7 Churches: Introduction — A.J. Higgins

Now, let me add my thanks to what has already been tendered to you, especially realizing a number of you have been in gospel meetings and ministry meetings, to take the time out for a weekend like this is most commendable and appreciated.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ to the Seven Churches

Revelation 1 and verse number 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave to him to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass, he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John, who bare record of the word of God and of the testimony of Jesus Christ and of all things that he saw.

Blessed is he that read it, that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein, for the time is at hand. John's of the seven churches which are in Asia, peace, rather grace beyond you and peace from him which is, and which was, and which is to come, and from the seventh spiritual church are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the first begotten, the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth, unto him that loved us, washed us from our sins in his own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God and his father.

To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Behold, he cometh with the clouds, and every eye shall see him, they also which pierce to him, and all kingdoms of the earth shall wail because of him, even so, amen.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, sayeth the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. I, John, who am your brother and companion in tribulation in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

I was in the spirit on the Lord's day, heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet saying, I am Alpha and Omega, first and last, and what thou seest, write in a book, send unto the seven churches which are in Asia.

Now it's important to realize that it's the entire letter, the entire epistle which is sent to these seven churches. What thou seest, write in a book, and send unto the seven churches which are in Asia, unto Ephesus, unto Smyrna, unto Pergamos, unto Thyatira, unto Sardis, unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.

Christ Among the Golden Lampstands

And I turned to see the voice that speak with me, and being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. Now you're going to allow me to give you the better rendering lampstands, and we'll see why lampstand is not only a better literal rendering, but a more scriptural rendering.

In the midst of the seven lampstands, one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, girt about the paps with a golden girdle. Head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire.

His feet, like undefined brass, as they burned in a furnace, and his voice is the sound of many waters. And he had in his hand, well he had in his right hand seven stars, and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and his countenance was as the sun shineth in strength.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, and he laid his right hand upon me, and saying unto me, Fear not, I am first and the last. I am he that liveth and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.

Amen. I have the keys of hell and of death. Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter. The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest at my right hand are the seven golden lampstands, and the seven stars are the angels or messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches.

Now we trust that God will bless the reading of his word to us all tonight. We have a rather formidable task ahead of us, and I trust God will give help. We would like with God's help to look at the teaching that is involved in the letters of the seven churches, but tonight will serve as an introduction as we look at chapter one.

Introduction for many reasons, and as we shall see, what is in chapter one is very, very closely linked with what we shall look together at in the succeeding meetings in chapter two and in chapter three.

Now obviously, tonight we have read and have to comment upon upwards of twenty verses, and in all the meetings that follow, we'll be looking at anywhere from four or five to seven or eight verses, so we have a lot to condense tonight and just to highlight as we would look down this chapter and try to gain something from it.

The Three Divisions of Revelation

I think most, with perhaps the exception of some of the youngest ones here, are familiar with the sections of the book of Revelation. We read the divinely inspired commentary upon the sections of the book of the Revelation, the things that thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be after these things.

That's what we read in verse number nineteen. So the things which are, really occupy, or rather the things thou hast seen, occupy move to chapter one, the vision that was opened to John upon the Isle of Patmos, the glorified more that he saw walking in the midst of the seven golden lampstands in the midst of the churches, the things which thou hast seen.

The things which are would be chapters two and chapter three, and we will look at those in more detail as time allows through the weekend, and then of course the things which shall be after these things take us from chapter four onward to appreciate something of the future, and of the unfolding of events which John tells us must be.

So, the sections of the book. The subdivision of the chapters that are before us, of course, are helpful, because in chapter one we would see the Lord walking in the midst of the churches. When we come to chapter two and chapter three, we would see the churches working in the midst of the world.

And when we come to chapter four and five, it is the church worshipping around the throne. So, chapter one, the Lord walking. Chapter two and chapter three, we see assemblies working. And chapter four and chapter five, the church as a whole worshipping around the throne in heaven.

Now the reason I say working, as we'll see, is in six out of the seven churches, in our authorized version it's seven out of seven, but probably more accurately in six out of the seven churches, the Lord begins his message to each church with the words, I know thy works.

And so he is examining the activity of an assembly and giving us his commentary upon it. So, the subdivision then of the chapters before us, chapters one through chapter five, that have to do with believers, of this age we would see those three different aspects.

The Revealer, Recipients, and Purpose of the Book

But let me come then to a summary of chapter one very quickly, and just look at it for a few minutes if I can with you, and consider something of it. Just go back to verse number one, and look first of all at the revealer of the teaching.

Who is doing the revealing? The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave. So, what we are looking at is a revelation, it is something which God has given, and we will see why, but it's important to grasp that God is the source of what we are looking at.

In all of his wisdom, in all of his authority, God is the revealer. The recipients, to whom was it written? To show unto his servants. Now, that immediately would remind us that this is not a book for speculation, this was not meant as a book for debate or for intellectual curiosity, but God intended that this book would have a practical effect upon all who read it.

And we would indeed read later on, blessed it says there in verse number three, he that read it, he that heareth, he that keepeth. So, God intends this book for his servants, not just for students, not just for the curious, not just for the prophetic individual who wants to learn all he can about prophecy, but God intends the reading of this book to have a bearing upon your life and mine, your service and mine for him as we shall see in just a few moments as we look at some other aspects of it.

So, the recipients are servants, those who are bond slaves, those who are willing servants of God, this book then is for us in that character if we would seek to serve God in our own day. And then we have, of course, the reason why it was given.

We are told that he would make known that which must shortly come to pass. So, God is giving us a foreview. And again, it is all with this in mind that it has a bearing upon our lives today, that it will have some practical bearing upon each of us individually, but especially what we will be looking at in chapters 2 and 3 have a practical bearing upon assemblies that seek to bear testimony to God, to bear testimony to the Lord Jesus in our own day.

But it is the word of God, so you will see it is, we see the reliability. That little word in verse number 1 I think is vital for us to appreciate, things which must, which must. Amidst all of the events of earth, amidst all of the opposition of men, amidst all of the planning and the intention of men and demons, God says this is what must be.

This is what must be. This is what is going to occur. Despite all that would rage itself in opposition, despite the kings of the earth gathering themselves together, despite the tumult of the nations, God says here is what must be because I have so decreed it.

We see as well the recorder, the apostle John, and what I want you to see is that what it is is a revelation, not of the future so much. That's how most of us would approach this book. The book of the revelation, while it's revealing to us the future, it's revealing to us what's going to happen in the future, but you will notice, won't you, what it says as we read these verses.

It is a revelation of Christ. It's really revealing to us Christ. And so as we go through the book, we would, if all we gathered from this book were future events and, you know, be able to put all the personages in the right place and be able to say who this person is and who that person is and which events occur in what order, if that's all we gathered, we would be missing.

We would be missing what is the chief intent of God in giving us this book. We'd be missing the revelation of Christ. So as you go through the book, what do you learn of Christ? Well, in chapters 1, 2, and 3, he is Lord and Judge as he moves amongst the assemblies, isn't he?

A totally different character than what we are accustomed to thinking as we see him in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, moving in August glory and majesty and in righteousness amidst the churches. And so in chapters 1 to 3, he is the Lord and Judge.

Chapter 5, he's the Lamb and he's also the Lion of the tribe of Judah. When you come to chapter 11, he's the Sovereign. When you come to chapter 14, he's the Reaper. Chapter 19, he's the Bridegroom. He's the Warrior upon the White Horse.

He's King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Sovereign of the Universe, the Inaugurator of a New Eternity. He is all that revealed to us and all the fullness and all the greatness of this person. And so John is going to be bringing before us throughout this tremendous epistle, unfoldings of the person of Christ, revelation, an unveiling is the word that is used in the original, giving us pictures and glories of Christ that we do not have in Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

Yes, they're suggested to us in Old Testament pictures and in Old Testament language. They are suggested to us in the epistles and different things that are said. But to John was given this tremendous privilege.

To the church and to the ages to come to unveil the person of Christ and all the beauty of this person for us. And as time permits, we will look at that tonight. So, the sections of the book of Revelation, the subdivisions of these chapters, the summary of chapter 1, but what I want to come to is the seed plot.

The Resources for Testimony

The seed plot that is in this chapter. Now what I mean by the seed plot is that John, like a wise writer, is dropping seeds in chapter 1 that he is going to develop as he goes through, especially chapters 2 and 3, but actually throughout the entire letter.

Look at verses 4 to 6. Over verses 4 to 6, I want you to just put these words, the resources, the resources for testimony for God. The resources for testimony for God. There are three things introduced to us in verses 4, 5, and 6.

First of all, there is the sovereignty of God. You will notice it says from him which, verse number 4, from him which is and which was and which is to come. The eternality of his person. One who was before everything, one who is, one who shall be after everything else.

Sovereignty of God. Him which is, which was, and which is to come. Timeless, eternal, sovereign over everything. Number two, from the seven spirits which are before his throne. Now, older Christians know this, so please bear with me for the sake of younger believers.

It does not mean, of course, that there are seven spirits. That's contrary to the rest of the teaching of the word of God. There is one spirit. But what it does mean is the fullness of the spirit, the completeness of his sufficiency.

The seven-fold spirit of God in all the fullness of his availability for the church. So we have not just the sovereignty of God. We have the sufficiency of the spirit of God. But then notice as well what we have from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first begotten from among the dead, prince of the kings of the earth.

What I have there is the suitability. The suitability of the Lord that we have walking in the midst. So if I see the sovereignty of God, the eternity of his person, if I see the sufficiency of the spirit, the entirety of the blessing he can bring, if I see the suitability of the Savior, the experience of his manhood that fit him for all of our needs, I begin to gain some insight into the fact that here are the resources.

Now, it won't seem strange to you than will it if as we go through the letter, and as we go through the different letters to the churches, that the spirit of God draws upon these things. And in one instance, he reminds us of the one that has the sufficiency of the spirit to meet our needs.

Another occasion, him who is the first and last, him who was the faithful witness, and so on. He's going to be drawing upon the sufficiency of the spirit, the suitability of Christ, the sovereignty of God, all with this in view as resources for testimony in our own day.

And so what we will see is that there is an entire Godhead. Now, it's easy to say, but it's a tremendous thing to think of. There is an entire Godhead at the availability of every local assembly to maintain and to prosper testimony.

There is a sevenfold spirit available, not dependent upon how large or how small assembly is, there is the fullness of the spirit available for every company. There is a sovereign God available for every company.

There is a savior in his suitability available for every company, regardless of size, strength, weakness, whatever it might be. And so when you think of the things that can buffet an assembly, the persecutions and the difficulties and the opposition, even on a local level in towns and villages and so on, there's a God who is sovereign.

While that may have tremendous comfort to an assembly like Smyrna going through the furnace of affliction, it can be a great comfort to an assembly as well being buffeted by difficulty in a town with petty ordinances and petty officers and everything else, to realize there's a God who is sovereign.

When you come to assemblies that are seemingly so weak, but find that there's a spirit who is sufficient to raise up gift and raise up leadership and whatever is needed. And when you think of assemblies who are struggling, there is a savior who is absolutely suitable.

So that there is no emergency that is outside the sovereignty of a God who is so powerful as there. No emergency. There are emergencies with us on earth. There are no emergencies in heaven. There are no 911s in heaven.

Before the throne there's a sea of glass. There's undisturbed peace and tranquility. Not because it's indifferent, but because it already knows everything. It's already prepared for everything. Already has foreseen everything.

Controls everything. So there is no emergency that is outside his control. All that is essential for testimony, the spirit of God can supply. And all that we experience as believers individually and collectively, there's one who was the faithful witness.

He's experienced it before you and I. May not be exactly the same circumstance, but he has gone through every form of trial. And those are difficult. So the resources then for testimony in verses 4 through 6.

The Coming Day of Review and Reversal

Verse 7 though brings me forward to what regulates testimony. And that is a day of review, a day of revelation, a day of reversals. Now I know that verse 7 is not referring to his coming for us to take us home.

Not referring to the rapture so much. But rather to the day of revelation when every eye shall see him. And they also which pierced him. But it is a day of revelation that is coming. The day of his revelation.

But there was a dear man, older believers here will know him. I used to hear my father-in-law and my father talk about preachers and they had gone home to heaven. They're always living in the past, you know.

But I'm living in the past. A dear man that older ones would know, Mr. Sidney Maxwell. And he taught us that we will be going into heaven based upon what Christ did at Calvary for us. But we will come out of heaven based upon what we have done for him.

Now get that. We will go into heaven based upon what Christ has done for us. We will come out of heaven depending upon what we have done for him. And what I mean depending, how you and I will appear in glory.

The honor that we will bring to the Lord Jesus in a coming day. In the day of revelation. In the day of his manifestation. When he shall come in the words of Paul to the Thessalonians. To be admired in all them that believe.

The way we will appear in the kingdom will be linked with how we have lived for him down here. How faithful we have been for him down here. How we have carried out our stewardships down here. That will give us our place.

Now I know grace is really at the bottom of it all. Nothing can be divorced from divine grace. But responsibility here upon earth will be linked with well done. Thou has been faithful in a few. Thou shall have rule over many and so on.

Those parables, the talents and the pounds and so on. Will be linked then with reward in light of the kingdom. In light of our faithfulness. So a day of review that awaits us. A day of revelation that awaits us should stir us to an awareness of responsibility to serve.

But verse 7 reminds us of a much more sobering truth. It's going to be a day of reversals. A day of reversals. Every eye shall see him. They also which pierced him. And it says as well that all kindreds of the earth shall wail.

What's going to happen? God is going to reverse earth's burdens. Earth said away with him. Earth said we don't want this man. He is unworthy of life. He is an imposter. God is going to reveal his son in all his glory.

And it is going to be a day of reversals. That thrills us. That is tremendous to think a day is coming when the man that earth rejected. Man scorned and spit upon. Is going to have the highest place in the entire universe of God.

And every knee shall bow. Tremendous thing to think that God is going to reverse all of that. The only problem is when you come to chapter 2 and chapter 3. The Lord does a lot of reversing. There is a church and it says we are rich.

We are increased with goods. We have need of nothing. And the Lord reverses the burden and says you are poor. Blind. Destitute. Naked. The Lord reverses the burden. There is another church that men said.

The church at Smyrna. I know thy tribulation and poverty. But you are rich. There is a church that says we are really on fire for God. And the Lord comes to the church at Sarnas and says you are dead.

You see there is a Lord that walks in the midst of the churches that is giving righteous judgments. So it doesn't matter what others think about your assembly. It doesn't matter the veneer that we put on the assembly.

And how active it all looks and how wonderful it all looks. What really matters is what does he think. What is his assessment. And it doesn't matter what others think about you. Others think about me.

Now I say that guardedly. We have a testimony to maintain. And we should do all we can to maintain fellowship and warmth amongst us. That's not what I'm getting at. But to live just for the sake of reputation.

To live just for the sake of impressing people and pretending to be what I am not. And when I am made conscious there is a day of reversal coming. What would it matter if everyone thought you were a wonderful Christian.

If when you stand at the judgment seat of Christ the Lord reverses that verdict for all eternity. And what would it matter if you are unpopular and maybe not so well liked. If at the judgment seat of Christ he reverses the verdict and says well done.

Well done. A day of reversal. All of that should regulate testimony for God. A day of review. A day of revelation. A day of reversals. In light of a day of responsibility. Let me just mention though the revelation of Christ that is given to us especially in verses 12 through 20.

The Glory and Attributes of Christ

And just touch very quickly on these. I saw in the midst. Verse number 13. So the first thing I learned as I see this glorious vision of the Lord Jesus is his preeminence. His preeminence. That God intends that he should be preeminent.

We'll see he's preeminent in our affections. We will find that he is preeminent in our aspirations. But he should also be preeminent in our assembly. Gathered to him hope. Living for him and linked with him vitally.

His preeminency. But then it's referred to as one like unto the son of man. So it's his humanity as well. His humanity as son of man. Now I know that title does not simply mean he was just a man. It is his title as man.

As the last man. The second Adam. His right to rule and reign for God. The one who will fulfill Psalm number 8. What is man that thou art mindful of him. The son of man that thou visitest him. It will be in that day that God will find a man.

In this case a perfect man into whose hand he can put administration for God. For the kingdom for all eternity. And it will not fail. It will not falter. It will not be flawed. But it will be fulfilled perfectly to God's eternal satisfaction.

This son of man. Who is in the midst of the churches. So we have his preeminency. His humanity. But then we have his royalty as well. He is clothed with a garment down to the foot. That gorgeous robe that marks him out in all the glory of his person.

His royalty is brought before us. And then he is girded about the paps with a golden girdle. His sovereignty. You will pick up some books. And I am not here to criticize or in any way. I don't believe this is in our brother Jim Allen's book.

So I'm not pointing to that one. But there are some other older books written on the book of the revelation. That will sometimes say something I find so strange. That he is girded about the paps with a golden girdle.

Because his affections are restrained. And kept in because of failure in the churches. As many as I love. I chasten. The Lord loves you just as much. Loves me just as much. When he chastens. As when he comforts.

He loves me just as much when he corrects. As when he consoles. His love is being expressed every moment towards me. Every moment. The problem is I don't appreciate it. I get cold to it. But his love never varies.

Not like human love. Not even like a parent's love that sometimes can get marred by impatience and by frustration. Never. His love never changes. And so as we see him moving amongst the churches. As we see him correcting and pointing to things and dealing with issues.

It's never with restrained love. It's with a fullness of love going out. So we sing even when he chideth. Tender is his tone. None but he can guide us. We are his. His alone. So there is no restraint of this love.

It is rather his sovereignty. We see as well his maturity and dignity. He is the ancient of days. The white hair. And all that is linked with that in verse number 14. But then we come to things which are searching.

The scrutiny of his eyes. The scrutiny of his eyes. His eyes. It's a flame of fire. Discerning. Nothing misses. Nothing overlooked. Nothing hidden. Nothing that somehow cannot be viewed by those eyes.

I find one of the most sobering and solemn passages in the word of God. Paul is dealing with. Actually dealing with overseers and relationships between overseers and the assembly. And he tells Timothy.

I charge you before God. And the Lord Jesus. And the elect angels. That thou do nothing. By partiality. Now I don't know if that just strikes you as being. As searching as I find it. But it's as though he's saying all of heaven is watching.

God. The Lord Jesus. And the angels. Are watching how you treat each other in an assembly. And he says I charge you. They're watching. Are we conscious of that? I'm just going to take it away from just overseers for a moment.

Just to. Believers collectively. Are we conscious? How we treat each other is being observed by. All of heaven. Even an email you send. No words spoken. Just out there in cyberspace. Going to somebody else.

Maybe some little snide remarks. Some critical thing about another person. All of heaven sees that. Politicking and infighting that occurs. All of heaven sees that. Eyes like. Flamingo fire. Penetrating.

Piercing. Searching. Into assembly relationships. The purity. And the scrutiny. Of those eyes. Feet like undefined brass. The purity of his movements. His voice. Like the sound of many waters. The authority of his voice.

His ministry. In his hand. Out of his mouth. We see his ministry. Holding and speaking. Controlling and giving. And speaking and rebuking. All of that is there. The ministry that he is going to present in these chapters.

Let me have to leave that for the sake of time. Let me come to the realization of the nature of testimony. The realization of what testimony for God is all about. I want to talk to you first of all about something we call autonomy.

Local Assembly Autonomy and Unity

Autonomy. Now that's a misused and it's a sometimes an abused word. Sometimes it's used like we can do what we want and we don't care what you think and don't care what you say. No. Fellowship is too precious a thing to move like mavericks.

And be careless of our brethren and other assemblies. But what autonomy does mean is that each assembly stands accountable to the Lord. But more than that. There is no higher court of appeal. Once you have gone through the oversight of an assembly.

What I mean by that is this. We have all witnessed tragically the last two weeks is it? That when Terry Shiloh's parents couldn't get what they wanted at this court they went to a higher court. And when that court said no they went to a higher court.

And when finally they went to the Supreme Court and they said no they started all over again in a different vein. This court and that court. In other words there was always a higher court of appeal to which they could go.

Some other governing body. Now if you were in the religious world around us you would be able to go to your church. And if you didn't like that you could go to the local whatever it might be the Synod.

And you could appeal to the national headquarters eventually. And if that didn't suit you maybe even to the international headquarters. There would be levels of control. But that's not the New Testament teaching of a local assembly.

For example when you come to Matthew 18. You know that chapter don't you where the Lord Jesus is speaking about how you deal with problems between brothers. And so if there's a difficulty between two Christians you go to that person alone and you tell them the problem.

And if he won't listen to you you take with you two or three more. And you tell again you bring out the problem you try to have it resolved there. And if that doesn't work you take it to the whole assembly.

And if still that doesn't work what do you do then? What's the next step? What's the higher step you go to? None. That's the end of it. The man is unto you as an Eden and a publican. That's it. It only goes that far.

There is no higher authority then in an assembly than when the oversight has investigated a matter brought before the assembly. And there is unity and agreement the matter is closed. There's no court of appeal.

Each assembly stands responsible for its actions and its dealings to the Lord alone. So that when the Lord is telling these assemblies of their different problems he does not tell Smyrna go take care of the problem in Ephesus.

And he doesn't tell Philadelphia now look you're only 30 miles away from Laodicea go up there and get things straightened out. Get those boys on track. Now every assembly is responsible for its own relationship with the Lord and its own spiritual character before the Lord.

Autonomy. Now there's tremendous preservation in that. You might think boy it's a shame you know. Think of the things we could correct if we had a group of men that would go around correcting assemblies.

Really? Really? Look at how the religious world has made such a wreck of teaching. If you had three or four men who controlled everything all you've got to do is touch two or three of those men. And now they control the teaching of the entire groups.

All the groups. That's what's happened in the religious world. That's what's happened out there is men at the top have become infiltrated with evil and wrong teaching and all the rest. And in the best in the best of evangelical circles that wrong teaching begins to filter down.

God intended local assemblies. Autonomous. Responsible to him. Controlled by the word of God. The authority of the word of God ruling all. And yet as we shall see there is still not just autonomy involved but there is a unity that is the result of truth that is agreed upon.

So while there are individual lap stands they are linked together by being linked with the Lord. That's the link. Not that they have sat down and decided well let's decide shall we have fellowship with each other or not.

And as a result of their link with the Lord they had fellowship with each other. Now let me just say something for younger believers. I may have said it before. But it has been a help to me both in my own private life and also even in assembly life and in in responsibility and leadership in the assembly.

To appreciate something about what fellowship is and what it is not. Fellowship is not something we agree to have. Fellowship is something we have because we agree. Now you may say well you're just playing with words.

No. There is a world of difference between those two things. Fellowship is not something we agree to have. It's something we have because we agree. When we share truth then we have fellowship. If we don't share truth we could have all the conversation we want.

And we could make all the intentions of having fellowship together. But if we don't share truth there is no fellowship. A fellowship is a sharing together of truth that comes from the hand of God. And so there is first of all autonomy and there is also unity which is the result of fellowship.

The Dignity and Purpose of a Local Assembly

But I want you to see something of the dignity here as well of local assembly testimony. The dignity is this. When the Spirit of God would desire to give us a picture of what an assembly is in this book of Revelation.

It's not just a lamp stand. It's a golden, golden lamp stand. Golden. In other words it's something that God says is precious. Something that is valuable. It's amazing as you go through the rest of the chapters of this book.

And you find that God places very little value upon things upon earth. Very little value. In fact the day is coming when they are all going to be removed. Folded up like a garment. Put away like you put away your winter clothes when summer comes.

God says that's what I'm going to do with earth. With all of its greatness, with all of its grandeur, with all of its pomp. It's all going to be folded up. Well what is there on earth that's of value to God?

Golden lamp stands. Golden lamp stands. Now you all know, you hardly need me to come out here to tell you. That back in the Old Testament in the taranacle there were no dimensions to the lamp stand. It wasn't a matter of its size.

What God gave was its weight. Its weight. So we learned something of its weight. And we learned something of its value. And its value is gold and its weight is something for God. So that an assembly can be a value for God.

By just being faithful as a lamp stand. And it's not its size that matters. It's its weight. What kind of weight it had. What kind of testimony it has for God. That gives that assembly value. The dignity of an assembly.