Again, it is our joy to have as our guest speaker, Dr. David Larson. We've already told you a little about him and to give him maximum time, he will come now and he will address the issue, the bride versus the great harlot. It's been such a joy to have Dr. Larson here with us. And my, that was a marvelous message that first session on the church of the closed door. You ought to get a copy of that if you missed that message. That was fantastic. among the books out at the table. I've got a little piece here, the evangelism mandate recovering the centrality of gospel preaching, evangelistic preaching, evangelism in the local church. It needs to be happening more than it is. At the back of this book, five classic evangelistic sermons. The first one of which is a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon in which he relates his personal testimony. He takes the text that was used on that cold, cold, snowy day. He set out to go to his own church, but it was too snowy, and he stopped at the little Artillery Street Primitive Methodist Church in Colchester, England. There were only five people present. and an unlettered lay preacher preached from Isaiah, look to me all ye ends of the earth and be saved. The sermon that Spurgeon himself preached on that text and his testimony in this book. Now these books are not badly priced. As books go, 256 pages, 10 clams. You need a little encouragement in evangelism. Here it is. Also a book telling the old, old story, the art of narrative preaching, preaching the narratival sections of Holy Scripture. What we as conservatives believe strongly, in a time when for the homiletics of the left, the whole left wing is all narrative, narrative theology, narrative ethics, narrative spirituality. But we love the narratives of Scripture, and I've got special chapters on preaching the parables, preaching the miracle stories of the New Testament, preaching Christ's birth, life, passion, and resurrection. Preacher, Easter is coming. I hope you've got your text in mind. If not, there may be a suggestion here, a seed thought. I've got a section on preaching Bible biography, a very perilous thing. A section on preaching the special challenges of the apocalyptic and the prophetic. Maybe you know someone who could use a book like this. Now, here's a book. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not getting rich off these books. 320 pages, 10 clams. Where do you get 320 pages for $10? It means that I'd like people to read the books. That's what it means. Now let's turn to the Word of God. Revelation 17. We're looking at the great contrasts in the book of Revelation. Christ, the Antichrist. Israel, the church. I've argued that Israel is in Revelation and a major player. We're looking at the church in the book of Revelation under three headings. Earlier this morning we sought to show that in the genius of the book of Revelation there is a sense in which there is a foreshadowing of different phases and aspects. in the history of the church. This is not an idea that started with John Nelson Darby. He's blamed for a lot. But I trace in my history of prophecy that at Cambridge University, as early as the 16th century, Joseph Mead, the father of modern premillennialism, and Thomas Brightman both advanced the notion that there is an additional application of the seven churches. as they set forth aspects of the development of the church over the ages. Well, tonight I'm going to talk to you about the rapture of the church. Where is the church during these seven years? And I'm going to argue they're in heaven, the judgment seat of Christ, the bema, the first order of business, and the marriage supper of the Lamb. Now there's a little difference developing among evangelicals on that point. I have a lot of good friends that are trying to argue the marriage supper is during the millennium. I think it's while we're up there, during the seven years. But that'll be tonight. The church of the open door, Philadelphia. But what I want to do this morning is deepen and reinforce and bring into bold relief this sharp, striking contrast between Israel, the earthly people of God, the old covenant people of God, made mistakes, little remnant left, God has a great future for them. And the bridal church, God's heavenly people, made some mistakes. little remnant left. But it's the contrast between the bride and the harlot that I want to look at right now. Because the apostate church, broadly, Christendom, at the end of the church age, will be spewn into the tribulation, spit out The true church, the remnant, the little flock, fear not little flock, they're in the glory. We'll argue that tonight. But during the tribulation, there will be an apostate religious monstrosity. It is the harlot. This is not the bride. pure and chaste. That's the bride that's going to be at the marriage supper of the Lamb. See you there. Praise God. I can hear the silverware clank right now. The marriage supper of the Lamb. Won't that be glorious? If I'm anywhere near you, come over and pinch me. Larson, I remember when in your stuttering way You tried to communicate, you strained at the leash of language to communicate the glories of the marriage supper of the Lamb. That's the bride. Wouldn't it be wonderful to be part of the bride of Christ? Well, I'll tell you, there's a contrast here, and there's a harlot. And that harlot, folks, it will appear in all of its nefarious and malignant evil in the tribulation period, but the preparation is underfoot. It's underfoot. I want to read the 17th chapter. Revelation 17, there came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls and talked with me, saying unto me, come here, I want to show you the judgment of the great harlot that sitteth upon many waters. Now these many waters, the beast came out of the great sea as you recall. And you know here in the seventeenth chapter of the book of Revelation that we are told in verse fifteen, the waters which thou sawest where the harlot sitteth are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. So the harlot comes from the broad Gentile world. with whom, verse 2, the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication." This is not an easy passage. Are you braced for this? This is not going to be pleasant, what I'm going to tell you today. We're going to close the doors, and you can't get out. But I'm going to talk to you very frankly, and I'm going to talk to you about what I see as steps toward the harlot in our time. And I'm going to be very specific, and it's not going to be pleasant to the ears. So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman. sit upon a scarlet-colored beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and bedecked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name-written mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots, the abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with a great wonder. And the angel said to me, Why didst thou wonder? I'll tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carried her, which has the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou saw'st was and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. Now here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings, five are fallen, one is, the other is not yet to come, and when he cometh he must continue a short space. And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and of the seventh, and goes into perdition. And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings one hour, one hour with the beast, not long. They have one mind, and they shall give their power and strength to the beast. Daniel 11 tells us that the little horn, the Antichrist, will prosper until the indignation be passed. In other words, he's got an interval. It's not long. Seven years. The Bible speaks of it one hour. I mean, it's not long. It's awesome. These shall make, verse 14, these shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings, and they that are with Him are called and chosen and faithful. And He saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the harlot sitteth, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the harlot. There's a falling out between the harlot and her host, the beast. These shall hate the harlot and make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to fulfill His will and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled. and the woman whom thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth." Folks, the Bible is pretty clear. We can't expect that it's going to get better and better. That's not the course of this age. The Bible talks So plainly, so incontrovertibly, at the end there will be apostasy. 2 Thessalonians 2, before the day of the Lord, that final epoch of judgment comes, there's going to be a falling away. The Church is not going to convert the world. The world is going to have some success in converting the church. That's the danger in which we live today. They're not becoming like we are. We're becoming like they are. Jesus said clearly to his disciples, at the time of the end, iniquity will abound and the love of many will wax cold. Laodicea. Laodicea. The chill of the last days. Jesus said in Luke 18.8, when the Son of Man comes, will he find the faith? Definite article used there. Will he find the faith on the earth? That's awesome. Where's the faith? The faith once for all delivered to the saints. The faith. Sound doctrine. It's going to be in short supply. Increasingly in short supply. You say, but a lot of people are being converted. Yes, a lot of people are being converted. Praise be to God. Not so much in Europe or in the North American church these days. We're in the blaws. We've been acculturated. But in the two-thirds world, travel with me to Korea, China, the underground church. What's happening to the Dalits, the Untouchables in India? I mean, God is at work in a most extraordinary way. Central and South America, Sub-Sahara Black Africa, folks, God is at work. But even with the people being saved, Christianity is a steadily diminishing proportion of the world's population. We're not keeping up with the population. Now as I read 2 Peter 3.9, the reason God waits, He's patient. Why doesn't Jesus come? Folks, it's hard to stand on tiptoes for 2,000 years. Why doesn't the Lord end all this? Why doesn't the Lord say, enough? He wants people to be saved. He's giving further chance and opportunity for people to be saved. I want Jesus to come right now. I have only one caveat, one crease on my gray matter which says, David, yes, you want Jesus to come, but there are those you love that are not saved. That's the only caveat I have. That's the only, you know, I want it now. People are being saved, and that's why he waits. But there's going to come a moment, this is it, and the Lord will come for his church. People are being saved. I think that's the only reason. That's 2 Peter 3, 9. He's patient. He's forbearing. He wants people to be saved. But in the latter days, there will be those who depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines taught by demons. That's a solemn word. Perilous times at the end. Men will have the form of godliness, but deny its power. 2 Timothy 4, the time will come when men will not endure sound doctrine. They don't want to hear doctrine. They don't want to hear about sin. They don't want to hear about salvation. No. They don't want to hear about the atonement. This is one of the things that's so troubling about the emergent church. Brian McLaren, he has no interest in theology as such. He has no interest in the Second Coming of Christ. Everything has been wrong. No interest in doctrine, but heaping to themselves teachers having itching ears. Peter, writing in his second epistle, in the last days scoffers will come, saying, where is the promise of His coming? What's wrong with you people? We can understand Alpha, but why are you bothering with Omega? I've got an old friend who said to me, oh, you're going to speak at another one of those pathetic conferences, are you? What's the matter with you? You're the last one in our school that goes out and preaches on the second coming of Jesus Christ. Paul Feinberg used to go, but he's got a sick wife and he can't go much anymore. So I'm the last one. I mean, this is what the Bible says about the shape of the religious landscape. as the age draws to a close, Laodicea, and it's preparing for the harlot. Now, I want to characterize the harlot, this religious imposter, the big top. The ecumeniacs finally bring it all together. I think the harlot in the final analysis will be Roman Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, apostate Protestantism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Islam. Oh, listen, there are a lot of people in the grandstand cheering for anything that looks like this. Here's Ralph Martin Perry, taught at Harvard for years, in his book, One World in the Making. We need a world religion. The essence of this universal religion will be its equal and undiscriminating appeal to all nations, all races, and all people, regardless of their background. Its God is the God of all mankind. Its offer of salvation is addressed to the shortcomings and hopes which all people have in common. Its teachings are based on the common experience of the race. Every human being may verify them for him or herself. Take the Christian gospel of regeneration, the Buddhist doctrine of recurrent desire and its conquest through self-denial. Let's take the homely wisdom of Confucianism. Let's take Islam. Let us take them all. The coming World Church. It is in process of manufacture. Do you doubt it? Here's William Ernest Hawking, guru of the left. Our Christianity does not include all that other religions have. The proposition that Jesus Christ includes everything is simply unacceptable. This world church, this world religion, The harlot who rides on the beast, they're in collusion, they're in cahoots. It is at the lowest possible common denominator. No differentia, no distinctives. It's just one big globule of blah. That's what it is. I'm being kind. You notice how restrained I am. I have a reputation for gentility. Here's Toynbee, brilliant man, said his study of the twenty-one great civilizations in human history, nineteen of them died not from attack from without, but from rot within. Nineteen out of twenty-one decayed from within. Here's Toynbee in his Gifford Lectures. Christianity is a fragment. Animism is a fragment. Islam is a fragment. Put them all together and we still have only a fragment of the truth. I don't believe that. That's absolute blarney. Now, let's look at this harlot. Here is a depiction of the final religious amalgam under the aegis of the beast. Listen, all politicians are religious. Do you notice how religious all of the candidates for 2008 are becoming? They're all wanting to position themselves religiously. They're shrewd. And the beast knows he's got to have a religious adhesive. He's got to have some religious glue to help him hold together the confederation which he forms, the consolidation which he achieves in the first three and a half years. First characteristic of the false church. Here's the harlot. The false church is promiscuous and perverse. She's a harlot. She has no fidelity to her vows. She is described here as committing fornication. with the kings of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth, and making the latter drunk with the wine of her fornication." This is a note sounded by the prophets in the Old Testament. How the children of Israel were guilty of spiritual harlotry. Remember those passages? Adulterous generation, Jesus said. Why? Because they were consorting with the world. They were in an illicit relationship. And it was spiritual adultery. Folks, we've got to be careful. We need to be seeker friendly. We don't want to be seeker unfriendly. Don't come to our church. I'm not going to be spiritually unfriendly. But we have to be careful because at a point, being user-friendly can become a betrayal of the truth. We can so want to have people like us. I want to be liked. Even if I leave on Saturday, I still would like you to like me today and tomorrow. But friends, this can be a trap. We can want to be liked and we can trim the message. And that is spiritual promiscuity. That's hobnobbing with the world. That's entering into a relationship with the world which is at enmity with God. This is a serious thing. I was in one of these multimedia centers, sometimes called a church. And this is not a fetish with me, and I checked this church before I thought of using this story, but I didn't see any cross anywhere. It was like a Mormon steakhouse. Remember, the Mormons never use the cross. Never. Anywhere. Because they believed the significant thing that Jesus did was in Gethsemane, not in Calvary. And I said to the pastor, I said, just as a point of interest, I don't see the cross anywhere. No cross outside, no cross inside, no cross on the pulpit. There's no pulpit, of course. Where's the cross? He said, well, that's been a deliberate decision. not to have a cross anywhere on these grounds. It is a deliberate decision, no cross. We don't want anybody to feel guilty about their sins as they sit in our church. You know what that is? That's spiritual adultery. That's a concession to the world. That's an illicit relationship to the God of this age who hates the cross and the blood. You see, we can want to please. Oh, let's be lovey-dovey. This is compromise we cannot make. Listen, our fathers saw that. We can't lose that. There are some lines that have got to be drawn. Do you believe that? I remember in Himalayas, one of the most brilliant students, his name was Tom. He was preaching to hundreds of people already. He was just a student. And he preached what we say in the trade. It was a barn-murderer. It was a paint-peeler. I mean, it was a great sermon. John 11, he was preaching on the resurrection of Lazarus' passage. And it was a great sermon on the compassionate Jesus, the empathetic Jesus, how Jesus comforted Mary and Martha, and how he loved them and ministered to them in their bereavement. And he sat down and I said, I said, Thomas, what happened to the resurrection of Lazarus? It seems to me on any basis of reasonable examination, this passage is about how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Oh, Dr. Larson, you realize, you know, we're seeker-friendly. We can't talk about miracles and about the resurrection of Lazarus in our church. I said, you can't? Oh, no. We hope down the road somewhere, maybe ten years, we'll be able to I said, my friend, have you ever heard of bait and switch? Bait and switch happens to be a felony in the state of Illinois. Get them in on one pretense and then gouge them with the price later. I said, Thomas, This passage sweetly reflects the sympathy and empathy of Jesus Christ, but it happens to be about a miracle that Lazarus was raised from the dead. Grade F. Folks, fornication, spiritual fornication. The president of Fuller Theological Seminary, Went to Salt Lake City last year. Was invited by the Mormon General Conference in the Mormon Tabernacle Temple Square. And he publicly apologized to the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints for evangelicals misunderstanding Mormonism. Shame on him! Why shame on him? We apologize to this cult which denies the Trinity, denies the blood? Is Pelagianism with a vengeance? Well, they live nicely. Flat! It's spiritual fornication. It's a betrayal of loyalty to the Gospel. Folks, this is the harlot, and it's developing. Now, John R. W. Estad is a very dear personal friend of mine. He comes to our campus every year, and I love John. Now, John has come to deny that anyone is in hell forever. I took him to lunch. I said, John, you know I love you. I have to ask you a question. He said, David, don't ask me that question. I said, John, what biblical basis do you have for denying everlasting conscious torment in hell for those who are outside of Jesus Christ? What's your biblical basis? He shook his head. He winced. And my dear friend John Stott said, David, I have no biblical basis. My mind is repulsed by the idea of eternal punishment. I could not live sanely if I believed in it. John, I said, what kind of a precedent are you setting? If your mind is the judge of the truth of the Bible, what doctrine next will not meet, muster with your mind? I ask you, my dear friends today, what is this movement ECT, Evangelicals and Catholics together? How can Jim Packer and a bevy of leaders whose names I could recite here at length to my chagrin and my shame, how can these leaders consort with the officiary of the Roman Catholic Church and conclude that they're agreed on justification by faith, and they agree they will not proselyte each other's members wherever they are on the face of the earth. My friends, our missionaries in Central and South America, where often they are under persecution, my dear friends, they just recoiled in shock. What is happening? You know what it is? The promiscuity and the perversity of the false church. That's what's developing. It will come in its full-blown form in the tribulation. But the shape of things to come is seen beforehand. The false church is promiscuous and perverse. Secondly, the false church is impressive and imposing. Look at verse 3, this woman riding on the scarlet colored beast. I mean, this is a depiction in full color. I mean, this is really impressive. The woman was arrayed in purple, scarlet color, bedecked with gold, precious stones and pearls, golden cup in her hand. My friend, the root of all this, if you know Hyslop's great book, The Two Babylons, trace it back. Semiramis, the priestess of idolatry, and how All of this falsehood has emanated and will climax in this Babylon at the end time. It's all there. It is sensual and it is sensuous. All of the resplendence and the robes and the smells and the bells. We don't hold a candle to this, thank God. We're a very plain, simple people. I'm just a little old pastor. That's who I am. You know, even Nicholas, he's no great one in the eyes of this world, thank God. But we can get uppity. Oh, the liturgy. The liturgy. How could Frankie Schaefer, Francis' son, become a Greek Orthodox? We've got Evangelicals peeling off into Eastern Orthodoxy right now like it's out of style. Listen, they're persecuting the church in Russia. Putin and Russian Orthodoxy are like this. And they're trying to scrunch out Evangelicals. Romania is in a terrible crisis. The government is going with the Romanian Orthodox. We're going to buddy up to the Romanian Orthodox? Well, it's impressive. Those processions. Those processions. Well, but Joel Osteen, that's the biggest church in America. Thirty-five, thirty-eight thousand people. So what? What does he preach? Whatever text he chooses. He always chooses a text. He's got a text that's a pretext. And every sermon is the same. You can be what you want. You can get what you want. You can have preferential treatment. You can get the car space that you want. You can have promotion at your place of work. My friends, this is hoodwinkery. This is deception. I don't care how impressive it is. This is wrong. And when he appeared on Larry King Live, I mean, here is Mr. Number One in our culture, in the church. When he appeared on Larry King Live, he so denied the Lord Jesus, he had to apologize to his church when he got home. He took no stand for Christ. Joel Osteen preaches on the prodigal son, and he preaches on storehouse tithing. Listen, if his sermon had scarlet fever, if his text had scarlet fever, the sermon would never catch it. But this is big. Big. We evangelicals, we like big now. Imposing. Impressive. Touches the senses. My friends, this is dangerous. This is dangerous. This is the harlot. And people just go, whoa, whoa, look at that. Whoa. But it's not of the Spirit of God. Have we lost all discernment? We've got mounting biblical illiteracy among conservatives. I mean, we don't know our Bibles. Our old fathers, my grandparents came from the old country. They never went to school, but they loved the Bible and they taught theology. The big subject at the table with my grandparents was the doctrine of the atonement. Praise be to God. Bishop Jakes. I hear more conservatives say, isn't Jakes wonderful? Bishop Jakes is a oneness Pentecostal, and he doesn't believe in the Holy Trinity. Have you got no savvy at all? You just listen to that blarney and think, oh, this is wonderful. Bishop Jakes. I realize he's a heretic. He's a heretic. There's no gospel preaching there. Oh, but it's so wonderful. Wonderful, my eye. It's wrong. Well, you see, you're not being very loving today. Folks, the harlot is not to be loved. There it is. The harlot is not to be loved. And we've got to start hating what God hates. Because our God loves, but our God hates. And if we don't know what to hate aright, we will not love aright. Thirdly, the false church is a persecuting church. Notice that this woman, verse 6, drunk with the blood of the saints. The saints in the book of Revelation are the Jewish saints and their converts. This is clear from the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 7 really sets the tone. The case, who are the saints in Daniel 7? Daniel had no vision of the church. This is not the church of Jesus Christ's body. These saints are the tribulation saints, the Jews. And with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, those who would not worship the beast or take the mark of the beast upon them, she persecutes them, she hates them. Now, my friends, a very interesting man these days is Stephen Carter. He's a black law professor at Yale University, a remarkably insightful person. He wrote a book, The Culture of Disbelief. He's a Christian, born again, Stephen Carter. In this book he points out, remember history shows any group systematically ridiculed in a culture, with impunity, railed at, misrepresented, Any group so ridiculed, next step, persecution. There's one group you can say anything of in this very politically correct environment in which we live. There is one group you can malign, you can rail at, and that's the so-called religious right. You know who that religious right is. That's us. We're the ones who believe the Bible. We're the ones who believe in supernatural Christianity with regeneration and new life in Christ. And we believe Christ is coming back. We're the so-called reactionary religious right. The New York Times and the Washington Post say, we are the obstruction to progress in this country. We are ignorammi. We're the dumbbells. We're the airheads. That's who we are. And because we have such concerns about abortion and right to life and the gay rights agenda and the redefinition of marriage in our culture, if it weren't for us, this country could really go ahead. Now, I don't know what's going to happen before Christ comes, but folks, there could be persecution. We're being set up. The bad guys, in terms of the Eastern brain trust, are we Bible-believing Christians. Are we going to stand for what we believe, or are we going to cave in? Are we going to capitulate? Are we going to give up? Are we going to fade away? Are we going to fall into line? Now, folks, how about it? Everyone in this room who names the name of Jesus Christ has got to come seriously to grips with that issue. This is what's shaping up. It's the bride versus the harlot. And the false church is promiscuous and perverse. It's imposing, important, looking, impressive, but it's persecuting. And it's power-hungry. It's power-hungry. I'll tell you, I don't have time to expound the balance of this, the expansive nature of the career and character of the harlot. But notice a very interesting thing. They make war with the Lamb, verse 14, and the Lamb will overcome them. But the ten horns, which you saw, verse 16, Those ten horns on the beast, these shall hate the harlot. There will be a falling out. Folks, there's no future. There's no future in sin. Where does anybody get the idea that there's anything to be gained by going the devil's way? My friend, he does not pay a good wage. He has no reward that's worth a row of ash cans. Where do we get this way that the way of compromise and popularity with human beings and currying the favor of our culture, that this will get us anywhere but to damnation. Are we going to be faithful? Listen, there's the issue today. Are we going to be faithful? Listen, fifty years ago, two months from now, May the 31st, 1957. I stood in a little white-framed church on the prairies of South Dakota. A little town called Stockholm, South Dakota. It's a community of the Irish, you can tell. Listen, Stockholm is so small, its zip code is a fraction. I stood in that little church. on those prairies. And I stood facing my sweetie, that dear girl that God gave me fifty years ago. Farmer's daughter. She was a Johnson. I looked into her eyes. And I said, I take you to be my wedded wife. To have and to hold. From this day forward, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, and forsaking all others, I take you, you only, unto Myself as long as we both shall live. I said that to my sweetie. And folks, for fifty years I've wanted to keep those vows and I've kept those vows. And I made vows to my Jesus. I made vows to my Jesus. I didn't say I wanted to be great. I didn't say I wanted to be the toast of the town. I said, Lord, I want to be faithful. My friend, will we be faithful? In an hour of compromise. In an hour of declension. Whether we be young or whether we be old or middle-aged, look, the issue is in the place God has put us. I've always said to my preachers, don't want to be a great preacher. Want to be a good preacher. Give attention to the depth of your ministry. God will take care of the breadth of your ministry. That's what I believe. But be faithful. It's required of a steward that we be found faithful. The lines are being drawn. The issues are clear. It's the bride or the harlot. Which for you? Which for me? There was a businessman from our city. He went to New York City for a business conference. And the negotiation was tough. And over the noon hour, he didn't go to lunch. He went to one of the fashionable churches on Fifth Avenue, Fifth Avenue Presbyterian. He went into the little prayer chapel. He said, I've got to spend this hour in prayer. I need God's help in my business. I've got decisions to make here. I've got questions of my stand, what I'm going to do. And he knelt down there in the benches, the pews, in this prayer chapel of the Fifth Avenue, the Theodore Roosevelt Church on Fifth Avenue. And as he was praying, he suddenly became aware of the fact he was not alone in this room. He peeked up over the pew, and there was an old couple standing up in the chancel. Didn't see any preacher, but it looked like a wedding was taking place. He said, what is going on here? He heard the old man say, Oh Mamie, I take you as my lawfully wedded wife. Mamie, oh you darling, you, I love you. To have and to hold. She said that to him. He said that to her. Then she said to him, oh Henry, you live and doll you. I love you, Henry. I take you. And the businessman would say, what is going on here? This couldn't be a legal wedding, there's no clergyman here. Then they spotted him, to his awkward embarrassment. Sonny, don't worry. This is not a wedding going on here. This is our 67th wedding anniversary. And Mamie and I, we come here every year. This is where we were married 67 years ago. And I look at my sweetheart and I want to say it all over again. I love you. I want to be true to you. I don't want to violate my promise. And she says it to me. You know, Sonny, it gets gooder and gooder. I love that. Folks, it's gooder and gooder. to be faithful to Jesus. There's a price. There's a cost. I don't care where you are in school, in an association of churches, in a local church, there's a cost. Are we going to be true? Are we going to be faithful? I'll tell you what I see Jesus face to face. I want him to say to me, David, well done, good and faithful servant. Dear Jesus, help us. There's not a person in this room who's not in danger. There's not a one of us that is unimperiled. Satan has desired to have us that he might sift us as wheat. Move us from our convictions. Adulterate our beliefs. Compromise our ideals. Oh dear God, hold us tight. Hold us close. Keep us on the firing line. Keep us true to the last breath. we pray in jesus name