Amen. Thank you. Take your Bible, if you would, and turn with me to the book of Revelation, chapter 2. The book of Revelation, chapter 2. And I'd like to begin reading from Revelation, chapter 2, and verse number 8. And I'll tell you, that's a pretty good way to start the weekend right there. If I ran this school, I'd just cancel classes the rest of the day. Brother, you know, when you get brought up that high, you just can't get down. Man, it's a good way to just go charge on the weekend and go knock on some doors and tell somebody about Christ, teach a Sunday school class, preach a message, run a bus route, get going teaching some kids in a youth department. I just say, man, that's it. We'll just preach a little bit and then blow the trumpet and charge. But I tell you, that was just great. On Zion's Hill, one of these days, we're finally going home. What a day that's going to be. And the old hymn said, it will be worth it all. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but it certainly will be worth it all one day when we see our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, face to face. Thank you. Thank you, The Ensemble. Thank you, Dr. Scoville. Thank you. You know, forget all that stuff. Maybe there is a gene after all, I guess. Revelation chapter 2 in your Bible certainly been a privilege for me to be here this today and yesterday and I'm grateful and thankful for what God is doing in Ambassador Baptist College. I'm thankful for so many now over the years students that have come here graduated here and right now they're out serving the Lord Jesus Christ all around the country all around the world doing a job for Jesus little villages big cities. in so many different venues, so many different places. And the 20 plus years now of Ambassador Baptist College certainly have been blessed of God. And I'm so grateful and thankful for the product from this school doing a wonderful work for the Lord. And I'm excited as well for the seniors that are here. Just a few more weeks to go and pretty soon you're gonna join that crowd out in the harvest fields for the Lord. Some of you juniors just a year away now, just a little more than that. And what an exciting prospect. I know that we're supposed to stand up and say the wheels are falling off and, you know, maybe morally in America that would be a true statement. I mean, you know, yesterday a federal judge said it's against the law and unconstitutional to have a national day of prayer. So it just seems to get worse and worse, doesn't it? And why we're supposed to stand up and say how everything's falling apart is discouraging and defeatists and everybody's compromising. And I gotta tell you, that's just not my testimony. Where I go, I see churches stronger than ever before. And I see men holding the line and preaching the word. And why I'm thankful I can come to a place like Ambassador Baptist College and look, You know, there's somebody here who's gonna make a mess out of things. I realize that. There's the law of averages. But you know, I'm looking at a host of people that want to serve God and want to give their lives to the Lord. And why you've given, it's why you're here. You wouldn't be here without that desire. And I'm looking at people, God's changed your life. And I'll tell you, I'm excited. I mentioned to Brother Camp earlier this week, what I have seen where I go and preach is a tremendous revival of the attitude of churches starting churches. I've been with some churches for years, and they've just gotten a hold of this thing over the last three, four, five years. And for the first time in the history of their church, they've started another church. And you say, what have they been doing? Well, regardless, that's the revival heart they've got now. And I don't think there's ever been a time where every week I'm with pastors and All they talk about is churches starting churches and and seeing New Testament churches established across the land and I we've got a vision I believe an independent Baptist churches that says you know The answer is not a mega church one per state But the answer is on every street corner a local church preaching the word winning people to Christ Baptizing him into the body teaching him to observe all things and then going out and reproducing ourselves, and I'm excited I'm excited. I'm excited about what I see here, and I'm excited about what I see in churches. I'm excited about the burden God's people have, and my, this isn't a day to quit. It's not a day to get discouraged. It's just a day to say, by the grace of God, I'm going to keep pressing on. I'm gonna keep on abounding in the work of the Lord. I know my labor's not in vain in Him. And I trust that God will encourage your heart and you'll step out by faith. And I trust that this summer's laid aside, given to the Lord. Say, I'm gonna trust the Lord from a school bill and I'm gonna serve Him. And maybe that means you go home to your local church, get busy in your local church. Maybe it means you're investing your summer working in a church somewhere, whatever God has for you on the mission field. I just encourage you to give your summers to the Lord and say, I'm going to make these days count for Christ. These are days where like never before, the opportunity is great. Folks, we got more customers than we've ever had. The opportunity to serve the Lord is as never before. And I'm excited to see what God can and will do with the people sitting right here in this place. Thank you for your heart for Him. Would you stand together if you're able this morning as I read from Revelation 2 and verse number 8. And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write, These things sayeth the first and last, which was dead and is alive, I know thy works in tribulation and poverty, but thou art rich. And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried. You shall have tribulation ten days. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death. My Savior, I thank you this morning for the privilege it is to stand in this place and open your word and preach, thus saith the Lord. Lord, our hearts are stirred already this morning to think that one day we'll step out onto that street of gold. One day, Lord Jesus, we will meet our Savior, and the Bible says they shall see his face. What a day that day is going to be, and yet, Lord, I pray that until that day we might well occupy till you come. Now I ask that the Word of God would be a blessing, an encouragement, a strength to your children. And Father, today, may we indeed once again invest our lives in faithfully serving Christ until the trumpet sounds. We pray it in Jesus' wonderful name. Amen. Thank you, and please be seated. What a letter the Lord Jesus Christ wrote to a local church in a place called Smyrna. I know the experts come along and analyze Revelation 2 and 3 to death, and I respect their right, I suppose, to do so, but for me, I've always looked at Revelation 2 and 3 as seven very real letters to seven very real pastors of seven very real local churches. And I see my Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, take out His parchment and His pen, and why we can see, and maybe in every one of these cases, the tears are welling up in the hearts of the eyes of Jesus. And of course, His heart is full of compassion, for not only does He love the world, but He loves His church. And can you see the Lord Jesus take the parchment and the pen, and maybe with a broken heart, He writes a letter to a church that does everything right, but it's mechanical. They've left their first love. Maybe he writes to a church that's become lukewarm, they become indifferent. Maybe you see him write a letter to a church that's been influenced by the world, and now there's a price to pay. Yet, my friend, how the eyes of Jesus must have warmed and his heart softened. As in Revelation 2, verse number 8, he writes the letter to the one church where today the city Smyrna is called Izmir, and there you can still find a local church honoring the Lord. For he writes a letter to a church that is paying the price. but a church that is faithful unto Christ. What a testimony. The Bible tells us in verse number 10 that there were temptations and they were trials. There were plenty of tests. Oh, there's always tests in the life of God's people. In Genesis 22, the Bible even clearly says, and it came to pass that the Lord God, he did tempt Abraham. Oh, there were tests in Abraham's life. There were some quizzes, and you know, as he went along the way, some he did a good job on, and maybe some he didn't get a very good grade on. But now the Lord said in Genesis 22, there's an exam for you. And so for the local church, in the city of Smyrna, there were plenty of exams. There were plenty of trials. There were plenty of tests along the way. There's always the test for a church to compromise. There's always a test for a church to be strong in the midst of heartache. There's always a test for a church. Are they going to give themselves to the preaching of the Bible and commit themselves to Christ? And with a blessedness in his heart, the Savior could look at this church in Smyrna. and say, for all the trials and for all the burdens and for all the tests, the Bible tells us this is the story of a church that had been faithful to Christ. I know you've heard it many times from the chapel here in your classrooms and, Ambassador, from your pastors at home, yet may I remind you, please, the book still says in 1 Corinthians 4 and 2, moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. The Bible still says in Luke 16 and 10, he that is faithful in least is faithful also in much. In Proverbs 20 and verse 6, every pastor would say it well, most men will proclaim every man his own goodness. But here's the question your pastor's looking for this summer, a faithful man who can find. I think we could cry in Psalm 12 and verse 1, Help, Lord, for the godly man seetheth, for the faithful fail from among the children of men. It's that one characteristic that the Lord honors on Judgment Day. It's the one thing He's looking for from you and from me. For regardless of where we find ourselves in the harvest fields, regardless if somebody in this building is what we call a full-time preacher, or if somebody in this building is just a full-time servant for Christ in a church, regardless whether somebody's a lady, a man, no matter what our position, no matter what our place. One day when we meet our Savior, the issue is not going to be well done, successful preacher. The issue is not going to be well done, wealthy businessman. The issue is going to be well done, good and faithful servants. Could it be the most underrated word in our vocabulary this morning? That word faithful, I love the word. You know, we'll tell the sinner this weekend, you have to put your faith in Christ. And what do we mean? Well, when someone is putting their faith in Christ, of course, the word faith, the word believe in the Bible from the same word simply meaning that we have our confidence in Jesus. When my faith is in Christ, I am trusting the fact that He died on the cross, He was buried and He rose again. When my faith is in Christ, it is only Him. I'm not trusting in Jesus plus a church. I'm not trusting in Jesus plus the waters of baptism. The word faith means my trust, my dependence, My reliance is only upon Jesus Christ. What a way to look at that word. When my faith is in Christ, I am relying only upon Him. But if I am faithful, it means that the Lord can rely upon me. The Lord can have confidence in me. You see, a faithful man, not that the Lord who knows the end from the beginning would worry anyhow, but a faithful man, nobody in heaven has to look down and say, I wonder, is he going to wake up tomorrow morning and read his Bible? A faithful lady, nobody in heaven looks down and says, you know, I wonder, is she going to spend her time this weekend in prayer? A faithful man, a faithful servant. Why, the Lord doesn't have to look down and wonder if we're going to be busy serving Jesus in our local churches this weekend. No, a faithful man is somebody who's dependable, somebody who's reliable, as you and I can put our faith in Christ and rely and trust and depend upon Him. So a faithful man is one of whom the Lord can put His confidence in, His trust in. I know good days and bad days reign, snow, sleet, and hail. They're going to be serving me and living for me. a faithful man who can find." And that's what Jesus found at the local church in Smyrna. He said, I'm watching people paying a price. I'm watching people in their trials and their burdens. And the Bible tells us that to a faithful church, to a church paying the price, Jesus had the statement that I'd like you to consider with me this morning at the end of verse number 10. He said, I want you to be thou faithful unto death. What a statement. The Lord Jesus Christ looked at a church of which he had no negatives. He looked at a church at which there was nothing to condemned, at least not in the eternal pages of the word of God forever and ever. He looked at a local church that was solid and strong, not the largest church, not the fanciest church. Why? This wasn't some uptown city like New York, like Laodicea may have been. He looked at a humble church of people paying the price. And he said, I want you to keep on going. And he said, I want you to do it unto death. In other words, the Lord Jesus said to a church in Smyrna, I want you to do what, quite frankly, I think is more for me anyhow, I think is one of the most difficult things to do. He said, I want you to make it to the finish line. The finish line. Yeah, it can be a lot of different things, can't it? It may be for somebody who's taught here at this school for a long time, the finish line is that day when the Lord says, well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of the Lord. Certainly that's true for all of us. But you know, the finish line could well be three weeks away. A finish line could be that day you walk across this platform and Brother Beale hands you a diploma. The finish line in a sense, the finish line at least of this part of your life. There's a lot of finish lines that come along the way in our lives. And I find the closer we get to the finish line, the more temptation there is to slide away, the more the wicked one seems to attack, the more the enemy's attacks are real. It's incredibly difficult to go to the finish line. I was listening to a sports radio station earlier this week, and they were talking about a famous baseball player who's off to a real poor start this year. And years gone by, one of America's most revered athletes, revered ballplayers, and, you know, it doesn't take a genius to watch him play and see he doesn't swing like he used to. He doesn't play like he used to. This could be the end of the line. And these two reporters were talking the situation over, and they made a startling statement, almost a heartbreaking statement. I said, you know, very few athletes, very few athletes. Why, when it's over, does it end well? It seems like there's a big contract signed and somebody's raking in millions of dollars, and yet most of the careers wind up in failure, not somebody walking out on the top. Why, you look in the Word of God and you'll discover that over and over again and again, how hard it is for some of the mightiest men of God to get to the finish line. How about somebody like Noah? Nobody's got a finer testimony than Noah. The entire world was going in one direction and Noah said, I'm going the other way. The entire world loved their sin, but Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, almost like a lighthouse off the coast of North Carolina, just shining through the fog. Why, there was Noah standing, and he didn't just stand against a crowd. He didn't just stand against a multitude. The story of Noah is the story of a man that stood against the whole world. But he didn't get to the finish line, did he? His family dragged him down. How about somebody in the Bible like Uzziah? I mean, in Uzziah's early realm, there were people in Israel that well-compared him, at least in their minds, to the Messiah. They thought that perhaps this is who he was. That's how beloved he was. And you know, with good reason. Israel was never stronger than in the days of Uzziah. Why, the kingdom spread from shore to shore, so to speak. Why, they conquered the enemy, they built the cities, and as a strong military is necessary for a safe nation today, well, what the army is to us in America, powerful and large walls would be to a city in the days of the Old Testament. In Uzziah, the Bible says, built those cities and he built those walls. You know, the word of God tells us as long as he sought the Lord, God made him to prosper. What a testimony. But you know, one day old Uzziah starts reading the press clippings. One day, I guess he started believing what people thought. And one day he thought he could cross the line. And you know, Uzziah found it was very difficult to get to the finish line and stay faithful to the Lord. How about a king like Asa? He had a great testimony yet one day medical problems came in his life. He couldn't get to the finish line How about somebody like Dimas starting out as a fireball for the Lord yet one day the world got in the way And he forsook the Lord having loved this present world There's a lot of mighty Christians a lot stronger than me a lot smarter than me that know the Bible a whole lot more than you And I know and yet one day they found the failure when it came to getting to the finish line What? It may be that somebody could sit an ambassador and you've been here for three and three quarters years. And yet you may find this next month to be the toughest one of all. It could be for somebody faithful to the Lord, serving him for decades in their life. And somehow they come right to the end. And you would just think it must get easy somewhere, somehow, some way. There's just must come a time when the devil says, I can't get that guy. But that day never comes. and getting to the finish line is incredibly difficult. No wonder the Bible has to encourage us and say, I press towards the mark for the prize of the high calling. No wonder the Bible says, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen, for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. God wants us to come to the place where we can say with Paul, I have fought a good fight. They just rang the bell at the end of round 12. The battle is finally done. I'm going home and right to the very end. I have fought a good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith. No wonder the Bible just says, hold on, just hang on and let us not be weary and well doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. That little church in Smyrna didn't have big stained glass windows and a fancy building like I suspect the Laodicean church had. That little church in Smyrna didn't have all the great professors and teachers like, well, they may have had in Ephesus. That church in Smyrna didn't have the big givers. They didn't have the fancy programs. It's just a humble church of people that were serving the Lord. And Jesus said, ladies and gentlemen, get to the finish line. So this morning I'd like you to take your Bible and let's take a little closer look to the letter Jesus wrote to a local church in Smyrna. And I want to give you from your Bible three simple keys this morning to making it to the finish line, no matter where that finish line is, no matter if it's graduation day, no matter if it's a wedding day, no matter what it may be, maybe it's the end where we meet the Savior. But to get to the finish line, let me give you three things we can't afford to forget. Number one, Jesus tells the church in Smyrna, keep your eyes on the first and the last. You see, in verse number eight, unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write, these things saith the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. He says, keep your eyes on Jesus. Keep your eyes on the Son of God. Let's keep looking to the first and the last. Why? We look to Him because we know who He is. I love the statement, first and last, Alpha and Omega. Why the first? We quoted that verse yesterday in John 1, 1. In the beginning was the word. But he's not just the first in Revelation chapter 22. The Bible says when the dust has settled, when it's time for the new heavens and the new earth, it's going to be the Lord Jesus Christ who sits upon the throne. And the Bible says they shall see his face before this world was ever thrown into existence. The Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings, the Lord of lords sat upon the throne. When it is all said and done, and kings and emperors have come and gone, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who still sits upon the throne and reigns. That's why, my friend, I can have my confidence in Him. Before you and I ever came, before the earth and foundations were ever laid, Jesus Christ already was. And when this old earth that you and I stand on is long gone, it's been replaced by a new heavens and a new earth, it is the Lord Jesus Christ who still shall reign. He is the first and the last. Notice if you would please what he knows he said in verse number nine number one. I know thy works. I know thy works I know who he is the first and the last now the Bible says here's what he knows he knows my works I like that because I'm preaching this morning to somebody in this building nobody else knows the works nobody else knows what goes on you know I've noticed going and preaching in churches with Christian schools and that more often than not you walk in the door at least where the Christian school is and The first thing your eyes see is a big old trophy case Huge. I'm always fascinated by this. I'll take a look in the trophy case and it's stunning, isn't it? You know, there's trophies like this high. I don't mean from here this high. I mean from there this high, you know. And I look at these trophies. Huge. And I read the little plaque on there and it says something like this. Ninth place in a 13-team volleyball tournament, you know. And I'm looking at these trophies saying, this is an amazing thing. You know, when somebody wins the World Series, they give them a trophy about this big. When somebody wins the Super Bowl, it's about yay big. When somebody wins the NBA championship or the Final Four, it's about this big. And you know, even in hockey, you can't get the Canadians never get it right. You know, they got this big old Stanley Cup that's probably about this high, but it is not so heavy that somebody can't skate around the ice and carry it. And I look into trophy cases in Christian schools and there's trophies bigger than what they get for winning the World Series. There are trophies that are bigger than what they get for winning the Super Bowl. And you know, you walk into most Christian schools and there's the big old trophy case for the athletes and the ballplayers, for the cheerleaders, for the salutatorians and the valedictorians. But you know, I haven't gone to too many Christian schools, in fact, I don't think I ever have, where there was a trophy over there given to the guy who goes soul winning every Saturday morning. I haven't seen that one. I've never seen the trophy over here, you know, with the ribbon for some young lady who's given her life to work with boys and girls in a Sunday school class. I haven't seen the trophy yet for somebody who reads their Bible every day, for somebody who gives their life to memorize the Word of God. Not a whole lot of trophies for that, is there? You're not a whole lot of trophies for somebody today who spent 40 years out in the middle of South America, in the middle of Africa or somewhere in Asia serving the Lord. There's not a lot of praise for them, not a lot of honors for them, not a lot of applause for them. You know, sometimes when people are just quietly serving the Lord, we start talking about the ballplayers and the cheerleaders and we start honoring the valedictorians and the salutatorians. But maybe it's time we talk about the ones that are really important. the ones that are faithful to work for Jesus. No applause, no ribbons, but they're faithful. They wake up in the morning. They open up their Bible. They read. Nobody claps for that. They get on their knees and they pray. They memorize a portion of the word of God. They build the testimony. When sin comes into their life, they confess their sin and they don't have long accounts. They keep things right with God. They're out there busy serving the Lord. They're praying for their friends to get saved and nobody claps and nobody gives a trophy and nobody hands out an award and nobody hangs a ribbon. But there's a Savior who says, I know thy worth. Somebody here this weekend, by when class is done today, maybe tomorrow morning, you're going to get in some rickety old car that has no business getting past the post office in Lattimore. And held together with your Elmer's glue and held together with your duct tape, you're going to find a way to swing 40 or 50 miles out to some little church nobody ever heard of. And you're going to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. And you're going to think, I don't even know if the Lord knows this town's on a map. And I want you to know he knows where that town is. And I want you to know that heaven notices when somebody works for Jesus. What does he know? He said, I know thy works. Not only that, he says, I know thy burdens. For the church in Smyrna, he said, I know thy works and their burden was this, thy tribulation and thy poverty. That was the burden that they were carrying. It was a poor church. It was a church of troubles, a church the enemy was working against. And Jesus said, I know. I know what you're carrying in your heart. I know that burden. I know that trial. I know you're doing right, and I know you're paying the price for it. And you know, it may be that nobody else understands, and it may be you're criticized for it, and it may be you're condemned for it. But Jesus said, you can still cast all your care upon me. I care for you. He knows. He knows the burden. He knows the burden that's in the heart of a young lady in this place today. He knows the burden in the heart of a man in this place today. He knows the burden you're carrying in your soul. He knows the pain. He knows the fear. He knows exactly what's going on in the depths of your soul. There's a Savior who said, I know your works. I know your burdens. He said, I know your enemies. He could tell them at the end of verse number 10 that, I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. How deceitful that must have been in the first century. Why their form of false religion and their form of compromise. The Gnosticism that went along with the false Judaizers. It was the religion of the first century as there are things that you and I have to battle. There are things that the previous generation battled. There are things that one day when we are long gone and you got the gray hair, you're all going to have to battle. But my friend, there's always been a battle. There's always been compromise. There's always been false doctrine. There's always been false teaching. And for the first century, it was those who said they were Jews and they were not. In other words, they were pulling people back to the Old Testament. I love that. Because in effect, the Lord Jesus Christ is saying, you know who the real Jews are? You studied the book of Hebrews. You know who the real Jews are? It is those who have come and realized that we've got a better sacrifice. We've got a better offering. The Lamb of God is not the one who covered up our sins till it's time for the Day of Atonement next year. The Lamb of God is the one who John the Baptist preached took away our sins. And Jesus is saying the real Jews are the ones that know that. Now here come these Judaizers trying to pull people back into the Old Testament. It's what the book of Hebrews is all about. The book of Hebrews is written to somebody that gets saved and they know the Lord Jesus and now the family pressure's on like maybe it's on for one of you. That family pressure says, come on back to the old sacrifices. Come on back to the old religion. Like somebody here, your loved ones, maybe they're all Catholics. They're all some other denomination and why you got saved and your life was changed. And you know, they just got that old pull saying you've rejected family of your religion of your family that's what the Hebrews faced from those who said they were Jews and they were not and the Lord Jesus looked down at this church and he got his parchment in his pen he said I know I know what you're doing for me. He said, I know the burdens you've got in your heart. I know the enemies that you're facing. I know what you're going through. He could say in Hebrews 4, 13, neither is there any creature that is not manifested in his eyes, but all things are naked and open under the eyes of him with whom we have to do. My friend, Jesus knows, Jesus sees. And he said to a church, a struggling little church, I want you to get to the finish line. How do you do that? you keep your eyes on Jesus. Remember the old chorus we used to sing years ago when I was a boy? It said, keep on following Jesus every day. Keep on following Jesus, come what may. Underneath his banner, hey, let's take our stand to live our day. But keep on following Jesus all the way. My friend, the Lord Jesus took his parchment and his pen. He wrote a letter to a church in a place called Smyrna, and he said, I want you to get to the finish line. I want you to be faithful unto death. So he said, number one, keep your eyes on the first and the last. Notice number two, he said, keep your eyes on the enemy. Keep going, if you would, in Revelation chapter two, and the Bible tells us in verse number 10, For none of those things which thou fear, none of those things which thou shalt suffer. Behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison that you may be tried, and ye shall have tribulation ten days." Hey, the Lord Jesus wrote a letter to this struggling church, and he said, keep your eyes on me. But he said, there's also a corner of your eye, you just make sure you keep it on your enemy. Notice the name that the Lord Jesus uses for the enemy. He uses the name, the devil. Many titles are given to our adversary. Yet, my friend, that is one of the most powerful of all. The word devil means he's the accuser, the accuser of the brethren. You know, it's one of the most frustrating studies in the Bible to study that word, to see how Satan works as the accuser. You know, I wish that the Bible didn't say he was the accuser of the brethren. I wish, for me anyhow, that what the book would have to say is that he's the false accuser of the brethren. But it's not what he says. I mean, it'd be one thing if he went into the presence of God, and you know, he has for time and eternity, virtually. Why, Satan goes into the presence of God, and we find it in perhaps the oldest book of the Old Testament, one of the oldest stories in Job, and there he is. In the very last book of the New Testament, the book of Revelation, we find he is still there. He's still there today, and he will be until one day, old Michael and the rest of his crowd, they get to exiting him out of heaven. But you know, he's the accuser of the brethren. And you read the book of Job, and he never comes up with a lie, doesn't he? He stands there in front of the bar of glory, and he says, the Lord looks down and says of Job, it wouldn't be great if he'd say of you and me, hast thou considered my servant Job? I mean, I'm afraid Satan stands there and says, you know, what about that guy? What about that evangelist? What about this guy? What about that student? What about that professor? What about that preacher? What about this? What about that? And you know, I'm afraid you and I give him plenty of ammunition, don't we? And it must be awfully refreshing for the Lord to look at that slimy serpent and say, hast thou considered my servant? There is none like him in all the earth. And you know, it'd be one thing for his neighbor to say it. It'd be one thing for his wife to say it. It'd be one thing for the relatives to say it. But when God says he's a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and is cheweth evil, well, that, my friend, is a real testimony. Look at all you've blessed him with, look at all you've given him. And you know, we look at the story of Job and we think, what a testimony. The guy was faithful to the Lord when he lost his family, when he lost his health, and when he lost his supportive wife. And that is powerful. But you know what the greatest testimony of Job is? It's not that he honored the Lord when he really needed to, it's that he honored the Lord when, so to speak, humanly, he didn't need to. You know, when somebody's lost their job, when somebody's laying in a hospital, ask these pastors. They'll tell you when they go in the hospital room and the doctor says it's 50-50. You know, most people do a whole lot of repenting the night before surgery. And not a whole lot of people facing surgery today where it's life and death that, you know, they're real angry and bitter. They're usually trying to get on the good side. And when we're in trouble, we kind of need the Lord. But when there's money in the bank and there's food in the freezer and life is good, then it's really hard to be right with God. The accuser of the brethren had nothing to say. You fast forward to the book of Revelation. There he is. He stands day and night before the bar of heaven, and he's the accuser of the brethren. He's the devil. My friend, we give him so much ammunition. I think he's got to sift through it and come up with the best stuff. We're constantly giving him things. Hey, have you seen what that guy said? Did you see the anger in his life? Listen to the words coming from your beloved child of God over here. and how the wicked one stands before the bar of heaven accusing the brethren. Hey, God says, keep your eyes on the enemy. May I remind you, please, as you get ready to leave the school for another year, maybe to graduate out to the harvest fields of God, can I remind you of what you already know? We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. There is an enemy that's after you. There's an enemy that's after me. Whatever it takes, he wants to take a big old sledgehammer and drive a wedge between you and your Bible. He wants to come and take somebody like you and me and get us in His hands and twist us and shift us to the place where the oddly our testimony, but more importantly, the testimony of Christ is shamed and disgraced and embarrassed. There's an enemy. He's real. He's after you and he's after me. And the Lord Jesus said he's going to give you trouble. It's going to last 10 days, local church in Smyrna. But I want you to be faithful. You keep your eyes on the first and the last for all the trouble the enemy gives for all the temptations along the way. You just remember as mighty as that one is, as powerful as the prince of the power of the air is. And when it is all said and done, he's the one in that bottomless pit. And Jesus is the one sitting upon the throne. Keep your eyes on the first and the last. Keep your eyes on the enemy. He's real this morning. Notice, please, there's a third thing Jesus told the church in Smyrna. He said, keep your eyes on the first and the last. Keep your eyes on the enemy. But number three, he said, keep your eyes on the prize. And he said at the end of verse number 10, be thou faithful unto death and I will give thee a crown of life. That crown was the victor's crown usually given to those winning Olympic games, athletic contests, a crown made out of leaves, sitting on the head of the one that made it to the finish line. sitting on the head of the one that won the battle. And why is you and I come into the entrance of the great arena of glory? The Bible says we're compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses. What a way to put it. There's nothing quite like flying up into the sky on a cloudy, rainy day, a snowy day. And yet when that plane just banks through the clouds and the bright sunshine is everywhere, I don't care how long you've done, it's fascinating to look out the window and those clouds just seem to go on and on for infinity. And my friend, the Bible says when we walk into the heavenly stadium, we are surrounded like that with a great cloud of witnesses. There's the Old Testament saints of Hebrew 11. And the Bible says they're watching us. Why? There's the New Testament saints that have paid for their, with their blood. There's the saints down to the ages, our Baptist forefathers with their own blood and paid the price. So you and I might well be here today. And now we look down to the corridor of time and their eyes are upon us because they without us are not going to to be completed and perfect. It's fascinating. They're watching us. But where do our eyes go? Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame. What a way to put it. Endured the cross, despising the shame. You know, if that were me on the cross, you can be sure it would be a different way. It would not be enduring the cross, despising the shame. It would have been despising the cross and enduring the shame. I would have hated those nails. I would have hated the crown of thorns. I would have hated the whip that tore my back. I would have hated the beatings and the mockings. Yet the Bible says that's not what he hated. He endured all that. But what Jesus despised was the shame. The shame when He bore my sins in His own body on the tree. The shame when for the first time the Father had to turn away from the Son and He cried, My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me? And why did He do it? He did it all for the joy that you and I one day can be with Him. That you and I have the price paid for our sins. That you and I can be saved. And one day the Bible simply says, and they shall see His face. No wonder the book says, every man striveth for the mastery that is tempered in all things. The Bible says, if a man strives for the masteries, yet is he not crowned except he strives lawfully. Well, we can say with Paul at the end of his life, as he comes to the finish line, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. The Bible still says, blessed is the man that endure temptations, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to him that loveth him. He said to a church in Smyrna years ago, the finish line's ahead. The finish line's ahead. I heard an old, old song a few months ago. I'd never heard it. You know, when you're in a meeting, you know, we kind of been there, done that, got the t-shirt usually when it comes to music. But I was preaching in a church in Albany, Oregon a few months ago. They sang a song I have never heard in 28 years, an old, old song called Victory Ahead. What a song. Victory ahead victory ahead and that's what he's saying to the church in Smyrna victory ahead Let's keep on going through the burdens in the trials victory ahead get your eyes on the Savior victories ahead He said get your eyes on the enemy. He's real. Don't be ignorant of his devices Victory ahead and he said keep your eyes on the prize because the Bible tells us victories ahead Hey that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death My friend, the battle's real. The enemy is real. There's somebody here with three weeks to go to the finish line. The enemy's gonna try to knock you off. There's somebody here serving the Lord and maybe one of us for years now, and the enemies in the business are trying to knock us off. More than anything, he doesn't want us faithful unto death. There is a finish line and an enemy who wants you done. Keep your eyes on the Savior. On June the 25th, 2005, a man by the name of Marcus Luttrell and three Navy SEALs, he was a Navy SEAL as well, landed on a mountain in Afghanistan. The mission of those four men was to kill a noted terrorist by the name of Ben Sharmach, and yet things did not go as planned. Actually, they quietly, deftly found their way on a mountaintop in the mountains of Afghanistan, a rugged place to be sure, and yet they were founded by a shepherd and a boy. They knew what they had to do. They had to kill him. Because if they didn't kill those two, that boy and that shepherd, they would go to the village and they would alert the Taliban. And yet there was something in the heart of those men that wouldn't let them kill that little boy and let him kill that Afghani. And it was going to cost them their life. It wasn't long after that when more than 200 Taliban soldiers climbed those mountains searching for the four Navy SEALs. They found them and trapped them on a mountainside. And to make matters worse, the four American Navy SEALs had the low ground. The 200 Taliban were coming from the high ground. It was an impossible situation. Yet those men battled, and they battled hard, but trapped on that mountainside, the 90-minute battle saw three of those Navy SEALs lose their lives. and Marcus Luttrell was badly injured. By a miracle of heaven, he was able to escape that battle. The Navy SEAL sent a helicopter in with 16 soldiers on it, and that helicopter was shot down by the Taliban, one of the worst losses in Afghanistan to that day. All 16 Americans were killed. Littrell said, it looked like I had no hope for life. I was bloodied and battered. I could hardly walk. And he said in his book that he found, finally after days, a little creek. He jumped in that creek and he drank some water for the first time in days. And he began to wash himself. He said when he wiped the water from his eyes, he looked up and he was looking down the rifle barrel of some local Afghanis. He thought it was all over. But instead, those Afghanis said, come to our village. The village was called Sabre. And there, they tried to help him get better. There, for five days, they kept him. The Taliban would come searching for him. And Luttrell would hide on treetops. He would hide in little closets. Yet, for five days, the villagers kept him safe. He said, during that time, he began to take stock of his injuries, is what he said. I'd lost 37 pounds. My face was scoured. My nose was broken. I had been shot in the thigh. There were two broken wrist bones and three cracked vertebrae. The loss of blood, he says, I was on the run my entire time. And finally, I knew the Taliban was going to destroy those villagers and kill them. He said I had to go. So with all of those injuries, he found himself running again through the rugged hills and mountains of Afghanistan. He said he came around the bend of a trail and suddenly he looked up and the hillside was full of Taliban soldiers and they were all pointing the weapons at him. He said, I thought it was all over. But here's how he wrote it. And here I was alone with two tribesmen from the village helping him with no coherent plan. My leg was killing me and I could hardly put it to the ground. The two guys carrying me were bearing the whole weight of my body. We came to a little flight of rough rock steps that were cut into the gradient. They got behind me and pushed up with their shoulders. I made the top step first. And as I did so, I came face to face with an armed Afghani fighter I had never seen before. He carried an AK-47 and held it in the ready to fire position. And when he saw me, he raised it. And then he said this, I looked at his hat and there was a badge on his hat containing words and his words that almost stopped my heart. They said, Bush for president. Luttrell realized the man was Afghan special forces. Right behind there were two U.S. Army Rangers. Of course, the Army had to come bail out the Navy in combat uniforms. He said when he lifted up his eyes and his words, Army guys were coming out of the forest from all over the place. And one of the Rangers asked the question, you an American. Marcus Luttrell said, yes, I am. And his life was saved. You know, I read that story and I thought, my. Isn't that the way it is for the child of God? We look up on the hillside and the enemy is loaded with the weapons. The enemy is ready to attack. It just seems like there's nowhere to turn. There's nowhere to go. Maybe we fought the fight for so long. Somebody may be spiritually bloodied and battered and seemingly just can't press on and just can't go on. But somehow you just keep pressing on. And somehow, by the grace of God, you make it up one more step. And one day, as that old soldier looked up and saw his rescue, why, one day, we're going to look up and see our Savior in the clouds saying, come on home. And it will be worth it all when we see our Savior face to face. The finish line. What an incredibly impossible thing to attain. Yet, my friend, one day to a humble little church, the Lord Jesus didn't have anything to criticize. The Lord Jesus said, keep your eyes on the first and the last. He said, keep one of those eyes on the enemy. He is real and he's the accuser. But he said, keep your eyes on the prize. And one day with the crown sitting on your head, you'll hear, well done, good and faithful servant. My friend, if we can do all things through Christ, which strengthen us up, strengthen us, then you and I can get to the finish line. My Savior, I thank you for the power of the Word of God. Thank you for writing a letter one day to a local church. And Lord, well, you could have written that letter today to those of us right here in this college chapel. Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and your compassion. Thank you, Lord, that you remember our frame, you remember where's dust. You know our weakness, you know our frailties, but Lord, I'm thankful for your mercy and your power. Lord, I want to pray for somebody just a few weeks away from the finish line. Strengthen them, encourage them. Oh, Lord, don't let them get discouraged and weak and well-doing. Help them to go to that line. I pray for somebody in this room who's been serving the Lord for years. Help us, Lord Jesus, to determine the day. No matter where we go, no matter where we wind up, we are going to be faithful unto death. Bless your people. In Jesus, my Savior's name, I pray. Amen.