But have a far better hope. On Christ the Son of Rock I stand. All other crowd is sinking sad. And all that I am and ever shall be. Oh, to Jesus Christ. He's the head of the church. And that as majesty is a bride, never has an earthly bride been any more beautifully clothed than the bride of Christ, clothed in His righteousness. Our Lord is coming after a pure bride that He purchased with His own blood, and He's going to present unto Himself a glorious church without spot or wrinkle. Somebody said they've never seen an ugly bride. I've seen a few that come dangerously close. But I don't think I've ever seen an unclean bride. He's going to present to himself a glorious church without spot or without wrinkle. Back in 1971, coming from the Holy Land, we changed planes in Zurich, Switzerland. And when we changed planes, the devil, or at least one of his representatives, got on with us. And right out in the middle of Atlantic, four hours from New York, four hours from Zurich, a young man who happened to be sitting behind me, all of a sudden jumped up, threw his passport, sent his passport flying back through the cabin, slapped the students backwards and ran up to the cockpit and evidently was trying to get a hold of the controls and then to scuffle the co-pilot. was trying to get the young man off the pilot. And in the meantime, the plane made a nosedive and in less than five or six seconds descended 5,000 feet and then leveled out. Some of the men in the first class section realized what was happening and were able to subdue the young man. Those were the days when they didn't have very many security men aboard. And we later learned that that young man wanted to commit suicide. He wanted to take the plane to the bottom of the ocean and take all of us with him without even asking us. And after a while, after things settled down, one of the men with us in our group asked one of the flight attendants, if everything's all right, if everything's under control, would you please have the captain to make an announcement She came back a few moments later, voice trembling, lips quivering, and said, I'm sorry, but the pilot said he wouldn't be making an announcement just yet. And the devil whispered in my ears, he's dead. That's why he's not talking. You're flying on automatic control and after a while you'll run out of fuel and that'll be the end of it. Of course, I'd have been in heaven, which would have been all right. But after about 30 minutes, I think I heard one of the sweetest voices I've ever heard. A voice said, this is Captain so-and-so. I'm sorry about the interruption, but we'll arrive at Kennedy Airport in such-and-such an hour. And when we got to the airport, there was an ambulance waiting for the pilot. He had been slightly injured. But he said, we'll arrive in such-and-such an hour. I got to thinking when I couldn't think. It's the same in living for God. Every now and then the devil whispers in my ears, Why don't you just take it easy, at least lighten up? It seems like the great majority could care less about revival and the things of God. Why don't you at least just take it easier? But about that time I hear a voice from heaven say, Hear not, little flock, it's my Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. I want to tell you that the church will be safe at home with God someday. Revelation 19, you find the future of the church, and it's not going to end up in some outdated antiquated museum. But after these things I heard a great voice from that people in heaven saying, Alleluia! Salvation, glory, and honor, and power, and the Lord our God, for true and righteous are His judgments, who judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand. And again they said, Hallelujah! And their smoke rose up forever and ever. And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen. Alleluia! And a voice came out of the throng, saying, Praise our God and all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him both small and great. That heard it was the voice of a great multitude, and the voice of many waters, and the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Hallelujah! The Lord God omnipotent reigneth forever. That's where the church is headed, to the very presence of God. Someday He's going to present to Himself a glorious church without spots, without wrinkles.